Live from the Crown Princess–r/t LA-Hawai’i–March 2-17, 2023

[Mary Ellen1]

Hi travelin.sisters. Thanks for posting all this!  We're taking a look at an upcoming Crown sailing to Hawaii and Tahiti, and have a few questions if you don't mind?  These are all based on reading reviews from last fall, and maybe things have changed or been fixed during the recent drydock. 

 

How are the mattresses?  Comfortable?  Do you think they're new?

 

How is the air-conditioning in the cabin?  (I realize that you may not need it -- yet -- on your Hawaii cruise.)  Some reviews said it was kind of wimpy and couldn't keep up, and people were sleeping with their balcony doors open.  Not having good A/C on a Tahiti cruise could be miserable...

 

How is the buffet food?  I know it's very subjective, but several reviews said that the hot buffet food was consistently lukewarm or cold. 

 

Last question (for now, ha ha!).  How are your reservations going in the dining room?  I saw where you had issues on the first night.  Reviewers said that even those with reservations were waiting for an hour.  Ugh...

 

Thank you so much if you can answer any of these...  Safe travels to you. 

[warren buffet]

optimistic greetings. Quite a few people here seem to have done hawaii many times, so i thought I would ask. We did Hawaii on princess leaving from LA in early jan 2017 for our 20 yr wedding anniversary. But, neither of us seem to be sure of the ship. Did anyone happen to do hawaii in early 2017 who would remember.    2nd observation. I notice the cruise critic rating for princess and carnival ships are pretty uniformity quite lower than costco.com cumlative reviews. even though both have one thousand or more reviews.   are cruise critic readers just much more picky because as a general rule more people here have done a lot more prior cruises than costco reviewers?

[warren buffet]

was the show in the main theater "let me be frank" a frank sinatra tribute/cover?

[OccasionalSanta]

6 hours ago, XBGuy said:

Now, can you share why you love opera?  This question is from the guy who is listening to "Lakme" as he is typing.  

 

Mostly, I was just listening to the music as I was reading since much of the detail of his talk was over my head, not being the aficionado I know @XBGuy to be... Mostly, I went to the talk because we had dinner with the speaker the night before. and I needed an excuse to not go to the gym with Mrs. OS. 

 

[OccasionalSanta]

1 hour ago, warren buffet said:

We did Hawaii on princess leaving from LA in early jan 2017 for our 20 yr wedding anniversary. But, neither of us seem to be sure of the ship. Did anyone happen to do hawaii in early 2017 who would remember

If you log onto your account on the website, there is a list of your past cruises/ships under My Account

[OccasionalSanta]

8 hours ago, Happiest when cruising said:

In your wanderings, if  you happen to come across where muster station A is, will you please let me know? It does seem easier to go there before we get into the cabin and see the back of the cabin door and then need to go find it.

Muster station A is the Princess Theater.... Deck 6/7 forward

[memoak]

2 hours ago, warren buffet said:

optimistic greetings. Quite a few people here seem to have done hawaii many times, so i thought I would ask. We did Hawaii on princess leaving from LA in early jan 2017 for our 20 yr wedding anniversary. But, neither of us seem to be sure of the ship. Did anyone happen to do hawaii in early 2017 who would remember.    2nd observation. I notice the cruise critic rating for princess and carnival ships are pretty uniformity quite lower than costco.com cumlative reviews. even though both have one thousand or more reviews.   are cruise critic readers just much more picky because as a general rule more people here have done a lot more prior cruises than costco reviewers?

Go on to your Princess account and look at your cruise history 

[travelin.sisters]

Captain just announced that we will not be able to dock at Nawiliwili, Kauai...we will stay overnight in Honolulu....details when I get to today & followiing in the live.

[travelin.sisters]

2 hours ago, Mary Ellen1 said:

Hi travelin.sisters. Thanks for posting all this!  We're taking a look at an upcoming Crown sailing to Hawaii and Tahiti, and have a few questions if you don't mind?  These are all based on reading reviews from last fall, and maybe things have changed or been fixed during the recent drydock. 

 

How are the mattresses?  Comfortable?  Do you think they're new?

