On Board the Crown Princess! Aug 6-13

[llarsen]

Hi, 

I will try to update our journey on the Crown Princess to Alaska this week. 
 

We stayed at the Moxy in downtown Seattle last night. It was nice. 
 

We took an Uber to pier 91 this morning to board our cruise at 11:00am. 
 

Check in was very quick! We had completed our Medallion app and were in the Green Lane, but for some reason we still had to show our Passports, Vaccine Card and Negative Covid tests! 
 

The Medallion app worked great for ordering drinks, and I even ordered a slice of cheesecake which was delivered to where I sitting. 
 

The food has been very good so far. We had a nice buffet lunch and just finished dinner in Di Vinci dining room which was very good! Service is also excellent. 
 

We are on deck 10 at the back of the ship and definitely are feeling vibrations. I will let you know how it goes tonight. 
 

 

[HaveDogWillTravel]

Thanks for posting about your cruise. I’m glad things are off to to good start. Bon voyage 🛫 

[QueenB4ever]

Thanks for posting about your experience on the Crown.  I see they will be going into drydock in October.  I was wondering if you have heard if they plan on repairing  the engine/generators during drydock, which hopefully will fix all these vibration problems.  We will be sailing after it is in drydock.  If you hear of anything please let me know.  Thanks and enjoy your cruise. 

[scott4020]

Ship isn't crowded,  they haven't said how many passengers yet that I know of. 

Foggy this morning. It's neat to hear the fog horn. 

 

Dinner last night was good, nothing special. They have ruined the Love Boat Dream. Why change a beloved desert that I have been enjoying for 25 years? Not real happy about that. 

 

Booked the Sanctuary for today. Went there and it was closed this morning. The whole spa pool area is closed. Not happy about that either. 

[PacnGoNow]

33 minutes ago, scott4020 said:

Ship isn't crowded,  they haven't said how many passengers yet that I know of. 

Foggy this morning. It's neat to hear the fog horn. 

 

Dinner last night was good, nothing special. They have ruined the Love Boat Dream. Why change a beloved desert that I have been enjoying for 25 years? Not real happy about that. 

 

Booked the Sanctuary for today. Went there and it was closed this morning. The whole spa pool area is closed. Not happy about that either. 

Did they say why it’s closed?  

[llarsen]

1 hour ago, QueenB4ever said:

Thanks for posting about your experience on the Crown.  I see they will be going into drydock in October.  I was wondering if you have heard if they plan on repairing  the engine/generators during drydock, which hopefully will fix all these vibration problems.  We will be sailing after it is in drydock.  If you hear of anything please let me know.  Thanks and enjoy your cruise. 

Haven’t heard anything but will ask about it. Vibration woke me up last night several times, but I am a sensitive sleeper. 

[QueenB4ever]

3 hours ago, llarsen said:

Haven’t heard anything but will ask about it. Vibration woke me up last night several times, but I am a sensitive sleeper. 

Thanks I appreciate that.  How is the entertainment so far?

[disudds]

It looks like, just all the other recent Crown cruises, you will not be going into the Inner Passage at all. Has anyone said anything about that? Is there any compensation?

[scott4020]

No but it was opened by 10:00. It's a little cold up there and the fog horn was blaring. 

[cruisingrob21]

2 hours ago, disudds said:

It looks like, just all the other recent Crown cruises, you will not be going into the Inner Passage at all. Has anyone said anything about that? Is there any compensation?

 

No ships from Seattle will use the "inside passage" between BC mainland and Vancouver island - its too slow and requires much cleaner (more expensive) fuel than sailing west of Vancouver island.  The ships still sail the SE Alaskan Inside Passage to dock in Juneau and Ketchikan.

[SightCRR]

Looks like nice day in Juneau and ISP. 

TheSnowCloud Juneau area Webcams

sightcrr

[station10fd]

Sunny, warm, and beautiful sailing into Juneau today. 

[SightCRR]

Looks like nice day in Skagway.

[AE_Collector]

On 8/7/2022 at 2:34 PM, disudds said:

It looks like, just all the other recent Crown cruises, you will not be going into the Inner Passage at all. Has anyone said anything about that? Is there any compensation?

You need to cruise to or from Vancouver to do the inside passage between the mainland of BC and Vancouver island. And now that Royal Class ships are doing some of these itineraries unfortunately they can’t do the inside passage either due to low clearance under power lines crossing from the mainland to Vancouver Island. 

