Just off the Crown (Nov 27-Dec 4)- Mini Review!

[myraid]

Back to reality now after our amazing trip on the Crown Princess. We had a blast!

 

7 of us travelling, including our two little ones. This is our 6th Cruise, 4th on Princess. Overall we had a fantastic cruise and can't wait for the next one!!! Very hard to be back to the cold on Saturday!!!

 

Air Travel and Embarkation

This was the first time we used Princess Air and it worked out fine. We travelled from Toronto on Air Canada (not my fav, but they managed to get us there in one piece). We arrived at the airport around 2:30, got our bags, met our transfer and were at the terminal by around 3. Check-in was pretty quick and easy- they didn't have many desks open, but this is because we were later in the day. We were on board very quickly and probably finally made it to our room by 3:30.

 

Room

We were in a mini-suite on Dolphin deck. We faxed our request for a curtain to divide the living room area from the bedroom area about 2 weeks before sailing and (to my surprise), it was installed when we got there...those fax requests do work sometimes!!! The room looked great and after muster, we were ready to roll! We received all of our luggage before dinner which was pretty good considering how late we got on the ship.

 

Food and Service

We thought that the Service on this ship was exceptional. Not one staff member passed us by without offering to help, or with a smile and a "good morning, good afternoon etc.". This continued in the dining room. We thought the food was good. Not great, but certainly not bad. We had a pretty tough time entertaining the little ones at dinner, so maybe it was more that we couldn't linger and enjoy it, but it definitely wasn't outstanding like other cruises. Having said that, I am not complaining about it...I still really enjoyed all my meals on board.

 

Shops

We spent a lot of time in the shops!!! The kids loved just browsing around- it has been 2 years since our last Princess cruise and I thought that the selection in the shops has improved significantly. Much more for kids and everyone in general. I was speaking to one of the shop staff (actually I became very familiar with all of them given the amount of time I spent in there!) and she said she has been bugging her managers to bring more stuff on board. I told her it is working!!!

 

Ship

I think the ship is just beautiful. To me it looked brand new. Love the Piazza- we hung out there a lot just listening to the musicians, watching the juggler (he was fantastic btw) and just letting the kids run around a bit there. The International Cafe is just wonderful and really is like a little gem to grab something quick and just sit and relax (not that we did a lot of that...;)).

 

More later...:D

[myraid]

Day 1 at Sea

Beautiful sea day today. Lots of sun, not too windy. We spent the day by the pool. It wasn't too busy in the morning, but definitely busier as the day went on. Lots of seat saving going on, and nobody really enforcing the "no seat saving" policy. Didn't seem to bother too many people as there were lots of seats available. But if you wanted to sit close to the pools, you were out of luck beyond 10 am.

 

Day 2 Grand Cayman

We did the Dolphin Discovery swim and it was awesome. We really enjoyed it. Also did the Turtle Farm and my DS (5 yrs) loved it. I didn't like seeing those turtles all caged up, but I tried to push that out of my mind. The dolphin swim was awesome. We did the regular swim where we kissed, hugged them and then did a "belly ride" and the dolphin pushed us on a boogie board. If you can swing it, I highly recommend the "Royal Swim" which is a private one-on-one with the dolphins and looked awesome (someone was doing it next to us). We headed back to town and walked around for a bit- lunch at Margaritaville and then back to the tender!

 

Day 3 Roatan

We loved this port. It was our favorite. First time here and I can't wait to go back. With 2 young kids in tow, I didn't need to see the "Real Roatan"...the "Cruise ship Roatan" did just fine for us. Loved the little shopping area- we browsed both before and after the beach and found quite a few things here.

 

We took the chair lift to the beach. They strap both of the kids in although we held on to them pretty tight. We rented a beach bungalow there and it was amazing. The bungalow had a sectional couch inside and another chair. Two beautiful loungers on the covered porch. A hammock and a double lounger out on the beach. Two floating loungers also provided. The beach is private and we found security doing a good job enforcing that. We were the only people to rent a bungalow that day, so we had great service. Ordered food and it came fast and was delicious. The bungalow was great for us- provided some shade and a place to put all of our stuff and was worth every penny.

