Vikings are Back

The Vikings are back home after a week on the Crown Princess. Had a nice
week with the group, and a new itinerary for me that included Bonaire,
Aruba, Grenada, and St. Kitts.

Loved Bonaire. Liked Aruba. Grenada was rather different from the typical
Caribbean port. I liked it. Didn't care for St. Kitts. Went to Trunk Bay
in St. John, which I love.

The ship? Not my cup of tea by any means. Most confusing layout I've ever
seen. Pretty ship. I like the very restrictive smoking policy. Ship in
perfect condition since it's brand new.

Service? We had a table full of people one night with dinners that went
un-eaten because they were so bad, and the head waiter Antonio came proudly
and asked how our dinner was. When we said "Not Good"... he got into a
fight with us. When Susette said the food wasn't very good... he jumped all
over her and told her that it was "only her opinion". That sure made the
comment card.

I've never had a crew member get into a fight with someone before.

Overall much of the crew seemed.... maybe I'll use the term "surly". Not
happy. Interaction of crew with passengers wasn't good.

Dining room waitress was excellent. As was my cabin steward.

Anytime dining? I hate it. Because of it, our group couldn't all be seated
in one dining room. It definitely didn't work for us.

Food? IMO... now pretty much worse than both RCI and NCL food, which I
don't care for. Lots of really weird items on the buffets and dinner menus.
Lots of scallops, muscles, etc. Not my cup of tea. Steaks sent back. Fish
that smelled "fishy". Beef tenderloin that didn't even taste like beef (I
just ate the veggies that night). Excellent pizza. Excellent cold seafood
buffet the first evening. Lobster seemed OK. Not crisp, but not mushy
either. Veal chop in Sabbitinis that was fatty. Fillet in Crown Grill that
came out overcooked (ordered medium, came out well done) but still tender.
Neither specialty restaurant seemed worth the money.

Overall, fun week, but many in the group said they won't go on Princess
again. I most likely only would if it was an unusual itinerary, that did
something like Iceland or Norway's North Cape.

--Tom

Very interesting Tom! Well glad you had a good time anyhow.... I am
with you on the anytime dining thing, although, it did work for me a bit
in August since I skipped out a few nights and did my own thing, and our
wait staff was among the best I've ever had! So you got the short end
of the stick on that score it sounds like. Def sounds like they are
having some food issues there!!! What did you find confusing about the
layout? I kind of liked it and it seemed fairly comparable to the
Golden in most ways. Did you do Movies Under the Stars at all?

Jeff



Tom K wrote:
The Vikings are back home after a week on the Crown Princess. Had a nice
week with the group, and a new itinerary for me that included Bonaire,
Aruba, Grenada, and St. Kitts.

Loved Bonaire. Liked Aruba. Grenada was rather different from the typical
Caribbean port. I liked it. Didn't care for St. Kitts. Went to Trunk Bay
in St. John, which I love.

The ship? Not my cup of tea by any means. Most confusing layout I've ever
seen. Pretty ship. I like the very restrictive smoking policy. Ship in
perfect condition since it's brand new.

Service? We had a table full of people one night with dinners that went
un-eaten because they were so bad, and the head waiter Antonio came proudly
and asked how our dinner was. When we said "Not Good"... he got into a
fight with us. When Susette said the food wasn't very good... he jumped all
over her and told her that it was "only her opinion". That sure made the
comment card.

I've never had a crew member get into a fight with someone before.

Overall much of the crew seemed.... maybe I'll use the term "surly". Not
happy. Interaction of crew with passengers wasn't good.

Dining room waitress was excellent. As was my cabin steward.

Anytime dining? I hate it. Because of it, our group couldn't all be seated
in one dining room. It definitely didn't work for us.

Food? IMO... now pretty much worse than both RCI and NCL food, which I
don't care for. Lots of really weird items on the buffets and dinner menus.
Lots of scallops, muscles, etc. Not my cup of tea. Steaks sent back. Fish
that smelled "fishy". Beef tenderloin that didn't even taste like beef (I
just ate the veggies that night). Excellent pizza. Excellent cold seafood
buffet the first evening. Lobster seemed OK. Not crisp, but not mushy
either. Veal chop in Sabbitinis that was fatty. Fillet in Crown Grill that
came out overcooked (ordered medium, came out well done) but still tender.
Neither specialty restaurant seemed worth the money.

