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Crown Princess Western Caribbean, April 2, 2011 (Long Review)

beachbumsns

By beachbumsns,
in Princess Cruises

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beachbumsns

beachbumsns

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We just returned on April 9th, 2011 from a cruise on the Crown Princess sailing the Western Caribbean. Having sailed Royal Caribbean 4 times mostly on the Radiance Class of Ships, I was curious to see what the Princess line had to offer. I did quite a few months of research on Princess and had always noticed their ships while in other ports and thought I would like to sail on one to see what it was like.

We are a couple in our mid 50’s having been retired for more than a year and we travel 3-4 times a year, usually taking one cruise each season. On this trip we were joined by 4 other family members. Two of which had not cruised before.

We arrived in Fort Lauderdale and took the shuttle to the Comfort Inn, Cruise Port motel on Stirling Road. I also researched this hotel and was a little apprehensive after reading some nasty reviews on Trip Advisor. I was pleased with the check in, and our room. The staff was very pleasant to deal with, and the room was fairly modern and clean. The only downside to this hotel is that all the rooms are at the back and you must walk through the outdoor pool area to get to the rooms which are down a long corridor, to each building to locate your elevators or stairs. The doors leading into the rooms are older, made of steel and you have to pull on them to get them to close properly. I know there are a lot of comments on this site about hotels to stay in, but we didn’t have any problems with this hotel. There was a good size pool, which we utilized, the drinks at the outdoor bar were reasonably priced and good and cold, and there were lots of places to sit. The morning breakfast is fine, both hot and cold items to suit anyone and the motel provided you with a free shuttle from the airport and also to the cruise ship. We spent 2 nights here before the cruise and it is close to restaurants and shopping. Try the Moonlite Diner. Great food, reasonable prices. Within walking distance.

We left on the 10:30 shuttle to the cruise ship pier. We were able to sign up for this 2 days before we were due to travel to the ship. We unloaded our luggage with the porters and got our tag to sit in the holding area. We had a low number and as soon as they started to allow people to get onboard, our number was called. The check in process went smooth, and we were given our seapass cards, and told that our rooms were ready. We were onboard by 11:30. We had 3 rooms together with balconies, and our room was B319 on Baja deck. Good location, mid ship, Starboard side. Our room attendant, Timothy was waiting in the hallway upon our arrival and introduced himself. We asked for our balcony doors to be connected and he opened them immediately and gave us his card in case we needed anything.

One thing of interest here, is that we had pre-ordered some beer/vodka for our room and we had thought it would be in our room upon arrival. But Princess has a different system and they give you a coupon so you can call Room Service and have your bottles delivered when you want them. We called upon entry to the room and within a very short period of time our bucket of beer and spirts were delivered in nice buckets filled with ice. This makes sense as you may not want these right away and they deliver them cold. Also, I had ordered a few other things and later that day I received a call telling me they were waiting for me in the shops. Very well done.

After everyone was settled, we headed to the Horizon court for the buffet and our first meal on board the ship. More about the Horizon Court later in the review.

After lunch we wandered around the ship to try to get our bearings and then headed back to our room to unpack our luggage which was delivered in record time. From our observations the rooms are much better laid out than the balcony staterooms we normally reserve on Royal Caribbean. The closet area has lots of hangers and is quite large. The closet with the safe in it has lots of shelves. This area is much more open and not congested like the Royal Caribbean ships which have the closet on the wall by the door to your room and bathroom. I found this setup much easier. One item that I brought with me that I read about on cruise critic was a shoe organizer to hang in the closet. It held all the little items that I’m always looking for and helped keep me organized and our cabin much neater.

Later we went to our muster station which was in the Wheelhouse Pub and had our muster drill. This went very well, and wasn’t too long. We then went up on deck for the sail away. We had not sailed out of Fort Lauderdale on prior cruises, only out of Miami. It is a bit shorter sail out, but was nice to see the large Oasis of the Seas ahead of us. We had wanted to see what this ship looked like in person, so had our wish granted.

We normally take Anytime Dining on Royal Caribbean ships, as we do not like the 6:00 PM seating, finding it too early, but read a lot of negative reviews about this on Princess so opted for the 6:00 PM seating. We felt rushed to get there after the sail away, but went and met our head waiter and her assistant. We had a table in Botticelli Dining Room for six. One thing we noticed is the ceilings seem lower in this dining room and in many places around the ship. Perhaps it’s because we are used to having the more open concept on the Royal ships, especially the Radiance Class. Our group went to the first show, which was an introduction of the staff, and a small amount of entertainment. An early night to sit on the balcony. Dinner was good, and I became very fond of the Strawberry Cheesecake. Everyone had a good meal.

