Just returned from Norway on the Caribbean Princess 15 night North Cape cruise. First the Pros : - In my opinion the Caribbean Princess is a lovely ship, although a few "regulars" said she was looking a bit tired. The Cabin (Outside) was spacious with comfortable bed, TV, fridge, hair dryer, shower, a safe and plenty of wardrobe space The food was excellent with plenty of choice, The entertainment for the most part was good, Our cabin steward Clifton was excellent, always smiling and very efficient. Other staff around the ship were very good, each with their own unique style in running quizzes etc. The ports, as always, are good in Norway, Flam and Alesund especially so as it was sunny. Another big plus for me was the staff seemed more relaxed than on other ships, that is to say they were efficient but not "pushy". In the bars you were not constantly pestered to buy more drinks, all you had to do if you wanted service was to make eye contact and service was given. The staff also took the time to talk to you and took an interest in what you had to say.

Cons : - The Captain, I think we had one! He came over the Tannoy at muster to ask everyone to listen to the information about to be given. (It sounded like a recording) and once more at the champagne party in the atrium he spoke two sentences to set things going and that is the only two times we heard him for the whole 15 days. More and more people around the ship were bemoaning the lack of verbal information from the bridge, maybe it got back to the powers that be because we did have a progress update on the way back to Southampton, yes there was info on the TV but that was often wrong, for example the "Sunset" was at "10.34pm" for over a week and for the whole trip "Humidity" was 75%. The sea was "Moderate" when in fact it was as flat as a pancake. We were also amused to find in the daily Patter that they were still taking bookings for the port of Livorno (Italy). At the end of the cruise we all received a "Cruise Summary" According to that we "Transited the Dover straight" on Saturday the 13th June, this is correct but apparently between Trondheim and Honningsvag on the 19th we also "Transited the Dover straight". On our return we were "To the east of the isle of WHITE" (should be Wight). This was a trip to the North Cape, on other ships the Bridge informs the passengers about landmarks we will be passing and give a time to be looking out for them, not on this ship, We have been before and were on deck as we passed the North Cape but many passengers missed it because of lack of information.

The prices of the excursions seemed extortionate compared to other cruise lines that go to Norway, We wanted to do the 6 hour trip in the Lofoten islands but refused to pay the £320 it would have cost. Just 10 months ago with a different cruise line the cost was half for a similar excursion. Read more