Very long and biased review of Crown Princess - 2/27-3/6/10

[lrmrtn]

We just got back from a wonderful Caribbean cruise on the Crown Princess. Below is our very long and biased review. As a frame of reference, we are early 30-somethings, no kids (so no reviews on the kids' activities) and vegetarian (so no reviews on the steak), so what we may have found to be a priority may be different than for others, and vice versa.

 

And thanks to everyone on CC who answered all of our questions and provided very thorough reviews prior to our cruise as you were all such great help to planning a fantastic cruise!

 

Embarkation - For those of you in the Northeast who have been enduring the never-ending snow, you may recall that last Friday, we had a significant storm which caused our Friday night flight to Fort Lauderdale to be cancelled. After a frustrating 3 hour phone call to Jetblue (needless to say we are done with Jetblue for awhile!) and endless internet searching, I was able to get us on a 6 am flight out of New York on Saturday morning, which required a total of 3 flights, two layovers and 8 hours to get to Fort Lauderdale, when it should have been a 3 hour flight. I called Sleep Inn to cancel our reservation on Friday for Friday night, knowing that I wouldn't get a refund, but I thought Sleep Inn would appreciate the courtesy and could then book the room for that night. However, the clerk who took my call was extremely rude and said they wouldn't open up the room and would just consider us a no-show. oh well... So on Saturday morning, we luckily got on the first leg of our flight out of Westchester County, NY which barely got out as they had to jumpstart the little turbo prop to DC three times. But we made it out relatively on time and the rest of the trip to Florida was relatively uneventful. Once arriving in rainy, cloudy Fort Lauderdale, we got a cab to the port and requested a quick stop at Walgreens for some last minute items. The cab driver was rude as if we should be grateful that he was doing us this favor. At the port, while the cab obviously takes credit cards, the driver made a huge deal that we wanted to use one but eventually let us do it. The port staff immediately took our bags but not without blatantly asking for a tip for the privilege. We made it into the terminal and checking in was a breeze. It took us about 5 minutes from the time we entered the terminal to the time we were on the ship. Once in the cabin, we collapsed and vowed to forget about the trip out and enjoy the rest of the cruise.

 

The room - We booked cabin A247, a balcony cabin on the Aloha deck. We were very impressed with the size of our room as well as the cleanliness. We had plenty of room for our things and plenty of hangers. As mentioned in previous posts, the shower was a little small and the curtain was a little fresh, but still perfectly usable. The balcony was adequate. There have been some complaints on this board about the rooms being too warm, but we had no problems the whole time, and we are very sensitive to the heat. In fact, there were times when the room was too cold. We had barely made it into our room, when our lovely cabin steward, Ionell, arrived to ask us if there was anything we needed and if we had any questions. We requested a top sheet for the bed and promptly had it when we returned from dinner. Ionell took great care of us and the room all week. The room was always clean and Ionell was very efficient at cleaning it when we were away from the room and did not disturb us at all.

 

The food -

Horizon Court - We ate here for most of our lunches, one breakfast and three dinners. The one breakfast was chaotic and the food was mediocre - not bad, just no flavor. For the lunches, we usually ate pretty late when we got back from excursions so it wasn’t too crowded. The food was okay - again, not bad, just fairly bland and not too much variety. We had dinner here on one of the formal nights, the first night and another night when we were too tired to make it to the dining room. The food was pretty good - the sail away buffet and seafood on formal night was really good, and it was crowded, but we could always find a seat. The set up of the buffet is better than we have seen before as they have different stations, not one huge line, and it seemed very clean.

 

The dining rooms - We had anytime dining and never had to wait for a table for two in either the Da Vinci or Michelangelo dining rooms, and we usually went to dinner around 7 or 8. The service was always excellent and there were plenty of vegetarian selections. The food was fantastic. Some highlights were the lobster tail, the mussels and the fettuccini alfredo. A note on formal night - we weren’t going to go to the dining room as we didn’t have formal clothes, but decided to risk it as we didn’t feel like going to the buffet. My husband wore a short sleeve button-down shirt and khakis and I wore a nice sundress and we didn’t feel out of place. From what I saw, most men were in suits or jackets and ties, and women were in cocktail dresses or dressy suits. There were a handful of people dressed like us and some dressed more formally in tuxes and ball gowns. I certainly would not have gone in jeans but didn’t notice the "fashion police" glaring at us either.

 

Sabatini’s - We had dinner here one night for our husband’s birthday. The food was absolutely spectacular. They bring you a sample of all of the appetizers, which they tailored to us, as we don’t eat meat, and a sample of each pasta. I had the lobster tail which was phenomenal and my husband had the Chilean sea bass which he thought was very good. For dessert, I had the espresso crème brulee and my husband had the tiramisu, again both were wonderful. They also brought out a special dessert for my husband’s birthday and a birthday card from the Captain. Sabatini’s is definitely worth the extra $20 cover charge.

