Getting on Crown Today 2/15/09

I am sitting at the Fort Lauderdale Courtyard by Marriott Airport and Cruise Port hotel. Very convenient to the hotel and very nice. Breakfast buffet is $10/adult, $5/child. We did not get to our hotel until 11pm last night and I was up at 6am. My DW and 7 year old DS and deep asleep. I am in the lobby just waiting for the time to pass so they can wake up and we can get to the ship. Planning on taking the 11am hotel shuttle to the ship. I am sure we will be placed into a "holding tank" but I would rather wait there instead of at the hotel. The first thing I plan on doing when we get on the ship is to reserve dinner at the Crown Grill for one night and also request to put on the list for the Chef's Table. I am hoping we can place our son in kid's club during the Chef's Table but if not we will have to skip it (if we even get picked). I do not plan on doing a "Live" report. There have been many well done reviews lately so why rehash it. If you have any questions, I will be happy to check them out for you and get back to you. I will have my laptop in my room so I will checking in at least daily. My DW had foot/ankle surgery 3+ weeks ago and it is not healing as quickly as she thought it would (still using a crutch), so this cruise will be a little slower paced this time. That is fine--we are on vacation. I am going to try and get switched to a handicapped room but I heard the ship is sold out so that probably won't happen. We are in an inside cabin on the Dolphin Deck--mid ship ($499/person--couldn't pass it up). This is most important to minimize the chance that she gets sea sick. We took Bonine last night which seems to work for us. I also have some valium from my recent Vertigo. Bon Voyage--soon I hope!

They told me that the ship is sold out until the end of March & maybe later than that by now.

Bon Voyage and have a great time.

Have a great cruise. One of my friends is boarding today as well with her kids and parents. It's her first time trying Princess and I'm hoping she loves the experience since I helped her book it.

Enjoy yourself!

Bon Voyage! We are on in one month so we look forward to your reviews!

We were on the Crown in '08 and loved the ship. Have a great time, I know you will.

You get excited about cruising as we do. We are on the Crown in August so looking forward to your postings. Have a marvelous trip and hope your wife heals up quickly.:)

Enjoy!!

Flannbarr...You and your family will have a wonderful time. We will be sailing on the Crown the day you disembark. So take good care of her;).

We also have an inside. Ours is on the Plaza deck#322. Good luck with the CHe's Table. I hear it is quite an experience.

Enjoy your cruise.

Rianvi:)

We will be boarding this very cruise next sunday so looking forward to your reviews. HAVE FUN:)

Brennie...Hope to see you at the Sail away or the M&G. Only five days away now.

Anna:)

I am sitting at the Fort Lauderdale Courtyard by Marriott Airport and Cruise Port hotel. Very convenient to the hotel and very nice. Breakfast buffet is $10/adult, $5/child. We did not get to our hotel until 11pm last night and I was up at 6am. My DW and 7 year old DS and deep asleep. I am in the lobby just waiting for the time to pass so they can wake up and we can get to the ship. Planning on taking the 11am hotel shuttle to the ship. I am sure we will be placed into a "holding tank" but I would rather wait there instead of at the hotel. The first thing I plan on doing when we get on the ship is to reserve dinner at the Crown Grill for one night and also request to put on the list for the Chef's Table. I am hoping we can place our son in kid's club during the Chef's Table but if not we will have to skip it (if we even get picked). I do not plan on doing a "Live" report. There have been many well done reviews lately so why rehash it. If you have any questions, I will be happy to check them out for you and get back to you. I will have my laptop in my room so I will checking in at least daily. My DW had foot/ankle surgery 3+ weeks ago and it is not healing as quickly as she thought it would (still using a crutch), so this cruise will be a little slower paced this time. That is fine--we are on vacation. I am going to try and get switched to a handicapped room but I heard the ship is sold out so that probably won't happen. We are in an inside cabin on the Dolphin Deck--mid ship ($499/person--couldn't pass it up). This is most important to minimize the chance that she gets sea sick. We took Bonine last night which seems to work for us. I also have some valium from my recent Vertigo. Bon Voyage--soon I hope!

Flannbarr,

Hope you have a wonderful time. Will be on the Crown soon and also recently had ankle surgery too . Currently down to one crutch and physical therapy. I requested a shower chair on board. You may want to see if you can get one from your room steward. Let me know how you get along.

CRG

Hi Flannbarr,

I wont bother telling you to have a good time, cause I know you will. My lovely wife Opal and I will be on the Crown April 19th Plaza Deck 330, this will be our 3rd cruise (guess we are "Newbies"), but first on Princess. Looking forward to it.Wishing you and yours ALL the best. I will be casting a spell for you to guard you against all the "Chair Hogs". (lol)

Flannbarr...You and your family will have a wonderful time. We will be sailing on the Crown the day you disembark. So take good care of her;).

