Royal Princess - my honest opinion

[FritzG]

On a recent cruise our survey was emailed early on disembarkation day & some report it went into their junk folder. A week later we had not completed our surveys & received a 2nd notice requesting us to complete them.

 

I'm glad you got a second notice. On a cruise last year we did a land trip after the cruise and didn't get home for 6 days. When I tried to open the survey it said it was too late. I'm glad that they fixed the time limit on the surveys.

[Beachdude]

We just got home from the Royal lastnight and after a little thought, Sally and I agree that our number one complaint of the trip was the service. It wasn't bad service so much as it was just very hurried. The staff never seem to have anytime to give just a bit of personal attention like we were used to in past years. We expected much better service in the Crown Grill (Fantastic Food by the Way) because we are used to quality service in specialty restaurants. But our waiter seem to sprint through all his responsibilities. The best service came from the staff that isn't expected to serve several tables at a time like the buffet. They we more relaxed and seem to enjoy their work. We poured our own wine in the main dinning rooms and specialty restauants and while some here might think that is no big deal, it is indiciative of the changes. I think we are seeing a sign of the times.

 

It is a very nice ship and maybe worth a trip, but I do agree that some of the changes Princess made from the other ships are enough to push this ship down on the list of choices.

 

We did have a great trip, weather was perfect the whole week.

 

Burt

[Happy2cruise]

In all fairness to the waiters and room stewards, I feel the decline and slowness in service falls on upper managment.......the ones who sit behind their plush desks making "executive" decisions. The waiters have been given more tables to service and room stewards more rooms to clean but in the same amount of time:(. These staff members work long, hard hours and are only human. I know I could never to their job and keep that pace up day after day.

[chamima]

In all fairness to the waiters and room stewards, I feel the decline and slowness in service falls on upper managment.......the ones who sit behind their plush desks making "executive" decisions. The waiters have been given more tables to service and room stewards more rooms to clean but in the same amount of time:(. These staff members work long, hard hours and are only human. I know I could never to their job and keep that pace up day after day.

 

I agree with all of the above.

However, I was under the impression that most of the waiter and room service steward's salaries came from tips so why would Princess cut down on staff to the point where people feel that it is no longer worth that extra tip?

 

:confused:

[redtogo]

Our waiter had 2 tables that seated six people and 4 tables that held two people. 6 tables with 20 people. We were the only couple who sat at the tables for six. (There were 10 empty chairs every night - after the first night- at those two tables combined.) The 4 tables for two were sometimes full, and sometimes not.

[redtogo]

I asked how many rooms the room steward had. He said 18. This is the same number of rooms that the room steward had the last time I asked - on a cruise several years ago.

[redtogo]

I agree with all of the above.

However, I was under the impression that most of the waiter and room service steward's salaries came from tips so why would Princess cut down on staff to the point where people feel that it is no longer worth that extra tip?

 

:confused:

 

A portion of the built-in, daily assessed, tips are the room steward's salary according to the steward that we had on the Emerald Princess last month. However, they do receive a few benefits from the company. Plus, I believe that their room and meals are at no cost. Even though accommodations may not be elaborate, that is money the workers do not have to spend for day to day living. While our assessed tips may be their salary, they still receive "something" from the cruise line.

[Ethel5]

I asked how many rooms the room steward had. He said 18. This is the same number of rooms that the room steward had the last time I asked - on a cruise several years ago.

 

Over the past few year's I've watched the cabin count go from 12 to 14 to 16 to 18. Same with the servers-went to taking care of 12/14 to serving over 20. Then the bean counters threw in that the trad servers would take the overflow from anytime. so in the middle of serving the trad diners, they have to stop and serve the walk-ins. :(

[simpsol]

We just got back yesterday from our 7 nights on board the Royal. While we experienced some of what you experienced, overall a very enjoyable trip. We had very slow service a couple of times in the Anytime dining.

 

My main complaint was my room steward. While pleasant and very willing to help, the lights in the room only stay on if your card key is in the slot on the wall. Not just once but 3 times he left his master key in our room and we had to chase him down to return it. We never had washcloths in our room, and were only provided robes on the last night of the cruise (we were in a mini suite). But my primary concern was the obvious breach of security.

Linda

[hockeymum]

Sorry to hear that your cruise experience was not up to par. I've been trying to talk myself into cruising on this ship for the 20 day Caribbean cruise. You are not the 1st to report such an experience. So I'm rethinking a "Royal" cruise.

 

We did the Royal Maiden trans atlantic and had the time of our lives. Service was excellent biggest downfall was elite passangers who felt they deserved the moon.

