Review of Crown Princess Alaska Sep 12 - 19, 2015

[teemsum]

The last time I was on Princess was over 30 yrs ago & I came back this year because of their 50th anniversary.

I wanted an itinerary where we didn't have to fly & the price was reasonable so I booked the Crown Princess roundtrip Seattle to Alaska Sep 12 – 19 in an interior guarantee. I received our stateroom assignment A320 within 1 month.

 

Pre-cruise – DH & I took the Bolt Bus from Pacific Central station to Seattle for 1 night at the Best Western Plus Pioneer Square. We paid way too much 'cause there was a Hand conference in town. But I wanted to stay in Pioneer Square 'cause it was walking distance from the Bolt Bus stop next to King Street Station. The hotel was a pleasant surprise even though it only had 1 elevator. They use eco-friendly products & offer a good breakfast spread with waffles, Kashi cereal, Greek yogurt, bottled water, juice, coffee, tea, breakfast pastries, Jimmy Dean sausage muffin, hard-boiled eggs. They also have free wifi. They don't have a shuttle to the the cruise pier. A taxi will be approx $ 20 including tips.

There are numerous shops, restaurants & bars within 1 mile of the hotel. Only Oceania & Norwegian use the Bell St pier. All other cruiselines use Pier 91 at Smith Cove. There is no public transit here.

 

Embarkation Day – We arrived at the terminal shortly after 11 am. Here you bring your luggage into the luggage drop off area & watch them load it onto a conveyor belt. This is great because there are no longshoremen threatening you for tips. Then you go through security screening. When you walk through the scanner, it's quite sensitive. You may have to remove your shoes and/or be wanded. Then you go upstairs for check-in. At check-in, you only need to present your passport & boarding passes. They don't need to see your credit card & they don't take your picture. Then you head to the seating area where you are given a boarding number. They don't make announcements over a loudspeaker. Someone will walk around holding a number so watch for your number. Boarding begins at 11:30 am. We were number 14 & were onboard by 12 noon. As you approach the gangway, they will scan your cruise card & at this time, take your picture. I thought it was all very efficient. They don't force you to take an embarkation photo. You can take one if you wish in areas around the ship. However, I thought it was odd that they didn't give us Princess Patters as we boarded. We finally asked a crew member & she gave us hers. Staterooms usually aren't ready till 1 pm but when we boarded at 12 pm, they were already ready. Our room can sleep up to 4 people & the extra berths are attached to the sides of the wall. So be careful not to hit your head as both DH& I did. I also don't like this arrangement as it will feel like you're sleeping in a coffin if the extra berths are utilized.

Better if the extra berths came out of the ceiling.

 

We had lunch in the International Cafe on deck 5 open 24 hrs. They serve paninis, soup, salads & dessert. During breakfast hours, they have donuts galore. You can also ask them to warm up the donuts. Must try – chocolate – almond donut...sooo good !

The only free drink here is water. They also have Gelato which is $ 1.50 per scoop. Much more reasonable than other cruiselines.Then we explored the ship. Muster drill is at 3 pm. You bring your life-jacket but do not wear it until instructed to do so. They scan your cruise card when you go to the Muster Drill so they will know if you attended. Afterwards, they also announce how many people didn't attend & those people are required to attend the Make-up Drill within 10 minutes.

 

We were in the Botticelli dining room for dinner at 7:45 pm, table for 2, table#54.

Prior to the cruise, I had made arrangements for lactose-free & low sodium meals. They offered lactose-free milk in the dining room for breakfast & lunch. Every evening, the Headwaiter would review the next day's menu with me. For desserts, it got a bit boring as I would either have jam cakes, sorbet or fruit cobblers. I wish they would have dairy-free desserts & ice creams.

 

We were also unimpressed with our waiter as he didn't offer any menu recommendations & just asked us 'what do you want ?'. After 2 nights of this, DH said “Why don't we just give up on the dining room ?” On the morning of day 3, I happened to see the Maitre'D Neville walk by & stopped him to share my feedback. Kudos to him for taking my comments seriously & taking immediate action. He moved us to a table in another section with an attentive waiter. He also followed up with a personal note thanking me for my constructive feedback which he will use for coaching & a plate of chocolate-covered strawberries.

 

The Captain, Justin Lawes was very personable & also kept us informed.

Yesterday we were 30 mins late leaving because he was waiting for some luggage.

