Impressions of my first Princess Cruise

I am just off a 14 day southern and western Caribbean Cruise on the Caribbean Princess. This was my first Princess Cruise and I have a few impressions to share. I have sailed with Carnival, RCL, NCL, HAL, Celebrity and Costa and I have had no "bad" cruises. That being said my initial impression of Princess overall was that it felt like it was on par with Carnival, Royal and NCL and didn't feel like a step up to me. Some of my pros and cons are as follows:

First my gripes:

1) Juice selection in the buffet was poor, (only orange juice, lemonade, or ice tea was available).

2) No real ice cream at scoop's only soft serve and hours open were limited (never when I went by :()

3) The beds were hard as a rock. Some people like this, I am not one of them.

4) This one is petty (I admit) but the Princess Patter for the next day never came until about 10:00pm.

5) The TV's are not interactive, and the tv guide is an exercise in frustration. Movies were repeated over and over along with Love Boat reruns.

6) The past guest party was lame. (I got an invite after the first leg of a back to back).

7) Entertainment was kind of spotty. Some shows were very good others, not so much.

The Positives-

1) Dinners were great as was the service in the main dining room.

2) The theater had no pillars blocking the view of the stage. It did seem to be too small for the number of people attending the shows, however.

3) No trouble finding deck chairs as there were at least 3 big pools along with 2 smaller ones which spread the crowds out. That was awesome, I hate the daily chair hunt.

4) Rooms were ready when we boarded about 12:00.

5) Production show singers and guest soprano were very good.

So those are my initial thoughts. Maybe its just me, but I just didn't get wowed by it. Some of my gripes are based on my expectations because I thought Princess would be a step up from Carnival (think "real" ice cream vs soft serve). These are my subjective opinions...other opinions may vary.;)

Thanks for your comments.

They used to have regular ice cream in the buffet from a cart every day around 4.

Homemade and excellent! Victim of cutbacks. :(

Have always hated the soft serve ice milk. yuk........

It really depends on which ship you are on when it comes to ice cream. On the Diamond there are scoops but you have to pay for it. You can check on the Princess website to see which ships have the ice cream parlor by the pool.

Our patters were delivered in the middle of the night for us on every cruise we have been on with Princess.

Princess has been replacing all beds and the last two cruises we were on we had the new comfy beds.

I agree with the TV's

Thanks for your feedback!

Maybe you can try the Royal and Regal next time. It has interactive TV.

Good feedback. Overall you had a good cruise; with a few minor gripes. Nothing that ruined your time onboard. And so your next cruise with be with ?

On all of our Princess cruises we have always had the choice of OJ, apple, cranberry and sometimes grapefruit juice in the buffet during breakfast.Lemonade and tea are there throughout the day.

Patters are usually at the cabin by 9. This last cruise on the Ruby we had them by 7 pm. Great cabin steward.

First my gripes:

1) Juice selection in the buffet was poor, (only orange juice, lemonade, or ice tea was available).

2) No real ice cream at scoop's only soft serve and hours open were limited (never when I went by :()

3) The beds were hard as a rock. Some people like this, I am not one of them.

4) This one is petty (I admit) but the Princess Patter for the next day never came until about 10:00pm.

5) The TV's are not interactive, and the tv guide is an exercise in frustration. Movies were repeated over and over along with Love Boat reruns.

6) The past guest party was lame. (I got an invite after the first leg of a back to back).

7) Entertainment was kind of spotty. Some shows were very good others, not so much.

2) Too many people complained that they had to pay a small amount at Scoops for "real" ice cream plus the buffet had "make your own sundae" every day from 3:30-4:30pm. Princess listened and gave passengers what they want.

3. Ask for a mattress pad. Easy fix.

4. Depends on the CD and your steward. A 10pm delivery is not on all ships.

5. The Royal and Regal have on-demand movies, TV shows, repeats of onboard lectures, etc. No charge.

6. I never go to those anyway. :)

7. Entertainment depends on the CD and ship. It varies.

I can only compare with Carnival Magic and RCCL Explorer of the Seas but I though my cruise on Star Princess was the best of the 3. A bit better than RCCL and WAY better than Carnival.

RCCL food I found used too much rich sauces for my taste. I did like Windjammer (buffet) and liked Main Street USA in the ship. Also thought RCCL entertainment was great. Bed was hard as a rock. Entertainment lively at night.

