Crown Review - July 25, 2004 Sailing - Detailed

[SeaTrailer]

NCL Crown Cruise to Bermuda

July 25, 2004 to August 1, 2004

 

There was a group of eight of us who went on this sailing. This was my wife’s and my third cruise on NCL, previously sailing on the S/S Norway and NCL Dream.

 

We left Allentown, PA on a charter bus arriving at the NY Pier around noon. The embarkation process was extremely quick and easy. There were no lines, we had pre-registered online and had no difficulties. We were probably on the ship within 15 minutes.

 

CABIN

 

We had a category D cabin on the Laguna deck (5044). The cabin was well maintained and clean. It had an unbelievable amount of closet and drawer space. Absolutely no problem with storing our clothes. This cabin had two single beds on different sides of the cabin (not parallel). We asked to have the beds moved together. This cabin is not configured in such as way as to make joined beds very convenient. You might have to wake or climb over the other person if you have to get up in the middle of the night. We also lost some drawer space which we did not need anyway. This did not bother us, but it might others. We looked into other cabins in this same category and joined beds were no problem. I guess it’s just the way the other furniture is arranged.

 

This cabin was in a perfect location of the ship! We were one deck below the Seven Seas Dining Room and one deck above the debarkation points for the Bermuda ports.

 

FOOD

 

We ate all our dinners in the Seven Seas Dining Room. The quality of the food was excellent. Very nice choices, good taste and presentation. We never felt rushed and usually took 1 ½ to 2 hours to finish all the courses. The wait staff was excellent! They were very personable, very hard working and quite fun to be around.

 

There were numerous birthdays and anniversary celebrations and the wait staff always sang a tune with great enthusiasm!

 

As a result we never considered going to one of the alternate dining rooms, therefore cannot comment on these.

 

We only had significant waits (30 minutes) twice. Once was the Captain’s Formal night when we went around 8PM. This was a very popular time. The other wait was on Thursday when they held the Chocoholic Buffet in the afternoon. Again, most people decided to eat late and this caused a backup. Otherwise our waits were no more than 5 – 10 minutes.

 

We ate most of our lunches at the Yacht Club buffet. It is my personal opinion that buffets are always difficult to maintain. Some foods do well while others do not. They had the usual hot dogs and hamburgers and then some other entrees. All in all I thought the food was good.

 

They offered some unbelievable dessert choices at both meals! There were some sugar free items that I swear you could not tell were dietetic.

 

My buddy and I decided to leave the ship prior to its 7AM departure to get in an early round of golf. We asked for room service at 6AM which is a half an hour earlier than their stated start time. It was delivered promptly at 6 with a phone call a couple of minutes prior.

 

PUBLIC AREAS

 

The shops were awfully small and therefore choices were a bit limited. You also could not get many people in at one time without having to climb over each other.

 

The casino is also small. There were plenty of slots machines unfortunately some were very close to the gaming tables. When someone hit big it seemed the alarms went off for a very long time! They have three blackjack tables ($5, $10 & $25 minimum), three card poker, roulette and craps. Staff was great.

 

The Stardust Lounge is also smallish. One night (Thursday I think) they only offered one show and the place was packed! You must get there early.

 

Others have commented on the pool area and it is very true, it is way too small. Saturday was a bright sunny day with very calm seas. There were so many deck chairs in the pool area you just about could not walk around! There are other areas to sun, but then there is no real area to cool off.

 

Deck 11 had a good area to sun and had showers but I thought the bar service was inadequate. Long periods of time with no one in sight.

 

I thought the entire ship was clean and well maintained. You could always see someone cleaning or painting.

 

ENTERTAINMENT

 

We did not go to many of the shows. Due to illness of one person in the Jean Ann Ryan Company, two of their shows were cancelled. The comedian was hysterical! Missed his first show but the second was great. The singer was also very good. Sorry but I cannot remember either of there names.

 

Bingo seemed very well attended as best as I could tell.

 

The duo that performs at the Top of the Crown was also very good based on the limited time I spent there.

 

MISCELLANEOUS

 

There were a ton of kids on this cruise of all ages. I did not expect this. Everyone seemed to be having a good time.

 

Simon, the Cruise Director, was everywhere! He was great and always took time to speak with you.

