Crown Princess 1/7 - so, how was it ?!

[psbfan01]

Just a little curious to know how this particular sailing went.... I nearly booked this cruise for its awesome Western Caribbean itinerary....

 

But after changing my mind seventeen times back and forth, we went on Celebrity Solstice 1/8 and liked it very much. Still, one is always curious about what they missed out on...

 

Did the ship make it to all the ports? I sure would've loved to go to Belize (Solstice had the same itinerary except Costa Maya instead of Belize). Costa Maya was nothing great... and going to Lamanai looked very cool.

 

How was the food, condition of ship, etc.?

 

Loved X but would do Princess or another cruise line under the right circumstances. Shout out to Pam in California for all her insightful posts here too!

[Chloe1500]

Hi! My DH and I just returned from this cruise and also stayed on the Crown for the second week Jan 14 to the Southern Caribbean. We had a great time! We preferred the Western to the Southern because of the ports and fewer sea days. The weather was fantastic every day (we are from the rainy Pacific NW, so appreciate any sunny day!).

The ports were all great.

Grand Cayman - We did a fun private excursion with Stingraysailing.com to Stingray City and snorkeling. It's a small catamaran owned by a dad and son. Snorkeling was OK, and hanging out with all the stingrays was an amazing experience.

Roatan - We did the ship's excursion to Tabyana Beach, a privately owned resort. It is a very beautiful beach with good snorkeling on the reef, but the downside was many, many sales pitches from staff for massages, hair braiding, drinks, photos, etc.

Belize - We did the ship's excursion to Lamanai via bus to New River and then, the boat ride through the jungle to the ruins. It was the highlight of the cruise for us. We saw small alligators, large iguanas, a couple of monkeys and numerous birds on the boat ride. Once at the ruins, there is a short hike to the temples. They are inside a thick jungle canopy, with howler monkeys overhead and lots of birds calling - very Indiana Jones-like! The guide was outstanding and said he worked for the archaelogist Pendergast who initially excavated the site in the 1970s - 80s. My DH climbed the High Temple, about 100 feet. It was too scary for me! There is only a rope to hang onto for the long steep steps, with tourists going up and down at the same time on the same rope, and at the top, the small platform has no railing or anything to hang onto. We were really surprised that tourists are allowed to climb this structure. Most of Lamanai is still unexcavated. On our way back, we had lunch (included) under a palapa open-air restaurant/bar. The food was simple (chicken, rice and beans), but good. It was a long, interesting day. The bus ride is about 50 minutes one way just to get to the boat, but it was worth it.

Cozumel - our most fun day! We took the ship's excursion to Palancar Reef and Playa Mia beach. There were about 30 of us on the catamaran. They took us to two areas of the reef - absolutely fantastic snorkeling, deep water, clear and clean with lots of fish, sea turtles, beautiful coral. We snorkeled about 90 minutes, then headed to Playa Mia for the included lunch and open bar (yes, open bar!). We enjoyed time in the loungers on the beach with margaritas. Then, we boarded the catamaran for the trip back, also open bar, so there was a lot of singing and dancing. Manuel, the divemaster, does a mean macarena.

Crown's food - we ate breakfast at the International Cafe most days, and it was good, although we did actually get tired of all the great pastries. We had dinner in the Michaelangelo dining room almost every night, and it was excellent. There were lots of good seafood dishes, and the steaks were done to perfection.

The condition of the ship was very good. We had a mini-suite on the Emerald deck, and now, I doubt we will be able to go back to our usual balcony cabin, because the extra room, sitting room with sofa and chair, was a great plus. The deck is completely covered in these mini-suites, and while we were on, the new deck furniture arrived.

Since we were on the b-t-b cruises, we got to know some of the staff fairly well. The Michaelangelo head waiter, Florian and our favorite waiter, Eduardo from Peru, as well as many others there, were fun and helpful every night, with a great sense of humor.

The entertainment was pretty good. The mentalist Wayne Hoffman was interesting, and the comedian (can't recall his name) was absolutely great. We saw all of the Princess Theatre productions, and the singers and dancers were outstanding. There were some other entertainers who just weren't our thing, but others may have liked them.

We had no complaints about anything on the Crown or about the ports.

