Review for Caribbean Princess, 8 day Southern Caribbean, May 11-19

I had random thoughts while on board and thought I'd share them, as I find these sorts of reviews/comments handy when deciding on our future trips, so maybe someone else will.

First, a note, this is my wife and I's 7th cruise, but first with Princess. The others were all NCL, save one Disney cruise.

Overall, it was a great experience, and we enjoyed it a great deal.

Crew was mostly great, and I noticed a heavy presence of European and Eastern European staff, which stood out a bit from the standard compliment of NCL for example.

Fellow passengers were an interesting mix. My wife and I are in our early 40's and were by far the youngest we saw on average. There were a dozen couples we saw that were younger than us at most I think, though there were some multi-generational groups of grandparents, parents and kids together. Still, I can count on one hand the number of actual children and pre-teens I saw on the ship. Since our last cruise was Disney, it was a change :)

I think the older crowd effected much of the ship though, personally. The climate controls never seemed to go that cool, in our rooms or main areas. Several of the younger people, and even some of the older ones, agreed when I spoke to them about it. I don't think it ever got below 75 or so, and we prefer it cooler for sleeping. Still, a swim before bed helped.

And a lot of the entertainment steered to older music as well. Still, as people who appreciate the classics, we enjoyed it, but it was noticeable. That said, not having a ton of younger party types on board was very nice.

The entertainment was top notch though, and I want to call out especially one comedian on board, John Cassidy, a balloon/magician act who was hilarious!

The movies under the stars on the top deck were a lot of fun, with very comfortable seating. For those not familiar, they put large pillows on the deck chairs to make them very nice, and blankets and popcorn is available. Movies were top notch, with classics and new releases, such as Justice League, Black Panther, The Post, Battle of the Sexes and more. And after the top movies showed on deck, they'd be available in your cabin the next day on the tv. Along with dozens of other movies and shows.

Including the Love Boat :) I was too young to have watched it and never seen it in reruns but am aware of it in pop culture. But I laughed at how much they played it up, especially the safety video. It was very corny but oh so funny and cute.

Dining was good, some very tasty food and lots of mixed options, which I liked.

We wanted to go to the Crowne Grill but by the time we got onboard, it was full! Apparently most people do their reservations ahead of time. We chose not to, as we forgo Formal Night and needed to know what dates those were first, which aren't available till boarding. So that was a shame. Something to remember.

Still, we hit Planks and Steamers and it was great. I'm actually allergic to seafood but my wife loves it. And they allow you to mix the menus, so the night we were to Steamers, I could order from the Planks menu.

Anytime dining worked for us, but twice we saw very long lines as we left the dining room, around 6:30-7. We eat early, always have, so we didn't have it impact us, but did notice it.

Other odd thing, though we were always seated in private as requested, sometimes, their opinion of private dining was literally two tables separated by an inch of space, instead of directly touching. Still, we were re-seated each time we asked to be. We're not the most social people sometimes, especially with strangers.

A cool feature of the buffest was that they had hand sanitizers but also soap and water, which as people who hate the smell of the chemicals in the sanitizers, we loved.

I read quite a bit on the dress codes before going, as we hate dressing up heavily. Slacks and a dress shirt? Sure. Suit/tie or tux? No. And my wife hates it even more. So on the formal nights, we hit the buffet. So can't comment on how they enforce things on formal nights but on smart casual nights, there is no enforcement in the Main Dining Rooms. We saw people in shorts/t-shirts, and on the last night, the guy next to us wore ripped jean shorts, t-shirt and a ball cap, which I found odd, since I thought most in the older generation agreed caps off for dinner. One night someone in a muscle shirt with no sleeves was in a party, and the hostess started to say to him he had to have sleeves and he walked off to the table. She turned to the maitre'd who shrugged and they both went back to greeting other guests.

So long and short, it's very up to the hosts clearly on if they care to make an issue of it, and my guess is, more often than not, they don't.

