Crown Princess Alaska May 14th

[Crow9]

Thread for Crown Princess May 14th cruise.

[ImperialLady]

August 27, but I will be interested in reading about how this sailing compares to the one on the 7th. Happy Cruising!

[dog]

Following 

[MarcsSharon]

We are on the June 4th sailing and am very interested to see how things go on this cruise. Thanks 

[LCerutti1]

My husband and I are first time cruisers and will be on the May 28 departure.  I am very nervous about taking this cruise after reading the posts from the May 7 sailing.  I look forward to reading your posts to know how its going.  Thank you!

Edited May 15, 2022 by LCerutti1

[ktcishot]

Excited to follow your journey. We'll be on the June 25 sailing. Happy sailing!

[HogTide]

Thank you Crow9.  Like MarcsSharon we will be on the 4 June sailing.  Looking forward to all you share.  Wishing you a great cruise!!

Jim & Sharon

[Crow9]

I'm on the May 21st cruise, I just thought that May 14th should probably have it's own post.

[miagirl]

Another one on the June 25th sailing.  Thanks for doing this and wishing you a great time!

 

And here's my question - I've read that Princess is emphasizing Alaskan seafood in their main dining rooms for this season's Alaskan cruises.  Also apparently the Crown Grill and Sabatini's will have couple of special Alaska menu items as well.  Someone posted the Special Crown grill menu items.  I' wondering if you could do the same for us?

 

Many thanks in advance!

 

Nan

[1025cruise]

I'm sure that if someone onboard feels like posting a live from, they will.

[LCinLB]

Hello from the May 14th sailing! I’ll try my best to keep up with this since I know I obsessively read the May 7th cruise updates! This is my 6th cruise ever, but my first with Princess.  I’m cruising with my boyfriend (we are both in our late 30’s) and my parents (late 60’s).

 

The Good:

-the crew has been amazing so far. Very attentive and helpful!

-our itinerary has not changed since we switched from Ketchikan to Icy Straight point.

-we seem to be making good time. We have been clocking 18-19 knots per the medallion app and marinetrafffic.com.  Our captain announced earlier that we are expected to arrive on time tomorrow to Juneau.  He also said that we will enter the inside passage around 6:00am and the weather is looking good (although Juneau has an 80%chance of rain per my weather app)

-one crew member said that we only have about 1200 passengers onboard out of a 3000 capacity. So we are a little less than half full, which has been really nice. So far my party has not had any issue finding places to sit or attending any of the activities we have wanted to go to. But. We also are eating on the later side (7/7:30), so we don’t have to deal with the early rush.

 

The Bad:

-we have a balcony room on deck 10 aft. So while we have not had any issues with the plumbing, when you walk on deck 10 from mid ship to mid-aft there is still an odor. They have been using air fresheners to help, but it is noticeable. I haven’t met anyone staying in those rooms yet to see what they think, but that may be something to think about if you have a balcony in that section in the coming cruises.

-we booked the 2pm luxury car on the scenic white pass railroad in Skagway months ago, and after we set sail we were informed that excursion was cancelled, and we were rebooked in the regular car at an earlier time.  When we talked with the excursion desk, we were told it was cancelled on the operator’s side and they didn’t know the exact reason. They refunded the original price to our onboard folio, and this morning I noticed an addition $100 onboard credit labeled “disruption company credit” — unsure if it is related, but I’ll take it!

-the salty dog gastropub is still closed down on this sailing.

 

I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions 🙂

[Crow9]

Are the hot tubs open and hot?  Are any of the pools open too?

[LCinLB]

5 minutes ago, Crow9 said:

Are the hot tubs open and hot?  Are any of the pools open too?

The pools and hot tubs are open. I’ve seen a few people using the hot tubs, but not the pool.

[Becky_Mac]

Looking forward to hearing about everything. Thank you for keeping us updated. 

[LCinLB]

3 hours ago, miagirl said:

 

 

And here's my question - I've read that Princess is emphasizing Alaskan seafood in their main dining rooms for this season's Alaskan cruises.  Also apparently the Crown Grill and Sabatini's will have couple of special Alaska menu items as well.  Someone posted the Special Crown grill menu items.  I' wondering if you could do the same for us?

What menus are you wanting? I’m going to the crown grill on Wednesday and I can snap a pic of the menu.

[miagirl]

Oh thank you!  it's my understanding that each of the specialty restaurants have a a couple of additional "North to Alaska"  menu items.  I'm really curious as to what those might be in both the Crown Grill and Sabatini's.

 

It sounds as though the ship's propulsion problems have eased off somewhat, I'm glad for that.  And thank you so much for taking the time to post about your trip. 

[JeffT237]

19 minutes ago, miagirl said:

I'm really curious as to what those might be in both the Crown Grill and Sabatini's.

We ate at the Crown Grill twice and Sabitini's once on the May 7th sailing and I don't recall any items from the special Alaska menu, they are definitely on the MDR menus.  

[caribill]

8 hours ago, LCinLB said:

this morning I noticed an addition $100 onboard credit labeled “disruption company credit” — unsure if it is related, but I’ll take it!

 

The previous cruise had everyone receiving a $100 OBC as compensation for the revised itinerary.

[HogTide]

Thank you so much, we appreciate your time & effort!!   How was your checkin process, did they appear to enforce the assigned Arrival Groups?

