Just Back from the Crown 3/24 to 3/31

[BlushPell]

Background: Myself and my fiancee both in our 40's. We have children but we did not bring them with us on this cruise. This is our second cruise, first with Princess.

 

Before leaving for Puerto Rico we stayed at the Hampton Inn in Revere, MA with a park and fly program. They have a 24 hour shuttle service available and the rate was $229 for one night and 10 days of parking. The shuttle service was convenient and easy and made flying out of Boston easy. I would recommend this to anyone flying out of Logan Airport.

 

 

Precruise we had stayed at the Hampton Inn Isla Verde ($11.50 cabfare from airport)for one night prior to the cruise. We arrived on Friday morning and were greeted at the desk by friendly staff. We were early, so we checked our bags with the front desk and left the hotel for lunch at a nice little cuban restaurant(Metropol) next door to the hotel. The food was very good and the prices were reasonable for Puerto Rico prices (4 drinks 2 entrees and 2 desserts with tip $72). When we checked back with the hotel around 2pm our room was ready and we checked in. Our room was #451. The pool area was nice but as mentioned in reviews about this hotel the airport is right next door. It is extremely loud at times. If you are staying for a longer amount of time and want pool time I would not recommend staying here. There is a beach within walking distance that is ok. A lot of the other big hotels (Intercontinental and the Ritz Carlton are nearby). You also can hear the planes in the room (at least on the 4th floor I was on) and it sounded more like a loud thunderstorm than a plane. The room was comfortable and the price we paid was reasonable for the island($200/night). There is a pharmacy across the street that has anything that you would have forgotten to bring. There is not a lot to see around this hotel but for staying on Puerto Rico pre-cruise it is an affordable option.

 

 

I would recommend however that if you are doing a lot of sight seeing in the Old San Juan area that you book a hotel closer to OSJ. The cab fares on this island are outrageous!! $20 each way to OSJ from Isla Verde so a night out costs you $40 before you do anything. Friday night we went to Carli's Cafe Concierto. This is a little intimate jazz club in the Banco Popular building. The food was good and we tried several tapas, the best being the sweet caterpillar plantain. It is a plaintain that is sliced with a shrimp and scallop mousse and it was delicious. The other tapas were good but this was the best one that we tried. The bartender, Fausto was great and made the world's best mojitos! There is nightly jazz performances by Carli Munoz(the owner) and the setting was intimate and relaxing. They only have about 12 tables so if you plan on attending I would make a reservation or get there early because once the music starts noone really leaves their table.

 

 

Embarkation: We arrived around 11:30 cab ride $30 with luggage and were aboard the ship at around 12:45 or so. The last cruise to disembark had to clear customs and the woman at the check-in desk told us that they were looking for someone specific(I think they were in some kind of trouble with the authorities). There is a duty free liquor shop that you pass before you get into the security screening area. The shop has wonderful prices and I picked up many things. For $200 US I purchased 2-bottles of Patron, 2 bottles of Cointreau, 1 bottle of Disaronno, 1 bottle of Crown Royal, 1 bottle of Triple Sec, 1 bottle of Parrot Bay rum, 1 bottle of Bacardi Reserve, 1 bottle of Frangelico, 2 grand marinier nips, 2 Tanqueray nips, and 1 bottle of Bailies(I think that was it). You can place items in your carry-on bags for consumption on the ship and the store will tell you this. The security people do not work for the cruiselines and will not take what you purchase. Some of the alcohol we purchased was for home(come on noone can drink that much in a week!!! I'm not a lush! :) and we checked that in with the Princess people at a desk once you board the ship.

 

 

Ship: The Crown Princess is a beautiful vessel. It has wonderful wood tones and brass with muted colors. The last cruise I went on was Carnival and it was a lot of fushia, chrome, mirrors and tacky! This was not the case with this ship. It is very elegant and there were lots of areas of the ship where one could hide away and be completely alone..and that is saying something with 3150 passengers on board! There are several areas where it is adults only and I didn't see any children in these areas. The aft pool is a great adults only area. Also, the pool near the Sanctuary is nice too and the hot tubs always seemed to have space. This ship never felt crowded. I never attended the MUTS but the screen where the movies was playing was very LOUD! I didn't particularly care for either of the two main pools, while there were still places to sit they were just not relaxing. If I had children with me then one of these two pools probably would have been my choice but I was alone and ended up mostly at the aft pool or sanctuary pool. The dining rooms were very nice and both looked similar in decor except for the paintings on the walls.

 

 

I loved the freedom to move around and never be in any lines whatsoever. I never waited more than a minute or two for an elevator. This ship was easy to navigate around and not once did I get lost. I didn't even need the map. There were several bars and entertainment venues. The Explorer's Lounge was a really nice place to catch a comedy show. I never made it to the Princess theater(don't particularly care for the production shows). During different times of the day they had performers in the Piazza area of the ship(deck 6 midship). It was really cool to be eating something in the International Cafe and have someone start singing or doing some funny little skit near you when you least expected it. The bands they had were entertaining at the sail away parties. There were two different ones that I recall and both were good.

