CB Review 5/04 -5/08 Sailing

[rbpjr]

We were on the past 5/04 cruise and boarded the ship and the embarkation was so fast and smooth- even though we forgot to print out boarding pass, it only took minutes to go aboard. Suitcases arrived in our rooms fast. We talked to several past CB cruisers and new Princess Cruisers like me -they agreed that the buffet wasn't the greatest (that was the biggest complaint from everyone we talked to), RCCL windjammer has them beat hands down. No spinach,shredded cheese, pitted olives some too soft. No lemonade on this cruise like RCCL has. The buffet area was also too narrow & crowded and really long lines, especially on theme food nights. Pizza and veggie burgers were awesome and fresh and fairly fast lines. October fest was awful not much for me and wife to eat since we are vegetarians. Also, my wife likes hot tea and there was no honey. The power was out during the formal night -some people were freaking out and screaming in their staterooms but we just stayed calm- it did happen twice. The movies under the stars was really awesome- very nice setup-although popcorn had no salt or butter- just bland. The steam room/sauna/hot tubs were awesome- especially the adults only hot tubs, that was a nice feature. We loved the gym- lots of machines to work out on- we took the absession morning class and we loved it- the rest of the week, we could feel the ab workout. Staterooms were very spacious, including the bathrooms-mattress slept very well. We did formal night and the dining room food was very good- our waiter even gave us the recipe for the stuffed zucchini which was really nice. We went to buy our photos and found out that their prices are higher than RCCL- 8x10 were $24.95, some $29.95, small pictures were $20.00- we ended up only buying 1 formal pictures because of the high prices- on other cruises, we bought photos for $12.95 to $19.95. We went to the Marriage show and didn't like it- a pre-warning- it was quite raunchy & too much personal information for us. We went to the 10:30 fruit buffet and it was pretty good- tons of fruit to choose from. Overall, a nice cruise-but we still prefer RCCL and will continue to cruise with them.

[janetz]

We were on the past 5/04 cruise and boarded the ship and the embarkation was so fast and smooth- even though we forgot to print out boarding pass, it only took minutes to go aboard. Suitcases arrived in our rooms fast. We talked to several past CB cruisers and new Princess Cruisers like me -they agreed that the buffet wasn't the greatest (that was the biggest complaint from everyone we talked to), RCCL windjammer has them beat hands down. No spinach,shredded cheese, pitted olives some too soft. No lemonade on this cruise like RCCL has. The buffet area was also too narrow & crowded and really long lines, especially on theme food nights. Pizza and veggie burgers were awesome and fresh and fairly fast lines. October fest was awful not much for me and wife to eat since we are vegetarians. Also, my wife likes hot tea and there was no honey. The power was out during the formal night -some people were freaking out and screaming in their staterooms but we just stayed calm- it did happen twice. The movies under the stars was really awesome- very nice setup-although popcorn had no salt or butter- just bland. The steam room/sauna/hot tubs were awesome- especially the adults only hot tubs, that was a nice feature. We loved the gym- lots of machines to work out on- we took the absession morning class and we loved it- the rest of the week, we could feel the ab workout. Staterooms were very spacious, including the bathrooms-mattress slept very well. We did formal night and the dining room food was very good- our waiter even gave us the recipe for the stuffed zucchini which was really nice. We went to buy our photos and found out that their prices are higher than RCCL- 8x10 were $24.95, some $29.95, small pictures were $20.00- we ended up only buying 1 formal pictures because of the high prices- on other cruises, we bought photos for $12.95 to $19.95. We went to the Marriage show and didn't like it- a pre-warning- it was quite raunchy & too much personal information for us. We went to the 10:30 fruit buffet and it was pretty good- tons of fruit to choose from. Overall, a nice cruise-but we still prefer RCCL and will continue to cruise with them.

