Royal Princess. The budget ship.

[Clutterlady]

Please remember that those who post on CC are a very small percentage of the people who actually sail. If people are basing their cruises on what is solely posted here, then I feel sorry for them!

[Iamcruzin]

Wow it appears that the Royal has deep balcony discounts from January through April. Maybe building a larger ship with more balconies wasn't such a good idea. Apparently it's a buyers market for balcony staterooms because these rooms on the Royal are selling for just about the same price as an ocean view on the grand class ships.

[JimmyVWine]

Please remember that those who post on CC are a very small percentage of the people who actually sail. If people are basing their cruises on what is solely posted here, then I feel sorry for them!

 

While it is true that people who post on CC are a very small percentage of people who sail, CC is by far the most accessed website for people doing cruise research. The forums are but a small sliver of CC. The editorial reviews and user reviews posted on the main pages are very widely read. Right now, if you are looking at choosing a Princess ship for a Caribbean cruise, your choices include two Grand Class ships with 78% user satisfaction ratings and Royal at 61%. It would be naive to think that these numbers aren't swaying people. Granted, the percentages are based on user reviews and not professional travel writers. But welcome to the world where Zagat, Yelp, Urban Spoon and Angie's List make or break businesses more than professional opinions. A plumber on Angie's List with a 61% approval rating is in deep trouble. Fair or not. Royal's approval rating on the main CC page means far more than the musings on the forums.

[rdsqrl]

Please remember that those who post on CC are a very small percentage of the people who actually sail. If people are basing their cruises on what is solely posted here, then I feel sorry for them!

Really? That's interesting. So I should skip my planned Alaska cruise in 2015 because I'm only basing it on what people have posted here about how wonderful Alaska is?

[antsp]

I didnt start this thread as a negative against thr Royal, although its ard not to be with its flawed design. I started it with the facts, the facts are the brand new Royal is very often cheaper to sail than older Princess ships on or around the same date. Will the Regal be doing the Caribbean when she is up and running just like the Royal, where will prices go then.

[Cauzneffct]

i didnt start this thread as a negative against thr royal, ...

 

lol

[Iamcruzin]

I didnt start this thread as a negative against thr Royal, although its ard not to be with its flawed design. I started it with the facts, the facts are the brand new Royal is very often cheaper to sail than older Princess ships on or around the same date. Will the Regal be doing the Caribbean when she is up and running just like the Royal, where will prices go then.

I think a lot has to do with the itinerary that the Royal is sailing. St Thomas is a port of call on just about every cruise lines Caribbean sailings and Princess Cay is a tender port and to me just a beach day and nothing more. No shops, restaurants, so so snorkeling, the coral in the water will slice your feet and it's crowded. The only saving grace is St Maarten. There is nothing special about the Royal Princess to make it a destination point like Royals Caribbean's mega ships so why book a 7 day Caribbean cruise that in reality can turn out to be 5 or 6 sea days. I guess Princess was counting on the ship to be the big draw and not the itinerary. I have to admit that I almost feel for it but luckily came to my senses booked on another line for the itinerary.

[Coral]

I guess Princess was counting on the ship to be the big draw and not the itinerary. .

 

I think Princess was hoping to draw new cruisers who have never been to the Caribbean or on a cruise. This is a very common first time Caribbean itinerary. There is a huge number of "general travel agents" who are not cruise specialists who point new cruisers to the newest ships. When I first started cruising, I used a local TA who had never cruised before. That is what she kept pushing was "the newest ships". I liked the itinerary on an older ship and her response was "you don't want an old ship". I now wonder if that ship was 5 years old that she was calling old.

Edited November 8, 2013 by Coral

[Iamcruzin]

I think Princess was hoping to draw new cruisers who have never been to the Caribbean or on a cruise. This is a very common first time Caribbean itinerary. There is a huge number of "general travel agents" who are not cruise specialists who point new cruisers to the newest ships. When I first started cruising, I used a local TA who had never cruised before. That is what she kept pushing was "the newest ships". I liked the itinerary on an older ship and her response was "you don't want an old ship". I now wonder if that ship was 5 years old that she was calling old.

 

That is so true and ironically I chose one of Celebrity's oldest ships, the Summit instead of the Royal Princess because the itinerary was better. The only thing that I sacrificed was food quality although we didn't know that until we sailed as it was our first time on a Celebrity ship. We didn't starve and even enjoyed every other aspect just as much or even better than Princess. Now I have two go to cruise lines to consider.

