crown class ships crowds grossly exaggerated

[Coral]

I totally disagree. And many people would call me a Princess Cheerleader.

 

I have been on the Grand class (Grand, Golden, Star) and the Sapphire Princess a total of 10 times combined. I was just recently been on Crown Princess.

 

I was on the Star Princess in Canada New England 4 years ago and then on the Crown Princess this October. On both cruises, the weather for the most part was pretty similar on the ports that were duplicated. So it proved to be a good comparison.

 

I have in 25 plus cruises (including RCCL Voyager class) never experienced the crowds as I did on the Crown Princess recently.

 

There were times that the Explorer's Lounge was so crowded, that it was very difficult to walk along the walk way behind the lounge. When leaving the dining room at 7:30 or 7:45, it was too late to get a seat for the production show (I have never had problems with first seating and seeing the production show before on any sailing).

 

There were lines in the dining room for breakfast and lunch unless you arrived when the dining room just opened. I saw 50 plus people in line many days. The Matride agreed with me that they have problems on this class of ships with lines in the dining room. There was only one other cruise where I have ever seen lines like this (for breakfast and lunch) and it was an older group sailing who avoided the buffet.

 

The Horizon Court in the morning before we arrived in port was very crowded, to the point that a head waiter looked for 2 chairs together for about 10 minutes before he gave up. At times when we did happen to find seats, it was a struggle to get the table cleaned, get silverware and drinks.

 

Walking in the atrium area after first seating - it was packed. The sales table did not help things at all.

 

As far as doing things at unconventional times, I am not going to wait until 10 pm to see a show -besides I wouldn't know where to wait as the piazza (sp?) was filled, Explorer's Lounge filled, Club Fusion just chaos. In the mornings on a very port intensive cruise - everyone is eating at the same time as everyone wants to go to port. This is very different then a Caribbean sailing when people just walk around or take it leasurely. This cruise was a very well traveled group who booked it because of the ports and I had tours scheduled first thing on most mornings (along with the vast majority of the ship).

 

On the other hand - I rarely saw anyone on deck at night. Very few people watched movies at night (or during the day outside for that matter) except the last 2 days. So, everyone was inside mostly.

 

Maybe it doesn't seem as crowded in the Caribbean when people are out by the pool and utilizing the pizza and hamburger stands more and eating the buffet food outside but on cooler cruises, this ship is significantly more crowded compared to the other Grand class ships which I have sailed on a similar itinerary (Canada NE) and also in Alaska. I much prefer cool weather cruises and have never encountered the crowded on other ships as I did on the Crown. I so missed the covered pool area - it would have been used quite a bit on this cruise (as it was on the Star Princess on my Canada NE cruise).

 

IMO - it just seemed like to much planning to go to a show (some friends sent other friends an hour out to get seats so they could see an 8 pm show) or too much planning to have to struggle to find a seat in the buffet when your food is still hot. We often waited 20 minutes to use an aft elevator to get to the aft dining room. We tried going to the center elevators and then walking across deck 7 and then down but we got caught in crowds again.

 

I like Princess but do not like these ships. I will continue to sail on other Princess ships but if it comes down to the Crown/Ruby/Emerald or a Holland America ship, Holland is going to win. Heck - even RCCL's Oasis ship has better space ratio then this class of ships.

 

I have friends who were planning on booking this ship for a British Isles and TA (20 some days total) but after being on the Crown for a few days, they were going to try to find a different ship on another line or maybe do a land trip as they did not want to deal with the crowds on this class of ship again. This seemed to be what I heard from several people I spoke to on the cruise.

[sammiedawg]

I totally disagree. And many people would call me a Princess Cheerleader.

 

I have been on the Grand class (Grand, Golden, Star) and the Sapphire Princess a total of 10 times combined. I was just recently been on Crown Princess.

 

I was on the Star Princess in Canada New England 4 years ago and then on the Crown Princess this October. On both cruises, the weather for the most part was pretty similar on the ports that were duplicated. So it proved to be a good comparison.

 

I have in 25 plus cruises (including RCCL Voyager class) never experienced the crowds as I did on the Crown Princess recently.

 

There were times that the Explorer's Lounge was so crowded, that it was very difficult to walk along the walk way behind the lounge. When leaving the dining room at 7:30 or 7:45, it was too late to get a seat for the production show (I have never had problems with first seating and seeing the production show before on any sailing).

 

There were lines in the dining room for breakfast and lunch unless you arrived when the dining room just opened. I saw 50 plus people in line many days. The Matride agreed with me that they have problems on this class of ships with lines in the dining room. There was only one other cruise where I have ever seen lines like this (for breakfast and lunch) and it was an older group sailing who avoided the buffet.

