New to Princess questions

[tigger54]

My husband and I have been on over 30 cruises but this will be our first time on Princess. We are looking at a 10 day S. Caribbean in Oct. of this year on the Crown Princess. We have cruised Carnival, NCL, Royal Caribbean, MSC, and Celebrity. So what can we expect on this Princess cruise?What are the pros and cons of this ship? How is the food ( I know this is subjective), entertainment and overall feel of the ship. I’m gathering this ship is more like a Celebrity cruise then say Carnival? Am I correct?

What do you like best about this ship? Any other tips would be greatly appreciated.

thank you

[LoriPhil]

It’s been a few years but we enjoyed cruising the Crown and her class of ship in general.  Some of the highs for us are the promenade deck that lets you walk all around the ship (stairs up to emerald deck to pass through forward part) and Skywalkers at the top aft of the ship, which is a terrific place to be during the day.  Adagio is a bar venue, but during the day is also a very comfy place to read or play cards.

 

lots of food options but my biggest yums are the crunchy hard rolls (really missed those when we sailed another cruiseline), and the fettuccine Alfredo in the dining room (we usually ask for half portion as a side but will occasionally get a full order which hopefully is still served in a toasted parmigiana bowl).

 

Southern Caribbean is one of our favorites - have a great cruise!

Edited May 27, 2019 by LoriPhil

[voljeep]

Riviera Deck aft cabins - short walk out the back stairs to the Adult Terrace pool - then up another flight of stairs to the Outrigger bar and easy access to the buffets , if that's your thing , even for a snack

 

definitely one of our go to places on that class of ships

 

also Vines and Crooners ...

[AF-1]

I think Princess is like Celebrity.  It does not have the waterpark vibe like Royal Caribbean or Norwegian.  The shows are good, the staff is great.  My last Princess Cruise was this past Feb;  not a lot of kids on this cruise.  Although they said the ship was maxed out with passengers;  we never felt crowded

[JF - retired RRT]

1 hour ago, LoriPhil said:

And the fettuccine Alfredo in the dining room (we usually ask for half portion as a side but will occasionally get a full order which hopefully is still served in a toasted parmigiana bowl).

It's been about a year that the bowls are gone. DH was able to get one for the next day on one of our cruises, but since then the answer has been "no longer available".

[LoriPhil]

drat that the parm bowls aren't available anymore.  Guess I'll have to find another delight to replace those calories.   😎

[geoherb]

It's been 9 years since I sailed on the Crown Princess. I'm looking at booking the transatlantic this fall from Southampton to Fort Lauderdale. We took a transatlantic last year on the Royal and had a great time even though the itinerary changed due to the remnants of Hurricane Florence.

 

Princess is closest to Celebrity of the cruise lines you mention. The big pro about the Crown is the location of Sabatini's and Adagio on the Sun Deck. I also like that this class of ships has an Explorers Lounge plus a walkable outside Promenade Deck (as opposed to the newest ships: Royal, Regal, and Majestic). So even with the extra passenger deck compared to the Grand-class ships, the ship doesn't feel that crowded most of the time.

[skynight]

I like:

All the lounges, Crooner's, Wheelhouse Bar, Club Fusion, Explorer's Lounge, Skywalker's, and Adagio way up on deck 16 aft. Most have live music sets during the evening hours.

All the dining options and hours they are open which you can see at this web site: https://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/food-and-dining/dining-options.pdf

How is the food? You decide for yourself. For us it's fine, it's food. Never lost weight on a cruise.

Specialty Dining, Crown Grill, Sabitini's, Crab Shack. is basically $29/pp if you want it. Salty Dog GastroPub is $12/pp. No need to go to specialty dining, DR selections are fine.

The price of drinks are reasonable.

You can stack all OBC. No need to select one or the other. There is Carnival Corp Shareholders Benefit, 100 shares, OBC which varies from $50 to $250 depending on the length of the cruise. Look up Carnival Shareholder's Benefit. There is also military OBC for those that are or were discharged from the military. Look up Princess military benefit.

Negative: Get to the theater early for production shows. They are on a first come basis. Mid evening shows pretty quickly. Late evening shows not as quickly. Guest entertainer shows also not as quick.

 

 

 

 

 

[jondfk]

I'll chime in too, I'm a Princess loyalist who's taken multiple NCL, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity cruises.  I'd compare the ambience (and by that I mean the quality of public space furnishings) to Celebrity but the food to Royal Caribbean.  I'm quite happy with Princess food in the main dining rooms, I found Celebrity a bit too fussy for my particular taste.  If you've been happy with the alternatives you mentioned having experienced no doubt you'll enjoy Princess.

