Caribbean Princess Reviews

Think Hi de Hi! Think Holiday Camp. That’s what the once prestigious Princess Line has now become. After two consecutive cruises, one last year on the Emerald and this one in early June on the Caribbean Princess we found few redeeming qualities with this company. True, the service and efficiency from the staff were excellent beyond question and, true, the cabin (! Stateroom) we were allocated was clean and reasonably spacious with plenty of wardrobe space, but from there it was all downhill. The accountants have seized the ship. The nightly forty-five minute stage productions which were a speciality of Princess on two week cruises have been replaced by four (mercifully short) mediocre half-hour shows and for the rest of the time we had to accept similarly mediocre, if not downright awful, single performances. (To be honest, there were two notable exceptions). The rest of the entertainment on board was either puerile or soporific. A ‘classical’ trio which played at various places around the ship might have come straight from a hypnosis clinic and the other various musicians were clear evidence of the company’s frugality. The ‘anytime dining’ option was farcical because everyone turned up to eat at exactly the same time, around 7.30, resulting in queues that would not have disgraced a Salvation Army soup kitchen. Further, if you were vegetarian as we are, the choices were extremely limited - the same two alternatives every day - unless you saw the Maitre d’ every single day to make a special request. And who needs that? Maintenance, health and safety and hygiene were lax, to say the least. In the Jacuzzis on deck we saw babies out of nappies, my wife found the ladies toilets in the public areas were not working on at least six occasions and we heard of flooded staterooms and cabins where maintenance people had to return many times (we understand the occupants were offered $200 compensation). The blue sun-beds in most areas were an orthopaedic nightmare – they were largely old and scruffy and so slack that one tended to have a crossbar digging into one’s vertebrae. In the theatre, on the staff performance evening, when the place was full to bursting, people were standing at the sides blocking all the aisles and sitting on the exit stairs with absolutely no supervision. If there had been any kind of emergency it would have been carnage. ‘Movies Under The Stars’, intended to be shown at night, a unique feature of Princess Cruises and quite a good idea, were far less entertaining when they became, as they did all day, invisible movies in bright sunlight blasting out continuous sound at earthquake level in one of the pool areas. Perhaps at Princess Headquarters the stars shine all day? Loud and incomprehensible noise seemed to be a planned policy on board. We found it difficult to escape and find somewhere quiet to relax. The ship’s library was a joke; a bookcase filled with books in a room occupied by banks of computers offering internet access at breathtakingly exorbitant rates. Yes, there was one single ‘quiet lounge’. It was on the eighteenth deck right at the back of the ship! Summing up, we found the Caribbean Princess to be a tired three star old lady with five star pretensions.

Overall, a very enjoyable cruise from Southampton to the Med. Ship is looking a bit tired in places but staff were excellent; polite, friendly, hard working and helpful. The shows in the Princess Theatre were first-rate with dancers and singers on a par with those we have seen in West End shows. Staging, lighting and costumes were second to none and better than those on Grand Princess from three years ago. Cabaret acts varied from fairly good to excellent; The Beatles Experience really raised the bar for a Beatles tribute band, the only downside was that in common with the other acts, they performed for only 45 minutes. People I spoke to would have enjoyed at least double that, they were so good and had an authentic 60's sound (yes I saw the real thing back in 1965). As before, the food was very good and we particularly enjoyed Sabbatini's Italian Restaurant. There is a $25 per head surcharge for this Restaurant but it was money well spent, particularly as on the evening we ate there, there was a two for one offer which hadn't been mentioned until we signed the bill. Our friends, who hadn't cruised before were converted by day two and said they will be booking others in the future. Alcoholic drinks were expensive, particularly when gratuities are automatically added at the bar although the daily general gratuity charge for each traveller does include an opt-out. My two real criticisms concern the problems we had trying to get a table for the first formal dinner with very large queues (unlike Grand Princess which carries fewer passengers) and a lot of waiting about. There was also a shortage of seating during sailing days when everyone was aboard, not helped by the fact that Explorers Bar, which could have provided seating, was closed for an Art auction which wasn't starting until 1.00pm. However, this will not prevent us from booking more cruises with Princess in the future.

