The good, the bad and the ugly-review of the CB post drydock!

[sadiea]

First of all let me say that I am not a fussy or picky person and I'm not high maintenance when it comes to cruising. I know that not all cruises are perfect and I don't expect them to be. I am good at "rolling with the punches" because I'm on vacation and what can you do--make the best of it. However, I do appreciate good service and have come to expect it on Princess cruises. This past week on the Caribbean Princess was my 5th Princess cruise and while my vacation was great, it was not due to being on a Princess ship--which makes me feel sad. I have been, up until this cruise, a very loyal Princess customer, but this past cruise was just "off". My vacation was great because of the wonderful ports we visited and the non cruise-ship excursions I booked based on recommendations and reviews given by those of you on this cruise critic board, so thank you for all your suggestions! And of course it was a great get away from all the snow in Boise, Idaho and it was a vacation away from my 4 kids I left at home! So with that said, I will report first on the good, then the bad, and then the ugly.

 

The good: The food was excellent. The menu was very similar to the one on the Crown Princess last year. My room steward was great and he kept our room in tip top shape and kept us stocked with beach towels and bathroom towels which we appreciated. The new flat screen TVs are a nice addition although I didn't watch it much. We were in an obstructed ocean view, room E701, and while there was some partial (not full)obstruction, we could still look down to see the ocean and this was nice to not have to look at a life boat the whole week. We did not have new mattresses or bedding, but I really like the newer duvet approach instead of sheets on the bed. Our pillows were soft and while the bed was firm, I didn't feel the need to request an egg crate topper. The shampoo, conditioner and lotion now come in bottles instead of the annoying tear top paper containers. The new international cafe downstairs had yummy soft cookies (different from the ones in the buffet) and other tasty pastries that we ate way too often. I really liked all the islands we visited. This itinerary was great because it provided a nice mix of beach days (Aruba, Bonaire, St. Thomas) with scenery/landscape/culture days (Grenada/Dominica). I will post an individual review about the shore excursions we did on each island on the ports of call board. Our waiter was a hard worker and did his best despite having too many tables and a non-existant assistant waiter. The comedians were very funny and I liked the Princess shows put on by the Princess dancers/singers. There were plenty of treadmills in the exercise area, even on sea days.

 