[Skm52674]

Thank you to those on this sailing for the updates! I'm on the July 16th trip and are strongly considering canceling. Hoping this journey is better than last weeks and those on board have an enjoyable time. 

[LCinLB]

6 hours ago, caribill said:

 

The previous cruise had everyone receiving a $100 OBC as compensation for the revised itinerary.

My whole groups has 2 $100 onboard credits, one for the revised itinerary, and I’m assuming one for the cancelled excursion.

 

36 minutes ago, HogTide said:

Thank you so much, we appreciate your time & effort!!   How was your checkin process, did they appear to enforce the assigned Arrival Groups?

The check in process was really smooth. I was part of the first arrival group, so I’m not sure how strictly they  enforced it. But from being dropped off to boarding, it was probably about 15-20 minutes. We had a small wait time after we were all  checked in and before they opened the doors for us to board the ship!

[Mike & Zen]

I tried to send the post below last night but due to slow connectivity with the satellite at that time at this high latitude I couldn’t.  Connectivity seems to be better this morning.
 

Thanks for starting this separate thread for 14 May Crown Princess cruise.

 

Briefly, we were on the first back to service cruise for the Crown Princess that started 7 May, and were affected by loss of vacuum in our toilet on and off for 2 days, in our cabin located on deck 8, port side aft in E702, which is in zone 7.

 

Each deck has 7 zones starting with zone 1 forward to zone 7 aft.  If your cabin number starts with a 7, you are in zone 7, starts with a 5, you are in zone 5, etc.

 

The toilet issue affected some cabins in  zone 7, 6, 5, 4, and 2 mainly on deck 8, and also zones in deck 10 and some other decks that others have already explained.

 

We had approximately 2,200 passengers and about 1,500 of those were either newbie cruisers or newbies with Princess.

 

The toilet issues were passenger generated and not ship systems related.

 

There were passengers who threw baby diapers, sanitary napkins, banana peels, apple cores, brown paper towels, etc, into the toilets, which plugged the lines that in turn caused loss of vacuum and overflow.

 

The few plumbers worked relentlessly on the cabin decks and in engine room spaces to clear the pipes and valves.  Just when you thought it was over, we lost vacuum again within an hour and at best a few hours of relief.

Unfortunately, the passengers causing the blocked lines could not be pinpointed.

 

We were moved to a cabin on deck 11, Baja, starboard aft, and remain in that cabin for this cruise.  We have not had any issues in this cabin.

 

Once the passengers disembarked 14 May, there have been no issues.  I spoke with a plumber today and he said it was a quiet night last night with the new passengers.  And I spoke with our old cabin steward tonight, and he stated the same.

 

We have over 1,321 days with Princess, sailed in all their ships with the exception of the new ones that started sailing since Covid, the Enchanted, Sky, and Discovery, which we will sail in next week for two weeks.  We’ve rarely had toilet issues in the past but never to this extent that affected almost whole deck zones and different decks at the same time for a long time.

 

Soon after, the hotel management had notes placed into our cabins that stated what not to throw into the toilets; however, problems still persisted.

That major issue is now behind us, and flushing is as per normal.

 

Now, this cruise has about 700 fewer passengers at 1,512, which I got from the passengers services desk crew chat feature in the Medallion app.

 

The ship is still making good at about 20 knots.  In addition, the engineering department is continuing with their trials sometimes slowing speed and increasing speed with the engines.  We were down to about 14 knots this morning while the engineering department changed some injectors.  As I stated last night, the ship has a good “feel” with the increased speed.  (I’m an old crusty salt from way back).

 

As others have stated, the crew is outstanding in all regards.  Yes, they are short staffed as most of the cruise ships have been..

 

Last cruise our waitstaff were slow after not serving for two years but picked up and got their rhythm after a couple of days.  This cruise we have new waitstaff that just arrived the day before sailing and joined the ship yesterday.  Our new waiter has served for 22 years, and he had found his groove in about 15 minutes.  Tonight his service was quick, attentive, and just happy to be back at work after two years.

 

Now keep in mind, over the last two years, most cruise lines have had their ships at bare minimum manning of about 150 or so crew vice the normal 1000 to 1200 or more.

 

Food is subjective, but last cruise and this cruise our choices have been very good, and tasty.

 

A quick tip if you just want to quickly eat in the Main Dining Room and exit. Read the menu on the TV and know what you want to order.  Soon as you sit down tell your waiter you want to be finished in one hour or whatever time you want to finish.  When your waiter brings you the menu, tell your waiter you are ready to order now… do not hesitate or you’ll be there complaining about how long it took to be served!  However, if you want a slower meal service, say nothing.   Normally, it’s just the two of us at supper time.  So your mileage may vary.

 

Ok, that’s it for now.  Any questions, please ask as there are a few in this cruise now that can answer.

 

Cheers,

Mike

[Mike & Zen]

[caribill]

43 minutes ago, Mike & Zen said:

This cruise we have new waitstaff that just arrived the day before sailing and joined the ship yesterday.  Our new waiter has served for 22 years, and he had found his groove in about 15 minutes.  Tonight his service was quick, attentive, and just happy to be back at work after two years.

 

 

I thought new crew had to be in isolation for a period of time as a Covid-19 precaution.

[FloatinDown]

Thanks, Mike for the update with the plumbing problems. We are booked on a aft facing and port side aft balcony on Caribe and was wondering about the issue. Going to have to follow the next cruise as we are going to be on the 28th.