Another 11/11 Crown review

[OC PAT]

We are 2 mid 50 year olds that went on our 10th cruise. We have cruised-3 times on RCCL-3 times on NCL-once on Westerdam, Carnival and Celebriety.

 

Overall we enjoyed our cruise and wish we were still there. A special bonus was our cruise critic pals and the Canadain Princess. She was a crew member who visited our roll call and had our group guessing what her job was. We met the night before for dinner and drinks at the Caribe Hilton. It was fun meeting folks that we had been talking to thru the months. We all decided to get on the ship independently around 11 and most were there by 11:30. Bumped into a few cruise critic pals while waiting to board. Also found numerous folks who read the boards but never comment including our table mate Susan. Hi there! By 1230 we were eating lunch on board.

 

Had Baja 304-handicap cabin with a balcony. I need the extra's in the shower and restroom due to previous surgeries. The bathroom was large and very accomdating for a wheel chair. The room was large and the balcony long. We could look down to 3 floors of balconies We found the cabin to be quiet except in the bathroom which produced a few giggles. Requested right off with a note to the cabin boy for egg crate, needle dispenser, water pitcher and fruit. Got the first 3 but never saw the fruit. Twice the cabin boy took our glasses and did not replace them. Room service brought our ice water at 6 every night except 2 nights. Room doesn't have tissues. The bedside lamps are too far from the bed. You have to almost get out of bed to turn them off. Room is dark when curtain are closed making good sleep time. Air Condition was ok...I would have liked it colder but Dh was happy. No sewer smell in our room. Smelled it here and there but never over powering. Bedding was super. Don't forget your alarm clock.

 

More later.

OC PAt

[OC PAT]

I did not like the ship layout. I had to go up one deck and then down to get to our dinning room. My sense of direction was warped thru out our cruise. Elevators ran pretty good. One elevator was out thru out the cruise in front of the ship. Like Mark Michaels said there were some rude elevator manners being displayed by a few folks. Casino ticked me off. Couldn't figure out how to use the cruise card and was finally aided by a crew mwmber to enable myself to use my card . Then learned there was a 3% fee to use the card. WHAT??? No thanks. So I did not donate any monies to the casino this trip! It's a shame because there was a 2 cent slot calling to me. MUTS was fun and different. Watched a movie one evening. I had promised DH that he could watch Monday Night Football on MUTS but they played football on Sunday night. Rumor had it the Omar the cruise director's team was playing Sunday night so they had it on the MUTS Sunday night.

 

The adult pool on the terrace aft was small. It is a terrace and not easy to manage due to all the stairs if you have knee and hip problems. The adult pool forward is just below Serinity! It's the pool you can swin and/or exercise against the current. There are about 20 lounge chairs around the pool in the shade and cement stair seating at the base of the pool thats in the sun. There were 2 hot tubs but one was empty thru out the cruise. You need to use the Spa enterance to get to it. Keep it a secret! Very quiet. Yes, many were napping and reading!

 

Serenity is now 10 dollars a half day. No reservations. I went at 11 A.M. on Friday the only at sea day. They told me the folks who booked all day may fill the space up so I booked all day. A very nice luxury! I usually can not get comfortable in a lounge chair but these beds were extra cushions. They also had cushioned chairs and double lounge chairs. Fluffy thick towells were provided. We were also given ice water and a wet cold towel. Most of the space was out of the sun but they had space on each side in the sun for at least dozen lounges. They would get food for you based on a limited menu for 3 dollars. I got chips and salsa and a turkey roll sandwhich. I would not leave my quiet respite. It was a wonderful treat for me.

 

Bar service from your lounge chairs was a major problem for me. I was in a lounge chair for 3 hrs. at the middle pool. I could never get anyone's attention to order a drink. When we went to Muts I requested a ice water. The waiter never came back and avoided us while waiting on people all around us. I did ask nicely and tend to tip too much-DH is in the sevice business so I know how hard they work. By the way the pop corn at MUTS is very sad-tasteless.

