Just Off the Crown Princess - April 22-May 6. We are leaving Princess.

[geoherb]

Since when can't a classical stringed quartet become a classical stringed trio? The Solstice had one and they were fantastic! Is the music not adaptable?

No. They would need music arranged for string trio--of which there is plenty available online for free.

 

I'm sorry the OP had a bad cruise. It would have been better to have an accurate description of the outfit rather than "business casual." For some businesses, that would mean khakis, sport coats, and ties. For others, it would be shorts and tank tops and flip flops.

 

We had a less-than-stellar cruise on the Sun Princess many years ago. It did not keep us from booking another Princess cruise (Emerald) the following year and having a great time. It's easy for little problems to snowball to where they take over.

[wallyworld583]

We were on the Crown for the 28 day trip from Ft. Lauderdale. We had early sitting in traditional dining room, we ate at the Crab Shack (FABULOUS!), Crown Grill (Great dinner) and we also tried the other venues at one point or another. The only issue I had on the entire cruise was when the menu shifted to the British themed menu. I am not a steak and kidney pie kinda guy. BUT, I knew it was coming so really have no grounds for complaint. Dining room service was super. Waiter and assistant were very attentive. Cabin steward was great. If it weren't for the menu change I wouldn't have anything to grouse about.

[GlamorousGirl]

Sorry to hear the Crown was not for you. I wanted to say for people who stumble on this post that this negative experience does not reflect everyone's experience. I sailed on the Crown in March and had the time of my life! The service and food were excellent, the ship was beautiful. Princess is my favorite cruise line now and I'm already getting ready to book the next trip with them. The one and only negative experience I encountered was a long wait at port - customs fault not Princess. No complaints whatsoever with Princess.

[GlamorousGirl]

I am actually quite pleased to hear that the Maitre 'd was enforcing the dress code. We dress for formal night or else eat in another venue. We may skip one formal night on our next cruise as there are 4 of them. Then again we may not skip any. We will decide when the time comes.

 

I don't own or rent a tux but I do wear a dark suit. It's not that great a burden to dress up a bit.

 

I agree! I can "dress down" at home! I don't get to dress up very often and appreciate the chance to be in surroundings where it's appropriate. There's plenty of alternative dining options for people who don't want to dress up.

[GlamorousGirl]

Just wondering if anyone purchased their drink package....or how the wine situation was on board the Crown???

 

 

I got the all inclusive drink package on the Crown in March. I found it to be a very good value compared to what some other lines charge. I doubt I ordered enough alcohol to "pay for itself," but I still felt it was worth it because of the convenience and not worrying about a big bill at the end of the trip. Used it to get a lot of specialty coffees too. Bartenders made excellent drinks, and not watered down, and provided excellent service. Glad I got it! As for wine, there are a lot of options, a dedicated wine bar, and wine tasting activities. When I went you were allowed to bring one bottle on board per adult but I didn't bother because of the drink package.

[BigJH]

Are lattes and other coffees included with the drinks package or do you have to purchase a coffee card?

 

 

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[DrivesLikeMario]

The printed music is not. Imagine a 'Barbershop Quartet' in which one of the singers doesn't show up -- the harmonies are all off. Yes, there is music written for string trios -- but if a group was hired as a quartet they may not have brought any other music on board. I haven't yet seen a cruise ship with a branch of Schirmer's ;)

 

Thanks and to Geoherb for the explanation. ;)

[Thrak]

Are lattes and other coffees included with the drinks package or do you have to purchase a coffee card?

 

 

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All Inclusive Beverage Package means exactly that. ANY drink under $10. Coffee, tea, water, juice, bourbon, bloody mary... ANY drink.

[Colo Cruiser]

Are lattes and other coffees included with the drinks package or do you have to purchase a coffee card?

 

 

 

ANY drink $10 or under. ;)

[DiRonT]

We also had the worst cruise ever last September on the Crown. 7 Day Alaska out of Seattle. We are Elite with over 20 Princess cruises behind us. We have always enjoyed our trips regardless of little hiccups or issues believing your cruise is what you make it. We took a sister-in-law and her husband in this trip - their first ever cruise. We were so extremely disappointed with food, service, entertainment and cleanliness of this ship that we said we would not be sailing Princess again. Our family members were so turned off they have no interest in trying another cruise. I had a very detailed list of all the issues/complaints and sent a letter to Princess upon our return. About a month later I received a form letter stating they had received my letter and would forward to the individual department heads. I heard nothing beyond that. As an example one night we ordered dinner in our cabin - we were in a suite so could order from the dining room menu. I ordered prime rib and when it was delivered I had a small VERY overdone steak with one shrimp. When I said this is not what I ordered the waiter argued with me that this was indeed "prime rib". I called the room service supervisor who told me they sent what I ordered. One night I Crooners dear SIL ordered a grasshopper on the rocks. The waiter asked- is that drink on the menu, because we can only make what is on the drink menu. One day at lunch in Horizon Court my husband wanted cold cuts but they had dressed the platter with slices of bread that had nuts in it and he has a severe nut allergy. He asked a server if he could bring him some of the meat that hadn't been in contact with the nuts - he was sold "sorry, this is the way it is served". Wow - never had anything like this happen to us before.

