crown princess review - December 15th

[WILLVINO]

This was only our 3rd cruise. We did one with Princess, One with Holland America and this one again with Princess. I have appreciated all of the information all of you have provided on this board. It is very informative. I read this board all of the time and answer what I can although as you can see we are not very experienced cruisers.

Embarkation

We flew in from Tampa to San Juan in the early hours. We arrived around 11 am and after getting our luggage and a bit of rearranging of some luggage etc got a taxi to the Pier. It was probably close to 11:45. It was $24. They charge a flat fee then a per bag charge for anything in the trunk.

We arrived at the port in about 15 minutes or so and were surprised by the line which was way out and probably about a block long. It was not moving at all. It took about 30 minutes to get moving and then another 30 minutes to get inside the building. I had bottle water which was good as the sun was hot. There were several vendors selling cold water for $1,00 and hats as well as other trinkets. Once inside the building we found the line for Emerald Deck and it took another 1 ½ hours before we finally got to the cabin. Unfortunately the lady that was directing the people to the customer service reps went some place and didn’t do a good job of getting our line moving. It was very frustrating to see people from other lines get through and we sat there for a long time. Finally got to check in which only took 3 minutes as I had all of the paperwork in order and all that was needed was our cards and a credit card imprint. Then off to security. Stopped at the liquor store and bought some Bailys put it in our carry on and went to security. Got in line and all of the sudden the line stopped moving. One of the machines had broken, of course the one that we were in. There was another machine for handicapped and priority guests which was opened right behind us but not for us to move into it. So we sat there while we watched more people get through the line as we waited. Finally got the machine going so we were through. Went to our cabin at about 2:30.

Cabin

We had E731 on Emerald deck, which is at the very back starboard side. It has the longer balcony which was nice however it was noisy each time we arrived and left port and sometimes while at sea. We have stayed in a cabin forward, middle and now in the back. Our favorite was forward although it can be windy and middle was nice too.

We would not book this cabin again. We could not hear anything from Club Fusion except one early evening we could barely hear a trumpet but nothing that bothered us.

We also didn’t have very good neighbors. They seemed to be a very nice family with two beautiful little girls probably 7 and 9 years old. We chatted over the balcony a couple of times and thought they were very nice. Unfortunately every night I was woken up at around 1 or 2 in the morning as they would run down the hall and scream or knock on their doors or other people’s doors. It was very disruptive. In addition to that we saw that one morning our privacy sign along with many others had been taken out and put in their mailbox. It was very upsetting.

The bathroom was nice with a bathtub but not as nice as the mini suite on Holland American which had 2 sinks and both a bathtub and huge shower.

The balcony was very nice and big but not as big as the balcony on the mini-suite on Holland.

We arrived to find the bags outside our room. Our room steward eventually stopped by and introduced himself. I asked him for a full lounge chair for the balcony. I had done this on our first Princess Cruise when we had a balcony room on Baja (so a much smaller balcony) and it was not a problem. The supervisor came over and did it and explained that he could only give me one because there wasn’t enough room etc which was just fine as it was for me to lounge during the day. This time our room steward (George) told me that he would check but that they didn’t like to do this. I said that it would be appreciated and I appreciate him asking for me. I also asked for bathrobes which were not in our room he said ‘maybe tomorrow’ which surprised me. It was the next day in the late afternoon that we got robes. I asked about the lounge chair and again – he would do his best but he was not sure. Of course nothing was ever said again until on Thursday he said that he did his best but there was no way to do it. We have always left extra for our room steward and this was the first time that we did not. We had a joke as to ‘where is George’ since we always saw all of the others out on the hall working and George just simply had his cart there but no where to be found. He never cleaned the balcony at all (our other two cruises we have taken would always wipe the railing down and clean up the chairs etc). Our balcony was actually dirty in my opinion and I didn’t say anything as I think it is his job to clean it and to notice those things plus I don’t like complaining if it is not a big deal and this was not. I can handle a bit of salt water on the railing, a sticky chair and table and a few coffee stains here and there. I did wipe the chairs a couple of times as it seemed like it had old bird droppings and were sticky from the salt water.

