Caribbean Princess Review
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We chose this cruise because of the Panama Canal itinerary. We were part of a big group of friends/family. I believe most if not all of us were first timers on Princess. We thought Princess was supposed to be a step up from Carnival or Norwegian, but we failed to see why Princess is supposed to be better.
We had heard of the big 2017 refurishment. The ship was beautiful and the staff couldn't have been nicer from the cabin stewards, to waiters, to bar tenders. However, it did seem the refurbishment of the buffet was a huge failure. There were several stations, but that just seemed to block the flow of people. There was lots of back tracking and the food wasn't that great most of the time. Breakfast is always good, but its hard to mess that up. The nighttime choices were not that great. The dining room seemed to have much better food.
We were notified prior to sailing about a mechanical issue and some time changes for the ports. We were given $50 credit per person for the inconvenience. However it wasn't enough for the issues we had. When you are on a ship for 10 days and already have 4 at sea, some shore time is important and we certainly got shortchanged in that department. They could have skipped Princess Cays (no reduction in time there). It is just a beach and some cheesy shops. Next we had two days at sea that we were all looking forward to. We spent most of the days near the pool, but were sadly disappointed that there was no entertainment poolside. For about an hour a day(not every day) , there was a band playing or a DJ. That hour was good. They played 'elevator' music sometimes, and sometimes nothing at all around the pool. Some good music would have been great. It seemed the pool areas were left out of any planned entertainment. Most of our group is in their early 60s and we were definitely the young crowd. This was a cruise of mostly older people. I don't think we saw more than a dozen or so kids. Thank goodness, because kids would have been totally bored on this ship. The 60 year olds were somewhat bored. It was a good thing we had our friends with us, we were our own entertainment.
Cabin Review
Balcony
We had balcony rooms and our balconies all opened to the other cabins, which was great. This ship has the smallest bathrooms and showers of any ship we've been on. We have previously been on many Carnival and several Norwegian all with somewhat larger bathrooms. The showers were very small, even the comedian made a joke about the size of the shower! On the plus side, the closet area was the biggest and had the easiest access. The cabin itself was good and no problems there. The beds were quite comfortable, but the bedding was too thick and too warm. We had the A/C as low as it would go. But all that is minor.
Port Reviews
Princess Cays
We could have skipped this. Its a beach and some water activities, lunch and a little shopping. We would have much rather be able to spend more time at the real ports.
Cartagena (Colombia)
There really wasn't enough time here to do too much. We good a Hop On Hop Off bus tour, but couldn't get off because there wasnt time. I wish they would have told us that and we wouldn't have taken any tour, just walked around some. It was our first time in Columbia or South America and we didn't really see much. Very disappointed in the cruise line on this one.