Our cabin was very nice and quite large in my opinion. The closest space was the biggest we ever had on a ship. We were on Deck 10, with a balcony cabin.

The balcony on deck 10 is amazing, huge. You can easily have two reclining chairs and a table there, which we did and not be crowded. Only half is covered but that means you can choose to be in the sun or not. Nice on the last sea day when it rained. However, decks down further do not have this. I could clearly see the cabins on deck 9 had no covered balcony under me.

Their new beds are very nice and you sink right into them to sleep.

Our cabin steward was a mixed bag. He started off great I thought. We had a few requests after boarding, such as a sharps container and extra hangars, all of which he provided quickly. But on the third night, it sorta went south.

We were off ship most of the day in Curacao and at a show that night, so when we got back in the evening, were tired and the room had been made with fresh sheets. Sort of. Upon pulling back the duvet to go to bed, we noticed the sheets were actually stained. I can't say what the sheets were stained with but my pillowcase had clear dried and washed blood stains on it. My guess was a nosebleed by a previous guest.

I am annoyed ships laundry didn't catch that, but more that the steward didn't. How do you make a bed with white linens and not notice dark stains on them? Aren't they supposed to be inspecting the rooms while they do them?

Still, that was less the issue then his attitude when we called to have them changed. He was annoyed, clearly, that we wanted him to come back and change the sheets out and that we wanted it done now, so we could go to bed. I noticed after that night he was less friendly to us and frankly our room was never properly maintained. We considered complaining but decided it was a minor thing and chose not to. Still, not too impressed.

He also had a major issue with us being on the balcony while he cleaned the room, which really annoyed us. We pay for a balcony room as often, especially on at-sea days, we like to spend the day on the balcony and often stay in the room for most of the day. But he said it 'was policy' not to clean the room if guests were around, regardless of their desires.

Also on occasion had issues getting answers to simple questions. I went through four people, with four different answers, on when the pool closes at night. That shouldn't be hard. BTW, if curious, the answer seems to be 'when the bridge tells us to.'

Still, those were very minor issues and overall it was highly enjoyable.

I especially love their deposit program, which seems superior to others, where you lose the money. Here, don't use it, get it back.

That said, it seems their loyalty program isn't quite at the level of some others, in terms of discounts on things like photo packages for example.

I had a birthday while on board, which they knew and had a sign and balloons on our cabin door, which was nice. But I also got two gift cards, one for 25$ for the onboard stores and one for 50$ for the spa. Very nice and unexpected.

Two notes on tours we did.

At Aruba, we did the Island Highlights and Beach tour, which was fun, though the beach a tad expensive for food or chairs. One note on it though, they don't have towels for rent, and the excursion desk doesn't tell you that. So FYI.

I also did the Ultimate Behind the Scenes tour which was very cool, better than others I've done. One annoying point though, they don't let you take your own picture, which I find silly. Sure, say in the engine room I can't take pictures. But in the galley or laundry? Why not? Still, it was a good tour and I encourage people who like geeking out over details and secrets to take it. It hit lot of fun areas including med center, laundry, galley, photo lab, engineering control and bridge.

That's about all I can think of, but if you have any questions, ask below!

you would have been fine in the mdr on formal night(s) in your slacks and dress shirt:halo:

we have seen people turned away on regular 'smart casual' nights for shorts, but it seems almost anything goes on both the first night and last night.

Thank you for your review; some minor mix ups can happen. The stained sheets was a valid concern by you. As for having cabin steward clean while you are there; I would say; just skip cleaning today and leave some fresh towels and then you will be undisturbed for the day. Glad you had a good time

We wanted to go to the Crowne Grill but by the time we got onboard, it was full! That's unusual, generally the CG isn't booked full. Maybe, it was the time that you wanted?

 

Other odd thing, though we were always seated in private as requested, sometimes, their opinion of private dining was literally two tables separated by an inch of space, instead of directly touching. Still, we were re-seated each time we asked to be. We're not the most social people sometimes, especially with strangers. Don't let the close together tables stop you from sitting there. You can interact or not. Usually not works just fine.

