Crown Princess February 9th quick review/ Catalina Island & Ensenada

I just disembarked the Crown Princess today and wanted to write a quick review. Super short version- The Crown Princess and the crew was great as was the food. I met some fun people!! Some people I’ll be happy to not see again. My hypothesis is that your enjoyment of your trip is directly proportional to your attitude. If your attitude sucks, so will your trip.

- Embarkation was good, very organized. A couple people just had to be on the ship 30 seconds ahead of everyone else and felt the need to cut…twice. They cut, got out of line then came back and cut again.

- The Curtis Stone dishes were not on the menu yet so I had the Salmon and Tri tip while I could. :D

- There was not a Pub Lunch on the sailing.

- They had the Gastro Pub for $19 per person, I didn’t try it.

- They are trying a new program where 2 Cruise Directors are on the ship. One is “the face” of the ship and was more present at the shows, game shows and other events. The other one is the “behind the scenes” person who dealt with scheduling, management etc. Dan Appleby was “Cruise Director” and Sam Hawker Thomas was the “Entertainment Director”. They both came to the Meet and Greet and were very fun and helpful. The customer service manager also came by a bit later to spend time with us as well. I’m holding a cat that missed me and refuses to let me put her down to look up his name. He was leaving the ship today to go on vacation.

- To me, the food was good. It’s rare I try something on Princess that I don’t like.

- During lunch on boarding day, the ship lost power for a short period of time. I really like Captain Justin Lawes. There was a fire on this ship last May when I was on a cruise in Alaska. He was exceptional both times at broadcasting updates and explaining what happened. There was also a false alarm for a fire while sailing out of Ensenada. Once it was confirmed as a false alarm, he shared what had happened. He excels at updating passengers and remaining calm while efficiently handling situations. I didn’t get to see him on this cruise but spent some time talking with him last cruise.

- I don’t think being a pier runner is cute if you have a kid with you. There was a female in Ensenada with a kid (maybe 8 or so) who arrived after all aboard. She was yelling and cheering herself all the way onboard that she made it. The people on deck and on their balconies didn’t say a word.

- If team Rootberry is on your cruise, go see them as they are funny and very talented. They mix comedy and juggling and one is also a sword swallower. They are also very nice and friendly guys. On a cruise last year, they performed in the Atrium. Now they have their own show night in the theater which is wonderful because they are very talented. I saw them in Catalina and told them I thought they were awesome. It was before they performed so I think they were confused a minute until I told them I saw them on a previous cruise :D

- Go see Magic to Do!!! It’s one of the best shows I’ve seen at sea. There is one part that may be disturbing to kids and they announce that at the beginning.

- I also really like the comedian Carlos Oscar. I’ve been on a few cruises he performed on and really enjoy his performances. I’ve also had a couple conversations with him and he’s a very nice person as well. It really says something that his shows are so enjoyable (even the jokes I’d heard him tell before) without resorting to swearing every other word. Actually he doesn’t swear at all.

- The Kamikaze Fireflies are performing in the atrium. They are also comedy jugglers and were fun and full of energy.

- I’d been to Catalina before a couple times so just walked around and bought a dress. The golf carts were $30-40 an hour from the places I looked at the signs for. There were also zip lining, snorkeling, kayak, diving and boating excursions available in town. The town of Avalon is very walkable with lots of fun shops and beautiful views.

- I’d also been to Ensenada several times. I’ve done the wine tasting, Bufadora, horseback riding and zip lining and was looking for something else. Someone on the roll call mentioned a massage place so that’s what I decided to go with after reading their reviews on trip advisor and seeing where they were. They offer massage and facial services with varying prices. I did a 1-hour massage for $40. My only regret is I didn’t get a 2-hour massage because it was the best massage I’ve ever had…sorry ex boyfriends :cool:  The place is Massage and Facial Care at 743 Lopez Mateos. If you walk out of the pier, turn left toward downtown. Cross the street at a stoplight unless you like playing frogger and have faith in other drivers. Turn right at the street where Mc Donald’s is. Turn right at the next block and it’s about ½ a block down on the left. Their hours are 9:30am- 7 pm. You can make an appointment with them but I was undecided so just walked in.

