Crown Princess NE/Canada Summary In Parts

[alabama ghost]

:)

 

Below is my Part I, more to follow. Any questions or comments?

 

October 11-13 Pre-Cruise

 

Background: We had a group of 12 adults, from 59-88 years old. Four of our group had never cruised before; the balance had cruised, some frequently. Activity levels varied. All of us live in the Southeast US.

 

Six of us spent a night at the Hampton Inn Airport Atlanta pre-cruise which worked out great. We kept our cars there free for a week and for a small amount for the second week. We took the Hampton Inn shuttle to the airport, about a 10 minute drive and also got the shuttle on our return.

 

On October 12 we left the hotel around 8am for a 10:40am flight to LaGuardia which ended up being about 2 hours late due to bad weather in Atlanta. We arrived in New York around 4pm and called for our scheduled Super Shuttle, which carried all 10 of us from the flight and our cruise luggage.

 

We spent the night at the Hampton Inn Seaport which worked out great. It was close to lots of restaurants and Pier 19 (I think) which had tours leaving from there and clubs and more restaurants. Some of our group walked to the World Trade Center Site, others took a Grey Line tour.

 

Around 11am on October 13 some of us left for the Brooklyn Pier which took about 15 minutes. We had a very smooth and easy embarkation thanks to our Elite status and just about walked on the ship. Six of us had balcony cabins on the Caribe deck which were ready for us at the time. We left our carryons in the cabin and went to the DaVinci dining room for our initial lunch which was excellent.

[alabama ghost]

The Crown Princess

 

We had been on the Emerald Princess before and as far as I can tell it’s almost identical to the Crown. The Emerald had been my favorite Princess ship mainly because of the International Café and the Atrium. We weren’t able to use this as much this trip because it was so crowded.

 

We had two days at sea, one unscheduled when we weren’t able to dock in Sydney and on each of these days you could barely get into the common areas on board because they were so crowded. It was too cold to be on deck, especially around the pools and elsewhere on the Lido Deck. Forget about MUTS! You could see something playing on the bridge cam at night, but no one was up there that I saw.

 

On our one scheduled sea day we at in the Wheelhouse Bar and had the pub lunch which was excellent. We ate around 1:15 so the line wasn’t bad, only had to wait around 15 minutes to be seated. I had bangers and mash and my husband had fish and chips. We also ate at both optional restaurants.

 

I enjoyed our balcony cabin although we didn’t spend the amount of time outside like we would do on a warmer cruise. This was especially nice when we were in port. Our cabin was starboard which happened to face the port in most stops including Quebec with a beautiful view of the Chateau Frontenac.

 

We had anytime dining this cruise. For the most part we had great service, but it’s certainly more impersonal than having the same set of waiters each evening who know all your likes and dislikes. Our room steward, Ernesto, was the best we’ve ever had. We never came back from a meal without our room being cleaned—he was a wonder!

 

This was the coldest cruise I’ve ever been on. In most ports we were told the weather was more like November than October. It started out cold in New York and just got colder until Quebec City where we had 5” of snow. Beautiful, but limiting in what you can do.

[AlaskaGolden]

Enjoying the review. Look forward to hearing more about the ports and the ship!

[alabama ghost]

The Ports

 

Newport, Rhode Island – After a cold tender ride, we walked to the visitor center then took city bus to the Breakers. No line, walked right in and took the audio tour--amazing mansion…amazing lifestyle. It was cold in Newport but just a foreshadowing of what was to come. Some of our group went on the Cliff Walk and really thought that was great. We took the bus back to the downtown and returned to the ship. This was our first formal night and our cruise critic get together was scheduled for 5pm. We had about 30 people there and we really enjoyed meeting some of the people we had posted with on our roll call.

 

Boston – As usual, very cold this morning. We had signed up for the Old Town Trolley Tour and walked to stop 16A, 2 blocks from the ship. After waiting about 30 minutes in the cold and a call to Old Town (where we were given the wrong info) we took cabs to stop 16 which was right outside the Westin Hotel. The shuttle trolley from there took us to their main stop, Stop 1, located near Fanueil Hall. From there we got our regular trolley and took the HOHO tour throughout the city. It was just too cold to get off—we just did the full circuit then ate a quick snack at Quincey Market before taking the trolley shuttle back to the ship. The trolley gives you a good overall view of Boston, next time we’ll spend more time at some of the various locations.

 

Bar Harbor, Maine - One of my favorite stops, although as usual very cold. The tender didn’t take long and we were able to get our tickets for Oli’s Trolley in plenty of time to make the 10:00 tour. We had made reservations on line, but paid in person. Walk of about 2 blocks to the trolley for a 2 ½ hour tour to Acadia National Park where we saw lots of color…beautiful leaves. After the tour we ate at the West Street Café, feasted on chowder, lobster and blueberry pie. Although we were barely able to move afterwards we went shopping and bought some more warm clothes. I found a fleece lined, hooded jacket for a deal! Lots of things were on sale because of it being the end of the season. Be sure and take your long johns, gloves, scarves, ear muffs and a warm coat. A rain parka might come in handy, also.

 

Saint John, New Brunswick-This was a fun stop. We docked and had nothing scheduled so we just took our time getting off and walked to the Market Square and from there took the inside pedway to the City Market. The City Market was amazing and lots of fun. I couldn’t get into the seaweed which was one of their specialties, though.