 

I read quite a bit on the dress codes before going, as we hate dressing up heavily. Slacks and a dress shirt? Sure. Suit/tie or tux? No. And my wife hates it even more. So on the formal nights, we hit the buffet. Wear what you want on formal nights in the MDR, as long as your clothes are just a tiny bit nicer than usual. Nothing will be said.

 

Our cabin was very nice and quite large in my opinion. The closet space was the biggest we ever had on a ship. We were on Deck 10, with a balcony cabin. Princess closets are great.:D

 

Our cabin steward was a mixed bag. He started off great I thought. We had a few requests after boarding, such as a sharps container and extra hangars, all of which he provided quickly. But on the third night, it sorta went south.

 

We were off ship most of the day in Curacao and at a show that night, so when we got back in the evening, were tired and the room had been made with fresh sheets. Sort of. Upon pulling back the duvet to go to bed, we noticed the sheets were actually stained. I can't say what the sheets were stained with but my pillowcase had clear dried and washed blood stains on it. My guess was a nosebleed by a previous guest.

 

I am annoyed ships laundry didn't catch that, but more that the steward didn't. How do you make a bed with white linens and not notice dark stains on them? Aren't they supposed to be inspecting the rooms while they do them?

 

Still, that was less the issue then his attitude when we called to have them changed. He was annoyed, clearly, that we wanted him to come back and change the sheets out and that we wanted it done now, so we could go to bed. I noticed after that night he was less friendly to us and frankly our room was never properly maintained. We considered complaining but decided it was a minor thing and chose not to. Still, not too impressed. You should have said something. A small complaint with the supervisor or at passenger services would have changed his attitude.

 

He also had a major issue with us being on the balcony while he cleaned the room, which really annoyed us. We pay for a balcony room as often, especially on at-sea days, we like to spend the day on the balcony and often stay in the room for most of the day. But he said it 'was policy' not to clean the room if guests were around, regardless of their desires. Pretty sure that's not correct. We've been on the balcony several times when the steward came in to clean. He'd ask if it was OK to continue and got started when we said "yes".

 

I especially love their deposit program, which seems superior to others, where you lose the money. Here, don't use it, get it back. Yes, love the FCDs. Hope you bought more than one.;p

 

I had a birthday while on board, which they knew and had a sign and balloons on our cabin door, which was nice. But I also got two gift cards, one for 25$ for the onboard stores and one for 50$ for the spa. Very nice and unexpected. How nice!! We've never gotten anything besides balloons and a sign.:loudcry:

Nice mini review. Thank You.

Are you aware of the Shareholder's Credit OBC and the Veteran's OBC. If not, do a search here and learn about them. Also, a really nice thing from Princess.

Thank you for posting your review.:)

Was the tv mounted on the wall?

What did you guys order from Steamers and Planks?

We were on the Caribbean Princess April 1. The TV was mounted on the wall and had the "on demand" feature.

I'm surprised that OP found the cabins to be large after cruising on DCL. A Disney cabin is significantly larger than a Princess cabin. For instance, DCL normal balcony cabins are 268 sq. ft. compared to 222 on Princess (both including balcony.) It may not sound like a lot, but we were surprised at how small Princess cabins seemed.

 

We wanted to go to the Crowne Grill but by the time we got onboard, it was full! Apparently most people do their reservations ahead of time.

As another poster noted, it is rare for a specialty restaurant to be fully book for the cruise, especially by embarkation day.

However, sometimes there are booking promotions that include a specialty restaurant meal. It that promotion had included your cruise, a good number of passengers might have received that perk and that might be why no reservations were available when you checked.

