First time on Princess--Crown Southern Carib Feb 2014

[jkskrap]

FIRST TIME ON PRINCESS

 

Crown Princess Southern Caribbean,February 2014

 

Just for background info: This was our 9th cruise. All 8 of our previous cruises were on Royal Caribbean (RCI). We booked this particular cruise because my wife attended seminars on board by two of her favorite authors. We were excited to try a different cruise line to see how it compared to RCI.

 

Here is a brief (well maybe not too brief) look at our trip. Comparisons between the two lines will be hard not to mention. Of course, it is based on our many experiences with RCI and only 7 nights and 1 ship on Princess.

 

 

We arrived at Fort LauderdaleTerminal around 12:15. A little traffic, but not bad. The Crown was in terminal 2, so we parked in the northern parking garage off 17th street. We carry on our luggage and like to park close for easy access to our car after thecruise. Less than a five minute walk from the garage to the terminal! Fantastic!

 

Huge line was waiting for us. It wrapped around outside and looked daunting when we got there. Thank goodness it was a cool day. It moved pretty quickly and we were inside in about 30 minutes.Now you move into another line to go through security. Another 15 minutes there. Then you get in line to do your paperwork and get your key card. Another 15 minutes. When we got to the end of that line my wife made friends with the greeter that places you in the next line. Since no priority passengers were waiting, she sent us over to their line and we basically walked right up to get our cards. Friendly Princess and terminal staff throughout the process.

 

Next came the best line....Walking on the ship! We had to wait afew minutes in the picture line, which we were not going to have taken. I noticed that a few people moved the barrier and just bypassed this line altogether. Smart choice. Nothing against the boarding photographers, but since I was 100% sure we were not buying the picture, I saw no reason for them to waste the time and paper on us.

 

Reality check: we are newbies.Really missed those loyalty perks on RCI during the boarding process, but it wasn’t too bad.

 

Princess gives first time cruisers a bright blue card like a shield of newbie-ness. :pThe bright color is easy for others to see and then comment on - some wanting to let you know how many cruises they have been on and how many perks they get and you don’t. That’s life.

 

When we entered the ship we were greeted by a young lady who told us to go to the forward elevators. I mentioned that our cabin was the other way and asked if we could just grab an elevator that was directly behind her. She was pretty nasty about it and told us we would never get one of these elevators, but moved aside and snarled, ‘Whatever!” I pushed the button. It dinged. And we took the elevator to deck 8. We shrugged it off and figured she was having a bad day and maybe she was instructed to make sure everyone walks by the shops when they enter. Here we were, blue card newbies already pissing off the crew.

 

Next up: our cabin.

[JustinPlusLauren]

People actually mentioned that you had the blue card and were snobby about it? Wow! That's a lot of nerve...you'd think that people would be welcoming and helpful instead if anything! My boyfriend had a blue card this past cruise as it was his first time on Princess and I had a ruby card... no one ever said anything to him when he had his blue card out!

 

I hope that you had a great time on board and looking forward to reading the rest! The Crown is a wonderful ship!

[jkskrap]

Yeah, we had a several people "notice" the blue card and comment. But only a few that were memorable.

 

I was amazed they had 500 people that were on their second leg of B2B cruises! Three of our encounters were with B2B'ers. The first fellow passenger we met as we were heading to our cabin announced that the reason she had a drink in her hand was because she was on the ship last week. She was a poster child for snooty and obnoxious.

 

But keep in mind we met plenty of the other 497 that were fantastic! We learned that if the conversation started with the announcement they were on board the week before, be nice and move on asap.

[jkskrap]

Cabin E730 on the Crown Princess

 

This is a mini suite with a full sofa (this one made into a bed), 2 TV’s and a shower/bath tub combination. Nice room. We have had Jr. Suites on our last couple of RCI cruises and must admit I prefer their wide cabins to this extra long one. BUT – this is a very comfortable cabin. The two TV setup is a little weird, but I guess if you had kids on the sofa bed they could watch a different TV show than you are watching in your bed.

