My husband and I had the please of sailing on the Crown Princess from 6/29-7/11 for a Mediterranean and Greek Isles cruise. This was my fourth cruise and my husband's second, and our first experience with Princess. This cruise was part of an overall three week tour of Europe for us. We are both in our late 20's and childless...for now.
We chose to use the cruise transfers through Princess as we had same day flights on embarkation and disembarkation days. Embarkation was in Civitavecchia, which was approximately 60 minutes from the airport in Rome. It happened to be a holiday weekend for Romans the day our cruise began, so I was very happy we used the transfer through Princess, as the traffic could have created difficulty with a private transfer. Transportation to the airport in Venice was also very efficient and smooth. Both embarkation and disembarkation were both very smooth and quick.
The ship itself is absolutely beautiful and in great shape. I did not see any signs of the ship "aging" as I've seen on other reviews. We did see crew members engaged in maintenance on port days, which I think has helped to maintain the beauty of the ship. We had a beautiful balcony cabin on the Aloha deck towards the front elevators port side. We never had any noise issues, and we had smooth sailing the whole itinerary. My husband and I would sometimes forget that we were sailing, as the trip was so smooth. Our cabin steward was very friendly and would always find us to see how our trip was going and to give recommendations for upcoming days. He also kept the room tidy and comfortable.
Loved this cabin! Very clean, lots of storage space, and great location to the upper and lower decks. Close to the elevators but no noise. Towards the front of the ship, but experienced smooth sailing for the entire trip.