Any Recent Crown Princess Cruisers? Specific Questions

[SuzieQ521]

Hello: 

 

We are taking a Thanksgiving cruise out of SF and it will be our first time on the Crown. From everything I read, people either complain about how rough looking she is but I know that some cruisers love her. We are going in with no high expectations--as long as we are generally satisfied by our room, food, entertainment, etc. that's good for us. Given that it will be Thanksgiving, I do expect it to be crowded  (by way of background--we just sailed on the Royal Princess to Alaska this past May and for the most part, enjoyed her). 

 

I did have some Crown-specific questions and would appreciate any input:

 

1) I am expecting our room to be one of the ones to have the "lumpy" mattresses that people have complained about (we are Oceanview on the Emerald deck); Other than asking for a mattress topper from the steward, anything else we can do to help our bed situation?

 

2) Which Dining room is open on embarkation day?

 

3) Speaking of dining room, we are traveling with a big group (15 people); what we did on the Royal was have each party make reservations ahead of time on the app and then we would show up early and ask to be seated next to each other if possible. I don't expect us all to be on the same table obviously, but at least in the vicinity of each other would be nice. What is the best dining room to try to request this from?

 

4) On the Crown, is the only place to get a specialty coffee the International Cafe (other than ordering on the app)? (The Royal also had the Princess Live cafe and buffet); 

 

5) Any experience with the Discovery kids club on the Crown? I hope it would be similar to that of the Royal which my (now) 5 year old loved! (minus the Alaska-specific programming).

 

6) Any complimentary afternoon tea? I could never locate that on the Royal.

 

7) Is there a similar version to the Enclave spa like the Royal had? 

 

😎 Not sure if this is better for the West Coast departures thread, but a couple in our group may need wheelchairs upon embarkation...is that something we can request at the SF cruise port or do we need to request ahead of time?

 

Any other recent input about the Crown would also be appreciated. 

 

Thank you in advance!

[reedprincess]

35 minutes ago, SuzieQ521 said:

Hello: 

 

We are taking a Thanksgiving cruise out of SF and it will be our first time on the Crown. From everything I read, people either complain about how rough looking she is but I know that some cruisers love her. We are going in with no high expectations--as long as we are generally satisfied by our room, food, entertainment, etc. that's good for us. Given that it will be Thanksgiving, I do expect it to be crowded  (by way of background--we just sailed on the Royal Princess to Alaska this past May and for the most part, enjoyed her). 

 

I did have some Crown-specific questions and would appreciate any input:

 

1) I am expecting our room to be one of the ones to have the "lumpy" mattresses that people have complained about (we are Oceanview on the Emerald deck); Other than asking for a mattress topper from the steward, anything else we can do to help our bed situation?

 

2) Which Dining room is open on embarkation day?

 

3) Speaking of dining room, we are traveling with a big group (15 people); what we did on the Royal was have each party make reservations ahead of time on the app and then we would show up early and ask to be seated next to each other if possible. I don't expect us all to be on the same table obviously, but at least in the vicinity of each other would be nice. What is the best dining room to try to request this from?

 

4) On the Crown, is the only place to get a specialty coffee the International Cafe (other than ordering on the app)? (The Royal also had the Princess Live cafe and buffet); 

 

5) Any experience with the Discovery kids club on the Crown? I hope it would be similar to that of the Royal which my (now) 5 year old loved! (minus the Alaska-specific programming).

 

6) Any complimentary afternoon tea? I could never locate that on the Royal.

 

7) Is there a similar version to the Enclave spa like the Royal had? 

 

😎 Not sure if this is better for the West Coast departures thread, but a couple in our group may need wheelchairs upon embarkation...is that something we can request at the SF cruise port or do we need to request ahead of time?

 

Any other recent input about the Crown would also be appreciated. 

 

Thank you in advance!

6) complimentary afternoon tea in one MDR, usually midship but it varies. Will be listed in the Payyer. In my recent cruises, it was a line item in Events, not in the dining section.  Usually 3:30-4:30 or 3-4.

 

7). Sort of. There's the Thermal Suite, which does not have the pool, not the different rain showers nor the aqua beds. Dark cave like space in the spa with some heated tile loungers, steam and sauna. Tour it first before buying a pass...

