Live From The Crown Princess Sept 30 Sailing

[MaryPoppinz]

A couple more differences I've noticed. The dining rooms have changed somewhat. The wood tones are darker, there are no longer raised areas, and the use of glass dividers is also different. Overall the feeling is once again more elegant. Much more thought and detail have been put into the design of this ship. Believe it or not, I think this is now my favourite Princess ship, it has surpassed the Coral which I didn't think was possible.

 

I'm not sure if I think it's possible, because Coral is my favorite, too. :) But, this is the kind of review I've been waiting to hear since the inaugural voayge. Thanks for sharing.

[TorontoTL]

Another difference from the other ships occurs in the gym. There is definitely more equipment in there now. I have yet to see a time when there wasn't a treadmill available. They do not use a sign up sheet and there is no need for one. There also appears to be more resistance equipment as well. Another thing is that the cardio equipment goes all the way around the front of the ship and the aerobics area is repositioned and shaped a bit differently. It all certainly works better than in the other Grand class ships.

 

One annoyance is that they have a sign stating that the washrooms/change rooms are for spa customers only. We on the ship have been ignoring that and using the facilities anyhow without any problems whatsoever. As you know there are saunas both wet and dry in each of the men's and woman's changerooms so it is nice to be able to use those facilities without feeling that you are breaking the rules. Because of the rules I assume you cannot ask for a key to use a locker, unlike on all previous Princess ships I've been on. I hope they change this rule to match the rest of the fleet. There is no good reason for this limitation at all.

 

One other thing I noticed is that the pools now say that they are closed after midnight and I guess aren't 24 hrs anymore. I assume that this is a Crown specific rule?

[MNYTRPS2GO2]

Toronto TL

 

I too am really enjoying your posts. We sailed on 9/12 and also came away with a very positive attitude. The ship was beautiful and the staff could not have been nicer. Our favorite spot was the International Cafe and Piazza area where we spent a lot of time people watching(and eating).

I have been checking rates daily to rebook for the spring.I have also found some tempting rates for the next few trips this month if I could only justify it to myself:) .

Enjoy the rest of your trip and thanks for the memories...

[bdjam]

Don't worry Brian we still intend on sailing with you guys on the Island April 26, 2007. I for one still love the Coral / Island ships eventhough I think the Crown is great. I think that Hawaii cruise will be loads of fun with you guys onboard.....Fabian now thinks the Island / Coral are a bit plain looking. Shame on him, I still think they're great designs.

 

Off to sailaway now!!

I’m holding you to it! ;)

[TwoIfBySea2006]

Am thoroughly enjoying your "Live From" posts Benny.

 

Could you please tell me who the piano player in Crooners is???

 

Also, is Ignatzio still the Assistant Maitre'D onboard???

 

Thanks so much:)

[TorontoTL]

Last night's dinner was basically the Caribbean themed dinner. But they no longer put any theme names on the menus. The cold soup was a new one for me a mango soup and they also had a crab/shrimp soup. Both were excellent. The soup chefs have been doing a fantastic job on this cruise, I haven't been disappointed at all so far. The three ! mains I tried/had were the mixed seafood with shellfish that was excellent, a butterfish with tomato sauce which was outstanding and also the lamb shank which was delicious. As you can tell I love seafood as most of my mains have been seafood. The meat courses that I've tasted or had were all very good. For dessert I had the sweet potatoe pie which was surprisingly good as well as another cake which was layered white cake with a chocolate between the layers. The pie was the better of the two. I definitely overate last night and I need to get to the gym today.

 

Tony B performed in the Princess theatre last night. He was outstanding performing old classics. He is a local New Yorker from Brooklyn and was thoroughly enjoyable.

 

One interesting thing I saw for the first time was a Karaoke thing they now have. They flim you on a green background while you sing Karaoke and make a DVD for you. Your head gets superimposed on a very funny film on top of an animated body with arms and legs etc. The finished product is hilarious with your voice and head singing on a funny body. The two woman I saw having this done were laughing so hard when they saw the finished product. I think they got to see it as they sang too because one of them could hardly sing she was laughing so hard. It would be a fun thing to do if you like to sing.

