jkskrap

Just spoke to a fellow worker and compared notes -- they went on a Crown cruise recently. They had the same observations and opinions on the crew. Surely this is not the norm?

Tulum Express review

Here is our review of the Tulum Express tour through RCI we did Lin 2012 (edited but still long winded).

Tulum Express

TULUM EXPRESS – Through RCI

We met in the Arcadia Theater at 9:15 am. There were a lot of us. Any person that booked a mainland excursion was here. The idea is to get us off the ship first and walk us directly to the waiting ferry. It pretty much worked well.

The ferry is run by Mexico Waterjets and is very nice. You are inside in the a/c. TIP: sit on the left side or middle (as you face the front) both ways to stay out of the hot sun. The ferry ride is only 30 minutes once you get going. We were blessed with very calm seas our whole trip, and the ride was great. You still feel the motion, though, so make sure you take your pills if you get seasick. There are good bathrooms in the back of the boat for a quick stop before you get ashore.

At the port in Playa del Carmen we got out and noticed Mexican Marines standing around with machine guns. We have seen this before but our kids hadn’t and it was a bit unsettling for them at first. You follow the group into town and look for someone with the “Tulum Express” sign. We didn’t get any instructions before we left, but I figured it out when I saw the first sign.

A guy came up to us with a lion cub in his hands – YES, a real, live lion cub – and wanted us to take a picture with it. He was obnoxious but finally went away. We felt terrible for that poor cub. He looked drugged and sad.

We all got into a line and then each family posed for the obligatory “pre-excursion photo.” The photographer was nice and she was very efficient, so it only took a second. You walk a bit more and then get on the bus. Right before you get on the bus there are young guys selling water and cokes for $1.00 each. I don’t know WHY I did it, but all of a sudden a cold Coke sounded good (I am a diet pepsi man), so I gave the kid a buck and boarded the bus. As soon as I sat down I opened the bottle and it exploded all over me! Literally 1/3 of the coke gushed out. Sticky Coke all over me. This was the only time this trip my girls said, “Dad looked really mad!” I got over it.

The bus was comfortable but the a/c was not the greatest. Don’t sit below the TV’s because you will only have one air vent instead of two. They will ask you to use these same seats on the way back.

We had 2 guides and a bus driver. Tamo was the guide who spoke to us on the bus and Philipe was the guide at Tulum. Both were very nice and seemed to be very interested in Tulum and the Mayans (especially Philipe). The problem was they really didn’t tell us much. A little history, but it could have been so much better. At the ruins themselves Philipe seemed to focus on the minutia and wasn’t too good at telling “the story.” It was very disappointing. I wonder if the other guides were any better?

It is a quick 45 minute drive to Tulum from the port, but they stop for a “restroom break” on the way. What a crock! They pulled the bus into the parking lot of this big gift shop and Tamo spends 5 or 10 minutes telling us how good all the merchandise is and how it is made by real Mayans. So much better than the stuff we will see at Tulum. On and on. He says we are only going to stay 15 minutes but I bet it was 40 minutes. It’s a nice shop, but we have so little time at the ruins that it is a complete waste IMHO. I did write this on my comment card. There are nice restrooms 15 minutes away in Tulum. My girls looked at the blankets and were quoted (by different people) $50, then $60 and finally $85. If you find something you really want, have the guide negotiate the price for you. I am sure they are all in cahoots, but they do try to get you the best deal. We spent much of the time feeding the skinny doggies Ritz crackers. I also tried the free tequila – the almond flavored one was great. Kind of scary though because they were pouring it from old soda bottles. I didn’t see it for sale.

Finally to Tulum . . .

After parking the bus, we grouped together and were told that our meeting spot was the Dairy Queen by the parking lot at 3:05 pm. You walk through a series of shops to a road that leads to the ruins. The vendors are fairly pushy, but a firm “no thank you” works. It is a pretty good walk to the ruins. Probably 10 or 15 minutes. There is a tram available, but our guides told us not to use it because you may wait 20 minutes for the tram to leave. When you get to the gate they give you tickets to have punched and then collect them again. The girls later said they wish they had been able to keep the tickets, but I didn’t think to ask for them when the tour ended. Philipe showed us a few spots at the ruins and told us a little about each. Like I said, it wasn’t the best info – but he is VERY motivated and probably has a vast amount of knowledge. He then sets us free to explore on our own.

