Caribbean Princess Drydock

[carlp]

with all the negativity being said about this ship, does anyone have an idea as to when the next 

drydock might be

[chrysalis]

according to Dr Google it was last dry docked in 2022 so it will be a while before the next one.

[BamaVol]

11 minutes ago, carlp said:

with all the negativity being said about this ship, does anyone have an idea as to when the next 

drydock might be

I would not say there’s been a lot of negativity.  If you measure it by original posts, maybe.  But if you read the responses to the negative posts, most passengers had few to no issues.

 

I’ve observed CC posts often start as questions, complaints and rumors. When someone asks a question, many of the answers will agree, but not everyone gets it correct.  When someone posts a rumor, it often takes on a life of its own. Most fizzle when it turns out they aren’t true.  When someone posts a complaint, most of the responses appear to be rebuttals.  Some are outright denials and a few are supportive.

 

Every week, 3,000 or more sail on the CB.  One guy says he saw bugs.  Probably true. Someone else had a backed up toilet.  Probably true. A cruise reportedly experienced power issues.  Probably true. Also probably true of every ship in every fleet.  The line corrects the issues that are brought to its attention (notable exception for Princess IT issues). And most passengers have a great cruise.

 

It’s the internet. There’s a lot of exaggeration here. And happy customers generally don’t make original posts. YMMV.  In fact, it will vary. Odds are very good that you will have a far better experience than the few who posted complaints.

 

I personally had a good cruise on Caribbean Princess in March. Let that count for something, even though I didn’t shout it from the rooftops.

[voljeep]

we will be on the CB again in a month - and if it is like our last cruise on the CB - it 'may' be the last cruise on the CB - severe understaffing issues shouldn't take a year to correct.  If not, then Princess is just saying ***** the customers - they can take it or not - we're sailing at capacity...

 

after this cruise, we have one more currently booked - on SUN P in Fall 2024.

 

getting closer to being priced out now - but it is still really nice to drive/fly - unpack once - ...

[cr8tiv1]

I am returning to the Caribbean Princess in a few weeks.  I had a fabulous cruise this summer.  Great staff, excellent cabin, good food.  I do not understand the premise to this thread.  

 

Yes, she is an older ship

 

But that is about it.  I was on her pre-pandemic/pre dry dock and she went dead in the water and did also have propulsion problems.  But I am not sure what other "negativity" there is/was associated with her.

 

Maybe you should consider the newer Royal Class or Sun Class ships.  For me, I am not interested in these ships with lots of bells and whistles.  Give me the Grand/GEM class ships and I am perfectly happy.

[BamaVol]

2 hours ago, voljeep said:

we will be on the CB again in a month - and if it is like our last cruise on the CB - it 'may' be the last cruise on the CB - severe understaffing issues shouldn't take a year to correct.  If not, then Princess is just saying ***** the customers - they can take it or not - we're sailing at capacity...

 

after this cruise, we have one more currently booked - on SUN P in Fall 2024.

 

getting closer to being priced out now - but it is still really nice to drive/fly - unpack once - ...

I can not speak for the cruise industry. But staffing shortages are generally temporary. It was nothing I experienced on her in March. But we may frequent different venues. 
 

Currently my local Walgreens pharmacy is short staffed. I will keep my distance until it’s resolved. But I don’t plan to permanently seek out a less convenient alternative. 
 

Still, nothing wrong with playing the field. In this world, loyalty is increasingly for suckers. 

Edited October 4, 2023 by BamaVol

[chengkp75]

3 hours ago, chrysalis said:

according to Dr Google it was last dry docked in 2022 so it will be a while before the next one.

Looks to me, from Lloyd's database, that it will be April 2025.

[Rick&Jeannie]

We just got off the CB from the NY-Quebec City itinerary last week.  Absolutely NO issues at all with the ship.

[voljeep]

15 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

We just got off the CB from the NY-Quebec City itinerary last week.  Absolutely NO issues at all with the ship.

with the ship ...

how about the crew or lack thereof? - what crew there was over last Thanksgiving was excellent - but way understaffed for a 100+% booked cruise.

[HotRoot]

We are on the CB.  Plenty of crew and they are fantastic.    

