Norwegian Crown Review - 9/21/05

[vega]

My fiancé and I sailed on the Norwegian Crown from NYC to Bermuda on August 21st, 2005. This was our first time sailing from NYC and we found the views spectacular. It’s amazing to cruise past the city you work and live in and wave good bye as you begin a great vacation. This was our fifth cruise and so we, as always, have a lot to write about and will divide the content into three sections.

 

 

Ship and Room

 

The ship was wonderful! It was well maintained, everything functioned; it was hard to tell that it was over fifteen years old! We were nervous that we would really feel the rocking of the ocean but we were fortunate to have great weather for all seven days; it was smooth sailing for the whole week. Our only minor complaint had to do with our room – we were on Deck 4, Room 4090, an Oceanview stateroom. Our window apparently had occasional leaks and had been blocked up with an extra glass pane. It didn’t take away from the view but it also did not permit us to sit on the windowsill, which we always do. Minor inconvenience, which we quickly forgot about as soon as we saw the amount of closet space in our room – there was more than we’d ever need. There were about four large closets with six drawers in each, not to mention the dresser in the main room that had an additional six drawers. The chest near the bed also had four large drawers. Our room steward was wonderful – very helpful, always with a smile, wishing us a good day, or asking how dinner was. He made us towel animals two of the seven nights. We would have liked to have them for all seven nights but we heard from others that they never got any, so we couldn’t complain too much.

 

 

Cruise Staff, Dining, and Service

 

We found the entertainment and the cruise director’s staff to be excellent. There were always a variety of activities going on, so we were never bored. The evening shows were largely good. Sharkbait, two young guys performing assorted stunts, juggling acts, and the like were superb. They had a lot of energy, were hilarious, got members of the audience involved and were the highlight of the cruise in terms of entertainment.

 

 

We were unimpressed with the service in the dining room. This was our first time with Anytime Dining, which we really liked because it gave us the flexibility to eat whenever we wanted to, without lines, allowing us to stay on the beach pretty late most nights. However, the trade off was the service. Each night we had a new waiter who did not know our preferences, took 5-25 minutes to take our order and another 10-25 minutes to bring drinks and appetizers. On the best nights, it took us an hour and a half to eat dinner, on the worst, over two hours. I shouldn’t be complaining – it is our vacation, where’s the rush? However, we frequently timed our dinners so we could make the evening show but because of the slow service with some of the staff, we wound up missing the shows. We were also disappointed with the service in the buffet. On previous cruise lines, staff would help us by offering to carry our tray to the table or would come by with a trolley cart offering us juice or tea. We did not see either here. In terms of quality of food, we found it to be very good in all of the restaurants (Seven Seas, Chop Sticks, Le Bistro, and the Yacht Club). However, there was little, if any variety, in the Yacht club. They had the same fruit for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and the menus did not change much during the week. Le Bistro had excellent service but we did not feel that we should pay an additional $15 for it! That’s how it should be in the main dining room, and that is what we are used to based on our previous cruises with Royal Caribbean and Princess (we’re spoiled, we know).

 

 

Bermuda

 

This was our seventeenth island and our new favorite (it replaced St. John, USVI). We were impressed by the cleanliness of the island, the sheer beauty of it, and the amazing beaches! While in St. George’s for the day, we walked to Tobacco Bay and snorkeled there with our own snorkeling gear. We got there about 9 am and left around 1 pm when it got really crowded. We then walked to St. Catherine’s Beach and spent the next five or so hours there. This is the beach to go for active people since much of the cruise crew (from the Majesty and Crown) gathers here to hang out and play beach volleyball. We played about five sets then ran into the cool, crystal clear Atlantic Ocean water. The following day we were in Hamilton. We took a Norwegian tour around the island, to the Aquarium, and to the Crystal Caves. We enjoyed the tour but later realized that we could have hopped on a bus and gone directly to Crystal Caves without the tour, thereby saving a bunch of money. We went back to the ship for lunch and then took a 20-minute bus out to Horseshoe Bay, which many have called the most romantic beach. The beach itself is beautiful. We did not see much pink sad, but had a great time exploring the multiple coves to the right and to the left of the beach – this is a MUST! This is the beach that made us fall in love with Bermuda. The following day we were docked in Royal Naval Dockyard and took a 45 minute bus ride to Elbow Beach, which was also beautiful.

 

 

If we were to book another cruise to Bermuda (and we will!!), we would book one with a different itinerary. It was nice to have the ship docked at the island overnight but thought it was silly for it to sail out at 7 am and dock at 9 am. My fiancé and I try to be off the ship at 8:30 am so we can have more time on the island but weren’t able to do so here. Why couldn’t we have sailed out at 4 am or 2 am? We would also book so that we’d be docked in St. George and Hamilton the whole time. We didn’t find a whole lot to do in Royal Naval Dockyard and it took us a very long time (up to one hour) to get to the beaches whereas we could walk to them on St. George or just take a short busride from Hamilton. Also, we did not purchase a three day bus pass. We only used them in the mornings to get to the beach because buses ran very sporadically in the evenings and we often wound up taking taxis or vans to get back to the ship. We were unable to go to the beach on our last day at the Royal Naval Dockyard because the ship was due to sail at noon, which meant all passengers had to be on board at 11:30 am. Buses only started running at 9 am from RND. We could have caught a ferry to Hamilton but then we would have to take a bus from there to the beach, which would have taken an hour or more. We would have had an hour or so at the beach and then back to the ship – no fun. So we just hung out, slept late, and went to see the man-made beach next door. It wasn’t bad but not as spectacular as the others. The real disappointment was that we lost our last day in Bermuda and spent the next day and a half sailing back to NYC very slowly (only one engine was running – this was done intentionally by the captain); we probably could have walked faster than we were sailing.

 

 

Overall, we loved Bermuda and were impressed with this ship. After sailing on ships three times as big, we were afraid that we’d feel we were on a tiny boat but in reality everything was great – conveniently located; it took two minutes to get wherever we wanted to go (instead of 10) and although service was mediocre, we did enjoy Anytime Dining and got to meet a lot of people. We would definitely cruise with Norwegian again if they offered an itinerary that we were looking for. However, our first love is still Royal Caribbean. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email us at svetka19@aol.com and write NORWEGIAN CROWN in the subject line. Bon voyage!

[bermudashorts]

We just got back yesterday and also had a great time. Beautiful weather

Nice review. Bermuda is our favorite place to go.

 

The plexglass on the window appears to us to stop us from sitting in the window.

After you bang you head the first time, I got the point..lol

 

Some ships do St Georges and Hamilton, while other do all three.

Has to do with contracts of the cruise lines and Bermuda.

The Magesty stays in St Georges the whole time, unless a storm is coming and they think they wont be able to sail throught he cut.

 

All of them leave that early in the morning when they switch. I dont know why, im assuming because passengers and the crew go to the discos and need to get back on board.

 

It might also be the tight route they have to take in the harbors to get in and out and need daylight.

 

Only thing that bothers me is that we had to leave at noon. Again im sure it is Bermuda thing with NCL.

Celebrity stays later.. its not fair.. ;)

[ljfrn]

Thanks for the great reviews. My husband and I are booked on the Crown repositioning cruise on October 23rd. Can't wait!!! 13 wonderful days. We are leaving out of Philly and returning to Miami. So glad to hear you enjoyed the ship. Have never done a NCL cruise before but it looked like a deal we couldn't pass up. Last year we cruised out of Baltimore on RCCL's Grandeur and had a wonderful time. Wanted to try a different ship and saw this one so thought we would try it. LINDA

 

Till the CROWN!!!!!