Responses to questions/comments:

JF - retired RRT re: Crowne Grill. No, it surprised me to, so I called back twice to confirm over two days and each time the people on the reservation desk confirmed it was sold out for the entire cruise. Oh well, last night the MDR had steak so worked out I guess. As for complaining about the steward, we considered it, but decided we didn't want to risk him becoming more annoyed yet still being tasked with our room, since we prefer not to have angry strangers having access to our bed, toothbrushes and more :(

Cruzinbabe06 re: TV mounted to wall. Sort of, I think. It was in the top left corner of the room, beside the patio doors, above a shelf. Space below it then the cupboard with the fridge in it. Huge TV as well, bigger then the one in our living room I think. At Planks, we got a mixed plate, with ribs, chicken drumsticks, pulled pork and the sausage. Loved the wedge fries that came with it! For Steamers, my wife got the Broiled Platter and added the Lobster and Crab. Pic attached :)

moki'smommy re: cabin size. I'm not sure, maybe layout? It just seemed larger to us but I agree that the numbers don't support it. Again, the huge closet space may have had an impact on our perceptions.

caribill re: Crowne Grill. Good point, hadn't considerde the idea of promotions. I know with NCL when they have those, we make it a point to reserve in advance, but again, we wanted to schedule around Formal Night so held off, and lost out. Oh well, c'est la vie. Know for next time.

Fellow passengers were an interesting mix. My wife and I are in our early 40's and were by far the youngest we saw on average. There were a dozen couples we saw that were younger than us at most I think, though there were some multi-generational groups of grandparents, parents and kids together. Still, I can count on one hand the number of actual children and pre-teens I saw on the ship. Since our last cruise was Disney, it was a change :)

 

I think the older crowd effected much of the ship though, personally. The climate controls never seemed to go that cool, in our rooms or main areas. Several of the younger people, and even some of the older ones, agreed when I spoke to them about it. I don't think it ever got below 75 or so, and we prefer it cooler for sleeping. Still, a swim before bed helped.

 

And a lot of the entertainment steered to older music as well. Still, as people who appreciate the classics, we enjoyed it, but it was noticeable. That said, not having a ton of younger party types on board was very nice.

 

The entertainment was top notch though, and I want to call out especially one comedian on board, John Cassidy, a balloon/magician act who was hilarious!

I agree with your assessment; the crowd definitely skewed older than on DCL or even NCL. I, too, am in my 40s, and was younger than the majority of people I met. One big perk of this was that people were overall much more courteous. There was considerably less line jumping, and pushing their way through crowds, and people were happy to shift spots so others could be accommodated at the bars.

I also agree about the entertainment. Shows in the Princess Theater were universally very good. Our personal favorite was Derrick Cameron, the first stand-up comic. We laughed so hard it physically hurt! The bar music was more low-key, with less crowd involvement, than I prefer, but not lacking for quality. Overall it was a nice change of pace, and we thoroughly enjoyed our cruise.

Thank You for your review.

Tony

Thank you for responding and the photo.

I'm going to give Steamers and Planks a try!:D

Thanks for your review!

We have never had an issue wanting to sit on balcony whilst steward cleaned the room. Last cruise was January 2018, so there might have been a policy change in the last few months.

Interesting review..we sail Caribbean Princess in 2019.

 

I read quite a bit on the dress codes before going, as we hate dressing up heavily. Slacks and a dress shirt? Sure. Suit/tie or tux? No. And my wife hates it even more. So on the formal nights, we hit the buffet. So can't comment on how they enforce things on formal nights but on smart casual nights, there is no enforcement in the Main Dining Rooms. We saw people in shorts/t-shirts, and on the last night, the guy next to us wore ripped jean shorts, t-shirt and a ball cap, which I found odd, since I thought most in the older generation agreed caps off for dinner. One night someone in a muscle shirt with no sleeves was in a party, and the hostess started to say to him he had to have sleeves and he walked off to the table. She turned to the maitre'd who shrugged and they both went back to greeting other guests.

Fairly typical for most Princess ships.

So long and short, it's very up to the hosts clearly on if they care to make an issue of it, and my guess is, more often than not, they don't.

 

Princess doesn't like to upset any of it's passengers.