[Rick&Jeannie]

34 minutes ago, voljeep said:

with the ship ...

how about the crew or lack thereof? - what crew there was over last Thanksgiving was excellent - but way understaffed for a 100+% booked cruise.

If there was a crew shortage it was not evident to us...maybe we were just too "involved" with the Premier drink package! 😄

[MISTER 67]

Since 2005 when she was a year old we have sailed on the Caribbean Princess 10 times, of course she was in great condition that first year, since then and finally in 2017 we thought she was sort of showing her age with worn our carpet and a lot of the furniture pretty beat up, we also had the worst cruise we ever had on a Princess Cruise in 2017 with pretty bad food especially in the buffet, we vowed never to sail on her again. The pandemic came around in 2020 and by the time late 2021 rolled around we were ready to start cruising again, received an email from Princess with a fantastic rate so we tried the Caribbean Princess at Thanksgiving of 2021 and had an absolutely fantastic cruise with the ship looking spotless with new carpeting and furniture, the food was outstanding as was the service and the entertainment was very good. The ship was just over half full which was great since Covid was still with us but we had been vaccinated, masks were mandatory. When we returned home and few days later our personal cruise consultant called us and asked how we liked the cruise, we said we loved it and she said she still had some great rates and we booked a Christmas Cruise for that December and again had a wonderful cruise with the ship again a little over half full. Now here we are in October of 2023 and we have been on 10 cruises since our start up in 2021, we have sailed with Holland America and Celebrity with the HAL cruises being pretty bad and the Celebrity cruises very good but we have noticed the cutbacks and the nickel and diming and of course aren’t happy but no one is forcing us to cruise. Our next cruise is on the Sky Princess and naturally we are a little concerned with all the bad revues we have read on Cruise Critic especially with the complaints about food as bad as I’ve ever heard, we still plan to sail on that cruise and hope that things aren’t as bad as we have read. We won’t sail with HAL again and hope things aren’t that bad that we won’t sail on Princess again.

Edited October 5, 2023 by MISTER 67

[lisacdmartin]

My husband and I were on the Caribbean Princess Sept 9-19. We thought it was great. The ship was older but everything was maintained and taken care of, I would not say anything was worn or shabby. The staff was fantastic and we did not notice any shortages. The food was the food - buffet was OK, MDR some meals better than others, just like any other cruise I've been on. We did do one specialty night at the Crown Grille and the food was very very good, I think it was worth the extra $$ and the food was better than the MDR. The internet worked fine for us, my husband brought his laptop and we watched college games on Saturday, I texted pictures browsed/posted to Facebook and reviewed emails with no problem. Our toilet did have an issue but was fixed within an hour. No smells in the hallways that others here have reported. The AC worked well. We'd go on the ship again.   

[BamaVol]

19 hours ago, lisacdmartin said:

My husband and I were on the Caribbean Princess Sept 9-19. We thought it was great. The ship was older but everything was maintained and taken care of, I would not say anything was worn or shabby. The staff was fantastic and we did not notice any shortages. The food was the food - buffet was OK, MDR some meals better than others, just like any other cruise I've been on. We did do one specialty night at the Crown Grille and the food was very very good, I think it was worth the extra $$ and the food was better than the MDR. The internet worked fine for us, my husband brought his laptop and we watched college games on Saturday, I texted pictures browsed/posted to Facebook and reviewed emails with no problem. Our toilet did have an issue but was fixed within an hour. No smells in the hallways that others here have reported. The AC worked well. We'd go on the ship again.   

I’m curious if you considered ordering one of the specialty entrees while in the MDR?  IIRC, the price is lower and the food is the same.  So, is it the CG atmosphere you liked?

 

I’m one who did mention a hallway odor on CB back in March on the Aloha deck.  But since it didn’t penetrate to our cabin, I shrugged it off.  I did figure someone else would complain if their cabin got stinky, but it was there for the entire cruise. Pretty simple problem to fix, or so I hear.  And I suppose it should have been reported by the cabin attendant(s) for that sector.

