All I can say is WOW - just off Caribbean Princess

I have posted before that I was nervous about this cruise because I have always sailed RCCL. WOW, does not describe this ship. Here are my thoughts. ** please remember that the opinions here are just that, my observations and experiences. others may not feel or experience the same **

PRO -

Ship is beautiful. Food was outstanding. Staff was very helpful and friendly. Aloha 751 balcony was worth EVERY cent I paid. Bert Stratton is the funniest & most talented man I've seen since Jim Carey. The seafood buffet in the Caribe was to die for!!!

CON -

Room service did not get our order right any of the 5 days we ordered (mind you we only ordered coffee & crossonts one day). Sterlings was the worst service I'd every had. Pictures were way too expensive, boring backgrounds and very disorganized trying to find your group. Not enough time to do everything. Shows were mediocre, I'd skip them next time.

I tried to take notes on other peoples questions, so I'd be happy to answer anything you might wanna ask.

I take it that the pros outweigh the cons??? We were on her last year and I think the CB Princess is a wonderful ship. Lynne

Thanks for your thoughts. Straight forward. Even the fact that they got your room service order 5 times (even when it was simple) shows that you didn't sweat the small stuff.

Michelle,

Sorry to hear you thought so many cons. We didn't order room service, so I couldn't compare on that. I agree, couldn't do everything, but isn't that a good thing? And the pictures, I could do without that. But many people liked them so I can't blame Princess for doing what they do (as evidenced by the crowds Friday night).

I do respect everyone is entitled to their own opinions – that’s what makes the world go around. I do, however, vehemently disagree with your opinion on Sterling’s. Mary and I have been to Sterling’s four times now, twice this last cruise and have been treated with excellent service, excellent quality and excellent value.

Sorry you didn’t make the meet-n-mingle I arraigned for our Roll Call group and didn’t get a chance to meet you until the end, but glad I had the chance to meet you.

Happiness and God Bless to you and your family,

Marlinmike

If you remember.... How much were the pictures? More than other lines?

Thanks!

Melissa :)

The pictures were expensive but we always buy some anyway. The 8x10 were $21.95 and the gangway and dinner pictures were $9.95.

We ate at Sterlings also and I have to say it was the best filet mignon I have ever had. Service was great and the food divine. We would eat there again.

Hey guys - I am so sorry that in my old age I thought it was the wheel house for the meeting.!!

Those of us that got our food at Sterlings ontime was very good. My daughter's filet (who's birthday celebration it was) was wrong twice. Notice that I said that the "SERVICE" was bad. Food was good. I was annoyed because we were the ONLY table on our side of the room and still couldn't get water glasses refilled. I would try it again maybe next time, everyone has a bad day.

Maybe cons was not the right word - I really liked the ship. I was looking at the school calendar trying to see when we could sail it again.

As for the pictures, I thought they did not have enough room to display all of them. For instance the boxes of embarkation pictures that you had to go thru.

Saw these questions on another post - I'll answer a few.

a) How was the coffee? - I THOUGHT IT WAS GOOD. IT IS STRONG AND I THINK IT HAS CHICKORY IN IT. I DRINK STRONG COFFEE SO I DIDN'T SEE A DIFFERENCE

b) Was it crouded? - YES, BUT YOU REALLY DIDN'T NOTICE. WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE POOL AREA AND THE DAY WE MISSED PC. IT WAS GLOOMY AND EVERYONE WAS INSIDE

c) Was the bacon really crispy? - NOT AT ALL ON THE BUFFET. IT WAS RATHER LIMP. TASTED FINE, JUST NOT CRISP. MAYBE THE DININGROOM WAS CRISPY, BUT WE DIDN'T EAT B'FAST THERE.

d) How was embarkation - I GOT TO THE PORT ABOUT 2PM. FORGETTING MY LETTER FROM MY HUSBAND THAT GAVE PERMISSION TO TAKE OUR DAUGHTER OUT OF THE COUNTRY, NOT A BIG DEAL THEY CALLED AND SPOKE TO HIM ON THE PHONE. BAMM WE WERE ON THE SHIP!