 

 

Cabin: I was on the Lido deck. I loved the location. It was very convenient to everything and I never felt like I needed to travel far to get anywhere. We had a balcony that was very nice. It was windy most of the time especially at night and I don't know how anyone on this deck could have possibly done the balcony dinner. Everything would have just blown off the table! The storage space in the room was very well planned. I had plenty of room for everything that we brought on. Lots of hangers shelf and drawer space and lots of space in the bathroom(except the shower!) Boy is it tiny! It serves its purpose but ladies don't plan on being able to shave your legs in there unless you've taken some yoga classes. The comforters that the ship had at night were nice but I asked for an extra top sheet to put over me. The temperature in the rooms was good when you kept the shades drawn during the day and then opened them at night. Some nights I had the balcony door open when it was cool just for some fresh air.

 

 

One thing about this cabin is when there is anything going on upstairs on the decks you will hear people walking (or children running) overhead. It is not unbearable but you will hear it. The other thing is that you will feel motion. The whole ship in my opinion moved A LOT! The seas were not really that rough but I am not sure if it was due to it being windy but it rocked and swayed and made noises. When I was midship in the casino it was still moving so being up on the Lido isn't much different than being lower. If I had the choice I would stay up on the Lido deck any day, it is convenient. The other thing is that it is not a full sized deck so there was not much traffic walking past the room(I was 3 rooms from the bow).

The balcony was nice as well on this deck because noone could see above you. What I noticed was the most of the people with balconies came out during the sailing away from the islands but during the day and most of the evening most of them were empty. I tried to use mine as much as possible and just sat out at night and listened to the ocean. It was peaceful.

 

 

Food: Here is a hot topic. I had anytime dining and absolutely loved it. I don't really need to make personal friends with the waiters and have them know every little nook and cranny about me. All of the waiters were very polite and professional(except one who I think was just very home sick and didn't want to be there anymore). I conversed with them all and got to know each of them a little bit, which was nice learning about all of them. I always ate at a table for 2 and never had to wait once.

 

The food in the dining room was very good, the food in the buffet was good to ok. I would recommend eating in the dining room exclusively if you have the time. I disliked the set up of the Horizon Court and mostly ate at Cafe Caribe when I chose not to eat in the dining room. Horizon Court has different stations and the area did not seem to flow well. Cafe Caribe is more of a straight line and made a little more sense to me. The food was not horrible but I think that when you combine too many different kinds of things together it gets a little weird. I felt much better when I got a meal in the dining room and ate an appetizer, entree and dessert instead of just combining things that were available.

 

 

The desserts in the buffet always looked better than they tasted and I did not finish a single one. I did however eat the desserts in the dining room and they were good. The Love Boat Dream is delicious and the birthday cake(my big "40") was good as well. The ice cream in the dining room is delicious as well. I did not attend formal night(too tired to dress up)

 

We ate at the optional $25 per person Crown Grill. I loved the food the service was great, worth the extra $ spent. I think it is all a matter of perspective. We had a gentleman (and I use the term loosely) that was hootin' and hollerin' that the service was terrible and he was complaining to everyone that would listen. It took everything I had not to turn around and tell him that this isn't Denny's or Ponderosa where you pack it in and ship on out. You are supposed to DINE. Enjoy the people you are with, talk, drink, laugh and digest your food. I feel that if you are paying and extra $25 a person for a dining experience that is what it should be...an experience, enjoy it and take some time to relax.

 

We ate at the International Cafe some mornings and got coffees and lattes. The coffee on this ship needs much improvement. I hated the coffee in the buffet and I did not like any of the specialty coffees that I got at the International Cafe. They tasted like they were made from a powdered mix. If you like Starbucks you will not like the coffee at the International Cafe. If you like Dunkin' Donuts(which I detest, too weak) you will probably enjoy it. The best(and not that great) coffee was in the dining room. Before you purchase a coffee card I would try them all out. I was considering purchasing a card but after the first cup I had at the buffet was horrible and then when the latte that I had was just as bad I figured why waste the $.

 

Staff: All of the staff were polite and said "good morning" etc etc. Our room steward Alfredo from Mexico was very nice and did a good job with keeping the room clean. Anything we needed he was available for. When we arrived our beds were in the wrong configuration and he quickly changed it when we snuck out to the buffet for a quick bite to eat. We did not get the foam topper for our bed but I wished we had by the second night. The bed is not uncomfortable but our backs were hurting because we are not used to such a firm mattress. You can get robes too, just ask the steward and he/she will get them. They are nice and comfortable when you just want to hang around and not get dressed. The staff did an excellent job of keeping the public areas cleaned and I very rarely saw dirty dishes left anywhere. There was always someone to get a drink from if you needed one as well.

 

 

As for the comments about staff being rude(as I have seen posted before) one thing I will say about the staff......these are people folks. They work hard. They have contracts that are months long and do not get days off. This is probably why you do not see people from the US on these ships. I don't think that too many people in the US would have the patience to work 6 months straight with no days off(only a few hours a day in between shifts). I saw fellow passengers treat them terribly. They are not slaves, just because they are there to serve I guess gave some people the impression that they could treat them any way they wanted to. It was awful. The rudest people I saw were not staff....it was fellow passengers. I said hello to everyone I met and not once did a crew member ignore or not reply in turn to my gesture, however MANY passengers when you say "hello" do not even blink or acknowledge that someone has even spoken to them. I even had a few people belch and pass gas as I was walking past in the corridor!

