NCL Crown tour report
Benjamin Smith
Island Branch of the Steamship Historical Society of America (SSHSA). The
weather was clear and warm and I was a bit under the weather with stomach
ailments.
Norwegian Crown does the NYC-Bermuda-NYC 7 day run during the
spring/summer. The ship's inaugural was 1988 and formerly was part of the
now defunct Royal Cruise Line fleet as the Crown Odyssey. Its a small ship
these days, I recently saw an 85,000 ton ship referred to as "medium"
sized. I'm thinking 70,000 plus has gone from megaship to standard sized
ship and its been up about 10,000+ with the new ships on order. Crown is
around 34,000 tons.
When boarding the Crown one enters the 2 level lobby but the first thing I
noticed was an outside stateroom in a corridor right outside of the lobby.
It was nice with pleasant pastel colors, nice overall size, nice sized
bathroom and the bedspread is the same as the one of the Wind/Dream in
NCL's latest brochure. The lobby could be described as a two deck atrium
with the staircase as the centerpiece and a few art sculptures surrounding
it. It's a nice area, the brass is well shined, peachy colors and the
ceiling is nice stained glass, a decor element effectively used in many
areas of the ship particularly the stairwells and in the "gallery"
passageway between the lobby and the restaurant. Sinage is elegant, the
reception desk and shore excursions office done in peach colored marble
that was overly polished.
It was a self tour and my wife and I decided to do a top down tour. We
found ourselves on the suite deck which NCL calls "apartments". They *are*
a decent sized New York City apartment, true large suite sized for a ship,
all containing a large private veranda. They are in different styles
including tropic style and Asian style.
Decor differs in style than on the other NCL ship I've been aboard, the
Leeward which is a bit more art deco inspired. Overall the ship's lighting
and decor is darker with more elaborate ceilings creating a fairly
traditional ambiance within. Some public areas are rather monochromatic
favoring burgundy and rose hues such as the Stardust Lounge and Rendezvous
Bar, the Monte Carlo court and casino which take up about 2/3 of the
Odyssey Deck, the interior public areas deck. There are some very light
public areas favoring wicker seating and white or off white colors such as
the Lido bar and an area outside of the Yacht Club. The top of the Crown is
a nice horseshoe shaped observation lounge located midship and has a nice
glass dancefloor, large windows with views. The sports bar is more pub like
and less casual than that of the Leeward and from what I can tell from pics
of the Dream/Wind. A nice room is the Yacht club which is dark and uses
warm wood veneers with seating using a navy blue fabric and containing a
central area with bar. The interesting thing about this area is that it is
used as a buffet area and crowds quickly and the ambiance simply seems more
of a club ambiance than a restaurant. But this was the lido area serving
lunch to the embarking passengers.
Unlike some of the newer NCL ships the Crown has only one dining room. It
is large, full of mirrors, cut glass, very light off white with stackable
type seating and all on one level. Lots of mirrors and cut glass in various
designs are used for the ceiling. This is unlike the Leeward which had two
dining rooms with high back, paisley designed armless seating creating a
different type of ambiance. Leeward also had a beautiful Le Bistro with
impressionist like paintings on the wall and many flower displays. I prefer
the dining areas in Leeward to those of the Crown. I found them more
intimate and elegant.
The spa and gymnasium area is located in a curious place. It is really on a
crew deck, deck 2. It's nice though, attractive, a few Cybex machines and
stationary bikes, and a nice spa-like atmosphere with pool and jacuzzis.
Steiners operates in the beauty shop and health areas, like on so many
ships, and they greet you to sell you their services and products in the
lobby.
I'm happy to report that unlike the Leeward, which had marginal maintenance
and cleanliness, the maintenance and cleanliness of the Crown is very good.
The ship showed good care to brass areas, carpeting was mostly clean and
did not show the wear and neglect that the Leeward exhibited, upholstery
was well cared for on an eleven year old ship (I'm sure it was refurbished
because I've seen earlier pics of the Crown and the fabrics were
different). The lido food seemed similar to the Leeward however, so-so to
good. Drinks seemed to be pushed only moderately unlike the Leeward where
it seemed everywhere one turned a member of the staff was offering drinks
in souvenier glasses. NCL shows more care to the Crown but both Leeward and
Crown are leaving the NCL fleet.
There was a wedding going onboard while we were on the ship. Music played
in the Monte Carlo court was mellow standards by a pianist.
Overall this ship has much of the ambiance, intimacy, and feel of a liner,
not a modern, or scaled down modern megaship. The lobby feels like an
intimate foyer and ship lobby, not really like a brass and glass multi deck
type of atrium one finds on RCI's Nordic Empress, a similar vintage ship
doing the NYC-Bermuda route. The public areas have soft lighting, views of
the seas, and elaborate details to the ceilings and small decorative
touches that one puts into ship design (frosted glass, crystal ceilings,
one fiber optic peacock found!). One area which does not quite live up to
in terms of being an oceanliner is the promenade area. The area is narrow,
probably too narrow for loungers. None were placed on the promenade when we
were aboard. Rear deck areas were properly tiered with plenty of deck
teaked deck space for passengers.
Personally while I like the ship and was pleased to see it well maintained
and clean I would not choose to sail aboard her over the Leeward of the NCL
fleet or the other ship sailing to Bermuda that I've been aboard, the
Zenith. Overall I liked the Leeward's brighter decor, art deco touches and
diversity of public areas. The Leeward is closer to the Wind and Dream from
what I can tell. I find it interesting that the Crown, Wind/Dream and
Leeward all use the same carpeting in their casinos, black carpeting with a
purple pattern. The Crown is just a bit dark for me, even with the bright
areas and bright and pleasant staterooms. The Zenith, although fairly dark
in some public areas and serious, feels warmer for me due to a liberal use
of high quality wood veneer and wood paneled areas and the ship has a more
formal "feel" so it seems a bit more appropriate. The Zenith also has an
inside promenade which I enjoyed and has brighter stairwells and elevator
landings and a more intimate feeling dining room with elaborately patterned
seating and, at least I saw, more displays of flowers.
NCL did not do as good a job of feeding our group as the last ship the
SSHSA toured, the Carnival Paradise. Buffet trays were placed on two small
tables which led to long lines. They ran out of chicken and the hor
d'ouerves were completely forgettable. Carnival held its reception for our
group in a smaller lounge but had more accessible and faster wait staff to
care for us, and just had more variety and fresher tasting food for the
SSHSA ship tourers.
I'd recommend this ship strongly if you want a ship that feels like a
traditional ship and like its small size. If you don't want flash, and
like stained glass, subdued brightwork and a moderate level of elegance. If
you don't mind the so so buffet presentation, a buffet area that just does
not seemed designed to be a buffet area, and what seemed to me to be tight
space ratio or a more formal feeling ship like HAL or Celebrity. The Crown
has her own charm and I understand her "cult" appeal, the many who like to
sail her multiple times. Overall, a very fine, well maintained, clean ship.
Ben S.
Benjamin Smith
wrote:
> Sinage is elegant, the
>reception desk and shore excursions office done in peach colored marble
>that was overly polished.
>
Should say NOT overly polished.
Piphy
excited about my trip on the crown this year i'm going to burst. whew,
responding to two posts in one day.. perhaps i'm learning not to lurk :o)
thanks for the review it was great. and i hope your stomache feels better.
gael epiphany (cruise addict in training)
CupCaked
> whew,
> responding to two posts in one day.. perhaps i'm learning not to lurk :o)
Guess you can't call yourself a lurker anymore, eh? :)
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