- There’s also an awesome stained glass shop a couple doors down. If you haven’t been there before I’d take the $3 shuttle to town. They sell tours on the shuttle that are much less expensive than the ship tours including the Bufadora only, the zip line and Bufadora, horseback riding and Bufadora, or you can combine all three. The zip line was a lot of fun and I highly recommend it. The horseback ride was ok but they hold the reins and walk the horses up and down the beach.

- I’ve yet to watch a whole movie on a cruise ship but recall some of what was shown on MUTS. They played one of the Minions movies, The Hunger Games and a Bon Jovi Concert.

- If you haven’t been in the aft (adults only) pool, it’s 5’5” deep. I’m 5’7”. I’m Elite on Princess but this is the first time I ever actually got in the aft pool haha. So my choices were sit on the steps, hold onto the poles and float, or work for it. I did find some nice folks to chat with and stayed in about an hour.

- I frequently get an inside cabin and turn on the bridge camera channel so when the sun rises, it does as well in my cabin. About 5 am this morning, I work up and the screen was white. I thought the camera was broken. I woke again at 7am, still white. I set my alarm to give me 30 more minutes since I was all packed and wanted a tiny bit more sleep. When I finally got up and went to the buffet I saw that the camera wasn’t broken, it was super foggy! So while this is a good trick, it doesn’t always work hahaha.

- I watched some more Love Boat episodes. I do love watching them when I want to relax a bit in the cabin.

- Disembarkation was interesting. I went to the Platinum/Elite lounge and about 2 minutes after I sat down and about an hour before my disembark time of 10am. They said we could leave if we wanted if we had carry on only. I had carry on only so away I went but there was a very long line for customs so it was odd that they were letting us off with such a long line.

- My little PSA and opinion- treat others the way you want to be treated. The crew members are not our personal servants and not there to put up with rude and disrespectful behavior. They are there to do their job and most of them go above and beyond to help us enjoy our cruise. Yes, that means I had words with someone who was a total jerk to a crew member. I’ve done it before and I’d do it again. I’m getting mean haha. :eek: I also talked to the crew member’s manager in case the jerk went to her boss. He told me he apologized to her. Alcohol sometimes helps makes manners go away and I hope he did apologize.

If anyone has questions, I’ll try to answer them. I do have the patters so when the cat allows me to move :rolleyes: I can look things up.

I'm glad you talked to that crew member's boss. That was a nice thing to do.

I don't like pier runners (unless it was a matter of an excursion getting back late -- we had that happen to us with a ship's excursion and the ship did wait for our group). It seems extra bad judgement to make a kid run if it's your fault (which I'm guessing was the case with this woman).

Yeah..i think no one was saying anything because her kid was present. it's one thing if something happens like a medical emergency or something.

if it was me and my kid were with me I would be freaked out if for some reason I arrived late. I wouldn't be laughing, yelling and making a joke out of it.

Thanks for the comments.

Carlos Oscar won Princess comedian of the year 2 or 3 years ago.

He is great.

We took this cruise last February. It was my first cruise. My girlfriend has been on cruises before.

I found the service to be exactly as described - excellent. I'm glad to hear the service hasn't gone down.

Thank you for your review. I enjoyed reading it. I had to laugh about the cat on your lap not letting you move. I was just out of town for three days and I have a cat on my lap that won't let me move. Gotta love our fur babies!!!

Thanks for the review.

Please tell us how you scored this cruise out of 5 stars?

My husband also had a one hour massage - same place in Ensenada and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I also disembarked this cruise today. For a short cruise the service was outstanding. We enjoyed the people at our table for 8 and our servers were really good. I made a request to the Maitre "D to have them again March 5 on our next cruise.

We had a mini suite and went out on the balcony this morning and couldn't see more then 3 feet in front of us due to fog. Never saw fog this thick in San Pedro before.

The Magic to Do had some scenes that were offensive to me an adult. It was a slasher scene, blood and all which I found disturbing and out of place on a cruise. We have enough violence in the world, why turn it into entertainment.

The meet and greet was great thanks to Paula's efforts, thank you Paula (ptk1976).