Food

Food was really good. The crab legs were fine, the seafood buffet on the day of embarkation was good as well but nothing special. The pizza was good although my husband didn’t really like it. One night they had hot seafood on the buffet and the fried shrimp were awesome.

The Crown grill was really good and it is a nice experience and worth the money. We ended up ordering an expensive bottle of wine and even though it was a really good deal we regretted it later as it made the dinner expensive. We really love wine and I asked for some larger glasses and got the small chardonnay glasses. In my opinion if you are going to sell expensive wine you should have the hardware to go with it and they seemed lacking on that area.

The service was excellent there as well although it appeared a bit confusing. We had a waiter, then we had a different one then we had a different helper. So it was very confusing when it came time to tip we just left it. I felt silly as I had read this on this board and I remembered that I made the same mistake on a previous Princess Cruise at Sabatinis. There is no place to put a tip when you sign and I didn’t have any cash with me nor did my husband so he ran up to the room while I waited to get cash so that we could leave the tip. I just wish that they would include a place for this but no big deal.

We loved the international café and would get sandwiches for snacks in the afternoon. Their mozzarella and tomato and their chicken sandwiches were excellent. We did buy a coffee card and would buy coffee here and there. It turned out to be a good deal overall.

Ports

The first day was at sea. The ocean seemed a bit rough although they said only 5 – 7 feet swells. I felt a little queasy but it went away. I did go to the gym and attended a spinning class – very nice and a great workout. The gym was full and the spinning class you have to sign up in advance. I had signed up but was on the alternate list. There were a couple of people that didn’t show up because they were sea sick. The gym is at the front of the ship so you could really feel things. The workout area is state of the art and was very pleasant and plenty of room.

Barbados – We went diving in Barbados. I had arranged this on my own and had a shuttle waiting to pick us up. We love Barbados as it is special to us. We were married there 13 years ago and had not been back so it was nice to see the island (what little we saw) again. We booked our dive with DivePro Barbados. This is an excellent operation. As I said there was a shuttle waiting for us. We had a couple other stops and then to the dive shop. We got our gear and were on the boat. They took care of everything for us and it was wonderful. They have a nice boat and we had a total of 8 people and two dive masters so it was great personal service. I had requested the Stavronikita as our dive and that is where we went. WOW, let me tell you this is a very impressive wreck and it was a perfect dive. It is intact and there is plenty to see. Visibility was excellent and like I said the dive was excellent. We had Russell and Shantal as our dive guides and they were very knowledgeable and very nice. Met a nice German couple who did not speak a lot of English and we had a great time trying to communicate. We had one other person from our Cruise that joined us as well. The dives were less than $100 for 2 tanks so very reasonable.

St. Lucia – We walked around and went to lunch at a little café overlooking the water. The place was nice and food was good and cheap but the service was comical. We sat down and didn’t even order our first beer until 20 minutes later, we ordered some appetizers and our beers still had not arrived, my husband smoked half of his cigar waiting for our beers, finally I asked the hostess about it and she brought them, then we waited and no appetizers again I asked the hostess and she brought them. We ordered another two beers and finally got them overall it took about 2 hours for 2 beers and a couple of appetizers. I don’t mind island time but at least get some beer on the table.. I felt sorry for the waiter in our area as it was obvious he was not quick on his feet and he had messed up quite a few orders from those around us.

Walking from the pier to town is a little bit of a walk but very safe and good to get exercise. We did take a water taxi back as they would drop us off right on the pier. It was $2 a person one way.

The pier itself has tons of shops and not bad on their prices. The market in town is nice and there are spices, coffee, and the usual sun dresses, trinkets etc. All ok on prices.

