Crown Princess 9/3 Review - "C" At Best

[twinky53]

If you are a boring couple who want a nice romantic getaway, you'll love the bars and music.

 

Guess hubby and I will love the night life, then! :D

 

And if one more person has a birthday while I'm sitting next to them .... ugh.

 

 

:mad:

 

I love to see people celebrate their birthdays and have some fun for themselves. I always sing and I always clap.

 

On NCL, I was thrilled when the cruise director actually recognized me - next time I will slip him my phone number - hopefully, he WILL call me.

 

I did agree with you, the OP, that the looongggg trip home through very rough seas was a puzzling decision. Not smart. I thought that was a dumb decision and wondered why it was made.

 

Other than that, well, to each his own

[luv2cruz_74]

He was the CD on our last two cruises on the Carib. Princess and found him to be funny and very perky!

[Clutterlady]

You know, I won't be going on my first cruise for 11 days so I’m sure I have no idea what I am talking about here, but every time I read a review and they complain about the lack of towel animals I immediately take all info in that review with a grain of salt.

 

I'm not directing this next comment to anyone in particular, so no flames please.

 

 

If the lack of "towel animals” ruins your day, all I have to say is “get a

life”.

 

"Towel animals" uggggh:eek: I understand they are cute, but what's the fascination with towel animals???????

[TourneyKit]

Evidently the wife and I are once again in the minority. Although we have been on five cruises, for the life of me, other than to watch the CD on the moring television show, I've never had contact with one. We pretty much stay to ourselves and do those things both on the ship and in port that we want to do. We check the Patters, decide on what we might like to see or do and move on with our day. I assume that the CD is responcible for scheduling and organizing all the entertainment on a ship. If you consider the sheer volumn of that job, I don't know how he would even have time, let alone the inclination to stop what he is doing and answer questions. Granted, as passengers, you are entitled to inquire about certain aspects of "whats to do".....But come'on, cut these people a little slack.

[Clutterlady]

We were on this same cruise. And, if we go Princess again it will be solely for the itinerary. Not for the Princess line or ship experience. Full disclosure: this is our third cruise -- in a year -- and we're working our way through all the lines, so no loyalty issues to cloud our vision.

 

Thank you for an honest review. And a big thank you for not comparing your cruise with another line. Can't understand why reviewers do that? Who cares if you prefer another line, or on this line we had this and that...bla..bla..bla. We're just interested in the good, bad and ugly parts of the current cruise you are reviewing! Whew....just had to get that out!!

[tbill]

Thanks for your review. I think that cruises are what you make of them for the most part and you have to find the postives and not let your vacation be ruined if things are not perfect.

 

With that being said I am still a little nervous about our upcoming sailing on the Crown (Nov 4 out of San Juan). there is the list and how it affected everyone and now reading here that the ceiling was falling down in the gym on the 9/3 sailing what is with this ship? Do you all feel it is a safe vessel??

[GOLDENBONNY]

I realize my posting is going to cause a "riot" but having travelled on nearly 100 cruises in my 40 years, I think I have some equity in comparisons. My grade on the Crown Cruise of 9/3 is a "C". Not the worst, but they really have a lot of improving to do. I would not sail Princess again and feel Celebrity is by far the best cruise experience in this price category.

 

I'm going to give a brief grade/comment to some categories (read below if you want the whole ten cents)

 

SCARIEST MOMENT - When the fitness center roof fell down around us.

SHIP GRADE - B

FOOD GRADE - B Minus (must read about coke card)

ENTERTAINMENT - D

SERVICE STAFF - B

ACTIVITIES - D

ITINERARY - D

EMBARKATION - B Plus

CASINO - B Plus

 

 

SCARIEST MOMENT

 

On the final day at sea, the gusts were at 40 mph and waves of up to 20ft. Along our side we noticed a tanker that looked like it was about to flip over. The waves had the smaller ship diving into the water at 45 degrees, rolling and jumping out of the water. The crew was taking pictures. To see how bad things were, I went to the fitness center to get a birds eye view of the waves head. There were three of us there as the ship seemed to jerk and moan with each pounding wave. Then, suddenly, we hit a wave very hard and the panels from the ceiling in the fitness room came falling down all around us. No one was hurt but it was really unnerving as we were talking about the physics of how ships can take sound a pounding with no damage.