 

The last Thursday and Friday of July is a 2 day National Holiday. We did not know this. Most of the stores close (especially in Hamilton) and many of the excursions were cancelled. I am surprised NCL was not better prepared for this. Some of our group really wanted to go helmet diving and they we all cancelled. Many of the islanders camp out in tents and there is a two day cricket match.

 

We golfed twice, at the Southampton Princess and Port Royal. Both are fantastic courses. We made our tee times in advance of the cruise in order to get earlier times and not blow the whole day. This worked very well!

 

DEBARKATION

 

What a breeze!

 

I was told by one of the crew that our cruise had more people using the express check out than any previous cruise. The Dawn comes in about an hour after the Crown and Simon really suggested using Express to beat the crowd, especially if you were local. Seems a lot of folks took his advice.

 

Everyone else gets called by the color of their luggage tags. We were in the last group to be called and we were off by 9:45AM. No problem finding our luggage, getting a porter or going thru Customs.

 

BERMUDA

 

This was my first time here. What a beautiful place! Wish we had more time to explore. Personally I think moving the ship to three different ports is a waste of time. Like what the Majesty does better (staying in St Georges the entire time), but that is just my opinion. I’m sure there are many others who like moving around.

 

Sherry, the Port Consultant, did suggest not renting scooters and after being in a couple of taxis I can see why. Besides driving on the left, roads are narrow and curvy and the taxis get right behind you. We did not see any injuries but did hear of some previous experiences.

 

Overall I thought this cruise was a tremendous value. I would do this again without any hesitation and would recommend this to anyone.

[Zeno]

Nice detailed review - I love details.

[laodell]

Frank,

Great Review. We were on the July 4 cruise on the Crown. We had a great time too. Our reviews are very similar. There were so many negative reviews in April and May that I worried a little about this cruise, but it exeeded my expectations. I was very pleased with it and would also recommend it.

 

I liked moving to the different areas of the island but t's small enough that you could dock in one port and move around on your own quite easily.

 

I'm glad you enjoyed your vacation.

[seahorse]

Very good dispassionate and adult review:D

 

Thank You

[socoblue]

Thank you very much for your review.Am looking forward to our cruise 8/22.We have cabin 6044.Can we put together the beds in this cabin?

[SeaTrailer]

I did not mean to imply you could not move the beds together. In our cabin the beds ran for & aft. The person next to the window (my wife) would have to move me (or climb over in the dark) to get out.

 

In other cabins the beds were aligned port to starboard and appear to have more room to move.

 

I am certain you will be able to put together, just not sure which cabin configuration you will have.

[Smooth Sailing]

We will be sailing on the Crown in January to South America - Do you think there is anyway they can move my wife's bed out into the hallway??

[TaGD]

Very good review, after hearing all the bad reviews back in April, i'm glad everything is good now.I'm leaving on the Crown on 8/29/04. I have 2 adjoining rooms 1 for the kids and the other for us, does anyone know if there is a door that goes from one room to the other? Thanks for the review Tom

[fredw]

Thanks for the great review. My wife and I sail the Crown out of Baltimore in October. Hope our cruise is as great as yours was.

Thanks again

Fred

[gigiUSN]

Very good review, after hearing all the bad reviews back in April, i'm glad everything is good now.I'm leaving on the Crown on 8/29/04. I have 2 adjoining rooms 1 for the kids and the other for us, does anyone know if there is a door that goes from one room to the other? Thanks for the review Tom

 

Yes, there is a door that joins the rooms. Just ask your cabin steward to unlock them when you settle into your rooms. Enjoy your cruise

[TaGD]

Thanks for your reply gigiUSN, I probably should keep the door locked so the kids don't keep coming in.

[penfield1]

How are the bathrooms on the Crown? We have an inside cabin on the Laguna Deck.:D

[Traveler39]

It is nice to read a good review where the reviewer found the ship to be nice and clean and the food and service to be good overall.... This is quite a change from the negative postings on C.C.. concerning the Pride of Aloha...

 

How can ncl allow the poa to be dirty and have poor food service, etc.....

[SeaTrailer]

Penfield1,

 

Found our bathroom to be fine. Unless you book a suite the bathrooms are only going to be but so big, but I had no problem moving around showering and the other necessitites.

 

Traveler39,

 

I have learned to take everything on this board with a grain of salt. People will always complain. We went on the Dream last year and several folks complained about the coffee, compared it to oil. We found the coffee to be quite good. Guess it is just a matter of taste.

 

As you can tell by my review, we had a ball and I would have no problem going back on the Crown again.