Crown Princess Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Alaskan cruise was great loved the ports staff was great and friendly.  Jane who cleaned are room was great and friendly. Bar staff at the bar on deck 16 was very friendly.  Rocky was great. 

Crown princess has good staterooms. Slightly dated decore but I understand the ship is going to be updated next year. The staff are wonderful and constantly try to please. Had a good itinerary with lots of options on board the ship or on the excursions.

Ship was a little worn.

Wished we could have stayed longer in some of the ports, seemed like the hours in port were weird,4 hours is just not enough to explore a town.All in all the towns were really nice.

Food was just so so, kind of disappointed from other cruises I have been on.

Harry Kroll with Cruises Only by far reach all of our expectation and exceeded them.By booking us on Princess Cruises which did excellent we felt like we received the best of both worlds,cruising and excursions.The food and services on the ship were fantastic and I can't begin to say enough about Alaska.

My husband and I enjoyed this cruise so much. From the very beginning when We checked in, everything was very organized and the personnel were very friendly. We loved the excursions we went on and Tracy Arm Ford was so beautiful. I think Princess does an excellent job and I like that they had plenty of things to do while we were out to sea. The shows were great and we especially loved the movies under the stars. My only complaints were that children were in the hot tubs which they shouldn't be allowed to do and I didn't like all the store advertisements and coupons left in our rooms every night. I think its a waist of paper and they should be in one place on the way out the door if people want to get them. 

The Crown Princess is attractive and well outfitted.  We were in a less expensive inner cabin, which was roomy enough and comfortable.  Food options were plentiful and varied. 

The staff was attentive, friendly, and constantly available.  We needed nothing that we were not offered.

We were just a bit disappointed in the taste of the food served in the restaurants.  Although the preparation was attractive it was not especially well seasoned or of the highest quality.  This was a common observation of those in our party.  However, if your kitchen is preparing food for 3,000, I'm sure there are some enormous challenges.

The captain's excursion into Tracy Arm for a view of the Sawyer Glacier was magnificent.  It was enlightening and entertaining to see how a thousand-foot vessel can turn on its own axis in a narrow channel.

Overall - Good cruise.  Plenty to see, relaxing, good shore options.

We loved the cruise.  The destinations were great.  Two destinations were for only 5 hours which wasn't enough time to explore. As far as the cruise line - there was a mix up with our room which they didn't seem to care about.  Some of the staff were rude.  At one point my husband asked if that person didn't like working for Princess.  After that he changed his attitude but some employees really didn't care about the passengers at all. The worst part was the photography.  There was no system for looking for pictures that Princess took.  Many passengers were frustrated and, rather than looking for their pictures and sorting which ones they want, they just quit looking or taking pictures.  I mentioned it to someone and they said, "our new ships have a system."  We took a Carnival Cruise 10 years ago and they had a better system then.

Remarkable! The crew on board this ship was amazing. The took notice of all the little details and treated you so well. Our waiter, Diogenes and Jr waiter, Bryan were top notch. The ship was so clean. The food... Beyond Amazing! I highly recommend this ship and this cruise.

My only negative comment would be that there were too short stops in Ketchikan and Victoria. Would have loved to have been in both ports longer.

I am not much of a cruise person, otherwise, I may have giving it a higher star level.   The cruise was very restful.  I wanted to sleep most of the time!  I went to one of the shows and was a bit disappointed in the quality.  Living close to Pigeon Forge, I have seen much better performances.  The food was on the buffet had a variety.  Night times meals in the former dining room was superior.  Employees made me feel welcomed everywhere.  My stateroom was refreshed twice a day and the room stewards always gave me pleasant greetings in the hallways.  The scenery was breath taking.  I wish we had more time to experience Victoria.  Loved it there!  

couldn't be better,excellent. I would tell anyone this is the cruise to go on. the entertainment was excellent,food very good,and the cruise workers excellent. the glacier sight seeing was excellent.