 

 

Activities: This cruise was port intensive so there were not a lot of activities to do during the day(at least listed in the patters). I was not on the ship during the day and I think almost everyone got off to enjoy the islands. There were shows and music at night and the casino was interesting but not well paying. There were ceramics classes and some others that you could sign up for.

 

At night there was the Baked Alaska parade(fell asleep before it happened) and then the champagne waterfall(fell asleep again) and then a wild deck party(so I was told fell asleep again). There are things to do. I think most of them ended a little after midnight. We never really stayed up too late because of the cruise being so port intensive we were tired by the time we got back to the ship and ate dinner that we just relaxed, enjoyed our balcony and rested.

 

The photography on the ship was not great. I purchased photos when I was on the Carnival cruise and they were of a better quality I thought. Maybe it is because they have over 3000 passengers going ashore and cannot be too fussy about what the photo lookes like when they snap it. I saw some people with their eyes closed etc. The color always looked really washed out on a lot of them and they were not worth the money. I did not purchase a single photo(which I was looking forward to doing).

 

 

The shopping on board was a lot smaller area than I expected. I only purchased a lanyard to hang my cruise card on and an insulated cup. Other than that there wasn't much that appealed to me. The prices on jewelry were $$ and the clothing was also expensive and not to my taste. They had a shop with some pocketbooks and watches and one store that had batteries, aspirin, t-shirts etc. and a jewelry shop. Not too many.

 

 

Well, I have written enough for today. I will try to post about the ports of call and the rest of the trip. I am sorry if this is really long but I'm filled with a lot of things to tell and I know that when I was looking for info I couldn't get enough of it. I hope this is helpful and remember it's only my opinion. I enjoyed my trip immensely and am trying to point out things that will help everyone make good choices and enjoy theirs as well.

[crusdiva]

Thanks neighbor!

DH and are are sailing the Crown in about 40 days and I enjoyed your review very much.

Great tip about the Hampton Inn in Revere, too.

Also, I love and agree with your thoughts on cruise staff and passenger rudeness. ;)

Safe travels.

[ck53]

Welcome back and thanks for a great review!

 

Leaving in August, can't wait!

[Dixe Lee]

Absolutely wonderful, objective review. I think I will print it and save it for our cruise on the Crown Princess in October :) So glad you enjoyed your cruise!

[Maraprince]

Blushpell,

 

Thanks you for your reveiw. I will be sailing again on the C. Princess in late May. On my voyage last July I too did not buy one photo on board! That was a first for me. They are using the new digital cameras and some of the photographers actually "lost" passengers' photos on the formal nights. Nothing wrong with the new technology -- just who is using it. Also, for some reason Princess doesn't tend to use nice backgrounds. Considering the ship is so large and there are so many areas, they do not do it justice. Last year everything was brand new. By now they should have improved a lot. I guess we will not be buying any photos this time around either!

 

While on HAL last October, they had the same new digital cameras that the Photography staff was using and there was a big difference in quality. Some of the photographers were better than others.

 

 

MARAPRINCE

[BlushPell]

Ports of Call:

Barbados:

We went to the Boatyard. There is a shuttle service when you exit the terminal. I didn't know that the shuttle went to the Boatyard and had originally got on it to go to the shopping area. When they stopped the driver asked who was going to the beach, when I asked what beach he said the Boatyard and I stayed on. He then yelled at us that we had only paid the $2 per person to get downtown and not enough to get to the Boatyard (another $2 per person). I told him not to worry I would pay him when he stopped. When we got out I gave him the extra cash but he was rude. Cab drivers in general were rude on the island and when leaving the Boatyard we decided to walk back to the ship. There was an area where the shopping ended and the cab driver told us that we needed to take a ride from him. We politely told him we were not interested and he replied "well then I'll see you back at the ship in 30 minutes. It's far..good luck and try to be safe!" He was trying to intimidate us. There was absolutely nothing to be afraid of and we didn't even pass that many people(mostly people from the ship). I know they have to make a living but this wasn't called for.

 

The Boatyard itself had a nice beach. For $30 US (two people) we got to use a beach chair, the bar, showers and restrooms. The bar had food and we ordered a flying fish sandwich, it was excellent. There are a few vendors on the beach but if you tell them no they leave you alone. You can rent jetskis for $30 for 1/2 hour and there are plenty available. There is a trampoline and an inflatable ice berg that floats that you can climb on. The day we were there was windy and cloudy and the seas were a bit wavy so we didn't swim much. A little later in the morning the Thriller boat stopped off and brought some people onto the beach. It was pretty busy considering the weather wasn't that great. I can see the beach getting packed on a good day and it is a lot of fun. Some people have expressed that they thought it was a party beach but there were people from all ages there and a good crowd.

When leaving the Boatyard, make sure that guys have their shirts on. A cab driver yelled at my fiancee' (seems to be a trend with the cabbies there) to put his shirt on before he walked to downtown. The people of Barbados are dressed very well, a lot of women in skirt suits and men in collared shirts. They are very proper so don't disrespect them or they will let you know.

