Review Of Crown Princess 7/22 Voyage

[Merion_Mom]

3. Ice cream was available for free in the afternoons in the on buffet area. All other cruise ships I have been on have had pay ice cream as well. With all the other food choices it really didn't seem like a large trade off.

 

 

Ice cream was not available at ANY time at the Horizon Buffet or Caribe Cafe on Crown. We asked several of the service staff. To get ice cream, you had to go to the ice cream shop (next to the pizza shop--which incidentally was free) and pay additional charges.

 

The only good thing was that you could get ice cream free of charge during dinner in the dining room, but it wasn't that great. (We were in Boticelli--went to DaVinci for afternoon tea. The Boticelli has a much warmer atmosphere and I suggest it for people with Anytime dining).

Bad, bad, bad. The Botticelli dining room is for TRADITIONAL dining, and you may not switch in and out of traditional, nor may you just put yourself in traditional if you are assigned anytime. You SELECT either traditional OR anytime. The anytime dining rooms are Michelangelo and DaVinci. I never noticed any difference in them, in terms of quality, so I am puzzled by those who did experience a difference.

[Host Caroline]

Do ya' read the guidelines re posting?????:confused: Geez, you can't go calling people names, making caustic Personal remarks to others and expect them to be here when you get back.. honestly. :rolleyes: :(

Take it to email or better yet, just act like the civil adults I'm sure all of you are in your "real" non-Cruise Critic life.. name calling etc is just uncalled for... threads that go "poof" in the night do that for this very reason, not because people disagree with others or post something that everyone doesn't agree with -- it's bec. they don't know how to do it in a CIVIL manner.

comprende?

PLEEEZ don't make me come up here again.

[makeup face]

Now you want to make some sort of semi-thoughtful statement? You have no idea what experiences we have had--try to judge yourself before you judge those around you.

 

PS to EVERYONE: With regards to the roughness.

 

This was attributable to TWO factors that were brought to my attention.

 

1. Rougher seas in the Atlantic (I think we all knew it would be different than the Caribbean)

 

2. The Coast Guard instructed Princess to manually control the ship until it was off international waters once past Miami. Therefore, the ship's rudders, stabilizers, and directional control was under human hand from the distance from NYC to Miami and back. The smoothness would have been significantly better if they were able to use auto controls (but the Coast Guard gave this instruction before it was determined that the listing accident was due to human error).

 

 

I have a question.......why didn't you just walk your wet self down to the pursers desk and have your card magnetized again. My glasses case demagnetized my card key....just took it to the pursers deck....boom...back in business:)

[rebeccalouise]

Thank you NRG. I didn't think I was being too unreasonable. I appreciate your validation.

 

I don't think that you were being unreasonable at all. I read alot about the ship since it enterred service and the published Cruise Critic Reviews (all 2 of them) and they have not been glowing. Some people would have fun perhaps on any ship. But I do expect good service and knowledgeable, helpful staff. I certainly wanted to be pampered on a cruise. That's why I go. So far, I have had great cruise experiences. Try the Celebrity Constellation, sailing out of New York. It was the best cruise I've ever been on.

[habari]

3. Ice cream was available for free in the afternoons in the on buffet area. All other cruise ships I have been on have had pay ice cream as well. With all the other food choices it really didn't seem like a large trade off.

 

 

Ice cream was not available at ANY time at the Horizon Buffet or Caribe Cafe on Crown. We asked several of the service staff. To get ice cream, you had to go to the ice cream shop (next to the pizza shop--which incidentally was free) and pay additional charges.

 

The only good thing was that you could get ice cream free of charge during dinner in the dining room, but it wasn't that great. (We were in Boticelli--went to DaVinci for afternoon tea. The Boticelli has a much warmer atmosphere and I suggest it for people with Anytime dining).

 

We ate free ice cream in the Horizon Court each day. Perhaps we were not on the same ship. It was very good ice cream and free. It came out at 3:30 pm.

[spingal]

The only good thing was that you could get ice cream free of charge during dinner in the dining room, but it wasn't that great.