NOTE.. My Mom who has been on been on more cruises than me, warned me about sailing out of NYC. Many members of the crew verfied that coming up through Hatarass was very rocky .. but even more so now with the help of the hurricane off the coast. I never got sea sick but

 

THE SHIP (B)

 

I love cruise ships. I used to draw them as a child and pretend they had ice skating rinks on them, large water slides, etc. Who would have known 30 years ago these ideas would come true. The Crown is a beautiful ship. The bed room area is very comfortable with lots of closet space. We had no trouble with the temperature and the control of it in our room. The bathroom on the other hand is a nigthmare. Way too small. In fact, I decided after the first night not even to bother showering in the bathroom and made my way up to the SPA lounge to shower each night. They have three large shower stalls with sauna, steam and reverse current pool for swimming. Be sure to bring your own shaving stuff as they don't offer any in the spa area.

 

I found the ship easy to get around after the first day. Three banks of elevators front, mid and aft ship.

 

The moment we boarded, I knew this would be a strange trip. Gone are the days of beautiful wood floors .. now you have the "school" gym type floors all throughout the ship. Practical in terms of handling weather and traffic, but not very romantic.

 

Overall, the ship never seemed like it had 3000 plus passengers until you tried looking for your pictures. By having the ship stores/theatre/casino on the lower decks (5, 6 and 7) the designers halfed the flow of passengers. Elevator waits were quite long but you should really use the steps for exercise.

 

The ship was very clean.

 

My main complaint was the design of the Lido buffett. You had to out manuever others to get open tables. Poor tables to people ratio.

 

We never had trouble with finding seats .. just keep climbing steps and you'll find some.

 

Liked MUTS but never went at night. Did see a few movies and football games during the day

 

FOOD - B Minus

 

On the positive note, the servings were plentiful. Bad news is that the quality wasn't any better than you'd get at a Ryan's steakhouse or Shoney's. The menu wasn't very creative at all. My favorite things .. Rack of Lamb, some breakfast potatoe dish called "barrons", and hit or miss on the Pizza. The cookies .. oh those cookies .. they are good, but Man cannot live on cookies alone.

We ate at the Crown Grill one night and it was by far the best speciality restaurant of any cruise ship we've been on .... the portions again were huge and you could mix and match anything on the menu .. you want four lobster tails, just ask. We met Sandy and her husband there and they seemed to enjoy their meal too. However, with such huge portions at lunch and dinner, we decided to skip Sabatinis. We did hear good things about it. (I gained ten pounds).

For breakfast, we usually go to the dining room. However, on the Crown, the breakfast menu in the dining room was very limited. The Lido Buffet had much more of a selection and when we learned the system correctly, we always had freshly cooked eggs etc just for the asking.

For the COKE CARD (39 buck for this cruise). Unless you go to the bar and get the drink youself, the wait staff will ignoere you. At each of the shows we orderd a coke and ever saw teh waiter again. If you are going to offer a Coke, at least have everyone on the same page.

ENTERTAINMENT and STAFF D

 

James Lay is the worst cruise director in the world. He would never return phone calls. His sense of humor was very dry. The Brits on board in general were very non chalant about everything. Look at the patters .. same ole stuff every ship. The ART AUCTION is not PARK WEST. They show imitation paitings of Tarkay and others. Only one singles event the entire trip. If you are a boring couple who want a nice romantic getaway, you'll love the bars and music. But, if you are looking for fun at night, bring it yourself.

 

 

SERVICE STAFF - B

 

Our stateroom attendent was fantastic, we double tipped him.

Our waiter was OK (he took great pride in warning us of bad dishes versus offering great dishes).

There's no special touches on this ship .. No animal towels, no signing at dinner (until the last night), no nothing to make the staff special.

And if one more person has a birthday while I'm sitting next to them .... ugh.

 

ITINERARY D

Part of the itinerary grade is my fault. I can't beleive the short times in each port. Never enough time to do anything really. I was very mad about missing Bermuda, but what can you do with a Hurricane? I do think the cruise line should have offered us a future discount if we booked a cruise to Bermuda in the

 

EMBARKATION/DISEMBARKATION - B Plus

We only waited 18 minutes to get on the ship and about 15 to get off .. No Trouble here. Just make sure they get your correct color for lining up. Cab from Midtown NYC to ship - 27 bucks plus tip. Cab from Pier to LGA was 48 dollars and took just 15 minutes.

 

That's all for now .. I'll add more or answer questions if needed. Looking for a great Celebrity cruise this holiday seaon!

