Caribbean Princess Post Dry Dock-Hits and Misses

[parrottfam]

We were on the CP for the transatlantic after it came out of drydock. We have been on the CP twice before, and thought I'd post my opinion of some of the changes, good and bad.

Hits - New beds very comfortable, new layout for buffet area and it's much easier to get around, better wifi coverage on ship (although it's still not very fast), movie screen by pool much brighter and clearer picture,

Misses - main dining room menus I found disappointing many nights, steak is no longer available on everyday menu, and some nights no steak was available.

Planks and Steamers are two new restaurants that replaced Caribe Cafe. They have free breakfast and lunch, but charge $12 for dinner. Breakfast was good, lunch was very very disappointing, same couple items everyday. Did not try dinner, but never saw more than a handful of people there. But if you ate in the regular buffet for dinner, you could not eat in the Planks or Steamers portion of the area, so it limited available seating. I missed Cafe Caribe. I will also add that in February we were on a Carnival ship that had just put in a free BBQ restaurant that had great beef brisket and pulled pork. I do not see the need to spend $12 to eat BBQ. Steamers didn't appeal to us as they had no crab or lobster.

Sushi was available in Vines, but only if you bought wine. I'm not much of a wine drinker, but like sushi. It was available on the buffet everyday at lunch on HAL.

The Princess@Sea app worked pretty well, but there is no option to see what the dinner menus are. Disapponting.

As usual, they never get everything done during dry dock, so carpet was still being installed, etc. But more disappointing was the normal maintenance that didn't get resolved. When there are 3 toilets in the public restroom by the restaurant, but only 1 is working. Really? And there were several people who had no hot water the 1st day or two. But guess that is normal because they concentrated on the new restaurants, etc. getting finished.

 

We had a good time on the cruise, and still like the CP layout. Never felt really crowded, which we like. But found food many days disappointing. Entertainment was good. Last big production show was I think called Bravo or Brava, and was one of the best shows we have ever seen at sea on 35+ cruises. But I would like to see Cafe Caribe back, and a steak option back on the everyday menu.

[Luvmyrotti]

Thanks for sharing your perspective. I'm disappointed in the idea of planks, as we're northerners and don't love BBQ and while I love seafood, hubby does not, so steamers doesn't work for us.

 

Sounds like she was really spiffed up though!

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the comments.

 

Steak has been off the always available for a long time.

Thats pretty bad taking up part of the HC for a pay area now.

Its already limited with 500 extra passengers from Riviera deck.

Steamers with no lobster/crab, pretty pathetic IMO.

 

Not sure who is making the new design change and food venue decisions at Princess but it sounds like the same people are still there from the Island Princess renovation disaster. :rolleyes:

They seem to be in no man's land on all the changes/failures being made over the last year or 2.

[1965]

Thank you for the review, good & helpful info. We sail on the reverse ta in Sept. Really looking forward to our cruise!!

[OCruisers]

Thanks so very very much for your time to give us a CB report. :D

Seems most of the changes are on Lido Deck (15).

Did you go to the Salty Dog Grill that was Trident Grill and if you tried the $5 burger?

NOTE: To get the sushi at Vines it's ANY drink ... does not have to be wine. ;)

[Nein2]

We were on the CP for the transatlantic after it came out of drydock. We have been on the CP twice before, and thought I'd post my opinion of some of the changes, good and bad.

Hits - New beds very comfortable, new layout for buffet area and it's much easier to get around, better wifi coverage on ship (although it's still not very fast), movie screen by pool much brighter and clearer picture,

Misses - main dining room menus I found disappointing many nights, steak is no longer available on everyday menu, and some nights no steak was available.

Planks and Steamers are two new restaurants that replaced Caribe Cafe. They have free breakfast and lunch, but charge $12 for dinner. Breakfast was good, lunch was very very disappointing, same couple items everyday. Did not try dinner, but never saw more than a handful of people there. But if you ate in the regular buffet for dinner, you could not eat in the Planks or Steamers portion of the area, so it limited available seating. I missed Cafe Caribe. I will also add that in February we were on a Carnival ship that had just put in a free BBQ restaurant that had great beef brisket and pulled pork. I do not see the need to spend $12 to eat BBQ. Steamers didn't appeal to us as they had no crab or lobster.

