Crown Princess Grand Mediterranean: Review and Questions

[Leo37]

We’re just back from an 11 day Grand Mediterranean cruise on board the Crown Princess.  It’s our second ever cruise (we did a Greek Island one on board the Royal Princess last year, review here) and so wanted to share a review.

Overall: We really enjoyed and would recommend the Crown Princess and itinerary, but do have a few more critical comments.

The Good:

• The Crown Princess – she’s in good shape, and looks spotless.  Our stateroom and the public areas we used were in great shape.  We had a galley tour and I’ve never seen somewhere look so clean.  What I liked was that she was a different ship to the Royal (so felt interesting to explore) but followed the same design approach / aesethic (so still felt familiar and welcoming).
• The Staff – virtually everyone we dealt with, from restaurant staff to Entertainment, front desk to bar staff, seemed in good spirits and happy to be there.  We had great service across the board.
• Improved Snacks and On Deck Food – one of our few grumbles from last year’s Royal Princess was the so-so quality of the poolside food.  It looks like Princess have definitely addressed this during the Crown’s recent refurbishment.  The quality of the On Deck pizza, burgers, ice cream sandwiches etc all seem improved.
• The Food Generally – In fact, we ate well throughout.  Food, obviously, is a matter of personal taste but we found something good to eat everyday.  In the Main Dining Rooms, a traditional Tajine, a vegetable korma curry, Beef Wellington, and All-American Meatloaf were particular standouts.  Desserts, pastries and sweet things seemed a particular strength of the ship, both at breakfast in the buffet and in the evening in the Main Dining Room.
• Speciality Restaurants – We paid for both a meal in the Crown Grill and the Salty Dog Gastropub.  Both justified the cover charge.  We remembered the Crown Grill positively from last year, so good to see a high standard across both ships.
• Entertainment – Plenty going on, from the production shows to quizzes.  The onboard party band Ikon were particularly good.  I'm still surprised at how short production shows are (vs on land West End / Broadway), but this seems a cruise standard thing.
• Our Caribe Deck Cabin – The balcony is larger than on other decks, so we had more space, and both a shady covered area, and a sunny area that sticks out further.
• Embarkation and Disembarkation – Getting on the ship at Barcelona was very quick.  We had ordinary boarding (e.g. we weren’t in a Suite, and don’t have status priority) but even so it took less than an hour from leaving our taxi, to checking in, to boarding and beginning to explore the ship.  Getting off at Rome was even quicker: less than 15 minutes from having a final coffee in the International Café to being in our taxi.

 

The Ok:

• Crowded Interior – last year, we found outside space at a premium but were ok at finding spots inside.  This year, was the opposite: normally space outside, but inside areas – especially around the Piazza – were very crowded (especially on sea days).  We did see staff adding extra tables and chairs (borrowed from the dining rooms) to the International Café, so good to see them at least try to manage the issue.
• Anytime Dining Wait Times – there could be long delays in getting dinner tables for 2.  On one occasion, we had to wait 45 minutes, which really does stretch what is reasonable for ‘anytime’ or ‘dine when you like’.  We worked round this by booking tables or eating later.  But more tables for two would be great.
• Alternative Dining Venues – We really enjoyed the Crown Grill and Salty Dog, but it would have been nice to have an alternative, included venue, like Alfredo’s on the Royal class ships.
• The Coffee – Coffee in the Dining Rooms and Buffet was not good.  It tasted strangely ‘thin’ and perhaps made from instant?  Thankfully there’s the coffee card and International Café option!

 

The Bad:

We had pre-booked (and paid) for an end of cruise port to airport transfer with Princess.  They had flight number, timings etc in advance, but once we had been sailing for several days they cancelled it.  They money was promptly refunded, but it did mean we had to spend some vacation time rebooking a private transfer, with no offer of help or real apology from the onboard team.

Some questions for the experts here:

As I say, overall it was a great Cruise and we’d happily sail on the Crown Princess again or with Princess more generally (and put down a future cruise deposit while on board).

Two questions others might have an insight to…

• Compared to last year, we saw far more staff (especially ‘officers’ dressed in white) dining in the public dining venues.  I think this is a good thing and speaks well to the quality of the Dining Rooms, speciality restaurants etc.  Did we just miss this last year?  Or do the Grand-class ships have fewer staff dining venues?  Or is it Captain’s discretion?  Or something else?
• We also saw a number of staff with their families on board.  Again, I think this is a good thing and, perhaps, contributed to the happy staff and good service.  But whereas last year we weren’t conscious of any staff having a family on board, this year we must have seen about a dozen staff with families.  Is it just random we saw it this year?  Or are there particular voyages where crew families are encouraged?

 

Thanks for reading.  Cruise Critic was a great help in planning (and helping us find a good private transfer once we needed one) so hope this helps someone in future!

[Belle]

Thank you for the review. Getting on the Crown Oct. 23 rd for 45 days.

Glad you enjoyed the Crown and crew. Hope I get on as fast as you in Barcelona.

How could they cancel the shuttle when so far of of Rome. Not right.

 

[Cruiserkenn]

I, too, think it is shocking that they cancelled the transfer.  Ugh. How did you get to the airport?

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the Crown review.  

We quit using Princess many moons ago. 

[rocklinmom]

What was their reason for cancelling your Airport transfer?  I've never heard of them cancelling those, especially only a few days out. 

[Redwing55]

Nice review.  Some good up to date insights.  Thanks.

[Leo37]

Thanks all for the comments. We were flying from Rome's 2nd airport, Ciampono. We were told on board they don't offer transfers there (which would be fine if the we hadn't booked a directly with Princess the transfer and have a confirmation email that says Ciampono, lists our flight details etc). Everything turned out ok and we booked a good transfer with http://www.civitavecchiacabservice.com

[SquishTheWhale]

Thank you for the review! We are on her in December for our first Princess cruise so I'm glad to hear positive things, especially about the food!

[4cats4me]

2 hours ago, SquishTheWhale said:

Thank you for the review! We are on her in December for our first Princess cruise so I'm glad to hear positive things, especially about the food!

We too were on this cruise. Your review is spot on!

[Leo37]

2 hours ago, 4cats4me said:

We too were on this cruise. Your review is spot on!

Thanks, that's kind of you to say. Glad you enjoyed the cruise as much as we did.