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

[peterv]

There are way too many people that take any criticism of (insert cruise line here) as a personal attack on their fav cruise line. And just bash the OP's at practically evey item, with the well thought out words, "Well I would not complain about that", or "What did you expect", or "I was on this very cruise and I found it perfect in every way shape and form".

 

I found nothing in the review which should cause these kinds of comments.

 

For my part any cruise starts as a "C", which means average. It only rises when, or if, it exceeds my expectations, which rarely happens. The experience I get is just about what I expect.

 

Cheers,

Peter

[sanemb]

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.

 

 

We were one of the last decks disembarked from the ship, around 10:45, we had a flight out of LGA at 2:30, and thought it wouldn't be a problem to grab a taxi, surprise, we walked out and there was a huge line, they said it would be a two hour wait for a taxi. There was a short line for Town Cars, and we grabbed it, $58 plus tip to go to LGA, it took us an hour to get to the airport...

The town car driver told us, that it all depends on the time you get off the ship, what the cab availablity is..

[Cruising89143]

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.

 

I have to say that I enjoyed your review. I like to go to the different boards and read reviews. I felt that you gave a very balanced review stating the good and not so good. Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts.

[caviargal]

There are way too many people that take any criticism of (insert cruise line here) as a personal attack on their fav cruise line. And just bash the OP's at practically evey item, with the well thought out words, "Well I would not complain about that", or "What did you expect", or "I was on this very cruise and I found it perfect in every way shape and form".

 

I found nothing in the review which should cause these kinds of comments.

 

For my part any cruise starts as a "C", which means average. It only rises when, or if, it exceeds my expectations, which rarely happens. The experience I get is just about what I expect.

 

Cheers,

Peter

 

Just had to say this is the first time I have agreed with one of your posts; we generally agree to disagree on dress codes and such.:)

 

I also approach mass market cruising with average expectations. It is only when paying more for luxury - or premium - that I expect a better experience.

 

Re OP bashing, it is really sad when certain folks go as far as to dig out old posts in an effort to discredit the OP with whom they do not agree. We are all permitted to have an opinion and also the right to express it. I personally was happy to see Sandytoes earlier post disparaging the OP deleted.

[jff50]

Re OP bashing, it is really sad when certain folks go as far as to dig out old posts in an effort to discredit the OP with whom they do not agree. We are all permitted to have an opinion and also the right to express it.

Just like we all have a right to an opinion, it also helps to know where someone is coming from so that we can determine if the opinion is one we want to give much credibility to. Old posts can certainly help in that regard. If you don't think that we should be able to look at someone's previous posts, you can certainly take it up with those who manage this site. It seems to me that if someone is discredited by the contents of their old posts, it isn't the person that points out those posts that is doing the discrediting.

[Jetfan1521]

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...

 

I agree with gigi as well about being compensated for Bermuda. Yes it was disappointing that we missed it, but I also feel very strongly that we should be compensated in maybe a future cruise credit...at least something! It didn't ruin my cruise either, but the only reason we chose that cruise was for Bermuda!

[caviargal]

Just like we all have a right to an opinion, it also helps to know where someone is coming from so that we can determine if the opinion is one we want to give much credibility to. Old posts can certainly help in that regard. If you don't think that we should be able to look at someone's previous posts, you can certainly take it up with those who manage this site. It seems to me that if someone is discredited by the contents of their old posts, it isn't the person that points out those posts that is doing the discrediting.

 

While I agree with part of what you write, personally I always discount the opinions of those who choose to make rude and disparaging comments about the OP personally simply because what they write is not to the liking of the poster. To dispute not only the experience - and there can be many different opinions of the same cruise and ship - but make rude comments about the poster is IMO immature and unnecessary. Since the post I was referring to was pulled by the moderators, it seems they also agree it was out of line.

 

There are a select few on every board who treat each person who posts a less than glowing review of their favorite as if they are morons.:cool:

 

It is the intent that I do not agree with; trolls are quite easy to spot.

[Jetfan1521]

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.

 

Melanie...I have to agree with you! I'd go tomorrow too if I was able. We booked another cruise on the Crown for Jan '08, only this time, doing the southern caribbean out of San Juan! It's a beautiful ship with a great staff and great entertainment! I don't know what cruise some of these people were on, but our 9/3 sailing was great (not going to Bermuda should have nothing to do with the service or entertainment or food on the boat). I think people are giving this cruise a horrible rating because we missed Bermuda...and that's not fair!

[CTChickCruiser]

I agree with gigi as well about being compensated for Bermuda. Yes it was disappointing that we missed it, but I also feel very strongly that we should be compensated in maybe a future cruise credit...at least something! It didn't ruin my cruise either, but the only reason we chose that cruise was for Bermuda!

