Royal Princess TA Venice to Ft. Lauderdale review

[Astro Flyer]

This is merely our experiences & opinions about the Royal’s 18 day Venice to Ft. Lauderdale & not a thorough review of every aspect of the Royal Princess. Others will have different opinions about what they want from a cruise so not everyone will feel the same way as me. Pam has provided many excellent photos but if anyone wants to view others let me know because I have some also. There are already several excellent reviews discussing the pros & cons of the Royal but decided to add a few of my thoughts.

 

DINING: I feel that the food in the MDR was the best of any Princess ship we’ve sailed (Princess Master Chef Alfredo Marzi was onboard) & we enjoyed many new choices that I've never had on other Princess ships. Service was great at our Symphony AT dining room table at 5:30 each night. The HC was a big improvement (seating, selection & brewed coffee) with attentive service. When we went to the buffet for lunch they had an Asian, Mediterranean & Mexican section plus many other options including many freshly carved meat & fish options…even low sodium soups. The wine list has changed & I took photos which I’ll use to post the Royal’s wine list.

 

Wine Maker Dinner was great with the same quality as the CG & for $15/pp more we enjoyed free flowing Prosecco, white & red wines and limoncello in the separate “wine cellar”! The Symphony’s headwaiter Davide made fresh gnocchi which we don’t generally like but it was amazing.

 

Super Tuscan wine tasting to me was greatly overpriced ($40) & we won't do it again. Of the 5 wines served, 3 were mid-$30 priced wines & even though the snacks were tasty it was not worth it to me.

 

Crab Shack/Fondue: We didn’t try them because the menu wasn’t what we’d pay $20/pp to eat.

 

Smokehouse BBQ: It was open 6:00-11:00 nightly at the Trident Grill & was very disappointing to us. They boiled brisket, put on a dry rub & “grilled” it in an oven resulting in a spicy, dry slice of beef. Ribs were precooked & reheated…pulled pork seemed to have the same dry rub as the brisket & was dry. Nothing had any BBQ sauce & we didn’t enjoy the Princess version of BBQ.

 

COFFEE: The free coffee in the buffet & that served in the dining rooms was brewed from ground coffee. The IC brewed coffee was served from carafes like at a coffee shop or restaurant; the brewed coffee elsewhere came from pushing a button on the large coffee machine. It would be great to retrofit other Princess ships with this upgraded option.

 

CABIN: Our midship port side deluxe balcony cabin on Dolphin deck was well designed with enough storage. The pillow-top mattress & pillows were very comfortable and we were able to keep the temperature comfortable for us. We used the couch more than the balcony because the direct sunlight was too hot for us to fully enjoy the balcony. While the balcony was smaller than other ships we comfortably enjoyed a UBD during our evening in Barcelona. The shower was slightly larger & the step and handheld shower head were improvements.

 

The Elite toiletries have been replaced with 2 oz. squeeze tubes of Lotus Spa body wash, lotion & conditioning shampoo in addition to the pump containers attached to the shower’s wall containing body wash & conditioning shampoo. None of these had the eucalyptus scent that many like my wife did not like & the new ones had no noticeable scent. There were two sets of electrical sockets on the desk which were easily accessible using our 3 prong surge protectors.

 

Unfortunately the lighting is wired differently & when you turn on the closet area light it also turns on the light over the right side of the bed. These are very bright lights so I used my flashlight to get to the bathroom without waking up my wife.

 

ATRIUM: A wonderful improvement & we never experienced any major crowding problems. Alfredo’s Pizzeria, IC & Gelato (premium ice cream) were enjoyable as was the nearly constant entertainment. The secondary atrium (PSD, shore excursions, gift shop, spa) resulted in less crowding & no “sales” in the Piazza.

 

ELECTRONICS: The cabin entertainment system & intranet (Princess@Sea) were excellent and for at sea Internet access was always fast & reliable for us (some had problems with in cabin Wi-Fi). There were many on-demand movies & TV programs, live TV (mostly news channels), rebroadcasts of Princess Live presentations, port info (including made for Princess historical programs with a UCLA professor), a news ticker & ship location/weather. I’m guessing that the flat panel TV was about 42” & that the movies were DVD quality.

