Crown Princess 4/16-23/16 CA Coastal experiences

[Astro Flyer]

On April 23, 2016 we returned from the Crown’s 7 day CA Coastal cruise (SF, SB, SD, Ensenada) roundtrip from LA & our 2nd CA Coastal on the Crown in the past 6 months. Overall the service, food & entertainment were what we’ve enjoyed on other Princess cruises. Here are some observations about things that are regularly discussed on CC & are merely based on my experiences which are limited to what & when we did things so as always others may have different experiences

 

Norovirus: The ship & cruise terminal were sanitized before our delayed San Pedro boarding & only 3 cases were reported on the next day. Due to the incubation period those passengers were probably exposed to it prior to boarding the ship & wonder if any of them stayed in San Pedro area hotels which may not be regularly sanitized. I heard of no other cases being reported during our cruise & Code Red (no self-service) continued until the middle of the cruise as a precaution. I did see a man rinse his mouth & spit it into a public bathroom sink so not everyone was cooperating on how to prevent norovirus. 

 

Cabin: We received one of the new robes on the 2nd day which were full length, thick & comfortable just like on the Crown last October. Our group had 3 cabins & none had the new pillowtop mattresses which Executive Housekeeper Michael Collins said were not yet on the Crown. Three of our group enjoyed their mattresses and 3 of us got the thicker pillowtop pads which have limited availability so request early if requiring one.

 

Princess@Sea, Messenger & Internet: All of them worked well whenever we used them including to request a Future Cruise Deposit (FCD) by going to the Future Cruise Consultant section and completing the form online. Within 2 days we received confirmation emails & could see it in our Captain’s Circle account so it does work when submitting a digital request using P@S.

 

Dining room: Both service & food in the traditional Botticelli MDR were up to Princess standards and Maître d’ Nicola Furlan was very personable & had an efficient staff. As has been our recent experience the dining times listed in our Cruise Personalizer were different: our 6:00 became 5:30 (7:45 late TD) and those with 5:30 (Da Vinci deck 6) became 5:15

 

During Code Red bread & butter was served and after that precaution ended there was no shortage of bread & butter on the table. The only Curtis Stone items was one entrée on 2 evenings…pork belly about mid-cruise and then chicken & leeks pot pie on the final evening which to me was nothing exceptional. Always available items were Shrimp Cocktail, Caesar Salad, Grilled Salmon with Herb & Lemon Butter, Country Chicken and Princess Gourmet Beef Burger. Unfortunately the beef medallions (replaced by the burger) were not an always available option but it was available as an entrée on one evening. There were fewer of the Norman Love desserts available than last year & only recall having them on a couple of evenings.

 

Specialty Dining: We went to the Crown Grill (still $25 & not the new $29 cost) but service was slower than usual & it appeared the waitstaff had more tables to serve than previously. Three enjoyed their entrées (lamb chops, ribeye & NY strip) but the other 3 were disappointed with our filet mignon steaks which were not as good as previously. One person had a very chewy & dry filet and said the NY strip on the last night in the MDR was noticeably better…just the opposite from of our previous CG & MDR experiences. My filet mignon was definitely not the melt in your mouth tender steak that I’ve previously enjoyed. With the price increasing to $29 and the quality of our steaks decreasing we are less likely to go to the CG on future cruises.

 

Whenever we went past the Salty Dog there were only a couple of people there. The bifurcated Wheelhouse Bar with the Salty Dog’s stark white tables & tall bar stool chairs between the traditional nautically designed sections was out of place.

 

International Café: I didn’t see any extra fee Norman Love desserts that I’ve read about on CC & had one of his chocolate muffins without any charge. Only the new (green stripe on top) coffee cards were accepted for free brewed coffee unless using a coffee card punch.

 

Platinum, Elite & Suite (PES) nightly event: Having 5:30 TD we didn’t attend the event but did notice one change we were not happy about…no shrimp night which seems to have been replaced by a chips & salsa night as another cost-cutting change. The main item on other nights was guacamole, sushi, smoked salmon, Stilton cheese, beef tartare and the salsa night.

 

Happy Hour: It was available each day (Wheelhouse 3-4 and Club Fusion 10-11) but we only went once after wondering where the alcohol was in our mixed drinks.

