Live from the Crown 9/12/06

[jimmyz80]

Am I the only one surprised with how awful the buffet food and how poor the service is? Our room wasn't made up for the first 3 days of the cruise, a panel fell off our wall and it took over a day for someone to come look at it, and it took another 2 days for someone to change a burned out light in our room. The cruise director is "ok" but his staff is entertainingly boring to watch both in person and on tv. :P

 

Also ***** happened to the 24hr buffet? The 24hr "cafe" has only a few things which are the same every night... This ship could take a few hints from the Sapphire on how to operate.

[SCEPFAM]

We sailed on the 8/25 Crown. We had only sailed Celebrity before this, and the food could not compare to them, at the buffet or the dining room. First cruise that I didn't gain weight. Crown Grill is out of this world, and Sabatini's is good also. Well worth the cover charge for a good meal.

That being said, we had a great time on the cruise. Our room was always clean and we hardly ever saw our room attendant, but twice a day everything was tip-top.

Try the lounges for entertainment, you'd be surprised.

I feel that the service was good, not excellent, but certainly nothing to complain about for us.

Our only problem was the stupid safe, and waiting for the guy to come unlock it almost every day.

[Sandytoes]

What? ? ? Your room wasn't made up for the first 3 days of the cruise? ? ?...This sounds very strange.....

Why? ? ? On the first day of this didn't you call the pursor's desk and complain? Did you call the Cabin Steward -- On your cabin phone it has direct number to your cabin steward. Just have to press it....

Before your cruise there were a lot of threads on the buffet food.... You have to remember buffet food is what it is.... It will never be considered fine dining.... If you want that you need to go to the dining rooms....

 

I always changed the channel when the CD's came on.... Not interesting is watching them....

 

Enjoy the cruise..... You, and only you, can come away with either a great cruise vacation or a lousy one.... Make the best of everything else.....

Go to the shows, they are great....

If I could choose being on the Crown or going to work -- I pick Crown hands-down.....

 

Keep us posted....

[IKE]

So happy to hear from someone "Live" on the Crown. We go the day you get back. Sorry the food is not up to par in the Buffet. I find on many ships,that it is hit or miss. Sailed on Caribbean Princess twice last year and food was very good in the Horizon Court. How is the weather? Heard on the weather channel last night, hurricaine Helene, will be hitting Bermuda next Thursday. thats the day We board. So have a feeling, We will be missing Bermuda stop. Hope Storm switches direction for everyone concerned. Who needs rough seas coming and going to New York. Hope You have a terrific rest of your cruise. Wishing you calm seas! Ike

[-Lew-]

We were on the Crown's 9/3 sailing in C726. Had a wonderful cruise. Our cabin sterward, Vicente, was the best we have had in 6 cruises.

 

We don't need to eat 24 hours a day so it wasn't an issue with us. We found the food to be very good except the disappointing cold seafood buffet the first evening. The lobster was so salty it couldn't be eaten; it was also still mostly frozen when served. Not good...

 

We had Personal Choice dining with different servers each time. All the servers were very good as was the food. If you don't like what you have ordered, order something else!

 

The secret to the safe is to whack the door with the heel of your hand on the side opposite the hinge before you enter the code to open it. Most of the time you'll need to reprogram the code in order to get it to lock. It's a pain, but a minor one.

[Colo Cruiser]

Wow if it that bad you better get off the first chance you get!! :eek:

[makeup face]

Am I the only one surprised with how awful the buffet food and how poor the service is? Our room wasn't made up for the first 3 days of the cruise, a panel fell off our wall and it took over a day for someone to come look at it, and it took another 2 days for someone to change a burned out light in our room. The cruise director is "ok" but his staff is entertainingly boring to watch both in person and on tv. :P

 

Also ***** happened to the 24hr buffet? The 24hr "cafe" has only a few things which are the same every night... This ship could take a few hints from the Sapphire on how to operate.

 

 

Okay....I'll bite:eek: Why wasn't your room made up for 3 days??

