Crown 7/19-29 Baltic Review -- the good, bad and really ugly

[TravelnAl]

We were on the 7/9 cruise with a party of five. We had anytime dining and went at various times with no more than a five minute wait. The "Bierfest" in Cafe Caribe was actuallly quite good. Some dishes were so-so, the bratwurst were NG but the other dishes were excellent. There was "egg to order" at the center area of the buffet, you just had to know about it. I saw it when I saw people coming back to pick up their omlette.

 

We did do to the dining room to get a gangway pass for St. Petersburg and I was upset as I thought Princess would hold us there for a long time and give their tours priority. We arrived at about 6:15AM (They said they would open at 6:30AM). They were already open and we were given group #1, and we were dispatched at 6:25AM. It was really painless and handled well; much, much better than I had expected. Kudos to Princess.

 

The only problem experienced was on returning to the shiop on the second day. Russian Immigration was slow and understaffed which resulted in the ship leaving almost one hour late, but this was beyond Princess's control and they were as upset as we were.

 

We used Alla for the ST. P tour and they were also very good, would recommend them in a heartbeat.

 

On disembarkation, we bought a transfer to the train station as we were renting a car for a tour into Germany. We had a 8:45am departure time and were at the station with our luggage before 9:30.

[Colo Cruiser]

Glad to hear the omlette station is alive and well. ;)

[4cats4me]

Note to self, "Remember to bring Port-A-Potty on next cruise.";)

[Pam in CA]

thanks for the review-who were the captain and cd on your cruise? do you know if they'll still be on in a few weeks?

 

i'm suprised about the egg station not being there at the buffet, i was on the crown twice this year and ordered my omelettes from the guys in the center without a problem...maybe it was a seperate area on the sapphire? i need my eggs :)

The Captain is Tony Draper, the CD is Billy London. I have no idea if they'll still be onboard in a few weeks. :(

 

The Captain's Circle Most Traveled party was not a luncheon as it was such a port intensive cruise but rather, they had a lovely cocktail party with hors d'oerves and anything you wanted to drink. I didn't have much time to chat directly with the Captain as our entire family group was there (my sister and BIL were the 2nd most traveled on the ship, I was a bit further down on the list but qualified so we were encouraged to bring our kids.)

 

There were pre-made omelets but I didn't see anyone asking for or getting made-to-order eggs and believe me, I home in on those like a hawk. Maybe I just should have gone up there and asked, but most mornings, it was a quick breakfast before going out on tour.

 

Lunch in the Cafe Caribe was excellent and twice, they had dim sum with spring rolls, Peking ravioli, and stir-fry (right at the counter) chicken and beef that was very tasty. Yum!

 

One thing I didn't like about the design of the Crown is that if you were having breakfast or lunch in the buffet and wanted to sit outside, you were in the MUTs pool area with the sound blasting. We had dinner in the buffet a couple of nights (too exhausted to even think of a 2-hour sit-down dinner) and MUTs was very annoying. All the tables outside were full with people trying to enjoy dinner and there were a total of seven (7) actually watching the movie. To sit outside, eat and avoid the very loud noise from MUTS, you had to walk all the way to the next pool area. I really wish they'd make MUTS on the Grand class ships the way it is on the Sea Princess with wifi headphones for everyone who wanted to watch.

[jennifers490]

i completely agree about the MUTS...

[Lynda90]

Pam, thank you so much for taking the time to share the good, bad and truly bad. The cruise itself, sounded absolutely wonderful and I thoroughly enjoyed your taking us along with you. I am so sorry you had to go through that horrible "toilet" experience. I cannot imagine how awful that must have been. I, too, would have been furious. Also, the disembarkation nightmare.

 

As others have said, please do write to Princess and let them know of what you had to encounter. It will hopefully help future cruisers.

 

Thanks again for a very informative review. :p

[BJS]

..

The Captain's Circle Most Traveled party was not a luncheon as it was such a port intensive cruise but rather, they had a lovely cocktail party with hors d'oerves and anything you wanted to drink.....

 

I was surprised to read that there was not a luncheon. We had a luncheon on our 1 sea day for the first Baltic cruise of the season in May.

 

I should have added that. It was E725. I'm on the ship next year for a British Isles tour and frankly, I'm not looking forward to being on this ship again.

We were in E723 and have E727 booked for January. I do realize that plumbing problems can occur anywhere at anytime. It is nice to know that the Captain's Circle Host will help out. Can't remember the name of the one on the Crown in May but she sure didn't leave the impression she'd help anyone until she found out we were one of the most traveled.:(

 

The Captain is Tony Draper, the CD is Billy London. I have no idea if they'll still be onboard in a few weeks.

