Crown Princess 1/14-1/21 50th Birthday Cruise - Day 2 Princess Cays

[Whimsy]

Princess Cays Day

My DD at Princess Cays


I forgot to mention a bit about the passenger make up. We normally cruise in the fall; this was the first cruise we have taken in the winter. I thought the passenger make up was a lot older than what we normally see in the fall. During the week I talked to a lot of cruise staff and they did agree that the passengers were a bit more mature on this voyage. I LOVE older people ( I turned one myself on this journey!) but I do have to say there were some moments when our patience was tested. For example, no matter how full the elevator was many would try to get on before letting any passengers off. One gentleman stood up in the middle of the comedy show and lamented his problems with another passenger and seating in the show. It was hard to get from one area to the next without congestion from someone blocking an area ahead, either confused or just stopped to have a conversation. Even the older ones in my group thought they were in the younger minority. My DD was a trooper though and didn’t complain…..much.
1^st stop Princess Cays. We rented a bungalow so our group could come and go. The weather was not very warm and the water was COLD! We are beach people so this was a huge disappointment but one cannot control the weather. I and another lady did go in for a brief minute and the lifeguard cheered us. Slow day for him as there were not many in the water to guard. The bungalow package came with 4 priority tender tickets but we are always in the first group into the tenders. Sadly there was no organization or anyone to ask when we got off at Princess Cays for the motorized transport to the bungalow so we had to walk. One person in our group has extreme back issues and the ride would have been nice for her. We also never had anyone come by and introduce themselves as our attendant till after lunch. Drink service was hard to come by too but we managed. The bungalow was nice for our group but I would not rent one again for just DH and I. Due to the lack of service I doubt I would rent one for a larger group again. I truly am not a complainer, just stating the facts. It was not the experience I have seen so many rave about. When the attendant did finally come by he offered us ice water and we told him no thank you. By then we were starting to think of returning to the ship. Due to the cool temps there were not a lot of people on Princess Cays so there was no long line for lunch. We did enjoy the BBQ lunch as always.

Some of our group in front of the bungelow

Another disappointment is that Princess does not honor the Ultimate drink card on the island. I know they could do a mocktail or juice on the island. I understand they don’t have fountain soda. Just saying…
While in the bungalow I gave our group a low down on the Princess Future Cruise credit program. They were eager for me to start planning another cruise so we are looking at doing Panama Canal at a later date. I have a lot of research to do but I love planning new cruises.



There was hardly any line to for the tenders so it was an easy journey back to the ship. While waiting to leave passenger services kept paging a couple over and over again. Finally they must have found him but could still not find her. Captain Nash came on and sternly requested she report to passenger services. I was told later they found her eating in the buffet, without a clue that she was being paged. See above about the passenger make up. They also had people sweeping the island as they could not leave until all passengers were accounted since it is a Princess stop. The engines were started but we were not moving until they found her.


We were lucky to have a Catholic Priest on our voyage and he offered a Mass Sunday afternoon. When some of my Catholic friends was wondering where it was going to be held I laughed and told them probably after bingo in Club Fusion. Sure enough, I was right! LOL! This is the second time I have been able to attend Mass at sea and it’s always a pleasure. Mass was very well attended.
Sadly I received some very bad news for one couple on our cruise before dinner this evening. Before dinner I received an email from their daughter that a dear friend of theirs (and mutual friend of ours) was killed in a car accident the night before. The only reason I mention this is because I want to commend Princess for letting them make a call home the next night to their daughter. They were understandably upset and just wanted to be able to call back home. Princess allowed them a few minutes the next evening when they knew their daughter would be able to receive their call. I know they really appreciated being able to make that call as we would not be on land again for quite a while.
After dinner we made our way to the Princess Theater (where there was never a lack of good seats) for the mentalist show. It was the same guy, Wayne Hoffman, we seen on the Ruby back in October of 2010 but we enjoyed the show and my mind was with my friends who were distraught and with those back home. I actually dozed off for part of the show and was nudged awake when one of our group was a part of the show. How embarrassing but I think the sad news took a lot out of me that evening. I went to dinner with the rest of the group but it shocked and upset me to get the news and to have to break the news to my friends.
After the show we turned in as tomorrow was my BIG DAY at sea.

[Jeanie]

Thanks for sharing your good times

[ShipMaven]

That's a wonderful photo of Ashley.

I'm so sorry about the sad news you and one of your group received early on during the cruise. Kudos to Princess allowing the phone call in an emergency situation.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Loving your review.

Sad about the bad news your friends received.

[Fasteddie]

THIS IS A VERY NICE REVIEW . I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO THE REMAINING CHAPTERS
HAVE A GREAT CUISE AND BIRTHDAY

[Donna - dsw]

Great review - sorry you had bad service at the Cabana - I would write Princess and let them know about this - those things are not cheap and there was no reason for the slow service since it was not crowded.

Keep em coming! Looking forward to hearing about your big day and hope it was wonderful!!!!!

[audrey]

I am enjoying your review very much sorry to read about the loss of your friend