IS THE CROWN PRINCESS REALLY THAT AWFUL???

[thewhip]

We are booked on the Crown for B2B from Feb 5 to 25, 2020.  First time on this ship.  This is our 8th cruise with Princess.  Have sailed 2x on Island, 1x on Coral, 1x on Star and 3x on Royal.   Our favourite is Royal, but really had no major complaints about the other  Princess ships we have sailed on.  Have also sailed on RCL and MSC. 

 

We have read some pretty awful reviews on CC recently.  Are now wondering if it was a mistake booking this ship, especially since this is our first 20 day cruise. 

 

Can someone who has sailed recently on the Crown please give us some feedback on this ship?  Did we make a mistake?

 

The Whip

[mevs904]

We are sailing on the Crown in January and have not seen any awful reviews, quite the contrary.  Trusted members on these boards seem to think well of the Crown.  We are looking forward to experiencing the Crown for ourselves.

[Notonboard]

Loved the Crown and the balcony on C418 was huge!

[reedprincess]

1 hour ago, thewhip said:

We are booked on the Crown for B2B from Feb 5 to 25, 2020.  First time on this ship.  This is our 8th cruise with Princess.  Have sailed 2x on Island, 1x on Coral, 1x on Star and 3x on Royal.   Our favourite is Royal, but really had no major complaints about the other  Princess ships we have sailed on.  Have also sailed on RCL and MSC. 

 

We have read some pretty awful reviews on CC recently.  Are now wondering if it was a mistake booking this ship, especially since this is our first 20 day cruise. 

 

Can someone who has sailed recently on the Crown please give us some feedback on this ship?  Did we make a mistake?

 

The Whip

For those looking for problems, they'll always find them. Those looking through negativity glasses will always find negativity.

We sailed Crown in August ans had zero complaints, problems, issues, etc. She's not brand new, and she's on the water 365 days a year, yes - there's signs of wear and tear, like any ship. She's got some nice enhancements I hope are rolled out to more ships sooner rather than later (Salty Dig Grill, Swirls additions, Good Spirits - although whomever came up with the St Lucia/Castries drinks is off their rocker!), etc. 

We thoroughly enjoyed, lovely staff, good food, very typical Princess experience..

[getting older slowly]

Just remember a review is something written through the other person eyes.....

 

We have a couple great cruises where.... later read some reviews of the same cruise.... and it was worst cruise ever....

 

The people were on the same ship with the same staff.......  

 

It is a matter of ones attitude as well as expectations ...... and mind set

 

Glass half full or glass half empty......

 

Have a great cruise......

 

we will be enjoying 26 nights   in a week and half on ship which has had mixed reviews

are we going to have a great time.... YES

 

Cheers Don 

[Ken the cruiser]

We were on a UK circumnavigation cruise on the Crown this past July and had a blast!! We were in a CC mini suite and enjoyed eating every morning and evening in the club class dining area.
 

But, more importantly, there were 6 assistant CDs, all comedians in their own right, and there was always a multitude of things to do on sea days and during the evening. Also, we love to laugh and there were no shortage of events to go to that were designed just for that purpose. They also had 2 lectures on each of the sea days. 
 

So IMHO get ready to have a great cruise!!!

[Colo Cruiser]

Just off the Crown on Oct 28th. 
 

Not sure what you are reading but ours was an awesome cruise.

We have sailed the Crown many times.

I take reviews with a grain of salt. One person onboard will post a bad review with the next person on the same cruise having the cruise of their lifetime.
Go figure.  🙄

[Cruiserkenn]

Thanks for the good thoughts.  I have two future cruises booked on the Crown, so I appreciate the good thoughts.

[dreaminofcruisin]

A couple of years ago, before I had been on the Crown, there were also terrible reviews.

Since then I have been on the Crown twice (most recently a year ago).

The Crown is our FAVORITE ship of the 6 Princess ships I have been on.

I get very excited if looking for an itinerary and it turns out to be the Crown we will be sailing on!

You will have a great time!

[MissP22]

8 hours ago, thewhip said:

 

 

Can someone who has sailed recently on the Crown please give us some feedback on this ship?  Did we make a mistake?

 

The Whip

We recently sailed on the Crown & had no problems that were outstanding such a food, shows or service. If the Royal was still in the Caribbean we would have chosen it over the Crown but all in all it's still one of the better Princess ships. 

[kywildcatfanone]

We have sailed on the Crown more than any other ship, and it's been fine every time.  Message boards tend to lend themselves to over exaggeration of issues.

[rebeccac]

We were on the Crown last year for Thanksgiving and we loved almost everything.  The only two issues were that my husband did not think there was enough to do (I like to relax and read, so not an issue for me) and we had a very hard time finding a bar that made good drinks.  We had several drinks that tasted like they were made of rubbing alcohol. 

[wrongwaywatson]

We've been on the Crown more than any other Princess ship and we love her.  

[thinfool]

• We are on the Crown for the 2nd time in Janauary 2020.  First time was a pleasant surprise as we too had read less-than-stellar comments by others.
• Our worst Princess experience was last year on the Royal...MDR food was so bad that we opted for the buffet for the last half of a 14 day itinerary.  Also, serious lack of outdoor passenger space.
• If our only choice for the Caribbean had been the Royal...we would be staying home this year.

[KevintheIrishDJ]

We did a TA in April on the Crown.  The only issue we had we getting the case of wine we brought onboard.  They would only deliver 2 bottles everyday.