The Bad: The new sanctuary is nice, but there are only like 15 lounger chairs that are in the sun. Most of the chairs (like 75%) are under a shade canopy. I went to try the sanctuary twice, but I wanted a chair in the sun, and both times despite being there early, the only ones left were in the shade. The shade areas remained mostly empty most of the time. A lot of people like me went away when we found out we could only reserve a spot in the shade. The sunny area is quite small and if the ship wants more business, they should make the shade area a lot smaller. Not many passengers go on a cruise to sit in the shade! The boat was not finished from its stay in dry dock and should not have sailed. Passengers should have been notified that the casino wouldn't open until after Aruba, the Crown Grill wouldn't be operational for weeks and that it would be under construction the entire cruise, and that there would be an additional 300+ construction workers on board--working the entire cruise. The elevators were stinky--they smelled like sweat socks probably because of the hardworking construction workers. The line to check in was a chaotic mess and there were no Princess personel for crowd control. Plus, there weren't enough Princess personel or computers to do an efficient check in. Nobody seemed to be in charge or to even pretend to be in charge. A sincere apology on board would have been nice and more than a complimentary glass of wine should have been offered. I don't drink so this didn't do me any good and half the boat was still in line waiting to get on at 8pm so they didn't even get the offer! I don't gamble either, but a lot of passengers do and they expect to be able to use the casino on a sea day. This was a disappointment to many. We sat at a table of 8 in the anytime Coral dining room and we had a standing 6pm reservation with the same waiter each night. Our waiter had been with Princess for over 15 years, but the assistant waiter was brand new from Royal Caribbean and he didn't know up from down, plus he would disappear. We'd see him maybe at the beginning of dinner and then he'd be gone the rest of the night. So our waiter had to do his job plus the job of the asst. waiter. As a result of this our dinners routinely took over 2 1/2 hours! There was a 10 or sometimes even 15 minute lag time between courses, our water glasses went empty, drinks were not refilled and our poor waiter was trying to do everything for us and for 3 or 4 other tables at the same time. Our waiter had too many tables and not enough help. Ash trays around the promenade deck and in the casino weren't emptied. They were often overflowing and unsightly. On previous cruises, I never saw more than a cigarette or two in an ashtray, but overflowing ashtrays are hard to miss and they seemed to be everywhere. Probably due to the construction, there seemed to be a fine layer of dust on several floors that never went away. Also due to the construction you were blockaded on the 6th and 7th deck and had to go up and around and down a flight and around. This got old not being able to walk across the ship. There never seemed to be any deck attendants during the MUTS movies. One night we went to see Batman and it had rained so the loungers were all wet. There wasn't a soul to be found to help get the wet cushions off and replace them with dry, nobody was around to hand out blankets and nobody could adjust the volume and sound of the movie. The bass and treble needed to be adjusted (you could only hear the deep voice of batman and nobody else) and despite various passengers requesting the bartender (he was the only one around) to call somebody--nobody ever came. So we left even after spending quite a while pulling off wet cushions and getting ourselves set up for a movie. Despite entering all my flight info online on the Princess website, the pursors desk gave me the wrong bag tags. I went back to the desk to make the changes and the desk said new ones would be sent. Later that day the same WRONG tags appeared in my room. I had to go again to give my flight numbers and times to get the right tags. This was annoying. None of these things ruined my trip, they were just irritating and noticable because nothing like this has ever happened on any of my previous Princess cruises. The future cruise credit office was moved to Club Fusion and even when the Princess lady was supposed to be there she wasn't! There was sign that said "be back in moment", but after 20 minutes she never appeared. Trying again on another day, the same thing happened. I could never track her down until the last hour of the last day and of course the line to talk to her was huge. The internet packages were kind of a scam. We purchased a 100 minute package to email from a wireless laptop to stay in touch with our kids. The minutes seemed to be getting used up really fast and when we started timing our sessions we found out that it sometimes wouldn't log us off--it would hang and then continue charging us and when we'd use like 10 minutes and 4 seconds, it would round up to 11. We lost a lot of minutes this way. I felt cheated. Plus, the internet guy was clueless about a lot of stuff. He didn't know that there was a raffle for free minutes despite it being advertised in the Princess Patter, he didn't know why our minutes were being sucked away, etc. In general, there seemed to be a lack of service and not enough employees to handle the passengers that were on board. I wonder if this ship "downsized" the crew because so many of the passengers were actually construction workers or something.

 

The downright UGLY: Embarkation was a nightmare--nobody in charge, nobody knew anything, not enough computers, a horrible facility with few restrooms or drinking water, no shade, huge lines, etc. Disembarkation was worse. I know that I had an early flight--10am--please don't lecture me on I should know better. The fact is I have successfully disembarked with early flights from San Juan multiple times with no problem. Living in a smaller town on the West Coast makes getting home in one day from san Juan a challenge and leaving 4 kids at home makes it important to get home as soon as possible. Previously I always did the "self express disembarkation" but this is no longer available. When I asked the pursors desk when this change occurred and why it wasn't mentioned on the princess website, he said "As of now it isn't an option and it isn't my job to communicate this to passengers". Great customer service. And there shouldn't have been a problem this time. But due to a lack of communication between cranky, rude staff and passengers, people with early flights weren't let off until after 9am while people with afternoon flights had been getting off as early as 8:15am. All the while people are disembarking, early flight people were "held hostage" and being lied to about "it's the customs officials fault--they haven't given us paperwork". I am willing to be a compliant passenger and play by the rules, but Princess has to enforce the rules and play by the rules they set! This scenario, in my opinion, was a complete breakdown in customer service and a complete disregard for the passengers. I barely made my 10am flight and I didn't get off the boat until 9:10am. My husband and I surely set some kind of record for going from ship to airplane in 40 minutes. It was a blessing from heaven and really kind people in the customs line that let us cut ahead and a fast taxi driver that helped us get on the airplane before it left--yes he sped and ran a red light or two--we got from the ship to the airport in 9 minutes. Many couples we were traveling with were not as lucky and because of the chaos Princess created, they missed 9:30am, 10am, 10:45 and even 11am flights. This is inexcusable.

