Live from the Crown Princess dreaded Norovirus cruise

[MsSoCalCruiser]

It all started with an email. Boarding would not begin until 5:30 PM. The crowd went wild..... And now the rest of the story....

 

MichelleinOC and I started the day with lunch at Acapulco's at the ports of call area. It was very good and I'm sure we will return some day.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

On with the story...

Sometime close to 4:00 PM, we walked up and filled out our health form without waiting in line. We were then directed to the Platinum line and walked non stop to security check in. After I received a quick pat down we were directed to the counter for check-in and then to the priority waiting area. At approx. 4:45 PM, we boarded the Crown Princess. At 5:00 PM, we were ordering dinner in the MDR. As you can see our visions of mass chaos at the port of LA and on board the ship were so far from being correct that it was unbelievable.

[anteaters]

On with the story...

Sometime close to 4:00 PM, we walked up and filled out our health form without waiting in line. We were then directed to the Platinum line and walked non stop to security check in. After I received a quick pat down we were directed to the counter for check-in and then to the priority waiting area. At approx. 4:45 PM, we boarded the Crown Princess. At 5:00 PM, we were ordering dinner in the MDR. As you can see our visions of mass chaos at the port of LA and on board the ship were so far from being correct that it was unbelievable.

 

Thanks so much for writing this! It is welcome news for us coming-soon Crown cruisers and I'm happy for those of you on right now. Have a wonderful cruise and if you have time to write again in a day or two, I would love to hear about your trip.

[Coveguy4]

Thanks for the info...HAVE A GREAT CRUISE !

[marcyjane]

Enjoy your cruise will be aboard Crown in April and hope you take a lot of photo's and post. Thanks:D

[SoCal Cruiser78]

On with the story...

Sometime close to 4:00 PM, we walked up and filled out our health form without waiting in line. We were then directed to the Platinum line and walked non stop to security check in. After I received a quick pat down we were directed to the counter for check-in and then to the priority waiting area. At approx. 4:45 PM, we boarded the Crown Princess. At 5:00 PM, we were ordering dinner in the MDR. As you can see our visions of mass chaos at the port of LA and on board the ship were so far from being correct that it was unbelievable.

 

Thanks for the report, and glad it turned out okay. IIRC, one poster said that he had been told by a Princess rep that there would be a buffet dinner only and no shows the first night. Did the shows run as scheduled? And what time did you finally sail?

Edited January 5, 2015 by Ryndam2002

[Colo Cruiser]

Yay!

[Pam in CA]

Thanks for the report, and glad it turned out okay. IIRC, one poster said that he had been told by a Princess rep that there would be a buffet dinner only and no shows the first night. Did the shows run as scheduled? And what time did you finally sail?

I never heard that. I saw that someone had posted that all dining would be "open seating" but never that the dining rooms would be closed.

 

Enjoy your cruise, Linda! I'll get the low-down from Michelle next Sunday when we are getting together. :) Looking forward to the details as I board in less than three weeks.

[TracieABD]

Thank you for the update. I am so glad that everything went more smoothly than anticipated.:)

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[AZbeachboy]

It all started with an email. Boarding would not begin until 5:30 PM. The crowd went wild..... And now the rest of the story....

 

MichelleinOC and I started the day with lunch at Acapulco's at the ports of call area. It was very good and I'm sure we will return some day.

 

We have eaten at Acapulco's a number of times and enjoy it. BTW, at night they take and give you a free picture that turns out like a post card. Do they do that for lunch times.

[SoCal Cruiser78]

I never heard that. I saw that someone had posted that all dining would be "open seating" but never that the dining rooms would be closed...

 

Perhaps I misread the post--I can't locate it now :(. Glad for the OP and others onboard that the delayed embarkation turned out better than expected :).

[Astro Flyer]

 

Perhaps I misread the post--I can't locate it now :(. Glad for the OP and others onboard that the delayed embarkation turned out better than expected :).

I also read that either on their roll call or on the locked thread discussing the cruise but it wasn't true. I'm happy to read that it went smoothly for them & hope that the cleaning prevented cases of noro. We board on Tuesday & have not received a notification about any delay so that's encouraging. :)

[tml1230]

Have a GREAT cruise and thanks for the report!

PS: i enjoy your writing style and sense of humor….

[seacrystal]

Since we are a couple of the lucky ones boarding in two weeks, can the OP keep us up to date?

 

Thanks in advance.:D

[Astro Flyer]

Have a great cruise!!

