Crown Princess Review

4.5 / 5.0
2,240 reviews

Refurbishment Needed Across the Board

Review for the British Isles & Western Europe Cruise on Crown Princess
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Lego
10+ Cruises • Age 70s

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Sail Date: Aug 2019

This was Princess' British Isle cruise out of Southampton with port stops in Ireland and Scotland. First the ship. The ship is somewhat dated and in need of upgrades. Like most cruise lines there are a limited number of outlets for the multiple electronic devices that many of us have. The common areas and dining rooms were well maintained and comfortable. Several of lounges on the upper decks were great get-away places for the days at sea. Entertainment both in the theater and lounges were good. We had a balcony cabin that in size is similar to most cruise lines. There is not a sofa in the cabin which made room service dining awkward.....someone sat in the straight back desk chair and someone had to sit on the bed. The only "table" was about 14 inches across of the serving tray took up all the space. Since there was not a sofa, the only place in the cabin to sit and read was the straight back chair or the bed. The desk and night table had plenty of drawer space for clothes but there was not a small drawer that you could use for wallet, change, watch, etc. Consequently everything got placed on the desk top with the multiple electronic devices. Internet was adequate but as others have mentioned you had to log in each time you changed devices. The Medallion provide by Princess made embarkation very easy and the proximity sensor made entry into the cabin painless. However there were several features that were never explained. For example you can use the Medallion to find your "ship-mate" but no one explained it to me until 3-4 days into the cruise. I attempted to add a friend as a ship-mate and it never worked. For a couple of days my medallion indicated I was onboard the Regal Princess versus the Crown Princess. No one at customer service desk could explain why that occurred. By the time I found someone at the Internet Cafe it was indicating the Crown Princess. My recommendation is to offer a class on use of the Medallion early in the cruise. The Medallion is more of an asset for Princess than for you. Food in the main dining rooms was average. There were four of us and I don't think any of us had a meal that we considered exceptional. The two specialty restaurants were about the same. The steak in the Crown Room seemed like a choice cut of meat versus a prime cut. Food in the Horizon Court buffet was equal or better in quality than the dining rooms. Service from the staff was less than satisfactory. Our cabin attendant did the basic room service but not much more. All the little touches like the towels made into animals were missing. Previous cruises the cabin attendant was always around asking if we needed anything. Service in the lounges were about the same. I had one waiter challenge me on my cocktail order. If my companions had not supported my argument I am not sure the waiter would have exchanged my cocktail. In general the wait staff was not attentive or perhaps there was a translation problem. A friend asked for a lemon twist and received an orange slice on several occasions. We had two dinning room attendants that did make dining pleasurable. We had the "any time dining" and generally reserved the table(s) served by the two attendants. Excursions were excellent except for GR-203 Kevingrove Gallery and Glasgow City Drive. The Gallery was free and the cathedral was closed for for $89 per person we got a bus ride. In fairness to Princess this was explained in the excursion narrative. However we were late departing the ship so we had less time to tour the Gallery and see the City. Additionally the guide for this tour was well below average compared to the other tour guides. The process used by Princess to organize group prior to the tour needs some work. On several occasions we were late departing ship which of course resulted in a shorter tour length. It was never more than 15-30 minutes but that was time we could have used in several locations. My most recent cruise prior to this was on Disney and Princess is no match to Disney in terms of service.

Cabin Review

Port Reviews

Cobh (Cork)

Blarney Castle was fun and interesting. Shopping at the mills excellent. Gwen did a superb job as guide.

Greenock (Glasgow)

Kevingrove Gallery and City Tour. Expensive for what you get. Use your money for a private taxi.

Dublin

Great city. Recommend The Bank on College Green.

Edinburgh (South Queensferry)

Great tour. Tour guide was Lettia and she was super. Timing was just right for tour of Castle and a little shopping in Old Town. Edinburgh is beautiful.

Le Havre

Le Havre is a French coastal city. It was Monday and nearly everything was closed. Paris and Normandy were 4-5 hour bus rides for 4-5 hours of tours. Not worth the pain and limited other excursions available. This was a location where we should have looked at other than Princess excursions. Why Le Havre on a British Isle cruise? I would have preferred a stop in Manchester or Liverpool. It was like Princess needed a port close to Southampton to dock the ship.

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