Crown Princess review 12/5-12/12

[Gr101997]

Im starting this as im sitting up on the MUTS deck waiting to go to the Michelangelo at 930 for one of the last disembarkation times. Since we couldnt get a decent flight out of florida, we decided to stay an extra night so we are in no rush to leave the ship. Overall, the week was awesome. This was the 2nd time in less then a year that my fiancee and I sailed on the Crown. We did Eastern in March. I liked this itinerary alot more (with the exception of Cozumel). I found there was more to do then shop and go to the beach which was what the Eastern more or less was.

 

Flew down a night early, stayed at the Hilton Marina. Got it on Priceline for 92$. Great deal. Real easy to get to the port the next morning.

 

Anyways, Embarkation as usual was a breeze. We showed up around 1230 and was on the ship, in our room at 1. Its amazing how quickly that process is. IF it wasnt for the picture guy, we probably would have been on 10 mins sooner. The first thing we noticed was all the Xmas decorations. Really cool touch. Had no idea that the ships did this. There were at least 5 decorated trees in the Piazza and garland and wreaths on all the banisters and balconies.

 

We opted to stick with the Carib balcony instead of taking an upgrade to a mini suite. I prefer the larger balconies to the larger rooms and tubs. Mid ship which was really convenient in getting to the pools and main floors especially since we had to walk everywhere (more on that later)...

 

The first day was at sea. Slept in a little but it wasn't too much of a problem getting a chair on deck. There was a sushi buffet in the back of the ship. The only word I can use to describe it is "Horrid". The rice seemed to be overcooked and chewy while the actual fish was disgusting. I had one piece of what I assumed was tuna. When I picked it up, the 'tuna' cracked in half. One bite and it was in the garbage. This was also formal night. I had rented a tux through cruise Line Formal. Not only did they give me the wrong package but the shirts had some kind of blue stains on them on the arms. When I got the package Saturday, I tried calling them but they were closed. I called the ships formal dept but they couldnt help. Pretty pissed about that. Theyre gonna get a nice phone call Monday morning from me.

 

I had been to Grand Cayman a few years ago so I knew what to expect there. The tender situation is so much easier when the ship uses their boats instead of ferries. I had gone with Carnival and when it was time to go back, the line stretched around the block and was a good hour wait. We did the Stingray City Reef Snorkel with Rum Point Lunch. Really good excursion. It wasnt too expensive but they take you to Stingray city, make sure everyone pets and kisses the stingrays. Then you go to a reef a little ways away, snorkel for about 30 mins. From there you go all the way out to a private beach on Rum Point and they serve you lunch which was really good island food. 5 Hour excursion. I could have done without them trying to force a 40$ CD with 10 pictures on it but thats expected everywhere. I dont understand why they charge so much when if they came down to a more reasonable price, more people would buy it.

 

Didnt know what to expect from Roatan. Booked a tour through Ronys because most of the stuff the ship offered really didnt impress me. The new port is nice but the stuff there is so outrageously overpriced that I dont see how anyone buys any of it. A pair of Reef flip flops I really liked were 65$! I can get them at home for half that. It really is a shame how the Carnival Corp wont allow the private tour groups inside so we had to walk up a hill to meet up with our guides. Got our taxi and went off to the Pirates Zip Line. Lots of fun. Kinda wish we did the more extreme one but my fiancee had yet to ever try anything like that so we settled on the easier of the two. Still was a blast. From there we went to the West End and paid the 10$ each to go to the Mayan Princess for the day. Probably one of the nicest beaches I have ever been to in my life. White Sand, green water that was smooth as glass. I could have done without the people selling tons of crap but whatever. You could also use their pool which was very refreshing. Such a beautiful island. I wouldnt have minded staying there for a few nights. Im still in awe thinking of the beach.

 

Cozumel felt like a waste of a port. The beach at Playa Mia was rocky and the buffet they had for us was terrible. Granted I wasnt expecting a 5 star meal but it was awful. They had some fun beach games set up but overall it was just a day at the beach. Would have loved to do a ruins tour but the idea of getting on a ferry and then into a bus was a little much for me.

