Details of Princess Cruises - Crown Princess?

Question

I am going on my first cruise on the August 18th on the Crown Princess to the Baltic Sea (Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Poland, Norway, Estonia). Can people give me tips based on past experience.

I also have a few questions:

Is there a 24hour free buffet?

Can 1 soda card serve for 2 people?

What to pack?

How are the activities that they offer?

Any advice on how to have an awesome 1st cruise.

Answer 1

I was on the Crown Princess last month for the same Scandanavian/Baltic Cruise.   It was absolutely the best trip I've taken and Princess did an absolutely wonderly job organizing the entire trip.

To answer your questions:

1.  The Buffet is open 24 hours and has varied menu items in the Horizon/Caribe Cafe (It's actually like one big buffet area the aft of the ship on Deck 15, but sections/menu items will be partitioned for breakfast/lunch/dinner/late evening items and entrees).

2.  Soda Card - It's suppose to be one soda card per person, but I was ok since my wife did not drink Soda anyway and we normally just picked up a liter bottle at the different ports of call.

3.  What to Pack?  It's the Baltics...so the weather was a little cooler on some days but we quickly aclimated since we had sunshine during the whole cruise with light breezes.  I'd still bring long pants, and plan to layer if you do have days of inclement cooler weather.   BTW, some Canadians mentioned the weather was actually very warm and mild (they were from Edmonton and Toronto).

4.  There are great indoor and outdoor activities during the whole cruise.  Each day you'll get a newsletter called the Patter that lays out what's going on including dancing, lectures, shows, movies, cooking, spas, atheletic events, etc.).  Of Course, you'll have a variety of Shore excursions that will keep you busy at each port of call.

To sum it up, you'll have great time.  You should do a little homework and read up on each port of call (you can download Samanatha Brown's Passport to Europe on your Ipod via Iturnes).   They have an onboard Lecturer that does a very animated talk that you can attend in the Princess Theater as well as watch on TV during the cruise.

St. Petersburg was the highlight of the whole cruise...so much to see including Peterhof and Catherine Palace, Winter Palace/Hermitage, canal/river tours).  We had lunch at a restaurant outside of St Petersburg with traditional Russian music and dancers.

Want Amber?  It's all over the place and on the ship for Sale, but the best prices were in Gdansk, Poland.  Viking Ship pendants were great buys in STockholm Old Town....and more expensive gold viking ship pendants can be found in Oslo, Norway at the Viking ship museum.

Enjoy and have fun!!!

P.S. you can get detailed commentaries on the Crown Princess' Baltic/Scandavian cruise at www.cruisecritic.com.

Answer 2

Ive been on a Princess Cruise, but i went to Alaska and I was on the Island Princess Ship, but I'm guessing they have pretty similar stuff. The one I was on did have a 24 hour buffet called Horizon Court. I LOVED it. TIPS: 1. Enjoy what the ship has to offer!!! It may take some time to find all of the fun things, but after you're accustomed to the ship, take advantage of it!!   2. Take pictures, but dont concentrate on them TOO much. When I went, my family and I spent a lot of time trying to take pictures of the amazing scenery, but even with good pics, its just not the same, so enjoy pic taking, but enjoy the experience as well!!!    HOPE YOU HAVE FUN!!!!!!

Answer 3

I've been on 8 cruises with princess, but never the crown. All princess have 24 hour buffet, but when my husband could not sleep at 4am, he went to the buffet and they mostly had pastrys and fruit. That was fine with the both of us. As far as the soda card, you get one cup and a sticker to put on your cruise card. We just drank out of the same cup and kept the refills coming. You can not use it  yourself to say fill your own cup. I found that the soda card is not worth it unless you are big soda drinkers, then by all means, go for it. By the way, they also have a coffee card. You get it in the main pastry, coffee bar and it entitles you to lots of Latte's and expresso's. Pack with mix and match  casual clothes, but of course add some dressy things too. For dinner, I usually wear some slacks and a nice top, or a pretty, but casual dress. Your spouse does not need a tux as a suit is just fine. My husband likes to wear his tux though. Go figure!. I wear the same shoes for formal and smart casual, a nice pump. I then bring good walking shoes, some sandels and one other pair of dress shoes. Bring a rain jacket or poncho too, just in case. I usually do use there shore excursions as you are assured of getting back to the ship on time, plus you have no worries. Most ports will have other tours you can go on, but I would only do that if the return time was hours before sailing time. I have seen people miss the ship several times. Princess excursions do wait for there own shore excursions, but not privite ones or late people. You are going on a great cruise for the first time. Very special. Just read the info Princess sends you and that will prepare you pretty well. If you have questions, just call them. They are very helpful. One more thing, if you want flowers in your stateroom, you can preorder them yourself. I usually like to do that as the flowers really brighten up the cabin. Have a wonderful cruise. My next princess cruise is to Hawaii in October.

Answer 4

These questions require longer answers than we can give here.  You'll need to do some research.  There are books at your library or bookstore about cruising.  And you can go to CruiseCritic.com, click on "Boards", then go to your topic for answers from experienced cruisers.  

You could also do a Yahoo or Google search for "cruise packing list".

Soda cards are for one person only.  Activities will run the gamut from trivia, bingo, silly pool games, casino, spa, gym, etc, etc.  Don't know whether the buffet is 24/7 - the Princess website should give that info.