travelin.sisters

Embarkation Day~March 2 (yes it really should have been March 2 all along, so sorry) DaVinci Dinner Finally we get to the actual cruising part of the live! @gottagoacruznare you still here or have you passed out from hunger while waiting? I made dining room reservations months ago at a private table for 3 at 6:20 which had worked really well for our last couple of cruises. There was a huge line when we arrived, but the first night is always so chaotic so I was not too concerned. However when they got to us they said 'the system' put us at a shared table. I said no we needed a private table. Then they tried to get us to share a table 'just for tonight' but finally found us our own table. Our waiter, Ninoslav from Serbia, easily understood our food allergies & made sure we got food that was safe to eat. He also had some great suggestions for dishes we had never tried. Dinner was slow, as they have been on all our recent cruises. We miss the days of interacting with the junior waiter & getting to know them as well, but now the are kept so busy running for drinks form the bar that we usually only see them at the very begining for drink orders. The food was delicious. The Crown has some kind of a mixture of the new menus I have seen online, but mostly the older ones, with the Hawai'ian dishes thrown in. They do have a few up-charge entrées available, but a decent selection even without those. I am glad they are back to the basket of rolls on the table, they are one of my favorite parts of a Princess dinner. I like that the Crown serves the cold tropical soups drink style, it is strange, to me, to eat them from a bowl. For starters we had: seared garlic prawns, appetizer sized leek & ricotta cheese tart, linguini & clams Entrees were seared mahi mahi & Hawai'ian luau pork For dessert, Milky Chocolate-Hazelnut Souffle & Flourless Macadamia Nut Chocolate Cake . Since we have allergies, we got the next day menus & ordered for tomorrow’s dinner (I'll post them with tomorrow's stuff), but decided not to do MDR lunch. Next, we had to go back to the desk to try to get the same table/waitstaff for the rest of the cruise. They would not give us our table at 6:20, we could either have it at 5 or 6:40 so we settled on 6;40…will see what happens. List of my posts in this LIVE: Introduction~post 1 Pre-cruise: packing~post 10 Pre-cruise: booking & trip prep~post 29 Pre-cruise: last day stuff & weather~ post 43 Embarkation Day~March 2: good morning, looking forward to boarding~post 67 Embarkation. Day~March 2: exploring the Crown Princess~Star (19), Sky (18) & Sport (17) decks aft~post 69 Embarkation Day~March 2: exploring the Crown Princess~Sun Deck (16) with Sports & Sky Decks midship & forward~post 70 Embarkation Day~March 2: exploring the Crown Princess~Lido Deck (15)~post 75 Embarkation Day~March 2: back to the cabin~Aloha Deck (12)~post 78 Embarkation Day~March 2: the papers & the patter~post 89 Embarkation Day~March 2: DaVinci dinner~post 104

I first read this on my phone & couldn't figure out why the >>>s didn't go ^^^ to your name for martinis, now I have switched to my laptop & see that they are pointing to your profile pic which is a martini being poured... @OccasionalSanta & MrsOS will hopefully take you up on that suggestion, we will have to pass 🙂

that is basically the same...room service is supposed to do it, but they can be very slow about it so the room steward will offer to do it to make their cabins happy...we decided to wait & room service got to it on the 2nd sea day after the customer service desk called to remind them for us we did not need the hand held shower head, it is just nice & when I saw it on the Medallion app I said yes please so we didn't ask to have it changed, but if I get a chance I will ask if it is possible/available & let you kow what I find out.

good morning! I have just been reminded (by a very kind friend) that we sailed on the 2nd not the 3rd...so since CC does not believe in editing please think that all the Embarkation Day posts you have already read were for March 2nd!!!! I guess if that is the worst oops of this live we are still doing ok...they do say you lose track of time on a cruise...

no iPhone but thanks, I have been scanning with google drive, but then they were PDFs which wouldn't go to CC so I had to convert to JPeGs (sigh!) ...I'm just going to do photos from now on & be happy enough with them..,

