Crown Princess Review
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The Crown Princess is a wreck. The itinerary was changed because she couldn’t complete it and those changes were not communicated until it was too late to do anything about it. The ship had so much shudder, we could not carry on a family conversation with my father who doesn’t hear well in the Botticelli Dining Room. The itinerary was changed prior to sailing so we knew we weren’t going to Ketchikan, but we didn’t know that we would spend so little time in Glacier Bay that we saw the Marjorie Glacier, but didn’t get as close as we did a few years ago, and two other small ones, completely missing Johns Hopkins. In essence, this was a two-port cruise, Juneau and Skagway.
We blame the Princess management for the issues we had because the service onboard the Crown Princess was fabulous, as is usual for a cruise. The real standouts were in the Club section of the Michelangelo Dining Room. They were constantly attentive, very personable, and remembered our desires from day to day. They knew just when to engage us in lively chat and when to leave us to our own conversation. We also appreciated the service and entertainment in Crooners, where we experienced quick and attentive service and were well hydrated with our favorite drinks and lots of water.
Transparency in communication and accounting seem to be an issue for Princess. All cruise communication came through one email address. Even my post-cruise survey went to my husband instead of to me. How hard can it be to use two email addresses for two passengers? Princess was not at all transparent about changes in the itinerary and even though we were informed about a month before the cruise that we would not be going to Ketchikan, we were never told that we would be sailing a smaller section of the Inside Passage than other ships, nor were we told that we would only be seeing fewer glaciers in Glacier Bay. It was laughable when the naturalist said, “In the Inside Passage, where we are right now…” when we were clearly on the Pacific and outside of the passage. She also referenced the “five or six glaciers we saw” when we only saw three.
Cabin Review
Mini-Suite with Balcony
The cabin is roomy with a large couch, extra two chairs, and tub in the bathroom. It has plenty of storage and is comfortable. We were disappointed to find that our balcony on the Club Suite Level (D325) was not covered and left us exposed to the elements and also to every balcony above who had clear view of us when we were outside. It limited the time we spent outside because we felt so exposed. The furniture in the room was shabby and the remote was filthy when we first arrived so we cleaned it ourself.
Port Reviews
Glacier Bay
Glacier Bay is fabulous but we did not see very many Glaciers, probably because the Crown didn't have the power to manage the day very well. The ranger talk was scripted and not as interesting as it has been on previous cruises.
Skagway
Had a great day in Skagway geocaching. Made a nice change from the shops that are ubiquitous on this cruise.