e) How was disembarkation - HORRIBLE. WAIT FOR YOUR COLOR WITH THE OTHER 3000 PEOPLE. MILL THRU DISNEY-ESQUE LINES (LONG LINES) TO THE LUGGAGE WHAREHOUSE AND THEN FIGHT WITH 750 PEOPLE TO WIN THE PRIZE OF YOUR LUGGAGE.

f) Were there towel animals - NONE

g) How much was a soda card - $31 THAT INCLUDED THE 15% GRATUITY. BEWARE, I PERSONALLY THOUGHT THAT THEY TREATED THE SODA CARD PEOPLE DIFFERENT. NOT AS QUICK TO SERVICE THEM.

h) Did you get robes - YES, NOT TO KEEP, NOT SURE IF ITS IN ALL. WE HAD A SUITE.

i) Did you have to dress up for formal nights - NO, WE ONLY DID THE SECOND FORMAL.

j) Was the soda watered down - NOT REALLY. IF YOU ARE FAMILIAR WITH SODA, THEY USE BAG IN THE BOX. AND IT IS COKE PRODUCTS.

Bowlersbus, The pictures are a pain to go through. If you decide to sail Princess again, ask at the photo desk if they would start an envelope for you. We did this for the first time on this sailing. Everytime we found our pictures, we would take them to the desk and ask them to put them in our envelope for us. It saved a lot of time. Last year and the year before it was a nightmare trying to find them all!

It was our first experience with Sterlings and we did enjoy it. Sorry yours wasn't as great. Try it again sometime, like you said it might have just been a bad day.

Dang, I wished I would have known about giving them to the desk. You are right that would have saved lots of time. We'd find them, put them together and then the next day they'd be all over again.

You guys had talked about Bert - he is SOOOO funny. And what a great voice.

Thanks for letting me know about the pics. It doesn't sound like they're more expensive than other lines.

They're just ALL expensive!! :)

Melissa :)

Aloha 751 balcony was worth EVERY cent I paid.

 

We're in A751 (Grand Cayman Suite) sailing on January 14, 2006!

 

Any hints on the cabin? How was the noise level from the wake? Could the people above look over the rail and see in your balcony?

 

How was Princess Cay? Crowded? How long to tender in?

 

John

We just found out about the envelope shortly before we cruised. Someone mentioned it on this board.

We have never sailed any other line but we also think the photos are expensive. We still buy a few.

The bacon in the dinig room was nice and crispy.

We too were on the CB. We had a wonderful cruise with the positives outweighing the negatives. Negatives: Having sailed on the Grand and the Star previously, we did notice that the public areas were more crowded than on the other Grand Class ships. The area for photographs was usually very crowded & it was difficult to find your pictures. We also had them hold our pictures in an envelope for us...but they lost our envelope. There are just too many people on this ship to display the pictures in any orderly fashion. We spent too much time on line & later found out that they can find the missing pictures in a matter of minutes by using their computer. All we had to tell them was the night the pictures were taken and the approximate time they were taken & we scanned the computer screen & in a few minutes located the missing photographs. Unfortunately, they didn't tell us that they could locate the pictures this way or we wouldn't have kept coming back to give them a chance to locate them in the envelope. Disembarkation was a nightmare. We were the first color called but there were so many people who apparently weren't called waiting to get off that we could not get off the ship for quite some time. We stood in a crowd and we couldn't move. Either Princess called the colors too quickly or people were lining up without their color being called. This was the worst disembarkation we have ever had. On the Star and the Grand the disembarkation went very smoothly.

Positives: The ship is beautiful...the artwork all over this ship is magnificent. We enjoyed the shows with Piano Man being one of the best production shows we have ever seen on a cruise. Bert Stratton was great, but there were so many people who came to see him every night that it was very crowded & we rarely got a seat. The dining room service in the Coral was very good & the food was excellent. We enjoyed the Caribe Cafe as an alternative dining option. Princess keeps the pools and hot tubs open until midnight & we were able to go to the hot tub late at night. The youth security they have on Princess ships is another positive. They had over 700 children on this ship and we didn't see any of them doing anything wrong. When the Captain announced that we wouldn't be going to Princess Cays each passenger was refunded $100.00 plus the port charges. We appreciated his honesty about the engine problem & were happy about the refund. We have been on other cruise lines that never refunded any money when we couldn't get to a port. Princess handled this situation very well.

