Inaugural Sailing Crown Princess

[Gypsea]

It's been a long day but wanted to tell you a few things before nodding off..Despite my comparisons we all had a wonderful trip and enjoyed perfect weather. Captain Andy, James Lay and Lisa Ball were wonderful hosts. All three were very visible and warmly greeted everyone. I haven't ever seen so much of these people on any other curise.

 

The new terminal in Brooklyn is large making embarkation/disembarkation quick and painless. Parking for nine days is $164, okay not completely painless.

 

The ship is very nice and as you have read the decor is not flashy. Wood and gleaming accents are understated showing off the plush carpet. Artwork abounds and is tasteful..nothing outrageous that I noticed as that would not be in keeping. The atrium and tile work is impressive and lovely. You will not be disappointed.

 

Keep in mind that I was on the Freedom for the pre-inaugural in May so I am going to compare a bit giving pro's and cons of each.

 

Our forward balcony on Riviera 215 had me worried but that was foolish. All my favorite things were close enough. The pool was one deck up and we entered where the bands played. Up another flight was the gym and spa inside and outside from the pool you could reach the Sanctuary pool and hot tubs. When volleyball was going on or other pool fun you could go up there to cool off. It was sooooo hot you couldn't stand it for long without getting wet somewhere. Often I sunned and watched the band (which faces the front of the ship) from a vantage point in front of the Tradewinds bar, deck 16. The band Epiphany was very good and in the afternoon a single man played (post name later) who was incredibly talented. I never watched a movie at the other pool but walked by once and stopped for a moment. It was always crowded and sometimes you'd miss words with all the action even though it was blaring (as you heard). The size of the ship is perfect. You never feel as if you'll spend your life walking the hallways.

 

Cabin..our closet was grand compared to Freedom where the space for clothes was truly minimal. That ship makes more of impression on entering your room. The cover bedding on Crown is a boring regular blue spread though the sheets, mattress and pillows were wonderfully cozy and elegant. Freedom had shams and throws in dark green on white sheets (equally elegant)so this was visually much more pleasing. The Freedom bath had a nice circular shower door but the Crown only a curtain. The Freedom did have a cabinet vertically which closed to hide toiletries but the Crown only exposed shelves. RC's tile around the vanity was prettier too.

Overall the Crown wins for space and the Freedom for visual appeal. To be fair I did have an oceanview on Freedom not a balcony but that shouldn't make the difference. My kids inside on Crown had the big closet too. The cabins are well laid out they just don't "wow" when you walk in. Freedom is a much bigger ship and therefore they were stingy here. RC dropped the ball on this. Seems strange doesn't it?

 

Buffet...My biggest complaint on the Crown may seem minor to some but I bet everyone who was on the ship would agree. The buffet is very poorly designed. There is an ingress and egress to a rectangular area which is way too small. When you walk in there is food to your left, your right and ahead of you. Two cold stations are diagonally to your left with space between but you can enter on the other side or exit as well. There is no order or organization. People are bumping into you with platters of food going every which way. It is hard to describe but this is the best I can do. Because it is not just a long line the design diminishes the space for tables for dining. It is very hard to find one empty as many are large and take up space. It is not uncommon to see one with two or three people at a table for six. RC's buffet is conventional and the dining area massive. It gets the vote. Also, Princess had some minimal choices I thought. RC had many more choices especailly for lunch. I was very unhappy with the food here at all times. There was a green salad bar but not many other cold veggie salads, pastas or potatoes to choose from. Sorry, but that's my opinion. One night it was the Madras Buffet. If you weren't into that you were in trouble. Since I was about ready to miss a meal anyway I survived but I was disappointed. It was the only night didn't go to the dining room. Food there was always awesome but I did have a few waiters who seemd less than thrilled or inspired in their work. Two nights before dismebarking I saw crumbs cleared from our table for the first time and it became clear why when we were reminded about the questionairre. I didn't mind since at least he was amenable. We ate in Da Vince mostly and the most memorable faces were Karlo and Luisa, both assistant waiters.

 

Next I will tell you about the entertainment which was the best I have ever enjoyed on a ship. We had at least six comedians. Also, the teen center was a fabulous success with my twin boys (15yo's).

[allyfl]

Agree about the buffet! Reminded me of those intersections in Europe with no traffic lights and everyone going in different directions. It got REALLY chaotic when one side would close in prep for dinner. They seemed to have trouble keeping the hot food hot there as well....