 

GYM: Without a covered Promenade deck the uncovered walking/jogging track wasn’t good for me having to avoid too much sun & it could be quite windy. I had no trouble getting a treadmill for an hour by going after 10:00 AM (once had to use a recumbent bike) but thought the gym was too hot during cardio exercise. The TVs had fewer options than on other ships which was odd because the Royal’s TV system had so many more options. I didn’t do any weight training but heard from those who did that the gym lack sufficient equipment.

 

PRINCESS THEATER: I thought it was too warm (particularly wearing a suit on formal nights) & saw others fanning themselves. The “new” production shows were okay but most themes were the same as before. To me “Sweet Soul Music” was a reworked version of Motor City; “Colors of the World” was like the old around the world show; “What the World Needs Now” was like the old show with 60s & 70s pop music. “Spectacular” seemed to be the only completely original theme for a show. Production shows were at 6:45, 8:30 (very crowded) & 10:30 and lasted a little over 30 minutes. There are few “sets” & instead a high tech “video” display covering the back of the stage which I found when sitting in the lower section pixilated the images too much so we sat in the upper level instead. No side aisles resulted in a poor flow of passengers which was unfortunate.

 

I missed the midship stairway above deck 7 which resulted in either taking the elevator to our deck 9 midship cabin or walking to the fore or aft stairways. Our RCI Navigator OTS cruise in February also only had fore & aft stairways/elevators without any midship stairways/elevators so the Royal wasn’t as bad as the Navigator. The library & internet café appeared to be smaller but didn’t use either one. I was skeptical about the Princess Live venue but they used it for many types of events with some being rebroadcast on the entertainment system. We don’t spend time lounging around the pool so I cannot comment on that aspect of a cruise.

 

I don’t know if it’s the Royal’s design or just having great conditions however except for a brief time it rarely felt like we were at sea. This was our 3rd TA & we’ve also crossed the Pacific and we felt very little motion throughout the Med & during the TA. The tenders were improved with a bulbous nose for smoother sailing.

 

With over 1200 Elite onboard it wasn’t a surprise to me that laundry progressively took longer as the cruise continued. It began taking 1 day & our final load sent 10 days before the end of the cruise took 7 days. They could have been proactive & informed Elite passengers about anticipated lengthy delays. We would have planned differently if Princess had notified us in advance about potential lengthy delays due to so many Elites on the cruise.

 

Overall we had a great cruise & met some great people however like on other ships we also ran into some of those passengers the comic joked about who didn’t have a clue that they weren't the only ones onboard. Unlike others, we fortunately didn’t experience more rude passengers than on other cruises.

 

For us there were many more positives than negatives & we’ll miss the Royal Princess’ improvements & additions. We’d happily sail on the Royal or Regal Princess if the itinerary was good for us & was reasonably priced. Princess still provides us with our best cruise experience for the price paid but I’m not a “cheerleader” & realize the Royal will not be for everyone…but what ship is everything to everyone? ;)

[melody hounddog]

Great review. Thanks for posting.

 

I would love to see some photos, especially of the atrium and the UBD, if you have them.

[Astro Flyer]

Great review. Thanks for posting.

 

I would love to see some photos, especially of the atrium and the UBD, if you have them.

I'll do that as soon as I can generate images that meet the CC size limits. :)

[pcsunlover]

Thank for taking the time to post your thoughts! I appreciate hearing comments - both positive and not so positive - from people who have actually sailed on the Royal. I feel like I now know what to expect when I board next spring.

[GeeDunk]

 

DINING: I feel that the food in the MDR was the best of any Princess ship we’ve sailed (Princess Master Chef Alfredo Marzi was onboard) & we enjoyed many new choices that I've never had on other Princess ships. Service was great at our Symphony AT dining room table at 5:30 each night. The HC was a big improvement (seating, selection & brewed coffee) with attentive service. When we went to the buffet for lunch they had an Asian, Mediterranean & Mexican section plus many other options including many freshly carved meat & fish options…even low sodium soups. The wine list has changed & I took photos which I’ll use to post the Royal’s wine list.

 

Agree -- The Buffet is a major improvement.

Too many choices:)

 

Unfortunately the lighting is wired differently & when you turn on the closet area light it also turns on the light over the right side of the bed. These are very bright lights so I used my flashlight to get to the bathroom without waking up my wife.

