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What follows is my review of our cruise on the Crown Princess departing the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal on 9/29/2007. This was our second cruise on the Crown, the first on the Canada/New England run. Our first cruise was last August. Arrival and Embarkation: We arrived at the terminal at approximately 11:45. We left our bags with the porter at curbside along with a box containing cans of soda, bottles of water and ice tea. The reason for our bringing our own beverages aboard was not to save on the cost, but rather to expand our variety. My wife and I drink only diet soda and I couldn't survive on the fountain Diet Coke all week. The box was packed with styrafoam peanuts for shock protection and labeled with a Princess label. I also wrote fragile and our cabin number in several spots using a red sharpie. The box eventually made it to our cabin with the contents in tact. Check in was a three part operation. The first step was a check of your eTicket boarding pass. The second step was a security check. I normally carry a MacGyver Swiss army knife with me. The knife doesn't hold an edge and is next to useless, but occasionally it does come in handly; unfortunately, I forgot to leave it home. Needless to say, that it got everyone hot and bothered. They took it away along with another small pocket knife and passed it to the security guard at the end of the x-ray machine. Talk about a small world. He used to ride the Long Island Rail Road on the same train that we did each morning. He recognized us and returned the knives to me; lesson learned. Of course, I probably could have packed them into a suitcase. The third stop was the check-in counter. Alas, no free upgrades available. The agent scanned our passports, swiped my credit card, gave us our sea passes and we were off. They were already boarding by this time, so we were able to get right onto the ship. There are escalators up to the gangway level. For those passengers with limited mobility, two elevators are also available. As you enter the ship, they "dip" your card and take your photograph. I got a hardy welcome back from a crew member in the lobby. I figured out later that he saw my gold sea pass which meant returning passenger. Total time from arrival at the pier to being in our cabin was about 20 minutes. A VERY effficient operation. Our Cabin: We were on Emerald deck in cabin E604. This was billed as an obstructed view. In a thread that appeared on Cruise Critic about a year ago, this cabin was at the epicenter of a foul odor problem. We experienced absolutely no problem with the cabin. It was mid-ship and conveniently located for access to both the mid-ship and rear elevators. The view out the window which will be posted on Webshots, was partially blocked by a lifeboat. We were still able to see over the boat to get a view of the outside. The cabin itself was quite spacious with more than enough room for two. We had the beds put together in a queen configuration with the nightstands on the outside. There was a desk with two power outlets and a dressing light and a bar area on the opposite wall that had a refrigerator under it. The desk had a large enclosed storage area and each nightstand had an enclosed shelf area and two large drawers. The "closet" area had a storage shelf above the clothes bar. The bar was as long as the one that we had last year in the mini-suite. In the same area was an enclosed set of shelves that also had a safe. Last year there were many reports of problems with the safes in the cabins on the Crown. I had only one problem this year that I was able to remedy without the assistance of the cabin steward. The bathroom was standard issue for a cabin; a stall shower, sink and vanity and the infamous vacuum toilet. There was a storage area under the sink and shelves on the side. We had more than enough room for the "stuff" that we travel with. Suitcase storage was under the bed and in the closet area. The comforter in the room was wonderful; nice and plush. The first night we had foam pillow although I had indicated down pillows on the cruise personalizer. That was taken care of the second night. The cabin was absolutely quite, you could have heard a pin drop. This is a good place to point out a very unusual thing that we noticed. For the past 18 years we have been traveling with our son. As he was always in school, we traveled when everyone else with kids did. September 29th is a school period in this part of the world and there were not more than 12 kids of all ages combined on the ship. I would say that the average age of the passengers on the ship was mid 60s. The first night out, it looked like a ghost ship. Most of the lounges as well as the Princess Theater were relatively empty. I kept wondering, "where is everyone?". By day two, everyone was up to speed and except for the absence of kids, it was a normal situation everywhere throughout the ship. If you tend to bring AC adapters to recharge