Just returned from the Crown, Southern Caribbean Nov 9-16

[pegbert]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned problems at embarkation..........Anyone know anything?

 

We got there at noon, and were at the back of the "first line" (the one against the building). It moved a little bit at first, then just stopped. We were in the line for a little over 2.5 hours.

 

There were emergency vehicles that showed up toward the tail end of the wait, but when we got inside the building the cot was empty and all the attendants were smiling and laughing, so I wonder if it was just a drill?

 

The only thing I heard about it was the announcement from the bridge that the sail away had been delayed due to the ship needing inspection from both the Health department and Coast Guard since it was the first stop after Europe, and that both inspections passed with flying colors.

 

Here's my question: if it is standard practice for a ship arriving at a US port for the first Caribbean cruise of the season to undergo these inspections, then why tell passengers that boarding will begin at 12:30? Why not just be honest about the reason, and delay it by a couple of hours and begin boarding at 2:30? I think it was the non-communication that was most frustrating. We felt very bad for the elderly folks in line, or those with medical conditions who might have needed water or food. By the time we got into the building, the line outside was four rows deep, and meandering down onto the roadway.

 

If we had known, we would have asked for a late check out at the hotel, and enjoyed a nice seaside lunch instead of standing for hours.

 

Has anyone heard anything else?

 

Peg

[caribill]

Here's my question: if it is standard practice for a ship arriving at a US port for the first Caribbean cruise of the season to undergo these inspections, then why tell passengers that boarding will begin at 12:30? Why not just be honest about the reason, and delay it by a couple of hours and begin boarding at 2:30?

 

Yes, it is standard to have these inspections when a ship arrives from Europe, Asia or South America after an absence for a while from the USA. This is true on the east coast and the west coast.

 

There is no way to know in advance how long these inspections will take. Sometimes they are finished for boarding to start at the regular time, sometimes they are not.

 

Possibly a warning that boarding might be delayed is in order, but I would not officially say it starts at 2:30 because if the inspections were completed quickly people would be upset because they arrived two hours after boarding actually started. A warning would allow people decide for themselves whether to delay arriving on purpose or chance it and come at the regular time.

[pegbert]

A warning would allow people decide for themselves whether to delay arriving on purpose or chance it and come at the regular time.

 

I agree, that would be an excellent idea. Perhaps a disclaimer such as "boarding is scheduled to begin at 12:30, however may be delayed for up to xx hours pending the completion of mandatory safety and health inspections."

 

And for those not familiar with the port, it might be a good idea for them to add that food and/or water are not available at the pier prior to boarding the ship.

 

That would pretty much cover it.... if you want to chance a wait in line, then wear sensible shoes, and carry some water and/or snacks! (I had a very small breakfast specifically because I *assumed* I would be on board for a nice lunch by 1pm. Wrong!! Luckily, I had a box of Tic Tacs to much on :D)

 

Peg

[pegbert]

Hi,

Happy to hear you had such a good time. We will be on the Crown in two weeks and cannot wait. A few questions:

1) How much is the coffee card? Along with the specialty coffees, do you get unlimited fresh brewed coffee without any punches for the fresh brewed even if you are both using the card at the same time?

 

The short answer - YES! On Sunday morning we went down to the IC together and asked about the card. Since DH can have the specialty coffees but I can't (lactose), I asked "Can we both use the card?" and she said "It's up to you." I said "OK, let's do that... he can get the specialties, and I will just get the brewed." From then on, every morning DH would order a Vanilla Bean Latte, and I would order two regular brewed coffees. No one batted an eyelash as they took one punch for the latte and handed us three cups of coffee. NOTE: this may not be acceptable on other ships, but it seemed perfectly normal on the Crown. We still have 8 punches available for specialty coffees on a future cruise!

 

2) What movies are they playing on MUTS?

 

I posted a complete list in a separate thread. A lot of concerts and old-ish movies (Top Gun, etc)

 

3) Any not to miss entertainment at night? Other than the Princess

singers/dancers, what other shows do they have? Any good comedians?