 

On our return to the ship past the downtown area and closer to the dock there was some more shopping. The Carribean Cigar Company is located in the Pelican Craft Shops second floor(they had a large sign on the building) and you can see the women there making cigars by hand. The prices are reasonable and everything is made right there in the shop. It is really interesting to see, stop by if you can even if you don't smoke. I'm as amazed that someone would be able to sit at the small tables they work at all day and just roll cigars. The women don't really talk much but they will show you exactly what they are doing and we even took a photo with one of them. We purchased some Calypso Rum Cakes in the cruise ship terminal. They are awesome and are made fresh in Barbados. You can have a sample(or more like 12 samples like my fiancee). I have tried the Tortuga Rum Cakes but find these much fresher and better tasting.

The dock at Barbados is really not that attractive but it is interesting. There was a large cargo ship that pulled into port while we were there and it was facinating to watch all of the huge cargo containers being unloaded. Don't be discouraged when you wake up and see a bunch of cargo containers though. There are parts of the island that are beautiful just get out and see them.

 

 

St. Lucia:

On St. Lucia we booked a tour through Cosol. I cannot tell you how much we enjoyed this tour. St. Lucia is a beautiful lush and mountainous island. It is georgeous! I wouldnt not recommend for anyone to rent a car there. The roads are VERY mountainous and at times very difficult to navigate. They drive on the left hand side of the road too which if you are not used to it can be quite confusing at an intersection. Cosol took about 12 of us in his van and he had 4 vans that day. They are air conditioned and new. The roads are so hilly that he told us that he has to replace the brakes on the vans every 3 months or so because they get worn out so fast!

 

When you begin he takes you to a banana plantation and you sample fresh bananas off of the trees. You can have as many as you want. In the Ports of Call message board you will probably come across a review that someone was hungry on this tour and wasn't given enough food. I cannot even comprehend how this statement was made. You could have had 10 bananas if you really wanted to and Cosol even put a bunch in the van in case we wanted some more. When you stop at the scenic outlooks there will be some locals trying to sell you different things. They are known to Cosol. They are not pushy. As he said "take a look and if you are interested then buy it, if not then don't let anyone try to make you think you need to buy something." a simple "no thanks" always sufficed. There are so many photo opportunties on this island. I almost ran out of battery on my camera. Take a spare battery!

 

You will sample fresh fruits(guava, coconut, sugar cane, tamarind etc) at a stop. At this stop there is a bathroom. You need to pay $1 US to use it. Some of the passengers were griping about that. I tell you...that is the cleanest bathroom I have ever been in. The woman that cleans it deserves the $1 for sure! I have paid to use bathroom in Mexico and they were filthy! The bathroom smelled beautifully and there was plenty of toilet paper, soap etc. I wished I could have had her clean the bathroom in my house! She works hard so I had no problem paying the $1.

 

There are a lot of poor people in St. Lucia. They will do the strangest things to get money somehow. There is a high unemployment rate on the island. People wash clothes in rivers. Men stand on the road with snakes to make some cash when you take your picture with them. They are very resourceful. If you treated them with respect they were nice back to you. The children of St. Lucia do not all attend school. It is expensive and the parents must pay for the school uniforms and the school itself. Many of them walk miles to get to and from school and when you see the mountainous roads that they climb you will appreciate the buses that our children take here.

 

Some of the other foods that you will taste on the tour are...cookies(similar to biscotti), Johnny Cakes and fishcakes cooked up by Big Momma at the Botanical Gardens. She is a nice woman. She also had chicken for sale and it looked good. I knew that I would make a mess and probably end up dropping the peice of chicken in the van so I opted for a second fish cake instead. I purchased some spices from her and some hot sauce. She sells banana ketchup. It is spicy and delicious. Try it!

We took a picture with Big Momma and it was a funny one. The other driver with Cosol was holding her BBQ fork while we were shooting the picture and the big joke of the day was the he "forked Big Momma" we were all laughing and joking looking at it. I even emailed it to Cosol at his request. Maybe it will end up on the website who knows...

 

There is a stop at Sulfur Springs. Boy does it stink! Its cool seeing it and hearing about the whole volcano but man it stinks! You can't even escape the smell in the van so you might as well get out and see it in all its stinky glory!

On the top of one of the mountain roads you will stop to take a picture of the Pitons. They are inspiring. It is just incredible. I was in awe. I also purchsed a nice necklace (mahogany and hematite) from a woman at the photo stop. I went out with no money and she just gave me the necklace and told me to come back to her when I was done taking pictures and stuff. So I walked back and about 5 minutes later paid her. Very laid back.

There is also snorkeling at Jalousie beach. It is wonderful. You are right at the base of one of the Pitons(not sure which one) and there is a lot of different coral that I have not seen before. The snorkeling is on the right side of the beach. There are no lounge chairs there(unless you pay $20us) to the resort. The food is also expensive from the resort and not worth the price. I was still full from my bananas, cookies and fruit so I wasn't interesting in lunch. There are some steps that you can sit of if you do not want to sit on the sand.

 

One thing, Cosol without a doubt makes the world's best rum punch! I and everyone else can attest to that! He also has beer and water available. Just ask and you can have whatever you need. You will also get to sample some freshly baked bread and cheese on the way back to the ship after snorkeling. It is a big loaf. About 2 1/2 feet long and split between two people.