I found a reoccurring problem Princess needs to address. My confirmed dinner was traditional 6 PM. This is the third time in 6 months I found my confirmed time turned into 5:30. This is to early, especially if you go into port and have a normal lunch at 1 ish. We couldn't make it up to the elite lounge in Skywalkers at 5 PM for an Hor dourves or cocktail and mingle with our fellow cruisers with the time allotted.

Why can't Princess be upfront with the real dinner time for early seating.

For those interested the cut off for the 20 most traveled passengers was 522 !!!! Usually these shorter cruises usually don't have so many elites but we had 172 elites.

I just disembarked the Crown Princess today and wanted to write a quick review. Super short version- The Crown Princess and the crew was great as was the food. I met some fun people!! Some people I’ll be happy to not see again. My hypothesis is that your enjoyment of your trip is directly proportional to your attitude. If your attitude sucks, so will your trip.

 

 

 

-Embarkation was good, very organized. A couple people just had to be on the ship 30 seconds ahead of everyone else and felt the need to cut…twice. They cut, got out of line then came back and cut again.

 

 

 

-The Curtis Stone dishes were not on the menu yet so I had the Salmon and Tri tip while I could. :D

 

 

 

-There was not a Pub Lunch on the sailing.

 

 

 

-They had the Gastro Pub for $19 per person, I didn’t try it.

 

 

 

-They are trying a new program where 2 Cruise Directors are on the ship. One is “the face” of the ship and was more present at the shows, game shows and other events. The other one is the “behind the scenes” person who dealt with scheduling, management etc. Dan Appleby was “Cruise Director” and Sam Hawker Thomas was the “Entertainment Director”. They both came to the Meet and Greet and were very fun and helpful. The customer service manager also came by a bit later to spend time with us as well. I’m holding a cat that missed me and refuses to let me put her down to look up his name. He was leaving the ship today to go on vacation.

 

 

 

-To me, the food was good. It’s rare I try something on Princess that I don’t like.

 

 

 

-During lunch on boarding day, the ship lost power for a short period of time. I really like Captain Justin Lawes. There was a fire on this ship last May when I was on a cruise in Alaska. He was exceptional both times at broadcasting updates and explaining what happened. There was also a false alarm for a fire while sailing out of Ensenada. Once it was confirmed as a false alarm, he shared what had happened. He excels at updating passengers and remaining calm while efficiently handling situations. I didn’t get to see him on this cruise but spent some time talking with him last cruise.

 

 

 

-I don’t think being a pier runner is cute if you have a kid with you. There was a female in Ensenada with a kid (maybe 8 or so) who arrived after all aboard. She was yelling and cheering herself all the way onboard that she made it. The people on deck and on their balconies didn’t say a word.

 

 

 

-If team Rootberry is on your cruise, go see them as they are funny and very talented. They mix comedy and juggling and one is also a sword swallower. They are also very nice and friendly guys. On a cruise last year, they performed in the Atrium. Now they have their own show night in the theater which is wonderful because they are very talented. I saw them in Catalina and told them I thought they were awesome. It was before they performed so I think they were confused a minute until I told them I saw them on a previous cruise :D

 

 

 

-Go see Magic to Do!!! It’s one of the best shows I’ve seen at sea. There is one part that may be disturbing to kids and they announce that at the beginning.

 

 

 

-I also really like the comedian Carlos Oscar. I’ve been on a few cruises he performed on and really enjoy his performances. I’ve also had a couple conversations with him and he’s a very nice person as well. It really says something that his shows are so enjoyable (even the jokes I’d heard him tell before) without resorting to swearing every other word. Actually he doesn’t swear at all.

 

 

 

-The Kamikaze Fireflies are performing in the atrium. They are also comedy jugglers and were fun and full of energy.

 

 

 

-I’d been to Catalina before a couple times so just walked around and bought a dress. The golf carts were $30-40 an hour from the places I looked at the signs for. There were also zip lining, snorkeling, kayak, diving and boating excursions available in town. The town of Avalon is very walkable with lots of fun shops and beautiful views.

