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very disappointing!!!!!!! by
Carol Slay from New Baltimore, Mi. Sailing date: Mar 2012Pros: not much Cons: our room!!!!! Not very impressed with Princess Lines. Upon arrival, at general check in we discovered we had been bumped from our room. I booked this cruise 6 months in advance for my husband and myself (celebrating our 35 anniversary) and 2 other couples, selected rooms all on the Aloha Deck so that we would all be together - 3 rooms right next to each other. Only upon check in we discovered we had been bumped to another stateroom. Not real happly!!!!! Went directly to the pursers office and was told sorry our cabin had been assigned to someone else. But gee we ahave upgraded your room. What a joke that was!!!!!! Room with a window!!!!! However - this room was on the Plaza Deck at the very end of the hallway and next to crews entrance and housekeeping entrance, had doors banging all night long!!!!! Needless to say having been our 6th cruise so we had other cruises to compare to this was the worst!!!!! would not book princess again!!!!! Ship Qualitythe restrooms were not very clean Dining/Food
Stateroom QualityAfter booking our trip six months in advance with two other couples (we were all supposed to have rooms next to each other, my husband and i were moved from our room and supposededly upgraded. Ha Ha!!!!! the couple that our oiriginal room was given to had only booked their trip 2 weeks prior. And I was told by the pursers desk sorry but at leat we upgrade your room!!!! Ha Ha again worst room i have ever had!!!!! Ship Staff Quality
Entertainment & Activities
 7 out of 9 people found this review helpful.
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  Norovirus outbreak on Crown Princess by
A Traveler from Dallas Sailing date: Dec 2011Pros: shore excursions Cons: poor customer service and poor medical staff/treatment We set sail from Fort Lauderdale on 24Dec11 for the western Caribbean on Crown Princess. A few days prior we received notice that the ship had an *increased* in Norovirus cases on the most recent sailing & departure was delayed due to thorough sanitization. I boarded with my husband & elderly parents (a retired military vet and retired schoolteacher). It was my parents' 1st trip to the Caribbean which they'd planned for >7mos. At the muster the Captain identified it as an *outbreak* on the previous sailing before quickly correcting himself and saying it was an increase in cases. I was with my parents from Dallas to Fort Lauderdale and all day on 24-25 Dec. Approximately 36+ hours after embarking, my parents developed diarrhea in the very early morning hours of 26Dec. Out of concern and a sense of duty to their fellow passengers, they contacted the med office to be evaluated - BIG MISTAKE! A nurse met with them and said they had norovirus. It was the morning of the much anticipated Cayman Island port visit. The diarrhea was resolved within FOUR hours on the SAME morning, but the nurse placed them in quarantine for 48hrs. They were disappointed but complied. The nurse was suppose to check on them throughout the day and continue to re-evaluate them but that did not happen. They repeatedly attempted to reach the med dept., but received no response until that evening. They reported all symptoms had resolved before 1000 the same day but were told that they would remain in quarantine another ~36hours. This meant that they also missed the 2nd port of Roatan, Honduras. They were irritated as it was becoming increasingly more obvious that they had traveler's diarrhea or food poisoning, and they had only ONE symptom and NO vomiting. Also, we were with them the entire time prior to this episode, and we had no symptoms. My parents were unable to get the med personnel to respond to them to re-evaluate and clear them for the 3rd port. No physician had evaluated them during any of the initial assessment or extended quarantine period. In the afternoon of 27Dec, I began making calls on their behalf