This was a great cruise & we would sail on the CB again but probably would stay away from the photography area. Hopefully, Princess will improve on the disembarkation problems.

For the crispy bacon lovers.......You can hand a plate of "limp" bacon to anyone behind the buffet line at breakfast and they will cook it well done for you. My kids are very picky with that and I've never had a problem. :)

d) How was embarkation - I GOT TO THE PORT ABOUT 2PM. FORGETTING MY LETTER FROM MY HUSBAND THAT GAVE PERMISSION TO TAKE OUR DAUGHTER OUT OF THE COUNTRY, NOT A BIG DEAL THEY CALLED AND SPOKE TO HIM ON THE PHONE. BAMM WE WERE ON THE SHIP!

Tell me how this worked. Your daughter is 17, and they insisted on seeing written proof that you had her father's permission to take her out of the country???? At 17???

Carol

Hi..welcome home! Thanks for your review....

I will be staying in the same cabin on the January 21, 2006 cruise...(right after you Tandoorii!) I would love to hear more about the space in the cabin and the balcony of course...

Thanks!

Jane

A friend just sailed Princess to Alaska returning two weeks ago. She said that they looked at the lines the first formal night and said no way. They did the photos the second formal night and the line was very quick. Don't know if it's always that way, but it worked for them.

I'm not one for lines, so I won't be doing any photos if there is one. At least that's what I say now but I might get caught up in the thrill of the first cruise...:D

TANDOORII & MOONMOM,

You will never want to sail in any other cabin again. The balcony is worth every cent that this room cost. If you have JoJo as your steward he is the most accommadating person I have ever met. Switched our alcohol because we don't drink gin or congnac, got egg crate mattress covers, got us a bigger ice bucket, had extra stationary for my mom. I have pictures of the room and balcony if you'd like me to email them to you.

Room is HUGE - balcony is large enough to have a table, four chairs. 2 Lounge chairs w/table and 10 people for a sail a way party. The first thing I noticed was the vibration, alot. I am not sure if this was normal or a result of the engine problems we had. I am a very motion sickness prone person and did not have any problems. It is at the end of the hall next to the owners suite so there is basically no noise.

The bathroom had one room for the toilet & vanity and the other for the shower stall and HUGE jacuzzi tub.............sorry to babble but the room was breathtaking. You will enjoy it.

Tell me how this worked. Your daughter is 17, and they insisted on seeing written proof that you had her father's permission to take her out of the country???? At 17???

 

Carol

Yes, apparently there are new security laws. I had never had to do this before. If you are sailing with a minor you need a notorized statement that allows you to take the child out of the country from the parent or guardian that is not sailing with you.

Of course we were already at the Port when we found this out, the customs lady was very nice. Asked if my husband could be reached by phone and called and just verified that my daughter had permission to leave with me. She verified her birthday and some other things.

Oh Bowlersbus i would LOVE it if you could e-mail me the pics....i am really excited about this! I will be traveling with my mom who will be renting a scooter to help her get around..do you think that a small one can be easily stored in the room without too much cramping?

My e-mail is moonmom@optonline.net (is that allowed?!) New to this!

Thanks again!

Jane

Were there a lot of taxis when you got off the ship?

There were plenty of taxis. We nabbed a Porter and since there were four of us, he snagged a van to take us to the airport. All went very smoothly. We paid $8.00 each plus a tip. We were at the airport in minutes.

Yes, if it is just the 2 of you. With out the sofa opened to the bed you would have the whole living room area. You could park it along the wall between the 2 sliders.

Bowlersbus, glad to hear of your positive experiences and how great the room was! I've got the suite next to yours - 753 on my upcoming cruise.