 

A little drama on sea day 2 as about five minutes after the captain tells us we are off the shores of cuba, he comes back to say there is a 'ship in distress' off the port side. The ship was stopped, turned around and a life boat was launched. After about 45 mins, we had a new passenger on board. It was pretty wild to see the whole thing unfold. I looked over at the bridge and all you saw were guys in white looking out with binoculars looking for the guy. Then the life boat went about 2 miles away, out of sight and then returned.

 

Princess Cays was fun. Sat at the beach, won a medal playing egg toss, played some volleyball, went back to the ship. It was hot as hell and there was ZERO wind.

 

Got our bill this morning and was pleasantly surprised. Last time I bought about 10 photos on board and had at least a bottle of wine with dinner each night. Starts to add up. This time we bought one for formal night and brought our own wine. They still charged us the corking fee but a 13$ bottle of wine with a 15$ charge still works out cheaper then anything they have plus the 15% charge. Had a couple incidents with credits and stuff but they were all worked out this morning and I got my refunds.

 

Some complaints... The food was nowhere near as good as I remember it. Most nights, some of the menu selections seemed kinda odd and a few times nothing really jumped out as something i was dying to have. They stuck us in the very back of the Boticelli for 2nd seating. Fortunately we were with another couple our age so it was fine but the dining room seemed half full in the middle and here we are on the outskirts like outcasts. Our waiter, Antonio, was great. He always made sure we ate enough and would bring more if we didnt. His junior waiter was terrible. We would constantly have to refill our own wine (which I dont mind but when the head guys saw us do it, he gave us a hard time) and track her down for water and bread. We found out she had alot of tables on both sides of the wall but still, it was kinda irritating. I guess we were spoiled on the last cruise we went on when the two waiters knew our card numbers and wine preferences by heart and always catered to our every need.

When we got on the ship, our fridge wasnt working. Turned out that the people before us snapped the temp gauge off and just left it. It took us 4 calls down to the front desk to finally get it fixed by the 2nd day. Also, the shower in our room wasnt draining properly. This did not get fixed until we got back from Grand Cayman and dragged a maintenance guy into the room to look at it.

My Fiancee called down to the desk to ask if we could do something to celebrate us just getting engaged. The first time they connected her to the wedding chapel where they tried to sell us a wedding package. When we told the lady that all we were looking for was a few balloons on our door and maybe a cake at dinner, she transfered her back to special services. This pleasant woman who picked up said "We dont celebrate engagements" and hung up the phone. If I wasnt in such a good mood about the trip I would have hunted her down and had my fiancee smack her. The final night our waiter and the head waiter bought us and the couple with us (he proposed to his gf on Thursday night) cakes to celebrate. Much appreciated.

The elevators.... Every day it was a given that one of the main bank would have a red "X" in the place of the floor numbers. Some days it was 2 and I think at one point on Tuesday, 3 were down. Im young so I dont mind walking (id rather take the elevator) but some people cant and it was a real pain in the ass to wait for 10 mins for one to finally come where you could fit on.

 

Overall we had a great time. Did alot of the trivia (TV Trivia 2 was not "Modern"!), played in a bunch of games on board and met alot of nice people. I have to say though that the service we got back in March was nowhere to be found this time. With the exception of our waiter, everyone else seemed to have a stick up their ass.

 

Im not sitting in my room at the Hilton Marina and they were kind enough to give us a room on the 7th floor with a great view of the Crown Princess. So depressing. Ill post a link later with some of the many photos and videos I took all week.

[dforeigner]

Thank you for taking time to write a review.

[Coral]

OMG - that is funny they tried to sell you a wedding package! Pretty resourceful people! Let's hope they don't get into the funeral business and go after those who are sick on the ship!

 

Thanks for the review.

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the review.

[lovevacadays]

Thanks for the review and sorry to hear the service wasnt so good. I was on the Crown Nov14th and had really good service and the crew were always smiling.