various pieces of equipment, I recommend a extension cord as the fit for a "wall wart" in these outlets is tight. Dining: Due to the fact that we were a late booking, we were wait listed for early seating dining in the Boticelli room. Prior to the closing of the Cruise Personalizer for our sailing, we had gotten to number 123. On our embarkation day we had lunch at the Horizon Court along with most of the other passengers who embarked around noon. As I was getting some water, I noticed Francesco who was our table captain last year in the Boticelli dining room. I stopped him to say hello. Having seen several tens of thousands of people since our cruise, it was undertandable that he didn't remember me. Nevertheless, he greeted me warmly and asked where my wife was sitting. He came over to greet her as well. I asked him which dining room he was in and he told me DaVinci. He said that I should ask for his section when I saw Claudio, the maitre'd. We arrived for dinner around 5:30 and were placed at a table for 4, table 457. Our waiter Seksan was from Thailand and his assistant Aileen was from the Philipines. Francesco came over to greet us and from that time forward, we were in gastronimical heaven. I told him that we could not eat white potatoes and he put in a standing order for sweet potatoes for us for each evening. I also asked for sourdough rolls, which we had in abundance every evening. Throughout the cruise he would surprise us with cheese plates, sauteed shrimp, linguini with clams and whatever our palates desired. Princess has a policy that if you desire something special you can let them know a day in advance and if possible they will have it for you. We had the same table and wait staff for the 7 nights and it was absolutely wonderful. I kiddingly asked Francesco if he would like to come home with us and be our cook. He makes a great eggplant parmigiana with spaghetti. He told me that the chef couldn't do it, so he prepared it for us - magnifico. This was Italian hospitality at its finest. During the seven nights, I had prime rib twice. The first night was a little closer to rare than medium rare and on the last night it was closer to medium, but certainly within my tolerance. I could have sent it back, but why waste food? The second night I had filet mignon - excellent. My other choices were eggplant parmigiana, duck, crab legs (outstanding) and lobster tail with giant prawns (also outstanding). If you like crab legs, you will definitely enjoy the ones on Princess. They were sliced the long way so the meat could be removed with a fork. We had a portion and a half. Overall the food was very good. I would not rank it with a Gallaghers Steak House, Ben Benson's or Ruths Chris, but it certainly surpasses The Outback. The desserts were in abundance and all were excellent. For people with dietary restrictions, they have a sugar free dessert each evening. NOTE: The International Cafe on Deck 5 also has a sugar free selection, you just have to ask. Every evening Princess has a fixed menu with a steak, chicken, fish and vegetarian. You can mix and match anything on the menu, and again with advance notice, just about anything in the kitchen. While I am far from El Exigente (the demanding one), the syruped coffee was fine. We did have one evening in the dining room when it was very weak. Aileen took it back and brought fresh cups and a new pot. No, we did not have the pizza or burgers (not on the diet - then again neither were all of the desserts, but you have to draw a line somewhere). The Horizon Court: The Horizon Court is the main buffet on Deck 15; directly behind it is the Cafe Caribe. The Horizon Court is organized chaos on embarkation day. There are lines on both the port and starboard sides and each has two entrances. People were lining up at the rear entrance while the front entrance was empty. The only problem is that once you got in, you encountered a line at the hot food stations; everything else was readily accessible. By the second day of the cruise, people got the hang of the system and the flow improved. Interestingly, the hand washing stations at the entrance to the buffet got minimal, if any use. The Horizon Court as well as the Cafe Caribe are open for breakfast. We did the Cafe Caribe on our first sea day only to find out that the Horizon Court had a much more extensive selection of items. Breakfast included just about anything you could imagine. Among the items were pancakes (with various items mixed in), THICK French toast, eggs, omlettes, bacon, sausage, ham, cereals, fruits, breads, cakes, lox, smoked fish and many more items. Keep in mind that they will custom make any type of omlette that you may desire. My wife likes tomatoe juice and requested it. They have it in a refrigerated section under the orange and cranberry juice station. We had enough of a selection at the buffet that we never did the dining room for breakfast. Lunch time brought out an equally elaborate selection. Several hot dishes and carved meats as well as