 

JMHO -- I eat the ice cream on every Princess cruise I have been on and LOVE IT!!!! I realize our tastes are different. Just wanted to let people know that there are some of us who really love it! :D

 

Jamie

[keener]

Do ya' read the guidelines re posting?????:confused: Geez, you can't go calling people names, making caustic Personal remarks to others and expect them to be here when you get back.. honestly. :rolleyes: :(

Take it to email or better yet, just act like the civil adults I'm sure all of you are in your "real" non-Cruise Critic life.. name calling etc is just uncalled for... threads that go "poof" in the night do that for this very reason, not because people disagree with others or post something that everyone doesn't agree with -- it's bec. they don't know how to do it in a CIVIL manner.

comprende?

PLEEEZ don't make me come up here again.

 

On Soapbox:

Enough already! Some remarks i've read lately put me off starting any threads or commenting on existing threads. Perhaps thats why i'm content to lurk on the boards rather than be blasted!! Off Soapbox

[danixbanani]

hey all,

 

sorry i haven't replied...had a busy weekend :) i'd just like to reply to Redsgj:

 

Regarding my parents room...we did look at the deck plans a while back and it said that 3-4 people could fit in that room. Yes, the TA informed them that they were upgraded but Princess should really fix that mistake on their website as well. You can bet our TA is gonna hear from us regarding that issue. But, yes, I suppose that I should've read closer? But I remember it saying that 3-4 people could fit in a mini-suite. And I believe my parents had booked a mini-suite but just got upgraded to a different area of the ship which happens, right?

 

Regarding the other ships in Bermuda: Princess told us! They informed us on the shore excursion sign up sheet. I guess maybe they meant that there would be ships in the other dock? :confused:

 

And I'm glad you found that about our shore excursion because that was NOT listed in the sign up sheet on the boat. We hadn't booked this excursion before getting on the boat because we weren't planning to book an excursion. Did you find that in the book of shore excursions that Princess sends with pre-cruise docs? It probably does say that in there but, again, it wasn't on the sheet/description that was given to us on the boat. *shrugs* dunno.

 

And to whoever posted about being stuck in the elevator...I got stuck TWICE! And my mother also got stuck once. Not a great feeling when the ship is shaking. Or "shimmying" as someone put it...that's the perfect word for it too. The boat actually shimmied lol. Thats what woke me up at night (besides the clanging hangers lol). And that vibration thing that happened when we were docking...I mean it was just not a "little" vibration and noise...I swear that the whole room was shaking/vibrating. And that may be fine and dandy and normal but it's really disconcerting! I guess there's not much they can do about it tho :cool:

[PrincessLostHerCrown]

I have a question.......why didn't you just walk your wet self down to the pursers desk and have your card magnetized again. My glasses case demagnetized my card key....just took it to the pursers deck....boom...back in business:)

 

I'm done with this message board--everyone is so caustic with their remarks. I came to write about our experience just as others do when they have glowing things to say about a cruise.

[Redsgj]

Regarding my parents room...we did look at the deck plans a while back and it said that 3-4 people could fit in that room. Yes, the TA informed them that they were upgraded but Princess should really fix that mistake on their website as well. You can bet our TA is gonna hear from us regarding that issue. But, yes, I suppose that I should've read closer? But I remember it saying that 3-4 people could fit in a mini-suite. And I believe my parents had booked a mini-suite but just got upgraded to a different area of the ship which happens, right?

Ok, now I'm confused. :) I thought you said they booked a balcony cabin. In any case, sounds like you maybe need a new TA! :eek: Especially since you have specific requirements for your sister.

Regarding the other ships in Bermuda: Princess told us! They informed us on the shore excursion sign up sheet. I guess maybe they meant that there would be ships in the other dock?

That is really bizarre. I don't know why Princess would have told you that! :confused:

And I'm glad you found that about our shore excursion because that was NOT listed in the sign up sheet on the boat. We hadn't booked this excursion before getting on the boat because we weren't planning to book an excursion. Did you find that in the book of shore excursions that Princess sends with pre-cruise docs? It probably does say that in there but, again, it wasn't on the sheet/description that was given to us on the boat. *shrugs* dunno.

I found that info on the Princess website. Strange they don't give you the same info on the ship.

And that vibration thing that happened when we were docking...I mean it was just not a "little" vibration and noise...I swear that the whole room was shaking/vibrating. And that may be fine and dandy and normal but it's really disconcerting! I guess there's not much they can do about it tho

We were in a cabin at the back of the ship on the Caribbean Princess so we could hear the thrusters (that is what makes the vibration noise) a lot as well. But we knew in advance that we would hear them so it didn't bother us...... I would imagine they could make you nervous if you didn't know what it was! :eek: Maybe they should include in each cabin a list of "normal" ship noises for everyone!