[SightCRR]

Looks like a nice day in ISP. Not so much in GB. Hope I am wrong about GB.  

sightcrr

[scott4020]

GB was a bust. Too much fog. 

[station10fd]

I’ve given all my 3D ducks away. I’m down to one cruise turtle. Seems fitting for the Crown this season. 

[bofh]

On 8/7/2022 at 12:15 PM, scott4020 said:

Ship isn't crowded,  they haven't said how many passengers yet that I know of. 

Foggy this morning. It's neat to hear the fog horn. 

 

Dinner last night was good, nothing special. They have ruined the Love Boat Dream. Why change a beloved desert that I have been enjoying for 25 years? Not real happy about that. 

 

Booked the Sanctuary for today. Went there and it was closed this morning. The whole spa pool area is closed. Not happy about that either. 

 

I was told by the Maitre D' that they were sailing with 62-65% guest capacity, but they expected that to increase to 85% after dry dock in October (and they were excited by that).

 

This was my first cruise, and I was sampling all of the special/nightly deserts but saved the Love Boat Dream for the last night.  I'm a sucker for chocolate + raspberries -- but it was absolutely terrible.

 

We had an aft-facing cabin on deck 11 and there was definitely more shimmy and vibration than at midship.  As it was our first ever time, it was hard to say how much was more than usual back there (excluding the thruster activity in port, which was expected).  I had to remove extra hangers and put them on the floor to stop them from bouncing off the wall as the ship swayed.  There were other areas that needed a few "adjustments" (i.e. the safe) to reduce rattles.  Once the major noise sources were eliminated, we slept pretty well in the cabin (we aren't light sleepers).

 

We took most of our meals at midship.  I heard others complaining about the rear MDR.  We had one meal at Sabatini's as we left Seattle and there was noticeable vibration in the water glasses, etc.

[llarsen]

We are back from our Crown Alaska Cruise Aug 6-13...and Disappointed

 

I'm sorry to say this but this was the most disappointing vacation we have ever had. 

 

Our cabins were Deck 10 Aft Balcony cabins C718, C722 and C726 (I believe) and we all felt the vibrations the most when we were in open water and at night. Which makes for a good headache in the morning.

 

The Medallion app worked very well for ordering drinks and food, and they deliver everything right to wherever you are seated. It worked well for 3 of us locating our travel companions, but never worked for locating companions on the other 3 devices.

The Medallion did not work on day one for opening my brother in laws stateroom door. The management could get in with their key cards but could not get their Medallion to unlock the door. After 3 hours they issued them key cards for their stateroom door (after they waited in line an hour at customer relations). When they came back up with their key cards....THEY DID NOT WORK! They ended up moving them to another stateroom. They also sent them flowers for the inconvenience.

 

Our first day out of Seattle was really the only sunny and enjoyable day for us. We could not sit outside or enjoy our balcony the rest of the cruise. For us (we are from SoCalifornia) it was just too cold, foggy and wet. Fog horns blaring is not my thing.

 

We arrived in Juneau at 2:00pm instead of 12:00pm due to the itinerary change. We went whale watching and spotted several whales. To us, it was cold and cloudy, but I see someone here posted it was "Sunny, warm, and beautiful" which is okay too! lol.  After the whale watching we walked around town and ate. It wasn't as cold and windy like Skagway (burrr) but I do like some sunshine in my ports.

 

In Skagway we booked Chillkoot Charters: Yukon Klondike Bus Adventure to the Yukon. As soon as we came over the border into Canada....there was SUNSHINE! It was a nice day there and I highly recommend them. We booked online and it was very easy. They had asked for our passport info in advance and all we had to do was hold it up when the border officer came on board the bus. It took him 12 seconds to clear us, the driver timed it. We had 12 of us on the tour and the driver stopped at various places we were all interested in seeing, which kind of gave us a custom tour. 

 

We were originally booked on the Discovery and switched early on to the Crown Princess for Glacier Bay. Well....Glacier Bay was another disappointment. This was no fault of Princess, but due to heavy fog and safety the captain headed back out and we did not get to see the next Glacier. Which brought us to Icy Straight at 5:00pm. There was not enough time to do anything here. We could see a zip line down the mountain and there was a small hiking trail (but my brother in law who is ill with cancer couldn't walk up it) so we took the tram to the shops and we were back on the ship by 6:30pm.

 

We arrived in Victoria at 6:00pm and hired a driver with van to Buschart Gardens. The weather was nice and there was some sunshine! The gardens are beautiful and we enjoyed seeing them. The driver charged $95pp and included our ticket. 

