Have Princess went downhill? Or just Caribbean Princess?

[junglejane]

I was on the Caribbean Princess 14-day Baltic cruise on 6/26-7/11. So I got off a week before the OP got on.

 

On our cruise we had 4 production shows: Caribbean Caliente, Born to be Wild, Do You Wanna Dance, and Piano Man (which I first saw on this same ship in 2005!). We also had a Beatles tribute band, and an Elton John Tribute Act, plus Alison Ward, a vocalist. There was also a Russian Folkloric Show the night we were in St. Petersburg, and of course the International Crew Show. Plus there were 4 different comedy performers (variously described as: comedy variety, comedy vocalist, comedian). Those were the Princess theater shows. Explorers Lounge and Club Fusion had the usual assortment: marriage match game, karaoke, Princess Got Talent, country western party, 80's party, etc.

 

There were some plumbing issues on our cruise. Nothing bad in my stateroom fortunately, but I did occasionally smell a bad smell in some hallways and my brother and SIL had plumbing issues in their mini-suite.

 

My other complaint was crowding in the atrium area and Horizon Court. But the negatives were outweighed by the positives: food and service were both excellent, ports were great, and the cruise was a big success from my viewpoint.

[Steelers36]

I was on the Caribbean Princess 14-day Baltic cruise on 6/26-7/11. So I got off a week before the OP got on.

 

On our cruise we had 4 production shows: Caribbean Caliente, Born to be Wild, Do You Wanna Dance, and Piano Man (which I first saw on this same ship in 2005!). We also had a Beatles tribute band, and an Elton John Tribute Act, plus Alison Ward, a vocalist. There was also a Russian Folkloric Show the night we were in St. Petersburg, and of course the International Crew Show. Plus there were 4 different comedy performers (variously described as: comedy variety, comedy vocalist, comedian). Those were the Princess theater shows. Explorers Lounge and Club Fusion had the usual assortment: marriage match game, karaoke, Princess Got Talent, country western party, 80's party, etc.

 

There were some plumbing issues on our cruise. Nothing bad in my stateroom fortunately, but I did occasionally smell a bad smell in some hallways and my brother and SIL had plumbing issues in their mini-suite.

 

My other complaint was crowding in the atrium area and Horizon Court. But the negatives were outweighed by the positives: food and service were both excellent, ports were great, and the cruise was a big success from my viewpoint.

 

And some people try to protest there isn't much entertainment anymore. Bah! I say. Plenty there to choose from.

Edited August 6, 2015 by steelers36

[FlorenceItaly]

I was on the Caribbean Princess 14-day Baltic cruise on 6/26-7/11. So I got off a week before the OP got on.

 

On our cruise we had 4 production shows: Caribbean Caliente, Born to be Wild, Do You Wanna Dance, and Piano Man (which I first saw on this same ship in 2005!). We also had a Beatles tribute band, and an Elton John Tribute Act, plus Alison Ward, a vocalist. There was also a Russian Folkloric Show the night we were in St. Petersburg, and of course the International Crew Show. Plus there were 4 different comedy performers (variously described as: comedy variety, comedy vocalist, comedian). Those were the Princess theater shows. Explorers Lounge and Club Fusion had the usual assortment: marriage match game, karaoke, Princess Got Talent, country western party, 80's party, etc.

 

There were some plumbing issues on our cruise. Nothing bad in my stateroom fortunately, but I did occasionally smell a bad smell in some hallways and my brother and SIL had plumbing issues in their mini-suite.

 

My other complaint was crowding in the atrium area and Horizon Court. But the negatives were outweighed by the positives: food and service were both excellent, ports were great, and the cruise was a big success from my viewpoint.

 

I am very relieved to read your post. We are cruising on her next month with first time Princess cruisers. They are seasoned cruisers, and I am hoping they will enjoy Princess.

[faeriedust101]

I am about to book the Caribbean Princess as my 1st Princess cruise, is this ship going to scare us away from cruising Princess again? I've done NCL/Carnival/royal in the past

[Coveguy4]

Do you drive an eleven year old car?

 

I drive a 13 yr old car that has more features then most new cars. It is a 500SL with only 31,000 miles on it. Not a month goes by that someone doesn't ask me if I would let them know when I consider selling it. Driving mileage averages 6.7 miles a day over the past 13 yrs. I have sailed on the CB 2 times and would do so again without hesitation.

[cruiselvr1]

Hey fellow cruisers, I hoped you could help me out here.

 

We have previously cruised on P&O, RCCL, Thomson & Princess.

