Just Back from Caribbean Princess June 4 Sailing-What a Ride!

[Dreamer333]

Thanks for the review, Monk! Your enthusiasm is contagious... I can't wait to be on the CB again in Sept!!

 

As far as your wife... You must not give up your cruising dreams!! Simply find a friend/brother/family member to cruise with you!!

 

When my DH decided to pass on a cruise one year, I brought my sister with me (and of course he ended up being jealous that he was at home working while I was sailing the Caribbean!!) :D

[bobbyd6363]

Thanks for the reiview monk!

 

I am on the Island Princess this October and the Caribbean Princess in Feb '06! I CANT WAIT NOW!!!

[monk888]

Hey Monk, can you tell me about "Anytime Dining". Does this mean you can show up anytime between certain times for dinner?. How long is the wait or is there even a wait? I normally cruise Celebrity or RCCL where the time set for dining is more formal.

 

Milt and Kathy,

 

On the CB, anytime dining is just like going to a restaurant. You can show up at one of two restaurants on the ship and tell them you want a table. If one is available, they seat you immediately. If not, they take your name and you go grab a drink at the nearest bar and wait. The average waits are usually under 15 minutes. If you want, you can make a standing reservation at say 7PM nightly and then just adjust accordingly. If you're having too much fun, just call the concierge and tell them to cancel for that night.

 

On the CB, you can also go to the Horizon Court/Cafe Caribe at any time, day or night, 24/7, and eat. You can do that whether or not you have traditional dining or anytime dining. Just wander in, pick up a plate, fill it up and eat. Same thing with Prego Pizza. Just walk up, tell them what you want or walk away with some delicious pizza. Same thing at the Trident Grill that serves burgers, dogs, brats and fries.

 

As God as my witness, when you sail on the CB, you'll never be hungry again!

 

The Monk

[cruisegirl25]

Does anyone know if the grill has grilled chicken or just hamburgers and cheeseburgers on the Caribbean princess

[monk888]

I don't remember seeing any grilled chicken breasts at the Trident Grill, just dogs, burgers, brats and fries. Sorry.

[marly]

Cruisegirl: Last December my hubby ate lunch at the Trident Grill almost every day. He said they had grilled chicken, bratwurst, hamburgers, hot dogs, and veggie burgers and of course french fries! I'm partial to the pizza myself.

Marly

[monk888]

I stand corrected.

[cjd606]

Just wanted to let you all know that we just got back from CP on the Western cruise. I will never cruise with Princess again. Our cabin steward was wonderful!! The excursions that we took were pretty great and we were able to get them in in spite of the rain. We took the turtle farm, Hell and the Stingrays in Grand Caymen and the dolphin swim in Cozumel. The dolphin swim I would recommend to anyone if they ever get the opportunity! We arrived on the Friday as stayed at the Marriott, near the convention center, that afternoon baraciades started to get put up around the convention center, because of digationaries coming into the city. We felt like we were in some foregin country and a military zone. What a joke for the bus to get to the hotel ans get to us. The wait staff in the Coral Dining room was horrible! Between getting orders wrong and announcing to a table of 10 who wants dessert, rather than asking each of us individually, like out other waiters did on previous nights. The topper on the Coral was when the waiter gave 4 knives to the place that an 18-month-old was sitting at. Who give knives to an 18-month old?? And don't even get me started on the disembarkation process!! making us feel like a bunch of refugees, and kicking you out of your room by 8 am and not actualy leaving the ship till about 10, then getting hearded through a warehouse to play seek and find for my luggage with everyong on the deck we stayed on, was a complete joke!! There has got to be a better way, to complete that process!! For my first experience on a cruise, I know I won't be heading back anytime soon again!!

[crusdiva]

Just wanted to let you all know that we just got back from CP on the Western cruise. I will never cruise with Princess again. Our cabin steward was wonderful!! The excursions that we took were pretty great and we were able to get them in in spite of the rain. We took the turtle farm, Hell and the Stingrays in Grand Caymen and the dolphin swim in Cozumel. The dolphin swim I would recommend to anyone if they ever get the opportunity! We arrived on the Friday as stayed at the Marriott, near the convention center, that afternoon baraciades started to get put up around the convention center, because of digationaries coming into the city. We felt like we were in some foregin country and a military zone. What a joke for the bus to get to the hotel ans get to us. The wait staff in the Coral Dining room was horrible! Between getting orders wrong and announcing to a table of 10 who wants dessert, rather than asking each of us individually, like out other waiters did on previous nights. The topper on the Coral was when the waiter gave 4 knives to the place that an 18-month-old was sitting at. Who give knives to an 18-month old?? And don't even get me started on the disembarkation process!! making us feel like a bunch of refugees, and kicking you out of your room by 8 am and not actualy leaving the ship till about 10, then getting hearded through a warehouse to play seek and find for my luggage with everyong on the deck we stayed on, was a complete joke!! There has got to be a better way, to complete that process!! For my first experience on a cruise, I know I won't be heading back anytime soon again!!

