The Crown Princess is the largest ship we'd sailed on, and this was apparent from the get-go, as embarkation was a well-organized but lengthy process: 90 minutes from terminal to boat. In the past, we've sailed onto cruise ships. Not so the Crown Princess. In boarding group 2, we waited as multiple levels of preferred and elite loyalty club passengers made their way onto the ship, followed by group 1. At first glance, the interior of the ship was large and confusing, which made the crew members stationed throughout the entry ways an even more welcome sight, as they directed us to elevators. We dropped our luggage in our stateroom and made our way to a long line for lunch at the buffet. This dining facility is the smallest and least well-laid-out of the ships we've sailed, and we made use of it as seldom as possible. The food was middling good. The dining room offerings were uniformly better at breakfast and lunch. We've never eaten a dinner in a buffet, and probably never will. So we lunched, then went to our cabin to unpack, and began checking out the sundecks.

Our cabin was on deck 10, directly below the 16th deck spa and fitness center, and we used the stairs as frequently as possible. It wasn't long before we gathered in the Princess Theater for the muster drill, led by the cruise director, Dan Falconer. This was a fairly painless process.

Live music was available throughout the days and evenings in various locations on board, which we appreciated. The music was very good. The DJ occasionally blasted tunes too loudly on the sundecks, but it was never long before the Castaway band took the stage. And we enjoyed the mariachis and the showband jazz ensemble in the Piazza. The ship has multiple venues for music and entertainment and we were able to visit all at least once. Each had ample comfortable seating, waitstaff, and excellent music. Read more