tawlaw1526

On 9/7/2023 at 2:15 AM, Torfamm said:

We were just on the Caribbean Princess for 16 nights and had no issues. 

I was on the 16 night Greenland cruise as well and I had no issues either.   I thought the ship was clean and yes showing it’s age but that did not take away from my excellent cruise.  

On 9/7/2023 at 9:30 AM, PMGS247 said:

I thought I had read an account stating that they were opening back up, dinner only, and only one of the two each night, either planks or steamers.

I was just on CB for 16 nights and both Planks and Steamers were open.   Yes, you are correct, they rotated every other night.    One night Steamers, next night Planks.   Only open for dinner.   Not a seafood lover, I ate at Planks twice and it was excellent.   

7 hours ago, Chipper Dog said:

Why cannot get an arrival time on Aug 14 cruise. I have been trying since the 60 day point now at 15 days and still not available. Has anyone else had this problem?

I am also on this same cruise and have not been able to pick boarding times either.   I am done trying and will just show up at the port.   

1 hour ago, JGmf said:

 

This.  Well said. 

 

It's fascinating to read the subset of people threatening to cancel Princess now and forever over measly increases.

I am guessing that you feel exactly how Princess was hoping….they want you to think this is MEASLY so they can keep doing it to you over and over again and hear that their loyal cruisers will never leave them.
In my opinion though, these measly increases are starting to really add up.    They raised the price of the Plus package TWICE since the restart after the pandemic.    It was briefly $40 prior to pandemic then went to $50 and now $60.   Made measly changes to Plus and created Premier for $80.   I am not sure that’s measly to some.  Also, you watch, they’ll raise these package prices again really soon.  They took away the chocolates on the pillow, stopped giving the blue tote bags, no bars of soap in cabins, started charging to have medallions shipped, no paper/pen in room and yes…these are all quite measly but were a nice standout luxury perk for low cost to Princess, changing Alfredo’s/ Gigi’s and room service, etc to paid options puts them on Carnival’s level.    I am sure I am forgetting some other measly changes but these are all starting to rapidly add up and take away from the once luxury Princess cruise.   I enjoyed the luxury feel and low volume of children on board.   I have been very loyal to Princess and have sailed them exclusively for my last 31 cruises and it’s starting to make me rethink this decision and branch out to other cruise lines again.    Princess is now very standard and competitive with all the other lines with no additional standout amenities.    This is also minor and would be no cost to Princess but I was watching YouTube videos of people boarding other cruise line ships and as you board, the welcome committee as you board was so amazing.  Cheering for you with full enthusiasm as you board.  They were showing the excitement to have you aboard.   You board a Princess cruise and there’s nothing but someone scanning your medallion.    There are so many things they could do for such low cost that would elevate our experience but instead, they are taking those things away.    I truly feel like they want us to just have a Carnival experience at the Princess price and heck, Carnival still does towel animals for their customers, where as Princess is doing NOTHING extra at all.   Of course they are doing all of the recent changes to try to bully everyone into buying a package.   They are hoping we the customer don’t do the math vs. our own personal needs and just pay the measly package price.    We should all experience other cruise lines and perhaps that would make Princess stop and rethink all these measly changes and everything they keep taking away from us.  
   

I was on the Crown for 28 days in March/April this year and she is an absolute lovely ship.    It is older and slightly outdated but the ship is very well kept.    The crew on board were some of the best crew I have ever sailed with.    With that said, I have to absolutely agree with everyone here that the mattresses are horrible.    Mine was so bad that I asked my cabin steward twice if he couple possibly get this mattress switched out for me.    You could see it was obviously very ready for the mattress graveyard but all he would/could do was flip the mattress for us.    That didn’t change a thing but hey…….I moved on with life, I was on a glorious cruise.   
 

1 minute ago, Steelers36 said:

 

What video?

 

Also, there is already an extensive thread on this forum about the incident in SF harbor.

Hummm….video appears to be deleted on the OP.    

WOW…….I heard this happened but this is the first video I’ve seen.   So unfortunate.    Glad no one was hurt.    

That’s excellent!    Was this a Sea Day or were you walking around a port?    

I was on the Crown for 28 days in March/April and ate at the Salty Dog Gastropub 3 times and it was EXCELLENT!   Very much worth the $18.    We never needed a reservation.   As others have mentioned, it’s inside Wheelhouse and has many tables.   For the $18, the portions are large and the desserts are very delicious.   I highly recommend giving it a try.   

