On Board the Caribbean Princess

Last Wednesday Princess Cruises' Caribbean Princess cruise ship made a pit stop in Liverpool during it's round Britain voyage and I was lucky enough to be invited on board for the day to explore life on board the cruise ship. By the end of August 2016, Caribbean Princess would have sailed her round-Britain itinerary 11 times. Around 3,000 guests would have disembarked at each port of call, totaling an estimate of 11,000 visitors to each port in 2016. This years itinerary includes Southampton, Guernsey (St Peter's Port), Cobh, Dublin, Belfast, Glasgow (Greenock), Invergordon, Edinburgh and Normandy.

The Caribbean Princess stands 193 feet tall and 952 feet wide and  features 1,111 guest cabins, 25 of which are suites with private balconies, 7 are window suites, 2 are family suites and the rest are a split of balcony cabins, ocean view cabin rooms and inside cabins. This particular cruise ship was full of American tourists having departed from America to come to the UK. Despite being a dock day, many of the tourists decided against leaving the ship due to the typical English wet weather, but it was nice to see everyone relaxed and enjoying cruise life and hearing all the different accents of the worldwide travelers.

When it comes to activities, there are plenty of things to do for cruise passengers and something for everybody to enjoy. The cruise ship has five pools, it's own nightclub, fitness centre, casino, sports deck, golf putting course, photography studio, art gallery, movie screen on deck where people can watch films under the stars and even it's own Wedding Chapel. If you worry about missing out on shopping being in the middle of the ocean, there's no need to panic because the ship also has it's own array of duty free boutiques.

Foodies on the cruise are spoiled for choice as the ship has 3 main dining rooms, an Italian restaurant
called Sabatini's, Crown Grill Steak and Seafood restaurant and a Vine's wine and seafood bar. For snacks during the day there's also an international cafe, horizon court buffet, cafe Caribe featuring authentic Caribbean and Mediterranean food, Prego poolside pizza and scoops ice-cream parlour. The ship caters also caters for many dietary requests from vegans to vegetarians, coeliacs to those who are lactose intolerant.

My time on the Caribbean Princess may have been brief, but I feel like I learnt a lot about the company and most importantly cruise life. Cruising is mainly associated with older people, reaching retirement age, but I do think recently there's becoming a generational shift in cruising and many younger people are now jumping on the trend. From being on the Caribbean Princess I can see why, cruise ships now have a lot to offer and it's a fantastic way of visiting multiple places in one go as well as experiencing luxury which the 'Instagram generation' now love. I can definitely see myself booking in a cruise in the next few years, if not sooner.

Have you been on a cruise before?