Review of the Crown – 8/25 Sailing (Long)

[jhaasz]

Since I have gleaned so much information from these boards, time to give it back. :)

 

EMBARKATION:

For a change, we decided NOT to drive the 45 minutes to my parents’ house (as we have done in previous years) and hired our own limo to bring us to the pier (Lincoln Navigator/Passenger van). We left North Brunswick at 10:30 am and were at the terminal by 11:30 am, bags whisked away. We went through security, had to wait a couple of minutes for an agent to check us in (the one we got was veeerrrry slow) and walked onto the ship (along with stopping for the obligatory picture). We were on the ship before noon.

 

The limo service we used was great - if anyone is interested in more information, let me know.

 

When we got on the ship (we boarded on Deck 7), I thought it was beautiful – loved the Piazza. I also loved that there were people there helping you along the way to get where you needed to go.

 

CABIN:

We had two balcony cabins on Baja deck – B415 and B419. Thank goodness, everything worked perfectly – no problems. I didn’t think I would like the open closet which is across from the bathroom door but I loved it! It felt like the most room I ever had in a standard balcony cabin for my stuff!!!

 

The partitions on the balcony have two pieces – the piece closest to the sliding doors open and folds over so you can have a walk-through to both cabins and the view from the balcony is not blocked. However, for those of you looking for the effect of a huge balcony, this won’t cut it. But, it worked great for us (since our rooms were adjoining and not connecting). We could check on the kids easily.

 

DINING/SPECIALTY RESTAURANTS

We had first seating in the Botticelli dining room. I have to admit, Princess’ food was very good and I loved the Love Boat Dream (so much so that I gained 8.5 lbs). We also ate at the Crown Grill (it was good but I think RCI’s Chops is better) and Sabatinis (which was okay – we really didn’t care for the selection). We did not leave Sabatinis stuffed – but we did leave full. They give you a “taste” of everything. You only order your main dish.

 

The service from our waiter and asst. waiter in the dining room started out “slow” the first two days but then picked up. After the first two days, it seemed like our waiter was doing all of the waiting and the asst. waiter was running for the food and doing miscellaneous things. I have a feeling that the pair will not be working together again (our waiter told us he could request another asst. waiter, which I think he might do).

 

We found that the Horizon Court (the buffet) had the same food every day for breakfast and lunch – no rotation of food whatsoever. It did get boring. Also, whoever designed those stations should be fired. There is not enough room for the amount of people to walk between the stations. It seems that they have taken a RCI idea (of using stations), and put it into an area with only 40% of the space. My apologies to all of the small children I kept bumping into (who I couldn’t see when holding my plate in front of me). When the Horizon Court is crowded (like the first day) and you go into the buffet to find a seat, if you can’t find a seat on one side, you can’t cut across to find a seat on the other side. You have to walk out of the Horizon Court and walk around to the other side to look for a seat. It was a pain.

 

ACTIVITIES

I loved MUTS. We went two nights in a row. It was beautiful, watching a movie under the stars. My only complaint was that if you wanted to listen to the movie during the day, they rented wireless headsets at $2.50 per day to cover Princess’ cost of the batteries and the headsets themselves. Absolutely ridiculous.

 

BINGO

We only played two games. We had to purchase a dotter at a buck a piece (another way for Princess to make money). What happened to the cards that you just punch through, negating the use of a dotter?

 

SODA CARD

The best value out of any cruise I have been on. The card was $4 per day for children and adults alike (unlike other cruise lines that usually charge $6 per day for an adult). They also had the insulated cups that they gave you for free. I didn’t know they had them so I had brought mine from home.

 

SHIP

A lot has been said so I am not going to dwell on this. I will say that I was surprised that the outside of the promenade deck is not made in real wood (it’s fake – like cork). Also, our balcony had foam instead of wood. For a ship that’s the jewel in their fleet, I would expect this to be real wood like other cruise lines. The funny thing is that the last night, I found the only real wood to be that of the railing of our balcony. Everything else was “vinyl wood”. Of course, this is not going to ruin my vacation but I just found it surprising.

