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Crown Princess from Seattle to Alaska. June 4-June 11, 2016

Eaglecw

By Eaglecw,
in Princess Cruises

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Eaglecw

Eaglecw

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We got to Pier 91 at around 11:15am and were on the ship by 11:45am. We had a balcony room on Baja deck. Our room was ready and we dropped off our carryon bags and headed to the MDR for a nice peaceful lunch. We do not go to the Horizon Court buffet because it’s is always a zoo up there. We take all of our meals in the MDR or hit the IC for a snack. It’s pretty obvious that Princess is cutting back. The meal serving size seem to be smaller, they look nice but they are smaller, the food was all good, never had a bad meal. I don’t know if they had an Elite/Platinum cocktail party every day at 5pm, I never got an invite. There were only 45 Elite, 116 Platinum, 275 Ruby, and 609 Gold cards on the ship. Everyone else had Blue cards.

Juneau -We went whale watching on a research boat with 17 passengers through Princess Excursions. We didn’t see as many whales as we did last year but it was good. After our excursion we went to the new Alaska state museum, it opened on the day we were there. It’s a really nice museum.

Skagway - We took a bus tour up to the Yukon and rode the train back to town. We saw bears along the highway eating dandelions. We enjoyed the train ride coming home. The weather was better on the pass in the afternoon. It was kind of nice when got back to town at around 5pm and Skagway was pretty empty of people.

Glacier Bay was awesome. The weather was perfect, not real cold and mostly sunny. Didn’t see the Glaciers calving, but it was still nice. We spent time on our balcony and walked around the ship during the six hours we were at Glacier Bay.

Ketchikan - We just walked around town until it started to rain then we went into the Forest service Discovery center and watched a couple of movies about the Timber Industry in Ketchikan and the Bush Pilots. We stayed in there until it stopped raining. We were only in Ketchikan about 6 hours.

Victoria - We didn’t get off the ship, it was cold and windy. We’ve been to Victoria many times.

On the last sea day I took the Ultimate ship tour. There were 14 of us in the group. That was a pretty good tour. We went to the Medical center, Stage, Galley, Bakery, Meat prep area, Food storage lockers, Laundry, Print shop, Photo shop, Engine control center and the Bridge. They took pictures at every stop. At the end of the tour those who wanted could go up the Sabatini’s for refreshments and snacks, only about half us on the tour went up there, it was nice. The tour was only supposed to be 2 1/2 hours but it ended up being 4 hours. Later in the afternoon our room steward bought a gift pack with pictures of our tour group, a nice picture frame, a really nice robe, and an apron. They charge $150 for the tour. Well, worth the money.

The Captain’ circle cocktail party was a joke. The cruise staff stood over in the corner talking with each other, they didn’t mingle like on other cruises we’ve been on. We got 1 watered down fruit rum drink and 2 little hors d'oeuvres and never saw a waiter again. There were only about 60 people there. The whole Captain’s circle cocktail party lasted about 30 minutes.

On every Princess cruise I’ve been on they always have a gathering of veterans on the last sea day. Not this cruise. I asked the assistant cruise director and she didn’t know why they didn’t.

Dan Appleby has got to be the worse cruise director I’ve ever sailed with. When we passed him on the ship, he could barely say hell-o. He’s got a thick English accent and mumbles when he talks, so he’s hard to understand. He seems to think he’s pretty funny, I don’t think so.

They didn’t have an English pub style lunch on either sea day as we have experienced on past cruises. They have the Salty Sea Dog in the Wheelhouse Bar in the evenings. It cost $19 cover charge. It was never very busy. I think they serve small bites there with live music.

The entertainment was good. Is it Vegas style entertainment? No, but it is entertaining. They have a limited amount of space on the stage area for all the props that they have to have for the shows.

Embarkation and Disembarkation went smoothly.

Did we have a good time? Yes. Would we go again? Yes.

If you have any questions feel free to ask.

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Working 2 Cruise

Working 2 Cruise

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Posted

Thank you for your review. I assume you didn't know that you can ask for a drink of your choice at the Captain Circle party? You aren't limited to what the servers have...