 

Cruise Director’s staff: All of our group enjoyed CD Dan Appleby’s quick British wit & humor…so much so that we went to all of the game shows (mostly in Explorer’s). Between Dan’s dry sense of humor & his assistant Kimmy’s bubbly personality (she reminded us of a young Goldie Hawn on Laugh In) we enjoyed many laughs. :D

 

Entertainment: There was a good selection of movies recently available on disc which were new to us. We again enjoyed the Magic to Do production show (:53 minutes) despite my original skepticism about combining a production show with a few magic illusions. A guest performer told me that Princess has given up on their “Anytime Entertainment” concept of having 3 nightly performances (about 30 minutes each) but Princess has not returned to 45 minutes for their other production shows which are shown twice nightly.

 

Effy: The Crown’s “grand opening” of Effy was during our cruise & a quick look at the brochure they delivered to cabins revealed we’d be wasting our time by going there. I found one $495 item (retail $850) but most items were in the $1000-$3000 price range with the highest price I saw being $11,995. None of these prices are within our budget & to us Effy would be more appropriate for passengers sailing on luxury cruise lines such as Crystal and not for the average Princess passenger.

 

Disembarkation: Captain’s Circle host Crissy Reid organized the best PES disembarkation procedure we’ve ever experienced. The PES Disembarkation Lounge was at Da Vinci on deck 6 and she had the crew elevator reserved for PES passengers requiring a ride to deck 7 where we quickly disembarked the ship.

 

This went longer than I anticipated but if anyone has any questions I kept the Patters & also might be able to share other experiences with you.

[avalong]

We just got off the Crown & guess what?? They had the grand opening of the Effy shop during our cruise too! :D:rolleyes:

[Astro Flyer]

We just got off the Crown & guess what?? They had the grand opening of the Effy shop during our cruise too! :D:rolleyes:

 

It's interesting how a "grand opening" happens more than once! :p At those prices it will take more than multiple "grand openings" to generate sales to the average Princess passenger. ;)

 

The condition of the ocean on our cruise was smooth as glass however I read about your arrival in SF being delayed by 2 hours (with a big "bump" overnight :eek:) and having to stay overnight in SF due to the strong winds....did it affect your time in SB?

Edited April 30, 2016 by Astro Flyer

[avalong]

It's interesting how a "grand opening" happens more than once! :p At those prices it will take more than multiple "grand openings" to generate sales to the average Princess passenger. ;)

 

The condition of the ocean on our cruise was smooth as glass however I read about your arrival in SF being delayed by 2 hours (with a big "bump" overnight :eek:) and having to stay overnight in SF due to the strong winds....did it affect your time in SB?

 

Gee, I don't recall our arrival to SF being delayed. But it was definitely bumpy on the approach to SF. The ship rolled and bumped in ways I had not experienced. Interestingly our delayed departure from SF did not affect our arrival time in Santa Barbara at all. They must have kicked up the speed a bit!

[avalong]

Just discussed our arrival in SF with my husband: We were on time, because we definitely recall sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge (a favorite experience) around 6:30 a.m.

[Astro Flyer]

Just discussed our arrival in SF with my husband: We were on time, because we definitely recall sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge (a favorite experience) around 6:30 a.m.

Obviously I read misinformation in another post & thanks for the correction. :)

 

That's good that it didn't affect your visit in the beautiful city of SB.

Edited April 30, 2016 by Astro Flyer

[Murphey]

Just quickly,, was the P/E/S cocktail hour from 5-7?

 

Why can't Princess do a 6:00 early traditional???

[Astro Flyer]

Just quickly,, was the P/E/S cocktail hour from 5-7?

 

Why can't Princess do a 6:00 early traditional???

 

It was 5-7 at Skywalker's and with the earlier TD times for early seating probably fewer passengers attended. With eliminating the shrimp night & the earlier dining times to not work well for early dining maybe it's another cost savings change. :(

Edited April 30, 2016 by Astro Flyer

[TracieABD]

Thank you, Frank, for the informative review. I am sorry that the CG was not up to par- that is disappointing.

 

Hope you already have your next adventure in the works!

:) TL

[GweninTX]

Thx, Frank! So if I have a blank, unpunched, no writing on back, old style coffee card it will not be honored for brewed coffee?

[Astro Flyer]

Thx, Frank! So if I have a blank, unpunched, no writing on back, old style coffee card it will not be honored for brewed coffee?

You're welcome Gwen but our old coffee card (from last October on the Crown) already had punches removed so it required a punch to get brewed coffee.