 

So, in conclusion, there was a lot of irritating things that happened. I can deal with that. My vacation was not a complete disaster, but knowing what Princess can be and should be, I can't help but be disappointed. I was never even interested in trying another cruise line, but after this, I'm open to it. I felt myself being embarrassed and mortified and trying to defend Princess while on board when talking to first time passengers. I was always saying "Well, this is unusual for Princess. I've never experienced this kind of bad service before, etc. ". Towards the end of the cruise and especially after the disembarkation fiasco, I don't feel loyal at all. I will probably give Princess another try--I'm platinum now--but it won't be anytime soon.

[coiran]

Sorry you had such a miserable time - however, other than embark and disembark the other poster seemed to have a great time.

 

Ron

[sadiea]

I didn't have a miserable time--my vacation was great. Sun, sea, sand--away from laundry, cooking, kids, work, etc. And my time with new friends and old friends was fabulous. However, it wasn't Princess that made my vacation great--and that to me is sad. There was a definite lack of customer service on the ship that I have never experienced before on a Princess cruise and this was surprising to me. I don't want anybody to think I had a miserable time, because I didn't. My review was just my objective opinion about the things I noticed on the ship. There was nothing on this cruise that made Princess special or would make me want to book with them again--but with that said, my vacation was still enjoyable and I am sad to be home! A bad day at sea is better than any day at home in my opinion!

[jbrambach]

Sorry your embarkation and disembarkation were nightmare-ish (to say the least) but it seems that the embarkation was due to the ship just coming out of dry dock. A person who is sailing this week reported back that he arrived at 2:30 and was on the ship in 10 mins.

 

It has been my experience that sailing into and out of SJ is always slower than other ports like Port Canaveral, Miami or Fort Lauderdale; and it seems the dry dock made it worse.

 

As for the purser's desk, well, it has also been my experience that the nice ones that really do follow up are few and far between. It usually takes a couple of trips to the desk from me for them to get something done (I always have a smile and thank you for them of course b/c then it really won't ever be done LOL). It really is a shame as they are the "customer service" onboard.

[sun&sea]

Sorry you had such a miserable time - however, other than embark and disembark the other poster seemed to have a great time.

 

Ron

Please~~~Before you are quick to attack the OP, please read this carefully. The OP (as well as myself) are simply trying to tell what we saw and experienced. (only on this cruise) We both have said that this has certainly NOT been the norm for our previous Princess cruises. This cruise was truely different.

The dirt was one of the first things I noticed. Construction dirt and crud. Also, windows very dirty. Our muster drill took us down the inside stairway on the Dolphin deck aft. There on the stairs was many broken screws, bolts, washers, and a couple of moldy cups of coffee with cig butts floating in them. Had this been my first cruise, I would have wondered what in the heck was going on!!!

Later that morning, we went to an upper deck to lay in the sun. An ash tray heaping full of butts came flying off of a pile of chairs!:eek:

At the muster drill in the aft lounge, you could see a thick layer of dirt on the floor around the stage. Later that morning, I got in an elevator forward in the ship, backed into a broken off screw and tore my shorts.

 

The balcony divider between our mini and the next was left open and I noticed it on the first sea day after we finally sailed. I asked the room steward to fix it and he said it was broken:confused:. Okay..so now what? Just let it bang for the rest of the cruise? A couple days later, after trying to prop chairs against it, we called the front desk and asked to be moved. It was fixed later that morning.

 

We asked for skim milk for breakfast. We were told the skim milk was only for cereal:confused:. We could not have a glass for it!

I do not want to go on and on. This is a sample of annoyances. Listen up...'annoyances'...not disasters.

