Crown Princess what do they do when it's colder?

[sashas_mom]

We are really looking forward to sailing on the Crown to St. Petersburg next year. I purposely chose the Crown because she is a new ship and I was looking forward to the new features. The question now is, what do they do in the Sanctuary or the Movies Under The Stars when it's colder?

We are expecting low 50's. Perhaps someone who has been on her in the Fall can share their experiences.

Thanks.

sasha'smom

[LARGIN]

Blankets.. :D

[Pam in CA]

Probably the same thing as we experienced on the Golden in February where temperatures went down to the 40s with high winds: no one went outside except for the very hearty and even then, it was too cold to sit in the covered Calypso Pool area. Everyone jammed inside, looking for something to do (and not finding much.) The Atrium was crowded, people staked out claims to tables in the buffet and didn't give them up, etc. About the only place that wasn't busy was Skywalkers but they didn't open the bar there most days until after 9PM at night. We were thrilled at that point that we had mini's and could retreat there.

[sashas_mom]

Wow Pam, that really makes me have second thoughts about this. I chose the Crown because I was excited about being on her, but now I'm wondering if that was a wise decision if we won't be able to enjoy the things I wanted to do. Maybe I should wait until later in the season, or book a different ship for this cruise and do the Crown in a warmer climate. Hmmm...thanks for the input.

sasha'smom

[bdjam]

It's interesting Princess is sending Crown to colder waters. They're whole premise with MUTS was that it was a warm water feature and wouldn't end up on ships that weren't on warm water itineraries. I can see MUTS on Emerald in the Med, but on a ship in Northern Europe? And if Pam found Golden croweded in cold conditions what would 500 extra people do?

 

Yeah - Crown in warm waters...

[Coral]

My guess is that they are thinking on port intensive trips such as the Baltics - people probably won't have time to do the normal swimming/sanctuary activities. Everyone I know who has done these trips are really tired at the end of the day and entertainment on the ships isn't important. I wouldn't worry about crowding just because it is port intensive.

 

If the trip wasn't port intensive - I probably would avoid it. I was on the Radiance of the Seas in Alaska when the weather was awful (rain, wind, cold, fog, what felt like snow) and no one was outside and it was incredibly crowded. Everyone spent the entire cruise inside.

[willysgrandma]

You are going to have much the same issues on any cruise line during that time of year. It isn't limited to just Princess.

 

Princess does show many of the movies that are played on MUTS in your room cabin - over and over and over....

[spongerob]

I've never really found a lack of things to do on sea days even when it's not nice. As previously mentioned, if you are on a port-intensive itinerary you're just happy to have a break. It's nice just to sleep in and relax. You're going on a cruise that will have a completely different character than a Caribbean cruise...give it a shot, you might like it.

 

It might sound stupid, but Full Contact Trivia as played by Cruise Critic members can be extremely entertaining. There will be other things going on, too. You can even socialize.

[cruzinchris]

... And if Pam found Golden croweded in cold conditions what would 500 extra people do?

 

No MUTS on the Dawn, of course, but Mike and I thought this "sun" class ship was pretty crowded until more folks could get out on deck for sunning/swimming. The Atrium was packed - SRO for Trivia - on days at sea towards Mazatlan and again on days at sea towards SF. We sought refuge in our stateroom or in a quiet nook far from the madding crowd. Truly, we had never noticed such crowding on "grand" class ships - mostly Caribbean, of course, when many passengers are outdoors.

Chris

 

LET'S GO RED WINGS!!!

[Pam in CA]

I've never really found a lack of things to do on sea days even when it's not nice. As previously mentioned, if you are on a port-intensive itinerary you're just happy to have a break. It's nice just to sleep in and relax. You're going on a cruise that will have a completely different character than a Caribbean cruise...give it a shot, you might like it.

Rob is right... even on the Golden, I had no problem finding things to do but we had lots of sea days (I think 7 out of 12); very different from the Baltics. We're booked on the Crown next summer for a Baltic cruise so the crowds didn't turn us off too much. But they could bother someone who likes to be very active or get sun during the day. We were happy reading, playing bridge, going to movies, lectures, etc. The Baltic cruise isn't going to have many sea days and trust me, you'll want to just chill out after St. Petersburg, which is very intensive and tiring. You may just want to stay in your cabin and order in the pizza. :)

 

Coral, please post a review of your Russian cruise when you return. It'll be interesting to see the differences and experiences of yours vs. mine last September.

[Jacqueline]

I also did the Baltic.... Surprisingly, we had warm sunny weather and were outside a lot. But clearly, this is not something that you can count on !

If you want to do a European cruise where you can enjoy the open decks,the itinerary is wrong for you, not the ship. It would be the same on all of them...

On the Radiance, the tiny indoor pool was jammed with seniors who took over.

[sashas_mom]

You're absolutely right Jacqueline. I do want this itinerary and am very excited about the locations we'll be visiting. We'll be so busy in the ports I doubt we will have much time to enjoy the ship. I appreciate your input. I'll just enjoy being on the Crown even indoors.

sasha'smom