Crown Princess Review

Bucket List Cruise

Review for the South Pacific Cruise on Crown Princess
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couple of cruisers
10+ Cruises • Age 70s

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Sail Date: Oct 2015

Crown Princess depart LA (San Pedro) to Hawaii and then on to South Pacific islands. Rm A243. Stayed prior to cruise at Crown Plaza and they shuttled to the ship on embarkation morning. Excellent hotel and close to piers. Crown Princess is a "tired" ship. Understand that it went through a yard period and dry dock last spring, but it needs some basic repairs done again. The wallpaper is peeling at the seams in the hallways, the façade around a stanchion in the atrium was dinged and holed, many of the metal frames around the elevator doors are scratched and scarred (probably from baggage handling?), missing tiles around and in the pools on 15, the ship lost one engine enroute to Western Samoa delaying our arrival, mildew smell in various parts of ship including some elevators, two elevators continually down making longer wait, loss of electrical in Tahiti for much of the afternoon disabling all elevators and flushing, broken pipe in ceiling over Crooners Bar, leak in our bathroom floor...and the list goes on.

The cruise had a stellar itinerary with 4 Hawaiian islands and 5 South Pacific islands including Western Samoa, American Samoa, Bora Bora, Moorea, and an overnight in Tahiti. There were lots of sea days which I particularly like and we had an equator crossing as well as the International Date Line (two Halloweens!). Service was excellent and friendly everywhere. The food was typically Princess, although the same menus came up three times during the cruise. All the way to Hawaii and then on to the South Pacific islands a mariachi band serenaded us in the atrium every evening. Not sure they got on the right ship.

There was a huge Elite presence (nearly 1000 out of 3100 passengers) which extended the return of laundry services. There were a higher percentage of scooters aboard, but that really did not affect anybody adversely. In the room the bed was very comfortable and the room was nice and cool (great for sleeping). The water in the shower was hot also. The balcony was small but perfectly adequate. We ate in the DaVinci dining room @ 7:15 set dining at a table for 2. Other times were 8:15 which was a bit late for us and 5:30 which impacted "wine time". 7:15 was perfect for us and the dining room was not crowded. The food was adequate, usually finding something that appealed on the menu. There were several pork, lamb, and beef dishes available. Some passengers complained about the quality consistency, but we always had a great meal just as we ordered. Ask your waiter about wine packages. If you are going to drink wine it saves a couple of bucks and your waiter will not always push it.

Cabin Review

Port Reviews

Moorea

Swimming with the sting rays AND sharks.

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