Princess Cruises, Crown Princess, Southern Caribbean

The Crown Princess was huge but was never crowded as there was so much to do, people were spaced out. Loved the casino but we had a disagreement with them. One of the game machines gave us a $25 chip. When we went to cash it in, they said it was just for show. Our argument was that it should be glued down, not given out with the rest of the prizes. Subsequently they gave us the $25.

The food was amazing. There was so much to eat and in huge proportions. If there was something you didn't like they would change it - quite happily.

The ship was geared mainly to the North American market and a lot of Brits were 40+ so were overwhelmed a bit.

Shore excursions were fab. Pricey but a safer option. In fact Princess are known to have the best excursions.

MUTS - Big Movie screen above one of pools. Showed good movies. Lay on loungers, blanket and popcorn - great!

The ship is large (3300 passengers when full). North Americans travel on this ship a lot and get VERY excitable. I'm 29 yrs old (my partner 32). We were young enough to take it!

No I don't work for Royal Caribbean.But I found the larger Royal boats to be better appointed in decor, much grander in the lobby areas, and the dining rooms on Royal are phenomenal in their bigger ships. This Crown Princess ship had bland, average looking dining rooms, whereas Royal has amazing grand dining halls, with open cathedral ceilings and grand staircases. Princess may have had a slight edge in cuisine, but just slight. The crown has nicer pools than Royal, and the mega screen at the one Crown pool is terrific. Royal boats are easier to get around on. The Crown, depending on where you stay, has "you can't get there from here areas", and is somewhat of a pain. The Crown has no central mall and is rather the same all over. Nice, mind you, and quite adequate for most cruisers, but to compare the fleets, I definitely think the Voyager/Adventurer Royal ships are a lot nicer overall.

I have sailed on Royal Carribean and Holland American lines. As for this Princess Cruise, it was just a "dive trip" getaway for the guys. But as I looked about the ship, I did find that if I were to bring my children on a cruise, I would have to take another line. But as a cruise for my wife an myself, Princess fits us to a tee.

I will say up front that I enjoyed myself so much on this crusie, that I went down and booked my next one (1st December 2007) already. I will be travelling with a group of 16 persons, all different ages. We'll have to see if my views on if the kids (no longer kids: 16/21) like the ship. So I will be back in December of '07 with an update.

Overall, we had a fine time. We are loyal Royal Caribbean cruisers, this being our first Princess Cruise. For the most part, I would say it was on a par with Royal. I think that Royal Caribbean has the upper hand with consistently excellent customer service and consistently spectacular production shows. I think that Princess has a slight upper hand with their cuisine. We chose to dine at our convenience rather than the usual main or second seating. The selection and quality of food was excellent! Even at the buffet, we were pleasantly surprised at the consistently delicious and varied foods for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Princess may also have won for decor. As I mentioned before, a stunning ship!!

This was our second Princess Cruise but nothing like the first on the Golden Princess.

Very, very disappointing.

Staff where very unfriendly and unhelpful, except for a very limited few.