 

The Horizon Court in the morning before we arrived in port was very crowded, to the point that a head waiter looked for 2 chairs together for about 10 minutes before he gave up. At times when we did happen to find seats, it was a struggle to get the table cleaned, get silverware and drinks.

 

Walking in the atrium area after first seating - it was packed. The sales table did not help things at all.

 

As far as doing things at unconventional times, I am not going to wait until 10 pm to see a show -besides I wouldn't know where to wait as the piazza (sp?) was filled, Explorer's Lounge filled, Club Fusion just chaos. In the mornings on a very port intensive cruise - everyone is eating at the same time as everyone wants to go to port. This is very different then a Caribbean sailing when people just walk around or take it leasurely. This cruise was a very well traveled group who booked it because of the ports and I had tours scheduled first thing on most mornings (along with the vast majority of the ship).

 

On the other hand - I rarely saw anyone on deck at night. Very few people watched movies at night (or during the day outside for that matter) except the last 2 days. So, everyone was inside mostly.

 

Maybe it doesn't seem as crowded in the Caribbean when people are out by the pool and utilizing the pizza and hamburger stands more and eating the buffet food outside but on cooler cruises, this ship is significantly more crowded compared to the other Grand class ships which I have sailed on a similar itinerary (Canada NE) and also in Alaska. I much prefer cool weather cruises and have never encountered the crowded on other ships as I did on the Crown. I so missed the covered pool area - it would have been used quite a bit on this cruise (as it was on the Star Princess on my Canada NE cruise).

 

IMO - it just seemed like to much planning to go to a show (some friends sent other friends an hour out to get seats so they could see an 8 pm show) or too much planning to have to struggle to find a seat in the buffet when your food is still hot. We often waited 20 minutes to use an aft elevator to get to the aft dining room. We tried going to the center elevators and then walking across deck 7 and then down but we got caught in crowds again.

 

I like Princess but do not like these ships. I will continue to sail on other Princess ships but if it comes down to the Crown/Ruby/Emerald or a Holland America ship, Holland is going to win. Heck - even RCCL's Oasis ship has better space ratio then this class of ships.

 

I have friends who were planning on booking this ship for a British Isles and TA (20 some days total) but after being on the Crown for a few days, they were going to try to find a different ship on another line or maybe do a land trip as they did not want to deal with the crowds on this class of ship again. This seemed to be what I heard from several people I spoke to on the cruise.

 

Coral, our experience on the Caribbean mirrored your trip on the Crown. We like Princess a lot but the newer ships we have sailed since the Caribbean Princess have all been Holland America. Eurodam, Oosterdam, Noordam all great choices.

 

Last summer we chose the older Grand Princess over one of the brand new Crown ship class (maybe the Ruby?) in the Med. This past summer we chose Noordam over the Ruby in the Med. Last December we chose Eurodam over the Ruby.

[Coral]

Coral, our experience on the Caribbean mirrored your trip on the Crown. We like Princess a lot but the newer ships we have sailed since the Caribbean Princess have all been Holland America. Eurodam, Oosterdam, Noordam all great choices.

 

Last summer we chose the older Grand Princess over one of the brand new Crown ship class (maybe the Ruby?) in the Med. This past summer we chose Noordam over the Ruby in the Med. Last December we chose Eurodam over the Ruby.

 

I sailed on the Oosterdam and loved the ship! I have no hesitations going over to HAL for future cruises.

[Pam in CA]

I was on golden in 05 early june western europe, weather not that great but did not experience what you saw.

When the temperature is in the upper 30's - low 40s and the wind is howling, not to mention the rain, only the very brave and hardy were outside. It wasn't just bad weather but frigid weather. It was so cold and windy that the covered pool area was unusable because the wind found it's way inside, bringing the cold. When you eliminate balcony and any open deck use, plus the covered pool area, you have at least 2x-3x more people inside than you would normally, crowding every single spot. IMHO, the newer ships with no covered pool area are good for only warm weather cruising, not bad or cooler weather which is what Princess is now using them for. That pretty much guarantees indoor crowding. :(

[Tatka]

For me it's not what "paper ratio" says, but how I feel. Voyager class of RCCL can have a better ratio, but when whole PAX gathers near the main pool it's it too many people! Or when they don't let you in your cabin before 1PM and everybody is in the buffet and they check if you are taking an additional chair, because chairs are limited....

 

Princess theater may be smaller , but they do 2 shows + 1 show the next evening. There are 3 different production shows during each cruise.

[Coolmama_1]

We were on the CB for our last cruise and there were 2 places that it was really crowded. First, Bert Stratton had a huge following and you could not get through the area nor could you get a seat to watch his show. It created a huge mess in that area.

 

Secondly, you had to get to a show almost 45 min to an hour early to see the first show. Granted, we had 6 people in our party.

