Bermuda

[tigerkiss]

Hello all,

My very first cruise was this past June on the Dawn and this board was the best at giving helpful advice and info so I am turning to you once again for info on Bermuda. I am dying, just dying to get on another cruise. My oldest graduates HS in June and hubby said we really should wait till 2006. Welll I told him he can wait till 2006 I need to go NOW!!! LOL But anyway I loved the Dawn, It was just the best vacation we ever had. Ok so now I am looking at Bermuda and see the Crown goes there. Is a tad small... But is it a nice ship? It seems to look nice from the pictures. So if anyone out there has been on the Crown to Bermuda I could use some info about the ship and even about Bermuda. I hear its beautiful which I am sure it is but anything anyone can add will be great.

 

Thanks

Linda

[newcruiser99]

i took celebrity horizon out of ny two summers ago to bermuda. the ship was great and bermuda was awesome.

 

i have never been on ncl, but we are booked for 2-20-05 on the dawn for the school vacation week. we have heard so many great things about the dawn and ncl and we are really looking forward to going. leaving from nyc in the winter should be interesting, but hey.... no air fare.

[sbcs5390]

Thinking about Dawn 3/27 or QM2 3/25 out of NYC... but a mini on the DAwn is less than an inside on the QM2, so we'll have to see about that. I've only been on NCL's smaller ships.

 

From what I've heard, the Majesty is great. People say it's like stepping aboard a small yacht. The Crown is similar to the Majesty in size, I believe.

 

We almost got to go on the Crown, in addition to the Wind this summer. It would have just been me and my mom. Sadly, it fell through. The problem was that I was having a bad bout with my Asthma, and my Mom didn't want to be without my Dad. He wouldn't have been able to go because he was using all his vacation time on our Wind vacation in August.

 

Maybe the opportunity will present again. I certainly hope so. :)

 

-Brian

[socoblue]

I've also been on the Dawn, and recently sailed on the Crown to Bermuda,

The Crown is a bit old and is showimg its age especially on its outter decks. At first we compared it to the Dawn and were somewhat disappointed. But, let me tell you it grew on us, and it turned out to be as good or better than the Dawn. We loved the cruise itself, cos' you get to spend three whole days in Bermuda, and it was wonderful, much more enjoyable than the ports we made on the Dawn. They were too short a stay, and they really didn't measure up to Bermuda. The cabin on the Dawn was beautiful but so was the one on the Crown, the service was the same, so was the food, both were very good. The shows on the Dawn were better, partly because the theatre on it was bigger. Still overall we enjoyed our cruise on the Crown much more, in fact we're seriously considering doing it again.

PS the motion on the Crown seemed to bother some, but not us!

[sbcs5390]

I know. I loved that about my Bermuda cruise... the sea days around a great time in Bermuda, and no rush-rush-rush ports-ports-ports to cause stress.

 

Who was your CD. Was it Soozy Atkins?

 

-Brian

[socoblue]

One thing I forgot to mention was that the cabin on the Crown was a bit larger and afforded much more closet and drawer space to put your things.

Our CD were Simon (an Australian fellow) and Karl, and they were fun, especially Karl (Canadian).

[sbcs5390]

Oh. Soozy waz our CD on Wind, she had been on the Crown and we missed her by a month or two when we were on the Sea. She was a great CD.

 

Don't the cabins have Marble baths or something? What categories did you have?

 

-Brian

[socoblue]

We had a regular tub.Cat.CC 6044,Superior ocean view.Had a extra large window.Loved the cabin.Lots of light,very clean thanks to Maria.She was really great.Wish we were still there.

[sbcs5390]

a tub is something so rare these days, that makes the Crown so special!

 

-Brian

[Jodyflower]

I know this doesn't answer your question as I've never been on the Crown. We sailed on the Majesty in 9/03 - two weeks after Bermuda got slammed by that big hurricane last year. The Majesty was my very first cruise experience and I absolutely loved it even though I've been told it's a small ship. The crew is fabulous and the amenities on board were ample. Whichever ship you choose though will be great because it's a cruise!!!:)

[CaribBeantown]

Go for it Tigerkiss!