 

Sailing at sea was boring and seemed endless with the itinerary time changes they made, and by taking Ketchikan from us. It felt like we hardly set foot on land and the gloomy, foggy drizzly weather prevented us from even sitting outside.

 

As for the food...Our first meal in the buffet and main dining room were very good. My husband ordered fish in the MDR which he said was excellent and I ordered a Beef Short Rib in bbq sauce which was very tender and good. The mashed potatoes were also really good! 

But as the trip progressed the food grew old and quality seemed to decline. The buffet selections were a joke. Do you know this is the only cruise ship I have ever been on where you could not find numerous variations of chocolate cake? No chocolate cake! My sister in law pointed one out in the pastry/coffee bar, but when I asked for a slice they said I could order it for $35 but they needed 24hrs notice. Are you kidding me??? REALLY?

One night we stopped by the buffet and I found a piece of chocolate cake with a light chocolate mouse. I was saved. I also found 1 chocolate cookie...just 1. A woman eyed it on my plate and I felt so bad telling her it was the only one! I had already nibbled on it or I would have offered it to her. 

 

We have sailed on many lines, Carnival, Holland America, NCL, RCCL, Princess, Celebrity and Oceania. Princess was always a decent product although we have been sailing mainly on Celebrity and Oceania for the last 10 years because of their more port intense itineraries.

 

As you probably already know, the Crown has had problems since it returned to service in May for the Alaska season. The ship has had propulsion problems, which I learned about ONLY from this forum. Also vibration at the back of the ship. We had been watching and reading reviews trying to find out if it would be resolved by our sail date. Surely a reputable company like Princess would not keep a limping ship in service for an entire cruise season!

 

I called Princess when I saw the itinerary changes for the July sailings and were told there would be no changes to our itinerary! We kept checking their website and sure enough...Princess was selling the ORIGINAL itinerary for all of August with no changes! Hurray! They must have fixed the problems with the engine! And then it happened...right before our trip we received the email:  ITINERARY CHANGES due to "Operational Reasons".

 

Princess knew the problem would not be fixed until after the cruise season when it goes into Drydock and yet they continued to sell the ORIGINAL itinerary (at a discounted price) right up to July 22nd. The price had dropped for our cabin by $1,400 and Princess refused to issue any FCC or compensate us in any way. It was too late for 6 of us flying from different parts of the country to change our airfare and switch ships. We feel Princess deceived us by not being truthful and cheated us out of money. 

 

The only way Princess will ever get us on another one of their ships is with a FCC to see if they can regain our trust. For us, $4,200 is a lot to spend for a 7 night cruise (WHICH WAS NOT THE ITINERARY WE BOOKED!) plus when you also add airfare, hotel and tours to this, it's just very disappointing. 

 

I know others on the Crown said they received FCC after the returned home. Well, we will see if Princess offers this to us on our August 6-13 sailing. In our opinion it's simply the right thing to do.

 

 

 

 

 

[nini]

@llarsen We also had to show our hard copies of vaccinations and test results to board the ship and for flights for our British Isles trip this past May. I

This just seems to be the preference for some reason.

Edited August 16, 2022 by nini
Additions

[cruisings8z]

On 8/14/2022 at 5:20 PM, bofh said:

 

I was told by the Maitre D' that they were sailing with 62-65% guest capacity, but they expected that to increase to 85% after dry dock in October (and they were excited by that).

 

This was my first cruise, and I was sampling all of the special/nightly deserts but saved the Love Boat Dream for the last night.  I'm a sucker for chocolate + raspberries -- but it was absolutely terrible.

 

We had an aft-facing cabin on deck 11 and there was definitely more shimmy and vibration than at midship.  As it was our first ever time, it was hard to say how much was more than usual back there (excluding the thruster activity in port, which was expected).  I had to remove extra hangers and put them on the floor to stop them from bouncing off the wall as the ship swayed.  There were other areas that needed a few "adjustments" (i.e. the safe) to reduce rattles.  Once the major noise sources were eliminated, we slept pretty well in the cabin (we aren't light sleepers).

 

We took most of our meals at midship.  I heard others complaining about the rear MDR.  We had one meal at Sabatini's as we left Seattle and there was noticeable vibration in the water glasses, etc.

