First time on Princess - Crown Pacific Coastal with photos

[epaul78]

This was our first experience with Princess!

I have some pictures to post as we go along but please be patient if I am a little slow with my review- getting unburied at work and the start of Little League baseball season is taking up a lot of my time and attention. I will promise to be fair – I have one big peeve and a few little ones, but plenty to compliment too and we know that a single cruise is not enough to definitively form an opinion about a cruise (ship, line, itinerary) so the jury is still out but we would be willing to sail Princess again.

 

In many ways changing cruise lines is almost like cruising again for the first time, except with the potential drawback of having a set of expectations related to the “other” cruise lines and one’s previous experiences.

 

A little about us:

 

Eric and I are in our mid-30’s and have mostly cruised “like a Norwegian” although we have also sailed on Royal Caribbean and Celebrity before. We do find that NCL is a nice choice when we take our two kids with many options to help keep them entertained. We also like the option to upgrade our vacation experience with specialty dining. I understand that additional fees are one way to control and moderate demand as well as provide extras to the people who want and are willing to pay for it while still being able to keep an affordable lead-in fare. It does seem that there has been a lot of nickel and diming from NCL as of late though and sometimes it seems like almost everything has an extra charge to go with it.

 

I will say that we didn’t feel like there was a constant upsell from Princess or an extra fee attached to everything. Overall we felt like this cruise was a really good value.

 

We enjoy fine dining and a good wine list and/or the ability to bring our own wine onboard is also important to us (more on wine later).

 

Because we have younger kiddos we tend to be early risers and don’t partake of late night events every often, even when it is just the two of us. I really need to have a good cup of coffee to start my day and generally eschew cruise buffets whenever possible.

 

As you will see, I am a complete amateur with the camera and on this trip I only used my Samsung Galaxy S6. Eric got a few good pictures.

 

We booked this California Coastal cruise on the Crown Princess because it was a great deal and we wanted a little getaway to celebrate our 15th anniversary. So this time we got to leave the kids with Grandma for spring break and get cozy in a no-frills inside stateroom. Aloha Deck, Interior Stateroom Category 1A. The room was perfectly fine, but this cruise showed us that we really need to have a balcony, especially on ships with a quiet activity schedule and older crowd of passengers. There is nothing like the view from your own balcony first thing in the morning and we missed having that this time around and regretted not spending the extra money for the view.

 

Here is the Cruise Itinerary:

Sat. 4/02 Los Angeles, board at Port of San Pedro check in 12:30-3:00 pm

Sun. 4/03 Sea Day

Mon. 4/04 San Francisco

Tue. 4/05 Sea Day

Wed. 4/06 Santa Barbara (Tender)

Thur 4/07 San Diego

Fri. 4/08 Ensenada

Sat. 4/09 Los Angeles (Disembark)

 

2 formal nights and 3 smart casual nights on this cruise. We were bummed that we didn’t have the option to pre-book our specialty dining and appreciate the option to do that with other cruise lines. We pre-purchased the coffee card for the International Cafe and went ahead and pre-applied some onboard credit to our account to cover dinner at two of the specialty restaurants. It is nice to not have a big bill at the end of the cruise!

 

 

More to come!

~Melissa

[riclop]

Looking forward to it.

[pspehar]

Looking forward to reading your thoughts. My wife and I were on the same cruise and also first time to Princess.

 

We are not very experienced cruisers. We had been on a Royal Caribbean Vision of the Seas to AK in early June 2004.

 

As a teen, I was on Royal Caribbean Sovereign of the Seas in 1988 and a Holland America MS Nieuw Amsterdam? Caribbean cruise in 1990.

 

All of those experiences were prior to the additional upcharges for food/restaurants.

[knbcruisers]

Looking forward to this review we are booked for this cruise itinerary on the Ruby next year, if flights can be had reasonably.

Edited April 13, 2016 by knbcruisers

[greenie082756]

Thanks for taking the time to give your review.

 

Even though DH likes the longer cruises 10+ days this I wouldn't mind doing as a B2B.

 

I am interested in your thoughts. :)

[easyboy]

Continue posting! Eager to see the photos too.

