The Crown - Again

[Scubadoc]

We had perhaps our best cruise ever last January. We did the 10 night southern Caribbean on the crown princess. We were in a vista Suite E733. We loved it so much we are doing the same cruise this Jan and in the same room!  The itinerary is a little different. We have never been to princess cay. We have never been to Bonaire. Those are the two stops that are different. Then St Thomas, Aruba, Dominica and Grenada

 

 What has changed in one year on the crown? Are the shows the same? What are some secrets spots or fav experiences we may have missed? Any tips for princess cay or Bonaire? Also does anyone recommend a good private guide on Grenada?

[skynight]

Bonnaire. I would recommend renting a golf cart. You can see all the same sites provided on tours at your own pace. Contact bonnirecruisers.com. Princess Cays is a beach stop with tender access. Being in a full suite you will have priority tender service. Watch the Princess Patter for details on where to report for tender service.

The Crown is now a medallion ship, don't know if this is new since you were last on board.

Did you find Adagio Lounge on your last voyage? Quiet location both day and evening. There may be some entertainment there in the evening.

I don't know but would imagine most production shows would be the same. You can now choose to go or do something else. Guest entertainers probably different, they move around.

[7SeasLover]

We are booked in E733 and E732 for our second time as well! Two couples cruise together all the time. My brother will be in one suite and I in another. These suites are just great! I can’t recall where we cruised the first time we were in these suites, but our next cruise in these two suites will be April 4, 2021, Ireland and Scotland. I just booked this cruise this past Monday.

 

I know 2021 is a long way off, but in the meantime we are doing the 28 day Hawaii/South Pacific Cruise, a New England cruise, and a Pacific Coastal. My husband doesn’t like long cruises, so I sometimes grab a girlfriend and go. My brother and his SO always join us. All of us are in our 70’s and love cruising together!

Ginny

[wrongwaywatson]

We did the Southern Medley on the Crown and loved it.   

[Scubadoc]

7 seas lover that's cool that we have been in the same suite!  It really is great. fall of 2021 we will  celebrate our 40th anniversary and we really want to take a princess cruise to the South Pacific. We won't be able to do 28 days so we are hoping they have a 14 to 21 day cruise that would do Hawaii and Tahiti. But they haven't posted the itineraries for fall 2021 yet. We are hoping! In the meantime we have the crown in January and we do the star to Alaska in July so it will be a great cruising year for us!

[capriccio]

We did the 10 day cruise on the Crown over Christmas last year.  In Bonaire we rented a golf cart (http://www.bonairecruisers.com/) and had an enjoyable day but since this is your first visit to Bonaire, you need to snorkel (or dive) off Klein Bonaire which is some of the best snorkeling in the world.  The folks at Woodwind (https://www.woodwindbonaire.com/) offer an excellent half day of drift snorkeling.  It was the best snorkeling excursion we have ever done anywhere.  If you're looking for a fun excursion in Aruba, check out Trikes Aruba (https://www.trikes-aruba.com/).

[WisCruiser2]

If you are not snorkelers and looking for a tour in Bonaire, Achie Tours does a nice full island one using a van and on the one we did, an ex-pat American guide. You can just sign up with them at the pier.

[voljeep]

my wife did her first open water snorkel in Bonaire , after learning how to in our pool ... loved it, and snorkeled again in st john's

[jovisoul]

19 hours ago, Scubadoc said:

We had perhaps our best cruise ever last January. We did the 10 night southern Caribbean on the crown princess. We were in a vista Suite E733. We loved it so much we are doing the same cruise this Jan and in the same room!  The itinerary is a little different. We have never been to princess cay. We have never been to Bonaire. Those are the two stops that are different. Then St Thomas, Aruba, Dominica and Grenada

 

 What has changed in one year on the crown? Are the shows the same? What are some secrets spots or fav experiences we may have missed? Any tips for princess cay or Bonaire? Also does anyone recommend a good private guide on Grenada?

Be careful in Bonaire. We were just there in October on the Crown and were robbed.

Edited November 8, 2019 by jovisoul

[Doug R.]

11 minutes ago, jovisoul said:

Be careful in Bonaire. We were just there in October on the Crown and were robbed.

Since we are visiting Bonaire on our March cruise on the Crown, we would appreciate more detail.

[voljeep]

59 minutes ago, jovisoul said:

Be careful in Bonaire. We were just there in October on the Crown and were robbed.

really ... care to share any details so people can be on the lookout ?

[jovisoul]

1 hour ago, Doug R. said:

Since we are visiting Bonaire on our March cruise on the Crown, we would appreciate more detail.

We didn't have anything planned since we had visited Bonaire before. So as we were walking from the ship we passed by all the local tours. My husband talked to the girl who did the Twizy tour of the island. It was $55 pp and he asked if I wanted to go, so I agreed. The tour guide was a little German girl. There was my hubby and I and another couple that signed up for the tour. The guide took us to her house where we boarded the Twizy. We signed a waiver, but never paid for the tour, which was kind of strange, but we figured she would collect the money at the end.

 

We started our journey at the top of the island. Then we went to the "1000 steps" where people go to scuba dive. It's really only 72 steps, but the divers say it feels like 1000 when they are climbing back up them. Anyway, when we parked the Twizy the girl insisted that we leave our bags because there is no crime on the island. This was not something I would ever do so I kept my personal purse with me and left a backpack that had a couple little things that we had bought on the island before the tour (sea salt, cocoa, Christmas ornament) and my water bottle. Against my better judgement, we left the backpack. The other couple left everything in their bag.