 

I have read recent posts from various ships where a completely unused coffee card was replaced by a new (green stripe on top) coffee card to get the unlimited free brewed coffee on their current cruise. One of the posts said that when the barista gave them a new card to replace an unused card, the other barista looked shocked so it's apparently not an official policy & it could vary by ship or by barista.

 

I think exchanging an unused coffee card for a new one to get unlimited free brewed coffee would be good particularly on shorter cruises because many of us exchange the elite minibar for 2 coffee cards.

[Astro Flyer]

Thank you, Frank, for the informative review. I am sorry that the CG was not up to par- that is disappointing.

 

Hope you already have your next adventure in the works!

:) TL

Thanks Tracie...I attempted to mostly post factual information with fewer opinions which are very subjective and debatable...I'm more of a glass half full type of person. :)

 

On several cruises in the past year or so on various Princess ships I've noticed a decline in the quality of the CG's filet mignon & my friend's was even worse...tough & dry despite being cooked medium-rare. When sailing with friends & raving about the CG before a cruise too often recently they've been disappointed...and me too. Sure we could have returned our steaks but it shouldn't be necessary to do it so often. I kept hoping it was only one less tasty steak but to me it's repeatedly happening & seems to be a trend. I was not influenced by recent threads discussing a decrease in the quality of CG steaks which I had noticed even before those discussions. But maybe I've just been unlucky and other passengers are still enjoying a tasty steak at the CG...so much for my desire to not discuss subjective subjects. ;)

 

For cruises we're interested in sailing the booking well in advance prices are now too high for us & being retired we now wait for great "Drop & Go" promotions. Although with a couple of FCDs in our accounts, it's disappointing to not have any future cruises booked but I keep looking for another great deal & attempting to be patient!!! :D

Edited April 30, 2016 by Astro Flyer

[john39]

Crown Princess refurbishment?

I read somewhere that CP is going into dry dock this year. Is this a refurbishment? Appreciate any updates. Thanks

 

 

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[sunsetbeachgal]

Thanks for the review, I always enjoy reading your posts and thoroughly enjoyed the review. Like you, a good CD gets us to the silly game show entertainment as he or she is the entertainment themselves!

 

Wonder what is up with the filets at the CG. We ate at the Bayou Steakhouse on the Coral in January, and seven of the eight in our group ordered the filet and it was one of the best filets I have ever had. And not only delicious and flavorful, but cooked to perfection.

Edited April 30, 2016 by sunsetbeachgal

[Astro Flyer]

Crown Princess refurbishment?

I read somewhere that CP is going into dry dock this year. Is this a refurbishment? Appreciate any updates. Thanks

While the link to this website isn't an official drydock schedule for Princess ships it has previously been mostly accurate.

 

https://sites.google.com/site/princesscruisesfaq/ships/fleet-drydock-schedule

 

It doesn't yet show a future drydock scheduled for the Crown after it's drydock in Victoria (May 3-15, 2015) which stated this about the drydock:

 

"Cruisers recently off the Crown have reported that the upcoming drydock will include new outdoor carpeting, new MUTS screen, Horizon Court improvements, moving the Piazza bar to the Vines area and expanding the Int'l Cafe coffee station, as well as the usual routine maintenance items".

 

I sailed on the Crown in January 2015 and noticed the MUTS screen no longer had bad pixels during my October 2015 cruise. I didn't watch anything on MUTS during my recently completed cruise on the Crown so hopefully it's still good. I didn't check nor notice if the other planned changes were made.

[4cats4me]

It was 5-7 at Skywalker's and with the earlier TD times for early seating probably fewer passengers attended. With eliminating the shrimp night & the earlier dining times to not work well for early dining maybe it's another cost savings change. :(

 

 

 

We had shrimp night on the Regal a couple weeks ago at the lounge

Shrimps were abundant on that cruise, at least in the HC. We haven't seen so much shrimp on a princess cruise since the Emerald in 2008,

Edited May 1, 2016 by 4cats4me

[Astro Flyer]

Thanks for the review, I always enjoy reading your posts and thoroughly enjoyed the review. Like you, a good CD gets us to the silly game show entertainment as he or she is the entertainment themselves!

 

Wonder what is up with the filets at the CG. We ate at the Bayou Steakhouse on the Coral in January, and seven of the eight in our group ordered the filet and it was one of the best filets I have ever had. And not only delicious and flavorful, but cooked to perfection.