 

My bed is calling me...more to come

OC PAt

[OC PAT]

Motion was a minimum on our cruise. When we were aft in the dinning room we felt some mild shaking once in a while. The gentle motion of the ship made it difficult not to fall asleep. My DH averaged 2 naps a day and we were usually asleep by 11 P.M.!

 

We sailed off to a fun party on top deck around the pool. Several of our cruise critic friends were with us. The cruise social staff are young and filled with fantastic energy and drive. Boy, can they dance and move! We went thru a slew of songs to dance and they passed out raffle tickets. At the end they called the numbers and you could win a prize. I am limited physically so I just sat near them, pool side and shaked and moved with them, had many tickets. Now if you have many, have someone in your group put them in order because when they call your numbers they do not waste any time. I won a dinner at SAbatina's. Oh happy night!

 

Dinner at Horizon on our first evening had lobster claws, shrimp and smoked salmon. It didn't taste salty but I am use to steamed Marland Blue crabs. I was very thirsty after eating.

 

We went to the resturant Wed. night after a great day in Bonaire. Wrong night because they had crab legs in the dinning room. Our table mates said that they were generous with the servings. Our dinning experience was very good. You pick your main course-grilled lobster for me and shrimp for my DH. Then they serve 8 courses of appet. including hot and cold-small servings. Bread was good. We had a window table that overlooked a water fountain. Food and service was very good. They somehow charged us for the dinner even though we presented a certificate (that DH had to walk back to get!) When we called them, they said it was the waiters fault. Right!

 

Our TA treated us with the Champayne (sp.?) Breakfast. We had it Wed. morning which was great because we didn't get into port until 12. I had them change the Quiche Lorainne to a cheese omlet since DH does not eat Quiche. Lots of pastry comes with the meal. It was very nice and romantic.

 

We did not have to tender into any ports. Getting off was easy and returning was not difficult. The virus hit and we were provided with the lotion as we returned from our ports. We also had the lotion for each resturant and as the virus climbed salt and pepper were removed, major cleaning took place and servers dished out your buffet food.

 

St. Thomas-we rented a jeep and drove off to Red Hook Ferry to go to St. John with cruise critic buddies Terri and Tom. Terri is a small cute package but Tom is cute but with long legs that do not belong in the back of a jeep rangler. He was a real champ in putting up with it. We had to pay a couple bucks to just enter the ferry lot. You will back up onto the ferry. We learned 2 ferry's were out of service, we would have to wait at least 40 minutes and we would have to be an hour early in St. John. Not a good idea so we left and hit Coki Beach. Had a great time! It rained briefly-no problem. Stopped at K-Mart to booze shopping -disappointed. Selection was poor. Went to downtown as the shops were closing at 2 PM because it was Sunday. Did get in a little shopping. Rained a lot harder in Charlotte Amalie. Good day with Terri and Tom!

 

St. Kitts-we booked this thru the ship. -the train. Expensive but good value in the long run-$99. a person. They pick you up by bus. The driver talks the whole way -10 minutes about what you are seeing until you board the train. The car you are in is comfortable and air condition. You can also climb the narrow winding steps to the top and sit up there. It was covered and had gentle breezes. With my knees and hips I feared the steps and stayed downstairs. DH went up and down. What a interesting and fun tour. If you like fast pace and adventure-do not book. If you like fantastic beautiful vistas with education this is your tour. Our train did break down but the mechanic came and fixed it and we were back on our way in 15 min. We drove thru sugar fields, jungle and along the coast line. Saw lots of goats and cows. The tour guide spoke easily and understandable. She visited all 3 cars to answer questions. We were provided with water, soda and some rum drinks. Young women sang songs over the intercom and visited each car. Service was outstanding but no tips were ever expected or asked for. All they asked is if you enjoyed your stay to tell others. When you end your train tour you then board the bus for another 30 minutes with a continued narritive. Very interesting. The island is very lush and mountainous. Our table mates did the the bike mountain tour. Demanding but very enjoyable. Well have chores and calls. Back later.