[MrMan]

As someone who cruises both like a Norwegian, and like a Princess, I think you will be pleased as experience is almost the same. You will find that Princess does not have as much on-board activities, the entertainment/shows are a higher quality, and there is much more dining options on NCL. On Princess free room service, afternoon tea on sea days, and Pub lunch are nice.

 

I hope you have an outstanding cruise! The California coast is one of Princess best in my opinion. Also if you can, have dinner in San Francisco!

[epaul78]

A little pre-cruise fun! (Don't tell the kids!)

 

 

We stayed at the Hotel Maya and had a great view of the other cruise terminal from our room

 

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[epaul78]

 

First impressions

 

 

 

 

happy music

 

 

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[epaul78]

 

 

 

The atrium is so pretty!

 

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[XBGuy]

Thanks for starting this conversation, epaul. I'm looking forward to your review when you get caught up and back to, more or less, normal. We are taking the same itinerary Apr. 23.

[Clarea]

Very nice start with the excellent photos, thanks.

[NorbertsNiece]

Am impressed at how you can post pics using Tapatalk..... I need to look into this.... will be looking forward to more ship pics.....

Edited April 13, 2016 by NorbertsNiece

[shredie]

Good shot of the Queen Mary in front of the Carnival ship in Long Beach.

[epaul78]

The online pre-cruise planner had this information regarding “progressive check-in” and gratuities:

 

PROGRESSIVE CHECK-IN: To help facilitate a smooth start to your voyage we have implemented a progressive cruise check-in schedule. Please arrive at the check-in time listed below. If you have purchased a Princess Cruise Plus Package/Transfer, your check-in time will be provided at your hotel or the airport. Guests travelling on shared transport or arriving as a group will be checked in together. Priority check-in will be available to guests with a Preferred Boarding Pass within the allocated check-in times. Boarding will commence shortly after check-in. Please do not arrive prior to the start of cruise check-in as your cabin will not be ready. Once on board, enjoy a meal at Horizon Court which remains open throughout the day to serve you.

 

12:30 PM - Dolphin & Emerald Decks - Cabins on these decks begin with D & E

1:30 PM - Caribe & Riviera Decks - Cabins on these decks begin with C & R

2:15 PM - Aloha & Lido Decks - Cabins on these decks begin with A & L

2:45 PM - Baja & Plaza Decks - Cabins on these decks begin with B & P

 

GRATUITY PATMENT INFORMATION: To simplify the tipping process for our guests, a discretionary gratuity of USD 13.95 per guest for mini-suites and suites, and USD 12.95 per guest in all other staterooms, per day (including children) will be automatically added to your shipboard account. On Australian voyages with an onboard currency of AUD, the fee will be converted to AUD. This gratuity will be shared amongst those staff that help provide and support your cruise experience, including all waitstaff, stateroom stewards, buffet stewards, and housekeeping staff. For your convenience, this gratuity can be pre-paid before you sail by calling 1-800 PRINCESS and referencing Special Services item number 0591. Pre-paid gratuities may be added up to two days prior to your embarkation. You may also pay them online by logging in to your Cruise Personalizer at http://www.princess.com/cruisepersonalizer.

You have complete discretion to adjust these gratuities while onboard; however, gratuities may only be adjusted prior to disembarking the ship.

 

TAXES, FEES AND PORT EXPENSES: The following are included in the purchase price of this cruise:

Taxes, Fees and Port Expenses: 272.0 USD

 

According to this, we SHOULD check-in at 2:45… oh look, the buffet will be open throughout the day to serve us. :p We completely disregarded these instructions and showed up at the terminal at about 10:45. The gals running the show really have it together and efficiently directed human traffic through the different stages of check-in. Once the pre boarding and elite boarding and all of the other special groups were called, general boarding began right about 12:30 and we were on the ship about 12:45.

 

Eric and I quickly discovered the International Café and some appealing lunch items from the counter along with very prompt beverage service for a pre-sail-away libation.

 

Princess definitely has the “win” in the adult beverages category in terms of price, our last cruise on Norwegian had cocktail prices soaring into the teens. An $8.95 martini seems like a great value in comparison!