salads, soups and sandwiches. Desserts were in abundance. Keep in mind that they do have sugar free desserts, unfortunately, not all of the items are labeled; when in doubt, just ask. Although I don't have what one would describe as a gourmet palate, I found a wide enough selection each day. If you like Cuban sandwiches, that is available one day. The first night out we tried the seafood buffet after dinner. Yes, you should bring a cracker to handle the lobster claws. We also tried the crab which was very good. These items are served too you to avoid waste. While cold lobster without melted butter is not one of my favorites, we did enjoy it. In the late evening the Cafe Caribe is open with a modified dinner menu. They had a varying selection each night. Not everything was labeled, but you could figure out most of the items. That area appeared to be particularly popular with the cruise ship staff (the people in the blue blazers). As always, there were desserts for those of you with a sweet tooth. We tried the veal cordon bleu and the pizza. The pizza was a bitter underdone, the veal was excellent. The International Cafe: The is located on Deck 5 in the Piazza. All of the items are free with the exception of the jelly apples (an amazing variety), the tapas, the chocolate fondue for 2 and the bargain gelato (3 scoops for $1.50). At breakfast they had various pastries and donuts. Lunch featured an assortment of sandwiches, quiches and salads. Dinner time brought out the tapas. Noted by their absence were the chocolate chip cookies that we so enjoyed last year. In their place were chocolate chocolate chip cookies and oatmeal raisin cookies. I don't believe that they are baked at the cafe as the wonderful odor I so well remember was not present. For those of you who remember the old Lay's Potatoe Chip commercial, I bet you can't eat just one. Our Ports of Call: Halifax: This was our third cruise to Halifax. Keep in mind that this is a large city. The ship docks right behind the Via Rail station. When you come off of the ship you should go to your right to follow the pedestrian walkway along the harbor. There are many interesting shops to see down there. The walk to downtown is a bit more of an excursion. If you have never been to the city before, I recommend a combination city tour and trip to Peggy's Cove. While Peggy's Cove is somewhat of a tourist trap, it still has that wonderful Canadian Maritime beauty and is a photographers and artists paradise. Having been to the cove several times, we opted to take the Lunenberg getaway. That was a very enjoyable excursion. On our way out of the city, our guide pointed out various places of interest. While on the highway we got some background information on the city. Once in Lunenberg it was all downhill, literally. We started at the top of the town and walked down to the harbor with our tourguide Hilda (a Lunenberg native). She gave us some fascinating info on the town and it's history and architecture. Following the tour we had about an hour on our own for lunch and exploration. This is a very scenic spot (not as much so as Peggy's Cove) and it had a wide variety of restaurants to dine at. On the way out of Lunenbeg, the bus stopped across the bay from the town for a photo op. Following that, we headed off to Mahone Bay. Mahone Bay is a cute little town as you can see from my pictures. It contains one main street. The bus lets you off at one end of town and you walk down the main street and meet the bus at the other end (you have the option of staying on the bus). This was scarecrow season and virtually every building had a scarecrow of some sort in front. My wife said that she would like to spend a few days up there some time. It is only, 10 or so hours from NY (ugh). We returned to the ship with only about 45 minutes to spare. There is a flea market type setup right next to the dock, while we didn't buy anything, they appeared to have a nice selection of items. If you are looking for an alternative to a ship's tour and have a reasonable sized group to make it cost effective, you might want to consider Bob's Tours by Taxi; http://www.tourbytaxi.com/ Bob is an excellent driver and very dependable. He is knows the area well and will tailor a tour to your personal wishes. Saint John: Do not confuse this city with St. John's, Newfoundland; locals get very upset about that. Also, NEVER abbreviate Saint John. When getting off of the ship, you can follow the pink sidewalk to the left and it will take you into the downtown area and around the harbor. The walking time to the downtown shoping area is about 5 minutes. Once downtown, you will see the Market Square shopping center which is connected by a skywalk to the Brunswick Square Mall and the City Market. These are your main shopping spots in town (there are smaller businesses on the side streets). Across the street from Market Square you will find various craft vendors. This was our 3rd trip to Saint John and it hasn't really gotten any more exciting in the last 6 