 

 

Thank you for your review...Can you tell me what time the gym opened? :)

[chefim]

We were on the past 5/04 cruise and boarded the ship and the embarkation was so fast and smooth- even though we forgot to print out boarding pass, it only took minutes to go aboard. Suitcases arrived in our rooms fast. We talked to several past CB cruisers and new Princess Cruisers like me -they agreed that the buffet wasn't the greatest (that was the biggest complaint from everyone we talked to), RCCL windjammer has them beat hands down. No spinach,shredded cheese, pitted olives some too soft. No lemonade on this cruise like RCCL has. The buffet area was also too narrow & crowded and really long lines, especially on theme food nights. Pizza and veggie burgers were awesome and fresh and fairly fast lines. October fest was awful not much for me and wife to eat since we are vegetarians. Also, my wife likes hot tea and there was no honey. The power was out during the formal night -some people were freaking out and screaming in their staterooms but we just stayed calm- it did happen twice. The movies under the stars was really awesome- very nice setup-although popcorn had no salt or butter- just bland. The steam room/sauna/hot tubs were awesome- especially the adults only hot tubs, that was a nice feature. We loved the gym- lots of machines to work out on- we took the absession morning class and we loved it- the rest of the week, we could feel the ab workout. Staterooms were very spacious, including the bathrooms-mattress slept very well. We did formal night and the dining room food was very good- our waiter even gave us the recipe for the stuffed zucchini which was really nice. We went to buy our photos and found out that their prices are higher than RCCL- 8x10 were $24.95, some $29.95, small pictures were $20.00- we ended up only buying 1 formal pictures because of the high prices- on other cruises, we bought photos for $12.95 to $19.95. We went to the Marriage show and didn't like it- a pre-warning- it was quite raunchy & too much personal information for us. We went to the 10:30 fruit buffet and it was pretty good- tons of fruit to choose from. Overall, a nice cruise-but we still prefer RCCL and will continue to cruise with them.

 

Thanks for your review. We were on the first of the 4 day sailings, and I would just say that you cannot judge Princess based on your 4 day sailing.

 

I have been on the CB 3 times and these short cruises, which were a fill in for a canceled dry dock do not accurately represent the Princess product.

 

You should give them another chance on a longer cruise.

 

Regards,

 

Chef

[Whimsy]

Thanks for your review. We were on the first of the 4 day sailings, and I would just say that you cannot judge Princess based on your 4 day sailing.

 

I have been on the CB 3 times and these short cruises, which were a fill in for a canceled dry dock do not accurately represent the Princess product.

 

You should give them another chance on a longer cruise.

 

Regards,

 

Chef

 

I totally agree.

[rbpjr]

Thank you for your review...Can you tell me what time the gym opened? :)

 

6 am -10 pm

 

but they closed the gym on debark day. so no early morning workout.:(

[janetz]

6 am -10 pm

 

but they closed the gym on debark day. so no early morning workout.:(

 

 

Were the treadmills available at 6am? :)

[rbpjr]

Were the treadmills available at 6am? :)

 

well they say you can use them after 8am but they were on treadmills around 7am. we used the joggin track above.

[Chesneygirl]

well they say you can use them after 8am but they were on treadmills around 7am. we used the joggin track above.

 

How was the jogging track?

Were there lots of people using it?

[rbpjr]

How was the jogging track?

Were there lots of people using it?

 

in the beginning there were half dozen or so, the last day in the early morning only one was walking. We really enjoyed the rubber track.

[dforeigner]

Thank you for taking time to write a review.

[Jeffbhhs]

thanks for the review

[taxatty]

To be fair--we done both long and short cruises on RCI and Princess--and you definitely get a better overall product (more to do, better food, etc.) on the longer cruises than the shorter ones.

 

On the other hand, the CB is far newer and a considerably better ship than the Sovereign class ships that RCI generally uses for the short ones (we've been on the Majesty 4 times, and there is no comparison, even after the Majesty was renovated last year), although the short CB cruises probably are now history.

 

Les