A few thoughts on our first Princess cruise

[Woobstr112G]

OP;

 

Sorry about the issues you had on the CB. We sailed her on the T/A last September and had a great cruise. I had a few issues and they were quickly resolved. I thought (subjectively) food for the most part was very good to excellent. The bar service was good to very good (Crooners was excellent). Only negative thing is they ran out of vermouth three days before the cruise ended. The one thing I would agree with you on is the ship did look a little dated or worn in some areas. Hopefully a future dry/wetdock will spruce up the affected areas.

 

I would hope you would give Princess another chance as I have after some issues I experienced on other cruises.....:):):)

 

Bob

Edited January 4, 2016 by Woobstr112G

[Colo Cruiser]

E just got off the Caribbean princess also. Will agree we didn't see the constant painting etc. did see lots of cleaning. We were thinking that due to the boat getting an update soon, the painting may not be a priority. Our romm inside was perfect. Just the balcony looked weathered. We hadn't sailed in a year or more and did notice little things that seemed lessened. Salad bar no longer had cucumbers, bacon bits, peas, shredded cheddar, etc. the things were good that they had but less of a selection. We enjoyed breakfast and lunches in the horizon, if not we caught a piece of pizza, hamburger or the smokehouse at night by the hamburgers. Didn't have trouble using our wake up system, worked each time we set it. Had a great room steward and our waiters in anytime dining were fine. We'd see them working horizon court the next day at lunch etc and they always made sure they said hi if they saw us. Had no trouble getting beverages anywhere. Laundry service fine. Didn't go to any shows so can't comment on that. Seemed as though no one minded missing Costa maya when Cozumel was added. Had a great day there. Didn't even try going ashore in Roatan, as the tender system was really slow. Like 2 in the aft noon you could finally go out without ticket. Having to be back by 5, thought ummm no....daughter spent 2 hours in line trying to get back in tender line. Belize was fine. Tenders were local so moved quickly. Didn't really notice unfriendly staff with any issues we had. All in all we had a great time, prefer the princess product and I will be elite after next cruise!!!👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 any cruise for me is a great time. I just love to ride and read and relax and is just what I did. The rest of my family felt the same. Didn't care for the the new Curtis stone menu items that much so didn't try more than one. One thing I did notice on this cruise which surprised us was the number of people, mostly young, in short shorts and flip flops at dinner. Or tiny jumpsuits with short short bottoms and deep deep cut down in front. Underwear out everywhere!! There was no attempt to enforce any dining wear requirements. It was just odd. But would I go back next week? Yup!!

 

 

Glad you had a great cruise......

Thanks for posting your comments.

[DebJ14]

Sorry to hear about the OP's experience. We haven't been on the CB since Dec. 2103, so we are anxious to see how our cruise in 3 weeks on the CB compares to that cruise.

 

Food is such a subjective thing that I pay no heed to comments on it. What I do not understand is if they did not like HC at breakfast, why didn't they go to the MDR? I refuse to do buffets on a cruise. On Princess we have our embarkation lunch in the dining room and since we always sail in a suite breakfast for us is in Sabatini's, except for debarkation morning when we order room service. For lunch, we always eat ashore in port and on sea days we either have room service or go to the dining room.

 

I have seen less painting and general maintenance on Princess ships, but that is because they seem to have needed less of it. Some ships on other lines are just rust buckets that are in constant need of paint.

 

I do have to say that we enjoyed our cruise on the Emerald in January 2015 better than the cruise on the CB, and that was due to the fact that many of the staff on the Emerald in January 2015 had been on the CB in Dec. 2013 and they immediately recognized us and went out of their way to be helpful.

 

We shall decide for ourselves in 20 days!

[Paula_MacFan]

We were on the CB about 8 weeks ago for the first sailing from Houston. Most of the carpet in public areas looked and smelled new. I believe someone who was on the week prior to us reported here on CC they were replacing the carpet while they sailed from Florida to reposition in Houston.

 

We also saw painting, tile flooring replacement, and door replacement by the Lido pool area.

[vplsh]

We were on this sailing as well. We knew all of the issues of sailing out of Houston and were prepared for just about anything, so we were not surprised by the late departure time. We were surprised, however, that there was only one announcement from Captain Nash about it.

 

The extra stop in Cozumel was a great bonus, and we were really glad to have that day rather than another at sea. We were luckier than the previous cruise in stopping at almost all our ports.

 

Entertainment was variable. The two comedians were wonderful. We have seen the 2 regular production shows before and found them lacking. Bravo was spectacular. Again, entertainment is subjective too.

 

I love the Sanctuary and booked our chairs for the week. We were not disappointed, and felt the service and atmosphere was perfect for us.