TIP: Buy a map of the ruins and/or a guide before you go. Why didn’t I do that? There aren’t any signs, so you have no idea what you are looking at. The ruins are amazing. They are built on a cliff overlooking the water. Just imagining what it was like hundreds of years ago is so fascinating. Make sure and walk to the highest point to see the beautiful beach.

They give you small radios with ear phones to listen to the guide at Tulum. They work very well. The ruins are roped off, so no more climbing around.

All in all we had fun and the kids were glad to see the ruins. I can’t really recommend the tour, though. If they get rid of the “restroom stop” and if the guides were more informative, then YES – it would be worth every penny.

I blame myself for some of our disappointment. I should have ordered a book, map and/or guide about the ruins before the trip. If I had been prepared I could have made it much better for all of us.

We walked back to the Dairy Queen and didn’t see anyone yet so . . . we got ice cream! They give you change in Pesos, so don’t use too large of a bill. The girls working were very nice and very quick.

I saw a little store right next door and we decided to grab a few snacks. I asked how much the Corona’s were and was told $3. Not bad. I put my Corona, 2 cans of soda, 2 small bags of chips, bag of combos and a little package of cookies on the counter and was told it was $36 US. Not sure how that happened. I put the combos and bag of chips back but still ended up paying $22. Oh well!

When we got back to the bus they gave us a little snack that included a starkist tuna salad “kit,” nuts, a muffin and a Capri sun. I thought it was very nice actually. In the description of the tour it says a snack will be provided but not lunch. Can’t complain about that!

On the way back to Playa del Carmen our bus pulled over on the side of the road across the highway from or “restroom break” gift shop. We all wondered what was going on. Philipe got out with a big hammock under his arm and ran through 4 lanes of crazy traffic to the shop. He came back with a smaller hammock. We later found out someone bought a hammock that was too large and wanted to exchange it! Holy Cow!

Unfortunately Tamo didn’t speak to us on the bus on the way back. Not one word from either guide. That seemed strange. I expected him to ask us about what we saw and to answer any questions.

We got out of the bus, walked by an even more tired lion cub and got back on the ferry. It was great to not have to worry about a specific time to catch the ferry! We were pretty tired when we got back to Cozumel so we just caught a cab ($7) and went back to the ship.

Thanks much. Been away Fromm CC for a bit but am back getting ready for the next one.

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

Based on what I have read on CC, I’m not sure that our trip, being a Super Bowl cruise, was a fair representation of passenger ages. There was a wide variety of people from young to old. Very few children. A couple people I met that were on the Super Bowl getaway (we were not) mentioned they thought everyone was REALLY old (me included, I guess J), but the only other ship they had been on was Carnival, so I don’t think they had the best perspective. They weren’t being mean – just an observation. To us it seemed about the same as an RCI cruise, but less kids.

There were the usual grumpy people you see on most vacations. Years ago we started calling them, “The Bickerson’s.” Our kids used to love to point out Bickerson family members on our trips. And, yes, the Bickerson’s had family on board the Crown. None more than any other cruise, though.

The biggest difference between all of our trips on RCI and our ONE Princess cruise is the crew. RCI’s crews are much happier and friendlier. Before I get too blasted from Princess folks, remember it is just our experience from the one cruise.

Our stateroom attendant (Antonio) was excellent. Very nice and efficient. He had LOTS of rooms and he worked his butt off. The wait staff was friendly in most areas. The servers that walked around at the International Café were wonderful. A couple of the guys in the shops were nice. The ladies, not-so-much. The Horizon Court staff was for the most part friendly. A friendly face here and there amongst the crew.

It’s strange to have to think about who (in the crew) was friendly on a cruise. In the past, EVERYONE was friendly and smiling and wanted to help. On Crown, though, most of the crew we encountered did not even acknowledge us. My DW smiles and says hello to almost EVERYONE. She was the first to notice that the crew was not responding and seemed unhappy. Our last cruise on RCI was only 2 months ago, and I can tell you that if you make eye contact with any crew they will say hello and smile. They will help if help is needed. You, the guest, are the priority.

This was the first time we ever heard crew members discuss their pay and be disgruntled. We overheard crew members talking badly about other staff members. We were ignored at several bars and a couple serving lines while the crew talked amongst themselves. At other times, crew with their backs turned while we wait. Shop staff being pissed because you walked in at 8:45 when they close at 9:00. Security staff acting like they wish you would just stay off the ship when you come back on board. Frowns, frowns and more frowns. I’m telling you –these have NEVER happened to us before on a cruise. Maybe most people wouldn’t notice the difference, but to us it was like a slap in the face. :eek:

We tipped $20 cash (total for the 2 of us) at Crown Grill and Sabatini's and the server seemed very happy. We had excellent service.

thanks for the reply, but there is no way I would spend 33 dollars to drink any kind of coffee. I have never heard of such a thing. I could understand soda cards, but coffee, I guess I will try the free stuff, and if its so horrible, will have tea instead.

