A Day onboard the Crown Princess

[Shogun]

Hi All

Well its August and for me that means a visit to my old friend the Crown Princess, this year I had two invites, now we could chat for hours about being friends with the crew, however to have crew crying when you leave the ship shows that you have gone past the normal crew passenger relationship, and I am very happy to call these people my friends, it just so happens that they work on a cruise ship and the only chance I get to see them is when they visit my home port.

That said Princess has done well out of my visits, as I always take guests with me, to date these guests have booked around 200 sea days.

This year my guests included a wheelchair user, I am sorry to say that I had limited knowledge about what Princess offered and even less about how a cruise looked and feels from a wheelchair.

As before it takes time to get clearance for a visit., passport details etc need to be submitted.

When you drive from Glasgow to Greenock, at about 10 miles away the road does a big loop into the river, these means you get a excellent view of Greenock Port and your first view of the Crown Princess, and the first thing you notice is the size of the ship, then its gone as the road hugs the coast line all the way in to the town.

Security is as tight as ever stopped at Port Gates, into secure Car Park checked again to get out of car park, checked on walkway to main passenger security check point, then the normal passenger screening bag check, we have made it quay side and we get a chance to look at the Crown Princess for the first time. We arrive at the gangway at the agreed time and the Hotel General Manager Richard Harry is walking down to meet us, We have handed in our passports been issued with our passes and had our photos taken so we are able to tour the ship.

The wheelchair helpers are there and without asking they are at our side waiting to assist us onboard. We meet Alex from passenger services who is going to be our tour guide, Alex has a very good knowledge of the ship and answers so many from my guests who have never been on a cruise ship. At the spa the small wheelchair lift is used to get to the Thermal Suite, staff there give as a detailed tour of the spa and the gym. Access around the ship is excellent for a wheel chair in a couple of places there are double metal strips which means you need to give the wheelchair user a little bit of help to get over them. We saw the chair lift for the pool, which they did not expect, again we took the wheelchair route to the front of the Princess theatre, it was filling up with folks getting ready for the tattoo, we were told around 900 will be off ship tonight.

We sample the international café, vines etc, now the coffee is not how I recall it, still OK but not the same may be a chance of bean or supplier,

We met Captain Nick Nash who I have cruised with a few times, I like captains that can been seen about their ships, talk to passengers, explain things in their daily broadcasts, and have a sense of humour Nick meets all these requirements and more. He chatted about one our past cruise which was nice.

What was also nice for me was having crew remember name my name, this upset Mrs Shogun As they did not recall her name, I put it done to the kilt affect. Or did some one in Princess tip them off.

After a few hours of walking we were ready for diner, we were to dine in the Crown grill,

Gloria the future sales lady joined us and again answered all my guests questions, she is from Halifax and is was nice to chat about that part of the world, as well other ports of call that Princess calls at.

Now to the meal its self, my guests are foodies and have eaten a number of Michelin star restaurants, so their thoughts, The Scallops, The Black and Blue Soup and the Cuts of Beef were outstanding as good as any land based restaurant, along with the potatoes , items that were good lobster cake, the mussel pot, all the deserts. So what did not live up to expectations the lobster was nice, however I expect lobster in the MDR to be nice at the Crown Grill it needs to be good or better. I have had large shrimp from Princess which were better in taste and texture, I think Princess needs to look at the lobster and may be look at offering a different way of serving it. I have had lobster dishes at the Chefs table which were excellent. Again the coffee was not how I recalled it.

Gloria thought she would order a cut she had not had before the Beef Chop, when she saw the waiter struggle to lift the plate, she knew it was going to be a battle to get through it, what a piece of meat, now should would have loved not to have eaten so much, but it was so good she could not resist Well done for getting through as much as she did but in the end, a bit had to be left..

Sam the Cruise Director stopped by to say hello which was nice as again I have cruised with her before, and it was nice to catch up on things.

The subject of the new ship was talked about by a few people we met, however when told a secret, it would not be a secret if I told all of you, what I will say is Princess appears to be taking great care to ensure everything is just right and is listening and taking onboard the views of many, to ensure it meets all of our expectations.

Cruise Critic was talked about, now a small plea from Princess crew, just post the truth, if possible both sides of an issue, may be a room steward may be as not as good as one you have had before, but this does not mean he or she is a bad room steward just that you have been lucky to have one before that was exceptional.

So what things did my guests think about the ship,

How clean the ship looked, the choice of bars and places to eat, on our tour we came across live music in different places. How user friendly the ship was for a wheelchair user, what they thought was very nice, was just how friendly all the staff and crew were, everyone smiled , some waved, many said welcome to Princess, welcome onboard, as we were wearing visitor badges they knew we were not passengers. So would they take a cruise yes, there issue is to where to, as they need ports of call that are wheelchair friendly. It would be nice if Princess could add a wheelchair logo to ports of call in their brochure that are wheelchair friendly or a warning for the ones that are not.

So a big thankyou to Princess for allowing me to visit my old friend again.

The only problem with visiting The Crown Princess is it makes me want to cruise on her again.

yours Shogun

[toberman]

Thanks for the report Shogun. I saw the ship in Greenock yesterday and immediately thought of you being on board for your tour. Glad your guests liked her, she is definately a beautiful ship.

[Quilter n Cruiser]

Thanks for the report Shogun, I really enjoyed reading it and I agree I also love the Crown and look forward to being on her sister the Ruby next year .

[Orangefan]

Shogun, I enjoyed reading your report. I also enjoy the Crown.

Sali

[san diego sue]

Shogun,

Thanks so much for reporting your spectacular day on the Crown. We board her Sunday and can't wait.:D

[Gordoncruickshank]

I thought I saw cruise passengers in Glasgow yesterday!!

 

The princess bags are a real giveaway.

 

Gordon

[CruiseKing]

Nice piece and two of my favorite Princess princesses, Gloria & Sam. Thanks for sharing.

[Shogun]

Hi All

 

Thank you, ship had a slightly odd feeling with so many being ashore,

 

but overall very relaxed, people did ask at the Crown Grill who the VIPs

 

were.

 

yours Shogun

[jab12]

Thanks for a really interesting report, glad you and your friends enjoyed your day. We board her on Sunday and cant wait.... our first ever cruise was on the Ruby and she had us totally hooked from day one :)

[azdmelani]

Thanks so much for the report! The Crown continues to be my favorite Princess ship... glad you were able to visit her.

[tere247]

Although my Princess cruise experience has only been on the Crown and the Caribbean Princess, and that being 2 years ago, the Crown is by far my favorite.

 

The layout is more comfortable. I like that Skywalkers doesn't cover the back pool. I enjoy Adagio being across from Sabitini's. We enjoyed the quiet location of Crooners, but hated it's busy location on the Caribbean Princess. I felt less crowded on the Crown. BUT, I was disappointed with the limited seating on the promenade deck, on both ships.

 

I also think the food is better on the Crown. The pizza was way better. As was the food at the pay for resturants. And the gelato!! :D Need I say more? The Ultimate Balcony Breakfast was wonderful on the Crown, not so on the Caribbean Princess.

 

The volume of Mutts was more comfortable, we did not have to run away beacuse it was too loud!!

 

Although I am excited about our up coming repositioning cruise and her itinerary on the Caribbean Princess, I am so looking forward to our February Crown cruise. I'm just sorry they're moving her from Florida.:(