Great Cruise and Ports of Call, Some improvements desired

Caribbean Princess Cruise Review to Caribbean - Southern

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 45

Overall rating:

3.7 out of 5
Verified Review
Caribbean Princess

8 Night Southern Caribbean (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)

Sail date: May 11, 2018

Ship: Caribbean Princess

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: A703

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 6 years ago

Review summary

Overall we enjoyed the cruise and the ports of call. Our biggest issue was the cabin bathrooms. The shower was so small that if you dropped your sponge or soap, you could not bend over to pick it up. Compared to NCL, Carnival, and Royal Caribbean, shower is by far the smallest and most uncomfortable. Also, there was no working ventilation system to draw out the steam, moisture, or air from the small bathroom and when inquiring the steward, we were told the whole ship was having trouble with this issue. It made it uncomfortable for our family of 3 to use the bathroom after each other, as one person takes a shower, and the bathroom gets so steamy and hot for a long time that you really try to avoid going in there if you can help it. Smell, same uncomfortable concept. Some common areas on the ship seemed to struggle with the AC too.

Embarkation

5 out of 5
The embarkation was fast. The port allowed us to carry water on board, which is usually a problem in other ports. There was also no problem in allowing us off the ship to get some forgotten things back in our car.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5
The food was alright. NCL's food is the best by far. There weren't very extraordinary choices except for some select German foods like the sausages which were great! Would be nice if they expanded their daytime beverages to include juices. The pizza was no good. Their tea selection was GREAT. The best and most memorable food item were the mocha eclairs.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5
The cruise's activities weren't appealing. Alot of them were unoriginal and the same every cruise line always offers. One plus we really liked that Princess allowed you a choice of movies in your cabin to watch with no extra pay. The choices were good with new movies and popular programs usually presented on cable TV (like animal planet, News, Travelling, Discovery, etc.)

Entertainment

2 out of 5

Service and Staff

4 out of 5
The room stewards on our floor were all very friendly and greeted us all the time. There were select waiters that we really enjoyed conversing with and they were noticeably more friendly. Generally, all the waiters did their job well, but rather stoically and did not offer greetings except selected few who made our trip more memorable. One negative thing is that though there appeared to be many photographers on board, other than the two formal nights there were hardly any to take pictures at stations, the dining rooms, or even ports. Would've liked more creative poses and backgrounds.

Ship Quality

3 out of 5
Ship design was plain. Atrium was the best looking spot on the ship. Not exactly as creative or original like the Carnival lines. But all the areas were clean and well-maintained. We really enjoyed walking outside on Deck 7 every evening to throw off a few calories from dinner and were disappointed when the front of the ship was barred off every time, since it offered an amazing experience and view. Elevators could use some work.

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

Ports of call

Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida

3 out of 5

Willemstad, Curacao

4 out of 5

Bonaire, Netherlands Special Municipality

4 out of 5

Oranjestad, Aruba

5 out of 5

Disembarkation

5 out of 5
Was this review helpful? 45

3 Comments

Gwbigdog    2 years ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise with us.

Gwbigdog    2 years ago

jallaway    6 years ago

I don't know.... my vote for worst shower is the RC shower tube

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