My husband and I recently spent a week on the Crown in the Western Caribbean and I thought I'd share my view of the trip. We are an early 50's couple; it was my 4th cruise and my husband's first; previously I cruised with my sister, because my husband thought he would not like cruising.

Since we live in the northeast we went to FLL the day before the cruise; we stayed at the Riverview Hotel downtown on Los Olas Boulevard. People bid to get rooms near the beach and cruise port, and initially I thought I'd like to be near the beach so that we could go there on the morning before the cruise. I got the room at a great price through a Priceline bid and was very glad I ended up downtown because it was cool on Saturday AM, so I would not have gone to the beach anyway. The upside was that we had a great meal right next door at the Cheesecake Factory, which was great because we got to the hotel a little late (almost 8:30 PM) so we didn't have to go in search of a meal. We have a Cheesecake Factory where we live and it's not where I would typically eat (I prefer small, local restaurants) and I was pleasantly surprised. In the morning I got a walk in on the boulevard and found a nice coffee shop for espresso and breakfast rolls. The hotel staff was fun and upbeat and we enjoyed them very much. On Saturday AM we got a cab from the hotel to the cruise port, and we had the driver take us to Total Wine, where I made a mad dash through the store getting a couple of bottles of wine and some beer to carry on. When we got to the port about 1 PM we got right onboard; it took about 10 minutes total to drop our bags with the Princess dock staff, fill out the medical clearance form, go to the check in desk and present our boarding documents and credit card, get our cruise cards, and board the ship. If there is one thing Princess does well it's embarkation and disembarkation at the beginning and end of the cruise (not so much at the tender ports, but more on that later). We had an aft balcony cabin on Caribe deck and this was the best cabin I have ever had. It was large and there was a suite to our right and no cabin to our left, so we had a view in two directions off the balcony. Even on our most rough periods on the ocean I didn't find this location challenging in terms of upsetting my stomach; there was a hum from the engines that we found pleasant. Since everyone comments on the beds I'll say we found it very comfortable and we sleep on a futon mattress at home; I thought the sheets felt like a high thread count soft cotton that were great at the end of the day or for a couple of lovely afternoon naps. I went to the sail away party to get the drink special (yummy mango and rum) and listen to the band for a bit; my husband and I sat on our balcony together for the actual sailing and enjoyed watching the port disappear and the sun going down over Fort Lauderdale. We were on our way! We had dinner in the buffet which was fine, but not memorable and went to the Welcome Aboard show, which was an overview of the entertainment of the week to come. We are not big on the production shows and this show served to convince us not to go to those events throughout the week (although the house band is quite good in all its incarnations), but we did enjoy the portion by comedian Miguel Washington and made a point to see him later in the week. We spent some time wandering the ship; I had been on the Caribbean Princess before and the two ships are similar, so it didn't take me long to get oriented, but it took my husband several days to feel like he knew the ship well. We went to sleep pretty early, but spent some time additional balcony time before we went to bed.

