REVIEW- Caribbean Princess from Houston 11/15-23 - LONG

[tkq]

First let me begin by saying this is our 5th cruise and 4th with Princess and the second time on the Caribbean Princess. We are pretty easy going and are never looking for the little things to nitpick – after all we are on vacation! With 3,400 people on board I am sure you can get 3,400 different opinions and perspectives to the same cruise, so here is ours.

 

Arrival/Embarkation:

We arrive Friday night and stayed at the Marriott near IAH. We took a town car to Bayport at a cost of $125. We used Luxor Limos and they were fantastic – on time, clean cars, etc. We arrived at the terminal at 11:30 am only to find things way behind scheduled due to the delayed docking related to the fog. They had a police check point about 1 mile from the terminal and were only allowing taxi/limos and buses to drop off. Individual drivers were not allowed in until 3 pm or so. They were lined up on the side of the highway for a couple of miles. While I am sure they were frustrated I have to tip my hat to Princess and the Port Authority for handling it the best they could. The parking lot was still full as the last passengers did not disembark until around 2:30 (normal time for the last group is 11:10 am). They did send an email to passengers around 11 am asking folks to wait until 3 pm if possible.

 

When we arrived at 11:30 we were through security and checked in within 20 minutes – not really a fair comparison due to the delay. Since they would not begin boarding until 3:00 pm at the earliest, Princess arranged for shuttles to take passengers to the nearby resort town of Kemah to be able to have lunch and walk around. We arrived back at the terminal at 3:15 pm and were on the boat within 10 minutes. At this point they started letting cars into the parking lot and we did not leave port until 8:30 –basically everything was 4 hours behind schedule. Princess brought in Disney cruise line workers from Galveston to help check in the passengers to speed up the process. They really did the best they could with the circumstances presented to them.

 

Ship/Staterooms:

The ship is in good condition. Very well kept and clean. We had a balcony cabin on the Caribe deck and booked this level intentionally to get the larger balconies- nice to have the space, cover and sun. The bed in our room was made up as a queen with a pillow topper on it. We packed our own pillows based on reviews but found we didn’t need to. Their two pillows stacked up were over 8” tall. They have installed the Shampoo and Soap dispenser bottles on the wall of the shower – very convenient but it takes a lot of pumps to get enough out to use. Our room steward was on the top of his game – room was always made up every time we left.

 

I really appreciated the change Princess has made not allowing smoking in the rooms and on the balconies. The only real area we could smell smoke was in the casino (they have one night that is no-smoking) and out on deck 7.

 

Food:

Again I will note this is a very subjective topic but we found the food to be good. We ate dinner every night in the Palm dining room at a table for two and found it to be flavorful and presented well. We also ate a few times in the Horizon Court and ate enough pizza to feed a small Italian village (our favorite if you could not tell). My favorite addition to the ship since our last time on board is the International Café. I believe this is now the 24 hour option since the buffet appears to close at 11 pm. The food and deserts were excellent at the IC. I was tempted to ask for a to-go box when we left the ship but didn’t think they would let me. We had breakfast on our balcony most mornings. No lack of options and quality was good.

 

Entertainment:

This is one are we were disappointed. While they have some great performers on board the overall atmosphere and selection of entertainment seemed lacking. The Cruise Director Neil Roberts is a complete dud. He is also the most unfriendly CD we have ever encountered. While we were on the Ultimate Ship Tour (I’ll write a separate post on this experience) he came across our group of 13 people down in the print shop and did not say one word. Walked in, dropped off the next day’s patter and walked out, even with all of us saying hello. We passed him 4 times on the ship and never once had a hello from him. His staff clearly follows his lead – not a lot of interaction with the passengers. Bottom line there was not a real vibe on this ship like we have experienced before.

 

The entertainment is very much geared towards the many friendly Texans on board – Johnny Cash tribute, country night in club fusion, etc. AJ the piano player is great and does a pretty mean Barry Manilow impersonation one night. We also enjoyed the magic show and dancers.

 

Ports:

We did a beach day in Cozumel, a private tour in Roatan that included zip lining and visiting with the monkeys. Belize included cave tubing. All our tours we did on our own. Loved the three ports and the three days at sea.