Well, this is a long post...should have turned it into an actual review. If you have any questions, just let me know.

[bab123]

Thanks for that great review. We will be on the Crown Feb 11-18 to Western Caribbean. We are on a waitlist for both the Lamanai excursion and the Altun Ha. Do you know if they added spaces on your Lamanai excursion? We signed up almost a month ago and got on the waitlist but we haven't heard anything else about it.

Thanks!

JoAnn

[Chloe1500]

Thanks, JoAnn! Have a great cruise!

When we went, there was just one aging bus that took us there and held about 30 to 40 of us. So, I don't know if they could have added any more on. Also, we filled up the river boat as well. There were other boats on the river going to Lamanai from other excursions, and there were other tourists at the ruins, but not a big crowd. I wonder if you could find a private excursion for the same trip?

[preschool teacher]

Great info...I'm on the march 17th cruise.....

[RhondaPerr]

Love Florian.... He was just about to get married to Katarina (waitress) but I see he is in Michaelangelo now instead of Botteccheli..was that traditional dining?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi! My DH and I just returned from this cruise and also stayed on the Crown for the second week Jan 14 to the Southern Caribbean. We had a great time! We preferred the Western to the Southern because of the ports and fewer sea days. The weather was fantastic every day (we are from the rainy Pacific NW, so appreciate any sunny day!).

The ports were all great.

Grand Cayman - We did a fun private excursion with Stingraysailing.com to Stingray City and snorkeling. It's a small catamaran owned by a dad and son. Snorkeling was OK, and hanging out with all the stingrays was an amazing experience.

Roatan - We did the ship's excursion to Tabyana Beach, a privately owned resort. It is a very beautiful beach with good snorkeling on the reef, but the downside was many, many sales pitches from staff for massages, hair braiding, drinks, photos, etc.

Belize - We did the ship's excursion to Lamanai via bus to New River and then, the boat ride through the jungle to the ruins. It was the highlight of the cruise for us. We saw small alligators, large iguanas, a couple of monkeys and numerous birds on the boat ride. Once at the ruins, there is a short hike to the temples. They are inside a thick jungle canopy, with howler monkeys overhead and lots of birds calling - very Indiana Jones-like! The guide was outstanding and said he worked for the archaelogist Pendergast who initially excavated the site in the 1970s - 80s. My DH climbed the High Temple, about 100 feet. It was too scary for me! There is only a rope to hang onto for the long steep steps, with tourists going up and down at the same time on the same rope, and at the top, the small platform has no railing or anything to hang onto. We were really surprised that tourists are allowed to climb this structure. Most of Lamanai is still unexcavated. On our way back, we had lunch (included) under a palapa open-air restaurant/bar. The food was simple (chicken, rice and beans), but good. It was a long, interesting day. The bus ride is about 50 minutes one way just to get to the boat, but it was worth it.

Cozumel - our most fun day! We took the ship's excursion to Palancar Reef and Playa Mia beach. There were about 30 of us on the catamaran. They took us to two areas of the reef - absolutely fantastic snorkeling, deep water, clear and clean with lots of fish, sea turtles, beautiful coral. We snorkeled about 90 minutes, then headed to Playa Mia for the included lunch and open bar (yes, open bar!). We enjoyed time in the loungers on the beach with margaritas. Then, we boarded the catamaran for the trip back, also open bar, so there was a lot of singing and dancing. Manuel, the divemaster, does a mean macarena.

Crown's food - we ate breakfast at the International Cafe most days, and it was good, although we did actually get tired of all the great pastries. We had dinner in the Michaelangelo dining room almost every night, and it was excellent. There were lots of good seafood dishes, and the steaks were done to perfection.

The condition of the ship was very good. We had a mini-suite on the Emerald deck, and now, I doubt we will be able to go back to our usual balcony cabin, because the extra room, sitting room with sofa and chair, was a great plus. The deck is completely covered in these mini-suites, and while we were on, the new deck furniture arrived.

Since we were on the b-t-b cruises, we got to know some of the staff fairly well. The Michaelangelo head waiter, Florian and our favorite waiter, Eduardo from Peru, as well as many others there, were fun and helpful every night, with a great sense of humor.

