NCL Crown-Opinions?

We are looking at the 14 day Crown cruise from Philadelphia in April 2006. We are mid 40's-50's and have only sailed on HAL Oosterdam which we loved and the NCL Dawn which we enjoyed (despite the weather/wave). My TA said the Crown is an older ship and because of the longer cruise we will probably not encounter lots of younger people with children our daughter's age (13). My husband and I really like the itinerary. Any opinions from experienced Crown sailors?

I sailed her last year to Bermuda. While its an older and smaller ship than the Dawn, it has everything that you need on a cruise. From what I understood, the rooms are larger, so they would be comfortable for the longer cruise.

There might not be "as many" kids there, but I would think that your daughter would find some people her own age.

There is only one pool and its rather small, so you might want to get up early to get a seat.

We just got off a 13 day cruise on the Crown. I've seen it mentioned that the ship seemed to be designed for longer itineraries because there was a lot of closet space. We had an entire set of drawers in one closet we didn't even use.

Rich, did you enjoy the cruise? I have the 13 day booked in October and am getting nervous because no one will give me feedback on this ship. Please give me your honest opinion.

I enjoy smaller ships, but don't want to feel like I'm on a tugboat. Your imput will be greatly appreciated.

I, too, am curious about this ship. What a luxury...cruising without the hassle of air. Check out the story on the local cruise industry on the front page of today's (Sunday) "Philadelphia Inquirer."

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/

:)

Rich, did you enjoy the cruise? I have the 13 day booked in October and am getting nervous because no one will give me feedback on this ship. Please give me your honest opinion.

 

I enjoy smaller ships, but don't want to feel like I'm on a tugboat. Your imput will be greatly appreciated.

We were on this ship last year. Its clearly not a tug boat. Its a nice size ship. It amazes me how many people feel a ship that is larger than a WWII large aricraft carrier is a "small" ship. Yes its not the QM2 or a voyager class ship(RCI) or a Dawn sized ship but it is comfortably large for me. Some of this is your own confort level on a medium size ship. On the longer cruises, there tend to be less kids and less 3-4 to a room so its less full. The Crown when totally full gets crowded but then again even the large ships when full get crowded. We had a great time on the Crown..

Thanks Smeyer, I'm glad to hear that. We are really looking forward to this long itinerary. We did the repo cruise on the Celebrity Horizon two years ago and had a great time.

Hi,

We were on the Crown at the same time as RichKinkade, and though we enjoyed our cruise, we'd never sail the Crown again. Smaller is fine, but we missed having a more choices for places to sit and read (yes, there are places to sit, however, these are the only places they have for activities too, so quiet time to read is more difficult unless you're in your room or on the sun deck - not by the pool, which gets warm). Here's a little synopis of some of the pros and cons as we experienced them:

pros:

The entertainment was execellent. Some of the best we've experienced in one cruise - even though the production numbers were limited due to the limits of the theater. The cruise director, Julie, and her staff were very good.

The food was good. Not multiple restaurant choice good, but we only experienced one meal where we weren't satisifed. I can still think of things I wished they had available, but I can do that with any cruise.

The ports were great. We thoroghly enjoyed the iternary, which you may be looking at a similar set of ports - Nassau; Montego Bay, Jamaica; Aruba; Curacao; St. Thomas; Charleston, South Carolina.

Cons:

Our suite (room 9008) - not worth the extra cost and not as great a value as every other cabin we've had (none of which were a suite). The hardware the curtains hang on was coming out of the ceiling (hanging by about 2-3 inches!). The blackout shade was torn from the bottom. The sheer curtains had hardware falling off of them. Two of the four chairs in the sitting area were broken and sagging. The room had no refrigerator. Part of the ceiling was bowed and hanging down by an inch or two. Definitely not even close to par with the non-suite cabins we've had on other cruises. It was just a little bigger, with a tub/shower combo.

Our room steward - the worst we've ever had. He did not introduce himself to us. We didn't even see him in the hallway until day FOUR! On day three we called our concierge to inquire about him and ask for ice (we received comp champange the first night, but couldn't drink it because it wasn't even cool, it was sitting in water!). When we explained we would like some ice to cool the champagne down in time for dinner, he barked at us (no joke!) saying it wasn't possible because he was '..off at 1pm and wouldn't be back on until 6:30'. He gave us such a hard time, we opted to blow it off...and ended up never drinking the champagne.