[ukestrummer]

Off crown 28 days o]ct. 8th, food great, cabin great, everything fine, there are those that look for the smallest things to complain , internet great, don’t use bars can’t comment there, shows were mostly ok, we did eat at Buffett a lot,diningroom no complaint, you can always see menus for each before the meal and decide what you want to eat

[Doug R.]

March will be our third cruise on the Crown, tying her with the Caribbean Princess for number of times cruised. Our other was on the Regal. If anything was truly bad on the previous cruises on her, we would have booked elsewhere. We pick by itinerary not ship. 

[candy4040]

We are also on the same b2b leaving on Feb 5.  As long as it's sunny and warm then everything is great with me.  We've never been on Crown but know that Princess does a great job on all their ships.  We've sailed on Royal, Regal, Emerald.  Ruby and Pacific Princess.   February the Crown, June the Enchanted and following February the Caribbean.   We love cruising.

[toescat]

11 hours ago, thewhip said:

We are booked on the Crown for B2B from Feb 5 to 25, 2020.  First time on this ship.  This is our 8th cruise with Princess.  Have sailed 2x on Island, 1x on Coral, 1x on Star and 3x on Royal.   Our favourite is Royal, but really had no major complaints about the other  Princess ships we have sailed on.  Have also sailed on RCL and MSC. 

 

We have read some pretty awful reviews on CC recently.  Are now wondering if it was a mistake booking this ship, especially since this is our first 20 day cruise. 

 

Can someone who has sailed recently on the Crown please give us some feedback on this ship?  Did we make a mistake?

 

The Whip

I sailed on the Crown three times and loved my cruise and the ship  The ship is beautiful and no you did not make a mistake.  I think some people can't see the beauty or a good time if it was taped to their face.  Granted everyone experiences things differently but to me a ship is a ship and a cruise is a cruise.  We have sailed on old ships and brand new ships and found our fun level has been the same HIGH!  I love the older ships as they have charm but the newer ships are great too.  Everyone told me to not go on the Grand and I have sailed her four times now and love her as a matter of fact we were hoping to sail on her again to Alaska this coming June but she change course so now it will be the Star.  

 

Until 2003 we sailed on Carnival only and we loved Carnival and we only ventured to Princess as our son was getting married on the Princess Sapphire. We had a blast on Princess but we found that they did not have the nightclubs that Carnival had, and half the time the bars were closed (we are not big drinkers but sometimes we like an afternoon drink).  We swore we would never take another Princess cruise again, but our son wanted to go on another cruise for his anniversary and again we went Princess.  Then Princess started sailing out of San Francisco our home port so again we went on Princess and have sailed Princess every year since 2003 has our goal was to become Elite then we would go back to Carnival.  We never went on any cruises that were under 7 days so we were never on a party ship.  If we listened to all the people who said Carnival was bad we would never have cruised.  Experience for yourself you will be happy you did!

[seacruise9]

Hi, 

 

I have cruised aboard the Crown Princess three times and never had a problem with this ship. Most recently, I did a 12-day British Isles cruise on this ship from Sep. 10-22, 2019. It was an excellent cruise. 

 

Chuck

[thewhip]

Hi Everyone,

 

To all of you who have been so kind to respond to our request for info.  Thank you!

 

We have been reading 'reviews' of the Crown on the Cruise Critic site and some of them are not good.  We know the reviews are subjective, but we began to think there was something about that particular ship that was causing travellers to write such uncomplimentary reviews.

 

We are looking forward to our February cruise and all of your reassurances have confirmed our original thoughts...that the Crown is an older ship, but would be just fine.  

 

Thank you again for all of your input.  It is much appreciated.

 

The Whip

[MissP22]

5 minutes ago, thewhip said:

Hi Everyone,

 

To all of you who have been so kind to respond to our request for info.  Thank you!

 

We have been reading 'reviews' of the Crown on the Cruise Critic site and some of them are not good.  We know the reviews are subjective, but we began to think there was something about that particular ship that was causing travellers to write such uncomplimentary reviews.

 

We are looking forward to our February cruise and all of your reassurances have confirmed our original thoughts...that the Crown is an older ship, but would be just fine.  

 

Thank you again for all of your input.  It is much appreciated.

 

The Whip

I read them also but it usually after we've done the cruise on that ship so I know which parts are pure bull & which are true.

Most of what I've read about the Crown is only nitpicking. I did read one that mentioned not having decent AC and that I can agree with but that's not usually a concern on the Crown. (sometimes on the CB it is)

If you're looking for absolute perfection then maybe Princess isn't a good choice to start with although they do a pretty good job of trying. 

[Vexorg]

I've sailed on the Crown twice.  The first time we had some issues (red flag Norovirus precautions in place the last couple of days, ours was the cruise before the one that got cancelled halfway through for sick passengers) and it was still a nice cruise but definitely not one of the better ones I've been on.  The second one (my most recent Princess sailing) was very good.  

[jovisoul]

We sailed on the Crown in October, it was fine, no complaints or problems.

I've seen people complaining already about the Sky Princess which just came out. People will always find things to complain about.

Edited November 11, 2019 by jovisoul

[DrivesLikeMario]

We've sailed on the Crown twice and had a fantastic experience both times.  I understand some people won't step foot on the ship, but we have never had any problems on it at all.