LIVE LIVE LIVE from the Crown Princess 7/11/06

[Nick Needs To Know]

Carol,

 

Glad you're having a great time! Ready to book again for next August? We're jumping ship from Explorer and forming our own group on Crown Princess!

 

Enjoy yourself! And, looking forward to hearing more... BTW - Down the Shore Guy posted his review and, pretty much gave the thumbs up. What's you're opinion?

 

Nick

[kingtns]

Carol,

 

Glad you're having a great time! Ready to book again for next August? We're jumping ship from Explorer and forming our own group on Crown Princess!

 

Enjoy yourself! And, looking forward to hearing more... BTW - Down the Shore Guy posted his review and, pretty much gave the thumbs up. What's you're opinion?

 

Nick

I am VERY curious to hear what Carol has to say in comparision between RCI & Princess, I to am ready to book the Explorer, had a WONDERFUL time on the Crown, but missed some of the Grown-Up fun I had on the Voyager!!

[LDTC]

Has anyone heard from Carol or the others? Hoping they are now home safe and sound.

[critterchick]

Has anyone heard from Carol or the others? Hoping they are now home safe and sound.

 

There are several threads going, so just check for posts by them and you'll find that everybody is present and accounted for!

[Merion_Mom]

HI CAROL AND NANCY,

We heard of so many problems on the last cruise. How is the cruise going this week? Any problems with AC, water pressure, pool hogging, food, etc... that you've run into. I'm hoping that the bugs are being worked out and you're having a great time. Please let us know how it's going for you.

How do you hog a pool?!?!?!?!?!? :confused:

[Merion_Mom]

I want to thank LDTC for bringing this thread back to the front. It's my first chance to read the whole thing.

 

Terrace Pool: It seems like a good idea to have an adults-only pool, but for some reason, this area didn't really appeal to me. It felt shoe-horned in. It has its own bar ((+) ;)) but the pool itself is quite small, oddly squarish, loungers jammed around it. My buddies Dee and Ray loved it, and it was their favorite hang-out, I think. It's all the way aft, behind the buffet area. I walked right past it several times without realizing that it was out there.

 

I found the Lotus Pool MUCH more appealing. It's larger and prettier. I felt no Sanctuary-envy when there, either. :D

 

Both pools have an area of amphitheatre bench seating at one end. It actually answers the need for a place to put your stuff while you are in the pool and not hog a lounger when you don't need one. (an oft-discussed topic on the RC boards, and a solution that I myself have suggested. Well, ok, I suggested cubbies............)

 

I finally found a slot machine that was relatively kind to me. I truly feel that I could have fought my way back to the break-even point, or even a winning point, with one and a half more sea days, which we lost. I was surprised, when I counted up my cash at the end, that I was actually *down* a rather small amount for the cruise.

 

I finally figured out how to work my son's digital camera, but there was something wrong with it, and it only let me take one picture. Fortunately, that one picture was of cabin C752! I am right now trying to figure out how to download it from the camera to my computer..........hhhhhmmmmm..................

 

Taking a pic of the blowup doll was definitely on my agenda for Tuesday afternoon. Didn't happen, obviously. There has been much conjecture as to whether she was washed overboard in the LIST. Personally, I doubt it. She was in a protected section of loungers, unlikely to have been in the "line of fire", so to speak. Too bad. ;)

 

Thanks for everyone's advice on tampons! (!!) I was not actually the one in need. And having them in one or two ladies' rooms, that you have to discover by happenstance, is almost as useless as not having them at all. I TOLD Nancy to go ask at the Purser's Desk, but she was too embarrassed.

 

I didn't have any gelato from the International Cafe, but everyone whom I saw eating it appeared to be having a WONDERFUL experience.

 

I'm not a real coffee drinker, but I found the dining room coffee quite potable. And you could have cream OR milk; just ask.

 

Food got better and better as we progressed through the cruise. Or maybe the company got better and better, and the whole experience just spiralled upward. I don't know, but dinner each evening was a highlight of the cruise.

 

I thought that I would miss traditional dining, with the same tablemates each evening, and the same waiters.

 

On Princess, the dining room staff is top-notch. There is NO sense that they don't work as hard to please you because they are not dependent on your tips. Of all of our dining room waiters and assistants, the WORST that I would rate anyone is GOOD, and most were meal-making EXCELLENT, including Simon on that last horrid night.

 

There is a wonderful note at the bottom of each dinner's menu. I intended to write it down so that I could quote it verbatim, but a paraphrase is the best that I can do. I know that all cruiselines intend this; I think that it's great that Princess prints it on every menu.

 

We want you to enjoy your dinner. Please choose as many dishes in whatever order you like. (that's a really really bad paraphrase, now that I look at it, but unless inspiration strikes, that's the best that I can do for now). Many times, I had three "first courses", followed by one or one and a half entrees. I usually had fruit AND cheese plates for dessert. I had only two "real" desserts the whole cruise, but I have become "not a dessert person". I wouldn't even eat a piece of Joani and Al's anniversary cake.

 

We went back to Adagio's once, and Sammy did the EXACT SAME *patter* as the first time. (I think that I mentioned this on my PART II thread). Then Mindy and Russ came in after Nancy had retired for the evening, and then Joani and Al left, and just Mindy, Russ and I sat there talking. Their voices DID get a little louder than whispering, but we were basically asked to leave since we were disturbing the other BAR patrons. Didn't return after that.

 

Never got to Sabatini's - that was scheduled for Wednesday night.

 

Our friends ate at Crown Grill and couldn't stop raving about how fabulous it was and how much they ate. It sounded wonderful.

 

I actually had few drinks in bars. (Sorry, Wrona) I bring my own. Given a choice between enriching Princess' coffers via the bars or via the casino, I prefer to drink my own and gamble. After all, I can't bring my own slot machine. ;)

 

My other indulgence, financially, was the internet cafe, of course.

 

I just HAD to keep you all informed.

 

Ask any more questions; my next new thread will be a specific comparison of Royal Caribbean and Princess.

[Cindy]

Ask any more questions; my next new thread will be a specific comparison of Royal Caribbean and Princess.

 

I'm looking forward to reading this. I also did a specific comparison after being on Princess in March and Royal Caribbean in June. In my opinion, each line does some things exceptionally well, and each has some areas where they could improve. My husband and I felt that for our tastes, our first choice when we're travelling as a couple would be Princess, but that a Voyager or Freedom class RC ship is the perfect choice for a family vacation, especially when you have a wide-range of ages.

Glad you're home safe!:)