Caribbean Princess Cruise Reviews - Reviews

This being our 10th Princess cruise I had high expectations.  Unfortunately the disgusting sewer smell on the Caribe deck starboard and outside the Princess theater overshadowed the cruise experience.  I used the laundry on our deck and it was an ordeal as only two dryers were functional.  The ship appeared "tired."  Finding the locations for the shore excursions is not as it used to be with crew members holding signs well-above the crowds identifying tour numbers. Now it is often mass confusion.  Liked the cabin ok but would have liked the choice of a superior balcony cabin with a sofa as was a choice on the Royal.  The crew in all areas was friendly and pleasant.  I liked the "one-way" configuration in the Horizon Court but seating is still a major problem.  I prefer the dining room for a relaxing meal.  Love the International Cafe but seating there is a problem as well.  Ship is very boring on sea days - could schedule the Marriage Game, etc during the day instead of at night.  One bad experience out of ten would not keep me from making Princess a future choice.  

WE USED PRINCESS TO BOOK US FROM ORLANDO TO LONDON. BUT, THEY BOOKED US FIRST TO HOUSTON, THEN TO LONDON. WHY? THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH UNITED AIR. WE SAID NO. THEY THEN SAID EEITHER USE THEIR RESERVATION; OR GET YOUR OWN AND BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL EVENTS; OR CANCEL THE TRIP.

WELL, WE USED THE PRINCESS RESERVATION. THE FLIGHT IN ORLANDO WAS DELAYED 3+ HOURS. SO, WE MISSED BOTH THE CONNECTION IN HOUSTON AND THE SHIP IN LONDON.

EVEN THOUGH WE BOUGHT THE PRINCESS INSURANCE AND NEXT PORT GUARANTEE--THEY LEFT US TO OURSELVES. SO, WE HAD TO STAY A NIGHT IN HOUSTON, THEN GET TO LONDON WITH NO FUTURE RESERVATIONS. SO, WE THEN GOT OURSELVES TO THE NEXT PORT WITH NO HELP FROM PRINCESS--EVEN THOUGH WE PAID THEM FOR IT.

NOW, THE PEOPLE ON THE SHIP WERE GREAT. AND, THE ONLY HELP CORPORATE PRINCESS IS DOING FOR US FOR ALL THE HASSLE IS TO REIMBURSE US FOR THE DAYS WE MISSED THE CRUISE.

SO, OUR RECOMMENDATION WITH PRINCESS IS TO ENJOY THEIR SHIPS--BUT--DO NOT USE THEIR AIR RESERVATION SERVICE AND GET YOURSELF TO THE STARTING POINT---AND--JUST BUT THEIR TRANSFER TO THE SHIP.

My friend and I celebrated 50 years of friendship and made it lifelong.  She had never cruised and had a marvelous time and has booked a cruise for next year with her husband.  How's that for a convert.  A very cherished memory!!

Great trip up the STUNNING scenery of the Norway Fjords… take lots of memory cards, you’ll need them!

Please appreciate that we can only travel during the summer holidays..

This cruise was a Southampton to Southampton round trip.

The positives - very pleasant and hard working frontline staff.

The negatives - This was our second Princess cruise. Our first was on the Ruby Princess a few years ago.  We loved it.

We were initially pleased with the Carribean Princess if a little old and shabby.

First evening anytime dining - anytime but! Long queues and waiting times. We changed to set dining after the first few days.

First day at sea. There were over 800 children who literally took over the ship and the two main pools. The rules regarding jumping into the pool, showering before entering, being accompanied by an adult if under 16, taking food and drink into the pool area and running round the decks were completely disregarded. As was the reservation of sunbeds. Princess staff were either conspicuous by their absence or reluctant to apply the rules. Parents were also absent and were quite happy to allow their offspring to run amok.

The public areas, buffet restaurant's and toilets round the pool were filthy. There also seemed to be a permanent smell of sewage.

