Crown Princess Review
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This review covers the Crown Princess Scandinavia/Russia/'Berlin' cruise from 8/8/08 to 8/18/08. After being a CruiseCritic.com junkie for months prior to this sailing, I am glad to have the opportunity to contribute my own opinion.
Travel to port of embarkation: The biggest difficulty I had on this whole trip was the travel to and from the ship. Once aboard everything was worry free. I arrived in Copenhagen one day prior to sailing, but found my luggage did not make it. I wound up spending a couple of extra hours at the airport filing lost baggage reports and locating the Princess rep so he could get my bags to the ship if/when they did arrive. (NOTE - Although it appears that there is a line for the service window, one must actually get a number, like at the deli counter. They only serve people in the order of their numbers. Later, I met a family who travel to Copenhagen frequently who told me that they automatically go and get a number at baggage service, so they will be first in line when their luggage doesn't show up - apparently a common occurrence.)
It was very simple to take the train to downtown and find my hotel from there. This was made easier by the fact that I only had my carry-on bag to carry- (thanks, AirFrance). I stayed at The Square Hotel which was more than adequate. Great central location, nice buffet breakfast. Sorta small room, but large by European standards. I'm glad that I arrived a day early because it wasn't until the next morning that one of my bags arrived. I didn't see the other bag until on the ship after dinner the first night. The front desk called a cab but I think someone else grabbed it, so they called for another one which arrived within 10-15 minutes. I met a group of 6 in the lobby who were also on the Crown and ran into them onboard many times. Embarkation: I was planning to arrive at the port around 11 am. However, I was forced to go shopping in Copenhagen to replace the lost items from my luggage. None of the stores open before 10 am, so by the time I shopped and checked out of the hotel I didn't get to the ship until about 1 pm. Although Princess recommends avoiding this time of day, the lines moved quickly and I was aboard in about 20 minutes.