Absolutely loved this classic ship

Item: Caribbean Princess
Rating: 4.3
Author: ullamist

Caribbean Princess Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

ullamist

Contributor Level: First Mate

87 Days Till Next Cruise

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 16

Helpful Votes: 664

Overall rating:

4.3 out of 5

7 Night Western Caribbean With Cozumel (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)

Sail date: February 27, 2022

Ship: Caribbean Princess

Cabin number: L735

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 2 years ago

Review summary

Overall an excellent cruise ship experience. The pros of this ship are the large number of pools (4) and the classic style--lots of wood. The wrap around promenade deck is an asset (yes you do have to use stairs to completely walk around the ship). Loved that you could find many places to sit that were unique alcoves and allowed people and ocean watching. Almost felt like being on your own yacht. Thought that the specialty dining rooms were wonderful--but the main dining and buffet were average.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Easy and efficient

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

Specialty restaurants--Sabatinis and Crown Grill were excellent--ate 3 nights out of 7 at a specialty restaurant. Main dining room was so loud that I couldn't even talk to my spouse at the table. Not sure if it was the people laughing around us--or if the restaurant just isn't designed to for folks at a table to talk to one another. Buffet was about 1/3 the size as on the larger Princess ships with very limited variety. Service in the lido was spotty--not as many waiters as on other princess ships and sometimes had to look around to find someone for coffee and drinks. Was also disappointed that Steamers and Planks were both closed.

Sabatini's Italian Trattoria

5 out of 5

Excellently presented food with very attentive wait staff.

Crown Grill

5 out of 5

The crown grill is not only a beautiful venue--with dark wood and classic ship restaurant decor--but the food was excellent. Steaks and lobster tail are recommended. Loved the mashed potatoes and asparagus sides. I recommend the key lime bar for dessert.

Skywalkers Nightclub

5 out of 5

What a beautiful venue--love the moving sidewalk at the entrance. Unfortunately the views at night are not as spectacular as one would imagine because of reflections on the glass. During the day--it seems to be used for private events--like platinum and elite events, covid testing, etc--so it is less available for just sitting and reading and watching the ocean.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

Pools are absolutely wonderful and there are 4 of them! Love the variety.

Terrace Pool

5 out of 5

My favorite place on the ship for sitting. The pool is a large plunge pool--would be difficult to do laps. It's located right at the back of the ship--so it's easy to get a lounger right next to the pool and spend hours just watching the wake at the back of the ship. So relaxing. There were also tables, chairs and a bar a half-level above surrounding the pool. Going up another level is an area with a smaller plunge pool and a hot tub. This area has large loungers for 2 and comfy chairs for relaxing.

Casino

5 out of 5

Very nice casino crew that made you feel welcome.

Beauty Salon

5 out of 5

Had a relaxing pedicure without the usual hardsell of products.

Entertainment

4 out of 5

The comedian on board was very good--there were only 2 productions shows.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Waiters and room stewards were excellent. In the lido buffet

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

This is an older more classic ship--lots of dark woodwork and lots of beautiful classic venues. There also seem to be lots of nooks and crannies to find a seat and to just people or ocean watch.

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

This was a Premium balcony. Seemed a bit larger than a regular balcony--more room between the base of the bed and the wall. The advantage to this room is the elongated larger sized balcony--it's position at the back of the ship makes just sitting and watching the ocean truly amazing. Since you are on the 9th floor and relatively close to the ocean the noise of the water is quite loud and acts like a white noise machine at night. There was absolutely no soot--that can sometimes be a problem on other Princess ships. It's definitely worth the upgrade from a regular balcony.

Ship tip

The best place to sit on this ship is the aft pool between decks 14 and 15. There are loungers and a floor above a huge bar and tables. Up another floor are more tables. The upper floors surround the pool on 3 sides and it's the perfect area to people watch.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida

5 out of 5

Easy to get to the cruiseport from the airport and lots of hotels near the cruiseport. Ft. Lauderdale beach is 20 minutes away and is another good place to stay.

Thumbs Up 0

Princess Cays (Cruise Line Private Island)

3 out of 5

Beautiful beach. However--the food and bar facilities were a disappointment. Even on a cruise ship that was about 1/3 full--the bars were crowded and you had to wait in long lines to get a drink. The food at the buffet was pretty mediocre--long lines for hamburgers and hotdogs that didn't look very appetizing.

Thumbs Up 0

Ocho Rios, Jamaica

4 out of 5

We just walked to the end of the pier and were hoping that the 2 large buildings there had shopping in them. One was a customs building with bathrooms. and the other building was completely empty. There were about 15 stalls around the parking area all of them with the exact same merchandise: T shirts and Purses and bags and other souvenirs. Couldn't walk past a stall without hearing comments to come closer to see what they were selling. There were also the usual ladies braiding hair. We didn't go on a shore excursion--but everyone who did said that the excursion was great.

Thumbs Up 0

George Town, Grand Cayman Did not visit port

This port was cancelled.

Thumbs Up 0