Sushi was available in Vines, but only if you bought wine. I'm not much of a wine drinker, but like sushi. It was available on the buffet everyday at lunch on HAL.

The Princess@Sea app worked pretty well, but there is no option to see what the dinner menus are. Disapponting.

As usual, they never get everything done during dry dock, so carpet was still being installed, etc. But more disappointing was the normal maintenance that didn't get resolved. When there are 3 toilets in the public restroom by the restaurant, but only 1 is working. Really? And there were several people who had no hot water the 1st day or two. But guess that is normal because they concentrated on the new restaurants, etc. getting finished.

 

We had a good time on the cruise, and still like the CP layout. Never felt really crowded, which we like. But found food many days disappointing. Entertainment was good. Last big production show was I think called Bravo or Brava, and was one of the best shows we have ever seen at sea on 35+ cruises. But I would like to see Cafe Caribe back, and a steak option back on the everyday menu.

 

Steamers and Planks were great. You missed out on some great meals. New lido food is horrible. We did not return to MDR after 7 days, service was really slow. Crown grill is still good, Sabatinis is crap!. CP is still my favorite ship, hope they work the bugs out soon.

[easyboy]

Thank you for your feedback!

[53sunset]

We were on the same cruise and found the changes disappointing. The food choices were terrible and the food itself was never served hot. The new buffet choices were things like peanut butter sandwiches and breakfast for dinner which was the same thing every night. Most of the public restrooms weren't working for the entire ship. The most positive thing was the bedding in our cabin, it was the best mattress that we've had on any of our many cruises. We did enjoy the production shows, especially the last night which was a show call Bravo. Hope they'll go back to the Horizon Court and start serving the food the right temperature.

[spyro1952]

Thanks for the comments.

 

Steak has been off the always available for a long time.

Thats pretty bad taking up part of the HC for a pay area now.

Its already limited with 500 extra passengers from Riviera deck.

Steamers with no lobster/crab, pretty pathetic IMO.

 

Not sure who is making the new design change and food venue decisions at Princess but it sounds like the same people are still there from the Island Princess renovation disaster. :rolleyes:

They seem to be in no man's land on all the changes/failures being made over the last year or 2.

 

I was also on this TA and thought the changes to Horizon court area were horrible IMO. Although they've made some more comfortable seating, it has taken up more seating space to do so. We were in a suite so we didn't have to fight the crowds at breakfast or lunch so much but ended up there for dinner couple of times. Very crowded on this particular formal night and almost impossible to get a table. What made it worse for me was that the food was really bad, especially at lunch. I only came away with some cheese cubes or tuna salad.

 

I think overall the food on Princess has really deteriorated over the past two years or so but I now cruise for transportation more than the cruise experience. We did speak with the customer service manager several times while on board for various issues which were resolved more or less.

[tjwa]

Did not try dinner, but never saw more than a handful of people there. But if you ate in the regular buffet for dinner, you could not eat in the Planks or Steamers portion of the area, so it limited available seating. I missed Cafe Caribe.

 

I'm presuming that only one side of the buffet is open for serving so if the seating is full can you take your food to sit in the other side.

[tjwa]

I was also on this TA and thought the changes to Horizon court area were horrible IMO. Although they've made some more comfortable seating, it has taken up more seating space to do so. We were in a suite so we didn't have to fight the crowds at breakfast or lunch so much but ended up there for dinner couple of times. Very crowded on this particular formal night and almost impossible to get a table. What made it worse for me was that the food was really bad, especially at lunch. I only came away with some cheese cubes or tuna salad.

 

I think overall the food on Princess has really deteriorated over the past two years or so but I now cruise for transportation more than the cruise experience. We did speak with the customer service manager several times while on board for various issues which were resolved more or less.

 

Totally agree.

[antsp]

We were on the CP for the transatlantic after it came out of drydock. We have been on the CP twice before, and thought I'd post my opinion of some of the changes, good and bad.