 

International Café - the pastries here were yummy and a great afternoon treat. Everything we had was included.

 

Wheelhouse Bar - We had the pub lunch on the first sea day and we both had the fish and chips and bread and butter pudding. Both were very good.

 

Ultimate Kids Package - My husband and are not big drinkers so we got this package which included unlimited soda, mocktails and milkshakes and works out to be about $10 per day. We definitely got more than our money’s worth. We had no problems using it at any of the bars or restaurants. The milkshakes are really good. It’s definitely worth the money if you like these drinks.

 

Pizza bar - We were both pretty impressed with the quality of the pizza, which is really saying something as being from the Northeast, we are used to really high quality pizza.

 

Room service - we ordered room service one morning for breakfast. We got it on time and our order was perfect. It is only continental though.

 

The Ports -

Grand Cayman - We scheduled a stingray and snorkel tour with Captain Marvin’s and an island tour with Captain Marvin’s afterwards. It turned out to be a beautiful day. Each tour was great. The tour guides were very professional and knew what they were doing. We went to stingray city first before it got too crowded. It was really weird how the stingrays come up to you and a bit frightening at first, but then you realize that they are pretty harmless. Everyone got a chance to hold, kiss and have their pictures taken with a stingray. As the guide said, they feel like big Portobello mushrooms! You can buy a CD with your pictures on the boat after - a bit pricey, but worth it, as the pictures we took weren’t nearly as good (2 for $25 or all in your group for $50). The snorkeling was really good too but the currents are a bit rough, especially to get back to the boat, so I don’t think I’d recommend it for weak swimmers. The water was the temperature of bathwater and absolutely beautiful. Our island tour after became our own private tour as no one else had booked this tour. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable. We saw the Homestead, Seven Mile beach, Hell (which my husband, being the geology major, found very cool) and the Turtle Farm. The Turtle Farm was definitely my favorite part. We got a personal tour of the Turtle Farm from an extremely knowledgeable guide. We got to hold several baby turtles and feed the turtles. The tour ran a little longer than scheduled but we didn’t mind as we got back to the port in plenty of time. I would highly recommend Capt. Marvin’s and both of these tours as everyone was very professional, knowledgeable and everything ran smoothly and better than expected.

 

Roatan - We docked at Mahogany Bay. We didn’t plan anything ahead of time as nothing strongly appealed to us. The weather ended up being pretty iffy all day - it was very cloudy with peaks of sun and very warm and humid. We went to Clip ‘N Zip right by the port. It was very easy to find and we didn’t have to wait very long. We were taken to the first platform in the back of a pickup truck on a very steep and muddy road. The actual zip lines started out pretty tame but then got faster, higher and longer as you went along. It was simultaneously a lot of fun and scary in a "I can’t believe I actually paid money to do this voluntarily" sort of way! The guides were very professional and knew exactly how to hook you up right so you were safe. I never felt unsafe with them. All in all we had a great time and would recommend them. You can purchase a CD with your pictures for $15 for your whole group. We then walked around the shops at Mahogany Bay. Mahogany Bay seemed like the sterile Disney World version of Roatan. The shops were very pricey and were your typical souvenir shops. We then went back to our cabin and got our beach stuff and headed to Mahogany Bay beach. The beach was okay and wasn’t too crowded because of the weather. Despite hearing about issues with bugs, we had no issues, even in the shade. The water was too cold to go in. What I didn’t like was that they closed the beach over an hour before we had to be back at the ship.

 

Cozumel - The weather was sunny, but very windy when we arrived. They ended up cancelling many of the boat-based excursions due to the weather. We had scheduled the ship’s tour to Tulum. We had to take the ferry to the mainland and were delayed because they had to bring in a bigger ferry boat that could handle the waves. The ride was pretty choppy but not as bad as I had anticipated and I didn’t notice anyone getting seasick. It was only about a half hour getting there. We then had to take the bus to the ruins. We stopped for a half hour at some tourist trap of a gift shop which seemed like a waste of time for me and then headed to the ruins. The guide was very knowledgeable about Mayan history. However, what we didn’t like was the constant up-sell and kickbacks the guide was obviously getting from stopping at this store, then promoting supposedly authentic Mayan jewelry and trying to convince us all to go to his friend’s restaurant. It was like a giant commercial. Once we arrived at the ruins, we were immediately harassed by vendors the entire time we were there. The ruins themselves were spectacular, equivalent to the Acropolis in Athens. They are on top of a beachside cliff and you can go down to the water and swim if you want. The weather ended up cooperating and was very warm and sunny. My husband was really bothered by bugs which were all over him, but I didn’t find them too bad. Then it was back on the bus for an hour back to the port and then back on the ferry to the ship. The ferry ride back was horrendous. It wasn’t too choppy but apparently one of the engines died so the ferry ride took over an hour. Good thing it was a ship excursion as we were late getting back to the ship and the ship had to wait as over 400 people from the cruise were stranded on the ferry. We ended up leaving about 40 minutes late. They also had some random guy playing guitar on the ferry ride who was a hit or miss and then harassed us numerous times for tips. The tour guide also asked us for tips as well, despite how much we overpaid for the excursion. To sum it up, while the ruins were amazing, it is quite a trek there and back so make sure you really want to see them before heading out. However the tour included drinks and snacks.