I was on Crown for 28 days in Mar/Apr.    Yes, she is an older ship but I loved everything about the ship and let me tell you, it was by far the best crew I have ever had out of all 29 Princess Cruises I have been on.  I wouldn’t hesitate to sail on Crown again in a heartbeat.    
As for the shower, yes, it is small.   You should request your hand held wand on the App and if you don’t have it upon boarding, ask your cabin steward immediately.     A hand held wand is very important to me so I bought a $25 wand and it is now a part of my must pack items when I am cruising on an older Princess ship.   I don’t want to worry whether I’ll get one or not.   It’s important enough that I didn’t mind spending $25 on a cheap one to travel with.    My husband was able to screw off the shower head, screw on my wand and it worked perfectly.    When cruise was over, he took it off and put their shower head back on. Took all of 5 minutes and was so worth it to me.  

I was just on the Crown in March/April and I do believe there is a hook right when you walk in the cabin door if my memory serves.     I just looked through my pictures and don’t have any that shows the hook.    
 

3 hours ago, larrybritt said:

We know it’s an old ship too and concerned A little about the conditions. But our first time to Alaska and hope that just overrides the ship. As long as the cabin is ok enough to relax and get good rest I think all will be ok. Food as we all know is hit or miss depending on everyone’s opinions. Hope you guys have a great trip and look Forward to hearing about it as we go July4th

Larrybritt, you have nothing to worry about, the ship is very good.   Yes, it’s an older ship and looks outdated but she’s very clean and has an excellent crew on board.    We managed to get plenty of time to relax and we got excellent sleep.  Alaska is fabulous and you’ll have a great time seeing and doing everything Alaska aboard the Crown Princess.   

10 minutes ago, antsp said:

Bags came in about 8 years ago, not an always thing, and not to be expected 

That’s a bummer you’ve only been getting them for 8 years.   Maybe originally they were just giving them to Elite passengers.   
You never expect anything but when THEY STOP doing something they’ve done for years, it doesn’t go unnoticed as yet another cutback. 

9 minutes ago, Italy52 said:

Do you happen to have a picture of what it looks like?

I am sorry, I don’t.    I never thought to take one.   Look on Amazon or go to your local Walmart, Home Depot, etc and just buy a reasonably priced shower wand.   We are now dedicating ours to cruising on older ships.   

2 hours ago, PacnGoNow said:

Yes, absolutely. Tell them what you would like. We do that on every ship for Elite tea.

PacnGoNow, Excellent, thank you very much!  

1 hour ago, antsp said:

The chocolates going just leaves a bad image, the bag, why would you expect a bag

Princess always gave us a tote bag upon arrival and now they stopped, it’s just a sign of additional cutbacks.   These items certainly don’t make or break a cruise experience but they were very nice touches that made us feel we were cruising with a line that was a touch above the rest.    
You never expect anything but when THEY STOP doing something they’ve done for years, it doesn’t go unnoticed as yet another cutback.    

12 minutes ago, Italy52 said:

@tawlaw1526Thank you for your post and suggestion, I appreciate it very much.  When you made your initial request for the shower wand, did you do it through the app, prior to boarding?  Just wondering if it made a difference when it was ordered.  And yes, I do need it for medical reasons. The one time I wasn't able to get a hand-held shower head I had to use a cup and it took forever to wash my hair.😒

 

I heard the crew on the Crown was very good.  Glad you had a good experience as well. 

 

I guess I will find out if the buffet works for me once on board.  If not, there is always a few outdoor venues as well for food.  I will survive --- We love Alaska and won't let anything spoil our trip.

 

Yes, I requested it in the app and it wasn’t in my bathroom upon arrival so I asked cabin steward and when that wasn’t successful, I went to customer service and when that wasn’t successful we went to Walmart.    😀

We dried it out very well and packaged it back up and will be taking it with us anytime we sail on the older ships.   It took my husband two minutes to screw old one off and new one on and vice versa.    Way less time than trying to beg for it through the app, then with the cabin steward and with customer service.   
 

We both thought it was money well spent.  

14 minutes ago, suekel said:

I don't know.  I never specify anything.  But, except for tomatoes and sushi, I'll eat most anything. 

Thank you for your quick reply.   

1 hour ago, suekel said:

I do it every cruise.  Next month I'm traveling solo and will still do it.  I'm taking baggies so I can save the leftovers and put in my fridge.  

Suekel, When you call room service to order, do you get to pick what type sandwiches they bring?   I would hate to be wasteful as there are only a couple we would eat.    

Yes, I have had service twice a day on all my cruises.    The only difference I noticed is they stopped giving us the 2 chocolates on our pillow during the evening service.    I always thought it was a nice touch but Princess sees it as another way to cutback and save a buck.   