 

Yes, I had fun with my DH. Yes, the sun was wonderful. Yes I appreciate all that I have been blessed with. That does not change the fact that this cruise was not like we should expect from Princess. I only say this because I believe they are a very quality cruiseline with high standards. This sailing was not one of them...for me and obviously for some others.

[Colo Cruiser]

I agree with the OP the ship should have never sailed! :eek:

[NJ04SS]

Thanks for the great review, appreicate your honesty... the good and the bad.

 

How was the food?

I heard there is a crown grill, does this replace the trident grill?

How often did they have comedians?

Did they have adult only, 18+ shows or any of that sort on the ship (comedians,dancing)?

 

I heard the ship was rocky, was it due to bad weather? Were they not using the stabilizers for some reason?

[coiran]

Please~~~Before you are quick to attack the OP, please read this carefully. The OP (as well as myself) are simply trying to tell what we saw and experienced. (only on this cruise) We both have said that this has certainly NOT been the norm for our previous Princess cruises. This cruise was truely different.

The dirt was one of the first things I noticed. Construction dirt and crud. Also, windows very dirty. Our muster drill took us down the inside stairway on the Dolphin deck aft. There on the stairs was many broken screws, bolts, washers, and a couple of moldy cups of coffee with cig butts floating in them. Had this been my first cruise, I would have wondered what in the heck was going on!!!

Later that morning, we went to an upper deck to lay in the sun. An ash tray heaping full of butts came flying off of a pile of chairs!:eek:

At the muster drill in the aft lounge, you could see a thick layer of dirt on the floor around the stage. Later that morning, I got in an elevator forward in the ship, backed into a broken off screw and tore my shorts.

 

The balcony divider between our mini and the next was left open and I noticed it on the first sea day after we finally sailed. I asked the room steward to fix it and he said it was broken:confused:. Okay..so now what? Just let it bang for the rest of the cruise? A couple days later, after trying to prop chairs against it, we called the front desk and asked to be moved. It was fixed later that morning.

 

We asked for skim milk for breakfast. We were told the skim milk was only for cereal:confused:. We could not have a glass for it!

I do not want to go on and on. This is a sample of annoyances. Listen up...'annoyances'...not disasters.

 

Yes, I had fun with my DH. Yes, the sun was wonderful. Yes I appreciate all that I have been blessed with. That does not change the fact that this cruise was not like we should expect from Princess. I only say this because I believe they are a very quality cruiseline with high standards. This sailing was not one of them...for me and obviously for some others.

 

Sorry - I wasn't attacking anyone, just comparing the two reviews that seem to come from different worlds. I apologize if I offended you.

 

Ron

[gertz]

Quite frankly we do not like the CB and the other extra deck twins simply because of it's low space ratio and if many 3rd and 4ths are occupied it is worse. And we haven't cruised out of the Caribbean for many years for the same reason too many ships.

That being said let me also say. We have never had a bad cruise, including the CB, some better than others but never a bad one.

[TorontoTL]

I really hope that Princess doesn't ruin its reputation by sailing ships post dry dock before they're really ready. It really sounds like they should have given the ship one more week prior to sailing. I too would have been disappointed had I been on the CB that week. :(

[sun&sea]

Thanks for the great review, appreicate your honesty... the good and the bad.

 

How was the food?

I heard there is a crown grill, does this replace the trident grill?

How often did they have comedians?

Did they have adult only, 18+ shows or any of that sort on the ship (comedians,dancing)?

 

I heard the ship was rocky, was it due to bad weather? Were they not using the stabilizers for some reason?

 

My perspective. Maybe the OP will give hers/his?

Food is so objective. Totally in the eyes of the beholder according to their tastes and experiences. However, I personally like all the food. The menus are not what they used to be, but I like the anytime choices, such as the salmon, chicken, or beef. They had escargo this time...yum! The lobster was on a nonformal night! Mine was awesome.

I was somewhat confused whether there was to be a Sterling Steakhouse or a Crown Grill on this ship:confused:. Whatever they have, I never found it because it is not done.

