Crown Princess Review
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I chose this cruise because of the Great Britain itinerary and because our local travel agent created a package with Iceland before and a few days in London afterwards. We were a group of 6 seniors. All in all, it was OK but I was particularly impressed by this, my first Princess Cruise. I have sailed on other lines in which everything was not just good, they were perfect. After 8-12 days on those ships I had no complaints and could not say enough good things about the ship and crew. On this Princess cruise I can say most everything was pretty good, but not much was outstanding.
Specifically, I did not appreciate being nickled and dimed for 12 days. The first thing I saw on entering my stateroom were two bottles of water and the charges of $5 plus for the large one and $3 plus for the small one. On other cruise lines, there has been unlimited bottled water in the staterooms, bottles when leaving the ship on excursions. bottles during the excursions, and bottles when you return. None of that here. Other cruise lines have offered unlimited soft drinks, beer, and wine during meals. On this cruise, everything was extra. I could get coffee at a meal, but there was a charge for cappuccino. A fellow cruiser was told there would be a charge for cranberry juice.
The other thing I noticed were minor deficiencies with the ship. There was a ring in the toilet bowl. The stopper in our bathroom sink did not work. The wood railing on our balcony was worn. None of these are major items. But, I could not help but compare these to other cruise lines on which we have sailed (river and ocean) in which everything on the ship was in pristine condition.
Cabin Review
Balcony
Port Reviews
Cobh (Cork)
Blarney is a tourist trap and there were long lines to kiss the stone. We did not do so. The gardens are very pretty. Kinsale is a pretty town.
St. Peter Port (Guernsey)
We booked a private tour and learned a lot about this British dependency. Beautiful country. The German Underground Hospital was very interesting.
Greenock (Glasgow)
We took a private tour. Very pretty country. Stirling Castle is very interesting and a great place to learn about Scottish history.
Kirkwall
Orkneyʻs Neolithic ruins are fascinating. I though Roman ruins (2,000 years old) were cool. These in Orkney were 3,000 years older. Skara Brae is very well preserved. And, we visited an active archaeological site, teeming with professionals and students digging. Also, interesting WWII history. Beautiful country. Although part of Scotland, they are very separate and consider themselves Orcadians, not Sottish.
Le Havre
It was a long, expensive excursion to the Normandy D-day beaches which we visited only two years ago. There was a 10 hour excursion to Paris (6 hours on the bus, 4 hours in the city.) We have been there, as well, so did not do an excursion. Le Harve itself is a pretty town, nothing outstanding. Some OK souvenir shopping. A short walk from the ship for a relaxing day.