Just off the Crown Princess - some thoughts

[zed]

It was not our first cruise, but our first with Princess. I thought I'd give a few comments while they are fresh in my mind. I know it will probably come off as a lot of negative because that seems to stick out sometimes, but overall we had a great time and while we might not do Princess again we are already planning our next cruise.

 

I realize my experience will not be the same exact as others, and what I like or dislike isn't going to be the same for everyone. No doubt a lot of things are just personal taste and maybe even good (or bad) luck. Take this for what its worth....

 

Boarding was excellent. No lines, no hassles, easiest yet. If you take the many hints given, you CAN take wine, liquor etc. on if it is in your PERSONAL bag. Don't try putting it through in a separate container - they will take it from you. This seemed to apply in other ports, not just San Juan.

 

Our aft corner cabin on deck 11 smelled like smoke. We called for help, having read that they have super secret ways of removing the smell. We were told to wait for assistance but after a few hours and 3 phone calls we gave up. 6 hours later they sprayed glade in our room which only made it worse. Sorry, there doesn't seem to be this magical way to remove smoke smell - and if you are as annoyed by it as we were you better hope you are luckier than we were. Each day our towels smelled like smoke and it was as bad at the end as it was at the beginning. (I suspect there might be some strange air exchange issues with that room because it also smelled like bacon late at night... hmmm....)

 

One more note on the smoking and I'll drop it for now - many other passengers also noted that most public areas smelled like smoke and that other cruise ships we had collectively been on had never been as bad. (here is my vote to go all non-smoking)

 

Personal in-room dining? Worth every penny! It was the best example of service we had all week.

 

Personal choice dining - we got stuck with a table of newbs that struggled but worked really hard. We were rewarded with extra courses of pasta and apps (but it only made the staff get that much farther behind) Next time we'll try move around a bit before selecting a table based only on location. Still, it was nice to be able to sit 4 people to a table and have some privacy with our family. With reservations set all week we walked right in past the lines of people waiting for tables.

 

The boat claims to have some of the best technology, yet it lacked things like in-room internet or the ability to get room service via the TV (among others). For a new boat its worlds behind the 2 latest classes from RC.

 

We felt nickle and dimed a lot more on Princess than others. Even pizza and ice cream cost a few extra $. I wonder if this was a subtle way of fighting the rising costs of fuel or if they are just that way with things.

 

Service overall wasn't as good as we have had on Royal Caribbean or Celebrity. (or we just had bad luck or a bad boat) The two that traveled with us have taken way more cruises than we had and they mentioned the same thing.

 

They didn't a good job taking photos like most other cruise lines. It was fun finding them later. We only bought a few from one of the formal nights. We got one free from our in-room dining experience.

 

Movies under the stars. Cool million $ screen! You could even see it in the mid-day sun. One bad thing was the horrible old movie selection and the sound. (bass overkill) I had read somewhere that they had near theater release movies... there wasn't anything near that new. Transformers was probably the newest and it got much older from there. Still it was fun to experience. They had cool chair covers (that had shrunk so they didn't fit) and blankets for the cool evenings. The popcorn was bad. :p

 

I mentioned earlier... we were able to bring drinks on board and not feel like we were going to be arrested like with other cruises. That was nice!

 

Beer selection - like on most other cruises... it was bad. It surprises me they don't make more of an effort. The wine selection was good and the prices were actually not too bad.

 

Food was ok. Got tired of the same old gravy on the many different types of steaks that were on the menu. There were some really nice and often creative selections that made it fun to anticipate what they might come up with the next day. Best food on the boat was (again) the in-room personal dining experience.

 

We missed the Mango Tango from RC... oh well.

 

Hot tubs - only a few and they were really small. We didn't dare use them.

 

Only 5 elliptical machines in the workout area... you almost had to take a number to get one. They had TVs on most the machines - bring some earphones to hear them.

 

No towel animals at night... <sigh> haha

 

Getting off the boat was fairly simple as well. There were some lines but overall not bad. Boat to airport in well under an hour.