 

Also, we couldn’t figure out why the stabilizer was so loud. My parents had a cabin on Caribe deck forward and the noise from the stabilizer kept them up all night. Having been on 15 cruises (at least half in the cold waters), I really don’t think this ship was made for the rough water you usually encounter when leaving from New York. This ship was better made for cruises from Florida to the Caribbean.

 

KIDS CLUBS

We traveled with a 12 year old (who would not participate at all) and a 15 year old. My daughters will be 13 (in December) and 16 (in October). For the 12 year old, I think when we went to “scope out the club”, she found it too childish for her age (no longer a kid but not yet a teen). The older one participated somewhat in the teen activities but spent most of the time just “hanging out” with the friends she made. They also close the teen center at 1:00 am so the teens tended to congregate by the international café. RCI leaves their center open 24/7. I would rather see the kids congregating in the teen center than other areas of the ship. But, I must say, Youth Security did a great job (and other cruise lines should start doing this also). Every area of the ship, whether there were kids or not, was enjoyable because of them.

 

CASINO

Well, we didn’t win any money (someone hit for $20,000 on Wheel of Fortune – wish it was me :)). The casino won’t take real quarters in their slots – you have to use the slugs.

 

ART AUCTION

This was very weird for me as I am used to dealing with Park West (Princess owns their own gallery). We went three out of four days. Didn’t buy anything the first two days but made up for it (big time) the last day. We went into hock over Bert and Ernie (Gone Fishing) by Tim West which is made from Pop Art and is one of a kind. I really liked the auctioneer (who owns a Wyland gallery in Niagara Falls). He gave me his business card with his contact information and my husband and I plan on paying him a visit next July.

 

BERMUDA

We did the “Fins and Flippers” at Dolphin Discovery. It was located in the Maritime Museum which was a very short walk from where the ship docked. It cost $125 per person but everyone said it was well worth the money.

 

SAN JUAN

We went to the Dooney & Bourke outlet and the Coach outlet in Old San Juan (5 times each as I kept walking back and forth to try to decide on a purse). They are directly across the street from each other. Both my daughter and I ended up with a Coach bag.

 

ST. THOMAS

I was trying to keep shopping to a minimum but that is what everyone voted to do. We went into town and bought a camera and a camcorder from Royal Caribbean electronics, our liquor and cigarettes from AH Rise, Swarovski crystal from the Crystal Shoppe and t-shirts from Del Sol. So much for keeping shopping to a minimum.

 

GRAND TURK

We debarked the ship at 1:30 pm and already we could see that Margaritaville and the beach were crowded. We opted to go to Governors Beach instead to get away from the crowds ($3 per person by cab). People were snorkeling but I didn’t see any fish. The beach was nice but nothing great (chair rentals were $5 each – once we finished, we gave our chairs away to people that didn’t rent chairs – why not, they were paid for).

 

PASSPORT TO SAVINGS

I had no clue what this was prior to leaving. It turns out it’s a coupon book they give you of which you might use two of the coupons – a waste even printing it.

 

DEBARKATION

We had Purple 2 and our tags were called at approx. 10:15 am. We walked off the ship, found our luggage pretty quickly (one bag was in Purple 3 - from having to search for bags other times, I was not surprised and knew to look there), got a porter right away and walked through customs.

 

Once we picked up our bags, we called our limo driver who told us to walk to the right when we got out, NOT to the left. We told our porter who ignored the people giving directions and knew exactly where to take us. We walked right, past the drop off point and around the bend. Our car was right there - easy. We were home by 11:20 am.

