A few questions bout the Crown Princess

[Hulagirl]

I had almost forgotten about the 3 day roll call.  Looked at it last night and I have signed up on the spreadsheet.  Agree the smaller one on the 3 day will be nice and so much easier to meet. Will be watching that to make sure I know the time and place she has decided on.  Have been to a few very large M&G's also and you just don't get a chance to meet many people.  They were good but definitely harder to meet many people. 

 

Looking forward to it.

[partybarbie]

I was on the Crown last January. She’s really showing her age. We’re going with the Ruby for January 2025. She’s back in SF then. 

[Cruise Raider]

29 minutes ago, partybarbie said:

I was on the Crown last January. She’s really showing her age. We’re going with the Ruby for January 2025. She’s back in SF then. 

Thank you for that advice!  I know I can trust what you say.  
We may just wait until the Ruby is back in SF and fly up to Seattle to go on the Majestic for Alaska this year.  
 

[partybarbie]

1 hour ago, Cruise Raider said:

Thank you for that advice!  I know I can trust what you say.  
We may just wait until the Ruby is back in SF and fly up to Seattle to go on the Majestic for Alaska this year.  
 

We had booked the Crown because my sister lives in La Paz and we love Loreto. That 10-day Baja itinerary out of LA is the best. The ports kind of made up for the older ship. It’s not like anything was really terrible, but it was mediocre at best. 

[Cruise Raider]

23 minutes ago, partybarbie said:

We had booked the Crown because my sister lives in La Paz and we love Loreto. That 10-day Baja itinerary out of LA is the best. The ports kind of made up for the older ship. It’s not like anything was really terrible, but it was mediocre at best. 

After having cruised on the Royal, Majestic and Discovery, it really seems like the Grand and Crown class ships pale in comparison.  I do like the Ruby and Emerald, though.  They seem to have maintained those ships pretty well.  
PS .. I live Loreto as well. 

[Hulagirl]

To us it wasn't that the Crown felt its age so much as the lacking of amenities the other ships like the Discovery, etc. have.  That was our biggest negative on the Crown and any of the sister ships.  We really did miss the venues we have grown to like which are not on these ships.

 

If they ever upgrade these ships then I may look at them again.

 

I do want to add this is just our opinion.  I know a lot of people love these ships and I used to, just not anymore.

 

Edited January 19 by Hulagirl

[bubbaed]

A recent (April 2024) reviewer of the Crown Princess seemed to indicate that the Lotus Pool (the adult's only pool by the spa & Sanctuary) has now officially been restricted to Sanctuary guests only and that it is no longer available to everyone (it is a common misconception that this pool is part of the Sanctuary given its location.)

 

Can anyone who has recently been on the Crown confirm or deny this? With the upcoming rollout of the "Sanctuary Collection" on the Sun Princess, it is certainly not beyond the realm of possibility that Princess is making changes to the Sanctuary offering fleet-wide.

 

We're considering a 31-day cruise on Crown and this pool is one of the best things about this class of ships... I usually use it daily - but I'm certainly not going to book the Sanctuary for 31 days just to swim in this pool.

 

Thanks!

[Cruise Raider]

5 hours ago, bubbaed said:

A recent (April 2024) reviewer of the Crown Princess seemed to indicate that the Lotus Pool (the adult's only pool by the spa & Sanctuary) has now officially been restricted to Sanctuary guests only and that it is no longer available to everyone (it is a common misconception that this pool is part of the Sanctuary given its location.)

 

Can anyone who has recently been on the Crown confirm or deny this? With the upcoming rollout of the "Sanctuary Collection" on the Sun Princess, it is certainly not beyond the realm of possibility that Princess is making changes to the Sanctuary offering fleet-wide.

 

We're considering a 31-day cruise on Crown and this pool is one of the best things about this class of ships... I usually use it daily - but I'm certainly not going to book the Sanctuary for 31 days just to swim in this pool.

 

Thanks!

I just got off the Crown yesterday and could have checked on that for you but I still have a coupe of friends onboard, so will ask if they can check that out.  

[CruisingFox27]

On 5/5/2024 at 5:36 PM, bubbaed said:

A recent (April 2024) reviewer of the Crown Princess seemed to indicate that the Lotus Pool (the adult's only pool by the spa & Sanctuary) has now officially been restricted to Sanctuary guests only and that it is no longer available to everyone (it is a common misconception that this pool is part of the Sanctuary given its location.)

 

Can anyone who has recently been on the Crown confirm or deny this? With the upcoming rollout of the "Sanctuary Collection" on the Sun Princess, it is certainly not beyond the realm of possibility that Princess is making changes to the Sanctuary offering fleet-wide.

 

We're considering a 31-day cruise on Crown and this pool is one of the best things about this class of ships... I usually use it daily - but I'm certainly not going to book the Sanctuary for 31 days just to swim in this pool.

 

Thanks!

 

On 5/5/2024 at 11:30 PM, Cruise Raider said:

I just got off the Crown yesterday and could have checked on that for you but I still have a coupe of friends onboard, so will ask if they can check that out.  

Did anyone manage to ascertain if the restriction was applicable? 

[Cruise Raider]

4 hours ago, CruisingFox27 said:

 

Did anyone manage to ascertain if the restriction was applicable? 

I am so sorry … 

I have a friend onboard right now and will ask her to check into this.  
 

[Cruise Raider]

13 hours ago, CruisingFox27 said:

 

Did anyone manage to ascertain if the restriction was applicable? 

So, my friend that is onboard right now confirmed the Lotus Pool is open to all, not just sanctuary guests.  So, no change from before.  It happens to be closed right now, as are all the pools because they hit some really rough weather.  
 