 

Interesting related thing - they had this package deal where you could check your bags in and not have to drag them through the lines at the airport (for $15 a bag I think) We tried to do this but one of us was "rejected" and the other was tagged to go only half way (as well as getting some other ladies bag tags) so we had to stand in line to find out this random rejection was common from the air carriers... we got it credited back and dealt with our own bags. As it turns out we were lucky we did - those that had gotten "approved" stood in much longer lines after customs to hand their bags over to the trucks waiting on the dock while we breezed right to the cabs. With all the cancellations due to weather getting back to the mainland many passengers found themselves unable to get alternate routes because they didn't know where their bags were. It not only took them longer to process their bags that way but gave them no flexibility to jump on different flights as needed. Word of advice from many frustrated passengers - don't do the luggage check-in service!!! At least not until they get the many bugs worked out.

 

What stood out was the way our smoking situation was handled when we first boarded. It set the tone for the whole cruise which was unfortunate... it probably made me just that much more aware of the little faults. Again, we did have a great time all the same - we just won't likely use Princess again is all. I know some like Princess and thats cool, we can't all like the same ones. ;)

[KKB]

only 2 posts, yet this isn't your first cruise?

 

For such a long post, you really did seem to dwell on the negatives (frankly things I wouldn't really notice...). Didn't notice many positives....perhaps you could counter this with a long post citing all the positive?

 

Even our 2 Star Princess cruises were different. Things that were great first cruise weren't as good on second...and vice versa. Guess I'm just a half full kind of person....:p

[4cats4me]

OP,

I for one really appreciated your review. Whether it's your 2nd

post or 222nd post, it is YOUR impression of YOUR cruise.

 

I don't blame you for being irritated by the smoke and it's also

helpful for me to hear your experience with the $15 pp luggage express

thing. We were contemplating doing that for our up and coming Princess

cruise, but after hearing your cruise's particular situation, that brings

up some very valid points.

 

We've been on 7 Princess cruises with an 8th quickly on the horizon;

please give Princess another chance sometime. All Princess cruises

are not the same. We've had mostly great experiences with princess,

but also a few baubles here and there;)

[wa.mama]

Thanks for your review. We're Celebrity cruisers going on the Crown Princess for the first time next week. How was your itinerary? and weather?

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the review. :)

 

Wondering, if the smoke was as bad when you left the ship at the end of the week as when you boarded how in the world could you eat meals in there??? :confused:

 

If it was that bad I sure couldn't or wouldn't. :eek:

[CruisinCoach]

Was there a charge for pizza? I was under the impression that the pizza was free.

[custompcsys]

What stood out was the way our smoking situation was handled when we first boarded. It set the tone for the whole cruise which was unfortunate... it probably made me just that much more aware of the little faults. Again, we did have a great time all the same - we just won't likely use Princess again is all. I know some like Princess and thats cool, we can't all like the same ones. ;)

 

I think you hit the nail right on the head here, and at least you're honest about recognizing that. From your comments you seem to be very anti-smoker and I'm sure that soured you for the rest of your cruise - that's not a flame, just stating my impressions from your comments.

 

Best of luck in finding a cruise line you enjoy.

[Suncat]

It was not our first cruise, but our first with Princess. I thought I'd give a few comments while they are fresh in my mind. I know it will probably come off as a lot of negative because that seems to stick out sometimes, but overall we had a great time and while we might not do Princess again we are already planning our next cruise.

 

Wow, that was really negative. I can see why you won't be coming on Princess again.

 

I was reading through thinking about all your comments about coming off negative and thought wow, that's honest, but then I started reading and noticed that you complained about almost everything on the ship. Oh well, to each their own.

[Pam in CA]

We felt nickle and dimed a lot more on Princess than others. Even pizza and ice cream cost a few extra $. I wonder if this was a subtle way of fighting the rising costs of fuel or if they are just that way with things.

