Quick Recap Crown Princess- Dec 2017

Better Late than Never!

Just wanted to do a quick recap of our 8 Day Southern Caribbean Cruise on board Crown Princess December 2017. This will be the short and sweet version. The link to my entire review/blog will be added below for those who want more details.

About us: Married couple in our 30's, love to cruise. Always pick this week in December as there are not many kids and prices are typically cheaper. This cruise was a bucket list one as we had both never been to Aruba, Bonaire or Curacao (ABC Islands as we learned to call them)

Prior to this cruise I read a lot of negative reviews about the Crown Princess but I am happy to report that I did not have that experience. Ship is older but was well maintained and cleaned (what more can you ask of an older ship?)

We were certainly on the younger end of the cruise passengers on this ship but still found it very lively. The shows were busy and even made it to the night club one evening where they had a decent crowd.

What stood out the most on this cruise was the people. We had fantastic service just about everywhere we went. From the main dining room to the bars and by the pool. We had NO BUTTER ISSUES as previously speculated on this forum. Made reservations for a table for two each night and got that table with no problems and plenty of butter. On lobster night our server came around asking who wanted a second helping.

We had a standard balcony cabin and found the room to be clean and had lots of storage! Our room steward was fantastic, introduced himself and called us by name each day. The room was quickly tidied up often before we even returned from breakfast.

Found the food to be good in main dining room and LOVED Crown Grill as well as Salty Dog. Definitely worth the additional charges there.

Sea days spent poolside with no chair hogs complaints. Had 4 of them on this itinerary and really enjoyed it as we had great weather. We also had the drink package and it was very easy to get drinks at the bar or at dinner.

As I mentioned all of these ports were new to us and we really liked them all. Would probably return to any of them on another trip.

Finally, I am glad I didn't let some of the bad reviews scare us away from this ship. Yes the mattress wasn't the greatest and the ship shows some wear and tear but things like that do not ruin a vacation. The staff on this boat truly made a good cruise great for us and that is why we have liked cruising Princess. I would not hesitate to go on this ship again.

For full detail and photos you can visit my blog HERE .

Happy to answer any questions I can.

thank you for a lovely and positive review! We will be on the Crown in 3 short weeks.

thank you for a lovely and positive review! We will be on the Crown in 3 short weeks.

Jealous! If you drink wine at all be sure to visit Vines. Carmen the bartender there is one of the best crew members we have ever encountered on a cruise. So friendly and always had great conversations with her.

Thanks for the reveiw! We are on the Crown for a short 5-day in just over two weeks.

Thanks for the great review and the pictures. We are on the Crown again in February after years of not traveling on her and it's great to read your review.

Thanks for sharing. I enjoyed your blog and the photos!

Thanks for the reveiw! We are on the Crown for a short 5-day in just over two weeks.

I believe we will be on this cruise as well. Counting down the days.

Cruiser Jess, thanks so much for your review. We have sailed the Crown before but it's nice to have an updated review.

Thank you for your thoughts on this ship. We are going on the same itinerary in 6 weeks, and I just can't wait to read all about your trip, in your blog!

Kathy

Thank you for your review. We will be on the Crown in March.... I can't wait!

Thanks for the recap.

Thank-you for the report.

Terrific report. Thanks for taking the time to write this.

Keith

Thanks for the review! I have opened your Blog link to read as well. Nice to hear from your perspective as we are a couple in our early 30s booked on the Crown in December... we have only sailed NCL before and slightly worried we are too young for Princess! But we will have a good time whatever as it sounds like you did :)

Thank you for your review, nice to hear some positives about the Crown!

I was on the same cruise, and 100% agree with Cruiser Jess, the Crown is alive and well, and doing fine. :)

All in All it was a great cruise, and a good time was had by all

Srpilo

Thank you for taking your time to post this. Jan 20th cruise on the Crown for us. Can't wait.

Enjoyed your full review, thanks! And, welcome home! :)

We were on the crowns nye cruise. One of the loveliest crews we have encountered. The beds were made ok by asking for an egg crate mattress cover to be added on bed. Loved the crown grill and salty dog pub.. esp the short rib potine and the giant stacked hamburger with just about everything on it! Yum. Had a bad experience in sabatinis. Seemed really disorganized and short staffed. Took about sitting for 20 mins with no one even acknowledging us. Had to go to front stand and ask could we please have a waiter! Service was just plain awful. 45 mins to get an appetizer. Drinks never refilled etc. Food was good though..loved the 4 sea days. Great ports. Loved the long days in Curacao and Aruba. The crown may be a little older but still a great time!

We were on the crowns nye cruise. One of the loveliest crews we have encountered. The beds were made ok by asking for an egg crate mattress cover to be added on bed. Loved the crown grill and salty dog pub.. esp the short rib potine and the giant stacked hamburger with just about everything on it! Yum. Had a bad experience in sabatinis. Seemed really disorganized and short staffed. Took about sitting for 20 mins with no one even acknowledging us. Had to go to front stand and ask could we please have a waiter! Service was just plain awful. 45 mins to get an appetizer. Drinks never refilled etc. Food was good though..loved the 4 sea days. Great ports. Loved the long days in Curacao and Aruba. The crown may be a little older but still a great time!

We were also on this Crown NYE cruise. What a great time we had. The ship might be a little worn in spots, but it sure didn't affect or bother us in any way. The dining was excellent, the room clean and comfortable and the ABC islands a wonderful itinerary. Looking to do another Princess NYE cruise this year!

thank you for a lovely and positive review! We will be on the Crown in 3 short weeks.

Hi Boop Tennis - We board on Feb 10 - think it is the same as you.

Karen and Bob.

It definitely was a fabulous writeup about the cruise. Thanks very much Jessica.

We disembarked the Crown 2 days ago. We loved it. It was our fifth Princess cruise, our most recent being Regal December 2016. We have mainly been cruising Celebrity lately(Elite status, most recently, October & December), and considered it our #1 choice. Princess has moved to #1 and Celebrity #2.

Nice review! Thanks for sharing :-). Jessica, I took a look at your blog and its really very good. I enjoyed reading about your Cuba sailing. I am thinking of this for the future and I appreciated the details you included about the ship, tours and Havana.

I'll echo most on this thread and say we also thoroughly enjoyed our Crown Princess New Year's cruise. One of our best! It seems we also got lucky with super comfy beds!!!

Hi Boop Tennis - We board on Feb 10 - think it is the same as you.

 

Karen and Bob.

 

It definitely was a fabulous writeup about the cruise. Thanks very much Jessica.

actually, we board Feb 2. we will be unhappy getting off the ship when you are getting on!! have a great cruise!

Nice review! Thanks for sharing :-). Jessica, I took a look at your blog and its really very good. I enjoyed reading about your Cuba sailing. I am thinking of this for the future and I appreciated the details you included about the ship, tours and Havana.

 

I'll echo most on this thread and say we also thoroughly enjoyed our Crown Princess New Year's cruise. One of our best! It seems we also got lucky with super comfy beds!!!

Thank you very much!!:D