[CruisingFox27]

6 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

So, my friend that is onboard right now confirmed the Lotus Pool is open to all, not just sanctuary guests.  So, no change from before.  It happens to be closed right now, as are all the pools because they hit some really rough weather.  
 

That's great news, many thanks for taking the time to ask. And,  also to your friend. 

Not so great news they are in rough weather. 

[Cruise Raider]

5 minutes ago, CruisingFox27 said:

That's great news, many thanks for taking the time to ask. And,  also to your friend. 

Not so great news they are in rough weather. 

You are most welcome.  I feel bad about forgetting to ask earlier.  

[CruisingFox27]

11 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

You are most welcome.  I feel bad about forgetting to ask earlier.  

It was actually a question from another poster @bubbaed some months ago. We're due to sail on the Crown soon so I'm just doing extra research as our sail date approaches. 

I had noted that there looks a nice sun area near that pool so it was a timely coincidence I saw the original question. 

[Cruise Raider]

1 minute ago, CruisingFox27 said:

It was actually a question from another poster @bubbaed some months ago. We're due to sail on the Crown soon so I'm just doing extra research as our sail date approaches. 

I had noted that there looks a nice sun area near that pool so it was a timely coincidence I saw the original question. 

We find that when we’ve gone, there is one side in the sun and one side in the shade with some very nice teak cushioned loungers.  Right outside of the lotus pool area, there is a big sunning deck.  

 

[CruisingFox27]

16 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

We find that when we’ve gone, there is one side in the sun and one side in the shade with some very nice teak cushioned loungers.  Right outside of the lotus pool area, there is a big sunning deck.  

 

That sounds lovely. On all of our previous cruises we've had an assigned sun deck, as part of our experience package. It's our first Princess cruise so, there's a lot to discover 😀

[Muffinz]

7 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

So, my friend that is onboard right now confirmed the Lotus Pool is open to all, not just sanctuary guests.  So, no change from before.  It happens to be closed right now, as are all the pools because they hit some really rough weather.  
 

 good to hear as we are on Crown Princess from Sydney in December and our stateroom is near the front of the ship - closer to that pool

[rosevew]

When we were on Carribean Princess recently (similar set-up) the spa staff were telling passengers that they weren't allowed to use the Lotus Spa pool unless they were spa or sanctuary guests, nor the free sauna/steam room in the changing rooms. They even started putting notices up and even charged somebody £299 for a pass. The Sanctuary said that was rubbish when asked. Eventually, we had to get officers and guest services involved to get it sorted. The signs were taken down. It looked as though the spa staff were being very naughty in trying to get bookings from passengers when they were not needed.

[Cruise Raider]

6 minutes ago, rosevew said:

When we were on Carribean Princess recently (similar set-up) the spa staff were telling passengers that they weren't allowed to use the Lotus Spa pool unless they were spa or sanctuary guests, nor the free sauna/steam room in the changing rooms. They even started putting notices up and even charged somebody £299 for a pass. The Sanctuary said that was rubbish when asked. Eventually, we had to get officers and guest services involved to get it sorted. The signs were taken down. It looked as though the spa staff were being very naughty in trying to get bookings from passengers when they were not needed.

Whoa .. 

While we have heard that the sauna and steam rooms were going to incur a charge on this class of ship with the lotus pool, we’ve never seen it happen.  We’ve never heard that the pool was off limits .. maybe for children but not even sure about that.  We never saw more than a handful of people at that pool.  
I didn’t think the spa people even worked for Princess .. and as far as I know, the Sanctuary isn’t part of the spa.  Maybe I am wrong on this, though as things change often.  Either way, I just confirmed the pool is open to all from a friend that is currently onboard the Crown.  

Edited September 8 by Cruise Raider

[Ellipooh]

5 hours ago, rosevew said:

When we were on Carribean Princess recently (similar set-up) the spa staff were telling passengers that they weren't allowed to use the Lotus Spa pool unless they were spa or sanctuary guests, nor the free sauna/steam room in the changing rooms. They even started putting notices up and even charged somebody £299 for a pass. The Sanctuary said that was rubbish when asked. Eventually, we had to get officers and guest services involved to get it sorted. The signs were taken down. It looked as though the spa staff were being very naughty in trying to get bookings from passengers when they were not needed.

That’s just atrocious. 
I don’t take a cruise to start confrontations, so I would have just left very unhappy. Good for you for standing your ground. 

[rosevew]

2 hours ago, Ellipooh said:

That’s just atrocious. 
I don’t take a cruise to start confrontations, so I would have just left very unhappy. Good for you for standing your ground. 

I pointed out to the officer that passengers shouldn't need to have arguments or confrontations with spa staff in order to use facilities that were included in the fare, and that it needed to be totally clear to passengers where they could go onboard. It was a ridiculous situation. Even guest services on crew chat were telling different stories. They denied that the aft pool (which had an adults only sign) was actually adults only when I raised the issue of it being full of kids.

[Muffinz]

5 minutes ago, rosevew said:

I pointed out to the officer that passengers shouldn't need to have arguments or confrontations with spa staff in order to use facilities that were included in the fare, and that it needed to be totally clear to passengers where they could go onboard. It was a ridiculous situation. Even guest services on crew chat were telling different stories. They denied that the aft pool (which had an adults only sign) was actually adults only when I raised the issue of it being full of kids.

I do hope this pool is not full of kids on our December Cruise from Sydney...otherwise myself or wife will be having words to the crew / staff!

[Cruise Raider]

On 9/8/2024 at 2:25 PM, Muffinz said:

I do hope this pool is not full of kids on our December Cruise from Sydney...otherwise myself or wife will be having words to the crew / staff!

If you go on a shorter sailing, less than 10 days, during any normal school holidays or in the summer, you should expect a lot of children to be onboard.  Otherwise, you are pretty safe.