 

How is the air-conditioning in the cabin?  (I realize that you may not need it -- yet -- on your Hawaii cruise.)  Some reviews said it was kind of wimpy and couldn't keep up, and people were sleeping with their balcony doors open.  Not having good A/C on a Tahiti cruise could be miserable...

 

How is the buffet food?  I know it's very subjective, but several reviews said that the hot buffet food was consistently lukewarm or cold. 

 

Last question (for now, ha ha!).  How are your reservations going in the dining room?  I saw where you had issues on the first night.  Reviewers said that even those with reservations were waiting for an hour.  Ugh...

 

Thank you so much if you can answer any of these...  Safe travels to you. 

mattresses in our room are fine...I am pretty sure they are the newer mattresses but not brand new...

 

so far, the ac has been fine (BIL has been able to make his room warm enough & I have been able to make ours cool enough but its only in the 70s so far) but if there are problems as it gets hotter I will put them in the live

 

we have only done one lunch in the buffet & a few breakfasts...my sister had cold fried egg on the first day (which she found nasty) lunch we mostly had salad & sandwiches so not an issue, again if issues turn up will post them...I do seem to remember some people have mentioned cold food from the buffet on this cruise

 

reservations in the MDR have been challenging...will post details as I get to them, but they do not seem to quite have it figured out & I am not sure why

 

sorry not very good answers yet...maybe as we go

 

[Nolafan]

@travelin.sisterssorry to hear that y’all are missing a port. 
 

I am so enjoying your trip report and your kindness to answer everyone’s questions. 
 

You are a gem!!! 
 

 

[travelin.sisters]

1 hour ago, warren buffet said:

optimistic greetings. Quite a few people here seem to have done hawaii many times, so i thought I would ask. We did Hawaii on princess leaving from LA in early jan 2017 for our 20 yr wedding anniversary. But, neither of us seem to be sure of the ship. Did anyone happen to do hawaii in early 2017 who would remember.    2nd observation. I notice the cruise critic rating for princess and carnival ships are pretty uniformity quite lower than costco.com cumlative reviews. even though both have one thousand or more reviews.   are cruise critic readers just much more picky because as a general rule more people here have done a lot more prior cruises than costco reviewers?

perhaps more people in CC are rating compared to what we have been used to in the past & there are definitely things that are not as good whereas more people from general travel sites are newer to cruising & rating compared to other kinds of travel? but that's just a guess...

 

 

[cr8tiv1]

18 minutes ago, travelin.sisters said:

Captain just announced that we will not be able to dock at Nawiliwili, Kauai...we will stay overnight in Honolulu....details when I get to today & followiing in the live.

 

That's a bummer.  It's not raining keeping you out.  Must be the 15 to 20 mph wind.  It's a tricky port to begin with.

 

Day 2 Honolulu....get on Da Bus and ride around the complete island for $1.50.  Well, mostly around the island, skipping West Oahu.

 

Walk up to Foster Botanical Gardens (downtown HNL).  On the way back, lunch at Zippy's (chili) or Dim Sum at Mei Sum Chinatown.  Be careful in Chinatown.  There are some very unsavory houseless people.

 

Spend your time near City Hall (Honolulu Hale).  (all within walking distance)

Mission Houses

Iolani Palace and Palace grounds (I believe archives for Palace is free)

State Capitol

State Archives

Beautiful Public Library

Kawaiahaʻo Church

YWCA

King Kamehameha Statue

Old Federal Building

Washington Place/Governor's House

Saint Andrew's Church 

 

Factory tour of Kamaka Ukulele (the best in the islands)

http://kamakahawaii.com/contact/contact-us.html

 

 

 

State Capitol has 7 palm trees for all the islands

Pond surrounding (out of commission I think) represents the ocean.

Stand in the middle and look up...Volcano (origin of islands)

One chamber has the moon lights/Other chamber has the sun

Father Damien Statue

Aquarius mosaic in the middle was created by Duane Pebbles

Free WiFi

 

 

 

 

 

 

[warren buffet]

2 hours ago, OccasionalSanta said:

If you log onto your account on the website, there is a list of your past cruises/ships under My Account

thank you. I had seen it said the prior number of days sailed, but I did not know it would show the ship there by clicking on that. thank you

[warren buffet]

23 minutes ago, travelin.sisters said:

mattresses in our room are fine...I am pretty sure they are the newer mattresses but not brand new...