 

I agree with your take on Roatan. Such a beautiful place - one of the most beautiful islands I have ever seen!

[Gr101997]

I also forgot to mention that the morning of Cozumel, the milk that came with our breakfast was curdled. We called down and had them bring up another one. Two of them came, one had expired 3 days prior and the other was warm and smelled.

When we got coffee on the Princess Cays day at the Int cafe, the skim milk one was curdled as well. Really piss poor on their part to have expired and walk milk on a ship

[Coolmama_1]

Thanks for the review.

[mek]

You were boarding when we were departing. We experienced great service in the Horizon Court and Caribe Cafe, but nothing exceptional in the MDR with anytime dining. I agree 100% with you concerning the food. We had a few very good dishes with most being just OK and a couple of real misses - the veal marsala was terrible. The MDR was just not as good as in the past, at least on this particular cruise.

[sultan_sfo]

Great Idea -- if over 80, this could be a part of leaflets they leave in your cabin on embarkation day.

 

OMG - that is funny they tried to sell you a wedding package! Pretty resourceful people! Let's hope they don't get into the funeral business and go after those who are sick on the ship!

 

Thanks for the review.

[Zoey1]

I have to agree with your review. The food was very disappointing, however I will say that we felt it either got a little better by the end of the week, or we got way less picky..lol. Service was not what it use to be either.

 

Very sad to see that going on a tender there was a very handicapped elderly woman with her husband and adult daughter, the staff did not even attempt to touch her to help out.

 

Still, all in all a great cruise, I will post a short review later or tomorrow as well.

[NewJerseyNewbie]

I will be going on this same cruise in Jan 2011. Can I ask if u have any suggestions on things to do? I'm a beach lover so days at the beach are fine with me! However, I would love to look at some Mayan Ruins and go horseback riding (did that in St. Lucia and it was honestly one of the best days of my life!)

 

Thanks!

[tennisobo]

Many of us on upcoming Crown sailings would like to know how difficult it was to get a cab after disembarkation since the new, huge RCCL ship is disembarking also. Thanks for any information regarding this issue and thank for the review.

[caribill]

Many of us on upcoming Crown sailings would like to know how difficult it was to get a cab after disembarkation since the new, huge RCCL ship is disembarking also. Thanks for any information regarding this issue and thank for the review.

 

 

See the last few entries on http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1093086&page=3

[mom23guys]

Tennisobo,

We got a cab yesterday after departing about 9:15 had to wait in a short line for about 10 minutes. It was a pretty efficient operation. Everyone, with porter or not, lined up. There were county police officers there that kept the lines of taxis moving. There was a constant flow of taxis for a while, when they were finished we waited about 2 minutes and another batch of twenty or more taxis entered the area. The police officers moved people who need larger vans to the side until one approached letting the smaller groups get in the available sedans.

 

Overall, I was pleased with the service it was especially good in Horizon Court and had a great time on the cruise.

[BuzzF117]

we were on this same sailing and I will admit nothing jumped out at me on the MDR menu but there was some good items. The desserts and tarts in the Horizon Court seemed to be better this time around. If you get a chance to try the flour less Chocolate cake it's an ooey gooey mess of chocolate wonderment I highly recommend it. This wasn't our preferred itinerary as we book this cruise based more on price and the week of the cruise. Overall nothing to make me shy away from Princess.

[Woobstr112G]

Thanks for the review.....:):):)

 

Bob

[JennAngel9]

Thanks for the review and congrats on the engagement. I think we may have been on the March sailing with you!

 

I'm not sure if menus are consistent across the fleet, but I would love to hear from those of you who were not thrilled with the dining what the best options were and what to avoid (veal marasala, check).

[Zoey1]

Many of us on upcoming Crown sailings would like to know how difficult it was to get a cab after disembarkation since the new, huge RCCL ship is disembarking also. Thanks for any information regarding this issue and thank for the review.

 

We got a cab as soon as we got off, we were the 2nd color to get off the ship, no problems at all though..