Embarkation Day~March 3 The Papers & the Patter I will put the patter first & then all the other papers that Princess gives out on embarkation day…at least we are no longer deluged with ads & spa stuff. The scans from my phone are not as sharp as when I take them home to scan & post later but at least they are available in (almost) realtime. Day 1 Patter other papers Platinum & Elite Letters room service breakfast card List of my posts in this LIVE: Introduction~post 1 Pre-cruise: packing~post 10 Pre-cruise: booking & trip prep~post 29 Pre-cruise: last day stuff & weather~ post 43 Embarkation Day~March 3: good morning, looking forward to boarding~post 67 Embarkation Day~March 3: exploring the Crown Princess~Star (19), Sky (18) & Sport (17) decks aft~post 69 Embarkation Day~March 3: exploring the Crown Princess~Sun Deck (16) with Sports & Sky Decks midship & forward~post 70 Embarkation Day~March 3: exploring the Crown Princess~Lido Deck (15)~post 75 Embarkation Day~March 3: back to the cabin~Aloha Deck (12)~post 78 Embarkation Day~March 3: the papers & the patter~post 89

there isn't one list of all of them that I can look at, but I will be posting the Patters & you can see them as they come up...I only know the ones for the first few days so far & they are seeming to be Hawai'i/tropical themed...I have seen Gidget, South Pacific & Tora, Tora, Tora listed...if you are doing the Hawai'i itinerary they will probably be the same

I put a space before & after each photo...my first live they all ran together & I thought it was harder to figure out what was what, especially when I have a lot of photos in one post

our room steward said that room service does it & so did the CS desk...although he did say he would do it if we needed him to...I always try to not ask al lot extra of my room steward (just keep bringing me ice & I will be happy)

Embarkation Day~March 3 Back to the Cabin~Aloha Deck (12) By this time I was ready to be done exploring & decided to leave the inside public decks for another day. We like to get a mid-aft cabin because it means my people do not have to walk so far for meals & deck 12 because it makes us smile when the elevator opens & says ‘Aloha’ even if it is only referring to the name of the deck. I was happy that the Crown has the color-coded carpet with red berries for the port (even number cabins...think port wine color) & green/blue ones for the starboard (odd numbered cabins) this makes it so much easier to quickly know if you are on the correct side of the ship. We also have large door magnets & smaller ones for the wall of the alcoves so we can easily know our cabin. We were quite close to the laundry so I stopped by to take photos even though I doubt we will use it. This is our inside room, I didn't get any of our balcony before it was filled with luggage, but maybe some photos will appear later. The bathrooms & closets are pretty much the same in both &, by the way, if anyone is wondering, requesting a handheld shower in the app before sailing did not accomplish anything. The rooms are what one would expect if you have sailed on any similar class ship. They have installed the motion sensor lights in the closet & under the bedside tables, but they seem less annoying than on some ships. They sadly did not switch out the bedside lights for the ones with USB charging outlets. One other choice that I do not appreciate is that they put the large flat screen TV on the same corner shelf that the old ones sat on & a large generic art print across from the beds in the balcony. I much prefer the ships where they have hung the TV on the wall across from the bed(s) & left that shelf for storage & easy access to the additional plugs. Everything seems to work in our rooms although our refrigerator is not terribly cold. This was our first time with an elite person so we had the mini bar set up when we arrived. It had 2 gin, 2 vodka, 2 dos equis, 2 perrier, 2 tonic water, 2 sprite, 2 diet coke & 2 water. Since we had pre-ordered 12 bottles of water each, we exchanged them for 18 diet coke (when we finally reached someone on the 2nd day…crew chat wasn’t working & room service times were ridiculous...we were told that we should have gotten 4 gin but they didn’t have enough…learned in conversation at breakfast on day 3 that there were no little scotches available at all…finally got our mini-bar exchanged mid-day 3) [note: I have decided since it is taking so long to write this that it makes sense to add info that I learned later to clarify things rather than putting it on that day]. The waters we had preordered were delivered by dinner time. We also had all the usual papers (see next post for scans) by the time I got back & our many pieces of luggage. I rested a little & then started to unpack & send the items to the correct room as I had packed by what fit best where; not by who it belonged to. Got most of the bags unpacked & sorted before it was time to head to dinner. Daily weather report for those who ask what the temperatures are sailing from LA to Hawai'i (remember that LA is currently having record cold & wet weather: List of my posts in this LIVE: Introduction~post 1 Pre-cruise: packing~post 10 Pre-cruise: booking & trip prep~post 29 Pre-cruise: last day stuff & weather~ post 43 Embarkation Day~March 3: good morning, looking forward to boarding~post 67 Embarkation Day~March 3: exploring the Crown Princess~Star (19), Sky (18) & Sport (17) decks aft~post 69 Embarkation Day~March 3: exploring the Crown Princess~Sun Deck (16) with Sports & Sky Decks midship & forward~post 70 Embarkation Day~March 3: exploring the Crown Princess~Lido Deck (15)~post 75 Embarkation Day~March 3: back to the cabin~Aloha Deck (12)~post 78