 

Thanks & as usual our cruise is starting well. :)

 

Arrived at 10:30, in waiting area at 11:30 & on the ship at 12:30. We enjoyed lunch in DaVinci dining room & learned that the "code red" has ended & hopefully no one boarded with norovirus to "share" with everyone. ;)

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks & as usual our cruise is starting well. :)

 

Arrived at 10:30, in waiting area at 11:30 & on the ship at 12:30. We enjoyed lunch in DaVinci dining room & learned that the "code red" has ended & hopefully no one boarded with norovirus to "share" with everyone. ;)

 

Bon Voyage! :)

[Astro Flyer]

Bon Voyage! :)

Grazie! :)

[seacrystal]

Thanks & as usual our cruise is starting well. :)

 

Arrived at 10:30, in waiting area at 11:30 & on the ship at 12:30. We enjoyed lunch in DaVinci dining room & learned that the "code red" has ended & hopefully no one boarded with norovirus to "share" with everyone. ;)

 

Thank you for the current info. We need to hear some good things about the Crown!:D

[Pam in CA]

Arrived at 10:30, in waiting area at 11:30 & on the ship at 12:30. We enjoyed lunch in DaVinci dining room & learned that the "code red" has ended & hopefully no one boarded with norovirus to "share" with everyone. ;)

Have a GREAT cruise. See you next month! :)

 

 

:) Pam

[Astro Flyer]

Have a GREAT cruise. See you next month! :)

 

 

:) Pam

 

Looking forward to it & if there's anything you need me to check on the Crown email me. :)

[polymedia]

On with the story...

Sometime close to 4:00 PM, we walked up and filled out our health form without waiting in line. We were then directed to the Platinum line and walked non stop to security check in. After I received a quick pat down we were directed to the counter for check-in and then to the priority waiting area. At approx. 4:45 PM, we boarded the Crown Princess. At 5:00 PM, we were ordering dinner in the MDR. As you can see our visions of mass chaos at the port of LA and on board the ship were so far from being correct that it was unbelievable.

 

Can't say I had the same experience. I arrived at 5:30 and was greeted by a line of about 1,000 just waiting to get into the terminal. It took more than an hour of chaos to get on the ship. Then long lines at all dining venues, which continued for the duration of the cruise.

 

No NORO though, so it looks like that's been defeated.

[Pan Am Girl]

We arrived and were able to park without problem. Picked up the health form and proceeded to check in via the preferred line. Sat in a preferred waiting area for all of twenty minutes or so. Upon boarding we proceeded to DaVinci dining for dinner; it was just after five. We were at a two top with two congenial couples on either side. Service was great. The whole three days was great -- food good. No one sick. Beautiful weather. The absolute smoothest cruise we've ever had. Enjoyed everything - Vines Bar, Cafe, Crown Grill -- all delish. Ate a LOT. Attended the shows. Met nice people. The check in desk for the restaurant offered to hold our luggage. We were told rooms would be ready at seven thirty. We proceeded to our cabin. Rudolfo introduced himself. He was excellent. Didn't forget any special request we made. He was pleasant and our cabin was the absolute CLEANEST we have ever seen. We have been on the Crown twice before; it looked maintained well. Everything in the room went well. For the price we couldn't have been happier. Enjoyed breakfast in the dining room.

[Bruin Steve]

Bruin Steve had heard that from one of several Customer Service Reps he called about the delay. It was posted on the locked thread on this section of the board. Not sure if it got deleted or not.

 

NOT me...

Someone else on our ROLL CALL wrote that...That there would be no dining room service, no show and the muster drill would be at 9:30...

 

I had received an email from Princess with conflicting info--that there WOULD be Dining Room Service--but starting at 6:30...and open seating only...and that the buffet would remain open until 11:30. I called Princess to confirm that...and to ask about the show. I was told that the email I received was correct...and that there would be a show at 8:00 and at 10:00...and I posted that on the Roll Call.

 

Turns out both sets of information were INCORRECT.

 

It all started with an email. Boarding would not begin until 5:30 PM. The crowd went wild..... And now the rest of the story...

On with the story...

Sometime close to 4:00 PM, we walked up and filled out our health form without waiting in line. We were then directed to the Platinum line and walked non stop to security check in. After I received a quick pat down we were directed to the counter for check-in and then to the priority waiting area. At approx. 4:45 PM, we boarded the Crown Princess. At 5:00 PM, we were ordering dinner in the MDR. As you can see our visions of mass chaos at the port of LA and on board the ship were so far from being correct that it was unbelievable.