 

so far, the ac has been fine (BIL has been able to make his room warm enough & I have been able to make ours cool enough but its only in the 70s so far) but if there are problems as it gets hotter I will put them in the live

 

we have only done one lunch in the buffet & a few breakfasts...my sister had cold fried egg on the first day (which she found nasty) lunch we mostly had salad & sandwiches so not an issue, again if issues turn up will post them...I do seem to remember some people have mentioned cold food from the buffet on this cruise

 

reservations in the MDR have been challenging...will post details as I get to them, but they do not seem to quite have it figured out & I am not sure why

 

sorry not very good answers yet...maybe as we go

 

if the ship is over 80 percent capacity, I would imagine the ongoing problem is with people who are there earlier than you, lingering and not being quick to leave. this is speculation, but my logical speculation is princess has reduced the number of waiters and waiter assistants in the MDR than they use to do pre pandemic.  when the big overly powerful government shuts you mostly down for well over a yr as opposed to a few months, it has major consequences for a decade or maybe two. the govt's around the world forced them to take on massive debt

[warren buffet]

26 minutes ago, travelin.sisters said:

perhaps more people in CC are rating compared to what we have been used to in the past & there are definitely things that are not as good whereas more people from general travel sites are newer to cruising & rating compared to other kinds of travel? but that's just a guess...

 

 

As a I was alluding that was my thought using logical speculation as well. I also am thinking that because a lot of the pretty new ships on CC actually have lower rating than older ships across most brands. discovery princess has a CC rating of 3.4.  One of the few lowest ratings of all the active princess ships. similar for royal and norweigan. I have not looked at the new carnival ships too much. 

[Happiest when cruising]

3 hours ago, OccasionalSanta said:

Muster station A is the Princess Theater.... Deck 6/7 forward

Thanks so much. Somewhere new! 
 

[travelin.sisters]

Sea Day~March 3

Good (Very Early) Morning

 

Although I slept well, between the time change & the extra adrenalin from the last few days & weeks I did not sleep late. I was up around 3am ship’s time & headed down to the International Cafe (where I was not the first). They were just changing out the overnight selection of sandwiches & desserts for the breakfast options. Having been out & about on other ships very early, I was surprised by how many people were up already. I grabbed an early morning croissant (pistachio, my new favorite since they changed the chocolate ones). & quiche…interestingly the only silverware at the IC (at least in the morning) are large spoons & worked on this live. 

 

 

After an hour or so, I went back to check on my sister & we made our way up to see what the buffet had for breakfast, along with the Captain Stanley Bear. The buffet area does seem tight, but they had a decent variety of items. My sister said her fried egg was cold which made it unpleasant. After sitting for a while while the servers at the other end of the room seemed to be visiting with each other, I went & got ice water (the ice machine at that station was broken & they had a tub of  ice). Since the Crown is so recently out of dry dock, I was surprised to see a window covered with what looked like plastic film or tape. It does seem as if a lot of things still need some repair.

 

 

 

 

 

List of my posts in this LIVE: 

• Introduction~post 1

• Pre-cruise: packing~post 10

• Pre-cruise:  booking & trip prep~post 29

• Pre-cruise: last day stuff & weather~ post 43

• Embarkation Day~March 2: good morning, looking forward to boarding~post 67

• Embarkation. Day~March 2: exploring the Crown Princess~Star (19), Sky (18) & Sport (17) decks aft~post 69

• Embarkation Day~March 2: exploring the Crown Princess~Sun Deck (16) with Sports & Sky Decks midship & forward~post 70

• Embarkation Day~March 2: exploring the Crown Princess~Lido Deck (15)~post 75

• Embarkation Day~March 2: back to the cabin~Aloha Deck (12)~post 78

• Embarkation Day~March 2:  the papers & the patter~post 89

• Embarkation Day~March 2: DaVinci dinner~post 104

• Embarkation Day~March 2: wrap up & random thoughts~post 114

[travelin.sisters]

7 hours ago, Nolafan said:

@travelin.sisterssorry to hear that y’all are missing a port. 
 

