Royal Review ( Sailed 2/07-2/17 )

Have cruised with Princess exclusively for 12+ years, had a great time with family and enjoyed the ourselves, yet doubt I will book passage on this ship again.

Yes,yes,yes the balcony was small but it was satisfactory for the two of us. We booked mini-suite and the cabin was great however it was the first time I ever had to clean my cabin. The desk top was sticky and had makeup / lipstick marks on it, there were leftover previous cruise patters in the drawers, the mirrors had handprints on them, the robes were splattered with food remnants and the glasses in the bathroom were dirty. I should have reversed the gratuities and paid myself. Our cabin steward was like a ghost; materialized at night only after we had gone to dinner. I have no idea what his name was.

On the upside the TVs ( 2 of them ) were great. Good selection of movies, TV shows and live news casts. Nice couch, plenty of storage in the closet and under the bed for luggage. Bathroom w/tub was nice size with plenty of places to store toiletries. Take a power strip if you need to charge several things. There are no plugs around the night stand area; only on the desk. A hair dryer is hidden away in the top drawer of the desk.

The Sea Walk is nice feature and the Outrigger seating area ( aft, deck 16 ) was an underused, hidden gem. The stateroom hallways twist and turn and while I heard many complaints about them,we did not mind it. The decor overall is gorgeous.

We dined at 8:15 in the Allegro dining room and had great service with Mario and Christian. The food was good; not great, just good. The offerings and food prep on the other Princess ships, IMO, are better. Alfredo's saw us quite often and the calzones there are amazing. The Horizon Court, the new Bistro and the Pastry Shop are well designed and thoughtfully laid out. The Pastry Shop is divine! As always the pizza, burgers and hotdogs are awesome. Had the Fondue dinner and it was good yet I wouldn't do it again. Crown Grill dinners were always top notch. Rented Sanctuary chairs for the week and 2 loungers are $600.00.

Where my disappointment lies is with the Horizon wait staff. Their behavior and lack of service is abysmal. We saw them as they mocked passengers, ignored passengers, overheard them to gripe about having to wait on people and overall they just seemed miserable. And heads up, Princess staff, some of us Americans do understand other languages and know exactly

what you are saying. I really think Princess needs a better supervisory system in this dining venue.

The ship is beautiful, the elevators are packed so just plan your times accordingly and although there were 3000+ passengers on the ship, except for the elevators, it never seemed crowded.

The ports were ok. We have visited most every Caribbean port of call and St Lucia, Barbados and Antigua are my least favorite. Disappointed the Sugar Train in St Kitts had broken down ( no fault of Princess) and we were refunded our $$.

Love, love, love the horns playing the Love Boat theme when leaving port!

Disembarkation was well organized and we always use Ez Air and that is a service I would recommend.

At the end of the day we are blessed to travel as we do, celebrate and make memories with family and arrive home safe and sound.

Sailing back to Alaska in July with Princess.

Thanks for sharing your experiences & it's good to have options for each of us to find our best cruise. Fortunately I've never had a bad cabin steward experience & glad that overall you & your family had a good cruise. I share your sentiments about being able to take a cruise particularly with family & friends. :)

Your disappointments are with the performance of your cabin steward & HC staff however to me that isn't directly tied to any particular ship and it could happen anywhere. If I had these issues, I would report them during my cruise to seek improvement but I wouldn't place blame on the ship. I had great experiences with the Royal's crew as recently as last October & sorry to hear about your disappointments.

Crew & supervisor issues can occur on any ship but I wouldn't base my future cruise ship decisions solely on a couple of staffing problems.

Have cruised with Princess exclusively for 12+ years, had a great time with family and enjoyed the ourselves, yet doubt I will book passage on this ship again.

 

Yes,yes,yes the balcony was small but it was satisfactory for the two of us. We booked mini-suite and the cabin was great however it was the first time I ever had to clean my cabin. The desk top was sticky and had makeup / lipstick marks on it, there were leftover previous cruise patters in the drawers, the mirrors had handprints on them, the robes were splattered with food remnants and the glasses in the bathroom were dirty. I should have reversed the gratuities and paid myself. Our cabin steward was like a ghost; materialized at night only after we had gone to dinner. I have no idea what his name was.