 

 

 

-I’d also been to Ensenada several times. I’ve done the wine tasting, Bufadora, horseback riding and zip lining and was looking for something else. Someone on the roll call mentioned a massage place so that’s what I decided to go with after reading their reviews on trip advisor and seeing where they were. They offer massage and facial services with varying prices. I did a 1-hour massage for $40. My only regret is I didn’t get a 2-hour massage because it was the best massage I’ve ever had…sorry ex boyfriends :cool:  The place is Massage and Facial Care at 743 Lopez Mateos. If you walk out of the pier, turn left toward downtown. Cross the street at a stoplight unless you like playing frogger and have faith in other drivers. Turn right at the street where Mc Donald’s is. Turn right at the next block and it’s about ½ a block down on the left. Their hours are 9:30am- 7 pm. You can make an appointment with them but I was undecided so just walked in.

 

 

 

-There’s also an awesome stained glass shop a couple doors down. If you haven’t been there before I’d take the $3 shuttle to town. They sell tours on the shuttle that are much less expensive than the ship tours including the Bufadora only, the zip line and Bufadora, horseback riding and Bufadora, or you can combine all three. The zip line was a lot of fun and I highly recommend it. The horseback ride was ok but they hold the reins and walk the horses up and down the beach.

 

 

 

-I’ve yet to watch a whole movie on a cruise ship but recall some of what was shown on MUTS. They played one of the Minions movies, The Hunger Games and a Bon Jovi Concert.

 

 

 

-If you haven’t been in the aft (adults only) pool, it’s 5’5” deep. I’m 5’7”. I’m Elite on Princess but this is the first time I ever actually got in the aft pool haha. So my choices were sit on the steps, hold onto the poles and float, or work for it. I did find some nice folks to chat with and stayed in about an hour.

 

 

 

-I frequently get an inside cabin and turn on the bridge camera channel so when the sun rises, it does as well in my cabin. About 5 am this morning, I work up and the screen was white. I thought the camera was broken. I woke again at 7am, still white. I set my alarm to give me 30 more minutes since I was all packed and wanted a tiny bit more sleep. When I finally got up and went to the buffet I saw that the camera wasn’t broken, it was super foggy! So while this is a good trick, it doesn’t always work hahaha.

 

 

 

-I watched some more Love Boat episodes. I do love watching them when I want to relax a bit in the cabin.

 

 

 

-Disembarkation was interesting. I went to the Platinum/Elite lounge and about 2 minutes after I sat down and about an hour before my disembark time of 10am. They said we could leave if we wanted if we had carry on only. I had carry on only so away I went but there was a very long line for customs so it was odd that they were letting us off with such a long line.

 

 

 

- My little PSA and opinion- treat others the way you want to be treated. The crew members are not our personal servants and not there to put up with rude and disrespectful behavior. They are there to do their job and most of them go above and beyond to help us enjoy our cruise. Yes, that means I had words with someone who was a total jerk to a crew member. I’ve done it before and I’d do it again. I’m getting mean haha. :eek: I also talked to the crew member’s manager in case the jerk went to her boss. He told me he apologized to her. Alcohol sometimes helps makes manners go away and I hope he did apologize.

 

 

 

If anyone has questions, I’ll try to answer them. I do have the patters so when the cat allows me to move :rolleyes: I can look things up.

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

I noticed on the webcam the fog was so thick, you couldn't see her go by.

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

I just disembarked the Crown Princess today and wanted to write a quick review. Super short version- The Crown Princess and the crew was great as was the food. I met some fun people!! Some people I’ll be happy to not see again. My hypothesis is that your enjoyment of your trip is directly proportional to your attitude. If your attitude sucks, so will your trip.

 

- My little PSA and opinion- treat others the way you want to be treated. The crew members are not our personal servants and not there to put up with rude and disrespectful behavior. They are there to do their job and most of them go above and beyond to help us enjoy our cruise. Yes, that means I had words with someone who was a total jerk to a crew member. I’ve done it before and I’d do it again. I’m getting mean haha. :eek: I also talked to the crew member’s manager in case the jerk went to her boss. He told me he apologized to her. Alcohol sometimes helps makes manners go away and I hope he did apologize.

I agree with your hypothesis & wish that all passengers felt the same way but thankfully I have not seen too many angry people. Those who go with preconceived ideas about how bad will things be will have a bad time.

