Crown Princess Repositioning Review! Day by day...

[bickee]

Ok back from a trip to Connecticut...on with the review.

 

Antigua:

 

Based on great reviews from this board we decided to take Eli's Eco Trip with Adventure Antigua. We were to meet the boat on the pier at 9:50 so we headed down to the International Cafe around 9:15 for a little donut/muffin action. Good stuff.

 

Walked right off the ship and found the boat, easy as pie. Were greeted by Chris and two other Antiguan fellows (their names escape me!) who took our shoes and offered us cups of water. Now I won't go into too much detail about the ports (I'll do that on the port board itself) but it was a great day. These guys were fun, friendly, hospitible, and knew their island! Had a nice boat tour, stopped at Bird Island for a small hike to the top (not bad, but a little challenging in flip flops), time for a swim, ate a WONDEFUL lunch on the boat of BBQ chicken, pasta salad, salad, plantains, and banana bread for dessert. Fresh fruit juice and soda as well. These guys were great. Then off to hells gate where I swam to the rock formation and climbed to the top. Very challenging and the waters were pretty rough that day. Some snorkled here. Off to our main snorkeling point which I skipped (not a huge fish touching me fan) and it started to POUR! Kind of crazy cause my hubby was in the water and you couldn't even see him! Luckily Chris was out there with everyone keeping a look out. Few cups of Rum "punch" (no punch to be found in mine!). Back to the ship. I will say that they don't warn you as to how challenging some of these swims/climbs are and some did not have the easiest time with it. I think you should be prewarned a bit more. Also some poor Royal Caribbean folks literally got back to the ship at 4:30...the last minute they were supposed to show up. That was a bit scary for them. Luckily we weren't leaving til 6 so plenty of time. I'd be a bit wary of that though. All in all a great trip, tipped 20 bucks extra over the total and was well worth it. Stopped at a tiny bar (shack) for a Carib and back to the ship we went.

 

Hubby wanted to stop at the IC for a coffee so while he did I watched the end of the Scott Brothers in the Atrium. I don't know how to explain these guys but they did this strange, robot type dance, it was crazy and amazing! I told hubby that we HAD to come back tomorrow and see the whole thing.

 

Back up to the room for a quick shower, predrink on the balcony watching sailaway before formal night. Had to get to dinner early to make World Series game 2, again in Skywalkers. Headed off to Michaelangelo again since we had a better experience there the previous night. Hmm now what did I have...I believe it was the salmon from the "always available" menu. I love salmon and it didn't disappoint. No clue what hubby had and I am blanking on dessert. All I know is it was all great! Food has not disappointed me one bit this trip. Service on the other hand...eh. Still seem overworked!

 

Headed to Skywalkers after mixing some drinks in the room. After a few innings I just HAD to leave and do something else, as much as I adore the Sox I was getting stressed out from the game! I went off to watch the Juggler/comedian guy. Now I don't know if anyone else felt this way...but I thought he was HILARIOUS!!! Off color humor, over some people's heads probably. I cracked up. I wish I had seen the early show and then gone back to see the later show! Really funny.

 

Back up to Skywalkers to watch the end of the WIN! Hooray, annoying yankee fan came back and was quieted again! :D Stopped at Horizon Court for no reason and got some chips and guac. I will say this ship did have the most disappointing late night food options. I normally don't care because we typically eat late, but with the early dinners I was always searching for something late night and not left with tons of options. Just an observation on my part.

 

Then it's off to bed for our LAST port and final day on the ship! I'm already depressed!

[bickee]

St Kitts, last cruise day before San Juan:

 

Today we had planned to take the water taxi from the port over to South Frigate Bay, a strip of beach bars/shacks to "lime" with the locals. Woke up to the ship making lots of movement and noise thanks to rough waters and being at the complete aft of the ship. This began from the moment we docked to when we left. Noel was definitely on it's way, skys were grey but bright, water was wavy and rough. I headed up to Horizon Court for lox and bagel action and hubby just stopped at IC for his usual coffee and pastries. We met there around 10:30, no rush to get off the ship today. It seemed lots of folks decided to stay on the ship due to the not so great weather. I figured it didn't require sun to drink and eat on a beach!