 

 

100 CRUISES IN 40 YEARS????PLEASE STOP CRUISING NOTHING WILL MAKE YOU HAPPY ANY MORE AFTER ALL THEY ALL THE SAME

[caviargal]

I

 

100 CRUISES IN 40 YEARS????PLEASE STOP CRUISING NOTHING WILL MAKE YOU HAPPY ANY MORE AFTER ALL THEY ALL THE SAME

 

Actually, they are not and that is why there are choices to suit everyone. :)

 

I am 50 and have cruised since I was 9, worked for a few cruise lines over the years and have been in the biz for awhile. I have 100+ in my personal history.

 

When choosing a cruise vacation, there are very few lines I consider these days but some still do make the cut as they offer what I prefer and enjoy. All cruise lines - and ships - are NOT created equal.

[Ti2m]

 

If a critical look at these comments don't make you sceptical, has anyone read any of this persons other posts.

• On 12/12/05, he was 30
  
• On 12/14/05, he was a 35 year old broadcasting executive
  
• On 5/11/06, he was 35
  
• On 5/28/06, he was looking at the Crown as his 35th B-day present
  
• On 6/5/06, he was looking at the Crown as his 40 B-Day present
  
• On 8/2/06, he was going through his midlife crisis at 39

I would suggest taking his posts with a grain of salt. Aside from that, it seems to me that the worst about Princess is that they are not Celebrity.

 

Excellent research!

 

Timm

[swom]

If you are a boring couple who want a nice romantic getaway, you'll love the bars and music. But, if you are looking for fun at night, bring it yourself.

 

 

I'M A BORING COUPLE!!!!! Well, "WE" are anyway. Sounds like we will LOVE this ship. We LOVE to make our own fun........:D

Sorry you had a bad cruise. I can't imagine what a bad cruise is, but I hope your next one on X is much better.

HAPPY SAILING!

BTW- thanks for your review.

[Jetfan1521]

I realize my posting is going to cause a "riot" but having travelled on nearly 100 cruises in my 40 years, I think I have some equity in comparisons. My grade on the Crown Cruise of 9/3 is a "C". Not the worst, but they really have a lot of improving to do. I would not sail Princess again and feel Celebrity is by far the best cruise experience in this price category.

 

I'm going to give a brief grade/comment to some categories (read below if you want the whole ten cents)

 

SCARIEST MOMENT - When the fitness center roof fell down around us.

SHIP GRADE - B

FOOD GRADE - B Minus (must read about coke card)

ENTERTAINMENT - D

SERVICE STAFF - B

ACTIVITIES - D

ITINERARY - D

EMBARKATION - B Plus

CASINO - B Plus

 

 

SCARIEST MOMENT

 

On the final day at sea, the gusts were at 40 mph and waves of up to 20ft. Along our side we noticed a tanker that looked like it was about to flip over. The waves had the smaller ship diving into the water at 45 degrees, rolling and jumping out of the water. The crew was taking pictures. To see how bad things were, I went to the fitness center to get a birds eye view of the waves head. There were three of us there as the ship seemed to jerk and moan with each pounding wave. Then, suddenly, we hit a wave very hard and the panels from the ceiling in the fitness room came falling down all around us. No one was hurt but it was really unnerving as we were talking about the physics of how ships can take sound a pounding with no damage.

NOTE.. My Mom who has been on been on more cruises than me, warned me about sailing out of NYC. Many members of the crew verfied that coming up through Hatarass was very rocky .. but even more so now with the help of the hurricane off the coast. I never got sea sick but

 

THE SHIP (B)

 

I love cruise ships. I used to draw them as a child and pretend they had ice skating rinks on them, large water slides, etc. Who would have known 30 years ago these ideas would come true. The Crown is a beautiful ship. The bed room area is very comfortable with lots of closet space. We had no trouble with the temperature and the control of it in our room. The bathroom on the other hand is a nigthmare. Way too small. In fact, I decided after the first night not even to bother showering in the bathroom and made my way up to the SPA lounge to shower each night. They have three large shower stalls with sauna, steam and reverse current pool for swimming. Be sure to bring your own shaving stuff as they don't offer any in the spa area.

 

I found the ship easy to get around after the first day. Three banks of elevators front, mid and aft ship.

 

The moment we boarded, I knew this would be a strange trip. Gone are the days of beautiful wood floors .. now you have the "school" gym type floors all throughout the ship. Practical in terms of handling weather and traffic, but not very romantic.