 

OVERALL IMPRESSION

I was not enamored with the Princess cruise experience (and neither were my children). I was not thrilled with the Grand back in 2002 (even though we had great service then) and it has changed drastically since that cruise. There is no more ordering from the dinner menu for room service, there are no more hot breakfasts from room service (the one time we tried to order room service, we let the phone ring for ½ hour – they never answered), the robes for use are not the same, etc. Many of the things that made Princess “special” in the past were missing and I felt like I was being “nickeled and dimed to death”. It was okay (hey – any vacation is good) but I did not come back with the attitude of “I loved it – lets go again”. I will say this – the price was right. For four people in two balcony cabins, we paid about $4750 which is the cheapest price I have ever paid for a cruise out of New York. To be honest, I found Princess to be more on par than ever with RCI and Carnival. We all agreed that this was our last Princess cruise. Even though this ship seemed to be better than the Grand and even though the food was much better than RCI, we are going to stick with Royal Caribbean (besides, I missed my Platinum perks).

 

Liberty of the Seas – Here we come! :)

 

Questions? Feel free to ask.

[REVDONAUCTIONEER]

Thanks. This was a good honest review. My wife and I are on the 9/12 sailing. We sailed the Golden 8/05. We were not impressed with it either. We sailed the Legend of the Sea 4/06 and loved it. I hope I like the Crown. I guess I will the price was right and I'm not working!

 

Thanks again.

 

Don

[rebeccalouise]

Everyone I have talked to with teenage kids- loved RCI. I personally favor Celebrity but my kids are six and eighteen. You might want to give Celebrity a try- if you like to relax. It is a very soothing cruise but with enough entertainment to keep you from being bored.

[Sheilateak]

I will agree ,although I had a great cruise 8/25 on the Crown, I'm not sure this is the best cruise line for kids. DH and I are over 50 and the pace and activities were fine for us. I also agree about the stabalizers being extremely noisy. I was on the Rivera Deck and also was awaken our last night by the noise.

[Hve2cruise]

Jhaasz............I was also on the 8/25 sailing and when you mentioned "Bert & Ernie", I remembered you told me about that in the casino at the three card poker table the last evening. Now, I am glad I finally met one of the Cruisinators. I was unable to make either meeting. Good review. I agree with you on some points, but we had a fabulous time and will definitely sail Princess again.

 

Helane

[Redsgj]

Also, we couldn’t figure out why the stabilizer was so loud. My parents had a cabin on Caribe deck forward and the noise from the stabilizer kept them up all night.

I also agree about the stabalizers being extremely noisy. I was on the Rivera Deck and also was awaken our last night by the noise.

I'm just curious (as we have a forward Caribe deck cabin in October) as to how you knew that the noise - What type of noise by the way?? - was coming from the stabilizers?

 

As far as I understand, the stabilizers are in the middle of the ship well under the water line so I'm confused as to how you would hear noise from them on the Caribe deck forward and the Riviera deck.

 

Thanks!

[barbarah33]

I’m sorry your vacation wasn't everything you had hoped it would be but it does sound like you have a good attitude and still had fun. I can't wait to try the Crown after having sailed on the Grand, Golden and Caribbean.

[marilyn1]

I can't believe its over

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Being that I was the one worried about the weather,we didn't do too bad after all.

I had AGREAT time.Cabin on caribe was perfect except for our safe,it would never lock again,we ended up calling the desk about 3 or 4 times and then when they say they will send someone up they never do.Althogh the room steward was great he said he wasnt allowed to hep with the safe.Even THE small shower worked out well.

Food-better than Rcl but not as good as Celebrity.Favorite dining room-love boat dream Favorite buffett-chocolate croisant,lemon merangue tart,caramel creme and fruit.

Entertainment-very,very good

Casino-sucked since I had just been playing the machine the man won $20,000 ON BUThe was really nice so I was happy for him but would have been happier if it was me.

MYdAUGHTER who turned 14 Aug 31 had the best best time ,probably her best ever cruise,she came in between 2 and 3 Am.The kids she met are planning a reunion. All in all a great time.

 

 

marilyn1

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#739 Today, 02:46 PM

[JanMD]

A simple question- did the balconies have sprinklers on them?? I think that is why you didn't see real wood- the other wood has a fire coating on them.

Jan

[jhaasz]

I don't remember seeing sprinklers on the balconies (but I could be wrong).

