Southern Australia Christmas cruise

This was our first Princess cruise, and we booked it because we liked the itinerary and we have always wanted to do a cruise at Christmas We had read some recent reviews of Crown Princess, and were a bit concerned about the number of negative reviews – but we needn’t have worried, as we really enjoyed the cruise on Crown Princess and couldn’t really fault anything. Embarkation – Was very easy at the Sydney Overseas Passenger Terminal. We dropped out luggage off at 10:45am and we were on the ship in the explorers lounge less than 30 minutes later… very fast! Stateroom – The room was not huge, but perfectly adequate. It had a very large wardrobe with heaps of hanging space and shelves. Bathroom was small, but functional. The bed was extremely comfortable. Our room steward put an ice bucket in the fridge to make it cooler and that was nice. He was very good Service – all the staff were very friendly and always greeted you with a smile and a “hello / good morning” Food – This was a high point for us – the food (particularly in the MDR) was exceptionally good. The buffet was ‘ok’ nothing spectacular and the International Café / slice pizza, salty dog grill, were also very good Entertainment – There was plenty of entertainment throughout the ship, from bingo / trivia / karaoke / solo piano guitar players and singers / live band ‘Extasea’ and the production shows / guest entertainers in the main theatre. Pools – there are 4 pools on Crown Princess, including an adult only pool on deck 16, but this pool was only open for about the first 4 days of the cruise, then it had a net on it and was out of use for the remainder if the cruise – not sure why this was. The 2 main pools (Neptune / Calypso) were good, but to my surprise they were deep and way over my head (I’m 5”8). I’m not sure why the pools needed to be that deep – especially as they were mainly used by the kids. None of the pools were heated either – this was my only gripe about the whole cruise Disembarkation - we booked a tour / excursion through Princess as we had a late flight and the tour was very good and dropped us off at the airport - very convenient Being a Christmas cruise, there were plenty of families on board with children, and most were well behaved and didn’t cause any issue. We did have a young child in the stateroom next to us who would often throw a tantrum around 7am, and in the stateroom above us there were 2? children who liked to run around their stateroom / corridor around 7am, so we didn’t get much of a sleep in unfortunately. But this is not a fault of Princess Cruises Overall, we were more than happy with our Crown Princess cruise, and we’d happily cruise on the Crown again.

What is there to complain about?

We are mid 60 cruisers with no kids, no other people or family in our party, and this was our 12th cruise and our 4th on Princess. As this was our first Princess cruise since covid, we were excited to see how Princess were holding up and we were not disappointed. I, like many cruisers read these reviews and do my best to read between the lines to obtain as best a picture as I can. As someone remarked to me some years ago, people who have some form of disappointment on a cruise are the most likely to write a negative review which really distorts the information future cruises are looking for. Having completed the cruise and viewed the miserable attitude and behaviour of a very small volume of guests, you wonder why they leave home at all and begs the question how miserable their life must be at home! Considering all that a cruise like this has to offer, and the volume of passengers and potential weather conditions that may effect the cruise experience, we always know that not everything is not always going to go to plan. Did anything cause us to wish we stayed home? Absolutely not! Embarkation: Embarkation was a breeze and we were on the ship very quickly. The ship itself was beautiful, tastefully designed and to be honest, more of the passengers showed more wear and tear than the ship itself as we know comes with age. As the cruise prior had some norovirus issues, the only complaint we had was they were at a preventative level which did not allow vacuuming in the cabin which was a little disappointing, but something we had to live with for the benefit of all passengers and crew. As with turnaround days on most cruise lines, sometimes it takes the first night of queuing for dinner to test your patience before things settle down and after all, why would you let the small things dampen the cruise trip you have been excited about since you booked! Dining: We selected the traditional dining in the main dining room with the same waiters and table every night. We loved the attention to detail that our wait staff provided nightly, which highlighted our dining experience. Thankyou so much to the Chefs, kitchen staff, and wait staff, for a truly wonderful experience. We could not find any fault in the food we ordered, it was delightful! Food at the buffet is as expected and for people who constantly complain, perhaps you should be making better choices! There was something for everybody. We did not dine in any specialty restaurants, though the pizza, ice cream, and of course the outstanding International cafe were magnificent! Princess plus: We chose to purchase the Princess Plus package which was worth every cent. what you had provided from Wi-Fi, to coffees and drinks made things so enjoyable! I strongly recommend this package as it is one of the best value for money packages offered by a cruise line. Ports of call: As a majority of our ports required the use of tenders, the challenge of moving thousands of passengers to and fro requires some patience, Princess could not have worked any harder to make things run as smooth as possible. Summary: We were so satisfied with our Crown Princess cruise and would not hesitate to use Princess again. Please read between the lines with some of the negative reviews as we just loved it! Great food, great crew, great service and a great memory! Thankyou to all the crew including behind the scenes who contributed to our vacation experience! See you again soon!

