Live from the Crown Princess 8/7/06

[Jules1]

I apologize if there's already a thread started (I didn't see it). We're really enjoying the cruise! We arrived at the pier at about 11:30 am on Monday and breezed through check-in. They started boarding the ship at noon. We had our luggage and were unpacked before the cruise critic gathering at the 3:00 pm. The ship is beautiful, the food has been great and there have been lots of scheduled activities that we've enjoyed.

[jbrambach]

Thanks for posting and have a Wonderful cruise.

[Sheilateak]

I have not seen anyone other post. Good to see you are enjoying your cruise. Look forward to hearing more. Going on the Crown 8/25.:)

[mommy2jays]

Thanks for posting, I hope that you have a wondeful cruise. I was wondering which nights you would recommend to go the the Crown Grill and Sabatini's. I will be on the same itinerary in a few weeks and my husband and I are trying to figure out which nights would be best to skip the regular dining. Thanks in advance for your help!

[Host CJSKIDS]

I hope you're enjoying yourself and are having calm seas and beautiful weather!

[makeup face]

Have a wonderful cruise:)

[IKE]

Nice hearing from you. Glad everything is going well for you and You are having a lovely cruise. Hope you continue to enjoy calm seas and lovely weather. Enjoy!

[Jules1]

We flew into JFK and stayed at a nearby hotel. We used a car service (Carmel) at 10:30 am to get from the hotel to the cruise terminal. It took 1 hour 15 mins at 10:30 am - bad traffic. There were plenty of empty parking places at the cruise terminal, even at sailing time.

 

We sailed late - left about 5:50 pm because they hadn't finished refueling the ship. Sailing out past the Statue of Liberty and under the bridge (you need to be outside, up high to see the bottom of the bridge as you go under) is very cool.

 

The menu tonite (2nd sea day-3rd cruise evening) seemed pretty weak to us - turbot, veal scallopine cordon bleu style, frog's leg and duck. I wish we would have made our crown grill or sabitini's reservations tonite. The specialty restaurants don't seem very crowded. I think that you could get reservations for the night after reviewing the menu in the morning. However, I suppose that changes from cruise to cruise.

 

I know there's been a lot of controversy about MUTS - but it seems like an interesting option for evening entertainment. We're hoping to spend an evening at an old time style "drive in movie."

 

The seas have been absolutely calm - no noticeable movement on the ship. It seems as solid as a rock. They have changed out the captain (not sure what the deal is with that-whether it was time to change out or some other reason) - the new captain is Nicoli Binetti (?sp).

 

The cruise director - James Lay has gotten some bad press on these boards. We've enjoyed him - he's been very visible. He's called bingo, called the horse races, taught dancing lessons - he seems to be VERY involved.

 

We have a 16 year daughter with us on this cruise - she says that there are about 300 teens on the cruise.

 

I'll try to answer any questions that you post.

[LunaMoon]

Thank you so much for posting while you are sailing!

 

They've changed the Captain?! Wow, that's interesting information. So, it's no longer Captain Andy, but now it's Captain Nic.

 

Maybe responsibility for the welfare of the ship and all those aboard does ultimately rest with the Captain.

 

FDR said it well; "The buck stops here."

 

I guess we'll never really know.

 

Thanks for writing while you're vacationing. :) AND have lots of fun!

[Love Boat Dream]

I remember hearing once that each ship has 3 captains on board. They take turns being in charge. One will be master of the ship for a few cruises and the other 2 have other jobs (staff captain I think and I'm not sure what the other one is) Then, they rotate jobs. so, Capt Andy might still be there under another function.

[margoula]

We flew into JFK and stayed at a nearby hotel. We used a car service (Carmel) at 10:30 am to get from the hotel to the cruise terminal. It took 1 hour 15 mins at 10:30 am - bad traffic. There were plenty of empty parking places at the cruise terminal, even at sailing time.

 

We sailed late - left about 5:50 pm because they hadn't finished refueling the ship. Sailing out past the Statue of Liberty and under the bridge (you need to be outside, up high to see the bottom of the bridge as you go under) is very cool.

 

The menu tonite (2nd sea day-3rd cruise evening) seemed pretty weak to us - turbot, veal scallopine cordon bleu style, frog's leg and duck. I wish we would have made our crown grill or sabitini's reservations tonite. The specialty restaurants don't seem very crowded. I think that you could get reservations for the night after reviewing the menu in the morning. However, I suppose that changes from cruise to cruise.

 

I know there's been a lot of controversy about MUTS - but it seems like an interesting option for evening entertainment. We're hoping to spend an evening at an old time style "drive in movie."

 

The seas have been absolutely calm - no noticeable movement on the ship. It seems as solid as a rock. They have changed out the captain (not sure what the deal is with that-whether it was time to change out or some other reason) - the new captain is Nicoli Binetti (?sp).

 

The cruise director - James Lay has gotten some bad press on these boards. We've enjoyed him - he's been very visible. He's called bingo, called the horse races, taught dancing lessons - he seems to be VERY involved.

 

We have a 16 year daughter with us on this cruise - she says that there are about 300 teens on the cruise.

 

I'll try to answer any questions that you post.

 

 

Glad to hear they replaced Captain Andy. I was on the Crown on July 18th. I believe it was a good move! The Captain always goes down with the ship.

[Colo Cruiser]

Thank you so much for posting while you are sailing!

 

They've changed the Captain?! Wow, that's interesting information. So, it's no longer Captain Andy, but now it's Captain Nic.