 

We didn't go to the production show this time, nor did we manage to catch the comedian. Most evenings we ended up in Club Fusion, and there was always something going on. We happened upon the "50's & 60's Music Trivia" night, hosted by "Dexter" (aka Kelvin), who had us laughing so hard! That guy is a riot! They sort of divided the room into informal "teams", so everyone got to sing along without feeling put on the spot. We made a point of stopping by most nights after that (football aside, of course), just to see what foolishness was under way!

 

 

4? What time did you get to Curacao and how long before you were able to get off the ship?

 

 

According to the Cruise Log, we were alongside at 1:42pm, and ready for passengers to go ashore at 1:55pm. I don't know exactly when we went ashore, but there was no line up. We're not really ones to rush, so we typically wait a bit for others to go ashore before making our way to deck 4 (especially since others need to get to their booked tours, and we just wander aimlessly.)

 

 

Thanks for the info.

~~Maun

 

Hope that helps!

Peg

[moopig]

Regarding the Zumba--not sure if they will continue to have it as the Zumba instructor on this cruise stated that this was his last cruise on Crown Princess as he was moving over to the Royal.

While this cruise was wonderful, the 3 hour wait to board was horrible! I know it wasnt Princesses fault but many elderly people were having a difficult time standing for that long including my 81 year old mother who uses a walker. We finally turned over a trash bin for her to sit on!

[nutucruise]

Hi. We are sailing on the Crown the first weekend in February. (Superbowl Weekend).

 

Just curious as to which nights they did the formal nights?

[pegbert]

Hi. We are sailing on the Crown the first weekend in February. (Superbowl Weekend).

 

We are envious..... DH loved football on the big screen! (Well, so did I... when I wasn't dozing off to the gentle rocking of the ocean!)

 

Just curious as to which nights they did the formal nights?

 

They were on the first and second "at sea" days, Monday and Thursday. Since we're passed on formal nights this cruise, we were thrilled to have the NFL option up on MUTS. Ice cold beverages and slightly-stale popcorn, yay! :D

 

Peg

[mafig]

While this cruise was wonderful, the 3 hour wait to board was horrible! I know it wasnt Princesses fault but many elderly people were having a difficult time standing for that long including my 81 year old mother who uses a walker. We finally turned over a trash bin for her to sit on!

 

 

I don't know where in line you were, but when we were only about 30 back when we noticed that our line stopped moving. The four (only four ... what's up with that?) check in people were only checking in the ELITE/Suite line! Our line (yours too, I assume if you're not Elite), did NOT move. I assume this was to make sure the remaining seats went to the privileged. Sort of like a mini Titanic. Then, I presume, after all the seats were filled the check in people were pulled. So, in a way depending on where you were in line, Princess indeed made the choice that sitting on a trash bin was just fine for your mother.:mad:

[New2Cruisin!]

My husband and I were two of those people. They held us at the airport for 5 hours then when we were finally "released" and transported we waited for over another hour in line at the pier. We were two of the last people on board at 4ish pm and our plane landed before 10 am! I would have liked to make my own choice about where to wait because at least we would have been closer to the front of the entrance instead of literally the end of the line. It set a bad tone for this cruise for us.

 

Yes, that was pretty bad.

 

The Captain explained it was because Crown Princess had just come from Europe and all the crew had to checked by immigration, including matching fingerprints. Then there was a Coast Guard inspection. Then there was a CDC inspection. The room stewards didn't get around to cleaning the cabins until 12:30.

 

We were in line 3 hours. At one point the line just stopped. We could see the check in agents leave their posts and no one told us anything! After a bit there was an announcement. This wasn't Princess' fault, however, in line with us there were several elderly people who finally just lay on the floor because they couldn't stand that long. Some water from Princess would have been nice.

 

I understand those who were at the airport were kept there because there was no further room at the port.

 

We missed our lunch in the dining room - lol.:o

[homeinboca]

Thanks so much for the great information. We plan to just walk around the town on Curaçao. We only have about 4 to 5 hours of sunlight there I hear. We also plan to snorkel the wreck in Aruba in the morning and go beachin in the afternoon. Is the hi rise beach same as eagle beach?

