Live from Crown: Carolyn’s Crown Princess Blog

[galelynn]

Carolyn,

 

thanks so much for the pictures and info. we have a mini-suite for the 10/27/06 repo sailing.

 

One ?, my dh will be dropping myself and our cruise companions off, at the cruise terminal, at about 10:00am, while he returns the rental car about a mile away. Can he drop us off right at the terminal or is that only for limos, taxis and buses? Thanks in advance.

 

Lynn

[Studebaker59]

In Port Canaveral, we went through Immigration. Since my DH & I weren't planning any shore excursion there, we had a leisurely breakfast in the dining room and walked into the terminal for Immigration. We had no wait at all because the crowds had gone through much earlier. We then walked back on the ship. We never left the inside of the terminal building.

 

At Red Hook, Brooklyn, everyone had to go through Customs.

 

As for the Princess Theatre shows, we ate PC dinner around 6:30 P.M. to 8:00 P.M. We arrived at the theatre around 8:10-8:15 P.M. and always got the seats we wanted.

[Studebaker59]

He can drop you and the luggage at the terminal door. Porters take the luggage right away. The next time you see the luggage is in your cabin. We arrived at 12 Noon. That was perfect! We checked in and were in our cabin by 12:45 P.M.

[BeachLover]

Thanks for all the info Carolyn. Hope you are enjoying your cruise. Sure sounds like it!

[Love Boat Dream]

Carolyn,

 

You are doing a great service by providing all this information about the Crown. With 50 days and a wake-up until me & bf are on board, I can't wait!

 

I have one quick question, though it may sound a bit weird. Do they bars still offer a discounted drink of the day? I've seen on past Princess Patters that there is a drink of the day and if you get it in the hurricane cup it is only $3 or $4. Do you know if this is so on the Crown? I've checked out the patters from the 6/14 sailing and haven't seen anything of the like.

 

Thanks again!

Zia:o

 

They didn't have a discounted drink of the day when we were on the Dawn in March. There were lots of complaints about this!

[Quenby]

Thanks for the Customs info! :rolleyes:

 

Next question regarding the flat panel TVs in the mini-suites - do they have video inputs? I like to look at my photos on the TV.

[dmerc]

since I will be driving my family and leaving our car the carring off your own luggage sounds good. Is there anything special we have to do to have this option?

[LonghornKJK]

since I will be driving my family and leaving our car the carring off your own luggage sounds good. Is there anything special we have to do to have this option?

 

On the Grand Princess, everyone got a notice about halfway through the cruise asking who wants the self-disembarkation service. We filled it out and returned to the Purser's Desk (by a certain deadline, I believe.) Then we just kept our luggage and were called very early the morning we got back to port. Even though my husband had broken his ankle in Cozumel and we had way too much luggage, we still had no problem getting it all off on our own (thank goodness for wheels and shoulder straps!)

 

We had a football game to get to -- we ended up getting there way too soon! On the other hand, the rest of my family didn't head for home until about an hour after our game started, and they were on the same deck. So we were very glad we used this option! And our team won, too. (Three guesses who we were rooting for! ;) )

[dmerc]

Thanks so much for the quick response. Sorry to hear that your husband broke his ankle while on vacation.

I will look for this while on ship next week. I think it will help with the traffic situation of gettin out of the pier area.

there really is nothing worse than sitting waiting for your color to be called so you can get off the ship.

[thepinkpanther]

They didn't have a discounted drink of the day when we were on the Dawn in March. There were lots of complaints about this!

Thanks for answering my question. :( Sucks that there won't be a discounted drink of the day - I was planning on drinking only those drinks to keep my tab low (or lower-ish). I guess I'll just get the bloody maries before noon :D.

 

At the risk of sounding like a lush, can someone give me a little more insight as to the price range of drinks on board? I've heard that they can be expensive (and carry an automatic 15% gratuity), but from what I've read in other threads regarding beer, the notion of expensive varies from person to person, region to region. We live right outside of New York City, so the idea of spending $5 or $6 for a mixed drink (Tom Collins, please) isn't that scary to me. :cool:

 

 

Love Boat - My bf finds it hilarious that I'm checking this board multiple times a day, but the excitement bug has bitten him, too. 49 days and a wake up.. I've pulled out the suitcase and started to throw things that I've bought in it! Leave it to a first time cruiser!

[Merion_Mom]

Engagement under the stars! OK -- so the next one for me has to love cruising so I can do that! (me= male, 48, divorced, custody of my 10 year old, live in NJ. ;-)

Peter

Greetings from just over the bridge! ;)

 

Carol

[LonghornKJK]

Thanks so much for the quick response. Sorry to hear that your husband broke his ankle while on vacation.

I will look for this while on ship next week. I think it will help with the traffic situation of gettin out of the pier area.

there really is nothing worse than sitting waiting for your color to be called so you can get off the ship.

 

Thanks! He didn't realize it was broken until about a month later when I insisted that he go to a doctor. He just thought it was sprained. Actually, he broke a bone in his foot and wore a walking cast for several weeks.

 

We bought him a beautiful marled wood cane before we got back on the ship in Cozumel. :)

[editor@cruisecritic]

Today we’re just pulling now into San Juan (we have a noon – 11 p.m. call). It’s hot and muggy and feels good to me! Sorry to hear about the massive rains and a little worried for our home and friends and pets – but we’ve heard everything’s okay on our end. Oddly we haven’t seen a speck of rain!