 

You shouldn't be compensated for a missed port due to weather. Everyone got there taxes back right. In the contracts it says not held responsible for missed ports due to weather.

 

July 2nd's cruise was compensated for the missed port of grand turk because it was the Cruise Line's fault.

 

Mother Nature runs her course and unfortunately it had to be during your cruise and bermuda. Bermuda is a very beautiful island i reccomend you do just a cruise to bermuda. I love it there.

[Steve13]

JetFan-

I can't imagine why you think you should have received any type of compensation for a weather related event. I'm not trying to criticize your opinion, but I'd be very interested if you could explain the rationale why you think the cruise ship line should have any liability because you missed a port due to weather.

 

I've been on 4 cruises during hurricane season. On two of them we missed ports because of weather. We got our taxes back each time and spent an extra day at sea. I can't imagine that it should have been any different.

[A Sixth?]

Regarding my other posts on this thread. The cruise was nice, but we should have gone to another port in the St. Thomas Area. As far as slowing down to made the ride better. I did two years in the Fleet Marines and 25 with the U. S. Navy. Slowing down in a storm is a rougher ride, PERIOD! To prove a point, drive over a small pot hole at a slower speed then the same pot hole at a highter speed. We have all done this and we all know the faster the less bump!

 

That is wrong buddy. Change of direction relative to sea state and a reduction in speed usually reduces ship's yawing, pitching and rolling.

 

You example of zipping over one pot hole in your car at high speed, doesn't apply, try about 2,000 miles of endless pot holes, some really huge most medium sized, maybe then the picture is clearer?

 

The captain of a cruise ship has many responsibilities and one of them is the sea-kindly way which his ship is routed. You find me one that says faster is better in heavy seas! Won't happen. Non of the pilots and ship captains I know say different.

 

Heck, on most cruises they slow down at dinner to make it a little smoother for the diners.

 

Sorry you didn't enjoy your cruise BTW.

[rainyfromsharon]

We were on the 8/16 Crown sailing and we were one of the last groups to disembark. We are a family of 5 and we had 9 pieces of luggage and tote bags. The taxi line was soooo long. We waited a while, but then ended up taking a limo that was offered to us by the town car company that a previous poster mentioned (we could not fit into one town car). We paid a flat rate of $100 and it took a little over an hour for us to get out of the port area and through midtown traffic. Our train to Providence, RI was at 1 pm, which I thought was very safe timing, but we didn't actually get into the station until almost 12:30 pm.

 

We had contacted car companies prior to the cruise and the range for our large family and luggage was $80 to 150 (minivan, SUV, regular van pricing) not including tolls and tips. We did very well with the limo and we all enjoyed the luxury of it, so we have no regrets there. But, if I was planning this trip again, I would book the car company and skip the taxi line completely.

 

I hope this info helps.

[Shannon12]

Sorry you had a rotten cruise, maybe stick with celebrity.

 

Why do people have to finish up their posts with such sarcasm? the cheerleaders are out in full force on every board. g-d forbid somebody has a criticism on the cruise CRITIC website!!

[JEWELS7]

We were on the 8/16 Crown sailing and we were one of the last groups to disembark. We are a family of 5 and we had 9 pieces of luggage and tote bags. The taxi line was soooo long. We waited a while, but then ended up taking a limo that was offered to us by the town car company that a previous poster mentioned (we could not fit into one town car). We paid a flat rate of $100 and it took a little over an hour for us to get out of the port area and through midtown traffic. Our train to Providence, RI was at 1 pm, which I thought was very safe timing, but we didn't actually get into the station until almost 12:30 pm.

 

We had contacted car companies prior to the cruise and the range for our large family and luggage was $80 to 150 (minivan, SUV, regular van pricing) not including tolls and tips. We did very well with the limo and we all enjoyed the luxury of it, so we have no regrets there. But, if I was planning this trip again, I would book the car company and skip the taxi line completely.

 

I hope this info helps.

 

Thank you this helps me very much!

[JEWELS7]

We were on the 8/16 Crown sailing and we were one of the last groups to disembark. We are a family of 5 and we had 9 pieces of luggage and tote bags. The taxi line was soooo long. We waited a while, but then ended up taking a limo that was offered to us by the town car company that a previous poster mentioned (we could not fit into one town car). We paid a flat rate of $100 and it took a little over an hour for us to get out of the port area and through midtown traffic. Our train to Providence, RI was at 1 pm, which I thought was very safe timing, but we didn't actually get into the station until almost 12:30 pm.