The next day was a sea day. We love sea days as it gives you time to get to know your ship a bit and also relax after the build up to your vacation and travelling to your destination. This ship in particular had 600 children on board which included teenagers. This wasn’t a problem but I think because some of the families were younger, it caused more congestion in the pool areas as more people used the pool facilities than on other sailings. The ship had 3 pools we were interested in, one being an adult pool but it was standing room only on the first sea day. After trying to find a chair and moving to the adult pool, to stand still in one end, we gave up and went back to our stateroom to sit on the balcony. Perhaps if there were not so many families on board and it was a different time of year, the pools may not be so crowded. We usually like to swim around a bit in the pool but this time it was just too crowded.

First formal night and we all chose halibut from the menu. It was good. The next 3 days we were in Ports. Grand Cayman first – having been there before, we did a bit of shopping and headed to Margaritaville later. I have to say the policy at Margaitaville for only giving 2 invoices per table is a bit bizarre when you have groups of people. But anyway, we enjoyed our cold drinks and a meal. Food was very good. A little pricey, three beer and two lunches with tip - $80 US dollars. We did get to keep the souvenir glasses. Next we took one of the ships tours which took us through town and to the Dolphin Discovery and to Hell. It was interesting to see this part of the island and hear the culture since when we were on this Island last April, our tour was cancelled. Tender boats worked well and Princess was quick to give everyone a wet facecloth which was nice and cold to cool you down. Lots of cold water too. We have not seen this practice on the Royal ships, but it is a nice touch. It was extremely hot and the line-up was long when we first got in it, but it moved very fast and we were back on the ship.

This evening we were hot and tired so we opted out of dining and went up on deck to watch the sun go down and had some of the $2.99 drink specials that are served while in port from 4 Pm until 7 PM. Long Island Iced Tea was very nice. We later went to the Horizon Court for supper. Points to note here, sometimes the buffet is in Horizon Court and sometimes in Café Caribe. Sometimes only one side is open, which can cause more congestion. We found the buffet area to be quite congested compared to what we are used to on the Royal ships. There isn’t a lot of seating when you have a large amount of people and you sometimes have to move from the Horizon Court to the Café Caribe for overflow. This makes it confusing when you go back to the buffet line. Sometimes the lines were long, and once inside the buffet line, the stations were very congested. We also didn’t like the fact that some of the containers of food were behind others and anyone wanting something from the container at the back had to reach over the container in front. Doesn’t feel as sanitary. Also, I didn’t always see someone enforcing the hand sanitization station during certain meal times, especially during the evening buffet lines. I missed seeing any ice sculptures to welcome guests on board. This is a nice touch for new cruisers but I didn't see anything like this on Princess.

 

Second port of call was Roatan in the Honduras. We all loved this island. This island stop is laid out so well with something for everyone. If you want to shop, there is a lot of shopping, if you want to go to the beach, it is lovely. We had nice chairs and donned our snorkel gear and headed in the water. We rented a floater matsfrom the kiosk at a cost of$6.00. They delivered the mat to my chair and the water was great. Not too many fish to see but very pretty and nice sandy bottom. Everyone enjoyed this day. The restaurants were great, drinks lovely and not too pricy and overall we have to say this was our favourite island of all. Fat Tuesdays Bar a new favourite of ours.

Next Cozumel. We had been here before but not by cruise ship. We were pleasantly surprised at how many shops there were to choose from without even going to the town. Duty free is great here and prices were very good. We took a cab into town - $7.00 for 4 people. Didn’t stay too long in town. Find the salespeople a bit aggressive and didn’t want to shop. Had a drink at Carolos and Charlie’s, no Corona here and back to the cruise ship port. We headed back to the ship after a Corona at Fat Tuesdays, which is a great spot for food and drink. Two coronas and one nachos and salsa - $11 American. This afternoon my husband and I swam in the pool as most people were on shore so there was lots of room.

Another sea day, and 2nd formal night. Lobster tail and shrimp. Enjoyed it. We found that we were a bit rushed during some of the meals in the dining room. Our wait staff and maitre d’ Jamie were friendly and we definitely enjoyed our Irish coffee which was prepared in front of us.