 

Thanks

The coffee card is great if you like lattes or espresso drinks (think starbucks). Just off Crown and my wife had lots of the iced (blended) white chocolate mocha lattes. Delicious! The card is a great value if you like that sort of thing.

And I thought the iced tea was very good!

We just did a Jeep Tour with EL Tours and it was fantastic. We did the half-day, but they also do a full day tour. We had a blast! http://www.eltoursaruba.com/

As it turned out, we only ate one night in the MDR. The rest of the time we ate in specialty restaurants, Horizon Court buffet or room service.

Our one time in the MDR was good. Comparable to RCI. It was the first night and we had the prime rib which was surprisingly very good! The shrimp cocktail was kind of “fishy” but all in all a good meal.

We thought the buffet was better than RCI’s Windjammer (at least the last couple of cruises). Good food that always seemed fresh. Great selection. No complaints at all! (the eggs benedict in the morning are delicious)

Room service is pretty limited. In the morning, the only hot item is an EggMcMuffin-like sandwich. It’s actually not bad, but the quality varied over the week. Some mornings it looked like it had sat for quite a while. The pastries, croissants and buns were pretty basic, but good. We learned to be very specific on the pre-order form that you hang out on your door the night before. If you mark “one” strawberry jams, etc., you get very little. Up it to 3 or 4 and you get a nice portion. For dinner, it is mostly sandwiches, but we thought they were decent. The ham and cheese monte-christo-like sandwich was my favorite. The burger is darn good, too.

Crown Grill ($25 up-charge each) was good. Nothing bad, but my filet was surprisingly "just OK." I ordered it medium and it had no pink. I tried to add some of the salts to get some flavor, but it was still "just OK." I also had lobster tails. Small, but plentiful. My wife's filet was dry. The sides are delicious and the appetizers great. The onion soup is delicious. Our waiter was very good.

Sabatini's ($25 up-charge each) was outstanding! We had looked at the menu and decided there really wasn't anything that looked remotely interesting to us, but we heard how good it was from several people and decided to give it a try. Wow. It's a VERY long, slow meal (they say 2 hours but we were there 2.5 hours) so be prepared for that. I was pretty antsy by the end. You are all the way in the back of the ship so there is quite a bit of vibration when at sea. The food is absolutely delicious. I had surf and turf (not exactly on the menu, but easily ordered) and the steak was far superior to any I have had at sea. The lobster tail was huge compared to Crown Grill. My DW had the chicken and enjoyed it. They bring a pasta course to you in between appetizers and your main course, and it was great and would have been a super MAIN course. (We had a red sauce instead of the clam sauce. Just ask) All in all a terrific meal. Very friendly and efficient staff.

We did the English Pub Lunch and it was delicious. Great fish & chips. The afternoon tea is also fun. They swarm around you with pastries and cakes and then finally hit you with the scones. Very tasty and not to be missed.

The International Café has sandwiches and sweets. It is open 24 hours but the selection changes, so at 11:15 am you may see a case full of sandwiches and salads, but they won’t give you any until 11:30. The donuts in the morning are good!

You will not go hungry, for sure. I think the desserts on Princess are much better than RCI. Don’t miss the cake buffet on the last sea day!

Drinks . . . I know people complain about the coffee, but I thought it was drinkable and just fine. The International Café coffee is excellent. The coffee card is a great value! My DW had many blended-ice lattes that she thought were delicious. (White/Milk Chocolate Mocha was her favorite).

I had read that Princess’ mixed drinks were cheaper than RCI’sbut if they are, it is by pennies. A rum and coke, with automatic gratuity, is about $6.50. The BIG difference I found in the drinks was how weak the drinks are on Princess! If you order a specialty drink with supposedly 4 different rums and it is weak, you have to wonder what thimble they are using to measure the alcohol!? I like the fruity Caribbean drinks, but after I drank a few (one I ordered as a double and it was still weak – and cost $12.50), I went to the bar and ordered a rum and coke just to see how much alcohol was being poured. The bartender used a 1oz shot glass and didn’t even fill it all the way. He poured it in an empty glass and I swear it barely covered the bottom! This was at the casino bar. Add the surly attitude of the bartender and I made it a point to try and find a better drink. The best pours were at The International Café (yes, they have alcohol too) and Club Fusion. At Club Fusion, the bartenders are actually acting like they are enjoying themselves and they know how to mix a drink. If you want a fruity, big drink go to Club Fusion and order a Bahama Mama. They float a whole lot of rum on top!

