January 5, 2008 arrived, the day of our meeting with the Crown Princess, a stormy morning was forecasted. Many questions about "How is Princess?" were going to be answered in a matter of hours. Our transportation arrived around 8am and we got in the car to travel from western Puerto Rico to the ship's homeport, San Juan. We were dropped off at Pier #4 around 9:15am, near the Sheraton Old San Juan, and the ship was there, whose beauty definitely made her the Princess of San Juan Bay. After getting some breakfast at Subway we started to wait patiently, which is not a problem with us since we have done that in our past 10 cruises. But, of all our cruises this was by far the worst embarkation experience ever with passengers still getting off the ship at noon!, after clearing the ship we finally get into the Pier for registration, after many struggles and disorganization of the Puerto Rico Ports Authority.

Saturday, January 5, 2008 San Juan, Puerto Rico Depart 11:00pm Other Ships in Port: Serenade of the Seas

We entered the gangway on Deck 6, near the Gatsby's Casino after 2pm, and immediately saw the famous Piazza, we proceeded to leave out things in our stateroom at Caribe deck to then lunch at the Horizon Court at Lido Deck. In our way, we ride the atrium elevators all the way to the pool where we saw the giant screen of Movies Under the Stars whose image was very clear even at sunshine. Our first dining experience was great, many items from fresh fruits, different styles of bread, meats, pastas, few desserts and many other side dishes were displayed on the different islands that made the buffet area of the restaurant. After eating a lot in the Horizon Court we went to tour the ship, but before that I wanted to make a reservation at the Crown Grill, went there, and asked when was the Caribbean night and they told us that it was the next day, we reserved our table for Sunday at 8:00pm, the venue was impressive and beautifully decorated. After leaving the Crown Grill we walked thru the deck (Promenade) to take pictures of the Explorer's Lounge and Club Fusion. We visited the Botticelli Dining Room to see our table, but it was closed, after that we went continue to tour the ship and visited the Skywalkers Nightclub, Sabatini's, Adagio, Wheelhouse Bar and the Princess Theater and finally ended the tour by visiting Vines and the International Cafe on Deck 5, the Piazza became our resting place during the cruise. At the International Cafe we tried the Gelato, I, thinking that a $1.50 3 scoop Gelato was going to be a small portion but I got shocked with the three MEGA scoops of Nutella Gelato, which was EXCELLENT, my sister tried the Stracciatello and my parents tried ours, other flavor was Tiramisu. Other items for an additional fee was the Chocolate Fondue for $5, Caramel Apples for $3, Chocolate Covered Strawberries for $1 and Tapas at the evening for $3. After that we went up to grab some pizza at Lido Deck. It was awful, the tomato sauce was odd and that ruined the pizza, disappointed we went to the Trident Grill which was very near in the opposite side of the pool, they offered: Hamburgers, Cheeseburgers, JUMBO Hot Dogs, Chicken Breast, Pork and Veal Bratwurst, Veggie Burger and French Fries. The cheeseburgers, chicken breast and hot dogs were excellent, so we did not care about the pizza when we wanted to take a snack, they opened from 11am to 1am. Some hours passed and we went to our stateroom to get ready to the drill at 8pm and then dine in Botticelli, the traditional dining room, at 8:15pm (second sitting). Our waiter was Florinel Patriarca from Romania and his assistant was Nelson Cardoso from India, the most professional service ever encountered in any dining room at any ship we have been. Food was excellent; they had many dishes that were always available in addition of the specialties of the night like the great Fettuccini Alfredo. After dining we went to the front of the ship at 10pm to see the Serenade of the Seas sailing, many great memories came to my mind, Serenade was the best (now second best) ship of all we've been. They passed us very near, and we felt like movie stars because every time we waived the ship, passengers started yelling happily from the Serenade, it was funny. We waited until 11pm when Crown Princess sailed beautiful San Juan, Puerto Rico heading to St. Thomas, U.S.V.I. Read more