No self serve - Let me explain. The buffet was not a self serve...they had crew members with gloves on getting every tiny thing for you, so there was no choosing on your own or monitoring the quantities as you see fit. You weren't even allowed (yes, believe when I say, 'allowed') to pick up even an individually wrapped butter out of the dish. It was annoying. You may think I'm being overly sensitive or just outright silly, but go through this once or maybe a few times, and you will get the full jist of what I mean. It feels unfriendly, and like you can't pick and choose like you would normally do at a buffet. It also deters you from returning to pick up one more of anything. It was a very strange feeling, and one that I would not readily repeat. Oh, and the hand sanitizers were everywhere (not a bad thing), but I'm pretty sure they had some health issues on the ship prior and that's why they had the set up they did along with the heavy handed push for the hand sanitizers.

Overall, we enjoyed our cruise, but we would not recommend the Crown to anyone unless you're getting a screaming deal and love the itinerary...it's just not as good a value for the money especially in comparison to newer ships.

Sorry if this is a little negative...but I'd rather share and you make your own judgement call, then the alternative (a potentially unhappy cruiser!).

tigre

One more thing....I can't believe I forgot this one. There was only ONE 120v outlet in the suite (and it was only a two prong, no ground plug). Almost all of the outlets on board were european (??) and needed converters in order for us to use them (including one of the outlets in our cabin). We never thought of this as a possibility, and as a result had to sit in the Video arcade for an hour in order to charge our laptop since it was the only 3 prong 120v outlet we could find on the ship!! Before you wonder why we'd have our laptop there in the first place (long story), just think about what your own needs are for plugging in (and recharging) your cameras, phones, blow dryers, etc. and pack accordingly.

tigre

Thanks for the valuable info Tigre... we sail next Sun 05/01 on the Crown and I have called NCL and asked them if we needed converters and they said no. I was already bringing a power strip for extra outlets but I will now go pick up a converter.

I did not think you were being nit picky about the over serve in the buffet line.

Thanks again,

Linda

Thanks to everyone. I appreciate your honest comments. It sounds like it wouldn't be the right ship for us at this time. Although I do really love the itinerary.

I sailed on the Crown last year on a Philly to Bermuda cruise and enjoyed it so much I scheduled the same cruise again this year.

I've done five cruises with NCL (2 on the Sea, 2 on the Sun and 1 on the Crown) and have to say the food and crew on the Crown were the best of the bunch. (Enjoyed all our cruises, but this one stood out).

The crew was very friendly and the ship is comfortable and intimate. Top of the Crown is a lovely place to have a drink. The ship's small size enables it to visit three different parts of Bermuda which was nice too.

It's an older ship, so not loaded with amenities and does show a little wear and tear, but it's also easy to find your way around.

There was some sickness on my cruise too. I listened to one guy rant and rave about it then watched him leave the restroom without bothering to wash his hands. I was thankful I didn't have to share a table with that guy.

NCL usually has hand washing stations at entry to dining areas and for boarding and departing the ship.

Just as an FYI to an earlier poster. NCL has its personnel serve the buffet instead of letting the guests do so as a way of preventing the spread of diseases. I've seen it done from time to time, usually when there's a Norwalk virus scare (such as mentioned above).

The Crown is a nice ship, but not necessary right for everyone's taste.

Dan

It sounds like if I liked the Song of America, I will also like the Crown. I have done Voyager class ships and love them too. I just like cruising and am thrilled with not having to dress up this time.

Thanks for the info everybody.

We are considering the Crown...Does it only have one main dining room?..If so , how does it handle the optional formal night...We would be dressing casually but wondered if both groups used the same dining room.

Question Digitaldan1---hpw was the weather and what time of year did you sail from Phila to Bermuda? We go next week and I am now concerned about the weather what with the freak snow in Pittsburgh this weekend. Just curious-thank you...

Linda

My husband and I sailed the Crown in April '04. It was the first time NCL had used the Philly terminal and embarkation was a 3 and 1/2 hour disaster, but I'm sure that has all been remedied by now. This was a 14 day cruise up to Canada and back down the eastern seaboard with stops in Halifax, St. John, Boston, Martha's Vineyard, Norfolk, Baltimore, Charleston and Savannah. Unfortunately the ship lost an engine halfway through the cruise and so we missed Savannah completely, so the ship could get back to Philly in time for repairs.