years. In Saint John we took the Saint John River Boat Ride. This is booked as the Rhine of North America. It was very nice, but hardly the Rhine. There were a few sights to see along the way, but as the foliage had not quite started to change, nature's rainbow of colors was absent. Our guides Doreen and Don provided commentary on the various sights on the banks of the river. We also got to sing "On River Saint John", all that was lacking was a harmonica or accordian. Following the cruise we went to the Reversing Rapids. In a town like Saint John, this is a major attraction. The pictures are on Webshots. Returning to the ship, we had lunch and then went out to the markets. If you like exploring on your own, keep in mind that there is not all that much in this port. I would recommend a shore excursion. Perhaps someone who took one of the other tours will comment. Bar Harbor and Immigration Clearance: While Princess has learned a lot about guest management in the last year, they have yet to perfect their immigration and customs clearance procedure. The night before we were to dock in Bar Harbor we received a flyer in our mailbox. It said that anyone leaving on a tour scheduled to meet at 8:00 or earlier should be in line at Club Fusion at 7:30 AM to clear immigration and get a landing card. When we arrived, chaos was the order of the day. Not only were the 8:00 tours in line, people who had booked their own shore excursions as well as early birds were in line. A member of the cruise staff came down the line and said that people on tours A1, N1 and G1 should step out and get on the new line that they just formed. We were on G1. A minute or two later, another member of the cruise staff said that the line was only for A1 and N1. When we said that we were on G1, she told us to go to the back of the line and wait. Being a native New Yorker and retired bureaucrat, this made no sense to me. We stayed where we were. Once the doors opened, the person at the head of the line apparently hadn't "gotten the memo" and he let both lines go. Talk about a failure to communicate. Passports in hand we were through there in less than a minute with our landing cards. We found out that by using the landing card system, passengers who are cleared can go ashore without waiting for the whole boat to get cleared. With 3000+ passengers, that is an excellent practice. The next stop was back to the cabin to pick up some things We waited to board the shore tender in the Princess Theater for about an hour and a half. We were finally taken to a shore based tender. Once on the tender, we saw that the fog had not burned off and the shore was not visible. I have pictures of the ship's tenders/lifeboats sitting fully loaded in the fog. Although I was not around for WWII, it somehow reminded me of landing craft on D-day being unable to see the beaches. After roughly 20 minutes, we were taken off the craft and back onto the ship. At approximately 1:00, the Captain announced that we would not be going to Bar Harbor and that once the lifeboats were secured we would be setting sail for Boston. This was a proper decision on the part of Princess as you will see when I discuss Newport. It takes in excess of an hour to tender everyone ashore. Once that process was completed, they would just have to reverse it. In addition, while at anchor, the fog kept coming in like a blanket. Passenger safety must always come first. We set sail shortly before 2:00. MUTS was showing "The Producers". We sat down in the mist to watch the film. The last time I watched a movie with fog rolling in was on the Home Lines Oceanic. They had a theater on one of the lower decks that had "clouds" in it. The movie we saw in 1976 was "Crossing Delancey". As "The Producers" played, the fog horn punctuated a fair number of Nathan Lane's lines. Kelvin Joy, our cruise director, came up with an amended Patter with additional activities to fill the afternoon. Kelvin deserves credit for this excellent move. When we did the Halifax/Saint John cruise with Carnival several years back, we had foggy weather on the trip home. That eliminated a number of outdoor activities. Carnival did absolutely nothing to fill the time. I continue to wonder if Kelvin has a brother name Fahrenheit. That's a joke for science teachers. So, what did we learn from the Bar Harbor problem? People on shore excursions will get priority access to tender service. Our tours all met in the Princess Theater. As the groups have to remain together, for those ports where you tender ashore, you will get priority access to tenders. I must add, however, that in Bar Harbor the ship based tenders did appear to have non-tour passengers, but I cannot be certain. If you want more information about the tendering process from a non-tour person, check out this thread on Cruisecritic.com Boston: In Boston, we signed up for the walking tour of the North End Markets. This tour met on the pier at 10:05. We walked off and hung out on the dock watching the people get off. Around 10:20, we