Crown Princess Jan 21-30,2010

[across the seas]

As usual, with Princess, embarkation is a breeze. Arrived at Terminal 2 around 11:45, baggage was taken, entered the terminal and went to Platinum/Elite waiting area, about 15 minutes later we were going onboard.

 

First surprise...at check in...we were advised that our cabins had been changed. Since we already had an upgrade from guaranteed balcony to Lido deck we were very surprised. We received side by side mini suites on Dolphin. Fantastic!!! I understand that the ship was full, and move over e-mails had been sent out, we really lucked out on this one. It did take a little longer to get our luggage as it was tagged with our previous cabin numbers and the ship personnel had to find it and retag, then deliver to our new cabins.

 

I was on the Crown in August this year doing the British Isles and there were several things that I didn't like....the service around the buffet, staff on deck, overcrowding everywhere, the food was just ok, disorganized tender service to mention a few. BUT!!!

 

Not on this Cruise, staff everywhere were fantastic, a few cranky members at the pursers desk were the only ones (perhaps having a bad day)

Everyone was happy, couldn't pass one without receiving a good morning and a smile. Service at the buffet was excellent, never had to get my own coffee, clear a table or even carry my full plate, What a difference.

Traditional dining is our choice and again received excellent service from our wait staff, Noel and Antonio. (as it happens Noel was my waiter in August as well, luck of the draw)

 

The food was really good, not one thing I chose from the menu was bad, found it delicious and hot. The presentation was beautiful, almost didn't want to disturb the food by eating it.

 

We went to the Crown Grill and were very impressed, food was delicious and the service superb. We had steak, lamb and lobster, there were 4 of us.

Yes the Black & Blue onion soup is fantastic.

 

Sabatinis is beautiful, the service there is amazing as well, the food just keeps coming, all the appetizers are wonderful. The only down side the night we were there, the veal chop was not very good, sort of dry and a little too raw for us, but we were already full from the starters so we did not send it back, our waiter asked about it and we let him know but did not want a replacement. One of our group had the baked sea bass and enjoyed it.

 

The International Cafe...as always...great. The Chicken salad is my favourite along with the different Quiches that are offered. Our friends really enjoyed the sweet side of the offerings. Using our coffee cards to get really good brewed and specialty coffees was a plus. The Barista (spelling?) told us to use up our cards as Princess is changing the coffee cards in March this year to a different card per ship. I don't know if you can continue to use your "Crown" card for future sailings of not, just that they will have a different one per ship.

 

We booked the Sanctuary for the full week, certainly worth the money to us, always having a comfortable lounger and amazing staff to look after your every need was wonderful. The ship was full, and very busy around the pool areas, we enjoyed the relaxed area and will always book it.

 

As a rule we don't usually attend the production shows, but this time with our friends, we went to the Cole Porter Show and were blown away...Excellent show, the production was amazing, very talented people, at the end of the show alot of people were on their feet giving them a standing ovation.. well deserved.

 

We lucked out with 2 really good comedians on board, Troy Thirdgill at the beginning and Rollin Jay Moore at the end. Both were great, my ribs hurt from laughing. In Crooners, David Moore, the "Comedic & Piano Talent"

was fabulous. We favour the Crooners Bar and were there several nights and he is really good.

 

Ron Goodman along with Brett Siborne were always visible and we enjoyed their early am "wake up show". 2 hard working guys who try very hard to make your cruise special.

 

The weather was quite warm, a few days were overcast and windy, but compared to the previous cruises we lucked out. We did not book too many shore excursions, the one we really wanted was the Catamaran trip in Roatan, however, the shore excursion staff were waiting for us at the meeting place to advise that the visibility over the reef was not existent and allowed us to cancel and we were fully refunded the day of the trip. This blew me away as having booked many excursions before and taken them in horrible weather because they didn't cancel, we were very impressed. The trip did go with a few who were determined but we did not find out if they enjoyed it or not.

 

After being a little disappointed with the Crown in August I was very happy that everything was as I have come to expect with this ship and Princess.

In August, we had a different captain, different cruise director, different executive chef. All the regulars were on vacation at that time and whether or not this makes a difference, it certainly did for us.

Captain Proctor, Ron Goodman, Manilo Cuzzolin can take credit for the improvements we experienced comparing one sailing to another.

 

The Ship is still Beautiful, well kept and certainly well driven.

 

Will go on her again.

[Dave4120]

Since we have only been on Princess once before, can you explain to me what the Sanctuary is, the cost, and the benefit? Is it quiet and peaceful without all of the pool crowd and kid noise. Can you reserve on the Princess website or just on board.

 

Thank-you.

[Clutterlady]

Thank you for your review. Glad to hear you enjoyed the Crown as some of the recent reviews haven't been as good! Perhaps Princess is reading CC:)

[across the seas]

Since we have only been on Princess once before, can you explain to me what the Sanctuary is, the cost, and the benefit? Is it quiet and peaceful without all of the pool crowd and kid noise. Can you reserve on the Princess website or just on board.