Adult only areas were woefully inadequate. The one at the back was shabby and almost entirely shaded by the Skywalker bar. Added to which there was a noisy toddler pool in the deck above.

The sanctuary pool area was pleasant but again insufficient for the number of adults who wanted some peace and quiet and th opportunity to cool down in a pool. You could pay a nominal 40 dollars for a sanctuary subbed.

Despite the rule saying that sunbeds should not be reserved this rule was blatantly ignored. One selfish individual bagged ten sunbeds of which only a few were used at any on time.

Customer services acknowledged that there was a problem which they found to be a challenge!.

Dirty glasses, food plates and general rubbish were left anywhere and everywhere. Children running up and down the stairs, through the corridors and messing about in the lifts.

There were so many baby buggies that walking through the ship was like a busy high street on a Saturday afternoon. 

Unsupervised children occupied the bar areas which should not have been allowed. Baby buggies in the main dining room at the late sitting.

​Senior staff were conspicuous by there absence. We only ever saw the cruise director on the morning TV. 

Princess charged for absolutely everything they felt that they could get away with. Shuttle services to and from ports were expensive and unecessary.

We also discovered that Princess charge for the use of a wheelchair and that they couldn't be taken off the ship. Princess take note - five years ago I broke my leg a week before we were due tell sail on Cunards Queen Victoria. A wheelchair was supplied free of charge and it could be taken ashore.

The ship acquired various names over the duration of the cruise. Shabby Princess is the more polite name.

One passenger dubbed the cruise Benifits on the Sea.

So if you like to mix with out of control children and excessively large tattooed people who have no regard for other people this is the cruise for you.

My favourite Princess Ship. Absolutely incredible. Massive, looks great, fantastic team. The itenary was incredible and the best cruise I've been on. Highly recommended.

Absolutely amazing ship cannot fault one bit, crew was amazing, food was 9/10 also entertainment in the evenings and sea days was never a let down. Definitely recommend this ship

Two weeks cruising the Baltic. We were really lucky with this cruise. Brilliant price, and an amazing couple of weeks! The weather was amazing, it averaged 30C and was 35C in Stockholm. The Caribbean Princess was looking a little rough when we were on it, however it has since been refurbished so it should look fantastic again.

From the Norman Love truffle pops at the Welcome Toast to the restaurant-like beverage service in the buffet, Princess is filled with surprises that make it my favorite among the mass market cruise lines.

It won’t blow you away with bumper cars or carousels, but what it does deliver is consistently solid service, attention to detail and an eagerness to please.

The recent trip on the Caribbean Princess, our fourth on the line, proved to be as good as the first. With many of the lines noticeably scaling back, Princess is an exception. Here’s some of what made it special:

Ship shape. Princess’ mini-suite is ideal for those who want more space but not at a suite price. It’s essentially the size of a hotel room with two flat screen TVs, a full-sized couch, large counter, and porch furniture featuring reclining chairs, foot stools and a large table. The closets in the mini-suites—as well as the balcony rooms—are the largest we’ve had on any cruise line, and can accommodate three hanging shoe bags, along with a whole lot of clothes.

The staterooms—as well as the public rooms—were immaculate. You’d really have to look hard to find any evidence that the ship was built 11 years ago.

The piazza, the hub of ship activity, this trip featured a pianist, a we-can-play-just-about-anything band and singer, steel drums and a former circus performer who twirled lighted hoops in a blaze of color and grace. The only downside to the handsome piazza is that it can’t always accommodate everyone who wants to be there. Getting a good enough view to take photos of the Mardi Gras party or a seat to eat your International Café quiche can sometimes be all but impossible.

Food; themed and otherwise. Speaking of food, it ranged from fair to good, in both the Main Dining Room and Horizon Court buffet. One innovation in the MDR was Caribbean cuisine, a welcome reminder of where we were. And it was nice to see lobster tail still on the formal night menu.