[bstrauss3]

Yup.

 

The Caribe Grill is worse than the Horizon court, but both stink.

 

CG - has two entrances. Port side starts with fruit, starboard with salad/soup. Both feed into a small area around the carving section. So if you want a full meal you end up doing the salmon-up-stream thing.

 

HC - both sides also have three entrances. Middle works ok to grab a sweet, but the two main ones again have flow problems.

 

Also, I'm 5'11" and I can't reach the back of the stations under the sneeze shield. I saw a 5'6" woman actually walk to the chef's side to serve herself from the back.

 

If there's ever a NLV outbreak (and we all know there will be), there will be huge problems.

 

There are no condiment dispensers. It's one thing for, say, ketchup, where you can pound a portion of the bottle and put it back. But what about mustard? Do you really want to grab a jar that some other Pax has used and then put back?

 

-----Burton

[allyfl]

Burton, you're so right about the condiments - my husband used ketchup and I made him go sanitize his hands again (something a lot of people were not doing!!) Also, they need to give out razor sharp tongs with those sneeze guards. I very much appreciate the protection over the food, but I felt like I was playing one of those crane games trying to get something free! Better to work off those calories than catch who knows what?!

[Studebaker59]

I agree with all of the above about the Crown's Inaugural Cruise.

 

On the third day of the cruise, I wrote a long letter to the Food & Beverage Manager with all of the above-mentioned comments. He was kind enough to answer my letter. He said he discussed my letter with his staff, and would forward it to Princess headquarters in L.A.

 

The buffet's traffic flow has no direction. People are waiting to place orders for omelettes, others are waiting for their finished omelettes. Others are trying to figure out why those people are standing in their way, and have to go around them.

 

There are no trays. I couldn't carry my food, juice, fruit, and a pocketbook at the same time. Never did a staff member offer to help me carry my food to a table.

 

I tried to get grits at the buffet, and was told they're only served in the DaVinci Dining Room. When I asked in the DaVinci, I was told grits are only in the buffet!!!!! I never got grits. It's funny, I don't eat them at home, but love them on vacation.

 

Many buffet items, including soups and main dishes had no name cards.

 

Many times I had to ask several crew members to clean off a table before someone actually did it. In each case, another passenger called them over with a question, and they forgot about me.

 

Once, the iced tea machine was just giving water, I told told two workers about it, and they shrugged. The third fellow went to another drink area, and brought me the iced tea.

 

Another time, the sign at the buffet said salmon salad. I thought it was a strange color, but took it. It was horseradish!

 

Horizon Court & Café Caribe have different foods, but the Patter should tell the theme of the day for each so you know what's being served without having to walk to each area.

 

Staff members were holding the hand-sanitizers the first day or two, After that, you had to squirt yourself using the small bottles on the counter. Very few people did. On other ships, there are automatic machines at the entrance to each dining area. On the Crown, there were no hand-sanitzers at the dining rooms, only the buffet.

 

Many people were taking up large tables with only one or two people in Horizon Court & Café Caribe.

 

Not well done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ptbernard]

This was my 8th cruise so I jumped at the chance to be on an inaugural cruise, June 14th on the Crown Princess. Previously I had been on the old “Love Boat” from the TV series, the Pacific Princess. Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe the ceiling with the curving wood outlines and the tiny white “star lights” were the same on both ships. Maybe they are the same on all the Princess ships? Yes, I did enjoy the understated décor with the marble accents and the rugs with turquoise and terra cotta colors that blended with the wood railings and other wooden accents.

 

 

Possibly the newness of the ship may have been the cause of the bronchitis that I contracted on the ship. In the theater when the spotlights were used, you could see the air was heavily ladened with glistening dust. Was this the dust from the new materials like the rugs and other textiles? Were the new materials giving off there subtle fumes?

 

Another possible cause for my bronchitis may have been the unevenness of the air-conditioning. It was extremely cold in the casinos compared to the other places. We dined with a pretty young newly wed who wore these little strappy dresses and I kept wondering how she was able to deal with it. I hadn’t brought a lot of jackets or warm clothes so I wore those clothes over and over again. Most of my wardrobe went unused because I just couldn’t wear the summer outfits. So if you get cold easily you better bring a go-with-everything black jacket—maybe two—that you can pop over all of your other summer outfits. Maybe cut down the number of outfits but have a matching cover-up for each.

