Crown Princess -Princess Cruises
Cruise line: Princess Cruises
Vessel: Crown Princess
Star rating: Not yet rated
Tonnage: 116,000 tons
Maximum passenger capacity: 3,782 (including 25 wheelchair accessible cabins)
Total crew: 1,163
Passenger decks: 15
Entered service: May 2006
Facilities: More than 30 public rooms, restaurants, bars, theatres, lounges, and sports facilities truly live up to Princess Cruises' "Big Ship Choice, Small Ship Feel" motto.
While some are cosy and intimate, others like the main theatre and casino are grand and expansive. So it's easy to find a quiet place for a drink or a pulsating night spot to be part of the crowd, depending on your mood. Dining venues run the gamut, from dinner in two assigned sittings in the main dining room to alternative dining in two reservations-only restaurants. Other options include 24-hour dining in the Piazza atrium, leisurely dining in the casual buffet, and al fresco service for light meals and poolside snacks. Altogether there are 12 food service outlets.
Crown Princess
The latest Princess Cruises vessel, the Crown Princess, offers some welcome additions to a proven and popular formula.
It's hard to believe, but until this year Princess Cruises hadn't introduced a new ship in two years. Back in mid-2004, the line introduced three vessels in 92 days - the Caribbean Princess, Diamond Princess and Sapphire Princess.
Crown Princess, the company's latest vessel, launched in May 2006, picks up where its predecessors left off, but also represents a bit of a departure in some respects. For starters, the ambiance is much more continental Europe than California cool. "The colours are much different than aboard the Sapphire or Diamond," noted one Princess staffer, also seeing the ship for the first time.
A rich, classical decor extends throughout, creating a unified theme shipwide and infiltrating even the tiniest details, from the assorted artwork in the stairwells to the stained-glass windows in the cigar bar and the amber glass light fixtures in the library. Even the high-tech Internet Center gets the continental treatment, adorned with sepia images of Venetian gondolas and masked carnival revellers.
The centrepiece of all this, the Piazza, serves as a design hub for the ship's rather elegant motif. Fluted, white-washed columns; marble floor tiles and stairs; mosaics; and scrollwork on the handrails and elevators create a decidedly and unmistakably European character. This unique decorative treatment extends to the outer decks, too, like the Calypso Bar poolside and back inside to the Horizon Court buffet restaurant and the adjacent Caf Caribe, which serves as a "swankier" buffet, in the words of Julie Benson, Princess Cruises' vice president of public relations, serving perhaps sushi and various Chinese dishes for lunch.
Structurally, the Crown Princess follows much the same layout as Princess Cruises' previous 100,000-ton cruise ships, with a few modifications. These include Vines, a wine-cellar inspired lounge for vino (with 24 wines on the list) and sushi. The Crown Grill, a new steak-and-seafood venue in the space usually occupied by Sabatini's, boasts a show kitchen that turns dinner into theatre.
Sabatini's, meanwhile, has been re-created in a new location high above the stern and offers an upscale Italian dining experience. "It's a quieter location," explained Rai Caluori, senior vice president of fleet operations. "The atmosphere is fantastic," he proudly noted.
In another switch, the International Cafe, located on the lower level of the Piazza, has become the ship's 24-hour eatery, serving from a limited menu and for a charge (fondue US$5, tapas US$3). The Horizon Court buffet now closes at 11pm. "The atrium dies after 10 o'clock at night," Caluori explains, noting that the change was made to bring more of a buzz to the centre of the ship.
Also new is The Sanctuary, an adults-only retreat at the forward end of the ship. Here, Princess has created an elegant, garden-like setting with foliage, chairs, chaise lounges (some built for two) and extra-thick cushioning. The Sanctuary proved to be, quite literally, an overnight success. After the vessel's inaugural cruise on June 14, Princess instituted a half-day fee of US$15 per person in order to reduce overcrowding. "We found very quickly on the first cruise that offering it on a complimentary basis was not going to please all the passengers who were interested in using it," Benson later said.
Other returning features have proved their popularity on previous Princess vessels. These include the giant Movies Under the Stars 300-square-foot LED screen at the Calypso Pool amidships, the ScholarShip@Sea program for eclectic enrichment and the Lotus Spa, offering a sensuous range of Asian-inspired treatments. Of course, no Princess megaship would be complete without the signature disco-in-the-sky - the Skywalkers Nightclub, located high above the stern. It's the perfect perch for sea views by day that, once the sun sets, turns into a pulsating hotspot until the wee hours of the night.
Accommodation, too, provides a bit of something for everyone, including almost 900 private verandahs - a number second only to Queen Mary 2, according to the line (by comparison, Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas has 844 balconies). All verandahs are equipped with sprinklers and heat detectors, a safety enhancement made in the wake of the fire on the Star Princess.
Passengers in suites, meanwhile, are treated to some additional goodies designed to enhance their experience of the "suite life": little extras such as a faux-leather wallet for your cruise card, an umbrella for use during the cruise, a silver pen for composing postcards, and personal care items like lip balm and an eye-gel mask.
In one final way, the Crown Princess is based on the original Grand Princess design of 1998. Whereas some other lines such as Royal Caribbean utilise one huge main dining room aboard their biggest ships, Princess has opted for three smaller ones, consistent with its philosophy of "Big Ship Choice, Small Ship Feel". The three-dining-room design allows Princess to emphasize its Anytime Dining Program for those who want an unstructured shipboard lifestyle, while still offering Traditional Dining in two sittings.
It is, to my mind, the best of both worlds, and one that fully realises the possibilities of these 100,000-ton cruise ships, given all the expansive real estate aboard.
In addition to all the hardware improvements aboard the Crown Princess, the line used the occasion of the ship's debut to introduce several software improvements, some of which are being rolled out fleetwide. New entertainment options include several interactive programs that take advantage of the latest rages shoreside. For example, the new Ballroom Blitz offers classes and a competition that mimics the dance craze sweeping popular culture. On a similar note, the Princess Peer Factor allows groups of passengers to compete against one another in a trivia tournament.
Perhaps most noteworthy, however, is the new Engagement Under the Stars, which melds the line's Weddings at Sea with Movies Under the Stars. For US$695, this new and unique betrothal custom offers a full range of amenities including champagne, flowers, souvenir engagement photos, complementary meals and massage, and more. As part of the cost, couples receive a US$100 credit toward a wedding-at-sea on a future voyage.
The centrepiece of the package puts the couple centre stage: prospective grooms can tape a "secret" marriage proposal with the ship's videographer. This message is then broadcast on the ship's giant, 300-square-foot LED movie screen.
Even if you're not planning to get engaged, though, there is at least one new feature exclusive to the Crown Princess that everyone can enjoy on embarkation day: The Brooklyn Balcony Nosh, featuring a genuine Nathan's hot dog (a local New York favourite), a cold bottle of Brooklyn-brewed beer, and a slice of New York-style cheesecake. The cost is US$7 through room service. It is, I can attest, quite tasty.
The Crown Princess sails year-round in the Caribbean, alternating between its homeports of Brooklyn, New York, and San Juan, Puerto Rico. The vessel will be joined in April 2007 by a sister ship, the Emerald Princess, which will feature many of the new design elements and amenities that made their debut on the Crown. The Emerald's inaugural season includes a series of Greek Island/Mediterranean cruises before taking up residence in Fort Lauderdale for Caribbean sailings next October.
Written by MT Schwartzman - Issue 26 Summer 2006-2007