were taken to a bus where we met our guide Michele. There is more information on Michele's Web site: http://www.northendmarkettours.com/ The bus dropped us off at the edge of Boston's Little Italy. Michele is very knowledgeable as she lives in the area and is familiar with the merchants. We got to visit several local stores, many of which provided us with samples. At the conclusion of the tour, you were given the option of remaining in Little Italy or walking with Michele back to the shuttle bus area. I would highly recommend this tour. There is a moderate amount of walking involved. If you choose to do Boston on your own, there are shuttle buses from the pier to the Quincy Market. The fare is $8.00 one way or $12.00 round trip. Tickets can be purchased right inside the cruise terminal using your cruise card. There is also a public bus outside of the terminal that takes you to South Station. Quincy Market is a relatively short walk for there. A word of advice. When you are on the ship, downtown Boston looks like you can reach out and touch it. I walk everyday and I have to say that it is not as close as it looks. The bus ride was about 15 minutes to downtown. It is kind of like seeing the Empire State Building from New Jersey or Long Island and figuring that if you can see it, you can walk there. We passed a few people on our ride in who were opting for the walking method. I would recommend against it, unless you walk roughly 4 miles per day. Quincy Market is about 2 miles from the ship. We had lunch in Quincy Market which has an extremely large food court. Following that, we headed out of the Freedom Trail. The National Parks Service in Boston has a guided walk on the Freedom Trail as well as free maps with pictures and descriptions. http://www.nps.gov/bost/ We ended our walk in Boston Common and talk a leisurely walk back to the Quincy Market which was a block from the shuttle bus pickup. The line to return to the ship was manageable and the bus dispatchers did a fine job. Boston is a very large city and offers a huge selection of activities. Don't try to do everything in a few hours. Once back on the ship, we took a dip in the hot tub and prepared for the second formal night. Newport: In Newport we had booked the Harbor Cruise/Rose Island Lighthouse tour. We selected the first tour and met in the Princess Theater at 10:15. While there was some fog in the morning, it was burnt off by 10:00. I would recommend the early tours as they get priority tender service. Unlike Bar Harbor, we had a minimal wait and were loaded onto the tender relatively quick. Princess' "continuous tender service" is a constant flotilla of lifeboats taking people ashore from two loading positions on the starboard side of the ship. The lifeboats hold 115 when used as tenders and have radio and radar. For the squemish, it is not a big deal getting onto the boat. The time to reach shore is about 10 minutes. Once on shore, you are downtown and can either take one of several public buses or just head out on your own. Our tour left from the same dock as the tender was at so it was just a short walk over. Our tour boat went around the harbor and then took us to Rose Island, a decommissioned lighthouse station. The lighthouse has been restored and the island serves as a nature sanctuary. Our guide shared a wealth of information about the island. After approximately an hour, we boarded the tour boat back to the dock. There are literally a boat load of restaurants in Newport. You will not find a McDonalds or Burger King (at least I didn't see them). There is a Panera's Bread across from the dock and to the left in the strip mall. Following lunch, we walked down the main street and followed it to a park overlooking the harbor. The land based pictures of the ship were taken from there. We returned to the dock around 4:00 and found a very long line. Despite it's size, it took us about 25 minutes to get on a tender. The tenders are in fact continuous. For those of you who remember Gilligan's Island, the line "the weather started getting rough" is applicable. The fog had started to roll in and we could no longer see the ship from the tender. As we got fairly close, the ship appeared from out of the fog. I'm not from the faint of heart school, but I did breathe a sigh of relief when we saw the ship. Once we came alongside, the tender was bobbing in the swell, not unusual for this port. WATCH THE GANGWAYS, they do get slippery. My wife slipped on one of them and luckily suffered no injury. Another passenger on the cruise apparently had a cut to their chin. While the decks do have a anti-slip treatment on them, rubberized mats may be a better option. Once back in our cabin, we looked out and could no longer see Newport. We were scheduled to weigh anchor at 6:00, the lights in the ship flickered at 6:20 or so. I noticed that everytime the engines started in preparation to set sail, the lights dimmed. Sounds reminiscent of Old Sparky at Sing Sing. The Captain then came on the PA to announce