The entertainment was pretty good. The mentalist Wayne Hoffman was interesting, and the comedian (can't recall his name) was absolutely great. We saw all of the Princess Theatre productions, and the singers and dancers were outstanding. There were some other entertainers who just weren't our thing, but others may have liked them.

We had no complaints about anything on the Crown or about the ports.

Well, this is a long post...should have turned it into an actual review. If you have any questions, just let me know.

[Chloe1500]

Thanks, Cathy! Enjoy your cruise!

Rhonda, it was anytime dining. Florian seats everyone coming in there and does a great job. He must have married her! Because, he mentioned to us that his contract went through May, and then, he and his wife were going to take her parents on a cruise in the fall. He said he was looking forward to being a guest in the dining room!

[RhondaPerr]

Thanks for your response! I may have to switch to anytime dining because he was phenomenal with my food allergies! His wife was fantastic too!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks, Cathy! Enjoy your cruise!

Rhonda, it was anytime dining. Florian seats everyone coming in there and does a great job. He must have married her! Because, he mentioned to us that his contract went through May, and then, he and his wife were going to take her parents on a cruise in the fall. He said he was looking forward to being a guest in the dining room!

[6pack]

Hi! My DH and I just returned from this cruise and also stayed on the Crown for the second week Jan 14 to the Southern Caribbean. We had a great time! We preferred the Western to the Southern because of the ports and fewer sea days. The weather was fantastic every day (we are from the rainy Pacific NW, so appreciate any sunny day!).

The ports were all great.

Grand Cayman - We did a fun private excursion with Stingraysailing.com to Stingray City and snorkeling. It's a small catamaran owned by a dad and son. Snorkeling was OK, and hanging out with all the stingrays was an amazing experience.

Roatan - We did the ship's excursion to Tabyana Beach, a privately owned resort. It is a very beautiful beach with good snorkeling on the reef, but the downside was many, many sales pitches from staff for massages, hair braiding, drinks, photos, etc.

Belize - We did the ship's excursion to Lamanai via bus to New River and then, the boat ride through the jungle to the ruins. It was the highlight of the cruise for us. We saw small alligators, large iguanas, a couple of monkeys and numerous birds on the boat ride. Once at the ruins, there is a short hike to the temples. They are inside a thick jungle canopy, with howler monkeys overhead and lots of birds calling - very Indiana Jones-like! The guide was outstanding and said he worked for the archaelogist Pendergast who initially excavated the site in the 1970s - 80s. My DH climbed the High Temple, about 100 feet. It was too scary for me! There is only a rope to hang onto for the long steep steps, with tourists going up and down at the same time on the same rope, and at the top, the small platform has no railing or anything to hang onto. We were really surprised that tourists are allowed to climb this structure. Most of Lamanai is still unexcavated. On our way back, we had lunch (included) under a palapa open-air restaurant/bar. The food was simple (chicken, rice and beans), but good. It was a long, interesting day. The bus ride is about 50 minutes one way just to get to the boat, but it was worth it.

Cozumel - our most fun day! We took the ship's excursion to Palancar Reef and Playa Mia beach. There were about 30 of us on the catamaran. They took us to two areas of the reef - absolutely fantastic snorkeling, deep water, clear and clean with lots of fish, sea turtles, beautiful coral. We snorkeled about 90 minutes, then headed to Playa Mia for the included lunch and open bar (yes, open bar!). We enjoyed time in the loungers on the beach with margaritas. Then, we boarded the catamaran for the trip back, also open bar, so there was a lot of singing and dancing. Manuel, the divemaster, does a mean macarena.

Crown's food - we ate breakfast at the International Cafe most days, and it was good, although we did actually get tired of all the great pastries. We had dinner in the Michaelangelo dining room almost every night, and it was excellent. There were lots of good seafood dishes, and the steaks were done to perfection.

The condition of the ship was very good. We had a mini-suite on the Emerald deck, and now, I doubt we will be able to go back to our usual balcony cabin, because the extra room, sitting room with sofa and chair, was a great plus. The deck is completely covered in these mini-suites, and while we were on, the new deck furniture arrived.

Since we were on the b-t-b cruises, we got to know some of the staff fairly well. The Michaelangelo head waiter, Florian and our favorite waiter, Eduardo from Peru, as well as many others there, were fun and helpful every night, with a great sense of humor.