 

At around 10:45 we headed off the ship. Took a quick stroll around the port area, a few shops, rum tasting, etc. One thing that bugged me were the number of locals toting monkeys that you could have your picture taken with. I don't really know that they treat the monkeys properly (although I have no proof of this, just a big hearted animal lover) so I don't support this. Kind of made me a little sad. Anyway, I digress. We signed up at the water taxi stand, easy as pie, and they brought us to the speedboat. Not a huge boat, and with the rough waves it was QUITE a ride!!! About 20 minutes later we pulled up to the beach. Truly just a line of shacks with chairs set up in front for sunning! We got two chairs and sat there for a bit, reading. The water was not clear and extremely rough, we found out later most likely due to the storm coming, not typical for this island. Then we spent the rest of the day "trying" different bars. Our favorite was the Rainbow bar with friendly bartenders and GREAT food. I had fish and chips and hubby had amazing ribs. We weren't feeling any pain when we headed back to the water taxi around 3. It was the last run of the day and was 3 couples, all clearly drinking. Well let me just say that the "captain", the driver, and his local friend were also participating in some debauchery on the ride back. That's all I'll say about that here. It was an entertaining ride back to say the least!!!

 

Somehow, we made it back to the ship alive and was on around 4pm. First watched the whole Scott Brothers show that I saw part of yesterday in the Atrium. Pretty cool. Hubby and I shared gelato that we didn't need. Feeling no pain, I headed to the spa pool hot tub for a last dip. It was grey and drizzly at this point so it felt great. Chatted with CruisingfromCT and a few folks that recognized me in the hypnotist show. Then headed to the thermal suite for one last relaxation! Boohoo! Stayed there about an hour. I hate to leave this place!

 

Back to the room where hubby and I watched Charlotte's Web from bed. Trying to sober up and get some dinner energy. By now, the end of the week, our stomachs tend to be upset and we are ending our run of bad food eating. Headed to dinner around 8:30 in the Michaelangelo dining room. I had scallops which were great and hubby had Tom turkey...but we were both suffering. I had one bite of dessert and hubby had none. We were in need of serious stomach remedies! I honestly don't know how people take cruises longer then 7 days. We've always avoided it due to our feelings by the end of the cruise! Maybe if we paced ourself a little better!

 

Decided to walk the Promenade deck to help aid digestion. It helped a bit, but we were still both feeling pretty crappy, so we headed back to the room to watch The Office on tv and just have a relaxing last evening so we could enjoy San Juan the next two days. We had put our luggage out right after dinner and it was gone when we got back from our "walk". Filled out "you made a difference" cards for our steward, Igor, the bartender from Adiago, and Jovi, our waiter from the UBD. Did not tip extra for ANY dining room servers for obvious reasons, and we typically do. I'll talk more about my thoughts on dining at the end of this review. Filled out the survey and left extra comments about the change in sports viewing on the ship. Then went to bed early so we would have a nice disembarkation.

[spingal]

I honestly don't know how people take cruises longer then 7 days. We've always avoided it due to our feelings by the end of the cruise! Maybe if we paced ourself a little better!

 

It is tough and you definitely have to pace yourself!! I also like to indulge when I am on vacation. I just returned from the 15 night Hawaii cruise and by the last few days, it was hard to think about going to dinner! :eek: LOL!! My family and I have a name for it........

 

THE LOVE BLOAT!!!

[spingal]

P.S. Have loved reading your review!!!

[bickee]

Disembarkation/San Juan:

 

Was forced to wake up early to disembark. So sad! We were schedule for a 10:15 meeting in the Michaelangelo dining room to leave the ship so headed to the dining room around 8:20 to try and milk it to the last final minutes. Had the corn flake french toast which was GREAT. Missed my last lox breakfast though. Tryed to make it last as long as we could, then headed to IC to have more coffee/tea and wait for 10:15. I people watched while hubby read. It was clear that everything was delayed and eventually they made an announcement blaming customs in San Juan. Headed to the dining room at 10:15 to find the earlier folks still sitting there. I have no problem with their being a delay, my problem is with the lack of information and updates. I kept peeking outside, feeling like we were missing something. At 11:30 people started coming into the dining room for their "back to back" meeting. One couple sat with us and were surprised when hearing that we were still waiting to get off the ship. Apparently they were told by the pursers desk to head over at the scheduled time because everyone was off the ship! Um, noooo. Finally we were called around noon. The San Juan pier seemed like pure madness. Tons of people trying to squeeze out one tiny door entrance with tons of luggage. It was a mess. I feel bad for those embarking that day. Luckily we could spot the Sheraton simply a minute away from the pier!