 

Enjoy! 

[theloo]

I would also like to know the answer to question #1!  

I haven't been on the Crown recently, but I read on another thread that it is the Botticelli MDR that is open on embarkation day.  

[[Big Z]]

1 hour ago, SuzieQ521 said:

Hello: 

 

We are taking a Thanksgiving cruise out of SF and it will be our first time on the Crown. From everything I read, people either complain about how rough looking she is but I know that some cruisers love her. We are going in with no high expectations--as long as we are generally satisfied by our room, food, entertainment, etc. that's good for us. Given that it will be Thanksgiving, I do expect it to be crowded  (by way of background--we just sailed on the Royal Princess to Alaska this past May and for the most part, enjoyed her). 

 

I did have some Crown-specific questions and would appreciate any input:

 

1) I am expecting our room to be one of the ones to have the "lumpy" mattresses that people have complained about (we are Oceanview on the Emerald deck); Other than asking for a mattress topper from the steward, anything else we can do to help our bed situation?

 

2) Which Dining room is open on embarkation day?

 

3) Speaking of dining room, we are traveling with a big group (15 people); what we did on the Royal was have each party make reservations ahead of time on the app and then we would show up early and ask to be seated next to each other if possible. I don't expect us all to be on the same table obviously, but at least in the vicinity of each other would be nice. What is the best dining room to try to request this from?

 

4) On the Crown, is the only place to get a specialty coffee the International Cafe (other than ordering on the app)? (The Royal also had the Princess Live cafe and buffet); 

 

5) Any experience with the Discovery kids club on the Crown? I hope it would be similar to that of the Royal which my (now) 5 year old loved! (minus the Alaska-specific programming).

 

6) Any complimentary afternoon tea? I could never locate that on the Royal.

 

7) Is there a similar version to the Enclave spa like the Royal had? 

 

😎 Not sure if this is better for the West Coast departures thread, but a couple in our group may need wheelchairs upon embarkation...is that something we can request at the SF cruise port or do we need to request ahead of time?

 

Any other recent input about the Crown would also be appreciated. 

 

Thank you in advance!

I've sailed on her 3 times now in the last 2 years and have a future cruise booked with her already. I've never sought out this ship specifically, it just happened to be the ship for all the cruises I wanted to be on. Obviously, it's not so bad that I would say, never again.

 

I'll try to answer some questions (the numbers listed correspond with your numbers - wanted to add that because otherwise it looks like I can't count lol): 

 

1. Can't speak to that because my mattress has always been really good (I've been Inside Plaza deck). 

 

2. The last times I was on (in April and June), Botticelli was open (even though the paperwork said Da Vinci was).

 

3. My best guess would probably be Botticelli simply because it's the biggest dining room on the ship. Although, I did see a big group of around 15 in Michelangelo's one night.  

 

4. You can get some specialty coffee at Coffee and Cones. 

 

6. Afternoon tea on Sea Days. Those have taken place in Da Vinci's. Get there early because sometimes the lineups are massive. It will be in the Patter and on every cruise I've taken, it's been from 3 - 4 PM. 

 

Other thoughts:

 

She's not a bad ship at all. Does it have all the bells and whistles that other Princess I've heard about and seen online? Not really. 

 

Could she use a retrofit? Yeah, she's somewhat dated.

 

If you like buffets, you're probably going to be sorely disappointed because the buffet on the Crown is so poorly laid out in my opinion and pales in comparison to what I've seen online to most of the other Princess ships.  Some of the food too was such a miss. Like, a roast beef that lacked seasoning or corned beef that was covered in BBQ sauce - that one hurt my heart. 

 

Overall, it seems like you're going in with the right attitude and I'm sure you'll have a great time! 

Edited October 3, 2023 by [Big Z]

[Belle]

You'll have a good time as long as you don't compare it to the Royal.

The Crown an older ship, Royal newer and bigger.

 

Two things the Crown has and not the Royal, is Skywalkers. All windows, great views.

Also, on 7th deck you can walk outside around the ship.

 

I think it's better to call and make arrangements for wheelchairs. If you go to

Princess.com someplace there is a phone number to request one.