[TorontoTL]

Today is a beautiful day at sea. The time moved forward one hour and the ship appears deserted. Where is everyone? At 8 AM Fabian and I were the only ones in the Atrium except for a few crew. Everyone must be sleeping in today. It's a warm and sunny day as we sail north to Bermuda. I am hoping that we get good weather in Bermuda as we hope to rent scooters and ride the length of the island. Bermuda is one of my most favourite islands. It is so pretty and clean. It is also where I rode a scooter for the first time years ago. I am now officially a scooter fanatic too because of it. I have two obsessions, cruises and scootering. I get to combine both on this cruise I hope.

 

The seas have mostly been slight on this cruise and the ship of course has been very very stable. Today is the first time was have moderate seas and there is a very gentle roll to the ship. I always enjoy this type of seas because it reminds you that you're on a cruise ship and not in a hotel somewhere. Tonight is the second and last formal night and the Champagne waterfall will be in the Piazza. I'm sure I can stay awake that late though, so I may not be able to report on that. I'm sure the many late nighters here will make it memorable.

 

Off for a walk around the promenade to work off breakfast. The blueberry pancakes were excellent today.

[Seal]

Hi

 

See you are having a good time--thought about you when the thread was started about the Big Loser which was on our repositioning cruise.

 

We are going to be on the crown late February--sounds great.

 

Nancy:D

[TorontoTL]

Hi Nancy, longtime no see! I hope you're doing well. Did you see anyone from our roll call on the Biggest Loser episode?

 

I think you liked the Sapphire, which we did as well. If you did then you'll like the changes they made to the original design and love the Crown even more. You'll have a great cruise.

[Latimer]

Hi Benny

just want to thank you again for all your great reports - about the ship and the ports of call.... we wanted to take a taxi to Megans Bay and hubby thought we might have a problem getting a taxi back, but obviously this is not the case,,,,,, enjoy the rest of the cruise,,,, will try and check in before we leave on Sunday for our flight to New York......

 

Sue

 

 

[premiumrican]

Benny, love your day to day reviews,thanks for sharing. I do have a question. Have you noticed Sabatini's and the Crown Grill to be crowded? The reason I am asking I want to know if I have to make reservations as soon as we board or can we wait for during the cruise. I really don't know what day I would like to try them.

[TorontoTL]

I have noticed that both the Crown Grill and Sabatinis appear to be busy and doing quite well. You might want to make reservations the first day to ensure that you get a reservation on a day and time that you want just to be safe.

[TorontoTL]

Taxis are certainly not a problem on the island of St. Thomas. You can hardly walk a foot around that island without someone asking if you need a ride back to "the Princess".

[TorontoTL]

The pianist performing in Crooners Lounge is Heather Sullivan.

[TorontoTL]

Someone had asked about the Captain, his name is Nico Binetti.

[TorontoTL]

I wanted to mention the singers and dancers on this sailing. I have been extremely impressed with the quality of the shows so far on this cruise. They have exceeded my expectations. I have heard many others who felt the same way. You can see the attention that was paid to the production of the big shows.

 

The four singers are all great and probably the best of our cruises so far. They are: Patrick Dodd, Tracy Distefano, Scott Chamberlain and Jennifer Ward. The Dance troop led by Gary Skillicorn have been excellent as well and also probably the best we've seen on a cruise as well. Thanks to them all for the great performances they have been giving the passengers on this ship.

[TorontoTL]

Last night was the final formal night. The lobster was wonderful, juicy and delicious, I had to have two servings of course. For the appetizer I had a crab pate and caviar which was excellent, I've never noticed this on the menu before. The cold soup was a stone fruit concoction which was excellent as well.