OC Pat

[nikita]

I'm loving your review! You touched on things that haven't been mentioned in other reviews (such as no tissues in room, how to get to current pool etc) Thanks so much and looking forward to more!

[Califonria cruiser]

Sounds like a wonderful time. I'm getting more excited.

 

The sailaway party with raffle tickets sounds good, first I've heard of it.

 

Jenn

[barbarah33]

What an honest and wonderfully detailed review - thank you!

[TinaLee]

I'm enjoying your review very much, but I'm sorry you had a miscommunication regarding using your card in the casino. You definitely don't "have to" use a cash advance to play the machines - you can just insert your money and play away. If you want to "save" your winnings to your card, you can do that, or you can cash out just like the old days. You could have played that talking machine as much as you liked! :)

[2boyzmom]

Thanks for the review. Who did you rent the jeep from and how did that work since you were at Crown Bay? Did the rental agency pick you up?

How did you like Princess compared to other cruise lines?

[sunprincess]

OC Pat,

 

Welcome home. Glad to hear you enjoyed your Crown cruise.

I too am recently back from the Crown.

 

While the actual bedroom does not have a box of tissues, they are in the bathroom. Have always had spare boxes under the sink too, so if you wanted to place a box next to the bed you could.

Did your bathroom not have tissues??

[OC PAT]

Sun Princess-no tissues in the bathroom either. DH searched high and low!

 

TinaLee-you mean to say those slots took real cash! Darn...

 

2Boyzmom-I believe the car rental place was call Airport Car Rental-will check with DH. It was 5 minutes from The Crown Bay Pier. They do have an email address. I'll have to look for it, for you. They did pick us up.

 

Sorry for the delay in my responses. I had to go back to work today and got stuck in an hour and half traffic nightmare at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. Drove in wind and rain for 4 hrs. and to think last Wednesday I was having the best time snorkeling.

 

Bonaire-ATTENTION SNORKELERS AND SCUBA FANS-this is your island. We shared a cab with two couples from our cruise critic crowd-paid 5 dollars a couple to travel 2 miles south of the ship past Divi Beach to Plaza Hotel Beach and Pool. You could walk but it's a roadside walk and hot. You could go to Klein Beach thru the ship's tours for $25.00 I think. You have to take a ferry to this island that has minimal shade, no chairs nor bathroom. You could go to Divi Beach but their beach isn't as nice. Or you could leave the ship at 12 on the ship's tour pay $99.00 to eat,swim and snorkel at the Plaza. We paid 10 dollars a person to use the beach with chairs, their pool and their bathroom. No problem getting a cab back even though the gal had said it might be an hour wait-no wait they were waiting for us! Get there quick because others have found this place so you want to get a good seat. The snorkeling was fantastic! Reefs were close to the shore as well as much further out. We saw at least 10 species of fish and 5 different coral types. The current was minimal. Bring your watershoes because the shore is very rocky and tough to walk. Dh went out far to get a good picture of the ship and as he was snorkeling he spotted large mammals swimming below him...man and woman scuba diving. LOL.. scared him at first glance. Talking to folks who went to Klein-they also had an excellent experience and saw turtles. But they didn't have shade, a chair,a pool nor a potty! One could also purchase drinks, food, ice crean and rent limited number of snorkeling gear for 10 dollars. You can go just about anywhere for a positive snorkeling experience. Ok shoppers-this is not your place to go wild. Some shops to the left of the ship but nothing to droll about. If you are limited in your mobility the shops make it tough because many have a couple of steps to climb and no railings. This was indeed the best snorkeling we have ever experienced and many agreed with us.

