Posted by Nancy D. Brown

Princess Cruises Crown Princess for a Day - Desiree

Did you ever play dress up as a child or trick-or-treat dressed as a Princess?  Ever fantasized about your ultimate wedding?

After a day at sea as a guest of Princess Cruises Crown Princess, I’ve experienced the pampering of the Lotus Spa, wandered into the adult-only Sanctuary and gazed upon a bride-to-be as she transformed from a fiancee to a newlywed, to half of a honeymooning couple on her wedding day. All of this took place during a day at sea.

SPA TIPS

As a newbie to cruising, I’ve learned that it’s best to book your spa treatment in advance if you’d like your appointment to be during a day at sea. Often times, spa treatments can be less expensive if you schedule them during a day in port. My masseuse on the Crown Princess noted that prices may drop toward the end of a 15 day cruise.

Crown Princess Thermal Suite

Have you tried the Aroma Stone Therapy massage? For cruisers allocating dollars to pampering, the cost is $195. As a guest of Princess Cruises I was fortunate to enjoy 75 minutes of bliss at the Lotus Spa. They were running a little behind on my visit, so I was escorted into the Thermal Suite and promptly settled into a heated ceramic lounge chair.

Recycling Program On Board Crown Princess

After pouring myself a cup of lemon water, I was pleased to see that Crown Princess had a container for recycling the paper cups alonside the water pitcher. For a ship of this size, carrying 3,000 passengers, it is reassuring to know that Princess Cruises cares about their environmental impact.

While cruising Alaska recently, on Holland America Lines Westerdam, I enjoyed hanging out in their Thermal Suite while I watched the ship sail scenic Tracy Arm. If your ship has a thermal suite looking out over the water, the minimal cost of a half day pass might land you the best seat in the house!

Escape to The Sanctuary

Adult-Only Sanctuary on Crown Princess

For those of us hoping to escape loud children or loud adults, for that matter, The Sanctuary is an adults-only retreat located on deck 17. Guests may purchase a half day pass for $10 or full day pass for $20. Additional amenities such as MP3 players with Bose headphones or an Evian Face Mist, at $3.50 a pop, will further isolate the noises of the outside world and leave you feeling moisturized and toned (according to the brochure.)

Personally, if I had a budget for pampering, I would try the cabana massage for $119, accompanied with a little cabana cuisine. Afterall, I’d be on vacation.

What are your recommendations for a day at Sea?

You can follow along on my discoveries via the #FollowMeAtSea hashtag I’m using on Twitter.

All photos courtesy of Nancy D. Brown

Related Posts:

Environmental Impact of Cruise Ships

Princess Cruise To Western Caribbean

Posted by Nancy D. Brown

Crown Princess

In a week, I’m sailing to the Western Caribbean. This is my first trip to the Caribbean and my first Princess Cruise, with exotic ports of call including the Grand Cayman Island, Honduras, Cozumel, Mexico and the Bahamas. What a Trip!

Along with several other tweeting travel writers, I was invited by Princess Cruises to take a hosted trip and share my experiences as part of a first-ever “Twitter Press Trip.”

Check back here  for some videos and posts along the way. You can follow along on my discoveries via the #FollowMeAtSea hashtag I’ll use on Twitter.

I’ll share details from my Aroma Stone Therapy massage to shore excursions in each location including swimming with sting rays and a dolphin encounter at Anthony’s Key Resort & Tabyana Beach. I’ll be horseback riding at Punta Sur State Refuge in Cozumel, Mexico and snorkeling at Princess Cays in the Bahamas.

Truth in Travel

One of the reason I like Twitter; immediate feedback or in some cases, fallout. There’s been a lot of tweeting about “Truth in Travel.” On Twitter the hashtag is #twethics. As I mentioned above, this is a hosted trip, yet I will do my best to present an honest take on our cruise.

I also hope to learn about Princess Cruises’ efforts on keeping green while sailing the big blue.

#FollowMeAtSea Princess Twitter Trip

You can follow me, along with other travel tweeters on Twitter.

@Nancydbrown

Gary Arndt @EverywhereTrip

Anita Dunham-Potter @ExpertCruiser

Kim Mance, Shanna Quinn & Courtney McGann @Galavanting

@cherilucas

@JohnnyJet

@PrincessCruises

Shannon Hurst Lane @Cajun_Mama

Simone di Santi @ARoadRetraveled

Related Posts:

Environmental Impact of Cruise Ships

Princess Cruises Crown Princess -Day at Sea

The students were on the plane, headed for New York, when Robin Album got the e-mail asking for help. Seems a volunteer had dropped the ball and some teens, including Sweden's Denise Larsson, needed homes. Robin and Jeff had considered hosting an exchange student and now the opportunity was knocking at the front door.

"It's been a great experience for us," notes Robin. "Acalanes has been welcoming to Denise." Their 15-year-old daughter, Micayla Album, will visit and work in Sweden this summer with Denise's family.

Happy Valley's Ann & Peter Appert's daughters have experienced international travel through exchange programs. Grace, an Acalanes junior, spent a month in very rural, poor Guadeloupe in the Caribbean. She was a volunteer doing trail maintenance and rebuilding a playground destroyed by a hurricane. Twin sister Jane lived with a family in Spain for a month studying Spanish. Freshman Caroline visited Denmark when she was eleven with Children's International Summer Villages, CISV, but that's another column in itself.

Dana and Ken Yzurdiaga welcomed a Barcelona teen into their Burton Valley home last summer for a month. They showed him the west coast and then daughter Linda, a Campolindo senior, went to Spain and toured the coast of Brava and Catalonia.

"Because he was a family friend," notes Dana, "it was a different experience than an unknown student. It was a real cultural exchange."

Lafayette's John and Sally Breul and their trio of blonde boys have learned a lot about the civil unrest in war-torn DR Congo since they "adopted" their fourth son in 2004. Campolindo Senior Wilita Sanguma came into the Breul's life in 2001 when John met Mossai Sanguma through his involvement with Moraga Presbyterian Church. The church sponsored Sanguma while he earned his PhD. at Pasadena's Fuller Seminary. Upon Sanguma's graduation his family returned to the Congo, but with the war, there was no school for Wilita to attend. The schools were burned because the youth were supposed to fight, not attend school.

"Living here has been a cornerstone for me," reflects Wilita. In Pasadena he didn't feel safe. "People have respect here," adds Wilita. He feels he's lucky to have his African family and his American family.

"Since Wilita's been with us, our kid's have a sense that the worlds a bigger place," notes Sally Breul.

Student travel isn't the only way to experience another culture. On a recent visit to the Lafayette Health Club, conversations in French could be heard from the tread mill. Native Francophiles Carole Hagglund and Catherine Maiden were discussing Hagglund's role as a community counselor. With her fluent French and as a mother of a teen daughter, Hagglund can relate with the au pairs, as well as represent the Connecticut-based agency, Au Pair in America.

Orinda's Freddy Moran continues to expand her quilting empire and has given new meaning to taking her show on the road. Unless you consider a cruise ship the path less traveled!

"I was teaching quilting on board, but now I'm focusing on the West and East coast,"states Moran. Known for her use of vibrant fabric colors, Moran says the mid West tends to prefer neutral tones such as brown and black. "I don't seem to appeal to the mid West," laughs Moran. She teaches in Maine every year for a week. "I go the first part of October with the Leaf Peepers." She's off to LeConnor, Washington, home of the tulips, for a three month quilt show. LeConnor reminds her of how Sausalito used to look in the 1950's.

Have you experienced travel from a service-oriented perspective? That's our focus next month.