 

Overall, the ship never seemed like it had 3000 plus passengers until you tried looking for your pictures. By having the ship stores/theatre/casino on the lower decks (5, 6 and 7) the designers halfed the flow of passengers. Elevator waits were quite long but you should really use the steps for exercise.

 

The ship was very clean.

 

My main complaint was the design of the Lido buffett. You had to out manuever others to get open tables. Poor tables to people ratio.

 

We never had trouble with finding seats .. just keep climbing steps and you'll find some.

 

Liked MUTS but never went at night. Did see a few movies and football games during the day

 

FOOD - B Minus

 

On the positive note, the servings were plentiful. Bad news is that the quality wasn't any better than you'd get at a Ryan's steakhouse or Shoney's. The menu wasn't very creative at all. My favorite things .. Rack of Lamb, some breakfast potatoe dish called "barrons", and hit or miss on the Pizza. The cookies .. oh those cookies .. they are good, but Man cannot live on cookies alone.

We ate at the Crown Grill one night and it was by far the best speciality restaurant of any cruise ship we've been on .... the portions again were huge and you could mix and match anything on the menu .. you want four lobster tails, just ask. We met Sandy and her husband there and they seemed to enjoy their meal too. However, with such huge portions at lunch and dinner, we decided to skip Sabatinis. We did hear good things about it. (I gained ten pounds).

For breakfast, we usually go to the dining room. However, on the Crown, the breakfast menu in the dining room was very limited. The Lido Buffet had much more of a selection and when we learned the system correctly, we always had freshly cooked eggs etc just for the asking.

For the COKE CARD (39 buck for this cruise). Unless you go to the bar and get the drink youself, the wait staff will ignoere you. At each of the shows we orderd a coke and ever saw teh waiter again. If you are going to offer a Coke, at least have everyone on the same page.

ENTERTAINMENT and STAFF D

 

James Lay is the worst cruise director in the world. He would never return phone calls. His sense of humor was very dry. The Brits on board in general were very non chalant about everything. Look at the patters .. same ole stuff every ship. The ART AUCTION is not PARK WEST. They show imitation paitings of Tarkay and others. Only one singles event the entire trip. If you are a boring couple who want a nice romantic getaway, you'll love the bars and music. But, if you are looking for fun at night, bring it yourself.

 

 

SERVICE STAFF - B

 

Our stateroom attendent was fantastic, we double tipped him.

Our waiter was OK (he took great pride in warning us of bad dishes versus offering great dishes).

There's no special touches on this ship .. No animal towels, no signing at dinner (until the last night), no nothing to make the staff special.

And if one more person has a birthday while I'm sitting next to them .... ugh.

 

ITINERARY D

Part of the itinerary grade is my fault. I can't beleive the short times in each port. Never enough time to do anything really. I was very mad about missing Bermuda, but what can you do with a Hurricane? I do think the cruise line should have offered us a future discount if we booked a cruise to Bermuda in the

 

EMBARKATION/DISEMBARKATION - B Plus

We only waited 18 minutes to get on the ship and about 15 to get off .. No Trouble here. Just make sure they get your correct color for lining up. Cab from Midtown NYC to ship - 27 bucks plus tip. Cab from Pier to LGA was 48 dollars and took just 15 minutes.

 

That's all for now .. I'll add more or answer questions if needed. Looking for a great Celebrity cruise this holiday seaon!

 

Kevin

 

Hi Kevin

Sorry to say, but I have to disagree with you on a few things. First, the coke card. I bought it the first day and never once did i have to ask twice. They would even come over at dinner and bring me another without asking. If we were sitting outside or in cafe caribe or the horizon court, they were always back in a minute with my diet coke! James Lay may not have been the absolute best cd ever, but I think he did a great job. As for the food, you said the quality wasn't any different then Shoney's or Ryan's Steakhouse? I beg to differ - the food was fantastic and there was always a big selection every night. You missed a great meal at Sabatini's!

[Gigi1220]

I agree w jetfan...i too was on the cruise and i had the soda card and never once had a problem infact i found the service people to be excellent with refills without me even having to ask.

 

 

BUT

 

one thing I am pissed about is how we are only refunded 27$ for missing a port which I am sure was a big part in most cruisers decisions...I feel that more compenstation would be fitting....it didnt ruin our cruise...but a main part we did take the cruise was for bermuda....and i find it hard to believe that only 27$ is what bermuda was worth...

[asctony]

I agree w jetfan...i too was on the cruise and i had the soda card and never once had a problem infact i found the service people to be excellent with refills without me even having to ask.