 

Even if you didn't have an invite, why didn't you check Skywalkers? Or you could have asked your cabin steward.... he or she may just have forgotten to give it to you...

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idahospud

idahospud

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Posted (edited)

I was on the ship for two weeks in May and got off the ship the day you were boarding. A couple things:

*The platinum/elite/suite lounge time was 5-7 in Skywalkers except on the second formal night because of the Captain Circle cocktail time.

*We had nothing but good interaction with the CD. Could be he remembered us from MTP party a couple weeks back so maybe he was being extra friendly with us.

*Pub lunch was on sea days in the Crown Grill, not in the Wheelhouse anymore. I know they had it your week because a crew member friend had texted me and told me what a busy day it was with Pub Lunch. Sorry you missed it.

Edited by idahospud
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Eaglecw

Eaglecw

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Thank you for your review. I would like to ask -- how was the Crown in general - the condition of the ship and the cabin, and how was the food in the main dining rooms?

 

Thanks

 

The ship was in good condition. I noticed a few chairs in the Princess Theater that were worn and the tables that flip out on those chairs were broken but other wise everything was clean and in good condition. Our room was nice. We had a balcony room on the Baja deck. We liked the food in the main dining room. We had traditional, late seating.

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Kenosha Cruiser

Kenosha Cruiser

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Eaglecw, I'm shocked that you thought Dan Appleby was the worse cruise director you ever sailed with. I know you were following our roll call on the Crown for May 21-28, you had to see how everyone really liked him. He was very personal, I talked to him several times during our cruise. Out of my 29 Princess cruises, he has been the best we have ever sailed with. I'm glad you enjoyed your cruise, sounds like the ship tour was fantastic! Best of cruising to you!

 

Cheers - Ken & Darlene

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Astro Flyer

Astro Flyer

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Posted (edited)
Sorry to hear you didn't enjoy Dan Appleby - he was by far the funniest CD we've encountered.

 

Eaglecw, I'm shocked that you thought Dan Appleby was the worse cruise director you ever sailed with. I know you were following our roll call on the Crown for May 21-28, you had to see how everyone really liked him. He was very personal, I talked to him several times during our cruise. Out of my 29 Princess cruises, he has been the best we have ever sailed with. I'm glad you enjoyed your cruise, sounds like the ship tour was fantastic! Best of cruising to you!

 

Cheers - Ken & Darlene

We've enjoyed Dan on several cruises and very much enjoyed his quick dry British wit & humor. :D

 

He wasn't an over the top jovial outgoing guy but I found him very approachable & friendly to me. I don't expect a CD to walk around the ship saying hello to every passenger. I rarely go to game shows but after one of them everyone in our group went to all of them. His quick wit & humor was great for us although the OP felt differently & I respect their opinion even though I feel differently.

Edited by Astro Flyer
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XBGuy

XBGuy

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Posted
We got to Pier 91 at around 11:15am and were on the ship by 11:45am. We had a balcony room on Baja deck. Our room was ready and we dropped off our carryon bags and headed to the MDR for a nice peaceful lunch. We do not go to the Horizon Court buffet because it’s is always a zoo up there. We take all of our meals in the MDR or hit the IC for a snack. It’s pretty obvious that Princess is cutting back. The meal serving size seem to be smaller, they look nice but they are smaller, the food was all good, never had a bad meal. [XBGuy Sez: For future reference, do not ever order the vegeburger. My wife did so in in the D/R for lunch on embarkation day, took one bite and pushed her plate away. As a rule we do not eat in the dining rooms, but thought we would try it just this once. Then, there was the couple at the next table who could not take a hint that we really did not care to hear about their prior cruises with their grandchildren. Another reason we don't dine in the dining rooms.] I don’t know if they had an Elite/Platinum cocktail party every day at 5pm, I never got an invite. There were only 45 Elite, 116 Platinum, 275 Ruby, and 609 Gold cards on the ship. Everyone else had Blue cards.

Juneau -We went whale watching on a research boat with 17 passengers through Princess Excursions. We didn’t see as many whales as we did last year but it was good. After our excursion we went to the new Alaska state museum, it opened on the day we were there. It’s a really nice museum. [XBGuy Sez: The museum sounds neat. I'd like to check it out, some day.]