Back to what I like about Princess

A short 8 night leg on the repositioning cruise of Crown Princess from Alaska to Australasia for our summer season. Wonderful. Ship seemed to be full but once my mucked up dining reservation was sorted I was able to relax and enjoy. Very few children which suits me and an older crowd of which I am one. I travel I travel solo and find the single supplement stings a bit but its the same on most cruise lines nowadays. Evening food was excellent in Botticelli Dining room and pretty good in the Buffet. Both much much improved from Majestic and Royal Princess from last season. International Cafe was very good although at times very busy. ALL staff were wonderful. Cabin, dining, drinking and relaxing. Ship looked immaculate in the sombre/stylish way. Ports were good as was passenger handling in each place. If ONLY PEOPLE WOULD LISTEN TO AND FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS.66 I'll be back on the Crown for another great cruise in a few months a coastal trip in Australia. Looking forward to it in autumn.

31 Nite SF-Sydney 55th Anniversary

SHIP: Kept extremely clean, and constantly being maintained. Prices on coffee, drinks, excursions have hit a price point that I just don’t partake. Used to get a margarita for $9, now it’s $14. Beer is $8. Wifi $15 24 hrs. Medallions worked great but later in cruise battery issues. CABIN: Plenty of room and storage. We start off sanitizing all the touch spots. Wash hands on every return. No more muster drill. However you must watch muster program on your room TV and go to your muster station to be checked off. The provided body wash is fine (I have very sensitive skin); the shampoo/conditioner combo will leave long hair impossible to comb out. No more door mail drop with your name on it. The steward knocks in evening, or enters to place daily Patter on bed (medallion tells him if you’re in). That's time consuming and invasive. Otherwise slid under door. No door hanger with do not disturb or clean my room to hang. Free washer and dryer on every deck! BYO detergent. VENUES: Princess production shows good, but not as good. Please, just say NO PHOTOS or there will be I-pads held up thru the whole show. Very distracting. Cheers to the Elvis singer Dan Middleditch. Fewer or no shows in lounges. Instead trivia games or movies. Music in piazza godawful loud. Vista Lounge now Club Fusion with tables instead of rows of seating– less capacity. Would like a nice guitar player/singer or piano player. There was one good guitar player Lee Wall squeezed into Wheelhouse Bar. He has a following that told me they book cruises to see him! Give this guy a bigger lounge! Cheers to port lecturer Hutch. Even made time for meet and questions. Also Duncan who talked about history of Matson Cruise Lines. Both were available later on cabin TVs– wish Princess made more shows available on TV. We only attended a few select shows because I’m immune compromised. CREW: Christopher Lye, most visible captain ever. Gives daily updates with tidbits about sailing, ie: what’s a knot. Was interviewed by CD and also put on TV– nothing off limits and very informative. Could find him near daily in the buffet– he likes to get his own food. I also liked that the help was comfortable around him, not afraid. The crew were all friendly, and exceptionally well groomed. They seemed genuinely happy. Most were from Philippines, but Zimbabwe, S Africa, India, Romania, Ukraine gaining ground. DINING: Main dining rooms have very good food. More low-end ‘comfort foods’ included for those that like that. There is usually a wait. They like to seat you in groups and not a party of 2. Service is still harried. Botticelli used to be the assigned dining (now moved to Michelangelo) but now open for B,L,D. The service is notoriously slow. We were seated at table for 6. 1 of 2 couples. Waiter took our order. 3rd couple were seated. We were done with main course before waiter took their order. 4 of us might have empty plates in front of us. Server takes ONE plate away. Or takes one order for coffee and doesn't ask if anyone else would like something to drink. Botticelli service was elevator talk. Buffet... More spread out, less selection. Often themed, good vegetarian section. Breakfast: Cereal in bulk to be dispensed. Only bulk plain yogurt, no fruit yogurt. Hash brown patties exceptional. Over easy eggs on hot plate and it works. Sinks gone. Hand sanitizers on both sides of every entrance. About 1/2 do not use. Those are the ones that just coughed into their hands. It is not a food contamination problem, it is TONG contamination. One man was licking his fingers then picking up a tong. We ate mostly in buffet so this was concerning. Most times both sides of buffet were open but it was still hard to find a table, walking the length of both sides and poolside. Many tables were taken by parties reading or doing jigsaw puzzles. I want to say they are entitled to their holiday too but I have very mixed feelings over using dining room tables, esp during peak hours. The Salty Dog (poolside) you better order burgers ‘extra well’ or you’ll get a pink thing. Inefficient, they only put up an order at a time so don’t have time to cook too long. The Street Tacos and Grilled Chicken were good. Poor to non-existent beverage service. We had anniversary dinner in the Crown Grill and it was stupendous! With a $45 price tag, no longer crowded. Coffee... very good in buffet– I don’t understand the complaints. Barista coffee had to ask for extra chocolate in mocha or you might not know it was a mocha. This was our 11th cruise with Princess; and 4 more booked. I’m late submitting this review because we fell ill before arriving Sydney and 3 weeks later I’m still recovering from bronchitis and pneumonia. Thank you, man licking his fingers in the buffet line.