Sorry to hear that you didn't enjoy your cruise. It's too bad that you didn't register here before today as there are always friendly and helpful people on this board. If you had checked in here before your cruise you would have learned about the OAS convention in Ft. Lauderdale the weekend of your cruise, and been able to plan accordingly. While I do agree that placing knives in front of an 18 month old is stupid, you should know that no matter what cruiseline you pick you will be faced with "being hearded through a warehouse to play seek and find" for your luggage. No cruiseline I've ever been on has an answer for that. Yes, Princess does ask you to vacate your cabin early but there are plenty of places onboard to sit and wait for disembarkation. They have about 2 hours to turn the ship around and welcome oncoming passengers for the next cruise. Again sorry you didn't like Princess.

[cruisegirl25]

Mink and Cdj,

 

Thanks for the info on the grill. I like grill chicken but hate hamburgers so I am glad that I can get a good grilled chicken sandwich

[monk888]

cjd606,

 

It just goes to show you how different experiences can be on the same ship, on the same cruise at the same time in the same dining room. Our service in the Coral Dining Room could not have been better. It sounds like you ran into a bonehead that ruined things for you. However, boneheads are not unique to Princess. They can appear anywhere, anytime, on land or at sea.

 

As for getting thrown out of your room at 8AM, we stayed in our room until our color and number was finally called at 11AM. Of course, I had built a good relationship with our cabin steward during the entire week and had specifically asked him the night before to do the cabins that had already been vacated earlier and to save us until the latest he could. ;)

 

As for disembarking the ship, I agree that it was chaos in the big warehouse and that there must be a better way. However, to my knowledge, every cruise line does it this way, not just Princess.

 

Sorry you had a bad experience. I did when I was 19 on Carnival and vowed never to step on a ship again. Thankfully, I changed my mind last year and loved it. Perhaps, after some time, you will take another shot at it and have a much better experience as did I.

 

The Monk

[marly]

CJD606: Maybe I'm missing something, but are you basing your bad experience and now dislike for cruising on one bad waiter at one dinner and having to find your luggage upon debarkation? Considering that you guys were facing a hurricane and that's your only complaint, I'd say that the cruiseline did very well by you.

By the way, how do you feel about the way the airlines handle baggage?

Sorry, to hear you didn't have a good time. Evidently a cruise vacation just isn't for you.

Marly

[CruiseYVR]

if you did not like the waiter why not dine elsewhere? Why do so many people rant and rave about the formal dining? I think it sucks on any ship, regardless of the class. It is all a big show off party. Personally I never dine in the main dining rooms.

[spongerob]

CJD - we had a pretty bad disembarkation fiasco following our first cruise, too. It sounds like you had a good time for the most part otherwise, so you might be feeling a little PCD. As you can see, we got over the bad stuff, and didn't let the boneheads in Vancouver stop us from cruising.

[Northender]

Monk, thanks for the wonderful review. I have tentatively planned on doing the Golden late March/early April of 2006. Now, I think you have convinced me to try the CB. I do want to do all the Grand class ships before passing into that great cruise ship in the sky:D Maybe they will move the Golden out of PR and back to the East Coast. The flights right now are cost prohibitive (to us) to SJU and would have to take an extra vacation day with the new Sat/Sat schedule.:(

 

We too stay in our cabin as long as possible. We try to get an early afternoon flight and take the Princess Transportation to the airport. No rush, no fuss.:) Your analogy of the luggage warehouse is very good, I can just see Ms. Scarlett trying to find Capn Butler :D

 

Thanks again for the great review. By the way, is there anywhere one can call to see which ship a particular performer or band is entertaining.

Another great Comic is Steve? Schaffer. Laughed ourselves silly. He was only aboard for one night, so if you see him listed on your cruise, be sure to take advantage of his great humor.

 

Now to email the TA

[Cruisinforever]

Fantastic visuals through words! Love it! You have a way with words, monk888!

