Crown Princess Reviews - should we be concerned?

[Muffinz]

We're looking at booking a cruise over Christmas 2024 on Crown Princess

Itinerary is good, price is good, good staterooms still available.... but reading the reviews on CC is making us think twice

most of the latest reviews are not very favourable - 1 mentioning smelling sewerage throughout the ship, another said their toilet wasn't working for a few days...some complaining about extra charges, outdated cabins / staterooms ... we were quite shocked

 

Does princess attract a lot of families / kids on their ships?

 

we've cruised once before on Celebrity Solstice and really enjoyed that it was mainly an 'adults' cruise

 

should we be concerned about so many negative reviews?

[Yehootu]

43 minutes ago, Muffinz said:

We're looking at booking a cruise over Christmas 2024 on Crown Princess

Itinerary is good, price is good, good staterooms still available.... but reading the reviews on CC is making us think twice

most of the latest reviews are not very favourable - 1 mentioning smelling sewerage throughout the ship, another said their toilet wasn't working for a few days...some complaining about extra charges, outdated cabins / staterooms ... we were quite shocked

 

Does princess attract a lot of families / kids on their ships?

 

we've cruised once before on Celebrity Solstice and really enjoyed that it was mainly an 'adults' cruise

 

should we be concerned about so many negative reviews?

We cruised on the Crown for 28days in the South Pacific. Besides the bed we had, YMMV, it was an awesome time. No sewage smell, no big problems.

[DUCHESSRN]

We spend Christmas 2023 on Crown , and Christmas 2022 on Royal ,both times to Hawaii .

In comparison Royal was far more too our liking .

Crown was very very crowded had trouble finding a tale in Buffet at times , some very large families with noisy kids . In all fairness I think some of the kids were bored as the weather was not good on most of the sea days and pools closed .

The ship is tired but that did not spoil our cruise ,never smelled sewage . Some plumbing issues in late afternoon the water in Cabin shout off a few times .

The crew were marvelous , I felt sorry for them the amount of kids rooting in the Christmas trees looking for ducks ....security shut that down .Also the great duck swop at a set up stall outside Crown Grill ...masses of kids from 10 to about 14 with about 200 ducks they were swopping or selling .

We had a good cruise but the lack of parental supervision was evident .

 

[SCX22]

The Crown Princess is an 18 year old ship.  The ship is functional, but dated.  I would liken it to owning and driving an 18 year old car.  Things are more likely to go wrong because of it's age, and cosmetically, it won't look as contemporary, but it will still take you to where you want to go, fingers crossed.

Edited February 5 by SCX22

[cr8tiv1]

57 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

The Crown Princess is an 18 year old ship.  The ship is functional, but dated.  I would liken it to owning and driving an 18 year old car.  Things are more likely to go wrong because of it's age, and cosmetically, it won't look as contemporary, but it will still take you to where you want to go, fingers crossed.

 

My car is 2006.  Getting up there in age, but still better made than the current version.  But then again, it only has 60,000 miles.  I got a V-6 engine that they don't include anymore.  Has gotten me out of many tight traffic situations.  I'm planning on keeping this car.  

 

Newer is not always better (think new Princess App, Princess Plus 50 to Plus 60, etc).

[memoak]

Just off the Crown last month. No major issue except for poor food at the grill

 

 

[SCX22]

3 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 

My car is 2006.  Getting up there in age, but still better made than the current version.  But then again, it only has 60,000 miles.  I got a V-6 engine that they don't include anymore.  Has gotten me out of many tight traffic situations.  I'm planning on keeping this car.  

 

Newer is not always better (think new Princess App, Princess Plus 50 to Plus 60, etc).

 

Except cruise ships aren't lightly used cars, such as in your example.  My example likens an 18 year old cruise ships to a highly used car.  Thousands of passengers have cycled through the ship and it has traversed thousands of miles, with the ship and it's mechanisms only really getting a break during dry dock.  Everything on the ship is constantly in use, everyday that that it's in service.  It's subject to have heavy wear and tear.  Not to mention the entire thing is exposed and submerged in a corrosive liquid--salt water.  

 

Remember the Crown lost propulsion in Alaska in 2022.  The Grand has lost electrical power in the past and according to an active post, has lost partial AC.  The Sapphire recently lost thrust and bobbed around in the Antarctic for a short period of time.  The older the ship the more likely it will encounter problems.

[PurpleTraveller]

I was on Crown Princess in June last year in Alaska and had a wonderful cruise. Yes she is older and may not have the bells and whistles of a new ship but she has things that I like such as a full Promenade and Skywalkers. I did not experience any bad smells but my mattress was worn out, lumpy, saggy, was very uncomfortable and desperately needed to be replaced. Other than that I did not have any other issues. The service was excellent and the food was good. Despite my terrible mattress I would cruise on Crown Princess again if it had the itinerary I wanted at the price I was happy to pay.

