My boyfriend (late 20s couple) and I sailed on the Crown Princess's Transatlantic Crossing from April 8-22, 2017. Our experience left much to be desired, and we have quite a number of complaints and issues. Our issues with the cruise, from service, to the ship, to activities, and more, began on our first day, and snowballed throughout. By the time the cruise ended, we were more than thrilled to escape. I would not suggest this cruise line or a transatlantic cruise for a young couple. You will be the odd couple out, and it is worse than you could imagine that it is. You will also be very bored. But the cruise experience and ship itself is horrible, despite the age difference. That is the least of the issues on board.

The first issue we had was with cleanliness. When we first entered our stateroom, room C255, the room was covered in hair. All of the drawers had hair in them, there was hair in the glasses in the bathroom meant for our toothbrushes, there was hair on the bed. Everywhere. It looked as if it had not been cleaned in months. Worse yet, the toilet smelled like a port-o-potty and could not be left open. It was nauseating beyond anything that could be explained in words. Sickening. Despite being cleaned daily, it still smelled and could not be fixed. Also, our towels and bedding were stained. The cleanliness issue spread through the rest of the ship as well. From the moldy smelling carpets on the main decks, to the dishes in the buffet. In fact, the coffee cups had oil in them every day. The oil floated on the top of the coffee. It was disgusting. We put coffee in the water cups to see if it was just the coffee cups, and had the same issue with oil. Thus, it is clear that Princess had been using sub-par dish-washing cleaner, and it is likely that all of the dishes were not clean. Disgusting to think of. This partially explains why 2/3 of the people on the ship got sick. Including me, who left with a sinus infection and laryngitis.

Another issue was how we had to wait in line for everything. The buffet setup did not suite the number of guests on the ship. We had to wait the whole way through for each person to slowly get their food, every day. Once one makes it through this enclosed buffet setup, the food is cold. Awful design. The restaurant wait isn't designed any better. If one has "anytime" dining, they have to wait in a line for an hour to get a table. Then another two hours to get through dinner. Meanwhile, sitting with strangers, or so close to others at tables for two that people end up listening in and commenting on your conversation. Romantic. The wait continues at the shows - since the theater is so small, you have to arrive an hour early to get a seat, which cannot be done if you go to a sit down restaurant. Too much disorganization and waiting. This wasted almost every one of our evenings. Read more