 

Light rain, not a big deal. Dragged our luggage/liquor from St Thomas over to the Sheraton. Couldn't check in yet but dropped our stuff off with concierge. Chatted with a couple waiting to head over to the Crown for the cruise leaving that day. Tried to (gently) persuade them to wait on heading over due to the delays and madness. Don't think it worked. Hope they didn't wait too long in line!

 

Decided to walk around town a bit. We're not big sightseers so just checked out a few streets and looked for a place for lunch. We were enticed by Raices a restaurant near the port. It was GREAT! Service was good, food was outstanding...had some authentic dish Mofongo? I think it was called. Plantains stuffed with fish/chicken/beef. So good! Great sangria too! I highly recommend this place.

 

Headed back to the hotel to get into our room, took an hour nap, showered. Then off to the Coach and Dooney outlets for me, Polo for hubby! I'm a purseaholic so I was in my element. Bought a great suede coach bag marked down from 358 to 179. And not a crazy, ugly, outdated style either. They had lots of neutral bags for sale at decent prices. Made leaving the cruise somewhat manageable! Walked a bit more then had a drink at a few surrounding bars. At this point it was raining fairly hard so we had a drink at El Picoteco, a tapas restaurant in El Convento where I was hoping to have dinner. Pouring at this time so they set up more tables inside. Had a sangria then sat down for dinner. Hubby and I shared 4 tapas, they were great, also had some Rioja spanish wine. Excellent. We love tapas and wine so you couldn't beat it.

 

Hopped in a cab back to the Sheraton since it was downpour by then. Dropped off our shopping purchases and headed to the hotel bar to watch game 3 of the World Series! Had great seats at the bar when suddenly...power goes out! Quite scary in a casino. Power stayed out for a while except for the casino generators. No power in the rooms either. Was able to watch the game on a screen in the casino while gambling, thank god. And of course...another win!!! That and some minor casino wins completed our night.

 

Got a taxi early the next morning, flight was at 8:45. Note, get to the airport much earlier then you might in the continental US. Flight was uneventful although a few LOUD and OBNOXIOUS puerto ricans on the flight. I suppose that's what you get on a San Juan to JFK flight. Was home by 2pm.

 

In my next and last post I'll talk about summaries of the cruise, etc.

[maryanngup]

Bickee - Where are the Coach and Dooney outlets from the Sheraton. We'll be back in PR in March for another cruise and I know DD's will want to go there. Too bad it rained the whole time you were there. At least we had some good weather at the islands we visited. I'm enjoying reading your posts.

[nicschick]

Thank you for your review. I have thoroughly enjoyed it!

[bickee]

Misc remarks about the ship and cruise:

 

While I enjoyed the Crown, it didn't come close to beating the experience I had on the Caribbean Princess. Service seemed better, more activities, EVEn with the International Cafe addition it didn't beat it. Still my all time favorite cruise. With that being said, Princess is still my favorite line so far. The food is just AMAZINGLY better then both Carnival and Royal. It shocks me when people disagree.

 

I wish I had done the Sanctuary. For those that have been saying it's empty...not the case on this cruise! It looked so relaxing. I still never did afternoon tea. Never went to Vines...probably because we brought 6 bottles of our own on the ship.

 

We got the egg crate the first day and I slept like a baby each night. The bed was a bit firm but I guess I like that. Love the duvet and bedding. No complaints about that.

 

HIGHLY recommend the corner aft balconys. So private and big.

 

My thoughts on Anytime dining...good and bad. We did LOVE sitting alone. We loved going whenever we wanted. BUT, the service suffered. Big time. We can't really decide what's more important to us, the flexibility or getting to know your waiters. I like both. I would also love to try and get a table for two in traditional which I think is basically impossible. I would definitely use Anytime for a port intensive cruise, like Europe. We were charged corkage fees on every bottle of wine which was not the case in the past, I think because our waiters knew we wouldn't add to our tip. I do feel like I missed out a bit on the cruise experience.

 

New menus seemed great to me. Those that don't "get" the small plate large plate style confuse me. Just order what you want, think of the small plates as apps and salads, large plates as dinner. Not that challenging! Food again, was awesome.

