My Review of the Crown Princess

If you read my blogs then you will know I have recently returned back from the Mediterreanean Adventure Cruise on the Crown Princess (22nd April – 6th May), this was my only holiday and so Nick was able to come with me and experience Princess Cruises for his first time (my second cruise).

Due to our P&O Peninsular points we went straight in at the corresponding levels on Princess Cruises Captains Club – so I was lucky enough to be an elite passenger and Nick was platinum level – this meant at Southampton we were able to check straight in at the preferred check-in desks and  sit in the elite lounge. Boarding commenced on our sailing around 11:45 and was a more efficient and quick process compared to P&O. Walking on board our cabins were ready straight away and so we could leave our day bags and explore our new home for 14 nights.

Having been on more modern ships on our last few cruises (Harmony of the Seas, Anthem of the Seas etc) it felt like we had stepped back a bit in time,  as the ship had a more traditional feel to her with darker wood furniture in the bars, the restaurants had older decor of pictures on the wall.  The piazza was the atrium on board and spanned over 3 floors with the International Cafe which was open 24 hours a day serving sandwiches, salads, cakes, Princess cruises famous cookies and pastries all complimentary and perfect if you want a lighter lunch – but you do pay for coffees if you order one from here.  On deck 7 you had the crooners bar overlooking the Piazza and on deck 6 is where the shops are.  On the captains Welcome night there is also the Champagne Glass Waterfall

This ship has an identical layout to the Azura and Ventura so if you know you way round these ships then you will get your bearings quickly. Our inside cabin was what we expected and was made as a queen. Ample wardrobe space with the walk-in wardrobe, and the bathroom was like most ships with a horrible shower curtain which sticks to you and small bath towels.

Entertainment on board was varied depending on what you like to do – there was plenty of quizzes, bingo, lots and lots of art auctions, movies, health and fitness seminars. The discovery at sea programmes (the enrichment programmes) was an hour talk from Katie Nicholls the Royal Correspondent, and then at the end of the cruise William Roache who plays Ken Barlow in Coronation Street. In the evenings there was a Robbie Williams tribute act (very good), the Freddie Mercury tribute act (which has been doing the cruise circuit for years as i remember seeing it back in 2009), a couple of comedians, a few of their own production shows, we had the last night at the proms with the balloon drop, and Jonathan Ansell from G4 was on for a couple of shows also.

The options for dining on board was the main dining rooms – Da Vinci, Michelangelo and the Botticelli and these were open every evening for dinner, only one would be open for waiter service breakfast. The Horizon court is the buffet restaurant and served majority of the same food everyday – speaking to some people on our tour one day told us the food in the buffet in the evening was better than the dining rooms. For sandwiches then you had the International Cafe on deck 5, there is also the Pizzeria and ice cream bar, and then the burger bar. The restaurants with the cover charges of $29 pp was the Crown Grill (seafood and Steak house), Sabbatini’s (Italian restaurant), or you could dine in the Salty Dog for a lower cover charge                                                                 

We did also spend one afternoon in the Sanctuary which I will tell you about another time – but again another $20 well worth spent.

The bay of Biscay was kind to us on the way over but on the return crossing we did encounter a 6 metre swell with 40 knots of wind, we had no problem with this, but did seem to impact a lot of people as the last day was very quiet on board. We were also nearly 3 hours arriving into Southampton which can not be helped, and the captain did keep us informed.

The things that did impress me on this ship was the Crown Grill – the seafood and steak house restaurant which was well worth the $29 cover charge and I will write a separate blog about our meals there (so good we ate there twice). I also liked how the sun loungers were laid out on the sun decks and rather than be all in one long row and you are crammed next to other people, on this ship they were laid out with 2 loungers then a table, then 2 loungers and a table etc. The movies under the stars screen showed movies throughout most days as well as the evenings and if you didn’t venture outside in the evening (as too cold most nights) then the films were shown in your cabin the following day on the TV and the channels changed programmes/films daily so you didn’t see the same thing everyday. I also liked that every couple of nights the casino would have non smoking nights to allow the non smokers a chance to play in a non smoking environment. You also did not need to carry around the Princess Patter (the daily paper) with you as you could log on to the Princess at sea app on your phone or tablet for free and review the planner on there.

What let this ship down for me – sadly was the evening main dining room experience (and having read other reviews published on our website I was not alone in thinking so) I found the food very hit and miss – one night would be excellent full of flavour, hot and filing, other nights the food was cold, bland and seasonless. There was two other issues i encountered whist on this cruise and these were raised as a concern to the Maitre D’ – and whilst not complaining here, just want people to be aware in case it happens to them too. We had the anytime dining and found that most nights at 6.30pm we would go to to the main dining room and ask for a table for 2 which we were either given a buzzer or a table was found in any of the 3 restaurants (which if you have dietary requests is not ideal) – as Nick who had pre-ordered his dinners for nights 2,3 and 4 of the cruise was told each night the order had been lost ! We then found out that on Princess if you called up at 8am in the morning you could prebook a table for 2 for either 5.30pm or 7.45pm. So on night 4 we booked for 7.45pm to find no reservation had been made, luckily they managed to find us a table The head Maitre’ D was walking around saying hello to everyone and we raised our concerns then. He then reassured me him and his head waiter Vitor would take over the booking of Nick’s meals – the 5th night we were sat in a different restaurant and yet again they tried to fob me off that the order had been lost, we had to drop the Maitre D’s name in to the conversation and advise it had been ordered and go check the correct galley to which he then did and miraculously found the order – so it would transpire unless the order was made in that restaurant the staff were not prepared to check the other galleys to find it.

My other observation was that the club fusion bar which is a big venue at the end of deck 7 was hardly used in the evenings, and if it was it was to show the Champions league football, line dancing class or occasionally a quiz. On P&o this bar would be used to show the other entertainment on board ie the comedian, tribute act, singers etc. But on the Crown Princess these were all in a smaller venue the Explorers Lounge and we found unless you had been sat in there for the previous event on in there, then some nights you would not get a seat in there – and speaking to others on board they found this too (and we are the people who like to get there early and still struggled)

Overall we had a lovely time (slightly dampened by the first weeks experience of the main dining room), and would sail on Princess again if the cruise and price was right – as you will know I tend to wait for the deals to come out and book late. And if you are sailing on the Crown Princess before September then look out for the barman Raj and his waiter Elvis (both will look after you especially at the Captains Cocktail party) I will write in a seperate blog about the Crown Grill, and then one on the ports of call.

Have you cruised on Crown Princess this year and what were your thoughts?

This weekend sees back at Southampton for the mini cruise on the Celebrity Eclipse with my colleague Elizabeth.

Have a good couple of weeks

Kerry

xx