Have I made a huge mistake.

[Paula_MacFan]

17 minutes ago, Eamon Chute said:

Some unknown person (on here or anywhere else) telling you the food is bad/cold/tepid/putrid/wonderful/tasty etc, on any specific ship or cruise line is absolutely USELESS to you. 

It's for this very reason I dislike queries that ask 'what is the best XYZ' fill in the blank. Be it food dish, excursion, show, etc. Everyone's tastes, budgets, energy levels, etc are different. There is no 'best' for everyone.

[CeCe_]

19 hours ago, courticeguy said:

This will be our first cruise post covid and have booked Alaska on the Crown. This is also our first time with Princess and reading reviews of this ship doesn't inspire much confidence. The recurring theme of lukewarm food served in the MDR'S and buffet is particularly disconcerting along with long wait and service times. 

 

Please allay our fears.

 

Derek and Louise

 

 

 

What you read from other reviews that gave you a scare are probably worth consideration.  Crown is not without issues to be true to the facts.  You have chosen a challenging ship.  Its price is not necessarily cheap either.  We want you to come back to Princess and not to run away after one sailing. 

 

If you are sailing in this Spring, there are many great newer Royal Class to Alaska, like Majestic is very cheap right now.  I would choose Majestic over Crown in a heartbeat specially $999 for a mini suite is hard to pass up.

Edited March 13, 2023 by CeCe_

[Blondilu]

I totally agree that Alaska is the focus. The ship is second.  And food is too subjective for other's opinions to be of much use.  

 

You will always find something.  The odds are whatever you find will be in the upper half of acceptable, somewhere between OK and really good.

 

But it's pretty much guaranteed you'll remember the scenery over either the ship or the food.

[Cruise Raider]

4 minutes ago, Blondilu said:

I totally agree that Alaska is the focus. The ship is second.  And food is too subjective for other's opinions to be of much use.  

 

You will always find something.  The odds are whatever you find will be in the upper half of acceptable, somewhere between OK and really good.

 

But it's pretty much guaranteed you'll remember the scenery over either the ship or the food.

Very wise advice!  
We recently cruised on the Diamond Princess … so many failures on that ship but, we still had a great time.  The food was anywhere from really good to excellent, the entertainment was absolutely top notch and there were a group of friends onboard that really did make our trip very special. 

 

[CapnCrews]

Remember when you were in high school.

And you would have crossed the Great Dust Bowl in a 1965 station wagon with no oil cap if it meant you were going to get to see the ocean in California?

Never lose your sense of adventure.  All anyone can ever tell you is what happened in a single one hour snapshot of their life and no one else's.

[cruisingrob21]

Sailed on the crown last September and it was an outstanding cruise.  I thought the ship was in great shape even though it was headed for drydock 2 voyages after mine.

 

Although the newer ships get a lot of the attention these days I like the crown and her sisters better for a few reasons.  

• Adagio and skywalkers lounges are high up with great views of the scenery, even if it's windy or rainy.  You'll appreciate this in Alaska.  The royal class ships lack high up, climate controlled viewing areas.
• On top of skywalkers is the put put course and a walking track, with even better views than skywalkers
• The terraced aft pool area is much nicer than on the royal class ships
• The full promenade on deck 7 is also missing from royal class ships.
• Explorers lounge is a better venue than princess live in my opinion.
• The fact that one of the pools doesn't have a movie screen is a nice option if you want to be poolside and don't want to watch whatever movie or concert is on the screen.
• The number of pools and hottubs is better than the royal class ships.

 

 

 

[Colorado Coasty]

41 minutes ago, CeCe_ said:

 

What you read from other reviews that gave you a scare are probably worth consideration.  Crown is not without issues to be true to the facts.  You have chosen a challenging ship.  Its price is not necessarily cheap either.  We want you to come back to Princess and not to run away after one sailing. 

 

If you are sailing in this Spring, there are many great newer Royal Class to Alaska, like Majestic is very cheap right now.  I would choose Majestic over Crown in a heartbeat specially $999 for a mini suite is hard to pass up.

But if you  go on a Royal class ship, you will never  experience the full inside passage. To many that is the  best part of an Alaska  cruise.

[CeCe_]

We sailed Eurodam last year when we had to choose between Crown or Eurodam.  Crown was having serious engine issues at that time, so Eurodam didn't win it just marginally.  Both ran the same itinerary except that Crown always departed a port an hour earlier and arrived to the next port 2 hours later than HAL.  We saw from our balcony how the Eurodam passed it on the water effortlessly and one can easily see how Crown was struggling with the speed.  I feel sorry for the guests having their port days cut few hours short - speaking of focus in itinerary.

[Blondilu]

1 hour ago, Cruise Raider said:

Very wise advice!  
We recently cruised on the Diamond Princess … so many failures on that ship but, we still had a great time.  The food was anywhere from really good to excellent, the entertainment was absolutely top notch and there were a group of friends onboard that really did make our trip very special. 

 

Cruise Raider, I see you are from the Bay Area.  I spent most of my life in Sonoma. 

 

Some of my favorite cruise memories involve sailing out under the bridge.  On another thread someone asked about the weather in Alaska.  As I recall, that summer afternoon sailing under the bridge I was colder than I have ever been in Alaska.  What can I say, summer in San Francisco is unlike anywhere else, LOL.  But, we had a blast standing out on the deck watching the folks above wave down to us, the ship's captain blowing the horn.  It really is all about what you make of it.  And honestly, I cannot remember a single detail about the food and very little about the ship.  It must have been the Grand.  That was the ship they were sailing out of S.F. at the time.   

 

 

 

 

[Cruise Raider]

1 hour ago, Blondilu said:

Cruise Raider, I see you are from the Bay Area.  I spent most of my life in Sonoma. 

 

Some of my favorite cruise memories involve sailing out under the bridge.  On another thread someone asked about the weather in Alaska.  As I recall, that summer afternoon sailing under the bridge I was colder than I have ever been in Alaska.  What can I say, summer in San Francisco is unlike anywhere else, LOL.  But, we had a blast standing out on the deck watching the folks above wave down to us, the ship's captain blowing the horn.  It really is all about what you make of it.  And honestly, I cannot remember a single detail about the food and very little about the ship.  It must have been the Grand.  That was the ship they were sailing out of S.F. at the time.   

 

 

 

 

 

Awesome, isn't it??  There's nothing like it.  

With all it's quirks, I still loved the Grand.  I think it's because the staff and crew has been one of the most cohesive groups I have ever seen.  I now see the same on the Royal, too.  

We try to cruise in or out of SF several times a year ... going under the bridge is just such an incredible experience.  I never tire of it.  

It was a true blessing that we have had the Royal here over the last several months.  She is my absolutely favorite ship of all times!!