Some of the passengers are going out to dinner in old San Juan tonight – it’s really hip and happening these days (check out our Editor’s Picks “Offbeat San Juan” and our port profile. I’m going ashore to check out what’s new and will update those when I get back.

People are already starting to line up (we go through immigration here as this is our first American port after a foreign one). Think I’ll wait a bit as we’re not in a rush….

Carolyn

[editor@cruisecritic]

This is something I was totally unaware of – anybody heard of this before? Princess has, last 18 months or so, had a program in which 20-something kids are hired as youth security guards. Young 20s… The point is that these yellow-shirted kids serve as a point of authority to prevent kids from being out of control (they wander around the teen pool area, even saw one at the security area as we were reboarding in Bermuda). It seems to be working – I haven’t seen kids anywhere they shouldn’t be (such as adult pools, etc.) and there are quite a few onboard, it being summer vacation.

The reason this works is that these security guards are empowered to act (as opposed to cruise lines that rely on bar stewards and such to enforce rules) and that, being just a little bit (but not too much) older, they come across as “cool” rather than threatening.

For this reason alone – Princess is going to the top of our list for families (especially families with teens). I’ll update our Editor’s Picks when I get back to the office.

Carolyn

[editor@cruisecritic]

Love the fact that, in this age of Norovirus, the public bathrooms are no touch soap or water…the sign on the walls says to wash your hands for 20 full seconds and I’ve been careful about it. Don’t see any signs of the dreaded flu though did spot a cabin stewardess on deck five wearing a face mask.

Carolyn

[editor@cruisecritic]

We went to the Crown Grill the other night (second night of the cruise) and the dining room was pretty empty. That surprised me, have to check again (might go again tonight) to see how hard reservations are to come by. It’s a gorgeous room; if you’ve sailed on Caribbean Princess it’s in the space once occupied by both Sabatini’s and the Wheelhouse Bar. So it’s a big restaurant. But it doesn’t feel really big, lots of nooks and crannies, and the big booths are romantic….

Our first experience was a bit hit or miss, service odd and not in sync, and some food items excellent, others strange. I did go for lobster-extra-charge (you pay $25 plus an additional $9 for the lobster). You can order it grilled or steamed. I ordered grilled – didn’t seem significantly different though. They brought it in the shell. I asked for it to be de-shelled (I don’t know about you, but most folks I know aren’t real smooth in de-shelling lobster, especially in a nice restaurant). It was good but not memorable aside from its size. It was huge.

You then order sides steakhouse-style (loved the corn casserole, the smashed red mashed potatoes).

FYI, lobster is offered as one of the starters at no extra charge. I ordered a clam & corn dish that was minimal to the extreme (there was literally nothing to it, good thing I wasn’t hungry).

I liked it enough to return…. Also, note that even if tables are booked there is bar seating for meals (great for solos or twosomes).

Carolyn

[editor@cruisecritic]

Just a quick heads up to let you know that I'll collect menus from the alternative restaurants plus DaVinci and we'll upload them when I get back....

Carolyn

[dobie]

Carolyn, the youth security was onboard the Coral in April. They kicked the teens and kids out of the Lotus Pool anytime they saw them there! It was great! I can't tell you how many passengers stopped them to thank them...and those yellow shirts sure stood out!!!

Thanks for your updates..

[editor@cruisecritic]

Yesterday, our second day at sea, the Sanctuary was much fuller than the first day at sea (when people really blanched at the $15 per half day fee); so some are thinking it's worth it.

I have to say that whatever Princess ends up charging, for those of us solitude seekers it's worth almost any price!!!

The main pools were very lively (and even the aft pool was busy); I did see some early morning chaise saving in the aft pool and in the pool by MUTS). Fyi....

:mad:

Carolyn

[Host CJSKIDS]

Thanks Carolyn for all of your updates. Glad to hear that the weather has been nice for you. Hope you enjoy the rest of your cruise and can't wait to hear your full report and see the menus when your return.

 

Carolyn

[dobie]

Carolyn, any shaded covered areas by the aft pool?

Thank you!

[CaroleLee]

Just a quick heads up to let you know that I'll collect menus from the alternative restaurants plus DaVinci and we'll upload them when I get back....

Carolyn

 

:) Please hurry my DH is drooling. We are on 7-11

Carole

[madelinerose]

Carolyn....If you sit at the bar, are you able to view the open/gallery kitchen? This is one of our fav things to do. ;)

 

 

Well, you're certainly hitting on everything that's important to us, so I'd just like to thank you again.

 

 

Karen

Baltimore

 

 

I liked it enough to return…. Also, note that even if tables are booked there is bar seating for meals (great for solos or twosomes).

 

 

Carolyn

[madelinerose]

This is great! If you have any restaurant recommendations, DH and I would love to hear them! ;)

 

Some of the passengers are going out to dinner in old San Juan tonight – it’s really hip and happening these days (check out our Editor’s Picks “Offbeat San Juan” and our port profile. I’m going ashore to check out what’s new and will update those when I get back.Carolyn

[Sandytoes]

 

Just a quick heads up to let you know that I'll collect menus from the alternative restaurants plus DaVinci and we'll upload them when I get back....

 

Carolyn - Thank you, thank you, thank you.

You're the best.

 

Can't wait to see the menus and drule...

 

Princess does try to please all. The 20-something kids are hired as youth security guards. I never knew this