Crown Princess - March 26, 2011

john_galt · #1 (**permalink**) January 17th, 2011, 06:07 PM

Anyone else on the Crown Princess on March 26, 2011?

applebit · #2 (**permalink**) March 18th, 2011, 12:20 PM

My wife and I will be! This will be our 4th cruise as a couple (celebrating our 3.5 year anniversary) and 3rd cruise on Princess. We are very much looking forward to getting away and enjoying the weather and the great people that cruise Princess.

Have you cruised Princess before?

applebit · #3 (**permalink**) March 18th, 2011, 12:27 PM

I think I just answered my own question by reading your signature (just a minute after I posted the first reply). Sounds like you are an avid cruiser as well!

I have only been to Princess Cays so I am very much looking forward to exploring the other destinations. Have you been to any of the stops?

john_galt · #4 (**permalink**) March 18th, 2011, 06:23 PM

This will be my 11th cruise and my wife's 5th (second as couple). We were on the Emerald (Eastern Caribbean) in March last year. I've been to Grand Cayman but it was in 1988. I'm eager to see how it has changed. We are doing Dolphin Encounter/Turtle Farm. It will be my third time to Cozumel. I don't get off the ship there. We didn't go ashore at Princess Cays last time but we plan to do so this time. How did you like it?

applebit · #5 (**permalink**) March 18th, 2011, 10:41 PM

Princess Cays was fantastic the last time - we enjoyed the day under the sun relaxing on the beach and exploring a little bit of the island just walking around. They set up lunch on the beach which is hamburgers, hot dogs... beach food. Nothing fancy but honestly we are there for the beach; the food is just a bonus as we don't have to go back on the ship to eat =)

The Dolphin Encounter/Turtle Farm sounds excellent! My wife and I have been looking at what to do and sometimes just wing it the day of, although I'm the kind of guy that likes to research too just to know what possibilities there are. So far nothing official for Grand Cayman yet... but Roatan I have found this website (and a few others) that seem interesting: Victor Bodden - Bodden Tours - Best of Roatan Tour and Rate Information

We also tried the "anytime dining" the last time and found it to be great! We are going to do that again as it allows us the opportunity to meet new people and vary it up a little. What's been your preference?

applebit · #6 (**permalink**) March 19th, 2011, 01:28 AM

Speaking of such things if you don't have anything planned and are interested in exploring Roatan we are considering taking one of these private tours, so we could go as a group. With the opportunity to customize your tour this seems like the plan!

john_galt · #7 (**permalink**) March 19th, 2011, 10:30 AM

It was very cool and the wind was really blowing when we got to Princess Cays last year. We decided to have a lazy day on board. I have a beach clamshell reserved this time. We are doing a brief shopping adventure in Roatan but have a couples massage scheduled so must be back on board early that day. I bought two all day chairlift tickets (looked cool on youtube).

We were in a mini-suite last year and loved it! I booked a year in advance this time to get a particular mini-suite with an extended balcony that isn't shown in the brochure. We eat most meals at Horizon Court but have traditional seating for dinner. We are doing the Ultimate Balcony Dining on the Cozumel day.

I was on the Grand in 2003 and fell in love with Princess. I took the whole family on the Carnival Conquest in 2008 because it was cheaper. It was awful. There was a fist fight in the main dining room the day we were in Cozumel. Never again on Carnival! What ships have you been on?

applebit · #8 (**permalink**) March 19th, 2011, 11:27 PM

Here is our list:

Crown Princess - Cruise 2011
Emerald Princess - Cruise 2009
Sapphire Princess - Cruise 2009
Carnival Valor - Cruise 2007

I saw in a different post that you were talking about that other mini sweet with the extended deck. Looks pretty good! Is that the one you ended up going with then? I am honestly not sure where we are going to be as we opted for the "get the best room" option for a lower rate.