 

[PurpleTraveller]

In regard to 1) I was unfortunate to have one of the terrible saggy mattresses in E631 on Crown in June. When we spoke to our steward about how terribly uncomfortable the mattress was he told us that as there was already a mattress topper on it there was nothing else that could be done. I hope your mattress is better than ours, which was the most uncomfortable mattress we have ever had the misfortune to try to sleep on.

 

Re 6) Afternoon Tea was held on each Sea Day in the Da Vinci Dining Room at 3.00pm. We lined up at about 2.45pm and we were about 30th in the line. A long line formed behind us and when we left there was still a long line of people waiting to get in.

 

We found that Crown was in good condition. We had excellent service everywhere and particularly in the Michelangelo Dining Room. The food was good in the MDR at dinner and in the buffet for breakfast. We had a wonderful cruise.

 

Hope you have a wonderful cruise! 🛳️

 

[memoak]

We are on the Crown now. Very happy crew and great service. For embarkation and sea days reserved class is in DaVinci and everyone else is in Botticelli for breakfast and lunch. Mattress is excellent

[theloo]

The variation on comments about the mattresses is worrying.  I'll be on for 16 days and already have a a touchy back.  

[theloo]

1 hour ago, PurpleTraveller said:

In regard to 1) I was unfortunate to have one of the terrible saggy mattresses in E631 on Crown in June. When we spoke to our steward about how terribly uncomfortable the mattress was he told us that as there was already a mattress topper on it there was nothing else that could be done. I hope your mattress is better than ours, which was the most uncomfortable mattress we have ever had the misfortune to try to sleep on.

Uh-oh, I'm also in an obstructed OV cabin on Emerald deck 🤨

[ETdreamer]

We came off the Crown last week after an 11-day Alaskan cruise, so we can speak to some of the queries. This was our first time on Crown and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Probably the one nuisance factor (aside from the mattress) was a toilet system that struggled. It became almost a daily routine to call our steward to unblock it. We reported this strongly to Princess in our disembarkation review, so hopefully with enough similar feedback Princess may do whatever is needed to fix that. However, a minor nuisance—we loved the cruise!

1) I am expecting our room to be one of the ones to have the "lumpy" mattresses that people have complained about (we are Oceanview on the Emerald deck); Other than asking for a mattress topper from the steward, anything else we can do to help our bed situation? [We had a balcony on Caribe deck and definitely had a lumpy mattress to start with! We spoke with our steward and asked if a mattress topper would help. He said it already had a mattress topper on. However, he said he could flip the mattress as one side is soft and the other firm. This was the first we had heard of this (after 17 cruises on Princess), but this was what he did, and what a difference! You might want to give that a try if you end up with the “lumpy” version.]

 

2) Which Dining room is open on embarkation day? [It was the Botticelli dining room.]

 

3) Speaking of dining room, we are traveling with a big group (15 people); what we did on the Royal was have each party make reservations ahead of time on the app and then we would show up early and ask to be seated next to each other if possible. I don't expect us all to be on the same table obviously, but at least in the vicinity of each other would be nice. What is the best dining room to try to request this from? [We didn’t have a chance to compare the other dining rooms as we ate in Botticelli most nights, but we did see large groups seated nearby regularly through the cruise. We had a table-for-two and found the table on embarkation day ideal, so we simply asked on the first night if we could have that table and found the staff were very accommodating.]

 

4) On the Crown, is the only place to get a specialty coffee the International Cafe (other than ordering on the app)? (The Royal also had the Princess Live cafe and buffet); [We saw, as mentioned above, specialty coffee in the IC and Coffee and Cones. But, sorry, the one big disappointment with Princess is their coffee so we have given up hoping for ‘specialty’ coffee. Instead, we searched out the best coffee at each shore stop on our cruise. The highlights were a cafe in Ketchikan and another in Vancouver.]

 

5) Any experience with the Discovery kids club on the Crown? I hope it would be similar to that of the Royal which my (now) 5 year old loved! (minus the Alaska-specific programming). [No, sorry, can’t give you feedback on this. ]

 

6) Any complimentary afternoon tea? I could never locate that on the Royal. [Yes, note comments above. We didn’t get the time to try it this cruise, but have it noted for our next cruise on Majestic.]