 

Thank-you.

 

The sanctuary is $20.00 full day and $10.00 half day. You cannot book ahead but if you wish it for the full week go to the sanctuary upon boarding and pick your spot, on our cruise the number of full day passes went quickly. If you only want it on certain days you have to go up early in the morning and see if you can get a spot. It is for adults only and we enjoyed the quiet and great service we received.

[Older Sister]

I sailed on the Crown last August on one of the British Isles cruises and enjoyed it very much. I'll be sailing on her once again next week, and I'm so pleased to read from your review that you feel the service level has improved (even though it didn't bother me last summer). Now I'm even MORE anxious to set sail on Saturday!!!!!

[Coral]

I was on the Crown in August this year doing the British Isles and there were several things that I didn't like....the service around the buffet, staff on deck, overcrowding everywhere, the food was just ok, disorganized tender service to mention a few. BUT!!!

.

 

I was on a Canada NE on this ship and ran into the same thing - just overcrowding everywhere. I guess it is good to know it doesn't happen in the Caribbean. I am still disappointed in how crowded it was on the Crown, I doubt I will give the ship another try in a warmer climate. You have reinforced my thought that these ships really shouldn't sail in cooler climates.

 

Glad you enjoyed this trip!

 

After being a little disappointed with the Crown in August I was very happy that everything was as I have come to expect with this ship and Princess.

In August, we had a different captain, different cruise director, different executive chef. All the regulars were on vacation at that time and whether or not this makes a difference, it certainly did for us.

Captain Proctor, Ron Goodman, Manilo Cuzzolin can take credit for the improvements we experienced comparing one sailing to another.

 

We actually had Captain Proctor (for part of our cruise along with the Commodore Romano) CD Ron and I am pretty sure Manilo (though not sure on this one) on our Oct Nov cruise and still ran into problems. I think it is the difference between Caribbean cruises and non-Caribbean cruises as we ran into the same issues you did on your August cruise.

[Coral]

Ron Goodman along with Brett Siborne were always visible and we enjoyed their early am "wake up show". 2 hard working guys who try very hard to make your cruise special.

 

.

 

I love Brett! I wish he had been on our cruise in November. I hope he makes it up to CD one day! He definitely deserves it.

[boards]

We are on the Crown this August (British Isles), can you tell us more about what you did not like ? Would you tell us a little about the tours?

[across the seas]

We are on the Crown this August (British Isles), can you tell us more about what you did not like ? Would you tell us a little about the tours?

 

Let me start by saying we had a great time on the Crown. What really bothered me was the service staff on deck and in horizon court did not seem at all interested in serving anyone, they constantly grouped and talked amongst themselves and looked the other way when anyone need any kind of service. Not all, but most.

We did not book tours except for the Edinborough Tattoo....It was fabulous, rain and all. I travelled with my son, wife, her father and our 3 grandsons, everyone of us were blown away with the tattoo.

It was a tender port for us and this was horrible...no organization at all, everyone piled up in the halls, whether or not they were supposed to be there we all had a certain time to appear, not so....staff were yelling, people were pushing and shoving it was like a bar brawl. Our tickets were not given out until we met for the tender...this was bad.

The food was just ok the 10 days we were onboard, this is certainly not the norm for princess...I have 12 cruises with them and this was my first experience will less than good food.

Others onboard that we knew, did take alot of the tours and enjoyed most of them. We did book the Paris on your own and enjoyed the trip, 2 hours from LeHarve and 4 hours to run around Paris...It was hectic but we enjoyed it.

Our friends did the Siene River one and really enjoyed it, they got in to all of the sites that we could not....Eiffle tower, Notre Dame etc.

The weather was not good, cold and rainy 8 out of 10 days, we walked around Dublin, St. Peter Port, Belfast, Cork and 2 ports in Scotland. Saw alot and enjoyed ourselves, umbrellas and all. Being greeted in Scotland by the pipes and the pipe bands during sail away was the highlight for me.

Look on the Boards and join your roll call....lots of info there with people posting info on tours, mostly private ones that they book rather than with the ship. They also look for people to share.

Have a great time, you will love the ports.

Ann

[coo359a2]

We were on the same cruise with "Across The Seas". We didn't go to Sabatini's or use the Sanctuary but agree with everything else in the review.

Really enjoyed the cruise and all the staff. We did the Click and Zip canopy tour in Roatan and it was very good. It was just outside the Mahagony Bay area - you didn't have to walk up the hill to where the other private tours were located.

[luv1another4ever]

Thanks for the review, we can't wait until we get onboard this Saturday!

[sunsetbeachgal]

Thanks for taking the time to write this.

[boards]

Thank you for the information, I'm afraid it is beginning to sound like I wish we hadn't booked with Princess. We have done 5 cruises with Hal and they have all been great. We still have time to back out of it and maybe do a Hal cruise in that area.

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the review.

[Coolmama_1]

Thanks for the review.