Carnival was CROWDED. Lines for everything everywhere. Buffet was bottom tier food with lines lines lines. No waiter drink service in buffet. Live entertainment was terrible. Atrium was a real downer ... felt like a 3 star hotel not a 4 or 5. Bars massively over crowded. MDR was decent ... ok food and great service. Cabin was huge it's top tier bed, linens and towels. Great promenade deck with pub, outdoor seating and whirlpool. We stayed on our balcony half the cruise lol. Can't fault the pricing ... 400 pp casino rate for a week. Was worth it at that price.

Star Princess was great. Buffet noticeably better than Carnival and no lines. MDR food the best of the 3. Huge balcony (caribe deck, glad I researched that). Bed was comfy. Cabin wasnt as big as Carnival but way better than RCCL. Lots of live entertainment and live music. Gorgeous Atrium.

Thanks for your comments.

They used to have regular ice cream in the buffet from a cart every day around 4.

Homemade and excellent! Victim of cutbacks. :(

Have always hated the soft serve ice milk. yuk........

The one Celebrity Cruise and the Holland America cruise I was on both had real ice cream. I guess I was expecting the same from Princess, thus my disappointment.

Thanks for your feedback!

Maybe you can try the Royal and Regal next time. It has interactive TV.

Those may be the ships to try. I understand the Caribbean Princess is due for a dry dock, and maybe it will get new beds AND TV's.

The one Celebrity Cruise and the Holland America cruise I was on both had real ice cream. I guess I was expecting the same from Princess, thus my disappointment.

You can, of course, get ice cream at dinner in MDR. Either order what is on the menu or order the Volcano from the kid's menu. LOTS of ice cream there. :)

I often ask for either grapefruit or tomato juice in the buffet or at breakfast in MDR. Never a problem.

1) Juice selection in the buffet was poor, (only orange juice, lemonade, or ice tea was available). Did you ask any of the buffet stewards for any other juice? I have always seen other types being served.

2) No real ice cream at scoop's only soft serve and hours open were limited (never when I went by :() First I have ever heard that the ice cream stand on any ship was not open every day continuously from 11 AM to 10 or 11 PM. (Hope you did take advantage of the "real" ice cream available every lunch and dinner in the MDR)

3) The beds were hard as a rock. Some people like this, I am not one of them. Well you will enjoy your next Princess cruise if you choose a ship that has had the new 'Princess Luxury Beds' installed as they are absolute mush.

4) This one is petty (I admit) but the Princess Patter for the next day never came until about 10:00pm. We always do late seating dinner and the Patter is in the cabin should we stop by right after. Don't know why it would be needed earlier than the time the current night's entertainment concludes.

5) The TV's are not interactive, and the tv guide is an exercise in frustration. Movies were repeated over and over along with Love Boat reruns. Yes, Princess has reneged on their earlier promise to install the interactive TV that the new ships have on their old ships. Maybe they refuse to upgrade the offerings (and have stopped issuing a printed program guide) to make one feel that there is always something more interesting outside the cabin??

6) The past guest party was lame. (I got an invite after the first leg of a back to back). Admittedly it is short and not the free flowing booze fest as on RCI and X. But most long time Princess pax seem to prefer it that way--and still prefer that compliance with the dress code is at least 'requested'.

7) Entertainment was kind of spotty. Some shows were very good others, not so much. Nothing appeals to everyone; you did state below that you enjoyed the production shows and at least one guest vocalist, which is par for the course.

My thoughts added to yours above. Sounds like you would be happier on a line that emphasizes cabin amenities more than Princess does. As someone that uses their cabin only for "the four S's" I find them more than adequate.

And further to the ice cream debate: better to have soft-serve from a machine that is freshly made rather than the pitiful months-old freezer-burn-covered stale garbage I found at the Ben & Jerry's counter on an RCI ship a couple years ago.

Thank you for your thoughts. We all have different experiences and learn as we go. We t does sound like you had a good cruise despite some of the things you didn't like.

