matwood

The petite fours were served at dinner, twice - I believe on the 4th and 6th days of the cruise (?). They are essentially four different types of small cookies for the table. I had our waiter send them up to our cabin so we could spread them out over a few days...

Background

The majority of my cruises have been with Princess but my last two were with Celebrity, which I really enjoyed. I was curious what my impressions of Princess would be after sailing with another line.

Ship

The Crown reminded me a lot of the Ruby, so the layout was familiar to me. The ship is in decent shape given its age (~8 years), but could use a visit to the dry-dock for some cosmetic work. I noticed on several occasions, especially while at Skywalkers, significant shaking presumably from the engines. I don’t recall experiencing this on other ships. However, I still found her to be very comfortable with an overall attractive, classical ship feeling.

Cabin

I had a mini-suite toward the aft of the Dolphin deck close to the elevator, which was convenient for easy access to the Horizon Court, pools, etc. It was so nice to have all the closet space that is sorely missed on the S-Class Celebrity ships. I used the balcony extensively throughout the cruise, quickly realizing that the balconies on deck 9 have no covering whatsoever – you are completely exposed. No big deal for me but can imagine some would not like this.

Dining

I was very pleased with the overall dining experience throughout the ship. We had traditional dining and received consistently good services. As usual, the pasta dishes, breads and desserts were great, while the beef was hit or miss. The Baked Alaska that was served on the final night was fantastic – best dessert of the week.

Activities

Did not participate in many of the activities nor did I visit the evening shows much but would like to mention how much I enjoyed the Mariachi Trio that played at various venues. One item that stood out was the poor mix of music that was playing over the loudspeakers as well the party band – dated songs to say the least but I would bet this is by purpose in order to appeal to Princess’ core client base. Kenny Loggins playing on a warm cruise to Mexico?

Ports

I’ve been to Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas many times, so this cruise was more for the ease of not having to fly to catch the ship (I live in So. Cal). I continue to question why Princess only spends a half-day in Cabo, which to me is by far the best port of this itinerary. I would think they could make Cabo the first stop or even have an overnight stay and skip Mazatlan. Anyways, I went to Lover’s Beach and enjoyed a great few hours of swimming in warm, clear water.

Fellow Cruisers

Nice mix of passengers, both on origin (UK, China, Korea, etc.) and age (few kids, majority middle-aged or a bit younger). Most passengers where friendly and seemed to be having a good cruise.

Crew

Overall, I felt the crew was one of the best in recent memory. I consistently was greeted with a smile while offering to assist me in various capacities. I was surprised at how attentive the staff was in Horizon Court – this has not always been the case for me. The largest group within the Crew by far were Filipinos, which was great, as I got to practice my Tagalog.

Final Impressions

After my first cruise on Celebrity last year, I was so impressed that I questioned whether I would go back to Princess (had achieved Elite status after my last Princess cruise). I still think the Celebrity S-Class ships are superior to the various Princess ships I’ve been on, but for me, I prefer the food and staff on Princess. Since I’ve grown up on Sitmar/Princess ships, little things that may be insignificant to others bring fond memories to me, such as the soufflés and petite fours at dinner, great pizza and breads and of course the different chocolates left on your pillow each night. Now I want to tryout the Royal or Regal to see what the new ships are like…..

Just off the Silhoute and loved the music, even if a bit loud at times.