Crown Princess - New England Canada

[CalTravelers]

Hi - anyone out there on the Crown New England - Canada sailing? We are on the 10-13 cruise and would love to hear what the ship and ports are like! Quite a few CC members on that cruise - we have exchanged lots of good info on ports, etc.

 

Thanks for taking the time to post!!! Wi-fi in your cabins?

 

Linda

CalTravelers

[KCSungirl]

CalTravelers - I wrote a "LIVE" thread with somewhat of a review for the Canada/New England Caribbean Princess. You might get some port ideas because it shares some of the same ports.

Click here: LIVE from the Caribbean Princess 9/5 - Cruise Critic Message Boards

If this link doesn't work, I will try again.

 

Have a great cruise. The colors should be gorgeous. Best, Sungirl

[KCSungirl]

Trying again, I am very stupid when it comes to attaching links. Can anyone help me?http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1054456

[CAT330]

:DWe will be on that cruise with 8 other couples from California. Our biggest problem is getting transportation fromQuebec to Montreal for our flight home. Some of our group is waitlisted for the Lobsterbake. What about you? My sister went on a Carnival Cruise and she liked St John for shopping and the different tide changes.

[alabama ghost]

Have you looked at both buses and the train? Both are good possibilities depending on what time your flight leaves from Montreal.

 

We have a group of 12 and we're on the Via Rail at 12:45 on the 23rd to Montreal.

 

Go to our roll call and sign up for the Meet & Greet if you haven't already done so.

[cityguy300]

Hi - anyone out there on the Crown New England - Canada sailing? We are on the 10-13 cruise and would love to hear what the ship and ports are like! Quite a few CC members on that cruise - we have exchanged lots of good info on ports, etc.

 

Thanks for taking the time to post!!! Wi-fi in your cabins?

 

Linda

CalTravelers

 

Hey Linda,

 

I'm writing from the Crown Princess now courtesy of free wi-fi emanating from somewhere at the current port (Saguenay), lol. It's been miserable weather all day; in fact, we haven't had good weather in one Canadian port yet. The one sunny day we've had since Bar Harbor was on our scheduled sea day; I mention "scheduled" because we had to skip Sydney due to a medical emergency that forced us to turn around three hours from Halifax.

 

The ship is leaving in about half-an-hour so I'll just post some quick thoughts. Personally, I enjoyed the three ports at the start of the trip -- Newport, Boston, Bar Harbor -- far more than the ones since, in part because of the weather and in part because I haven't found much of interest from Saint John on. I'm pinning a lot of hopes on Quebec City tomorrow. :D

 

The ship is in good shape, and populated by a significantly older crowd than I've seen on previous Princess sailings; I've only spotted one child on the ship so far, no teenagers, and barely anyone in their 20's or early 30's. Most if not all excursions at each port have been sold out, and the public rooms are full most of the time, so be sure to book any Princess trips you want to take early and to go to the Princess Theatre at least half-an-hour early if you want a good seat -- it's been packed every time I've gone. Food has been OK but not as good as my last two trips on Caribbean Princess and Emerald Princess in the past year.

 

I thought we would be in for unseasonably warm weather on this trip as the first day in NY was actually hot outside, but by the time we got to Boston the weather had cooled significantly and now it's outright cold (and wet, natch) everywhere we go. Still hoping for sun tomorrow in Quebec City, but from what I'm seeing here just 200 km away, I'm not optimistic! :o

[alabama ghost]

Hi CityGuy!

 

Sorry you've had such a bad trip! Hope the weather turns better for you tomorrow in Quebec City.

 

This time of year you aren't going to see many kids out of school so I'm not surprised about the ages--a lot of younger passengers have kids which would limit their traveling in September and October.:eek:

 

Did you tender in Saguenay? I saw a port web cam that looked like you were docked but couldn't tell where passengers were getting off the ship. What did you do in Saguenay?

 

Thanks for any information and hope you enjoy Quebec City!

[SF]

Hi CityGuy,

 

Thanks for posting and filling us in on what's happening. Sorry to hear that you aren't having good weather. Unfortunately weather is one part of a vacation that can't be planned.

 

Sorry to hear that you had to miss Sydney due to an emergency but that always takes precedence. Hopefully you'll get the opportunity to visit it in the future.