 

 

BUT

 

one thing I am pissed about is how we are only refunded 27$ for missing a port which I am sure was a big part in most cruisers decisions...I feel that more compenstation would be fitting....it didnt ruin our cruise...but a main part we did take the cruise was for bermuda....and i find it hard to believe that only 27$ is what bermuda was worth...

What do you think you should receive? This is the norm and is done all the time. You only get port fees. It was not Princess' fault that the weather wasn't good.

[tweety0227]

Thanks for your review. I think that cruises are what you make of them for the most part and you have to find the postives and not let your vacation be ruined if things are not perfect.

 

With that being said I am still a little nervous about our upcoming sailing on the Crown (Nov 4 out of San Juan). there is the list and how it affected everyone and now reading here that the ceiling was falling down in the gym on the 9/3 sailing what is with this ship? Do you all feel it is a safe vessel??

 

I was on the 9/3 sailing and I would go tomorrow if I were able to. This was, by far, one of the best cruises I've ever been on. I know my signature only shows about 3 cruises, but I've been on about 15 cruises. I am so ready to book another cruise aboard the beautiful Crown. And, yes, I do think it's safe.

[bulldogatl]

Ok, up front yes I fidged a little on my age on the boards but if that makes me a bad person, stop reading. The 30 must have been a typo. But the other ages .. so? I'm turning 40 in December and this was my birthday present to myself. Is that wrong? Most people say I don't look 40 so I just say 35 all the of the time. GEEZ .. give me a break.

 

But how unfortunate it is when you post your "opinon" and others try to look in your past for reasons to make your opinion less true? Give me a break. I gave an opinion. Take note of my other hundreds of posts on here and the "good" things I had to say. Then for Sandy and others to take "shots" at me! Make a joke of taking my Mom with me on a cruise? I hope your kids appreciate your company when you're older - we should realize everything our parents have done for us. Wow .. what an insult.

 

I'm happy I didn't get a chance to read Sandy's post (as it was deleted before I logged on tonight) - I think I would be more upset. As I said, we sat next to her (yes, I had the audacity to treat my Mom to the Crown Grill) and Sandy and her husband came over after their dinner to "take my picture" to show others since we had missed the CC get togethers. After that, she never said hi back to me in the halls so I figured something was up.

 

I've been posting on this board for several years. Never ran into any problems before. Cruises are for fun - that's why I go on them. The remark about having a silver spoon was rude too. We shoot for cruises that cost less than $100 a day. We got the Crown Princess for just 699. Not a bad deal. If you keep your cruises under 100 a day, thats the best deal on the planet for any vacation.

 

As for gaining the ten pounds .. had we had more time in ports and something more to do on ship other than eat, it wouldnt have happened. I should have paid more attention to the port times (only spent about five hours in each port except St. Thomas was expanded two more hours). If you cruise alot, you know walking is the great equalizer in fighting the weight.

 

I'm sorry if my review wasn't to everyone's liking. There's no reason to be mean though. That's immature.

[Kathyh1313]

I for one am GLAD to see that they don't give receipts. I'm one of those that throws them away as soon as I get them. How do I check my account, I really don't. However, I'm pretty good at keeping a rough running total in my head and for every cruise I've been on, when the final bill comes, it's always been within what I consider an acceptable range of what I thought it would be (~$75).

 

I want my receipts and it was difficult to get them on the Crown. Even when we asked for them, the servers didn't bring them.

 

We were overcharged in the Adagio Lounge for 2 rounds of drinks, totalling $39. When dealing with the Purser's desk, they kept asking for our receipts. Which we did not have.

 

I have always kept my receipts and checked them against my on board account every few days.

 

By the way it took us 5 visits over 4 days to the Purser's desk to get the overcharge removed. The Purser's assumed we were in the wrong and set out to prove us wrong, rather than investigate and seek the truth. Thier attitude and tone of voice was rude and condenscending, "OH are your SURE you didn't CONSUME those BEVERAGES?????"

 

We were on the 8/25 cruise. We had a wonderful week, entertainment was excellent, food was fair to very good. However, I agree with the OP, grade of C. This cruise ranks in the bottom of those we have taken. We cruised on the Grand 5 years ago and were so impressed by Princess, not this time, we were underwhelmed. We will not be returning to Princess anytime soon.

 

Happy cruising, Kathy

[Merion_Mom]

I want my receipts and it was difficult to get them on the Crown. Even when we asked for them, the servers didn't bring them.