 

The bathroom is large and the tub/shower is great. I would have preferred to have a removable hand held shower head, though. It was way too short for me and I had to crouch down. The shower curtain actually kept the water in the tub (RCI’s tub curtain is always 6 inches too short). Plenty of room for a big guy like me to move around.

 

The design of the closet area makes it so you have to close the bathroom door to get to the safe or shelving. My DW and I kept hitting each other with the door when getting ready.

 

The bed and pillows were very, very comfortable. I have read some bad reviews about Princess beds but ours was awesome.

 

This is the last cabin on the port side and has a big, extended balcony. There is a clear view of the wake and you can see all the way forward. An ideal balcony IMHO. It is covered so you will be able to get some shade if you want it, or plenty of sun during the day too. Very private with only one neighbor. Two reclining chairs with foot stools, one wider upright chair and a large table at a great height for eating meals orsnacks.

 

When researching the cabin I read about the noise from Club Fusion directly below. We did have some bass thumping 3 or 4 nights until close to midnight. You hear and feel it most in the bathroom. It didn’t bother us at all, but if you go to bed early you may want to avoid this cabin.

 

The a/c worked great. We had to turn it way down at night or it would get too cold (and I likea cold room!). No real toilet problems. We did have a delay fairly often. Press the button and it flushes in a few minutes.

 

The big problem we had (yeah, here it comes) was the VIBRATION. This cabin vibrates quite a bit when the ship is travelling over 18 knots or so. When we were over 20 knots it was REALLY bad. The first three nights we had a hard time sleeping. Remember the Magic Fingers beds at motels years ago? You put a quarter in and the bed vibrates like crazy for a few minutes. That is what it is like. I bet neither of us got more than six hours sleep the first two nights (combined!). We were miserable. By the third night I had figured out to hang my feet over the bed and not touch the beating headboard. When we got to Curacao we finally got some rest. The night you travel from Curacao to Aruba, only 30 miles or so, the ship goes very slowly and the vibration is gone. Wonderful . . . Heading back to port after Aruba you are doing around 18.5 knots and the vibration is back, but not as bad as the way down. By then we had gotten used to the vibration and slept OK but not great. Too bad because the bed was so darn comfortable!

 

The vibration in the bathroom was worse than the bed. Sitting on the toilet you were almost airborn from the vibrations.

 

So, if you are going to be on a very port intensive cruise that doesn’t travel long distances or at too high of speed, the cabin would be great. For this itinerary, IMHO, I would avoid it like the plague.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jkskrap]

 

 

 

[Northender]

Thanks for your review. I love reading a new cruisers thoughts. The pictures are wonderful.:):)

[Working 2 Cruise]

This is great! All aft cabins usually have some vibration.. I had one of the aft balconies on Carnival and we did vibrate!

 

Can't wait for the rest!

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[jkskrap]

This is great! All aft cabins usually have some vibration.. I had one of the aft balconies on Carnival and we did vibrate!

 

Can't wait for the rest!

 

This one seemed more than normal to us. We had a cabin on Brilliance in the same position - last one down, deck 9 - in December at had no vibration at all once you cleared the dock.

 

When at sea, the whole rear end of the Crown has a pretty good shake. :D

[Colo Cruiser]

We have sailed the Crown many times, she is a great.

Thanks for your comments.

[jkskrap]

We thought the ship was in great shape. She's a beautiful ship with a lot of nooks and crannies with places to sit and relax. Lots of lounges.

The casino is large and has plenty of slots. A very good variety. Half is non-smoking and they have done a great job with air flow to make the non-smoking side breathable. Not always the case on RCI ships. Two sea days were completely non-smoking which was a plus for us. Also, they keep the slots open all night! So if the urge hits you at 2:00 am you can start gambling.

They use a card system on the machines which we found to be very convenient. I heard several people complain about it, but it works well. You put your seacard in the machine, establish a PIN number and then can get money from your account that is put directly on the slot machine. When you are done, you load the money back on your card to use at the next machine or cash out at the window. Just remember to cash it out before you leave the ship. (You can put cash in the machine, but it will only put it back on your seacard).