 

Aruba-averages 20 inches of rain in a year and I believe we saw 10 inches. The streets and roads were flooded. The ship cancelled all their tours. Many of the cruise critic gang had booked privately a Jolly Roger sail and snorkel. Even though the morning was horrid they still went on the tour and the afternoon gave away to a great experience for them. We were going to go to Renaisance Island but DH was concerned that we would be stuck there in another storm. We had told a couple we had breakfast with about the island. They went and had a blast. We've been there before and I recommend it, highly. You walk 3 blocks to the right of the ship to the renaisance hotel and go to the lobby desk and ask for a day pass-$50 per person. You catch their boat in the lobby to the island. You get lunch, 1 drink and use of their toys and chairs. It is just how you's imagined a tropical island should look. Oh we went shopping instead and saw the Aruba movie at the renaisance for 10 dollars. Don't waste your money to watch this commercial unless you are desperate for an air condition seat. Then again just go in the casino and blow 10 dollars.

 

San Juan-we stayed at Hotel Miramar-precruise. It's an older property, nothing fancy, adquate for our needs and near a grocery store. Purchased our soda for the trip and PR Coffee for gifts. Post cruise we stayed at the Cribe Hilton. Wow-loved the pool, palm trees and overlook of the sea. They held our luggage before we could get in our room and after we checked out. They have a change room off the lobby so you can put your suit on while waiting for your room and they have a locker room off the pool to shower and change after you've checked out.

 

As I said in the beginning we enjoyed our vacation very much and did not let the small things get to us. Having said that we feel that when comparing the service, food and layout of the ship we will not make an extra effort to go on Princess, again. The ship was very pretty, the adult pools a plus and the islands were super it just didn't wow me like previous cruises. I will be interested in how I will feel next year because we will be going on RCCL' S AOS big ship. Maybe the wow factor is lesser the bigger the ships get.

 

Feel free to ask questions.

 

OC Pat

[Lily14]

Hi OC Pat!

 

Glad to hear you got back home safe and sound. We came back to nasty weather, too. I really enjoyed your review...I'm still working mine but hope to post it this weekend.

 

Hope you had a good Thanksgiving!

 

Susan

[EviesCruisin]

Glad to hear you enjoyed your cabin. My Grandma and Aunt are booked in the same one for our cruise in a couple of weeks :-)

[willysgrandma]

How was your disembarkation? ANy delays?

[OC PAT]

Granada-We booked with our curise critic pals with Mandoo. We had 2 buses so Mandoo enlisted his brother to be the guide for the second bus. We were not tendered as advertised. Good thing because our time was too short. We paid 40 dollars a person for the tour. We went to the Annabell WaterFalls, the mountain crater and the spice plantation. The tour really does go into the country side. Saw lots of bannana trees, nutmeg trees and neat vista's. The spice house is over 100 yrs. old and looks it! This tour was interesting but not an Aplus adventure. We were on Mandoo's brother's bus and the mike went out and was replaced. Mandoo moves fast and didn't wait for all the folks to get to his talks we we stopped. He was on a limited time so it was understable. Being of limited mobility I missed most of what he had to say. Purchased some great spices and really enoyed the scenery. His tour usually includes a stop at the beach but that had to be cut out due to time. He did drop off 5 dollars off his usual 45 dollar fee.

 

Willy's grandma-We didn't get off the ship until 1:30 P.M.-We were purple 2. It appears to be an immigration problem that Princess hasn't figured out how to manage. It seemed to be a very long wait when I knew I had a tropical beach waiting for me! One thing that really ticked me off.... I received a call from the Purser's office on departure morning. Apparently the sanctuary didn't get their charge on my bill and wanted me to come to the desk to handle. When I went there there was a long line so we went to eat breakfast. After eating we came out and the line was even longer. After standing in line for 45 minutes the non-smiling staff person said yes, I explained that I had been in line for 45 minutes to pay a bill that forgot to charge, she responded with a blank stare so I said and I do not even get an apology! She then eeked out I am sorry and that was it. What a sour note to end my cruise with, waiting to get off and forced to stand in line to pay 20 dollars due to their mistake! But things will happen and I refuse to let this ruin my overall view of a great cruise.

