Crown Princess 3-29-08 Review

[minnesota pam]

First of all, contrary to what some have posted here:

you get an entire bottle of champagne when you book a mini suite

you can keep your cabin key cards at the end of the cruise

 

 

We stayed at the Normandie Hotel and found it very nice. Didn't have one of the complaints I've read about. Beds were great, bathrooms clean, service was wonderful. I would recommend this hotel for a stay before or after a cruise. We did walk to Old San Juan from the Normandie--very nice walk. Ate at Barachina--highly recommend as food was excellent and their pina colada's the best!!

 

We got to the pier around 1:00 and were checked in and to our rooms by 1:20.There were 3 of us (all adults). Very smooth. Had a mini suite on the Dolphin deck and was very happy with beds (also sofa bed). Ample closet space for all of us and plenty of room for bathroom items. I do suggest you bring a surge protector to plug in extra things such as chargers and hair curlers. Ship was beautiful. Never seemed crowded, even on the day at sea.

Did not care for the head cruise director, JJ, but loved his assistant and the other activity directors.

 

Food was good and lots of it. I do prefer the bigger selection of desserts on RCI though. International Cafe food was great. We bought a coffee card and each day got a coffee to take out at each port. I do miss the midnight buffets that other cruise lines do. I'm referring to the special ones such as the chocoholic buffet. I do think that NCL and RCI have better buffets though. We did anytime dining and almost always got a table for 3. If there was a wait, we shared a table and had lovely times with other passengers. Preferred Michelangelo over Da Vinci--thought staff was friendlier. Pizza was good--not as good as Grimaldi's in Brooklyn but way better than any delivery pizza. Burgers, hotdogs and fries good--my husband ate too many!

 

Service was great. Never felt they were pushing photo's, drinks, etc. on us.

Waiters always seemed to remember us and called us by name and asked where the other one's were if all 3 of us weren't together.

 

Princess Theatre dance/song productions were mediocre. They really should get a good choreographer and better dancers. NCL has the best "Broadway" style shows. Sarge was very, very good. Enjoyed the other entertainment in the other bars.

 

I wasn't sure if I would like MUTS as I've read where it was too loud or couldn't see very well during the day--both untrue. Even in the sunlight, you could watch with no problem and the sound seemed just right.

 

Activities such as the contests on theme nights or at the pool were fun and it seemed like everyone was enjoying themselves. (I was a gold medal winner in the pool games ;)) Enjoyed dancing in Skywalkers almost every night. The champagne waterfall was fun to watch. I thought it would be kind of corny but it wasn't at all. Took a tour of the galley and watched the cooking demonstration.

 

Ports: St. Thomas--did some jewelry shopping and then took the ferry to St. John's. Trunk Bay is beautiful and wasn't crowded at all.

St. Kitts--rented a car and traveled the entire island. Beautiful beaches, Brimstone Hill Fortress is a must if you like history--also great views.

Grenada--in port for such a short time. Bought spices and went to the waterfalls--again, beautiful. If you get a tour on your own, you can get them just inside the mall. Find the blue shirted guys--DON'T take their first offer of a price for a tour--you CAN get them to lower their price!

Bonaire--rented a car and toured the island. Amazing beaches where there wasn't sand but washed up coral--lots and lots!! Salt, salt and more salt. Slave huts were interesting. Lots of kite surfers--fun! Got lots of pictures of the flamingos--some were very close to the road side.

Aruba--rented car and traveled the island. Found out that Natural Bridge had collapsed in 2005. Thankfully, we saw it 10 years ago. Go see the caves. There are ancient drawings as old as 1000 years old. Swam in Baby Beach and had local beer. Can't get much better than this!

 

Disembarkment: We had a 4:30 flight so our time to get off the ship was 9:15 but didn't get called until 10:15ish. I feel NCL has a better disembarkment procedure than this as, even though you have a set time to get off, you do not have to wait in a public area; you get to stay in your cabin, if you like, until they call your "color".

 

Overall, it was a wonderful cruise, really didn't have any complaints. I liked the way you weren't pressured into buying pictures or drinks. I do prefer RCI to Princess as I feel RCI just makes a little bit more effort in pleasing you and they just have a few more "extra touches". Just my opinion. I will sail Princess again if the price is right and the itinerary is what I'm looking for. The staff on board were really great and friendly. Our cabin steward, Jack, always greeted us by name and wished us "fun" whenever going ashore. He fulfilled our every request with a smile.