When you load your card make sure and play at least once on that machine. If you don't, they lock your card. I guess they don't want you using the slots as an ATM. This happened to me when we pulled into Curacao and they closed the casino. I had just put money on my card and then had to put it right back on. The next day I met my DW at the casino and my card was refused. When I went to the cashiers window the lady swiped my card and said I was over the limit for the day. My heart kind of skipped a beat . . . I mean, my DW had been there about 20 minutes before I arrived . . . the daily limit is $1500 . . . Uh . . . I told her I thought she was mistaken and she called a supervisor out of the office. He figured out what happened and I was gambling again in 10 minutes. (He also lectured me that they only allow you to do this 2 times per cruise before they cut you off. I don't think he believed me when I told him what happened the day before. Warm and fuzzy he was not - but it's a casino, so I understand)

Edited February 11, 2014 by jkskrap

[sunsetbeachgal]

Love the balcony!

 

I am elite level Princess cruiser and here and there cruise on RC as I will be doing in March, and I miss my loyalty benefits already!!

Edited February 11, 2014 by sunsetbeachgal

[jkskrap]

The first stop was Princess Cays, the day after we left Fort Lauderdale. It’s a beach day and we are lucky enough to live in an area with gorgeous beaches, so we decided to stay onboard and explore. We had breakfast in our room, and went to the buffet for lunch. It was Super Bowl Sunday so we found a spot to watch the (terrible) gamein the Explorers lounge and then snacked afterward at the International Café. I’ll go over food down the line . . .(spoiler alert) . . . good food. Ofcourse we hit the casino awhile and spent time relaxing on our balcony. We also grabbed a blissful no-vibrating, much needed nap.

 

Day 4 was Curacao. Obligatory picture when the bridge opened:

 

 

We have been to Curacao before and had done some island exploring, so decided to just walk around town. We didn’t arrive until 1:30 pm or so and I think debarkation was around 2:00. It’s a great area to walk around on your own. Keep in mind that by law,most shops close before 6:00 pm on Curacao. If you want to shop, do it first thing. This is good for the ship’s shops and casino, though, because they are able to open right after the island shops close.

 

I had to make sure and see the bridge open. Can’t miss that. Otherwise, we just walked around and messed. Willemstad has free WiFi now,but it isn’t real strong so move around to get the best signal. Definitely walk over the bridge to the Punda side of the city to get the WiFi. If all else fails, there is a McDonalds that has free WiFi in the middle oftown. A great coffee bar, too, inside the Mickey D’s. (Yes, I admit I went in for a coffee).

 

People in the shops were pleasant and we didn’t find anyone pushy. Actually quite the opposite. My wife thought things were a bit dirtier this time around, but I didn’t see it. Seems like a great place to hang out for a week to me! It reminds me a little bit of the French Quarter in NOLA, which isn’t exactly clean but oh so fun.

 

Buffet for lunch and room service for dinner. We had a relaxing dinner on the balcony overlooking Willemstad.

 

Day 5 was Aruba. One Happy Island. We just like it! Someday we really will come and spend a couple of weeks instead of just a day. (Southwest just announced they are flying to Aruba starting this summer)

 

We decided to do a half-day Jeep tour through EL Tours. They picked us up at the terminal and took us over to one of the big hotels (RUI I think it was). We got the keys to our Jeep and were on ourway! One lead Jeep and 4 of us following. We drove to the California Lighthouse and then off-road across the north and eastern part of theisland. Fantastic time! Quick pics:

 

 

 

2 of the Jeeps did a full day tour, so around 1:30 they picked us up and drove us into town. We had them drop us off at The Old Fisherman restaurant for lunch. Great local food. As soon as we ordered I realized I had left my glasses in one of the Jeeps (oops). I called EL Tours and one of the guys ran across the island and got my glasses and brought them to us. Big tip for him (anda bag of sweet bread for his troubles from the restaurant). Great company!

 

We walked around town a bit and then back to the ship. Dinner at the buffet. Hit a couple of lounges and the casino before bed.