 

Princess Cays - We lucked out with beautiful sunny weather, if a bit cool. It was a great way to end the cruise with a relaxing day on the beach. It was bit crowded but we were able to find chairs with no problem. The water was beautiful, but a bit too cool for us for swimming. The buffet was fine. They have a store for souvenirs but you can only pay with your cruise cards and a few other vendors. While on the beach, we were asked about drinks about every 5 minutes. So one should be prepared to bring ear-plugs if you just want to relax.

 

The activities - We didn’t do too many activities, but there always seemed to be plenty of things to do to suit everyone.

-We went to the CC’ers meet and greet and Yankee gift swap the first sea day (thanks again to whomever brought the Red Sox shirt as Russ is still loving it!) which was a lot of fun.

-We also went to a couple of the art auctions and the art history lecture. It was really interesting and they have some pieces by some really famous artists, but unfortunately most things were above our price range.

-We went to MUTS the first night for Star Trek, but unfortunately it was too cold to stay for the whole thing. We went again to see Blind Side the second night. It was really fun to watch movies this way if the weather cooperates but it gets really crowded so get there early.

-We went to the culinary demonstration which was fun and got a tour of the galley which was cool.

-We went to part of one show. While this really wasn’t our thing, I have to say that the performers are really talented and the show was really well produced.

-All of the musicians we heard throughout the ship were great.

- My husband participated in one round of 80’s TV theme song trivia which was very difficult and so left.

 

The staff - All of the staff we encountered was excellent, polite and always went out of their way to help. The one thing I didn’t like was the constant up-selling, such as they always tried to get you to buy drinks at dinner and buy the cookbook at the culinary demonstration.

 

Overall, we had a fantastic cruise. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Princess or travel with them again if we do another cruise.

[canuckcruiser00]

Thanks for the review

Just out of curiousity, would you mind describing some of the typical breakfast/lunch meals you had?

(type of food)

[cruisemom9]

So glad you had a great cruise. :)

[lrmrtn]

For breakfast in the dining room, they always had a selection of juices, fruit, cereal, yogurt, eggs/omelets cooked however you wanted, pancakes, hash browns, breakfast meats, bagels and danishes. Then they had a few special things each day such as blueberry pancakes, french toast or a special omelet. and of course coffee and tea. The buffet had much of the same but of lower quality. The room service was juices, cereals, yogurts and danishes.

 

For lunch in the dining room, they had burgers, veggie burgers and a few things that varied by day. I had fish tacos one day. In the buffet, they had a salad bar, lots of fresh fruit, breads and cheeses and the hot food varied by day - usually fries, mashed potatoes and the others varied by theme, such as vegetable fried rice, veggie stir fry and usually a few chicken, beef and fish dishes. plus a variety of desserts.

 

For the pub lunch, they had fish and chips, ploughman's lunch and bangers and mash.

 

Sorry I can't provide more detail but being vegetarians, we didn't really pay attention to the meat selections.

 

Hope that helps!

[canuckcruiser00]

That's more than helpful, thanks!

I'll be on the CP in a while, so while I know a ton about dinners, I didn't know much about the breakfasts/lunches.

Thanks again!

[Colo Cruiser]

Great review.

[mikefoz1]

Thank you for the nice reveiw. We have just over two weeks until the Crown.

[mcnuss]

This was a great review! I don't eat much red meat so your perspective was perfect for me. We leave on March 20 and cannot wait!!!

[Rockymountainsparky]

Great review. Thanks so much.

[lovevacadays]

Thanks for the review. I'm always interested to hear others experiences. I cruised on the Crown in November and had a fantastic time but my friend traveling with me didn't really like much about it.

[fcs659]

That's more than helpful, thanks!

I'll be on the CP in a while, so while I know a ton about dinners, I didn't know much about the breakfasts/lunches.

Thanks again!

