Caribbean Princess Review
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My husband and I took this cruise to celebrate his 40th birthday. May parents who are about to turn 60 joined us to celebrate their own birthday milestones. We were the youngest 4 people on the ship. Average age was 75+ and the activities reflected that. Daily bible study, knitting circle, mahjong and bridge were really the only entertainment. Cultural presentations were scheduled for before dinner when we were out at port so we missed all the highland dancers as well as other musicians, dancers etc.
The food was quite poor in comparison to other cruises we've taken with Princess. Undercooked meat (very dangerous), tasteless food, lack of variety, cold food on the buffet...just sad. On the bright side, it's the first cruise I've taken where I lost weight!
Service was ho-hum. Overall, the staff seemed really unhappy, like they didn't want to be there. We didn't encounter any overtly rude staff, but none were particularly happy. I left regretting the money I spend on tips.
Cabin Review
Balcony
Port Reviews
Belfast
Belfast was a beautiful city and I wish we had had more time to enjoy it. We booked a tour with Allen's Tours that turned out to be a total scam - avoid them! We did see Giant's Causeway which was lovely but the rest of the day was not what we paid for and ended up being a waste of our very precious time. My only regret is the choice of tour operator. There's no wrong choice with Belfast - it's all gorgeous.
Dublin
We were all really looking forward to Dublin but it was sort of blah in the end. We did a self guided walking tour of the city and it was much like any north American city. Loud, dirty, crowded and fairly expensive. I would have preferred another day in Cobh. Trinity College was nice and we had planned to see the Book of Kells but the line up was insane. Given our short time in Dublin, we decided to move on and see other sites.
Cobh (Cork)
We booked a private tour with eCoach to Blarney Castle and it was outstanding. Highly recommend them. I wish we had another day in Cobh - so much to see. It's a lovely place with options for everyone.
Greenock (Glasgow)
We were fortunate enough to have a friend pick us up and take us around on a personalised itinerary to enjoy the country side (I'd already been to Glasgow and didn't feel a need to go back - although it is a lovely city and worth a visit if you've never been. There's plenty to see at this port but it's expensive because the port is so far from Glasgow (about 45 minute drive on the motorway).
Invergordon (Inverness)
We booked a day trip with Invergordon day tours to see Loch Ness and Inverness. The tour operator was good and the sites were lovely. Really beautiful countryside.
Edinburgh (South Queensferry)
Edinburgh is a lovely city with tonnes of personality. We really, really enjoyed spending the day walking and exploring on our own. The city of Edinburgh is a half hour drive from port. There is a shuttle bus run by the port city that costs 10 GBP round trip. We didn't take it because the line up was HUGE. The line for taxis was also enormous but moved faster than the bus. We fit 6 people into our cab so it worked out to only 5 GBP per person to get into town and then 25 GBP to get home (taxi for 2).
Le Havre
This was by far the highlight of the cruise. We booked a private tour with Normandy Siteseeing Tours to see the Canadian WWII sites and it was an amazing tour. Our guide was awesome - so friendly and knowledgeable and flexible. The sites were spectacular - especially the Juno Beach Centre. It was an emotional day, but definitely worth while.