Most dissappointing vacation ever

Caribbean Princess Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 11

Overall rating:

2 out of 5
Verified Review
Caribbean Princess

7 Night Western Caribbean (Houston Roundtrip)

Sail date: January 17, 2016

Ship: Caribbean Princess

Cabin type: Suite

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

I have never come home from a vacation feeling so disappointed.  We had a balcony mini suite.  The price was good and the room was great and then it went downhill from there.  This was our first cruise and we were very excited and had heard great things about what to expect for service.  Service in the dining room was great but service in the bars, pool side and room steward were not good at all.  We purchased the all inclusive drink package for $788 for the two of us and that was a huge let down.  Our drinks never had full shots in them, we couldn't get anyone to wait on us and it was a pain to hand over our cruise cards with every drink.  We finally went up to the poolside bar and asked the bartender why our drinks didn't have the proper shots in them and he admitted they didn't.  From that point forward, we watched every poor.  I don't think we got our money out of the card.  We cam into port 12 hours earlier then expected but couldn't get off the boat until the next day. It wouldn't have been a problem except the closed the casino and the bars 2 hours before getting to port so we went 12 hours with nothing to do. The entertainment was mediocre at best.  The ship was old and missing some key features. The casino was tight and we lost lots of $ over the 7 days. The 2nd 2 last day we ran out of tooth paste and asked our room steward if he could get us some.  Any hotel at any price would have had this available for a guest but our steward told us we had to go buy it from the store.  The destinations were great and I would definitely go back to all 3 places for longer visits.  Not sure if I will try another cruise for awhile.  I do believe this was an exception and not the norm but we paid so much expecting a great vacation and were so bummed to come home after spending $4000 or more to be disappointed.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Service and Staff

1 out of 5

Ship Quality

1 out of 5

Ship tip

Don't get the all inclusive drink package.

Ports of call

Houston, Texas

5 out of 5

Cozumel, Mexico

5 out of 5

Coxen Hole, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras

5 out of 5

Belize City, Belize

3 out of 5
Was this review helpful? 11

8 Comments

Gwbigdog    2 years ago

Gwbigdog    2 years ago

boulier    8 years ago

We were on the same cruise and it had its disappointments but all in all had a great time. only place where service was not great was at the pool but they were pretty busy. I wouldn't give up on cruising but maybe you should try Carnival the seem to cater more to the party crowd, princess is older and way layed back.

gsnovosad    8 years ago

The toothpaste quandary by ordering Listerine on the rocks with your drink card.

gsnovosad    8 years ago

You could have beat the system and gotten around

cquinn    8 years ago

Nothing to do for 12 hours because of the bars and casinos being closed suggests the only thing you enjoy doing is drinking and gambling.

gsnovosad    8 years ago

Don't ever consider writing reviews for Conde Nast.

musiconb    8 years ago

The reason the casino was closed is because it has to be, by law, in most ports, and in US waters. The "poors" you complain about would have been the same had you been paying cash. By having the Premium drink package, all your drinks were paid for, simply drink more. It wouldn't cost you more. If you want to be waited on hand and foot, your every whim catered to at the EXACT moment you want it done, then may e a cruise ship with 3400 passengers isn't for you. All cruise line employees work extremely hard, with very little recognition. Perhaps a cruise on a smaller, intimate, ship is what you should take. Be prepared to pay a lot more, if you do. The bottom line os, a cruise is as fantastic or horrible as YOU make it. Just lime any other vacation. If you go on board looking for bad things, you will find them. If you leave all your worries and cares in home port, and board looking for nothing but fun, that is what you will find.

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