that everyone returned safely to the ship with assistance from the Coast Guard. There was a large cutter on station at the entrance to the harbor. Well, that is a wrap on the ports. If you want additional info, you can post it to my thread on Cruisecritic or use the Contact Us link on the WEB site and I will answer you directly. The Entertainment: There are three main show venues on the ship; the Club Fusion, the Explorer's Lounge and the Princess Theater. The Club Fusion is the high tech club with closed circuit TV and flat panel monitors throughout the room. They come in very help as it is quite large and you can't always see what is happening on stage from your seat. My personal favorite is the Explorer's Lounge. It is set up in the typical nightclub configuration. Despite its size, you get a warm and fuzzy feeling in there. The Princess Theater, while technically very sophisticated, just yells multiplex cinema. The decor is very subdued and the room lacks any unique architectural features. For those of you who have been on the Carnival Legend or Triumph and liked the retro movie theater decor of their showrooms, this will be a letdown. The other logistical problem is that the capcity of the room is 900 (or at least that is what I have been told). With 3000+ passengers and only 2 shows per night, that leaves a fair number of folks not getting in. On our cruise, the early show was always SRO, while there were some seats to be had at the 10:30 show. I'm not sure if that is because we had a crowd that turned in early or that they had other options that they were availing themselves of. While there are announcements that there is no reserving of seats allowed, it does happen and I'm not getting into an argument with a fellow passenger over a seat. Saturday: The Princess Theater featured "Grand Adventure Showtime" featuring Nicole Cardona, Ricardo Antonio and the Crown Princess Dancers. This was a nice meet the staff show. Very light and entertaining. The comedy star of the show was Sarge. Those of you who have sailed with Princess before have no doubt seen him. While we heard some of his material last year, his delivery and stage presence are so wonderful that you can't help but laugh. He is also able to play the piano by ear and is a master impersonator. If you ever have a chance to see him, go. He is going on tour with a one man show that is due to hit Broadway in 2008. Sunday: The Princess Theater featured "Motor City" A Tribute To The Great Motown Artists. If you like the Motown sound, you will enjoy this show. Last year a fellow cruiser pointed out that the show featured no black performers; that continues to be the case. The 4 lead singers and the dancers do a fine job. The Explorer's Lounge had "Comedy Showtime, Starring: The Crazy Frenchman Richard Bono". He is a juggler/comedian and fifth generation circus performer. His show was quite impressive featuring various permutations and combinations of juggling. Be forewarned, he selects a "volunteer" from the audience. It might just be me, but throughout the show I kept wondering how an Italian pop singer and a French juggler could have the same last name. Monday: Sarge returns to the Princess Theater. In addition to his comedy routine, he asked the audience to help him fill a sheet of paper with song titles. Once the sheet was filled he proceeded to play them ALL by ear. At the beginning of this feat he said that if he ever heard a song, he could play it; quite amazing!! The Explorer's Lounge featured singer Joe Sackenheim and the Crown Princess Orchestra doing a big band set. The room was absolutely packed. If you like Sinatra and company, give this a try. Tuesday: The one and only Kimika appeared in the Princess Theater. They are a song and comedy team, sort of a British Smothers Brothers. She was what a mother would call "pleasing plump" and he was what my wife would call "a hunk". She did the comedy (a large amount of which involved poking fun at her size) and singing and he did the guitar playing. Both were quite talented. You do have to stick around for her Tina Turner finale, it is something that you will never forget. Wednesday: The Priness Theater had "Musical Entertainer Duncan Tuck; From Country to Classical via Comedy". We tried to get into the second show which was at 9:00 due to the scheduling of the crew's international talent show at 10:30. We arrived around 9:15 and the house was packed. Duncan was very good. An excellent voice and some very clever material. He reminded me of Will Rogers with a guitar. If the schedule is the same when you see him, get there early. The Explorer's Lounge featured Robert Mesmer "America's Foremost Hypnotist". No, I don't know if Mesmer is his real name or if he is from the family that they name Mesmerizing after. I'm still trying to find out about Martinizing from my friend who used to be be in the cleaning business. But all seriousness aside, this is a not to be missed show. He takes volunteers from the audience and then slowly reduces the number