Personally, I never felt rocking motion, but then again I never do. I love a certain amount of sway. It reminds me that I am on a cruise. However, this ship vibrates alot! I don't care for that, but I try to ignore it.

There was a comedian(at least 2), an illusionist(sp?), and a ventrillaquist (sp?). All were excellent. I don't remember anything kids could not hear, but I did not pay much attention to that.

 

Janet

[sadiea]

Thanks for the great review, appreicate your honesty... the good and the bad.

 

How was the food?

I heard there is a crown grill, does this replace the trident grill?

How often did they have comedians?

Did they have adult only, 18+ shows or any of that sort on the ship (comedians,dancing)?

 

I heard the ship was rocky, was it due to bad weather? Were they not using the stabilizers for some reason?

 

I thought the food was very good. I ate way too much. The food on the Crown Princess last year was outstanding in my opinion...but the food this time was very good. A few dishes were outstanding, but not everything. The hamburgers and fries by the pool were always tasty and I thought the pizza by the pool was excellent. No complaints from me about the food. Sabatini's was a possible dining option, but we didn't go--I felt like the food in the dining room was good enough. The Crown Grill is under construction and won't be ready for a few more weeks. The Sterling Steak House was "moved" temporarily to one half of the Horizon Court Buffet--pretty lame. They put tablecloths and vases with flowers on the tables and a photocopied sign that said Sterling Steak House on the door. You still had to call to make reservations and you still had to pay the surcharge. I didn't eat there either, but for some reason the Horizon Court Buffet location and ambiance was weird to me. The comedians on this ship were Phil Tag and Rollin Jay Moore. I have heard both before, but they had some new material and I laughed again even at the old jokes. Both comedians were PG-13 in my opinion. Nothing too offensive. I didn't find the ship to be rocky at all. There was some normal "sway to and fro", but nothing severe. I've been on ships before where the boat is rocking so bad the pool water splashes out--there was nothing like that on this sailing.

[katisdale]

I think you have honest complaints that need to be snail mailed to princess. The ship was not ready for cruising and although you don't gamble or need the crown grill to be open those are advertised amenities for this sailing. I think your disappointment with the lack of those should be brought to the attention of the "powers that be".

[Host CJSKIDS]

Thanks for the review and I'm sorry for the bad and the ugly parts of your cruise. Sounds like you really made the best of your cruise and did enjoy yourself. Your complaints sound very valid and I hope that you send a letter to customer service.

[bubbadog]

Glad you had a good time,you should try the emerald next;)

[seankaiser]

I'll weigh in with our experience as well. Like others, we experienced the anarchy at the convention center. While we arrived at SJU at around 1pm, we did not make it into the convention center until nearly 4:15pm, as we were taken on an involuntary tour of San Juan. If we had been told up front that we were going to take a 3 hour tour, we might have grabbed some food at the airport first, but they told us we were being bussed to the convention center for lunch, so we didn't eat at the airport. The bus driver (Sosa) didn't tell us anything about what was going on, but kept saying "I'm just doing what I'm told to do." We had 2 stops (one at the government building and one near the fountain area in Old San Juan, I believe.) Once we got to the convention center, we had to sit on the bus for about 30 minutes until we were allowed off the bus. We decided to get in line for food first, and waited in that horribly controlled line for food. By the time we got there, there were only hot dogs, hamburgers (no hamburger buns, though) and chicken strips. When the water bottles appeared, it was chaos, as the masses decended and pulled the water from the carts. We sat at a table with another couple who had not yet eaten. The gentleman got in line, and was dismayed that they closed the food line shortly before he got up to order food.Once they started dismissing people to the pier on buses based on their assigned numbers, they also said that people could take a taxi over to the pier. They should have never suggested that option, as I'm sure that added to the delays at the pier. By the time they called numbers 7&8 (of 10), my wife counted 58 people (including us) in the convention center, with a similar number outside. They went ahead and called 9&10, and when we got the pier, the line snaked around the parking lot. Granted, it was moving fairly quickly at that point (compared to what others said about earlier in the evening), but it was a daunting sight when we got off the bus. The offer of a glass of wine at the first night's dinner was the only "olive branch" offered. Neither my wife nor I drink wine, so we essentially got nothing.