 

 

He also had a major issue with us being on the balcony while he cleaned the room, which really annoyed us. We pay for a balcony room as often, especially on at-sea days, we like to spend the day on the balcony and often stay in the room for most of the day. But he said it 'was policy' not to clean the room if guests were around, regardless of their desires.

 

Some stewards just have different preferences. On our last trip we switched cabins on a B2B. The first trip our steward wouldn't leave our card in the light slot & told us it was a Princess rule and must be removed.

We moved down the hall a short ways, had a different steward & he couldn't care less.

 

I had a birthday while on board, which they knew and had a sign and balloons on our cabin door, which was nice. But I also got two gift cards, one for 25$ for the onboard stores and one for 50$ for the spa. Very nice and unexpected.

 

Sounds more like a discount promotion where if you spend so much they'll give you a discount of $25 for their stores.

 

 

That's about all I can think of, but if you have any questions, ask below!

Sounds like most things haven changed much on the Caribbean Princess. Glad to hear the food hasn't gone downhill. :)

We were on the same cruise and encountered the same issue with the Crown Grill. We couldn't get a reservation until 9:30 on any night. We did what has worked for us in the past, just walked up to see if there were any openings. The first night no, but the second formal night we got right in around 7:30.

We didn't have any steward issues but we agree with your review. We thought the temperature was just our issue. We even had maintenance up a couple of times. It did seem to get better after they were there.

We were impressed with the condition of the ship, pleasantly surprised with our dinner at Planks and thought the buffet was noticeably better than past cruises. We ate mostly in Anytime Dining around 7:30 and never had to wait for a table for two.

Thanks for your review. Glad you had a good time as well.

I was also on the May 11th sailing. I had been on the Caribbean Princess last year for a British Isles cruise. They do maintain the ship well. Overall, I liked the entertainment. This was the first time I was on a ship where the singers/dancers changed during the cruise. I always figured a contract went to the end of a particular cruise.

I had Club Class dining and they have added a few extra items. They brought out different appetizers to start the meal on sea days lunch. A nice touch. The service was excellent. I was surprised they moved Club Class for disembarkation to a section of the Palm. It seemed like a lot of extra work.

For those who are concerned about the Caribbean Princess, don't be. The staff was up to the usual Princess standard. I would sail on her again, but next I will be trying the Sky Princess.

We were on the Caribbean Princess April 1. The TV was mounted on the wall and had the "on demand" feature.

 

I'm surprised that OP found the cabins to be large after cruising on DCL. A Disney cabin is significantly larger than a Princess cabin. For instance' date=' DCL normal balcony cabins are 268 sq. ft. compared to 222 on Princess (both including balcony.) It may not sound like a lot, but we were surprised at how small Princess cabins seemed.[/quote']

 

What did you pay for that Disney cabin ???

Ah, I'm leaving this weekend on the same ship! So excited. Thank you for your review!

I'm also in my early 40's, but I"m looking forward to a quieter and more mature crowd. Bliss!

To the OP, thanks for sharing your thoughts. My sister and I were on the same cruise - and on the behind the scenes tour with you. We thoroughly enjoyed the tour. We had done a similar tour on a Carnival ship, but had not seen the mooring area, with the ropes - make that "lines" - and the anchor chain. That was something to experience. At every stop, the staff took time from their busy day to explain the function of their department.

We also found that our cabin was warmer than we like - so warm upon embarking that my sister called guest services to insist on it being corrected. Later on during the evening of embarkation day the room cooled a bit, but it was never cool enough for us, especially given those ridiculously heavy duvets that are warmer than anything I use on my own bed in the middle of a Wisconsin winter. We were OK with most of the public areas being on the warm side, but we would have appreciated more cooling in the cabin at night.

I agree about the tables for two that are waaaay too close to the adjacent table. Yes, you can avoid interacting with the other people, but you hear their conversation and they hear yours. It's awkward. If we wanted to be sociable, we would have asked to share a table.