 

This sort of suprised me; however, learnd to live with it.

 

ATRIUM: A wonderful improvement & we never experienced any major crowding problems. Alfredo’s Pizzeria, IC & Gelato (premium ice cream) were enjoyable as was the nearly constant entertainment. The secondary atrium (PSD, shore excursions, gift shop, spa) resulted in less crowding & no “sales” in the Piazza.

 

Again, agree; the Piazza enlargement was welcomed.

 

 

 

I missed the midship stairway above deck 7.

 

With over 1200 Elite onboard it wasn’t a surprise to me that laundry progressively took longer as the cruise continued. It began taking 1 day & our final load sent 10 days before the end of the cruise took 7 days. They could have been proactive & informed Elite passengers about anticipated lengthy delays. We would have planned differently if Princess had notified us in advance about potential lengthy delays due to so many Elites on the cruise.

 

Yes -- The Laundry was a problem

FWIW -- I think that many of us spent several days, pre-Cruise, in Venice.

As a result we boarded with dirty laundry; then, we sent our laundry in on the first/second day.

As a result, the Laundry just could not keep up after that.

 

Thanks for you review.

 

Sorry that we could not BS about the Navy.

Guess that you zigged, when I zagged;)

[Ethel5]

Yes -- The Laundry was a problem

FWIW -- I think that many of us spent several days, pre-Cruise, in Venice.

As a result we boarded with dirty laundry; then, we sent our laundry in on the first/second day.

As a result, the Laundry just could not keep up after that.

 

It was also reported that some were sending out 5 and 6 bags at a time and others sent out 16 pairs of trousers in 3 different sizes!! Cheating makes it hard on everyone!

[Pam in CA]

Frank, great review. I thought it was well-balanced and spot on. I can't believe we were on the same ship for all those days but only saw you for tours. :( As GeeDunk says, you must have been zigging while I was zagging.

[sunsetbeachgal]

thanks for your review! Agree that the Royal isn't perfect, but we had a perfect cruise on her!

[TorontoTL]

Thanks for your review Frank, we'll considered comments.

[TorontoTL]

Thanks for your review Frank, we'll considered comments.

 

That was supposed to say well considered comments. Unfortunately the CC app doesn't allow you to edit errors after submission.

[GeeDunk]

Yes -- The Laundry was a problem

FWIW -- I think that many of us spent several days, pre-Cruise, in Venice.

As a result we boarded with dirty laundry; then, we sent our laundry in on the first/second day.

As a result, the Laundry just could not keep up after that.

 

It was also reported that some were sending out 5 and 6 bags at a time and others sent out 16 pairs of trousers in 3 different sizes!! Cheating makes it hard on everyone!

 

Heard that rumor and a few others regarding the Laundry situation.

IMHO -- An Elite sending in non-Elite laundry could easily be "policed" by the Laundry personnel.

[Mom33]

Astro Flyer.....thanks for your thoughts and experiences on the Royal Princess.I am glad you enjoyed your cruise. :D

 

No eucalyptus fragrance in the lotion? :( I usually stock up on the ship because I like it. Maybe I'll have to cancel....that just may be a deal breaker!:p;):rolleyes:

[Astro Flyer]

Sorry that we could not BS about the Navy.

Guess that you zigged, when I zagged;)

 

Frank, great review. I thought it was well-balanced and spot on. I can't believe we were on the same ship for all those days but only saw you for tours. :( As GeeDunk says, you must have been zigging while I was zagging.

Hopefully we'll cruise together again in the future...and the next time I'll do more zagging than zigging to meet more often. :p I ran into my Cugina Pia & Mike several times onboard...guess it's our shared heritage that had us crossing paths more often than with others. ;)

 

Pam it was great to join your excellent tours but with so many at the M&G it was impossible to meet everyone that I wanted to meet. It was enjoyable to meet those on Jackie's excellent tour to Orvieto & Civita di Bagnoregio and hitching a ride with Kate & James to St. Paul de Vence. Some of the ports were repeats for us (and during land tours) and there never seems to be enough time to experience everything those wonderful destinations have to offer. It's the reason we spent a week pre-cruise in the Tuscan hilltop town of Impruneta to not only tour but to relax & to enjoy "La Vita Bella". :D

[Astro Flyer]

