Live from the Crown Princess 2-10-15

[atdahop]

Arriving onboard was a painless experience. We breezed through check in and had a short wait in the Elite lounge. We boarded left the luggage and went to the DeVinci dining room for lunch. It was really good, better then we expected. Went back to the Cabin to find one piece of luggage there, but where was the other one? That's a story to tell.

 

We went to the muster drill which for us was in Club Fusion. We planned to go to the unofficial meet and great but now goes back to the luggage story.

 

Went back to the cabin to find the luggage still not there. Dear Hubby called passenger service and they said to come down that there were some pieces missing tags. Hubby went down, alas no luggage.

 

Finally our cabin steward Cyrel went down to check on the missing luggage only to find that it was in security. No notice to us, no call, if he didn't do that who knows how long it would have taken to get . I went all the way down to deck 4 to find that they had it. Never asked me to open it so Cyrel took it back to the cabin. At least now we had our clothes.

 

Have a 7:30 reservation for dinner so will continue tomorrow.

 

Ask away any questions and I will try to answer them as soon as possibel.

 

Carole

[hpeabody]

Enjoy your cruise :)

 

Please report back on the condition of the MUTS screen and sound. I am curious if the ever "fix" things like that.

[joeyancho]

Are the mariachis still playing in the atrium? They are terrific. We will be on board Mar 14th , can't wait.

[SoCal Cruiser78]

Thanks for the report! Odd that security didn't notify you about your luggage--did they say why they had "detained" it?

[fairsky1984]

Despite sailing over 30 Princess cruises, we've yet to sail the Crown. We're on the Feb 21 and 28 sailings. What is Crown Grill? Is it the same as Sterling Steakhouse with a cover charge? I've seen Crown Grill mentioned on these boards over the years, but now am finally going on the Crown and don't remember. Thanks.

[Pam in CA]

Both the Sterling Steakhouse and Crown Grill are extra fee restaurants. Very similar with slightly different menus. The Crown Grill is essentially an upgraded Sterling Steakhouse.

[wrongwaywatson]

thank you! We are on the 3/28 sailing and can't wait to go!

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

We are on the Crown on 4/25 and the documents say boarding is 1 to 3. I assume this is Princess' way to try to get people to the dock later. We always get to the pier around 11AM, check in and board around noon. Is this still happening?

[fairsky1984]

Knew there would be the extra charge, but wasn't sure if the Crown Grill was simply the Sterling Steakhouse but renamed Crown Grill instead on the Crown. You confirmed it for me, Pam in CA. Thanks.

[geoherb]

Knew there would be the extra charge, but wasn't sure if the Crown Grill was simply the Sterling Steakhouse but renamed Crown Grill instead on the Crown.

Several Princess ships have a Crown Grill. We enjoyed our dinner there on the Caribbean Princess for New Year's Eve six weeks ago. It was our first time dining in a Crown Grill. We had eaten at Sabatini's the night before. I preferred the Crown Grill's food and service.

[LovetheSea]

Thank you for sharing your experiences with us. Hope to hear more.

We will be on the Feb 28th sailing. Counting down the days!

[atdahop]

Are the mariachis still playing in the atrium? They are terrific. We will be on board Mar 14th , can't wait.

 

Yes they are on..wonderful

[Kybabe]

We are on the Crown on 4/25 and the documents say boarding is 1 to 3. I assume this is Princess' way to try to get people to the dock later. We always get to the pier around 11AM, check in and board around noon. Is this still happening?

 

Wondering about this myself. We are on the Crown March 7th.

[Working 2 Cruise]

We are on the Crown on 4/25 and the documents say boarding is 1 to 3. I assume this is Princess' way to try to get people to the dock later. We always get to the pier around 11AM, check in and board around noon. Is this still happening?

 

There are many threads on the subject. The staggered boarding is just a suggestion... you can follow your usual routine of arriving at the port.

[OCruisers]

Thanks for doing this LIVE! Looking forward to reading more ....