 

Was there a charge for pizza? I was under the impression that the pizza was free.

Actually, there shouldn't be a charge for either pizza or ice cream. On every Princess ship I've been on (although I haven't been on the Crown yet), there's been pizza in the buffet in the afternoon. As for the ice cream, there's a charge ONLY for the specialty ice cream near the pool. It's completely free in the dining room for lunch or dinner and there's a "make your own sundae" ice cream fest every day from 3:30 - 4:30PM in the buffet.

[Toto2Kansas]

I wonder if the pizza charge wasn't for the delivery to the stateroom? I know Princess started a new delivery service and I think the charge is $3????

[Colo Cruiser]

Yes Pizza on deck is free, room service Pizza there is a charge. ;)

[Pam in CA]

Yes Pizza on deck is free, room service Pizza there is a charge. ;)

Thanks. I'd forgotten about the room service pizza.

[caribill]

 

They didn't a good job taking photos like most other cruise lines. ;)

 

 

??? Do you mean they did not take pictures you liked? Or did not take them on occasions you wanted? Or ??

[StitchesToo]

Thanks for your post. I've only been on Disney and Princess, but maybe I'll try RC in the future. I do miss towel animals :( .

 

My last cruise was on the Crown. The dining room service and food quality was far inferior to my experience on the Island Princess. Service on the rest of the ship was very good. One of my travel companions had a problem in the Spa, but the manager made it right. I also loved the Movies under the Stars. I'm trying the Carribean Princess next.

[meowann]

We got beautiful towel animals while on the Crown......each night a different animal. i think it depends on your cabin attendant. Some do and some don't.

Carol

[Colo Cruiser]

We got beautiful towel animals while on the Crown......each night a different animal. i think it depends on your cabin attendant. Some do and some don't.

Carol

 

 

I think most don't. :)

 

We have never had one. :rolleyes:

[cmacf1]

I also noticed the smoke smell on our Crown Princess cruise. Not in our cabin, but in the hallway it was very noticeable. I try not to be an annoying ex-smoker, but walking through the smell of cigarette smoke does bother me (partly because I hate the smell and paradoxically because it makes me want a cigarette despite the 14 years it has been since I quit.) It would really bother me if the smell was actually IN my cabin. While I've only been on 3 cruises, the Princess ship was the only one where the smoke smell bothered me. On Disney they do not allow smoking in the cabins and I don't believe they do on HAL either (though I'm not sure about that -- I never smelled any smoke on the stateroom decks at all.)

[BJS]

(I suspect there might be some strange air exchange issues with that room because it also smelled like bacon late at night... hmmm....)

Would you care to share what deck and room you were in? We've been on many many Princess cruises and have never had any smell of smoke in our room and I'm hoping we won't be in the same one you had for our upcoming May cruise if there is a problem with the room. The only place we've ever noticed the smell of smoke on a Princess ship was in the casino or if walking through a designated smoking area.

 

Hot tubs - only a few and they were really small. We didn't dare use them.

Why not? :confused:

 

Got tired of the same old gravy on the many different types of steaks that were on the menu.

Did you try requesting that they not put gravy on them?

 

I know some like Princess and thats cool, we can't all like the same ones.

That is so very true and a good thing or that line would raise their fares so high!:D

 

Thank you for the review it is interesting to also hear from those that won't choose Princess again and their reasons. I won't try to convince you to give Princess another try - already to many people cruising with Princess- but will tell you your cruise was not a typical one.

 

.

 

.

[A box of Chocolates]

I think you hit the nail right on the head here, and at least you're honest about recognizing that. From your comments you seem to be very anti-smoker and I'm sure that soured you for the rest of your cruise - that's not a flame, just stating my impressions from your comments.

 

Best of luck in finding a cruise line you enjoy.

 

 

Interesting post..............so, if someone doesn't like the smell of smoke, they are labeled "anti smoker" :confused:

 

I can't speak for anyone else, but I just don't like the smell of cigarette smoke. It burns my eyes, irritates sinus passages (often causing severe headaches), and it just plain smells bad.