My wife doesn't drink, so I do not order a whole bottle of wine. The wine by the glass comes in a small glass and is barely half full. It can't be more than 3 or 4 ounces.

The best deal is just ordering a bottle for the room. They are not cheap, but a much better value than the $6.50 mixed drink with a thimble full of booze. I ordered a bottle of scotch and bourbon for $17 each. They are half of a fifth (375ml). You can’t do this on RCI.

Another bar problem on Princess is the variety of brands. I thought maybe it was different at each bar, but it is not. How in the world can you have a Caribbean cruise and NOT have Red Stripe beer?!? Outrageous! ;) I ordered a Maker’s Mark and coke and the bartender didn’t even know what it was. The selection is very limited compared to RCI. No kidding, I bet Princess has 75% less selection than any RCI ship. I am sure it makes inventory and ordering easier, but . . .

Have a mentioned NO RED STRIPE BEER?

As for blue cards, we've all been one. But the think I like beast is watching them trying to get tot e.g. dining rooms on deck 6 on the Crown. The people in the aft try to take the aft elevators down to 6 to go forward.....that isn't going to work...

 

I advise people study deck plans BEFORE they board. It cuts down a lot of confusion.

Yeah, that deck 6 confused quite a few. Once you get situated, though, she's an easy ship to navigate!

I'm sure we crossed paths at some point . . .:D

Hi! We were in this same cabin 1/18/14 to 2/1/14. We loved it! I can see the magnets we forgot in one of your photos. Hope you were able to use the. It was so funny seeing them in that photo. Glad you liked our cabin!:)

Too funny. We wondered if someone had forgotten it! We left it for the next guests.

The first stop was Princess Cays, the day after we left Fort Lauderdale. It’s a beach day and we are lucky enough to live in an area with gorgeous beaches, so we decided to stay onboard and explore. We had breakfast in our room, and went to the buffet for lunch. It was Super Bowl Sunday so we found a spot to watch the (terrible) gamein the Explorers lounge and then snacked afterward at the International Café. I’ll go over food down the line . . .(spoiler alert) . . . good food. Ofcourse we hit the casino awhile and spent time relaxing on our balcony. We also grabbed a blissful no-vibrating, much needed nap.

Day 4 was Curacao. Obligatory picture when the bridge opened:

We have been to Curacao before and had done some island exploring, so decided to just walk around town. We didn’t arrive until 1:30 pm or so and I think debarkation was around 2:00. It’s a great area to walk around on your own. Keep in mind that by law,most shops close before 6:00 pm on Curacao. If you want to shop, do it first thing. This is good for the ship’s shops and casino, though, because they are able to open right after the island shops close.

I had to make sure and see the bridge open. Can’t miss that. Otherwise, we just walked around and messed. Willemstad has free WiFi now,but it isn’t real strong so move around to get the best signal. Definitely walk over the bridge to the Punda side of the city to get the WiFi. If all else fails, there is a McDonalds that has free WiFi in the middle oftown. A great coffee bar, too, inside the Mickey D’s. (Yes, I admit I went in for a coffee).

People in the shops were pleasant and we didn’t find anyone pushy. Actually quite the opposite. My wife thought things were a bit dirtier this time around, but I didn’t see it. Seems like a great place to hang out for a week to me! It reminds me a little bit of the French Quarter in NOLA, which isn’t exactly clean but oh so fun.

Buffet for lunch and room service for dinner. We had a relaxing dinner on the balcony overlooking Willemstad.

Day 5 was Aruba. One Happy Island. We just like it! Someday we really will come and spend a couple of weeks instead of just a day. (Southwest just announced they are flying to Aruba starting this summer)

We decided to do a half-day Jeep tour through EL Tours. They picked us up at the terminal and took us over to one of the big hotels (RUI I think it was). We got the keys to our Jeep and were on ourway! One lead Jeep and 4 of us following. We drove to the California Lighthouse and then off-road across the north and eastern part of theisland. Fantastic time! Quick pics:

2 of the Jeeps did a full day tour, so around 1:30 they picked us up and drove us into town. We had them drop us off at The Old Fisherman restaurant for lunch. Great local food. As soon as we ordered I realized I had left my glasses in one of the Jeeps (oops). I called EL Tours and one of the guys ran across the island and got my glasses and brought them to us. Big tip for him (anda bag of sweet bread for his troubles from the restaurant). Great company!

