Crown Princess Review

[renata102]

This is my review of the Crown Princess sailing I did out of Brooklyn July 2007! Hope you guys like it and tell me what you think!

 

:D Background Information: We are a 30 year old professional couple that have been cruising since we turned 22. We have cruised at least 7 times in total. We have cruised mainly as a couple (no children) but recently have incorporated our children into our cruising on occasion. We have cruised mainly Royal Caribbean and recently Princess. We are slated to cruise on Carnival December 2007.

This cruise was without our children (parents came to care for them). We had an ocean view cabin very aft (front). We cruised locally out of Brooklyn, NY which we found to be easy for us.

 

Hotel Info (if any): We did not stay in any hotel as we live in NJ near NYC.

 

Ship Info: Crown Princess was by far the grandest looking ship. It appeared very worldly and I was taken aback at it lavish decor. It was by far the largest ship we have been on and found it to be a little to large for my taste. It is a brand new ship (maybe two years old) and found it to be very modern and clean.

 

Activities: I found Crown Princess to have a great mix of things to do. More specifically, I could have tea time in the main dining room, than eat a lavish dinner in a specialty restaurant to dancing the night away in the club. Or I could eat dinner in the main dining room, gamble for a few hours and than see a comedian. Or I could catch a quick bite poolside, than hop into the hot tubs and watch MUTS (MOVIES UNDER THE STARS) while eating popcorn. Better yet I could not do anything and just lounge about. There was always something to do. I found my self relaxed.

 

Service: Service was very good. Don't expect towel arrangements. Our steward did not speak English very well and we had a hard time communicating with him. Have had better service on other ships regarding other aspects of dining, bar, staff etc.. However, I loved the child control guys that roamed the ship making sure that kids were under control. I liked that they made themselves visible to the public. Other ships they are "under cover". I like that they are visible and kids behaving themselves better. Great kids because of this (even though we did not have our own). This was our first cruise in the height of the summer and we were a little concerned because of that.

 

Shore Excursions: We love to explore, experience and snorkel.

Our first stop was Bermuda. I found this to be the best island of our 4 ports. We did the Bermuda Triangle Snorkel. We were taking by boat to a site were two ships wrecked one over the other back in the 1800s. Very interesting. Later I had planned to visit a pub for some good English food, but husband decided (last minute) to rent a scooter (Disclaimer: Most cruise lines discourage it, I don’t encourage it). So off we went to explore ALL of Bermuda from one end to the other, stopping at all the stops (Light house, Horseshoe Bay, Hamilton etc..) Saw RCCL Enchantment of the Sea in Hamilton (was on her two times) and said hello. We bought Cuban Cigars for our immediate consumption ;) and mingled with the locals as we ate in a local of the beaten path restaurant. By far the Bermudans were the friendliest people I have met. The island is clean, neat and so interesting. Would go back there in a heartbeat for a land vacation, or a Bermuda only cruise. A little on the expensive side though. The first half the day was through Princess.

 

Next stop was Puerto Rico. I really wanted to do the Jungle tour, but did the tour of Old San Juan and Barcardi Tour. The Bacardi tour was not that great. The wait to get in (on the tour) was at least an hour long. At least they give you two vouchers for a Bacardi drink or soda. They make the drinks very strong, so we made some friends while waiting and called my friends from Puerto Rico. The tour was interesting though. The tour of Old San Juan was not that exciting. However, the tour fort was interesting and we explored that area. Next time I would do the rain forest tour or something of that nature. This excursion was through Princess.

 

Next stop was St. Thomas. I was not that very impressed with the island. For some its a shoppers paradise, but it was too overbearing for me. We did a great snorkel adventure with a great company. It was the Sea Turtle Cove snorkel. We went pirate style to a sea turtle cove. We saw so many large sea turtles, fish, sting rays, and a nurse shark. On the way back we had some great "Pain Killers" drinks. WOW! They come from "aspirin strength to vicodine strength" Stay on the very lower end. The staff was very friendly. WE HAD A BLAST! WELL WORTH every penny of the excursion price through Princess. We later took a cab ride into downtown and was not impressed. Bought some minor things and quickly went back to the ship.