My husband & I have cruised with Costa (Mediterranean & Baltic Seas), Thompson (Red Sea Egypt & Jordan), Carnival (Bahamas) & Royal Caribbean (Caribbean fm San Juan PR). Princess was highly recommended for Alaskan cruise. Boarding was pretty smooth. Pros:  Our balcony stateroom was larger than the balcony stateroom we had on Royal Caribbean.  Cabin Steward was spot on in cleaning, refreshing room.  We prepaid gratuities. Cruise highlight was day spent in Glacier Bay. Captain rotated the ship at north end so all passengers could get close-up view from their stateroom. Loved classical music played on ship TV channel between narration by Park Rangers.  Room service was excellent.  Buffet was usual but we ate in dining room each night and service, selection, presentation & portions were superb.  Way more than a small woman like myself could eat.  Desserts were outstanding.  Ship had nice tee shirts 2 for $20 (we bought 4) & costume rings 2 for $34.99 (bought 4). We took shore excursions at each port & enjoyed them very much.  Tour bus drivers were very knowledgeable and explained sights in a clear distinct voice. One complaint about tour in Skagway to Klondike (White) Pass.  Driver took us to Pass but did not stop & did not let us know he was not going to stop.  I was busy putting on my coat to get out of bus & missed getting a photo.  He instead came back to the Welcome to Alaska sign & stopped there.  All drivers were willing to take a photo of me & my husband together & we tipped them.  Musical entertainment in Crown Theater was good.  Loved Derrick the comedian.  His act was family friendly, PG & super funny.  Liked the Chef'’s demonstration & tour of massive kitchen. Cons: Cruise appeared to be too focused on shopping - onboard & in port.  Passengers receive coupon books with tickets for raffles but must go to each store to get them punched before entering.  We didn’t do it. We went to a presentation in theater that included a raffle but it was actually just a marketing presentation that lasted too long.  The ship has an employee who led this session.  His job is to push sales of jewelry & other items. Passengers received coupons for free bracelet & a free charm in each port to get passengers into jewelry stores.  Free jewelry is very low quality - not worth the effort.  Mass confusion first morning passengers disembarked for tours. Maybe because our cruise was only 2nd of season.  Didn’t always know which deck to disembark from but always found it even though it was different from day before.  Overall, it was a great cruise & I would recommend Princess to others. 

Anytime you put 3100 passengers of different cultures on a captive platform there will be "moments".  The crew and staff of the Crown Princess went to great efforts to lessen these moments.  The ship is big and nice with excellent food but that is expected.  Many places to dine and varied activities but you are still captive on a boat during the cruising time.  The towns and activities in Alaska were great and worth the effort.  If you are a shopaholic then you will be in nirvana.  The shore activities can keep you completely occupied if shopping is not your thing.  Costs involved with everything, but again this is expected.  The Tracy Arm fjord is a highlight for the cruise time.  The Crown Princess shows that it has experience with cruising as this was a first time experience for us but they smoothed the way with better than expected communications.  Take all the "extra" packages involved with moving luggage and yourselves to and from the boat.  This removes much of the traveling hassle as you don't have to handle your luggage as they do the work for a small price.  After listening to many war stories with passengers I definitely recommend getting to the boat (1) day early to remove the stress of getting to the boat on-time.  Slows the pace and removes the stress.  Prepare for long times for eating whether anytime of traditional as the quickest we had a meal was 75 minutes but most were 90 to 120 minutes.  This may be a designed process to keep you occupied and slow down the pace but to us it just took much longer then needed to have a meal.  Eat at the buffet and the only wait is the line to get started.  Also if eating at the buffet have someone secure a table while the others get food.  You can find yourself with a plate of food looking for a place to sit.  The food is excellent and you will need to take the stairs or put on the pounds.  Entertainment is pretty good to good and at times excellent.  There is no censoring on any of the movies so be prepared for this if you have children or like us don't like a constant barrage of F bombs in your movies.

All in all a worthwhile experience and not as much of a hassle or the herd mentality experience that we were expecting.  Prepare to be pampered by the crew of the Crown Princess as they have been trained and perform well.  Princess has it's own docks so you  never had to be tendered off the boat and they were usually ready to disembark about 30 minutes after port arrival.  Their process is well honed and this was just the second journey this year for the Alaskan cruise.  Have fun, we did.

The cruise was well organized and entertaining.  The staff is well trained and did a wonderful job.  Everything was done to make the guest comfortable and happy.

we took this cruise late May 2015.  This was our first time on Princess (last cruise was on Royal Caribbean)  I guess we expected more from Princess which is why we booked Princess instead of RC to Alaska---The cruise was great--the ports good- we particularly liked Skagway.  But I think the overall experience was better on RC.  Princess seemed to have some problems (entertainment---there was a comedian the first two nights because the crew couldn't set up the lighting correctly for the musical show)

The food and service:  most of the time in the anytime dining we had great experiences.  Once however we decided to try the dining room for lunch.  We ordered the lobster crepes (which oddly turned out to be deep fried...) and waited for at least 30 mins or more for entree to arrive.  To his credit our waiter continually updated us and apologized-  We did notice some people left without eating.