Hits - New beds very comfortable, new layout for buffet area and it's much easier to get around, better wifi coverage on ship (although it's still not very fast), movie screen by pool much brighter and clearer picture,

Misses - main dining room menus I found disappointing many nights, steak is no longer available on everyday menu, and some nights no steak was available.

Planks and Steamers are two new restaurants that replaced Caribe Cafe. They have free breakfast and lunch, but charge $12 for dinner. Breakfast was good, lunch was very very disappointing, same couple items everyday. Did not try dinner, but never saw more than a handful of people there. But if you ate in the regular buffet for dinner, you could not eat in the Planks or Steamers portion of the area, so it limited available seating. I missed Cafe Caribe. I will also add that in February we were on a Carnival ship that had just put in a free BBQ restaurant that had great beef brisket and pulled pork. I do not see the need to spend $12 to eat BBQ. Steamers didn't appeal to us as they had no crab or lobster.

Sushi was available in Vines, but only if you bought wine. I'm not much of a wine drinker, but like sushi. It was available on the buffet everyday at lunch on HAL.

The Princess@Sea app worked pretty well, but there is no option to see what the dinner menus are. Disapponting.

As usual, they never get everything done during dry dock, so carpet was still being installed, etc. But more disappointing was the normal maintenance that didn't get resolved. When there are 3 toilets in the public restroom by the restaurant, but only 1 is working. Really? And there were several people who had no hot water the 1st day or two. But guess that is normal because they concentrated on the new restaurants, etc. getting finished.

 

We had a good time on the cruise, and still like the CP layout. Never felt really crowded, which we like. But found food many days disappointing. Entertainment was good. Last big production show was I think called Bravo or Brava, and was one of the best shows we have ever seen at sea on 35+ cruises. But I would like to see Cafe Caribe back, and a steak option back on the everyday menu.

 

Lets hope the up charging venues fail, that way Princess won't introduce them to other ships.

[ChiCruiser758]

I'm presuming that only one side of the buffet is open for serving so if the seating is full can you take your food to sit in the other side.

 

Except when transitioning from one meal to the next, during mealtimes both sides of the buffet were open. Still, the buffet was usually crowded. I suspect part of the crowding was due to the fact that the weather was in the 50's F for the second half of the cruise so most people didn't want to eat outside. But, at dinner time, the loss of almost half of the buffet seating to Steamers/Planks also made for crowding.

 

As I've said in earlier comments, I, too was very disappointed in the new buffet set-up. Even the new "World Marketplace" doesn't live up to its name. Even though there was usually some sort of Asian food in the buffet, it was poor quality. With so many Thai/Filipino crew on board, I'd expect the ship to have a least a couple of crew who could cook Asian food well.

 

I will echo earlier comments that my stateroom was excellent. All the soft goods, such as the carpet and the upholstery on the chairs looked new. The beds were fine (although the mattress was good, and much better than the previous mattresses, it was not luxury). However, the sheets and duvet were lovely.

 

As I also said in an earlier comment, it was a disappointment that Princess has made the laundry rooms smaller to make room for contractor cabins. On a 14-day cruise, it's nice to be able to do some laundry. Elite passengers, who have laundry done for free, had to wait extra days for their laundry, and were told it was because there were so many elite passengers on this cruise.

 

One caveat I have to make to all my comments is that this particular transatlantic cruise was priced very low, so despite the disappointments, it was a good value for the money. For the most part, the ship looks great. I hope Princess makes changes to both the buffet and the dining room menu to bring them back to Princess standards, especially for dinner. Neither the Planks nor the Steamers menus particularly appealed to me. Both menus seemed to offer lots of food, but I'd rather have high quality food, rather than more food than I could possibly eat.

[Woobstr112G]

Except when transitioning from one meal to the next, during mealtimes both sides of the buffet were open. Still, the buffet was usually crowded. I suspect part of the crowding was due to the fact that the weather was in the 50's F for the second half of the cruise so most people didn't want to eat outside. But, at dinner time, the loss of almost half of the buffet seating to Steamers/Planks also made for crowding.

 

Could you still get to those outside tables or were they also reserved for Steamers/Planks?

 

Bob

[ChiCruiser758]

Could you still get to those outside tables or were they also reserved for Steamers/Planks?