Sunday was a sea day, and we went to the buffet for breakfast. I love the muesli cereal and ate a portion almost every morning; I wish I could get mine to have that creamy yet grainy texture plus crunchy (previously dried) fruit. We ate on the deck behind Cafe Caribe and it was sunny, but cool; this trip made me realize that other than Mexico, the Western Caribbean itineraries are too cool for me at this time of year. The first day is a straight run down the Atlantic around Cuba to Grand Cayman and of course it was sunny, but I needed a light jacket to enjoy the deck. We had a Cruise Critic gathering in the Adagio Bar, where we were provided with a location to meet only; guests purchased drinks of their choice. We did have a lovely surprise in the form of a drop in by Captain Nick Nash, who was very personable and happy to allow his picture to be captured. He mentioned that he used to get an invitation to CC gatherings aboard ship, but that he only happened upon our occasion while making the rounds of his vessel. I have arranged CC parties before and recall one occasion in which I took the time to send notes to a number of the staff the day before (the party was on a second full day with more time to get notes out) and we had a very nice turn-out including Captain Nash, some of the purser's and Cruise Director's staff and a senior chef. Certainly there was a member of the ship's staff who arranged for our party's location and she may have actually let Captain Nash know that we were meeting. It was fun to meet people that I'd been talking to for weeks, and to then see some of them throughout the ship as the week progressed. I had a massage planned for the afternoon, and my husband enjoyed the balcony and found his way to the first of many art auctions while I got the massage and spent some time in the hot tub and spa pool. This was our first formal night, and we enjoyed dressing up for dinner; I haven't seen my husband in a tux in a long while! We had dinner in the DaVinci dining room (anytime dining) and the place was in chaos getting people seated. We were given a buzzer and told the wait was about 30 minutes; after about 40 minutes wandering the art gallery we went back to the dining room because we had not been recalled yet. We found couples who had signed in behind us being seated when we arrived, and expected to be seated with them as we had volunteered to be seated with others. We were not asked to join the group however, and when the headwaiter returned to his station my husband questioned him; we were asked to step aside for a couple of minutes while he consulted his seating chart, then we were led to a table for two. His assistant for the evening, a young woman, seemed to be quite distraught over the wait people were experiencing, and the headwaiter admonished her for not following his direction; I thought he was a little bit harsh as she was clearly learning the role, but they both seemed stressed by the situation. I have read that recently Princess has allowed people who have chosen traditional dining to go to their assigned dining time or to drop in on the anytime dining if they missed or chose not to go to their assigned time (and therefore assigned dining room). IF this is true, then one can imagine how this stresses the ability to seat the anytime diners within the capacity of the room; in my opinion (again if this is being allowed and is causing the problem) then Princess should not allow fixed dining time passengers to eat in the anytime dining room, but should send them to the buffet. They were tracking our room number when we signed in, so I wondered if they were checking anytime dining room use by passengers who were supposed to be eating at a fixed time in the Michelangelo Dining room. This was one of only 3 nights that we ate in the main dining room; the other two were a night when the menu appealed to us and the second formal night. The rest of the time we went to the buffet, because we felt that a consequence of over demand of the dining room was that we were rushed through our meal. I want to linger over each course for a few minutes and enjoy the company of newly met passengers, but felt that overly aggressive table service was intended to move us along. One benefit of the buffet was the ability to go back and forth and serve our own courses at the pace we desired and in the evening the tables in the buffet dining rooms were dressed with cloths and utensils so it was pleasant. We began a strategy of finding a bigger table than we needed and inviting others to join us; this resulted in some very pleasant and unhurried meals. One other comment about the food in general; I believe that overall the quality of food that I have experienced over 4 Princess cruises since 2006 has declined. I found much of it to be unimaginative, found fewer ethnic options, and thought much of it was very salty (I don't avoid salt to any great degree at home, but I salt food to taste at the table and don't use much while I cook). In my previous experience one could ask for something like escargot every night if they wished and although one might not get it the first night, once the waiter had the heads up for your desire you could have it every night for the rest of the cruise if you asked. Requests such as these were met with a pretty blunt no we can't do that, not the previous attitude of do anything one could to make the passenger happy. Between the level of service, the beauty of the food's presentation and creative options in the dining room on past cruises I would have always gone to the dining room; this time I felt that the buffet was an equal and often better option. We didn't choose to eat in the specialty dining rooms; we are not steak house kind of people and my husband thinks that we cook Italian quite well ourselves, so Sabatini's didn't appeal to him. I have eaten there on a previous cruise and enjoyed the tastes, but felt it was too much (very delicious) food. Before I close my discussion of the food, let me say that I recognize several things: first, that I am eating in a situation where food is being mass produced for a large number of people and second, that food quality is a very subjective assessment. Most diners around us seemed very happy with their meals, and you may be too. We were happy at every meal to have so many options, to be served, and not have to clean up! That said, I am basing my assessment on previous Princess cruises, two on this size ship, and I felt there was a decline in quality based on my own experience. Between this and the rushed service, we have decided to try another cruise line for our next cruise, before I decide that I am going to become a lifer on Princess. Read more