We are experienced cruisers with more that 25 on various ships of various lines. Succinctly, we have in our 20 plus years on cruise ships seen a major decline in service, in food quality, and general crew attitude. After this experience, we are seriously considering other ways to spend our vacation time and money.

That said, I will attempt to detail the four days on the Crown. Prior to boarding, we drove from our home in Mesa, AZ to spend the night at the Doubletree by Hilton hotel. This is a very nice facility with excellent service and the added advantage of a shuttle to and from the pier while the car stayed in the parking lot at no charge. There is a very nice restaurant but be aware the pricing is a bit high. There are no nearby restaurants to give an alternative.

We arrived at the pier at about noon and proceeded though the check-in with no problem. However, after that we were ushered into a bullpen to await a group call. This lasted about half and hour. The walk to the ship is fairly long and includes some uphill ramps. People with impaired mobility will have some difficulty with this. Once on board, we were on our own to find our cabin. We dropped our carry on luggage and proceeded to our first experience in the Horizon buffet. It was crowded, and the food was ar best average. This was the same experience for the entire four days. Because of a poor layout, crowding, and long waits to move through the lines, civility frequently was not observed. Read more