 

Disembarkation:

We selected the walk off option which runs from 7:15 am to 8:15 am. Groups start at 8:20 and end at 11:10. We opted for 7:45 and we were standing curb side after passing through customs at 7:50 – and hour before our town car showed up – I guess better safe than sorry. The ride to IAH take about 50 minutes which gave us plenty of time for a noon flight. Keep in mind once you pass through customs there is not much waiting room inside. And on a cold morning in Houston (42 degrees) everyone was huddled up. One tip is to go over to the main entrance were the bathrooms are. They will let you wait there and it is less crowded. There were plenty of taxis lined up if you needed one.

 

The staff working at the Bayport terminal is very friendly, well organized and doing a great job for only having a couple of cruises sail out of there.

 

Overall:

We really enjoyed this cruise. This particular week was lacking children (which was ok – we left our home too ). I would say the average age was around 60 – a very active group but on the older side. Princess did a great job and we had a fantastic time.

 

Please let me know if you have any questions and I will answer them for you.

[caribill]

Thanks.

 

Looking forward to your UST report.

[Pam in CA]

Thanks for the review and I'm glad you had a good time. I was a little confused, though, by your comment that there were 3,400 people onboard. The CB's capacity is 3,080 passengers and 1,200 crew. Who else was counted other than passengers?

[chrismch]

Sorry to hear that the CD was lacking in friendliness. It's been awhile since we've been on Princess, but we always enjoyed the activities staff who were all a bit tongue in check. Hopefully they'll lighten up by January when we board.

 

I would definitely like a to-go box from the IC for our drive home! I might see if it can be done.

[caribill]

Thanks for the review and I'm glad you had a good time. I was a little confused, though, by your comment that there were 3,400 people onboard. The CB's capacity is 3,080 passengers and 1,200 crew. Who else was counted other than passengers?

 

The 3080 is the lower berth capacity, namely 2 beds per cabin.

 

If the ship was pretty much sold out of cabins and there were a number of 3rd and 4th berths also occupied, there could easily be 3400 passengers, even if some of the cabins only had one passenger.

[Keith1010]

Thank you for taking the time to write and post your review.

 

Keith

[satxdiver]

We were on the 5 day CB cruise out of Bayport the first of the month. The CD was definitely one cold turkey. The captain on the other hand was from the UK (we could actually understand what he said) and was extremely friendly. Personally I could care less who the CD is as they introduce the theater shows and that is about it.

[cubfan63]

I was also on this cruise and know the ship was sold out. I never heard 3400 passengers as a total. There were only about 40 children (meanwhile this week's Thanksgiving cruise is having 800 children, according to many crew I spoke with) and a few solo passengers.

 

Even with the sold-out ship for the 11/16, there really wasn't that many times I felt really crowded. The major one was last day in the Atrium with the "up to 75%" sale, the galley tour, people finding out about statements, and shopping in general. There were no issues finding a place to sit on the open decks, when I wanted on.

 

There were only a few lines in anytime dining but it depended on the time you went. If you went after 7:30 or ate with others, you could go right in. Things also improved here as reservations were taken except from 6:30 to 7:30, whereas last time I cruised the CB in March, no anytime reservations were taken. I think change of maitre'd and some head waiters have altered that situation to the better, from the more unfriendly team who ran the MDRs in March.

[tkq]

The 3400 number was said to us on our UST. Not sure if they were using a general number or what. I do agree that this ship never felt crowded. Always deck chairs available, etc. The shows in the Princess Theater were always packed and sometimes you needed to show up early to ensure a seat. I contribute this in part to the lack of other things going on entertainment wise in the evenings.

[tkq]

Looking at the ship log they gave us said the max passenger count is 3740 and max crew is 1160. S

[kellor]

Thank you for taking the time to write such a great review! We are on this cruise in January - I don't care about fog, delays, missed ports etc., as long as I'm on this ship relaxing with a good book!

 

Did you by chance use the Spa or Sanctuary at all?

 

Glad you had a wonderful time.

 

Lori

[tkq]

We did not use the spa this trip. Instead had massages on the beach in Cozumel. The Sanctuary area is new since the last time we sailed. Looks very nice but never did see how much it costs.