 

After putting my DD down for a nap on the boat (with Grandma watching over her), I went back to the shops to look around. They have a Christmas shop there and found some cute ornaments...handmade in Roatan from scrap metal...they are adorable and I really liked finding something local. Met up with my DH and DS and headed back to the ship. Hated to leave this port...it was lovely!

 

More later! :D

[myraid]

Day 4- Cozumel

Very windy today!!! All water excursions were cancelled, including the Atlantis submarine excursio, much to DS's disappointment, so he spent most of the day at the kids club. We walked around at the pier (Puerta Maya) and then later took a cab to the downtown area- $7 each way. We managed to beat the rain that came for most of the morning, so it turned out to be a good day for us. I think the prices in Cozumel on watches and jewellry are very good. We didn't buy anything, but we did lots of browsing!!!

 

Day 5- At sea

The wind continued today and it was actually a bit cool. But we still managed to have a wonderful day of exploring the ship and just relaxing. Got our ship souvenirs today and just enjoyed being on the boat.

 

Day 6- Princess Cays

We also rented a bungalow here so we had priority tender tickets and got off the boat as early as we could. Very rough tender ride to Princess Cays. We sat on the top of the tender (big mistake) and I honestly thought that we were going to tip at one point. I will never do that again. Once we got closer to the island it was ok, but leaving the boat and sailing on the tender in the wake of the other tenders coming back, coupled with the wind, was very bad. Never want to do that again!!!

 

Once on the island, the winds that we experienced out on the sea seemed to just disappear. It was beautiful, sunny with just a slight breeze. We took the golf cart ride to our bungalow and settled in. We always get a bungalow here- they have added some new ones and I am not a big fan of the location of the new ones...if you do rent a bungalow, ask for one that is set back from the path that goes right in front of them. We had # 6 and it was ok, but I would have preferred to be a little further down.

 

I don't understand why they have removed the food delivery from the bungalow experience. Most of the servers were just sitting around doing nothing and since we always gave our servers a big tip, it is really the servers that lose out by doing that. It didn't really matter for us- we just had a few of us go and pick up food for everyone. Worked out great. Thought the bbq was ok, but not as good as prior years. We enjoyed our beach day and headed back to the ship on a much smoother tender ride!!!!

[myraid]

Disembarkation

Well this was interesting...when we were called to leave the ship, our cruise cards made a different sound than the normal "ping"...more like a buzzer. Someone came over to us and said that we had to come with them. At first, someone told us it was a "random" customs check. Then we were told it was VIP service. We were escorted off the ship, down to baggage, past all of the lines at customs and into a little room where two customs officers were sitting. All the while being told that we were getting VIP disembarkation. This of course turned out to be BS. Someone in our party had bought a watch on board and Princess (I assume) is required to report this to US customs. The Princess person who escorted us off the boat had the name of the buyer and the amount.

 

After some confusion on the part of the customs officers (who were really nice btw), they realized that because we were Canadians, we didn't have to do anything. But this is a buyer beware message for anyone making a big purchase on board- they will report it to US customs. I don't know if there is a cut-off amount (i.e. over a certain amount is reported). This really ticked me off. If this is a requirement for Princess to do this, we should have been informed of that requirement before we made our purchase. To be surprised like that, and then to be lied to and told that we were getting VIP treatment really ticked me off and I plan on talking to Princess about it today. It worked out fine for us, but if we were American, we would have had to pay customs and duty for sure and we should have known that up front before we made the purchase. We still might have bought it...it was the best price by far for this watch even in all of the ports. But it should be an informed decision.