 

The rest of the time was fine. Never had to wait for a table regardless of when we ate, no trouble getting seats at shows in Club Fusion, or at the Horizon Court for that matter.

 

Go figure. I think it is going to depend on the passenger mix, the weather and the itinerary as well.

[sammiedawg]

One more post and then I am bowing out of this thread. I love Princess cruises but the Caribbean Princess was too crowded for my taste. I am not exaggerating when I say the line to embark the ship was way down the sidewalk and snaked around inside the terminal at Port Everglades. Never saw this before and we generally get on board at the same time for each cruise. We had no problem with disembarkation.

 

Someone mentioned Bert Stratton, we had read about him and I wanted to see him. As someone else said, his area was total gridlock and I could not even see his face much less stand and listen to his music. He did a special show in the Explorers lounge, we got there very early and still could not get in.

 

The evening traffic flow was shoulder to shoulder on each of the atrium levels.

We would walk and walk trying to find a place to sit in the Horizon Court.

We liked Cafe Caribe but it was not always open. We would go from the Horizon Court to Cafe caribe looking for seats and it was generally full as well.

We had dinner reservations each evening and did not have problems with dinner, we also like to eat early.

We got into a couple of shows by getting there very very early to hold our seats. Many people were turned away and as someone else said huge crowd of people standing outside the theatre trying to get in.

The pool areas were very crowded very difficult to find any seat anywhere, much less 2 together.

 

Someone mentioned they coped with crowds by going to the Sanctuary. At the time we sailed there was no Sanctuary on the CB. Tell me why I should have to pay extra money to have a place to sit and relax?

 

I continue to book Princess but avoid these ships. If there was a port intensive itinerary I absolutely had to have I would consider Crown sized ships, otherwise I will pass.

[Colo Cruiser]

I've been on the Golden, Caribbean (2), and Ruby. I never felt that the ships were crowded. The Explorer's Lounge and Princess Theatre do get crowded during the first performance but that happens at most venues at home. We get there reasonably early, get a good seat and enjoy the show! I have no sympathy for people that think the can arrive at the last minute and expect a front row seat.

 

I feel the same about people that sleep in until 1:00 P.M. and complain that the cannot get a front row seat in the pool areas. Don't get me wrong, I occasionally sleep in late and have settled for chairs that are away from the main pool areas but that's the trade off. I have also gotten up early and had my breakfast in some primo seats in the pool area that the late risers would love to have.

 

The areas around the photo displays do get crowded. My guesss is that this is by design so that people linger around to buy more of the expensive photos (that's another thread altogether!)

 

Bad weather is another issue. When it is too cold or rainy outside it puts pressure on the other venues to accommodate more passengers. These ships were built to spread out passengers all over the ship.

 

 

Well said! ;)

[gertz]

While I have not cruised on any of the Grand class ships, I have never experienced major crowding issues on the CB. I would say the photo gallery area, the atriums on formal night are somewhat packed but that I'm sure goes on every cruiseline/ship.

 

I do find it hard to believe that an extra 500 pax are visibly noticeable. Sure it may sound like a great deal of people but when you are on a Grand class ship of 2600…..that is less than a 20% increased capacity on the super Grand or Crown class (whatever Princess calls them) I have to think that not all 500 are in the same place at the same time.

 

I wonder if one who has cruised on the Grand class ships and was clueless about the extra deck of 500 pax before stepping foot onto the Caribbean/Crown/Emerald/Ruby if they would have the same complaints. I somewhat doubt it……it can all be a mind over matter issue.

 

Well meet clueless. Did no homework wasn't paying much attention to CC at the time. Took the CB when she was new for a get a way after some extensive work on the house. Thought it would be a nice get a way. We noticed it immediately. I even enquired where did all these people come form? There were about another 300 3rd and 4th birth paxs also. Captain Circle party done in shifts, and you get run out if you don't leave fast enough.

 

We always do 1st seating so no problem there, food and service fine. But terribly crowded at all shows. Then we hit a hurricane and spent a few extra days at sea. Phone lines totally tied up, did manage to get a cell phone connection off part of Cuba and the free internet came in handy.

 

I stand by what I said, the Caribbean Princess extra 500 passengers was noticeable to me even when we were in line to board. The line stretched wayyyyy down the sidewalk, we are platinum as most everyone else was. It did not make any difference. I have never seen that large of a line. I have never seen the pool chair areas or the Horizon court so crowded. I have never seen the hallways on the atrium levels , theatre levels so crowded.

 

I did not say I hated the ship or had a bad cruise, I said the crowds were irritating and we were more than ready to disembark on the last day. I listed some positive comments and noted there were lots of activities to disperse the crowds.

 

It is not mind over matter, I did not go into the cruise with preconceived notions it would be too crowded. I like Princess, we sailed them before and after this experience.