Personally I would have had the head of housekeeping up there inspecting that room, or taken pictures of the discrepancies down to Guest Relations and shown the Hotel Manager. The fact that you didn't, and accepted it despite the fact that it wasn't done in accordance with housekeeping standards....I'd have called someone to the carpet. :cool:

Where my disappointment lies is with the Horizon wait staff. Their behavior and lack of service is abysmal. We saw them as they mocked passengers, ignored passengers, overheard them to gripe about having to wait on people and overall they just seemed miserable. And heads up, Princess staff, some of us Americans do understand other languages and know exactly what you are saying. I really think Princess needs a better supervisory system in this dining venue.

I had an incident quite similar to yours on Ruby Princess in Dec. 2012; I told the manager in charge of the Horizon Court that I wanted to speak with the ships maitre d', and all three of us had a nice long discussion that morning about their staff. Funny thing, the maitre d' at that time was also the maitre d' when I sailed Royal Princess for two weeks in Dec. 2013. I think he remembered me

:D

In both areas of dissatisfaction, I would have contacted a supervisor. A ship and it staff is only as good as its supervision and management, and if they are not made aware of the problem it won't be corrected for you and future guests.

Glad the rest of the cruise was good!

 

We dined at 8:15 in the Allegro dining room and had great service with Mario and Christian. The food was good; not great, just good. The offerings and food prep on the other Princess ships, IMO, are better.

Where my disappointment lies is with the Horizon wait staff. Their behavior and lack of service is abysmal. We saw them as they mocked passengers, ignored passengers, overheard them to gripe about having to wait on people and overall they just seemed miserable. And heads up, Princess staff, some of us Americans do understand other languages and know exactly

what you are saying. I really think Princess needs a better supervisory system in this dining venue.

Lew

We dined at 8:15 in the Allegro dining room and had great service with Mario and Christian. The food was good; not great, just good.

You should have ordered the menu selections that Lew ordered.

We were on this cruise with you as-well-as the previous 10 days. I know opinions on food quality is very subjective, but I'd have to say our menu selections in the Concerto and Symphony dining rooms were excellent.

 

Thanks for the review.

I always try and stress that you must voice your complaint while onboard.

The HC issues are over the top! :mad:

The HGM needs to know.

At least address them in your survey and I would even consider firing off a letter to customer relations. ;)

Colo Crusier, you are correct. We did voice our concerns while onboard and on the survey when we returned home.

I did learn that several crew members were dismissed and put off at one of the ports with their luggage per instructions from the Captain. We never did hear what they had done to be sent packing.

Overall, the trip was great. We did not dislike the Royal; its a beautiful ship but larger than we prefer. That is why I wouldn't choose to book her again, not because of the service issues. The cabin stuff I can forgive and our service in the Horizon was ok. But the conduct of the servers ridiculing other passengers was just something I have never witnessed on a cruise before.

I think Princess needs to remind their employees that the best customers are the ones they have.

Happy Sailings to you and thank you for your service to our country!

We did not dislike the Royal; its a beautiful ship but larger than we prefer. That is why I wouldn't choose to book her again...

I don't have extensive experience cruising the Grand-class, but the Royal-class ships really aren't that much bigger (physically) than her predecessors - 131' longer and 8" wider. And the expansion of the larger atrium has to account for quite a bit of the extra length. There is also an extra passenger accommodations deck - Marina Deck - but the number of decks is otherwise the same.

It felt like, in most all of the public spaces, that the Royal-class had higher ceilings than on the Grand-class, making it feel less closed-in (therefore 'feels bigger'?), the same goes for the open walkways along the interior of the promenade deck between the Princess Theater, Princess Live!, and the Vista Lounge.

So, I'm wondering, maybe that's what people mean when they say that the Royal-class feels "larger" even when it's not that much bigger?

:confused:

I don't have extensive experience cruising the Grand-class, but the Royal-class ships really aren't that much bigger (physically) than her predecessors - 131' longer and 8" wider. And the expansion of the larger atrium has to account for quite a bit of the extra length. There is also an extra passenger accommodations deck - Marina Deck - but the number of decks is otherwise the same.

 

It felt like, in most all of the public spaces, that the Royal-class had higher ceilings than on the Grand-class, making it feel less closed-in (therefore 'feels bigger'?), the same goes for the open walkways along the interior of the promenade deck between the Princess Theater, Princess Live!, and the Vista Lounge.

 

So, I'm wondering, maybe that's what people mean when they say that the Royal-class feels "larger" even when it's not that much bigger?

 

:confused:

:D Its the "open concept" most people want in their living environment. ;)