 

We did make our issues known while still on board as well and each time we received a "I am so sorry, we will look into it".

 

Well, we are getting ready to book the Ruby to Hawaii so it would seem we are hoping that one cruise was a fluke. We have noticed over the years a drop in the overall quality in the Princess product - but nothing as bad as the experience we had on the Crown. Hopefully it was a one time situation!

[Kenswing]

It seams like almost every ship spends its time at the bottom of the barrel. Last year the Caribbean Princess was the "Ship to Avoid". Now it's the Crown. In a couple months it'll be another ship..

[ccruzer123]

Quote: "It seams like almost every ship spends its time at the bottom of the barrel. Last year the Caribbean Princess was the "Ship to Avoid". Now it's the Crown. In a couple months it'll be another ship.."

 

 

Very good point.

[Credit 00]

Op, No offense but you really need to use your space key more often, it's very difficult to read your entire post.

 

The Sun Princess has been bottom of the barrel here in Australia for a couple of years, I guess things change. But in all honestly, if you're not happy with the service to that degree you have every right to change brands.

 

BTW op, Our last 2 head waiters have been complete snobs which is unlike any other service on board. They messed up our traditional dining on both cruise and were quite "we couldn't care less" about it on both occasions. However error fixed on both though we wore stickers over our cruise card with our "new" allocation and time. The waiters were fantastic, the family next to us didn't have formal clothes on either night and they seemed a little embarrassed, but no big deal. Honestly, the only time we don't feel like guests is talking to the head waiters, this has only been twice, spoiled brats working on a ship. Still love princess though.

Edited May 16, 2017 by Credit 00

[gentle@spici]

Come on over to Celebrity, we love the Reflection! I will comment on formal nights as well as dining in general. I absolutely cant stand to wear a coat and tie. Gives me panic attacks to constrict my neck with a tie. I break out into a sweat. literally. Probably because I had a strike and I have anxiety issues since. HOWEVER, I know it pleases my wife if we go and look nice so I will wear a coat and tie to formal nights, always have on all 10 of our cruises. I just keep the tie a little loose. I struggle a little but manage to get thru it just fine. The other nights I will wear nice dress pants and collard shirt. So with that in mind it really bothers me especially on formal night that people show up and are allowed in jeans or basically anything they want. For Gods sake cant we look nice for an hr a night? Celebrity has recently changed formal night to "chic" night. Which means I guess even more "anything goes." I personally have never seen anyone ever turned away on any dining night on 3 different cruise lines.

[Pickels]

You can please some of the people all the time,

All of the people some of the time,

But, you can't please all the people all the time.

Go with the flow and enjoy your cruise!

[dmwnc1959]

It seams like almost every ship spends its time at the bottom of the barrel. Last year the Caribbean Princess was the "Ship to Avoid". Now it's the Crown. In a couple months it'll be another ship..

 

 

 

In a perfect world it shouldn't be like that. In a perfect world. But I do understand it's not a perfect world.

 

However every week these ships embark THOUSANDS upon THOUSANDS of passengers whose dream vacation has finally arrived, that they have saved, waited and anticipated for years. Sure some hiccups happen. But many of these occurrences I'm reading about are completely inexcusable, could have been prevented before they happened, and the customer service during and after was ZERO

 

And "go with with flow" is just a crap when you're not the one dealing with the issue. I experienced first-hand the same thing in 2012 on Ruby Princess after an absence from Princess Cruises of ten years, so bad that I called my TA from St. Thomas to expect my cancellation of my next Princess Cruise upon my return home. The Guest Services desk on Ruby Princess, no one on the ship after repeated complaints to various channels, cared. It was horrible. I never wrote a review on Cruise Critic. Never wrote Princess Cruises asking for compensation. Didn't make a YouTube video. But I gave myself time after I got home to settle down and gave the new ship a chance. Royal Princess turned out to be my best cruise ever.

 

With my upcoming cruise on Crown Princess I'm becoming more and more concerned by the day with all of the negative comments I'm hearing, and my final payment is due to my TA on June 25th. To avoid a self-fulfilling prophecy I fear I just may cancel the cruise despite the 50/50 balance of reviews good-to-bad. I've saved a long time for this. And $1500 door-to-door is a lot of money to me. I can't afford a bad attitude crew, mediocre food, threadbare, rusty, and smelly ship ruining this one shot, especially since it's the first vacation I've had in almost four years.