[Yasou]

We were on the cruise on Nov 9 and can tell you we will not cuise on Princess again. Started off bad with the wait of 3.5 hours standing in line. Would have been nice for Princess to have offer bottled water, especially for all the elderly passengers waiting. Then once on board for all of the inconveinience a free drink woud have been appropriate. The shows are VERY dated! Music on decks and in atrium very boring. Definetely a cruise for the more mature cruiser. Food was wonderful although waiters in anytime dining seemed like we were bothering them. Asked for another appetizer and waiter told me "didn't you already order one". I was appalled. Never had this happen on other cruise lines. The shipped just seemed to lack a fun atmosphere. We enjoyed the islands and we had a nice time on vacation. Just seemed for all the money we spent we expected superior, and we got subpar.

[Bimmer09]

Yes, that was pretty bad.

 

The Captain explained it was because Crown Princess had just come from Europe and all the crew had to checked by immigration, including matching fingerprints. Then there was a Coast Guard inspection. Then there was a CDC inspection. The room stewards didn't get around to cleaning the cabins until 12:30.

 

We were in line 3 hours. At one point the line just stopped. We could see the check in agents leave their posts and no one told us anything! After a bit there was an announcement. This wasn't Princess' fault, however, in line with us there were several elderly people who finally just lay on the floor because they couldn't stand that long. Some water from Princess would have been nice.

 

I understand those who were at the airport were kept there because there was no further room at the port.

 

We missed our lunch in the dining room - lol.:o

 

Mafig!- seems like just yesterday you were responding to my Crown remembered piece on the board here and already you have been on the Crown and completed your cruise! How time flies. it certainly does when you are at sea.

 

Very sorry to hear of those major bumps along the way- when you are ready to board any time spent on the dockside is less time spent on the ship and to spend the first three hours of what should be a perfect vacation, in limbo, without explanation, is hard to bear. A little communication from the Inspectors to Princess and thence to you and this spoor people waiting would have gone a long way-and indeed a delivery of some cases of bottled water would have been the right thing to do.

 

Once the dust has settled I hope you will tell us about your trip!

 

Norris

in Chicago

[New2Cruisin!]

Totally agree, except I didn't even like the food. We were disappointed but will try Princess again and did buy FCC. We had such a good experience last year on the Star to Hawaii so we are just hoping it was all a one time freak disaster and that next time will be better. We did enjoy Kelvin though, he made us laugh a lot, perhaps we will follow him to the Grand.

 

 

We were on the cruise on Nov 9 and can tell you we will not cuise on Princess again. Started off bad with the wait of 3.5 hours standing in line. Would have been nice for Princess to have offer bottled water, especially for all the elderly passengers waiting. Then once on board for all of the inconveinience a free drink woud have been appropriate. The shows are VERY dated! Music on decks and in atrium very boring. Definetely a cruise for the more mature cruiser. Food was wonderful although waiters in anytime dining seemed like we were bothering them. Asked for another appetizer and waiter told me "didn't you already order one". I was appalled. Never had this happen on other cruise lines. The shipped just seemed to lack a fun atmosphere. We enjoyed the islands and we had a nice time on vacation. Just seemed for all the money we spent we expected superior, and we got subpar.

[lakegirl16]

Any don't miss foods in the dining room? Thanks for your posts! We're on in January! Starting to get excited!

[pegbert]

Any don't miss foods in the dining room? Thanks for your posts! We're on in January! Starting to get excited!

 

You are very welcome! We switched to Traditional Dining for this cruise, and liked it much better. We got to know our waiter, Darius, who always seemed to know what to suggest. I liked the seafood dishes, and made a point to try the nightly offerings (they have a section of "Always Available" dishes too). The only thing I didn't care for was the "turf" part of the Surf N Turf..... it must be very difficult to get a piece of steak *perfect* for that number of guests all at once! So I stayed away from beef.