 

We were overcharged in the Adagio Lounge for 2 rounds of drinks, totalling $39. When dealing with the Purser's desk, they kept asking for our receipts. Which we did not have.

 

I have always kept my receipts and checked them against my on board account every few days.

 

By the way it took us 5 visits over 4 days to the Purser's desk to get the overcharge removed. The Purser's assumed we were in the wrong and set out to prove us wrong, rather than investigate and seek the truth. Thier attitude and tone of voice was rude and condenscending, "OH are your SURE you didn't CONSUME those BEVERAGES?????"

I had the identical experience to yours, Kathy, on the 7/11 cruise. I never did succeed in getting the bar discrepancies taken care of before we had to get off in Port Canaveral.

[sanemb]

Ok, up front yes I fidged a little on my age on the boards but if that makes me a bad person, stop reading. The 30 must have been a typo. But the other ages .. so? I'm turning 40 in December and this was my birthday present to myself. Is that wrong? Most people say I don't look 40 so I just say 35 all the of the time. GEEZ .. give me a break.

 

But how unfortunate it is when you post your "opinon" and others try to look in your past for reasons to make your opinion less true? Give me a break. I gave an opinion. Take note of my other hundreds of posts on here and the "good" things I had to say. Then for Sandy and others to take "shots" at me! Make a joke of taking my Mom with me on a cruise? I hope your kids appreciate your company when you're older - we should realize everything our parents have done for us. Wow .. what an insult.

 

I'm happy I didn't get a chance to read Sandy's post (as it was deleted before I logged on tonight) - I think I would be more upset. As I said, we sat next to her (yes, I had the audacity to treat my Mom to the Crown Grill) and Sandy and her husband came over after their dinner to "take my picture" to show others since we had missed the CC get togethers. After that, she never said hi back to me in the halls so I figured something was up.

 

I've been posting on this board for several years. Never ran into any problems before. Cruises are for fun - that's why I go on them. The remark about having a silver spoon was rude too. We shoot for cruises that cost less than $100 a day. We got the Crown Princess for just 699. Not a bad deal. If you keep your cruises under 100 a day, thats the best deal on the planet for any vacation.

 

As for gaining the ten pounds .. had we had more time in ports and something more to do on ship other than eat, it wouldnt have happened. I should have paid more attention to the port times (only spent about five hours in each port except St. Thomas was expanded two more hours). If you cruise alot, you know walking is the great equalizer in fighting the weight.

 

I'm sorry if my review wasn't to everyone's liking. There's no reason to be mean though. That's immature.

 

 

Gee, Kevin, did run into you only twice after dinner, and said hi both times, sorry we didn't run into you again... Not sure, what the comment was all about, everyone would of been very glad to meet you. My post for the review hasn't been deleted, it's still there, and not sure what I said that was so bad...

 

Sandy

[Sandytoes]

Wow, I didn't realize questioning the OP was rude....Sorry, didn't mean it. Thank you Makeup Face you're right.....

 

I am very detail oriented person who loves admiring decorating. Being this was a new ship I enjoy looking at all the little details they put into building this ship. So, I just couldn't understand why wood floors on a cruise ship is strange.... That is why I needed to question this....Is that so wrong?

 

This is the first time I have ever read someone calling a CD and the OP mentioned about the CD not returning calls....OP should have given the reason why he/she needed to call the CD. I thought the OP was being funny about this one.....I gather not.....

 

I read each and everyone's reviews, wanting to know experiences of others. I can see how people get so defensive if reviews are not to their liking. But, we are entitled to our own opinion and no one should feel the need to quickly jump on another for doing so....

 

No shots were given, I enjoyed reading it and the thousands more reviews to come. Thanks for your opinion....

[sealegs9]

We also were on the 9/3 sailing. I agree with some of the previous postings, not all. Had a great time, sailing Princess again the end of October. With all the complaints, I did not find the one problem that bothered me the most, having to ask for a receipt all the time in the Wheelhouse and Crooners bars. I asked one of the waiters why there just wasn't aduplicate and the answer was the bar staff were told by management not to give one unless asked for because people only throw them away. If you throw away your receipt how can you check your account? Doesn't make sense to me does anyone know if this practice is throughout the fleet. HAD A GREAT TIME ONE DAY CRUISING IS BETTER THAN A MONTH HOME

 

THE EDS

This is the third post on this thread I read about not getting receipts at the bars. We could not get our receipts at Crooners nor in the Int'l cafe when I purchased tea. And- it seems like others couldn't get their receipts at Adiago, either. Not a good business practice.