 

Princess usually has mostly adults but not during the school holidays or the holiday periods. A Christmas cruise will generally have a lot of families with a lot of children.

 

Edited February 5 by PurpleTraveller

[OzKiwiJJ]

33 minutes ago, PurpleTraveller said:

Princess usually has mostly adults but not during the school holidays or the holiday periods. A Christmas cruise will generally have a lot of families with a lot of children.

 

And that really is a big problem with Crown and the other Extended Grand Class ships. They added an extra deck of cabins, so 3080 lower berths instead of 2670, but the public areas, especially the dining areas weren't extended. So at peak holiday periods, when the passenger count is increased by 400-500 you can end up with 3500 passengers all vying for space in venues designed for several hundred less passengers. We experienced this on Ruby in 2019. Never again!

[dockman]

21 days last summer in alaska on crown...i experienced no problems at all.  Had a wonderful cruise, food was good, ship was fine....entertainment not my cup of tea but others seemed to like it as theatre was packed most every show as were the bars with music...

 

The back deck area pool is a perfect place to sit and watch the Alaska Scenery.

[cr8tiv1]

3 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

And that really is a big problem with Crown and the other Extended Grand Class ships. They added an extra deck of cabins, so 3080 lower berths instead of 2670, but the public areas, especially the dining areas weren't extended. So at peak holiday periods, when the passenger count is increased by 400-500 you can end up with 3500 passengers all vying for space in venues designed for several hundred less passengers. We experienced this on Ruby in 2019. Never again!

And then they created the Royal Class ships with one more deck added AND removed more public spaces.  Can’t comment on Princess Theater or MDR  capacity since I’ve stayed away from this class.  The Sun Class ship will be even bigger.  
 

That leaves: Grand, Sapphire, Diamond, and Coral.  Purposefully left out the Island since they butchered her.

 

i will stick with the Grand/GEM class ships.

[memoak]

5 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

And then they created the Royal Class ships with one more deck added AND removed more public spaces.  Can’t comment on Princess Theater or MDR  capacity since I’ve stayed away from this class.  The Sun Class ship will be even bigger.  
 

That leaves: Grand, Sapphire, Diamond, and Coral.  Purposefully left out the Island since they butchered her.

 

i will stick with the Grand/GEM class ships.

I also still love the Ruby

[Russell in MD]

1 hour ago, memoak said:

I also still love the Ruby

We have been on Ruby twice and Crown once.

 

We just booked Ruby to AK Aug 2025.  We have the same corner aft on Ruby as we did the last two times.

 

They can build all the monster ships they want but give me one of those corner aft balcony's any day.

 

R

[memoak]

23 minutes ago, Russell in MD said:

We have been on Ruby twice and Crown once.

 

We just booked Ruby to AK Aug 2025.  We have the same corner aft on Ruby as we did the last two times.

 

They can build all the monster ships they want but give me one of those corner aft balcony's any day.

 

R

We always sail in aft suites on this class. I only sail the larger ships if it is an itinerary I want. But I will say that the wraparound penthouse suites on the Royal Class are awesome. Just don’t like the noise level in the piazza 

[nasa1974]

I was on the Crown last October for 10 days. I didn't have any problems and didn't hear anything from some of the fine folks I met.

[kitkat343]

If they are fairly isolated reviews mentioning a sewage smell or backed up toilets, that's an issue that can pop up occasionally on a. lot of cruise ships and I wouldn't worry too much unless it appears throughout a lot of the reviews.  

 

Over Christmas, Princess will attract a lot of families.  No water slides, but good kids club with very good hours.  We sailed the 10 day Panama Canal partial transit on the coral princess that left 1/8.  They told me the previous sailing had over 100 kids.  Ours had only 8 because school was back in session.  If kids are an issue for you, you might want to consider a different sailing date.

[Muffinz]

Thanks for the replies

 

The only thing that really bothers us is having loads of screaming kids on board... running and jumping into the pools splashing the adults that are there trying to relax and enjoy themselves (unless there are 'adult only 'pools on Crown?)

We did see kids on Solstice, but there weren't many of them and the ones we saw were obviously well behaved

 

has anyone experienced any problems with tendering on Crown?

2-3 of the port stops are tender ones and with 3000 guests all clambering to get on a tender it might be a bit chaotic? 

 

I'll have another read up about Crown Princess deck plans...etc.. and look at some YouTube videos

 

 

 

[DUCHESSRN]

1 minute ago, Muffinz said:

Thanks for the replies

 

The only thing that really bothers us is having loads of screaming kids on board... running and jumping into the pools splashing the adults that are there trying to relax and enjoy themselves (unless there are 'adult only 'pools on Crown?)

We did see kids on Solstice, but there weren't many of them and the ones we saw were obviously well behaved

 

has anyone experienced any problems with tendering on Crown?