 

The cruise itself was a very enjoyable time, other than the confusion of how to get from one place to another with deck 6 midship closed for construction. Add to that deck 7 midship (the casino) being closed until after we left Aruba, and it was a real headache trying to figure out how to get from one place to another for the beginning of the week. The ship seemed to move more than other ships we've been on (Carnival Valor, & Monarch and Radiance of the Seas) especially given the relatively calm seas (and yes, water was splashing all over the place in the pools at times.) We enjoy the gentle swaying that ships do, but often the movement was more than a gentle sway. The last 2 nights of the cruise, however, were very smooth; we didn't even notice the gentle swaying. The engine vibrations in the aft portion of the ship (especially in Horizon Court/Cafe Caribe) were annoying to say the least. (I thought part of the drydock was to replace a horribly vibrating engine?)

 

We had a great room steward (Piyamet, Baja deck stateroom 241), although it seemed like she had quite a few rooms to handle. Maybe that's normal, but it never seemed like our stewards on our other cruises had that many rooms. We were assigned to the Anytime Dining (I guess reserving the cruise only 3 weeks ahead of time doesn't give you much chance of getting the 2nd seating fixed dining), and enjoyed our tablemates at most if not all of the dinners. Like others, we experienced nights where the assistant waiter was nowhere to be found. Water glasses were empty more often than not at almost every dinner, assistant waiter or not. The food was fairly good as well, lots of choices for each meal. We heard that the early 2nd formal night was a typo in the Princess Patter. Not sure if there was any validity to that rumor. But it didn't really make sense that the 2nd formal night was the Chef's dinner and not lobster night.

 

I wished we would have had more time in port at Bonaire, but with the long sail from Bonaire to Grenada, the early departure was necessary. In my opinion, they should drop one of the ports of call and add a second day at sea to afford longer times at the remaining ports of call. I'm not sure which I would drop, though, as we enjoyed our time at each. Sabine (excursion desk) was very friendly and helpful as well. We asked for advice for a couple of shore excursions, and she was able to help us with those requests. We also had a question about one of the tours, and she took our room number, emailed the provider, then called us with the answer the next day. For shore excursions, we did the Aruba Sail & Snorkel, Bonaire Shore Snorkel, Grenada Explorer, Dominica Emerald Pool & River Tubing, and St. Thomas Magen's Bay.

 

I enjoyed the entertainment as much or more than on the other 3 cruises we've been on (Carnival and 2x Royal Caribbean.) I didn't necessarily care for Rollin Jay Moore, but he still had some funny bits (my wife seemed to enjoy his acts.) Willy Tyler (ventriloquist) with Lester was a ton of fun both times (in the Explorers Lounge on Friday and also in the Princess Theater the last night.) He (they) is an amazing performer. We also enjoyed the culinary demonstration. They were very entertaining, and we enjoyed the galley tour afterward. We skipped all of the production shows on this cruise, so I can't weigh in on that.

 

The cruise staff seemed to have more fun at their jobs than other cruise staffs we've had. Dan (cruise director) was a ton of fun, and Sam (deputy cruise director) also seemed to truly enjoy her job. The only thing I didn't like was Dan's shallow apology for the embarkation problems during the disembarkation video.

 

The disembarkation was just as chaotic as the embarkation. As others have stated, Princess blamed Customs. While I don't necessarily believe that this was the initial case, the fact that there were only two Customs stations, it was definitely part of the problem. We were in group Pink 4 (met at Explorers Lounge at 7:50am), and I think they called our group (as well as Pink 5, 7, and 8, at the same time) at around 8:45-9:00am. Once we finally navigated the stairs from deck 7 down to 4, and then off the ship, the Pink baggage claim area was just inside the door to the terminal, with no organization within the area. I would suggest putting all of the Pink 4's together, and doing similar with other color/number groupings. We finally found all of our luggage, and got in the line for customs. People were making the line 5-6 wide in an effort to get to the front quicker. They should have used the retractable barricade systems like they use at the airports to form actual lines far behind the fixed railing system right before the customs desks. Once we got through Customs (which was easy in our case), we boarded the prepaid transfer to the airport. The airport was hectic, but I'm sure that's in large part due to having 3 large ships disembarking at the same time. We didn't go through the USDA scan initially (as we weren't told we had to) but the airline people told us we had to go through that process. In my opinion, there should have been some notification that the USDA scan was necessary before we got to the airline checkin area.

