Just Back From The Royal Princess Inaugural Med-T/A Cruise

[Woobstr112G]

Bob:

 

Boy have you ever put a lot of work into your photos! Awesome job! You might want to review your photos of your suite. I think you might want to remove one. :eek:

 

Hey Bob:

 

Yes please review your pics of the suite, you do indeed need to delete one that stands out among the rest.:eek:

 

Yikes:eek: I totally missed that one. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. I feel like an idiot for not reviewing them closer.....

 

Thanks Again.....

Bob

[Woobstr112G]

Or face divorce proceedings :) I e:mailed Bob a while back to point that out, hopefully he gets it.

 

I may have missed the email as my inbox is rather full and I haven't had a chance to look through the multitude of emails. Thanks though for trying to alert me. Much appreciated.....

Bob

[rdsqrl]

I really enjoyed your review -- and your photos of Venice are absolutely breathtaking! So much so that I didn't even notice the cloudy weather.

 

I have a few questions, which are probably moot for me since unless they install oceanview cabins, I doubt I'll be sailing on her, but my curiosity is aroused:

 

1. You mentioned the dining room Allegro as being "different" than the other standard dining rooms. How so?

 

2. Did you like the Ocean Terrace? What did you have? Did you find it worth it, as in should we start campaigning for that to be added to other ships like Alfredo's has been? Cause if it's between for-fee seafood and free pizza, to me, the seafood wins every time!

 

3. You mentioned that nothing went on in Club 6 besides trivia. So was Club 6 not even a late-night disco place? Or were people too tired from their elevator fisticuffs to go out dancing after 11?

[Woobstr112G]

I really enjoyed your review -- and your photos of Venice are absolutely breathtaking! So much so that I didn't even notice the cloudy weather.

 

I have a few questions, which are probably moot for me since unless they install oceanview cabins, I doubt I'll be sailing on her, but my curiosity is aroused:

 

1. You mentioned the dining room Allegro as being "different" than the other standard dining rooms. How so?

 

2. Did you like the Ocean Terrace? What did you have? Did you find it worth it, as in should we start campaigning for that to be added to other ships like Alfredo's has been? Cause if it's between for-fee seafood and free pizza, to me, the seafood wins every time!

 

3. You mentioned that nothing went on in Club 6 besides trivia. So was Club 6 not even a late-night disco place? Or were people too tired from their elevator fisticuffs to go out dancing after 11?

 

1. As far as the Allegro goes, the décor seemed to be different. I was only there once for dinner, but it looked a little more modern to me.

2. I did try the Ocean Terrace Sea Food bar. I had something called a sampler that was quite good.

3. Club 6 does have a small dance floor with a DJ booth off to one side. I never saw anyone dancing in the venue.

Bob

[rdsqrl]

Hm, sounds like a letdown after the spaciousness of Skywalker's.

 

I have seen the menu description of the sampler. Yum. Glad it was as good as it looks.

 

[dmwnc1959]

Hi Bob, did the Sampler look like this?

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7330/9151685554_338143328b_o.jpg

 

 

I have seen the menu description of the sampler. Yum. Glad it was as good as it looks.

 

 

Same here, and I understand what the Ocean Terrace Seafood Bar is designed to be, as well as have seen the menu. Looking forward to trying it several times. :D

[TorontoTL]

Wow Bob, what wonderful photos. Thanks for taking the time to upload them including all the Patters. It will take quite a while to go through them all. :D

[dchip]

Bob, thanks so much for your review and comments on the live post. I really appreciated your points of view.

 

Your photos are wonderful. I am beyond impressed with the speed in posting them!!!!

 

Watching the sunrise over the Royal from our hotel. In a few short hours, we will be on board.

 

Cheers, Denise

[English Tim]

Thank you very much for your informative review. Not many reviews from OS guests.

[Geoffa30]

In case anyone is curious about the OS suite I stayed in, I just finished uploading pictures to my flickr site.....:):):)

 

Bob

 

Bob, you are an absolute star. Cannot wait to plough through everything you've posted on Flickr. Never been on a cruise before. We are on the Regal next summer. So will be good to read all the literature you have posted. Thanks so much :D

[RichNY]

Bob, I first wanted to thank you for contributing to the “live” thread over the last few weeks and hope you adjust back to “normal” life easily. ☺ I had a really hard time adjusting after just 14 days back in February when we sailed in a Suite on the Sapphire….can’t imagine having to end a longer cruise and getting back to normal.