 

Hey Susan, glad to hear you had a safe trip home. The weather was a bummer. They are replinshing our beach and almost lost some of their equipment to the storm... The waves were going into our dunes! Happy Thankgiving to you and Steve.

 

Evies crusin-the cabin was very nice. Tell them to bring tissues.

OC PAT

[Cruisin' Grandma]

I'm loving your review! You touched on things that haven't been mentioned in other reviews (such as no tissues in room, how to get to current pool etc) Thanks so much and looking forward to more!

 

Wasn't there a tissue dispenser in the bathroom?

 

Lola in Hamilton

[OC PAT]

If there was we didn't see it. An earlier response from sunprincess said there suppose to be a dispenser in the bathroom. Darn if we saw it. I was thinking maybe because it's a handicap bathroom and with a totally different design they left it out for space??? or we are just plain blind. The showere was designed for a wheel chair and has a bench to pull down and sit on. Make sure they figure out how to work the pressure and water temperature before they shower. I really had a tough time with getting the hot water. DH let me know it was my problem not the shower's.

 

Sliding door to balcony- when you try to open the door do not push the handle down unless you want the safety guard from the floor to come up. Just keep the handle horizonal and slide open. From our balcony we could see down 3 balconies. Our's was covered and no one could ss down ours.

 

By the way the cabin is on the 11th deck, foward port side. There's elevators right there.

OC PAT

[Cruisin' Grandma]

If there was we didn't see it. An earlier response from sunprincess said there suppose to be a dispenser in the bathroom. Darn if we saw it. I was thinking maybe because it's a handicap bathroom and with a totally different design they left it out for space??? or we are just plain blind. The showere was designed for a wheel chair and has a bench to pull down and sit on. Make sure they figure out how to work the pressure and water temperature before they shower. I really had a tough time with getting the hot water. DH let me know it was my problem not the shower's.

 

Sliding door to balcony- when you try to open the door do not push the handle down unless you want the safety guard from the floor to come up. Just keep the handle horizonal and slide open. From our balcony we could see down 3 balconies. Our's was covered and no one could ss down ours.

 

By the way the cabin is on the 11th deck, foward port side. There's elevators right there.

OC PAT[/quote

 

The tissue dispenser is usually built into the vanity, right on the front.

 

Lola in Hamilton

[Coolmama_1]

Great review! Sounds like you had a good time. Thanks for sharing.

[willysgrandma]

Willy's grandma-We didn't get off the ship until 1:30 P.M.-We were purple 2. It appears to be an immigration problem that Princess hasn't figured out how to manage. It seemed to be a very long wait when I knew I had a tropical beach waiting for me! One thing that really ticked me off.... I received a call from the Purser's office on departure morning. Apparently the sanctuary didn't get their charge on my bill and wanted me to come to the desk to handle. When I went there there was a long line so we went to eat breakfast. After eating we came out and the line was even longer. After standing in line for 45 minutes the non-smiling staff person said yes, I explained that I had been in line for 45 minutes to pay a bill that forgot to charge, she responded with a blank stare so I said and I do not even get an apology! She then eeked out I am sorry and that was it. What a sour note to end my cruise with, waiting to get off and forced to stand in line to pay 20 dollars due to their mistake! But things will happen and I refuse to let this ruin my overall view of a great cruise.

 

Did you by any chance note if embarking passengers were also prevented from getting on the ship due to the possible problem with disembarkation of your cruise?

 

I had a theory that there might possibly be a problem with re-enty into San Juan with the ship coming from Aruba on this itinerary, rather then the ship coming from a U.S. posession (St. Thomas). Apparently, when we were on the Nov. 4 cruise, the ship was not coming from a U.S. posession. Wonder if that is what is causing the immigration delays.