 

p.s. To solve the clanging hangers problem (at least they give you lots ;)) I folded up my shawl and laid it over the "bar" portion of the hangers that were empty and then they couldn't bang together!

[Redsgj]

darn duplicate post!!!

[Merion_Mom]

p.s. To solve the clanging hangers problem (at least they give you lots ;)) I folded up my shawl and laid it over the "bar" portion of the hangers that were empty and then they couldn't bang together!

empty hangers? What are those???? ;) ;)

[QM2 Cruiser]

I have a dining room question about the Crown (assuming the Emerald will be the same). Which dining room is for traditional and which two are for anytime? The brochure says Michaelangelo is traditional but the website says Boticelli is traditional? Boticelli is the larger of the three at the back of the ship, and Michaelangelo and DaVinci are the same size and are midship on deck 5 and 6. Thanks.

[Merion_Mom]

On the Crown, anytime dining is in the DaVinci and Michelangelo dining rooms, which are, as you noted, one right over the other. The Botticelli is for traditional dining.

[friend of Eeyore]

3. Ice cream was available for free in the afternoons in the on buffet area. All other cruise ships I have been on have had pay ice cream as well. With all the other food choices it really didn't seem like a large trade off.

My DH would agree with you - he thinks that there should be some sort of free ice cream in the pool area/buffet - maybe a soft serve machine with vanilla. He says we pay enough to get that. Me?? I'm glad to not get the extra calories!!:D

Ice cream was not available at ANY time at the Horizon Buffet or Caribe Cafe on Crown. We asked several of the service staff. To get ice cream, you had to go to the ice cream shop (next to the pizza shop--which incidentally was free) and pay additional charges.

Psychology shows, for any incident, find two people, you'll get two different answers. On the 7/11 cruise, I found ice cream/gelato (not sure which) of 4 different flavors in the buffet one afternoon (the only afternoon I was there at that time). Unfortunately, the flavors weren't to my liking.

The only good thing was that you could get ice cream free of charge during dinner in the dining room, but it wasn't that great. (We were in Boticelli--went to DaVinci for afternoon tea. The Boticelli has a much warmer atmosphere and I suggest it for people with Anytime dining).

We were in Michaelangelo every night (table 225, I think - Kay & Nolan were wonderful servers - I reccommend table 226 - by the window for 2). I ate the ice cream several (unfortunately for my waistline!:p ) times, and loved every flavor I tried - amoretto, mango, and vanilla sundaes are the ones I remember. My DH got a "vanilla sundae, hot fudge, whip cream" every night (Kay could have ordered it for him - and did, by the end of the cruise:D ), and enjoyed it immensely. BTW - I liked the atmosphere in Michaelangelo - I found it very warm and friendly.

[friend of Eeyore]

empty hangers? What are those???? ;)

 

:D :D :D

 

We had the same problem with the hangers. The first night, it was only a couple. But, as you wear clothes, the hangers get emptier (at least for me)! We ended up putting them in a pile on the floor - it worked. I like someone's idea of tying them together in some fashion. (Maybe with that duct tape someone convinced you you'd need. :D )

[Redsgj]

I have a dining room question about the Crown (assuming the Emerald will be the same). Which dining room is for traditional and which two are for anytime? The brochure says Michaelangelo is traditional but the website says Boticelli is traditional? Boticelli is the larger of the three at the back of the ship, and Michaelangelo and DaVinci are the same size and are midship on deck 5 and 6. Thanks.

Hmmmm, it seems that Princess has responded to the waitlist problem with Traditional dining and changed it (originally it was to be the same as the CB it seems) to the largest dining room to attempt to accomodate more people. And we thought they weren't listening :D :D :D!

 

p.s. I'm glad I read this post. It hadn't clicked from reading earlier posts that it was different from the CB! Would have been embarassing going to the wrong dining room!