That's good that you got involved to help a crewmember who was being treated rudely & disrespectfully.

Once our very cheerful cabin steward became gloomy one day & he begrudgingly shared with me in private why. A couple in one of his cabins (a suite but we were only in a balcony cabin) wrote him up for being not friendly enough. In dozens of cruises he was one of the most cheerful & helpful cabin stewards ever. We immediately submitted a "you made a difference" card to let his bosses know that he was a great cabin steward. I kept what he said to me confidential & only gave him kudos for being a great employee.

Thanks for your review & we're eagerly looking forward to another Crown cruise this spring. :)

Thanks for the review.

Please tell us how you scored this cruise out of 5 stars?

which part of it? food? crew? entertainment? I'd say 4-5 depending on the category. :D

I agree with your hypothesis & wish that all passengers felt the same way but thankfully I have not seen too many angry people. Those who go with preconceived ideas about how bad will things be will have a bad time.

 

That's good that you got involved to help a crewmember who was being treated rudely & disrespectfully.

 

Once our very cheerful cabin steward became gloomy one day & he begrudgingly shared with me in private why. A couple in one of his cabins (a suite but we were only in a balcony cabin) wrote him up for being not friendly enough. In dozens of cruises he was one of the most cheerful & helpful cabin stewards ever. We immediately submitted a "you made a difference" card to let his bosses know that he was a great cabin steward. I kept what he said to me confidential & only gave him kudos for being a great employee.

 

Thanks for your review & we're eagerly looking forward to another Crown cruise this spring. :)

that's great that you did that! we can't stop the mean people but we can be kind to them and let their bosses know what a great job they are doing. I'm very conscious of saying please and thank you to the crew members and filling out those comment cards.

That guy was trash talking several crew members. I told him if he has a problem with so many people maybe it's him that is the problem, not them. :D

I also had the unique opportunity to really observe the dining room crew during dinner. They seemed understaffed and were going as fast as they could do keep everyone served. One couple was unhappy with someone in management and looked like they sucked on a lemon all through dinner and were rude to the wait staff about something they had no control over. I wasn't very happy with the same person but what happened was not the wait staff's fault and since they were being such jerks I made a point to be very nice to the wait staff and made sure I was loud enough for them to hear me tell them I knew it was beyond their control.

Later the person I wasn't happy with learned that i'm on cruise critic. His face was like this :eek: . I'm not going to blast him, his hands may have been tied with the situation but he could have handled it better.

Thanks for the review.

Has this ship been recently remodeled? New mattresses?

Has this ship been recently remodeled? New mattresses?

Mattress's are being changed out on all ships on an ongoing basis.

Welcome back, thanks for the review!

Has this ship been recently remodeled? New mattresses?

I don't know if my mini suite had a new mattress but it was fine. They do need an option for a lighter blanket as I find the duvet too heavy.

Thanks for your review! A tip of the hat to you for your support of the crew member.

We also sailed on the Crown with Dan Appleby and Sam Hawker-Thomas and they were stellar. I hope the new concept of dual CDs spreads to all the ships as I feel it allows the "Cruise Director" to be more visible and interactive. We would happily cruise with Dan and Sam again.

Also concur with your opinion of Captain Lawes. We sailed with him three years ago on the Grand and appreciated how well he kept passengers updated and informed.

Grey

Has this ship been recently remodeled? New mattresses?

Our mattresses a few weeks ago in b749 had such a bad dip in them that we almost got lost!! We're not big people.

 

I don't know if my mini suite had a new mattress but it was fine. They do need an option for a lighter blanket as I find the duvet too heavy.

We had our duvet replaced with a top sheet & nice normal blanket last month on the Island! Just ask! :D

We will be on the Crown for the first time (not first cruise) next month. Also looking to book a short Ensenada cruise in December. Finding I have a gap from September to March without a cruise...oh no!

Loved your review and so did my annoying chihuahua (he hates the laptop).

I applaud you for standing up for the crew member. We have had to do this ourselves. These young people work so hard and are away from their families. While as passengers we do not need to adopt them (but I usually do), we do need to treat them with respect at all times.

Thanks again for your excellent review.

Thanks for the quickie.