JeffT237

Ordering from the app did not work at all on the Crown in May, however on our recent Discovery cruise it worked flawlessly and really enjoyed the feature.

Now if RCI would only make that pricing mistake on the Deluxe Beverage Package again, $18 was a deal!

The first time we ate at 150 CP they brought out the bread with unsalted butter and an assortment of 6 different salts in a dish with little serving spoons. The server would give an explanation of each salt and we tried them all and enjoyed that part of the meal. They were no longer doing it the last time we ate at 150 CP in 2019.

We were on the May 7th Crown, we were notified the week prior to our sailing of the issue and first itinerary change. We were notified the night before of the second itinerary change, once on board a letter was in our cabin of the third change. The Captain made an announcement during our first dinner of the fourth itinerary change. On our last night we were notified that we would be late getting into Victoria. I think every subsequent cruise after had different experiences with notifications and itinerary changes. Later in the season I think people had a better idea. As far as an "out" we tried to change to the Discovery that left the next day but were told we could but since we were outside of the cancellation period we'd incur all of the financial penalties and pay the new higher fare. I think I got bad info or should have pushed it, I believe others were allowed to switch with no penalty. We just returned from the October 15th Discovery on the California Coastal, wonderful cruise we enjoyed the ship and the service was great. Really had a great cruise. We were told that this was the first Discovery cruise with the crew given the option of removing their masks. Most did, and the crew we spoke to all appreciated it. Very few remained in masks. We had no problem with it but I can see someone's point of view especially if they have health issues. If they booked thinking the protocols in place made them safer and comfortable to cruise than they were taken away without notification then I can see their argument. Not sure if this even addressed in the cruise contract or health advisories.

Just off the Discovery and our room was open for us to drop off our carry ons but not ready for us to occupy or unpack at 11:30. Watched the safety video on our phones, had lunch and explored the ship and when we returned in the afternoon room was ready, and bags had arrived. We were in a regular balcony and not Elites. Embarkation day for us was quick and easy.

I thought the Royal class Princess ships travel west of Vancouver Island, my reference was to the older smaller ships that travel the inside passage east of Vancouver Island which from what I have read is the more scenic route and what many who have cruised this route consider the true inside passage. Not trying to spread misleading info but please correct if wrong.

I think you need to look at Alaska itineraries first and ask yourself what's most important. Our next Alaska cruise will more than likely be out of Vancouver and specifically on a ship that sails east of Vancouver Island through the true inside passage. We will not do a Seattle roundtrip again, too much time at sea with minimal scenery. We missed or had very little time in Alaska on the Crown due to its issues so scenery will be most important to us. So with that it leaves us with an older smaller ship, we are also looking at competitors lines and reading a lot of reviews to see if we can find a ship that we're comfortable with. Like you we prefer newer ships but for Alaska on the itinerary we want it looks like an older vessel. Keep in mind the Crown is currently in dry dock to repair what I'd assume are the generator, propulsion and plumbing issues. On our cruise we did feel that she looked tired, old furnishings, cabin needed updating, carpet issues, gym equipment out of service etc. Will all of those issues be addressed? Who knows. I'm guessing these are the reviews you've read: We experienced one of these Crown cruises but also many of these reviews people were venting so take that into consideration. It was an overall disappointing experience, but the consistent thing was the crew and staff were great. Many of these reviews do talk about the overall condition of the Crown. https://www.cruisecritic.com/princess-crown-princess-alaska-cruises_cl28-sh347-de115/mra/

We sailed on our first Princess cruise on the Crown Princess this past May and after that experience we would be very hesitant to cruise on an older Princess ship. We were surprised as were many other passengers we spoke with (both first timers and experienced Princess cruisers) on the overall condition of the Crown. The propulsion, plumbing and generator issues were discussed at length on CC, but there were several other maintenance issues. I know it made it through the Alaska season and it is now in dry dock so hopefully all of the issues are addressed. Since this was our first Princess cruise we have nothing to compare it to, on the other lines we have cruised we typically sail the newer ships. My comments are meant to be objective based on our experience, not to unfairly criticize Princess. We set sail soon on the Discovery and expect a great cruise.

For our upcoming second cruise with Princess we are again purchasing the Plus as we had it on our first Princess Cruise. Great value for us even at the now $50pp per day, we always purchase Wi Fi and pre-pay gratuities anyways so although we don't drink a lot of alcohol we found with the bottled water, coffees and a few drinks a day it worked out in our favor. Compared to what other lines charge for drink packages we find the Princess Plus bundled with tips, wi-fi and most drinks a real bargain.

@cruzin4us Again thanks for your posts, do you know what dining options were open for lunch on embarkation day? I know one dining room and the buffet but what about the Salty Dog Gastropub and Gigi’s Pizzeria? Thanks again!

Yes lesson learned, we booked the Seattle roundtrip last minute, seemed less logistics than the one way that ended in Whittier. We will not make that mistake again, we will only look for cruises out of Vancouver for the scenery. Ironically we chose the May 7th Crown specifically because it was it's return to service cruise, I mistakenly assumed having a small crew onboard for 2 years that the ship would have addressed any maintenance and mechanical issues especially on an older ship and the likely hood of a major mechanical issue would be less likely. Epic fail. We both agreed for our first Princess cruise we did not receive the true experience, in fact we cruise soon on the Discovery and are excited for the upcoming trip. As far as competitors, we've sailed both Carnival and RCI, and for our Alaska re-do we are considering both HAL and RCI. We also chose Princess because of their Alaska reputation and Glacier Bay but we really saw very little enhanced Alaska experiences onboard. The Alaska specific menu had very little to offer and besides the ranger presentation at GB we didn't really notice much. We did not attend any of the presentations in the theaters. We've cruised RCI several times so if we do chose them we're confident on what to expect.