 

Please keep posting as we back on land with future cruises booked are waiting anxiously for our turn and the next best thing to being on a cruise is reading about it. :)

 

Enjoy the rest of your cruise.

[CalTravelers]

Thanks for the postings - we'll be OK as long as we don't see days and days of rain! We too are looking forward to Quebec - and then we visit Montreal via train. Renting a car there and visiting Ottawa, the Laurentians and Montreal city; my first time in eastern Canada. Princess really hd the best itinerary for this trip.

 

Linda

[cityguy300]

Hi CityGuy!

 

Sorry you've had such a bad trip! Hope the weather turns better for you tomorrow in Quebec City.

 

This time of year you aren't going to see many kids out of school so I'm not surprised about the ages--a lot of younger passengers have kids which would limit their traveling in September and October.:eek:

 

Did you tender in Saguenay? I saw a port web cam that looked like you were docked but couldn't tell where passengers were getting off the ship. What did you do in Saguenay?

 

Thanks for any information and hope you enjoy Quebec City!

 

Hey Alabama Ghost,

 

Finally back home and settled in, and catching up on a LOT of shows I captured on PVR in the background while I type this. ;)

 

I didn't mean to give the impression that it was a bad trip -- just that the weather and ports didn't live up to expectations after a promising first few days. And I agree, I wasn't expecting to see many children or teens at this time of year, but the average age of the passengers did skew higher than I had expected (although it still wasn't a surprise per se, since this is more of a leaf-peeping / historical itinerary than the traditional, active/fun-in-the-sun trips like the Caribbean).

 

We didn't tender in Saguenay; the ship you probably saw was the Norwegian Spirit, which shadowed us the entire trip from Boston onwards (the only port we didn't see them was Newport). If we had been tendered I wouldn't have been able to post my previous post, as we would have been out of range of the pier's wi-fi. :D The NCL ship was anchored in the middle of the bay and only had to tender a short distance.

 

There really wasn't anything to do in Saguenay unless you took a bus excursion, and even then I'm not sure what they saw (although I heard from one person that it was quite beautiful, whatever it was!). For $10 you can take a tourist bus that goes to the neighbouring, presumably livelier regions... but by mid-day the lineups had gotten really long and you could expect a wait of up to an hour to hop on one.

 

Quebec City did turn out to be a saving grace. While the sun never did reappear (in fact it's just as cold and rainy here in the Toronto area, an hour's flight west), the old town was a great walking area and just as pretty as you see in the postcards. The ship docked just outside the lower town with a clear, up-close view of the Chateau Frontenac if you had a starboard balcony (like I did). In fact, it seemed the ship always docked on the starboard side -- I thought I would see less being on that side sailing north (i.e. away from the coast), but it turned out to be the livelier side when the ship was stationary. :)

 

The only negative experience we had in Quebec was with the buggy driver/guide at the end of our caleche (horse and carriage) ride. It was $80 for a 40-minute ride, but after I paid her she kept insisting that there was a "discretionary" (her words) 15% tip expected. I don't know if it was a language/translation issue but she kept using that word as if "discretionary" = "mandatory", instead of the complete opposite. :rolleyes: We didn't mind giving a tip in and of itself, but for someone to broach the matter in such a direct (and frankly, rude) manner was a first for me, and put a damper on the whole experience.

 

If you have any more questions about the cruise/itinerary/ports, let me know!

[cityguy300]

Hi CityGuy,

 

Thanks for posting and filling us in on what's happening. Sorry to hear that you aren't having good weather. Unfortunately weather is one part of a vacation that can't be planned.

 

Sorry to hear that you had to miss Sydney due to an emergency but that always takes precedence. Hopefully you'll get the opportunity to visit it in the future.

 

Please keep posting as we back on land with future cruises booked are waiting anxiously for our turn and the next best thing to being on a cruise is reading about it. :)

 

Enjoy the rest of your cruise.