He also gave us a heads up if he expected rough seas in the middle of the night.

Later in the cruise, we heard an announcement from the bridge for a First Aid Response.

Ten minutes later, he announced what the emergency was & that there was no cause for alarm.

 

This year, Princess started the North to Alaska program due to past guests who said they wanted to experience the Real Alaska.

So they have the Naturalist giving presentations, Learn to play the Penny Whistle, Musicians from Alaska playing Songs of Alaska.

They also had Libby Riddles recount her adventures.

It's a wonderful immersion experience.

 

In the various dining venues onboard, they will have special Alaska offerings, lots of seafood. In the Trident Grill, everyday for lunch; they will have something special. DH had the Halibut burger one day...sooo good. On Tracy Arm day, they had Reindeer Chili but we missed that.

They also have a Pizzeria with pizza slices twice the size of the ones you get at home.

The soft-serve ice cream station is also here but they serve you.

Also, there are 2 lunch buffet stations on deck 15. The Horizon Court buffet serves a similar menu to the dining room but Cafe Caribe serves a Themed buffet: Asian, Alaskan, Indian, Italian etc.

 

Every afternoon they serve afternoon tea 3:30 to 4:30 pm in one of the dining rooms. They only have black tea, scones ( must eat ! ), sandwiches & other pastries.

One day, I was upstairs in the buffet around 3:30 pm & they also have the scones !

Their buffet set up is a little different from other cruiselines.

There is only 1 entrance & 1 exit from the buffet.

First you sanitize your hands, then you take a turkey-sized platter & pick up your food ( including your dessert if you don't want to line up again ).

The buffet stewards will bring you water, coffee, tea, iced tea or lemonade. Or you can get it yourself from the stations.

 

Oddly, you can get hot chocolate in the dining room for free but not the buffet.

I also found the specialty restaurants to be very reasonably-priced, only $ 25 per person. You could pay that much for an entree in a fine dining restaurant on land. Much more reasonable prices than other cruiselines.

They make everything from scratch onboard. In the dining room on the 2nd to last night, they had a Sesame bread that looked like a cinnamon roll. It was a little bit spicy. It was so good. I asked the waiter to bring us more.

 

They also had a Cruise-Long scavenger hunt that was in 3 parts.

You needed the signatures of 20 different people, 26 photos of things that corresponded to letters of the alphabet & also photos of specific items ( found on or off the ship ).

I got the signatures but gave up after that.

 

As our cruise was the last of the Alaska season, on the last day; they had a 50% off sale in one of the dining rooms. They even had stuff from their Mexican & Caribbean cruises.

 

Any shows or presentations that you miss can also be viewed the next day on your stateroom tv.

They only show 1 or 2 movies each day on the stateroom tv which is re-broadcast every 2 hours.

 

Our stateroom steward kept our room tidy & refreshed. They do have pillow chocolates but we didn't get any towel animals.

 

Now onto the elevators. You cannot see the up/down arrows when you are looking straight at the elevator. You have to be looking from the side. Also, they use the same red light for up & down which was confusing as I thought green was up & red was down. Also, the voice only tells you the name of the deck: Aloha ( but not deck 12 )

 

Obviously, no one used the Sanctuary on this cruise 'cause it was so cold.

But on Tracy Arm day, they had packages:

Get cosy with a warm blanket, chowder, pastries & more ! $ 60 per person ( wonder if anyone did that ? )

 

In the internet cafe, you can also send free e-cards. Go to the computer, on the left side, choose Send Free E-cards. There are 3 cards to choose from.

 

When they have the 50th anniversary Gold Balloon drop; there is no reason to get here early to save a seat because it's a dance party for 30 mins & then the balloons drop. There is nothing in the balloons.

 

The ports: This was our 5th cruise to Alaska so we didn't take any tours.

In Alaska, you should expect rain & be pleasantly surprised if it doesn't rain.

Don't let the rain stop you from enjoying Alaska.

 

Juneau – walked up to the Capitol building which was closed for tours but you could go into the basement to get a Capitol Building Collectors stamp. There is also a Rainbow Food supermarket nearby where you can get free wifi. There was also a Starbucks in town but we couldn't catch the signal here.

DH wanted to walk the 1.5 miles uphill to the Mining tour but I nixed that idea. Next time.