in the hopes that they would be released in time for our 3rd port visit. It took over 90-min to get a phone call back from the nurse and she was incredibly rude. She lied and told me that she had checked on my parents throughout the day, but when I confronted her about this lie she yelled at me and said, "what surname are you calling about?" She hadn't even known who I was referring to but she lied about contacting them despite that. She said that she would not clear them until 1000 the following day although I explained to her that they would miss the 3rd port if they were not cleared by 0830 and that they had only one symptom and that it had lasted ~4hrs. She did not care. She later hung on my father when he was speaking with her. I placed a complaint and gave it directly to the customer relations desk the same night (27Dec) but did not hear about the complaint despite being on the ship until 31Dec. They lost 75% of their port time and when they asked about compensation because the ship's doctor told them the norovirus epidemic had been on the ship for ~4wks, they were told that they *obviously* had this BEFORE embarking and that there would be NO compensation for the lost vacation. Per CDC: the incubation period is 24-48hrs with the median time being 33-36hrs. From my own experience, tbe ship's infection control procedures are horrendous! Staff wore latex glove & served all food at buffet until 29/30 Dec, but they were poorly educated about why they're doing this or how to do this. The staff's lack of knowledge was evident in their repeatedly touching their faces or rubbing the sides of the serving areas between placing food on our plates. Food overrated, entertainment very poor, dining room staff and bar staff very good, cabins adequate in size but not well cleaned, shore excursions were excellent. Staff is always working you for the up-sell Ship Qualityvery large ship >3000 people leads to lots of problems and delays with embarkation and disembarking to shore excursions; common areas were relatively clean but cabins did not feel really clean Dining/Foodboring and mediocre menus; we did both traditional seating and anytime dining which was convenient; preferred staff at traditional who were extremely attentive and the atmosphere was more relaxed; the anytime dining was like a very busy, loud and cold restaurant; desserts were awful - I had been looking forward to being pampered but you must reduce your expectations Stateroom Qualitywe had a mini-suite which is nice for the extra size, but the room did not feel as though it had been thoroughly cleaned in a long time despite the 4wk epidemic of norovirus that was simultaneously ongoing; unfortunately our large balcony was accessible for the viewing pleasure of any cabin above ours which did not provide any privacy and left the balcony open to become the trash pit for smokers above and those who choose to throw their drinks overboard Ship Staff QualityThe only personnel that I will recommend (and highly at that) were our traditional dining room waiter and waitstaff and the bar staff in Adagio and Skywalkers. The customer service personnel at the passenger services desk were horrible to work with and their boss does not return calls/messages; medical staff is rude and mostly absent (probably enjoying the shore excursions instead); everyone was always pushing for the up-sell any time they could Entertainment & Activitiesdon't waste your time going to the theater productions - although they can adequately sing/dance, the plots are stupid and you'll feel dumber for going 15 out of 17 people found this review helpful.
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Crown Princess cruise to Western Carib. by
Maxine L. from Boston, Ma. Sailing date: Apr 2011Pros: the food was excellent the snakcs and the desserts very yummy! Cons: the shows were a bit old and tired. the ship is well kept clean and shiny. the rooms were excellent aso very well kept.
the wait staff all are excellent serving you with utmost care.
