Email promotion from previous agent. Planned to have the cruise after a long busy working period, a very good way to relax. The check in and checked out were very fast, much better than those previous cruises we experienced before. the employees on the board were all very friendly, smiling and with sense of humor, feeling comfortable and at home when talking with them. The dinning room was nice and clean but the food were as good as We expected, the menu was not enough change and choice, the quality of the food were some days are good and other days not satisfy. There is one day the soup was too salty. The entertainment program was pretty good, the comedy and the show were good, we enjoyed very much. The piano bar singer was super, sang most of the songs guest would like to hear. Casino room was not clean enough and smelly. Read Less

I have just discovered cruising and this is my second. My first was on Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the seas. This cruise was noticeably lesser than the Royal Caribbean cruise in just about every area of comparison. From food, to amenities to entertainment to the general service to even the attitude of the crew members. The food: The food was not great. Not in the buffet or the main dining room. The main dining room was a bit hit of miss. The waiters did do their best to provide a good experience but they could not combat the quality of the food. On the first night, we got a prime rib that was good. But every other night, the food was just sub par. As for the buffet, it was small. I was surprised that there were just a few selections in each category and not many categories. The buffet on the royal caribbean ship was probably twice if not three times the size of the Princess Cruise. We wanted to try the restaurants but given the length of the cruise we just didn't get a chance. Some in my party did say good things about the pizza place on the top floor but I never did try it. The ship: The ship seemed small. They only had a piazza verses a promenade. The Royal Caribbean ship had a promenade which was like a small mall in the middle of the ship with some restaurants and shops. The Crown Princess simply has a Piazza which seemed like a miniature version of the RC Promenade. The Piazza was laid out around a circular stair case over three levels, with shops all around the border. In comparison, while the RC promenade may have had an irish pub, the crown princess had a Irish Pub like area in a corner of the piazza but it was not its own entity. So you never really felt like you were in an irish pub. Service: Some as good and some was really bad. The waiters in the main dining room really did try their best. However the staff in the buffet seemed annoyed at times. Several seemed like they thought their job was beneath them. While they got you your second and third cup of coffee, they always seemed annoyed to do it. Value: We did get a good deal on the cabin but they really do try to nickel and dime you on little things like soda and water. I don't remember the RC cruise charging for soda but I could be wrong. They did offer a $7 a day soda package which my wife and I bought one. Which was totally worth it. I think the intent was to sell us two but we share drinks anyway so I am not sure they made out. As for the children: they had fun but this line does not offer nursery services. And they didn't have much for young children. Non of the pools allow children with diapers to use pools. Read Less

We booked 5 rooms for our family for a short get away. Despite our concern reading the recent reviews here before we went, all the rooms are cleaned, regularly serviced and we had no issue with plumbing or room conditions. Food was very good, it their 50th Anniversary year, staff are courteous, attentive and everyehere if you need them. The spa is very clean, sauna and steam rooms are slightly wet on floor but that is expected. Entertainment is average. Casino slot pays out reasonable, better than Las Vegas. The best secret for us is the cafe and snack on the 5th floor. One can get a variety of sandwiches, ice cream, cakes, soup, chocolate, especially great coffee. The dining reservation was not handled properly, we call Princess and were told to call our booking agent, we did and hoot email confirmed they had linked us together. Well, we found given fire separate table printed on our room cards. We were told agent cannot make dinner reservation, the staff helped out, we waited for the second seating and got a table at 7:30 pm instead of 6 pm as expected. The staff got us together the next two dinners. We were on the Grand Princess last time, this is overall a better cruse ship.   Read Less

Let’s begin by clarifying that this is Part III in our 3 part series of Back, to Back to Back Cruises. At the end of this review I will give a very brief synopsis of an additional 3 Day Golden Princess Cruise that we sailed, on 12/1/13. This cruise however, was a 4 Day West Coast Getaway and the third in this series of 3 back to back to back cruises, which my friend and I took. The price was outstanding, practically free and impossible to pass up. It was also a Halloween voyage, which we had never done before and that was a real kick. Disembarkation/Embarkation: My friend and I were “In Transit” Passengers for the third leg of our three back to back cruises. Unlike the second cruise in the series, on the final day of the voyage this time, the Passenger Services provided the documentation for In Transit in a timely manner and our room steward knew we were getting back onto the ship. I am convinced he thought we were never leaving. The next morning we were again to meet other In Transit Passengers at the Crown Grill at 11:00 AM. We then were escorted off the ship with the group and that is exactly what occurred. We took a slight detour out to our car to leave a few items that we did not need for the last four days. Then walked back up the broken escalator and joined the other In Transit passengers waiting to re-board the ship. Cabin: We remained in our forward Aloha Deck balcony stateroom. It was wonderful not to have the usual first day unpacking routine. We were greeted by our room steward, Romeo and told him we had decided not to go home. He laughed. Again, as we were traversing the hallway on Aloha Deck many other room stewards were so amazed to see us still on board. We got lots of hearty welcomes. Dining: We continued to have fixed seating and as mentioned previously, I can wait on line and make reservations for dinner at home; I don’t need to be saddled with that chore while on vacation. Our private table for just the two of us remained the same in the Canaletto Dining Room. Roland and Laura were so pleased to see us back for dinner. By this time, we were so burned out by the same repeat menus it started to get as redundant as our three part reviews. Even the food items that were our very favorites that we were so jazzed to have been able to order for three times in less than ten days, did not taste as good. Bummer! Point of irony, here we are on a Mexican cruise to a Mexican Port, mariachis playing, people drinking marguerites and no ability whatsoever to eat Mexican food on the ship. Note to Princess, Chili Verde would be a nice addition to any of your menus. I would even settle for a Taco Once again there was no Captain’s Circle Party and we got another set of 2 Free Drink vouchers to our stateroom. Our favorite “Choco-Banana” caught the eye of passengers because it looked very scrumptious and so outstanding. And it was! Entertainment: We would like to mention how much we enjoyed Troy Thirdgill. His comedy was down to earth, funny and we really, really enjoyed him. We had an opportunity to speak to him on the last evening of the cruise and what a lovely man he is, warm and kind. If you see him listed on any Princess Patter, make sure to go see him, you won’t be disappointed. Disembarkation: We waited a short time in the Elite disembarkation area and were off the ship in record time. The funny thing about leaving the port, was that the parking lot attendant was so used to seeing people with three or four days to pay for, that when our tally of 11 days showed up on her computer, she nearly jumped out of the booth. We all had a good laugh after we explained why. Overall Opinion of the Cruise: Since this is part III of our review for our back to back to back sailings, one thing to note is a definite difference in the demographics between the 4 day sailing Thursday–Monday as opposed to the 4 day sailing from Monday to Friday. It was dramatic. On the weekend, the 4 day had large families and overall were younger, while the 4 day mid-week returned to a higher age group with less children Addendum: As mentioned above, a month later we took another 3 day Get Away. Not only were we looking at the same menus, the same TV shows, the same movies, but the only option for something new on the TV was the news. It felt as if we were in our own version of the movie Ground Hogs Day. Having said that, what really stands out is that 30 days later, the ship seemed to age even more dramatically. These short cruises are really wreaking havoc on the Golden Princess..   Read Less