Crown Princess 10/26 - 11/02 Review

[lushou]

PLEASE post any questions / comments here or e-mail me. I will respond very quickly to you. I will post PATTERS in just a couple of days!

 

FYI: Eastern Caribbean 7 Day Cruise

 

My wife and I, no kids, went on the October 26th-November 2nd cruise on the Crown Princess from Ft. Lauderdale. We had been on 2 4 day cruises with Disney (Wonder). Although the Wonder had better buffet food, the Crown Princess won hands down in all other categories. I will give you a bulleted list of my likes and disklikes:

 

Likes:

-Very few kids ... although, this was a cruise during school time so not a good indicator for entire year

-Kelvin Joy, the Cruise Director & his staff. They were excellent and we enjoyed everything they hosted!

-Epiphani was excellent. They are the main band on board. VERY good musicians and very entertaining

-Dinners (anytime dining) were excellent at the free dining rooms (we did not go to Sabatini's or Crown Grill)

-VINES ... every night we went to vines. Isabella and Collin were excellent servers and knew our names and what we wanted each night. We highly recommed this.

-All the public rooms were large and had plenty of seating. Although they frequently filled up during popular activities, there was plenty of standing room as well

-Service was 5 Star! EXCELLENT

-Ship embarkation and disembarkation was very smooth and quick

-Shore excursion in St. Maarten was worth the $39/person but it was not as great as I was hoping. It was the "Best of St. Maarten" tour.

-Grand Turk is still not doing well...due to Ike...but, all things considered, it was still fun. I spent some time in the water @ the cruise terminal picking up shingles that had come off in the hurricaine.

 

*** Please feel free to e-mail me with any questions or clarifications!!! ***

 

Dislikes:

-Buffet food was just average

-You have to pay $30/person for a Pop / Soda card. This should be free but it is not. The staff does not give you attitude but sometimes you have to wait just to get a Coke because the bartenders are very busy. On the Disney Wonder, pop is FREE!

-Alchoholic Beverages with very few exceptions are $6.75 and up. Beer is $4.75 for a 16oz aluminum bottle. Outrageous! Drinks were yummy though

-Elevators are slow but definately adequate!

[adh27]

sorry double post

[adh27]

Thanks for the review!! You got me excited for our first cruise on the same ship coming up in just a couple weeks!

[jennifers490]

thanks for the review...drinks are still a bargain compared to NYC :)

[Jay_NH]

Thanks for the great review.

Wow! Drinks have gotten expensive. I recall mix drinks at $4.95.

With the drink prices like that the soda should be free.;)

Jay:D

[hubofhockey]

 

Dislikes:

-Buffet food was just average

-You have to pay $30/person for a Pop / Soda card. This should be free but it is not. The staff does not give you attitude but sometimes you have to wait just to get a Coke because the bartenders are very busy. On the Disney Wonder, pop is FREE!

-Alchoholic Beverages with very few exceptions are $6.75 and up. Beer is $4.75 for a 16oz aluminum bottle. Outrageous! Drinks were yummy though

-Elevators are slow but definately adequate!

 

Those drink prices are cheap compared to bars in major cities.

 

Why should soda be free? It's a charge on just about every mass market cruiseline with the exception of Disney. Is it really free on Disney? It's built into the price and if you check Disney's cruise price vs Princess/Carnival/RCI, you'll notice a pretty big price difference. Carnival/Princess at least lets you bring your own on board along with wine.

[Clutterlady]

Thank you for your fair and balanced review. Glad you enjoyed Princess:)

 

On most main stream cruise lines, unfortunately, there is always a charge for soda (pop). And just from cruising a few different lines in the past couple of years, Princess alcoholic drinks are still the cheapest. Did you buy any future cruise credits?

[caribbean2000]

Not meaning to hijack this thread but here is my review of the same ship and itinerary the week before:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=48205

[spingal]

VINES ... every night we went to vines. Isabella and Collin were excellent servers and knew our names and what we wanted each night. We highly recommed this.