 

We had planned on doing so much more on ship such as having Sushi in Vines, doing the golf, etc. but didn't have enough time to do it all. You can either relax or fill your time with all sorts of activities--just not enough time to do it all. We were going almost every minute so now I really need a vacation from vacation.

[custompcsys]

Read your review with great interest since I will be sailing on the Crown at the end of June. Thanks for posting, and glad you had a good time! :)

[bauermj]

very nice review! thanks

[dforeigner]

First of all, contrary to what some have posted here:

you get an entire bottle of champagne when you book a mini suite

you can keep your cabin key cards at the end of the cruise

 

Thank you for taking time to write a review. Contrary to what you experienced, the norm is a glass of champagne not a full bottle. Consider yourself lucky. As to keeping your key cards, it depends on what is going on with the port of the on board tracking system.

[Familycruzer11]

Thanks for the review. I know exactly what you mean about not being able to do it all - that is why we go back to the Crown next weekend and sushi in Vines is on the list this time!

[caribill]

 

 

Disembarkment: I feel NCL has a better disembarkment procedure than this as, even though you have a set time to get off, you do not have to wait in a public area; you get to stay in your cabin, if you like, until they call your "color".

 

Thanks for your report and glad that you enjoyed the cruise.

 

NCL may let you stay later, but do they let you in your cabin as soon as you board as Princess does?

 

One question: Was the dining room open for lunch the day you embarked or were you sent to the buffet instead?

[Toto2Kansas]

First of all, contrary to what some have posted here:

you get an entire bottle of champagne when you book a mini suite

 

Thanks for writing the review, and adding the pluses and minus was nice to read.

 

One thing though, do not count on a full bottle of champagne with each mini suite on every Princess ship. We have sailed in mini suites, probably a dozen since the new perks took effect, although never on the Crown yet, and to date, have never gotten a full bottle of champagne. We have had some room stewards ask if we would like a second glass, but even that is rare. Normally, it really is just two glasses. So, you got a lucky bonus. ;)

[johnjay]

Thank you for the review. I will be sailing on the Crown on April 19. Can't wait!!

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the review. :)

[minnesota pam]

Yes, NCL lets you in the rooms when you board. AND we've found our luggage in our cabin alot quicker than this Princess cruise.

 

I asked our room steward about the bottle of wine and he said that a full bottle of champagne is always given to the mini suits on the crown. Maybe a new thing.

 

Also, when asked when we last checked out of the ship with our key card, I asked if we had to turn them in, the person who was checking us out said that

everyone got to keep them and she didn't know what I was talking about when I explained what I had read on these threads about having to turn them in. Also, maybe a new policy.

 

In any rate, we had a great cruise and I consider the bottle of champagne and keeping the key cards a bonus. We are in the middle of a snow storm here and could get up to 16 inches of snow. Wish I were in St. Kitt's now.

[minnesota pam]

I forgot that during the muster drill attendance IS taken. Staff took our key cards and ran them through a little machine to verify attendance. I've read on these threads that attendance wasn't taken. I just couldn't believe that because there is some mariner law or something with strict regulations on the muster drills. No big deal. Everyone SHOULD go to these just in case there is an emergency of some kind. I sure wouldn't want someone who didn't go to the muster drills slow things up for the rest of the passengers.

[shark_bait]

We've never had to give back our room keys on any of the cruises we've been on either, nine of them, four different cruiselines.:confused:

[Colo Cruiser]

We've never had to give back our room keys on any of the cruises we've been on either, nine of them, four different cruiselines.:confused:

 

We have had ours taken on the Star Princess along with several other posters that have verified this. :)

[dlopez5011]

Thanks for the great review! We're going on the 26th of this month, and can't wait. A couple of questions.... How much were the car rentals on St. Kitts & Bonaire? Do you have to reserve ahead of time, or did they have some available when you got there? We have a jeep reserved for Aruba already, but were planning on doing taxis for the other islands. I'm guessing a car would be cheaper though.... Or maybe even scooters.

[ellbon]

been on the crown and never got a bottle.. wasted on me..