 

Bob

 

Sorry, I never checked the outside tables behind Steamers/Planks. Unless you found some other way to get to those tables, you would have to go through Steamers/Planks to get to them, something I didn't try since I would have had to deal with the hostesses for Steamers/Planks. Also, the cold (and windy!) weather meant only the hardiest ate outside. Despite the weather, I did sometimes eat outside near the pool/MUTS area. There were also plenty of outside tables near Slices/Salty Dog.

[JimmyVWine]

Lets hope the up charging venues fail, that way Princess won't introduce them to other ships.

I am hoping for a slightly different outcome. When Royal debuted, Princess started charging a fee for Alfredo's. The outcry was palpable, and it soon changed over to being an "included" venue as it was on other ships (despite the fact that the menu was more expansive). This is how I would like to see Princess approach Planks and Steamers. I like the introduction of additional dining venues with focused menus. But I don't think that passengers should pay extra for what amounts to being "road food" like BBQ or clams. Casual fare should be included in the overall price just as it is with the Pub Lunch on sea days. There is no good reason why the passengers in the MDR are dining on shrimp cocktail, escargot, veal, lamb, French onion soup, short ribs and lobster tails for no extra cost while people in alternative dining venues are having hamburgers, steamed clams and pulled pork for a fee. I don't have any issue with paying for Specialty Dining when the atmosphere and fare justify the surcharge. But casual roadside food offerings that are no more "luxurious" than the food served in the MDR or buffet should be part of the cruise fare. It is insulting to pay extra for a lower level of dining. So while I have no issue with the additional venues, I hope that the "failure" is in the pricing and not the offering.

[rocklinmom]

Thanks for the update on the new CB buffet. I was afraid that it wouldn't be a change for the better. What a bummer! Hopefully they make some changes fast.

[tartan cruiser]

Have they also discontinued the theme nights in the buffet such as German night?

[RocketMan275]

Lets hope the up charging venues fail, that way Princess won't introduce them to other ships.

We are always looking for alternatives to the so lets hope the up charging venues improve their game to provide something worthy of the up charge.

[Thrak]

Sigh... I guess I'm just a crabby old man but I really wish people would not use ship abbreviations if they don't know the proper ones.

CP = Sea Princess - NOT Caribbean Princess

 

One can always go to the Princess site and click on the name of a ship. Included in the URL that shows up in the address field is the ship abbreviation:

http://www.princess.com/ships-and-experience/ships/cb-caribbean-princess/

 

CB - Caribbean Princess

CO - Coral Princess

KP - Crown Princess

DP - Dawn Princess

DI - Diamond Princess

EP - Emerald Princess

NP - Golden Princess

AP - Grand Princess

IP - Island Princess

GP - Regal Princess

RP - Royal Princess

RU - Ruby Princess

SA - Sapphire Princess

CP - Sea Princess

TP - Star Princess

SP - Sun Princess

MJ – Majestic

PA - Pacific Princess

[MGAfhc]

Sorry, I never checked the outside tables behind Steamers/Planks. Unless you found some other way to get to those tables, you would have to go through Steamers/Planks to get to them, something I didn't try since I would have had to deal with the hostesses for Steamers/Planks. Also, the cold (and windy!) weather meant only the hardiest ate outside. Despite the weather, I did sometimes eat outside near the pool/MUTS area. There were also plenty of outside tables near Slices/Salty Dog.

 

This is what I was afraid might happen. I had asked about this on a previous thread, but didn't get an answer. In the past we have often taken an aft cabin on Rivera deck. Easy access through the old Café Caribe to Lido deck and use of those aft outdoor tables for an evening meal from H'court or Caribe made the buffet much more pleasant. It looks like all that is now gone. I think we will avoid the CB in the future unless I hear something different. I really don't like sitting around the pool/Mutts area for dinner.

[crochetcruise]

Thanks so very very much for your time to give us a CB report. :D

Seems most of the changes are on Lido Deck (15).

Did you go to the Salty Dog Grill that was Trident Grill and if you tried the $5 burger?

NOTE: To get the sushi at Vines it's ANY drink ... does not have to be wine. ;)

 

THANK YOU! When I sailed on the Golden Princess last November, I was a COMPLETE newbie-thought Vines only served wine, and I am not fond of wine, no gourmet here!