 

 

The big negatives were warm never hot coffee in the dining rooms, buffet scrambled eggs were the worst of any ship I have been on, not enough seating at the buffet areas, seating for the shows was limited and the cruise director James Lay and his sidekick were only average.

 

The big positives were great invited guest entertainers, many venues of entertainment in the evenings, indoor and outdoor movie theaters, had wonderful dinner companions and the casinos were fun. Another positive is that when we had to ask the dining staff for “hot” coffee they graciously complied with our requests. So the positives win!!!

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the informative insights into the new Crown Princess, I can't wait to go. :)

[madelinerose]

No trays? Never heard of such a thing. How do you get anything to the table, carry it one by one? Insane! :eek:

 

There are no trays. I couldn't carry my food, juice, fruit, and a pocketbook at the same time. Not well done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[crusdiva]

No trays? Never heard of such a thing. How do you get anything to the table, carry it one by one? Insane! :eek:

madelinerose,

Not to worry - the plates are HUGE and they are oversized with extra room on the ends to make them easier to hold. I always thought that if people didn't pile so much food on them they might have enough room to place a glass or small bowl - I know I always do. ;) When I want more food - I go back and get it.

[LARGIN]

madelinerose,

Not to worry - the plates are HUGE and they are oversized with extra room on the ends to make them easier to hold. I always thought that if people didn't pile so much food on them they might have enough room to place a glass or small bowl - I know I always do. ;) When I want more food - I go back and get it.

 

Agree. It is amazing to watch people completely overfill their plates. It is like they feel that the ship is gonna run out of food..

[madelinerose]

Thanks, Sharon and Largin. Thought there would be a little more to it. ;)

 

Yes, buffets do bring out those with the overladen plates. Amazing!!!

 

So funny, just the other evening, DH and I were at a ceremonial opening of a pool in a new housing development. There was free food and drink for days, compliments of the developers. Well, DH, who's just crazy, raised his voice saying "Karen, did you bring that extra large purse so we can take some of this food home?"

 

Needless to say, I laughed while some others turned around and snarled. ;)

[Ula]

On our Princess cruises we have never gotten a tray in the buffet. We love the buffet since we are not in to the formal suppers, and we just go and pick out a little of things we are interested in on our plates. If we like we go back.

Probably the one thing we do that may be considered rude is we do make a cold cut and cheese plate that we take to the room for a late night snack.

On the Crowns defense, she is a new ship. They have to work the kinks out. The only mistake I think Princess is making with her and something not brought up. She is designed for warm weather, but in 07 they are sending her to the Canada cruise. That is an iffy weather cruse and the lack of covered pools due to MUTS will IMHO be a problem. But we will see.

[crusdiva]

Probably the one thing we do that may be considered rude is we do make a cold cut and cheese plate that we take to the room for a late night snack.

Ula,

I don't think that's rude at all! We actually do the same thing - with cheese, crackers and fruit. But we do it for our late afternoon "sitting on the balcony resting before dinner snack".;)

[rkacruiser]

It is somewhat disappointing in Carnival Corporation's desire to utilize "best practices" across their fleets that the problems with the Crown's Horizon Court sound similar to that venue on the other Princess ships on which I have sailed. I know some will disagree, but, in my opinion, the Lido Restaurant operation on Holland America's ships is the best afloat. Why can't that type of operation be adopted for the Princess vessels?

[Justplayhockey61]

Agree. It is amazing to watch people completely overfill their plates. It is like they feel that the ship is gonna run out of food..

 

 

More like they are purely lazy and don't feel the need to wait for food twice, or get back up to get more. They would rather throw out half the food when they realize they've overfilled by a little bit.

[peteinsonj]

I am SO glad to read this post. I LOVED the cruise, but had to shake my head at the absurd layout of the buffet area AND the drinks area in Horizon and Caribe.

 

(they built 3 previous ships like this and NO ONE figured this out yet!?)

 

Anyway -- not only is the layout poor, but many of the serving areas are WAY too deep. If you want something from the back, you pretty much have to reach far over the first row of food. Not only inconvenient, but not sanitary.

