My trip on the Princess Cruise lines Crown Princess was my worst cruise yet. I have traveled on Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian and all three were far better experiences.

First off, the problems started from the moment I boarded the ship. On the first day a Horizon dinning room staff member told me that there was no other place on the ship to eat when in fact there were other choices which we noticed as we toured the ship after the sub par meal. Then I asked another staff member from one of the shops about Tuxedo rentals and they did not know nor did she offer to find out. This seems to indicate that the staff on this ship do not have knowledge of the services available on their own ship. On 14 November 2013 a visit to the Crown Princess library was met with a female staff member who ignored us. No greeting or explanation of what services the library had to offer. On the same day a visit to the Internet Cafe garnered a similar response. The female attendant ignored my spouse and I while speaking with another ship crew-member and allowed us to waste time attempting to access the internet which she knew was down at the time. She even made a comment as we left frustrated saying she thought the internet was up and running again. Next a visit to the ship's Sanctuary Spa was an even worse experience. Two male staff members ignored us as we stood in front of them reading the Sanctuary menu. No greeting or acknowledgment of our presence was expressed at all. Then two other guest walked up to the Sanctuary entrance as we stood there still being ignored and the attendants both promptly greeted these guests offering information and service. This particular instance of Crown Princess's crew showing blatant disregard seemed racial and completely unprofessional.

Next, the ship itself , like its crew, was in poor repair. From the time we boarded maintenance was seen painting and lacquering walls leaving signs warning of wet paint. I've sailed on many different ships and never have I seen a ship in poor repair like this one. My wife reported to me several times that the public restrooms were not working and had to wait on long lines when she did find one that was working. She reported that two of the three toilets were broken. I witnessed in the men's restroom two of the three urinals filled with urine water and not flushing. And to add one last inconvenience, on the day of disembarkation, my state rooms toilet would not flush and filled up forcing me and my wife to find a public restroom to use early in the morning as we prepared to leave the ship. I noticed that the bathrooms all have a card that must be signed by a crew-member after daily inspection so it does not make sense that the bathrooms would be in such bad repair at anytime on the ship. Read more