getting closer to dinner...& dessert!!

Embarkation Day~March 3 Exploring the Crown Princess~Lido Deck (15) Next, everyone's favorite, the Lido Deck! Pools, bars & food; what more do you need? Exiting the forward elevators there are cabins. Moving aft & outside you will find the Mix Bar on the port side & Salty Dog Grill on the Starboard. Neptune’s Reef & Pool are the first you come to & they will not have the MUTS screen & sound. The central elevators & stairs are inside out of the wind & weather. Around the port side on the outside of this area is Coffee & Cones & Slice. In this small space they are trying to serve pizza (2 types always available & one special each day) & then in the other section are the specialty coffees & teas, soft serve, juices & the new premium desserts. This was very crowded even on the first day. The starboard side has a station for the ocean ready accessories & displays of the screens (it was not staffed on embarkation day). Aft of the central elevators is the Calypso Reef & Pool & Calypso Bar. You can watch MUTS from here. Next is the buffet. there are 2 Horizon Court sections (port & starboard) & there will be signs if only one is open. They are very compact buffet areas & unlike many ships have the desserts, breads & pastries all in this small space. There are no handwashing sinks, just sanitizer. Aft of the Horizon Court is Cafe Caribe. I think if all three are open they will be serving the same foods, but I have been on ships which serve different foods (Mexican lunch for example) in Cafe Caribe at sometimes, if I find out this is true in the Crown I will let you know. Between these three buffet areas are the aft elevators. Out the back of the buffets is the Horizon Terrace with Outriggers bar & access to the Terrace Pool on deck 14. List of my posts in this LIVE: Introduction~post 1 Pre-cruise: packing~post 10 Pre-cruise: booking & trip prep~post 29 Pre-cruise: last day stuff & weather~ post 43 Embarkation Day~March 3: good morning, looking forward to boarding~post 67 Embarkation Day~March 3: exploring the Crown Princess~Star (19), Sky (18) & Sport (17) decks aft~post 69 Embarkation Day~March 3: exploring the Crown Princess~Sun Deck (16) with Sports & Sky Decks midship & forward~post 70 Embarkation Day~March 3: exploring the Crown Princess~Lido Deck (15)~post 75

As soon as this one is over I will start planning for that one!

Thank you so much...I was wondering if it was too much detail of the decks, but I always like to get myself orientated. We are having a good time which is why I am not stressing about this still being the first day's report! Alaska is also a wonderful place to cruise...I think by the end of this cruise the Crown won't be my favorite Princess ship I've sailed, but neither will she be my least favorite...there are a lot of little things that aren't the best or are a little old (more to come) but so far not big problems like we have experienced on other older ships...there is every reason to believe you will have a very good cruise to Alaska.

they fit in t-shirts from 3-9 months & I think the dress is 3 or 6 months...they also have Chinese New Year outfits we got on the Majestic Princess & one of them came in the original Alaska outfit....most of their Hawai'ian outfits they will wear the rest of the cruise we made

