LIVE LIVE LIVE from the Crown 7/11 2nd Try

As I posted yesterday, Princess had blocked page 2 of the thread. Now page 4 AND the "reply" function have been disallowed, so I am trying to keep you all informed by starting a new thread.

Last night, dinner was fabulous - the best so far. We were in the DaVinci Dining Room, and our waiter was Attila and our asst was Narcisa. It was Italian night, and all the staff were dressed in Venetian gondolier striped shirts. Very cute. (too cute for some, I'm sure :))

I had a lovely herb-marinated seafood melange of mussels, shrimp, bay scallops and calamari. I asked Attila if he could get me some special requests, and he practically got on his knees and begged me to make him do special favors. :) I ordered pot roast as my main course, with no potatoes or corn, and just any kind of green vegetables they could rustle up. Then I said that I LOVE rabbit, and there was a dish of pappardelle with rabbit ragout. I asked him if I could just have a little dish of the rabbit ragout.

WELL..........he brought out the large plate of very nice pot roast, and a huge side plate of five kinds of steamed green veggies! THEN he brought a LARGE bowl of rabbit............mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

I had some very nice cheeses for dessert, and then the infamous limoncello. (does anyone remember my earlier post asking if I would find limoncello on board a Princess ship?)

Again I brought a bottle of wine, and again he was VERY apologetic about having to charge the corkage fee. I get the extremely strong feeling that many passengers are giving the staff a very very very very hard time about the fee.

We had a 2 hour + dining experience, and it felt wonderful.

As we left the dining room, there was the infamous pirate and parrot guy. Well, Nancy and I couldn't wait to get our revenge. We made him take our picture STRANGLING the parrot! Those are fantastic pictures - I just found them in the Photo Gallery on my way to the Internet Cafe right now.

I won another bit at the slots last night, almost pulling me even with what the leeches have sucked out of my wallet.

Nancy sang in Princess PopStar last night, and she was clearly the best singer, but the audience "elected" a really nice guy who was very cute. Not much of a singer, but very entertaining. We are making her try again tomorrow night. (It took this guy Eddie three tries to be picked)

I promised to give Jim the computer guy here a plug for being nice, even though he said that he couldn't do anything about the blockade of my posts.

You go, Jim! (he promised me that if I went to the Purser's Desk, I would get credit for the lost time of trying to deal with the block)

Ok, I'm going to skip around a little.

When I got back on the ship after Ocho Rios, I went on a mission for all of you. I took the elevator up to Deck 16, and went to the Lotus Pool or, as I now call it, Heaven On Earth.

This is one gorgeous pool. No kids. No young people. Quiet. Beauty. Nice layout. You know how on the Royal Caribbean boards, we say that we wouldn't have to hog/save chairs if ONLY there were some place to put our stuff when we didn't need a lounger? Cubbies or something? Well, if you have seen the pictures of the Lotus Pool area, you know that it looks sort of like an amphitheatre. The one curved side has five levels of stadium type board seating. It's the perfect place to throw your stuff while you are swimming, until you are ready to lie down on a chaise.

What peaceful bliss! After doing some laps, I just floated. Does anyone remember that first episode of Hawaii Five-O, where the bad guys capture our hero (yes, I forget his name, the lead guy, Jack Lord), and put him in a big tank, with his eyes and ears sealed up, and try to drive him mad through sensory deprivation? Well, before you hit insanity, you hit total serenity.

That's the Lotus Pool.

Here's the best part of the report.

I went up to the Sanctuary. There was no one there. The Princess people were very nice and chatted with me. Yes, it's pretty. Yes, the loungers look very pretty and very comfortable. Yes, it feels peaceful. Worth $15 for four hours of it all? Not on my dime. Not unless the rest of the world has driven you totally mad and NOTHING else will soothe you, if you are the kind who vants to be alone. (Greta Garbo reference for you young 'uns)

Best part: This will kill your "Sanctuary Envy" once and for all.

Do you feel envious of those with enough money and/or enough snobbery to pay to be apart from the hoi polloi?

Don't. Have you seen the pictures of the place on line here? Doesn't it look nice, and upscale? Picture those plants, those palms, that soothing foliage.

IT'S PLASTIC.

More about Ocho Rios later. Suffice it to say, just as I conquered my fear of snorkeling in Grand Turk, today I conquered my fear of Dunn's River Falls.

Oh, before I forget. Princess makes no effort to control the bad behavior of some passengers. At Princess PopStar last night, only four of the contestants were "legitimate". The other six were all drunken teenagers from the same Long Island gang. They were AWFUL, and were just up there because they were smashed.