The Captain in May was Andrew Proctor and Billy London was the CD. We had lunch with Billy and he was telling us that he lives in Denmark and was very excited about John Lawrence recommending him for the CD on the Baltic cruises so he will probably be doing the Baltic cruises all season and possibly in future years.

 

.

[Host CJSKIDS]

Pam,

 

Glad to hear that despite the horrible conditions of your bathroom you were able to have a wonderful time on your cruise.

 

We also had some issues with our toilet on the last sailing of the Crown and had to call down quite a few times to get it fixed, they must be having some issues with the system. I can't imagine going 8 days with the issue, though, that's horrible. I hope you write a nice long letter to Princess about your issues and that Princess does something really nice to make up for it.

[jonikal]

Pam - totally agree about the lack of hand sanitizers both in the dining rooms as well as Horizon Court on the Crown. Compared to other Princess ships, they do seem lax about this - in some instances we couldn't even find the bottles and had to ask for them.

 

With regard to the open egg bars found on other ships, I was told that one could special order any type of omelet, but that it would be prepared behind the counters. A pity since DH enjoys watching his omelet being made fresh in the mornings.

 

With regard to the gross part - Yes! And yes again! We experienced exactly the same problem, except in our case the cruise was for 15 days (trans-Atlantic this past May). The problem was never resolved despite the daily visit from the (useless) plumber. There was evidently some problem with the vacuum system, and from conversations with the steward as well as some passengers, this problem seems to be quite chronic aboard the Crown. I'm glad to hear that you found help through the Princess Circle rep. I hope we won't need it, but as we are on the Crown for her return to FLL in Sept/Oct '08, it will be useful info to have, just in case.:(

[coiran]

I have found that the best and fastest way to get a problem resolved is to see the CC rep as soon as possible. I have had very good luck with this.

Ron

[Colo Cruiser]

I have found that the best and fastest way to get a problem resolved is to see the CC rep as soon as possible. I have had very good luck with this.

 

Ron

 

Yes that would be prudent. :D

[Pam in CA]

Question: if you were me, to whom would you email or fax a letter?

[Pia1913]

Just another thanks from me for posting the ugly, along with the good and bad. We'll be on the Crown in a few weeks, going all the way through to Ft. Lauderdale. We've had plumbing problems occasionally on past cruises, but never ever to the extent of yours.

 

I have two questions. What is currywurst?

 

And the second question is: How many days does your sister have to have been 2nd most travelled?

 

Thanks again.

 

Pia

[Pam in CA]

I have two questions. What is currywurst?

 

And the second question is: How many days does your sister have to have been 2nd most travelled?

I didn't have it but from what I could tell, currywurst was a bratwurst with curry flavoring, i.e., a bit spicey. As for the most traveled, the #1 was 1,147 days, my sister and BIL had 287 days; I had 193 days. This was as of our previous cruises.

[Pia1913]

As for the most traveled, the #1 was 1,147 days, my sister and BIL had 287 days; I had 193 days. This was as of our previous cruises.

 

WOW! Amazing. 287 as 2nd most travelled. What a gap between #1 and #2. We've been #3 twice and hoping to some day move up to at least "Avis" status. :D

[Pam in CA]

[quote name='Pia1913']WOW! Amazing. 287 as 2nd most travelled. What a gap between #1 and #2. We've been #3 twice and hoping to some day move up to at least "Avis" status. :D[/quote]The #3 was 231 days so I'm guessing that there were a lot of new cruisers on this sailing. There were several large groups put together by TAs from other countries; there were several sign boards near the Internet Cafe for each of the groups as there must have been a travel agency rep with them.

[jennifers490]

do they tell you if you are in the top three? or do you have to go to the captain's circle rep to "register" like i've seen in the patters...i dont think i'll be close but i guess i would show up to the party if i was :)

[Pia1913]

[quote name='jennifers490']do they tell you if you are in the top three? or do you have to go to the captain's circle rep to "register" like i've seen in the patters...i dont think i'll be close but i guess i would show up to the party if i was :)[/quote]

You can check with the Circle hostess, but they definitely will let you know if there's something you have to know. :D Sometimes the Patters ask that people with more than 100 days check in and one time they asked for people with more than 300 days to check in. That tells you a lot.

Pia

[mycruz]

Sorry to say I am not surprised by your issue with the toilet. We had a similar problem on our first Princess cruise, something that should have been resovled the first time and wasn't, however not as bad as what you experienced.

You have reconfirmed for many of us that there is definitely a problem with Anytime Dining and I am hoping that Princess will rectify that as soon as possible. We have all given our two cents worth on what needs to be done, now if they will only do something. I never dreamed that it would also impact the Traditional Diners as you described as well.