[nana nancy]

We were 5 couples, 3 of our people handicapped, and all had a great cruise, a few issues but would do it over! One couple were first time cruisers, so first sea day he needed a patch. It did not keep any of us from what we wanted to do. Did'nt pay for the Santuary, sat at the sun deck next to it and walked down to the Lotus Spa pool, even our handicapped managed it. Could'nt get a table for 10 in traditional, MT'D Generoso arranged for us a table in Michelangelo at same time with same waiters and it was terrific! Food was some of the best we've had, MHO, great Captain, Sergio, fantastic waiter Bogdan and Asst., Narcissa. All in all, well worth the trip. When you have such a large ship and so many options, 4 sea days got filled up pretty quickly! Loved Grand Turk, always love Bermuda, 2 of the ships there were sailing away when we got there, did'nt feel it was a problem. My DH says I am OCD when it comes to our trips, I research for months, make copies of info and bring. But we don't have many surprises that way and usually get to do the things we like the best. Was it perfect? Of course not, but every employee I encountered was pleasant, helpful and trying. The musty buffet odor faded as they replaced the carpet each evening, the food there was buffet food, but very edible and we always could find a seat. The pizza was excellent, the MUTS very neat . And we got all this 2 for the price of 1! I'd sail on her again, just like to try different destinations each year, so now have to start planning next summers cruise!

[Eurobistro]

Our family also had a thoroughly enjoyable cruise. We had a variety of cabins: Suite on Caribe 749 aft, BA's on Baja, Aft Baja 749, Insides on Baja -back section, BA's on Caribe, Insides on Caribe and one cabin forward on Baja. All of our cabins were in perfect working order thankfully including the a/c and refrigerators. Not a complaint out of anyone in our goup about anything. The mildew smell was only the first day and we saw the replacing of the carpet at night begin immediately. The crew did a remarkable job of getting this ship in shape and you would have no idea of the destruction that occured if you didn't know about it. The aft pool was adults only, the children up on their deck. MUTS was thoroughly enjoyed by the seniors in our group and not heard beyond its area. The pizza and burgers were great out by the party pool. What a party, everyone (all ages) was having a great time even when the weather wasn't the best. Most of our young people are already arranging another cruise for spring break with some of the other young adults they met onboard. They closed skywalkers every night! But were up bright and early to start all over again, oh youth!

 

We adults are also planning our next Princess Cruise and will gladly pay full price this time. Imagine we went 2 for the price of 1! I love sea days too! Loved the aft balcony and sailing out of NY is expected to be a little rougher, from an old Home Lines fan here. Ruth

[delidan30]

I was on the 7/22 cruise, The buffet was great for buffet food, they had a hot sandwich of the the day everyday!!! They also had coldcuts and all kinds of breads and condiments to make your own sandwiches EVERDAY!!!!!

[loving2cruise]

Oh my- that is all I have to say.

 

Okay- the boat is a ship. I was told that after my 10th cruise.

 

Re: the vibration- it was docking in NY city- it was using the things that bring the ship closer to the dock. On the Golden we were in the mini suite and from the vibration- the mirror was actually cracked... That is normal after the ship has been in service for awhile. We know the seas were rough for the ship to be rocky- but you are the 5th person to mention it. Even when it is calm seas the aft cabins are having problems.

 

Do we think that the ship needs to go into drydock and get this little things taken care of- yes!!

 

I still can't believe after the ship was in port with NO pass. on it in Florida and they still haven't gotten the ac and ref. fixed on this ship. There is NO excuse for this now. And the way the pursers desk- they need to go to Mickey Mouse school for treating passengers. yes, I have told them that before...

 

As we know- when a new ship comes out- crew members love to jump to the new ship. They were talking about her last year when we were on the Caribbean Princess. It sounds like the person overseeing the crew members is not a very good manager.

The engineer dept needs to look into everything that has been mentioned on these boards.

Please send a letter to the corp office and let them know your concerns.

 

All I can say- it better be fixed by Thanksgiving when we crusie on her. That is when the ship will be doing the rt route from San Juan.

Jan

 

I agree with you about the Crown going into drydock to take care of "Those little" things they need to take care of.....good for their business...........it may ease the nervousness of those FUTURE Crown cruisers (Like me...haha)

[loving2cruise]

I was on the July 22 sailing and experienced rocking also. I have had worse on other cruises. The seas were rough most of the time in the Atlantic visible by all the white caps.

I thought the ship was in great condition considering the damage that was done the previous week. I have been on other ships where they are repairing or cleaning and areas have been closed. I did not find this to be unusual on this ship.