I am so enjoying your trip report and your kindness to answer everyone’s questions. 
 

You are a gem!!! 
 

 

you are so kind!

 

[travelin.sisters]

11 hours ago, warren buffet said:

was the show in the main theater "let me be frank" a frank sinatra tribute/cover?

I believe so...I think that is what they said on the wake show

[travelin.sisters]

7 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 

That's a bummer.  It's not raining keeping you out.  Must be the 15 to 20 mph wind.  It's a tricky port to begin with.

 

Day 2 Honolulu....get on Da Bus and ride around the complete island for $1.50.  Well, mostly around the island, skipping West Oahu.

 

Walk up to Foster Botanical Gardens (downtown HNL).  On the way back, lunch at Zippy's (chili) or Dim Sum at Mei Sum Chinatown.  Be careful in Chinatown.  There are some very unsavory houseless people.

 

Spend your time near City Hall (Honolulu Hale).  (all within walking distance)

Mission Houses

Iolani Palace and Palace grounds (I believe archives for Palace is free)

State Capitol

State Archives

Beautiful Public Library

Kawaiahaʻo Church

YWCA

King Kamehameha Statue

Old Federal Building

Washington Place/Governor's House

Saint Andrew's Church 

 

Factory tour of Kamaka Ukulele (the best in the islands)

http://kamakahawaii.com/contact/contact-us.html

 

 

 

State Capitol has 7 palm trees for all the islands

Pond surrounding (out of commission I think) represents the ocean.

Stand in the middle and look up...Volcano (origin of islands)

One chamber has the moon lights/Other chamber has the sun

Father Damien Statue

Aquarius mosaic in the middle was created by Duane Pebbles

Free WiFi

 

 

 

 

 

 

wow! what a wonderful list, I have enough for this cruise & the next one (which also overnights in Honolulu!)...thank you so much for taking the time to do this!!!

 

I am a not terribly disappointed about Kauai...I am sad for those who are first time visitors, but we have been there before (& probably will be again)...the first time I was on a cruise with missed ports it was very upsetting...we missed 3 on our Panama Canal (1 because an earthquake damaged the harbor & 2 due to tropical storm activity. ..now it is just part of cruising,,,things happen...now if I miss the Polynesian Cultural Center again (it would be the 4th time) I might not be so undesturbed about it

[travelin.sisters]

7 hours ago, warren buffet said:

if the ship is over 80 percent capacity, I would imagine the ongoing problem is with people who are there earlier than you, lingering and not being quick to leave. this is speculation, but my logical speculation is princess has reduced the number of waiters and waiter assistants in the MDR than they use to do pre pandemic.  when the big overly powerful government shuts you mostly down for well over a yr as opposed to a few months, it has major consequences for a decade or maybe two. the govt's around the world forced them to take on massive debt

yes there seem to be fewer crew in a lot of areas...it also seems to be true that with so many having the new drink packages there is a lot more work having to go get those many more drinks...dinners never seem to be shorter than 2 hours anylonger

[travelin.sisters]

Sea Day~March 3

Patter, Weather, Progress & Photo of the Day

I know it's now called the Princess Events Listing, but Patter is easier to write & that’s what I think of it as a mini-Patter that now only lists events (which is even more cumbersome to write) so Patter it is for this live. I figure if I put the events, weather, our approximate progress & one photo that is special for the day together it will be easier to direct people to those things later for posts asking what’s the weather like on a 15-day LA-Hawai’i cruise or what were the movies or did they do, were the casinos open, etc?

 

 

 

 

ok, so today's photo of the day is a video...I like watching the ocean (both at home & at sea)

 

 

 

List of my posts in this LIVE: 

• Introduction~post 1

• Pre-cruise: packing~post 10

• Pre-cruise:  booking & trip prep~post 29

• Pre-cruise: last day stuff & weather~ post 43

• Embarkation Day~March 2: good morning, looking forward to boarding~post 67

• Embarkation. Day~March 2: exploring the Crown Princess~Star (19), Sky (18) & Sport (17) decks aft~post 69

• Embarkation Day~March 2: exploring the Crown Princess~Sun Deck (16) with Sports & Sky Decks midship & forward~post 70