Specialty restaurants:  this was a problem.  There are two specialty restaurants aboard the ship which you pay a premium $25 additional per person.  It's supposed to be a special experience.  It was terrible.  We dined at Sabatini's.  The dining room did not seem overly crowded so to have to wait 25 mins or more between courses is unacceptable.  In addition the waitress never came to explain the delay nor apologize.  The quality of the food should have redeemed this delay.  It did not.  We ordered the lobster three ways.  The lobster tail was tasteless and the texture spongy.  The orzo had "crunchy" mushrooms in it.  This was a disappointment.  Since this restaurant carries a premium charge high quality should be expected.

Shore excursions:  we opted to bypass the Princess excursions and book our own relying on Tripadvisor reviews.  We found a wonderful tour in Skagway.  Instead of the two hour Yukon train ride which has spectacular views but not much else we decided to pay the same amount to arrive at the same Yukon destination by van (24 people) for a 6 hour tour - This option was much better.  We saw spectacular scenery and the driver stopped for wildlife-(we saw five bears on the way) and stopped for photos.  All the while telling interesting stories about the region.  The lunch in Yukon and the sled dog puppies were also great. The fact that this was not a Princess arranged tour was NOT a problem-- the operator was waiting right as we walked off the ship The operator was Frontier Excursions.

we did book the Juneau Princess Salmon bake and it was pricey but something you must do while in Alaska. 

We were thrilled with our cruise with Princess! Staff treated us like royalty, food was outstanding especially in the Crown Grill and Alaska was beyond gorgeous!!! I highly recommend sailing with Princess and the Alaskan cruise with Glacier Bay!!

The Princess California cruise has a nice itinerary for those wishing to get a flavor of four west coast cities, while not having to drive, pack, unpack, and face the many inconveniences of trying to tour a very large state.  As California residents it is more of a getaway to familiar places that most of us have visited.  We actually found the cruise to be not what we were hoping for.  While the food was excellent, and the ports interesting, we found life aboard ship to be a series of "made up" excitement and a lot of noise, which is not our taste on a cruise.  As serial cruisers around the world, we have always preferred educational experiences to a constant barrage of games, made up events, and opportunities to be pitched by people aboard selling all manner of stuff.  In addition our particular cruise was composed of mostly older folks [we are too] and a large majority of very heavy folks, who seemed to be there for the food, which was excellent and plentiful.  The Princess crew does a terrific job and the cruise directors are informative, hilarious, and everywhere.  In the end we still prefer a quieter, more educational experience with fewer sales pitches, and more expenses covered in our basic cruise fee.  By the way, we had a mini suite, which was a good value.

 The staff and cleanliness were excellent. The food in the Lido dining room was much better than the food in the main dining-room. On 3 different days we were given bath towels with holes in them. They shrunk the state room in this ship leaving us with only one comfortable chair to sit on. This cruise was not up to Princess standards tha I experience in the past 

Not impressed with this cruise at all. We have been on seven cruises and a variety of Cruise lines so we have lots to compare it to. Lackluster crew, slightly snotty servers in the dining room, and a total lack of fun, organized activities. And speaking if irganized activities, the few that were planned were scheduled to begin at simultaneous times so one had to choose one activity from the two or (at the most) three scheduled. The "anytime dining" was actually a scheduled time - not anytime at all. We had to to report to one if two dining rooms: one began early "anytime" dining at 5:30pm and the second began its "anytime" service at 7:30pm. One evening we went to the Michealangelo dining area (which was the 7:30pm "anytime" dining schedule by mistake and were briskly told to go downstairs to the DaVinci (early scheduled) dining room. We reported to the DaVinci dining room as directed and were told there was no room for us there. We were escorted back upstairs to the other dining room and were seated at the upstairs venue. Good grief. The entire dining experience was this jumbled and any request outside if their schedule, their norm, was met with a bristled back and annoyance.  The cafeteria style dining was set up in a circulate food station. Once you entered, you were stuck in the rotation regardless of which food choice you may want to have - the herd moved slowly and one had to juggle salad plates and hot dishes in order to avoid entering the vicious circle again. Poorly designed and poorly managed!  The only salvation if the entire journey was found at the Wheelhouse Bar. Each day at 3:pm until 4:pm was Happy Hour in which drinks could be purchased two-for-one - as long as both were the exact same drink. Yes, Happy hour was scheduled way too early, but without it we may have jumped over-board. I don't think we will choose Princess lines in the future and never, ever the Crown Princess! 