The entertainment was pretty good. The mentalist Wayne Hoffman was interesting, and the comedian (can't recall his name) was absolutely great. We saw all of the Princess Theatre productions, and the singers and dancers were outstanding. There were some other entertainers who just weren't our thing, but others may have liked them.

We had no complaints about anything on the Crown or about the ports.

Well, this is a long post...should have turned it into an actual review. If you have any questions, just let me know.

 

Thanks for sharing! We sail next week :)

[tinatark]

We wanted to do the W. Caribbean again but dates work for S. Caribbean for us - would love to hear your thoughts on that one, too!

[kathy59]

We are sailing for the first time on Princess Crown and first time to the Southern Caribbean Feb. 4th. Would love to hear your thoughts on the excursions you took/what you did in Aruba and Curacao.

[bhawkcruiser]

Love Florian.... He was just about to get married to Katarina (waitress) but I see he is in Michaelangelo now instead of Botteccheli..was that traditional dining?

 

I can confirm they did get married! A great couple and great ambassadors for Princess.

[Chloe1500]

Hi, Tina, Ron and Kathy,

The Southern Caribbean is also a terrific trip but an extra sea day at the end and three ports instead of the four on the Western. The ports are very different on this cruise. The weather felt quite a bit warmer to me than the Western.

Princess Cays - I didn't have high expectations for this stop, but it turned out that I really loved it. It was so easy -- no city to navigate, no transportation issues to get to the beach -- just get on the tender when you want to go ashore. It's a beautiful stretch of beach, much wider on the busier part where the bar and food is and narrow on the other end where the clamshells are. We rented a clamshell and were on the "quiet" part of the beach. Princess staff come by to take drink orders. You could literally just lie there for hours if you are so inclined. The clamshell is a bargain in my opinion, so that you have some shade. If you want more sun, just pull the loungers outside of it for awhile. Some people were snorkeling on the other end, and we are snorkelers, but we just decided to relax that day. It was perfect. Food was OK.

Curacao - I had high hopes for shopping here, but was a bit disappointed. Next time, I would try to get to a beach or take an excursion. My DH and I had downloaded a simple walking tour map of Willemstad for the craft stalls and open air market, so we decided that this was to be our shopping day. It's an easy walk from the pier to downtown, and we made our first stop just on the other side of the floating pontoon bridge at the Iguana Cafe, right along the waterfront. The food was good, but service was very, very slow -- but no worries, mon, because the view is spectacular, watching the pontoon bridge open and close. After that, we walked around town, dodging a rain shower, checking out the markets. We didn't really find much to buy.

Aruba - again, this was different than I had expected, but in a very good way. It is breathtakingly beautiful here, very dry, cacti everywhere. We took a private excursion from ABC Tours (abc-aruba.com), the "Baby Beach Safari." A driver picked us up at the pier and drove us to the company's HQ where we met 10 other tourists from hotels (we were the only ones from the ship). We were treated to a wild ride around the island in open-air Land Rovers with Curtis, who fancies himself Wayne Brady and sings too - a super nice and fun guide. We had the usual stops at the California Lighthouse and the Altavista chapel, and then on to the northern part of the island where a 4WD vehicle, horses or ATV are the usual modes of transportation! We spent some time at various spots, scrambled over rocks and climbed over the remains of the old gold mine. The lunch stop was included, and it was just OK (we were pretty hungry). The last stop is Baby Beach, which was my favorite part of the tour. It's called that because the water is so shallow, even a baby can swim in it -- well maybe not. We had a great swim there. It's mostly sandy on the bottom. There are palapas and trees for shade, plus a couple of bars/food areas.

The final part of the cruise was two sea days in a row. We were on the end of the 14 day btb and so, a little weary of the piazza entertainment, the photographers, the diamond shops. I had been to the $10 sale and the outlet sales twice :) and we'd seen most of the entertainment by then. We were ready to get off and head back to the rain in Oregon. But, I think for 7 days, it would be just great. The weather was fantastic. There was some wind and high waves on the way down, but coming back, it was not bad.

I think you will love this cruise!