I am just off a 14 day southern and western Caribbean Cruise on the Caribbean Princess. This was my first Princess Cruise and I have a few impressions to share. I have sailed with Carnival, RCL, NCL, HAL, Celebrity and Costa and I have had no "bad" cruises. That being said my initial impression of Princess overall was that it felt like it was on par with Carnival, Royal and NCL and didn't feel like a step up to me. Some of my pros and cons are as follows:

First my gripes:

1) Juice selection in the buffet was poor, (only orange juice, lemonade, or ice tea was available). Pineapple, grapefruit, tomato, apple and cranberry are also available at breakfast. When the server comes to your table and asks if you want a beverage, just ask for the type juice you want.

2) No real ice cream at scoop's only soft serve and hours open were limited (never when I went by :() Scoops is usually open from 11 AM to 9 PM on most Princess ships. Not sure why you did not find it open when you went there. "Real" ice cream is available in the dining rooms at lunch and dinner. It is ice cream made on the ship.

3) The beds were hard as a rock. Some people like this, I am not one of them.

4) This one is petty (I admit) but the Princess Patter for the next day never came until about 10:00pm. I agree 10 PM is late for this. Usually it is sent to cabins by around 8 PM.

5) The TV's are not interactive, and the tv guide is an exercise in frustration. Movies were repeated over and over along with Love Boat reruns. The Royal and Regal (and a couple of other ships) do have interactive TVs and the ships that do not have them yet will get this over the next several years as the medallion concept is implemented.

6) The past guest party was lame. (I got an invite after the first leg of a back to back).

7) Entertainment was kind of spotty. Some shows were very good others, not so much.

see above in red

I was going to post corrected information regarding some of your issues, until I got to the end of the posts and realized they been "asked & answered".

Too bad you didn't ask some questions about your issues while you were on the ship, you would probably have had a more enjoyable cruise.

We sailed Carnival one time. Never again. But, everyone has different things that matter to them. Ice cream isn't a big deal to us. We felt the service was really lacking on Carnival, but some may not object because you do get towel animals in the cabin.

Thank you for your thoughts. We have sailed most of mass market lines and are big Princess fans due to variety of reasons, most of them small gripes against other lines and little things Princess does better. Everyone has different tastes.

As for your list:

- I always ask for tomato juice at the buffet and get it, no issues

- Depending on a staff person, I was almost always able to get real ice cream they use for smoothies as a scoop for DS instead of a smoothie. He does always have a drink card, so may be they process it as a smoothie?

- I am one of the "hard bed" people :)

- we never return to the cabin before 10 pm anyways, so cant tell you when my patters are delivered

- the interactive TV is where Princess is lacking IMHO, but I am not there to watch TV

- we are Platinum now, so different party than previous tiers. Nothing to write home about on any other line either.

- entertainment is kind of spotty on every ship, regardless of line. To me Princess, has more of upscale/intellectual/subdued offerings. I like it more than Carnival/NCL choices. Cant remember RCCL offerings much, havent done them in a while.

We sailed Carnival one time. Never again. But, everyone has different things that matter to them. Ice cream isn't a big deal to us. We felt the service was really lacking on Carnival, but some may not object because you do get towel animals in the cabin.

We get towel animals on Princess all the time, but we do have a kid sailing with us.

A towel animal should not be a deal breaker for sailing with a cruise line. Although I have heard otherwise....

You were, in my opinion and of several people i cruise with, on the worst ship in the Princess fleet.

Try crown, star, grand, royal and your experience will be hugely increased.

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When the Caribbean Princess goes into dry dock, I would think the TV's will be changed out to the interactive ones as this will be the third ship using the new Medallion system.

I was on her in January and could see some of the issues you brought up. You should try again after dry dock. I am looking forward to doing just that in the fall. I don't know if the systems will all be up and running by then, but the new mattresses TV's and other goodies should be there.

A lot of things the OP lists are valid observations. I think she'd be a lot happier on the Regal or Royal Princess.

HAL definitely has more and better juice options. The last time we sailed with them (3 years ago), the free OJ was fresh squeezed. DH loved their more exotic juice offerings like mango and guava.

thanks for taking the time and sharing your thoughts. always good to read.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the cruise! We too have never had a bad cruise, but have found some we like more than others [emoji4]

No one has mentioned prune juice!! We like a small glass daily (when cruising only as the rich foods do funny things to our insides). Room service or MDR and Horizon court will all bring juice in small glasses (at breakfast time only).

The beds are hit or miss. The new beds are amazing and you can request a bed topper as well. Too bad you didn't get to do that on you B2B cruises.

What will your next cruise be?

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