I was on the Crown last month and I saw it in the Patter.   It was in a main dining room on a sea day.  

3 minutes ago, Italy52 said:

@Coral.  We are not super fans of sailing on the Crown.  We are light eaters and prefer the buffet for food.  However, we know on the Crown that our choices will be very limited and the layout not the best.  I did see someone else's video of the Crown buffet and it looks like I will be bringing my own cereal for breakfast. 😁

 

The fixed shower heads will also be an issue for me as I am short and subject to ear infections if the water gets inside them.  Ear plugs don't work; this is why the hand-held shower heads work better for me.  I had my TA request  a hand-held shower head; will see if it is there upon our arrival.  So far, I have had a 50% success rate when I have requested one.

 

As I mentioned in a past discussion, the itinerary is the biggest draw for us as it contains lots of our favorite stops.  This might be a "one and done" on the Crown for us but we are willing to take the chance for a good itinerary.

 

Hope you are able to post and share your experiences.  Safe travels.

Italy52, I just got off the Crown on a 28 day sailing and I requested a shower wand and didn’t receive.  My cabin steward told me there weren’t anymore available.    Guest services told me the same thing so our first stop we made it to a Walmart and we bought a very cheap one around $20.    My husband replaced our shower head with the wand we bought and it was heaven.    The box was actually small and we had no problem finding room for it in our luggage coming home.    Others on my same sailing said they had absolutely no problem getting their cabin steward to replace it for them.    I wanted one for the convenience but it sounds like you need one for health reasons to protect your ears.    You may want to consider bringing a cheap one from home.    It worked great for us.    
 

Also, the buffet on our sailing was very good.   As always, some of the items were hit or miss but the variety was always very good.   I hope you find it to be a pleasant surprise.   
 

The crew on the Crown was outstanding.   It was the best crew we’ve ever had on any cruise.  

6 hours ago, larrybritt said:

Is the Promenade deck open where you can walk around the whole ship outside? Just thinking of best places for Boeing outside when scenic cruising like in Glacier Bay. It looks like even up to decks may be good viewing without having even some glass in front of you. The Sky Princess was awesome but I don’t think would be the best for Alaska for that reason.

Yes, there were many many people walking the promenade deck.   I went up one level above lido deck when we were coming into Tahiti and I was able to view out without having glass in front of me.   It was a great viewing area.    
when I did Glacier Bay, you didn’t need to walk around.   The captain faced one side of the ship towards the glacier for over 30 minutes and then turned the ship for the other side to view.   Most importantly, grab a great viewing spot and stay there, you’ll see plenty.   It’s stunning!   

I just got off of the 28 day cruise on Crown and it was wonderful.   I would agree with everyone else that commented before me, ship is older and showing some wear along with parts of the ship being outdated.   None of that are reasons to have a bad cruise.   My bed was the worst ever out of any vacation I have ever been on.   I mentioned it on every survey they sent to my room and my poor cabin steward tried hard to convince me the bed was in good working order. 😵‍💫   That would be my only complaint but I never let it slow me down.     The most important thing of all was the crew.   THE CREW WAS ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC!     I have been on over 30 Princess cruises and this crew on board were by far the best crew ever.    If you are booked on Crown, don’t regret it, go knowing you are on an older ship and embrace all the cruise has to offer.   You’ll have a fantastic time.    

14 minutes ago, Yehootu said:

Ours was a 28day 7 port cruise where it sounded like barking seals were brought aboard right after we left Hawaii. Perhaps if people who had contracted a cold or something worse had masked up in consideration of others the sickness might have not spread so much. After Hawaii we had at least 9 medical evacs in ports and at least 1 death and possibly more. As we progressed longer into the cruise, more and more were getting sick. The ship felt empty as a lot of concerned or really sick people did stay in their cabins and lay low. The medical dept was only taking people with "life threatening" cases and ran out of meds to give out. I'm glad I'm healthy and active and it only hit me 2 days from the end of the cruise. Got off Friday, was at Urgent care 2 hrs later and 2 weeks later was back flying and working out. The cough was a ***** and still lingers. I hope others did as well. Won't stop us, next 2 cruises are 25 and 40 days long. We carry are own meds and try as best as we can to stay safe and avoid the coughing crowds, almost worked. Masks are here to stay for a reason. Have fun, but if you feel at the least bit unwell, mask up and help stop the spread in a closed society at sea.

  Aloha

I was on this same cruise with you.    I agree with everything you said above.    It was awful.   I am glad you’re feeling better.  Very thankful my husband and I remained healthy throughout but there were some pretty sick people and they really should have stayed in their cabins instead of roaming around the ship