 

I had a couple of Suite related questions if you don’t mind. We are booked in a Penthouse Suite (not an OS) in February on the Royal and I remember thinking it was a lot less money than the aft OS Suites. When we booked I was disappointed that they didn’t offer an equivalent to the Vista Suites on the Grand Class ships but as it turns out, it seems like they do; they are just calling it an Owner’s Suite. I certainly understand your comments about what you paid for on this cruise and if I remember correctly, weren’t these Owner Suites more of an afterthought and added once construction started? That might attribute to the odd layoff somewhat. It does appear though that the Penthouse Suites on Riviera Deck seem to be pretty much what we are used to from our cruise on the Sapphire except for the much smaller balcony. I practically lived in my lounger on our aft balcony on our Hawaii cruise so I’ve “convinced” myself that the smaller balcony won’t bother me. We’ll see.

 

You mentioned early in the “live” thread that you stopped in the concierge lounge to check it out but you never really mentioned it again. What were your impressions of the lounge? It appears to me they could be missing an opportunity to offer some nice features here for suite passengers but my fear is that it could end up being wasted space. Being that we will be across the hall from the lounge, we probably will utilize the coffee machine…. Did you use this much? And was it ever used for anything else, like maybe suite disembarkation lounge?

 

Also, breakfast in Sabatini’s was probably our favorite perk when we cruised last February on the Sapphire. Amazing service, food, people, etc. I wanted to take them all home with me at the end of the cruise. I’m curious, with more suite passengers on this ship, there are probably more passengers eating breakfast in Sabatini’s. Did you notice anything different than previous cruises? Same level of service? I remember on the Sapphire, there were a couple of mornings we would be the only ones there or maybe there were only 2 or 3 tables being served at most at any given time.

 

Anyway, welcome back and glad you enjoyed your trip. The Royal looks like a beautiful ship and we’re looking forward to checking it out. There seem to be both pros and cons related to the design of this ship but I guess we all just have to realize there probably isn’t one perfect ship out there for everyone. That’s why we have options. ☺

 

Dave

 

Maybe I can help you out on this one...We were in a PH on Rivera adjacent to the Concierge Lounge. It was quite large and very comfortable. There was a coffee/cappuchino/espresso machine. Fresh fruit, juice and pastries were always available. Around lunch time various small sandwiches and wraps were available. The lounge also housed a nice library and two TV's. The concierge was there various times through the day, always willing to help with any problems..I used it every day mostly in the morning. There is a bad side, Having all those treats so close is a real temptation..;)

 

This along with Sabatinis was a very nice suite perk...Hope this helps.

BTW our suite was basically the same size as Bobs but with a very narrow balcony..

[-Lew-]

 

There was a coffee/cappuchino/espresso machine. Fresh fruit, juice and pastries were always available. Around lunch time various small sandwiches and wraps were available.

Hey Rich...

 

I'm missing the Concierge Lounge big time...especially the cappuccino machine! I'd love to get a residential model for the house.

 

Great meeting you and Loretta...

 

Lew

[DDDDale]

Thanks for the terrific photos neighbor. I saw parts of the ship I missed. Since I was next door in D724 (a deluxe balcony) and knew of the soot problem I routinely inspected our balcony but found none. Regarding the comment about the elevators sometimes failing to stop; my understanding is that if someone presses and holds in a floor button that makes the elevator an "express" to that floor. I think Princess will have to disable that. I agree that the HC food was overly seasoned. I like salt but some of the dishes were so salty I couldn't eat them. I found the service there very good. I also agree that the piazza is spectacular. It more than made up for some of the things I didn't like about the Royal. I also concur that Alfredo's is terrific. We ate there three times. Since it wash't overly crowded we were able to talk to the servers (which was not the case in the dining room since they seemed overwhelmed). One good addition to the buffet area was the ability to get specialty coffees and hot chocolate in the pastry shop rather than having to go to the International Cafe. One disappointment was removing milkshakes from the Swirls menu. All in all; we really enjoyed the cruise (and had great neighbors).

 

Dale

[Seafoam Green]

The photos are beautiful. I especially love the ones from Venice. Definitely going to have to get there!

[Bob]

What was the cause of the water?

 

We were told after two days that it was a mechanical failure

[RichNY]

Hey Rich...

 

I'm missing the Concierge Lounge big time...especially the cappuccino machine! I'd love to get a residential model for the house.

 

Great meeting you and Loretta...

 

Lew

 

Same here...that coffee maker probably cost more than our cruise...;) looks like the Sox are on their way..

[Jasperdo]

Thanks for the excellent, well balanced review, Bob. And especially for all the ships photos and Patter scans you posted on Flickr. You did a great job giving us a photo tour of the ship.

[ischeer]

Solstice class, like all RCI and =X= ships, has two banks of elevators. Forward bank is 1/3 way from the front of the ship and main bank is 2/3rds in. Since all the dining rooms are stacked at the rear there are no rear elevators needed. Since the theater and main lounges are in the forward section, the actual passenger activity happens between the two banks of elevators (totaling 24) and their staircases. The only reason to go to the extreme front or rear is to get to your cabin, so the actual walking required in moving around the public areas is less then the Royal.