 

It was an awesome tour. I took pictures with the people I met like Big Momma and Cosol. Its funny that some people only take pictures of the scenery that they see but I wanted to take pictures with the people I met as well. They are what makes the vacation memorable. You can always recall the fun you had and the goodness that you found in them. They are hysterical to talk to and will tell you so much about where they live. It's a way to find out about the island. I would recommend this tour instead of the ship's tour anyday. Everyone on the island knows Cosol and they are happy that he is helping the local economy. I would much rather give him $45US than the ship. I think the ships tour (which was shorter) was $89.

 

Our tour went from 8:30 am to 4pm. We gave him $30 extra just because the tour was so worth it. Go and Enjoy!

I will try to post more tommorow about the other ports of call and also some more of the ship and post stay in San Juan.

 

 

[jrobinso]

blushpell, thanks so much for your review. We will be on Crown in the fall for Canada/New Englad. Love hearing about the ship. By any chance did you check out the gym or spa??/ What about the thermal suite??Did you check out Vines?? Would love to hear about them if you did.

[BlushPell]

jrobinso

 

Yes I went to the gym and they had treadmills, bike and ellipticals. They had free weights and also nautilus machines. The gym was crowded sometimes. They opened quite late at 7am considering that you needed to be onshore sometimes by 8:30 and eat and get dress. I would have like if they had opened earlier that way you could work out before you went on an excursion.

 

I didnt attend any of the classes that they had because I wasn't on the ship when they were going on. It was very clean and they had plenty of towels available if you got sweaty. They had only a water fountain to drink from and I thought it would have been nice if they had other water available.

 

While I didn't go to the thermal suite I did talk to some people who did and they absolutely loved it. It was $15 a day if you just wanted to go for the day but since I wasn't on the ship much I thought it wouldn't be worth it. I was told that the other passengers paid something like $175? for two people for a week and they went a lot.

 

The spa looked nice. I didn't get any treatments but they had specials all week long. They had a ladies special that you selected three different treatments and it was about $99 bucks.

 

Whenever I went by Vines it was completely empty. I would have gone but I opted to do a wine tasting that was held in the dining room one afternoon. It was the held on the sea day at around 3pm. For $9.50 pp you tasted 6 wines. It was interesting. They set up a placemat with the wines and had cheese and crackers. You got to keep the wine glass that the dessert wine was served in. Some people left theirs behind and other passengers were snagging them up like easter eggs in a hunt! It was funny. I took the two that were on my table for myself and my fiancee but I wondered how all of these people were going to get these little fancy glasses home in mass quanity without them breaking.

 

Sorry if it sounds like I didn't get to check out all the areas of the ship but with such a port intensive cruise there really wasn't enough time to see everything. If you have any other question just ask.

 

You will love the Crown. The New England cruise in the fall will be absolutely beautiful. Do you have a balcony? It would be lovely to have to see all of the fall colors from your room. If you don't then when leaving the ports you can check out the view from the bridge. Just head straight forward on the Lido deck through the exit door and onto the top of the bridge. It is quite a view!

[jckvpa0]

Nice review, thank-you!

[jrobinso]

Thanks Blushpell, That was some info I was looking for. You're right, 7am is a bit late to open the gym ( I'm there by 4:30a most mornings, but that's another story!). I'll be sure and bring my own water.Crown does have a wrap around promenade deck, correct??If they gym isn't open we may do laps there insted. Yes, we do have a balcony, I'm not sure how much we'll be able to see from it, but it should be nice. Thanks again.

[BlushPell]

Antigua:

This was my big "40" so we decided to book Eli's Eco Tour and have a great day on Antigua as a special day. They picked us up at the dock right outside the cruiseship. There were 5 boats on Antigua that day. I would suggest that if there are a lot of boats that you book a private tour if you can. The boats that had the excursions from the ships were crowded. We only had about 25 people on our boat and plenty of room to move around and take lots of pictures. There are large starfish that you can see on the bottom of the ocean while the boat is stopped. Turtles sometimes make an appearance too. There was one but I missed it he was too quick to dive back down. During this time the crew give you a little history about all the animals and the ecosystems of the island.

 

The first hour or so we did a scenic boat ride to the other side of the island. The water is an unbelievable color! I will post a picture at the end so you can see it. During the ride you are given passion fruit juice or tamarind juice. They said that the Tamarind tastes like iced tea but I thought it was gross. The passionfruit juice is really good similar to pineapple.

 

They take you through the mangrove area of Antigua. It is very similar to the mangroves that I have kayaked in Key Largo. The boat goes slowly along the shore and you can see a couple of stingrays.

The boat takes you to Bird Island. There are a lot of other excursions boats that come to this island but Eli's take you to a different part so the beach is a little less crowded. There is not good snorkeling off of the beach. A ways off of the beach is a coral reef. Eli's brings you back to the coral reef at the end of the tour and the snorkeling is really nice. Lots of different corals to be seen. Not too many fish where I was but some said that they saw a lot a bit further away from the boat.

 

Hiking up to Bird Island is fantastic. Be sure to wear rubber soled shoes that are safe for climbing. It is not a difficult climb but there are areas that are slippery because of sand on the rocks and some of the rocks are quite sharp. Once up top the views are incredible. You can see the Atlantic on one side and the Caribbean on the other. The cliffs on the Atlantic side are really steep and the water is rougher. There also is a local snake. Antigua does not have snakes. Mainly because of the mongoose that live there. However, Bird Island does have one species but I didn't have the good fortune of seeing one.