I am looking at the Konningham out of Vancouver as well, we plan on doing our second Alaska cruise but not until 2024 and the schedules are not out yet. Our May 2022 Alaska cruise on the Crown Princess was such a disappointment and we really want to see all that we missed. We will be doing a true inside passage out of Vancouver it just comes down to what ship and cruise line. Since we already have done Glacier Bay we feel we have more options to chose from. RCI does an 8 day out of Vancouver that we're considering (doesn't go to GB) as well as the Konningham. Although we prefer the newer ships like you, I feel Alaska is the exception. Sounds like you found the right cruise, CC is a great resource for planning, enjoy!

Have a wonderful cruise, I know organizing a multigenerational cruise can be stressful, you want everything to be perfect. I'm doing the same right now for a Hawaii trip for my Dad's 80th birthday. In the end the memories with the family and the experience will be what everyone remembers and enjoys over what ship and what route. They all have their pros and cons anyways. I must say this has been a great thread, lots of good input. Enjoy your cruise!

Do you receive a notification if your bid is not accepted?

Yes it is the same card system on the Allure.

We dined there a few years ago on the Allure, I don't recall it taking an unusual amount of time. No longer than any other venue. It was not very crowded on the evening we ate there. You help yourself to the sides and salads that are in the center of the restaurant buffet style and the servers continually bring by the different meats. So depending on how hungry you are and if you want to try them all will impact the total time as well.

@cruzin4us Thanks for taking the time to post from the Discovery. We will be sailing soon on the Discovery and your posts have been helpful! Do you know if they have had the Chef's table available for this cruise? Thanks

Keep in mind the Majestic I believe does not sail east of Vancouver Island, which many experienced Alaska cruisers says is the far superior route. It is more of the true inside passage experience. From my understanding the cruise lines older smaller ships are the ones that sail this route. We are facing the same dilemma for our next Alaska cruise, we always book the newer ships over older ships so it comes down to do we want the nicer ship or the nicer views? Our only Alaska experience was last May on the Crown Princess which is similar in age to the Sapphire. The ship that was definitely showing her age. You can read the reviews, we had mechanical and maintenance issues which led to many disappointments, most of all we had very little time in Alaska and a lot of open ocean sailing. We're very hesitant to book an older Princess ship because of this. Our day in Glacier Bay was beautiful, the highlight of the cruise. This was round trip out of Seattle and our next Alaska cruise will definitely be a northbound out of Vancouver. Too much open ocean sailing on the Seattle roundtrips in my opinion. Good luck with whatever you decide.

We had several cruises on Carnival when our kids were younger and enjoyed them all. Never witnessed any overly bad drunken experiences or fights. Our children especially enjoyed all of the kids activities and always walked away with cruise friends. Our last family cruise was on the Carnival Magic when it was new and we still all have great memories of that cruise. Cruise Critic offers a lot of good and bad advice, it becomes very personal and biased towards individual cruise lines and cruisers favorites, often (not always) without ever stepping foot on another brand. We've cruised now with Carnival, RCI and Princess and we've witnessed good and bad passengers and experiences on all 3. We will continue to cruise on multiple brands as our next cruise is Princess followed by RCI. I'm sure you'll have a wonderful cruise!

Our upcoming Wonder cruise in March is currently at $283.99pp, so I'd say $79pp is a deal!

I have sailed Carnival, Royal and most recently our first Princess cruise. IMO they are very similar as far as experience and service. The differences I see are in technology, ship design and build, decor etc. Guests do tend to be older and there is a less party atmosphere on Princess than the other 2. For the OP not knowing if you are cruising with kids, as a couple, age, budget or personal interests it's hard to recommend one over the other. We sailed several Carnival cruises with our kids when they were young and enjoyed them all. As we now cruise just as a couple we have moved on from Carnival as we feel it no longer suits us. As for types of passengers across all 3 brands we've come across we have met and witnessed many friendly passengers as well as witnessing many rude and drunk passengers on all 3 lines as well. There always seems to be a perception or judgement of each cruise line's type of passengers and it's usually favorable to the commenters favorite cruise line and unfavorable to the competitions. Our last cruise was on Princess and we witnessed more rude and abusive passenger behavior towards the crew and fellow passengers than we had on all of our other cruises combined. This was due more to the Crown issues than alcohol, but definitely some were alcohol related. With the drink packages this will often be an issue in the cruise industry. This won't stop us from cruising on Princess, we set sail in a few weeks on the Discovery.

We are fortunate to be able to travel frequently and I book almost everything directly, with the exception of cruising. I've used the same travel agency for the majority of our cruises now. In our experience we have always had great service and communication, but the biggest pro is that we've always received a lower fare than the cruise line itself and in addition received OBC and other perks like vouchers for speciality dining. It works for us, we have never had any issues with giving up control of our reservation as our TA has always been easy to contact and address any issues we have had, which in our years of cruising have been very minimal.

What it really comes down to in my opinion, and why these threads go on and on is that cruisers feel the way they cruise is the only way. Tipping, dress code, purchasing ship or private excursions, drink package yes or no? speciality dining vs including dining, etc....the list goes on. For some it's unimaginable that someone would cruise differently than they do.

We were on the Crown in May and they were open and there was a charge, however many were out of order but between 2 decks we were able to find ones that worked. The token dispensers near our deck did not work so guest services gave us complimentary tokens to use, so in essence it was free for our voyage.

How was the staff to passenger ratio, since it was a full ship did it feel under staffed or appropriate for the numbers onboard? Also do you know if the Chef's Table was available during your sailing? Thanks, and great review!