2-3 of the port stops are tender ones and with 3000 guests all clambering to get on a tender it might be a bit chaotic? 

 

I'll have another read up about Crown Princess deck plans...etc.. and look at some YouTube videos

 

 

 

The kids may be an issue for you at Christmas I fear , there is an adult pool by the gym at the front of the ship.

[Muffinz]

Looks like there are 2 adults only pools according to the overview on Cruise Critic, so that's good

 

Does anyone know about Gratuities?

When we cruised on Celebrity in 2018 in Australia we were told before booking that there were no gratuities as we don't tip in Australia / New Zealand - is this the same with Princess?

 

 

[DUCHESSRN]

The aft pool had kids in all cruise when it was filled with water. 

[charliedalrymple]

3 hours ago, Muffinz said:

When we cruised on Celebrity in 2018 in Australia we were told before booking that there were no gratuities as we don't tip in Australia / New Zealand - is this the same with Princess?

 

It is indeed the same.

[Muffinz]

3 hours ago, charliedalrymple said:

 

It is indeed the same.

thanks for that info - much appreciated

[OzKiwiJJ]

7 hours ago, Muffinz said:

Looks like there are 2 adults only pools according to the overview on Cruise Critic, so that's good

 

Does anyone know about Gratuities?

When we cruised on Celebrity in 2018 in Australia we were told before booking that there were no gratuities as we don't tip in Australia / New Zealand - is this the same with Princess?

 

 

If you booked in NZ or Australia then yes, there are no added gratuities.

 

The best adults only pool on any Grand class ship is the Lotus Spa Pool forward. Most people think it's either part of the Lotus Spa or  part of the Sanctuary but it isn't. However because it's just below the Sanctuary sometimes the Sanctuary stewards keep an eye out for kids or exceptionally noisy groups.

[Muffinz]

1 minute ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

If you booked in NZ or Australia then yes, there are no added gratuities.

 

The best adults only pool on any Grand class ship is the Lotus Spa Pool forward. Most people think it's either part of the Lotus Spa or  part of the Sanctuary but it isn't. However because it's just below the Sanctuary sometimes the Sanctuary stewards keep an eye out for kids or exceptionally noisy groups.

great thanks for that info....

[Cruise Raider]

We just disembarked from the Crown yesterday, after not having sailed on her since her inaugural year.  
I was hesitant to book a cruise on her but the price was right and she sails out of our home port, so I booked a few cruises on her when they had a big sale.  
We were on a short 5 night sailing and this was going to be the cruise to determine if we would go back to the Majestic (my favorite ship) or on the Crown back up to Alaska this year.  
 

Cons:  

1) Yes, there was a slight sewer smell on both embarkation and disembarkation day, not at all in the middle of the cruise.  We had no problems with any of the toilets. 

2) The ship did this weird little vibration thing every so often more so than we’ve had on other ships but, that really could have been the seas.  It really wasn’t bothersome.  We did have a few seconds of severe vibration on the last night that I’m sure awakened most passengers.  

3) There are just two casual dining venues, Vines that has a charcuterie board with crudities and the GastroPub, which opens only for dinner.  They also have just two specialty dining venues plus a pop up Crab Shack dining menu up in the buffet area.  
4) The buffet just doesn’t have the room for all the options offered on the Royal class ships.  
 

Pros:  

1) The crew!  As the Hotel General Manager stated while on the Wake Show, “We may not be the newest ship or the glitziest ship, we want to be known as the happy ship”.  They’ve pretty much succeeded there!  
2) She is kept clean and well maintained.  We even had what looked to be pristine blue matting on our balcony.  Along with that, they’ve put some heavy duty slip covers on their balcony chairs and footstools.  Our cabin was clean and very comfortable.  Everything was in working order.  
3) The food was very good to excellent.  I never had anything that was what I’d say wasn't fresh or served at the wrong temperature.  As above, the choices were limited but what they did have was great.  The coffee at the IC was absolutely fantastic!  And they serve it in proper cups.  
4) The entertainment and activities were great.  If you’re bored on this ship, that would be your own fault.  There were always choices of something to do.  

oh .. and did I mention the great crew?  I’m sure I did .. they were impressive.  


So, I always fill out my post cruise survey they day of disembarkation while it is still fresh in my mind.  These were my recommendations to make our cruise experience better .. 

 

1) that they allow those with the packages on these older ships to order a whole pizza or sushi via the app for no extra charge.  The packages just have better value on the Royal class ships.  
2) please do not allow smoking in any indoor venues including the casino (those in Australia are so lucky) 

3) please use better wine glasses with the purchase of premium wines in all venues.  While we did have nice wine glasses available in Vines and in the Crown Grill, it would be nice to see them in every venue that have premium wines available 

 

We had a fantastic cruise .. most of it is all in what you make it!