On The Crown Princess, I Felt Like A Princess Under The Caribbean Sun!!
Written: Jul 25 '06
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Everything!, amazing entertainment, great food, great service, wonderful ports of call
Cons: Some things are overpriced
The Bottom Line: A wonderful time, a great experience.
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| ilovesephora's Full Review: Crown Princess |
I continuously dream of all the places I want to travel, look them up and save up for my dream vacation. I’ve already been to a few wonderful places around Europe, but many I’ve never been even close to, which are actually not very far from here. My boyfriend isn’t really much of a traveler he’s a real homeboy, but I want him to experience other places, I want us to travel the world together. We normally take few days by a beach a few hours away, but this summer I wanted to do something really special, new, different and memorable. I decided a cruise was the way to spend some time away together.
Neither one of us has ever been on a cruise before, so we didn’t know what to expect, but anyone we talked to who’s an experienced cruiser promised we’d have a wonderful time and that first cruises are usually the best and most exciting since everything is new.
We decided on Crown Princess, because it leaves from Brooklyn New York and that’s the closest port to us. We looked at the ports of call of course and they seemed perfect and even better since we’ve never been at any of them before.
We booked our cruise through cruise.com, this website offers a wide selection of destinations, from various ports, with or without airfare, Along with some pretty good discounts per passenger. We received our tickets and all our information in the mail a few weeks after purchase.
Our cruise was 9 days long. We paid a bit under $2000 for each of us; airfare wasn’t necessary, since the port was only a few hours away. I think that’s a very fair price considering the location, the ports of call, length and all the extra included activities, and etc. Last summer we paid $500 for two nights for a place without a beach with a nice dinner on one night. Comparing that to this cruise is really something. So what we paid is really worth the entire package.
Crown Princess is brand new; it was built in May 2006 in Italy. It holds a total of 3599 passengers. The ship features 19 decks, there is an elevator but it was always slow, I didn’t mind taking the stairs since I ate a lot and that little exercise came in handy.
We entered the ship through deck 4. Our room was on deck 14. The ship is beautiful on the inside as well as the outside. The stairs are stunning with golden framing, carpeting and mirroring along the sides. Deck 5 features duty free shopping, such as jewelry stores, a gift shop and a cosmetics store. Deck 6 features some restaurants, the spa, the gym and the casino, I didn’t go there much since I’m not much of a gambler and I cannot stand how everyone smokes. On deck 7 is the gorgeous theater, where they had some amazing shows that completely impressed me, that was my favorite part. Decks 8-15 are cabins. Deck 15 is the pool, and three buffets. We didn’t go on decks 16-19, since we had plenty to do and see as it is, but on those decks is the youth center, golf course, and a running track. That’s basically the idea of it, but there’s a lot more on every deck.
Our room was just perfect for us. It was fairly small, with a twin size bed, nightstands, lamps, and the usual. We had a little but perfect bathroom, without a bath just a shower, there was also a fridge, closet with lots of hangers, and a very handy safe. There were quiet a few mirrors allover the place. Which always come in useful. There was also a dresser with another mirror and a chair. Two outlets were provided, a TV with lots of movies and news and a hairdryer were also included. I saved the best part for last. The balcony. That was an amazing view we got every morning and every night. I loved the balcony. I could almost touch the water. It allowed us to be outside without being outside. We took millions of amazing pictures from the balcony.
Every morning and every night we would be informed about the upcoming events of the day and night. Each night the “Princess Platter” would be delivered to our room, and each morning “Good Morning Crown Princes” would be on TV presented by the two cruise Directors. The morning show lasts about 10 minutes, but is constantly rerun from 6 to 11.
We normally went for breakfast at around 8:30. It is available from around 6 to 11. Breakfast was at the buffet. It was a large selection, but the same every morning. There was cereal, fresh fruit, toast, a variety of cheese, bacon, eggs, French toast, basically every typical breakfast was there. For drinks there was orange juice, cranberry juice, milk and coffee.
Drinking is a necessity on board. Whether its water, wine, coke, beer, coffee or other beverages almost all come with a fee. A soda package is available for $35.55 15% gratuity. All drinks come with a 15% gratuity except water of course. I am a big water drinker; water is all the drinking I ever need. Water was available at ice machines, but I thought it needed more chilling, it was really warm from the machine even with ice in it. A liter bottle of water was in our room at a charge of $2.95, as well as cake and sprite at $1.50 per can. Then of course there’s the margaritas and other summer cocktails those range between $6 and $10 plus 15% gratuity. My boyfriend mostly had beer at $4.15 a bottle. The soda package allows you to drink unlimited amounts of sodas anywhere at anytime on the ship at no extra charge, this unfortunately doesn’t include plain water.
When on shore, we explore the islands. When sailing we either catch up on a little extra sleep or lounge by the pool in the mornings. The ports of call we visited are: Grand Turk, St. Thomas, Puerto Rico and Bermuda.
I absolutely loved the ports of call. Because this was our first time we didn’t know how the whole thing of getting of the ship works. We each signed up for a catamaran sailing around Bermuda, and didn’t sign up for any other excursions for the rest of the trip. This was just amazing. It was 3.5 hours long, they took us for a slow ride around the island. Once we got there, we swam and tanned, took lots of pictures, they gave out lots of Rum Sizzle and cold water to stay cool and refreshed. They told us historic stories of the island and showed us the homes of the rich and famous such as Michael Douglas. Unfortunately on this catamaran ride I didn’t put any sun block on my shoulders, and I ended up with painful, sore burned shoulders.