 

International Cafe rocked BUT I wish the workers actually knew how the coffee card worked. We never bought it because we could never actually find out what the heck was truly included. Loved this area though.

 

MUTS seemed out of control loud. I don't remember this on the CB. You could hear it leaking into the other pool areas. Strange.

 

Movie selections in room were WAY better then other cruise lines, so if one of you like movies this is the cruise for you. One disappointment, on the CB there were movies shown in the Princess theater (hubby loves this!) during the day. On this cruise it was the Explorers Lounge. Not really that movie theater atmosphere.

 

I had no problems with smoke at all on this ship. It was great.

 

TALK QUIETLY ON YOUR BALCONY! Be mindful of others!!!

 

The AC in our room worked great! We like it COLD to sleep and I was almost TOO cold! That's saying a lot.

 

No problems at all with the safe.

 

Brooklyn was the best embarkation port EVER! Will definitely cruise out of here. As far as San Juan...I'm hesitant to ever book a cruise out of here with all the problems I saw.

 

I think that's it! Any questions, let me know. Sorry it took so long!

 

Edited to add: We chatted with many folks on this ship and were constantly being told that Holland America was their favorite line. It was almost spooky how much it came up! We may try Holland next. All the talk of it being "retirees" and "old" now don't scare us. We realized we don't really DO anything anyway! Would rather have great service! I'll report back. I never thought I'd say this but we're also ready for a NON CRUISE vacation! Not that this cruise was bad but...I am ready for something new. We'll see if that stays true. :)

[bickee]

Bickee - Where are the Coach and Dooney outlets from the Sheraton. We'll be back in PR in March for another cruise and I know DD's will want to go there. Too bad it rained the whole time you were there. At least we had some good weather at the islands we visited. I'm enjoying reading your posts.

 

If you get a map from the concierge it's easy to find. They will point you in the right direction. Really easy, if you're facing the water keep walking right and maybe two blocks up and you'll find it. It's the nicest street with shopping. Good deals!

[spingal]

Bickee,

 

Thanks for an incredible review!! I really enjoyed reading it. :D :D

[East Coaster]

Bickee,

 

We did try the Holland line last New Years cruise and while we did have a great time, we were disappointed with the food. My DH loves seafood and it was very limited both at the buffet and in the dining room. We are back cruising with Princess for both the food and anytime dining, in fact, we leave next week on the Crown!

 

I have to say the service, though, was outstanding with Holland. Most workers even at the buffet will remember your name and greet you each time. It was amazing!

[bickee]

Yes. I always find something good on each cruise, even my least favorite on Sovereign of the Seas! I just think it's fate that 3 seperate couples told us to try Holland...and then we were docked next to the Noordam! Gods are telling us something! ;)

[Julia’s Journey’s]

Great review, thanks for sharing your experiences with us.

We love anytime dining and both last year and this year have had wonderful service - no our service at breakfast in the dining room this cruise was much to be desired and we only ate a couple of meals there due to it.

I also love the hot loungers and missed that on the Sun class ship - reading about it made me look forward to it on the Ruby, did the room with the hot loungers on the Crown have windows??

[joand452]

The thermal suite on the Crown was below the Spa and had no windows. Boo...

 

Our first cruise was on HAL. While the service was wonderful, I don't think we'll cruise on her again. Even tho we're in our mid-50's and not necessarily party-hearty people, there just wasn't much going on after dinner. We like all the entertainment options on Princess and big ships.

 

I'm hoping we won't be disappointed by Brilliance of the Seas, thinking that it's too small!

 

Thank you for your review. I've enjoyed reading it!

[bickee]

Thanks for your responses! I've thought about trying a Radiance class ship on RCI as well. I think it's more my speed as far as the RCI ships go. We may do a Celebrity in April so I'll compare all when I return!

[bettycoop]

Thanks so much for taking the trouble to post such an interesting and comprehensive review. I have really enjoyed it and am tempted to try the KP.

 

Betty

[maryanngup]

Thanks for your responses! I've thought about trying a Radiance class ship on RCI as well. I think it's more my speed as far as the RCI ships go. We may do a Celebrity in April so I'll compare all when I return!

 

We were on the Radiance about three years ago and we loved her. It was tops on our list of ships, and we've been on 18 cruises with HAL, Princess, RCI, & Celebrity. Not too big, and not too small. The waiter staff was excellent and entertainment good. Of course things change but I recommend it highly. Thanks for the shopping guide.

