GREAT ITINERARY, GREAT CRUISE

Item: Crown Princess
Rating: 4.4
Author: smayhew

Crown Princess Cruise Review to Caribbean - Southern

smayhew

Contributor Level: Second Mate

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 4

Helpful Votes: 154

Overall rating:

4.4 out of 5

10 Night Southern Caribbean Medley (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)

Sail date: December 07, 2019

Ship: Crown Princess

Cabin type: Suite

Cabin number: R412

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 4 years ago

Review summary

Great itinerary. This was our third Princess Cruise and we’ve realized we enjoy the Regal Princess and Royal Princess layout much better than that of the Crown. Staff onboard the Crown were amazing and so attentive. The ship is very clean. It’s a bit older and showing some signs of her age, but I’d like to stress that in no way is she lacking in service (other than buffet hot food line) and/or cleanliness. Relaxing cruise.

Embarkation

4 out of 5

Fast and easy.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

Specialty restaurant Crown Grill is amazing. Exceptional food and service. Make sure to try the flavored salts with your meal. Club Class Dining is top notch. International Cafe very good. The buffet was lacking in many ways. Very congested/chaotic food lines, few main course choices, inattentive/aggravated food line staff. Waiters in the buffet area were very attentive and helpful. We were not fans of Slice Pizzaria. We were spoiled with Alfredo’s on Royal Princess and Regal Princess and were very disappointed with Slice. Burgers and dogs at Salty Dog Grill were very good. Room Service food was adequate but not great (brown scrambled eggs, some cold dishes). Room service staff on time and polite.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

Loved afternoon trivia! Fitness center nicely equipped and spotless. Saunas, steam rooms and ceramic loungers in thermal suite very relaxing. Disappointed with adults only pool area as staff did not address mothers with young toddler children in the adults only pool. I love kids, but not when they’re making lots of noise in a kid free zone. Some elders who were relaxing and reading in the peace and quiet, got up and left during this particular event. Please grown ups, follow the rules. There were many other options for kids.

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Saw several shows and enjoyed most, but overall, not the caliber performances we expect on Princess. Everyone has different tastes and understandably, it’s hard to please all the people all the time. We were also a little disappointed with Movies Under the Stars selections this cruise. Again, understandably, you can’t please everyone all the time. We still enjoyed the area and relaxing under the stars.

Children's Programs

Traveled without children.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Excellent service all the way around. Our steward, Rodel, was personable and attentive. Club Class dining staff was absolutely top notch. We had excellent service in every area of the ship.

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

The Crown Princess is showing her age a bit. She is spotlessly clean, but looking a little tired here and there.

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

We were in the Aruba Suite. Lovely cabin. We did have loose tiles in the bathrooms that were repaired same day it was reported. Balcony furniture was very worn and not as neat as we’d imagined it would be. Bed was extremely comfortable and linens were amazing. We had nice upgraded bath towels and bath amenities. Very clean and roomy suite. We did have issues with the televisions which were hung back to back. Sometimes the remote would cause both TVs to react and not operate independently. Small, but noteworthy issues!

Ship tip

There is no right or wrong way to cruise! Enjoy it as you wish. We had an amazingly relaxing experience. And, do try a specialty restaurant. The Crown Grill was delicious!

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida Did not visit port

Have visited here many times independently.

Thumbs Up 1

Princess Cays (Cruise Line Private Island) Did not visit port

We’ve visited this port several times. It’s a beautiful place for a beach day. We loved exploring the ship in lieu of a beach day.

Thumbs Up 1

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

5 out of 5

We love the views from the mountain top. We’ve taken excursions here and this trip we rode the tram up the mountain and enjoyed the port views.

Thumbs Up 1

Roseau, Dominica Did not visit port

We chose to stay onboard and enjoy the ship.

Thumbs Up 1

St. George's, Grenada

5 out of 5

We had a wonderful tour in Grenada. Grand Etang Park, Annandale Falls and Dougalston Spice Estate. Highly recommend this tour. Loved the natural beauty of the island and the happy, friendly residents.

Thumbs Up 2

Bonaire, Netherlands Special Municipality

5 out of 5

Absolutely beautiful. Can’t wait to go back. Amazing water, very clean.

Thumbs Up 3

Willemstad, Curacao

5 out of 5

Loved Curaçao and can’t wait to return. Lovely Dutch influences, fun port areas, beautiful water. We toured the liquor factory and the beach. Fun people, colorful buildings.

Thumbs Up 1

Disembarkation

5 out of 5

So easy! We were off the ship and at the airport in under an hour. We are accustomed to this with Princess. Always fast and easy!

Traveler Photos

6 Comments

Gwbigdog 2 years ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise.

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Gwbigdog 2 years ago

Thanks

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cruisereckoning 4 years ago

Thanks for the review

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Fiesta83 4 years ago

Glad you enjoyed your cruise

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smayhew 4 years ago

@KellyT94 The Royal Class ships are a bit larger, Piazza/Atrium is much more spacious and the location of the spa is on Deck 5, just past guest services. The spa on the Crown was above the lido deck, which seemed very awkward to me. The buffet area on the Crown is very congested and cramped. The buffet on Royal class is very nicely done, spacious and easier to navigate. These are the major differences for me. Hope this helps.

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KellyT94 4 years ago

What makes you like the layout of the others better?

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