Princess being our favourite by a mile.

We sailed on the Grand 3 times, last time being 3 years ago, twice before her refurb & once after.

Each cruise was just superb and could fault nothing.

A big thing was the entertainment throughout the day & evening was just second to none, just fantastic!

 

My kids are now teens (13 & 15) but have been cruising from a young age & this year we chose the Caribbean Princess as we loved the itinery for our dates.

 

We have just returned from a 14nt Med sailing from Southampton on 18th July.

 

One huge difference I noticed was the lack of entertainment!

What's happened to the big production shows, with singing, dancing etc?

In my opinion it was sub standard for a cruise & probably the worst I've encountered in all my cruises.

The entertainment team tried but there was just nothing there.

Other than an odd quiz, all the other entertainment was audience participation, where the staff sat back, judged and let the passengers provide entertainment.

Yes is good to see every now and again but part of cruising IS the entertainment and what the team put on.

 

I felt that the ship was geared up to sell, sell, sell!!

Loads of retail, art auctions, bingo, etc etc.

Went to a couple of seminars on well being, health etc and after sitting through a 45 min long informative talks etc, then the hard sell comes along... $300 for tubs of vitamin tabs & excercise sheet!!

 

Loads of wee things missing... Eg no cookies & milk trolleys poolside, not saying this in particular ruined the holiday, as it didn't, but it was small things like this that just made previous holidays for the kids a bit special.

 

I felt there was something seriously lacking on the ship, not just one thing but loads of small things.

 

There was also a strong smell of sewage in various parts of the ship, at different times of the day etc. This was obviously not pleasant.

We also had lots of welding going on just along from our cabin on 4 different days. Strong smelling of grinding/burning metal.

 

The food was fantastic as is to be expected, staff fab too, give or take a couple of rude ones.

 

I am looking to book our cruise for next year and I'm in a quandary as to which way to go.

 

Have Princess standards slipped across the whole line?

Or was CB just not the best ship?

Is the Grand still as wonderful as she was 3 years ago?

What are your views on the Royal & Regal?

 

Any advice or your views would be most welcome.

:)

I agree the shows aren't as good, for the past years. We're not show people, so I would not want to pay more for shows we don't see. Our first cruise was our wedding cruise in 2006, and the show they had was good, but it was on our next three cruises.

[mek]

I was on the Grand in June and thought the ship looked great. I spend very little time around the pool on any cruise, so not sure about the cookies and milk question.

 

I was more than pleased with the entertainment. I guess I'm one of those people who would rather have multiple shorter shows in the evening rather than one longer show. I was fun to go from venue to venue each evening and never have that ,"now what are we going to do to entertain ourselves" question.

 

I missed Skywalkers, but only because we were in Alaska - on the Star last year it was the perfect spot to see the glaciers without being outdoors.

[HUNKY]

Coveguy4 - A 13 year old car with only 31K would hardly be considered "driven". Per the US DOT, men between 35 and 54 on average drive nearly 19K per year. I compared the SL with a third generation Honda Fit EX - not much difference as far as equipment and technology go. Except the Honda has navigation and Bluetooth, and sadly the top does not go down!

 

Remember the CB does not sit in the garage! She puts on hundreds of miles each week. Would I sail her again? Yes, but she can't be compared to the Royal class, nor any other ship built in the past couple of years.

 

Faeriedust - No, the CB won't scare you away from Princess. Just be aware she's not brand spanking new!

[PrincessLuver]

I could never understand why people complained about the "new" shortened shows in the theater because from what I've seen, the level of entertainment doesn't warrant more than 1/2 hour.

 

We were told by long time Princess cruisers, that the shows were shortened because it seems that people get to the theater 45 minutes early just to get a seat. It was explained to us by having shorter and more shows on the same night that more passengers could see the Princess shows.

 

We have never really noticed the theater crowding that seems to consistently happen on Princess ships on other cruise lines?

[caribill]

We were told by long time Princess cruisers, that the shows were shortened because it seems that people get to the theater 45 minutes early just to get a seat. It was explained to us by having shorter and more shows on the same night that more passengers could see the Princess shows.

 

 

The shows were shortened so that three performances could be put on in an evening. This provided more seats so that more passengers could see the show.

 

However, that rational goes out the window when for 3 or 4 evenings on a 7 night cruise they only put on two performances an evening.

 

At the same time they reduced the shows to 30 minutes, they also eliminated many of the performances by entertainers (comedians, guest singers, magicians, etc.) in other venues. So entertainment for passengers from guest performers or production shows went from almost two hours an evening (in two different venues) to just 30 minutes (in one venue).