 

In the Princess theatre the final big production number of the cruise was "What a Swell Party". It was a good show, not my favourite of the three but still good. It was followed by the Champagne waterfall but I didn't stay up for that.

[TorontoTL]

Today we are missing Bermuda....:( . It was to be the highlight of the cruise for many. I've heard many people very upset about missing the port and I am as well. But apparently there is quite a low pressure system over Bermuda that is making the seas too rough to enter the channels to get to West End Bermuda. I guess there isn't anything one can do about situations like this, weather happens. I am always surprised at some peoples reactions though. There are people walking around saying that Princess is going downhill, what a bad cruise company, you'd be better off going on Royal Caribbean, etc. etc.....How can they criticize the cruise company for bad weather? Don't they realize that if the seas are too rough it make it unsafe to get to a port? To get to West End Bermuda one has to cross a channel. I would imagine if it is quite rough then it wouldn't be possible to enter. In fact the Captain said they had communicated with the local Pilot who stated that it wouldn't be safe and that he wouldn't take the ship into port. So what can you do. I'm disappointed as well but Princess can't do anything about it. At least we're still on this wonderful ship and not at home or at work. The crew are disappointed as well. Many of them won't have any time off work because it is now a sea day instead of a port day. Oh well we'll see what the CD has instore for us today. We'll make the most of it. I'll check in later.

[pamwinn]

I am sorry you are missing Bermuda. That is the one port that attracts me to that itenerary as well. If it were me, and I am sure you are feeling the same way, I'd just put down a deposit on a future cruise hoping to get there the next time around. Enjoy the rest of your cruise....Bermuda or not, I am envious as h#ll.:)

[premiumrican]

Benny,

 

Sorry you guys are missing Bermuda. Hey it is better to be safe than sorry. It is true how people just can't comprehend it was done for their safety. Oh well enjoy your extra sea day.

[hill6]

I am sorry about you missing Bermuda. That was the highlight of our sailing (the one after the list).

 

Some people fail to realize that it is not Princess' fault on some things like the weather. The harbor master for Bermuda says yes or no for any ship sailing into their harbor.

[TorontoTL]

We're finally feeling some motion on the seas today. Up to now there was little evidence that we were at sea...LOL.

Thanks for the condolences about missing Bermuda. I just wish people around the ship would stop complaining. I don't like hearing all that negativity. I knew you guys would understand! I'm going to enjoy my final two days on this wonderful ship. I have two future cruise deposits down so I will need to start looking for my winter vacation. As Brian knows my spring vacation is going to be the Hawaii cruise on the Island in April. Maybe I should plan a two week vacation in Bermuda for this winter, has anyone been to Bermuda in the winter?

[azdmelani]

Benny I am sorry that you have to miss bermuda. I was on the 9/3 sailing and we never got there due to Hurricane Florence. Enjoy the rest of your sailing on the crown, she is fabulous!

[LynneL]

Today we are missing Bermuda....:( . There are people walking around saying that Princess is going downhill, what a bad cruise company, you'd be better off going on Royal Caribbean, etc. etc.....

 

How short people's memories are....If I recall correctly, last year Royal Caribbean was the line that switched a Bermuda cruise to Canada due to poor weather. People claimed RCCL knew of the switch prior to departure, but passengers weren't notified until after they sailed, thereby not giving them the option to cancel or even bring appropriate clothing.

[Seal]

It is strange how some people react when we are unable to stop at a port we had planned to enjoy--blaming Princess etc.--expecting a refund etc.

 

We had a bad experience having to pass by two islands in a row--about 6 weeks ago in the South Pacific--One sea day became four sea days--couldn't safely go in anywhere and finally went to Bora Bora a day earlier than planned--which of course, messed up some excursions--even with that it was a great cruise--lots of folks grumbling--We all wanted to get off the ship--ANYWHERE--still a great cruise.

 

Lot's to do today--always, the Art Auction--Or Bingo--I know I can spend time and money at either one

 

Nancy:D