 

In regards to the stabilizers, I was wondering what that horrid noise was (it sounded like grinding, crunch, etc) and was told by a couple of employees that they were the stabilizers. I have been on 14 cruises prior and even cut through Katrina last year when it was a tropical storm. I have never heard stabilizers sound like these.

 

Yes, my parents were on Deck 10 and they said the noise kept them up all night. It would groan, crunch, the ship would feel like it stopped, shudder and then continue on. Very weird.

 

Don't get me wrong - we had a good time. We didn't run around like nuts and took it easy and enjoyed many of the things the ship had to offer (I also liked some of the comedians). Trust me, we did not "want" for things to do. If the price was right, I would probably go back (but without the kids - they love RCI).

[pfay64]

A simple question- did the balconies have sprinklers on them?? I think that is why you didn't see real wood- the other wood has a fire coating on them.

Jan

 

I was on Caribe deck in July and there definitely were sprinklers.

[Sandytoes]

Many of the things that made Princess “special” in the past were missing and I felt like I was being “nickeled and dimed to death”.

I have to agree on this one.

Sanctuary loungers, bingo dauber, headphones to listen to the movie. Coffee/soda cards. More $ for the special dining.

This is why the Crown cruise was the price was right. . They are charging extra for just about everything else to keep the fare down....

Do we want everything included and paying more? Or, do we want low fares and choose what extras we want?

[njdgs]

Hi, Jodi~

 

It was great surprising you on the ship - though we didn't run into each other much, did we? Your review was very well written!

 

When we were talking at the end of the cruise you mentioned a limo service that you were very happy with. Could you either post that info here or email me directly at dstein@vacation.com?

 

Thanks~

 

Dian

[pollyanno]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cork_Oak

 

that not real wood, fake like cork thing has been gnawing at me for a couple days, couldn't hold it in any longer! nothing fake about cork, it is actual real wood. oak, even. :) saw them harvesting it in spain once.. having not ever pondered where cork came from, it was one of the most surprising and interesting things I ever saw, accidentally. they go out and peel the tree! and it doesn't seem to mind at all.

 

course, it's not teak. not what you were expecting.. I get that bit. and maybe it was fake cork. :)

 

anno (just had to defend the cork)

[Rognish]

A simple question- did the balconies have sprinklers on them?? I think that is why you didn't see real wood- the other wood has a fire coating on them.

Jan

 

yes they did, see attached photo. I was in C627 and this was a picture looking down at D627. The red arrow was a sprinkler head. Caribe deck also had them installed.

[Lillykat]

 

 

ACTIVITIES

I loved MUTS. We went two nights in a row. It was beautiful, watching a movie under the stars. My only complaint was that if you wanted to listen to the movie during the day, they rented wireless headsets at $2.50 per day to cover Princess’ cost of the batteries and the headsets themselves. Absolutely ridiculous.

 

 

Wait - I thought I read on the MUTS headphone thread that the charge was $2.50 for the week - now it is $2.50 per day? That is a big difference.

[Rognish]

you can also read my review over on the roll call board http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=7681318&postcount=736

[cynbar]

Wait - I thought I read on the MUTS headphone thread that the charge was $2.50 for the week - now it is $2.50 per day? That is a big difference.

We're just back from the 8/25 cruise --- the MUTS headphone had a one time charge of $2.50, that included battery replacements but we didn't need that. We took them with us when we disembarked.....

[jhaasz]

cynbar -

Thanks for the correction. I thought the patter said that you could "rent" them at $2.50 per day.

 

Hmmm....

[Steve13]

Jhaasz-

Thanks for your review. My wife and I will be on the 9/21 sailing on the Crown, our first Princess cruise.

 

I see from your signature that you've been on some of the same RCI ships that we've been on (Voyager, Mariner, Explorer).

 

How would you compare the Crown to those ships in terms of overall layout, utilzation of space, crowds, etc.? We've never felt the Voyager class ships felt really crowded, even with 3,000+ passengers. Thanks in advance for your comparison. By the way, we don't have kids so that doesn't factor into our cruise comparisons.