On an elevator yesterday, we encountered the infamous species known as Rude Passengers. The elevator doors opened, and we stepped forward to get on. There were six or seven of them. The elevators state that they are rated for 15. We have been on many with 10. The passenger said, We're Full, and hit the close door button. BTW, these were ADULTS, in their 40's and did not appear to be drunk. I've decided to call them Elvogs.

When I went to the Lotus Pool, I had just re-boarded and hadn't gone to my cabin. I had no dry towel. I got out of the pool and, dripping wet, went to the door of the Spa, until I got the attention of a perfectly groomed European-ish spa worker. I asked if she could do a towel exchange, and I held out my grody beach towel, wet and dirty from the Falls. She told me to come in, and I demurred, saying that I didn't want to drip all over her nice floor. She insisted that I come in, and gave me TWO really nice lavender spa towels.

Kudos to this employee!

Did I tell you on the other thread about the nice Princess person in the elevator who gave me a beach towel as I was getting off at Deck 15 to go to the pool, only to discover that I had forgotten mine in the cabin? She saved me a trip back.

Kudos to her!

Walking around the Sun Deck during my Lotus Pool adventure this afternoon, I saw two teenage girls "saving" eight loungers. They each sat in one, they each put a towel on one, and each put one of her flip flops on each of the others. It was a lovely, artistic sight to behold. :)

Merion_Mom....thanks SO much for your posts!

It is very kind of you to take time out from your vacation to share your

experience.

I wish you a lovely cruise!

Carol, I'm still laughing. I have no idea who the pirate/parrot are, but I think I'd like to strangle them also. :D

About the Sanctuary....how tacky is that????? Fake foliage among the fabulous chaises. Hmmmmm....doesn't sound like it's all that after all.

Thanks for your review....it"s wonderful! ;)

Karen

Baltimore

Thank you! Thank you! This is great info. I board when you get back. If you happen to visit the International Cafe, could you check out if the ovens are working yet, for the cookies. I was disappointed to hear from the 7/2 cruisers that the ovens were not working and would not be repaired for several weeks. Thanks - hope you having a great time. It sure sounds like it!

I second that. PLEASE let us know if the oven in the International Cafe

is working.

Thanks so much.

We're in C752 on the 9/21 sailing. Looking very much forward to it as we had C752 on the Golden in '04 and thought it was very good.

Your posts are very funny with just a little saracastic edge that I really like. Keep it up. Your "It didn't ruin my cruise" attitude is what I take onboard every voyage.

These posts get better and better. And thank goodness, no mention of feminine hygiene products this time around... :D Your dining experience sounds very good.

So Carol, what's the deal with Princess blocking pages of your thread? I'm baffled...

I need to go google limoncello...

Thanks for the great review merion mom. We will be boarding the Crown when you depart. I am absorbing every word about her. Nice to hear about the employees who went the extra step to help you. That is what makes a trip great.

Keep posting.

I looked at your other posts. Maybe I missed where you said what happened, but Princess censored some of your CC posts? How did that happen? Please explain again because I couldn't figure out what happened.

Maybe it had to do with the blow up doll?

I'm loving your posts. Please keep 'em up!

WOW!!! It's hard to believe that Princess lost over 100 posts in two days?:eek:

Carol...........your following is becoming so great.............you may consider leaving your teaching job..........and building your own travel agency!! Imagine traveling the world with Carol.............who used to be known as Merion Mom...........till her real talent was discovered!!:D

With Carol............you can swim with the sharks..........and never be touched! OK ..............so much for the fantasy..............

Back to the real world.........why is Carol being bounced off of CC on the first Princess cruise............Princess is really screwing up here.........if they are doing it.

I have seen nothing but praise and fun from Carol for her first days.....and would expect that to continue to the end of the cruise.

I sent her something ...............and she received something else...........a dissapointment to me......but we will wait to find out how well it ends.

I hope you don't have to start a LIVE LIVE LIVE FROM..........for the third time!!!!:eek: :eek:

Very entertaining review--keep 'em coming! We don't sail on the Crown until next spring, but I love reading about the ship.

Hope all the bugs will be worked out by then.

Carol-

Great reviews. Too bad your previous thread blocked. I asked you twice to take a picture of the blow-up doll. You never saw the requests. Hopefully you'll see this- pictures please. I want to share with my roll call. I told my family about the doll and they hate that I'm addicted to CC- and they even laughed!

Thanks for the "Plastic" info. By the time we sail in late August, the fee should be down to $10 for the Sanctuary. I'll survey it before plunking down any $$.

I loved the Lotus Poll on the CB- my favorite spot. Think that's where I'll spend my time, too. Cheers!

