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Crown Review 4/17 to 4/24

wrongwaywatson

By wrongwaywatson,
in Princess Cruises

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wrongwaywatson

wrongwaywatson

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This is our 5th cruise, all on Princess. Before sailing, we read several reviews that were negative of the ship and/or cruise staff. One reviewer even called it “The Tarnished Crown”, complaining about the ship and the unhappy cruise staff. So, we decided to go into this cruise a little differently. We were going to LOOK for those things that were wrong. We were expecting to see a ship that wasn’t up to par with the other ships we have been on.

Cabin Steward: Our steward was friendly, but he was the least efficient of any of the 5 we have ever had. He repeatedly kept forgetting to give us our beach towels. We weren’t the only ones, one day I chased him down in the hall to get some and 2 other people were looking for him to get their beach towels.

Cabin: Our beds were in twin configuration when we arrived, and we had requested queen configuration. This has been the case 4 out of 5 of our cruises. Our toilet didn’t flush when we arrived and was a problem the whole cruise. This was easily the most irritating problem we have had over the 5 years. We reported it 4 times to Passenger Services and twice to our cabin steward. They would come look at it and it would work a little better for a day, then it wouldn’t flush again. The last sea day and disembarkation day was the worse.

Hmmmm, we can’t really think of anything else. Maybe it took about 5 minutes one time for our drink order. We don’t really have anything else to complain about! We were LOOKING for things. One thing we specifically looked for was the Staff’s attitudes. There were a few reviews saying that the STAFF were unfriendly, not smiling, and didn’t want to be there. We paid close attention and neither of us can think of anyone that didn’t appear happy. They were all friendly and genuinely seemed happy to be there! The point is, nothing is going to be perfect. Any time you go somewhere, something is going to be wrong. Just don’t let it spoil your vacation! Here is our detailed review:

Embarkation: Last year we were on the boat in what seemed like a manner of minutes. This year it was even quicker. We arrived at the port about 12:15 and the only time our feet stood still was when we stopped to sign our credit card and pick up our cruise cards. It was unbelievably quick! We went to our rooms to drop off our carryon and my computer, before heading up to the Horizon Court for lunch. While in our rooms we noticed that our toilet wouldn’t flush. We called down to Passenger Services and they said that they would check it out. We went upstairs for lunch and had a very pleasant lunch. We walked around the ship a bit, and we didn’t notice that it looked in disrepair. As a matter of fact, it didn’t look that much different than the Ruby we were on last year. We thought the Crown was in very good shape! There wasn’t a crowd in the Horizon Court and we easily found a place to sit. We did hit the Sailaway Seafood Buffet that evening. My DH was a little disappointed that there wasn’t crab legs on there like it the past, but it certainly wasn’t enough to ruin our evening!

First Sea Day: The weather was glorious! I took my book and went to the pool with the Movies Under the Stars about 9:30 am. I wanted to get a good spot and was pleasantly surprised. There were LOTS of chairs available. This had to be the most polite bunch of cruisers I have ever seen about NOT being chair hogs. We got a spot and we literally laid in the same chairs, every day, all week long! We had a nice little cubby hole, at the top of the stairs on the level between the pool deck level and the sun deck. The controls for the movies were right next to us. It was a great spot, because you could be in the sun or shade, if you wanted. I love the sun, but my DH can only be in the sun so long as he will burn. It was formal night, and we decided to NOT partake in formal nights this year, so we eat in the buffet. I will touch on the food separately.

The review we read just before we left talked about how sad and unhappy the cruise staff looked to be there. We didn’t find this to be the case at all. I can’t think of any of the Princess staff that didn’t smile and seem genuinely happy. They were all polite and went out of their way to meet your needs.

Grand Cayman: We had booked the snorkel tour thru Moby Dick Tours to snorkel and go to stingray city. As we were getting our stuff together, we realized our cabin steward had forgotten to leave beach towels in our cabin. When I paged him, he didn’t respond. I called Passenger Services and they said that they would send some up. We waited and they didn’t come. It was getting to the point that we needed to leave, so we called again. Our cabin steward then appeared and said that they had been in a staff meeting. He gave us our towels and we left. I do think that they should have someone answer the pages when they have these meetings.

Our excursion was great. They were prompt and very polite. They took us to a snorkeling spot and were very great about helping us. When we went to stingray city they got in the water with us and showed us how to feed the stingrays and helped each of us hold and kiss one. My DH loved this; I was a little scared of them. All I could think of was Steve Irwin. I guess I’m just a chicken at heart. We had a great time. We had the morning excursion, so we went back to the ship, ate a later lunch and went to the pool to watch movies and lay in the sun. It was sunny and HOT!