We didn’t participate in a lot of shipboard activities on this trip. We did have the British Pub Lunch in the Wheelhouse Pub which consisted of Deep fried cod, French fries and mushy peas, which we all enjoyed. Of the 4 days on shore, we had lunch out most days, so didn’t go to the Horizon Court for the lunchtime buffets. We enjoyed our snacks we picked up at the international Café and took these lovely sandwiches up to our room and had them with a drink on our balcony. The international Café is a great addition to the ship and we had the gelato on the last day and it was excellent. $1.50 for 3 bowls of gelato is a great price. The cookies are as good as everyone mentioned on cruise critic.

The things to note that we liked on this ship were:

International Café

More relaxed liquor rules allowing you to purchase drinks for your room and also to bring wine onboard.

Room was larger and more spacious.

Plenty of closet space.

Port day drink specials at $2.99

Wine prices seemed a bit lower than what we are used to. Normally we purchase wine package on Royal Caribbean ships but didn’t feel the need on Princess.

Things we didn’t like:

We felt rushed to leave our rooms on the last day. Stateroom attendants wanted to make up the beds around 7 AM when we went to breakfast. Never had this happen before as we were due to disembark at 7:55 and planned on being out of the room at 7:30 am. Other members of our party felt rushed at dinner in the diningroom.

One item we missed is being able to check our Seapass account on the tv screen like you can with Royal Caribbean. With Princess, you don’t get this opportunity, unless I missed how to do this, and you only get the option to scan your final account on the last morning before disembarking.

We have to say that all paperwork was in order. Princess is very good to send you updates after you book your cruise. Getting on the ship and off the ship went very well. The bus leaving the port was a little slow and Fort Lauderdale airport is a zoo but the lines moved quick and we had an 11 am flight which we made leaving us about ½ hour to spare. I would not recommend booking a flight any earlier unless you plan to walk off the ship and take a taxi. We disembarked on a Saturday and there were thousands of people waiting to get through security and you had to go check your bags in, and then go in another line which wound its way outside the terminal.

Flying from Fort Lauderdale home, was great, direct flight to Halifax, Nova Scotia in 3 hours 40 minutes.

We would sail Princess again, but found the ship a little hard to navigate. It appeared that the dining room, perhaps only Botticelli, was hard to find and we were a little confused at times and mostly used our maps during the week. This ship is a bit bigger than what we are used to but I found that the pool areas all ran together and it was a bit congested. Just found that it was harder to navigate around this ship and perhaps it’s because it was a 7 day cruise, so we didn’t have a lot of free time to really explore and get to know it well. I think the ship is decorated lovely in an Italian design. The music in the Atrium at night leaves a little to be desired if you are not into Classical piano.

I really think that people are creatures of habit and once you get used to something it’s harder to accept change. We would try Princess again, but right now, our hearts belong to Royal Caribbean. Hope this review helps and if you have any questions, feel free to reply.

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kywildcatfanone

kywildcatfanone

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I really enjoyed your comprehensive review, I'm glad you overall enjoyed your cruise. We were on this cruise as well, and had a wonderful week, the weather was spectacular. However, we benefit from cruising Princess multiple times and have learned our way around, which has helped us, so I can completely understand the confusion you had navigating, as we had this problem our first couple of cruises on Princess.

 

Thanks for taking the time to write.

 

Mike

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NJRonbo

NJRonbo

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beachbumsns,

 

Thank you for your review. An enjoyable read though font too small.

 

A little confused by something you said about boarding....

 

We had a low number and as soon as they started to allow people to get onboard, our number was called.

 

They handed out numbers prior to boarding? I would think that they would just start the line from the earliest people to arrive. How did that work?

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Mist_ynight

Mist_ynight

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Great review beachbumsns. I was on the same cruise in February and loved it. Just so you know for next time there are two adult pools, the aft pool and the spa pool. We used the spa pool the most and didn't find it very busy. You can get your statement at any time from the passenger services desk. You don't need to wait for the last night. I used to stop by in the evening when there was no one there and grab a copy.

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kywildcatfanone

kywildcatfanone

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beachbumsns,

 

Thank you for your review. An enjoyable read though font too small.

 

A little confused by something you said about boarding....

 

 

 

They handed out numbers prior to boarding? I would think that they would just start the line from the earliest people to arrive. How did that work?

 

They break up the groups of people waiting by a number card. I'm not sure how many are in each card group, but if you get there early and get card number 1, you will be in the first group to get your cruise card and get onboard. After so many people/groups, they stop giving out cards numbered 1, and go to number 2 and so on.

I would guess they have around 200 people in each group. After group 1 is called back and they are about done getting them onboard, they call group 2.

I assume it is just for not creating long lines and congestion in the area where you get your cruise card and the area where you get onboard.