We walked around town a bit and then back to the ship. Dinner at the buffet. Hit a couple of lounges and the casino before bed.

We thought the ship was in great shape. She's a beautiful ship with a lot of nooks and crannies with places to sit and relax. Lots of lounges.

The casino is large and has plenty of slots. A very good variety. Half is non-smoking and they have done a great job with air flow to make the non-smoking side breathable. Not always the case on RCI ships. Two sea days were completely non-smoking which was a plus for us. Also, they keep the slots open all night! So if the urge hits you at 2:00 am you can start gambling.

They use a card system on the machines which we found to be very convenient. I heard several people complain about it, but it works well. You put your seacard in the machine, establish a PIN number and then can get money from your account that is put directly on the slot machine. When you are done, you load the money back on your card to use at the next machine or cash out at the window. Just remember to cash it out before you leave the ship. (You can put cash in the machine, but it will only put it back on your seacard).

When you load your card make sure and play at least once on that machine. If you don't, they lock your card. I guess they don't want you using the slots as an ATM. This happened to me when we pulled into Curacao and they closed the casino. I had just put money on my card and then had to put it right back on. The next day I met my DW at the casino and my card was refused. When I went to the cashiers window the lady swiped my card and said I was over the limit for the day. My heart kind of skipped a beat . . . I mean, my DW had been there about 20 minutes before I arrived . . . the daily limit is $1500 . . . Uh . . . I told her I thought she was mistaken and she called a supervisor out of the office. He figured out what happened and I was gambling again in 10 minutes. (He also lectured me that they only allow you to do this 2 times per cruise before they cut you off. I don't think he believed me when I told him what happened the day before. Warm and fuzzy he was not - but it's a casino, so I understand)

This is great! All aft cabins usually have some vibration.. I had one of the aft balconies on Carnival and we did vibrate!

 

Can't wait for the rest!

This one seemed more than normal to us. We had a cabin on Brilliance in the same position - last one down, deck 9 - in December at had no vibration at all once you cleared the dock.

When at sea, the whole rear end of the Crown has a pretty good shake. :D

Cabin E730 on the Crown Princess

This is a mini suite with a full sofa (this one made into a bed), 2 TV’s and a shower/bath tub combination. Nice room. We have had Jr. Suites on our last couple of RCI cruises and must admit I prefer their wide cabins to this extra long one. BUT – this is a very comfortable cabin. The two TV setup is a little weird, but I guess if you had kids on the sofa bed they could watch a different TV show than you are watching in your bed.

The bathroom is large and the tub/shower is great. I would have preferred to have a removable hand held shower head, though. It was way too short for me and I had to crouch down. The shower curtain actually kept the water in the tub (RCI’s tub curtain is always 6 inches too short). Plenty of room for a big guy like me to move around.

The design of the closet area makes it so you have to close the bathroom door to get to the safe or shelving. My DW and I kept hitting each other with the door when getting ready.

The bed and pillows were very, very comfortable. I have read some bad reviews about Princess beds but ours was awesome.

This is the last cabin on the port side and has a big, extended balcony. There is a clear view of the wake and you can see all the way forward. An ideal balcony IMHO. It is covered so you will be able to get some shade if you want it, or plenty of sun during the day too. Very private with only one neighbor. Two reclining chairs with foot stools, one wider upright chair and a large table at a great height for eating meals orsnacks.

When researching the cabin I read about the noise from Club Fusion directly below. We did have some bass thumping 3 or 4 nights until close to midnight. You hear and feel it most in the bathroom. It didn’t bother us at all, but if you go to bed early you may want to avoid this cabin.

The a/c worked great. We had to turn it way down at night or it would get too cold (and I likea cold room!). No real toilet problems. We did have a delay fairly often. Press the button and it flushes in a few minutes.

The big problem we had (yeah, here it comes) was the VIBRATION. This cabin vibrates quite a bit when the ship is travelling over 18 knots or so. When we were over 20 knots it was REALLY bad. The first three nights we had a hard time sleeping. Remember the Magic Fingers beds at motels years ago? You put a quarter in and the bed vibrates like crazy for a few minutes. That is what it is like. I bet neither of us got more than six hours sleep the first two nights (combined!). We were miserable. By the third night I had figured out to hang my feet over the bed and not touch the beating headboard. When we got to Curacao we finally got some rest. The night you travel from Curacao to Aruba, only 30 miles or so, the ship goes very slowly and the vibration is gone. Wonderful . . . Heading back to port after Aruba you are doing around 18.5 knots and the vibration is back, but not as bad as the way down. By then we had gotten used to the vibration and slept OK but not great. Too bad because the bed was so darn comfortable!