 

I get the Soda and More Package, and there's a useful shop with a good choice of souvenirs right next to Vines, so I can do my Early Christmas shopping next year, might even do some Future Christmas shopping-several people who are hard to buy for, but can ALWAYS use a mug. also noted to watch for the Sale in 1 of the Dining Rooms as I may be able to get mugs from other ships.

[jgreenwo17]

We were on the CP for the transatlantic after it came out of drydock. We have been on the CP twice before, and thought I'd post my opinion of some of the changes, good and bad.

Hits - New beds very comfortable, new layout for buffet area and it's much easier to get around, better wifi coverage on ship (although it's still not very fast), movie screen by pool much brighter and clearer picture,

Misses - main dining room menus I found disappointing many nights, steak is no longer available on everyday menu, and some nights no steak was available.

Planks and Steamers are two new restaurants that replaced Caribe Cafe. They have free breakfast and lunch, but charge $12 for dinner. Breakfast was good, lunch was very very disappointing, same couple items everyday. Did not try dinner, but never saw more than a handful of people there. But if you ate in the regular buffet for dinner, you could not eat in the Planks or Steamers portion of the area, so it limited available seating. I missed Cafe Caribe. I will also add that in February we were on a Carnival ship that had just put in a free BBQ restaurant that had great beef brisket and pulled pork. I do not see the need to spend $12 to eat BBQ. Steamers didn't appeal to us as they had no crab or lobster.

Sushi was available in Vines, but only if you bought wine. I'm not much of a wine drinker, but like sushi. It was available on the buffet everyday at lunch on HAL.

The Princess@Sea app worked pretty well, but there is no option to see what the dinner menus are. Disapponting.

As usual, they never get everything done during dry dock, so carpet was still being installed, etc. But more disappointing was the normal maintenance that didn't get resolved. When there are 3 toilets in the public restroom by the restaurant, but only 1 is working. Really? And there were several people who had no hot water the 1st day or two. But guess that is normal because they concentrated on the new restaurants, etc. getting finished.

 

We had a good time on the cruise, and still like the CP layout. Never felt really crowded, which we like. But found food many days disappointing. Entertainment was good. Last big production show was I think called Bravo or Brava, and was one of the best shows we have ever seen at sea on 35+ cruises. But I would like to see Cafe Caribe back, and a steak option back on the everyday menu.

 

I'm pretty sure for another $10, you can get crab and lobster on the Steamers menu.

 

I have been away from Princess for a few years. I hope the dining overall is as good as it used to be. We will be on the CB this early June. I chose the itinerary over the cruise line. With all the competition out there you would think that Princess would "up their game."

 

We shall see.

[sonomaphil]

THANK YOU! When I sailed on the Golden Princess last November, I was a COMPLETE newbie-thought Vines only served wine, and I am not fond of wine, no gourmet here!

.

 

Vines does only serve wine except for the Regal, Royal and I assume the Majestic. Those three ships have full bars at Vines, no others do.

[Times Prince]

This is what I was afraid might happen. ... In the past we have often taken an aft cabin on Rivera deck. Easy access through the old Café Caribe to Lido deck and use of those aft outdoor tables for an evening meal from H'court or Caribe made the buffet much more pleasant. It looks like all that is now gone. I think we will avoid the CB in the future unless I hear something different.

For many sailings we enjoyed Café Caribe on Caribbean, Emerald, and Crown Princess, and considered it a venue that was most pleasurable for dining. We oft noted that Café Caribe was also the preferred venue for most of the ship's officers and entertainment staff when both HC and Café Caribe were open. However, on our most recent cruises we've noted Princess closing down Café Caribe in favor of the Crab Shack, and later leaving Café Caribe idle during evening meals. I had frequently posted that Café Caribe was an upscale buffet with some MDR ambiance and quality servers.

 

Princess Cruises, you have erred in taking away this prime alternative to the MDR.

 

In the past year I have often looked at appealing cruise itineraries and then rejected them because the ship was Caribbean Princess, where in my opinion Princess has made too many mistakes in the things we found most enjoyable on her sister class of ships.