Live from the Crown 9/12/06

[cynbar]

Question for the OP --- we were on the Crown's 8/25 sailing, and there was a little plastic card on the back of our door which we could insert in the keyhole --- it said "Service, Please" on one side (and "Privacy, Please" on the other.) We always left it in the door when we wanted the room made up, and never had a problem. Perhaps yours is missing????

[BigTimeCruiser]

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)?

 

The cold seafood buffet is the first evening at 6:00pm in the Horizon Court. Reservations for the Crown Grill can be made in person at the Crown Grill on embarkation day or by phone, or drop by the Grill in the evening when they are open. :)

[celebrity]

i couldn't wait to try it and all I can say is 'YUCK"! I threw it out after one bite. Perhaps because I am a New Yorker and know good pizza. It could also have been the staff preparing it that day as my 2 sons tried it later in the week and say it wasn't too bad. Who knows??

[Dolphins]

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.

 

Having sailed many times on NCL, I have found their buffets no worse or better than other lines. At least on NCL, you have more dining options.

[Guest LoveMyBoxer]

Having sailed many times on NCL, I have found their buffets no worse or better than other lines. At least on NCL, you have more dining options.

More dining option than what? Anytime dining is available on most cruise lines now. However, on NCL it is "freestyle", we didn't even have the option after getting dressed up to sit next to other dressed people. Two tables around us people were wearing jeans and T-shirts. And yes, their buffets were the worst we have had. I am not a Princess "cheerleader", I have no loyalty to any one cruise line. However, Princess does have FAR better food and service than NCL. We highly enjoyed our cruise on NCL, but some things were lacking, as on other cruises. We went on NCL not expecting much but looking forward to the whole cruising experience.

[jimmyz80]

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?

 

Sarge is onboard this week and he has definitely been one of the highlights of the trip. He's an extremely talented performer with a great story behind him.

[jimmyz80]

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??

 

We're in A410 which location-wise has been very good. The balcony view is nice, and it's very close to the Piazza elevators. It's the first non-suite room we've sailed in awhile so we're having to get used to the phone booth showers all over again. :(

 

Just to follow up on my previous posts, I want to make sure everyone knows I don't feel this is a bad ship or vacation at all. I'm just trying to point out a few issues which could be easily corrected to make for a more consistent passenger experience. I'm still having a great time, and I'm more than happy to adjust my waking hours slightly to accomodate the cabin attendant. Now we usually see her waiting cart-in-hand outside our room as we leave for dinner just before her shift ends. I think we were able to compromise lol.

 

BTW: The light that took three days to replace, burnt out about 1/2 day after it was replaced. HAHA. I'll let the next batch of passengers wrangle with it this time around.

 

All my qualms aside, I would cruise with princess again, but likely not on this particular ship. I would also definitely revert to traditional dining since I feel it adds so much to the overall experience, and also makes formal nights seem much more special.

[jimmyz80]

Question for the OP --- we were on the Crown's 8/25 sailing, and there was a little plastic card on the back of our door which we could insert in the keyhole --- it said "Service, Please" on one side (and "Privacy, Please" on the other.) We always left it in the door when we wanted the room made up, and never had a problem. Perhaps yours is missing????

 

I've made it a habit of putting the card out with privacy please whenever we're in the room, and with service please whenever we're out of the room. If I put the card out with service please after 8:30PM, it will remain there until the next morning with no service at all. They really seem to stick by their shift times.

[waynes631ny]

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.

 

I hope you enjoy all the pod propulsion delays...

We were on Celebrity.. Great Great Food!!! But I still think about those pods.

[waynes631ny]

We're in A410 which location-wise has been very good. The balcony view is nice, and it's very close to the Piazza elevators. It's the first non-suite room we've sailed in awhile so we're having to get used to the phone booth showers all over again. :(

 

Just to follow up on my previous posts, I want to make sure everyone knows I don't feel this is a bad ship or vacation at all. I'm just trying to point out a few issues which could be easily corrected to make for a more consistent passenger experience. I'm still having a great time, and I'm more than happy to adjust my waking hours slightly to accomodate the cabin attendant. Now we usually see her waiting cart-in-hand outside our room as we leave for dinner just before her shift ends. I think we were able to compromise lol.

 

BTW: The light that took three days to replace, burnt out about 1/2 day after it was replaced. HAHA. I'll let the next batch of passengers wrangle with it this time around.

 

All my qualms aside, I would cruise with princess again, but likely not on this particular ship. I would also definitely revert to traditional dining since I feel it adds so much to the overall experience, and also makes formal nights seem much more special.

 

Jim,

 

Lets face it, late sleeper later eater doesn;t spell I'm your room steward and let me make re-set this room for you.

 

There just not in the hall waiting for someone to appear and head out.

 

Anyway good luck. Were on the Crown July next.

[Ti2m]

Pizza .... i couldn't wait to try it and all I can say is 'YUCK"! I threw it out after one bite. Perhaps because I am a New Yorker and know good pizza.

 

Perhaps ... because I am sure all of us non-New Yorker's know nothing about good pizza. Thanks for the heads up!