We were back on the ship and waited to leave. As we were leaving we noticed a lady out on the pier. We thought maybe they were part of another ship which was there but all of the sudden it became obvious that she had missed the boat. Shortly after that we saw her husband running to the pier and then we knew that they really had missed it. We had binoculars so kept looking at them discussing things with the security guards on the pier. Eventually the pilot boat got back to the pier and after what seemed to be negotiations, the couple was on the boat and they eventually caught up to us. We had to stop and restart while they got on board. My husband were speculating how much they had to pay and whether the cruise ship would charge them anything for having to stop and restart the engines.. Does anyone know?

We are always back in plenty of time and if we book an excursion on our own we book something that will be back in plenty of time.

Antigua – It is a very pretty island and seemed very safe. We walked around all over. Did a little bit of shopping and visited an old church which was really interesting. I had signed up for the 5K walk on the ship to benefit breast cancer so we had to return to the ship in time for me to do this.

Tortola – We booked the dive with Princess. It was expensive but worth every penny. We dove the RMS Rhone. We dove with “South Caribbean Divers” they did an excellent job. First we walked from the pier to the Marina which was just a few blocks. It was all a group and everything was well planned. I think there were about 16 of us plus 4 students with the dive instructor from Princess. They split us up into groups of 6, 6, and 4. We were fortunate to go with the group of 4 so we had lots of personal attention. The water was calm and very clear. The Boat Captain was very interesting and knew a lot of the history of the Rhone so we got to hear lots of things about it. The dive briefing was excellent. There were a couple of swim throughs and they were actually fun and a first for me. My husband is so much better at diving and he of course loved it. The dive boat was great and spacious. The equipment was nice and well maintained. They had everything set up for us. We just had to find our spot and wait till we arrived at the site. The dive crew was very competent we were teamed up with a dive master called Mike. He was fairly new to Tortola but very safety conscious and very good. He really knew his stuff. All of them on the boat were excellent and we were very satisfied with the dive operation.

St. Thomas – We took a taxi to town, walked around a bit and had a little lunch. It was very nice overall. We were going to go to St. John but by the time we got around to all of that it was getting late and didn’t want to risk missing the boat. We also had to pack that night as it was our last evening so we went back to the pier and stopped at a little grocery store in the Marina. The store was very impressive and had a great collection of wine. My husband and I love wine so it was neat to see so many different labels. Prices were not the best but they seemed to be kept in good shape. They also had a nice deli.

Disembarkation

We were given an 8:15 time so we went to Club Fusion and waited until our color was called. Went to get our bags (what a mess – porters everywhere people running to get bags etc.. ) then we looked and looked and finally found only one bag. After a while someone told us that there was an area that if the tags had fallen then it would be there. My husband went over and sure enough he found it.

Gave our form to customs and went through without an issue. We had purchased transfers although there were plenty of cabs. We got on the bus and were on our way and to the airport within a few minutes.

The American line was huge and the kiosk and baggage tag was very disorganized. I felt sorry for people that didn’t understand or where older and were not sure what to do next. There was an agent walking around and trying to help people here and there but still a bit confusing. It seems like they have been updating that airport forever and it is still under construction in many areas. Security line was a bit long and they were taking a bit of time to get people through.

Overall a good cruise.

[dforeigner]

Thank you for taking time to write a review.

[emerald777]

Thanks for the review!! Glad you had a good time!! You mentioned 2 things that I wasn't aware of - You can go to the liquor store after checking in?? I've sailed out of the Pan Am pier, but never Pier 4.... and the other thing is the tipping in the specialty resturant, we will be sure to have some cash on us! If not for your review it never would have dawned on me that we would need cash! Thanks!!!!

[Tak8]

I enjoyed reading your review. I was on the Crown the following week. I thought The Crown Grille was an excellent place. I liked it more than Sabatini's which was also very good.

[makeyourself]

Thank you so very much for taking the time to do that. I'm going to make sure I do that when I get home from my trip on the crown feb 9

[Sierra Fox]

Thank you for the review, we are doing this same intinerary next month and I wondered if you could remember which two nights were your formal nights?