 

Also, while the first days of the cruise at the main entrances to the buffet area, they insisted on using hand sanitizer, no one at the back entrance (again, has NO ONE thought about this?) (and by the end of the cruise, they dispensed with that completely)

 

There was usually a single carving area (or sandwich prep one day) -- often a line for this. Now the carving area is at the center of the warm food area -- which, yep, you guessed it, makes the rest inaccesible.

 

Lastly the layout of the drinks area -- from left to right -- cream/milk, coffee/tea cups, the "spigots" for coffee, hot water, tea, then ice machine, ice, cold drink cups.

 

So -- you grab your coffee cup, then go right to get coffee, then cut through the line again OR walk around to get back to the cream. Not very smart, is it!

 

(Windjammer on RCI *far* superior in terms of layout, carving areas, waffle/omelet stations (non existent here, except omlettes on 2 mornings)

 

Also DO note that there were usually more and better options in Horizon than Caribe for lunch and breakfast.

 

Nice to see other CruiseCritic posters here!

 

Pete

[allyfl]

Funny you should mention about getting sick - I came down with a very bad respiratory infection the day we docked in Ocho Rios and had to go to the ship dr. for antibotics, then my husband came down with the same thing with 2 days to go - didn't ever occur to me it was the AC, but thought it was a little soon to be getting sick from being confined with lots of people.

 

As an aside and addition to the buffet issues, there were plenty of people standing around to buss the tables but nobody would go to the bar. Some staff would point at others when we asked if we could get a Coke, then that person would point at someone else...the kicker? When we went out to the bar to get the soda ourselves, we were still charged the 15% gratuity! It's not the money issue, just the principle of it.

[Merion_Mom]

This was my 8th cruise....

ptbernard, thank you for your comments and information about the Crown Princess, but would you mind toning down the size and boldness of your font? Your post was very difficult to read.

 

Thank you. :)

[Merion_Mom]

Yup.

 

The Caribe Grill is worse than the Horizon court, but both stink.

 

CG - has two entrances. Port side starts with fruit, starboard with salad/soup. Both feed into a small area around the carving section. So if you want a full meal you end up doing the salmon-up-stream thing.

Burt, does that mean that I get to spawn when I get there? ;)

 

HC - both sides also have three entrances. Middle works ok to grab a sweet, but the two main ones again have flow problems.

 

Also, I'm 5'11" and I can't reach the back of the stations under the sneeze shield. I saw a 5'6" woman actually walk to the chef's side to serve herself from the back.

Uh oh. Looks like this 5' 0" woman is in REAL trouble...........:eek: :rolleyes: ;) :p

[naragonl]

A quick diversion from buffet,

 

Was Eggs Benedict available in main dining rooms for breakfast?

[Gypsea]

As for the eggs..They did have eggs benedict in the DR.

 

I wanted to continue about the lengths Princess went to to provide six different comics as well as a concert pianist, the tribute to Elton John, Jonathan Kaye who might have been better than Elton, as well as the regular song and dance shows. Of course there was a variety of singers, piano players and bands all over the ship performing daily and nightly to appeal to everyone. Even the comics were varied from a ventriloquist to a juggler and a hypnotist. They covered the a huge range and I assume this was more than the average cruise experience will provide.

 

On another note the teen center was awesome and offered playstations to use, air hockey, fooseball, computers, movies, activities and meetings.My kids went to the first night where they introduced each other, then the music played and when it stopped you turned to a person near you and talked to them for two minutes, then the music started again. By the end of the first few days each of the guys had a group of buddies. The center was open till 1 am which seemed a bit much but they could be easily found most of the time. They enjoyed the basketball court, hot tubs and pools together and the last night the whole group (about 20) met and then went to dinner as a group. I must say I was impressed and pleased that they has such great opportunitys and chaperones. Needless to say they were not ready to leave their new friends when it was time to go home.

 

If you would like to hear about the ports of call and what we did read on...

 

Grand Turk

 

Those that rented the dune buggys had an hour and a half trip I believe for $89. Pricey since there is very little to see.This books up and wil not be available by the time you get there. I heard the trolley ride was a rip and there was no guide explaining sites. There really is very little here but Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville. This has an incredible pool and if you want to use it there doesn't seem to be any need to eat or drink to do so. It is the best thing. The kids got back on the ship but we went there and thought they would hav enjoyed it if they'd come too.

The hop on hop off was pricey since there was really no where to go and not much to see. The consensus is don't get off at the first stop (not much there) since you'll have to wait quite awhile to get on again.

