Live from the Crown Princess dreaded Norovirus cruise

[Coral]

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...

 

.

 

Apologizes....

[LB Cruiser]

Here is my take on the most recent Crown Princess cruise.

 

Hits:

 

1. The weather during our cruise was great! Could not ask for anything better. A mini-summer in the middle of winter.

2. The food overall was very good. We had dinner one night in the steak house and the meal was outstanding!

3. The Jazz band on the ship was the best! We loved listening to them each night.

4. The staff in the Wheelhouse bar were great! Kind crew and strong drinks made for a good time at the bar.

5. Our fellow passengers were for the most part kind and polite.

 

Misses

 

1. Long lines at the delayed check in. We got to the port around 5:00 p.m. and it took more than an hour to check in. Also, at check in we were told that the rooms were still not ready on the ship.

2. Many crew seemed over worked and stressed out. We only saw our room guy one time during the cruise. The room still had trash left on the floor from the previous guest.

3. Guest services did not provide much service at all. Our toilet would not flush and I called guest services to report the problem but no one ever answered the phone. I called three different times and my call was never answered. To get the issue resolved I stopped by the desk and waited for half an hour.

4. There were lines everywhere on the ship. A long line for the Pub Lunch, a long line for afternoon tea, a line for anytime dinning, a line for pizza, a long line to both check in and disembark from the ship. On other Princess ships I cannot remember waiting in line. On this cruise there were lines everywhere.

5. Even though the food was great out the steakhouse the host at the door was rude to us when we showed up three minutes early for our reservation. She told us to come back at 8:00 p.m. to be seated for dinner.

 

Overall we were somewhat disappointed in this cruise. I like Princess but I would not cruise on the crown again. I did not feel like a valued Princess guest on this cruise.

[VibeGuy]

Damn, we didn't get wine.

 

Three of us arrived at the pier at 5:10. We threw two bags with the porter by the "tent" and I moved the car down closer to the check-in area with ease. I left my travel companions curbside with the hand baggage and found a parking space next to the port operations building on the close edge of the lot.

 

We entered the line at 5:17 and were onboard at 5:44. Tossed bags in the room and decamped to the absolutely empty Wheelhouse for a cocktail. We had the good common sense to go to Botticelli, figuring people would still be struggling to find it, and were immediately seated at around 6:30. We had an excellent window table to starboard and a very capable waiter.

 

The menus have shifted around the edges: barramundi is back for Sailaway, the soups are tomato and clam chowder rather than the mushroom and tortellini and the pasta was spaghetti with meatballs rather than the farfalle of yore.

 

Butter was not on the table and rolls were served. Salt and pepper shakers were, however on the table, as was the sweetener caddy when appropriate.

 

We finished dessert just in time to proceed to muster.

 

I'm disappointed in missing an afternoon in the jacuzzi and not having a solid buzz on before dark, but I will get over it. We met many friendly Southern Californians and had an awesome time. I thought the cruise director and his staff were very visible and engaged. Dinner at Sabatini's Monday night was better than I expected and I cannot say enough nice things about the crew in Adagio and Vines.

 

Getting off this morning was a clusterfluff. People queuing at the gangway access and then getting angry when groups from the lounges were escorted past them. We had walk off 12 and slipped our scheduled time by a few minutes. The queue for CBP extended all the way to the aft gangway.

 

There were a few lowlights: the lines for ATD on Sunday night were criminal. We had at least a :30 queue for a pager and then a :55 wait for a table despite being 2 willing to share. We showed up at 7 and walked out of the dining room at 10:10. Breakfast had lines all three mornings. Lunch Sunday had a line so we wandered over to pub lunch at 1:00 and were seated instantly.

 

Our cabin was in generally excellent shape except for a greasy black handprint on the shower curtain and some rust stains on the balcony dri-deck. Our cabin steward bawled us out for not using the do not disturb/please refresh tag, and argued with us that we had one in the cabin; we did not. The holder on the door was torn off and there wasn't one in the mail rack either. It's not about the bawling out so much as the arguing/making it seem like this was somehow my first rodeo. Left a bad taste.