 

Timm

[Clutterlady]

More dining option than what? Anytime dining is available on most cruise lines now. However, on NCL it is "freestyle", we didn't even have the option after getting dressed up to sit next to other dressed people. Two tables around us people were wearing jeans and T-shirts. And yes, their buffets were the worst we have had. I am not a Princess "cheerleader", I have no loyalty to any one cruise line. However, Princess does have FAR better food and service than NCL. We highly enjoyed our cruise on NCL, but some things were lacking, as on other cruises. We went on NCL not expecting much but looking forward to the whole cruising experience.

 

Feel the same way you do. Good R&R cruise, but please, the food was the worse I have ever had anywhere!:eek:

[celebrity]

I hope you enjoy all the pod propulsion delays...

We were on Celebrity.. Great Great Food!!! But I still think about those pods.

We have been fortunate sailing Horizon, Zenith, Century & Millennium. I have read much about the pod problem but fortunately when we sailed on the Millie it was smooth as glass.

[celebrity]

Perhaps ... because I am sure all of us non-New Yorker's know nothing about good pizza. Thanks for the heads up!

 

Timm

 

New York is known for great pizza.

[Sandytoes]

phone booth showers

This is the best statement I have read in a long time.... Good One ! ! !

 

It's okay to say exactly how you feel or what you're take of the Crown... We all have likes & dislikes. Good / bad experiences.... "Express Yourself"....

 

At least you're taking it lightly about the electrical equipment in your cabin....

 

Oh - by the way, I'm a NYer that loved the pizza.... I thought it was extremely good.... We enjoyed a slice or 2, with a cold beer/wine, on our balcony after our excursions...What more could ya ask for?

 

This is very interesting - I would also definitely revert to traditional dining since I feel it adds so much to the overall experience, and also makes formal nights seem much more special.. I usually do the Personal Choice.

[hill6]

I would think that you should have made an effort to have spoken to your steward and arranged to be out of your room for the 20 minutes so they could make it up for you (at least in the evening).

 

I think that you were not being a good guest and allowing him/her to their job.

[Sunnystone]

On the 9/3 voyage, the cold seafood buffet was not just on the first night, but was also repeated on one of the formal nights (just can't remember which one).

The plastic card worked great for us except when some joker thought it would be "good" to switch them all in our hall. Only happened once and I felt worse for Antonio than I did for being disturbed.

[Grizelda]

Let us know how the seas are on your travel back to NYC.....we are on the next sailing and Helene I think is going to interfere with our Bermuda stop...bummer......hope seas are calm for you...Have a safe journey back and enjoy.....Thanks for all the info....

[Califonria cruiser]

Can you tell me something about the kiddie pool? Am wondering what it is like, if it's really shallow or in between? Also, is there a big slide at the pool? Does it empty into a deeper pool or something really shallow?

 

Thanks for your input about your cruise.

 

Jenn

[makeup face]

I would think that you should have made an effort to have spoken to your steward and arranged to be out of your room for the 20 minutes so they could make it up for you (at least in the evening).

 

I think that you were not being a good guest and allowing him/her to their job.

 

 

I agree totally. How can someone clean your cabin if you're always in it. There have been MANY times when I was in my cabin reading or relaxing and the steward was ready to clean. I just go somewhere for a half hour or so and let the man clean the room...not a problem. One time I slept until about 10:30am...my cabin was not clean cause the steward was off duty.....not a problem...my room was clean that evening and I made sure if I wanted my cabin cleaned in the morning....I was out or ready to go out when it was time to clean the cabin.

[Leafpeeper]

Is anyone complaining about airconditioning on this cruise? It seemed to be a problem on past voyages.

 

Royal Caribbean is the only ship with a fantastic buffet--especially dinner. There were different stations for different foods. We could choose steak, chicken, or fish and watch them grill it in front of us. Lots of desserts too. RCCL also has hot food on its room service menu--including breakfast.

 

I agree NCL does not have a great buffet, but nothing is worse than the Carnival dinner buffet. There was only one entree and one dessert choice on our Carnival Triumph cruise last February. You had to eat in the dining room to get any food choices.

 

We are sailing CP Sept 30 and can't wait. I've learned not to expect great food on cruiseships unless we eat at a specialty restaurant. Fortunately, food is not a big deal for me. Cocktails on a cruise--very important. I also like my tea and dessert late evening. I will pack some baggies to load up on cookies for my room.

[twinky53]

Anytime dining is available on most cruise lines now. However, on NCL it is "freestyle", we didn't even have the option after getting dressed up to sit next to other dressed people. Two tables around us people were wearing jeans and T-shirts.

 

Wow, that was not my experience on the Dawn. People were turned away from the dining room in jeans and T-shirts on formal night - in fact, jeans were never allowed or T-shirts on any night in any of the restaurants! Resort casual was the rule and it was strictly enforced. Even on the last day of sailing, which bummed a lot of people off, because they thought the last night should be anything goes. What ship did you sail on? Someone was NOT doing their job.