 

We explored a little bit and staterooms were ready in the early afternoon so we were able to deposit our carry on luggage and collect lifejackets to take to the emergency drill. We haven't ever had to actually bring or put on the lifejackets before!

 

We sailed away on schedule and were hailed from the (formerly) USS Iowa with wishes for smooth sailing and fair weather.

 

~ Melissa

[epaul78]

Am impressed at how you can post pics using Tapatalk..... I need to look into this.... will be looking forward to more ship pics.....

 

So much easier than using a photo hosting service and putting links! This is my first time using it and I love the simplicity, especially since I used my mobile for the photos.

[epaul78]

 

 

It is pretty neat to watch the containers being loaded.

 

 

Ahoy Iowa!

 

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[epaul78]

 

Sorry for the double picture posts! Still working out the kinks!

[easyboy]

nice shot selections!

[Luvmyrotti]

Enjoying your review so far and looking forward to more!

[NorbertsNiece]

So much easier than using a photo hosting service and putting links! This is my first time using it and I love the simplicity, especially since I used my mobile for the photos.

 

The pics are awesome. Keep 'em coming!

 

From a personal blogging perspective I would need them smaller..... I do post pic heavy blogs but having the phone camera as a backup has proven useful, especially when I use up the camera battery!!

[socaljo]

Love hearing about others' experiences! Looking forward to hearing more, I'm also a wee bit jealous that you figured out the picture thing... :confused: The pics from our small digital camera, are too big I think, I just get "upload error" duh...tell me something I don't know! A friend is coming over today to help...we are on the Crown in January doing Cape Horn, love reading about her!

[epaul78]

One of my favorite things from this cruise was the desserts!

 

The Chocolate Journeys selections are not to be missed!

 

[epaul78]

Luggage was delivered to the stateroom very quickly so we were able to unpack and get settled in. I pack some magnetic heavy duty clips to stick our paperwork on the wall and a highlighter for the daily Princess Patter and I always bring a pack Clorox wipes and give the stateroom a once-over before we unpack anything else – especially the phone, the remote control, and the light switches and door handle. It only takes a couple of minutes and so far we have never been sick on a cruise yet (knock-on-wood). I am not a germ-a-phobe, but I am an obsessive hand-washer when I travel because I don’t want a stomach bug to ruin my vacation!

 

One thing I did not like on this cruise is that there was not enough effort to encourage passengers to clean their hands. I miss the Norwegian “washy-washy” girls who greet you every time you come onboard the ship with a little squirt of hand cleanser and at the door of the buffet and the maître d who pause by the hand sanitizer before seating you for dinner in the MDR or restaurants. No one boarding was required or encourage to use the sanitizers and I think that is one of the big reasons why this ship has had so many Noro issues.

 

I mentioned before that I don’t care for the buffet. I think that one is much more likely to get sick from buffet exposure (mostly having to do with other passengers) than anywhere else on the cruise ship. One evening on the Crown I was washing my hands in the restroom and a woman used the facilities and left without washing hers or even glancing at the sink. It isn’t much of a stretch of the imagination that the person who will walk past a sink in the lavatory will also just as easily walk past the hand sanitizer at the entrance to the chow line too. Suppose this same person goes from the restroom to the buffet to eat and as she is filling her plate she touches the tongs, the serving spoons, and maybe even uses her hands to grab a roll from the basket. If I am next in line behind her I have now touched the same tongs and serving utensils and even if I did sanitize my hands at the beginning of the buffet line because I have subsequently touched the same items as the lady from the loo I now have those germs on my hands just as I am going to have lunch. :eek: Yuk!

 

I am also not a buffet fan because I think there is better food to be had elsewhere. I hate to see people griping about the food on any ship being “awful” when they only ever ate at the buffet or the pool grill (really, your hot dog wasn’t up to par?). These are the same people who tend to complain about having to put on pants. Let’s face it, even the best chef is going to have a challenge with a menu designed to sit under a heat lamp for hours at a time. Most folks for whom a good dining experience is important will choose other venues for their meals. And pants. We have found, in general, that the MDR is usually a great choice for breakfast and lunch because the food tends to be a little fresher and I much prefer table service than fetching my own everything or dealing with a mob of people. For the same reasons in the evening we tend to go for the specialty restaurants – better food cooked to order, top-notch service, and no crowds. Unfortunately mostly due to scheduling breakfast and lunch was nearly always the International Café so I can’t speak to the MDR fare there but we always found a light meal to be happy with from the I.C. - I like their egg, sausage, cheese English muffin in the morning (we may have had some doughnuts too ;)) and usually several salads and paninis to choose from at lunch. Sunday afternoon we also enjoyed some very delicious freshly made Italian-style pizza from the pool deck.