Casino not easy to hit anything on the slots. Ship QualityAll very clean and sparkly Dining/FoodGreat food served with great presentation Stateroom QualityBed a bit hard not too comfortable had mini-suite Ship Staff QualityAll room stewards are great also making sure your happy Entertainment & Activitiesshows need upgrading 
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Cozumel, Mexico
George Town, Grand Cayman
Princess Cays (Cruise Line Private Island)nice island needs some upgrades also
Roatan (Isla Roatan), Bay Islands, Honduras
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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cruise pretty nice by
kathi p from Cedar Hill, Mo Sailing date: Apr 2011Pros: beach day Cons: not going to hoonduras cruise was very nice disappointed not able to stop in honduras Ship Quality
Dining/FoodChristopher and Michael kept out dining experiances wonderful took care of all our needs and were there for refills and anything we needed at all times Stateroom Qualityantonia kept our room B230 in great shape throughout the cruise Ship Staff Quality
Entertainment & Activities
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Cozumel, Mexico
George Town, Grand Cayman
Princess Cays (Cruise Line Private Island)Don't Miss: beach 3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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A great cruise by
ava from Phoenix, AZ Sailing date: Mar 2011Pros: Ports of call, all excursions were awesome, Comic show in Explorer bar was great, very funny Cons: Entertainement in Princess Theater was poor quality, Crown Princess is a beautifull Ship Ship Quality
Dining/FoodFood was great , best quality seafood !, lots of choices, Restaurants as well as Buffets were very good: food and service, extremly well trained crew Stateroom Qualityroom was clean, big, lots of mirrows, it was very nice , didn't expect so much Ship Staff Quality
Entertainment & Activitieslike I said, Princess Theater Shows, not really my "cup of tea", but Comic's in Explorer Bar were great Children's Programswe have 2 kids : one teen and one 4. Both of them loved that. We hardly saw our kids. The younger one couldn't wait to go to Kid's Club each morning. it was great for us, thank you Princess Cruise 2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Good Value by
Mark R from Long Island, New York Sailing date: Feb 2011Pros: Beautiful Ship, Good Itinerary Cons: Food, Entertainment My wife and I had a great time on the cruise and were impressed by the Crown Princess, which is a lovely, well-maintained ship. This was our second cruise overall, but first with Princess. The crowd onboard was skewed older, with a lot of retirees and not many kids (which I suppose is pretty typical).
Our main complaint is that the food in the main dining room wasn't great. Perhaps we have been spoiled by NY restuarants, but the meals were average at best. As a result, we splurged on the premium restaurants with their $20+ cover charges and superior food and service.
On the at-sea days, we spent a lot of time lounging on the deck or in our room because the scheduled activities just weren't that appealing to us. Ship Quality
Dining/FoodThe main dining rooms were hit-or-miss, but the premium restaurants were excellent Stateroom QualityAbout what you would expect Ship Staff QualityConsistently good, but nobody stood out Entertainment & ActivitiesThe dance productions were pretty cheesy and many of the activities seemed geared toward an older audience 0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.
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Great Cruise by
Shirley K-S from Derry, NH Sailing date: Apr 2010Pros: Nice ship, friendly crew. Cons: Didn't stop at many places, it seemed. Roatan was 106 degrees and you'd better bring mosquito repellant! We just got back from a cruise on The Crown Princess. There's nothing like relaxing on deck with a good book! The food was good, other passengers very nice. Would take this cruise again. Ship QualityNice and clean. Dining/FoodGood food but soup a little salty. Great desserts. Don't miss the "bakery". Stateroom QualityNice stateroom. Window looked out on lifeboat so the view wasn't worth the extra cost. Ship Staff QualityVery nice crew. Entertainment & ActivitiesSaw some of the theater performances and the ones we saw were good. Also saw a movie in the afternoon and the size of the screen was good. 1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Great Cruise by
Bruce G from columbus, Oh Sailing date: Feb 2010Pros: most cordial staff I've ever encountered in any business; well maintained and run ship Cons: had to be back at ship from Cayman and 2 stops others by 330pm. Clean, up to date, full featured, 'as advertised'. Really great experience. I was leery of big ship with lines to get food but that never once occurred. Food very good to excellant. But the staff with dining in buffet and a la carter dining rm were both everything you'd want. For instance, once my mate offered me the last of her steak. The waiter noted the activity and came over to ask if anyting was wrong. There was no hint of any annoyance or displeasure when he found that nothing had been 'wrong'. We used anytime dining. We were always asked if we wanted to 'share a table' or get a 'table for two'. Whenever we choose the 'two', their answer was "excellant", with no hint that they were annoyed. And so it was many times. The staff around the buffet couldn't wait to get us drinks or refill something , etc. This was true of all the contacts we had with the boat's staff including front desk, excursion desk, and entertainment persons. The worst encounter was a dJ about 11pm in skywalkers who didn't acknowledge a request(song), but he did play it the very next tune.