WE have, been on numerous cruises now and think this cruise was one of the worst.cabins seemed like they needed a refeshing, buffet was the smallest we have encountered on a ship , and not all that special, just mediocre, activities during the day were totally boring, and the ones that did sound good were all at the same time, so you had to pick one and miss the rest. Will not cruise on princess again as this was our second on them and the first was not much better.Need to update there ships food and entertainment, after all that is why people cruise

I thought I would give Princess a second try. While we had a good time in spite of the negative aspects of the ship, we will not cruise with Princess again.

First the positives:

1. Embarkation was orderly and relatively strafer. It is basically first come first some contrary to the website which says it is an assigned time based on the location of ones's cabin.

2. The Public areas of the ship were pleasant

3. The Specialty Restaurants are far superior to the Main Restaurant in terms of food and service.

4. The multiple pool areas catered to multiple tastes of the guest. We enjoyed the small protected area in the rear of the ship.

5. Breakfast Buffet was satisfactory, although pancakes and waffles were pre-made which made them rubbery and room temperature.. Also the orange juice which was served by wait staff was warm.

6. The Pizza at the mid ship pool area was very good.

7. The room steward, Christian, was very friendly, unobtrusive and efficient.

8. Disembarkation (we chose Express Walk off) was orderly and extremely fast.

The negatives were:

1. The ship was in need of renovation. Most of the rugs and upholstery were worn. The deck areas were there was indoor/outdoor carpeting was torn and worn, The  Exterior had many rusted areas that needed painting. The golf area on the top deck was in disrepair and unusable.

2. The inability to make restaurant reservations pre=cruise, forced one to spend 2 hours one once  boarded the trip to make the reservations in person instead of via the internet or by phone prior to the cruise. Effectively, I spent the first two hours of my vacation having to pre-arrange reservations. This was not a good way to start out my vacation.

3. We chose "Anytime Dining" in the Main Dining Room. This is a misnomer and misleading, in that one could only reserve specific times: 5:30PM, 7:30PM and 8:30 PM. This was hardly "Anytime". Additionally, if one wanted to reserve one of these 3 times, one had to do it the day you wished to make the reservation. It was not possible to make reservations in advance which was inconvenient.

4. Service in the Main Dining Room was consistently slow. We attributed this to the Dining Room being understaffed.

5. While this is subjective, the menu choices were too few and too fussy. The "Everyday" menu were totally uninteresting. No where could you just order a stake, or roasted chicken, or any other comfort food item. I was only the dull choices they gave you. The only time stake was offered was on the last evening of the cruise. All other evenings, there were different variations of "beef medallions" of low graded beef. The shrimp cocktail was a joke. It consisted of 6 small limp shrimp on a bed of limp lettuce placed in a metal shrimp dish, but the metal shrimp dish which  was designed to hold ice to keep the shrimp cold, was empty, and to make matters worse it was placed on a very hot plate which transmits the heat to the shrimp and ruins the shrimp altogether. The food, in general was mediocre at best

6. The casino design was not pleasant and made one feel they were in a casino on Fremont Street in Las Vegas. It was dark and uninviting. Obviously this is and subjective assessment.

7. No effort was made to take precautions against Norovirus. There were hand alcohol dispensers at the entrance of the buffet and the Main Ding Room but no one from the staff insured that these dispensers were consistently used or even filled with alcohol gel unlike our experience with Celebrity Cruises which had staff at entrances to all dining venues and their sole purpose was to insure everyone used the dispensers.Itw as therefore no doubt that 23 passengers got Norovirus during the last 3 days of the cruise at which time, Princess finally had staff assigned to serve food.

8. The ship docked at 7:00AM in Cabo San Lucas and departed at 1:00PM. This was hardly enough time to be in port and was unacceptable. The passengers we spoke to all felt the same way.

9. The design of the ship made it impossible to walk from one end of the ship to the other end on decks 5 and 6 due to the placement of the Main Dining Rooms and their adjacent kitchens. This was definitely an inconvenience at times.

10. The elevators were interminably slow. Everyone complained about them.

11. I would say 50% of the staff was not friendly which effected the onboard experience.