"LIVE" from the Crown Princess 28 days from Copenhagen to Ft. Lauderdale

[DonahCBrown]

[quote name='Kiwi Kruzer']Welcome Home Pia,

Thanks for the great reports and for taking us along for the ride.Think I'll have to book another cruise...
I still haven't won a luggage label yet.

[IMG]http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll281/kiwikruzer/crownhome.png[/IMG]
Nearly home...............[/quote]


email me your address and I'll send you one - I've played a lot of trivia with Pia....

[LovetheSea]

[quote name='Pia1913']Nope. No laundry. We are Elite and Princess does our laundry for us. Hard to cruise with anyone else when you have a perk like this.

Have a great cruise. We loved the ship and the staff. Still..........good to be home.

Pia[/QUOTE]

Man! I wish we were Elite. We are Elite on Celebrity Cruise Lines and they don't do this :(

[envy4u]

[quote name='Toto2Kansas']Pia, Two words, TAKE OUT! ;)

I can say that in one word....RESERVATIONS !.....;)

Welcome back :)

[ILuvCruisin']

Welcome home!!!

Thanks for taking the time to give us the live posts and for hanging in even when the internet was giving you problems...I really enjoyed it...

hopefully I will run across your next one...

Wow..no laundry when you get home is a great PERK!!!! Hear that RCCL!!!!

[ILuvCruisin']

[quote name='Pia1913']
Re: 75% off: hahahahahaha.........get the message? We bought zero/nada/zilch/nothing. There was less stuff this cruise than on the 10 day. Everything in the stores is already caribbean logo. They are ready!

Pia[/quote]

got it!!! thanks for the response...

[Pia1913]

Back to the real world. Taking a break from opening more than a month's worth of mail. What a job! UGH! Not many bills though, since I pay them on line and did so from the ship.

 

Reservations, you say...Envy? Ha! Where I eat they don't take reservations. :D (Wendy's, Applebees, Duffy's, etc. )

 

As for perks, that's why Princess gets more repeaters than any other line; their Loyalty program. I'm Platinum with RCI too; big deal!

 

Donna....sending David a tag is too easy. I want them to cruise with us again. You hear that, Kiwi? :)

 

Ok........back to the grind.

 

Pia

[Julia’s Journey’s]

Nope. No laundry. We are Elite and Princess does our laundry for us. Hard to cruise with anyone else when you have a perk like this.

 

Have a great cruise. We loved the ship and the staff. Still..........good to be home.

 

Pia

 

I cannot wait for that perk - or I should say DH cannot as he usually does our laundry before we pack so I don't have to deal with it at home - as long as he is onboard he doesn't mind doing it:D

[Julia’s Journey’s]

Pia, Two words, TAKE OUT! ;)

Glad to hear you had a great cruise, and thanks for the live feed! (pun intented). ;)

 

I have one word - reservations:D :rolleyes:

[Julia’s Journey’s]

Pia, Two words, TAKE OUT! ;)

 

I can say that in one word....RESERVATIONS !.....;)

 

Welcome back :)

 

Great minds think alike:D

[Pia1913]

I cannot wait for that perk - or I should say DH cannot as he usually does our laundry before we pack so I don't have to deal with it at home - as long as he is onboard he doesn't mind doing it:D

 

 

Yours does laundry; mine packs. Can't ask for everything. :) I just counted your cruise days Julia; you'll have 79 after the double Ruby. You need a few long ones and then.......ELITE! :D

[Julia’s Journey’s]

Yours does laundry; mine packs. Can't ask for everything. :) I just counted your cruise days Julia; you'll have 79 after the double Ruby. You need a few long ones and then.......ELITE! :D

 

Mine packs too - I may not like the way he does it but it sure beats me doing it :D

 

If they would just accept all my DCL and CCL days we would be there:D

[caribill]

Cathy; From what I understand from Pia, the elevator problem is the aft elevators. You can take the mid-ship elevators and still get to dinning. Apparently lots of people take the aft elevators because it lets them out right a Horizion Court!