We had some modestly rough seas with beginnings of white caps for the first 48hr but I never got seasick even though I am always the first to go, and was in a 15th deck, most forward cabin, which, according to my knowledge of ship motion, should have been abou the worst position on could get. I never heard the sea-sickness subject raised by anyone. I also loved the notifications especially in food area to wash hands or use the cleansing lotion provided, all to help prevent outbreaks, and no "flu" sickness was evident.
I was exhausted after 5 days of constant activities including dancing, shows, movies, etc. All of the advertised entertainment did occur in good order. One comedian was hilarious and the other very good. Live music of all types met my ecletic taste. Ship QualityOne streak of rust visible at back of ship. Everything else perfect (on deck)etc. Dining/FoodBuffet at dinner was fine, without lines. Food there was high quality for a buffet ther two times we ate there. Otherwise we dined a la carte dining, was like a gourmet restaurant with even the "great presentation" on the plate for all courses, but faster and sometimes better service than a fine restarant. The service was always more friendly than a usual land restaurant. Stateroom QualitySome fluctuation in shower water temp is the only negative. Everything clean, looked and acted high quality. Mini bar had same prices as elsewhere on ship! Ship Staff QualityThe shining crown of the trip. Entertainment & ActivitiesThe production shows were very average for me, like too many ballet moves during the dance numbers and too many inappropriate big smiles during songs, but this is common to amusement parks and cruises. The comedians were independants brought on board and very good. The house bands were all great at the music and knowing when the music needed to be right for dancing times. The hypnotist was a hypnotist, of low interest to me but my partner felt it was interesting/good. 4 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
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Just a great vacation by
Marla & Barry from Montreal, Canada Sailing date: Feb 2010Pros: service, port(s) of call, food, relaxation Cons: bed, overcharge for extras, the shower? The crew will do whatever it takes to make your trip a great experience. Always there for you. They do try selling you things like cookbooks and other extras. A bit of a pain after a while, but none the less, amazing.
The bed sucks. a crap matress at best. The shower is more like a stand-up transporter from star trek. At least they should put in a hand held shower head. And -buy some decent matresses. A european pull out aint for me!
Stay away from the "shops" in Cozumel. Rip joints selling garbage. Too many "extras" that cost a bundle. $30 for fountain coke, $2 a expresso, $50 a picture, ect. ect.
Roatan is the most wonderful place and you can get tours off boat at less then 1/2 price. Same goes for everywhere.
We would definitly go again but on another itinerary! Ship Quality
Dining/FoodTOO MUCH!!! I gained 10 lbs! Lobster, steak, desserts!!!! Stateroom Quality
Ship Staff Quality
Entertainment & Activities
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Great Time by
Jason C. from Cary, NC Sailing date: Mar 2009Pros: Crew, Amenities Cons: More ballroom dancing, disembarkation We felt like we stayed 7 days at a luxury hotel at sea. The only negative was the express disembarkation process, which was not as organized as it could have been. Nevertheless, that was a small problem compared to the great week we had at sea. Ship Quality
Dining/FoodThe food was quite good, but if I had gone out for a nice meal with my wife and had this food I would have been a little disappointed. For example, my jerk chicken was not particularly spicy. It was all good and well-presented. Some of it was outstanding. However, most was not unbelievable. Stateroom QualityThe stateroom was simple, but spacious enough and kept in great shape by our steward. Ship Staff QualityEveryone I interacted with had a great attitude. They made me feel like I did them a favor by coming on board and talking to them. Entertainment & ActivitiesWe would have liked more advanced ballroom dancing classes. However, the basic classes were great. We also would have liked more opportunities to do ballroom dancing.
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Grand Turk IslandThe water is gorgeous. Don't bother going "downtown."
Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.The cab ride to Coki Beach gave us some incredible views of the island.
Don't Miss: Coki Beach had incredible snorkeling. Philipsburg, St. MaartenWe particularly enjoyed our rhino boat tour.
Don't Miss: Hit the guavaberry store. Ride the rhino boats. 18 out of 22 people found this review helpful.
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