 

I've never been on the Crown but have cruised the Majesty to Bermuda many times. Just don't go expecting the Dawn, go expecting a whole different cruise experience, a different ship and port to explore, with plenty of time to do so! There is a lot to be said for the intimacy of a small ship.

[herb]

I can't help you much with your choice on ship to Bermuda since we sailed Celebrity out of NYC, but I can tell you that you will LOVE Bermuda. Compared to all the Caribbean islands we've been to Bermuda beats them all. It's very clean, very pretty, the Bermudans are very hospitable...no one hassles you. I'm sure you'll have a "bermudaful" time if you decide to go. Enjoy :)

[helend]

Hi -

 

just sailed the Crown to Bermuda the week of August 15th. Had a great time, very nice polite service staff and as others stated, plenty of time in Ports so you don't experience that "Rush/Rush" feeling. It is a small ship, with not as many amenities as some of the big ships, but our crowd of 12 friends, of various ages, (5 yrs-45 yrs), all had a great time.. most of us actually liked the feel of a smaller ship as we were always able to "catch up" with each other. And as another cruiser stated, there are plenty of draw and closet spaces in the cabins. Bermuda is also pretty! You won't be disappointed...We love going out of NYC. also.

 

Happy Cruising From Helen D.

[smeyer418]

Hi Guys as you know I have posted alot on NCL and took 4 NCL trips(this year) but we took the empress of the seas(RCCI) to Bermuda this week and please don't flame me but they were very comparable. I still love freestykle and no dress up but if shop price and where the ships stay in Bermuda. Also RCCI's shores excursions were much cheaper.(example the helmet dive on NCL was $95.00 and $54.00 on RCCI). I didn't like stayng most of the time at the Dockyards so if price is comparable and you stay more time in St George and Hamilton do that instead...

[sbcs5390]

The prices between RCCI and NCL are close?

 

-Brian

[smeyer418]

For this sailing RCCI was less expensive...at the time we booked by far....

[basketballmom]

We recently sailed the Majesty to Bermuda (our second time). The Crown is smaller than the Majesty but one poster here got it right, it's like stepping on an oversized yacht. Better hurry and book because I know the Majesty is leaving at the end of 2006 and heard the Crown is leaving soon too. Too bad because the smaller ships are so much nicer. You don't get lost as much!

[sbcs5390]

I didn't like the Sea too much, but loved the Wind. We may be looking at the end of next June for the Crown...

 

-Brian

[tigerkiss]

Thanks to all who gave me their opinion. I am still up in the air about which ship to take. I probably wont book until Dec so I have a few months to reserach and decide. I really want to do Bermuda though.

 

See with NCL I loved the freestyle. I loved that I could go to dinner each night in capris and not feel under dressed. We did wear suits and dresses for the captains night but I longed for my capris..LOL I just rather be confy then impressive. The food on the Dawn was good. The service was great. So I would deffinalty consider another NCL ship. But I worry about the smaller ship as far as sickness goes. On the Dawn I took a bonnie every morning and didnt get sick at all untill Sat at NC the ship was a rocking. But the wonderful waiter gave me a plate of sliced apples and with in 10 mins of eating them I felt great. They say something in the apples calms the sickness feeling. As far as cabins go dont care. We booked a inside K and got a II when we boarded. The room was fine for the two of us and we were never in it. But I did notice the crown didnt have any balconys..Why??

 

Linda

[sbcs5390]

Most older ships don't have balconies. If you take the Crown out of NYC, it has a limited number of balconys, in the 2 highest accomidations, just under 20 in total.