[Zoey1]

I will be going on this same cruise in Jan 2011. Can I ask if u have any suggestions on things to do? I'm a beach lover so days at the beach are fine with me! However, I would love to look at some Mayan Ruins and go horseback riding (did that in St. Lucia and it was honestly one of the best days of my life!)

 

Thanks!

 

We did a very laid back cruise this time, but other times did the Stingray/snorkel in Grand Cayman, my adult kids and I loved it (hubby hated it, grossed him out), cozumel you have swim with the dolphins, the mayan ruins are great, we have done tulum which was great.

In Roatan (my new favorite port) you can take the chair lift ($5 back/forth all day) and just go to the beach their, I understand the Mayan Princess is fabulous but we got off to a late start and just went to the closer beach and we loved it.

[litehouz70]

We were on the same cruise & had a wonderful time! I do have to agree that the elevator situation was bad. I agree Zoey1 about Roatan. It's incredible! For any of you going there in the future, you're in for a real treat! Mahogany Bay is impressive. By the way, we went to Tulum also Zoey. We were on the tour bus with Edwardo as our guide. I'm not sure if you were on our bus or not but he was awesome. I'm going to try to create a full review of the cruise a little later. I'm still trying to come to grips with "back home" reality. :(

[tennisobo]

Someone on the Ports of Call board mentioned a sand-flea problem at the beach at Mahogany Bay. Did any of you experience that? :confused: I'm just thinking we should hit Walgreen's for bug spray before we embark the ship.

[dtagirl]

Thanks for the review

[mek]

Thanks for the review and congrats on the engagement. I think we may have been on the March sailing with you!

 

I'm not sure if menus are consistent across the fleet, but I would love to hear from those of you who were not thrilled with the dining what the best options were and what to avoid (veal marasala, check).

 

BTW, the cioppino was delicious, but need more broth for my taste.

[noisywater]

We were also on this cruise. Agree that the food has gone downhill since our last Crown voyage in November 2008. Our lobster the last formal night was terrible-cooked too much and no taste. The last evening we went to the Caribe Buffet and they only had one side open. A long line for only so so food.

Yes, the sand fleas on Mahogany Bay were terrible. Our friend had hundreds of bites. Recommend the bug spray.

Overall the cruise was great. The elevator situation was a pain. We had anytime dining and ate in the Michaelangelo most every night. The head waiter was very nice and most helpful-Caitlano. Did feel the waiters and assistance were way overworked. Missed the extra attention we are used to. Had to ask for water, tea refills as well as bread. Also our first waiter-Christopher, took all the women's orders first then the men. I like that little touch that makes you feel special. Didn't happen any other time though.

[WeBeGone]

We were also on this Crown cruise. My broken foot really put a crimp in my style and ruled out any snorkeling and dancing. :( But it did "force" us to do things we'd have never experienced otherwise:

 

On Roatan, we booked a bus tour to see a large part of this beautiful island. It included a little boat ride, dancing exhibition by natives, several photo stops, and overall was worth the money. The walk from the ship to the bus was very long but we had been warned so we had a wheelchair lined up for me. I really couldn't have walked that far on my own. We didn't do the chairlift but thought it was beautiful as was the beach. Heard many folks compaining about the sand fleas.

 

On Cozumel, 4 of us got a taxi to take us around the island. The "other" side is absolutely beautiful. We could stop for photos wherever we liked, stopped for a few beers at the several bars, and saw the non-tourist part of town. For $25pp, I thought it was a great deal and a wonderful alternative to shopping.

 

On Grand Cayman, we reluctantly stayed on the ship. I just couldn't walk.

 

On Princess Cay, we booked a Princess excursion "Taste of Eluthra", and it was GREAT. New clean air conditioned bus, wonderfully fun tour guide (Nikko) and driver, and a fun 4 hours. Learned a lot, got to see "beyond the gate", had a yummy lunch on the beach, and again, did something other than the regular Princess Cay stuff. If you want a little something different, I highly recommend this tour.

 

As for the Crown itself, food, service - yeah-what they said! :)