We have done a majority of our cruises with Princess and this was our 4th AK cruise with them. It was our second time on the Crown Princess. We did a Caribbean cruise on her in 2011 and still consider it one of the best values we've had cruising. So, we booked the Crown again for 2014. It was a totally different experience and disappointing.
First, the good. The itinerary was exactly what we wanted. The weather was good, and the captain/pilot got us up close to Hubbard Glacier and the glaciers in Glacier Bay. We saw more wildlife from the ship than on three other AK cruises combined. The photo opportunities were abundant and we took full advantage. There were no rough seas the entire voyage.
Other than the fact that we got lucky with the weather, the general shipboard experience was not good. The staff was perfunctorily polite and "welcome aboard" and "how are you today" are not substitutes for service. Our room steward was friendly, but did the minimum or less. Written forms that we could leave for him or take to the customer service desk were left in the "mailbox" and I had to take them down myself. The ice was not replenished unless my wife put an empty ice bucket outside our room. He seemed to manage to show up when we had the privacy sign in the lock and not when we were out and left the sign indicating the room was empty and ready to be cleaned, which was most of the day.
Functional. Showed some wear. Showers very small. Felt more cramped than an interior on the old Celebrity Century.