15-Day Caribbean Cruise Aboard the CROWN PRINCESS

We have been on Princess a few times before and on other cruise lines. This was a mega-bucks disappointment. About $20k for 28 days. Cabin and cabin steward, Clerry, excellent as per usual.

The Princess travel agent told us we had a king bed and were across the hall from the laundry room. Neither were true. What the hell.

And it didn’t get a lot better:

It’s like it was their first cruise ever and they have no experience in handling 3000 people. Lines at the International Cafe always confusing and people getting irritated. Lines at the dining room.. today the people with reservations are on the left- tomorrow- who knows. Disembarkation at the ports: go to the farthest side of the ship and get a ticket to get off. Then go wait somewhere for 30-90 minutes to hear your number. Then find out, you can just get in line anytime and go even without the ticket. And the lines come from 2 directions. Yeah, that doesn’t cause problems. It’s so easy to make CLEAR and Practical and Fair lines!! So unnecessary to waste everyone’s time and energy and cause stress!!

Shows were ok- Nathan Foley show was great.

If you like to use the fitness rooms, remember : if someone gets on a machine and wants to stay on it for an hour even when they are resting, that is just fine. Too bad for you and good for them- that’s actually on most cruises. We brought exercise bands this time so we didn’t have to go through that.

Shortest stops at ports of any cruise we have been on. Not cool. Not enough time to see a city you travel a long way to see. Two of the ports were ELIMINATED (2 out of the original 10.. that’s 1/5!). .and a couple were cut short. Too bad for us.

Food was definitely not their usual pretty good. The buffet was a train wreck. Again, the lines: I would describe it to you but you wouldn’t believe me. The food arrangement was bizarre: pudding next to the vegetables, etc. Food was definitely recycled a few times- pretty obvious. Dryest cakes ever. All of them.

Worst activities of any Princess cruise- they usually do a super job at that.. there’s actually a joke going around that the scavenger hunt should include trying to find the cruise director. 28 day cruise. I saw him a total of 35 minutes and we are out and about all day and evening. Shameful. The rest of the activity staff were just ok.

Shore excursions: our most important stop was the Great Barrier Reef. We paid $256 each.

We had to line up at 730am. By 930 we got on the 50 minute ferry. Sell sell sell different additional packages the whole time on the ferry. Our package included the ferry ride round trip and a snorkel trip or glass bottom boat trip for 30 minutes at 1130. (For $256? Yep) We opted for the glass bottom boat. We queued up at 1115am and got on the boat at 1205. Love to wait. The boat went out about 75 yards and we cruised around a tiny tiny area - like a city block. Done in 21 minutes. What a rip off. Green Island is not a good destination if you have a good sense of smell. The smell of bird feces is shocking and covers the pier and the entire island! Got back to the ship just in time to leave Cairns at 4pm - couldn’t see Cairns at all. No, you couldn’t return from Green Island earlier.

Princess Cruises needs a Six Sigma (or something similar) work over in a bad way- it would help them save money and get better reviews.

We already had 2 more Princess Cruises booked. Hawaii in January and a trans-Atlantic in April- seriously considering canceling the April trip to avoid another expensive disappointment. I feel like I got ripped off of my very hard-earned money. That’s a really icky feeling.

Our cabin was lovely. Fairly new carpet, comfy bed, but some trim worn. And furniture on balcony seen better days. Lots of paint splatters. However, still loved it. And very quiet.

We found many public areas of the ship uncomfortably cold. Just over 19 degrees Celsius, regardless of outside temperature. Needed a thick jumper and blanket for comfort. Mentioned it to guest services many times as not just us. Many people heard to complain. Heard crew say how cold it was and even an entertainer saying air conditioning was a problem. Nothing changed over weeks. The O’Malley’s Irish pub probably set to temperatures on west coast of Ireland in winter to give an authentic feel.

The theatre and other lounges are not big enough for the number of passengers. If you’re not in the theatre 20 minutes or more before a show or popular presentation, good luck in getting a seat.

Entertainment overall very good. Very good enrichment presentations and shows at night. Crew band fabulous. Singers and dancers amazing. Enjoyed most guest entertainment.

As a vegetarian I found food very good.

Vista Suite E732 on Deck 8 (Emerald) aboard the Crown Princess is a genuinely beautiful and very spacious aft-facing suite with an incredible wake view and a huge balcony.

The room itself is excellent — large bedroom area, seating/lounge space, two TVs, stocked bar area, separate sink/bar station, long hallway, and a very good-sized bathroom with strong shower pressure, bathtub, separate toilet and vanity areas with their own entrances/exits.

Our room attendant was fantastic and the overall service onboard was excellent.

Unfortunately, the major downside is the location. E732 sits directly above Club Fusion, with the live band stage and drum kit almost directly underneath the cabin.

The noise can be extremely loud and impossible to ignore. You can often hear the singer word for word, and you can clearly feel and hear the beat of the drums and music vibrating through the floor — especially in the bathroom and vanity area.

Music regularly continued until around 11pm, with fitness and dance classes starting again from around 8–9am.

If you like early nights, quiet time, or watching a movie in the room, this can become very frustrating.

The cabin itself is one of the nicest we’ve stayed in, but unfortunately the constant noise from below would stop us from booking E732 again.

Otherwise the cruise was excellent. We love the Crown Princess and this is our second cruise on this ship.

The food in the restaurants, particularly dinner in the Reserved Dining room for suite guests, was simply outstanding. Consistently exceptional every night. As was breakfast in Sabatinis each morning.