[cleavesteam]

Misc remarks about the ship and cruise:

 

While I enjoyed the Crown, it didn't come close to beating the experience I had on the Caribbean Princess. Service seemed better, more activities, EVEn with the International Cafe addition it didn't beat it. Still my all time favorite cruise. With that being said, Princess is still my favorite line so far. The food is just AMAZINGLY better then both Carnival and Royal. It shocks me when people disagree.

 

I wish I had done the Sanctuary. For those that have been saying it's empty...not the case on this cruise! It looked so relaxing. I still never did afternoon tea. Never went to Vines...probably because we brought 6 bottles of our own on the ship.

 

We got the egg crate the first day and I slept like a baby each night. The bed was a bit firm but I guess I like that. Love the duvet and bedding. No complaints about that.

 

HIGHLY recommend the corner aft balconys. So private and big.

 

My thoughts on Anytime dining...good and bad. We did LOVE sitting alone. We loved going whenever we wanted. BUT, the service suffered. Big time. We can't really decide what's more important to us, the flexibility or getting to know your waiters. I like both. I would also love to try and get a table for two in traditional which I think is basically impossible. I would definitely use Anytime for a port intensive cruise, like Europe. We were charged corkage fees on every bottle of wine which was not the case in the past, I think because our waiters knew we wouldn't add to our tip. I do feel like I missed out a bit on the cruise experience.

 

New menus seemed great to me. Those that don't "get" the small plate large plate style confuse me. Just order what you want, think of the small plates as apps and salads, large plates as dinner. Not that challenging! Food again, was awesome.

 

International Cafe rocked BUT I wish the workers actually knew how the coffee card worked. We never bought it because we could never actually find out what the heck was truly included. Loved this area though.

 

MUTS seemed out of control loud. I don't remember this on the CB. You could hear it leaking into the other pool areas. Strange.

 

Movie selections in room were WAY better then other cruise lines, so if one of you like movies this is the cruise for you. One disappointment, on the CB there were movies shown in the Princess theater (hubby loves this!) during the day. On this cruise it was the Explorers Lounge. Not really that movie theater atmosphere.

 

I had no problems with smoke at all on this ship. It was great.

 

TALK QUIETLY ON YOUR BALCONY! Be mindful of others!!!

 

The AC in our room worked great! We like it COLD to sleep and I was almost TOO cold! That's saying a lot.

 

No problems at all with the safe.

 

Brooklyn was the best embarkation port EVER! Will definitely cruise out of here. As far as San Juan...I'm hesitant to ever book a cruise out of here with all the problems I saw.

 

I think that's it! Any questions, let me know. Sorry it took so long!

 

Edited to add: We chatted with many folks on this ship and were constantly being told that Holland America was their favorite line. It was almost spooky how much it came up! We may try Holland next. All the talk of it being "retirees" and "old" now don't scare us. We realized we don't really DO anything anyway! Would rather have great service! I'll report back. I never thought I'd say this but we're also ready for a NON CRUISE vacation! Not that this cruise was bad but...I am ready for something new. We'll see if that stays true. :)

 

I enjoyed my cruises on HAL, but I'm really excited about my first Princess Cruise coming up. Unlike HAL, they do have cruises that go out of Puerto Rico which go to places that a HAL ship doesn't. Unless you want to do a 14 day cruise and I just don't have that kind of time.

 

After doing the Western Caribbean once and the Eastern twice on HAL, I pretty much exhausted the voyages they offer. It's too bad that they don't vary the cruises from year to year because if they did, I probably would have sailed them again.

 

Oh well, HAL's loss and Princess' gain. I hope it's as great as everyone says it is.

[bickee]

If you're like me you'll have fun on any cruise. I am just interested to see the differences!

 

Crown was great...but nothing will replace my CB experience I suppose!

[Tweets]

Great review! I'm going to be on the Crown December 1st and I can't wait:p

[jbrambach]

Hi Becky,

Great review! Except the part about the Yankee fans (Jking LOL:D ) We stayed at El Convento after the cruise, too bad we didn't run into you again but it was nice meeting you at the CC Meeting. BTW, that is really weird about the lights going out at the Sheraton, I wonder if they have some kind of electrica problem or something b/c the same thing happened to us in Nov last year. All of the lights went out and we had to change hotels.