 

DH usually ordered the fettuccini as an appetizer, but one night he couldn't find anything else that he really wanted, so ordered the fettuccini as his main course. Darius said "May I suggest some grilled chicken breast on top?".... was not on the menu, but he was astute enough to make the suggestion, and DH said it was delicious!

 

And you can't go wrong with the NY Cheesecake for dessert!

 

Peg

[susiejoe]

We were on the same cruise. Princess is the worst ship I have ever been on. No comparison to other cruise lines. I was in cabin A622. Balcony room. Smallest room ever. Cabin was HOT! Multiple requests to fix air....no results. Lack of elevators. Often waited 10 min or longer for elevator. Poor choices for food. One choice ffor buffet. Stay away from Princess. Run!! I have been on Carnival and Rcl. Never again for princess.

[susiejoe]

We also had the embarkation from hell. Stood in line for 3 hours!! No one would tell us why. Not offered a botle of water or even a cracker. Very poor service. Never again will we cruise princess. BEWARE. They do not care.

[Ren1216]

pegbert -- so glad you had a nice cruise! Thanks for taking the time to share your experience with us. I'm very much looking forward to getting a look at those Patters, as we are on the same itinerary in January.

 

I must say, I'm dismayed to hear about the way that boarding delay was handled. We all know that the cruise line is not at fault, technically, for the delay. However, I feel they are obligated to tend to their waiting passengers a little better, espeically since they don't let ya know there MAY be such a delay... which apparently is typical, so they knew. Many of us wouldn't realize this, especially first timers. And that can really start things on a bad note. That's not good business, obviously. But it also could have actually been dangerous considering a good number passengers are elderly and/or have mobility issues.

 

And just to re-ask a previous question.... You didn't say how much the coffee card costs - my mom will likely be interested in that, if you wouldn't mind? Thanks in advance :)

[ThirdPalmTree]

We were on the same cruise. Princess is the worst ship I have ever been on. No comparison to other cruise lines. I was in cabin A622. Balcony room. Smallest room ever. Cabin was HOT! Multiple requests to fix air....no results. Lack of elevators. Often waited 10 min or longer for elevator. Poor choices for food. One choice ffor buffet. Stay away from Princess. Run!! I have been on Carnival and Rcl. Never again for princess.

 

:mad:

 

At the Ft. Lauderdale check in, we stood in line in the heat for 3+ hours trying to get to our "preferred full suite" check-in.

 

Finally got to our suite - Caribe 750, St. Kitts, extreme aft location - the room felt like it was deep winter at an Alaskan retirement home. Nothing but heat, heat, heat, all week. We reported it immediately to our steward, and also asked for a fan. He said he would definitely take care of both items. No fan ever appeared, nor did the air get any cooler.

 

We went out on the large balcony ONE TIME during the entire cruise. There were two sliding glass doors, on the right side door (closest to the beds) there is also a visual obstruction (part of the ship).

 

Every day we reported the heat, either to our steward and/or Passenger Services, supposedly it was worked on, but never felt anything like normal cool air until we landed back in Ft. Lauderdale, when it finally felt a bit cool.

 

This is no exaggeration, we kept the lights off, and our drapes completely tightly closed for all seven days, otherwise, we were drenched in sweat. Each night, we slept with washcloths that had been wet and placed in the mini fridge. Also used cold water bottles, soft drink cans, and ice in a zip lock bag, just to be able to breathe normally.

 

The shower didn't drain completely and overflowed OVER the raised tile barrier. The shower head was pointed straight at the shower door. Called to report it and someone came, perhaps removed hair from the drain from previous cruises, then snapped the shower head straight down and used some funky tape to keep it that way. After that "repair job," it was difficult to get the entire body wet, so that was no fun trying to wash hair and rinse, etc.

 

One of our TVs went completely static, we reported it and some guy came up to "fix the remote" - I told him that's not what we said, but he took the remote to "fix it", then saw the static and announced to me "he needed to find someone who could fix the TV." Duh

 

The first several days were like being in an amusement park ride at night, we were popping up out of our beds from the bumpy ride. I realize this could have been weather related, but I did notice in the ship log that one night we were traveling at almost 220 knots!

