crown 8-1-07 sailing

Cruzin2paradise09 · August 20, 2007

vickie and pendi1

sorry you think my review is fishy- oh well, get over it. i don't have the time you have to come on and reply to every single persons beck-and-call. i too have a life and it is not cruisecritic.com. i have a family, a life, a job and other responsibilities. when i get on here- i do, and if not- oh well. sorry if this is your life goal, to come on here and post for everyone. i just dont have all this free time. get over it. vbmenu_register("postmenu_11290022", true);

Here was my comment:

Such a shame you didn't have a good time. Sorry for that.

Just a thought though, you could have taken the paper with your name on it out of the slot in the mailbox . . .

Also, pointing fingers without proof regarding the money situation is a bit unfair.

And finally, was there anything you enjoyed about the cruise? It really sounds as if your expectations might have been way too high. I've sailed on RCI too and you really cannot compare the ships. There are pluses and minuses everywhere. But it just sounds like you had 9-days from he** . . .

I know that I had 9-days of pure bliss!

In my 2nd post here, I was merely wondering what Vicki was wondering, here's that response:

Quote:

Originally Posted by vickie_bernie

I am always leary of very negative reviews from a first time poster. Especially when almost every point was a negative one.

. . . .

I don't know this post just sounds a little fishy being their first and only post. My opinion.

Yep and never to be seen again. Hmmmmmmmm .......:rolleyes:

Funny though, like Vicki stated, just an opinion. As for spending time here, nobody expects you to eat, drink, live, etc. cruisecritic.com, but when you post for the first time as you did and the main tone was very negative, it would have been nice to at least come back and respond to some of the questions others had.

As you admitted, your expectations were very high and things fell through for you. But it was very hard to get past all the negativity, IMHO, to see that you even had a remotely good time. Again, it's just my opinion.

fozziscooter · August 20, 2007

Thanks for the review....it's good to know the possible good and bad of a future cruise. We will be a group of 8 on the 12/08 sailing out of San Juan. Luckily nobody in our group has trouble walking so we can use the stairs if needed to get around. I have a couple of questions/concerns about this review and people's experience on the Crown and on Princess. I've been on three cruises before, two Carnival and one Royal. I've enjoyed all of them very much and have very little complaints about either line. We have decided to book Princess this time because we've heard it's a very nice line with good food, and nice ships.

Does the safe on the Crown work like other ships? You set your own code at the beginning of the cruise right? Do you think there is anyway that the room stewards could reset it? You would think that someone from the purser's office or a member of management would come to fix a safe problem right? Maybe someone has some more info about this? Also we have 4 rooms on the Caribe deck, ours is C209. The reason we had to book forward rooms is because of the availability of rooms left and we wanted to be near one another? I figured since we were sailing out of San Juan the seas are typically a lot calmer. As far as the OP she was out of New York and headed to Bermuda and then down to the Caribbean and that is probably why it felt rougher? I've heard such good reviews about the Princess food....that I am not too worried about it. Also, could anyone compare the size of the Crown Princess Casino to the RC Explorer of the Seas, Carnival Valor or Carnival Conquest Casino?????? Bigger, smaller?

Any help w/ my questions/concerns would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!:D

bunting · August 20, 2007

It was actually taken care of thankfully to the cameras located up and down the hallways

Hi Puglet, so presume your friend did report it, it was investigated and the money recovered? Hope so

SandDragon · August 20, 2007

Does the safe on the Crown work like other ships? You set your own code at the beginning of the cruise right? Do you think there is anyway that the room stewards could reset it? You would think that someone from the purser's office or a member of management would come to fix a safe problem right? Maybe someone has some more info about this?

Safes on the Crown are like a lot of hotel safes - you set the combination. If you need the combination overridden (as we did as we had a problem opening the safe mid-cruise), then the room stewards cannot do this and it requires a call to customer service and a visit from them.

Diamond Girl · August 20, 2007

Thanks for the review....it's good to know the possible good and bad of a future cruise. We will be a group of 8 on the 12/08 sailing out of San Juan. Luckily nobody in our group has trouble walking so we can use the stairs if needed to get around. I have a couple of questions/concerns about this review and people's experience on the Crown and on Princess. I've been on three cruises before, two Carnival and one Royal. I've enjoyed all of them very much and have very little complaints about either line. We have decided to book Princess this time because we've heard it's a very nice line with good food, and nice ships.
Does the safe on the Crown work like other ships? You set your own code at the beginning of the cruise right? Do you think there is anyway that the room stewards could reset it? You would think that someone from the purser's office or a member of management would come to fix a safe problem right? Maybe someone has some more info about this? Also we have 4 rooms on the Caribe deck, ours is C209. The reason we had to book forward rooms is because of the availability of rooms left and we wanted to be near one another? I figured since we were sailing out of San Juan the seas are typically a lot calmer. As far as the OP she was out of New York and headed to Bermuda and then down to the Caribbean and that is probably why it felt rougher? I've heard such good reviews about the Princess food....that I am not too worried about it. Also, could anyone compare the size of the Crown Princess Casino to the RC Explorer of the Seas, Carnival Valor or Carnival Conquest Casino?????? Bigger, smaller?