[willysgrandma]

Our room wasn't made up for the first 3 days of the cruise, a panel fell off our wall and it took over a day for someone to come look at it, and it took another 2 days for someone to change a burned out light in our room.

 

Then you aren't speaking to the right people to get it rectified. How much of a stink have you made or have you not said anything? If this is true, it is unacceptable and you need to be at the pursers desk to rectify it AND to tell them to remove some of your service charge if your room steward isn't doing their job.

[jimmyz80]

Just wanted to clarify a few things, and answer a few questions...

 

This is the first cruise we've opted for "personal choice" style dining, and I think it's the root of many of our problems on board. We are late risers, and since the cabin attendant goes off shift quite early, we're usually out of luck on a room cleaning until dinner time. Now comes the real problem... We also tend to eat late so we're not out of our room until 8:30'ish. The housekeepers again go off shift around this time and again we're out of luck. What we're still trying to figure out, is why Princess runs personal choice dining until ~10:00PM. If you ate late every night, you'd never have turn down service...ever. For those asking if we called the front desk, yes we did and nobody showed up for another 24 hours. Honestly it seems like they run this ship on a bare bones crew and any "after hours" requests need to wait til' the next day.

 

I wasn't going to start bitching and moaning since I'm usually one to laugh at the whining passengers. Plus this cruise was such a bargain I really don't feel like I should be complaining about the service at all.

 

As for the buffet food, I agree that it will never be a gourmet experience. I can however say that this ship has the worst buffet of any ship I've sailed on, princess or otherwise. I'm not sure who plans the buffet menu, but the combinations of things they serve up is quite odd. Potatoes with Pumpkin Seeds and Prunes?!?! Even the standard fare was usually mushy and poorly made. On Sapphire my GF and I thoroughly enjoyed the buffet for mid-day snacks, and felt it was quite healthy and well prepared. This buffet is not nearly the same. The dining room food is quite good though, but still seems a little off. The love boat dream was even soggy and not very enjoyable. Plus the waiters greet you with "you done?" when they want to clear your plates....a bit odd.

 

As for the weather, it's been great. The sea was a bit rough the first few days down the coast (just pitching, no real rolling), but now it's glassy smooth. There is a fair amount of lightning on the horizon at night, which is nice. No rain or other ill effects to speak of though.

[Guest LoveMyBoxer]

I agree. If my room wasn't made up on the first day I would be telling someone. 14 cruises later (inside, outer, balconies & suites) on different cruise lines and I have never heard of this. Also, "worst buffet food ever", really, you should try NCL's, then you wouldn't be complaining.

[jimmyz80]

One other thing I forgot to mention. People have mentioned that the pizza on this ship was to die for? Every slice I've had was more or less a soup which couldn't even be picked up. With ~80% of the passengers being from the NYC area, I'd think the opinion of this pizza would be a bit different...lol.

[willysgrandma]

You need to go to the desk and discuss the situation in person . If you give them the times you are out of your cabin, I cannot see why they cannot direct a cabin steward to make up the room when you are not in it.

[Kathyh1313]

You need to go to the desk and discuss the situation in person . If you give them the times you are out of your cabin, I cannot see why they cannot direct a cabin steward to make up the room when you are not in it.

 

The front desk staff on the Crown are less than helpful. I was on the 8/25 Crown and reported a burned out lightbulb 4 times before it was changed. The air conditioning in our room was only fair, it never got real cool. Reported that 4 times, it never got fixed, no one even came to check it. There was a strong sewage odor on Aloha port side aft and in our room, we brought it to the attention of the front desk 4 times, no change.

 

I was overcharged $39 for 2 rounds of drinks in Adagio. It took 5 trips over 4 days to the front desk to get this corrected. The only reason it did get corrected was my DH stopped the Asst Bar Manager who just happened to be walking by.

 

I have never dealt with such an unresponsive front desk ever! They certainly could use some classes in customer service excellence. They were flip, snippy and presumed that the customer was wrong in every circumstance. I am a manager who deals with customer issues and complaints. A customer with a concern should be made to feel listened to, cared for and the problem brought to resolution. None of that happened on the Crown.

