First time on Princess--Crown Southern Carib Feb 2014

[jkskrap]

As it turned out, we only ate one night in the MDR. The rest of the time we ate in specialty restaurants, Horizon Court buffet or room service.

 

Our one time in the MDR was good. Comparable to RCI. It was the first night and we had the prime rib which was surprisingly very good! The shrimp cocktail was kind of “fishy” but all in all a good meal.

 

We thought the buffet was better than RCI’s Windjammer (at least the last couple of cruises). Good food that always seemed fresh. Great selection. No complaints at all! (the eggs benedict in the morning are delicious)

 

Room service is pretty limited. In the morning, the only hot item is an EggMcMuffin-like sandwich. It’s actually not bad, but the quality varied over the week. Some mornings it looked like it had sat for quite a while. The pastries, croissants and buns were pretty basic, but good. We learned to be very specific on the pre-order form that you hang out on your door the night before. If you mark “one” strawberry jams, etc., you get very little. Up it to 3 or 4 and you get a nice portion. For dinner, it is mostly sandwiches, but we thought they were decent. The ham and cheese monte-christo-like sandwich was my favorite. The burger is darn good, too.

 

Crown Grill ($25 up-charge each) was good. Nothing bad, but my filet was surprisingly "just OK." I ordered it medium and it had no pink. I tried to add some of the salts to get some flavor, but it was still "just OK." I also had lobster tails. Small, but plentiful. My wife's filet was dry. The sides are delicious and the appetizers great. The onion soup is delicious. Our waiter was very good.

 

Sabatini's ($25 up-charge each) was outstanding! We had looked at the menu and decided there really wasn't anything that looked remotely interesting to us, but we heard how good it was from several people and decided to give it a try. Wow. It's a VERY long, slow meal (they say 2 hours but we were there 2.5 hours) so be prepared for that. I was pretty antsy by the end. You are all the way in the back of the ship so there is quite a bit of vibration when at sea. The food is absolutely delicious. I had surf and turf (not exactly on the menu, but easily ordered) and the steak was far superior to any I have had at sea. The lobster tail was huge compared to Crown Grill. My DW had the chicken and enjoyed it. They bring a pasta course to you in between appetizers and your main course, and it was great and would have been a super MAIN course. (We had a red sauce instead of the clam sauce. Just ask) All in all a terrific meal. Very friendly and efficient staff.

 

We did the English Pub Lunch and it was delicious. Great fish & chips. The afternoon tea is also fun. They swarm around you with pastries and cakes and then finally hit you with the scones. Very tasty and not to be missed.

 

The International Café has sandwiches and sweets. It is open 24 hours but the selection changes, so at 11:15 am you may see a case full of sandwiches and salads, but they won’t give you any until 11:30. The donuts in the morning are good!

 

You will not go hungry, for sure. I think the desserts on Princess are much better than RCI. Don’t miss the cake buffet on the last sea day!

 

Drinks . . . I know people complain about the coffee, but I thought it was drinkable and just fine. The International Café coffee is excellent. The coffee card is a great value! My DW had many blended-ice lattes that she thought were delicious. (White/Milk Chocolate Mocha was her favorite).

 

I had read that Princess’ mixed drinks were cheaper than RCI’sbut if they are, it is by pennies. A rum and coke, with automatic gratuity, is about $6.50. The BIG difference I found in the drinks was how weak the drinks are on Princess! If you order a specialty drink with supposedly 4 different rums and it is weak, you have to wonder what thimble they are using to measure the alcohol!? I like the fruity Caribbean drinks, but after I drank a few (one I ordered as a double and it was still weak – and cost $12.50), I went to the bar and ordered a rum and coke just to see how much alcohol was being poured. The bartender used a 1oz shot glass and didn’t even fill it all the way. He poured it in an empty glass and I swear it barely covered the bottom! This was at the casino bar. Add the surly attitude of the bartender and I made it a point to try and find a better drink. The best pours were at The International Café (yes, they have alcohol too) and Club Fusion. At Club Fusion, the bartenders are actually acting like they are enjoying themselves and they know how to mix a drink. If you want a fruity, big drink go to Club Fusion and order a Bahama Mama. They float a whole lot of rum on top!

 

My wife doesn't drink, so I do not order a whole bottle of wine. The wine by the glass comes in a small glass and is barely half full. It can't be more than 3 or 4 ounces.

 

The best deal is just ordering a bottle for the room. They are not cheap, but a much better value than the $6.50 mixed drink with a thimble full of booze. I ordered a bottle of scotch and bourbon for $17 each. They are half of a fifth (375ml). You can’t do this on RCI.