 

Airport

Princess Air and transfers again. The transfer was great. Much easier than private transportation. We figured that we would get to the airport, check our bags and then hop in some cabs to do some sightseeing or shopping. Hahahaha....yeah right. The Airport, specifically Terminal 2, was a disaster. Air Canada should seriously be shut down for what they made people go through at the airport. There were about 6 different lines, no one was directing anyone where they needed to go. We got in a line that snaked outside, waited in it for 2 1/2 hours and then when we were literally the next ones to check our bags, they called for a flight leaving before ours and we waited another hour for them to get those people checked in. What is the message here? Screw the "Arrive early" message...arrive last minute and Air Canada will fast track you through the line and you will make your flight. I realize there was a lot of cruises coming in that day, but Air Canada should be better equipped to deal with the crowds and the craziness. It was an awful experience with people cutting lines, yelling at each other etc., and no one from Air Canada there to deal with it. And then our check-in person was a rookie who had no idea how to do her job- I swear I could have done it faster if she had let me back there to do it. She had the nerve, after 3 1/2 hours of waiting to charge us for an extra bag. I could have strangled her. Will be making a call to Air Canada today for sure!!! It definitely didn't feel like we had been on a week-long, relaxing vacation after that check-in hell.

 

We walked over to Terminal 3 for a quick lunch and noted that the West Jet counter was almost empty. I am thinking West Jet is the way to go from now on!!!

 

Final thoughts and some tips next...:D

[Alessandrina]

Thanks for your review!

[Coolmama_1]

Thanks for your review.

[GLCAS]

Awesome! THanks so much for your review. We leave this week from Quebec for the same cruise, and we are flying with Westjet:). did you find the bugs bad in Roatan? Seems to be alot of talk about that on the boards....Which beach did you go to? Thanks again!

[Cruiserkenn]

Thanks so much for your prompt, timely, and upbeat review.

 

I was especially happy to hear about the good service on the Crown.

 

Also, I was happy to hear that the Crown is looking beautiful and even new. Great!

 

As for returning to the cold, that you mentioned, the cold has now settled in here in Chicago, too. It was +11 F, this morning, when I got up. +5 F is predicted for tomorrow morning. Nonetheless, there is still something for which to be to be grateful: the people on the southeastern shore of Lake Michigan are in for about 2 feet of lake effect snow, and so far that has missed us here in Chicago. Such thoughts truly help one to appreciate and dream of future cruises, on whatever Princess ship suits one's fancy:)

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the review.

 

How much was the bungalow in Roatan?

 

The food service is still available at PC, you just have to pay extra for it.

 

As far as Customs, US citizens should know the threshold for duty on items brought back into the country.

If you do not list it on your decleration when reentering then you are taking a huge risk.

[1025cruise]

It was listed on the disembarkation "patter" that Princess was required to send a list of onboard purchases to US Customs.

[spyro1952]

Thanks for the heads up regarding your "VIP" disembarkation. I was planning on buying a watch also on the Island later this month because I also get a 10% elite discount. It may not be worth it and to just buy it in a port if I can find it. I know that they are also very strict when it comes to buying cigarettes on board and will only sell 2 cartons/cabin. Also enjoyed reading your review. Thanks.

[CrusinAgain]

Thanks for your review. I always wondered why some folks buzzed when they were leaving the ship and they were taken aside and wonder now after your review if it was programmed from the cashier and never checked to see what citizenship you were. Never been to Roatun before so good info to know.

[myraid]

Awesome! THanks so much for your review. We leave this week from Quebec for the same cruise, and we are flying with Westjet:). did you find the bugs bad in Roatan? Seems to be alot of talk about that on the boards....Which beach did you go to? Thanks again!

 

Honestly, did not notice the bugs in Roatan. Didn't bother me at all. Princess Cays is another story...I am still itching from them and they didn't supply bug spray in the bungalows, which they used to do. I would highly recommend bringing some!

 

We went to Mahogany Bay. It was a beautiful beach. The bungalow was $199- same as Princess Cays, but (IMO) much nicer (although I still think the ones on PC are nice too!!!:D

[myraid]

It was listed on the disembarkation "patter" that Princess was required to send a list of onboard purchases to US Customs.

 

Thanks! I didn't see this, but will check it out now. I had no time to read the "patter". I still think they should have told me in the stores though, especially since that patter comes on the last day. Also think it was very wrong of them to try to sell it as "VIP" disembarkation. Just tell it like it is. I wasn't impressed with that. I doubt I will be making another big purchase like that on board again!

