Various Crown questions from Princess Virgin

[lrmrtn]

We have never sailed on Princess before and are looking to book their Western Caribbean cruise in late Feb. 2010 on the Crown. I have a variety of questions that maybe those who are more experienced could help me with.

 

We are looking to book a balcony cabin, probably in the BD category. It looks like they only have one midship Baja room left by the laundry room. Will that be too loud? Are the cabins close to the front and back of the ship on Baja or Aloha nice? how are the balconies? Our concerns with cabins are mainly noise, cleanliness and adequate a/c and not too much rocking as I can get a bit seasick. Size doesn't concern us as much as we'll only be there to sleep and shower and hang out on the balcony.

 

We are probably going to do anytime dining. Which restaurants are included and which do you have to pay extra for? We are vegetarians (although I eat fish). Will we have enough selection? How are the buffets? We were on costa and the buffet was complete chaos and we started avoiding it even if it meant not eating because it was such a bad experience.

 

What toiletries are in the cabins? We are light packers and I want to avoid packing anything we don't need. Is there a fridge? We want to buy water beforehand and bring it on. Will there be any problems with this?

 

I think that about covers it for now but I'm sure I'll have more to come. Thanks everyone for your help!

[Minoushka]

Hello

 

On most ships lower decks midship is ideal to fight seasickness .Avoid front balconies they tend to rock more

Balconies on Princess are very nice so is the layout of the cabin

You can ask your cabin steward to empty the fridge so you can put your own stuff in

Sabatini's and Crown Grill are extra 20 or 25$ pp but when I went there I did not have veggie food SOOOOO I really do not know if they are good for you ...Besides Crown Grill is a STEAK HOUSE ...I think you can skip that one LOL!!!!

I like Princess You will too

 

Michele

[brian72]

The cabins by the laundry rooms are not bad as far as noise goes. The rear of the ship does tend to get a little noisy when underway. For the past 3 cruises, I have had D733 which is the last cabin on the starboard side of the ship and we noticed that while underway, especially in rough seas, there is a loud vibration sometimes. It's either from stabilizers, rudders, or thrusters. Not horrible but something to consider and I do not know if it was heard on Baja or Aloha.

Buffet was fine. Sometimes you will encounter a line but in that case I would just head back to Cafe Caribe where the lines were much shorter than Horizon Court. Most of the time they had the same foods, maybe missing one or two items.

Seeing that you are a vegetarian, I would avoid any of the specialty restaurants. It will be worth the extra fee for you. Unless of course you travel companions really want to. I tried them all once but will definately skip them on my next cruise. The main dining room was fine by me.

Soap, Shampoo and Conditioner were all provided in the cabins and many other item can be bought or requested when on board.

The cabins and the ship were all very clean and I believe you can bring water on board with no problem but I have not done that yet.

[caribill]

 

We are probably going to do anytime dining. Which restaurants are included and which do you have to pay extra for? We are vegetarians (although I eat fish). Will we have enough selection? How are the buffets? We were on costa and the buffet was complete chaos and we started avoiding it even if it meant not eating because it was such a bad experience.

 

We want to buy water beforehand and bring it on. Will there be any problems with this?

 

 

 

My wife is also a vegetarian that eats fish and has no problem finding a varied selection of food on a Princess cruise. In addition, you can ask your headwaiter to bring the next night's menu and work with him to select items that meet your needs. In some cases, they can change the receipe for you. For example, they can make the onion soup without using a beef stock. Just work with your headwaiter for things like this.

 

This is also true in the (extra cost) specialty restaurants. Fish is available and you can avoid the non-vegetarian selections.

 

As for water, it is hard to find on shore bottled water that is purer than the water that comes from the tap on a Princess ship. The ship's water is made onboard from seawater and is not, like most bottled waters, sourced from a municipal water system.

 

In Walmart's case, the water is Niagara — not from Niagara Falls, or even company headquarters in California — but from a local plant in Grand Prairie.

 

Kroger's bottles don't say where their water is sourced, but it's Dallas City water from Irving.

 

Aquafina's bottle says their product comes from "public water sources." A company spokesman says it's Dallas water from Mesquite.

 

Tom Thumb's brand, Refreshe', doesn't reveal its source. It's bottled by Advanced H20 near Duncanville.

 

Dasani, a division of Coca-Cola doesn't give a clue where it comes from on the bottle. Headquarters says that its source is Dallas water mains.

 

Nestle Pure Life's label does say its source is public water supplies, Dallas, Texas.

[Kerry&LuAnn]

We loved our experience on the Crown Princess and are sailing on this ship again later this month to the Western Caribbean.

 

We also really appreciate the flexibility of Anytime Dining... eat when we want, either alone or at a table with others, depending upon our schedule and mood. There are two dining rooms dedicated to Anytime Dining (and one dining room for the Traditional set-time, set-table arrangement). We never found any need to try any of the specialty restaurants.

 

The buffet has a wide variety of items to choose from. Something some passengers don't realize is that it is set up in "stations" so you don't start at one end and go all the way to the other end in a line of people. Simply go up to any particular station (salad bar, main entrees, desserts, etc.), get what you want and back out, then go to another station.

 

We are confident you'll be delighted with your cruise experience on the Crown Princess.

[catergirl]

no problem bringing water or soda on board to put in the frig. there is also hand lotion as well as the other shampoo,conditioner and soap. PS if you ever need it you can ask for a sewing kit from your steward. i thought the veg options looked rather good as well as the fish and they change them nightly. have fun!

[jimpod]

We were in a Baja balcony stateroom almost opposite the laundry room on the Crown's Transatlantic cruise in September We heard no noise at all from the laundry - not even the door opening and closing, in fact it was very handy being that close for any last minute ironing (don't believe in washing clothes while on holiday). There was very little motion despite it being a fairly choppy crossing. Enjoy your cruise.

[lrmrtn]

Thanks everyone! Another question - is paying extra for the Sanctuary worth it? We are going when it's not a major school vacation so I don't think there should be too many kids.

[AlaskaGolden]

...Another question - is paying extra for the Sanctuary worth it? We are going when it's not a major school vacation so I don't think there should be too many kids.

 

You may find a lot of noise and activity around the two other pulls with MUTS playing all day at one pool, and pool games, bands, etc. going on at the other. The Sanctuary may be the only way to "escape completely" on the upper decks.

[justluv2cruisewithhubby]

Hi there

You may want to read the latest posts from Dan Askin Live from ... Cruise Critic's Caribbean Kick-Off on Crown Princess (11/7 - 14) (1 2 3 ... Last Page)

 

He's sailing live on the Crown right now and alot of great info..