 

As for Crown.  It's a lovely ship, one of our favorites.  We really like Adagio for a bit of peace and quiet - when other lounges are busy you can easily find yourself alone here.  It's used for little else so is typically quiet all day long (though bar service won't be operating until late afternoon typically).  Skywalkers is another nice space to keep out of the sun, another favorite.

 

You don't mention what sort of cabin you're considering, be aware that Princess has introduced Club Class service (top category mini suites & full suites).  This doesn't get you a special dining room, but does get you a designated section of the main dining room with a dedicated service team.  Service is a touch better though whether it's worth the price premium is a very personal matter - I bring this up only because it sounds as though it's new since your last Princess experience.  

[LoriPhil]

Self-service laundromat on cabin-decks so you avoid the expense and delay of sending laundry out for the cruise line to do for you.  We spent serious dollars on Celebrity for their laundry service - really missed princess!

[Lucky TGO]

I like the adult Lotus Spa Pool. It’s a quiet and relaxing area. 

Tony

[tigger54]

Thanks for all of the reply’s. Looking forward to my first Princess cruise.

[cole'snana]

Just back from our first Princess cruise (14 day Caribbean Princess), but we have sailed on 46 other cruises.

We found the food in all areas (did not eat in pay venues) to be of a much  better quality and variety than Royal Caribbean, and on par with Celebrity and Holland. Our only complaint was that the coffee was consistently too weak, and their soft serve ice cream had a strange consistency and taste. The entertainment was superior. The same shows were presented on both (7 day Western, then 7 day Eastern), but they were so good we relished seeing them again. We would definitely sail Princess again!

[Diver2014]

We are just off the Crown on a 12 day British Isles cruise.  Our prior cruise was the 10 day southern Caribbean cruise on Crown, which we did over Thanksgiving last year.  Good ship for the money, good food, good entertainment.  We've also sailed on Celebrity, NCL, HAL, RCCL and others but I think Princess is in a class of it's own.  We like their brand.  We had the triangular shaped balcony cabin aft on deck 14 of the Crown last week and loved the room and location - just out the door to the pool and up one deck to the Horizon Court - or just up the hallway to do directly down to the Botticelli dining room.  We liked the Explorer Lounge on deck 7 or Club Fusion aft.  We thought the food was scrumptious!  We liked the variety in the Horizon Court (we had long shore excursions and weren't back for our 5pm traditional dining time several times) and the MDR equally.  Service and food quality was excellent (I too, loved the Fettucine Alfredo, on the 'everyday' menu in the MDR).  We were on deck 10 Caribe deck last year for the Caribbean cruise and loved the huge balcony.  

Unfortunately, we had issues with our cabin up until we disembarked on our cruise last week around the British Isles.  The toilet didn't flush, the shower smelled of sewage and the a/c didn't work (it was freezing in our cabin even with the a/c turned all the way up).  Our room steward had guys there twice in the first couple of days to get things repaired but it wasn't until day 6 and a complaint to Guest Services that they came again.  The toilet never did work - we had to wait 3-5 minutes for it to flush.  The repair guys said there was a leak somewhere in the vacuum system.  Whatever.   Our room steward finally put air freshener in the bathroom to try to cover the smell but we had to keep the shower drain covered with a wet bath mat to keep the smell out.

We asked our room steward for 2 blankets which we used on top of the duvet thing to sleep at night since it was so cold.  But, it was such a great port intensive cruise that we decided not to let the cabin issues bother us.  The Crown Princess could use some refurbishment but it's still a grand ole ship.  I also have to agree with the previous poster about the ice cream at Coffee and Cones - weird tasting.  Even the shakes had a strange flavor. But the pizza at Slice was excellent - especially if you get a slice right out of the oven!

