Caribbean Princess Christmas Cruise: my review

[Nee Nee and Biddy]

We just got home this afternoon from our cruise, and I thought I would share my review. Full disclosure: I am a Disney travel agent, so I've only cruised with Disney, but am in the unique position to be considered Elite on Princess due to completing their very intensive travel agent training. My mom has been a huge Princess fan for years, so it made sense for me to be able to book her trips for her. I walked away from this cruise hugely impressed with Princess, and I am looking forward to sailing with them again. That being said, it wasn't always smooth sailing, but all of the problems were handled very well.

 

I was part of a family group of 12. My mom, grandmother, husband, my 2 kids, my sister with her husband and her two kids, and my mother-in-law and brother- in-law. Most of us were driving from Missouri to the port. The day before the cruise was scheduled to leave, we received the email that the ship would not leave until Sunday afternoon due to adverse weather conditions. We were all disappointed, but made arrangements to stay another night in the Houston area. It was an awesome surprise when we got an email on Saturday afternoon saying that we could board the ship! We canceled our plans, packed up our bags and left. The ship would stay in port until Sunday afternoon, but we didn't mind. We just wanted our vacation to start! Check in was very smooth and easy.

 

Our Rooms

We had four adjoining mid-ship balcony rooms on the Aloha deck. I was very pleased with the big closet space. The beds were comfortable, contrary to many reviews on these boards. I was worried, but I didn't need to be. Around 10:30 on our first night, we were all in our rooms unpacking when we heard a sound like a waterfall outside our rooms. When we opened the door, we were greeted with water just pouring out of the hallway ceiling. I really believed that it would stop (i'm not sure why?), but after 10 minutes it was still just pouring out. After 15 minutes our 4 rooms were flooded. We had the foresight after about the 10 minute mark to put all of our luggage on the balconies. It was a dramatic way to start the trip! My 6 year old was in tears because she thought the boat was sinking, and my 81 year old grandmother was exhausted and just wanted to go to bed. At this point our rooms were pretty much condemned, and after a long time talking with different crew members they finally moved us to different rooms on different floors. This was a temporary situation, since we were told that we needed to be out of these rooms by 8:00 in the morning. They were unable to find rooms for 4 people, so I had a room with my daughter and my husband and son were in another room. Same with my sister. By midnight we were all exhausted and throughly bummed out about our first night on the boat. By noon the next day, they had fixed the problem and replaced the carpet in our rooms, so we were able to move back in. A big setback, but it was Christmas and we really just wanted to start having fun and to forget about the flood. Princess handled the problem as well as they could, and in the end we were all pleased with the outcome.

 

I will write the rest of my review soon...entertainment, the kids programs, and FOOD!

[txgood]

Thanks for the first part of your review. We go on this cruise in about six weeks, so we are interested in hearing about the rest of it. Not sure what ages of kids you had with you, but we will have ds 14 and dd 12, so we look forward to the review of the kids programs. As well as the food and entertainment. We are big fans of Disney cruises ourselves, so we look forward to your review and comparison.

[Nee Nee and Biddy]

All four of the children that I sailed with (two of my own and two of my sisters) really enjoyed the kid's clubs. My own two liked the programming more than Disney's! The ages of the kids in our party were 6,7,8, and 11. Our sailing had over 700 kids on it, but it really didn't seem like that many. The crew members that worked in the clubs were very engaged with the kids and friendly.

 

All of the kids on our sailing were offered the opportunity to sing and dance in the Christmas Eve show. My daughter and my niece are completely unable to pass up an opportunity to get on stage :), so they practiced the day before and preformed at both the 8:15 and 10:00 shows. For the 10:00 show, only 3 kids showed up (it was late and Santa was coming!), so Gemma and Sophie were able to have their own microphones for 2 songs. It was one of the best Christmas presents to see them so happy and excited to be on stage with all of the "stars"!

 

On our last day at sea, my kids wanted to be with their new friends. They literally stayed in the Kid's Club from 9:00-12, then 1-5, and then 6-10. It was a good day for them and a good day for us!

 

There are a few differences from Disney. Disney doesn't close their children's programming for lunch and dinner times and they are also open until 1:00 in the morning. I didn't mind having to pick my kids up for meals, and it was good for me to actually have to go to bed at a normal time instead of staying out until 1! Disney's security system is a little more intense (for lack of a better word), but I always felt like my kids were safe in the club.

 

My niece and nephew have sailed on Carnival, and they enjoyed this club much more. I know people with young children aren't exactly Princess' target audience, but they really could brag about their children's programming. We didn't have one problem or concern the whole week!

[OCruisers]

:( Sorry you had to go thru that flooding. Glad it didn't totally spoil your cruise.

 

LuLu

[DrivesLikeMario]

Thanks for the review! I can't even imagine how exhausted you all must've been that first night. :eek: I agree about the Princess kids' program - our sons loved it!

[riclop]

Glad it all turn out ok.

[kellor]

Thanks for writing a rewiew, it is much appreciated. Did you use the santuary ?

[nunuc2000]

Whoa, what a crazy start to your cruise! But it sounds like you took it all in stride. Looking forward the rest of your review. :)