 

Overall we had a great cruise, but the attitude and lack of performance from the front desk has soured us on Princess.

 

Good luck and happy cruising,Kathy

[pfay64]

One other thing I forgot to mention. People have mentioned that the pizza on this ship was to die for? Every slice I've had was more or less a soup which couldn't even be picked up. With ~80% of the passengers being from the NYC area, I'd think the opinion of this pizza would be a bit different...lol.

 

I am shocked to hear about the pizza. I was on the 7/11 cruise and believe me I am not a cheerleader. The pizza was great, the crust wasn't soggy. I consider myself a pizza expert and it was really good! I was pleasantly surprised and so were a lot of other pax.

 

I'll repeat again, that I am definitely not a cheerleader. My 7/11 cruise was great, with of course, the exception of the list, which pretty much ruined it for me.

 

I have been reading these boards, since my cruise and it seems that a lot of things have gone downhill since then!

 

Makes me feel like the crew is not too happy. I don't know what transpired with the crew after the list, but I think this is the only explanation for the downward spiral! Terrible, corporate is not handling things well at all. :eek:

[celebrity]

With 10 cruises completed, my family of four couldn't wait to experience the 'Princess experience' on a brand new ship. As luck would have it, we booked the 7/20/06 sailing. You may recall that this was the sailing that followed the infamous list. Ok, so we lost two days but were compensated at 50% which was very generous. Anyhow, we were less than enamored with Princess. We also thought the buffet was the worst we have ever encountered but we happily didn't gain any weight. We opted for traditional late dining and while our servers were wonderful, the food was mediocre at best. The Welcome Aboard cocktail party was a bust and both formal nights felt like nothing special. For me, the biggest downers were the layout of the ship, most notably the awful jogging track and the sectioned off pools. Oh, one more thing, the ship was leaking water the entire week in various spots around the Windjammer. it was not a pretty sight to see buckets and rags catching water on a brand new ship. We made the best of it and did still have a lot of fun. We loved Sarge! However, we are back to RCCL and Celebrity.

[erntrish]

One other thing I forgot to mention. People have mentioned that the pizza on this ship was to die for? Every slice I've had was more or less a soup which couldn't even be picked up. With ~80% of the passengers being from the NYC area, I'd think the opinion of this pizza would be a bit different...lol.

 

I was on the 8/16 sailing. In my comments, I mentioned that the pizza was the best I've had at sea, since it was. I had the margherita (regular), pepperoni, and prosciutto/mushroom. They were all tasty, with a crisp crust. The mushroom one was a bit wet, but you get that a lot. I think it really depends on the exact temp of the oven, and varies with the chef that's making it.

 

I'm a Brooklynite, transplanted into SI. I make my own pizza dough, and I think John's on Bleecker Street it the best in the world (haven't been to Naples yet, so I may have to restate!). How are those credentials for ya?

[Sandytoes]

Glad you cleared things up.... On the first day, you should have told the Cabin Steward that you are late risers....

It wasn't the fault of the C.S.....

 

I had posted that the waters are rougher coming out & into NY.

 

Wondering is Sarge onboard?

[Sunnystone]

We were onthe 9/3 voyage. We found the pizza hit or miss. There was at least one time where the pizza was like none other and it took all the will power in the world to make us pizza lovers move on. Other days one bite was more than sufficient. Just to again prove how different people have different tastes, we thought the cold seafood buffet was the best idea with outstanding food. Unlimited lobster claws and King Crab were superb and once we had our plates and were seated, we completely forgot we were at a buffet. While we still love Celebrity's sushi every night (of which you are not charged $1 per piece as on Princess), that cold seafood sure was fantastic.

Looking at the weather channel it looked like your voyage was going to be rough but it is good to hear that was not so.

[BigTimeCruiser]

Also Onboard Now.....

