Crown Princess Review With Pictures 1/14-1/21 Long and Posted in Installments

[gelo7]

Excellent review.

[theknittinglibrarian]

Awesome review - please keep it coming. I'm on the Crown in March & love all the details - didn't think it was possible, but I'm getting even more excited for the cruise!

[JimmyVWine]

I will be on this cruise in April. Do you know if Capt Nash will still be on it? I've cruised twice with him.

 

I received an email from Princess yesterday in advance of our April voyage on Crown, (Western, not Southern, though I doubt that matters). Though clearly a "form letter" type of email, it was ostensibly from "Captain Andrew Proctor-Crown Princess" and it closes by stating that he looks forward to seeing me aboard. So I assume that Captain Proctor will be on the bridge in April.

[molme]

Whimsey

Where are you from in southern IL, daughter lives in O'Fallon. We are sailing on the Crown in Mar and looking forward to reading the rest of your review. We are also doing the southern. we sailed the Crown last year and Capt Nash was on board then. He is very personable. Will miss not hiving him on board this time. I hope our seas are a little calmer that what you had.

[HaliMakai]

Great review! Can't wait to read more!

[Whimsy]

Whimsey

Where are you from in southern IL, daughter lives in O'Fallon. We are sailing on the Crown in Mar and looking forward to reading the rest of your review. We are also doing the southern. we sailed the Crown last year and Capt Nash was on board then. He is very personable. Will miss not hiving him on board this time. I hope our seas are a little calmer that what you had.

 

I'm very close to the O'Fallon area. It's were we do most of our shopping. If you ever want to meet up and talk about cruising let me know.

[silverbird]

Hi Whimsy --

You celebrated your birthday in high style and in high spirits. Wonderful!! I love the way you have inserted your photos (excellent by the way) in your write-up. I am eagerly awaiting the reading of the rest of your voyage. You are doing a fantastic job. Thank you so much.

[6pack]

We love reading your review! Keep it coming! We leave for Ft Lauderdale in 5 days! Really looking forward to our 1st BTB on the Crown. As we are in our early 50's we're really hoping for a younger crowd :p But truthfully, we always have a great time!

[ginnynj]

Belated Happy Birthday...hope you enjoyed the week on the Crown.

congratulations!

[preschool teacher]

The cake is just gorgeous love the serving Tray too...you are a lucky girl.

[Poulsbo Cruisers]

It was nice to hear that cabin E731 is still in great shape. We had this cabin three years ago and have this same cabin booked in June. It has to be one of the best cabins on the ship. Thanks for your wonderful review.

[Woobstr112G]

 

Happy birthday Whimsy.....:):):)

 

Bob

[Whimsy]

Balcony Breakfast, Curacao and Balcony Dinner

I had arranged for balcony breakfast for 8. There would be 9 of us but they bring so much food I knew it would not be problem to order for only 8. Besides, I don’t eat eggs and I know a lot of them won’t eat salmon. We had the extended mini suite balcony E731 and had use of the balcony next door at E729. I still worried about having enough room but figured we had the sofas, desk, etc. I didn’t imagine that Princess would be able to accommodate us all on the balcony of E731 but they did. 2 room service people arrived and went to work using the the balcony furnishings from next door the promptly set a table for us and began serving. It was WONDERFUL and everyone enjoyed the champagne balcony breakfast.

Don’t you wish you could save this photo and post it for everyone asking how much room is on that extended balcony?

 

 

After breakfast we attended bingo and I believe this is the session I won $200! 8 cruises and the first time I won at bingo so that was fun.

Soon we were pulling up at Curacao and gathering out things to get off the ship. I was very disappointed we didn’t dock where the swinging bridge was nor did we get to see the pretty dockside cafes I heard so much about. We were the only ship in port; it would have been nice if we would have been able to dock downtown.

 

Nothing really was planned as a group for this port so some went on tours, some went shopping…….me, I headed to the beach. We took a cab and went to Aquarium beach but ended up renting chairs at Mambo beach.

The water was still a bit cool to our liking. Note to self-cruise in the fall when the water is much warmer!

 

 

It was a very nice day with drinks across the sand at a little bar. There was food available but nothing looked appetizing and we must of still been full from breakfast. We had to cut our day a bit short as tonight was balcony dinner night.

 

DH decided to let us ladies enjoy the balcony dinner. I had something special for DD planned and this was the perfect setting. This was my first time for the Balcony dinner and it was AWESOME! The lady from room service arrived a half hour early so DD and I left the ship briefly to take a few photos of the ship at night.

