European Capitals

Caribbean Princess Cruise Review to Europe - Western Europe

michaeljbown

Contributor Level: Deck Hand

Cruises: 4-6 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 58

Overall rating:

1 out of 5

Verified Review

11 Night European Capitals (London Roundtrip)

Sail date: April 20, 2017

Ship: Caribbean Princess

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: B627

Traveled as: Singles/Friends

Reviewed: 7 years ago

Review summary

The production shows in the theatre were excellent. Our dinner waitresses were excellent. The beds were comfortable.

This is not a happy ship!! The management of the ship - starting with the Captain who we never saw in the entire trip - and the cruise management needs a serious shake-up or replacing.

The decision to abandon the visit to the port of Le Havre, due to a "planned strike" (which never happened) took no consideration whatsover to an alternative destination or the consequences to the passengers. Our travelleing friends took the decision to jump ship in order to continue their travel plans.

In the note from the Captain stating this decision, there was no apology nor offer of compensation and the Captain could not even correctly spell the name of his own ship!

Managing the return of the passengers to the ship in Guernsey was a farce, leaving almost the entire passenger complement waiting on the quayside for a tender for about 1 hour 40 mins. No refreshments were provided - luckily it wasn't raining! A child could have organised this better.

It became clear that the immigration requirements of the ports was either not understood or not properly organised, necessitating a hurried demand for non-EU guests (which was most of them) to have their passports hurriedly copied.

The vessel had only 110 Volt main sockets in the stateroom. I would have expected a modern vessel of this size to have 230 V European outlets as well.

Prosecco was only sold by the bottle which meant carrying the bottle around the ship from bar to bar and to and from the dining room. Not elegant!

We would not recommend this cruise to anyone unless and until there was clear evidence that the management of the ship and senior staff had significantly improved.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Service and Staff

1 out of 5

Ship Quality

1 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Our stateroom was clean and tidy - if a bit "tired", but our attendant (Smit) was excellent. No 230 Volt power sockets

15 Comments

Gwbigdog 2 years ago

oops

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Gwbigdog 2 years ago

Oops

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Martin22 7 years ago

We loved the Caribbean Princess- you will love it!

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ronmckinney 7 years ago

I have been sailing with Princess for many years. Been on this ship twice before. Never been disappointed.

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MisterMet 7 years ago

Sorry to hear your cruise wasn't what you expected. It did sound like you had some fun though.

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mahlongraves 7 years ago

I want to make it clear, I agree with everything michaeljbown said. We have taken many cruises, and this was the worst. Starting with NO hot water and heat the first four days. The AC stayed on full blast, making it 64 degrees Fahrenheit the first four days. And cold showers during that time, as well. Yes the food and service was excellent, making the many public bathrooms toilets and sinks closed for maintenance all the more obvious. The first fourteen day part of the cruise was a shakedown cruise after it's drydock. We had neighbor cabins with no water, electric, and large black stains on the carpet. One lady woke up to floating luggage in her cabin from a flood. The one thing that made us sick to our stomachs was, our next store neighbor found a human molar in her mashed potatoes. There was still some blood on it. She took many pictures, turned my stomach. The ship's doctor took the tooth for an investigation and refused to give her anything in writing. Talk about the ship's doctor, he missed diagnosed my fianc©e dizziness and headaches as an UTI instead of a bad sinus infection. She now has a perforated eardrum, a severe sinus infection and laryngitis. Now taking steroids and heavy-duty antibiotics hoping it will cure the problem. At this point she has no hearing in her left ear. As for Gurnsey, we were in line by 12:30pm, for the 1:00pm last call. We were on the ship at 2:00pm. The line was unbelievably long, and yes they HAD water, but it was long gone.

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ciannone 7 years ago

MT I agree. Done roughly a dozen cruises with different cruise lines and can't say anything bad about any of them! You have to expect hiccups......that's part of traveling!

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MTwitchell 7 years ago

Ciannone you are so spot on, if you look for trouble you will eventually find it. We've been on 12 cruises so far and not had a bad experience yet!

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ciannone 7 years ago

I'm sure it will be fine, if you know how to have a good time and relax. Some people just like to complain. My husband and I read horrible reviews about anthem of the Seas with rccl and we had a wonderful trip all three times. You have to take all of this with a grain of salt. Make your own good time and let the sour balls take care of themselves.

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Licram 7 years ago

Review made me nervous. We sail on the 30th of June. Hope everything gets straightened out.

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ciannone 7 years ago

SOME people don't know how to relax and have a vacation. Nothing will please them. Lemons???? Make lemonade!

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snowfairy 7 years ago

I was on this cruise. we saw the captain at the champagne waterfall. Apologies were made for the abandoned port and we had a lovely note from our steward with a picture of the Eiffel tower and chocolates on our bed. the note said he wished he could take us there. The queues in Guernsey only existed for those arriving for tender late and stewards were port side with urns of water as I remember commenting on how considerate it was. Last minute immigration requirements were decisions of the receiving country and not princesses fault. My view of the same cruise is somewhat different to this. All I saw were happy staff and happy holiday makers. Wonderful as always.

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fostelo77 7 years ago

Independence of the seas was also canceled for le harve but went to holland instead

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MTwitchell 7 years ago

Have been on this vessel 3 times and have never had anything remotely close to what you state, in fact it is one of our favorite Princess ships. Have always enjoyed the excellent service and hospitality from its crew.

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missys 7 years ago

I hate to hear all the negative comments as we are sailing in 32 days. Hopefully they can get their stuff together.

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