returned yesterday from the crown 6/26 through 7/5 sailing. this was the 14th cruise overall for my wife and me, and the 7th with our two children (ages 10 and 8). we are platinum with princess, and obviously like what princess has to offer. having said that, i must admit to being more and more critical lately with several aspects of our princess cruises. i am delighted to report, however, that this was an outstanding cruise, and one that i can confidently recommend to others.

embarkation/disembarkation: brooklyn is the best port we have experienced in our 14 years of cruising. great (outdoor) parking, nice terminal, friendly porters, incredible convenience all around. we drove from michigan, and after spending the night in new jersey, we got to the pier by 9:30 am. we planned on taking the brooklyn battery tunnel, but took the wrong turn, so ended up, by accident, taking the brooklyn bridge, which was real cool, since we had never been to ny city before. funny thing is, we made the same mistake on the way back. once we were at the pier, we took lots of photos of the statue of liberty. once again, princess distinguished itself as being the best at getting folks on and off its ships. we used express disembarkation, and were in the car, and on the road, before 8:30 am.

cabin: e-731, mini-suite on the starboard side, extreme aft. very nice cabin, with covered balcony. the balcony is extended because it is the last cabin on starboard side. it also provides a view of the ships wake. we have stayed in mini-suites before, and knew we would like this cabin. our cabin steward, roger, was, by far, the best we have ever had on a cruise, with any line (previously sailed with Holland, rcl, carnival, ncl). only complaint was that the starboard side has a lousy view at all ports, except new york city. we like being on the same side that the ship ties to the pier. Read more