Thank you for the detailed update.  A friend and I are sailing 8/20. You are certainly correct about them selling that original itinerary allllll season despite knowing about it. We purchased 59 days out,  and it was for the original itinerary.  They only told us 3 weeks out. They were still selling the original, too, even after that. I checked. They only updated it permanently when the landslide happened and everyone else also started having to go to Icy. Although Crown is still going to Skagway, I think they were only willing to tell potential customers the truth (that Ketchikan was cancelled for Icy) when their competitors were having to dock there, too. 

We are still excited. I feel bad for people on this week's sailing as there are flood warnings since it is raining so hard. I am hoping weather is better for us.

I did wonder about the awful long time on board since the first and second day is all sailing and then she has been calling late in Juneau, at 4 pm. Then after Icy Straight, another day and most of a whole day to get to Victoria. Any suggestions? I am thinking games and puzzles.

Edited August 16, 2022 by cruisings8z

[cruisings8z]

4 hours ago, llarsen said:

We are back from our Crown Alaska Cruise Aug 6-13...and Disappointed

 

I'm sorry to say this but this was the most disappointing vacation we have ever had. 

 

Our cabins were Deck 10 Aft Balcony cabins C718, C722 and C726 (I believe) and we all felt the vibrations the most when we were in open water and at night. Which makes for a good headache in the morning.

 

The Medallion app worked very well for ordering drinks and food, and they deliver everything right to wherever you are seated. It worked well for 3 of us locating our travel companions, but never worked for locating companions on the other 3 devices.

The Medallion did not work on day one for opening my brother in laws stateroom door. The management could get in with their key cards but could not get their Medallion to unlock the door. After 3 hours they issued them key cards for their stateroom door (after they waited in line an hour at customer relations). When they came back up with their key cards....THEY DID NOT WORK! They ended up moving them to another stateroom. They also sent them flowers for the inconvenience.

 

Our first day out of Seattle was really the only sunny and enjoyable day for us. We could not sit outside or enjoy our balcony the rest of the cruise. For us (we are from SoCalifornia) it was just too cold, foggy and wet. Fog horns blaring is not my thing.

 

We arrived in Juneau at 2:00pm instead of 12:00pm due to the itinerary change. We went whale watching and spotted several whales. To us, it was cold and cloudy, but I see someone here posted it was "Sunny, warm, and beautiful" which is okay too! lol.  After the whale watching we walked around town and ate. It wasn't as cold and windy like Skagway (burrr) but I do like some sunshine in my ports.

 

In Skagway we booked Chillkoot Charters: Yukon Klondike Bus Adventure to the Yukon. As soon as we came over the border into Canada....there was SUNSHINE! It was a nice day there and I highly recommend them. We booked online and it was very easy. They had asked for our passport info in advance and all we had to do was hold it up when the border officer came on board the bus. It took him 12 seconds to clear us, the driver timed it. We had 12 of us on the tour and the driver stopped at various places we were all interested in seeing, which kind of gave us a custom tour. 

 

We were originally booked on the Discovery and switched early on to the Crown Princess for Glacier Bay. Well....Glacier Bay was another disappointment. This was no fault of Princess, but due to heavy fog and safety the captain headed back out and we did not get to see the next Glacier. Which brought us to Icy Straight at 5:00pm. There was not enough time to do anything here. We could see a zip line down the mountain and there was a small hiking trail (but my brother in law who is ill with cancer couldn't walk up it) so we took the tram to the shops and we were back on the ship by 6:30pm.

 

We arrived in Victoria at 6:00pm and hired a driver with van to Buschart Gardens. The weather was nice and there was some sunshine! The gardens are beautiful and we enjoyed seeing them. The driver charged $95pp and included our ticket. 

 

Sailing at sea was boring and seemed endless with the itinerary time changes they made, and by taking Ketchikan from us. It felt like we hardly set foot on land and the gloomy, foggy drizzly weather prevented us from even sitting outside.

 

As for the food...Our first meal in the buffet and main dining room were very good. My husband ordered fish in the MDR which he said was excellent and I ordered a Beef Short Rib in bbq sauce which was very tender and good. The mashed potatoes were also really good! 

But as the trip progressed the food grew old and quality seemed to decline. The buffet selections were a joke. Do you know this is the only cruise ship I have ever been on where you could not find numerous variations of chocolate cake? No chocolate cake! My sister in law pointed one out in the pastry/coffee bar, but when I asked for a slice they said I could order it for $35 but they needed 24hrs notice. Are you kidding me??? REALLY?

One night we stopped by the buffet and I found a piece of chocolate cake with a light chocolate mouse. I was saved. I also found 1 chocolate cookie...just 1. A woman eyed it on my plate and I felt so bad telling her it was the only one! I had already nibbled on it or I would have offered it to her. 

