Crown Princess Review July 11 to 20, 2006

Crown Princess trip of July 11-20
(yup, the one that had the list problem)
It really wasn't that bad if you ask me

We just returned from a very nice cruise overall, and I would gladly take it again. Scroll down if you want to get to the part where the ship tipped.

I took my two daughters, age 15 and 20. In the past we have taken one Royal Caribbean, two short Disney cruises, and last year a Princess ship in Alaska.

We took Amtrak to Penn St., right on time, and a somewhat long $30 cab ride got us to the pier at 1:30. There were many porters to get the bags on their way to our room. We breezed through the embarkation process quickly and were on board in probably 15 to 20 minutes. There was live music, lots of food, and we felt like we were immediately on vacation.

The usual lifeboat drill was easier than most as we met in the large forward Princess theater. The ship left right on time and we enjoyed the busy NY harbor, with views of the Statue of Liberty, the Staten Island ferries nearby, and the huge Verrazano Bridge. The ship barely fits under it!

The deck looks crowded in the photo above since everyone was just boarded and watching the departure.

We were on the itinerary that takes you to Grand Turk, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Port Canaveral. There are several sea days. This ship was the smoothest most stable cruise ship I have ever been on. The staff was friendly, the food great, the entertainment a bit hit and miss but overall very good. We especially liked the ship's own entertainers that put on two big shows, "Destination Anywhere" and a Motown themed show. The Motown show was especially good and got them a standing ovation when we were there. Also, DON'T miss the "International Crew Show" that is a sort of amateur hour for the ship's own crew. It was great if you go there with the right expectations.

It helps to get to the Princess Theater 10 or 15 minutes prior to the more popular shows as it fills up. Try the early show.

Other entertainment highlights were Eddie Holman ("Hey There Lonely Girl" and he can still hit the notes!), Karen Saunders who sings "pop to standards to Motown to Broadway" and she really could. She sang Barbra Streisand songs dang near as good as Babs herself! A very funny comedian did two major shows, Ralph Harris. I think we'll be hearing more about him. Like most great comedians, its all in the delivery. There were various performances in the Piazza (main lobby) of the ship. Some were super like the acapella group "Spank".

These Piazza shows are like street performances of about 20 minutes each. You can watch them from many different levels, and the lobby encircles them, its quite nice. Always room to see if you stand on the spiral stairs for instance.

(I got the photos of the empty ship early one morning.)

There were really too many entertainment venues and shows to see them all, so I can't comment on all of them. Besides, your trip will have a different lineup. But you'll find something you like for sure!

MUTS (Movies Under The Stars):
My first reaction was "who wants to watch a movie when they are on a cruise ship?" but it was pretty neat. Impressive screen with a superb sound system, and surprisingly very visible in broad daylight! I didn't expect that. They run movies all day and evening for all tastes. Even a few concert movies of Elton John in Concert, Beyonce in concert. It was a rocking place. We watched a show one night, it was warm, the stars were out and the nearly full moon came up. They give you a blanket and pop corn, nice touch. (And yes, the movie scheduled for 11:45 the night of the list accident was 'Titanic' as reported. It didn't run...) They also showed "Jaws" the night before our first beach day.

Food:
What can I say. We made the most of it, eating most meals in the regular dining room and not the buffet line. Always had multiple appetizers, and desserts. Souffles, lobster tails, escargot, caviar, its all there. Gained 8 lbs.

We prefer traditional seating, never a wait that way, excellent service from the same staff each day so they get to know you, and you become friends with your tablemates. We were lucky and were paired with a very nice family, Julian, Jeanette, and their 17 year old daughter Ashley. Even climbed the waterfall in Jamaica with them.

Casino, etc.:
Didn't really use it, or the spa, or the exercise room (see previous paragraph).

Tours:
We took one on Grand Turk, New Waves Gibb's Cay Beach & Stingray Encounter where you take a short ride in a boat to a small island and snorkel and feed the stingrays. Only one showed up but he was large and friendly and would just run into you! They don't have teeth but they do clamp down pretty hard so be careful how you feed them, my daughter had imprints in her fingers for several minutes where he tried to crack her open like a shellfish. No damage done. I was a little disappointed in that I spent a good bit of the snorkel time trying to get my gear and younger daughter's gear adjusted and usable, the straps etc were all jammed up in tight knots and the local man running the excursion was already headed out to the reef and not available. By the time we got headed out with water tight masks, snorkels upright, vests actually adjusted, it was time to head in. So when they pass out the gear on the boat, get it on early and working. The guys on the boat also showed us how to clean a conch and we ate some RAW! (that's optional...)

Here come da ray!

Oh yeah, you can get some conch shells from some local kids in Grand Turk. Look way to the right as you walk off the pier. They had the shells lined up just off the private beach property. We walked over there and got 5 big ones for $10. They have been cleaned, but do still smell a good bit. So plan to wrap them in a plastic bag or two. You may need another suitcase! I soaked them in bleach once I got them home. I'm not sure if you are allowed to bring them back but nobody said anything and I've bought shells in gift shops before.

