This is my first "formal" review, and I hope it is beneficial to others. I believe this is the first Canada/New England review for Crown Princess. My husband Rob and myself have cruised on 2 other Princess ships - Sapphire in 8/04 (Alaska-Inside Passage) and Star on 11/06 (Caribbean). We have not cruised with any other companies.

We flew from Omaha, NE to Chicago, IL (O'Hare) and Chicago, IL to NYC LaGuardia. To be safe, we flew in on Friday, 9/14/07. We ended up using Blue Shuttle to get to our hotel - Embassy Suites in the Financial District ($275 for the night, free breakfast on Saturday and 2 free cocktails per person on Friday). The hotel was very nice - different restaurants on site and free internet in the lobby. Concierge was very helpful as well. On Saturday morning, 9/15/07, we walked to Ground Zero to pay our respects, and then came back and got our luggage for the cruise. Hint - you can get late checkout (2pm) if you request it. We were outside with our luggage around 12:30pm, and opted with a car service to Red Hook, Brooklyn. It cost $45 + $5 toll, total $50. The driver was great, got us right to the terminal in 20 minutes. We gave our bags over to the terminal workers (with our Princess tags) and walked into the terminal. Approximately 12:50 - 1pm. We waited maybe 5 minutes to get to the counter, show e-tickets, passports, and credit card. From there, we walked straight thru to the terminal to the ship. Waited another 5 minutes maximum to get picture taken on ship. From there, we got to our cabin, C239 by 1:30pm at the latest. Dropped our stuff, put valuables in safe, and went to lunch in the buffet. Embarking was the easiest I've ever had. Princess employees everywhere directing us and answering questions. Our cabin was the same as any balcony cabin we've had. I didn't see any differences. I requested a robe and extra hangers from our steward Raul. I got the hangers quickly, the robes were being laundered. The buffet was crowded, as everyone was up there eating, which was not a surprise. The food was about the same as other Princess cruises. The Princess Patter stated there would be a Seafood Extravaganza at 5 or 5:30pm in the buffet - right at sailaway. Rob was all about this, and ate his fill! There were shrimp, lobster pinchers, and crabmeat (lot crab legs). He ate the lobster and crab and said the crab was wonderful, the pinchers were a bit tougher than lobster tails - though he still ate over 40 of them! This buffet went all night, so we didn't go to the formal dining rooms. We did meet our fellow Cruise Critics on the back of the ship at the bar and had a good time. The men didn't seem as "thrilled" with the meet and greet and the women - Rob included. I met some great people that I hope to continue chatting with.

The ship - Crown Princess. The ship is big. The hallways were so long, it seemed like they went on forever. Rob guessed 800 feet long on the Caribe deck. We're 35 and 37, so we are moderately active, but for those who can't walk as much, it is overwhelming. I would probably prefer a bit smaller of a ship in the future. I heard quite a few people, including friends we met on board, say they would not want to come back on the Crown - as it was too big and confusing. Rob and I never did get around without making wrong turns. The other interesting thing I noticed, was the golf/putt putt area on the sports deck. The ship is only 1.5 yrs old, but the golf area is horrible. The "greens" were bunched up and I never saw anyone playing. I don't think it was being maintained and looked quite bad. I think you had to walk around the sports deck 16 times for a mile, and it was at the top of the ship, and quite windy. Again, maybe not the best set up for walkers - one of our friends walked this and wasn't impressed with the track. People wouldn't move out of her way so she could walk, they were up there sight-seeing with cocktails. This was also the first time I didn't see any crew doing maintenance on the ship. I did see some railings with wet varnish, but usually the crew is painting and doing upkeep. Rob said with the salt water, there would always be rust and stuff, but it seemed like the ship might be so big, some maintenance was put off. Overall, the ship was quite nice - don't get me wrong. If it was my 1st cruise, I would not have known any different. And the other cruises I've been on were the Sapphire on its 1st season and the Star after the fire, so it was redone. Read more