Caribbean Princess Review
Relaxing stress-reducing week; not perfect but we will do it again.
Rating by category
Additional details
This was my first cruise and my husband's first as an adult. We enjoyed it very much. It was very low stress and relaxing. We plan to do more cruising the the future.
Ship: The ship was clean, well maintained, and nicely appointed. While each bar had its own vibe and decor, the three dining rooms were all very much the same. Once I was in a dining room, I couldn't tell which one I was in. It would have been nice if the dining rooms had more varied decor for variety. At anytime of the day or night I could find a quiet spot to read, play board games (we brought a few with us) or watch the water. Or you can always find a lively spot if you prefer. The staff was mostly good but not exceptional. We didn't use the pools but there a lot of them. At least one was adult only with hardly anyone in it. Still the pools were a little small. I would have used one if there had been a lap pool.
Dining: We had anytime dining with the unlimited soft drink package. The dining was not really "anytime" as we often waited in a long line for a table. I loved the food in the dining room but my husband did not care for it. It was too gourmet with too much sauce on everything for his tastes. He normally love Eggs Benedict but was disappointed by that dish in the dining room. I loved my dining room breakfast. The best part of smoked salmon and cream cheese on a toasted bagel. Also good granola and yogurt. At dinner, on the first night I ordered a cheese tart (which is an entree) for desert and they were confused for a second but were happy to oblige. At our last meal in the dining room, I didn't like my beef wellington and they happily replaced it with something else more to my liking. Also, the soft drinks served in the dining room were flat and they seemed mostly unwilling to fix the problem. One server, sent his assistant to a nearby bar for our soft drinks and another brought us soft drinks in a can. But others were less helpful all the manager did was blame it on the manufacturer of the drink dispenser.
Cabin Review
Oceanview
This was our first cruise so I have nothing to compare it to. I thought the cabin was roomy for a ship. By hotel standards it was cramped as expected. They had the beds together (as requested) and the space left on either side was too tight so we shoved them over against the wall on my side leaving a decent space on my husbands side. I climbed in from the bottom. This was fine. There is only one night stand so even if you leave the beds centered, with the beds together, only one person gets a night stand. However, I used the window sill as my night stand so it all worked for us. The storage space was more than enough. We unpacked completely and put our luggage in the bottom of the closet. We had lots of storage space left over. There is a safe in the cabinet which was easy to use. The bathroom was roomy for a ship but cramped by American hotel standards. It was far more roomy than the bathroom we had on board a night train in Europe. There was no tub as expected. There is only room for one person at a time in the bathroom unless one person is in the shower. Only room for one person in the shower as well. The shower had a cloths line for drying our wet bathing suits. Water pressure was good in the shower. There was more counter space than I expected and some shelves. There was a TV mounted in the corner but I didn't use it. And we had a built in desk and chair. Plus there was a small round end table that was mostly just in our way. There was a small refrigerator where I stowed bottled water. The steward was friendly, available, and helpful but gave us our space as well. When he wasn't around his fellow stewards were happy to step in and help us. We preordered bottled water and chocolate covered strawberries. The strawberries were in our cabin when we boarded and were wilted by the time we ate them at bed time. On the other hand, our preordered bottled water did not get delivered until we asked for it. Once we asked, the steward was quick about it. We ordered one meal via room service and it was just ok. I was disappointed by it and I had to pay for my orange juice even though I had the soft drink package. The window was big as as we were on a low deck during the roughest water the waves washed over the window. It was really cool. Other than that, we didn't think the window added much and will try an interior room next time. Being in the front of the ship seemed like the ride was smoother. When we were in the public areas toward the back of the ship we could feel vibrations (the engine maybe?) but no vibrations in the front. However, we did hear occasional banging that we think was a door slamming shut probably coming from the crew only portion of the ship. Overall we were pleased with our room.
Port Reviews
Houston
The cruise terminal was very convenient.