Skagway - We took a bus tour up to the Yukon and rode the train back to town. We saw bears along the highway eating dandelions. [XBGuy Sez: Neat.]We enjoyed the train ride coming home. The weather was better on the pass in the afternoon. It was kind of nice when got back to town at around 5pm and Skagway was pretty empty of people.

Glacier Bay was awesome. The weather was perfect, not real cold and mostly sunny. Didn’t see the Glaciers calving, but it was still nice. We spent time on our balcony and walked around the ship during the six hours we were at Glacier Bay.

Ketchikan - We just walked around town until it started to rain then we went into the Forest service Discovery center and watched a couple of movies about the Timber Industry in Ketchikan and the Bush Pilots. We stayed in there until it stopped raining. We were only in Ketchikan about 6 hours.

Victoria - We didn’t get off the ship, it was cold and windy. We’ve been to Victoria many times.

On the last sea day I took the Ultimate ship tour. There were 14 of us in the group. That was a pretty good tour. We went to the Medical center, Stage, Galley, Bakery, Meat prep area, Food storage lockers, Laundry, Print shop, Photo shop, Engine control center and the Bridge. They took pictures at every stop. At the end of the tour those who wanted could go up the Sabatini’s for refreshments and snacks, only about half us on the tour went up there, it was nice. The tour was only supposed to be 2 1/2 hours but it ended up being 4 hours. Later in the afternoon our room steward bought a gift pack with pictures of our tour group, a nice picture frame, a really nice robe, and an apron. They charge $150 for the tour. Well, worth the money. [XBGuy Sez: Thanks for the report. I'd like to take the UST, sometime.]

The Captain’ circle cocktail party was a joke. The cruise staff stood over in the corner talking with each other, they didn’t mingle like on other cruises we’ve been on. We got 1 watered down fruit rum drink and 2 little hors d'oeuvres and never saw a waiter again. There were only about 60 people there. The whole Captain’s circle cocktail party lasted about 30 minutes.

On every Princess cruise I’ve been on they always have a gathering of veterans on the last sea day. [XBGuy Sez: I'm not as experienced a Princess cruiser as many CC regulars, but I'd never heard of this. Do you mean verterans of the military or veteran Princess travelers?] Not this cruise. I asked the assistant cruise director and she didn’t know why they didn’t.

Dan Appleby has got to be the worse cruise director I’ve ever sailed with. When we passed him on the ship, he could barely say hell-o. He’s got a thick English accent and mumbles when he talks, so he’s hard to understand. He seems to think he’s pretty funny, I don’t think so.

They didn’t have an English pub style lunch on either sea day as we have experienced on past cruises. They have the Salty Sea Dog in the Wheelhouse Bar in the evenings. It cost $19 cover charge. It was never very busy. I think they serve small bites there with live music.

The entertainment was good. Is it Vegas style entertainment? No, but it is entertaining. They have a limited amount of space on the stage area for all the props that they have to have for the shows.

Embarkation and Disembarkation went smoothly.

Did we have a good time? Yes. Would we go again? Yes. [XBGuy Sez: Excellent. :)]

If you have any questions feel free to ask.

 

Thank you, Eagle for taking the time to jot down your thoughts.

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Astro Flyer

Astro Flyer

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Did you see the new magic show?

I've enjoyed Magic to Do on two Crown Princess cruises but wouldn't call it a magic show. It's a song & dance production show with Schwartz's music that incorporates some basic magical illusions. Everyone has an opinion but I'd happily enjoy seeing it again. :)

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Eaglecw

Eaglecw

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Posted (edited)
Thanks for your review. We'll be on the Crown in July with our grandchildren. Who was your Captain? Did you see the new magic show? We're really looking forward to the cruise.

The captain was Vincenzo Lubrano. We missed the magician when he did his magic show but he was in the final production show, "Magic to Do", a new musical. He was good in that. Our table mates saw his show on Tuesday (Skagway day) and really liked it. We liked the comedians Steve Morris and Carlos Oscar, also. There were a lot of good shows on the cruise. The local people that came on board Steve Hites, Libby Riddles and photographer Mark Kelley were good, also.

Edited by Eaglecw
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