Live from the Crown - Jan 22, 2016 - 3-day Baja Getaway from San Pedro

[shredie]

Great photos!

 

I agree! Looks like you're having a good time.

[CanadianBurger]

Wow. I love illusion shows, and I love production shows. Putting them together to the music of Stephen Schwartz is brilliant. Easily the best production show I have ever seen on any ship. Bravo!

 

 

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[CanadianBurger]

After the show, headed to Crooners, and ended up closing the place. If you ever get Zen and Nino as bartenders, they're fantastic!

No more drinks, so we all got water...

 

 

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[CanadianBurger]

One of the guys at Crooners I've become chummy with said he booked a mini-suite, and was upgraded to the Port-of-Spain suite. Some pics:

 

 

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[Woobstr112G]

Great pictures. Thanks for sharing.....:):):)

 

Bob

[victory2020]

Your "live From" is the best I have ever seen.

Are there any cases of Noro on your voyage?

[Colo Cruiser]

I agree! Looks like you're having a good time.

 

 

I am thanks.

[trystran72]

I'm definitely looking forward to that Magic To Do show!

[CanadianBurger]

Your "live From" is the best I have ever seen.

 

Are there any cases of Noro on your voyage?

 

 

I heard some other passengers yesterday saying there was one new case on this voyage, but I have no idea if this fact is accurate.

 

 

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[CanadianBurger]

Boo!! Disembarkation information already...

I was assigned Orange 3, which is for flight up to 4:45. Mine is at 4:40, so I'll be switching to Orange 4. Don't want to get off the ship any earlier than I have to!

 

If anyone is interested in the stateroom breakfast card, here it is:

 

 

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[cvpends]

Very nice review! Newbies rock :)

[shredie]

I am thanks.

 

That's what's important. :p They are not doing the 100% self-disembarkation this time? That was a mess on my recent short Crown cruise.

[Robinsoncruiseso]

Awesome review. Love your take on vegis :). We say Magic To Do on the Ruby in December. Illusions were good...music/singing was good...How the performers put them together, so spot on, amazing. Only word of advice for future cruisers...get to the show early. If you are looking for two seats together, they can be hard to find if not there very early. (think 45 min to an hour). We will be on the Crown in May, first time for that ship. You gave a very good overview, much appreciated.

[CanadianBurger]

Day 3: Encenada

 

I woke up too late for the MDR breakfast, so I headed up to Lido.

The crew were doing their emergency drills, and happened to be putting out a mock fire just down the corridor from me.

The Horizon Court queue stretched out the doors onto the deck, as only one side was open. I decided to come back later, so went up to 16 and laid in the sun for a bit. Beautiful weather. After 45 minutes, he HC queue had shrunk by half, so I got in line. It only took about 10 minutes. Seating was a madhouse, so I made my way back to the Caribe Cafe seating on the opposite side, and it was nice and quiet.

After breakfast it was time for trivia, which was surprisingly busy for a port day. We finally won! The prize this morning was a Princess lanyard.

I'm going to go ashore, but just hang around the pier area. I have no desire to go into town. Be back later...

 

 

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[CanadianBurger]

Well, there's really not much at the pier, so I walked into town, since the weather was so gorgeous. It's a half-mile from the ship to the edge of town, and another half-mile to the middle of the shopping district. I'm not a shopper, so to me it's all the same crap - doesn't matter what port you're in. I don't know why, but it must appear somehow that I need ******... I've never had so many vendors try to shuffle me into their pharmacy. The further you go, the more aggressive the vendors are to get you in their shop, to the point of being annoying.

I did pick up a fridge magnet for my mom (she has one from every place I've visited), and headed back to the ship. Total walking distance of 4km (2.5 miles for those still using an archaic measurement system ;-), so I've earned a margarita and some pizza.

To board the ship, there is a Mexican security station on land, which took a loooong time.