[kathy59]

Thanks so much for your quick response & tips! I'm going to look up the walking map that you mentioned. We have booked 2 excursions. In Curacao we are doing the Sunset catamaran cruise and taking a Scenic Highlight tour in Aruba. I wanted to make sure we had time on each island to explore/shop on our own too. We love seeing mountains and lots of greenery on the western/eastern itineraries, so seeing cactus and dry will be all new and good at the same time. I like your clamshell tip also. Thanks again and have a great day!

[psbfan01]

Hi! My DH and I just returned from this cruise and also stayed on the Crown for the second week Jan 14 to the Southern Caribbean. We had a great time! We preferred the Western to the Southern because of the ports and fewer sea days. The weather was fantastic every day (we are from the rainy Pacific NW, so appreciate any sunny day!).

The ports were all great.

Grand Cayman - We did a fun private excursion with Stingraysailing.com to Stingray City and snorkeling. It's a small catamaran owned by a dad and son. Snorkeling was OK, and hanging out with all the stingrays was an amazing experience.

Roatan - We did the ship's excursion to Tabyana Beach, a privately owned resort. It is a very beautiful beach with good snorkeling on the reef, but the downside was many, many sales pitches from staff for massages, hair braiding, drinks, photos, etc.

Belize - We did the ship's excursion to Lamanai via bus to New River and then, the boat ride through the jungle to the ruins. It was the highlight of the cruise for us. We saw small alligators, large iguanas, a couple of monkeys and numerous birds on the boat ride. Once at the ruins, there is a short hike to the temples. They are inside a thick jungle canopy, with howler monkeys overhead and lots of birds calling - very Indiana Jones-like! The guide was outstanding and said he worked for the archaelogist Pendergast who initially excavated the site in the 1970s - 80s. My DH climbed the High Temple, about 100 feet. It was too scary for me! There is only a rope to hang onto for the long steep steps, with tourists going up and down at the same time on the same rope, and at the top, the small platform has no railing or anything to hang onto. We were really surprised that tourists are allowed to climb this structure. Most of Lamanai is still unexcavated. On our way back, we had lunch (included) under a palapa open-air restaurant/bar. The food was simple (chicken, rice and beans), but good. It was a long, interesting day. The bus ride is about 50 minutes one way just to get to the boat, but it was worth it.

Cozumel - our most fun day! We took the ship's excursion to Palancar Reef and Playa Mia beach. There were about 30 of us on the catamaran. They took us to two areas of the reef - absolutely fantastic snorkeling, deep water, clear and clean with lots of fish, sea turtles, beautiful coral. We snorkeled about 90 minutes, then headed to Playa Mia for the included lunch and open bar (yes, open bar!). We enjoyed time in the loungers on the beach with margaritas. Then, we boarded the catamaran for the trip back, also open bar, so there was a lot of singing and dancing. Manuel, the divemaster, does a mean macarena.

Crown's food - we ate breakfast at the International Cafe most days, and it was good, although we did actually get tired of all the great pastries. We had dinner in the Michaelangelo dining room almost every night, and it was excellent. There were lots of good seafood dishes, and the steaks were done to perfection.

The condition of the ship was very good. We had a mini-suite on the Emerald deck, and now, I doubt we will be able to go back to our usual balcony cabin, because the extra room, sitting room with sofa and chair, was a great plus. The deck is completely covered in these mini-suites, and while we were on, the new deck furniture arrived.

Since we were on the b-t-b cruises, we got to know some of the staff fairly well. The Michaelangelo head waiter, Florian and our favorite waiter, Eduardo from Peru, as well as many others there, were fun and helpful every night, with a great sense of humor.

The entertainment was pretty good. The mentalist Wayne Hoffman was interesting, and the comedian (can't recall his name) was absolutely great. We saw all of the Princess Theatre productions, and the singers and dancers were outstanding. There were some other entertainers who just weren't our thing, but others may have liked them.

We had no complaints about anything on the Crown or about the ports.

Well, this is a long post...should have turned it into an actual review. If you have any questions, just let me know.

 

THANK YOU for your review. I am glad you had a good time. I would love to try Princess sometime, especially that sweet western caribbean itinerary. I am glad you made it to all the ports. One thing I was a bit nervous about was missing Roatan - I've heard sometimes there is trouble docking in Mahogany Bay...