 

We had contacted car companies prior to the cruise and the range for our large family and luggage was $80 to 150 (minivan, SUV, regular van pricing) not including tolls and tips. We did very well with the limo and we all enjoyed the luxury of it, so we have no regrets there. But, if I was planning this trip again, I would book the car company and skip the taxi line completely.

 

I hope this info helps.

Thank You, this helps so much!

[Trifus]

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.

Hi Jewels,We're also going on the Sept. 30th cruise. I just read on another post that you could either buy a disembarkation transfer to Penn. Stn for 20 bucks. Otherwise, the other posts mentioned that there are lots of cabs at the dock when the ships return.

[bjcanady]

Wonder what ever happened to Captain Andy Proctor. I just wondered when they said that he was on a planned vacation after the list if that was really the truth. I know that people do contracts with the cruise lines- usually 6 month miniumum. Since the ship was christened in June- I thought it odd that he would be taking his vacation in August.

 

Capt. Andy was scheduled to go on vacation and his replacement, Capt. Niki was already on board and sailing the week of the list. That is the way they were scheduled, and it is also normal for the Captain that is taking over to sail a week before his scheduled takeover on a new ship.

[bulldogatl]

Like most cruise lines, Princess arranges your to disembark by when you flight is scheduled. You are asked to go to the purser about halfway through the cruise with a copy of your airline ticket if you have a flight before noon. Our flight to ATL was at 10:55. Doing as I was instructed, I gave the purser a copy of the airline ticket, my name was recorded on a log (looked to be about four names deep at that time) and told we'd be given an early disembarkation color. When the tags arrived at the room we had a normal brown like everyone else on the Caribe deck near us. I went to the purser's office and he apologized and gave me Aqua tags. The last day of the cruise we got a patter showing us which colors left when .. Aqua was right in the middle. Again I went to the purser, showed him the airline tix and was given RED 1. We were called off the ship about 20 minutes after NAVY (the first group was called). We got our luggage within minutes, were escorted to the taxi stand by a porter. The line for the taxi was about 40 deep (even though there were tons of taxis) and the line for a town car (58 flat rate to LGA - cheaper for downtown NYC) was zilch. So we chose the quicker line. Were to the airport in 18 minutes. No lines at all. We sat at the airport from 8:45 to 10:55. Hope that helps.

 

And one more thing to clarify about the Coke card .. my problem using it was during shows or events (not in general as my waiter also brought as many as I could drink). Apparently the wait staff during the production shows and art auctions would rather have waited on those tipping rather than us free loaders. Dont' think I'd the Drink Card again .. so many cokes a day can't be that good for you.

[Sunnystone]

We too were on the 9/3 voyage. As "pre-carnival" princess fans, my husband and I were extremely leery of our Crown cruise. Since the princess sale we have predominantly cruised Celebrity and subsequently had rather low expectations. However, we were on the whole extremely pleased with this cruise and while it is not fair to compare piece by piece which line is better, there are things both could improve upon.

I can confirm Kevin's account of the ceiling tile event. On our last day, during the rough seas, my husband and another gentleman (must have been Kevin) were working out in the gym when a really big slam occured. About 30 of the tiles in the gym ceiling came crashing down as a result; luckily no one was under them at that moment! At the same time the barbells which were on moving carts with NO brakes, were sliding all over the place and nearly took out one of the trainers. Between the spa staff, my husband and the other gentleman, they got the barbells under control and corraled them using some of the heavy exercise equipment. Apparently they all had quite a bit of fun up there! A few hours later the gym was re-openned and you would not know anything had hapened!

Overall we were pleased with our cruise but the biggest complaint is that there are just too many people on this ship, in our opinion the Crown can't handle that many folks. I have never before been refused entry to a show well before the start because the theatre was full, and we also never were able to sit anywhere near a pool as there were not enough chairs to accomodate the number of passengers. The buffet lines were also the most stupidly designed systems unless of course they were aiming for confusion, people constantly bumping into each other and engendering less than positive feelings toward other passengers who are perceived to be "cutting the line".

We thought the food was great as was the cabin (we had a handicapped room which was very spacious). Most personnel were great although we did witness an amount of rudeness on the bar wait staff and the purser's desk. Traditional seond seating was a joy. Sabatini's was truly an experience not to be missed. We liked sanctuary although we only went once because as we had a balcony we made much more use of it and we did not need to pay extra! We also liked the Princess art auction format better than the Park West. Although we did not buy anything we learned a great deal and the prices were good. MUTS was a kick and having football to watch all Sunday afternoon on a giant scren with people bringing him food and drinks made my husband exclaim that this could be his most favorite ship ever !!! :)

Sure there were some annoying challenges, ie cabin temp, a safe that kept thinking on its own, long lines for everything, loosing a diamond earing in the spa sink, being nickeled and dimed for many things, but we still enjoyed our cruise so much so that we booked 2 more with Princess while on board !