 

7) Is there a similar version to the Enclave spa like the Royal had? [I think reedprincess summed this one up beautifully 😆.]

[PurpleTraveller]

2 hours ago, theloo said:

Uh-oh, I'm also in an obstructed OV cabin on Emerald deck 🤨

 

Really hope that you don't get one of the bad mattresses. All the bad mattresses (and Princess would know where they are) need to be replaced immediately. There really is no excuse for leaving such terrible mattresses in use. Good luck and hope you have a great cruise!

 

[dockman]

21 days on crown in june...no mattress or toilet problems...actually no problems with much of anything other than a few irritating passengers who must have grown up without any parents to teach them manners 101.

[Napagirl]

22 hours ago, ETdreamer said:

 

1) I am expecting our room to be one of the ones to have the "lumpy" mattresses that people have complained about (we are Oceanview on the Emerald deck); Other than asking for a mattress topper from the steward, anything else we can do to help our bed situation? [We had a balcony on Caribe deck and definitely had a lumpy mattress to start with! We spoke with our steward and asked if a mattress topper would help. He said it already had a mattress topper on. However, he said he could flip the mattress as one side is soft and the other firm. This was the first we had heard of this (after 17 cruises on Princess), but this was what he did, and what a difference! You might want to give that a try if you end up with the “lumpy” version.]

 

 

We have two balcony cabins on Caribe - Thank you for this info! There are two among the four of us that have very touchy backs and a lumpy, saggy mattress could ruin our vacation. 

[EDDY0827]

52 minutes ago, Napagirl said:

We have two balcony cabins on Caribe - Thank you for this info! There are two among the four of us that have very touchy backs and a lumpy, saggy mattress could ruin our vacation. 

I was in C307 on the Crown in May/June of this year.

Worst mattress ever!

[marden1970]

Hi, regarding the wheelchairs - we've sailed out of SF several times.  My hubby has problems standing and walking for a long distance, the gangway is especially challenging.  We have never asked in advance.  When we get to the port by taxi and are dropping off the luggage I go find one of the port wheelchair assistants. They are usually against the wall or up by the doors. They will take you thru security and check in and then hand you over to a Princess employee who will take you onto the ship.  You may have to wait a short while for the Princess employee depending how many others are waiting for assistance.  We always tip well since my hubby is a large guy.  I hope you all enjoy your cruise.

[Fisherwoman]

I was on the Crown late September and we were in L304.  We obviously had a brand new mattress and it was wonderful.  Hopefully they are all being replaced.  

 

Botticelli restaurant was open on embarkation day for lunch.  Joy in the reception area was wonderful.  Such a lovely personality.

 

The ship is in good shape and the crew and entertainment were outstanding!

 

[fsufancc]

We are seriously considering the Crown out of SF in February and are about 90% convinced to go (Anniversary trip).  Might go to Napa for a few days, then board the ship.  After the cruise, head down to LA and visit our son.  

 

Some of the reviews have given me pause about the Crown though.  It appears to be love or hate with folks.  In the past 12 months, we sailed on RCL twice and HAL.  I will never sail on RCL again.  HAL (Rotterdam) was the best. Great food and entertainment.

 

I'm afraid that HAL has now created an experience that cannot be replicated it was that good.  I know that PCL is in theory similar class to HAL. We sailed on the Sky Princess many years ago and the experience was good so I am hoping for the same.  A lot of things have changed and I am trying to get up to speed on the new offerings and nuances. I will probably grab the Premier option as it was only a $200 upgrade from our big warehouse travel agency.

[fsufancc]

Update - Just booked the Crown for 5 nights out of SF in February (our anniversary month). 

 

Booked a balcony cabin but was tempted to go to a full Suite since we have never done that, but the suite would have doubled the price, and we are (pre-cruise) going to spend 2 nights in Napa and then a night in SF. Then fly to LA, post cruise, to visit our son.  So, hotels and car rentals started adding up.  I did upgrade to Premier for some of the extra perks. All told, it will be a 10-day west coast trip for us.