 

Hi SF,

 

I wasn't too disappointed about skipping Sydney, as I considered it and Saguenay to be filler ports anyway (no offence to anyone here who lives in either region or enjoyed them on previous voyages!). I didn't hear anyone else on the ship complain about missing Sydney (although I'm sure the excursions were all sold out, as they were at every other port!), and we ended up getting a $9.xx port charge refund on our statements. The main problem was that it resulted in two consecutive sea days; this was my 3rd time on a Grand-class Princess ship (I think that's what the Crown and Emerald are called?) and I've never seen the halls and public rooms as packed as they were that day! Usually it never feels like there are 3,000 other passengers on the ship with you, but that first, unexpected sea day was an exception. ;)

 

For anyone wondering, the medical emergency in question involved a single passenger who had to be airlifted to a hospital by a Canadian coast guard chopper. I never did hear what befell him (a few hours before the turnaround announcement, a request was made over the P.A. system for donors with O+ or O- blood), but the Captain let us know the next day that he was in stable condition.

 

FYI, there were 56 passengers who remained on board for the reverse trip back to NYC. Before my trip I had asked on these forums what the production shows were, to find out if I had seen them before: to answer my own question now, they were "Destination Anywhere", "What A Swell Party", and "Motor City". The cruise director was Neil, who we had last year on the Emerald in the Mediterranean.

 

If you have any specific questions do let me know, otherwise have a great trip!

[alabama ghost]

Good Evening, City Guy!

 

I'm glad you got home safely and really appreciate all the good information you sent.

 

I was looking at a port cam the day you were in Saguenay and it showed a Princess ship at a dock but I couldn't tell where passengers were getting off and it was really confusing--I guess it was just the bad quality picture from a web cam. (I was looking for a gangplank and couldn't see anything like that.)

 

We've got a tour scheduled for Saguenay, 10 of us are scheduled to take the Chicotimi City Sights but have been thinking about cancelling and trying the Hop On/Hop Off. I sure don't want to do that if there's over an hour wait for that! Did you get online while you were still on the ship using the port's wifi?

 

My husband wants to know if wifi is the same as a wireless router at your home?

 

In Saguenay did you see any beluga whales? Or, did you hear anything about the zodiac boat ride. My sister had been waitlisted for the zodiac and is seriously thinking about it.

 

I'm glad Quebec City was a litle better for you than the other Canadian ports, but sorry about your rude carriage driver! Some people just shouldn't work with the public.

 

I know it was rainy, but how was the temperature? Did it start cold and stay cold most days because of the rain?

 

It was great to hear how good the starboard side is, that's where our balcony is. Did you have a balcony and if so, did you spend much time outside?

 

Thanks for such great information. Hope your next cruise isn't so rainy!

[cityguy300]

Good Evening, City Guy!

 

I'm glad you got home safely and really appreciate all the good information you sent.

 

I was looking at a port cam the day you were in Saguenay and it showed a Princess ship at a dock but I couldn't tell where passengers were getting off and it was really confusing--I guess it was just the bad quality picture from a web cam. (I was looking for a gangplank and couldn't see anything like that.)

 

We've got a tour scheduled for Saguenay, 10 of us are scheduled to take the Chicotimi City Sights but have been thinking about cancelling and trying the Hop On/Hop Off. I sure don't want to do that if there's over an hour wait for that! Did you get online while you were still on the ship using the port's wifi?

 

My husband wants to know if wifi is the same as a wireless router at your home?

 

In Saguenay did you see any beluga whales? Or, did you hear anything about the zodiac boat ride. My sister had been waitlisted for the zodiac and is seriously thinking about it.

 

I'm glad Quebec City was a litle better for you than the other Canadian ports, but sorry about your rude carriage driver! Some people just shouldn't work with the public.

 

I know it was rainy, but how was the temperature? Did it start cold and stay cold most days because of the rain?

 

It was great to hear how good the starboard side is, that's where our balcony is. Did you have a balcony and if so, did you spend much time outside?

 

Thanks for such great information. Hope your next cruise isn't so rainy!

 

I was in a starboard balcony, Baja midship (in fact, I need to remember to reply to a poster who asked about my specific cabin a few days before I went on the trip, lol). I don't remember once docking facing away from the pier, nor do I remember seeing exit doors / gangplanks opposite the ones we used every day, so maybe starboard is it? :confused:

 

I used my balcony a fair bit, but then this was my first one after two previous cruises in inside cabins. There were many times -- not just early in the morning or late at night -- when I would step out, lean over and see no one else around. I rarely saw anyone just sitting out and reading, and of course sunbathing was out of the question. ;) The most people I saw on the balconies at any one time was when we were getting ready to leave Saint John and Halifax and were serenaded by a solo bagpipe player below. Otherwise, people just popped out for short stints to snap photos or smoke!