 

NOT EXACTLY...

 

I was also on the Crown Princess...

It did NOT go so smoothly for everyone onboard as it did for MsSoCalCruiser...

 

Here is the REAL "rest of the story"...

 

For those few of us with the foresight to ignore Princess' incessant Roll Calls NOT to show up at the port until 5:30 or later depending on the deck of their cabin (up to 8:00 pm for some decks)...and who showed up at the pier by 4:00 pm, things went somewhat okay...as long as one also ignored the 6:30 dinner email and showed up there early as well...

 

A small crowd had assembled at the terminal...and they began lining people up at 4:00 pm...Soon after, they started allowing the "Suites and Elites" into the terminal...After the Preferred folks were all in, they started allowing the "other guests" line...

 

These two lines were relatively short as so many passengers thought they still weren't allowed to be at the terminal...Since the lines were short, they were short inside as well AT THIS TIME...

 

Elites were allowed to start boarding at about 4:45...

Since we only first became Platinum with this cruise, we were in the first group after preferred and allowed to board at approximately 5:15...

Again, very little in the way of back-up...but, largely because most of the passengers had not yet arrived...

 

We were onboard at 5:15...and went to dinner early...and were given one free glass of generic red or white wine each due to the delay...

 

IF you were in those early groups, like MsSoCalCruiser, and you didn't speak with many of your fellow cruisers who arrived later, you MAY have felt that everything went "incredibly" smoothly...

 

However...the bulk of the passengers showed up later...and DID encounter a bit of "chaos"...

 

The Dining Rooms WERE open...not at 6:30, but at 5:00...for open seating...Anyone getting there in the first wave was quickly seated and served...

 

BUT, at 7:00 pm, they started TURNING AWAY passengers from the dining rooms--to seat them would cause a conflict with the muster drill--which had been set for 8:30 pm...So, anyone arriving at the ship at the later "scheduled" times was DENIED dinner in the dining room and directed to the buffet...Except for those instructed to board after 8:00 pm--who were sent almost directly to the Muster Drill...

 

I was a little disappointed that the Buffet closed at 11:00...especially on that first night...Having boarded late but eating dinner at 5:30, by late night I just wanted a bite--perhaps just a slice of Pizza...but found them closed when I got there about 11:00...and the buffet as well...

 

There was NO SHOW on the first night of the cruise...

 

Not everyone was as happy as MsSoCalCruiser would have you believe...

The first day of the cruise was pretty much limited to:

Board, Dinner, Muster Drill...for those of us there early...and...

Board, quick buffet meal, Muster Drill for those arriving a little later or those thinking they would wait until 7:00 for dinner...or...

Board, Muster Drill, try and catch the end of the buffet for those who followed instructions to board late...

 

Maybe not exactly "chaos", but not exactly what most of us expect when taking a cruise...

And, of course, it being only a three night cruise to start with, this definitely shortened the whole cruise experience...

 

BTW, as to the whole Norovirus thing, here's the truth:

The cruise prior to us disembarked late--starting around 11:00 am. They first disembarked the passengers with "Gastrointestinal Illnesses"...There were TWELVE of them...Yes, 12 out of over 3,000 passengers... They were escorted off first in a group. Note that I said "Gastrointestinal Illnesses"--NOT Norovirus...Why? None were necessarily diagnosed with "Norovirus"...And, remember, this was a cruise to MEXICO...People contract "gastrointestinal illnesses in Mexico from all sorts of sources--like drinking the water...or eating in the wrong restaurant...12 cases out of 3,000 is not only not abnormal, it is actually quite low...Yes, we do not know how many unreported cases there may have been, but, still, you are NEVER going to have a cruise to Mexico and have ZERO cases...In fact, you are not going to find a random sample of people ion the general population anywhere and not have at least a few cases of some sort of bug out of 3,000 random people...

 

A lot of folks don't believe there was any problem at all...

OTOH, a lot of folks took the attitude that they were glad Princess took all of these precautions...

 

And I know that many here will ask, "Why would Princess do all this if there WASN'T an issue?"...Puzzling to me as well, but I will offer one theorem...You can choose to accept it or not:

 

The Crown Princess has gotten a pretty bad rap of late as being some sort of hotbed for Norovirus. I have seen lots of threads and posts right here on Cruise Critic warning people to avoid the Crown Princess because of the Norovirus--calling the ship "cursed" or "infected". Princess would like to end this rap--it hurts sales...Crown cruises have NOT been selling well...and then, only at steeply reduced prices. On this particular sailing, we met multiple people who told us that they had been given FREE BALCONY cabins...that Princess contacted them last minute and made them offers they could not refuse...