Horizon Court themed nights were a lot of fun and we found ourselves there more than the MDR. German night was alight with a color-changing, larger-than-life beer stein (in ice, not on ice), landjagger bites and German hams, pretzel rolls, red cabbage, sausages, and linzer and sacher tortes. Italian night, with its gondolier-costumed waiters, served up prosciutto and hunks of parmesan, fennel au gratin and pasta many ways.

The bakery stuff is where Princess really excels. The breads are great—from the sunflower-studded rolls to the cheese-topped croissants to the onion-infused focaccia. The chocolate desserts were excellent, rivaling some of the best bakeries on land.

The ship was as generous with its buffet hours as it was with the food offerings. You can get breakfast until 11:30, lunch until 3:30 (if you miss this, there’s “afternoon snack” from 3:30-5:30, which is a scaled down lunch), and full dinner is available until 11. Late dining was an especially mellow meal, just us, a few other night owls and the crew.

Fun and games. While standard fare, the entertainment was generally good; highlights were a juggler/comedian whose not-G-rated shtick brought on belly laughs, and a magician/comedian with same-but-different sleight-of-hand tricks and fast wit.

In fact, everyone seemed to be a comedian on this trip—including the cruise director, Paul Chandler-Burns. The Brit’s quips shot out like sparks—in an understated, under-the-breath sort of way—and made him the ideal emcee. His banter during the “The Marriage Match Game Show” made it easily one of the best we’ve seen on any ship.

There were several themed parties, the most memorable was the “Love Boat Disco Deck Party” held by the pool. The ship’s singers and dancers, dressed officer-like in white pants suits and captain hats, did the hustle and other moves, while the Movie Under the Stars screen revived scenes from the TV show, interspersing its octogenarian cast members somewhat disconcertedly jiving to a disco beat.

Well served. Service onboard was attentive from the room steward to the well-orchestrated disembarkation. Ironically, some of the best service we had was in the buffet. One night, I was asked by three different waiters within 10 minutes if I wanted any water or coffee.

With the generous room space, great service, varied entertainment with plenty of laughs, satisfying food sprinkled with surprises, and four good Western Caribbean ports (seven days of sun didn’t hurt either), we felt gloriously pampered from ship to shore. And felt that Princess did its best—and succeeded—in helping us “come back new.” --musingaboutcruising.blogspot.com

Have cruised on this ship before and it has become a poor experience now.

Not very good service . Cabin was old and needs updating. . Service in the Restaurants were not as I am used on other ships.

Cabin Stuart however was great and very accommodating. Did not experience the same service as on other ships as an Elite Member.

I have only had one trip on Princess and I wasn't impressed. Didn't really seem like there was much going on.. NCL is the way to go I'm my opinion! Freestyle!

everything about this cruise was wonderful . the cabin girl was great always there for us best we ever had.the waiter and his asst. were also the best we ever had  they catered to my low sodium needs   the foood in the buffet at lunchtime we did not care for but everything else was great.

enjoyed being a platinum member. Used the internet , went to skywalkers nightclub for reduced drinks and a nice buffet. invited to the captain's cocktail hour and of course easy embarkation.

It was crowded because of vacation week and the seas were quite rough. Loved St.Maarten the most, St. Thomas no so much. It was very cold in Nassau. The biggest problem was missing Princess Cay and spending now 3 days at sea. Not for us.

clean ship, but lots of broken plumbing in common area restrooms

The ship is in need of updating. Our cabin (mini-suite) was quite worn and shabby. The bed was very comfortable.

A LITTLE DATED BUT CLEAN. SERVICE FANTASTIC. PRIME GRILL RESTAURANT EXCEPTIONAL.

I took my 1st cruise on the Caribbean Princess back in 2014 to Cozumel Mexico for New Years! Out of Port Everglades. I love the Caribbean Princess and I aim to go on her again in the future or any other Princess vessel soon.

Beautiful ship, wonderful friendly service, Looking forward to my next cruise. Eating early is better, food fresher. No sea sickness there and back but wasn't sure what was happening in the middle the sun kept switching sides of the ship, so not sure if we went in a circle to kill time.