Crown 8/16 Yet Another Long Review Please skip If you Are Tired of Hearing about it!

[teaser]

I was on the 8/16 Crown with my wife and 2 children (6 & 10) and although it wasn't perfect we had a great time.

 

We have only cruised on Carnival with our children and I had some trepidation that Princess would not cater as well to children. My fears were not warranted.

 

We drove our own car to the ship and used the parking facility. We arrived at approximately 11:15 and I would guess we were in our room by 12:15. If you are local (NYC, NJ, LI, Etc) I would definitely advise driving and using the pier parking. It totalled $164 and was very convenient as far as coming and going and it was very easy.

 

We had an inside cabin with the 4 of us and our initial thoughts were it was too tight and there was not enough room for all of clothing; however, it turned out we had plenty of room for our clothing. The room was a little tight for our day to day movements(we found ourselves bumping in to each other) but how much time do you spend in the cabin anyway? When the overhead beds were down there was no place for my wife and I to sit. On Carnival an inside room for 4 had a couch and seemed a little larger. The final night of our cruise we had a little trouble with the air conditioning for about 2 hours, but otherwise it was very comfortable.

 

There was a nice pool very close to our room (Deck 14, Aft) however it was adult only so it was of little use to us with our children.

 

The food at the buffets was okay but we tended to go to the dining room for most meals. I believe at each lunch and dinner time there was a themed buffet, usually in the Caribe Cafe (eg. seafood buffet, sushi buffet, indian buffet, etc). The Horizon court seemed to have similar food that was in the dining room with some things added and some taken away. The pizza by the pools was okay and my kids enjoyed the hamburgers and hot dogs at the grill, but I found more variety at the grill on Carnival and the pizza was better on Carnival as well.

 

The internaitional cafe(open 24 hours) was a real treat. In the morning they would have pastires and croissants that you could find at the buffets. At lunch and after 11 PM they had sandwiches (tuna, ham & cheese, tomato mozzarella) that were not available elsewhere (unless maybe room service) with an international flair. There was also a shrimp salad and chicken walnut salad served on a plate. Also the cookies that everybody raves about and many of the desserts available at the buffets and dining rooms. Everything mentioned above was free. At dinner they had these individual tasting dishes that were 4 for $4 and cheeses, grapes, rolls, etc that was free. There was also caramel apples at times that were an additional fee and gelato which was 3 large scoops for $1.50 (I though a much better value than the ice cream shop on deck 15). Attached to the international cafe was a Starbucks-type coffee area that was for additonal cost. It was all very good quality food. Note: the service at the International Cafe was incredible.

 

MUTS (Movies under the Stars) was something my wife and I really loved. This was a huge screen TV(about the size you might see at baseball games) which was in one of the pool areas on deck 15. There were many recent movies (Failure to Launch, Eight Below, X-Men 3, Hitch, RV) and some older favorites shown late night (Jaws and Rocky Horror Picture Show). I believe after 7 PM the movies were shown with surround sound speakers, but prior to that you had to purchase headphones for $2.50 that could be used throughout the cruises and beyond. I was amazed that when the surround sound was going you could only hear the movie in the area that was by this pool. When you walked over to the other pool area just nearby, you had no idea that there was a movie going on and if the other pool area had music playing it did not interfere with the movie. It was a real treat sitting on lounges getting served free popcorn and relaxing watching a movie, while our kids spent time in the kids program.

 

We had the same waitress and bus person(both terrifc) in the any time dining room for dinners and about halfway through the cruise she asked how the food service compared to Carnival. I asked if she wanted to know the truth and she did. I told her the service was good on Carnival, but was spectacular on Princess. They were so attentive to our kids and always smiling and having nice things to say. I then said that although the food was good I found the food on Carnival a little better. I will add that after that night we had Alaskan Crab Legs and Lobster tails that were superior to anything we had on Carnival. The selection was always very nice, but once in a while the entrees were hit or miss. Not that they were bad, but they could have been better.

 

The one problem I had with the kids programs was that it was difficullt to pull my 10 YO son away to spend time with us (not an awful problem). The 6 YO was easier to take away from the program but he loved it as well and wanted to spend more time there than he did on previous Carnival cruies. Many activities and the 6 YO would always come back with some arts and crafts item. My 10 YO was unhappy one day because the first word he was given at the spelling bee was "Cappuccino". I do not think that most adults can spell that word but we were able to make him feel better with an extra cookie from the international cafe.

 

My wife wanted to add that the gym(I never saw the inside of it) was very extensive. offered a lot, the equipment was great; however, the room temperature was dangerously hot.

 

The picture takers were less annoying then they have been on previous cruise lines.

 

As far as entertainment, as previously mentioned by others, the comedian Sarge was someone not to miss. I can not say much about the other entertainment because I was too busy at MUTS.

 

At the casino I only saw $5 minimum bets throughout the cruise. The dealers and staff in the casino were very friendly and helpful as was every staff member that I interacted with on the entire cruise.

 

I will certainly add Princess to my list of cruise lines that I will use in the future.

[Clutterlady]

Very nice review! Think I'm gonna have to book us a Crown Princess cruise. :)

[cruzin2paradise]

Sounds like you all enjoyed yourselves, but I'm curious, why did you use a thumbs-down?????

[Gigi1220]

Yea, what is with the thumbs down???

[teaser]

It was an accident. I do not know how to add those sort of things. Can I remove it?

[TorontoTL]

Thanks for the review, we're looking forward to boarding the Crown in less than five weeks.

[IKE]

Hi Teaser,

Always enjoy reading everyone's different reviews on the same cruise. Thank You for taking the time to give us your opinions. Sounds like overall, You and Your family had an enjoyable cruise experience. I also have been on Carnival and other cruiselines and have enjoyed them all. All are different! We sail the "Crown" on 9/21 . Only a few weeks away and looking forward to it.

Thanks Again! Ike

[cloveygrl]

yeah i kept waiting for the but.....

 

:)

[Merion_Mom]

It was an accident. I do not know how to add those sort of things. Can I remove it?

Just write to one of the hosts (their names are at the bottom of the page) and ask them to edit that out for you. :)

 

HostCaroline@cruisecritic.com HostTink@cruisecritic.com