There have been some negative comments about Crown Princess, but we thought the ship was great! The staff was friendly and efficient and the ship was very clean! Overall, we highly recommend this ship.
Embarkation - smooth! We used Seattle Express to get from the hotel to the ship. From the time we got off the bus to the time we got to our room - maybe 15 minutes! Our daughter wasn't in the suite line, but she was only a few minutes behind us. We got 2 of our bags before dinner; the third was in our cabin when we returned.
Dining Room - We had traditional dining, 5:30 seating. This was a small issue, because every piece of information we had from Princess up to the time we got our sea cards indicated that dinner would be at 6pm. The 5:30 time really is too early, but there is no 6pm seating on Crown Princess, only 5:30 and 8:15. On the nights when the ship is leaving late [Skagway and Victoria], even the traditional dining becomes any time. The food was very good, although the vegetarian in our party felt the choices were limited. Watch out for the veggie burger - according to those that had it, not good!
We took an upsell to a Penthouse Suite. It was roomy and comfortable. The bathroom is marvelous, with a Jacuzzi tub and separate shower. You could hold a barn dance on the balcony! Our only comment is that the location at the back of the ship is somewhat noisy on the balcony - hard to carry on a conversation sometimes. But it was a wonderful location for sail away!