[RickEk]

Sorry to hear that the CD was lacking in friendliness. It's been awhile since we've been on Princess, but we always enjoyed the activities staff who were all a bit tongue in check. Hopefully they'll lighten up by January when we board.

 

I would definitely like a to-go box from the IC for our drive home! I might see if it can be done.

 

We got our pre-cruise email for our 12/7 cruise and the CD is different... I'm not home, so I don't remember his name, but it is not Mr. Roberts...

[llachance]

and we enjoyed the cruise - that said I think the fog delay was a total muck up on Princess. We received an email at about 10:00 that said delay until three and another from the parking folks...all well and good but there was nothing that said what was the latest time you could arrive so a couple of thousand folks waiting in line to get in the parking lot - and we started in about 3:30 - 1 1/2 mile and two hours later we got to the terminal and another 90 minutes to get on the ship. Once on the ship it was a bit chaotic - no dining rooms open - and it was dinner time so the buffet was nuts. Muster Drill was at 7:00 pm and there were still folks that missed it. If any dining rooms opened on the first night I don't know because no announcements were made. There was not one apology, that I heard, but numerous times the captain saying it wasn't Princess fault (and I agree) but the weather. Even a quick letter to the cabin would have made it more palatable. For missing a complete day we were refunded 28 dollars and some change.

 

Had a mini-suite D419 and really enjoyed it. Paid for an Ocean View and through numerous promotions ended up in the mini-suite. I am looking for the same cabin on a future cruise because I liked the size and the location. Had anytime dining and found Mark, from Jamaica, on the third night and stayed in his section (263) for the rest of the week. Didn't have any food that I didn't enjoy. Glad I didn't find the donuts until the end or I would have gained weight during the week. Lots of people didn't understand that the food at the International Café was free. Bought the coffee card and made great use of it throughout the week. Bought a soda card just to make things easier...don't know that I got my money's worth or not. Ate at the Crown Grill. It was good and the up charge was fair for what we ate. Ate the pub lunch and it was ok. Hamburgers, pizza and buffet all were decent. Would have like to see a menu before walking into the buffet to get an idea of what was being served but that's just minor. Enjoyed the fact that silver and drinks were at the table in the buffet....less to carry

 

First time in eons that I had to use a dauber for bingo. Was one away, for three calls, on the last game on the last day and didn't win...maybe next time. Had a few photographs taken and bought a couple. I think the last time we bought cruise pictures was on Princess. Played the penny slots got up $75.00 at one point and ended up with 25 cents at the end of it. Bought a few things from the stores - prices were similar to the other cruise lines I have been on. Saw the Johnny Cash pretender show and it was good. Saw the illusionist show and enjoyed it as well. Can't speak for any others. There were pianos going everywhere and the music was good. There was live music a couple of times at the pool and it wasn't bad. MUTS showed a number of movies and I watched a couple

 

Ports were good. Cozumel was a bust for a lot of folks. Because of our late departure we got to Cozumel late and all of the excursions to the main land were cancelled. We went to Panchos Backyard and had a drink and pico de gallo and got back on the ship. Roatan - didn't get off the ship. Belize we went snorkeling and had a great time.

 

Did a massage at the spa. Prices the same as other ships. The women who did my treatment was ok but not great. When she started her hard sale for products she lost any additional tip I may have left - plus they add a huge service charge...figured that was enough. The changing room offers no privacy so if you are not used to changing in public you may be uncomfortable and one of two toilets was out of order so there was a line.

 

My husband and I both commented that we hadn't seen a ship, in awhile, that needed so much work. Lots of rust to be seen, mats that needed cleaning and since they use the old felt outdoor carpet around the pools I wasn't comfortable walking around without something on my feet. Lots of working going on - just not as "Pretty" as I have become used to on other lines. Lots of tiles missing around the Neptune pool ....however hot tubs were actually "hot" which has become a bit unusual on other lines.

 

Got a "get off" time of 8:25 and was in my car at 8:35...and we didn't carry our own luggage. Home before the sleet ;)

[cubfan63]

When they initially announced the muster drill to be at 6:45 pm (later moved to 7:00) they said all of the dining rooms were open (for open seating) at 530 and would seat until 545 to allow people to finish. After the drill was over and I took life jacket back to room, went to Island deck 5 and was shown a table immediately. It not overly busy there during dinner service.