 

Halifax, Nova Scotia – We had an afternoon Princess tour scheduled here so in the morning we went for a walk along the boardwalk and ended up at Alexander Keith’s Brewery and their pub. We had some warm soup which was fabulous. The afternoon tour was to Peggy’s Cove which was beautiful but cold and windy. I didn’t spend much time outside, just too cold even all “layered up”. The cold was combined with wind and rain that day.

 

Sydney, Nova Scotia – The night before was our worst, very rough. My husband said we needed “rope service”—for our steward to tie us in. (It really wasn’t that bad.) This port was cancelled due to the weather conditions. Two of our group were disappointed as they had rented a car and were planning on going to the Highland Village. Cruise director’s staff turned this into a regular day at sea. It was kind of nice to have a break—this is not exactly a relaxing cruise.

 

Port Saguenay – This was really something! We were trying to sleep in because we didn’t have a tour until 10am but the performers on the dock wouldn’t let us do that! Around 7am I heard all this noise outside, looked out and there’s all these people in historical costumes, settlers, Indians, and someone on a microphone saying things like: “Come on out, Crown Princess, get some free blueberry pie, come see us” (you get the idea). They did some folk dances, had cheese for us to try and the pie, and taffy made from maple syrup. Very interesting way to start the day. It was VERY cold, I think in the low 30’s F. Our tour, Chicoutimi Sights, was all right, but nothing special. We didn’t go inside anything, no museums were open, just a ride around town and some photo ops. My recommendation would be the $10 hop on hop off bus.

 

Quebec City --Fabulous place, even with 5” of snow. We just had to be careful walking on the icy sidewalks and this limited our walking around. The view of the Chateau Frontenac was wonderful. The tour we took, Historic and modern Quebec, gave us a good overall view of the old city. We didn’t see much of the modern city during this tour.

[junglejane]

DH wants our family to do this cruise in October 2010 during our kids' Fall Break. Out of curiosity, did you observe many kids on board? Ours will be 9 and 14 by then. (They are experienced cruisers and will be taking their 9th cruise in March, so this would be #10. They've already been on the Crown Princess in the British Isles.) Also did you notice kids on any of the shore excursions? Thanks!

[alabama ghost]

DH wants our family to do this cruise in October 2010 during our kids' Fall Break. Out of curiosity, did you observe many kids on board? Ours will be 9 and 14 by then. (They are experienced cruisers and will be taking their 9th cruise in March, so this would be #10. They've already been on the Crown Princess in the British Isles.) Also did you notice kids on any of the shore excursions? Thanks!

 

I saw a few kids on board, several infants and 3 or 4 early elementary school age. I'm sure there were more on board, but not many at all. I didn't see any kids on our shore excursions.

[alabama ghost]

Post Cruise

 

We had an easy disembarkation in Quebec City followed by a quick trip to the train station to check our luggage. We killed about 2 hours walking around town before heading back to the Via Rail station for our trip to Montreal. Snow was still on the ground until we were about 30 minutes out of Quebec City. Great train ride, took about 3½ hours to get to Montreal. The only negative was how long we had to wait for our luggage. A quick taxi ride and we were at our home for the next 2 days, The Hotel Nelligan.

The Nelligan’s in the old town, with really large rooms and a wonderful staff. We also liked their wine and cheese party in the evening and continental breakfast. We were very close to lots of bistros, shops, and two restaurants right inside the Nelligan.

 

The first day in Montreal we took a Grey line tour of the city; it was raining and this was our choice for an over-all view of the city. The next day some of our group went to mass at the Basillica of Notre Dame while others walked around town. We left for the airport around 3pm for our 5:50pm flight. We went through security then US Customs at the Montreal airport which made our return easier overall. Got home around midnight on Sunday 10/25.

 

Comments

1. The weather was a big deal for us. I was able to buy a heavier coat, but we would have been able to do more if it wasn’t so cold, rainy, snowy outside. Next time I would go earlier even though the leaves in Bar Harbor wouldn’t be so nice.

2. I loved all the ports and the area in general. I think next time I’d create for myself more “days at sea” and emphasize those ports where there’s a lot more to see. As I’ve mentioned before, this wasn’t what I’d call a relaxing cruise and after the first 3-4 ports I was exhausted with the ‘rush,rush,rush’.

3. There weren’t as many activities on board, most likely because of how port intensive the cruise was. We went to some of the production shows and also really enjoyed the piano entertainer at Crooners, Sammy Goldstein.

4. Overall, a wonderful experience for us. Just be prepared for any kind of weather. Also, remember for clothing: layer, layer, layer and include some HEAVY layers. Next year it might not be this cold until November but you just need to be prepared for anything.

[Caribbean Sunsets]

Thanks for taking the time to post your reviews. Columbus weekend was an unseasonably cold week for us New Englanders. Go figure...it was 70+ degrees in Boston on Halloween, though.:)

[alabama ghost]

The temperature was for us the biggest issue. I knew it would be cold (for someone from Alabama) but didn't realize just HOW cold it could be. We had a wonderful time and the snow was beautiful in Quebec, but next time we'll just be more prepared with heavier clothes. Our high anywhere was probably in the low 50s, and our low was in the upper 20s. When you add wind and/or rain or snow to that mix, it was cold!