[tml1230]

we did the repositioning cruise from Port everglades to Quebec City in July. we thought it was one of our top 5 cruises! If there was a staff shortage we never experienced it. As usual the crew was outstanding. Given the negative reviews I had read prior to embarkation ,we ,were preparing for  a garbage barge with balconies. ....we found the ship perfectly maintained.  YEA...  some of the furniture in  public areas was showing its age, but the food was great, the beer was cold, and I was on cruise on the ocean. How concerned do you think I was about a slightly worn booth in the wheelhouse?

[lisacdmartin]

On 10/7/2023 at 11:58 AM, BamaVol said:

I’m curious if you considered ordering one of the specialty entrees while in the MDR?  IIRC, the price is lower and the food is the same.  So, is it the CG atmosphere you liked?

 

I’m one who did mention a hallway odor on CB back in March on the Aloha deck.  But since it didn’t penetrate to our cabin, I shrugged it off.  I did figure someone else would complain if their cabin got stinky, but it was there for the entire cruise. Pretty simple problem to fix, or so I hear.  And I suppose it should have been reported by the cabin attendant(s) for that sector.

We didn't consider ordering while in the MDR. We didn't realize that the food came from the Crown Grille. The Crown did offer several different types of steaks and better appetizers, specialty salts and we liked the atmosphere. 

[AtlantaCruiser72]

I sailed Caribbean in December 2022.  The only real signs of age I noticed were numerous public washrooms had non-functioning sinks for the entire voyage with the ubiquitous "We're working on it" signs on them. 

 

Overall I found her much the same as in the past, but with some furnishings and fabric updates here and there.  The lack of proper air circulation leading to hot and cold zones in public area, intermittent cabin ac and plumbing issues etc have been there since I said her when first launched.  These issues exist on other Grand Class vessels, but I always have found Caribbean Princess more apt to them in general.  I think it is amore a systems design/build issue than age related

[oceanlover1031]

On 10/4/2023 at 2:10 PM, chengkp75 said:

Looks to me, from Lloyd's database, that it will be April 2025.

That means I may be on her last sailing before she gets dry docked I believe.  Should be interesting.

[kitty2264]

We have spent 52 days aboard CB since 2016, sailing on 5 cruise itineraries. I think she has always been one of my favorite ships. We haven't experienced any problems that I can recall. 

 

There's something to be said about the design of the older classes of ships. One of my favorite parts of CB is the ability to walk the promenade to the bow. I love being up there (in the shade under cover) to view the ports as we come and go. 

 

I still think she is a great ship!

[Spif Barwunkel]

We are looking forward to our first Princess cruise experience in December 2024. A long time coming, but Princess finally takes up residence in our neighborhood at Port Canaveral in November 2024 when Caribbean Princess arrives. We have also booked passage on Sky for November 2025 as she will be the next Princess ship to cruise from PC. We hope to enjoy Princess as much as we do our primary cruise line of choice.

[JG&Lcruisingnewbies]

It looks like she arrives in Civitavecchia 20th October 24 and doesn’t leave until 10th November for a trans Atlantic. So safe to assume that’s when the dry dock is.

[iceleven]

On 4/13/2024 at 10:02 AM, Spif Barwunkel said:

We are looking forward to our first Princess cruise experience in December 2024. A long time coming, but Princess finally takes up residence in our neighborhood at Port Canaveral in November 2024 when Caribbean Princess arrives. We have also booked passage on Sky for November 2025 as she will be the next Princess ship to cruise from PC. We hope to enjoy Princess as much as we do our primary cruise line of choice.

Same for me! We're in Orlando and so very happy that a Princess ship is coming into Port Canaveral. I first was disappointed that it was to be the Caribbean because I really would love to sail with something that's new to the fleet and, just today, realized that the Sky will be taking over in 2025. Since only being in Florida 5 years, and with the covid fear for two years we've only cruised three times. We have cruised out of both Miami and Ft. Lauderdale but that's always a hassle. We're not keen on the larger kid-friendly ships that have been in PC for all these many years.

 

I should add that we have cruised with Princess out of California for many years and have a long history with them. 15+ cruises, I believe I can recall. Most on the Grand Princess. Also an older ship.

Edited May 5 by iceleven