[myraid]

Whew...this was supposed to be a mini-review, but it turned out a bit longer! Happy to answer any questions that I can.

 

Some final thoughts/tips:

 

For us, the bungalows were totally worth it. To have a little bit of privacy and a place to get out of the sun and put our stuff was worth the money. Even if it is was just the 4 of us, it would have been worth it, but it was nice to split it amongst our party of 7.

 

I have already mentioned it, but will do so again...bring some bug spray for the beach. I didn't have a problem in Roatan, but Princess Cays was pretty bad...I am still itching! Then again, my little ones and hubby didn't get bit at all! Go figure.

 

We spent a fortune on pictures, but for us, they were worth it. They got some great shots. My advice is to go for pictures as often as you can stand it. Towards the end of the cruise, start compiling them all and put them aside on an empty shelf in the picture display area. We did this and then set aside some time to go through them all one afternoon. We went for a package deal that got us 10 portraits, on a CD and a canvas upgrade. We also added 5 more pics to the CD at a reduced price. Will help us considerably with Christmas gifts now that we have them all on a CD!!

 

After the first day, my DS begged to go back to the kids club and cried when we picked him up. He loved it. I never imagined he would like it so much, but he did. We also took my DD (18mos) up there to play and we stayed with her there.

 

There is a small little splash pool just outside of the kids area. You can't access it from the kids area and the kids in the program don't go in it, but it is a great place for little ones to splash around. Everytime we walked by it was practically empty.

 

We put the clear packing tape on our printable luggage tags, brought some plastic ties and attached them all at the airport before we got on our transfer. It worked great.

 

The mojitos on board rocked.:D

 

Happy sailing everyone! We put a deposit down on a future cruise so will spend the next 12 months or so planning the next family one! DH and I are cruising Celebrity in January without kids...not sure exactly what we will do with ourselves with no little ones to worry about!!!;)

[Hank1468]

We walked over to Terminal 3 for a quick lunch and noted that the West Jet counter was almost empty. I am thinking West Jet is the way to go from now on!!!

 

I've been through FLL several times, but never took note of my following question. How is security setup at FLL? Is it once you're past security, can you go from Terminal to Terminal without having to go through security again? Or can you at least go from Concourse to Concourse within each Terminal building once passing through security? We are flying Continental (Terminal 1, Concourse C) back to EWR while my in-laws are flying Southwest (Terminal 1, Concourse B) back to MSY and it would be nice if we could all sit down at Chili's (or somewhere else in the terminal) for lunch together, once we are through security. Thanks for your help!

[myraid]

I've been through FLL several times, but never took note of my following question. How is security setup at FLL? Is it once you're past security, can you go from Terminal to Terminal without having to go through security again? Or can you at least go from Concourse to Concourse within each Terminal building once passing through security? We are flying Continental (Terminal 1, Concourse C) back to EWR while my in-laws are flying Southwest (Terminal 1, Concourse B) back to MSY and it would be nice if we could all sit down at Chili's (or somewhere else in the terminal) for lunch together, once we are through security. Thanks for your help!

 

We walked from T2 to T3 before we went through security. I am pretty sure that once you go through security in each terminal, you are in for good. So I would recommend checking your bags, then going for lunch (we hit Chilis in T3) and then back to your regular terminal to go through security!:D

[RickEk]

Thanks! I didn't see this, but will check it out now. I had no time to read the "patter". I still think they should have told me in the stores though, especially since that patter comes on the last day. Also think it was very wrong of them to try to sell it as "VIP" disembarkation. Just tell it like it is. I wasn't impressed with that. I doubt I will be making another big purchase like that on board again!

 

Yes, it's pretty standard operating procedure that the purchases made onboard the ship (and some ports where they make you swipe your cruise card!) are reported to US customs. But you'd think they'd have their act together enough to realize that you weren't US citizens... :rolleyes:

[BoardwalkBabe]

Thanks for a great review! We have the same itinerary in March so I was curious to read about Roatan.

[5:00_Somewhere]

Thanks for your review. We board on Saturday, and are taking our folks. Very excited.