We are having a great time. This is the nicest Princess ship we have ever sailed. It's obvious that the crew has all been hand picked for this ship. Food is great; Internet service is faster than normal; Piazza (cookies and food) is wonderful; Piazza entertainment is outstanding; Adagio is very nice, but we haven't yet tried the Crown Grill. Will do so tonight. All-in-all, this ship, services, and food would be rated by myself as EXCELLENT.

Curt:) :)

[Colo Cruiser]

Also Onboard Now.....

 

We are having a great time. This is the nicest Princess ship we have ever sailed. It's obvious that the crew has all been hand picked for this ship. Food is great; Internet service is faster than normal; Piazza (cookies and food) is wonderful; Piazza entertainment is outstanding; Adagio is very nice, but we haven't yet tried the Crown Grill. Will do so tonight. All-in-all, this ship, services, and food would be rated by myself as EXCELLENT.

 

Curt:) :)

 

 

Thanks for a look at the other end of the spectrum. :D

 

You will love the Crown Grill, try the live main lobster with the filet. It is awesome. :)

[Steve13]

Also Onboard Now.....

 

We are having a great time. This is the nicest Princess ship we have ever sailed. It's obvious that the crew has all been hand picked for this ship. Food is great; Internet service is faster than normal; Piazza (cookies and food) is wonderful; Piazza entertainment is outstanding; Adagio is very nice, but we haven't yet tried the Crown Grill. Will do so tonight. All-in-all, this ship, services, and food would be rated by myself as EXCELLENT.

 

Curt:) :)

 

Curt-

You need to find the OP and show him around. Obviously, he's on a totally different cruise than you are! :D

 

 

It always amazes me at how different two people experiences can be on the same cruise. For some the glass is always have full of champagne, for others the glass is always half empty toilet water!

 

To the OP: What cabin are you in??

[cruise pup]

I have a couple of questions. When is the cold seafood buffet? Is it first night? Also, how do you make reservations for Crown Grill (in person, by phone, at a reservations table)?

[cynbar]

Yes, the cold seafood buffet is served the first night, up in Cafe Caribe. even if you go to the main DR for dinner, it's a great chance to stop by for some appetizers!! We made our reservations for the Crown Grill on embarkation day, right at the restaurant ---- there was someone stationed there all afternoon, just inside the entrance. Same for Sabatini's -- go right to the restaurant. There is also a Dining Reservations extension on your telephone, I imagine you could use that also.

[mortysmama]

It is so hard to comprehend that 2 people on the same ship at the same time can have such different perceptions of the same cruise. We've been on 3 Princess cruises (2 Grand 1 Golden) and all three were wonderful, not perfect, but wonderful. Since our last Princess cruise we've done 2 on NCL...both on big, new and beautiful ships(Dawn and Jewel).Altho we had a great time on both cruises, there is no comparison to Princess IMHO. Princess won hands down with everything...especially the lunch buffet. Another poster mentioned the NCL buffets and he/she was absolutley correct. The chef on the Jewel seemed to be stuck on Thai and Mexican food which overwhelmed the buffets almost everyday. The dinners in the dining room were hit or miss on many nites. Some times we had no choice but to eat at the buffet. We couldn't find anything on the menu that we would eat. One more thing that deserves mentioning....the "everynite options" for dinner on Princess are wonderful compared to NCL's offering of poached chicken(dry and tasteless), and a few other bland items. I don't mean to be bashing NCL as much as I'm praising Princess.

 

We are looking forward to our March sailing on CB and reading every review available.

 

Happy cruising!

[IKE]

Its ashame when you happen to have a Room Steward that does not take care of you. Definitely, you should let someone know that you are late risers and your room should be straighten up and beds made while you are out. this would upset and put a damper on my enjoyment of the cruise. This happened to us several years ago on a Holland America Ship. We were out of our cabin early around 8:30AM every morning and when We returned around Noon, room was not made up. We were really ticked off! We were lucky the beds were made by 3PM. The room steward saw us leave early and this went on for the length of our cruise. We also reported it an got nowhere. However, at end of cruise, this man didnot get a tip. I hope your situation improves and hope you enjoy what is left of your cruise. Ike