 

The Celebrity Zenith or Horizon has just one, for instance, that was recently added. Most ships up to 40,000GRT or so have no or a limited number of balconys. The crown is actually a smaller ship, but it was for a very classy cruise line, so that would explain why it was licky enough to have just a few baclonys.

 

I've never taken Bonine/wrist bands/ear patches, anything, and I took my first cruise at 8 or 9, I'm 14 now, and have never had problems. You can see the ships I've been

on in my signature.

 

I can tell you that the Sea, Zenith, and Wind were small-ish ships, not as small as the Majesty. There was some seasickness on the Wind by others, but that was just the Pacific.

 

I can't really give you a direct answer, there are some people who love huge ships, some don't. I like the feeling of a smaller ship where after a few days, it feels like home, not a metropolitan city like some ships. All I can say is my priorities are more on the Crown and Majesty than the Dawn and Jewel.

 

Hope I was able to help you out.

 

-Brian

[SailorsMate]

I've also been on the Dawn, and recently sailed on the Crown to Bermuda,

The Crown is a bit old and is showimg its age especially on its outter decks. At first we compared it to the Dawn and were somewhat disappointed. But, let me tell you it grew on us, and it turned out to be as good or better than the Dawn. We loved the cruise itself, cos' you get to spend three whole days in Bermuda, and it was wonderful, much more enjoyable than the ports we made on the Dawn. They were too short a stay, and they really didn't measure up to Bermuda. <snip>

Hi Socoblue-

We had the same experience- We had gone on the Dawn this past February- My husband had been awarded the trip as a business incentive, the itinerary was not to our liking. I also was almost glad to see the cruise end on the Dawn and sorry I had to leave the Crown yesterday-- You are spot on right when you say the reason it was so much more relaxed- Bermuda was wonderful and the fact you can come and go as you please is very nice. No worry about making it back to the ship on time--

[tigerkiss]

Wow 14 and your very knowledgeable about cruise ships. Thanks for the info on the balconys.

 

I also didnt like the ports of call for the dawn. We used to live in Orlando so that was no big deal. Miami another no big deal, bahamas been there done that..lol But we went because my sister wanted to go and my hubby and I really wanted to cruise so it didnt matter. But I enjoyed each minute of my cruise. The only thing was we were consitatly on the go...Off the ship then turn around and its time to get back on the ship.. So there wasnt that much time to enjoy things. So I think I will like the fact that Bermuda we can spend much more time enjoying the island..

If I am not mistaken the Crown is not that much smaller then the celebrity zenith. They are both like 600 plus feet long..Thats if my info is correct..The Dawn is like 900 plus.. Hey just less ship to get lost on..LOL

 

Linda

[sbcs5390]

You're right with the lengths. I believe the Crown tips the scale at about 34,000GRT, while the Zenith is about 42,000GRT, so they are very close.

 

Thanks for the compliment. :) The best way to learn is through experience... therefore to enrich our minds, we should take more cruises!

 

-Brian

[SeaTrailer]

We were on the July 25th sailing. We had a ball!

 

It is always difficult to compare ships especially a big ship like the Dawn to a smaller ship like the Crown. The Crown's size allows it to get into piers that larger ships cannot. This gives the cruise lines greater flexibility on where the ships can go. Being right on the main street in Hamilton was great!

 

The cabins were roomy and the food was fantastic. The pool area is very small (especially on sea days)

 

Bermuda was a wonderful place to visit. This was our first time and it is truely lovely.

 

I would have no hesitation going back on this cruise. I have posted a review you can read.

 

Hope this helps.

[TaGD]

i think the Crown is going to be doing the South America ports and if i remember , i think the announced that the Norwegian Star was going to be out of NYC. As far as being on the Crown, i thought i was going to be disappointed, because when i saw the Dawn in NYC across from the Crown, i was like look at the size of that ship. We originally booked the Dawn with another person, but they backed out, so we went with the Crown. I was not the least bit disappointed, they could use another pool, it was very crowded. I have my review written out, now i just have to type it in the computer. Tom