 

Another bar problem on Princess is the variety of brands. I thought maybe it was different at each bar, but it is not. How in the world can you have a Caribbean cruise and NOT have Red Stripe beer?!? Outrageous! ;) I ordered a Maker’s Mark and coke and the bartender didn’t even know what it was. The selection is very limited compared to RCI. No kidding, I bet Princess has 75% less selection than any RCI ship. I am sure it makes inventory and ordering easier, but . . .

 

Have a mentioned NO RED STRIPE BEER?

[jkskrap]

Based on what I have read on CC, I’m not sure that our trip, being a Super Bowl cruise, was a fair representation of passenger ages. There was a wide variety of people from young to old. Very few children. A couple people I met that were on the Super Bowl getaway (we were not) mentioned they thought everyone was REALLY old (me included, I guess J), but the only other ship they had been on was Carnival, so I don’t think they had the best perspective. They weren’t being mean – just an observation. To us it seemed about the same as an RCI cruise, but less kids.

There were the usual grumpy people you see on most vacations. Years ago we started calling them, “The Bickerson’s.” Our kids used to love to point out Bickerson family members on our trips. And, yes, the Bickerson’s had family on board the Crown. None more than any other cruise, though.

The biggest difference between all of our trips on RCI and our ONE Princess cruise is the crew. RCI’s crews are much happier and friendlier. Before I get too blasted from Princess folks, remember it is just our experience from the one cruise.

Our stateroom attendant (Antonio) was excellent. Very nice and efficient. He had LOTS of rooms and he worked his butt off. The wait staff was friendly in most areas. The servers that walked around at the International Café were wonderful. A couple of the guys in the shops were nice. The ladies, not-so-much. The Horizon Court staff was for the most part friendly. A friendly face here and there amongst the crew.

It’s strange to have to think about who (in the crew) was friendly on a cruise. In the past, EVERYONE was friendly and smiling and wanted to help. On Crown, though, most of the crew we encountered did not even acknowledge us. My DW smiles and says hello to almost EVERYONE. She was the first to notice that the crew was not responding and seemed unhappy. Our last cruise on RCI was only 2 months ago, and I can tell you that if you make eye contact with any crew they will say hello and smile. They will help if help is needed. You, the guest, are the priority.

This was the first time we ever heard crew members discuss their pay and be disgruntled. We overheard crew members talking badly about other staff members. We were ignored at several bars and a couple serving lines while the crew talked amongst themselves. At other times, crew with their backs turned while we wait. Shop staff being pissed because you walked in at 8:45 when they close at 9:00. Security staff acting like they wish you would just stay off the ship when you come back on board. Frowns, frowns and more frowns. I’m telling you –these have NEVER happened to us before on a cruise. Maybe most people wouldn’t notice the difference, but to us it was like a slap in the face. :eek:

[G8RH8R]

Sorry to hear that the staff on your cruise was not so great. We cruise Princess a lot, in fact we're Elite level and we've only encountered staff like you describe on a couple of cruises. Sad to say, one of those was on the Crown. I've heard that sometimes crew moral deteriorates near the end of a contract, perhaps that was the case on your cruise. In any event, it sounds like you had a great time despite a few minor problems. Thanks for posting your excellent review.

[jkskrap]

Thanks much. Been away Fromm CC for a bit but am back getting ready for the next one.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[jkskrap]

Just spoke to a fellow worker and compared notes -- they went on a Crown cruise recently. They had the same observations and opinions on the crew. Surely this is not the norm?

[Working 2 Cruise]

I don't understand the comments about the Crown crew... I've been on the Crown twice and the crew was fantastic each time... Alaska on the Crown in July has to rank the best yet...

 

I think it all has to do with expectations from passengers whether reasonable or unreasonable... Can there be issues, yes, of course... but some of those complaints are so petty!

 

Also, a lot has to do with how passengers treat the crew... people can be very rude, demanding and demeaning to the crew, in which case, the crew won't respond well... on any cruise line!

 

I've always been treated wonderfully on a Princess ship, that's why I have such a problem understanding others who do... repeatedly.

Edited September 9, 2015 by Working 2 Cruise

[rocker57]

We were on the Crown this February in the same room (no the magnet wasn't there :) ) We did notice some vibration, but wasn't too bad, I wake up early anyways. Didn't have any noise from Club Fusion, but I don't think anything was really gone on there at nite. I love the extended balcony, so much so that I booked the same cabin on the Caribbean Princess for February next year.

I do have to agree with the Crown Grill. I thought the service was terrible there, right from the Maitre D' when we reserved it. It was like it couldn't be bothered to lift his head up from the computer. Our appetizers were brought out, and before we even finished them, our meal was out, which I thought was very poor. The steak I agree was not very good. I disliked the meal so much, that I don't know if we will even try it again.

I did complain about it in my survey, but no response.

[ccruisequeen]

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

 

Several carnival ships have the same layout.

 

I still cruise for Warm Chocolate Melting Cake (with 2 sugar-free vanilla ice-creams)