 

There were lines everywhere and everywhere there were lines, it was hot!

 

We also could not enjoy leaving the ship because we never were cool enough to start with to even think about walking around in the heat, knowing we would come back to our room with no cool air.

 

Never took any photos of the view from our large balcony, because besides the heat, it was VERY bumpy out there.

 

We spoke with so many people who said this was their first and last Princess cruise. It was our first Princess cruse, and probably last. Also many previous Princess cruisers who said this was it for them as well.

 

Also, no one suggested that we maybe could have asked to be moved to a different room WITH AIR. People told me this after the cruise at the airport (where we again had to wait for over three hours to get through security).

 

The night before we arrived back in Ft. Lauderdale, I spoke with Passenger Services about how unenjoyable the week had been. The clerk who helped me said according to their records, I had only "reported the heat" twice, as if it must not have been THAT much of a problem if I only reported it two times. I told him I reported it every day to our steward. He also didn't have anything logged about the television, and I called Passenger Services directly to report that. The clerk told me it depended on who took the call whether the problem was logged or not!!

 

The best thing about the suite was the free laundry and pressing of clothes. Other positives were we got 6 canapes each evening, and could order food from the main dining rooms as room service in our room, if we wanted, but it was usually too hot to eat in there. We got one full minibar setup and a bottle of champagne. We also got to eat in Sabatinis one night, which was excellent, and we could eat in Sabatinis for breakfast every day but only tried it once.

 

Last year we travelled on the NCL Epic to the eastern Caribbean, in a full suite, which was fabulous: Two bedrooms, two bathrooms, excellent temperature control, unrestricted balcony view, private suite dining restaurant, a butler, treated like royalty. Out of 10 points, we would definitely give it a 15. Also the Epic suite was less money than the Princess suite.

 

I would have to rate this Princess suite experience a 2 out of 10, and the only reason there are even 2 points is because of the laundry service.

 

After paying so much money for the Princess full suite, we expected a luxurious vacation, instead we could not wait until it was time to leave.

[pegbert]

 

And just to re-ask a previous question.... You didn't say how much the coffee card costs - my mom will likely be interested in that, if you wouldn't mind? Thanks in advance :)

 

Oops! So sorry..... I think it was $31 plus auto-gratuity. I saved all the receipts, but don't have them here at work. If you'd like, I will look it up when I get home tonight!

 

Peg

[KWH]

One lesson learned from this cruise is never book the first cruise that returns from another country for the first time. We would have appreciated some information when we were in line at the pier. We enjoyed this cruise but need a little more excitement aboard the ship, so it's back to Oasis in March.

[jkskrap]

Oops! So sorry..... I think it was $31 plus auto-gratuity. I saved all the receipts, but don't have them here at work. If you'd like, I will look it up when I get home tonight!

 

Peg

 

The coffee card is $31. On their website it says it includes gratuities, but that may be only if you buy it ahead of time. Check it out:

http://www.princess.com/learn/onboard/gifts_services/cellars_culinarydelights/princess_cellars/index.jsp

 

Getting ready for our own "first Princess experience." Keeping an open mind . . . :)

[COUNTRYCOWGIRL]

Have been on 1st cruise after the Grand returned to the states from Europe. Must admit it was a longer delay in boarding. Was manageable though. Am looking forward to boarding the Crown on Saturday. Have experienced Carnival and Royal Caribbean cruises, still come back to Princess. More laid back, more restful.

[mafig]

We knew that the first cruise back is sometimes delayed because of inspections. So I did tell DH not to rush.

 

However, in this case I feel if you got there early at least you got checked in and got to sit down in the waiting area. Getting there late meant the line was just l o n g e r! I realize Princess prides itself on letting the passengers go straight to their cabins, but in this case perhaps they could have let the passengers embark with their carry-ons, go to the buffet or dining room first. This would have freed up some seating.

 

And four check in agents is ridiculous.

Edited November 18, 2013 by mafig

[molme]

You can order the coffee card from Gifts and Services ahead of time and save the gratuities. It is $31 if you order this way or about $34 if you buy it on board.