 

We have sailed on many lines, Carnival, Holland America, NCL, RCCL, Princess, Celebrity and Oceania. Princess was always a decent product although we have been sailing mainly on Celebrity and Oceania for the last 10 years because of their more port intense itineraries.

 

As you probably already know, the Crown has had problems since it returned to service in May for the Alaska season. The ship has had propulsion problems, which I learned about ONLY from this forum. Also vibration at the back of the ship. We had been watching and reading reviews trying to find out if it would be resolved by our sail date. Surely a reputable company like Princess would not keep a limping ship in service for an entire cruise season!

 

I called Princess when I saw the itinerary changes for the July sailings and were told there would be no changes to our itinerary! We kept checking their website and sure enough...Princess was selling the ORIGINAL itinerary for all of August with no changes! Hurray! They must have fixed the problems with the engine! And then it happened...right before our trip we received the email:  ITINERARY CHANGES due to "Operational Reasons".

 

Princess knew the problem would not be fixed until after the cruise season when it goes into Drydock and yet they continued to sell the ORIGINAL itinerary (at a discounted price) right up to July 22nd. The price had dropped for our cabin by $1,400 and Princess refused to issue any FCC or compensate us in any way. It was too late for 6 of us flying from different parts of the country to change our airfare and switch ships. We feel Princess deceived us by not being truthful and cheated us out of money. 

 

The only way Princess will ever get us on another one of their ships is with a FCC to see if they can regain our trust. For us, $4,200 is a lot to spend for a 7 night cruise (WHICH WAS NOT THE ITINERARY WE BOOKED!) plus when you also add airfare, hotel and tours to this, it's just very disappointing. 

 

I know others on the Crown said they received FCC after the returned home. Well, we will see if Princess offers this to us on our August 6-13 sailing. In our opinion it's simply the right thing to do.

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for the detailed update.  A friend and I are sailing 8/20. You are certainly correct about them selling that original itinerary allllll season despite knowing about it. We purchased 59 days out,  and it was for the original itinerary.  They only told us 3 weeks out. They were still selling the original, too, even after that. I checked. They only updated it permanently when the landslide happened and everyone else also started having to go to Icy. Although Crown is still going to Skagway, I think they were only willing to tell potential customers the truth (that Ketchikan was cancelled for Icy) when their competitors were having to dock there, too. 

We are still excited. I feel bad for people on this week's sailing as there are flood warnings since it is raining so hard. I am hoping weather is better for us.

I did wonder about the awful long time on board since the first and second day is all sailing and then she has been calling late in Juneau, at 4 pm. Then after Icy Straight, another day and most of a whole day to
get to Victoria. Any suggestions? I am thinking games and puzzles.
 

[SightCRR]

10 hours ago, llarsen said:

We are back from our Crown Alaska Cruise Aug 6-13...and Disappointed

Thanks for the review. I will be thinking long and hard about ever booking a Princess cruise. Especially since much of my decision is based on in port times. 

Take Care & Wish You Well

sightcrr

[scott4020]

I enjoyed this cruise, cruises are always better than work. The staff was amazing.

Embarkation was a breeze except for the long wait for a bus a the airport.

Ship is in good shape and the room was nice, just a little warm, not a real problem with an Alaska itinerary. 

 

Food in the MDR was good but the level of what was available wasn't as good as past cruises.

The pastries were disappointing, no chocolate croissants in the morning and why did they totally screw up the Loveboat Dream!

 

Room service was good, quick and easy when the medallion app worked. I was able to order through the TV. The hot dog was surprisingly good.

 

The buffett was a huge disappointment after cruising on Royal Class ships, too small and crowded, very limited selection on everything especially deserts. I get better food at a Golden Corral.

 

Medallion app was great when it worked. It was hit and miss and took a lot of tinkering.

 

As stated before the bait-and-switch itinerary change was not good. Nobody in my party of 4 ever received any notice or email. If it wasn't for CC we would never had known of the changes

 

I am currently trying to get my charges fixed. They put all my charges on my roommates folio and then charged my credit card at random $1400! 

 

Sigh... 

 

 

 

[JF - retired RRT]

On 8/14/2022 at 5:20 PM, bofh said:

I had to remove extra hangers and put them on the floor to stop them from bouncing off the wall as the ship swayed. 

When that's an issue, I just shove the empty hangers to one side and push a bunch full hangers against them. Rattling stops.