 

Pia was the gym closed because of the weather?

 

 

 

Elevators -- only problem was that with two elevators aft not working, the other two had to be used by all the people. It just meant a longer wait and more crowded elevators. Could still go from 6 to Skywalkers.

 

Gym- Closed because on the night of rocking and rolling, some ceiling tiles fell down. It opened again a day later.

[caribill]

Hi:

 

I just received the 2009-2010 Cruise Atlas from Princess; and I was looking for this 28 day cruise for either 2009 or 2010, and I didn't see it.

 

Does anyone know if this same itinerary is offered after this year?

 

Thanks.....Happy Cruising....Sparkle 10 (Anita)

 

 

Emerald Princess

10 Day Baltic starting 9/13/09 (page 30)

18 Day T/A starting 9/23/09 (page 34)

[JWJs]

Hi Donna.....

 

.... I love minis, but only have them if the price is in the same ballpark as the balconies. Our friend had Emerald 631 (an outside) and they were very happy with it. And yes, it does come down to choice.

 

Pia

 

Hello again Pia. :) I'm so impressed...that you look for the best buy between a mini and a reg balcony; you go on a lot of cruises and it appears you stretch your cruise dollars in wise ways. Are you missing the Crown since you arrived home? I always have a major let down when our annual December cruise ends.

[caribill]

When the Crown Princess docked in NYC (actually Red Hook, Brooklyn) as just a port of call, the immigration process could have been handled much better.

 

The immigration folk determine the speed at which people get through immigration, but Princess controls what order the people disembark to go through the process. Much improvement is needed on the part controlled by Princess.

 

There were basically three categories of passengers for NYC.

1) Those on Princess excursions

2) Those who are doing their own excursions or who are meeting with family.

3) Those who really have no interest in leaving the ship or dock area. (Everyone must get off, go through immigration, and, if wanting to get back onto the ship, wait until 100% of the people have gone through immigration.)

 

Optimal methods to go through immigration:

a) Those with Princess excusions should have a meeting time that allows enough time to go through immigration before starting the tours.

b) Those doing their own thing should be able to request the time they need to disembark to meet their needs, much as is done for final disembarkcation (to account for airline flights, private pickup, etc.).

c) Those who wish to stay on or near the ship, should be assigned the latest possible times in order to minimize the time spent waiting in the terminal to get back onto the ship.

 

However, the method used by Princess:

Groups were assigned by cabin location, not by passenger needs.

Those on deck 15 were in group 1 (going through immigration 1st)

Those on deck 14 were in either group 2 (port side) or 3 (starboard)

etc, until those on deck 5 who were in about group 14 (last group).

 

In other words, if you were in group 1 and wanted to stay on board, you had to get off about 7:30 AM and wait about three hours in the "comfort" of the terminal before reboarding. If you were in group 14 and wanted to get an early start into the city, you had to wait until after 10 AM.

 

As for those on Princess tours, the normal meeting time of 15 minutes before the tour starting time was the time to meet.

 

What happened was:

Luckly people in group 1 who wanted an early start were able to do so. Unlucky people in group 1 who did not want to go sightseeing also had to get off about 7:30 AM.

 

After the first few groups went through immigration, it becane chaotic as people got backed up in the immigration process. Those on Princess tours were also affected, some taking over an hour to get through immigration with a resulting shortening of the actual tour to meet the end tour time.

 

For those who in the future have NYC as a port of call, if this same process (grouping by deck, not need) is used and you are in an early group and wanted a late one (or vice versa), my advice is to find someone in the group you want and trade the group coupons.

 

Also, it is easy to get into Manhatten by taking a cab from the pier to the subway station at Smith and 9th streets (about $7) and then take the subway. Of course you can return by taking the subway to Smith and 9th followed by a cab back to the ship.