 

Solstice class carries 2,800 pax, RP carries over 3,600 with the same total number of elevators. You do the math. Solstice is 122,000 GRT. RP is 141,000 GRT.

On the Solstice class, the main bank of elevators consistes of 8 elevators.

I believe the total number of elevators on RP is slightly greater (14 vs 12), but some of them are smaller cars.

[The Big Booper]

On the Solstice class, the main bank of elevators consistes of 8 elevators.

I believe the total number of elevators on RP is slightly greater (14 vs 12), but some of them are smaller cars.

 

You are right about the total elevators on the S ships. and the RP.

 

I wrote that late at night.

 

12 for 2,800 pax, 14 for 3,600. And the RP will hold more 3/4 pax then the S ships.

 

All =X= ships have stairways in the elevator towers.

 

I wouldn't want to be on the RP in the winter with a full load of pax and only 2 pools, one of which is surrounded by those Cabanas. =X= sticks the Cabanas off to the side on the lawn, out of the way of the pool crowd.

 

We haven't gone on Princess in some years and after seeing the early big thread on how Princess was aping Celebrity, we thought it might be a good ship. But not with window ledges disguised as balconies and soot all over a good part of the aft and the elevator issues. 4,200 bodies on this ship! The TA held 3,300 per Pia.

 

The new improved HC is a copy of what =X= has been doing for 8 years and RCI for almost 2 decades. Action stations is the technical term according to a good friend who was in the restaurant design and supply business until he retired last year.

[Mom33]

You are right about the total elevators on the S ships. and the RP.

 

I wrote that late at night.

 

12 for 2,800 pax, 14 for 3,600. And the RP will hold more 3/4 pax then the S ships.

 

All =X= ships have stairways in the elevator towers.

 

I wouldn't want to be on the RP in the winter with a full load of pax and only 2 pools, one of which is surrounded by those Cabanas. =X= sticks the Cabanas off to the side on the lawn, out of the way of the pool crowd.

 

We haven't gone on Princess in some years and after seeing the early big thread on how Princess was aping Celebrity, we thought it might be a good ship. But not with window ledges disguised as balconies and soot all over a good part of the aft and the elevator issues. 4,200 bodies on this ship! The TA held 3,300 per Pia.

 

The new improved HC is a copy of what =X= has been doing for 8 years and RCI for almost 2 decades.

 

There are 3 pools on the Royal.

[Dudleydog73]

There are 3 pools on the Royal.

 

Is that counting the barely larger then a hot tub plunge pool?

[The Big Booper]

There is a pool in the Spa area, correct? I don't count those kind of pools since you have to be in the spa.

 

4,200 people on the ship, maximum. The RP will work in Europe on a port intensive cruise, not so much on a fully booked sailing in the Caribbean. Enjoy the elevators.

[Mom33]

Is that counting the barely larger then a hot tub plunge pool?

 

It's the round dipping version of the postage stamp square pool on the aft deck of the Grand class ships. :D

[Mom33]

There is a pool in the Spa area, correct? I don't count those kind of pools since you have to be in the spa.

 

4,200 people on the ship, maximum. The RP will work in Europe on a port intensive cruise, not so much on a fully booked sailing in the Caribbean. Enjoy the elevators.

 

I didn't count that either. If you want to bash the ship, just be sure you are giving correct information.

 

There are three pools.

[hubofhockey]

Locanda Orseolo really is THAT good and still has pretty good prices, which include that amazing breakfast.

 

Looking forward to our cruise on the Royal, but more for the Baltic itinerary than the ship. One of the first things we plan to do is book the Enclave for the voyage. I hope there is availability when we get on the ship.

 

From your review, it seems like this ship has the good and the bad. That is somewhat disappointing. There is no reason that cruise lines should take any steps backward on new classes of ship where the ships are larger. One of the highlights of our Princess cruises has been the Chef's Table and they now charge more and give you less. Same goes for less pools and more elevator crowding. I don't understand if these are mistakes or if they just decided to build a ship that was a bit less customer friendly (which seems like a mistake to begin with). I have heard nobody rave about the water show, Princess Live, cabanas surrounding the second pool, the Sea Walk, or any other new feature on the ship. Having piano entertainment in a bar adjcacent to the Crown Grill is a good idea. Having sing alongs with Wheelhouse customers is not. It is a bit disturbing. How could they have gone so wrong in so many ways?

 

 

We'll still have a great time, but it will be more about the itinerary and Princess experience and less about the ship itself.