 

Skagway – it's a 1/4 mile walk to town or you can take the shuttle $ 2 each way or $ 5 for an all-day pass ( plan to eat your lunch in town because most people don't leave the ship again after going back for lunch ). Here we walked around the shops. Best to go in the morning as by the afternoon, there will be 3 other ships in port with you & it's a very small town & it'll be very crowded.

 

Ketchikan – there are 4 berths here & we were in berth 4; the furthest from downtown.

I noticed they had TheBus ( wondered if they bought this bus from Honolulu ) which offered a free shuttle around downtown. Don't know the stops, the frequency or how long it took to do a loop.

This time, we walked along Creek Street & walked up to the City Park, Totem Heritage Center & back along Salmon Row.

Since we were at the end of the Alaska season, many stores had 50% sales.

If you see something you like, buy it 'cause the next port might not have it.

In Skagway, they were selling these knitted headbands for women; they were so pretty.

I looked for them in Ketchikan but they didn't have any :(

 

What to wear in Alaska ( or anywhere ):

During the spring, summer, & fall, dressing in layers is the key to being comfortable. A light shirt, short/long sleeved makes an excellent first layer. Over that, a sweatshirt, sweater or fleece pullover will provide warmth. The ideal outer layer is a light waterproof jacket. Layers should be easy to remove depending on weather changes & your activity.

( I found this to be true, not just in port but also walking across the deck to get to the buffet ).

 

There are very few announcements on the cruise aside from the Captain's Daily announcement at 12 noon followed by the Cruise Director.

 

On disembarkation day, our statement said that there was a refund of $0.40 per person in port taxes & if your credit was less than $25.00 you should go to the Front Desk to receive your refund. I also had $ 5.00 left from a shipboard credit so my refund was $ 5.40 YAY !

On Disembarkation day, the ship arrived at 7 am. Express Walk-off started at 7:20 am & all guests were called off by 10 am.

 

If you didn't make transfer arrangements, there are numerous taxis, shuttles, rental cars outside the terminal building.

 

Overall, we enjoyed our Princess cruise & are looking forward to cruising with them again.

The Crown carries 3600 passengers. The ship was full & the only time it felt crowded was in the buffet but we always found a seat & didn't have to share tables.

The daily service charge is $11.50 per person much lower than other cruise lines. Other extra charges are also lower than other cruiselines. All this should be factored into the cost of a cruise.

[shredie]

Thanks for the review. Glad you had a good time.

[kayred]

Thank you for posting. I enjoyed reading it.

[teemsum]

Also wanted to mention that on Alaska cruises, the daytime dress code is casual.

Feel free to wear sweats, yoga-wear, plaid shirts, jeans in the dining room for breakfast & lunch are ok but not at dinner.

You'll also want a toque, mittens/gloves, a scarf to wrap around your face when it's cold & windy when you're viewing the glacier.

For formal nights, there were very few tuxes.

Dark pants, dress shirt, tie & a jacket/blazer are fine for men.

Ladies: anything you would wear to a nice restaurant at home is fine.

Remember not to pack outfits but rather pack 2 pieces of each item & bring accessories to change the look.

Save room in your luggage for souvenirs.

[shredie]

I will second the hat/gloves advice. It's deceptive how cold it can get on deck during the scenic cruising with the sun shining.

[lbfluffy]

Thanks for the review. We will be going on the Crown this November to Mexico. We haven't been on Princess in 9 years. What did you think of the shows?

[ar1950]

Thanks for your review and impressions. Also, welcome back after more than 30 years, you did not sound disappointed. :cool:

[goncruzn]

I was also on this cruise and agree with everything the OP said. I was, though, surprised at how small the buffet area was considering the size of the ship. Even though there were two separate sides to it, along with the Café Caribe, I found it very "tight" compared to the buffet areas on other ships/cruiselines.

 

The naturalist, Michael Modzelewski was excellent. I cruised on the Celebrity Solstice to Alaska last year, and while I loved the cruise and ship, the naturalist on board was good, but not as good as Mr. Modzelewski. He was on the bridge between 6-8am the morning prior to arrival in Juneau pointing out whales, did a wonderful narrative through Tracy Arm Fjord where we were actually able to get up close and personal to the glacier and even later after we left the Fjord, continued to point out wildlife and marine life. His talks in the theater were entertaining and informative.