 

I will agree that the NCL buffet food was okay, nothing special, but I found the restaurants to be excellent - so many to choose from! We dined in a different one almost every night. It was wonderful to have such a choice, plus get great tables for two with terrific service. They made my hubby and I feel like we were VIPs. I LOVED the Dawn. I hate that it is leaving NYC.

 

We also had the best service in our cabin every day - twice a day it was made up and turned down, and we left so many different times. This happened on both cruises we went on. We are not people to set your clock by you see, but no matter what time we left, we just set our little dial outside the door, which was neat (no plastic cards, it was a little wheel you could turn), and came back to a serviced cabin and towel animal at night.

 

I am about to sail on the Crown and I am kind of worried about it. Maybe I hang out here too much! I did not know about this place then and all I can say is, I loved the Dawn, but I sure would have been worried had I read some of the posts on the Norwegian cruises. So, I am going to decide for myself. I am a worrier by nature anyway.

 

I do appreciate the reviews, good and bad. I definitely will be trying the Caribe buffet a few times, including one formal night. Can't wait for the seafood buffet - they sure did not have that on the Dawn. Yum! And the movies! And the international cafe! And the Crown Grille! And a mini-suite! I know nothing is ever perfect, but just being on the sea is enough for me.

 

Happy sailing all - I will post a review when I get back.

[Guest LoveMyBoxer]

As I said we were on the NCL Crown not Princess. No one was turned away from the dining room for their dress. We were on the original Pacific Princess on October 2001 with my father in law who showed up to dinner in T-shirt & shorts - he was turned away. The Maitre D at the time came to our table to tell us and apologize for having had to turn him away. My husband said "shut the doors and don't let him in!" We did LOVE the NCL Crown, one of the few small true cruise ships left, however, she wasn't meant for "freestyle" cruising. Maybe the Dawn was better, however, the whole experience turned us off "freestyle" cruising. Also, we did no appreciate having macroni and cheese as an entree for dinner one night!

[sealegs9]

We're in A410 which location-wise has been very good. The balcony view is nice, and it's very close to the Piazza elevators. It's the first non-suite room we've sailed in awhile so we're having to get used to the phone booth showers all over again. :(

 

Just to follow up on my previous posts, I want to make sure everyone knows I don't feel this is a bad ship or vacation at all. I'm just trying to point out a few issues which could be easily corrected to make for a more consistent passenger experience. I'm still having a great time, and I'm more than happy to adjust my waking hours slightly to accomodate the cabin attendant. Now we usually see her waiting cart-in-hand outside our room as we leave for dinner just before her shift ends. I think we were able to compromise lol.

 

Ah-yes Jimmy- your steward was Aneth- the same one we had on the 8/25 Crown. We were in A504 and that was the "last" cabin in her "row". She had the 400 even cabins.

I see it takes her a while to learn your routine. We left our room at 8:30AM the first sea day and when we returned at 10:30AM. We left again, returned at noon and still not done. It was made up while we we at lunch. Guess she worked OT that AM. That day, she started at the first cabin- in the 400's, and since ours was the last in the row, waited for all the other folks to vacate their rooms and clean them in order! She was so sweet, though. She just had time management issues. There were three in our room. We had to ask several days before she set the room up with 3 sets of towels. We never did get three glasses for the bathroom, as requested (we used the mini-bar ones). Did it ruin our vacation- absolutely not.

 

We told her we have early seating and were down to dinner by 6PM each evening. She probably entered at 6:01PM to turn down our beds and put down the triple. By the third morning, she caught on that we were early risers, so she did our room earlier. I did ask her and she said (5th or 6th day) that she was just learning everyone's schedules.

 

Now- if she had a bad attitude, then I would have complained. However, it seems that you met her, too, and just went with the flow. It turns out she was on the Carib. Princess when we were 4/05. Her roommate was the steward we had. She was also just as slow and forgetful (especially the towels for all 3 of us), but sweet. How ironic.

 

We were only on 2 Princess cruises and we had identical steward experiences. On RCCL, we had fantastic stewards who went above and beyond (kept our wine chilled on ice 24/7, changed our in-room wine glasses daily, called in broken items quickly and made sure they were fixed...) However, we've always had top notch Dining Room evening service both on RCCL and Princess. I just set my expectations really low in the cabin servicing area for Princess- then I won't be disappointed. It won't stop me from cruising Princess again.

 

BTW- my 2 cents on the Pizza- loved the margarita, but the specialty ones were goppy and soggy - at least on the 2 occasions I had pizza for lunch. I still think Princess beats RCCL hands-down on Pizza.

[cruise pup]

Royal Caribbean is the only ship with a fantastic buffet--especially dinner

 

Not my experience. Windjammer has been the worst buffet in my experience (even worse than NCL), especially in the evening. Nothing was kept warm and they shut down the pasta bar claiming that there were too many people to serve to keep it open! The only thing worse was the dining room food. Try their version of linguini with clam sauce and try not to gag! Two evenings I went without an entree after ordering two different selections both evenings and sending them both back. Meats were both tough and fatty. All I can say is that I'm glad RCCL didn't get their paws on Princess after all.