This ship is a little tired but very clean and in good repair. Food is excellent but main dinning area can be very busy at peak times. Entertainment was poor. The main atrium area is constantly drowned out by a piano player 'singing' in top bar at the top of his voice. Unable to sit in quiet coffee area three floors down without being able to speak to the person sitting next to you without shouting. If you like quiz's and karaoke then this is the ship for you, if not avoid. Entertainment in all bars very loud and the only bar with quieter music in constantly full and unable get a seat. Nightclub very good and music very appropriate. Would think to be very busy in summer months with more younger people on board.

It was our first cruise. Weare family of 4 and we chose an inside cabin going for Mediterranean cruise 13 nights. Staff on the ship it's extremely attentive and helpful. Restaurants are really nice. We chose Coral for formal dinning as it was on our deck but majority of time we dine in horizon court on deck 15 where most of the pools are located as the weather was to good to say inside. Movies under stars where really nice expecially when staff was coming around with pizza popcorn and cookies. There was refreshing drinks available from the restaurant. There was also entertainment such as comedy shows and different games. I spent most time on the gym or chilling in the jacuzzi. Plus we where exploring every port. There is a lot to see. We have amazing time! So far our best holiday!

Just arrived back from 13 night Mediterranean cruise which we thoroughly enjoyed.First travelled on this ship 10 years ago when ship was only 12 months old. Now in need of re-fit in parts particularly round pool areas.Looking a bit tired, however cruise overall excellent-food crew service everywhere top class. We would recommend a visit to Crown Grill for a special meal. Also visit The Sanctuary for bit of pampering. Looking forward to booking another cruise with Princess. Very pleased also with service we got from Iglu and will be happy to book with you again.

Last week we had 7 nights on the Caribbean Princess in Scandinavia . The trip was excellent. Due to the weather we could not get into Helsingbourg in Sweden. However this did not spoil the trip at all. As usual the staff on board were all attentive and very friendly, The food was very good. My only criticism was the standard of the guest evening entertainment. It was not up to the usual high standard I have experienced on cruises before. However the Princess singers and dancers were very good. Only a minor point. We normally travel with Royal Caribbean who's evening entertainment is , in my view , always excellent, this did not come up to that standard . Having said that we had a really great cruise, and that did not spoil our enjoyment at all. Well done Princess Cruises.

Very poor choice in buffet , ship clean , and staff friendly . Would not use again and we have done over 40 cruises and this was the worst on food , also sanitising hand was not monitord , neither were sanitise station or staff present at the entrance to restaurants .

The Caribbean Princess is an average ship with all the facilities you would find on an american ship this size. The majority of the passengers were of a mature age and mainly British. The Ports were a good choice but the first 3 days at sea were a bit tedious. The buffet restaurants were okay and served good variety of food. Unfortunately, the restaurant dining did not cater much for vegetarians. I felt that the waiter service at the buffet restaurants was kept to a minimum compared to their other ship Ruby. The entertainment was excellent and the production team for the shows were fantastic. The movies were of excellent choice. All in all, I enjoyed the cruise on board this ship but felt that the first 3 days at sea could have be broken with another stop.

A wonderful cruise. The staff on board made this cruise. The Cruise Director, Corey was the best Cruise Director we have ever had. He hosted entertainment and went round the ship talking to passengers every day. The entertainment was very good, varied and lots of it. Some nights you were spoiled for choice for where you wanted to go. Can't wait to sail with princess again.

I thought the excellent points were, everything from parking at Southampton, the service on board, the smoothness of the intinery, food was probably the best of our 5 cruises. Disappointed by the cruise director and his assistant, i enjoyed some of the shows , 2 of the 3 comics were great, Austin Knight on the other hand had older jokes than Charlie Chaplin! A Denmark trio of singers, that didn't sing in English wasn't a good idea, The tribute beatles were great,Tommy Mcphee was an excellent choice on the piano, but I was never able to sit and relax to watch him, as he was put on in the smallest area, whilst I enjoyed everything about our holiday, i personally book my cruises on its entertainment package, and I found P&O far more superior.