 

Once back down from the climb you can swim and relax on the beach some. They give snorkeling lessons to anyone who does not know how. There isn't anything to see but the water is shallow and good to practice in.

 

Afterwards they serve lunch on the boat. BBQ chicken, salad and pasta salad. More juices are available with soda also. For dessert they have banana bread too.

 

Then it is off to Hell's Gate. This is the only excursion on Antigua that will take to you Hell's Gate. It is a little involved to get there. The water is shallow and there are very sharp coral reefs and rocks that they have to navigate around. Once at Hell's Gate you have several options that you can choose from. You can stay on the boat(which if it is wavy and you are not a good swimmer might be a good idea unless you take a life preserver). There is a small strip of sand that you can swim to at the entrance to the gate and rest in the water. The other option is to hike through a cave and to the top of Hell's Gate and walk across. I chose to just stay on the beach because my fiancee hurt his back on the cruise and could not climb very well. He didn't want to fall climbing as the rocks and coral are extremely sharp! One slip and you could seriously get cut. The crew will give you water shoes to climb if you didn't bring shoes that have a strap or closed toes so you don't get hurt.

 

Afterwards, you return to the coral reef off of Bird Island for snorkeling and it was really nice. I was getting tired from the hiking and swimming so I didn't venture too far from the boat. It was a bit windy that day so the current was pretty strong and I didn't want to drift off and have to swim too far back.

 

Then about a 45 minute ride back to the ship. It was a great day. They will answer an questions that you have about any of the wildlife and are very well knowledged. It is a relaxing day and fun. Be sure to bring lots of sunscreen even though there are lots of areas that are shaded the glare off of the water will still get you burned if you don't have any on.

It is a nice tour and I would recommend it. I saw the other boat that Eli has also. It is a speedboat. This is not like that it is a relaxing boat ride and suitable for all ages.

 

Well, here is the pic of the water it is incredible! Enjoy! I will try to post some more photos soon. Just haven't had the time yet.....:)

[PhilsGirl]

BlushPell,

Great review! My DH and I were sitting behind you in the van during the Cosol tour ;) . Loved the rum punch!

[BlushPell]

Philsgirl

 

Wasn't that punch to die for! The best! And your husband's comment about the movie "Airplane" was hysterical!:D It was a great day!

[gsmith]

Great review! You must have been on the Cosol tour with us last week. It was the highlight of our trip. The Crown is gorgeous, and I have to agree that the food in the dining room was the best on the ship. We (6 of us) had early traditional dining and completely fell in love with our waitstaff. A wonderful cruise...we'd do it again in a heartbeat!

[barbface1]

does anyone know when the crown repositions?

[crusdiva]

does anyone know when the crown repositions?

October 20, 2007:: Departs Brooklyn, 3 days at sea, St. Thomas, Antigua, St Kitts and into San Juan.;)

[Luckyroot]

October 20, 2007:: Departs Brooklyn, 3 days at sea, St. Thomas, Antigua, St Kitts and into San Juan.;)

 

And we have QUITE the roll call going, please join us!! :D

 

Roll Call: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=425490

[BlushPell]

St. Maarten

 

This is the only day that we booked and excursion through the ship, the 12-Meter Challenge. This is the one that you actually get to race one of the America's cup yacht boats. It was pretty hot that day and no wind. I mean NO wind. Not exactly what you want when you are trying to race a sailboat.

 

Well, we met at the pier and stopped off for a quick bathroom break. The excursion is 3+ hours long and there are no bathrooms on board. Actually there pretty much isn't too much room on board. So go before you get on. After the break we chose teams for each boat and a team captain. Our team was on True North IV. Our captain was a lovely woman from Britain I believe. She gave a great speech for moral and I wish I could remember it, it was great!

 

We were each assigned a different job on the boat. You can pick what level of activity you want from none to very active. I chose very active. My fiancee and I were primary grinders. This means that you and two others stand in the front of the boat and crank the life away out of these cranks when the crew tells you to. It actually tightens the sail for when they are tacking back and forth. The one good thing about not having too much wind is that you don't have to crank too fast....it still is fast though. I think that if it was windy I wouldn't have been able to keep up with the 3 other guys doing the grinding. Each person of the 12 and 3 crew members has their own station. It is really different. I talked with a few that had been on previous races. They had said that the last time it was really windy and they were so busy that they did not have time to look around. Well......this time they did.

 

It was quite hysterical actually to watch everyone trying to get just even a small gust of wind to move. All three boats actually drifted past the finish line. It was a drift to the finish!! We drifted in second place about a foot behind the boat Stars and Stripes. I would love to do this excursion again when it is windy it would be awesome. It was still good though don't get me wrong we enjoyed just the experience of seeing what actually goes into racing one of the boats.

 

Afterwards they usually sail you back into the port and the next group gets on to race. We didn't even have enough wind to et back to port so they had to send a tender to get us and we took that back in. I think they cancelled the afternoon races. Once back in port you stop off at their store to purchase T-shirts, caps and you can even get a photo of the boat with everyone on it. We purchased two t-shirts. Also, when you book the excursion again in the future and wear the T-shirt from the last race you get a new one for free.

 

They served rum punch at the store. On the boat you can get beer, soda and water. The only problem is that you would not want to drink too much, remember....no bathroom.

We then went back to the ship to change. It was so hot on the water with no wind that we were drenched in sweat and needed to cool down before we walked around shopping.