Loved Gdansk and St. Petersburg, they were both cities I can honestly say I will never forget.

[mek]

Sorry you had the toilet problems. Sounds like you were much nicer than I would have been. We were on the Crown last year for a Canada NE cruise and we loved the ship, but then we didn't have any problems. Four years ago we did the Baltic itinerary on the Grand. What a wonderful experience - St Petersburg was; the trip of a lifetime for me. Lucky you to have gone there several times - how I envy you for that.

[Philip217]

Pam,

I was quite surprised to read that they had hand sanitizers out.
The CDC has instructed all cruise lines to remove the sanitizers, except during serious NLV outbreaks.

All the recent CDC studies have shown that the majority of passengers use the sanitizers INSTEAD of washing their hands. This leads to more frequent NLV outbreaks on ships.

Hope you didn't have any NLV problems.

[cdngrl]

[quote name='Philip217']Pam,

I was quite surprised to read that they had hand sanitizers out.
The CDC has instructed all cruise lines to remove the sanitizers, except during serious NLV outbreaks.

All the recent CDC studies have shown that the majority of passengers use the sanitizers INSTEAD of washing their hands. This leads to more frequent NLV outbreaks on ships.

Hope you didn't have any NLV problems.[/quote]
although i'd rather people use the sanitizers than do nothing.:rolleyes: my fear is the number of people who don't wash their hands. at least with the sanitizers they're doing something!

[Pia1913]

[quote name='cdngrl']although i'd rather people use the sanitizers than do nothing.:rolleyes: my fear is the number of people who don't wash their hands. at least with the sanitizers they're doing something![/quote]

I was at a hotel meeting yesterday and while washing my hands in the restroom watched as a woman came out of her stall and proceeded to leave w/o attempting to wash her hands. Yes, I said something. Did she go back to do it? No. There are too many people like that and according to my husband, men are the bigger culprits.

Pia

[junglejane]

Hi, Pam. Junglejane here from the 7/19/09 British Isles Roll Call. So sorry to hear about your problems on the Crown Princess! The toilet and disembarkation problems were inexcusable. For everybody's sake, please write to Princess and let them know what you experienced.

I hope we'll still get to meet you on next year's cruise.

--Junglejane

[dimidgi]

Hi Pam, Sorry I didn't get to meet you on the ship. I'm glad you enjoyed the majority of the cruise. I wish I could say the same. Because of a late arrival of our flight in Chicago, we didn't get the SAS flight to Copenhagen and had to meet the ship in Stockholm, without our luggage. We did get it when after we boarded the ship, thankfully. I considered the highlight of the trip was the St. Petersburg stop, and American Express Cruise Division had purchased a 2 day tour for us with Petrograd Tours, and this was a big mistake. We learned that American Express had cancelled their contract with Petrograd and we were one of the last if not the last tour they contracted for. We were 2 hours late the first day because the driver couldn't get to the dock because his papers weren't in order. After an hour of just standing on dock, an agent for Petrograd had us board some other guide's van and we were taken to the gate and got off and went into the little guard shack, while the agent tried to argue with the authorities to get us through the gate on foot to the waiting van, we were there almost an hour and the agent came into the shack and told us to go back outside and there was a full size bus filled with tourists and we boarded the bus and stood in the aisle and rode through the gate, and with the Russian security looking at us. We got off the bus and met the minivan waiting with out tour guide. She was a lovely girl, very intelligent but untrained at being a guide. We lost a lot of valuable time. The next day the driver drove onto the dock, and we couldn't figure how he had done that without proper papers, and we got off ok, but then we killed an hour at Catherine's palace trying to get in and not being able to because we weren't on the list of tours to get in. Finally, our tour guide said something to the gate keeper and we walked in. When asked what she said, she said, "I lied". For anyone reading this, going to St. Petersburg, be careful who you get for the private tours. We did see the Russian Ballet, through Princess and that made up for a lot of the missed time during the day. I did miss the Purell on the ship, and maybe if it was there, though I'm not so sure, I wouldn't have gotten what my doctor thinks was Salmonella. I got it the last day in Copenhagen and thankfully, didn't get slammed with it until Chicago, and was able to get back to Cincinnati, have still been running a mild fever, but I'm so glad to be home.
The Crown was a very clean ship, but there was good and bad service on it. But I'm hoping I remember the good and forget the bad. But it isn't easy.
[URL="http://www.cruisecritic.com"][IMG]https://clocks.cruisecritic.com/countdown.pl?name=Dimidgi&date=10-11-2008&image=Beach-9&text=&ship=Oosterdam[/IMG][/URL]