I used to think TSA was slow... Then the usual Princess security when boarding the ship. Both forward and midship exits on Baha were available for disembarkation, but only the midship one was being used for embarkation. Unless I was taking a wine or other tour, I wouldn't leave the ship if I came here again.

 

 

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[CanadianBurger]

LOL. It appears the "little blue diamond-shaped pill" isn't allowed to be used on the forum, since it was replaced with asterisks!

 

 

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[CanadianBurger]

I just can't resist Princess Pizza.

Then it was a trip across Lido to the Trident Grill, for a hot dog "finished on the grill" and a "bun toasted on the grill." Invariably, after I say that, others in the line will also ask for their buns to be put on the grill...

Moved up to 16 to catch the last rays of warm sunshine I'll see in a while.

 

 

 

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[Colo Cruiser]

I need a cruise!!!! :)

[epaul78]

CB would you post some photos of your stateroom washroom please?

 

Glad you have nice weather in Mexico!

[shredie]

Yep. Ensenada is a ship day. Now that hot dog picture has me wanting to cruise even more! Your pics have been outstanding!

[CanadianBurger]

It was a relaxing afternoon. Laid on Deck 16 in the sun for an hour, then took a walk around the ship taking photos.

Headed to the International Cafe for a latte, and watched Daniel and Kimberly Craig do their acrobatic act in the Piazza, which was pretty good. Then some friends I had made at Crooners saw me and invited me to Vines for a glass of wine and a tapas plate. It was quite enjoyable. I had never made it to Vines on any previous cruise, but will make a point to visit in the future. Went back to the cabin to change, and revisited Crooners (anyone sensing a pattern here?) where I demonstrated my egg-from-one-shot-glass-to-another trick that a Ruby Crooners bartender showed me. I might do it again later and have some pics. I'm sitting in Explorers now to get a good seat for the magic act of Michael Misko, the magician from last night's production show. Looking forward to it.

 

I'll post some cabin bathroom pics later tonight.

 

 

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[socaljo]

Great review! Thanks for taking the time! I love reading about ANY cruise when we're on a countdown! :D My favorite thing to do in Ensenada, is to stay onboard & have a "port day" discount massage in the spa! The only bad part is, its always the last one...the next stop is home...

[CanadianBurger]

Epaul78, here are the bathroom pics:

 

 

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[CanadianBurger]

Michael Misko put on a fantastic show. I sat in the front row and was amazed. Definitely see him if he's on a ship you're sailing.

After the show, I decided to hit Trident Grill for the Smokehouse BBQ night. I had the Louisiana pulled pork, and it was great! Really nice flavour to the BBQ sauce. If you're wondering, yes, I followed that with more pizza...

Then it was back to Crooners (surprise, surprise) where I finally tried the SeaWitch beer. The Red wasn't bad, but I found the IPA to be more bitter than I like.

I also remembered to get the Crooners "Too Many Martoonis" playing cards, which are full of martini recipes.

The pianist in Crooners, Darren Bethell, was great, but his wife Tasha stole the show with her violin.

Made some great new friends at Crooners. Shout out to Russ and Cindy from PA. Packing to do now. Sad to be leaving. 3 days is too short!

Here is the Log of the Cruise:

 

 

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[epaul78]

Thank you for the bathroom photos - we are booked in an inside and I was wondering how tight it would be!

 

Can you tell me about disembarkation? For walk-off passengers with their own "carry-off" luggage and an early flight out do you have to report to one of the meeting/waiting areas before you can leave the ship? It seems like it would be a hassle to have to haul luggage to a lounge.

 

And the flip side, I see from the Patter that a lot of de-boarding groups don't meet up until after 10:00 but it said everyone has to be out of their staterooms by 8:00? How strict are they about that? I wouldn't want to have to get up early to get out of my room only to hang out for hours if I had a 10:30 meeting/waiting time when the steward can only do one room at a time anyway.

 

May be a silly questions, but we haven't sailed Princess before. Thanks again CB, this has been such a helpful review!

 

~ Melissa