 

I've been trying to get that information from the board but there seems to be confusion between the two different intineraries. We would like to eat at the Crown Grill and have been told to make reservations right away when we board. Did you find it necessary to do this or were you able to wait to decide which night you wanted to go? We'd like to go on Caribbean menu night but again, have not been able to pin down which night the Caribbean menu is served in the main dining rooms.

 

I'm sorry to hear about your problem with children running up and down the halls in the middle of the night. This is a big issue for me. If I'm not going to be getting any sleep then you can believe that nobody in the ships security staff will be sleeping either until they handle the situation. - SF

[makeyourself]

not sure if you had said you did traditional dining or anytime but,

 

I'm also having the same confusion between the two different itineraries, one being set 1 which is apparently ours- san juan, barbados, etc etc

then set 2 involving st. kitts, bonaire and stuff.

There may be some differences, so any info on what night had what theme etc.

I have completely narrowed down that the formal nights for at least my sailing (feb 9th) is the first day at sea (Second night) and then that thursday (valentines day)

But I also want to pick a night to go to crown grill, but don't want to miss stuff.

This was sent to me by someone on the set 2 itinerary including st. kitts and bonaire, is this the same as the set 1 that you guys were on?

 

appreciate it!

 

night 1- sailaway

night 2- formal (captain's welcome dinner)

night 3- carribean

night 4- Italian

night 5- Chef's Dinner

night 6- Formal (Captain's Gala)

night 7- landfall (or as some people want to call it, land ho!)

 

was that similar to what you had? any changes?

[Sierra Fox]

not sure if you had said you did traditional dining or anytime but,

 

I'm also having the same confusion between the two different itineraries, one being set 1 which is apparently ours- san juan, barbados, etc etc

then set 2 involving st. kitts, bonaire and stuff.

There may be some differences, so any info on what night had what theme etc.

I have completely narrowed down that the formal nights for at least my sailing (feb 9th) is the first day at sea (Second night) and then that thursday (valentines day)

But I also want to pick a night to go to crown grill, but don't want to miss stuff.

This was sent to me by someone on the set 2 itinerary including st. kitts and bonaire, is this the same as the set 1 that you guys were on?

 

appreciate it!

 

night 1- sailaway

night 2- formal (captain's welcome dinner)

night 3- carribean

night 4- Italian

night 5- Chef's Dinner

night 6- Formal (Captain's Gala)

night 7- landfall (or as some people want to call it, land ho!)

 

was that similar to what you had? any changes?

 

Thank you weathergirl! I just posted on another thread asking you to list this information when you get back from your Feb. 9th cruise because I've been having a heck of a time pinning it down.

 

I feel your excitement. I'm off work today and can't focus on anything other than cruise details. :D - SF

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the review. :)

[CINCY40]

Where did you dock in St Thomas? The last couple times we have been on HAL/Princess they docked at Crown Bay and we could not find a decent place to buy wine. Although there was a liquor store there was not much in the way of good wine. By any chance did your ship down at Havensight? We know there is(or was) a wonderful little gourmet grocery there with good wine.

 

Enjoyed your review very much. Thanks.

 

Nancy

[Host CJSKIDS]

not sure if you had said you did traditional dining or anytime but,

 

I'm also having the same confusion between the two different itineraries, one being set 1 which is apparently ours- san juan, barbados, etc etc

then set 2 involving st. kitts, bonaire and stuff.

There may be some differences, so any info on what night had what theme etc.

I have completely narrowed down that the formal nights for at least my sailing (feb 9th) is the first day at sea (Second night) and then that thursday (valentines day)

But I also want to pick a night to go to crown grill, but don't want to miss stuff.

This was sent to me by someone on the set 2 itinerary including st. kitts and bonaire, is this the same as the set 1 that you guys were on?

 

appreciate it!

 

night 1- sailaway

night 2- formal (captain's welcome dinner)

night 3- carribean

night 4- Italian

night 5- Chef's Dinner

night 6- Formal (Captain's Gala)

night 7- landfall (or as some people want to call it, land ho!)