• Embarkation Day~March 2: exploring the Crown Princess~Lido Deck (15)~post 75

• Embarkation Day~March 2: back to the cabin~Aloha Deck (12)~post 78

• Embarkation Day~March 2:  the papers & the patter~post 89

• Embarkation Day~March 2: DaVinci dinner~post 104

• Embarkation Day~March 2: wrap up & random thoughts~post 114

• Sea Day~March 3: good (very early) morning~post 142

[travelin.sisters]

Sea Day~March 3

Mid-Morning Adventures

 

After breakfast, my sissy & Captain Stanley Bear returned to our cabin & Ruby came with me for the next adventures. One thing I had wanted to do since we cruised this itinerary in 2019, was learn to make a crocheted lei from Leialoha. She does beautiful work & on our last cruise we learned to make straw leis (the bears were wearing them in last night's photo & again in today’s). The crochet ones are more intricate & I was intimidated on that cruise by the fact that I am a really bad crocheter, but this time I am trying. Leialoha is as talented at teaching as Tiki Dave & at one point when I was having trouble remembering to wrap my cord the way that would make my popcorns puffier, she took a photo of me doing it the right way. 

 

 

Next was our CC meet & greet. We had a rather small, quiet roll call so I think there were well under 20 people there but they still brought the Captain & quite a few of the senior staff. The Captain (who even brouht his wife to meet us) said a few words & each person introduced themselves & then many of them stayed around & chatted with us. The Captain & Director of Restaurant Operations especially spent time personally greeting many of us. We also got to meet the people we had been chatting with while planning our cruises. 

 

 

 

 

This seems like a good place to put the officer's board.

 

List of my posts in this LIVE: 

• Introduction~post 1

• Pre-cruise: packing~post 10

• Pre-cruise:  booking & trip prep~post 29

• Pre-cruise: last day stuff & weather~ post 43

• Embarkation Day~March 2: good morning, looking forward to boarding~post 67

• Embarkation. Day~March 2: exploring the Crown Princess~Star (19), Sky (18) & Sport (17) decks aft~post 69

• Embarkation Day~March 2: exploring the Crown Princess~Sun Deck (16) with Sports & Sky Decks midship & forward~post 70

• Embarkation Day~March 2: exploring the Crown Princess~Lido Deck (15)~post 75

• Embarkation Day~March 2: back to the cabin~Aloha Deck (12)~post 78

• Embarkation Day~March 2:  the papers & the patter~post 89

• Embarkation Day~March 2: DaVinci dinner~post 104

• Embarkation Day~March 2: wrap up & random thoughts~post 114

• Sea Day~March 3: good (very early) morning~post 142

• Sea Day~March 3: patter, weather, progress & photo of the day~post 147

[travelin.sisters]

Sea Day~March 3

Lunch & a (Mostly) Lazy Afternoon 

 

Since there was not a lot of time between the end of the meet & greet & afternoon ‘ukulele class, we decided to go to the International Cafe again for lunch. We don’t very often go to the MDR for lunch as it just takes too long, but since they show them to us the night before I will share them with you (on some ships when you have allergies or other dietary issues, they have you pre-order both lunch & dinner the evening before, or others it is just dinner).

 

 

 

The International Cafe had the same selection of sandwiches as the day before but no seating. BIL, Baby Brother Stanley Bear & I found a planter to sit on to eat & my sissy took hers back to the room. Some things that are different about the Crown’s International Cafe are that they don’t heat your sandwiches or offer to (I think they will if you ask), there is no soup & there are no salads just sandwiches.

 

 

Next stop Tiki Dave’s ukulele class. I have taken quite a few music classes on cruise ships & Tiki Dave is by far the best. He is the only one who has made me feel like I could continue playing after the cruise (sadly, I never have as there are so many other things I want to do). In comparison, one instructor made me cry & I took my free harmonica & never came back after the first class. The Crown has about 70 ‘ukuleles to loan out & by the end of the class there was only one left. BIL had kindly loaned me one of his, so I did not have to worry about getting one. I don’t know why they do not put this class in a bigger venue as it is quite crowded in the Wheelhouse Bar with all the ‘ukuleles, players & people who come to enjoy.