For the rest of the stops, we simply got of the ship and took a taxi to a beach, or shopping area, or just a nice evening walk on the boardwalk. Finding a taxi is not hard. As soon as we got of the ship there was a whole bunch of drivers offering rides and tours. In Puerto Rico, the first one offered a tour for $100, and the next one for $40, we took the one for $40 he drove us all over the city, told us about the historical buildings, stopped for pictures, told us about attractions. And took us back. Then we went walking on our own. The stop in Puerto Rico was the longest; we were there for 10 hours. That’s a lot compared to 3 or 4 hours as some other stops were.
My favorite was Grand Turk. The water was an amazing, clear light blue. The beach was very close to our ship; we just walked there no need for bus or taxi. The water was warm and the sun warm. It was a bit too humid and dry for me. I couldn’t stay too long there I sometimes have problems with humidity and breathing. So we went to Margaritaville since it was fairly close, and I really needed a drink or I would pass out. (At least this time I put sunblock on so I didn’t burn more.) Margaritaville is the place to be. They have music, drinks; Miss. Margarita contests, a lot of fun. I had a tiny glass of very refreshing and very much needed Margarita (what else!!) that I had to wait forever to get, since there is a huge crowd and had to pay a fortune for it. But it was fun with the dancing, music and all. Good time.
Shopping is allover the ports. Everyone is bargaining for everything, even in the diamond stores. Not to mention the vendors, they’re at every single corner and some are not very pleasant. In Puerto Rico this one guy was selling earrings and I stopped to look, I wasn’t interested so I walked away, he didn’t let me touch anything. Then he started yelling after me, telling me I must buy the earrings because he showed them to me. I didn’t steal them; I just looked with my eyes, lol. His earrings were overpriced, cheap looking and unoriginal, I don’t know how he has any business. Other then that everyone is very pleasant particularly the ship crew.
For dinner the options are endless. There are the restaurants, buffets and room service. Then there’s every dish under the sun. Forget choosing. Just order everything. Lol. But seriously what to eat and where to eat were the biggest decisions of every day. There is no worrying about the bill, except the drinks as previously mentioned. Every dinner and lunch is completely different from the last. It is said that they prepare over 2500 different meals a day. And I absolutely believe it, no doubt.
We had any time seating for the restaurants. Which means you can waltz in there at any time and you will have a spot, and share a table with six random passengers every time. But if you choose scheduled seating, which they call 1st and 2nd depending on the time you will sit at the same table with the same people every time. I liked having anytime, this way we got to hear all the different accents and nationalities from everyone. There were folks from England, Russia, and pretty much every state in the country, new cruisers and very experienced cruisers.
We had two formal nights. I was really excited about these since it’s been a while since we got dressed up. When you see how everyone looks in their glamorous gowns and tuxedos it feels like it’s the biggest party of the decade. And all the stuff planned for those nights is just spectacular. After the dinner we we’d normally attend one of the amazing shows, then a comedy show in the lounge, maybe eat again. Then there will be a party all night. With musicians and singers. On the last night there was a champagne waterfall party. Different ladies would fill the top glass on the pyramid with champagne, so it would overflow to the rest of the glasses. I took a part in this.
Photographers are available with all sorts of backgrounds at all times. But portraits are very, very overpriced. Good thing we bought our digital camera so taking pictures was endless. It’s never a problem to ask someone to take a picture of us. Photographers charge anywhere between $13 and $50 for every single picture. Every time we were getting off the ship on an island there were photographers snapping away and these are the cheapest at $13. The ones for $50 are formal where they tell you how to turn and where put the hands and what not. The formal ones come out quite good, but for $50, it’s not worth it. I spoke to a person working in the photo department asking about the price of a photo CD. They said in order to get a CD I must first order 10 portraits, so the total would come to $250, even if I want only one picture on the CD.
Like I said I was really impressed with the entertainment. Whether it was in the lounge, in the theater or by the pool, it was wonderful and very enjoyable everywhere. The comedy shows were hysterical; the singers are everything from Pop to Oprah, spectacular voices. Musicians, magicians, and dancers everyone is soo very talented, I was never bored for a second. The magician picked me from the audience as an assistant one night. I thought I would somehow screw up the trick, but I did well. He asked me if I saw the magic show the night before, I said no and asked him if he’s gonna trick me. Then he asked the audience if they think he should trick me. We had a lengthy discussion about how he wouldn’t trick me in front of a lot of people. It was really interesting. This guy was great, everyone was laughing and having a good time.
On one of the final nights, the theater crew took some of us back stage for a backstage tour. They showed us the costumes, the sound and light equipment. This was very informative and interesting, especially to show goers. They let us see some of the costumes the ladies preformed in the night before. Theses dresses are all one of a kind and designed just for the one show “Destination Anywhere” Some of the costumes cost as much as $30,000. We met the dancers and talked to them about their careers and about lives on the Princess.
Overall this was a fabulous first cruise. We both had an amazing time. I tried to cover everything. Room service was exceptional, they came two times a day, after breakfast and after dinner, and at any other time you call them. There are 42 different nationalities among the crew, that’s a lot of people working to satisfy every passenger. Not need to worry about tipping at the end. They charge $10 for each day, per passenger in tips, and then they spread it among the crew. For us it added up to $180 altogether in tips. They deserve it, they worked hard and we had a great time.
We are now members of Captain’s Club, Gold Members. The more you cruise the more benefits you get. We are planning our next cruise for Summer 2007 across Europe with Princess.
I was very upset when I saw on the news the accident of the Crown Princess; it was only a few weeks after I returned. I hope all passengers are better and recovered.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Friends
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Epinions.com ID:
ilovesephora
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 in Wellness & Beauty |
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Member: Ana
Location: Connecticut, USA
Reviews written: 389
Trusted by: 78 members
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