 

It seems like the piazza may be shy a handful of tables. While I love the Vines and IC spaces, seating was always at a premium. I especially like the placement of the sandwich grill; since the introduction of the IC, I've been bothered with the aroma of burning cheese in almost all the Piazzas. Not so here.

 

I didn't set foot in the HC except to walk aft to Adagio. I spent very little time on Lido in general, and I didn't even manage a slice of pizza. Next time.

 

Special props go out to the pastry waiter at breakfast who, when my friend expressed dismay over the lack of pain au chocolat, took the initiative to grab one from the IC while explaining that the pastries rotate. He earned a cash tip and a CRUISE commendation for that.

 

Food quality was excellent in the MDRs. My Benedict had runny yolks, the Sailaway duck was cooked to a turn, and fish dishes were exceptionally well-prepared. Baking was universally excellent. I defy anyone to name a bakery in the Seattle area who makes better dinner rolls, and I think the laminated pastries were particularly good. The pear danish was a highlight. This morning's croissant was exceptional.

 

The 2nd night MDR menu was truly one of the best meals I've had in 35 years of cruising Princess.

 

If I could have moved a meeting, I would have stayed on for a spontaneous B2B. It was that good.

[SoCal Cruiser78]

...The 2nd night MDR menu was truly one of the best meals I've had in 35 years of cruising Princess.

 

If I could have moved a meeting, I would have stayed on for a spontaneous B2B. It was that good.

 

Thanks for the review! It is always interesting to get varying perspectives from different CCers on the same cruise.

 

Your praise of the dining make me want to sail on the Crown, but your description of long waits and lines make me want to avoid her. The bawling out by your cabin steward is bizarre. I have always tipped stewards over-and-above the auto-tip in the past, but I think I would have skipped it in this case.

 

I have had to cancel my upcoming 4-nighter on the Crown due to a schedule conflict, but won't rebook on the her until it becomes clear that substantially delayed boarding is not becoming a routine matter for her.

 

As Bruin Steven mentioned in a previous post, "missing" almost an entire day of activities on a 3-nighter is a huge % of the trip. A glass of wine is nowhere near just compensation. OBC equal to 1 day's fare would be more like it, IMO.

Edited January 7, 2015 by Ryndam2002
clarity

[cvpends]

Baking was universally excellent. I defy anyone to name a bakery in the Seattle area who makes better dinner rolls, and I think the laminated pastries were particularly good. The pear danish was a highlight. This morning's croissant was exceptional.

 

Last week on the Crown confirmed what my husband always says: We sail Princess for the bakery. The baked foods really are good -- by San Francisco Bay Area expectation, in addition to your your Seattle standards. I adore the way the Crown bakers make those dinner rolls -- crusty on the outside and creamy on the inside.

 

Did you get to listen to the Crown jazz band? A highlight of our time on Crown over New Years was the way the Crown Princess Orchestra played jazz. So enjoyable!

[critterchick]

One correct to Bruin Steve's review: we were on the prior cruise and disembarkation began around 9:00, an hour late, not 11:00 as he stated. We weren't told anything about sick people going off first. Our disembarkation information was incorrect - whomever put it together must have assumed that we would disembark at Pier 93, where immigration is conducted in the terminal. But we ended up at 92, so were processed onboard (I'm not sure why, since 92 also has shoreside immigration capability, but we did that on Golden, too).

 

Also, there may only have been 12 people disembarked in that group (if indeed they did that), but there were more than 12 people with gastrointestinal illness on the cruise. No way would we be in Code Red for the entire cruise with that low of a number. On the last sea day the Captain said that there were 15 people confined, which was up from prior days, and remember that people are only confined for a day or two, so I think it was a rolling number throughout the cruise.

[Mademypoint]

The ship is staffed with a lot of new and poorly trained staff in the dining rooms! At least three admitted to being on the ship for under a month.

 

Without a bar steward in the dining room, the waiter/assistant are required to take all drink orders then go stand in line so I don't put all the blame on them for inadequate service.

 

Just be glad that if you ask for a wine recommendation and get something other than "yes" that is a better trained waiter than the one we had.