Overall, fun week, but many in the group said they won't go on Princess
again. I most likely only would if it was an unusual itinerary, that did
something like Iceland or Norway's North Cape.

--Tom

We did 5 ports in 6 days... and we hung out as a gang of 6-8 of us most
every night... no time for MUTS. Though some watched USC vs. ND last week.

Everyone was always geting lost. One floor stopped here, and other there...




"Jeff" wrote in message
news:xMAch.1123$bW2.245@trndny04...
Very interesting Tom! Well glad you had a good time anyhow.... I am with
you on the anytime dining thing, although, it did work for me a bit in
August since I skipped out a few nights and did my own thing, and our wait
staff was among the best I've ever had! So you got the short end of the
stick on that score it sounds like. Def sounds like they are having some
food issues there!!! What did you find confusing about the layout? I
kind of liked it and it seemed fairly comparable to the Golden in most
ways. Did you do Movies Under the Stars at all?

Jeff



Tom K wrote:
The Vikings are back home after a week on the Crown Princess. Had a nice
week with the group, and a new itinerary for me that included Bonaire,
Aruba, Grenada, and St. Kitts.

Loved Bonaire. Liked Aruba. Grenada was rather different from the
typical Caribbean port. I liked it. Didn't care for St. Kitts. Went to
Trunk Bay in St. John, which I love.

The ship? Not my cup of tea by any means. Most confusing layout I've
ever seen. Pretty ship. I like the very restrictive smoking policy.
Ship in perfect condition since it's brand new.

Service? We had a table full of people one night with dinners that went
un-eaten because they were so bad, and the head waiter Antonio came
proudly and asked how our dinner was. When we said "Not Good"... he got
into a fight with us. When Susette said the food wasn't very good... he
jumped all over her and told her that it was "only her opinion". That
sure made the comment card.

I've never had a crew member get into a fight with someone before.

Overall much of the crew seemed.... maybe I'll use the term "surly". Not
happy. Interaction of crew with passengers wasn't good.

Dining room waitress was excellent. As was my cabin steward.

Anytime dining? I hate it. Because of it, our group couldn't all be
seated in one dining room. It definitely didn't work for us.

Food? IMO... now pretty much worse than both RCI and NCL food, which I
don't care for. Lots of really weird items on the buffets and dinner
menus. Lots of scallops, muscles, etc. Not my cup of tea. Steaks sent
back. Fish that smelled "fishy". Beef tenderloin that didn't even taste
like beef (I just ate the veggies that night). Excellent pizza.
Excellent cold seafood buffet the first evening. Lobster seemed OK. Not
crisp, but not mushy either. Veal chop in Sabbitinis that was fatty.
Fillet in Crown Grill that came out overcooked (ordered medium, came out
well done) but still tender. Neither specialty restaurant seemed worth
the money.

Overall, fun week, but many in the group said they won't go on Princess
again. I most likely only would if it was an unusual itinerary, that did
something like Iceland or Norway's North Cape.

--Tom

In article , Tom K
wrote:

We did 5 ports in 6 days... and we hung out as a gang of 6-8 of us most
every night... no time for MUTS. Though some watched USC vs. ND last week.

Everyone was always geting lost. One floor stopped here, and other there...

MUTS works better when there are a bunch of sea days. I did not have
any time for MUTS this sailing either. It was nice that they showed the
football games for those who were football fans. Also did not do any
trivia sessions. The very intensive port itinerary makes for a
different kind of sailing.

However I was not always getting lost......

--
Charles

Hi i new Tom wasn"t going to like the Crown that much .Was on the
Grand when he was on her.He didn"t like that ship either . I like the
Crown ,but like thwe Grand better . Also i didn"t think the Crown was a
great fit for the Viking group . Welcome hopme every body !!

Ken G......

Tom K wrote:
We did 5 ports in 6 days... and we hung out as a gang of 6-8 of us most
every night... no time for MUTS. Though some watched USC vs. ND last week.

Everyone was always geting lost. One floor stopped here, and other there...




"Jeff" wrote in message
news:xMAch.1123$bW2.245@trndny04...
Very interesting Tom! Well glad you had a good time anyhow.... I am with
you on the anytime dining thing, although, it did work for me a bit in
August since I skipped out a few nights and did my own thing, and our wait
staff was among the best I've ever had! So you got the short end of the
stick on that score it sounds like. Def sounds like they are having some
food issues there!!! What did you find confusing about the layout? I
kind of liked it and it seemed fairly comparable to the Golden in most
ways. Did you do Movies Under the Stars at all?

