7/2 Crown review/helpful hints!

[soundwaves]

We had our first cruise ever on the 7/2 sailing. We loved the Crown, and we just booked three rooms for the 4/14/07 sailing!! First, make sure you eat everything in sight! We ate a light breakfast in the caribe cafe/horizon court (cc/hc), then a real breakfast later and sometimes a delicious pastry from the international cafe before lunch. Then of course lunch in the cc/hc. Then we went down to the international cafe and had either one of their yummy, little sandwiches or a quiche or both (all free). Then of course it was appetizers before our seating in the botticcelli dining room. We highly reccommend having reservations. You can get on a waiting list now. We started at 146 and ended up with a table. For dinner, we ate and ate (one night the wife had THREE appetizers. :rolleyes: They're called avocado boats I think.)! You can order two dinners if you want! The princess love boat dessert IS wonderful also. Also, we usually had an after dinner/before bedtime snack in the cc/hc as well. On seafood night, we took a few crab legs back to the room for breakfast! We are active (and thin) people, but we ate like we had never seen food before!! :p My wife bought all new clothes for the cruise in one size bigger than she usually buys! yes, we both gained ten pounds on this cruise!!!:eek: We worked out in the fitness center ( a wonderful place) almost every day though!!! The weight is not dropping off as quickly as we had expected...

Try the pina coladas! The mediums of any drink are the best deal. The princess pina colada has more rum, but you can ask for just a regular pina colada also. They taste great by the pool. They have a chocolate/banana kahlua drink that is also delicious.

Bring a highlighter and read/highlight your princess patter (cruise newsletter) nightly!

Try to schedule your night so that you eat early. We ate at 6pm and loved it. The explorer's lounge usually has something good going on at around 7:30pm, and you should definitely go see whatever is in the Princess theatre EVERY night. We had awesome entertainment. Get there 20 -30 minutes in advance to get good seats. Sit and have a drink in Crooner's bar and/or the Piazza area before or after dinner. A very cool place to people watch. Also, walk the promenade!!! It's incredible even to just sit out there. Sign up for a future cruise while you are on the ship. You don't have to book a cruise, just pay a small deposit. Just sign up, and you get shipboard credit for your next cruise. Also, if you get someone else to go on the cruise, you can get credit for that and your guests can also.

The lotus pool area is amazing at night! It can get pretty deserted, so be careful. You can go "up and over " to get in if the spa doors are closed.

Take advantage of movies under the stars! It's cool at least once.

If you can get a snorkle excursion to trunk bay in st johns, do it!

Horseshoe bay in Bermuda is wonderful, but be careful about waiting til the last minute to get the bus back to the ship. There could be 100 people waiting for the bus! Also, the $1 trip fee to the top of the hill is worth it.

WATCH the boat leave the ports!! It's incredible how they back that huge ship up and turn it around! I was convinced we weren't going to make the turn around in st. thomas, but we did!!! Amazing!

Even though princess charges $10 a day for tipping, we tipped our waiter and steward $50 each additionally. The waiter is supposed to split this equally with the bus person.) of the $10, the steward only gets 2.80. The laundry people get $.70 and the dining room waiters get 6.50. This can be changed. Just go to the passenger services desk. A 15% gratuity is already added to ANY drink you purchase. If you add $ to your bar bill, it is split with everyone. It doesn't go to your server. There are envelopes that say "gratuity" at the passenger services desk. This money DOES go to YOUR server/steward. Also, They have cards you can fill out that recognize a crew member for outstanding service. The Crew LOVE to get those. It goes into their file and helps with promotions. Be generous with the cards! We were very impressed the crew. My wife loved having a steward tidy up after us. We came home and now SHE is the steward to our two children:o . No gratuity....

Check your bill a couple times during your cruise. We were double billed for drinks one night. The waiter seemed confused when I asked him to credit our account, but the passenger services desk corrected it the next day.

The rooms are wonderful, the closet is amazing and you can put your luggage UNDER the bed. We were on the lido deck. Easy walking to the food. LOVED IT.

There is so much to do and see. Have a great time!!! Hope this was helpful!

 

To all of you that were on the 7/11 sailing, we thank you for sharing your stories, and we are relieved to hear your families are all home with you.

 

:D Ten LONG months till our 2nd cruise!

[Suskies]

Thank you for your great review! We leave on 8/7 and can't wait! It all sounds wonderful.

[cruisingwithababyfirsttim]

I have nothing but positive things to say about the staff and ship. There is something for everyone and you can do as much or as little as you like!

[RM]

So glad you enjoyed the ship. Thanks for the positive review.

[swom]

Ohhhhh, the first cruise............I really think it's the very best one of all. Now you are hooked right?

I just loved your review and so glad you had such a great time. Welcome to the "I Can't Live Without A Cruise" club. One cruise is all it takes and you are going to use this forum as your bible from now on.

I smiled through your whole review. It just sounded so much like our first cruise.

You sound like such a great person. I hope we meet on one of many cruises in the future. BTW- there is no cure for this disease except: another cruise. :-)

[kluellen]

We are going on our first cruise on the Crown also (8/25) and I'm very excited. I have to say though, you have not tempted me to eat everything in sight . . . 10 lbs! That's a lot on me (5'2")! And I've already bought some clothes for the cruise, that won't allow for it :) . I definitely plan to try everything, but maybe in moderation, along with exercising and walking!

 

Thanks for the review!

 

Kelly

[love2cruze]

hey. me and my family were also on the 7/2 sailing of the crown princess.

definitely pay attention to what soundwaves said. eat all that you can anytime you can

also, like he said, do do the snorkeling excursion in st. johns. my whole family loved it, and it's a beautiful place.

definitely check out the princess theatre everynight also like he said. the shows are wonderful everynight, and yeah, make sure to get there early (we would always get there like half an hour early) and if there is a crew show (kind of like a talent show thing for the crew) make sure you get there waayyyy early if there's only one showing of it. everyone wants to see that show cuz it's hilarious.

also, club fusion was a great spot to dance and just hang out. me and my siblings went there like everynight after we left the show at princess theatre.

everynight they would have a different theme and the dances were awesome.

make sure you don't miss the deck party. like the cruise director, james lay, said, everyone felt like family on the ship. the deck party got everyone together on decks 15 and 16 and we danced the night away. that was one of my favorites times on the ship. we did feel like family.

the movie under the stars thing was awesome also.

all six of us kids (my family) made really good friends with the entertainment staff. they were wonderful and great people. bill, man, he can sing!! (though, you wont see bill cuz he got off with us on the 11th)

ania, patrick, danny, cameron, michelle, jacinta-they were all amazing people and i miss them a bunch!

also, james lay, is an awesome person! make sure you get to know him.

make sure to take part in as much as you can! the cruise is a great time to do stuff you've never done or been able to do!

-jennie