Any help w/ my questions/concerns would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!:D

I just got off the 8/10-8/19 Crown sailing. The safe is supposed to work like most other cruise lines; setting the code yourself. I don't know what the problem was, but we had constant problems with the safe. When I followed the instructions on the safe, sometimes it worked, most times it didn't. Had someone from maintenance up a few times who told me I wasn't doing it right. Go figure?? I was following their directions. I was told to leave off the last number and only use 3. Sometimes it worked, other times it didn't. I finally stopped using it. As far as room stewards resetting it, I'm not sure about that.

As far as the casino, I was very surprised to see how small it was compared to the size of the ship. Much smaller than the Explorer of the Seas.

friend of Eeyore · August 20, 2007

Puglet-

Thanks for your review - always nice to hear other's opinions.

I, too, am wondering about the $$ loss. It sounds like the culprit was found & the money recovered?? I hope so. As a fellow teacher, I know how you're counting those pennies!

The safes have been a problem since the first sailing of the Crown. When I was on her a year ago (her third sailing), we had numerous problems, including needing to get someone down to deal with it. In our case, tho, we found that there was a special person - not that the steward could override. Don't know which is correct.

It's always interesting to hear other's opinions on the same ship. On our sailing, we had wonderful service. In fact, we've referred others to the same wait staff (anytime dining), and have heard other good reviews. However, on our Grand Cruise, I talked with someone who had just sailed the Crown recently, and she had had poor service. So, it often depends on the sailing, and the people's outlooks. (For me, with no sailings before the Crown, I wouldn't know what was "bad", except what I'm used to in general with hotels & restaurants. So, for me, the excellent service was excellent. For others, the fact that we didn't get a special wine service, it might have ruined their cruise.)

I'd like to try RCI, and their famous 3-story dining rooms one time. I'm not sure if I'd like it or not. For me, right now, Princess's atmosphere and service are just fine.

(Oh BTW - just wondering about your name. First reading it, I thought "Piglet", which I have an affinity to as "friend of Eeyore". On second read, just wondering - you a fan of pug dogs? Just curious!:))

The Big Booper · August 20, 2007

.......Does the safe on the Crown work like other ships? You set your own code at the beginning of the cruise right? Do you think there is anyway that the room stewards could reset it? You would think that someone from the purser's office or a member of management would come to fix a safe problem right? Maybe someone has some more info about this? ..........
Thanks!:D

The ship's engineering and/or security department have little hand held gadgets that will let them open a locked safe. This happened to us once when the safe refused to open even after we put our code in. They will not open it unless in your presence.

rdsqrl · August 21, 2007

The ship's engineering and/or security department have little hand held gadgets that will let them open a locked safe. This happened to us once when the safe refused to open even after we put our code in. They will not open it unless in your presence.

Yes, true; I had constant problems with my safe, but being mechanically-challenged at the best of times, I'm not sure if it's my fault or the safe's. My wonderful room steward told me each time that he was not able to open it, and each time I had to wait for the security officer to come, because the officer would not open it unless I was there. They are touchy little things -- if you don't press the numbers just so, I think it messes the whole system up. On the other hand, sometimes once I'd screwed it up, after leaving it alone to sulk for a few minutes (IT was sulking, not me), I'd come back, try again, and it would work. I considered it just another form of onboard gambling: will or won't the safe open today?

CMM · August 21, 2007

Puglet did you really get bruises fromt the hot stone massage? I have this booked and wouldn't be interested if you are serious!

Any other comments about the spa would be appreciated.

Thanks for the review. I enjoy reading both the good & the bad in prepartation.

franncos · August 21, 2007

This must be a bogus review. I have never been on Princess but I have family and friends that have been on Princess and no one ever even came close to all the bad things that have happen to you. I can not evel any cruise that was this bad.

puglet · August 21, 2007

hey everyone... in answer to some of the questions-

the hot stone massage-- yes, i got bruises all over my legs.. i do tend to bruise easily, but the same thing happened to my cousin as well.. i would not cancel it tho.. it is a really nice experience and other people i met in the spa who had it didn't have any bruises at all, so you might be ok.

the safe- it is not the steward who resets it, as mentioned from someone else. a manager type person comes in and enters with his own hand- an over-ride code. which can easily get around- not to mention when the over-ride code is put in, your old password shows up.

my name is Jennifer, puglet because i absolutely love pug dogs and have one!!!

Again, as far as everyone thinking my review was so negative.. i just wanted to share my views.. I really did overall have a good time and such, but the things that did go wrong I wanted to share. There were staff who were friendly, but it was few and far between.. i mean waiters, and room stewards were always cheerful... but found others to be not so helpful and nice.. just thoughts from the group of people I was with.

I'm sure that anyone going on the crown in the upcoming months will have a great time- you will be on vacation- so that is a big thing!!!

and yes- I am 23 and I have been on 19 cruises, mostly in recent years... every time I have off from work and in the past college I would cruise (over feb break, spring break, sometimes 2 per summer) its a great type of vacation and everything is pretty much right there for you..

I'm not sure if I missed any questions- i'm trying to remember to come on and check so i can respond.. ;)

puglet · August 21, 2007