In Grand Cayman we took the Nautilus Undersea Tour & Reef Snorkel . Its a boat that looks like a sub. You go downstairs and its dark (and air conditioned) and you can see out large underwater windows. You could see ship wrecks, lots of fish, we saw a barracuda too. A staff member gets out and feeds the fish so they swarm the windows for awhile. Then it stops and you can get out and snorkel yourself for 20 or 30 minutes. It was great, didn't take much time, you are never out of sight of the ship even. Loved it. Anybody that can go down a staircase can do it too. Only about 3 blocks from the ship to their dock, they bussed us but you could walk it easily.

Also, Grand Cayman has no pier, so we were tendered in. I thought that would be a pain, but Princess ran that exceedingly well. Little wait, ice water and shade where you waited briefly. They used local large tenders and their own lifeboats! Nice to know they know how to work them.

The view coming in from the tender in this short (20 seconds) video:

In Jamaica we did not take an excursion but a local van to Dunn's River Falls. We walked up it and it was a blast. It looks hard but its not. Princess sent their photographer into the river so you can get your photo back on the ship.

Want video of the trek up the falls?

Cab was $8 each round trip to falls, admission is $15 and includes the local guide to get your group up the falls. Do it! If a member of your party chooses not to climb the falls, there is a large boardwalk so they can enjoy watching you go up most of the trip, and take pictures! Bring a waterproof disposable camera for these outings. And watershoes.

We did not get off in Port Canaveral having visited there in the past. But NASA is an interesting place to visit.

The room was fine. Lots of storage room under the beds and in the closet. We wished we had brought bigger suitcases since storing them was not an issue. The shower is small but decent. Lots of lights in the room. The a/c was ok but I would have had it a little cooler. Periodically there were announcements for people to try and not leave their balcony doors open and the hall doors. All that hot humid air came in pretty fast. There is a safe. Large closet. Somebody on another review said they could not store luggage under the bed because bedding was under there for the unused upper bunks. It easily pushed into a wad under the head of the bed so we put our bags under there. The room was very quiet. Hardly ever heard a sound.

My only complaints would be about having to get our dining changed (it said "confirmed" first seating right on our tickets but yet at check in we were now "anytime"), and they don't enforce the stated policy that lounge chairs on decks cannot be saved. Much of the time most chairs were empty yet unavailable due to saving. They need a meter maid.

The Big Tip

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I still think most folks are exaggerating and making the whole tipping sound worse than it was. We wanted to stay and finish the cruise!

Ok, my take on the "accident". I had left my two daughters down on deck 7, the lowest outside deck, under the lifeboats. We had watched the departure from Port Canaveral together. I headed up high to take some pictures as it was very calm and sunny. I took this a few minutes prior to the list.

The ship began to lean a little and I thought it odd that they would turn it that hard. Like I said before, for most of the cruise the ship was very flat and stable, hardly moved even the day seas were listed as 4' to 7 feet. But then it leaned over more, enough that you knew this was not normal. It slowly continued to roll to the right, and sort of hung there awhile.

About 2 to 2½ feet of water was spilled from the pool nearest to me. This photo was taken within 5 minutes following the tip.

I cannot comment on how much water came out of any the other pools. If someone has a photo of one of them, e-mail it to me.

I admit that I was briefly frightened because I could not imagine why we turned so sharp. Were we avoiding a collision or had something extremely heavy inside shifted? But it came right back up, and then my concern was if the low deck where I'd left my two girls had been awash. That would have been serious and would have swept folks off, but I have no idea if it was even close to becoming awash. I'd be curious to hear from someone on deck 7's low side. But it definitely stayed dry, and all the wooden chairs were there, so it could not have gone under at all. But yes, I admit, until I got down there to see deck 7 dry, my heart was pounding a bit.

Turns out my younger daughter (15) had gone to the room and when the ship tipped, she was cool and calm (unlike most everybody) and got her life jacket and went to the lifeboat deck as she was taught to do. Good kid. My older daughter had remained on deck 7 and was on the side that went up so she was not in any danger.

When I found my daughters outside on deck 7, I wasn't sure how shook up my youngest was so as I approached I said loudly, "It was me. I ate too many desserts, leaned over the rail, and the whole ship tipped over!" It was greeted by nervous laughter by the passersby.

The ship's crew, from what I saw, reacted appropriately. I really had no complaints.

After the accident, I heard such grandiose and exaggerated accounts. I couldn't believe it. The amount of exaggeration and fear exploitation I am seeing online leaves me dismayed. I really can't see why folks say "she was about 3 feet off the ground and flew entirely across the width of the ship" or "the captain sounded scared" or "I was standing on my door".

The ship leaned over. It IS a moving object. I personally did not witness any injured people, although there certainly were some. I would not let this discourage me from cruising any more than a bumpy airline flight keeps me from flying.

The NTSB (National Transportation and Safety Board) met on January 10, 2008. You can view the 6+ hour meeting online if you like.

I would like to add that in my experience, the crew did an excellent job helping passengers after the accident.

We wanted to stay on the ship and finish the cruise but were told we had to fly home. So we flew back to Albany NY and can't wait to take another cruise on Crown Princess.

You can write me if you want, I'd love to hear your comments at:

gxqx-46nn@spamex.com