Jeff



Tom K wrote:
The Vikings are back home after a week on the Crown Princess. Had a nice
week with the group, and a new itinerary for me that included Bonaire,
Aruba, Grenada, and St. Kitts.

Loved Bonaire. Liked Aruba. Grenada was rather different from the
typical Caribbean port. I liked it. Didn't care for St. Kitts. Went to
Trunk Bay in St. John, which I love.

The ship? Not my cup of tea by any means. Most confusing layout I've
ever seen. Pretty ship. I like the very restrictive smoking policy.
Ship in perfect condition since it's brand new.

Service? We had a table full of people one night with dinners that went
un-eaten because they were so bad, and the head waiter Antonio came
proudly and asked how our dinner was. When we said "Not Good"... he got
into a fight with us. When Susette said the food wasn't very good... he
jumped all over her and told her that it was "only her opinion". That
sure made the comment card.

I've never had a crew member get into a fight with someone before.

Overall much of the crew seemed.... maybe I'll use the term "surly". Not
happy. Interaction of crew with passengers wasn't good.

Dining room waitress was excellent. As was my cabin steward.

Anytime dining? I hate it. Because of it, our group couldn't all be
seated in one dining room. It definitely didn't work for us.

Food? IMO... now pretty much worse than both RCI and NCL food, which I
don't care for. Lots of really weird items on the buffets and dinner
menus. Lots of scallops, muscles, etc. Not my cup of tea. Steaks sent
back. Fish that smelled "fishy". Beef tenderloin that didn't even taste
like beef (I just ate the veggies that night). Excellent pizza.
Excellent cold seafood buffet the first evening. Lobster seemed OK. Not
crisp, but not mushy either. Veal chop in Sabbitinis that was fatty.
Fillet in Crown Grill that came out overcooked (ordered medium, came out
well done) but still tender. Neither specialty restaurant seemed worth
the money.

Overall, fun week, but many in the group said they won't go on Princess
again. I most likely only would if it was an unusual itinerary, that did
something like Iceland or Norway's North Cape.

--Tom

The crown was a good fit as we wanted different Ports- and she had the
different ports the GROUP had a fun time with each other. Great
cocktail party! HEY I even flashed a couple times! next year we look
fioreward to St Martin- Right TOm? hahahha I bet you would want leslie
on that one!
wrote:
Hi i new Tom wasn"t going to like the Crown that much .Was on the
Grand when he was on her.He didn"t like that ship either . I like the
Crown ,but like thwe Grand better . Also i didn"t think the Crown was a
great fit for the Viking group . Welcome hopme every body !!

Ken G......

Tom K wrote:
We did 5 ports in 6 days... and we hung out as a gang of 6-8 of us most
every night... no time for MUTS. Though some watched USC vs. ND last week.

Everyone was always geting lost. One floor stopped here, and other there...




"Jeff" wrote in message
news:xMAch.1123$bW2.245@trndny04...
Very interesting Tom! Well glad you had a good time anyhow.... I am with
you on the anytime dining thing, although, it did work for me a bit in
August since I skipped out a few nights and did my own thing, and our wait
staff was among the best I've ever had! So you got the short end of the
stick on that score it sounds like. Def sounds like they are having some
food issues there!!! What did you find confusing about the layout? I
kind of liked it and it seemed fairly comparable to the Golden in most
ways. Did you do Movies Under the Stars at all?

Jeff



Tom K wrote:
The Vikings are back home after a week on the Crown Princess. Had a nice
week with the group, and a new itinerary for me that included Bonaire,
Aruba, Grenada, and St. Kitts.

Loved Bonaire. Liked Aruba. Grenada was rather different from the
typical Caribbean port. I liked it. Didn't care for St. Kitts. Went to
Trunk Bay in St. John, which I love.

The ship? Not my cup of tea by any means. Most confusing layout I've
ever seen. Pretty ship. I like the very restrictive smoking policy.
Ship in perfect condition since it's brand new.

Service? We had a table full of people one night with dinners that went
un-eaten because they were so bad, and the head waiter Antonio came
proudly and asked how our dinner was. When we said "Not Good"... he got
into a fight with us. When Susette said the food wasn't very good... he
jumped all over her and told her that it was "only her opinion". That
sure made the comment card.