 

I, too, laughed at the "Gone With the Wind" comparison. It never bothered me so much that there were thousands of suitcases to weed through.... what bothered me is that when I finally *found* one of mine, I could hardly budge it through the narrow gaps between all the other suitcases. I'm a weakling (health problems up the yin-yang) and the thought of going through that process again ages me ten years! :eek:

 

But, I think I'd love to have the chance to go through that torture on the final day just to have the chance to have those other 6 days of pure bliss!

 

I loved the Caribbean Princess too. Would love to sail on her again.....

[Aquarian]

Thanks for the great review. It brought a smile and also brought back memories of our Caribbean Princess cruise. I agree Robert Smith is terrific and I think Deep Blue is the best poolside band we've ever experienced on a cruise. We also missed Bert Stratton on our cruise as he was off that week. I'm hoping to get another chance to hear him! Thanks again for a terrific review. I want to book another cruise!

[stewartress]

Monk,

 

All kidding aside, your wife's fears are real to her. I was a flight attendant for 25 plus years and flying on 9/11. There were many flight attendants that just could not to return to work. Others sought professional help and were able to resume their careers. There are some good "fear of flying" classes in almost every major city and they have been helpful to thousands, including, people that fly for a living. I'm sure that many things dealt with in the classes apply to all walks of life and any kind of travel. It's ashamed for her and for you to miss out on so many wonderful places that you can only reach by ship or air travel. Good luck and I hope she finds some relief from her fears and y'all can go cruising again.

 

MJ

[britsbest]

Hi!

 

Bert Stratton lists his vacation times on his website and was scheduled to be on the Caribbean Princess last week. Did you check for him at Crooner's after the first night aboard the ship? Saturday is always his night off, but he should have been there the rest of the week. It's too bad you didn't get to see him as he is a definite highlight of the cruise.

 

Reggie

 

http://www.bertstratton.com/

[pamwinn]

Bert was not on the 6/4 cruise. i was in Crooners and the Atrium a lot. I also have all the patters. Maybe he was sick or something.

[ronjj66611]

Anyway, after you fill out those two forms, you proceed into the huge terminal building. You look for the line you need to be in by deck name unless you are in a suite or have Platinum status, in which case you proceed to the special line for top-shelf treatment.

 

Hi Monk,

Thanks for the great review, glad you had such a great time! Hope your DW comes around. Quick question if I may, when you refer to the suites and Platinum check-in above, do they include mini suites, we have Dolphin 317 booked and would like to know if that included in suites.

 

Thanks,

Ron

[reggielew]

Hi!

 

Bert Stratton was scheduled to be on the Caribbean Princess last week. However, because of a family emergency, he left the ship for the week of June 4th. He is back entertaining this week.

 

Reggie

[monk888]

Anyway, after you fill out those two forms, you proceed into the huge terminal building. You look for the line you need to be in by deck name unless you are in a suite or have Platinum status, in which case you proceed to the special line for top-shelf treatment.

 

Hi Monk,

Thanks for the great review, glad you had such a great time! Hope your DW comes around. Quick question if I may, when you refer to the suites and Platinum check-in above, do they include mini suites, we have Dolphin 317 booked and would like to know if that included in suites.

 

Thanks,

Ron

 

Sorry, but the answer is No. The Suite check in line does not apply to mini-suites. On the CB, the entire Dolphin Deck is composed of mini-suites. There is a line for Dolphin deck just like any other. It would be nice if mini-suites were included in the Suite line, but alas, such is not the case. You'll find that if you get to the dock on the later side, say around 2PM, the lines will be much shorter than say, at Noon. I know many love to get on board as early as possible, so it's different strokes for different folks.

 

The Monk

[chm1219]

I have every single Patter right here. No Bert Stratton at Crooners.

 

By the way, one thing I forgot to mention under food is the coffee. The coffee has gotten much better since last June. It was a huge improvement that we all welcomed. The Cappucino at the Lobby Bar was also excellent. We had it just about every day in the afternoon for a jolt of java.

 

The Monk

I'd love to know if your patters for the last day or two of your cruise had any info on post-cruise tours in Ft. Lauderdale? We have a late flight 10/22 and have heard that there are sometimes post-cruise tours offered by Princess -- did you see anything about these?

thanks a bunch - and I loved hearing every detail of your wonderful cruise! (and glad to hear the coffee has improved --- cappucino is my thing, thanks for the tip)

[CruiseFever]

Monk- Thanks so much for taking the time for such a complete review.

 

It's good to see you had (another) great cruise on the Caribbean Princess!