 

:cool:

[Working 2 Cruise]

Dave, don't worry.... The Crown is a great ship. You're looking at people who are incredibly picky, to be kind. As you could read from others, there have been very pleased cruisers disembarking on the day OP embarked.

[Astro Flyer]

Dave, don't worry.... The Crown is a great ship. You're looking at people who are incredibly picky, to be kind. As you could read from others, there have been very pleased cruisers disembarking on the day OP embarked.

Dave...I feel similarly & wouldn't hesitate to sail the Crown again although since redeploying from LA we're less likely to sail the Crown anytime soon. ;)

 

We sailed two 7-day CA Coastal cruises from LA on the Crown in October 2015 & April 2016 and don't believe the ship would so quickly turn into the SS Rustbucket with a bad cruise experience. I'm not attempting to sway your decision about how to spend your cruise funds but nothing I've read would prevent me from sailing on Crown again. :)

 

When someone begins a thread & then never replies to questions that's less credible information for me.

Edited May 16, 2017 by Astro Flyer

[dmwnc1959]

Dave, don't worry.... The Crown is a great ship. You're looking at people who are incredibly picky, to be kind. As you could read from others, there have been very pleased cruisers disembarking on the day OP embarked.

 

 

Dave...I feel similarly & wouldn't hesitate to sail the Crown again although since redeploying from LA we're less likely to sail the Crown anytime soon. ;)

 

 

I'm not attempting to sway your decision about how to spend your cruise funds but nothing I've read would prevent me from sailing on Crown again. :)

 

 

Thanks, Nina and Frank. It's always reassuring to hear from friends. I know two people on the same ship can have wildly different experiences that are a world apart. I was one of them on Ruby Princess. Expectations and past experiences play one part, crew interactions and actual onboard experiences can vary from sailing to sailing. This cruise was great, the next had a Maitré D change and the food quality takes a nose dive.

 

My Crown Princess cruise is the first after a transatlantic and the end of the 2017 Europe season. No time for any minor upkeep after that rigorous schedule, and a possible large number of crew changes post-Europe (?), also add to my concern.

 

The cruise was a really great deal for a solo rate, topping it off with $250 OBC. That in itself makes it hard to let go of, but I'd have to spend more than 4X that just to to get the "free money". Crazy logic, huh? I guess the bitter taste from Ruby Princess never left my mouth. If Regal Princess weren't twice the cost I'd book her.

 

:D

[Astro Flyer]

Dave...we have to fly to Europe to sail again on the Royal ending in FL this Fall & we're eagerly awaiting confirmation of the Royal deploying to the West Coast after sailing around South America in early 2019. :D

[dmwnc1959]

Dave...we have to fly to Europe to sail again on the Royal ending in FL this Fall & we're eagerly awaiting confirmation of the Royal deploying to the West Coast after sailing around South America in early 2019. :D

 

 

Sounds wonderful!!!!! I'm looking at the Pacific Coastal on Royal Princess in May 2019. It's been some time since I've been on the "left coast" and would love to revisit San Diego and San Francisco. Haven't sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge since I was on the Galaxy (Celebrity Cruises) in 1999. Need a refresher course. ;)

 

:cool:

[mamaboss]

I read somewhere the Crown was going in for refreshing and medallion installation. I am wondering if this is just talk or does anyone know when she goes in to be refreshed?

[Griller]

I think it's a bit of an over reaction to dismiss Princess on the basis of one cruise. They've had 10 cruises (8 on Princess) that were apparently good enough for them to continue cruising. And one bad experience shuts them down?

I have cruised on every Princess ship since 1993 except Sun and Dawn and our transatlantic on Crown last month was the worst cruiseship experience ever. A struggle from beginning to end.

So I won't disagree with the OP.

And won't be on Crown again ever. And some of the others are a bit iffy.

But we were on Majestic for the last 2 weeks and found it excellent!

[Working 2 Cruise]

Dave...we have to fly to Europe to sail again on the Royal ending in FL this Fall & we're eagerly awaiting confirmation of the Royal deploying to the West Coast after sailing around South America in early 2019. :D

 

Frank, it's official! I saw it on the Americas spreadsheet!

[Credit 00]

Look, I believe everything the OP has stated and it isn't a perfect world. People aren't exactly picky, they are surprised when something they are used to is suddenly blown apart. I can't see myself leaving princess and yes I've been on other brands. The last 2 have both been on the Golden in the same room, 25 nights last year and 13 nights just recently (Google Golden Princess man overboard) and the food wasn't as great as the Sea, the stateroom tv choices are nowhere as good as the Sun, the Crown Grill though is something else. None of these things effect my choices, sticking with Princess myself. Turning people away from Formal night is inexcusable though, Never seen it before and allot of new members (Blue Card) aren't even aware of it, just makes no sense to me. You got bad head waiters OP, they exist.