[Colo Cruiser]

Did you by any chance note if embarking passengers were also prevented from getting on the ship due to the possible problem with disembarkation of your cruise?

 

I had a theory that there might possibly be a problem with re-enty into San Juan with the ship coming from Aruba on this itinerary, rather then the ship coming from a U.S. posession (St. Thomas). Apparently, when we were on the Nov. 4 cruise, the ship was not coming from a U.S. posession. Wonder if that is what is causing the immigration delays.

 

 

What difference does it make now? I think you have made your point over and over how disappointed you were with a number of things on your Crown cruise. :eek:

 

Let it go. :(

[jo-v]

Was there anything different about the ship's excursion for $99 from the $25 plus cab fare you guys paid? Same resort?

Sounds like you had a great time! Thanks for sharing.

[willysgrandma]

What difference does it make now? I think you have made your point over and over how disappointed you were with a number of things on your Crown cruise. :eek:

 

Let it go. :(

 

What difference does it make? My husband is a travel agent and if he is booking flights for his clients, he needs to know if this disembarkation is still a problem when determining what time the return flights should be.

 

We were NOT disappointed with the cruise - in fact, we plan on rebooking for the other itinerary. We pointed out the pluses and minuses, as a responsible review would do.

[Colo Cruiser]

What difference does it make? My husband is a travel agent and if he is booking flights for his clients, he needs to know if this disembarkation is still a problem when determining what time the return flights should be.

 

We were NOT disappointed with the cruise - in fact, we plan on rebooking for the other itinerary. We pointed out the pluses and minuses, as a responsible review would do.

 

 

As you have stated in numerous posts as well.

 

Basing the return flight on a possible bad disembarkation is not nesessary if you give yourself plenty of time for possible delay's.

 

Maybe your husband needs to do some research himself if it is that important. Instead of getting the info second and third hand. :rolleyes:

[PRINCESS MAR]

OC PAT

Enjoyed your review of the Crown Princess.

 

I see that you are from Ocean City Md, our summer vacation spot for many, many (too many to remember) years. We have actually been staying in Fenwick, and visit Labor Day week.

 

My parents took our family to Assateague, my husband and I took our 3 children, and now we go with our 2 grandchildren. We no longer stay at the state park, but in a lovely condominium. We are in the process of planning next years vacation.

 

Enjoy some fresh sea air for me!!!!!

 

Happy sailing,

Mary Jo

[OC PAT]

Jo-v-The folks who paid 99 dollars a person got lunch. I believe chicken. We talked to a few of them and they said the meal was not bad but were dissapointed with the tour when they saw they could have done the samething we did. Plus we didn't get off the ship until after 12 and had to be back by 5-so it wasn't like we were missing any meals.

 

Mary Jo- I too vacationed in OC every 3rd week in August with my parents and 4 sibblings thru out my childhood. Met my DH in OC 30 yrs. ago Moved here fulltime in 1999 and we love it. We live in a one bedroom condo on the ocean across from Jolly Rogers. Ed, my DH, is the bar manager at the Dunes Manor on 28th St. Next time you are in town stop in and say hello!

 

Willy'sgrandma-it looks like if ends in St Thomas before the port the immigration details are handled more efficently there than when St. Thomas is the first stop. No one was boarding the ship until we were off. I know when we got off there were many still waiting to get off. In all fairness we were the 1st cruise for the Crown Princess with this itinary and they most likely will get their problems resolved. The other cruise, that there was a major delay was the repositioning cruise, right? It looks like the group that got on after us did not have as long of a delay.

 

Just a note I've been researching AOS reviews and some of the problems encountered on the Crown popped up in the AOS reviews.

 

Eviescrusin-just so I know if I'm blind ask your family members to check and see if there our tissues in the vaniety! I know it's a silly thing but it has me going...

 

Cool Mamma 1-thank you.

 

OC PAT