Roatan, Honduras: It was VERY hot that day, and muggy. We booked the snorkeling tour independently thru Upachaya Tours. They picked us up (outside the terminal) and drove us to their lodge. It was set up very nicely. We met Al, our captain, and Omar, his first mate and we took off. Al was in the water snorkeling with us. He did a great job. One of the families (from a Carnival ship) had 3 children and 2 of them started to cry hysterically in the water. Al took them and their father back to the boat. The mother and older son stayed with us. There is quite a bit of swimming involved in this, and it really wouldn’t be great for small children. However, we loved it! The coral reef there is beautiful. We went to the area where it drops off, called Spooky Ridge, and it drops from 7 feet to what appears to be bottomless. It was very cool. Back at the pontoon boat they had snacks and drinks for everyone. While we were doing the snorkel tour, the small children and their father snorkeled around the boat. We were all glad about that. Made it back to the boat in plenty of time. Another great day!

Cozumel: We didn’t book anything in Cozumel. We decided to walk into town and do a little shopping. I needed 4 tubes of Retin-A for some of my girlfriends! It was approx a 3 mile walk and it was very hot! In retrospect, we should have taken a taxi, because we were very sweaty by the time we got there. Oh well! We shopped and took a taxi back to the ship. We ate a nice lunch and went back to “our” chairs by the pool/movie theatre.

Sea day: Went out about 9:30 again and there were lots of chairs available. I have to say I didn’t really see any chair hogs. People would leave, but not for very long, to eat. It didn’t look like anyone was having trouble finding chairs. It was sunny again this day and I stayed out until around 4 pm.

Disembarkation: This went smoothly also. We opted to carry our own luggage off. This would have been easier if I had not over packed. I am NOT going to do that next year (LOL, I say this every year). We went down to the dining room at 7:15 and we were standing outside by 8:15. Pretty quick, no problems

Food: We ate breakfast in the Horizon Court day. The food was good, for buffet food. We ate lunch most days in the buffet, but ate hamburgers/hot dogs on a few occasions. We really like the burgers/hot dogs and brats. We tried the pizza, but didn’t like it. I know people rave about the pizza, but we have tried it on each of our cruises and we have never liked it. We ate supper 5 nights in the Horizon Court. We like the quickness of it, so that we can attend shows or see a movie. We don’t practically enjoy sitting with strangers, so this works for us. When we have traveled with friends, we used the anytime dining rooms and enjoyed it. Traveling as a couple, this works for us. We ate in the Michaelango one night, because I was DYING for a love boat dream dessert! The food is better in there than the buffet, no question. We just don’t like sitting down there, just the 2 of us, but we also don’t like sitting with strangers. The food was great and my Love Boat Dream was EXCELLENT! The final night we ate at the Crown Grill. It was wonderful!!!! Last year, we felt like we were going to throw up when we left there! This year we were smarter. We ate a light lunch around noon and NO SNACKS! When they brought the bread basket, we each only ate 1 piece. Last year we ate the whole basket! We ordered appetizers and soup, but we both skipped the salad to save room for the main course. I ordered the filet and lobster tails and DH ordered the rib eye and lobster tails. Both were cooked to perfection! Our side dishes were very good, too. When it came time to choose from the desserts, I couldn’t decide between the chocolate desserts, so I ordered them both! It was a great evening. We have decided this is a nice way to spend our last evening on the boat, because it always seems a little depressing, thinking about leaving.

I had coffee/dessert in the International Café a few times and it was very good. I also went to the Michaelango one evening around 9:30, talked to the maitre’de and explained my burning desire for a Love Boat dream. He brought me one out to take to my room to eat. Very nice!

Entertainment:

Movies Under the Stars: We love this feature. We have been on the Caribbean Princess twice, the Ruby, the Grand and now the Crown. We both thought that this screen was darker than on the other ships during the daylight. The movie guy we talked to said that they have sensors that detect how bright it is outside and is suppose to adjust accordingly. Neither of us thinks that the Crown’s was working quite correctly. It was difficult to see Star Trek and Avatar during the day. However, we still enjoyed them very much, even watching Star Trek twice! We enjoyed The Blindside at night and DH enjoyed Twilight, New Moon. I slept thru it, but enjoyed my outdoors nap very much!

Shows:

We enjoyed the cruise talent show. We thought it was very entertaining! There were a couple of them that were very, very talented. It was an enjoyable evening. We saw the comedy show and thought he was very funny. We enjoyed The Motor City show, too. There were plenty of seats available in The Princess Theatre, even when people arrived late. We both liked the show better than we thought we would. The release of the balloons and keeping them afloat at the start was fun. The poolside/house band Straight Up were ok. The female had a pretty good voice. They sounded like of bad on a few of the songs that they did, that just didn’t seem to fit their style/vocal range. Not a group I would want to sit and listen to, but they were ok.

One thing we noticed about the cruise was we didn’t wait and didn’t have trouble getting seats anywhere we went. I had a staff member tell me that at least 100 cabins were empty, due to cruisers not being able to make the cruise, because of the volcanic ash and the flights being cancelled. It was very apparent on sea days and trying to get into the theatre. It was never hard to find a place to sit in the Horizon Court, either, and there never seemed to be a line.

Cabin:

We booked an outside/obstructed view cabin and we could see out of it just fine. As I reported earlier, our toilet didn’t want to flush. This was a problem the entire cruise. We reported it four times to Passenger Services and to our cabin steward. They would come and it would work, then it would not work again. Our last sea day it didn’t work ALL day, till evening. Our disembarkation day it didn’t work at all. It was frustrating, but not enough to make our cruise bad. Our cabin steward was friendly, but he was the least efficient one we have had in 5 cruises. He kept forgetting to give us beach towels. Two separate days I had to find him in the hallways and ask for them. The last sea day, 2 other cabins near us were doing the same thing. He cleaned our room well, however, and was friendly.

