We chose this cruise line because 9 years ago we had a lovely cruise on Sea Princess to the same ports we were visiting on this one. OMG how Princess Cruises have gone downhill. Crown Princess had the most awful sewage smell on our cabin deck (deck 9) that was quite putrid and it was also smelt on the Promenade deck (deck 7). We reported it numerous times to no avail - in fact the smell worsened as the week went on. There was clearly a problem because on disembarking in Southampton, a working boat pulled alongside the ship with pumping equipment. In the 14 cruises that we have done, we have never ever had to serve our buffet restaurant food onto cold PLASTIC plates, nor have we ever had wine with the meal in plastic glasses! Tea and coffee was in plastic mugs and no teaspoons whatsoever - you had to stir your beverage with wooden sticks! We thought we were at a children's tea party! The food was warm at best and greasy - there was no presentation.

Entertainment????? Mmmmmmmm if you like art auctions, then this is for you - we had 3 in a week which had a duration of 3 to 4 hours. You couldn't escape them as 2 of them were in the 'Explorers Bar' where we used to like to sit for a quiet drink and read. There was no guest speaker apart from Edwina Currie of all people - no idea what she may have had to say.

We upgraded to a Mini Suite as I actually fancied using a bath as opposed to showering (we only have a shower at home). The bath was unusable as it had a horrible yellow tide line round it. The shower curtain was filthy. The mattress was very lumpy and needed replacing and the sheets and towels were never replaced in the week. How the cabin was classed as a Mini Suite I do not know as it was no different to a balcony cabin on other cruise lines. Read more