[BJS]

I forgot that during the muster drill attendance IS taken. Staff took our key cards and ran them through a little machine to verify attendance. I've read on these threads that attendance wasn't taken. I just couldn't believe that because there is some mariner law or something with strict regulations on the muster drills. No big deal. Everyone SHOULD go to these just in case there is an emergency of some kind. I sure wouldn't want someone who didn't go to the muster drills slow things up for the rest of the passengers.

 

Looks like there were many firsts on your cruise- (maybe this is just the way the Crown has elected to do things - we'll see in 25 days.)

 

21 Princess cruises and never did they take attendance or even ask to see our key cards at a muster drill. Princess during their announcements when at the drill have said they do not take a roll call but rather have implemented a system that identifys that everyone is there much faster (or some such words).

 

Never received more than a glass of champagne

 

They did keep our key cards on the Star Princess in December and also on one other cruise but don't remember which one.

 

.

[Solara]

When we were on the Crown in October, they took attendance at the muster drill....only time that ever happened....

[turquoisesea]

Yes, NCL lets you in the rooms when you board. AND we've found our luggage in our cabin alot quicker than this Princess cruise.

 

I asked our room steward about the bottle of wine and he said that a full bottle of champagne is always given to the mini suits on the crown. Maybe a new thing.

 

Also, when asked when we last checked out of the ship with our key card, I asked if we had to turn them in, the person who was checking us out said that

everyone got to keep them and she didn't know what I was talking about when I explained what I had read on these threads about having to turn them in. Also, maybe a new policy.

 

In any rate, we had a great cruise and I consider the bottle of champagne and keeping the key cards a bonus. We are in the middle of a snow storm here and could get up to 16 inches of snow. Wish I were in St. Kitt's now.

 

Hi Pam - Yes, I was surprised, too, that we got to keep our cards last week. The luggage delay might be a cabin location thing. Ours came up early, but then we were on board early. I did notice the difficult way the luggage was loaded on the ship. Did you? It went from the curb to a truck and then the truck drove it down to the ship. In FLL and Miami the luggage went right into large crates and were loaded immediately on the ship. So the delay could have been a pier 4 problem.

[turquoisesea]

I forgot that during the muster drill attendance IS taken. Staff took our key cards and ran them through a little machine to verify attendance. I've read on these threads that attendance wasn't taken. I just couldn't believe that because there is some mariner law or something with strict regulations on the muster drills. No big deal. Everyone SHOULD go to these just in case there is an emergency of some kind. I sure wouldn't want someone who didn't go to the muster drills slow things up for the rest of the passengers.

 

Hi Pam - Where was your muster station? We were in the Wheelhouse Lounge and they did not take attendance last week. We arrived at about 8:05 and the room was beginning to fill up and there were ship's people at the door, but no one swiped our cards. The guy on the mike actually said "We don't need to take attendance. We have a special way of checking if you attend." We all wondered what that was??? A cabin check...just like at camp????:D

[minnesota pam]

dlopez 5011:

The cost of the cars averaged $40-45 and we didn't book in advance. I was thinking of doing this as you can get better rates on line but when we took a Hawaii cruise our itinerary got changed and had to find a phone fast to unreserve cars. The rental places are close to the ship and seemed to have plenty of cars. Jeeps cost more but we wanted a car with a trunk to lock our stuff up.

 

Turqoisesea: Our muster station was in the Princess Theatre and people came around with a small hand help machine and swiped everyones card. Odd that they don't do that at every muster station.

[Toto2Kansas]

We've never had to give back our room keys on any of the cruises we've been on either, nine of them, four different cruiselines.:confused:

 

21 cruises on Princess and have had our key cards taken upon disembarkation 3 times now. The last time was on the Star in December when our cruise ended in Rome. One other time was on the Caribbean Princess in the Caribbean. The third time, I can't remember, but I know it happened as my cache of cards is minus three right now.

[rdsqrl]

They were confiscating cruise cards on the Dawn last month, too.

When I sailed on the Crown last year, my muster station was Club Fusion, and they did have the handheld machines and swiped everyone's card. At the time, the officer in charge of the station said it was a brand-new system and it was being tested only on the Crown. I guess they're still testing. . . seems like a good idea, though, if it'll get everybody to attend the drill as they're supposed to.