Crown 4/19 - 4/26 review

[wethreecruzers]

Sadly we are back home form our cruise to the Eastern Caribbean. We arrived in Ft Lauderdale and had a very short wait to embark. Once called (by number groups), we checked in and arrived at our cabin (D516). The Crown is a beautiful ship. I found it to be very clean and well taken care of. We've never had an inside cabin so we weren't sure what to expect. Our cabin was about the same size as our previous ocean view one in fact, laid out pretty much the same with the exception of the upper beds. In this cabin, they fold against the side walls which makes it hard to sit on the lower bed and lean back as you can with the bunks that are "hidden" in the ceilings. We also always had to have a light on while there! We probably won't take an inside cabin again due to the fact that we also had no clue as to what time of day it was as it was very dark without the daylight. In fact, we even slept in on morning (on a sea day) until 10am thinking it was about 6am! Other than that, it was very nice. I liked the fact that we actually had bottles of shampoo rather than those packets we had on our last cruise. The hair dryers were a bit weak so next time, I'll bring my own.

 

Our first stop was Princess Cays. I could have stayed there the whole trip. It was beautiful. The snorkeling was awesome, there was always a nice breeze and there were plenty of lounge chairs both in and out of the sun. The lunch they served was a typical "cook out" type of menu with burgers, hot dogs, ribs, chicken and all the normal sides (cole slaw, etc). The food was very good and there was plenty of it. They had bars open if you wanted bar drinks but we preferred the tea and water. My only disappointment with this stop was that the beach clamshells were on one end of the island where I think they should have scattered them throughout so you weren't confined to just one end of the island.

 

Our next day was a sea day with plenty to do aboard the ship. We took advantage of the pools and such. The pools were refreshing with plenty of lounge chairs to relax on. I didn't come across any "chair hogs" and found a nice spot right by the pool. No beefs about the pools, there are planty of them and they are all very nice.

 

St. Maarten was our next port. The lines for tendering were not bad at all. The water once again was beautiful and there was plenty of shopping to be done! We did not have time to take a tour of the whole Island but we made time to eat some local food at the Barefoot Cafe. If you like spicy food, order the jerk chicken! It was very good yet pretty spicy. I even bought a jar of the jerk sauce to use back home.

 

St. Thomas was next in line with again, plenty of shoipping. We took the sky tram to the top of the mountain and stayed there for almost two hours. The view was breathtaking. There is a small restaurant at the top as well as a bar along with a bird show and of course, some shopping! We could even see Puerto Rico! The tram costs 21.00 for adults and 10.50 for children age 6 to 12. Age 5 and under are free.

 

Grand Turk was one of my favorite ports. Although very small and ravaged by Hurricane Ike last September, I enjoyed seeing the island and how the people there are making a comeback. It was sad to see the devastation and heartbreaking to see that there were still people living out of tents as their homes are gone however, this was the island I learned most about from our van driver. The water there is pristine and a color I've never seen before. It's absolutely beautiful. There were again, planty of beach chairs and places to shop.

 

Our last sea day was nice. A little rocky but it sure made for nice sleeping!

 

As far as food goes, we chose anytime dining which was a huge mistake for us. The reason we did this was because on the last cruise, the early dining time caused us to miss out on some beautiful sunsets and the late dining cause the kids to miss out on some activities in the childrens playroom. We had also decided that we were not going to take advantage of the formal nights as it was too much of a hassle to pack that many clothes. We drove to the port and had limited luggage space for 7 of us in a mini van! Anyway, there were 11 of us total in our group. Apparently, they were seating smaller parties together at the big tables which left the bigger parties without a place to sit. Seriously, we waited almost an hour to be seated. We were told we could only make reservations if we wanted to dine before 6 or after 8. My thought was if we wanted that, we would have chosen traditional dining. Also, anytime dining denies you the same waiter every time and it is nice to have a warm welcome and drink poured that you get with the traditional dining staff. Due to this finding, we chose to eat at the buffet for most of our meals. The food on the buffet was excellent with a different theme for each evening. We still enjoyed crab legs and lobster claws along with many other yummy foods.

 

All in all a good trip with perfect weather. No problems at all with any of the service or the people. I would like to add a special note: The childrens area staff are terrific. I was aprehensive about leaving our youngest (3 yr old) with them at first. She is a special needs child however, she loved it and they did all they could to provide excellent care for her. They included her in all the games and activities and even though she probably didn't understand how to play some of the games or make some of the crafts, they did an awesome job treating her no different than the others. Like I said...they were great! My daughter even gave each of them hugs on the last night. Kudos to them and all the ship staff!

 

I'm sure I left some things out as to not write a book. With that said, if you have any questions, I am happy to answer them.

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the review.

 

Little tip about being in an inside cabin is turn on the TV to the web cam and you will know when its daylight out. ;)

[wethreecruzers]

Thanks for the review.

 

Little tip about being in an inside cabin is turn on the TV to the web cam and you will know when its daylight out. ;)

 

Yes, knew about that however with kids in the room... cartoons were the preferred tv programs!! ;)

[seaster1]

What a wonderful trip you had. Thank you for posting. I'm sure with your large group of 11 you had some interesting moments. ;) I can't wait to hear about another one of your trips soon, say Alaska 2010????:D:D

[Ethel5]

What a wonderful trip you had. Thank you for posting. I'm sure with your large group of 11 you had some interesting moments. ;) I can't wait to hear about another one of your trips soon, say Alaska 2010????:D:D

 

I think that's Alaska 2011.

[seaster1]

Sorry I always get them dates mixed up. However If I could talk my DH into 2010 I'll go...:D:D:D

[Host CJSKIDS]

Why did you have to tender in St. Maarten?

[sherman931]

Thanks for taking the time to write a nice review.

[Ethel5]

Why did you have to tender in St. Maarten?

 

Wethreecruzers is fairly new to cruising and has never been to St Maarten before. I think she got the water shuttle mixed up with tendering.:)

[choochella]

Glad you had a nice cruise. We sailed the Crown in October with 8 of our friends who were all first time cruisers. We had a fabulous time! And, we had no problem getting a table for 10 in anytime dining. The head waiter knew we were coming around the same time (8:15) and always had a table waiting.

The Crown is such a beautiful ship. Although, unlike you, we just love the inside cabins. But, we always get our cabin on the same deck as the pool. They're so close to everything. Would love to sail the Crown again some day!

[Stevesan]

Wethreecruzers is fairly new to cruising and has never been to St Maarten before. I think she got the water shuttle mixed up with tendering.:)

 

Crown likely tendered. There were three other ships in port that day - Carnival's Glory and Pride along with Celebrtiy's Solstice.

[Ethel5]

Crown likely tendered. There were three other ships in port that day - Carnival's Glory and Pride along with Celebrtiy's Solstice.

 

Actually, the Crown docked.