 

Something else the Solstice did better was to provide hot chocolate (for free) every time you got back on board the ship after being in port. I was a little disappointed that you had to pay for it on the Crown (except in dining room at dinner). I also like drinking lemonade and on other ships, I've been able to get it myself from dispensers, but the only way to get it here was to ask a waiter. I also asked for it in the dining room at dinner and the waiter told me I had to go upstairs to the buffet to get it. I've always had lemonade at dinner on other ships. A little disappointed, but oh well, was not a deal breaker in the least.

 

We had a "king" bed, one side was comfortable, but the other side had a dip in the middle that made it uncomfortable to sleep on, even with the pillowtop pad. Our room steward was Romulo (Romy) and he was good. Didn't talk to him often, but he always kept the room tidy. We had fruit delivered to our room everyday, while the other couple traveling with us in the next room never received any. I didn't know if that was because I was a Captain's Circle member and they were not.

 

All in all, I enjoyed the cruise very much. There will always be some "good" and maybe "not so good" with every cruise, but I have yet to have had a "bad" cruise. Would I cruise on this ship again...definitely!

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the reviews. :)

 

Never thought the hot chocolate was worth raving about...gah...its always watered down and nasty. :p

 

I will take an Irish coffee or similar. Oh well to each his own. :cool:

[ar1950]

Thanks for the reviews. :)

 

..........................................

 

I will take an Irish coffee or similar. Oh well to each his own. :cool:

 

Couldn't agree more! :cool:

[caribill]

They also have Gelato which is $ 1.50 per scoop. Much more reasonable than other cruiselines.

 

Unless the price has changed recently, it is more reasonable than you thought. Then price has been $1.50 for three scoops.

 

As our cruise was the last of the Alaska season, on the last day; they had a 50% off sale in one of the dining rooms. They even had stuff from their Mexican & Caribbean cruises.

 

The dining room sale had nothing to do with being the last cruise of the season. Every Princess ship has this sale to get rid of items they have discontinued carrying in the shops as well as clothing and souvenirs from areas the ship has been in the past, but will not be there again in the near future.

 

 

 

Glad you had a great cruise.

 

Thanks for the report.

[candigirl41]

Thanks for the review. I was on the Crown last December to Mexico and I am going again this December. Glad to have the feedback about the ship.

 

Candi

[JoAnneNYI]

We were also on this cruise and enjoyed it. Agree the naturalist was wonderful and really added to our enjoyment. Should be mentioned that the captain got closer to Sawyer Glacier in T. Arms than he did all season. Was worried because in previous weeks I think some reported they did not make it there at all.

 

Yes...the buffet was cramped! Don't know if felt this due to being on the Regal last April. But the food was not anywhere as good either.

 

Never been to Alaska and have to say it was a favorite! And I think we had great weather.

[Sherrica]

Thank you for sharing! I have a question about the buffet. You said the servers would bring drinks, but do they also help you find a seat? Or do you have to wander around with your plate until you find one?

[Colo Cruiser]

Thank you for sharing! I have a question about the buffet. You said the servers would bring drinks, but do they also help you find a seat? Or do you have to wander around with your plate until you find one?

 

 

 

Yes they will help you find a seat. :)

[April29]

Thanks for the review. We will be going on the Crown this November to Mexico. We haven't been on Princess in 9 years. What did you think of the shows?

 

We were also on this cruise.

 

They had 2 production shows.

The 1st one was What a Swell Night. It featured old-time music.

The 2nd one was Boogie Nights featuring disco music. Sadly, we missed this one.

They also had comedian Carlos Oscar who won Princess Entertainer of the Year. He was funny without being crass.

Also, Ventriloquist Dan Horn. He was ok.

[April29]

Glad you had a great cruise.

 

Thanks for the report.

 

Really ? No wonder everyone was getting 3 scoops.

It wasn't really clear.

Now I need to book another Princess cruise...just for the gelato :)

[April29]

Regarding the fruit basket, apparently it's on request.

You ask your stateroom for a card that you fill out like a room service breakfast card.

There's a choice of: bananas, apples, pears, kiwi fruit oranges & you write down how many you want.

You can ask for a week's worth or order nightly.

[goncruzn]

Regarding the fruit basket, apparently it's on request.

You ask your stateroom for a card that you fill out like a room service breakfast card.

There's a choice of: bananas, apples, pears, kiwi fruit oranges & you write down how many you want.

You can ask for a week's worth or order nightly.

 

I never asked for one, but received a fruit basket every day, with maybe one skipped day because we hadn't finished what was in the basket from the day before. Interesting....