One of Princess' Grand-class ships, Crown Princess excels at providing fun, relaxing and enriching experiences for adults, from popular nighttime Movies Under the Stars to decadent spa treatments and culinary tours, while also providing brand-new children's spaces and special programming for families traveling with little ones.
Refreshed during a dry dock in 2018, the ship was embellished with new offerings, such as super comfortable Princess Luxury Beds in every room, rebranded poolside dining options and an upgraded kids' center.
The layout of the ship, featuring four spacious pool areas (two for adults only), combined with varied, popular activities planned around the vessel, means that the ship rarely feels crowded, even at full capacity. We loved how easy it always was to find a seat for nighttime shows, a deck lounger near the pool, a spot to sit at the buffet restaurant (even during peak times) or to get a reservation at one of the specialty restaurants.
There is always enjoyable nightly live music, but some of the main theater evening shows got mixed reviews. Probably the best-loved entertainment option, Voice of the Ocean (Princess' version of karaoke taken to the next level) captivated the attention of our fellow passengers for the duration of the cruise, and had many of us rooting for our favorite contestants all the way through to the final round. When we weren't listening to music, a movie under the stars was always a great way to spend the evening.
Keeping up with all the activities was easy, thanks to the line's app Princess@Sea that lets you conveniently pull up the day's slate of activities or message people traveling in your party on your phone for free (not using Wi-Fi).
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We also noted that Princess does an excellent job of ensuring cleanliness in areas such as the buffet, where traffic is monitored by crew members who ensure that everyone uses hand sanitizer before entering the line.
One last note, though we don't often comment on shore excursions, Princess has added new offerings to select itineraries on Crown Princess that are co-branded with Bon Appetit, Discovery and Animal Planet, and they were some of the best excursions we've experienced.
Crown Princess generally skews toward a slightly older crowd, with several couples and groups traveling together and young families in the minority, while still attracting a variety of ages and nationalities. To serve the multinational passengers onboard, you'll find several tour options available in languages such as Japanese and Spanish.
Daytime: In general, wardrobes vary based on your specific voyage and the climate where you're traveling, but passengers tend to dress fairly casually during the day, with shorts, jeans and T-shirts being fairly common (as well as the ubiquitous cruise lanyards holding cruise cards).
Evening: In the evenings, all dining rooms except the buffet and casual dining restaurants have a designated smart casual dress code. On a typical weeklong cruise, two nights are designated formal nights, and most passengers tended to dress up, from typical business attire to more formal outfits. Many women wore cocktail dresses and men generally wore a jacket and slacks (with or without tie).
Not permitted: In the dining rooms, items such as tank tops, shorts, baseball caps and distressed jeans are not permitted. We confirmed with cruise staff that they do ask passengers to leave the dining room for dress code violations.
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Decent cruise, but ships should be fixed when they need to be fixed
6-10 Cruises
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Age 70s
Fantastic voyage, stellar crew
10+ Cruises
•
Age 50s
An oasis of calm in trying times
6-10 Cruises
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Age 60s
Missed half the ports of call
10+ Cruises
•
Age 70s