 

I had always fought with the masses in the buffet on prior cruises, and decided to try out the dining room for breakfast my first morning on the Crown last month. What a lovely, quiet way to start a day. You can get a plain regular breakfast, or those wonderful daily specials. (or both LOL). My only complaint (<g>) might be as to how the waiter they keeps wandering around with that tray of pastries, muffins, and croissants...which, even though you have already had two, maybe three, perhaps four, while waiting for the blueberry pancakes with whipped cream, or that tempting omelet, there always seems to be something you haven't tried and you are simpy forced to try another ....... maybe that explains the extra six pounds I gained.....

[cruise&travelgirl]

Thanks for the great review! We're going on the same cruise next month so I found this very helpful!

[boaterette]

Thank you for the review. Did you try any of the real vegetarian meals. My daughter is a vegetarian and doesn't eat any meat including the meat of fish and seafood. Were the dishes good. Would you recommend them.

[themerle]

I enjoyed your review. THanks for sharing.

[lrmrtn]

Thank you for the review. Did you try any of the real vegetarian meals. My daughter is a vegetarian and doesn't eat any meat including the meat of fish and seafood. Were the dishes good. Would you recommend them.

 

My husband doesn't eat much fish and he never went hungry! I think the only times he ate fish were at the pub lunch in Wheelhouse Bar and in Sabatini's. I wouldn't recommend either for vegetarians as there are no true vegetarian options. In the dining room for all meals, the left side of the menu are the items they always have and the right side changes by day. For breakfast, everything but sausage, bacon and smoked salmon on the left side is vegetarian and on the right side, usually one of the items is vegetarian. For lunch, they always had a veggie burger and fries. My husband had it and said it was average. For dinner, they always had fetuccini alfredo, and I think a salad. My husband had the fetuccini on several occasions and said it was very good. On the right side of the menu that changes everyday, for dinner they always had at least one vegetarian option for each course. I had several of the vegetarian appetizers (watermelon and feta is very good), several soups (at least one was always vegetarian and they have some yummy chilled soups such as peach and I had a pumpkin soup that was very good), there is always a salad, and at least one entree is vegetarian. I had the pasta special one night - penne arrabiata which was very good and my husband had eggplant fritters one night which he said was very good. There is also always a cheese plate and of course, dessert. The vegetarian items are marked "(v)" so there is never any confusion. There is also the pizza bar which my husband frequented almost everyday. At the buffet, there is always a salad bar, bread and cheese and some vegetarian options, such as vegetable curry, vegetable fried rice, mashed potatoes, etc. But these aren't labeled as to whether they are vegetarian so you have to be careful as I found meat in a couple of things that I thought were vegetarian.

 

Hope that helps! I can't see going hungry on this cruise... :o

[lrmrtn]

I had always fought with the masses in the buffet on prior cruises, and decided to try out the dining room for breakfast my first morning on the Crown last month. What a lovely, quiet way to start a day. You can get a plain regular breakfast, or those wonderful daily specials. (or both LOL). My only complaint (<g>) might be as to how the waiter they keeps wandering around with that tray of pastries, muffins, and croissants...which, even though you have already had two, maybe three, perhaps four, while waiting for the blueberry pancakes with whipped cream, or that tempting omelet, there always seems to be something you haven't tried and you are simpy forced to try another ....... maybe that explains the extra six pounds I gained.....

 

I couldn't agree more! LOL

[geoherb]

Thanks for the thorough review. We leave in four days.

 

For vegetarians, you can also order the night before for the following night. You'll get to see the next night's menu at the end of dinner and decide if you want something from a vegetarian menu in addition to the choices from the regular menu. Just be sure to put down your special dietary request in the Cruise Personalizer on the Princess website. And once you get on the ship, talk to your waiter about your needs. This works a lot better when you have traditional dining, but people manage to make it work in the anytime dining rooms as well.

[lrmrtn]

Thanks for the thorough review. We leave in four days.

 

For vegetarians, you can also order the night before for the following night. You'll get to see the next night's menu at the end of dinner and decide if you want something from a vegetarian menu in addition to the choices from the regular menu. Just be sure to put down your special dietary request in the Cruise Personalizer on the Princess website. And once you get on the ship, talk to your waiter about your needs. This works a lot better when you have traditional dining, but people manage to make it work in the anytime dining rooms as well.

 

We put it down on our cruise personalizer and on arrival there was a card in our cabin to give to our waiter, but since we had anytime dining and there was always plenty for us to eat, we never utilized it. We are not strict vegetarians but even for those who are, in the dining room everything was clearly marked on the menu so we were always sure of what we were getting. The buffet is a little iffy (i.e. vegetable fried rice had meat in it) so if you are really strict, you may want to avoid the buffet, eat lots of salad or be prepared to ask a lot of questions.