 

 

After ‘ukulele I contemplated going to hula, but between the wet SoCal weather before we left, crocheting & ‘uke playing I thought my aching joints were done for the day. If I had known that the enrichment lectures would not be put on the TV later, I would have tried harder to get to some of them (All our cruises last year had the enrichment talks & some of the game shows put on the TV within a day, on the Crown only Tiki Dave’s port talks have been posted). 

 

Back in the cabin I finished unpacking the last suitcase & decorating the room. Next a lovely afternoon nap at sea with my fuzzy blanket.

 

 

List of my posts in this LIVE: 

• Introduction~post 1

• Pre-cruise: packing~post 10

• Pre-cruise:  booking & trip prep~post 29

• Pre-cruise: last day stuff & weather~ post 43

• Embarkation Day~March 2: good morning, looking forward to boarding~post 67

• Embarkation. Day~March 2: exploring the Crown Princess~Star (19), Sky (18) & Sport (17) decks aft~post 69

• Embarkation Day~March 2: exploring the Crown Princess~Sun Deck (16) with Sports & Sky Decks midship & forward~post 70

• Embarkation Day~March 2: exploring the Crown Princess~Lido Deck (15)~post 75

• Embarkation Day~March 2: back to the cabin~Aloha Deck (12)~post 78

• Embarkation Day~March 2:  the papers & the patter~post 89

• Embarkation Day~March 2: DaVinci dinner~post 104

• Embarkation Day~March 2: wrap up & random thoughts~post 114

• Sea Day~March 3: good (very early) morning~post 142

• Sea Day~March 3: patter, weather, progress & photo of the day~post 147

• Sea Day~March 3: mid-morning adventures~post 148

[travelin.sisters]

Sea Day~March 3

DaVinci Dinner

 

Time to go to our (now later) dinner reservation. The line for people with reservations was very long again & for people without they were taking them to other MDRs. Tonight, our table was ready when we got to our turn in line & they told us the next night we could just go in when we arrived. Finally, this seemed to be working the way we have come to expect. 

 

 

 

 

 

Starters: scallop & shrimp cocktail, pineapple with candied something, beef satay…these were all good, although the candied pineapple was quite different than on other ships.

 

 

 

 

 

Soup/salad: shrimp bisque with sweet potatoes, french onion soup, caesar salad w/lots of anchovies…the french onion soup & the caesar salad are there normal reliable sleeves…the kale & chickpea croutons on the caesar salad have been included as options you can request.

 

 

 

 

Entrees: island spiced jerk chicken with rice & red beans, San Francisco style cioppino, roasted lamb shank…the cioppino & lamb shank were delicious, but the jerk chicken was really bland except for the one fired pepper which was mild on the first bite & mouth burning on the second

 

 

 

 

Dessert: pineapple brulee, semi frozen banana toffee parfait, warm chocolate fudge cookie…they were all just ok

 

 

 

 

List of my posts in this LIVE: 

• Introduction~post 1

• Pre-cruise: packing~post 10

• Pre-cruise:  booking & trip prep~post 29

• Pre-cruise: last day stuff & weather~ post 43

• Embarkation Day~March 2: good morning, looking forward to boarding~post 67

• Embarkation. Day~March 2: exploring the Crown Princess~Star (19), Sky (18) & Sport (17) decks aft~post 69

• Embarkation Day~March 2: exploring the Crown Princess~Sun Deck (16) with Sports & Sky Decks midship & forward~post 70

• Embarkation Day~March 2: exploring the Crown Princess~Lido Deck (15)~post 75

• Embarkation Day~March 2: back to the cabin~Aloha Deck (12)~post 78

• Embarkation Day~March 2:  the papers & the patter~post 89

• Embarkation Day~March 2: DaVinci dinner~post 104

• Embarkation Day~March 2: wrap up & random thoughts~post 114

• Sea Day~March 3: good (very early) morning~post 142

• Sea Day~March 3: patter, weather, progress & photo of the day~post 147

• Sea Day~March 3: mid-morning adventures~post 148

• Sea Day~March 3: lunch & a (mostly) lazy afternoon~post 149

 

 

Edited March 7, 2023 by travelin.sisters
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