...I had a lovely herb-marinated seafood melange of mussels, shrimp, bay scallops and calamari....THEN he brought a LARGE bowl of rabbit............mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Loved, loved, loved your witticism on the Sanctuary

Worth $15 for four hours of it all? Not on my dime.

It baffles my mind that someone is willing to fork over that kind amount of money just to lay on a lounge chair.

Plus, I just can't support a company that feels the need to charge extra just to keep peace onboard ... Come on.... I think that's a bunch of hooey.

Oh-no, plastic trees ? ? ?:eek:

What Next? A pair of pink plastic flamingos.....;)

Carol, glad to hear you are having fun. I promise it wasn't any of my posts that got you blocked. I think.

The QM2 charged $29.00 per day to use spa pool and steam room, sauna, etc. We felt it worth it on a sea day that was overcast and cloudy. And no kids!

Cookies are fresh-baked and always available. I don't know anything about broken ovens. It certainly didn't take weeks to get the bakery back on track!

Rick, I got a bottle of Moet et Chandon. We drank it tonight at dinner in honor of our friends' 34th anniversary. They were on our Roll Call - Joani and Al. Wasn't that what you sent? :confused:

I haven't been to the Terrace Pool yet, for whoever asked that. I'll try tomorrow.

It's on my to-do list to take a picture of the blow-up doll. I'm charging my son's digital camera right now.

Moi? SARCASTIC?!?!?!??!?!?!;)

I can't figure out what the trigger words are for Princess' filters. Maybe "Royal Caribbean"??? :D

Little notes:

Yesterday in the dining room: shorts. SHORT shorts. Shorter than some underwear I have known.

Tonight in the dining room: t-shirt and jeans.

Tonight in the dining room: screaming baby

Ok, back to Jamaica/Ocho Rios, today's port of call. We booked Peat Taylor to Dunn's River Falls plus his tour of the area. Oneill, his son, met us at the dock. He is one cutie patootie! The ship was a little delayed in docking, and our bus was somewhat delayed in leaving, waiting for the last passengers of our group, and we were far from among the first to arrive at the Falls.

I guess that everyone knows the drill: you have to wear watershoes (well, it's not a requirement, but you're an idiot to do the climb in anything else). You rent a locker for your stuff. It's $8 to the attendant, and you get back $3 when you turn the padlock and key back in.

You walk all the way down to the beach (a very nice beach, by the way). Then you hook hands and, led by your incredibly strong and agile Jamaican guide, begin the climb up the rushing waters and slippery rocks. The water level is VERY high right now, and the force of the water was VERY strong in many places. It is extremely slippery right at the bottom, with a few places where you have to take a giant step up. I panicked. I instinctively knew that I could not do this climb when I wasn't sure where my foot was planted, how slippery it was, or if I could haul my bulk up these large rocks with no handholds other than the person in front of me, who was trying to negotiate the climb herself, while being dragged upon by the struggling person behind me. I'm really short, and a medium stretch for some is a huge stretch for my legs. I left the group, and climbed back down the little ways that I had gone. THAT took me a few minutes. I re-joined some friends who had instantly known that they were not even going to attempt the climb, and went on the walkway to the first overlook.

We waited until our group came in sight, and watched them climb. When they climbed up and out of sight, we walked to the next lookout point. It didn't look as bad as the beginning section to me, so when Nancy gestured to me, I ventured out into the water again and joined hands again.

I made it all the way to the top! I have to say that I have never been so frightened in my life. If someone tells you, "Oh, anyone can do it; it's no big deal" - they are lying. It IS difficult, it IS a big deal, and it IS very hard work. It takes almost two hours, and it is a grueling and slippery and uncertain adventure. It WAS wonderful and it WAS a great experience and I AM glad that I did it. But I don't need to do it again. :)

About the shoes: things that I wish someone had explained to me, just so that I would understand: I toyed with the idea of wearing old sneakers, ones that I didn't care about getting wet and dirty. (by the way, they don't get dirty). It turns out that watershoes really ARE the best footwear. They have a good, solid sole, with grippy bottom, but not too thick. I think that the sole needs to be thick enough to protect your foot, but thin enough so that you can truly feel the surface underneath. You need to know what you are stepping on: how slippery or solid it is, if it is sharp or flat, etc. The watershoe lets you do that.

Peat took us on a lovely drive through Fern Gully. We saw "nice" and "poor" Jamaica. Then the van got a flat tire. We pulled off the main road, and two guys came over to help poor Peat change the flat. He told us later that they are his cousin and his uncle! (they just happened to be there)

We ate lunch at the Ruins restaurant, and it was very nice: buffet, all you can eat and drink for $15. The food was good, with the highlights being chicken curry and, of course, jerk chicken and pork. Good Jamaican coffee, too, but no artificial sweetener, only sugar (though two kinds)

The wine was potable, but barely. The beer is Red Stripe, and even soda is included. :D

We decided NOT to do the river tubing. Enough for one day.

