Crown Mini review 3/15 - 3/22

[heartofamerica]

Just got home from a great week on the crown. Here's my observations in a greatly abbreviated form

 

We flew down Friday, 3/14 and stayed in the Marriott resort - all booked thru Princess. Got in on time and Princess transfers to the hotel were great. Just put our luggage in the hallway by 9 a.m. and it was delivered to our stateroom.

 

Got to the pier around 2:00 p.m. and total check in time from getting off the bus until on the ship was less than a half hour - this included a stop at the liquor store on pier 4. For those wondering about taking alcohol on board - you can buy it at the pier and as long as it is in your carry on bags, there is no problem at all. So we bought some gin and tonic water (mixers can be carried on just in the bag from the store).

 

The ship was beautiful - we were in cabin B756 - aft balcony on the Baja deck - by the vents. Yes, the vents were loud in port - but the sound of the wake drowned it out while at sea. The air can be cold, but we blocked the openings from the vent area with snorkel equipment and it wasn't bad. Cabins were a bit smaller than I've had on HAL or RCCL, but very nice and the room attendant was very attentive.

 

We rented snorkel equipment on board - it was $25 for the entire week, which turns out to be a bargain rather than renting it at each port.

 

We had anytime dining, which I didn't care for...I much prefer the "traditional" dining, if for no other reason than the familiarity of the wait staff. But the food was nothing short of excellent - even in the buffet, where they had an impressive variety. In fact, we ended up eating in the buffet most evenings. Here's a tip for breakfast...put your toast/bagel in the "toaster" first, then go get what you want...by that time, your toast should be done.

 

The pool areas were very nice - I was impressed that they had a hot tub and pool for teens only - kind of neat for them. I participated in the water volleyball one day, but man...that water is DEEP...really hard to do, but fun. MUTS was a nice touch. We watched a couple of movies out there in the evenings.

 

Internet service was S-L-O-W. If you use Yahoo e-mail, I would pass on trying to update folks back home - it is extremely slow, and in many cases, the bandwidth on the ship prevented you from even responding to an e-mail. I wouldn't use the internet next time unless it was an emergency. For me, it would have been cheaper to use the ship to shore phone to call.

 

The ports were great - Bonaire was a delight, but almost turned into a bust. Everybody and their dog was getting off first thing in the morning. All ship tours were booked, and cabs in the morning were hard to come by. We almost gave up hope...went back to the ship and had lunch. After lunch, we had no problem getting a cab. Went to Eden Beach - total round trip for two of us was $18 - best bargain of the cruise.

 

Seas were a bit rough the last couple of days, but not that bad. We laid out on the sea day on deck 16 towards the front of the ship - not near the pool, but quiet, not too breezy, and very nice.

 

We had Princess transfers to the airport as well. This experience was FAR better than I had with RCCL - luggage is placed on the same bus that you are on, unloaded when you get to the airport, and you just grab it and go. Very well organized.

 

Overall, this was a GREAT cruise. It was my first Princess cruise - it won't be my last.

[Colo Cruiser]

Great review, thanks. :)

[CrusinAgain]

Thanks so much for the review.

 

How were the daily activities and the evening entertainment? We are going next month on the same itinerary.

[cruisinbuddy]

We were on the Crown in Feb. and had a great time too.

[Redhead75]

My husband and I loved our cruise on this ship. Our favorite excursion to date is the hike to the Seven Sister's Falls in Grenada:D

[turquoisesea]

Thanks for the great review! We leave in 5 days! :D

I didn't know about the ability to rent the snorkel equipment on board. What a great idea! Does it include the fins and the vest, too? Where did you go on board to rent it? And finally, how soon did you rent it once you were on board?

Thanks for your help!

[4cats4me]

Thanks for the great review! We leave in 5 days! :D

I didn't know about the ability to rent the snorkel equipment on board. What a great idea! Does it include the fins and the vest, too? Where did you go on board to rent it? And finally, how soon did you rent it once you were on board?

Thanks for your help!

 

 

I too had never heard of this either! It would be great if we could just

rent the snorkel vest and fins since we're bringing our own snorkel/mask.

I keep dreading having to tort snorkel fins.:(

[dforeigner]

Thanks for taking time to write a review.

[pinksand]

heartofamerica

 

Thank you for your review. We will be on the Crown 4/26. When you rented the snorkeling gear did you happen to notice if you could just rent the fins or did you have to rent the whole package?

 

Thanks

Deborah:D

[heartofamerica]

heartofamerica

 

Thank you for your review. We will be on the Crown 4/26. When you rented the snorkeling gear did you happen to notice if you could just rent the fins or did you have to rent the whole package?

 

Thanks

Deborah:D

 

I needed the whole package, but I'm sure the dive master there would be willing to work with you, but I don't think it would change the price.

[caribcruiser787]

Thanks for the review. We'll be on the Crown Princess 4/5. We also have cruised with RCCL, but are eagerly awaiting are first Princess cruise.

[InternetDiva]

Great Review! We will also be cruising on 4/26! I'm looking forward to using "The Sanctuary". Did you go there? Also, what movies were playing while you were gone??? What pier did you sail from? The Old San Juan Pier or The Pan American Pier? Haven't sailed out of San Juan since 2002 so I don't know if there are any other piers?

Kelly

[heartofamerica]

Great Review! We will also be cruising on 4/26! I'm looking forward to using "The Sanctuary". Did you go there? Also, what movies were playing while you were gone??? What pier did you sail from? The Old San Juan Pier or The Pan American Pier? Haven't sailed out of San Juan since 2002 so I don't know if there are any other piers?

Kelly

 

I didn't use the Sanctuary. They had a pretty wide variety of movies throughout the day and evening...Sorry, I can't recall all of them. We left from Pier 4, which I believe is old San Juan. Very Nice pier, very quick embarkation.

 

This was my first Princess cruise, and while I'm not a foodie, I still can't get over the selection and quality of the food on this cruise. Very, very good. It's a beautiful ship. And I notice that your week is the same itinerary that I had...you'll love the ports - especially Bonaire if you are into snorkeling or diving. A tip - ALL of the cruise line excursions for Bonaire were sold out by the first day...if one of them interests you, book it NOW. We caught a cab and had him take us to Eden Beach - beautiful beach that is a short ride away, and it was a total of $18 round trip for the both of us...best bargain on the trip.

[jennifers490]

do you remember your cruise director?

[heartofamerica]

do you remember your cruise director?

 

The Cruise director was "JJ".