 

Once we had some lunch in the dining room(jalepeno poppers and a cuban sandwich..very good) we made our way to the water taxi to go shopping. The water taxi is $5 per person round trip. There are some stores near the boat but they are not the greatest. Also, I was on the lookout for Larimar. There is a woman that sells it on a little table at the shops near the boat. I found it to be poor quality Larimar. Wait and purchase it in St. Thomas there are much better selections there. I didn't see too much of it St. Maarten but I could have missed it too.

 

The downtown shopping area is really neat. There are little places to stop and have a drink and cool off. I actually liked the shopping better in St. Maarten for the feel of the area. It was more relaxing than St. Thomas. We purchased a Swatch(I collect them) and a couple of T-shirts for the kids back home. There were a lot of stores with anything that you could imagine you wanted. I think that the liquor prices were good but since I had so much on the boat already I didn't need any more.

 

Except for........the Guavaberry Rum. There is a store that sells guavaberry products. They had honey and BBQ sauce and they made Guavaberry Pina Coladas. They were good. It's funny I tasted the rum by itself and honestly it reminded me of Robitussin cough syrup *yuck*. but when you made it into the drink it was good. I bought a little gift pack with the rum, BBQ sauce and honey which I carried onto the ship(they didn't take it). This surprised me. I really didn't even mind it they did since it was for home anyway but I just walked right through.

We also purchased some Crocs for my fiancee since his feet were killing him. They were at a little surf shop near the ferry and were $30.

 

We took the water taxi back to the ship and just chilled out. This was formal night. We had every intention of going. We had even told one of the waiters in the Anytime Dining (Edward from Portugal..I am portuguese too) that we would dine with him. After a long hot day and our feet killing we just decided to hit the buffet. It was good, it was the seafood buffet I believe. They had some pretty good things and some ok. The buffet is not terrible by any means. It is good food, I think the problems lies when you mix too many different types of things together. What I would do is just take a little bit from each item and then pick one thing I like the best and eat a little more of that. I never really ate a full plate full. The desserts were the only thing that I had a hard time finding anything I liked. I would grab 2 or 3 and only take one bite of each. They had no taste!

 

The other thing that I found had no taste was the pizza. The crust was fabulous but I actually added salt to it! I have never put salt on pizza in my life! If only the taste was as good as the crust. I didn't try the burgers(they looked good) and they had knockwurst and bratwurst that smelled so awesome everytime I passed it to go to my room. I was just too full all the time to get one..

 

All in all it was a good day. I wished though that I had more time to make it to Orient Beach or see more of the island. The only problem with water excursions is you really don't get a feel for the island itself. Maybe next time.....

[barbface1]

October 20, 2007:: Departs Brooklyn, 3 days at sea, St. Thomas, Antigua, St Kitts and into San Juan.;)

 

 

i meant the one before that...the one that brings the ship up to brooklyn....

 

i am going ton the may 21 sailing from brooklyn and just eagerly awaiting the ship coming up here

[Perki]

LOVE LOVE LOVE your review! I leave in 2 weeks so this is so great you are giving wonderful insight! Looking forward to the last part of your review. Thankyou!

[BlushPell]

St. Thomas/Water Island

 

We arrived at St. Thomas on Friday. We had to clear immigration in the morning. The US citizens had a different line than the citizens that were not from the US. There were no lines during this process. You just grabbed the letter that was delivered to your stateroom and your passport and go to the determined meeting spot. Our was in one of the clubs. The only thing that I will say is that when you arrive in St. Thomas at 7am do not plan on catching any ferries and the such right away.

 

Originally we had planned to catch a water taxi over the Water Island/Honeymoon Beach at 8am, unfortunately though our meeting time was from 8:00 to 8:30. It goes by decks and each deck had a different time. Some of the decks even went until about 9:30 in the morning. I wish they had started earlier than that but we just changed our plans.

The process took all of 30 seconds. They look at your passport and you and make sure you are not a stow away I guess.

 

After this we went to the dining room for breakfast and it was crowded. I had never seen the dining room even 1/3 full when I went other mornings but this time it was really packed. It took a little longer than usual and our waiter was apologizing for the wait. We told him not to worry that we didn't have to rush and to take his time.

We then made our way onto the dock. When you go through customs be sure to bring your landing card with you. It is a little green(at least ours was) card that you need to show on your way out to prove that you cleared immigration.

 

The dock at Crown Bay is new and will be nice when stores are opened..however not much was. Nothing really peaked our interest. Before getting a taxi we walked over to the Crown Bay Marina to check the times that the ferry left for Water Island. We decided to take the water taxi at noon, and made our way back to the taxi area.

 

There are two areas to catch taxis. The first was inside the gates and the cabs were filling up fast. The other is outside of the gates and the strange thing is that even though you might save a few bucks on the initial cab ride away from the dock the taxis would sit there until they were full. We saw the same people waiting in a taxi when we made our way to the marina and on the way back just sitting there like little animals waiting to be taken to market. We quickly decided that it was not worth our time to wait in a taxi in a parking lot that our time was short enough already and what was a few bucks. We quickly caught a cab in the gated area near the cruise terminal for $4 per person one way to downtown. When the cabs pull away from the dock they will stop shortly after they start to collect fares, this is because they cannot park downtown long enough and will get a ticket. The driver had said a few things over a little intercom but noone could really understand him.

