Review Crown Princess 12 Day British Isles – Dublin Overnight June 18-30

[geoherb]

Thanks for posting your review. We sailed on the same itinerary two years ago and had a great time. I'd love to do it again. On our second day in Dublin, we took one of the hop-on/hop-off buses to get to the Guinness Storehouse. I also loved that experience in spite of the crowds. We stayed on the HoHo bus afterward to get a little tour of the rest of the city but didn't get off at any stops. Two years ago, Princess provided free shuttle buses to Merrion Square and to the center of Belfast.

 

We're sailing on the Crown's transatlantic in September. Thanks for the hints about the TVs. One thing about the internet is that supposedly the satellites they use for it don't have as fast a speed the farther north you go. I didn't have problems on my Alaskan cruises on the Island Princess earlier this summer except for one morning when the whole system was down. When we were in the Caribbean on the Regal Princess, DH even attended an online training class with streaming video. It worked great.

[barriedavis]

6 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

We just got off the July 12-24 cruise and had the same issue in our mini-suite. We finally figured if we unplug the tv, count to 15 and then plugged it back in, the tv would reboot and work fine for about a day or 2 before it did it again. Very annoying, but at least we had a workaround without having to call someone. 

Yep, we got to the same solution by trial and error.  I bet the techs would do the same.

 

[rocklinmom]

15 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

We just got off the July 12-24 cruise and had the same issue in our mini-suite. We finally figured if we unplug the tv, count to 15 and then plugged it back in, the tv would reboot and work fine for about a day or 2 before it did it again. Very annoying, but at least we had a workaround without having to call someone. 

Wow they still haven't fixed the TV's? We were on this June 18th one and had the same problem, constantly had to unplug and replug them. Passenger services said they would look into it. Apparently nothing has been done to fix this since as of July 24th the TV problems are still happening. 

[saracruz]

Thanks for the review!  We'll will be onboard the Crown in January.  Were there heated stone beds in the thermal spa on the Crown?   They are a lot more comfortable than they look and a real treat if you have arthritis or sore muscles.

 

[vcgeno]

6 hours ago, saracruz said:

Thanks for the review!  We'll will be onboard the Crown in January.  Were there heated stone beds in the thermal spa on the Crown?   They are a lot more comfortable than they look and a real treat if you have arthritis or sore muscles.

 

Yes they are in the Thermal Spa.  We found them extremely comfortable. 

[happy cruzer]

What times were the Traditional Dining Seatings?  Thanks.

[happy cruzer]

On 7/30/2019 at 3:53 PM, happy cruzer said:

What times were the Traditional Dining Seatings?  Thanks.

And did they ever do open seating on late port days?

[Lego]

Booked on the Crown Princess on the British Isle cruise departing on Aug 29, 2019.  Curious about what sort of weather conditions to expect?  
I am prepared for rain and wet weather but wonder what temperature range might be?

[Dorset cruise fan]

37 minutes ago, Lego said:

Booked on the Crown Princess on the British Isle cruise departing on Aug 29, 2019.  Curious about what sort of weather conditions to expect?  
I am prepared for rain and wet weather but wonder what temperature range might be?

How long is a piece of string? Weather could be pretty much anything so usual advice of layers and a raincoat. You may be wearing everything at the same time or you may be basking in glorious sunshine or pretty much anything in between.

[emmak8]

Thank you for sharing your detailed review!!

[trvlwrld]

do you know which seated dining room is open for breakfast on port days?

[Ken the cruiser]

2 hours ago, trvlwrld said:

do you know which seated dining room is open for breakfast on port days?

It was the Botticelli dining room in the aft on deck 6 on our July 12-24 cruise.

[happy cruzer]

Does anyone know what times the crown uses for traditional dining

?  Do they do open seating on late portdays.  Thanks.

[Ken the cruiser]

35 minutes ago, happy cruzer said:

Does anyone know what times the crown uses for traditional dining

?  Do they do open seating on late portdays.  Thanks.

Early seating as listed on our confirmation is 5 pm. Maybe someone else can let you know when the late seating is.