LuLu

[atdahop]

We had a wonderful dinner at the DaVinci dining room. Again, much better than expected. We are used to "banquet" food on the ships nowadays but this was better.

 

We purchased our boarding photo and got a frame for it that was on sale. Usually we never get the pictures but this was a really good one of the both of us. It is now on the credenza in our cabin.

 

We went to the second show... a production show with the Princess singers and dancers. We usually pass these up but was glad we had gone. It was really good. This was the last show for these entertainers as they will all be leaving this ship after this cruise for their vacation. I guess after they have been together for a while they have refined their total performance. It was very enjoyable.

 

This morning we went to breakfast in Sabatinis. Great atmosphere, good food. Not too many other cruisers in there.

 

We got off the ship atout 10:30 and took the free shuttle to Seaport Village. We walked around a bit, bought some gifts and then took the shuttle back. Entered the ship by IC so stopped for some shrimp salad...VERY delicious. Now I am in the internet cafe posting. I did bring my laptop but cannot get onto the internet. We are on the back of the ship so it is almost impossible to connect there.

 

More later,

Carole

[Kartgv]

.... I did bring my laptop but cannot get onto the internet. We are on the back of the ship so it is almost impossible to connect there....

 

Sounds like an anomaly...we were in the next to last cabin from the end of the hall for the Hawaii/S.Pacific cruise and had no more difficulty connecting our laptop in the room than we had anywhere else on the ship. There were times (a lot!) when we couldn't get a connection ANYWHERE on the ship due to satellite position, but the room location didn't seem to be a factor.

[RetiredNTraveling]

Thanks for the "Live" and please keep the posts coming!

Just Mike

[Astro Flyer]

Enjoy your cruise :)

 

Please report back on the condition of the MUTS screen and sound. I am curious if the ever "fix" things like that.

I read posts about bad "pixels" on MUTS before sailing the Crown in early January. At that time there were no off color pixels like I've seen on some other MUTS screens & it appeared that some sections had been replaced.

[caribill]

We are on the Crown on 4/25 and the documents say boarding is 1 to 3. I assume this is Princess' way to try to get people to the dock later. We always get to the pier around 11AM, check in and board around noon. Is this still happening?

 

Yes, that is still the way.

[AZbeachboy]

We have been to the Crown Grill three times and loved it. The service and food was about the same as when we first started cruising, It was impecable. We have a friend that crusies all the time. She will only eat there. She will not eat in lthe MDR.

 

So on a seven day cruise she pays $175 extra plus gratuity. But is worth it to her. It is worth it to do it once a trip. We will do it for our wife's birthday our next trip.

[atdahop]

Day 3...Encenada

 

First, last night dinner in Michaelangelo dining room was good. This was the night that they had the 50th anniversary menu. I had my usual salmon but had the intermetzo and the rasberry mousse desert. Everyone around us was raving about the tenderloin.

 

Went to the 10pm show with the comedian which was ok. Some good jokes.

 

No late shows as of yet.

 

This am went to Sabatinis for breakfast and as good as it was the day before that's how poor it was this am. It was so uncoordinated. There is one server who brings drinks and he has so much running back and forth to do that you have your food before your juice or coffer. I will probably order room service tomorrow.

 

Went into Encenada. There are drug sniffing dogs when you first get off the ship.

Bought the usual trinkets and then returned for a nice ice coffee at the International Cafe. Played morning Trivia, where my husband and myself as a team tied for 1st place with another team. Received the badge holders as a prize. I am looking forward to tonight with the rock and roll triva and show.

Greetings till later,

Carole

[Working 2 Cruise]

Thanks for the update. In Ensenada, it probably be dogs sniffing for contraband food brought off the ship, which is forbidden in Mexico.

[RickEk]

Thanks for the update. In Ensenada, it probably be dogs sniffing for contraband food brought off the ship, which is forbidden in Mexico.

 

Agreed... they're looking for food.

[DawnisDream]

Thanks for taking us on your cruise with you! :) We will be going on our first cruise on the Crown on March 14th and it seems I just can't get enough information ahead of time. Am so enjoying reading your posts. Thanks!