 

Will we cruise with Princess again in the future? Probably. Will I check to make sure the ship isn't coming out of drydock or refurb right before (or as others have suggested up to 6 weeks prior)? Yep. I guess I should have been concerned when our travel agent forwarded a message from Princess offering $400 OBC to delay the cruise until late February. But we couldn't go then, so we stuck with the 1/25 sailing. Will I sail out of San Juan again? Probably not. The airport is not set up to handle that large of an influx of passengers all at once on a disembarkation day.

[Gypsea]

I had a client call me from the San Juan airport she was so upset about this cruise. I was really hoping it wasn't as bad as she reported but I can see it must have been. I am sorry for all of the guests who received less than they anticipated. Vacation and money are too scarce to be so disappointed. We spend so long waiting for our turn to sail. I hope Princess does something to make this right. At the very least a future cruise credit should be extended. Hopefully, they will learn from this error. Imagine the money lost without the casino open!! That alone was huge.

[Pam in CA]

I'm sorry you had this poor experience and agree with those who have said to snail mail Princess and let them know specifically what inconvenienced/upset you and that it wasn't up to your expectations for a Princess cruise.

 

The CB was in dry dock for three weeks which is considered a very long dry dock. However, there were a LOT of physical changes made to the ship and obviously, even with all the planning that goes into this, three weeks wasn't long enough. Unfortunately, it's not unusual for a ship to have incomplete construction after a dry dock (and not just on Princess) so when you book a cruise, you should factor in that there may be glitches. Sometimes that's just not possible if you've booked way in advance and the dry dock schedule is changed from one date to another as the CB was. Those booking the Golden should take this information to heart when planning a cruise after her next dry dock as she's getting most of the same changes.

[mariakitty]

Those booking the Golden should take this information to heart when planning a cruise after her next dry dock as she's getting most of the same changes.

 

This is exactly why we finally went with the Star to Alaska rather than the Golden. The Star has already had the refurb and while the Golden is set to soon, I wasn't willing to take that chance.

[prg2101]

How many more reviews are we gonna get about this trip.........we get it!

Embarkation sucked and stuff wasnt finished...OK

Dont sail a ship right after it comes out of Drydock......I thought everyone knew that:rolleyes:

 

My two cents

[SuperLarz]

How many more reviews are we gonna get about this trip.........we get it!

Embarkation sucked and stuff wasnt finished...OK

Dont sail a ship right after it comes out of Drydock......I thought everyone knew that:rolleyes:

 

My two cents

 

No need to be snippy. If you don't want to keep reading about the "CB post dry-dock fiasco" then skip these threads. You are the only one who can choose whether or not to read them!

 

And no, not everyone "knew" not to book a cruise right after dry dock. I will be sailing on the CB on Saturday. This will be my very first cruise. One of the things I was excited about was that it was going to be fresh out of dry dock. You know... all spiffed up, spick and span. I had no idea that the refurb might not be finished!!

 

So, for me, who is leaving in 5 days... I am interested in reading all that I can about the current state of the Caribbean Princess. I paid a lot of money, and did a lot of research before choosing Princess for my virgin voyage.

 

If you are bored and annoyed by this thread... skip it. If you choose to read it anyway... then that is up to you, but own your choice and please endure your annoyance in silence. The rest of us are interested.

[Magnus]

This was my second voyage with Princess (and this is my first time posting). I had the opportunity to meet some forum members at the meet'n'greet, which was nice.

 

I can agree with just about all of the points. The staffing was under-experienced, and in some cases lacking in quantity. The food at the buffets was so-so, though the dining rooms once again were fantastic (and so was that pizza!).