 

LAST BY NOT LEAST was Grand Turk Islands. I did a lot of research on this. this was our last stop and we were ready to relax. I chose a private divers resort to spend the day and relax. we stayed away from Margaritaville (it was so crowded anyway). Got to hang out with local staff, diving instructor’s, regular visitors and laid out on the beach, while hubby read a book. Took a nice long walk, drank some Turk Head Beer and was very happy. This was my second favorite port. In fact if you look at my signature icons in my regular posts on this board, you will find my feet on the chair looking out into the ocean (an ode to some Corona beer commercials).

 

Stateroom: We were the most forward (front) cabin ocean view. It was by far the worst cabin I have ever had. The water is a little rough leaving the North Atlantic and we felt and heard every wave. It sounded as if we were hitting whales every couple of minutes. I would never get a very forward cabin again (even if free).

 

Dining: As usual dining was excellent on the ship. We ate most nights in the main dining, never ate at the buffet and ate at the two different specialty restaurant (Italian and Steakhouse). The food was great in the main dining. The specialty restaurants were $20 pp and well worth the extra money as the food and the experience was in my opinion 4 star dining.

 

Children's Clubs: We did not use the Children's club this cruise, but we did check out the area and the activities for our children's age group (Under 6 yo). I would put my children in their activities ( and we are as safe as you can get as my hubby is a state trooper and I child abuse investigator).

 

Entertainment: The entertainment had the usually pool side games, bar activities, karaoke, comedians, shows, bingo, and other types of activities. My husband cruises for the above (I go more for ports as you can see from my post). I found the entertainment to be very enjoyable, funny and relaxing. We enjoyed a great deal of the above.

 

Disembarkation: For such a large ship and a small and congested port (BROOKLYN), I found it stress free. However the traffic was horrendous. My brother left early so picked us up as soon as we got off the ship. However, I heard a great deal of disgruntled passengers because the limos or taxis were very late in getting there because of the traffic. My piece of advise is to book a much later flight in the evening or the next day. Enjoy the city , there is so much to see.

 

Summary: I would recommend this ship to everyone. I think it had the best of all cruising worlds. The ports were interesting and there was plenty to do. If you have any questions you can PM me on this board.

[dforeigner]

Welcome back. Thanks for the review.

[renata102]

Thanks, I actually returned back the last week of August. just got around to writing the review today! LOL!

 

I am ready to go on another cruise. Just happy to be out there instead of home/work/life etc...

[dforeigner]

Thanks, I actually returned back the last week of August. just got around to writing the review today! LOL!

 

I am ready to go on another cruise. Just happy to be out there instead of home/work/life etc...

 

Sorry, you clearly documented the date of your cruise and I missed it. I will use the "it's past my bed time" excuse.:D

[renata102]

Sorry, you clearly documented the date of your cruise and I missed it. I will use the "it's past my bed time" excuse.:D

 

you got me too. I came back late July not late August! It is getting late and I am so excited to be going on another one!

[renata102]

I did forget to mention that I loved the steak house over the Italian specialty restaurant. I wasn't impressed with the latter

[One Eye Open]

Thank you for the follow-up review. Will be on Crown Princess next month out of Puerto Rico..first timers on Princess and visit to the Caribbean, so ship and port tip is much appreciated.

[renata102]

Thank you for the follow-up review. Will be on Crown Princess next month out of Puerto Rico..first timers on Princess and visit to the Caribbean, so ship and port tip is much appreciated.

 

This was one of my favorite ships. A tad to big for me but otherwise breath taking. So sad to see it left Brooklyn....... Enjoy her.

[slowpoke58]

Thanks for much for the review. It sounds like you had a wonderful time. We will be sailing on the Crown december 08.

 

slowpoke58

 

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