[Nebr.cruiser]

I think a lot has to do with the itinerary that the Royal is sailing. St Thomas is a port of call on just about every cruise lines Caribbean sailings and Princess Cay is a tender port and to me just a beach day and nothing more. No shops, restaurants, so so snorkeling, the coral in the water will slice your feet and it's crowded. The only saving grace is St Maarten. There is nothing special about the Royal Princess to make it a destination point like Royals Caribbean's mega ships so why book a 7 day Caribbean cruise that in reality can turn out to be 5 or 6 sea days. I guess Princess was counting on the ship to be the big draw and not the itinerary. I have to admit that I almost feel for it but luckily came to my senses booked on another line for the itinerary.

 

 

I agree that this itinerary is less than appealing. I saw yesterday balcony cabins in February going for $648, which I think is really cheap for a brand new ship like this. It's probably a combination of itinerary and negative press on the ship.

 

Given some of the negatives that I've been reading about the Royal--for me the small balconies and no promenade are the worst--we'd only be tempted by super low prices; but, with this itinerary I'm not sure we'd go even then.

 

Wed' be going mainly to experience the ship, since Princess Cays is kind of a "ehhh" stop, we've been to St. Thomas multiple times, and St. Maarten is the only somewhat ok port. I'm sure we'd still have a good cruise, but I'm just not that excited about the ship.

[chamima]

Wow! I came to this board because I just learned I have only one more cruise to make platinum. I don't really know what that is on Princess, but I am very hopeful it is early boarding. I have it on Carnival..and now they SELL it with FTTF. So it is back to the hordes.

 

And I am taking a group of people ( Daughter and family) + DH and myself, so we are booked on the Carnival Dream . I did not have the sense to realize that if it is Spring Break in Florida that week..it most likely is in a lot of other places. The ship goes to the Western C. that week. So does every ship out of tampa. And Miami..except for Liberty....which does not go to St. Marteen. And Fort Lauderdale.

Princess goes to the Cayman Islands and Cozumel and takes a long time doing it on the Ruby. Why don't they stop at Key West? I love that port. And our Times are wrong for the Emerald. So it is the Royal, I am thinking of switching too. Dread the drive . But I love Princess. And I would LOVE to get early boarding on Princess. Woo Hoo.

 

So...............what is wrong with the Royal? They do not have any OV's. With a 3 years old GD who can climb like a Monkey..........I am afraid of a balcony for them. but I hate to be sitting on a balcony with them in Inside. there is only $50 difference between an IS and BAL.

What is going on? And as long as they play Trivia....we are pretty happy.

Have any of you ever had a toddler in a balcony? Her parents are in their early 30's. both employed with a decent level of sense.

 

 

Why don't you book the balcony for you and an inside across the hall for them?

I wouldn't be comfortable with the toddler having access to the balcony when the adults are asleep.

When everyone's up you can watch them but kids are creative and I wouldn't be comfortable at night.

 

 

As far as the discussion about the prices dropping - our aft D4 (Premium Deluxe) dropped by 1/3 this week, as did most of the prices for our February sailing. My take on this is that Princess might be learning a lesson from the 3 and 4 day sailings on the Golden that they basically gave away the last couple of weeks.

We had already booked next winter so when the offer to get back 100% from one of those short sailings towards another cruise came up, we took it. At first I wondered what Princess was thinking but once on the ship it was pretty obvious. The casino was packed. And I mean, really packed!!!! People were drinking and both Sabatinis and the Crown Grill were full every night. Whatever Princess gave away in cruise fares they got back double in on board spending.

Maybe that's the thought for the Royal next winter. - Lower the prices , get people on board who think they're getting a bargain, and they'll spend their "savings" on the ship.

[Tapi]

I agree that the 7 night Caribbean itinerary on the Royal is horrendous. But it seems to be the preferred Eastern itinerary of larger ships (Allure/Oasis and NCL Getaway do something similar as well).

 

Even though we are excitedly booked in the Royal out of NYC to Canada/New England, I would NOT consider this ship in the Caribbean just because of the crappy itinerary.

Edited November 8, 2013 by Tapi

[chamima]

I agree that the 7 night Caribbean itinerary on the Royal is horrendous. But it seems to be the preferred Eastern itinerary of larger ships (Allure/Oasis and NCL Getaway do something similar as well).