 

 

We have to agree about the food. I know food is subjective, but this cruise was, by far, the most disappointing dining experience we've had. This was our 5th time on CB, with the most recent prior cruise 2 weeks in July 2014. We had fixed dining, late seating, and were seated in an area that was as far back as you could get in the Palm dining room. We were surrounded by large tables and our servers were very overworked. After 2 nights (one where we sat from 8-10:30!) we asked for a change of table. We were given a standing 8PM reservation in the Coral DR and were seated each night at a different table in the same relative area. Service there was improved, but not what we were used to on this same ship. Food was... disappointing. I ended up with Fettuccini Alfredo 2 nights because nothing else was appealing to me. I agree about the Curtis Stone entrees- they were uninspired to say the least. Presentation was practically non-existent. One positive was that the food was usually hot.

 

We had breakfast in several different locations, and the food was ok. Lunch we tried the buffet, grill, and main dining room and again, all were just ok. Drink service in the dining room seemed to be an added burden on the servers, as they had to take the orders, get the drink and serve it (including opening and offering a taste of a bottle of wine). This seemed to cause delays in the serving of other dishes.

 

Someone mentioned talking to the Captain's Circle host. We actually went to his office to see when the events were, as we're platinum members and didn't get any notification. He never stood up from behind his desk, didn't introduce himself, nor show up at the elite lounge once. The elite lounge was disappointing as well. Compared to Royal Caribbean or Celebrity, it's laughable. Five types of beverages for $5. Nothing to write home about.

 

We've been on 26 cruises, and not all of them can be one of the best. This one, while enjoyable, was certainly not one of them. We will be thinking twice about booking Princess again based on this cruise. I think it will have to be a unique itinerary for us to try another one.

[asctony]

We met one couple that has cruised Princess for years and said they won't again that it's been going downhill every year.

 

Regardless of the Cruise Line we hear that comment from many people regardless of the cruise. All cruise lines are going downhill every year. We do RCI, Celebrity and Princess ever year. People are people. Cruise lines are cruise lines.

[avp1234]

vpish - I agree the servers in the dining room were very overworked. They were moving constantly and I'm sure it was hard to keep up. My husband usually orders 2 entrees and 2 nights he only got one, along with not getting drinks other than water. We could have said something but by that time we were ready to go. Guess he didn't need that second one :)

 

Someone mentioned why we didn't go to the dining room for breakfast and lunch. We like to sleep in, relax, go to the spa etc and don't want to have to dress and have a sit down meal at that time. I guess it's just our routine.

[Steelers0854]

 

Someone mentioned why we didn't go to the dining room for breakfast and lunch. We like to sleep in, relax, go to the spa etc and don't want to have to dress and have a sit down meal at that time. I guess it's just our routine.

 

 

 

Just to let you know there is no "dress code" in the dining room for breakfast or lunch minus walking in in your swim wear. We roll in there in workout gear right after we getup for breakfast. But you do have to get there in time for breakfast, which we do find difficult some days [emoji41]

[pcsunlover]

Just to let you know there is no "dress code" in the dining room for breakfast or lunch minus walking in in your swim wear. We roll in there in workout gear right after we getup for breakfast. But you do have to get there in time for breakfast, which we do find difficult some days [emoji41]

 

On our Thanksgiving cruise on the Emerald there was a shirtless man eating in the Horizon Court. No one said anything. I also saw men in shorts and sandals eating dinner in the Anytime dining room. I wish Princess would either enforce the rules, or do away with them. There doesn't seem to be much consistency from ship to ship.

[asctony]

Just to let you know there is no "dress code" in the dining room for breakfast or lunch minus walking in in your swim wear. We roll in there in workout gear right after we getup for breakfast. But you do have to get there in time for breakfast, which we do find difficult some days [emoji41]

Do they allow muscle t-shirts (t-shirts without sleeves) now? They didn't before.

[moki'smommy]

I would like to know what was wrong with the Curtis stone food from the MDR. We would like to try on our next cruise but it seems the more I hear the less I'm interested.

 

There were three Curtis Stone items. There was a fish that looked rather like gray mush. The lady next to us had it--took one bite and ordered something else. It was the only thing she rejected all week. The pork tenderloin was probably the best of the three. I had it I think the first night. It was a little dry, but basically OK. Not super, but not bad either. The side with it was rather odd though (if I'm remembering correctly a month later). The third was a flank steak. It was tough, dry, and tasteless. I realize that flank steak is a cheaper cut, but I would expect some preparation to make it good.

 

There was a chocolate dessert one night that I think had his name attached (it had someone's name). It was excellent.

 

Obviously, this is my opinion and my cruise. YMMV. I always found something good on the right side of the menu.(regular stuff, no name attached)