[PescadoAmarillo]

I could never understand why people complained about the "new" shortened shows in the theater because from what I've seen, the level of entertainment doesn't warrant more than 1/2 hour.

I said that at the time the shorter shows were rolled out, that the only time a 30 minute show is better than a 50 minute show is when it shouldn't have been a show to begin with.

[Coral]

We were told by long time Princess cruisers, that the shows were shortened because it seems that people get to the theater 45 minutes early just to get a seat. It was explained to us by having shorter and more shows on the same night that more passengers could see the Princess shows.

 

We have never really noticed the theater crowding that seems to consistently happen on Princess ships on other cruise lines?

 

It became an issue when Princess built the Caribbean Princess (and then the next 3 ships after) when they added 500 more passengers to the ship but did not increase the size of the theatre. This created a crowding issue that I really didn't think existed on the earlier ships.

[Colo Cruiser]

We enjoy the 30 minute shows. Just the right amount. :)

[RMM34667]

Caribbean Princess was my first cruise. And she was the last cruise as well. I loved her as much last fall as I did that very first time. Old is relative.

[lovey1103]

We enjoy the 30 minute shows. Just the right amount. :)

I agree completely

[OzKiwiJJ]

Twenty years ago, 11 years was NOT old for a ship.

Today that is no longer the case.

Many cruise ships built after 2005 have thinner steel in their hulls, cheaper construction in public areas, and much more throw away technology.

 

I never recommend anyone travelling on a ship that is older than 10 - unless they are adventurous and enjoy putting up with challenges.

 

Thank goodness! Sun, Sea and Dawn are still happily cruising from our part of the world. Sun is 20 years old in December. We cruised on her last Christmas and she looked great. There were a few spots of rust on our balcony but nothing significant.

[OzKiwiJJ]

We enjoy the 30 minute shows. Just the right amount. :)

 

We also thought the 30 minute show was ideal, especially as we like the late dinner sitting. We can go to the show after dinner and still have time for some dancing after that.

[SoCal Cruiser78]

Double post.

Edited August 7, 2015 by SoCal Cruiser78

[SoCal Cruiser78]

Double post.

Edited August 7, 2015 by SoCal Cruiser78

[SteerageJack]

We enjoy the 30 minute shows. Just the right amount. :)

 

 

Ditto.

[Coveguy4]

Hunky...The fact that you can compare a $95,000 car to a $15,000 car now makes all your point of views and reasoning on the above subject understandable. (Yes it does have a navagation system, first generation with cd's but its there. Also has feature for phone, and a/c seats as well as heated plus massage...) The CB is an older lady but she has class and grace and is still a wonderful ship.

[freetocruise]

We enjoy the 30 minute shows. Just the right amount. :)

 

I agree completely. In fact, we now often go to more shows than when they were an hour or so. At an hour, they were more than slightly repetitive (imho). They're not Broadway shows, more like revues and I think the shortened versions work better. I especially like the early (7pm) show as it is ideal for late diners who can't stay awake for the 10:15/10:30 shows!

[gertz]

It became an issue when Princess built the Caribbean Princess (and then the next 3 ships after) when they added 500 more passengers to the ship but did not increase the size of the theatre. This created a crowding issue that I really didn't think existed on the earlier ships.

 

 

Coral: I finally gave up complaining about over crowded ships some time ago. But we will not go on one and haven't. But it appears we are in the minority. Except for maybe you.

 

We loved all the "hour long" production shows even after seeing them each several times. But we are getting old and guess time changes. We gave up complaining and posting, we keep up with it but do other things now.

[Coral]

Coral: I finally gave up complaining about over crowded ships some time ago. But we will not go on one and haven't. But it appears we are in the minority. Except for maybe you.

 

We loved all the "hour long" production shows even after seeing them each several times. But we are getting old and guess time changes. We gave up complaining and posting, we keep up with it but do other things now.

 

Honestly, I don't remember there being an issue on the older ships with people not getting seats in the Theatre. It wasn't an issue. I was one who did go to the shows most nights. I tried going to the 30 minute shows and it wasn't worth the effort IMO. I happened to be on a ship doing a B2B2B when they switched. So the first week, the show was full length and the next week, it changed and was shorter with a bunch of stuff cut from it.

 

I think the logical thing to do is build larger theaters.

Edited August 7, 2015 by Coral

[Murphey]

The mere act of reading "The Piano Man" makes my stomach roll!! :eek::D