 

I just got off the Crown too. Was also at Vines every night........I was with 3 other folks at the table by the window. Isabella and Collin are awesome!!!! And Isabella works at the International Cafe in the mornings. Definitely stop by and see them both. :D:D

[lushou]

FYI, you are NOT permitted to bring on POP of any kind. You can bring on 1 bottle of regular size of wine per adult or 1 bottle of champagne per adult. No liquor. No beer. No Pop/Soda, etc.

 

K

 

 

 

Those drink prices are cheap compared to bars in major cities.

 

Why should soda be free? It's a charge on just about every mass market cruiseline with the exception of Disney. Is it really free on Disney? It's built into the price and if you check Disney's cruise price vs Princess/Carnival/RCI, you'll notice a pretty big price difference. Carnival/Princess at least lets you bring your own on board along with wine.

[lushou]

Isabella was so adorable (wife wanted me to add that). We were the two that usually sat towards the front of Vines. She has red hair. :)

[lushou]

We didn't buy any future credits. Disney Wonder drinks were $4.50 for the dink of the day and maybe 6 for everything else. Pop should be free or included in the price I mean. It costs them probably less than 1 cent per glass. It would also free up a lot of time for the servers and bar tenders.

 

K

[hubofhockey]

FYI, you are NOT permitted to bring on POP of any kind. You can bring on 1 bottle of regular size of wine per adult or 1 bottle of champagne per adult. No liquor. No beer. No Pop/Soda, etc.

 

K

 

That's not in the passenger contract. It only says alcohol will be confiscated and not soda.

[KruzPrincess]

Glad to hear you had a good cruise. I haven't been on a Princess cruise in a couple of years, but I will be going on the Crown next week! Yay! A comment and a couple questions.... As for soft drinks, it's OK with me that they charge for something that is only used by some. I'd rather have lower cruise fares. And, they did just add lemonade back after not having it for many, many years. Questions: I was looking a some Patters from a friend's cruise on another ship and I didn't notice a drink of the day. That used to be a pretty good deal. Have they eliminated the drink of the day on Princess? I'm not much of a drinker and won't miss it much, but I'm curious. Also, did you notice what movies were playing on MUTS? Did you notice if they have a waffle station in the breakfast buffet yet? Thanks.

[ChicagoGoodTimeGirls]

We were also on this cruise and had a wonderful time. Best vacation ever and 9th Princess Cruise.

 

 

 

However, we were not fans of Kelvin Joy. His staff were great, but we found Kelvin to be a little immature and frat-boyish. This didn't detract from our overall experience but hope to never sail with him again.

 

 

 

I agree with the buffet - dinner there was average. Stick to the dinning rooms:)

 

 

 

Sabatini's was awesome. Eat a lite lunch so you can truly enjoy the wonderful and plentiful courses.

 

 

 

Golf pro was a great guy we took lessons from him on sea days and learned so much.

 

 

 

Lotus Spa - great services but way too pushy on the the products. The spas are run by an independant company and the spa staff will openly discuss this.

 

 

 

I found myself very partial to the South African dining room staff. They were very knowledgable about the menus, food preparation and made excellent recomendations. I experienced this with 3 different South African waitstaff - they knew their stuff and had panache.

 

 

 

Adagio Bar next to Sabatinis is a great place that doesn't get much foot traffic. The Classical Guitarist adds to the fantastic atmosphere. Highly recommend this for pre-dinner drinks or a quiet "date spot".

[jennifers490]

they got rid of the drink of the day a while ago :( now they just list a featured drink but it's the same price as normally...

 

i agree that lower cruise fares are better than paying a lot for free soda...

[KKB]

FYI, you are NOT permitted to bring on POP of any kind. You can bring on 1 bottle of regular size of wine per adult or 1 bottle of champagne per adult. No liquor. No beer. No Pop/Soda, etc.

 

K

 

We bring on Mountain Dew & Diet Pepsi in a bag right through security. No problem.

 

Pop is ONLY free on Disney at the soda machines at buffet. You must pay at all bars.