 

As I said do the math and tell me the space per passenger ratio is not an issue.

 

I totally agree with you. The space ratio does make a difference and it is a mathematical formula widely used. If some one should have a better method other than feel good, step up. For instance the Caribbean and the others has a space ratio of 37 &38 double birth, on ours with an extra 300 paxs that drops to 33. Compare that to the Grand/G/S at 42, or the Diamond/Sapphire at 43, or the Coral/Island at 45, or the little ones at 46, even the Sea/Dawn are at 40.:eek:

There is a difference and circumstances as weather enhance or diminish that difference. For anyone that has limited their cruises to the extra deck ships try maybe the Coral or Island.:D

[roe2ship]

Grand Princess 108,806 tons, 2600 passengers, space ratio 35.0 per person

Caribbean princess 116,000 tons, 3100 passengers, space ratio 29.8 per person

Sapphire Princess 115,875 tons, 2634 passengers, space ratio 37.3.

Coral Princess, 91,627 tons, 1974 passengers, space ratio 35.3.

Crown Princess, 118,000 tons, 3114 passengers, space ratio 30.6

These space ratios are all incorrect. I believe the gross tonnage is divided by the passenger capacity which will equal a space ratio number.

 

 

I totally agree with you. The space ratio does make a difference and it is a mathematical formula widely used. If some one should have a better method other than feel good, step up. For instance the Caribbean and the others has a space ratio of 37 &38 double birth, on ours with an extra 300 paxs that drops to 33. Compare that to the Grand/G/S at 42, or the Diamond/Sapphire at 43, or the Coral/Island at 45, or the little ones at 46, even the Sea/Dawn are at 40.:eek:

 

 

I agree the PSR is a formula that is widely used but these are rough estimates and these numbers lose some meaning if a ship is poorly designed. Just one example:

 

On RCI Voyager class ships, the photo gallery area is right outside the main theatre. In the evening after dinner many pax are checking out their photos….. at the same time pax are leaving the theatre……well, it doesn’t look pretty.

 

Another example of poor space ratio meanings, RCI Radiance class ships have a ratio of 36 while their Voyager class ships have a ratio of 43 or 44. On RCI boards you rarely catch a post that states the Radiance class ships have a crowded feel, yet you do read quite a few posts with comments that the Voyager class ships feel crowded. How is that possible and accurate if the Voyager class has a higher ratio?? This is just one of my points on how important the layout of a ship really is.

 

In reality, all mass market ships will have a time within one’s cruise with some minor crowding issues. Now how one’s perception is and how well you can tolerate it is another story.:)

[Coral]

Another example of poor space ratio meanings, RCI Radiance class ships have a ratio of 36 while their Voyager class ships have a ratio of 43 or 44. On RCI boards you rarely catch a post that states the Radiance class ships have a crowded feel, yet you do read quite a few posts with comments that the Voyager class ships feel crowded. How is that possible and accurate if the Voyager class has a higher ratio?? This is just one of my points on how important the layout of a ship really is.

 

I actually found the Radiance crowded - on this cruise, everyone was inside as the weather was bad (not just cool but bad). There were also many 3rd and 4th births as there were lots of families. I have been on other Alaska cruises with cold weather (not rainy bad like it was on the Radiance) but pretty cool that most were inside and I didn't find the Sun or Coral class crowded (and there is not a real covered pool on the Sun class. I found the Radiance very beautiful but crowded. Previous to the Crown, I had only experienced crowding on the Radiance.

 

I did not find the Explorer crowded at all - it seemed quite spacious, though unfortunately it was in Dec of 2001 and I think the ship was probably at 75% capacity. So that experience is definitely skewed.

[roe2ship]

I actually found the Radiance crowded - on this cruise, everyone was inside as the weather was bad (not just cool but bad). There were also many 3rd and 4th births as there were lots of families. I have been on other Alaska cruises with cold weather (not rainy bad like it was on the Radiance) but pretty cool that most were inside and I didn't find the Sun or Coral class crowded (and there is not a real covered pool on the Sun class. I found the Radiance very beautiful but crowded. Previous to the Crown, I had only experienced crowding on the Radiance.

 

I did not find the Explorer crowded at all - it seemed quite spacious, though unfortunately it was in Dec of 2001 and I think the ship was probably at 75% capacity. So that experience is definitely skewed.

Oh I agree with you about the Radiance....we were on Easter week so plenty of families and we had GREAT weather. I was beginning to think it was just me as I never read about crowds on this class on the RCI boards, its usually quite the opposite on their bigger ships. Most rave about it being the perfect size and perfect # of pax. There was something about that layout.....wasn't crazy about the flow. I, too find the voyager class ships spacious, however overall....I feel that Princess' "big ships with a small ship feel" motto is pretty much on the money. Lot of nooks and crannies to relax in.:)