 

Princess needs to clean each ship between sailings anyway...Perhaps if you do a little extra "disinfecting" and you make a big deal about it--then you report that you had Zero Norovirus following this, people will think you somehow "cured" the ship of Norovirus...and it is now safe to book again...End of Problem. You only tick off SOME of the people on that particular short cruise...The rest of the customers buy in on the "they are doing it for our benefit" thing...Just a theory...

 

There you have it, take it or leave it...

 

As for the rest of the cruise, it went fairly smoothly...

 

A few mixups--

 

We had a "sharps" container and a bottle of distilled water delivered to our cabin--which we clearly did not request...I attribute this to the fact we were assigned our cabin late and they undoubtedly upgraded some folks and moved some people around and didn't recheck these special requests.

 

We received a card in our cabin to exchange at dinner for a birthday cake--yes, nothing wrong there...it was my birthday...BUT, we also got balloons on the door...and a big placard wishing "HAPPY ANNIVERSARY"...and an Anniversary card, of course...

 

We never received any disembarkation instructions or disembarkation luggage tags.

 

All of the Power in our cabin went out one day...and it took two calls and about 5 hours before it was restored...

 

Other than that, MOST things did go fairly smoothly...

 

The food was excellent...

Cabin Steward was very good...

Service in the Dining Room--once you got seated--was fairly good (exceptions: Never got the bacon I ordered with breakfast one day, didn't get any sweetener for my iced tea to the table one day not refills on a couple of occasions...otherwise, very good and personable waiters).

 

Entertainment, what there was of it:

Day one: Nothing.

Day two: Main show was a production show with all Disco music. Some people enjoyed it...but we found it a bit bland and boring. Disco songs have repetitive lyrics, little in the melody line--really intended as dance music--so a bit repetitive. Obviously, though, I am not a Disco fan. Second show was a Magician--held in Explorer's Lounge...But, by the time we got out of the Disco show, there were NO SEATS. Venue far too small for this popular show. My wife and I ended up standing against the wall for the whole show. Magic tricks were rather mundane, but the presentation was very good--a lot of back-and-forth with the audience...some very funny lines. Much better than the production show.

Day three: Comedian Derrick Cameron--We've seen him before on a couple of prior Princess cruises...But he is very funny and entertaining (and clean, for those who care). Good show.

 

All in all, cruise was okay...Some good, some bad. Definitely not happy with that first day of three...and we had it better than most...

[bhopal21]

In the future if you "just want a snack" after the buffet closes call Room Service as they are open 24/7 and at no charge.

 

Mike:)

[dclark]

We had assigned 5:30 seating in Davinci, first night, got there around 5:30, waited 20 minutes for water, didn't get out until 7:30. The line for atd was long. I thought they'd have similar food in the HC, but instead of prime rib, they had round steak (yuck!).

Lines were long. Want pizza? At least 20 minutes. Tea time? We got to the end of the line at 3:30, didn't get in until 4:04. The line went from dining room, all the way around atrium to a little past gift shop. International Cafe? Always at least 20 minutes and they only had choc chip cookies once when we visited.

Cafe Caribe was never opened.

Pub lunch? It opened a few minutes late, took us over 25 minutes to get table.

The second night, we were seated at 5:30pm (this time assigned seating is place), we left after 1:45 minutes, no sign of a waiter to bring us menu to order dessert.

At the customer relations desk, a lot of people were complaining. Elite in front complained about long lines and standing as he was disabled. I think the worse was for those who had atd; they'd try to get into the assigned line and get yelled out of it. ATD meant "sometime you'll get seated".

Strange how there was no welcome aboard show. There was the lifeboat drill, that's it. In the piazza yesterday, saw an activity with kids throwing airplanes through a hoop, then an acrobat. A couple of times there was a mariachi band.

The disco show was a little disappointing. No musicians, the female "singers" had their voices heavily augmented with recordings, no set changes.

The magician only dd two or three tricks! Anyone who got there within 25 minutes of the show was likely standing, the place was crowded (I had a seat).

The pools were cold (didn't they used to heat them?).

Dinner the last night at Crown was real good, service was great. Getting off the ship was a highlight, took 15 minutes to get off the ship and to the parking lot.