 

It's not a matter of trying to tell other people what they should do or of being critical of their decision to smoke. It's not a matter of liking or disliking any group of people It is a matter of wanting to enjoy my life without being forced to endure the side effects of other people's choices.

 

 

We'll soon be taking our first cruise and have read several posts about bad experiences with smoke on several cruise lines. It seems to be kind of like playing roulette. Not everyone gets a smoky cabin, but some do. I'm considering taking an Ionic Breeze portable filter onboard so that I can enjoy the cruise we've paid for without having to spend the week in an antihistamine fog or enduring the smell of stale cigarettes 24/7.

 

And please do understand.............I'm not trying to flame or be politically incorrect,.......... just wanted to offer another perspective:)

[sidari]

Going on our First Princess cruise later this year on the Ruby and being from a so called politically correct country where smoking in public places is Banned including Hotel Rooms it would be totaly unnacceptable to have a cabin smelling of smoke!

 

Lets face it you wouldnt want to travel to say Europe and be given a room that smells would you? and from what i have seen on quite a few cruise sites there are certain people who would be down the stairs or the Elevator in someones face at the check in desk complaining about it.

 

smoking in cabins should be banned, at least then everyone who cruises in any given cabin has the same conditions, i am NOT an anti smoker but i do believe that there are certain areas where is should be Banned.....after all would you try and smoke on an aircraft? at least there everyone has the same conditions of clean air!

[Dorset Cruiser]

I quite agree with these smoking comments. I am also booked on the Ruby in January and we are on Sea Princess in April and I would be devastated to have a cabin that smells of other people's stale smoke - it would be two weeks of h**l for us both. We are both ex-smokers (although we gave up 28 years ago) and find the smell of cigarette and cigar smoke really offensive now. It makes us somewhat ashamed that we subjected other people (including our poor children) to that kind of thing all the years that we were smokers:o I'm not saying that smoking should be totally banned on the ships but it should only be allowed in specific areas, ie. a dedicated smoking lounge or the open decks. I do not agree with smoking on balconies as that smoke will find its way into cabins and of course drift over adjoining balconies.

[cruisemom42]

 

Hot tubs - only a few and they were really small. We didn't dare use them.

 

 

 

There are 9 hot tubs on Crown Princess. :confused:

[willysgrandma]

The boat claims to have some of the best technology, yet it lacked things like in-room internet or the ability to get room service via the TV (among others). For a new boat its worlds behind the 2 latest classes from RC.

 

This is one of my very few complaints about Princess. I can't imagine why they are so behind the times with this - it was very annoying to have to go to the desk to ask for printouts of our invoice. We had an awful time getting receipts for drinks onboard, even though we asked for one every time we gave them our card. Princess does need to step up to the plate with this.

 

We did the Crown out of San Juan and I have to say, there were many more smokers on that cruise than I've seen on other ships. I think it is because many of the passengers were not from the US and smoking is more prevalent in other countries. We were lucky because our cabin didn't have any smoking odor, but we did note a lot more smokers on deck and especially in the lounges.

 

Right now, with the US $ at such a low, it is a bargain for people who live outside the US to cruise. Since we US residents are the ones who are more anti-smoking than other countries, you will probably notice a lot more smoking now on ships than in years past.

[zed]

Would you care to share what deck and room you were in? We've been on many many Princess cruises and have never had any smell of smoke in our room and I'm hoping we won't be in the same one you had for our upcoming May cruise if there is a problem with the room. The only place we've ever noticed the smell of smoke on a Princess ship was in the casino or if walking through a designated smoking area.

 

We were in B749 (aft corner, deck 11). The couple with us were in B748 (corner on other side of ship) and theirs did not smell at all like smoke.