 

Maybe responsibility for the welfare of the ship and all those aboard does ultimately rest with the Captain.

 

FDR said it well; "The buck stops here."

 

I guess we'll never really know.

 

Thanks for writing while you're vacationing. :) AND have lots of fun!

 

This is a non issue as Andy Proctor was due to go on vacation on 07/20 after the list and Nico Binetti was scheduled to relieve him in a normal rotation. However Capt Proctor stayed on board 2 additional weeks after the list to get things aboard in order. Nico will be onboard until mid September when Capt Proctor returns. Nico will then return to the Caribbean Princess.

[krystall]

Have a wonderful cruise.

 

She's ours next week!!!

 

Can't wait! Can't wait!!!

 

:D

[laprofesora]

I have not seen anyone other post. Good to see you are enjoying your cruise. Look forward to hearing more. Going on the Crown 8/25.:)

Thanks for the post. Keep on posting. Going on the next cruise out. Have fun and keep us all informed.How is the smoothness of the ride?

[laprofesora]

I have not seen anyone other post. Good to see you are enjoying your cruise. Look forward to hearing more. Going on the Crown 8/25.:)

Thanks for the post. Keep on posting. Going on the next cruise out. Have fun and keep us all informed.How is the smoothness of the ride?

[Love Boat Dream]

Thanks for the Live reports!

 

Smooth sailing! Leave some chocolate chip cookies for me!

[cynbar]

Thanks so much for taking the time to post ---- I'll be on the Crown on the 25th and I can't wait!! I enjoyed reading the dinner choices for the 3rd night --any info on the menus is much appreciated as we all try to decide which nights to reserve the specialty restaurants. Do you happen to remember what the choices were for the 1st formal night ?? Enjoy your cruise -- we'll all be here following along with you.

[paulekrause]

We got off the Crown on 8/7 after a wonderful cruise. Best I've ever had.

Review pending

 

Paul

[Jules1]

We were in Grand Turk today. Per other posts, there doesn't seem to be much there. The ship docks and you exit the pier through a duty free type shop. I only noticed a couple of other shops (1 jewelry store and Del Sol). Margaritaville is right there (with a swimming pool). There is also a beach with free lounge chairs and some clam shells for shade. We didn't get off the ship until 11:00 am and were able to get a clamshell as a number of people were already headed back to the ship. We printed off the coupons for the free margaritas at Margaritaville (thanks to the ports of call boards)! My daughter asked for her free soda and was served a margarita (with alcohol). Two margaritas for me!

 

We met a gentleman who had rented a taxi for $35.00/couple for a one hour island tour. He said it was great.

 

Entrees for tonite (4th night, eastern itinerary): swordfish, shrimp diablo, veal chop and pot roast.

 

We've been lucky-the seas are absolutely smooth.

[HMSDingy]

We were in Grand Turk today. Per other posts, there doesn't seem to be much there. The ship docks and you exit the pier through a duty free type shop. I only noticed a couple of other shops (1 jewelry store and Del Sol). Margaritaville is right there (with a swimming pool). There is also a beach with free lounge chairs and some clam shells for shade. We didn't get off the ship until 11:00 am and were able to get a clamshell as a number of people were already headed back to the ship. We printed off the coupons for the free margaritas at Margaritaville (thanks to the ports of call boards)! My daughter asked for her free soda and was served a margarita (with alcohol). Two margaritas for me!

 

We met a gentleman who had rented a taxi for $35.00/couple for a one hour island tour. He said it was great.

 

Entrees for tonite (4th night, eastern itinerary): swordfish, shrimp diablo, veal chop and pot roast.

 

We've been lucky-the seas are absolutely smooth.

 

Thanks for the review so far. One question. Were there may passengers wearing tux's and gowns on the formal nights?

[CruiseLuvR154]

Thank you soo much for the live updates. I am very happy to here about the smoothe sailng and calm waters. I am very nervouse about having a rocky ride. I am sailing sept 3rd...and can not wait!!!

Enjoy the rest of your trip!!!

:)

[mrjcharles]

Got off ship Aug7 Captain Andy did a superb job. James and Lisa were excellent. If you are on the ship now dont miss Sarge buy his cd and please tell him Joe thanks him for his Marv Albert imitation. He is funny. The entertainment was all top notch. Dont miss it.

[Trainman52]

I apologize if there's already a thread started (I didn't see it). We're really enjoying the cruise! We arrived at the pier at about 11:30 am on Monday and breezed through check-in. They started boarding the ship at noon. We had our luggage and were unpacked before the cruise critic gathering at the 3:00 pm. The ship is beautiful, the food has been great and there have been lots of scheduled activities that we've enjoyed.

 

Quite a fast turnaround. We weren't off until 11:20 from the 7/29 cruise. Quite a bit of disorganization.

[Trainman52]

We sailed late - left about 5:50 pm because they hadn't finished refueling the ship. Sailing out past the Statue of Liberty and under the bridge (you need to be outside, up high to see the bottom of the bridge as you go under) is very cool.

The 7/29 cruise also left late. Also a problem with the fuel barge hanging off the starboard bow. When will they get this straightened out?

[Trainman52]

Glad to hear they replaced Captain Andy. I was on the Crown on July 18th. I believe it was a good move! The Captain always goes down with the ship.

 

I had said that as well when the accident first happened (and got firebombed for my comment):eek: .

 

The scuttlebutt was that Capt. Andy was due to go home anyway. His wife was on the 7/29 sailing.