 

It was rainy and cold, unfortunately. I only packed one sweater and wondered if it was a mistake the first day in Brooklyn (really hard to find the entrance to that terminal, BTW) as it was sunny and very warm that day. The good weather continued through Newport but by the time we reached Boston it was sunny and cool, which held through Bar Harbor. Saint John was overcast but not yet too cold, but Halifax was the start of the rainy/cold combo. Quebec City yesterday was overcast but had little to no rain, whereas today (our last day / first day for the next group) was actually colder, wetter, and windier!

 

Yes, the wi-fi I'm talking about is like the wireless Internet access you get at home with your router, except these routers are located on the ship or in select piers and most of the ones you'll encounter are secure (i.e. you'll be prompted for a 10+ character encryption key if you try to connect to them). Port Saguenay was the only free network I detected (look for an unsecured network called "linksys"); from my balcony I was just at the outer edge of the network (the connection dropped whenever I went back into my room).

 

Sorry, didn't spot any beluga whales anywhere on this cruise. I hear the people who went on the whale watching excursion in Bar Harbor the morning we were there didn't have much luck either; I didn't even know Saguenay offered such a tour! Taxi tour rates in Saguenay were posted and pretty high, but appeared to be negotiable; I know one passenger's group got a one-hour tour for $50, which averaged out much less than the rate posted for a 2-3 hour standard tour.

[alabama ghost]

Thank you so much, CityGuy! It's so great to "talk" to someone who's actually been on a duplicate of our cruise. We're even more looking forward to doing this cruise. Anything you would do differently if you were to take this trip again?

 

Ghost

[cityguy300]

Thank you so much, CityGuy! It's so great to "talk" to someone who's actually been on a duplicate of our cruise. We're even more looking forward to doing this cruise. Anything you would do differently if you were to take this trip again?

 

Ghost

 

You're welcome Ghost, and I do hope you enjoy your cruise. Since we were the first sailing and missed Sydney, I'd be interested in hearing how later cruises like yours go -- I also hope you get better weather than we did! :)

 

The only thing I might have done differently -- and I might be singing the opposite tune now if I had -- is sign up for the ship excursions on the duller ports that had few independent tour options, like Saguenay. Only thing is, most of those excursions involved sightseeing or nature tours and I'm not sure how enjoyable they'd have been given the cold & rain. Even most of the walking tours were sold out on those days, which either means they were booked in advance or people really had nothing better to do, lol. You might want to hold onto that City Highlights tour you've booked as long as you can! ;)

[AreWeThereYet2]

CityGuy300 - Do you know what the earliest time that people were allowed off the ship in Quebec City? We will be doing self disembarkation, on the 23rd and are hoping to make a 7:50am train to Montreal.

[cityguy300]

CityGuy300 - Do you know what the earliest time that people were allowed off the ship in Quebec City? We will be doing self disembarkation, on the 23rd and are hoping to make a 7:50am train to Montreal.

 

I believe if you were willing to carry your own luggage off, you could get off anytime -- there were even people disembarking the night before, probably out of convenience or necessity for their transportation arrangements.

 

According to Princess' disembarkation chart, the earliest colour-coded group could disembark around 3:30 AM (!) if you had a flight around 5:45 AM. I assume that was for people who needed their bags delivered to the terminal.

[AreWeThereYet2]

CityGuy300 - Thanks for the quick response, you have put my mind at ease that we can make our train.:)

[cityguy300]

CityGuy300 - Thanks for the quick response, you have put my mind at ease that we can make our train.:)

 

You're welcome, AWTY2. Just remember that you have to go through Canadian Customs & Immigration in the terminal as you disembark the ship. For some reason this caused quite a bottleneck the morning we left, even though when we finally got downstairs (as part of the last group) we just breezed through it.

 

Anyway I'm sure you'll have no trouble catching your train; in fact you'll probably see a bunch of your fellow passengers there with you. Have a good trip!