The vibration in the bathroom was worse than the bed. Sitting on the toilet you were almost airborn from the vibrations.

So, if you are going to be on a very port intensive cruise that doesn’t travel long distances or at too high of speed, the cabin would be great. For this itinerary, IMHO, I would avoid it like the plague.

Yeah, we had a several people "notice" the blue card and comment. But only a few that were memorable.

I was amazed they had 500 people that were on their second leg of B2B cruises! Three of our encounters were with B2B'ers. The first fellow passenger we met as we were heading to our cabin announced that the reason she had a drink in her hand was because she was on the ship last week. She was a poster child for snooty and obnoxious.

But keep in mind we met plenty of the other 497 that were fantastic! We learned that if the conversation started with the announcement they were on board the week before, be nice and move on asap.

FIRST TIME ON PRINCESS

Crown Princess Southern Caribbean,February 2014

Just for background info: This was our 9th cruise. All 8 of our previous cruises were on Royal Caribbean (RCI). We booked this particular cruise because my wife attended seminars on board by two of her favorite authors. We were excited to try a different cruise line to see how it compared to RCI.

Here is a brief (well maybe not too brief) look at our trip. Comparisons between the two lines will be hard not to mention. Of course, it is based on our many experiences with RCI and only 7 nights and 1 ship on Princess.

We arrived at Fort LauderdaleTerminal around 12:15. A little traffic, but not bad. The Crown was in terminal 2, so we parked in the northern parking garage off 17th street. We carry on our luggage and like to park close for easy access to our car after thecruise. Less than a five minute walk from the garage to the terminal! Fantastic!

Huge line was waiting for us. It wrapped around outside and looked daunting when we got there. Thank goodness it was a cool day. It moved pretty quickly and we were inside in about 30 minutes.Now you move into another line to go through security. Another 15 minutes there. Then you get in line to do your paperwork and get your key card. Another 15 minutes. When we got to the end of that line my wife made friends with the greeter that places you in the next line. Since no priority passengers were waiting, she sent us over to their line and we basically walked right up to get our cards. Friendly Princess and terminal staff throughout the process.

Next came the best line....Walking on the ship! We had to wait afew minutes in the picture line, which we were not going to have taken. I noticed that a few people moved the barrier and just bypassed this line altogether. Smart choice. Nothing against the boarding photographers, but since I was 100% sure we were not buying the picture, I saw no reason for them to waste the time and paper on us.

Reality check: we are newbies.Really missed those loyalty perks on RCI during the boarding process, but it wasn’t too bad.

Princess gives first time cruisers a bright blue card like a shield of newbie-ness. :pThe bright color is easy for others to see and then comment on - some wanting to let you know how many cruises they have been on and how many perks they get and you don’t. That’s life.

When we entered the ship we were greeted by a young lady who told us to go to the forward elevators. I mentioned that our cabin was the other way and asked if we could just grab an elevator that was directly behind her. She was pretty nasty about it and told us we would never get one of these elevators, but moved aside and snarled, ‘Whatever!” I pushed the button. It dinged. And we took the elevator to deck 8. We shrugged it off and figured she was having a bad day and maybe she was instructed to make sure everyone walks by the shops when they enter. Here we were, blue card newbies already pissing off the crew.

Next up: our cabin.

Good stuff. Thanks!

Wonderful thread! Thanks to all who have participated.

Artichoke crepes. 'nuf said.

"Over the water" Nellies beach cabanas.

We will be on Crown for the Super Bowl this year, cheering Peyton and the Broncos. Anyone have any stories from years past? Will the game be on in the theatre also?

Good start. :D

Does anyone know what time the laundry room opens and closes on the Crown?

^^^^^ Anybody?

Or is the laundry open 24 hours?

When we were on over Christmas we set our clocks forward an hour the night before we arrived in Aruba. We switched the clocks back the night before we pulled into Fort Lauderdale to end our cruise.

 

Glad to hear you are having a good time new grandma! What did you think of Destination Anywhere? I thought the costumes (the three big ones) were amazing!

Thanks. :D