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J. Fritz

Age: 60
Occupation: Retired
Number of Cruises: 27
Cruise Line: NCL
Ship: Crown
Sailing Date: June 5th, 2005
Itinerary: Bermuda

The CROWN is a smaller and older ship in NCL'S fleet. It was recently renovated and is well maintained. While smaller than most of the modern ships the CROWN is more intimate and manageable than the large ships with 2,000+ passengers that are available today.

Embarkation from New York is a breeze now that other ships have moved to New Jersey.

The service staff in all restaurants was attentive and friendly. The food was very good with specialty restaurants providing an excellent variety of dishes excellently prepared. The gnocchi in the Pasta Café was the best.

The CROWN’S itinerary is a strong point. The ship stops in the three ports on Bermuda for a full day, allowing plenty of time to explore.

NCL’S Freestyle dining is a great concept that works well. All passengers seem to appreciate the freedom this type of dining offers. Passengers can dine at the restaurant and time they want which makes cruising more relaxed. Only the specialty restaurants require (or suggest) a reservation to guarantee seating for the day and time you would like to have dinner.

We did not attend the shows at night nor book excursions so I can not comment on these items.

NCL offers Express Disembarkation for passengers who can carry all their luggage off the ship. The passengers who choose Express Disembarkation must be American citizens, not booked on NCL airport transport with a few additional restrictions. This sounded like a great way for us to disembark the ship. It seemed that half the passengers choose this method to disembark. Despite announcements that passengers not report to deck 6 (exit), the area was packed with passengers and luggage clogging the exit and stairways at least 30 minutes prior to the announcement to begin disembarkation. Several passengers had difficulty managing their rolling luggage down the stairs which could have created a safety problem for other passengers. While this is a good idea, NCL should rethink how this might be better managed.

If you are planning a trip to Bermuda you should consider the CROWN for its service, food and itinerary.

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