 

We were always given our receipts on the CB and on all our RCCL cruises.

 

Hmmm. maybe we should start a sepatate thread on this issue.

 

Just think, not many pax even know about Cruise Critic. Can you imagine how many folks did not get their receipts on the Crown and did not post on this site??? We'll it's a foreign flagged vessel -so- they don't have to follow accounting standards :rolleyes:.

[rebeccalouise]

I am one of those passengers that doesn't keep her receipts- can't be bothered but my ex-husband always kept the receipts and tallied them up at the end. I don't recall if there was ever any discrepency.

 

I can't believe that a cruise line is not giving out the receipts- this is standard business practice and obviously not the norm. Strange- I would be wary.

[JEWELS7]

I realize my posting is going to cause a "riot" but having travelled on nearly 100 cruises in my 40 years, I think I have some equity in comparisons. My grade on the Crown Cruise of 9/3 is a "C". Not the worst, but they really have a lot of improving to do. I would not sail Princess again and feel Celebrity is by far the best cruise experience in this price category.

 

I'm going to give a brief grade/comment to some categories (read below if you want the whole ten cents)

 

SCARIEST MOMENT - When the fitness center roof fell down around us.

SHIP GRADE - B

FOOD GRADE - B Minus (must read about coke card)

ENTERTAINMENT - D

SERVICE STAFF - B

ACTIVITIES - D

ITINERARY - D

EMBARKATION - B Plus

CASINO - B Plus

 

 

SCARIEST MOMENT

 

On the final day at sea, the gusts were at 40 mph and waves of up to 20ft. Along our side we noticed a tanker that looked like it was about to flip over. The waves had the smaller ship diving into the water at 45 degrees, rolling and jumping out of the water. The crew was taking pictures. To see how bad things were, I went to the fitness center to get a birds eye view of the waves head. There were three of us there as the ship seemed to jerk and moan with each pounding wave. Then, suddenly, we hit a wave very hard and the panels from the ceiling in the fitness room came falling down all around us. No one was hurt but it was really unnerving as we were talking about the physics of how ships can take sound a pounding with no damage.

NOTE.. My Mom who has been on been on more cruises than me, warned me about sailing out of NYC. Many members of the crew verfied that coming up through Hatarass was very rocky .. but even more so now with the help of the hurricane off the coast. I never got sea sick but

 

THE SHIP (B)

 

I love cruise ships. I used to draw them as a child and pretend they had ice skating rinks on them, large water slides, etc. Who would have known 30 years ago these ideas would come true. The Crown is a beautiful ship. The bed room area is very comfortable with lots of closet space. We had no trouble with the temperature and the control of it in our room. The bathroom on the other hand is a nigthmare. Way too small. In fact, I decided after the first night not even to bother showering in the bathroom and made my way up to the SPA lounge to shower each night. They have three large shower stalls with sauna, steam and reverse current pool for swimming. Be sure to bring your own shaving stuff as they don't offer any in the spa area.

 

I found the ship easy to get around after the first day. Three banks of elevators front, mid and aft ship.

 

The moment we boarded, I knew this would be a strange trip. Gone are the days of beautiful wood floors .. now you have the "school" gym type floors all throughout the ship. Practical in terms of handling weather and traffic, but not very romantic.

 

Overall, the ship never seemed like it had 3000 plus passengers until you tried looking for your pictures. By having the ship stores/theatre/casino on the lower decks (5, 6 and 7) the designers halfed the flow of passengers. Elevator waits were quite long but you should really use the steps for exercise.

 

The ship was very clean.

 

My main complaint was the design of the Lido buffett. You had to out manuever others to get open tables. Poor tables to people ratio.

 

We never had trouble with finding seats .. just keep climbing steps and you'll find some.

 

Liked MUTS but never went at night. Did see a few movies and football games during the day

 

FOOD - B Minus

 

On the positive note, the servings were plentiful. Bad news is that the quality wasn't any better than you'd get at a Ryan's steakhouse or Shoney's. The menu wasn't very creative at all. My favorite things .. Rack of Lamb, some breakfast potatoe dish called "barrons", and hit or miss on the Pizza. The cookies .. oh those cookies .. they are good, but Man cannot live on cookies alone.

We ate at the Crown Grill one night and it was by far the best speciality restaurant of any cruise ship we've been on .... the portions again were huge and you could mix and match anything on the menu .. you want four lobster tails, just ask. We met Sandy and her husband there and they seemed to enjoy their meal too. However, with such huge portions at lunch and dinner, we decided to skip Sabatinis. We did hear good things about it. (I gained ten pounds).