As a post script, we got the earing back although the drama and effort required were beyond belief. We very much appreciated the number of crew and spa staff who had an idea on how to retrieve the wayward bauble. Makes one think about creating a new joke, how many people does it take to undo a pipe?

All in all, not perfect but still a very nice 9 days which we would do again.

Kathryn & Peter

[peterv]

Just had to say this is the first time I have agreed with one of your posts; we generally agree to disagree on dress codes and such.:)

 

I also approach mass market cruising with average expectations. It is only when paying more for luxury - or premium - that I expect a better experience.

 

Re OP bashing, it is really sad when certain folks go as far as to dig out old posts in an effort to discredit the OP with whom they do not agree. We are all permitted to have an opinion and also the right to express it. I personally was happy to see Sandytoes earlier post disparaging the OP deleted.

 

Thank you for the kind words, and in this case agreeing to agree! :D

 

Cheers,

Peter

[JEWELS7]

We were one of the last decks disembarked from the ship, around 10:45, we had a flight out of LGA at 2:30, and thought it wouldn't be a problem to grab a taxi, surprise, we walked out and there was a huge line, they said it would be a two hour wait for a taxi. There was a short line for Town Cars, and we grabbed it, $58 plus tip to go to LGA, it took us an hour to get to the airport...

The town car driver told us, that it all depends on the time you get off the ship, what the cab availablity is..

 

Thanks SANEMB!

This helps. I was planning on taking a bus out of Boston to Brooklyn, but I think I would rather take the train. I heard when you get to Penn Station the Taxi drivers aren't too happy to drive you to the dock. I was most concerned about no taxi's when you get off the cruise. Thanks for the information..!

[tweety0227]

Melanie...I have to agree with you! I'd go tomorrow too if I was able. We booked another cruise on the Crown for Jan '08, only this time, doing the southern caribbean out of San Juan! It's a beautiful ship with a great staff and great entertainment! I don't know what cruise some of these people were on, but our 9/3 sailing was great (not going to Bermuda should have nothing to do with the service or entertainment or food on the boat). I think people are giving this cruise a horrible rating because we missed Bermuda...and that's not fair!

 

Amen to that Jetfan1521...I'm sorry we didn't get to connect during the cruise. Maybe sometime we'll cruise together again. We did make the $100 deposit per person for a future cruise on Princess. Such a great deal could not be passed up.

[SeaBunny]

Overall we were pleased with our cruise but the biggest complaint is that there are just too many people on this ship, in our opinion the Crown can't handle that many folks. I have never before been refused entry to a show well before the start because the theatre was full, and we also never were able to sit anywhere near a pool as there were not enough chairs to accomodate the number of passengers. The buffet lines were also the most stupidly designed systems unless of course they were aiming for confusion, people constantly bumping into each other and engendering less than positive feelings toward other passengers who are perceived to be "cutting the line".

 

I have to agree with Sunnystone. The ship is just not designed properly for the number of passengers. The only time I was able to find a chaise lounge anywhere near a pool was about 4:30 one day, when many people were getting ready for dinner. Otherwise, forget it.

 

The elevators were the smallest we've encountered, even though this ship carried about 50% more passengers than others we've sailed. Of course, we usually use the stairs anyway (helps to keep us from gaining weight), but there seemed to be a lot of waiting going on.

 

Did this ruin my cruise? Heck, no. But I will not go on the Crown Priness again. Or any ship that is built in the same way.

 

Princess' service was spectacular. The ship was beautiful but not functional.

[rebeccalouise]

Elevators are a big issue for me personally and I imagine for other passengers as well. With ships being so large, I have run myself ragged go to and from various places on the ship. In the morning I love to go upstairs and get breakfast and then return to my cabin with a tray of food. I also don't enjoy having to go up and down stairs in high heels at mean times and such. I am a perfectly able bodied person. So I would think that elderly people would have even more difficulty if the elevators are slow or not functioning in areas of the ship.

It really boggles my mind that a new ship has had the issues that the Crown has had and I don't think that this is at all typical of most ships. The last two I have sailed had none of these problems.

[spongerob]

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...

Unfortunately, having to miss a port due to weather or other problems not related to the cruise line is quite common, and the only compensation normally offered is a refund of the port fees. This is standard across the industry. I think we all look forward to certain ports, but we also have to realize that things beyond anyone's control can force changes to the itinerary and no port call is assured. Look at it this way, it gives you an excuse to book another cruise to Bermuda to try again. :)