Thanks SBG, I always appreciate your objective cruise posts & attempted to do the same thing. I hesitated & waited a week before posing about my experiences & intentionally didn't call it a review. ;)

 

Dan was the deputy cruise director on the Royal's inaugural TA in October 2013 and told Kimmy & Dan (and wrote it in my post-cruise survey) how much they added to our cruise experience. OPPS...that's another subjective opinion but everyone in our group (and also many in the audience) had many laughs with them. :D

 

My couple of disappointing CG experiences doesn't mean it's a universal issue on Princess because others like yourself have enjoyed great filet mignon steaks. After being disappointed on several cruises & even more so on this cruise, I decided to share my opinion based solely on my recent experiences. After so many recent disappointments, we're hesitant to go again to the CG but hopefully others will have a great experience at the specialty restaurants. :)

Edited May 1, 2016 by Astro Flyer

[emmak8]

Thank you for posting your review.

[Jasperdo]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on your Crown Princess cruise. We were on the Ruby 10 day in March, and our experiences were very similar to yours. Except that we did have the new beds (they're wonderful), and the shrimp fountain was at the P/E/S event one evening.

Edited May 1, 2016 by Jasperdo

[easyboy]

Thanks for your review. I like its coverage and your format.

[partybarbie]

Thanks for writing the review. :) It seems like you guys had a great time. I did two of the 7-day California Coast cruises with my family last year. So much fun for a nice getaway.

[CruisingJs]

We just got off the Royal Princess and we were disappointed with the quality of the filet mignon in the Crown Grill. I wonder if they have changed who they are buying their beef from. We did have shrimp in the elite lounge though.

[greenie082756]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts about your recent cruise.

 

We are going on the Crown to Hawaii and I was hopeful that the new mattresses would be on. Crossing fingers its happening before we cruise in October.

 

As far as being disappointed in the Crown Grill, I can concur. First time we had it was on the Ruby. It was wonderful, service, food and atmosphere was wonderful and they made us feel special. Since we enjoyed it so much we decided to do it on the Golden. Service was a miss, the food was "just okay" and we just did not feel it met up to what our experiences were the first time. Because of that, we are most likely going to try Sabatinis on the Crown.

 

Again, thank you for sharing.. :)

[Astro Flyer]

We had shrimp night on the Regal a couple weeks ago at the lounge

Shrimps were abundant on that cruise, at least in the HC. We haven't seen so much shrimp on a princess cruise since the Emerald in 2008,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on your Crown Princess cruise. We were on the Ruby 10 day in March, and our experiences were very similar to yours. Except that we did have the new beds (they're wonderful), and the shrimp fountain was at the P/E/S event one evening.

We just got off the Royal Princess and we were disappointed with the quality of the filet mignon in the Crown Grill. I wonder if they have changed who they are buying their beef from. We did have shrimp in the elite lounge though.

Thanks for posting your recent experiences of having shrimp available which is encouraging. For whatever reason shrimp wasn't available in the PES lounge on my cruise & hopefully it's not a preview of pending changes on other ships.

[Astro Flyer]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts about your recent cruise.

 

We are going on the Crown to Hawaii and I was hopeful that the new mattresses would be on. Crossing fingers its happening before we cruise in October.

 

Again, thank you for sharing.. :)

You're welcome.

 

Unfortunately based on the mattress replacement schedule on the Princess website you will not have a new pillowtop mattress on the Crown to Hawaii in October. :(

 

"The Princess Luxury Bed is now available on board Ruby Princess, Emerald Princess, Coral Princess and Sun Princess and will debut on board Grand Princess (Dec 2016), Caribbean Princess (Mar 2017), Golden Princess (Apr 2017), Pacific Princess (May 2017), Sea Princess and Star Princess (Nov 2017), Royal Princess (Feb 2018), Sapphire Princess (Mar 2018), Regal Princess (Apr 2018), Crown Princess (Apr 2018) and Island Princess (Apr 2018). Please note this schedule is subject to change".

 

http://www.princess.com/ships-and-experience/princess-luxury-bed/

 

With the Crown leaving LA in 2017 for South America, Caribbean, Europe & NE/Canada cruises, the replacement ship is the Ruby which has the new mattresses for a cruise next year from my homeport of LA. :)

 

I'm surprised that the Royal & Regal are scheduled to receive the new mattresses before the Crown. :confused: Both ships were promoted as having all pillowtop mattresses but apparently they're not as good as the new Princess Luxury Bed.

Edited May 1, 2016 by Astro Flyer