 

Regarding wonderful waiter Mark from Jamaica, he, and his able assistant Mayra from Mexico, were the servers that first night in the Island dining room. As dinner was already booked in Sabatini's the next night (did the other formal in Crown Grill), unfortunately I did not have your luck to return to that area in the Island any other evening.

[llachance]

new of the muster drill at 7:00, didn't hear any other announcements so the fact that the dining rooms were open wasn't a part of the late arrivals knowledge. We didn't even get aboard until after 6:00 pm....Once we met up with Mark we asked for him every evening and actually waited most evenings for him.

[bjtomko]

Can you please comment further on the snorkeling in Belize? Did you do an excursion through Princess or on your own? What location did you snorkel at and for how long? I have not been able to find much detail on this subject on the Port of Calls thread. Any help is greatly appreciated!

[carefreebee]

Thanks for the review. We really like the Caribbean Princess and will be sailing on her twice in 2014:D

 

I know what you mean about the CD. Sorry, but I can't help but compare him to the other Cruise Directors we had and yep...he is the duddiest. Because he's been so rarely seen on our past cruises it became our inside joke that it's just a rummer that he's the Cruise Director!

 

If he's still on in March, it will be our third time with him on the Caribbean Princess and after being impressed with the top notch Royal Princess Cruise Director and her excellent staff (just weeks ago) poor Neil will seem so... blah.

[5326jan]

We were on last month and I agree about Neil Roberts. He certainly didn't go out of his way to be friendly. His obligatory stage time was "scripted" about how wonderful the performer was and how wonderful the next night's performer would be. The theater was packed on our cruise too.

 

On the other hand, the assistant CD was super good and friendly! I can't remember his name, but I loved him. Corey... maybe? He was from England and did mention that he was leaving the ship to go home for his break of three months (or so).

[llachance]

The snorkeling excursion was through Princess - half day guided snorkel and beach break. Great equipment, great guides, great beach (showers, toilets), beer for $5.00...had been to the beach before and they are really working on improvements. Would certainly do the excursion again. Company that owns the beach etc is Chukka and you may be able to go there privately. Belize is surround by a barrier reef so unless there is a recent storm to stir up the silt any snorkeling should be good.

[caribill]

 

Did a massage at the spa. Prices the same as other ships....- plus they add a huge service charge.

 

So there is now a mandatory tip? How much is the service charge?

 

I wonder if this will be on the other ships also now.

[llachance]

Service charges have always been mandatory on the cruise ships I have been on. However, if the service was outstanding I usually rounded up the final tally. Didn't do it this time. Service charge is usually 15%

[vmom]

Will be on the ship in January.

 

Did anyone mention to you what the taxi fare from Hobby to Bayport is? I'm trying to decide whether to take a taxi or the Princess transfers or maybe the Super Shuttle.

 

Also, our flight isn't until after 3:00 going out of Hobby. If we get off the ship at one of the later disembarkation times, will we have trouble getting a taxi to the airport?

[AKman2495]

We were on the cruise just before this one and I definitely agree about the CD. We were sitting outside the theater one evening waiting to get in and he came out of an office. He looked at us, quickly glanced at his watch and took off in the other direction as fast as he could run.....

 

As for capacity, our cruise had 3200 paxs. they seem to be packing them in out of Houston.

[caribill]

Also, our flight isn't until after 3:00 going out of Hobby. If we get off the ship at one of the later disembarkation times, will we have trouble getting a taxi to the airport?

 

Fog can be a problem getting into Bayport. One recent cruise docked over three hours late.

 

A person on that cruise posted they had booked a late disembarkcation time that would have worked if the ship had been on time, but was a near disaster with the ship being so late as disembarkation was in the same order as it would have been if on time. Barely made it to their flight in time and said next time would request an early disembarkation time. They would rather spend extra time at the airport if the ship was on time than miss a flight if the ship was late.

 

But as to your question. It is only a guess, but if you are at the end of the disembarkation there will be cabs arriving with new passengers and those drivers would love to have a fare going to the airport.