Edited February 12, 2014 by jkskrap

[Jules59]

Hi! We were in this same cabin 1/18/14 to 2/1/14. We loved it! I can see the magnets we forgot in one of your photos. Hope you were able to use the. It was so funny seeing them in that photo. Glad you liked our cabin!:)

[jkskrap]

Hi! We were in this same cabin 1/18/14 to 2/1/14. We loved it! I can see the magnets we forgot in one of your photos. Hope you were able to use the. It was so funny seeing them in that photo. Glad you liked our cabin!:)

 

Too funny. We wondered if someone had forgotten it! We left it for the next guests.

[TracieABD]

Sounds like you had a great time on your first PCL cruise!

 

We have had aft minis before, and did not have huge issues with vibration. We did have issues with our HAL cruise on the Rotterdam. I even described as a vibrating bed!

 

Can't wait to hear more!

[LovesCruising]

After 20+ cruises (most on Royal - D+) we will be taking our first Princess Cruise on the Crown to Alaska this June - especially interested in your comparison. Thanks for doing this review. We are in an AFT cabin on Baja deck (feeling like we should have gone for the Mini Suite)

[homeinboca]

Too funny. We wondered if someone had forgotten it! We left it for the next guests.

 

That is too funny. Perhaps that magnet will be posted in other reviews moving forward.

[Jules59]

I hope people keep on using it. It came in handy. For something important, we'd put it up there. Will be bringing another one on our next cruise. So funny seeing our magnet in your picture.:)

[lovevacadays]

Thank you for your review. I'm looking forward to reading more. I would love to hear your comparisons. I haven't cruised RCI in a very long time but did enjoy my cruises. I ended up booking several Princess cruises in a row and once I started getting a few perks, plus the fact the I really like Princess, I just haven't booked any other cruise line.

 

Would love to hear which class of RCI ships you like the most and why.:)

[AKman2495]

FIRST TIME ON PRINCESS

 

 

When we entered the ship we were greeted by a young lady who told us to go to the forward elevators. I mentioned that our cabin was the other way and asked if we could just grab an elevator that was directly behind her. She was pretty nasty about it and told us we would never get one of these elevators, but moved aside and snarled, ‘Whatever!” I pushed the button. It dinged. And we took the elevator to deck 8. We shrugged it off and figured she was having a bad day and maybe she was instructed to make sure everyone walks by the shops when they enter. Here we were, blue card newbies already pissing off the crew.

 

Next up: our cabin.

 

We were on the ship the week before (as well as your week). We ran into the same lady! she told us to go forward because the elevators were less crowded. I told her we had an aft cabin and were going this way (down the promenade to the aft elevators). She also gave me a "look". But I didn't care!

[AKman2495]

Yeah, we had a several people "notice" the blue card and comment. But only a few that were memorable.

 

I was amazed they had 500 people that were on their second leg of B2B cruises! Three of our encounters were with B2B'ers. The first fellow passenger we met as we were heading to our cabin announced that the reason she had a drink in her hand was because she was on the ship last week. She was a poster child for snooty and obnoxious.

 

But keep in mind we met plenty of the other 497 that were fantastic! We learned that if the conversation started with the announcement they were on board the week before, be nice and move on asap.

 

We were 2 of the 500! But, we went out to an excursion in the morning. We got back around 1:30. Now, Picture leaving the ship-it's quiet. Elevators are not busy. People moving around in a subdued atmosphere. That was leaving. Coming back, we got on the ship and it was chaos! Elevators crowded People all over the place etc. etc. quite a shock.....:eek:

[AKman2495]

As for blue cards, we've all been one. But the think I like beast is watching them trying to get tot e.g. dining rooms on deck 6 on the Crown. The people in the aft try to take the aft elevators down to 6 to go forward.....that isn't going to work...

 

I advise people study deck plans BEFORE they board. It cuts down a lot of confusion.

[Dryheave]

Thanks for the review.

[jkskrap]

As for blue cards, we've all been one. But the think I like beast is watching them trying to get tot e.g. dining rooms on deck 6 on the Crown. The people in the aft try to take the aft elevators down to 6 to go forward.....that isn't going to work...

 

I advise people study deck plans BEFORE they board. It cuts down a lot of confusion.

 

Yeah, that deck 6 confused quite a few. Once you get situated, though, she's an easy ship to navigate!

 

I'm sure we crossed paths at some point . . .:D