My husband refers to this trip as our "winter cruise", as we had 11 days of rain out of 14, and the weather was cold to chilly. Never saw the sun until Charleston, but of course, this was not NCL's fault. Now we know why we got such a steal on a junior suite. The room was large, sectioned off into sleeping and sitting areas. Had more closet space than we could use. There was a sofa, a loveseat, two armchairs, armoire, TV, refrigerator, plenty of drawer space. We liked the size of the ship and have sailed on much larger and much smaller ships on other cruises. The ship is showing some wear and tear but the personnel made up for it. Had the best room steward we've had in 14 cruises.

Only complaint we had was that our large windows (no balcony) got dirtier and dirtier every day with all the rain and never were cleaned on the outside during the entire cruise, so that affected our views negatively more each day.

If you prefer a new glitzy huge ship to one with about 1000 passengers like the Crown, then you might not be happy on this one. We enjoyed the uncrowded feeling and the ease of getting around this smaller ship. If you are set on the itinerary on the Crown, I think you will be happy. Just don't expect a 15 year old ship to have the look or the amenities of some of NCL's newer larger ships. Happy sailing!

I was on the Crown last year in mid May Philly to Bermuda with my mother and sister. We enjoyed it so much my husband and I are going on the May 15 6 day sailing. We had an AC suite, which was perfect for 3 people. The Crown was a great size for my mother who is 80 and has difficulty getting around. We've cruised NCL, Celebrity, and Princess and are totally hooked on Freestyle dining - it would be really hard to go back to traditional. Check in last year was a breeze, food was great, Bermuda was fantastic. I can't wait to go back!!

Question Digitaldan1---hpw was the weather and what time of year did you sail from Phila to Bermuda? We go next week and I am now concerned about the weather what with the freak snow in Pittsburgh this weekend. Just curious-thank you...

Linda

Cruised her late last April. The first few days were cool, overcast and rainy, the last couple were sunny and hot.

Dan

How does the freestyle dining work on the Crown? Are there small tables for 2 or 4 in the dining rooms or do you still have a lot of sharing of tables? What are the dining options? I was on the Crown 5 years ago and I seem to remember the dining room being very nice and bright with lots of windows.

Cruised her late last April. The first few days were cool, overcast and rainy, the last couple were sunny and hot.

 

Dan

Thx for the info Digitdan1....

getting really excited now.

Linda

My husband and I sailed the Crown in April '04. It was the first time NCL had used the Philly terminal and embarkation was a 3 and 1/2 hour disaster, but I'm sure that has all been remedied by now. This was a 14 day cruise up to Canada and back down the eastern seaboard with stops in Halifax, St. John, Boston, Martha's Vineyard, Norfolk, Baltimore, Charleston and Savannah. Unfortunately the ship lost an engine halfway through the cruise and so we missed Savannah completely, so the ship could get back to Philly in time for repairs.

 

Partner and I were on this same cruise and fully enjoyed the ship. The size was perfect and we found the service to be more than satisfactory (with the exception of the US Customs procedures). We were in an owner's suite on deck ten which included the services of a great butler. We were very disappointed in missing Savannah as that is the one port, having been there a couple times in the past, we were really looking forward to. Yes, it was the "winter" cruise. But still, I would sail on the Crown in a minute with the proper itenerary.

The Crown only has 1 dining room which may be used by anyone on formal night - it makes no difference whether they are in capris or an evening gown/ slacks or a suit.

The parameter of the dining room holds tables for 4 next to tables for 2 - allowing them to be pushed together, if needed, for larger parties. The inside of the dining room holds contains larger round tables that seat 10.

Each night you can tell the Maitre'D whether you want your own table or if you are willing to share a table.

We have never sailed NCL so have a couple of questions. We are sailing the Crown in November for 15 days and I wondered how many laundry rooms there are on the ship and what deck(s) they are on? Are there irons and ironing boards in them? Also, did I understand correctly that formal night is optional? So there may be some people in formal wear and others in casual clothes in the same dining room? On the designated formal nights, can one eat in any of the restaurants in their formal wear or is only one restaurant designated for the formal attire? I understand the "freestyle" concept - just not sure about the formal nights.

Concur on the buffet thing. It WAS strange not to even be able to pick up an apple or banana with your own hands, but the reason for this was obvious.. They were taking very aggressive action against the spread of disease. The staff do not particularly like it, and many of the customers did not like it, but I certainly understood the reason behind it and did not fight them on it.

I went from the Dawn to the Crown in just a few weeks, and was not disappointed at all. It is just a different type of experience. Again, I count myself very fortunate that the cruise that I was on was pretty much confined to people like myself demographically. I was not aware of anybody being sick nor of any complaints by fellow passengers.

Does anyone know about the laundry rooms on the Crown? Where they're located and if they have ironing boards?