 

I was pleasantly surprised by dinner in the Botticelli dining room (one pat of butter between us at our table for two for those who have been following the butter rationing thread, but it was replenished as used or by request). We found the service and food to be pretty good and were satisfied with our dinner every evening. It was great to see lobster on the dinner menu too! More and more frequently when lobster is on offer it is with an upcharge so we were happy to have it as an option on one of the formal nights. The only MDR disappointment food-wise was the Bananas Foster which was specifically described as flambé on the menu but was not actually cooked or served this way – you can’t have “flambé” with no flame.

 

I like the “freestyle” dress-up-or-not option with NCL, but really, every cruise line offers that- it just depends on your plans for the evening. What you wear may determine where it is appropriate for you to be eating and hanging out onboard the cruise ship.

 

If you want to wear your bathing suit the entire cruise, hey, go for it- you do you! But you probably aren’t going to show up to formal night dinner in the main dining room in your cover up and flip-flops. That attire is appropriate for the poolside grill or the buffet and then that’s what you’re eating – buffet and grill food, but if you want a casual, laid-back type of vacation, that’s probably “good enough” in the dinner department.

 

I do think that dressing for dinner makes it more special and part of the fun of a cruise is having the “dress for dinner” type of experience. Unfortunately (or not, I guess, depending on your opinion) the dress code was not enforced AT ALL, at least not in the Botticelli dining room. We saw adult passengers in JEANS on the Formal nights and shorts and flip flops on the Smart Casual evenings. If they are going to have a dress code they should either enforce it or do away with it or maybe offer the option of "anytime dining" with no dress code and regular dinner seatings with so that you can pick what you like?

 

On the first night we found out that the theater gets crowded very quickly and if you want good seats you need to be there about 45 minutes before the show is scheduled to start. The late show is a less crowded than the early one but you still need to show up about 15 minutes ahead to score a seat.

[epaul78]

The first sea day was nice to have the opportunity to sleep in (until 7:30!) and relax.

 

Not too much on the Patter to interest us- we bought a deck of cards, read, and watched some Love Boat reruns – we started watching because of the crazy costumes and the hokey plot line, but a new (to-us) episode every day became something to look forward to. The weather was okay and a few kids were swimming. It seemed like the Promenade was always roped off and we couldn’t figure out why.

 

We discovered the Sanctuary and it seemed like a good place to spend a quiet afternoon if it had been hot and crowded. Although we didn’t experience it firsthand, it is a nice option and I like that you can buy by the half day (unlike NCL’s Vibe Pass, which is purchase for the entire cruise and is hard to get).

 

The “towel game” doesn’t seem to be an issue – all the action is in the Atrium, which is always really crowded with folks just hanging out and playing with their iPads. I wish I could have brought my towel down there to save a seat, if only so we would have somewhere TO sit.

 

Skywalkers nightclub is a nice (and cool) place to hang out during the day. The ship interior is a bit on the warm side for us and our stateroom feels stuffy most of the time (should have got that balcony!) We migrated down to the Wheelhouse Bar for happy hour specials in the early afternoon.

 

Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle a.k.a. Meet & Greet-

Our experiences with the M&M have been varied, on Royal Caribbean and Celebrity the ship put on a nice party that included refreshments and door prizes. NCL will give refreshments and the space but lets CC run it and as far as I can tell Princess might designate a space but by and large doesn’t facilitate anything. We really didn’t connect with anyone in advance of the cruise on the Roll Call and given the super casual nature of the M&M we decided to skip this one which was held the first sea day.

 

Enjoyed beef tenderloin in the MDR and the disappointing Bananas Foster but the Crème Brule made up for it! Magic To-Do was entertaining and we were able to score decent seats at the early show.