to those who are the most open to the power of suggestion. He had one woman up there who made some people laugh so hard that they were crying; absolutely hysterical. Thursday: The Princess Theater had the production number "What A Swell Party, A Tongue in Cheek Look At The Cole Porter Era". I believe that last year they called is a Cole Porter Revue of something along those lines. They are getting closer to an accurate description. They had music from Thoroughly Modern Millie and Sweet Charity in there. Nevertheless, this is a very "light" and enjoyable show. The costumes are outstanding. The Explorer's Lounge featured "The Music and Comedy of Gary Delena" from New Jersey by way of Brooklyn. Gary's performance was very entertaining. He reminded me of some of the then up and coming comedians that would appear on The Ed Sullivan Show. The name Robert Klein comes to mind. His comedy is clean and his songs are clever and unique. He is another performer who really seems to enjoy his job. Another not to be missed show. His performance was followed by the Marriage Game Show. While this is the Newlywed Game formula with some Oldlyweds thrown it, the reactions by both the participants and emcee are what make the game. It was a very funny time indeed. The evening was topped off by the Champagne Waterfall in the Piazza. Free champagne and pastries, punctuated by streamer throwing. Friday: As the trip wound down, our busy lifestyle caught up with us. I watched a few innings of the Yankees vs the Gnats while Ellen read. We then went out to the Piazza and enjoyed the final performance of The Polonia String Quartet. They do a wicked "Three Little Maids" for you G&S fans out there. That is it for the entertainment. The Muster Drill: Our first encounter with the cruise staff came at the muster drill. When it came time for the drill, we discovered that there was only one life jacket in the cabin. I've heard of taking souvenir towels and robes, but a life jacket??? We tossed a coin and I lost, so Ellen got the life jacket. The code of the sea is women and children first. Our muster station was in the Explorer's Lounge. Our muster "master" was Fernando. He was very entertaining and personable. If he asks you where you think he is from, it is Mexico City. We saw him several times throughout the cruise and he really seems to be what they call a people person. This years muster drill was a huge improvement over last years. Gone were the commercials for spa treatments and the like. Although this is a huge vessel, you are still out in the middle of an even larger ocean; the information that you are given at the drill may save your life while information from the spa probably won't. Once everyone was in position, a message from the captain was played. I say played, because given the length of the announcement, I find it hard to believe that he reads it each week. It was very comprehensive and contains some very important infromation. When we returned to the cabin, our steward, Henry, got us another life jacket. The Cruise Staff: Kelvin Joy the cruise director was very good. While he was not the best that we have ever seen (that honor still goes to Dennis Sciortino on Celebrity), he appeared to be genuine and has a wonderful British sense of humor. Too many CDs strike me as gameshow hosts with the passengers serving as merely contestants. Kelvin did not seem to be this way. Brett the ACD who handled the Explorer's Lounge was also quite good. He was always professional and entertaining. Cameron who was on the ship last year was there as well. If anyone should have been voted off of the island last year, it was him. Last year he was "full of himself" and at times his behavior bordered on the rude and obnoxious. I stopped to chat with him and he said that the last year's cruise staff had been been moved to the Emerald, but that he returned. Perhaps someone may have spoken with him as he appears to have "cleaned up his act" a bit. Personality aside, he does have a lot of ability and did a fine job as host in the Piazza and Club Fusion. We really had little interaction with the rest of the cruise staff. James Deering: I would be remiss if I didn't give special mention to James Deering. James is the Head of Passenger Services aboard the Crown; as such he is responsible for approximately 1000 crew members. His chain of command includes virtually all crew members who are not in the engineering department. James came to the Cruise Critic meeting which was held on our sea day in the Skywalkers disco. He was the most gracious person you would ever want to meet. He answered all of our questions about the ship and shipboard life in a very candid fashion. It was refreshing to have someone in a position of authority such as his taking time out to talk with the 10 of us. The information that he shared with provided new insights as to the way certain things are handled in the cruise business. During our walks around the ship, I would notice him in the Piazza a few feet away from the Passenger