 

Mike

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beachbumsns

beachbumsns

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As people arrived at the terminal after leaving your bags with the porters, you entered the terminal and were given a number. We had six in our group and were all given # 3. We were put in a holding area with chairs, and waiting for the agents at the check in counter to open up. I believe they do this to avoid congestion, so they first called everyone from Group 1. I liked the way Princess does this. You go up to the counter and they process people by deck. For instance we were on Baja deck, so we were able to go to the Baja line. I think this helps process people really quickly and they only put so many people in each numbered group. Hope this helps.

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beachbumsns

beachbumsns

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There were a lot of great things about Princess that we liked and I believe we will sail with them again. I think it would be better to do a longer cruise so we would have more time to get to know the ships. It was a great week and we loved the ports of call and the weather was fantastic. Thanks

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ggprincess2004

ggprincess2004

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Good to know for next time. We did see the Santuary pool but hadn't registered in advance and they were completely booked. Thanks

 

You can use the Sanctuary (Lotus Sps) pool on the Crown, and the rest of the "Grand Class" ships without booking Sanctuary.

 

Also, you were on board in time to enjoy lunch in one of the anytime dining rooms on embarkation day. I agree that the buffet can be congested and seating can be a challenge as well, depending upon the time of day. We prefer to enjoy our breakfast and lunch in the dining room, or get something from the International Cafe.

 

Thanks for an excellent review.

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NJRonbo

NJRonbo

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As people arrived at the terminal after leaving your bags with the porters, you entered the terminal and were given a number. We had six in our group and were all given # 3.

 

Did they give out numbers according to deck level or in order of arrival?

 

In other words, were the people the first in line the first to be called into the terminal?

 

I ask this because there has been prior discussion about Princess encouraging arrival times according to deck location. Cruise Critic members were rather angry that they were being told what time to show up and would board according to the time their ticket designated them to. So far, Princess has not enforced that policy and I wanted to make certain that this was not the case with you.

 

Thanks so much for the replies.

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6pack

6pack

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Question: How do you reserve drinks in advance for delivery to your stateroom? Cant see anything on my cruise personalizer....

 

We pre ordered a bucket of beer and 2 coffee cards last time, however I don't think I would do it again. You have to take the coupons to the pool area to get your beer and to the coffee bistro to pick up your coffee cards. Would have been easier just to get them without pre ordering. Here's the info sheet which will give you an idea of cost. I can say the flowers are a very good deal! They're beautiful and in my opinion awesome value compared to a home florist!

 

http://www.princess.com/learn/onboard/gifts_services/Gifts_Services.pdf

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beachbumsns

beachbumsns

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We used the form that cruise critic member 6pack attached. When we got to our room, there were certificates on the bed that stated what we had ordered and to call room service for delivery. We had ordered two six packs of beer and 1 bottle of vodka and 2 six pack of pop. When you purchase six you pay for five with beer and pop. Works out very reasonable. I called and was asked what type of beer and pop we wanted and in 15 minutes it was delivered in beer buckets filled with ice. Worked very well and I assume if you didn't want both orders, you could call anytime during the week and have it delivered. But having the fridge in the room, you can keep your drinks cold for the week. I thought it was a great system and found the prices very reasonable. We didn't have to go to the bar to pick anything up. We had also ordered a fridge magnet and a Princess ball cap. the certificates were there as well and as I mentioned in my review, I was called and told when I was ready to bring my certificates to the gift shop to pick up the purchased items. When my order was processed prior to leaving home, my credit card was billed immediately so it was one less thing charged to my seapass account. Really liked this option on Princess.

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beachbumsns

beachbumsns

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Yes, people were given numbers as they arrived, it had nothing to do with the deck location. I believe though if you are Diamond or Elite class, you may go to a separate place to allow you to board without waiting. But it was our experience that as you arrived numbers were passed out by groups. They didn't ask us what deck, we were on, just gave us the number, we went through security and were sent to the holding area for the number we had and then called up to the check in area by group number. Hope this helps.

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kywildcatfanone

kywildcatfanone

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Yes, people were given numbers as they arrived, it had nothing to do with the deck location. I believe though if you are Diamond or Elite class, you may go to a separate place to allow you to board without waiting. But it was our experience that as you arrived numbers were passed out by groups. They didn't ask us what deck, we were on, just gave us the number, we went through security and were sent to the holding area for the number we had and then called up to the check in area by group number. Hope this helps.

 

You are correct, there is a priority embarkation lounge for elite and platinum cruisers and their travel companions. They process these folks first and then start with the first group in the main waiting area.

 

Mike

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