Crusader Excalibur Prince 2020 Review

When choosing a premium two-berth, full height, all-terrain caravan for longer trips and Outback adventures, you expect certain things like an off-the-grid  power, gas and water supply that will last more than a few days; a supple off-road independent suspension set-up underpinning a tough, strong body that can withstand Outback highway corrugations and, of course, plenty of space, storage and comfort features so you can put your feet up and relax at camp.

Under these criteria, the 2020 Crusader Excalibur Prince appears to have most of the boxes ticked. While its $90,150 price (as reviewed, drive-away in NSW) puts it very much at the premium end of the market, it has a solid chassis, modern composite body and a sense of space and quality inside.

Body of knowledge

The Melbourne-built Crusader Excalibur Prince follows a similar construction path to other Crusader vans built over the past couple of years, including a 42mm one-piece composite floor, Meranti timber side frames (with aluminium composite outer walls) and a one-piece front, roof and rear fibreglass section.

The Duragal chassis has six-inch box-steel rails plus a six-inch box-steel A-frame that runs halfway down the body up to the wheels.

It’s a very solid-looking design, with a few interesting features like the laser-cut, power-coated  A-frame that lifts the look of what is usually a pretty utilitarian part of the caravan.

There’s a neat external A-frame tap, protected from stone damage by an aluminium plate while the underside of the van is also very neat, with some exposed plumbing behind and above the offside wheelset, but well out of harm’s way. And checkerplate protection, you ask? Yes, there’s plenty of it, on the front, sides and rear of the body.

Unusually, for an off-road-oriented van there’s no off-road hitch fitted  – just a basic 50mm ball coupling. Crusader Newcastle dealer principal Max Mayo said the reason for this is because the van is classified as ‘semi off-road’, so designed more for flatter dirt roads rather than bumpier, more punishing tracks where the 360-degree rotation of an off-road coupling is desirable.

“We classify all Excalibur (vans) including Prince as semi off-road hence the (50mm ball) coupling,” Mayo explained. “You can upgrade any of our vans with an optional XCountry bundle which adds (off-road items) such as the DO35. stoneguard etc.”

Plenty of external storage

There are no complaints about the 23ft 6in (body length) Crusader Excalibur Prince when it comes to the amount of space allocated for storage, however.

With close to 700kg payload, you should be able to cram plenty of gear in the separate tunnel boots located at the front and rear, plus in the big drawbar-mounted toolbox. The checker plate toolbox has a door on each side and includes a slide-out on the nearside for a fridge or generator, plus side-mounted jerry holders.

Also on the nearside is a picnic table and entertainment hatch, which includes a stand for one of the two standard 32-inch TVs. Given this is a premium-priced van, you might also hope for a slide-out for a barbeque. However, you could squeeze a Weber-sized BBQ in one of the toolbox sides.

Also included are external speakers, a roll-out awning and three external LED lights, plus small LED strip lights in the tunnel boots – although more lighting here would be good for when you’re rummaging for gear at night.

On the offside you’ve also got tunnel boot access – not always a given on a caravan – as well as an external shower and toilet cassette access.

Big airy layout

Walking up into the interior, you’re greeted by an open, spacious and light-filled space, with a couple’s layout that includes a front master bedroom with north-south queen bed, central ensuite with separate shower and toilet, and kitchen and rear club lounge/dinette towards the rear. The Euro-style layout isn’t exactly a new idea, but here it works reasonably well.

One potential issue with a centre bathroom layout is that you have to walk through the bathroom to get to the bedroom -- not great if you’re on the loo when your better half wants to walk through!

However, there are sliding doors between both the ensuite and bedroom and ensuite and kitchen for more privacy options than you get with a more conventional rear ensuite layout, which is also available in the Excalibur range if this is a sticking point.

Both the seperate shower and bathroom have plenty of room to move around in, and in a sense this is another advantage of this layout as you’re effectively getting in and out of the shower from the large hallway space. Access to the shower is often a squeeze in many caravans – here it isn’t.