Services Desk just observing how passengers were treated. A special thanks to James for his time and insights. Debarkation: Princess has learned a lot in the past year about debarking 3000+ passengers in the shortest possible time. Ellen and I had 3 suitcases with wheels and opted for the self-debarkation. A form was left in our cabin mid-cruise that had to be signed and returned to passenger services. It noted that you had to have at least one hand free to use the escalator in the terminal. As one of the suitcases was small and would stack on the other, that was not a problem. Our debarkation point was the casino with a time of 7:45. Due to the fog in the harbor, we were about an hour late getting in Brooklyn. Despite this, they started debarkation at 7:30. Keep in mind that the ship cleared Customs and Immigration in Bar Harbor, so that was removed from the equation. Getting an elevator from Deck 8 to Deck 6 proved to be more of a challenge than I had planned for. Eventually we split up and took separate elevators down. We arrived in the casino slightly after 7:45 and were told that all self-debarking passengers could leave. We had our cruise cards swiped for the last time (they were returned to us). As I got to the escalator, the lady standing there asked about my "free hand". I told her that I was going to stack the suitcases. She then directed me to an elevator; there are two. I don't recommend taking the self-debarkation with a load of luggage as it will only make it all the more difficult for everyone else. Once on the ground level we passed the luggage claim area where the cages were in the process of being off-loaded. The wait for a Customs agent was about 3 or 4 minutes and we were clear. Our car pulled up at 8:15 and we were home at 9:00. If you don't take the self-debarkation option, you will be given luggage tags with a color and number. Princess then publishes a list with the color, number, estimated debarkation time and waiting area to be used. This goes a long way towards eliminating "separation" anxiety and helps them ensure that each group has cleared the ship. A job well done by Princess. Well gang, we have come to the end of our journey. Thanks to all of you for taking the time to read what I hope was not my version of "War and Peace". The compliments that were posted to Cruise Critic let me know that this effort was not in vain, thank you. Our next cruise is scheduled for12/2008 on the Explorer of The Seas out of Bayonne. This will be our 35th anniversary. One never knows, however, when an offer we can't refuse will come up. Until then, happy and safe voyages to you all. Most of the photos have been posted to Webshots. Not all of them have captions at this point. The Behind The Scenes Tour: I left this item for last as I was waiting for permission from James to upload the photos and share the details of the tour with the Cruisecritic members. During our meet and greet (or Cruise and Schmooze as I prefer to call it), Joel inquired as to the possibility of getting a bridge tour. With the increased security on all ships, these are no longer routinely offered. Joel took our cabins numbers and told us that he would be in touch if anything materialized. On our Bar Harbor day, we stopped back at the cabin for a few minutes. Talk about timing. The phone rings and it's Joel asking if we would be interested in a "behind the scenes" tour of the ship. This was a no-brainer, ABSOLUTELY. We agreed to meet in the Piazza at 3:30. We were met joined there by James Deering and 2 other couples from our group. The first stop was one of the galleys. While we had done the galley tour on our last trip, what followed was lightyears beyond that. We saw the crew's galley and mess. There are two cafeteria style lines for the crew. One specializes in Asian/Filipino food, while the other has traditional fare. The crew had a very nice dining area. They were almost as surprised to see us as we were to see them. The next stop was the officer's dining room. Our tour continued past various storage areas and offices on deck 4. There were produce storage areas, repair shops as well as refuse sorting areas. Our tour continued on deck 8 where we saw the crew's exercise and recreation rooms. We were told that some of the best parties on the ship take place in the crew's rec room. Continuing up to deck 12, James took us his into his quarters. What a beautiful cabin. Separate living room and bedroom. The only thing lacking is a private balcony. He shares the balcony with the captain and chief engineer. Wherever we went while on tour, we were always warmly greeted. This was our 15 cruise and the first time we have ever been treated to a tour as interesting and informative as this one. A special thanks to James for being such a wonderful host! The pictures from the tour are currently up on Webshots: I hate to have this seem that an unfinished symphony, but this is indeed the end. Until next time, smooth sailing. |
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