 

Our way towards town was not very scenic. In fact I think out of all the islands that this was our least favorite. It is very commercialized and not very clean. Once downtown there are tons of stores. I cannot tell you how many. It is like a maze. Interesting indeed. I went into a few and bought some Larimar from a nice woman who had some quality peices. I didn't barter because it wasn't that type of place. Then we went into another store and bartered for a ring and earrings in Larimar.

 

We walked around and I ended up buying a pair of crocs..my feet were killing me. They were higher priced than at home and even were cheaper in St. Maarten. Some things just aren't worth buying here. We saw some sneaker stores but all the styles looked really old and not interesting. We shopped for some T-shirts but didn't find any that we needed. One thing I will say about the Caribbean is that they do not have a large selection of XX-Large t-shirts. When they show you the ones they have they are hideous. As long as you can fit in small through large you are all set. Some x-larges were hard to find(in fact in Antigua we didn't find any they were all sold out).

 

 

There was another store with Larimar that I wish I had seen in the beginning. They had nice peices. I couldn't tell you where because I was so disoriented with where I was that even if I had to find it again I couldn't. I didn't end up buying anything else because at that point I had spent enough and my fiancee told me "in your case they should call it LariMORE!!". That was my signal that I had gone to the limit.

 

 

We took another cab back to the dock for $4pp/ow and then made our way over to Tickles. It is a bar/restaurant that is on the pier in the Crown Bay Marina near the water taxi. We had some nachos, conch fritters and split a Mahi Mahi sandwich. It was good food. We had a couple of drinks and then bought a baseball cap.

 

Noontime quickly came and we made our way onto the water taxi. There were people who obviously lived on Water Island and were bringing their groceries onboard to bring back home. One family was trying to fix up their house but couldn't take a gallon of paint on with them. They did take ceiling fans and all kinds of house supplies though. One older man was there and he had some groceries. We started to talk to him and he told us how he has lived on Water Island for years. He had a bunch of dogs and cats. Originally he was a veterinarian from Indiana for cattle.

 

Once we docked on Water Island(only a 10 min ride) we helped him carry his groceries to his truck. He offered to give us a ride to the beach but we decided to walk and see some of the island. It is a cute little place and VERY laid back. When you land at the ferry dock they have a library. What it is is they have a bunch of shelves with old books and that is where the locals come to get some books. My fiancee asked the Doc for his address on Water Island and is going to send him some mystery novels.

 

 

Walking from the ferry to the beach is not very long but I will say that if you cannot walk up hills to well then this may not be the place that you want to go. There is one medium incline hill going from the dock upwards and then one good sized downhill(which on the return is UPHILL) towards the beach. It is not undoable for anyone who can walk well. There are no taxis, no vendors, no stores, pretty much NOTHING. There is a deli somewhere on the island that just openend and there is a woman who sells some burgers and drinks on the beach. Sometimes the beach has the woman with food, sometimes it has a bar and sometimes the rest rooms are opened. Like the Doc said "you are on island time now"....which means that if someone doesn't feel like opening well...they just don't have to..no rules.

 

Doc also told us that there is no fresh water on the island(a lot of the island including St. Thomas do not have fresh water.) He had sisterns in his yard that held water. It was hard he said digging through the rock to get down to build them. Life on Water Island is kind of rustic. People go into St. Thomas for gas, food, water and anything else they need. Water Island is really secluded and that is how the people on the island like it. Honeymoon Beach is really quaint and nice. Actually the man who built it just recently died. The Government leased the property owners of the island the land that there houses were built on until just recently.

 

Unfortunately the weather was lousy that day. There are some picnic tables with little straw umbrellas and we hovered under it while it rained off and on. The beach was very restful and we snorkled a little but there wasn't much to see at all. During the afternoon a party boat(from somewhere?) drops people off and they come on to the beach. The total number of people that were there probably wasn't over 50 or so. The total population of the island is only 80 people. It's a nice rest away from all the hustle and bustle of the tourist areas.

 

On the return we decided to take the 2:15 ferry back. The weather wasn't great and we couldn't lay out in the sun or walk around in the rain. We made our way up the hill towards the ferry dock. Well.....2:15 came and went. Apparently the ferry driver had something that he had to do at 2:15 so he didn't take off until almost 2:45. (A local woman called her friend at Tickles and they gave her the update) well....we were sweating it out a little that we wouldn't make it back to the ship and were thinking that we would have to spend the night with Doc and all his animals but the ferry finally came. We then went back to the ship.

 

It was a nice day. Would I go back to Water Island? Probably if the weather was good. Would I go back to St. Thomas? Maybe. It was an ok island, not our favorite. Actually our favorite was Puerto Rico which I will write about in the next segment. The thing I found about St. Thomas was that it didn't really have charm. It was built up and the stores were nice but it was very hustle and bustle kind of place. I would go if you haven't been...you have to just to see all the jewelry. Water Island is a nice alternative if you have been to St. Thomas a bunch of times and just need a break. As far as the shopping at the dock I think once it is done then it will be really pleasant.

 

Here are a couple photos from Honeymoon Beach on Water Island. The first is looking down at Honeymoon Beach from the top of the hill and the second is looking from Water Island to St. Thomas.