Of course, there is the gift shops that you walk throgh to access the island. All the usual booze, bags, hats, watches and glasses you could possibly need!!

 

Jamaica

 

Dunns River Falls was great. We then rode through Fern Gully which was beautiful. We paid $35 each for this but entrance to the falls alone is $15 each which would mean hiring a taxi on your own. We had a great guide who usually takes guests to the village to see the kids at their school. It was Sunday so I was disappointed. I had brought lots of kids books along for them since I knew this was usually done.

The poverty here is devastating to see. My visual of Jamaica is forever changed but I thought we were lucky to do the falls and bus trip with Peat Taylor. Google him he is VERY popular and less than the ship sponsored falls tour by a lot. He also takes people to the river tubing which I/we originally planned to do but the kids pooped out by then. The falls were a workout but great fun. The people who get there by katamaran love that part too(also independant).

 

Grand Cayman

 

If you've never seen the stingrays you should go. You can book online, onshore or by ship. Rates are regulated and I believe are about $40 pp if booked on shore though the ship they may be more.

I had been twice so planned to visit the Seven Mile Beach by taxi. I didn't get there it was sooooo hot but those who did said it was terrific. I was sorry I was lazy and missed that. Because the ship was so nice the boys just didn't care if they went or not. Tendering is a drag too and they felt it was more fun to stay aboard.

 

Port Canaveral

 

I did not want to bum rush the space center for an abbreviated trip. To do this justice I think more time is optimal. We chose to postpone till another longer day would be possible.

Also, on this day anyone scheduled for this excursion must arrive at 6:40 for the immigration check before heading out. I was glad I didn't have to be there till 8 or after. Something to consider...

 

 

 

Balcony Advantage

 

Having never booked a balcony before I enjoyed my breakfast alone here. The guys love eggs, bacon etc. but I had plenty to choose from with cereal, yogurt, juice, coffee, rolls and fruit on the menu. Besides if you go to the buffet you eat more than you would otherwise. I only enjoyed dining room breakfast once. Whenever I ordered room service it arrived ten minutes before the earliest time requested. If 7-7:30 was requested the knock would come at 6:50. I wondered if this was because I was on the Riviera deck and they worked their way down from there with the requests. Did the people on the lowest deck get theirs so early? Just something to think about.

 

More random thought or answers to questions to come.

[psupa]

No trays? Never heard of such a thing. How do you get anything to the table, carry it one by one? Insane! :eek:

 

This is one area that Celebrity has hands down. Not only do they have trays, but also a linen placemat. I think for a buffet that is very classy.

[Love Boat Dream]

thanks, Gypsea. Your reviews are really informative!

[LVScooby]

Sorry to not go along with the common feelings of the layout of the buffet, but I thought it was ideal. What other option is there? A single file buffet line? If that practice is in place, then the buffet line moves only as fast as the slowest patron. The configuration of the buffet allowed those that figured out the layout the opportunity to move into the areas they wanted and get out. This results in everyone pretty much moving at their own pace with a much shorter line. So it requires an adeptation to different buffet social skills. At least my food wasn't cold when I sat down. This also frees up more tables quite a bit quicker. Maybe they could experiment with posting the locations of the different buffet food items each night to help move the line along.

 

My gripes about the buffets...

 

1. Why is the butter on the opposite side of the buffet than the bread? It's not like they are going to upsell you inbetween the two. ;)

 

2. The use, or lack there of, hand sanitizers and their locations. First off they are in pump containers. Now, everybody that uses them has to touch them. I have used motion sensored dispensors in the past. Why not on the newest ship in all the fleets?

 

3. Watching folks bring their fingers in contact with their mouths while in the buffet. C'mon now!

 

4. I agree about the location of the food in some of the areas as they were hard to access underneath the sneezeguards. I helped a few shorter and older folks get food from back there.

 

5. Seating availability was difficult if you didn't know where to look. We didn't have any problems as we usually look for quiet areas anyways. Just because one side of the buffet is closed, this does not mean you can't sit at the other side. The drink stations in those areas are also available.

 

6. The music at times was also quite annoying, I do agree.

 

7. We took food for lunch/dinner a couple times back to our balcony, so a tray would have come in handy. Maybe they are trying to get away from folks doing that. As for in buffet area dining, the larger plates worked well.