Then we walked down to the 1000 steps area. When we were walking back up to where the Twizy was parked, we noticed a car had been in back of them and they drove off when they saw us. Right away I got a sinking feeling. When we got to the Twizy, I saw that our backpack was gone and the other couple's bag was still there but $250 was missing. Their passports were still in the bag also. Right away I asked the guide if she was in on this robbery because she insisted that we leave the bags. She started crying and called the police (who never came by the way) and also called someone and spoke in German. I still am not sure if she was in on the robbery nor not. As I stated earlier, I had my personal purse with me so nothing of real value to the thief's was in the backpack for them except my husband's cell phone.

 

My husband told me to walk with him in the direction the car went. So we walked about 1/2 mile and I saw the backpack was thrown on the side of the road with everything, including the cell phone still in it. I am not sure if the guide told who ever took the backpack to get rid of it or not. So we were very lucky that we got everything back, but the other couple was still out $250. We walked back to where the Twizy was parked and by then the guide's boyfriend was there and asked if we wanted to go to the Police Station. Of course we wanted to go to the police station. So we all drove to the police station. We decided not to make a claim because we found our stuff that was taken. The other couple stayed to report their theft. The police did NOTHING about it. The boyfriend offered to walk us back to the ship because we refused to drive the Twizy back to their house. We could see the ship from the Police Station so we walked back on our own. Never did pay for the trip, not that I would have after what went down.

 

Yes, we were dumb to leave the bag, but, lesson learned. I still think the guide was in on it, but I can't prove it. We did report it to the ship, just as an FYI to them. The picture is the Twizy.

Edited November 8, 2019 by jovisoul

[aimhigh]

13 hours ago, capriccio said:

We did the 10 day cruise on the Crown over Christmas last year.  In Bonaire we rented a golf cart (http://www.bonairecruisers.com/) and had an enjoyable day but since this is your first visit to Bonaire, you need to snorkel (or dive) off Klein Bonaire which is some of the best snorkeling in the world.  The folks at Woodwind (https://www.woodwindbonaire.com/) offer an excellent half day of drift snorkeling.  It was the best snorkeling excursion we have ever done anywhere.  If you're looking for a fun excursion in Aruba, check out Trikes Aruba (https://www.trikes-aruba.com/).

We have snorkeled twice with Woodwind over the years and have been very happy with our choice to be repeat customers. Be safe and be happy!

[MissP22]

12 minutes ago, jovisoul said:

We didn't have anything planned since we had visited Bonaire before. So as we were walking from the ship we passed by all the local tours. My husband talked to the girl who did the Twizy tour of the island. It was $55 pp and he asked if I wanted to go, so I agreed. The tour guide was a little German girl. There was my hubby and I and another couple that signed up for the tour. The guide took us to her house where we boarded the Twizy. We signed a waiver, but never paid for the tour, which was kind of strange, but we figured she would collect the money at the end.

 

We started our journey at the top of the island. Then we went to the "1000 steps" where people go to scuba dive. It's really only 72 steps, but the divers say it feels like 1000 when they are climbing back up them. Anyway, when we parked the Twizy the girl insisted that we leave our bags because there is no crime on the island. This was not something I would ever do so I kept my personal purse with me and left a backpack that had a couple little things that we had bought on the island before the tour (sea salt, cocoa, Christmas ornament) and my water bottle. Against my better judgement, we left the backpack. The other couple left everything in their bag.

Then we walked down to the 1000 steps area. When we were walking back up to where the Twizy was parked, we noticed a car had been in back of them and they drove off when they saw us. Right away I got a sinking feeling. When we got to the Twizy, I saw that our backpack was gone and the other couple's bag was still there but $250 was missing. Their passports were still in the bag also. Right away I asked the guide if she was in on this robbery because she insisted that we leave the bags. She started crying and called the police (who never came by the way) and also called someone and spoke in German. I still am not sure if she was in on the robbery nor not. As I stated earlier, I had my personal purse with me so nothing of real value to the thief's was in the backpack for them except my husband's cell phone.

 

My husband told me to walk with him in the direction the car went. So we walked about 1/2 mile and I saw the backpack was thrown on the side of the road with everything, including the cell phone still in it. I am not sure if the guide told who ever took the backpack to get rid of it or not. So we were very lucky that we got everything back, but the other couple was still out $250. We walked back to where the Twizy was parked and by then the guide's boyfriend was there and asked if we wanted to go to the Police Station. Of course we wanted to go to the police station. So we all drove to the police station. We decided not to make a claim because we found our stuff that was taken. The other couple stayed to report their theft. The police did NOTHING about it. The boyfriend offered to walk us back to the ship because we refused to drive the Twizy back to their house. We could see the ship from the Police Station so we walked back on our own. Never did pay for the trip, not that I would have after what went down.

 

Yes, we were dumb to leave the bag, but, lesson learned. I still think the guide was in on it, but I can't prove it. We did report it to the ship, just as an FYI to them. The picture is the Twizy.

Since the crooks know the operation of the tour guides it wouldn't take a genius to figure out just how long the bags would be left in the bikes. They do the exact same tour for every cruise ship. 

[jovisoul]

4 hours ago, MissP22 said:

Since the crooks know the operation of the tour guides it wouldn't take a genius to figure out just how long the bags would be left in the bikes. They do the exact same tour for every cruise ship. 

What ever. I still think the tour guide and her boyfriend were in on it.

Edited November 8, 2019 by jovisoul

[wrongwaywatson]

We have snorkeled with Woodwind in Bonaire and loved them.  We used Aruba Watersports in Aruba and they were good.  Woodwind was better, though.