WARNING! We did not realize there was no guard at the other end at night and we walked all the way over there. Cars were cruising along and driving very slow. We realized this was probably not the safest thing to do all alone at that end in the dark. We quickly made our way back to the more populated and lit areas.

[Whimsy]

We arrived back in our cabin promptly at 7:30. There was a larger table set for the balcony dinner complete with flowers, cocktails and more champagne.

We started with some canapés. (Sorry, I forgot to get a photo) Next was a crab appetizer with a roasted tomato and pepper sauce. DD and I both thought the sauce reminded us of my stuffed peppers.

After the appetizer we were served a wonderful salad with pears, nuts and goat cheese with a balsamic vinegar dressing.

Then for our main course I had the steak and lobster and DD had the twin lobster tails.

 

We were so full and along came dessert!

This cruise was very special for me. Turning 50 was a big event for me, having my DH, DD and friends sailing with me made it more special. My DD had been a rock by my side this past year during some difficult times and for a long time I wanted to do something special for her. After the dinner I gave my DD a pair of diamond solitaire earrings. I wanted her to have something symbolic from her mother that she would have the rest of her life. She was very pleased and wore them to dinner every night the rest of the cruise. They sparkled as much as her eyes. One of my friends joked with later that she got to have her dream date!

 

 

We joined the others later for a show and then turned in for our early morning in Aruba. Thankfully a day in port had the ill ones feeling better and sea sickness was no longer a problem the rest of the cruise. They did become diligent about taking their meds though!

[Whimsy]

Thank you for all the kind comments and the birthday wishes. I hope you are enjoying the review as much as I am telling the story! :)

[caribill]

How long are the shows in the Princess Theater?

 

On some ships they have reduced them to 30 minutes.

[coops]

So far an excellent review. Don't you just love that balcony? We get that same one for all our cruises. Just love it.

Dawn

[Wanderfully]

Whimsy.....wonderful review...thanks so much for posting ....easy to understand why your friends and family wanted your birthday to be so special!

[geoherb]

Thanks for posting your review. We were on the Crown the week before Christmas. The UBD was fabulous. Our cabin was closer to the bow of the ship, so our view of Curacao was prettier. We could see the pontoon bridge and the row of brightly colored buildings on the other side.

 

Also, we did not have any problems getting cappuccino in the dining room with an old coffee card. It's one we bought the year before on the Island Princess. My partner has always used the coffee cards just for cappuccino and never for the brewed coffee or specialty teas at the coffee bar. And Neville was wonderful at switching us to a table after the first night at dinner. But it probably wasn't possible for such a large group.

[Whimsy]

How long are the shows in the Princess Theater?

 

On some ships they have reduced them to 30 minutes.

 

Shows were generally at 7 for late dining or at 10:30. They ran about an hour or a bit more.

[Whimsy]

So far an excellent review. Don't you just love that balcony? We get that same one for all our cruises. Just love it.

Dawn

 

Yes we do. It's our 4th time out of 6 Princess cruises we have had that balcony.

 

We want to do Panama Canal and it will be on a smaller ship. Trying to figure out if they have a wonderful cabin like this one on that class of ships.

[boaterette]

Thank you for posting your review. I too did my 50th birthday on a cruise. My sister made me a shirt that said it was my big 50. I had a lot of the crew members sign it through out the day. I now have it framed. It was the best birthday ever. I am glad yours was great also.

 

Looking forward to the rest.

[doubletree07]

Thank you for all the kind comments and the birthday wishes. I hope you are enjoying the review as much as I am telling the story! :)

 

 

Whimsy - what a great job you are doing. Fabulous pictures too. You certainly enjoyed your "50th" in grand style. Thanks for the memories. :) Marie

[Liz54]

Hi Whimsy!

 

My Best friend is cruising with us on the crown Fen 18. Her birthday is the 22nd - Aruba Day. Can you let me know what the theme is in the MDR in Aruba? Its her 60th so we may do Crown Grill or Ultimate Balcony Dinner.

 

Thanks!

[Whimsy]

Hi Whimsy!

 

My Best friend is cruising with us on the crown Fen 18. Her birthday is the 22nd - Aruba Day. Can you let me know what the theme is in the MDR in Aruba? Its her 60th so we may do Crown Grill or Ultimate Balcony Dinner.

 

Thanks!

 

If you go to this thread and scroll down to post #7 you will find a link to the 7 day menus. They are NOT in the correct order for you sailing. Scroll down to the CHEF'S MENU. That is what was served on the Aruba evening.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1276047