 

What bothered me more about the whole fiasco is people's refusal to move on. Even on the 5th and 6th day in, people were still on about the embarkation blunder.

 

Get over it.

 

I'm not saying not to post here about it, because both customers and Princess employees should be informed about what could potentialy go wrong when a cruise line drops the ball.

 

I am saying that there are bigger problems in life in general, than a 3-4 hour extra wait in 85 degree weather, vs the snow infested tundra many of us came from.

 

All of these issues were very, very minor. In the end what comes out of all of this is the flexibility of people's character. Overall, most were adaptable enough and forgiving to continue to enjoy the cruise. Having said that there are a lot of people who expect perfection in an imperfect world. This is simply not realistic.

 

In any case, I believe me and "Goandsee" will continue on with Princess. Everyone deserves a second shot, and the staff for the most part did their best while themselves being put in difficult working conditions.

 

PS - we will still be sending an official letter to Princess informing them of some of our concerns, but while also being constructive, there will of course be praise for what was done well. Something that seemed to be forgotten by the negatrons on board.

[SuperLarz]

This was my second voyage with Princess (and this is my first time posting). I had the opportunity to meet some forum members at the meet'n'greet, which was nice.

 

I can agree with just about all of the points. The staffing was under-experienced, and in some cases lacking in quantity. The food at the buffets was so-so, though the dining rooms once again were fantastic (and so was that pizza!).

 

What bothered me more about the whole fiasco is people's refusal to move on. Even on the 5th and 6th day in, people were still on about the embarkation blunder.

 

Get over it.

 

I'm not saying not to post here about it, because both customers and Princess employees should be informed about what could potentialy go wrong when a cruise line drops the ball.

 

I am saying that there are bigger problems in life in general, than a 3-4 hour extra wait in 85 degree weather, vs the snow infested tundra many of us came from.

 

All of these issues were very, very minor. In the end what comes out of all of this is the flexibility of people's character. Overall, most were adaptable enough and forgiving to continue to enjoy the cruise. Having said that there are a lot of people who expect perfection in an imperfect world. This is simply not realistic.

 

In any case, I believe me and "Goandsee" will continue on with Princess. Everyone deserves a second shot, and the staff for the most part did their best while themselves being put in difficult working conditions.

 

PS - we will still be sending an official letter to Princess informing them of some of our concerns, but while also being constructive, there will of course be praise for what was done well. Something that seemed to be forgotten by the negatrons on board.

 

I love your perspective. Small inconveniences are normal, expected and just part of life. If there is a bigger problem... contact those in charge, express your concerns, and move on.

If embarkation is long and hot... then "whew", we are all the more thankful when we get to dip in the pool or relax in the jacuzzi!!

 

I agree that Princess should have given more time to this dry dock, so that paying passengers could have fully enjoyed ALL of the advertised amenities. But they didn't. So you have to focus on the good, and take the "bad" with a grain of salt. After all... in terms of "bad", having a less-than-perfect cruise is a pretty good "problem" to have!! How many people in the world never even get to experience ONE vacation?? We are the fortunate ones!!

 

My favorite quote (and philosophy I try to live by) "The grass is greener on the side that you water!"

 

Our attitudes and expectations will make or break our experiences!! (Now, I'm not saying that these people don't have valid grievances, they were not given what was advertised. But all in all, it seems that most of them did like you, acknowledged the bad, and focused on the fantastic!) For those that can only focus on the negative, I am very sorry. I hope you try again, and have a better experience next time!!

[spongerob]

I have to say that had I gone through all of this, I might be more than a bit put-off myself. Delayed embarkation, work still being performed (and by the sounds if it, somewhat obtrusively), and an uncoordinated disembarkation combined are much more than anyone should be expected to shrug off entirely.

[davejohn]

Unfortunately most posters here are veteran cruisers, usually Princess fans and realize that this cruise was an anomaly. But I've talked to 2 people that were on this cruise and it was their first cruise on Princess, and according to them their last cruise on Princess.