The majority of our cruises are on Royal Caribbean and we do not attend their Crown & Anchor party early on in the cruise - much too crowded, etc. However later in the cruise they have a separate party for the higher levels of C & A and we do usually attend that one. It is not nearly as crowded and you usually get to spend time talking to the different ship officers who attend. They generally have a very nice buffet type set up and plenty of drinks to go around.