 

Drinks are comparable on DCL, except drink of the day...which rarely appeals to me.

[sboland22]

That's not in the passenger contract. It only says alcohol will be confiscated and not soda.

 

we saw people bringing on 12 packs of soda in the open. No problem. In St. Maarten, my husband and I bought 3 bottles of alcohol. We poured a lite rum into an empty water bottle to enjoy the rest of the week. We got back on the ship around noon and my husband flat out said , " we have 2 bottles of alcohol to turn in." We were told, there isn't anyone here that is interested in it... enjoy. Also brought back on board, a 6 pack of sprite and a 6 pack of diet coke.... to mix with our "water" of course :cool:

 

later, we actually heard a couple worrying they might get "in trouble" for having their bought bottles in their room... " I can't believe no one was there to take them." :D

 

there was a drink of the day and a martini of the day... all regular prices :p

 

we enjoyed the coffee card as a couple.. did not buy the soda card. I enjoyed a mocha every morning, while my husband opted for the premium Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee... each were 1 punch. The card has 15 punches, so it was just perfect for us for the week. We ordered both drinks at the same time and used the 1 card. No problems

[vmom]

We didn't buy any future credits. Disney Wonder drinks were $4.50 for the dink of the day and maybe 6 for everything else. Pop should be free or included in the price I mean. It costs them probably less than 1 cent per glass. It would also free up a lot of time for the servers and bar tenders.

 

K

 

I would prefer they charge for soda if that helps to keep the prices down. That way each person can get what they want in terms of the cruise experience and extras. If that brings in the extra revenue needed to keep my cruise prices reasonable...then I'm all for it.

 

When you compare Princess and Disney, don't forget that the base price of Disney is more expensive. With the base price being higher, I would expect there to be more extras included in the price.

[KKB]

[quote name=ChicagoGoodTimeGirls;16876676

However' date=' we were not fans of Kelvin Joy. His staff were great, but we found Kelvin to be a little immature and frat-boyish. This didn't detract from our overall experience but hope to never sail with him again.

 

 

I agree with the buffet - dinner there was average. Stick to the dinning rooms:)

 

 

I found myself very partial to the South African dining room staff. They were very knowledgable about the menus, food preparation and made excellent recomendations. I experienced this with 3 different South African waitstaff - they knew their stuff and had panache.

 

 

quote]

 

Perhaps that is due to the fact that the CD on our last cruise was a pompous, boring, invisible *ss.

 

Buffets are typically average, ANYWHERE. Only ones I seek out are Ceasar's Palace (LV)Sunday brunch and Palo Sunday Brunch on DCL. Otherwise I typically avoid them...

 

Funny you mention South African wait staff...didn't meet any on this last cruise, but LOVED our SA waiter on our last cruise! We MUST try Crown Grill this trip!

[ChicagoGoodTimeGirls]

Do tell who was your last CD?

 

I think they all have their own unique personalities and can be a little hit or miss at times. But Kelvin just didn't live up to my expectations.

[cattolica]

Boy are you wrong on this one. You certainly CAN bring your sodas on board we have been doing it for years. The cruise line doesn't carry my soda of preference and have always brought on 12 pack and then bought more in ports.

 

FYI, you are NOT permitted to bring on POP of any kind. You can bring on 1 bottle of regular size of wine per adult or 1 bottle of champagne per adult. No liquor. No beer. No Pop/Soda, etc.

 

K

[cynbar]

We always bring on a 12 pack of soda for our refrigerator, no problem at all. In addition, we sometimes bring a case of water (especially if we are driving to the port.) We put a luggage tag on it and give it to the porters, it has always arrived in our cabin with no issues.

[lushou]

I called Princess the day before boarding. The representative explicitly told me that you are not allowed to bring on ANY POP or SODA of any kind. He said it would be confiscated at the security screening and discarded.

[littlegirlbigmouth]

Thank you so much for the review. I'll be on the 11/16 sailing for my wedding cruise, and was beginning to second guess my choice to have my wedding through Princess based on the less than positive previous reviews. You definitely put my mind at ease. :)