Astro Flyer.....thanks for your thoughts and experiences on the Royal Princess.I am glad you enjoyed your cruise. :D

 

No eucalyptus fragrance in the lotion? :( I usually stock up on the ship because I like it. Maybe I'll have to cancel....that just may be a deal breaker!:p;)

Oh sure! :p I've read enough of you're posts to know that just like us it would take a lot to be a "deal breaker"! ;)

[Mom33]

Oh sure! :p I've read enough of you're posts to know that just like us it would take a lot to be a "deal breaker"! ;)

 

You got my number..;)

[warb]

No hassle using your Surge Protector ? Earlier post said S.P. Interferred with Ship

 

electrical system. We are going on the 11/17 sailing. Thanks for your observations.

[Woobstr112G]

Frank;

 

Great review. Thanks for taking the time to post it. Your thoughts on the Smokehouse BBQ are exactly what I was thinking. I'm sorry that our paths didn't get a chance to cross during the cruise.

 

Bob

Edited November 6, 2013 by Woobstr112G

[Astro Flyer]

No hassle using your Surge Protector ? Earlier post said S.P. Interferred with Ship

 

electrical system. We are going on the 11/17 sailing. Thanks for your observations.

I've always used them without any problems but I'm aware of the problem someone had which I suspect was due to an uninformed crewmember. If it was confirmed that it was a safety issue I would never use it.

 

I have never concealed them & only use them to charge items & then disconnect them. Pia had a problem on her "LIVE from" with a power surge that affected her ability to use her computer & I don't like to take any chances.

 

It was great to have 2 usable plugs in our deluxe balcony desk instead of having to squeeze my hand behind the TVs on other Princess ships to have another plug to use. ;)

[waltd]

Hi Frank thanks for posting. So if I understand this right the Wine Maker Dinner includes the free flowing wine for only $15 pp? How many are at the Wine Maker Dinner and where is it held? Do they have a dinner every day or just one a cruise. I like the price and it would be something I would like to try. What is the menu like?

Thanks

Joe

[High C's]

Great review, my friend! And we thoroughly enjoyed our tour with you, Helena and the rest of our group. What a fun day that was!

I bought a bottle of Orvieto Classico wine here once I got home. Its good, for sure, but just didn't taste the same as it did when we were there!!

Take care - Chris and I look forward to sailing with you both again in the future! :)

[Astro Flyer]

Hi Frank thanks for posting. So if I understand this right the Wine Maker Dinner includes the free flowing wine for only $15 pp? How many are at the Wine Maker Dinner and where is it held? Do they have a dinner every day or just one a cruise. I like the price and it would be something I would like to try. What is the menu like?

Thanks

Joe

Sorry Joe...it's $15 more than the Crown Grill so it's $40/pp for the Wine Maker's Dinner & hopefully something both of you would enjoy.

 

I just started a new thread about our amazing Wine Maker's Dinner (http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1939851) but like all things opinions it's subjective & others may feel differently. In the other thread I posted the menu...1 of 3 they use. I believe it was only done on seadays for 10 passengers & was held in the Symphony's "Wine Cellar" & here's a photo.

Edited November 6, 2013 by Astro Flyer

[CI66774]

Thank you for your informative, helpful review. Glad you had a wonderful time!

[Astro Flyer]

Great review' date=' my friend! And we thoroughly enjoyed our tour with you, Helena and the rest of our group. What a fun day that was![/size']

 

I bought a bottle of Orvieto Classico wine here once I got home. Its good, for sure, but just didn't taste the same as it did when we were there!!

 

Take care - Chris and I look forward to sailing with you both again in the future! :)

After your excellent review & those of others I hesitated to begin a new thread but thought I'd share my experiences because some things had not been mentioned.

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[waltd]

Sorry Joe...it's $15 more than the Crown Grill so it's $40/pp for the Wine Maker's Dinner & hopefully something both of you would enjoy.

 

I just started a new thread about our amazing Wine Maker's Dinner (http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1939851) but like all things opinions it's subjective & others may feel differently. In the other thread I posted the menu...1 of 3 they use. I believe it was only done on seadays for 10 passengers & was held in the Symphony's "Wine Cellar" & here's a photo.

 

Thanks Frank. I did see the other thread. Still not a bad price.

Joe