 

One question: this is our first time renting a bungalow on Princess Cays. Can you tell me, do they pre-assign them and/or is there any way to request a specific spot? We had been told by someone in the past that it was sort of like a "race" and that people would just run and grab bungalows, but I find that rather hard to believe. Just curious.

 

Thanks again. We're really looking forward to introducing our parents to the joys of cruising. :D

[bookwoman2]

That was an awful awful way to handle you. It reminded me of Natzi Germany with "Come this way for a nice shower."

A simple, "You have a customs problem that needs to be checked." would have been the best answer. VIP my you know what! Most people are not trying to save a few bucks but just may have an honest mistake to correct. You were not even Americans and that's just wrong. I'm sorry you were treated so poorly.

[redrightreturning]

At FLL you cannot migrate from teminal to terminal after clearing security; security is seperate for each terminal. Also past experience at FLL has been not being allowed through security prior to 2 hours before departure time, due to the limited gate waiting areas. I do not know that this holds true for all terminals, just my experience with the terminal Delta uses.

[rajones007]

Well, you still need to clear US Customs anyways, right? It's not like they just stand there and say "oh, you're Canadian...go right on in". It sounds like in the end you got to bypass the lineup at US Customs. Sounds like VIP to me!

 

Anyways, somebody made a mistake and said you were VIP. Big deal. Let it go. I'm sure it wasn't done intentionally just to ruin your day. This sounds like a non-issue to me. When you buy expensive items you should really expect to be asked about it. Now that you're going to complain to Princess about it, what would you expect them to do for you?

 

It worked out fine for us, but if we were American, we would have had to pay customs and duty for sure and we should have known that up front before we made the purchase.

You didn't know that you may be required to pay duties and taxes on purchases made outside the country? And you expect the shopkeeper to inform you of that beforehand? Come on, be responsible for yourself. Nobody holds your hand in this world. You need to get out more often.

 

I assume Canada Customs asked some questions about the expensive watch, right? Did they treat you like a VIP?

 

As far as the ordeal with Air Canada in the terminal. Sorry, but if you were one of those people who had an earlier flight and needed to jump the check-in line I'm sure you would have appreciated it. Perhaps those people were late arriving because of something beyond their control. You don't know, do you? Come on, give them a break. They were probably even more stressed out than you were. Let them catch their flight and move on.

 

Yes, Air Canada was under-staffed and things got a little hectic. But you still caught your flight, right?

 

Do they not have those quick check-in kiosks at FLL? If not, why not check-in and print out your boarding pass onboard the ship? If there was 7 of you, it would have been worth the small fee to bypass the check-in line. I think this was a lesson learned.

 

And thinking just because you had to wait in line means you're exempt from paying the excess baggage fee? Well, no offense, but you're not a special little flower. Be thankful that we get 1 free bag on Air Canada, which is 1 more free bag than our friends to the south.

 

Welcome to travel in the 21st century. And good luck with Westjet. They aren't any better than AC.

 

Thanks for the review though. I really do appreciate it.

[Debs224]

We were on board with you last week, and it's sad to be home. Think I was sitting beside you, your mom & DD on the flight back to Toronto.

 

I agree that the check in northbound with AC was horrible. I have a card with the contact information for the manager responsible for staffing - the gal that checked our bags practically begged us to complain. On a Saturday or Sunday morning with 6 or more cruise ships in port, they should have every available staff member working to get passengers checked in, or use an automated system for checked baggage. The wait was ridiculous for sure! If you want the contact info send me a PM.

 

Glad you had a good time too!

[hcat]

Thanks! I didn't see this, but will check it out now. I had no time to read the "patter". I still think they should have told me in the stores though, especially since that patter comes on the last day. Also think it was very wrong of them to try to sell it as "VIP" disembarkation. Just tell it like it is. I wasn't impressed with that. I doubt I will be making another big purchase like that on board again!

 

We aways declare everything but the Big Brother aspect of this is not appealing. We won't buy anything big on board Princess when we take our first Princess cruise in July on Crown.. the cruise is too expensive anyhow!