For breakfast, we usually go to the dining room. However, on the Crown, the breakfast menu in the dining room was very limited. The Lido Buffet had much more of a selection and when we learned the system correctly, we always had freshly cooked eggs etc just for the asking.

For the COKE CARD (39 buck for this cruise). Unless you go to the bar and get the drink youself, the wait staff will ignoere you. At each of the shows we orderd a coke and ever saw teh waiter again. If you are going to offer a Coke, at least have everyone on the same page.

ENTERTAINMENT and STAFF D

 

James Lay is the worst cruise director in the world. He would never return phone calls. His sense of humor was very dry. The Brits on board in general were very non chalant about everything. Look at the patters .. same ole stuff every ship. The ART AUCTION is not PARK WEST. They show imitation paitings of Tarkay and others. Only one singles event the entire trip. If you are a boring couple who want a nice romantic getaway, you'll love the bars and music. But, if you are looking for fun at night, bring it yourself.

 

 

SERVICE STAFF - B

 

Our stateroom attendent was fantastic, we double tipped him.

Our waiter was OK (he took great pride in warning us of bad dishes versus offering great dishes).

There's no special touches on this ship .. No animal towels, no signing at dinner (until the last night), no nothing to make the staff special.

And if one more person has a birthday while I'm sitting next to them .... ugh.

 

ITINERARY D

Part of the itinerary grade is my fault. I can't beleive the short times in each port. Never enough time to do anything really. I was very mad about missing Bermuda, but what can you do with a Hurricane? I do think the cruise line should have offered us a future discount if we booked a cruise to Bermuda in the

 

EMBARKATION/DISEMBARKATION - B Plus

We only waited 18 minutes to get on the ship and about 15 to get off .. No Trouble here. Just make sure they get your correct color for lining up. Cab from Midtown NYC to ship - 27 bucks plus tip. Cab from Pier to LGA was 48 dollars and took just 15 minutes.

 

That's all for now .. I'll add more or answer questions if needed. Looking for a great Celebrity cruise this holiday seaon!

 

Kevin

 

Thanks for the information bulldogat, I'm going on this cruise 9/30 have not had a vacation yet and I work 7 days a week, so I'll be happy with sleeping late. Thanks for the update! I'm nervous about the cruise coming back to New York (the last night)...hope the seas are calm... I do have one question how hard is it to get a Cab when you GET OFF The ship to go to Penn Station? I want to take the train, but I was afraid there would be no cabs at the dock to take me back to Penn Station.

[JEWELS7]

Thanks for the information bulldogat, I'm going on this cruise 9/30 have not had a vacation yet and I work 7 days a week, so I'll be happy with sleeping late. Thanks for the update! I'm nervous about the cruise coming back to New York (the last night)...hope the seas are calm... I do have one question how hard is it to get a Cab when you GET OFF The ship to go to Penn Station? I want to take the train, but I was afraid there would be no cabs at the dock to take me back to Penn Station.

[willysgrandma]

With that being said I am still a little nervous about our upcoming sailing on the Crown (Nov 4 out of San Juan). there is the list and how it affected everyone and now reading here that the ceiling was falling down in the gym on the 9/3 sailing what is with this ship? Do you all feel it is a safe vessel??

 

I will also be on that cruise with you with a group of 14 people. I had a tour of the Crown in August and have no fear on sailing on her.

 

My theory is that they are going to make sure this ship is sailed safely - they cannot afford anymore bad publicity.

 

And when you sail, things happens on ships just like things happen if you are in a hotel. We have been on ships that had busted water pipes and flooded public bathrooms (on NCL and Celebrity).

[Mr Veendam06]

Hi we were on the cruise the week before you .I tell everyone going out of NYC it's not the Caribbean !! Your in the north Atlandtic !! We had great weather the hole week .The hurican didn"t get in our way .But the last day it was a little choppy !! Nothing like what you had .But to see the looks on people faces with the rocking we had witch was not bad at all going thought cap Hatarass !! This was out 63rd cruise .We love it . But Princess is not the same as it was before Carnival took over ! The Herizon court is on par weth RCCI Windjammer cafe now it ust to be great !! But we couldn"t have asked for better weather the hole cruise .Just remmber when you cruise in late august & sep. it's Hurican season from NYC to FLA you could get hit with one !!

Mr veendam