Edited June 13, 2019 by Diver2014

[Colo Cruiser]

38 minutes ago, Diver2014 said:

We are just off the Crown on a 12 day British Isles cruise.  Our prior cruise was the 10 day southern Caribbean cruise on Crown, which we did over Thanksgiving last year.  Good ship for the money, good food, good entertainment.  We've also sailed on Celebrity, NCL, HAL, RCCL and others but I think Princess is in a class of it's own.  We like their brand.  We had the triangular shaped balcony cabin aft on deck 14 of the Crown last week and loved the room and location - just out the door to the pool and up one deck to the Horizon Court - or just up the hallway to do directly down to the Botticelli dining room.  We liked the Explorer Lounge on deck 7 or Club Fusion aft.  We thought the food was scrumptious!  We liked the variety in the Horizon Court (we had long shore excursions and weren't back for our 5pm traditional dining time several times) and the MDR equally.  Service and food quality was excellent (I too, loved the Fettucine Alfredo, on the 'everyday' menu in the MDR).  We were on deck 10 Caribe deck last year for the Caribbean cruise and loved the huge balcony.  

Unfortunately, we had issues with our cabin up until we disembarked on our cruise last week around the British Isles.  The toilet didn't flush, the shower smelled of sewage and the a/c didn't work (it was freezing in our cabin even with the a/c turned all the way up).  Our room steward had guys there twice in the first couple of days to get things repaired but it wasn't until day 6 and a complaint to Guest Services that they came again.  The toilet never did work - we had to wait 3-5 minutes for it to flush.  The repair guys said there was a leak somewhere in the vacuum system.  Whatever.   Our room steward finally put air freshener in the bathroom to try to cover the smell but we had to keep the shower drain covered with a wet bath mat to keep the smell out.

We asked our room steward for 2 blankets which we used on top of the duvet thing to sleep at night since it was so cold.  But, it was such a great port intensive cruise that we decided not to let the cabin issues bother us.  The Crown Princess could use some refurbishment but it's still a grand ole ship.  I also have to agree with the previous poster about the ice cream at Coffee and Cones - weird tasting.  Even the shakes had a strange flavor. But the pizza at Slice was excellent - especially if you get a slice right out of the oven!

Do you by chance have the embarkation day patter with the officers/crew listed on the front page?

[Diver2014]

Just now, Colo Cruiser said:

Do you by chance have the embarkation day patter with the officers/crew listed on the front page?

 

Yes.....any particular name you are looking for?

[Colo Cruiser]

 

10 minutes ago, Diver2014 said:

 

Yes.....any particular name you are looking for?

If possible can I get all of them?  TIA...  🙂

[Ereggae]

My only issue was with Anytime Dining.  A nightmare as it gets crowded and you could have long waits and they give you a beeper.  One night of that mess and I changed to a set time with the Maitre'd, who it turns out we knew from previous cruises.

Edited June 13, 2019 by Ereggae

[happy cruzer]

Diver, did they give you any compensation for your inconvenience?  Stuff happens but it helps if they show that they really care with some form of compensation.  

[Thrak]

Agree that the Caribe deck balconies are great. Deeper balconies and half covered/half uncovered. Also agree that Adagio is a great venue. Quiet and relaxing in the day and one can sometimes get jazz in the evenings. Many people don't seem to know about the large deck area behind Adagio. The are is shared with either Sabatini's or Share depending on which venue is on a particular ship. My wife likes the fact that Skywalker's is moved a bit forward so it doesn't shade the Terrace Pool which is where she likes to hang out.

[Diver2014]

4 hours ago, Colo Cruiser said:

 

If possible can I get all of them?  TIA...  🙂

 

Here's the front page of the first Patter....let me know if you can't read it, I can probably enlarge it.

[Colo Cruiser]

3 minutes ago, Diver2014 said:

 

Here's the front page of the first Patter....let me know if you can't read it, I can probably enlarge it.

Thank you very much! 👍

I am able to zoom in! 

[Diver2014]

2 hours ago, happy cruzer said:

Diver, did they give you any compensation for your inconvenience?  Stuff happens but it helps if they show that they really care with some form of compensation.  

 

Yes, Guest Services called us twice to see if everything had been fixed.  We told them the first time that the toilet flushed while the mechanic was in our room but as soon as he left, nothing.  The shower stall drain was cleaned twice.  The second time Guest Services called, they offered us a bottle of wine.  Since we're not wine drinkers, they then offered us a coffee card.  Since we're not coffee drinkers, we just thanked them for the offer and asked that someone follow up on the plumbing issues before the end of the cruise (this was on day 6).  Alas, by the 8th day, the toilet again did not flush and the shower drain still smelled (but not as bad since the room steward put air freshener in our bathroom).  So yes, they tried but the issues had not been repaired by the end of the voyage.  I feel sorry for whoever is in our cabin on the June 6th cruise. We've done 4 Princess cruises in a row now (Emerald, Royal and 2 Crown's) so next cruise will be on RCCL in January just to change things up.