We have never dined at anything but the dining rooms but are considering going to one of the specialty restaraunts. Is there really a difference and if, how so?

We went on our Honeymoon cruise back in August 2007 on Carnival. It wasn't bad, but it certainly was not quite our type of company either. Once we cruised Princess we didn't turn back - although my wife already knew Princess was better as her mom told her it was a higher class much like Royal Caribean. I certainly can understand the need to cruise Princess!

We both are very much looking forward to this time away as my wife is a high school teacher, and a work in a seperate school district as a computer network administrator and technical support, and in the evenings develop technologies and marketting strategies for businesses (which pay the vacation bills). I've been super busy the last year so I said to my wife "We need to get away because I need an excuse to not be so busy!".

We will be flying in to West Palm Beach the day before, driving down and dropping the car off right at the Port! When we leave we'll be picking up the car right at the Port (Thanks to Thrifty for near direct access to the Port!) and again spend some time in West Palm Beach before flying home to Minneapolis, MN.

Are you spending any time before or after the cruise to enjoy the Florida sun?

john_galt · #9 (**permalink**) March 20th, 2011, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by applebit

Here is our list:

Crown Princess - Cruise 2011
Emerald Princess - Cruise 2009
Sapphire Princess - Cruise 2009
Carnival Valor - Cruise 2007

I saw in a different post that you were talking about that other mini sweet with the extended deck. Looks pretty good! Is that the one you ended up going with then? I am honestly not sure where we are going to be as we opted for the "get the best room" option for a lower rate.

We have never dined at anything but the dining rooms but are considering going to one of the specialty restaraunts. Is there really a difference and if, how so?

We went on our Honeymoon cruise back in August 2007 on Carnival. It wasn't bad, but it certainly was not quite our type of company either. Once we cruised Princess we didn't turn back - although my wife already knew Princess was better as her mom told her it was a higher class much like Royal Caribean. I certainly can understand the need to cruise Princess!

We both are very much looking forward to this time away as my wife is a high school teacher, and a work in a seperate school district as a computer network administrator and technical support, and in the evenings develop technologies and marketting strategies for businesses (which pay the vacation bills). I've been super busy the last year so I said to my wife "We need to get away because I need an excuse to not be so busy!".

We will be flying in to West Palm Beach the day before, driving down and dropping the car off right at the Port! When we leave we'll be picking up the car right at the Port (Thanks to Thrifty for near direct access to the Port!) and again spend some time in West Palm Beach before flying home to Minneapolis, MN.

Are you spending any time before or after the cruise to enjoy the Florida sun?

West Palm Beach sounds great! We have a 6:00am flight Saturday and will be pretty much used up that day. I spent 3 days in Orlando prior to sailing from Port Canaveral and it was nice to get to the ship already rested and ready!

The "best available" worked well for me on the Carnival Conquest. I booked an aft-view extended balcony room for me and my late wife but booked the cheapest balcony room for my daughter's family. They were upgraded 4 times and ended up a dozen rooms down the hall from us. Saved me a bundle!

We like the 24-hour buffet (Horizon Court) but will probably eat in the main dining room on the formal nights. We do not hesitate to order room service! I've never done the specialty dining adventure but plan to have the Ultimate Balcony Dining on the Cozumel day and eat at the Crown Grill the following day. My wife is a registered nurse and I'm a computer programmer for a Fortune 500 company (33 years). The 2010 cruise on the Emerald was our honeymoon.

There are 4 extended balcony mini-suites on the aft end of every "Grand class" ship. The oversize balconies are not depicted in the brochures. I learned about them on Classmates. We are lucky enough to be in one of these this time. The balcony is almost double the size of a normal mini-suite balcony. They are the "wrap-around" rooms on the end.

I see you posted your picture! If you click on my picture you can send me an email. The server does a blind forward so that the actual email addresses don't show. I'll send you my email address if you message me in this manner. I don't want to post my room number or meeting plans on the open forum.