Travelthoman

On 9/25/2022 at 6:20 AM, skynight said:

To the poster. Have spent months on board the Crown. The Crown is not a Royal Class ship. It is an older, 2006, Grand Class ship with approx. 3,100 passengers, and an entirely different deck plan from the Royal Class ships. I am assuming by game room you are thinking about cards or some other game. I am also assuming that you and a few friends (3 others) are getting together to play some cards and not setting up large games with many tables. If you are trying to set up large games then you will have to speak with the CD once on board. The Crown and all other Grand and Royal Class ships do not have a dedicated card room.  On the Crown many locations are used by those wishing to play cards.

Many times a section of the Crown Grill is set aside during certain hours of the day for cards and other games. Watch the Patter for details.

A large, wide, long table in the library on deck 7 port side just behind the Wheelhouse Bar. I have seen puzzles set up on this table.

The Conference Center forward on deck 6 when not in use. Might be locked. 

Adagio Lounge, deck 16 aft starboard side, coffee tables only. Bar closed during the day.

Skywalker's Nightclub deck 18 all the way aft. Low tables only, Great views. May have a smoking area.

Tables around both the Calypso and Neptune's Reef pools on the Lido deck. Many of these tables are used for buffet or grill and pizza dining. Busy area, nice views, food & drink close by.

Tables in the Wheelhouse Bar. Many hours it is filled with activities such as uke instruction, trivia, spa lectures, knitters circle, veterans get togethers, etc.  Both high bar tables and coffee tables.

Tables in Explorer's Lounge. Usually day time activities such as trivia. The forward right hand section is usually not occupied for these activities, but you will hear them.

Club Fusion, deck 7 aft. Many activities such as, trivia, Zumba, hula, bingo, line & ballroom dancing. Tables all the way in the back usually empty, but you will hear the activity.

Chairs along the windows just outside Explorer's Lounge. Low table in between. In the walkway.

There are no hosted games, such as hosted bridge, on Princess ships.

Where people gather to play games varies cruise to cruise. You can never tell in advance where people will wind up.

The deck plans on the Princess site will show all these areas. Go to Princess.com, then On Board our Ships then select deck plans and your ship. 

thanks.   Looks like Adagio is the best bet to play mahjong.   Is there a site or somewhere you may know to go and post that I will be on board and would like to play.   Otherwise, I have left a note in the library on the table with my info if anyone is interested.    

I hope I am doing this right on this site, as I am not an expert.....but here is our dilemma     We booked a Hawaii cruise out of San Pedro for Feb on The Crown, after being told by a destination manager on the Royal, they had a Library and Game room on board.  So we booked and I then researched that ship and it is in the same class as the Royal.   We did not want the bigger ships, and in fact it now looks like they do not have a game room.   Anyone been on the Crown?   Let me know your thoughts.

Thanks

We are doing a 17 day trip to Vietnam and Cambodia next March. I noticed online that we can get an "e-visa" from Cambodia, rather than drive all the way to Long Beach to get it. Has anyone done this and is it easier? They want us to send our original passports if not, and we are not going to do that. Thanks for any input.

The Peking duck dinner is very good. They show how it is carved and the duck was excellent. I would not miss it myself, so decide what you want.

We are taking a Viking next March to Vietnam and Cambodia. We can get a visa for Cambodia easily here on the west coast, but does anyone know the real skinny with the Vietnam Visa. I have heard you can get them when you arrive Hanoi, or do you "have" to send your passports to Washington DC embassy. I hate to do that....

Thanks .... you gave us a lot of options. We are still thinking to keep the moving parts to a minimum, and just do the ferry. We just wanted to visit Positano for a few hours, have lunch and come back. Probably take the earlier ferry back to Capri.....

Wow, that is all great information. We have been to Naples many times on cruises so we have seen everything many times, except Positano specifically. that is why we would like to spend a few hours there. We have been to Capri many times too, so your option of the ferry both ways, sounds the best. Our only concern is always if there is a delay or a canceled ferry, we are screwed getting back. we may take an earlier ferry than 3:40 because of that, otherwise, we could check with them first and just bank on them all being on time. Sounds like you all have been there many times as well, and your information is so invaluable. thanks again so much. We are getting there on Oct 4th, our anniversary, so it should be fun.

Thanks so much for that info. We were concerned that we would not have enough time in port to take the public ferry and/or bus to make sure we got back to the ship by 7pm. We were looking for the most "efficient" but not the most costly way. Maybe Positano is better to visit when we are on a ground tour with a car. What do you think.

Will be in port and want to visit Positano. Ship will be in port from 7 to 7 so we should have enough time. Is the ferry the best way, or just take a taxi?

We have a Royal cruise now out of Brisbane this January to Cairns, to see the Great Barrier Reef. We looked further and see that we can get a cruise on Royal out of Sydney that does the same itinerary except it has one day in Cairns and one day in Port Douglas next door. We want to see to the reef mostly, so does anyone have any idea of the best way to do this....out of Brisbane or Sydney. Also, any suggestions on shore excursions companies that will give us a good value for our money. Thanks.:)

Thanks to Bruin Steve....I too am in So Cal and a Bruin! I appreciate your input on the August timing to visit on this Imperial Jewel trip. I agree with you that the heat and humidity is a challenge for us as well, but it is a brief time. The fact that we are now retired....makes it easy to go anytime, but the value the end of August presents, makes sense. Thanks again for your input.

Just a thought and wanted to see if anyone else has a suggestion. We have booked a Sept 2 trip on Viking in 2015, and just got their new book of trips. It shows that on Aug 25, it is significantly lower in price. I know the best time to travel there is April-May and Sept-Oct, but for one week difference, I was wondering if anyone has experienced that trip in late August. I would not think that a week would make a difference as it will still be warm in early Sept, but maybe I am wrong. Are the crowds and heat magically gone on Sept 1st?

Thanks to several of you who have responded to my first question around cruising in China on the Viking Emerald. We are going to commit to 2015 and because we have not taken a river cruise ship before, are there any advantages to where your room is on this ship? The lowest fare is less then others and I was wondering if there is real benefit for getting A or B? It is obvious on the large cruise ships we have been on but am not familiar with these river boats. We are very excited about this Imperial Jewel tour.

Hi

This is my first post and am still unfamiliar with this system and logistics. I will have to keep studying it. I hope I am doing this correctly, but will learn, I am sure. We are looking at booking a cruise/tour to China in 2015, and looking at this Viking one in September. Said best times are April-May and Sept-Oct. We have decided on them over Uniworld at this point. Also looking at the Vantage World Travel trips that use the Century river cruises. Any thoughts from you seasoned travelers would be appreciated. :)