[Lili Sweet]

I am of the understanding that Princess Cruises now just from their Southampton cruise ship Princess Saphire have kettles in their rooms to make your own tea or coffee. Catching up with P & O.   Hopefully this is something they will expand to their other ships over time.  To be honest this is one of the biggest selling points for P & O for many Brits.  I am a real lover of coffee and a fussy coffee drinker and hate instant.  So going by your review I wouldn't go near the coffee in the buffet or main dining room.  I can bring my cafetiere (my favourite way of making coffee anyway) and make my own. I also do not drink tea so my coffees in the morning more important.  I understand these ships one can get hot water from the buffet but everything I have read it seems it is not hot enough.

 

I do not understand why these ships do not improve somewhat on their coffee in main dining rooms at least in this day and age.  I mean how much trouble is making a nice cafetiere for someone when having breakfast in the dining room.  Or even have a pot of filter coffee on and serve by the cup.   They could also use this coffee for their room service which on Princess Cruises seems pretty good apart from that.  I find it ridiculous that with all the money one spends they cannot get that basic right.  Nowadays people generally are more discerning when it comes to coffee and prefer their ground coffee.  It seems cruise ships haven't caught up.  They should check out complaints in sites over the internet as they will find this is a complaint brought up over and over again.  So simple to address and make themselves more attractive.  If one is spending a fortune to cruise with them to me this is such a basic.

 

I know to others who do not care about coffee this may seem a small point but if I go on holiday it should be about me relaxing and enjoying the whole experience and coffee is a big part of my enjoyment.   We all have different priorities 🙂

Edited August 6, 2019 by Lili Sweet

[debshomespun]

We are not coffee drinkers and would like to know if the ship has the little individual packets of hot chocolate in the buffet area to make our own?  If not, I'll bring my own. A nice cup of hot chocolate after returning from a chilly day out will hit the spot!  

 

Thank you for all the great information. We are on the 8/29 sailing.  

 

All our tours are independent except we are doing "Paris on our own" with the ship transportation.  Never been to France, and will be our anniversary the day we are there. We plan to see the Eiffel tower, to snap a few pictures, have lunch at a local French Cafe, then snap a few shots outside the Louve. (Not enough time to go inside).  Any additional ideas for our 4 hours on our own?

Edited August 6, 2019 by debshomespun

[MissP22]

10 minutes ago, debshomespun said:

We are not coffee drinkers and would like to know if the ship has the little individual packets of hot chocolate in the buffet area to make our own?  If not, I'll bring my own. A nice cup of hot chocolate after returning from a chilly day out will hit the spot!  

 

Thank you for all the great information. We are on the 8/29 sailing.  

 

 

No, not on the Crown. You can only purchase hot chocolate whereas on the Royal class ships it's available for free at the Horizon court. 

[TW6cruiser]

11 hours ago, happy cruzer said:

Does anyone know what times the crown uses for traditional dining

?  Do they do open seating on late portdays.  Thanks.

Someone already answered about the time. Sadly we have early seating coming up to and I was hoping 5 pm was not right....

Also, from research I did others on this cruise earlier in the season advised that there was not open seating on late port days (or on the overnight in Dublin)..which I also find disappointing.  But, we don't need a big dinner in the main dining room every night so on the handful of days we get back later we will just eat elsewhere.  

[happy cruzer]

Yes, I had planned for other options too.  Just trying to find out how many nights I would be missing the dining room for early traditional dining.  Not concerned about missing a big dinner, more about the missing and somewhat disrupting a larger table in the early traditional dining. Others will probably be missing night too - so may have fairly empty dining room on those nights. Will have to warn the wait staff about the nights we will likely miss on the TA.

Edited August 6, 2019 by happy cruzer

[debshomespun]

6 hours ago, MissP22 said:

No, not on the Crown. You can only purchase hot chocolate whereas on the Royal class ships it's available for free at the Horizon court. 

Thanks! That's what I was looking for. 

[phabric]

I have had hot chocolate in the main dining

[MissP22]

4 hours ago, phabric said:

I have had hot chocolate in the main dining

I can't remember if I've ever ordered it in the DR.

Was there a charge? 

[phabric]

No charge.  I had it every morning in the main dining.

[puppymama1]

Thanks for the review and all the information... we are looking at booking this cruise for May 2021... (We already have Alaska booked for 2020).  😃