We also have an inside. Ours is on the Plaza deck#322. Good luck with the CHe's Table. I hear it is quite an experience.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

 

Rianvi:)

Same here, sailing out on the Crown on 2/22 with my entire family. There's a group of 12 of us, coming from Minnesota, Los Angeles, and Nevada as well as myself down here in South Florida. We splurged on, and I'm really looking forward to staying in a balcony cabin for the first time! We're on Baja deck, around mid ship.

Btw, my last one out I was on the CB and staying in Plaza 321 (OV), which was a great location! It's wonderfully convenient, just off of the art gallery on the CB.

Have to finish packing! :D

Ldyandrea...Just about finished with packing. Hope to see you at the Sail away and/or M&G.

Anna:)

Day 1 (Sunday):

• Made it to pier at 11:45am. Was given #14 and was on the ship by 12:30pm. Very easy embarkation.
  
• As told to do here on CC, the first thing I did when I made it to my cabin was call the dining line to request Chef’s Table and Crown Grill ressie. Going to Crown Grill at 7pm on Tuesday night (the first formal night).
  
• Had lunch in buffet-typical food selection and quality.
  
• We were tired from traveling so we did not make it outside for sail away.
  
• Had dinner at Horizon Court: Seafood Buffet and Prime Rib and other choices. I enjoyed the cocktail shrimp as did my wife. My DW did not enjoy the crab claws very much.
  
• Went to Welcome Aboard Show. CD Billy London is pretty boring. There was a sneak peak act by a magician and illusionist nd about 15 minutes by Comedian Gary DeLena who was very funny.
  
• Went to sleep rather early.
  

Day 2 (Monday):

• Made Anytime Dining ressie for 6pm in Michelangelo Room. You can’t make ressie b/w 6pm and 8pm—walk in only.
  
• Had breakfast in Horizon Court. There is not an area signed and designated where they make omelettes. You need to ask. Breakfast was good.
  
• Smooth sailing into Princess Cays.
  
• Went to lounge around 10:30am to get tender tickets and our number was called within 20 minutes.
  
• Rented Clamshell for $24. Base of water was filled with large rocks—just about unswimable in my opinion. BBQ lunch on island was average best. We left Princess Cays at 12:30pm to go back to ship.
  
• We went to Labadee in November 2007 with RCCL and enjoyed that 10 times better than Princess Cays. There is much more to do there/
  
• We laid by the pool, went swimming and watching MUTS. The MUTS is great with good concerts and movies.
  
• Two ladies carted cookies and milk around the pool area—very nice.
  
• Went back to cabin and got voice mail that we were selected for Chef’s Table. We have a meeting Tuesday morning at 10am to discuss it. I am hoping it is at a time that we can put our son in kid’s club so we can attend.
  
• Dinner was Italian (I had chicken cutlet) which I enjoyed. My wife had Salmon which she also enjoyed.H
  
• Took DS to kid’s club for a couple of hours which he enjoyed.
  
• We went to casino for about an hour and donated $88—we will get it back.
  
• We went to the Explorer’s Lounge to see the full show of Gary DeLena who was very good.
  
• Picked up DS from kid’s club and off to sleep we went.
  
• Clocks are being rolled forward one hour overnight.
  

Thanks for all the info!

So, we should definitely bring our water shoes to princess cays - do you think the clamshell was worth renting?

I can't wait to see what you think of the chef's table - :D

The clamshell would have been worth it if we were there longer since it was 80 degrees out. We had water shoes but it did not help much with the size of these rocks--very large. Hard to walk on and hurts if you fall on them. It does not seem that Princess put much money into cleaning up the water and island like RCCL did on Labadee. If we cruise to Princess Cays on another Princess cruise, we will not be getting off.

[php][quote name='Ldyandrea']Same here, sailing out on the Crown on 2/22 with my entire family.  There's a group of 12 of us, coming from Minnesota, Los Angeles, and Nevada as well as myself down here in South Florida.  We splurged on, and I'm really looking forward to staying in a balcony cabin for the first time!  We're on Baja deck, around mid ship.  

Btw, my last one out I was on the CB and staying in Plaza 321 (OV), which was a great location!  It's wonderfully convenient, just off of the art gallery on the CB.

Have to finish packing!  :D[/quote]

[/php]

What room on Baja deck are you on we go on the 3/29 on crown room B409 our first time on Balcony too!!!

Glad to hear that you're having fun.

Ask your son if he's made friends with a girl named Jackie (from NY) in the kids club. If you meet a woman named Leah (from NY) who is traveling with her 3 children and her parents (from New Orleans) tell her that Carolyn sends her love and hopes she's having fun!

Have a wonderful time at the Chef's dinner. Please let us know which night you end up going and what you have.

Enjoy your cruise. The Crown is a favorite of mine!:)

According to the bridge cam, it is Tuesday morning and they are still in Princess Cays?? Wonder why?

We left Princess Cays Monday at 4pm so the bridge cam is wrong.

Going to Chef's Table Wednesday night and Crown Grill tonight.

Thanks for that. Sorry you didn't like Princess Cays. Were you the only ship there? Would you say there was any reason to go earlier to get your tender tickets than the time you did?

Thank you for posting and glad you are enjoying yourselves.

Rianvi:)