I've never had a crew member get into a fight with someone before.

Overall much of the crew seemed.... maybe I'll use the term "surly". Not
happy. Interaction of crew with passengers wasn't good.

Dining room waitress was excellent. As was my cabin steward.

Anytime dining? I hate it. Because of it, our group couldn't all be
seated in one dining room. It definitely didn't work for us.

Food? IMO... now pretty much worse than both RCI and NCL food, which I
don't care for. Lots of really weird items on the buffets and dinner
menus. Lots of scallops, muscles, etc. Not my cup of tea. Steaks sent
back. Fish that smelled "fishy". Beef tenderloin that didn't even taste
like beef (I just ate the veggies that night). Excellent pizza.
Excellent cold seafood buffet the first evening. Lobster seemed OK. Not
crisp, but not mushy either. Veal chop in Sabbitinis that was fatty.
Fillet in Crown Grill that came out overcooked (ordered medium, came out
well done) but still tender. Neither specialty restaurant seemed worth
the money.

Overall, fun week, but many in the group said they won't go on Princess
again. I most likely only would if it was an unusual itinerary, that did
something like Iceland or Norway's North Cape.

--Tom

Tom K wrote:
The Vikings are back home after a week on the Crown Princess. Had a nice
week with the group, and a new itinerary for me that included Bonaire,
Aruba, Grenada, and St. Kitts.

Loved Bonaire. Liked Aruba. Grenada was rather different from the typical
Caribbean port. I liked it. Didn't care for St. Kitts. Went to Trunk Bay
in St. John, which I love.

The ship? Not my cup of tea by any means. Most confusing layout I've ever
seen. Pretty ship. I like the very restrictive smoking policy. Ship in
perfect condition since it's brand new.

Service? We had a table full of people one night with dinners that went
un-eaten because they were so bad, and the head waiter Antonio came proudly
and asked how our dinner was. When we said "Not Good"... he got into a
fight with us. When Susette said the food wasn't very good... he jumped all
over her and told her that it was "only her opinion". That sure made the
comment card.

I've never had a crew member get into a fight with someone before.

Overall much of the crew seemed.... maybe I'll use the term "surly". Not
happy. Interaction of crew with passengers wasn't good.

Dining room waitress was excellent. As was my cabin steward.

Anytime dining? I hate it. Because of it, our group couldn't all be seated
in one dining room. It definitely didn't work for us.

Food? IMO... now pretty much worse than both RCI and NCL food, which I
don't care for. Lots of really weird items on the buffets and dinner menus.
Lots of scallops, muscles, etc. Not my cup of tea. Steaks sent back. Fish
that smelled "fishy". Beef tenderloin that didn't even taste like beef (I
just ate the veggies that night). Excellent pizza. Excellent cold seafood
buffet the first evening. Lobster seemed OK. Not crisp, but not mushy
either. Veal chop in Sabbitinis that was fatty. Fillet in Crown Grill that
came out overcooked (ordered medium, came out well done) but still tender.
Neither specialty restaurant seemed worth the money.

Overall, fun week, but many in the group said they won't go on Princess
again. I most likely only would if it was an unusual itinerary, that did
something like Iceland or Norway's North Cape.

--Tom

Sounds like a complete turn-around from reports received from SGCers on
this same ship. Sounds like it wasn't "broke", but they "fixed it"
anyhow, and for the worse. BTW, why aren't we hearing from Charles and
Susette, I wonder.

Ermalee

Ermalee wrote:

BTW, why aren't we hearing from Charles and
Susette, I wonder.

Maybe they loved the ship so much that they stayed on for another
cruise.LOL

sue

In article , Sue and Kevin Mullen
wrote:

Maybe they loved the ship so much that they stayed on for another
cruise.LOL

Debarking and flying from San Juan is pretty grueling. About the worst
debarkation port for flights and the worst airport in my opinion. I got
in around 8 pm and hit the sack early. I guess Tom wanted to get in his
report first. G.

--
Charles

Charles wrote:

In article , Sue and Kevin Mullen
wrote:


Maybe they loved the ship so much that they stayed on for another
cruise.LOL


Debarking and flying from San Juan is pretty grueling. About the worst
debarkation port for flights and the worst airport in my opinion. I got
in around 8 pm and hit the sack early. I guess Tom wanted to get in his
report first. G.

It is a long time since we cruised from San Juan, but I do remember
hating the airport there.

sue