Embarkation Day~March 3 Exploring the Crown Princess~Sun Deck (16) with Sports & Sky Decks Midship & Forward The sun deck is the highest one to have public space continuously from forward to aft. Exiting the aft elevators, you find Adagio bar & Sabatini's Italian Trattoria. I think this Sabatini’s is the largest one I have been in & is very nicely laid out. Moving forward to midship & outside, you find Movies Under the Stars (AKA MUTS). I was impressed by the way the upper decks are designed to have not just one level of seating above the LIdo Deck but 3 extending up into the Sports & Sky Decks (I did not go up here). There were a number of people out enjoying a concert (I think) despite the relatively chilly weather. Beyond MUTS there is a Tradewinds Bar. There is another walking path around the forward end of the Sun Deck. Taking the stairs up from the Sun Deck the Sports Deck has more lounging areas & then the Sanctuary. Up more stairs the Sky Deck has a small viewing area. Inside the forward elevator area, behind Tradewinds Bar is the spa & the exercise equipment. Hearts & Minds which is also used as a Wedding Chapel is also in this area. List of my posts in this LIVE: Introduction~post 1 Pre-cruise: packing~post 10 Pre-cruise: booking & trip prep~post 29 Pre-cruise: last day stuff & weather~ post 43 Embarkation Day~March 3: good morning, looking forward to boarding~post 67 Embarkation Day~March 3: exploring the Crown Princess~Star (19), Sky (18) & Sport (17) decks aft~post 69 Embarkation Day~March 3: exploring the Crown Princess~Sun Deck (16) with Sports & Sky Decks midship & forward~post 70

Embarkation Day~March 3 Exploring the Crown Princess~Star (19), Sky (18) & Sport (17) Decks Aft After a detour to make sure a couple I encountered got safely to their rooms & the rest of their group which had gotten separated & misdirected, I decided to start at the top & work my way down. Going all the way aft (back) I took the elevator as far as it went & ended up at Skywalker’s. The Sky Deck (18) aft has Skywalkers Nightclub, a bar with great views that is used for various groups like the Meet & Greet, throughout the cruise but otherwise can provide a nice place to get away from the crowds. The doors out the back to the stairs down were cordoned off so I wandered until I found stairs up to the Star Deck (19) I was surprised that people had already found their way to the Star Deck to enjoy the putting green, corn hole & pickleball (center) court. There was also bocce ball & a jogging track. I was glad I had done this first, as it was scary enough that high when we were not moving! From there it was down 2 flights of outdoor stairs to the Sports Deck (17) which had two small pools & loungers. This is also where the kids & teens areas are & they were doing registration by the elevators. It was not clear to me if the whole area was for the kids/teen program or not but there were adults using the area on this day. List of my posts in this LIVE: Introduction~post 1 Pre-cruise: packing~post 10 Pre-cruise: booking & trip prep~post 29 Pre-cruise: last day stuff & weather~ post 43 Embarkation Day~March 3: good morning, looking forward to boarding~post 67 Embarkation Day~March 3: exploring the Crown Princess~Star (19), Sky (18) & Sport (17) decks aft~post 69

Embarkation Day~March 3 Boarding & First Impressions Despite everything, we were on board & eating in the (not crowded) International Cafe shortly after 1pm. After getting on the ship (a much quieter entry than our last cruise on the Sapphire where we were greeted by crowds of crew welcoming us on board for her return to service cruise), we decided to go see if our rooms were available. All up & down the hall, room stewards were rushing to do last minute things, but our rooms were clean & mostly ready. The paperwork like Patters, excursion tickets & such & pre-ordered water bottles were not in the room yet, but the minibar setup was. We dropped the walkers & carryon bag out of the way & headed to find lunch etc. Even though the schedule did not say anything about MDR lunch I had thought we would look, but my people (or one of them) were just ready to be done with this so we stopped at our muster station to check in & then settled on the International Cafe for our embarkation lunch. They had a decent assortment of sandwiches but no salads & they didn't offer to heat the sandwiches. Lots of dessert choices, but not peanutbutter cookies. This early on embarkation day (shortly after 1pm) it was easy to grab one of the few tables at the International Cafe. After a quick lunch it was up one floor to guest services. The line was not too long, but really slow, however we soon enough got our turn & had our Medallions set to each unlock both doors, put all the onboard accounts on one CC (credit card not Cruise Critic 😉 which makes it easier for me to monitor them all for strange charges, and check on the pre-ordered coffee card. I was first told that the coffee card no longer existed, but when I mentioned that they had not credited it back to the account (looking at the printout he had just given me when changing the CC) he looked it up. Apparently (as of now, on the Crown) they are honoring the old coffee package if it was purchased before the changes were made. We will see when BIL tries to order one! The work done, I loaded my people on to a very crowded elevator to head back to the rooms to rest & headed out to explore the Crown. First impressions: she is a little in need of maintenance, things like railings are pretty tarnished (or rather the gold coating is chipped off), but she is clean & so far most things are working. She is one of the older ladies of the fleet, aging pretty well, but definitely aging. The crew is friendly but a little stressed & tired after the craziness of the past couple days. The central piazza areas seem smaller & tighter than I remember. One happy surprise was the Hawai'ian music playing softly throughout the ship…I don't remember music in the hallways etc. before & it is (for me) a nice addition. List of my posts in this LIVE: Introduction~post 1 Pre-cruise: packing~post 10 Pre-cruise: booking & trip prep~post 29 Pre-cruise: last day stuff & weather~ post 43 Embarkation Day~March 3: good morning, looking forward to boarding~post 63 Embarkation Day~March 3: boarding & first impressions~post 67