 

was that similar to what you had? any changes?

 

I'm not sure how accurate this is as the 1st Formal night is not on night 2 (St. Thomas) on this itinerary but is on Night 3 (St. Kitts). I have the patters right in front of me and I'll try and find the ones from the itinerary that you're going on as we've been on that as well.

[cruisinbuddy]

Glad to hear everything went well, except for embarkation though. We're doing this cruise in a few weeks and really can't wait. We're hoping to do the Chef's table, if not, then the Crown grill but sitting at the counter. Do you happen to know what night the Chef's Tables was? Thanks.

[parisbully]

I too have been trying to get the list of dinners on the Barbados, St. Lucia, Tortola, etc. itinerary. Would really like to know which night is Caribbean. There have been lots of responses for the other (Bonaire, etc) but not the above. Would really appreciate it.

[CruisinCoach]

Willvino, two questions for you:

 

I too am planning on doing the Rhone dive in March. What was the water temp like and was a wetsuit needed? Can you rent a shorty from the dive op?

 

You say you flew American? I thought they offered the express disembarkation, where for $15 they check your bags and give you your boarding passes before leaving the ship. Did they not offer this?

 

Thanks

[Host CJSKIDS]

Willvino, two questions for you:

 

I too am planning on doing the Rhone dive in March. What was the water temp like and was a wetsuit needed? Can you rent a shorty from the dive op?

 

You say you flew American? I thought they offered the express disembarkation, where for $15 they check your bags and give you your boarding passes before leaving the ship. Did they not offer this?

 

Thanks

 

American does participate in the bag program on the Crown. It's not express disembarkation however, you get off like you would before. You have to find your bags, go through customs and then you hand your bags over at a truck. You will get your boarding passes on the ship however so this will save you time at the airport

[CruisinCoach]

American does participate in the bag program on the Crown. It's not express disembarkation however, you get off like you would before. You have to find your bags, go through customs and then you hand your bags over at a truck. You will get your boarding passes on the ship however so this will save you time at the airport

 

Thanks Carolyn. Do you know what the program is called? That should at least save a little bit of headache at the airport. Is it $15 or $20?

[CrusinAgain]

Thanks for the review and I do hope George is not there when we cruise her in April as we are a few rooms away from you. We already went on an unpleasant cruise with NCL and was looking forward to go back to Princess to recoup from the other one. Hopefully his contact was almost up.

[WILLVINO]

CRUISINCOACH,

 

Sorry I have not responded until now just got really busy and no time to check the boards.

 

On your question about the Rhone - it is a great dive and the opearation is top notch. You will love it. Yes there are shorty wetsuits available but I think you need to let the cruise ship know right away that you need one and there is an extra cost for it. I always wear a full 5/7 but I do that even in the summer - My husband never wears a suit in the caribbean just a t shirt and shorts. He thought it was really warm. I have to say that the water temp was 80 so I think you would be just fine with a shorty.

 

hope that helps.

 

Yes there is an 'express disembarkation' where they check in your luggage with American but I didn't try it. I am pretty sure that the cost was $15 per person and that does not include the transfer which is an additional $15 per person. One thing is that if you are over weight on your bag they will just charge you the cost to your credit card rather than being able to shift things around. Since we take scuba stuff with us we sometimes are close to the limit so I like to pack my own bags and shift things if we need to.

 

As far as the other questions of formal nights. We did the itinerary with Tortola, barbados, antigua, st. lucia and St. Thomas so no St. kitts. The formal nights were the day at sea and Tortola. We made reservations at the Crown on our first day and we went on the first formal night so we didn't have a problem getting in but that may not be the case on other nights.

 

I don't remember which nights were caribbean etc but I will dig out my patters and post something tomorrow.

[WILLVINO]

oh as far as George he was fine just nothing special and don't expect anything extra or too much more than just hte basics..