We went shopping at the Taj Mahal complex before heading back to the ship. Watch the prices. You can only bargain so much. The shops all carry pretty much the identical items, but the prices vary a lot. I made two circuits so that I could get the best price on the Jablum Blue Mountain coffee. It ranged from a low of $18 to a high of $25!!!!!!!!!!! (all within a few feet of one another). It was hard to find t-shirts in adult small.

I was only bothered once, and he not only tried to get me to buy, and followed me, but grabbed my arm. I decided against clopping him a good one, since I didn't want to end up in a Jamaican police station.

Speaking of which..........

I was talking to another CC buddy, and her boyfriend was frisked upon returning through Jamaican security! A real, full pat-down. They checked his "package" for contraband.

But it gets better. Her BROTHER was STRIP-SEARCHED. The whole nine yards. Taken into a back room and told to STRIP. Needless to say, they didn't find anything. She said that he was actually incensed, because he is totally anti-drug and intolerant of such, and felt personally insulted that they picked HIM as a suspicious person.

Dinner tonight was good. I had chilled fruit soup, crab and something appetizer (fine, but not very crabby - mild crab taste was totally overwhelmed by garlic aioli), leg of lamb (tasty, and nice gravy). Again I asked for "any green vegetable", just like last night. After all, I like all green veggies, right? Oops, forgot about brussel sprouts. Yep, they brought brussel sprouts. Oh well.

We enjoyed Rick's Moet et Chandon throughout the meal: Nancy, Joani and I. Fortunately (oops, did I say that?) Al doesn't drink.

Nancy, Joani, Al and I went back to Adagio's after dinner (another leisurely 2 hour affair). Sammy is good, but not fabulous. He does the exact same schtick EVERY night. I mean the same thing. Identical words. Every syllable. No creativity. Ok, I'm nit-picking, but I've seen more adaptable and creative piano players in my day. SHUT UP, WRONA.

I made Nancy go with me to the bar to talk to four officers who were standing there drinking, to clear up a few things I have read on these boards.

They are all on the Engineering staff. They are certainly permitted to drink. They are not permitted to be drunk. The time limit is no drinking within three hours of their shift. Different nationalities are treated differently. Even when they perform the same job, they are not paid the same.

Mindy and Russ joined us. We caught up on Cruise Critic gossip and ship goings-on.

Nancy pooped out early, and finally Al and Joani went to bed. Mindy, Russ and I sat there talking. We kept getting dirty looks, and finally a waiter came over and told us that other passengers were complaining that we were making too much noise, so I came down here to talk to all of you guys.

Lots of lightning and thunder tonight, but the Tropical Deck Party went on as scheduled.

I hope that we make Grand Cayman tomorrow. Suppposedly we will be there at 7, so we have to get up early and get on a tender to meet Captain Marvin for our stingray encounter and snorkeling excursion.

Night all.

I'm pretty sure that the first thread is still on Cruise Critic, just fallen to page 2. *I* just can't see the pages or post any more replies. YOU should be able to see those pages.

I just hope that I can get to page 2 of THIS ONE tomorrow. :)

Nancy, Joani, Al and I went back to Adagio's after dinner (another leisurely 2 hour affair). Sammy is good, but not fabulous. He does the exact same schtick EVERY night. I mean the same thing. Identical words. Every syllable. No creativity. Ok, I'm nit-picking, but I've seen more adaptable and creative piano players in my day. SHUT UP, WRONA.

Did I say anything?;) :D

By the way, I'm with you on the Dunn's River Fall's thing, it isn't for everybody, since I slipped and fell and got hurt when I tried to climb it.

Did I say anything?;) :D

Me neither.... just sitting her bitting my tongue.. :D ;)

Glad to hear you're having such a great time! You're doing a wonderful job with the review (as usual)! :)

Carol, you make my day! Your reviews are wonderful as well as your humor! I chickened out at the first cut off at Dunns River Falls. It was not easy for me, and I was told by many that "anyone can do it!" so, at least you tried, as did I. Enjoy the rest of your cruise. Maybe I'll see you Thursday as your disembarking!! :)

Read both your reviews (found the other one). Terrific!

Carol

It is so refreshing to read someone's review who is actually ENJOYING the cruise despite any minor problems.. You are making me really excited to get back on Princess in October to Asia. Thanks for the great reviews !!

Why wake up to yet another report about all the trouble in the world...there's Carol's review instead, to make me smile. :)

Elevogs...please explain.

Never mind, just got it. Elevator hog. D'oh!