at least twice a day (they say they will have them sometime but not now) if you can tell me who that is...I will try to make a friend 😉

& baby brother went to lunch & 'ukulele

Ruby got to go to the meet & greet

The Captain Stanley had the first adventure, breakfast

on the Crown it is currently: Banana pudding, chocolate cake, chocolate chip cookie, creme caramel, gluten free hazelnut chocolate mousse, key lime pie verrine, traditional new york cheesecake...haven't tried ordering the chocolate cake yet (but my BIL did get someone's dessert order which had a thick chocolate pudding with chocolate chips on it...had heard on another thread that someone got a pudding when ordering chocolate cake so don't know if that is the substitute...will check in the next day or two)...so far no peanut butter cookies in the international cafe yet either

you have to keep following to find out 😜

Embarkation Day~March 3 Good Morning, Looking Forward to Boarding Didn’t sleep in late today even though embarkation was pushed back 3 hours. Checked the ship tracker to see that the Crown was about parallel to Newport Beach in nice seas (light winds/moderate waves) so 9 am arrival seemed accurate. The sea was so much calmer than the day before & even though the temperature was only a few degrees warmer, without the gale force winds it was much more comfortable. When I could see the Crown approaching the outer harbor, I decided to head out to see if I could get some pictures of her coming in & find anything out. She was moving into the harbor at a good pace & was tied up at the dock right around 8:30. I had a good chat with a couple of longshoremen who hadn't been told any more than we had. Got my pix, shared with my roll call, & headed home to finish getting ready. I figured I had 3 to 4 hours before our ride so I would write this post, catch up on some emails & then work on the projects that didn't get done yesterday… None of that happened before we got a call that our ride was on the way. They were working unloading & reloading the Crown & had a break between off loading & reloading. We took one load of luggage over to the port & the porter said they were allowing people inside the terminal (about 10:30ish) so we went back, got the rest of our people & their walkers & the giant carry-on with 'ukuleles, meds, computer etc. The line for people with wheelchairs, walkers & such is always very easy & getting the Medallions that hadn't been sent was also quick & easy (mini rabbit trail–am I the only one who wishes I could just get the Medallion without having to get another lanyard & holder that I don’t even use the first one of?). Then we were packed into a tiny, cramped corner to wait for boarding. Terminal 92 is way less spacious for passengers than 93… usually we pretty much walk/wheel on as we arrive, with maybe a short wait for a wheelchair & pusher; but both times I've left out of 92 there have been significant delays (this one because of weather delays arriving & the previous for an unexpected lengthy Coast Guard inspection). But. we were boarding earlier than the time Princess told us not to arrive before. Unlike normal, they did not take the Elite & Platinum wheelchair/walker passengers first, but it was still relatively painless at the end of a rather disorganized scattered morning. List of my posts in this LIVE: Introduction~post 1 Pre-cruise: packing~post 10 Pre-cruise: booking & trip prep~post 29 Pre-cruise: last day stuff & weather~ post 43 Embarkation Day~March 3: good morning, looking forward to boarding~post 62