Review Posted: Caribbean Princess Canada-NE, 8/09/19

[sunluva7]

My Review is up from our cruise a few weeks ago. It’s a long one, so pour yourself a drink, put your feet up and enjoy.😀

 

In a nutshell, it was a great cruise - nice ship for its age, loved Quebec City and the ports, especially Cape Breton, NS. 

 

Caribbean Princess-Canada NE 08/09/19

 

 

[sunsetbeachgal]

Thank you for your review.  We are going on the cruise in reverse in October with slightly different ports.  Appreciate the tip about the forward Lido Deck viewing area.  

[worldtraveller]

We are taking a similar cruise next year and I noticed in your review you said that Sydney was a tender port.  Was this a change to plans? I ask as it is not listed that way when I look up the trip we are taking.

 

Thanks

[skynight]

Thanks for the review. We were on the same voyage. Agree with you regarding your medallion comments. Did not see much benefit beyond opening the cabin door. Your other comments are just about the same as mine. One additional comment is that the entertainment department needed at least three theater performance times. Two performances in an 800 seat theater does not work well with 3,000 passengers. 

[tailspintom]

A very nice review. I like the New England / Canada itinerary, having taken the late October re-positioning to Florida a few times. We will probably do it again when/if they put Charleston, South Carolina back into the port visits. Your comment on the crowding of the theater seems to jive with Hank's earlier comments that the venue is just too small for a two show schedule.  Like you, we enjoy the quieter area aft in the Horizon Court.  The changes made on the last CB refit seems to have spread out the patrons.

 

Thanks for taking the time to do such an extensive review.

[skynight]

I want to add that during the spring wet dock to repair the propulsion motor a really nice family area was added to deck 17. The area has a great new splash pool with active water features, cushioned lounges and seating, some with cover, shaded areas, a youth friendly bar, pool and hot tub. There is a photo in the current Circle Magazine on page 4.

[Coral]

1 hour ago, skynight said:

Thanks for the review. We were on the same voyage. Agree with you regarding your medallion comments. Did not see much benefit beyond opening the cabin door. Your other comments are just about the same as mine. One additional comment is that the entertainment department needed at least three theater performance times. Two performances in an 800 seat theater does not work well with 3,000 passengers. 

The Theatre worked fine on the original Grand Class ships. When they added another deck (500 more passengers), it presented problems IMO.

[senior lady]

Thanks for the great review.  Going on the Caribbean in November for a 10 day partial Canal cruise.

I've been on most of the ships except this one and the new ones that are just coming out.  I've always stayed clear of the Caribbean because of remarks about how old she was.   This has made me more excited..... thanks.

[sunluva7]

8 hours ago, worldtraveller said:

We are taking a similar cruise next year and I noticed in your review you said that Sydney was a tender port.  Was this a change to plans? I ask as it is not listed that way when I look up the trip we are taking.

 

Thanks

It wasn’t listed that way on ours either. We were unsure up until the day before how we were docking - first it was tender, then it was dock, the  finally they confirmed we were tendering. Holland America took the dock space.

[sunluva7]

8 hours ago, skynight said:

Thanks for the review. We were on the same voyage. Agree with you regarding your medallion comments. Did not see much benefit beyond opening the cabin door. Your other comments are just about the same as mine. One additional comment is that the entertainment department needed at least three theater performance times. Two performances in an 800 seat theater does not work well with 3,000 passengers. 

You are right, and this seems to be a common problem on most big ships - too many guests for the size of the theater. We arrived a half hour early to get seats.

[sunluva7]

7 hours ago, skynight said:

I want to add that during the spring wet dock to repair the propulsion motor a really nice family area was added to deck 17. The area has a great new splash pool with active water features, cushioned lounges and seating, some with cover, shaded areas, a youth friendly bar, pool and hot tub. There is a photo in the current Circle Magazine on page 4.

Yes, I agree, it’s a nice area and a big plus for the kids, though I heard a few complaints from guests in the adult aft pool area about its location and noise from kids above disrupting their peace and quiet. We didn’t notice because we were at the aft pool either when people were off the ship or early in the morning when the kids were still in bed.