Sleep time

The front bedroom provides enough space to get around the queen coil spring mattress bed and there’s plenty of storage spots, from cupboards above the bed to underbed storage and a pull-out drawer and hanging space on each bedside.

While there’s very little in the way of bedside table space, there are some relatively large bedside cubbies where you can store reading material and other items like mobile phones without worrying about packing it up when it’s time to move.

There’s also a Sirocco fan for each side wall, making those hot, still nights when out in the bush more comfortable (the roof-top air conditioner is located in the kitchen/dining area).

Not so lean cuisine space

The kitchen in the 23ft 6in Crusader Excalibur Prince is a familiar set-up for this type of layout. On the nearside is a single-tub sink and drainer and four-burner cooker, grille and oven with lockers above and cupboards/drawers below, while on the opposite side is  the 224 litre fridge/freezer and microwave, along with ample benchtop space, a slide-out pantry and more cupboards (including one for the front-loader washing machine).

While nearside bench space is tight if you’re using the cooktop, there’s plenty of room for food prep on the offside bench. You’d have to be cooking for an army if you ran out of room here, and if so there’s always the dinette table to prepare on too.

The lounge/dinette area allows seating for up to six (but you’d have to be a close family or friends in these COVID-19 times) and the table itself is large. Access around the table is a little tight, but the tabletop does move on its base allowing flexibility.

With both front and rear windows fitted, being able to back up the van on a site that offers a nice view is a real drawcard of this design. The windows surrounding the dinette could be a little deeper to make the most of it, but then you’d lose some of the excellent locker storage that lines the upper walls around the dinette.

With 190 litres of fresh water (and 90L grey), two 170watt solar panels and a 120A/h AGM battery, you’re also fairly well covered for off-grid camping. My only concern is that you’d need plenty of sunny days or have to be careful with power usage with just the single 120A/h battery fitted. Many won’t find this an issue, but it’s something to be aware of if you plan to be off the grid for a lengthy time.

Having a few hours with a van is not going to tell you a lot about its build quality or durability, but the fit and finish on this particular van was very good. A slight imperfection on the rear boot ceiling hatch access was about all we noticed.

Summing up

This is a very appealing caravan for a couple wanting to do the big lap in style and comfort.

Yes, you’ll need a solid and powerful 3500kg tow vehicle to tow it with and for the asking price it would be nice to see included features like an external barbeque or ESC stability control fitted (not to mention a second battery and off-road coupling), but these are not deal-breakers and could perhaps be negotiated as part of the deal.

Specs: 2020 23ft 6in Crusader Excalibur Prince

Travel length: 9655mm
Body length (open length): 7097mm
External body width: 2490mm
Travel height: 3080mm
Interior height: 1970mm
Tare weight: 2811kg
ATM: 3500kg
Ball weight (Tare): 248kg
Body: Timber wall frame/Aluminium and fibreglass composite panels
Chassis: Duragal 150mm box steel with 150mm box steel A-frame to wheelset
Suspension: Tuffride independent, coil springs, shocks
Brakes: 12in electric
Stability Control: No
Wheels: 15-in alloy
Fresh water: 2 x 95L (plus 1 x 95L grey water)
Battery: 1 x 120Ah AGM
Solar: 2 x 170watt rooftop panels
Air-conditioner: Dometic Ibis 4 reverse-cycle
Gas: 2x9kg
Hot water: Dometic gas/electric
Cooking: Swift 500 Series 3+1 cooktop, grill, fan-forced oven
Fridge: Dometic AES 224L fridge/freezer
Microwave: Swift DLuxx
Toilet: Dometic cassette
Shower: Separate cubicle
Lighting: 12v LED
TV: 2 x Axis 32in HD LED DVD/TV
Price: $90,150 (as reviewed, drive-away NSW)
Options fitted: Two-tone cabinets ($360)
Supplied by: Crusader Newcastle, Gateshead NSW
More info: Crusader Caravans