 

Even though we are excitedly booked in the Royal out of NYC to Canada/New England, I would NOT consider this ship in the Caribbean just because of the crappy itinerary.

 

But the advantage of this itinerary is that we will have no desire to get off the ship. :rolleyes:

Everyone has their own reasons for cruising and we just wanted to "see" the new ship. Longer than 7 days would be interminable if we don't like it. ;)

[Loonbeam]

It's still way early but there has not been any price movement on our Royal cruise for October next year. But there are a LOT more open cabins than I expected for a new(er) ship sailing out of the NYC area...

[Clutterlady]

Wish I lived near the cruise port so I could drive! I love these short cruises. Doesn't matter where they go, we just love to get on a ship and relax....total R&R:)

[caribill]

I agree that the 7 night Caribbean itinerary on the Royal is horrendous. But it seems to be the preferred Eastern itinerary of larger ships (Allure/Oasis and NCL Getaway do something similar as well).

 

 

Because those are the ports which can support all of those passengers.

[geoherb]

I think the itinerary sounds fine. I like St. Thomas, St. Martin, and Princess Cays. When we sailed on the Emerald in 2009, we did a similar itinerary except it went to Grand Turk instead of Princess Cays. I'd much rather enjoy a free day at the beach in Princess Cays than in Grand Turk.

 

For the dates I was looking at (Christmas), the cruises on the Royal were much higher than the ones on the Crown. I think families like to be on the newest ships.

[pcsunlover]

The Royal is pretty much sailing the same itinerary that we were on last March on the Ruby. I wish that Princess would change it up a bit on some of the 7 day eastern caribbean sailings and give some more options on the ports. In 2015 the Regal and Ruby are sailing almost the same 7 day itinerary at the same time. I also would be more likely to book a 10 day caribbean cruise if St. Maarten was a stop on one of them instead of St. Thomas on both of them.

[hockeymum]

How's the Norwegian Epic selling these days? I know there seemed to be a lot of negative opinion on that particular ship when it first debuted, which seems similar to how people are talking about the Royal Princess.

 

I agree sailed the Epic would never go back sailed the Royal Princess and would go back in a minute.:)

[seacruise9]

Hi,

 

I sailed on the maiden voyage of the Royal Princess back in June and enjoyed the ship. In fact, I am booked on one of the first cruises of the Regal Princess in June 2014. Even though the ship is not perfect (no ship is), I have not understood all of the negative comments. I think the Royal Princess is beautiful ship with some nice new features.

 

Chuck

[janetz]

We have booked the 10 day repo from NY to FLL next October, calling on Aruba, Antigua and St. Thomas with 6 sea days. I am starting to wonder if we made the right choice with all those sea days. :)

[lovevacadays]

Hmmmm. I am not seeing where prices on the Royal are dropping dramatically. I had a cabin booked on the first Royal TA but had to cancel. The price I paid for that balcony is now not much less than I would pay for an inside for the 2014 Royal TA!

 

I think the Royal and Regal will do just fine.

[Mom33]

HAL has a budget 7 day cruise in the Eastern Caribbean advertised $399

RCL has a budget 7 day cruise in the Eastern Caribbean advertised $399

Celebrity has a budget 7 day cruise in the Eastern Caribbean for $599

All are inside prices for November.

 

Whats wrong with them?:) Why are they so cheap?

Edited November 9, 2013 by Mom33

[Cruise Junky]

HAL has a budget 7 day cruise in the Eastern Caribbean advertised $399

RCL has a budget 7 day cruise in the Eastern Caribbean advertised $399

Celebrity has a budget 7 day cruise in the Eastern Caribbean for $599

All are inside prices for November.

 

Whats wrong with them?:) Why are they so cheap?

 

It's November which is always cheap

[antsp]

HAL has a budget 7 day cruise in the Eastern Caribbean advertised $399

RCL has a budget 7 day cruise in the Eastern Caribbean advertised $399

Celebrity has a budget 7 day cruise in the Eastern Caribbean for $599

All are inside prices for November.

 

Whats wrong with them?:) Why are they so cheap?

 

All im saying is Princes newest ship is very often cheapet than some of the older ones, that cannot be a good thing for Princess. I guess if the Regal is launched as carbon copy of the Royal Princess are happy with there new product