[skynight]

8 minutes ago, sunluva7 said:

It wasn’t listed that way on ours either. We were unsure up until the day before how we were docking - first it was tender, then it was dock, the  finally they confirmed we were tendering. Holland America took the dock space.

The staff captain told me that the HAL ship had numerous tender ports scheduled on their trip and we had only one. It was decided to give up the Sydney berth to HAL.

[sunluva7]

9 hours ago, sunsetbeachgal said:

Thank you for your review.  We are going on the cruise in reverse in October with slightly different ports.  Appreciate the tip about the forward Lido Deck viewing area.  

You will love it - it’s especially beautiful in October.🙂

[sunluva7]

7 hours ago, tailspintom said:

A very nice review. I like the New England / Canada itinerary, having taken the late October re-positioning to Florida a few times. We will probably do it again when/if they put Charleston, South Carolina back into the port visits. Your comment on the crowding of the theater seems to jive with Hank's earlier comments that the venue is just too small for a two show schedule.  Like you, we enjoy the quieter area aft in the Horizon Court.  The changes made on the last CB refit seems to have spread out the patrons.

 

Thanks for taking the time to do such an extensive review.

I have not been to Charleston, and that would be a great port on the itinerary!

[sunluva7]

1 hour ago, senior lady said:

Thanks for the great review.  Going on the Caribbean in November for a 10 day partial Canal cruise.

I've been on most of the ships except this one and the new ones that are just coming out.  I've always stayed clear of the Caribbean because of remarks about how old she was.   This has made me more excited..... thanks.

Yes, she is old, but the changes make her look much newer. By the way, we did the partial Panama transit on the Coral 2 years ago, and loved that itinerary. You’ll be going in November so it won’t be so hot. 🙂

[brewcrew]

Nice review!  Thanks for sharing!

[Fisherwoman]

5 hours ago, skynight said:

The staff captain told me that the HAL ship had numerous tender ports scheduled on their trip and we had only one. It was decided to give up the Sydney berth to HAL.

I was on the cruise too.  HAL offered some of their tenders to get our passengers to shore quicker!  That's great co-operation!  

[amypete]

Thank you for this! We will be on her this weekend and I can't wait. We are a take it or leave it for dance shows....so I think all the comments about that won't affect us a bit and it will be great! 

[jimbri]

Thank you for your review.  We will be sailing to some of the places you visited in October.

[Coral]

10 hours ago, Fisherwoman said:

I was on the cruise too.  HAL offered some of their tenders to get our passengers to shore quicker!  That's great co-operation!  

They have the same boss! Princess and Holland America both report to the Holland America Group within Carnival Corp. They share a lot of resources.

Edited September 8, 2019 by Coral

[CineGraphic]

On 9/7/2019 at 8:17 AM, worldtraveller said:

We are taking a similar cruise next year and I noticed in your review you said that Sydney was a tender port.  Was this a change to plans? I ask as it is not listed that way when I look up the trip we are taking.

There's only one dock in Sydney, so it depends on how many ships are visiting each day. We the Caribbean Princess stopped in Sydney on the way up from Fort Lauderdale, we were at the dock. A HAL ship arrived later and had to tender.

[AF-1]

Great review; and since you are a veteran cruiser with Princess; you have lots of ships to compare to.  We sailed CB in Feb. Our cruise was max capacity; however, my wife and I walked into the theater 15 min prior to shows and found seats.  I guess it depends on itinerary and the shows, for overcrowding.  Anyway glad you enjoyed your cruise.

[Canberra forever !]

Great review ! We’ve booked this trip for October 2020 and can’t wait 😊 

Happy cruising !

[drbabe]

On 9/7/2019 at 3:15 AM, sunluva7 said:

My Review is up from our cruise a few weeks ago. It’s a long one, so pour yourself a drink, put your feet up and enjoy.😀

 

In a nutshell, it was a great cruise - nice ship for its age, loved Quebec City and the ports, especially Cape Breton, NS. 

 

Caribbean Princess-Canada NE 08/09/19

 

 

Thanks for your review.  Can I get the name of the tour guide/company you used for Cape Breton?  

[sunluva7]

We used Cabot Discovery Tours.