 

The interesting thing was that I could walk down the entire hall of the ship and once I hit the aft most stairway going toward our room it was like hitting a wall of smoke. I think having the clean towels sitting on a cart in that hall all day added to the problem. We tried to see where it might be coming from in our room but weren't really able to isolate it, which is why we suspect it might have been coming in from somewhere else or maybe even from the hall, which was maybe getting it from a service entrance or something. The hall on the other side of the ship didn't smell at all.

 

I don't mean to upset smokers, but if you are a non-smoker you will know how annoying it can be to have to deal with that. I admit I am sensitive to it but what hit me was that we kept meeting others who were mentioning the very same two key points that we picked up on:

 

1. Smoke smell was worse on this boat than any others anyone experienced.

2. Service wasn't up to Princess standards (this from others who had done Princess before) or the standards of other cruises we have been on.

 

I know I said we wouldn't do Princess again but in all reality we will likely be fair and give them another chance someday. They have good prices and perhaps it was our time to have some bad luck.

 

??? Do you mean they did not take pictures you liked? Or did not take them on occasions you wanted? Or ??

 

Oops, I meant they did do a good job of taking pictures... always someone there to take a photo. Most were done during formal nights or when you were getting off the boat. (another side note - with so many people trying to get off the boat, taking photos on the gangway is maybe not the best idea but it is maybe the only way to catch people)

 

I apologize for being so heavy on the negative side. As I said, the negative was so much easier to post than the specific positive, but overall it was a fun time and I'm so totally depressed today being back at work instead of out on my balcony. :( I don't mean to come off as as trolling or flaming against Princess nor did I maybe mean to be quite as negative as it reads.

 

And yes... as someone said.. post count doesn't mean a person has no experiece at cruising and should never keep people from speaking their minds or relaying their experiences. These forums really appear to be appreciative overall and I really appreciate those who were not totally annoyed at my comments. I really just wanted people to see some of the things we ran into in case it might help them avoid the same issues if at all possible.

[zed]

There are 9 hot tubs on Crown Princess. :confused:

 

9 small hot tubs doesn't seem to be a lot when they are so small I guess. It seemed as if there were 2 at each main pool area and there was a net over one of the two almost the whole cruise (they were probably cleaning them or something). It wasn't a big enough deal to really require counting - just an observation.

 

This is one of my very few complaints about Princess. I can't imagine why they are so behind the times with this - it was very annoying to have to go to the desk to ask for printouts of our invoice. We had an awful time getting receipts for drinks onboard, even though we asked for one every time we gave them our card. Princess does need to step up to the plate with this.

 

I really tried not to let the technology items affect me much, but on the TV they kept saying that Princess was the technology leader and that made me want to mention it. If you are a technology leader, a boat build in 2006 should have flat screen TVs with a hook to your bill and other room services, and internet should be optional in the staterooms. Yes, I know we're not on the cruise to sit and surf the internet all day - but its nice to have, especially when trying to correct flight reservations or to send photos to family. Tough to do at .75 a minute in an internet cafe. Oh, and the staterooms we were in didn't even have a clock in them.

 

Here is a positive that might help some. When in port at San Juan we were able to pick up a free wifi connection from a Coors facility nearby. Nice to do last minute email before leaving and to fix any travel issues while waiting to get off the boat at the end of the week.

 

I had a Sprint data card (cellular) for my laptop and was able to use it in the first two ports. (St. Kitts and St. Thomas I believe). Once we headed to the south all bets were off.

 

Separate item - because the boat doesn't leave until 11pm you have plenty of time to get back off the boat and wander into old San Juan. There were a few places to buy that last couple bottles of wine, beer, or other soft drinks. Again, put them in your personal carryon bag and they won't take it away from you. I came back to the boat with a few bottles of wine, a 6 of beer, and 2 huge bottles of water and they didn't blink an eye. Nice!

 

Oh, and anyone who says "wait until 2pm to show up to the boat" is leading you astray a bit. You can be there by noon and check in just fine. We didn't see any lines forming until later in the afternoon, say around 4pm, and even then they were very short. They really got people on and off the boat quickly.