 

However, if you do this, I suggest bringing with you directions from the internet on going from Smith and 9th Streets to the pier. The cab driver we hailed was willing to take us that mile or so, but had absolutely no idea how to get there. Luckily, I had an AAA map with me and could show him how to go.

 

By the way, if you have a Medicare card, you can ride the subway for 1/2 price. You show your Medicare card at the ticket booth to get the senior fare, paying a full fare. You then get a coupon that can be presented at a booth for a free 2nd fare for your next subway ride.

[CruzinNoony]

Thank you Pia for all the "live" reports you did. I just finished reading all the pages that were written since our departure on Sept. 14. It was fun reliving our wonderful cruise. BTW, also included in the progressive trivia prize pack were 2 bottles of champagne for the first place winners (which we were!!! Go Phantoms!!) As to the question about is a balcony cabin worth the extra price on a cruise such as this, my answer is YES. Even though we weren't able to sit outside, the door was open most of the time we were in the cabin. In fact, we even left the balcony door open at night (wedged open by a chair on the "lumpy" night) so that we could smell the lovely sea air. ;)

[Pia1913]

 

Also, it is easy to get into Manhatten by taking a cab from the pier to the subway station at Smith and 9th streets (about $7) and then take the subway. Of course you can return by taking the subway to Smith and 9th followed by a cab back to the ship.

 

However, if you do this, I suggest bringing with you directions from the internet on going from Smith and 9th Streets to the pier. The cab driver we hailed was willing to take us that mile or so, but had absolutely no idea how to get there. Luckily, I had an AAA map with me and could show him how to go.

 

.

 

Hint: When you return to Smith and 9th, there is a free shuttle bus going to IKEA. We had intended to walk back to the ship, but it was very windy and the #61 bus was right out there in front of the store. Our subway ticket was good on that bus (I guess it's like a transfer) and the bus stop was one small block to the pier area.

 

Pia

[Pia1913]

Thank you Pia for all the "live" reports you did. I just finished reading all the pages that were written since our departure on Sept. 14. It was fun reliving our wonderful cruise. BTW, also included in the progressive trivia prize pack were 2 bottles of champagne for the first place winners (which we were!!! Go Phantoms!!) As to the question about is a balcony cabin worth the extra price on a cruise such as this, my answer is YES. Even though we weren't able to sit outside, the door was open most of the time we were in the cabin. In fact, we even left the balcony door open at night (wedged open by a chair on the "lumpy" night) so that we could smell the lovely sea air. ;)

 

Glad you got that champagne Meredith. I would have hated to shlep it home and then have it turn to vinegar. Great meeting you guys and hope our paths cross again soon. And next time I want to be on your team! :D

 

Pia

[flycess]

Pia, Matt called me on Sunday and said you had found him and passed along my hello's. Thanks!

[Pia1913]

Pia, Matt called me on Sunday and said you had found him and passed along my hello's. Thanks!

 

I did. It was the last night and we happened to be walking into Fusion at the same time. He showed me a watch you had bought him. At least you now know he wears it. :D

 

Pia

[andreadan]

My aunt and uncle who were aboard this cruise in an aft suite said that they did their immigration onboard the ship before they disembarked in NYC. Anybody else with a similiar experience?

 

Also, upon their return to the ship from NYC, they took the subway nearby Rockefellor Center to Brooklyn and then a cab ride to the pier. It went very smoothly.

 

Andrea

[Pia1913]

My aunt and uncle who were aboard this cruise in an aft suite said that they did their immigration onboard the ship before they disembarked in NYC. Anybody else with a similiar experience?

 

Also, upon their return to the ship from NYC, they took the subway nearby Rockefellor Center to Brooklyn and then a cab ride to the pier. It went very smoothly.

 

Andrea

 

We did not do immigration on the ship in NY. We got off first, immigration stations were at the outside doors and poof! we were out. Took seconds, but then again, it was 7:30 AM. I understand there was a backup later.

 

Are they perhaps referring to the time they got their passports returned? That was on the ship and they would have waited in line for them at Club Fusion.