I thought the food in the dining room was very good and the service was excellant. The buffet was good for buffet food. I had things that I did not like but that was my taste, not that the food was bad.

The cruise staff seemed very disorganized and disjointed. My sisters and I went to the scrapbooking and the person showed up 45 minutes late and did not know anything about scrapbooking - a complete waste of time. Some of the pool activities were very poorly run. My niece and nephew love water volleyball and have enjoyed this on other Princess cruises and looked forward to doing this on this cruise. It was advertised in the Patter as adult water volleyball but the cruise staff never tried to get the kids out of the water so the adults could play. They said they have no control over the kids. But they were able to clear the pool for other events.

We had a very nice trip all in all. There just did not seem to be consistancy among the staff. Hopefully this is just "new ship" stuff and will be worked out.

 

PRINCESS CRUISE LINES seriously needs to work out all these glitches for thier new beautful "Crown" ship. From the pictures it looks like a beautiful ship and it's really a shame that it has so many issues already.

[SailAway2Day]

Im sorry to hear all of those that felt they didnt have the best cruise experience. You did have the option to opt out of the 7/22 cruise for a full refund instead of a 50% off cruise. Too often it seems people wave their wallet around shouting about the money the spend and the service they want. The cruise cost half of what all of us expect to pay. I would expect the crew was really busy not only repairing/cleaning/etc on top of their regular duties (which never ever excuses rudeness), but trying to cater to all of the whiners that werent getting their 'moneys worth.'

 

We have a large group (about 36) sailing 8/7 on the Crown and I can only say Im hoping most of these problems are fixed. I havent heard anything about us getting a discount! Our first cruise on RCI Voyager of the Seas was such a fabulous experience we decided to go again, this time on a newer, better(?) ship.

 

I sailed on the 7/22 voyage and it is a little discouraging to me to hear that our refund should cover any problem experienced on the ship. I personally did not have any major issues, but it sounds like some pax experienced quite a few inconveniences with their A/C and refrigerators. I don't think it is unreasonable for them to expect to have quality accommodations.

 

IMO the discount was not issued to compensate us for ship defects, but more to compensate us for the altered itinerary, departure delay and stress associated with the uncertainity of our vacation plans the night before we were scheduled to leave.

 

I'm not trying to start an argument with anyone, nor am I trying to take away the genuine distress caused to the pax of the 7/11 sailing. However, I think we can all agree that vacations are very personal to us. We all spend a great deal of time researching and planning our trips. We save money and spend months dreaming of our ideal vacation. Some people's schedules do not allow them to cancel a vacation and find something else to do at the last minute, as was the case for me with the 7/22 sailing. It's easy to say that we all had the opportunity to cancel for a full refund, but the reality is if I did that I wouldn't have had a vacation this year. I chose to make the concession. And yes I was fairly compensated for my concession.

 

I posted my review of the trip, which included both positives and negatives - page 2 of this thread. No trip is perfect, but there were a few things I think Princess could take a look at (i.e. elevators) and I did include them on my comment card at the end of the cruise.

[Merion_Mom]

We also experienced poor customer service from the passenger service desk personnel. It seemed that it was difficult for them to accommodate most requests.

Lori, would you share with us what requests the Purser's Desk refused to accommodate?

 

Thank you.

[SailAway2Day]

We needed some room keys changed. We inquired at the desk first thing upon boarding. We were informed they would be ready the following day around 2 pm, which was fine and seemed reasonable.

 

We checked back the next day at that time and the keys were not ready. We heard the same story about updating the system that we heard the previous day. The woman we were dealing had a sort of "put out" attitude and told us to come back after 6 pm. Thankfully, the keys were ready after 6 pm.

 

Also, my sister had a problem with her card upon boarding. Something was not coming up correctly when they were taking her photo. She had this happen on a previous cruise and it was very inconvenient when she was leaving and returning to the ship at ports. She asked them to correct the problem right after boarding and they were unable to fix it at that time either. I think she got it resolved some time late in the afternoon the next day.

 

They were our experiences, but I also overheard someone at the desk expressing her dissatisfaction about the way something was handled. I don't know the details and would not base my opinion on that.

 

I'm sure they were dealing with a lot of changes and issues on this voyage, but the poor attitude was not appreciated.