Boat:

Our overall impression was great. I can’t see where anyone could say that it was a “tarnished” Crown. There were cleaning and doing maintenance all the time. We were happy with the appearance and upkeep.

Cruise Staff:

We thought that the Staff seemed friendly and eager to make you happy. The wait staff in the Horizon Court and Café Caribe was always willing to get us sodas/coffee and the same was true by the pool. The Cruise Director and Assistant Cruise Director definitely seemed to be enjoying themselves and made you smile with their antics. I certainly did not see “frowns” or “looks of people who didn’t want to be there” as the previous reviewer did. My DH and I love to cruise. This is the only vacation that we take and I guess we don’t expect people to be at our beckon call. We are easily pleased!

Overall, it was a fantastic cruise, even with a toilet that only flushed half the time! We are counting the days till we can go again next year!

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sunsetbeachgal

sunsetbeachgal

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Hi,

 

I was on the Crown in March, and not sure where the many negative reviews are that you read...the threads on the Princess forum have for the most part been quite positive about recent experiences on the Crown. We were VERY pleased with everything about the Crown and our cruise. We were in an obstructed outside and sometimes when we hit the flush button, there was quite an extended delay (we worried a few times), but it always came through. Sorry you had a problem, but sounded like a good cruise! (ps-you should have taken a taxi into Cozumel--as I remember it was only a few dollars each way for my friend and I together)

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wrongwaywatson

wrongwaywatson

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We were in Emerald 612. We had the delay when we flushed, but we had days that it wouldn't flush, no matter how long you held it or how many times yo pushed it.

 

We read 3 reviews that were bad. One that stuck in our heads was the one entitled "Tarnished Crown". We thought the condition of the ship was great!

 

Even with no flushing toilet we had a great time and didn't want to leave the ship!

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wrongwaywatson

wrongwaywatson

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My DH pointed out to me that it was 4 miles into Cozumel, not 3. He was right! We weren't trying to save money by not taking a taxi, we thought it would feel good to walk, since we hadn't done anything fitness wise since we got on the boat! Trying to burn off a few bites of that Love Boat Dream!

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mississauga

mississauga

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We ate in the Michaelango one night, because I was DYING for a love boat dream dessert!

 

I also went to the Michaelango one evening around 9:30, talked to the maitre’de and explained my burning desire for a Love Boat dream. He brought me one out to take to my room to eat. Very nice!

 

PescadoAmaradillo did a Live from the Ruby in January and she posted that they usually skipped dessert with dinner and then went back later after the shows and went back to the dining room for coffee and dessert. ( before her posting, didn't know you could do that ). Maybe on your next cruise, you could go to the dining room just for dessert. Seems a shame you should miss out on your favorite dessert.

 

Thanks for your review.

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rdsqrl

rdsqrl

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Thanks for taking the time to write such a detailed review. Glad you enjoyed the Crown, although I'm sorry about your plumbing issues and your inefficient room steward -- nice to hear that you didn't let them suck all the fun out of your cruise!

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Coolmama_1

Coolmama_1

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We were in Emerald 612. We had the delay when we flushed, but we had days that it wouldn't flush, no matter how long you held it or how many times yo pushed it.

 

We read 3 reviews that were bad. One that stuck in our heads was the one entitled "Tarnished Crown". We thought the condition of the ship was great!

 

Even with no flushing toilet we had a great time and didn't want to leave the ship!

 

We just got of the Crown yesterday and also had the dreaded delay flush. We were in Emerald 730.

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lovevacadays

lovevacadays

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Thanks, I am thinking Samantha Hawker went on vacation.

 

She was on the Sapphire in February and on my sailing it was her first cruise as Cruise Director. She may still be on the Sapphire - don't know.

 

When we were on the Crown last November Ron Goodman was the CD. I really liked him. He was out on deck during the day asking how everything was, etc. Very visible CD and very pleasant. I'd love to sail with him again.

 

I know you are a Samantha fan. I hope to sail with her again to see what you like in her. Her first cruise as CD on the Sapphire was a little rough. She seemed very distracted. I'll give her slack, though since she had just been promoted and had a new staff she was working with.

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Colo Cruiser

Colo Cruiser

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She was on the Sapphire in February and on my sailing it was her first cruise as Cruise Director. She may still be on the Sapphire - don't know.

 

When we were on the Crown last November Ron Goodman was the CD. I really liked him. He was out on deck during the day asking how everything was, etc. Very visible CD and very pleasant. I'd love to sail with him again.

 

I know you are a Samantha fan. I hope to sail with her again to see what you like in her. Her first cruise as CD on the Sapphire was a little rough. She seemed very distracted. I'll give her slack, though since she had just been promoted and had a new staff she was working with.

 

Thanks, don't know why I keep thinking the Crown.

 

Yes time will tell.

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