Caribbean Princess Review

4.0 / 5.0
2,769 reviews

Great cruise, but celiac's beware!

Review for the British Isles & Western Europe Cruise on Caribbean Princess
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bigcruready
2-5 Cruises • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Jun 2016
Cabin: Oceanview (obstructed view)

This was a bucket list item, and Princess had the itinerary we wanted. They appear to be one of the only cruise lines that offer this itinerary and that is why we choose them. We had not cruised with Princess in the past. We loved the destinations, and the excursions (but they are expensive).

Gluten Free ~ I would say we were disappointed with Princess regarding their gluten free food choices. Gluten free food in Britain was very easy to find, so if you plan on going to London early, no worries there. You can walk into just about any restaurant and tell them gluten free and they understand very well. The ship was a different story. They offered GF in the formal dining room but that meant getting dressed up every night and spending 2 hours dining. They were very slow. The anytime dining starts at 5pm in one dining room, but not until 7:15 in the other. So if you start at 7:15 don't plan on being done to see the 8pm show! The menu did NOT provide the GF options, and the head waiter had to be called over. Then if you were interested in something, he would tell you if it was GF or not. They wanted you to pick your choice for the next day ahead of time. This whole thing was very awkward and left me explaining to people why I seemed to get this "special" attention. If you choose to go to the Horizon Court/Caribe Cafe beware, they cannot give you anything with a sauce or gravy because it is pre-made, and not GF. I couldn't even have any salad dressing here except oil and vinegar. Additionally, they didn't understand that as a Celiac you cannot eat off a smorgasbord table, but need to get fresh from the back, or they did not have the ability to do this. (I could do this with Royal Caribbean). So here I was stuck with plain meat, plain potato/rice, plain veggies or fruit. Not the indulgent GF cruise food I had been offered on other cruises.

Excursion Desk ~ We were also disappointed in the excursion desk. Our past cruises allowed us to exchange/cancel an excursion due to a health issue. Princess only allowed this when it was cancelled by THEIR physician on board. My husband has a bad back, and has had two knee replacements. I was concerned about the Edinburgh Royal Mile excursion. Called Princess before we left, they said to ask when we got onboard, since they would be more familiar. We did that, and they said, shouldn't be a problem. Of course, Edinburgh was near the end of the cruise, and between all the steps and walking you do in Europe, he was done for. We approached the excursion desk, (which was only open limited hours!) and they said we now could only cancel with their doctor's approval. We take the excursion tickets and our doctor's note (we made sure to have one for all his medications since we were traveling overseas), and they said we would have to see the doctor and it would cost us $95!! I was ticked! We refused went back up to the excursion desk and they said, IF they could sell them to another party then they could give us our money back! Who are they kidding, they purchase the bus excursions regardless and hope to sell the tickets! They finally did provide the exchange, but the customer service was terrible. As stated early the hours of the excursion desk are limited, and we also found it difficult to use because of this. Additionally the personnel on the desk were not very helpful.

Cabin Review

Oceanview (obstructed view)

Cabin OY

Great cabin, our view was between two of the tender boats. We were over the photo studio, no noise from below. Plenty of storage and closet space. The mattress was a little hard, but I found this on all cruise lines. Well worth the money!

Port Reviews

St. Peter Port (Guernsey)

Tender port with vendors along street and shops, all within walking distance from port!

Cobh (Cork)

Did Best of Cork and Countryside for Small Groups. Teresa our tour guide was great and funny! Loved this excursion.

Greenock (Glasgow)

We took the Scottish Highlands tour. This was fabulous and the most beautiful so far of any place we visited!!! LOVED it!

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