We had a pre-arranged dinner at Sabatini's as a gift from our travel agent. There was a card in our cabin stating the date and time. The time was later than we like, given that we had an early excursion the next morning. About the 2nd day of the cruise, we tried to change the time for something earlier on any night of the cruise but were told nothing was available. On the night of our reservation, we arrived about 40 minutes earlier than our scheduled time and were seated immediately - and saw other empty tables. We have no idea how they manage the reservations, but we were happy to eat a bit earlier. If you find yourself in the same situation, it can't hurt to show up at your preferred time and ask if a table is available.

We were in a mini-suite on Deck 9 - one of those with the uncovered balcony. Yeah, sometimes it was too sunny to use in the heat of the day, but we still got good use out of it, and we were very happy with the space and the layout of the mini-suite. We did chuckle at the mini-suite "perk" of a welcome glass of champagne - brought to use by our steward 5 minutes before the safety drill. Would you chug it or put it in the fridge to drink later when flat??

Our cabin steward was fine. We asked to have 4 bath towels at all times, and after one slip-up, he then gave us our 4 towels every day.

Loved the comfy beds - but not those duvets, as I have mentioned.

The embarkation process was about the fastest I remember in over 20 cruises on various lines. We arrived around 12:30 and moved right though the process with no waiting. Disembarkation was also efficient by our standards. Kudos to Princess for how these activities were handled.

We ate a lot of meals in the buffet. We like the salad and vegetable selections - more impressive than our Sabatini dinner, at which I had a few pieces of lettuce in a salad and 2 stalks of asparagus on the plate with my main dish. We found the buffet to be well stocked with a good variety of choices. The different stations allow people to move through more efficiently. If you only wanted cereal for breakfast, you didn't have to stand in the eggs-and-bacon line. Having hand washing sinks at the buffet entrances is a great idea. It was also great that staff at the buffet asked if we wanted anything to drink as soon as we sat down. Since trays in the buffet are a thing of the past, it's nice not to have to make a separate trip for a glass of water or cup of coffee.

Now that i have hijacked the OP's review, I will end by saying that we enjoyed the cruise, and we were not at all bothered by the altered port times due to the mechanical issue, nor did we notice any effects of that issue. I had been on the CB with a friend back in 2009, my sister hadn't been on Princess before. Our most recent cruises have been on Carnival, and it was fun to try something different.

Thanks for the review.

I was also on the May 11th sailing. I had been on the Caribbean Princess last year for a British Isles cruise. They do maintain the ship well. Overall, I liked the entertainment. This was the first time I was on a ship where the singers/dancers changed during the cruise. I always figured a contract went to the end of a particular cruise.

 

When there is a switch in the production show entertainers there is always an overlap where both the old and new people are on board so that the old cast can help the new cast during the switchover. Rehearsing the shows on land is a little different from performing on a moving ship and the old cast helps the new cast through this transition.

So you may see the old cast near the start of the cruise and the new cast by the end of the cruise. When the new cast is performing, you might see the old cast in the audience watching them.

How do you sign up for the tour? Is there an extra charge for that? I'd love to see the inner workings of the ship.

 

 

I had a birthday while on board, which they knew and had a sign and balloons on our cabin door, which was nice. But I also got two gift cards, one for 25$ for the onboard stores and one for 50$ for the spa. Very nice and unexpected.

You were very lucky.

I have had a birthday aboard several of our cruises and received balloons and a sign, together with a card for a cake at dinner, in the restaurant.

Might someone (friend/family/TA) have gifted you the gift cards??

How do you sign up for the tour? Is there an extra charge for that? I'd love to see the inner workings of the ship.

The charge was $150. We were told they take a maximum of only 11 people, so if you are interested, sign up (at guest services) as soon as you board. Be aware that long pants and closed shoes are required - no shorts or sandals.

As mentioned, the tour is 150, which is expensive, but is the best tour I've done. It does fill up fast though and as stated, has a limited amount of slots.

A note I forgot to add re: the heat, but a comment reminded me. The duvet is quite warm, so skip it! We asked for a blanket, which my wife used and I just used the sheet. Much lighter then the duvet