We have booked again for April same room same ship and can't wait.

[bigenna]

We experienced very slow service in MDR on the Golden late September. We had a table for two, were promptly given our menus then sat for 20 minutes. Waiting to order. Another half hour to get appetizers. By the time we got our main course we had been there about an hour and a half and there was an activity we wanted to attend half an hour later so we told waiter we would forego coffee and dessert. He seemed very worried and assured us that he would get it out right away and did, but a horrible rushed end to what should have been a nice relaxed meal as we had allotted two hours.

At no time did we react impatiently to our wait staff but later decided to talk to the head waiter about our experience. From then on we were served promptly and were usually in and out in about an hour and a quarter or so.

I really don't like complaining as I knows the staff in general are really working so hard. I do feel that they,like many other businesses in the last number of years are having to do the same job with less staff. It really is remarkable, under those circumstances, how pleasant the wait staff are.

 

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[Aus Traveller]

We experienced very slow service in MDR on the Golden late September. We had a table for two, were promptly given our menus then sat for 20 minutes. Waiting to order. Another half hour to get appetizers. By the time we got our main course we had been there about an hour and a half and there was an activity we wanted to attend half an hour later so we told waiter we would forego coffee and dessert. He seemed very worried and assured us that he would get it out right away and did, but a horrible rushed end to what should have been a nice relaxed meal as we had allotted two hours.

At no time did we react impatiently to our wait staff but later decided to talk to the head waiter about our experience. From then on we were served promptly and were usually in and out in about an hour and a quarter or so.

I really don't like complaining as I knows the staff in general are really working so hard. I do feel that they,like many other businesses in the last number of years are having to do the same job with less staff. It really is remarkable, under those circumstances, how pleasant the wait staff are.

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Forums mobile app

From our experience, dinner in the dining room usually takes around an hour and a quarter (as you said).

 

On our recent cruise (not on the Royal), the waiters were waiting 15 or 20 minutes before they took our orders and by this time, the surrounding tables had already received their appetizers. Our junior waiter was then at the end of the line in the kitchen trying to get our meals. It took a long time to complete the meal.

Edited November 18, 2013 by Aus Traveller

[Beachdude]

Our criticism isn’t the slow service; it is more about feeling comfortable being waited on. Dinner for us and our friends is generally an event to spend time socializing. It is not unusual for us to spend two or more hours in the dining room. We were in the Crown Grill for almost three hours last week.

 

Our concern is that the staffs hurried efforts make us feel uncomfortable for demanding too much of their time. In the past we enjoyed getting to know our waiters and their assistances so we could include them as much as possible with conversation and light hearted discussions. Now we feel guilty asking for a refill of wine.

 

It is probably a sign of things to come, but my comments for the Cruise Companies is that if I’m willing to pay extra for food and service in the specialty restaurants, I expect a service from the staff equal to the quality of the food they present. That might be asking for a lot on the Royal because last week they cooked the best steak I ever ate on a cruise. Our whole table said their same of their steaks.

 

Burt

Edited November 18, 2013 by Beachdude

[ONT-CA]

I appreciate those posters who have taken the time to comment that they have also experienced below average quality of service.

 

I am going to call Princess today. I hope to talk to someone who cares.

 

Good luck. But don't hold your breath

[redtogo]

Over the past few year's I've watched the cabin count go from 12 to 14 to 16 to 18. Same with the servers-went to taking care of 12/14 to serving over 20. Then the bean counters threw in that the trad servers would take the overflow from anytime. so in the middle of serving the trad diners, they have to stop and serve the walk-ins. :(

 

At our dinner seating, there were never more than 12 cruisers eating at a time and that included the drop-in, any time diners. Our table of 6 had 2, the other table of 6 was completely empty, and the 4 tables of 2 which seemed to accommodate the any time diners.

[redtogo]

A photo of the dining room during our dinner time.

[redtogo]

Sorry the photo is so small, but you can tell we are the only cruisers in our area of the dining room. You can see my glass of iced tea.

 

This is the way the dining room looked most of the cruise. I see no excuse for slow service, but it was very, very slow. Two hours to eat dinner is not acceptable with such a scarce crowd.

[pris993]

Sorry you were disappointed by the cruise.

 

New ships sometimes take time to really get it together, we found that out years ago when we went on the first cruise on the Grand.

 

We are also elite, we never pre order mattress topper, robes etc. We request what we want when we arrive including ice, toppers, extra blankets, extra towels, face clothes, slippers, robes, etc. This approach seems to work best.

 

Last trip when the robes arrived, one size fits all shrunk so badly, we requested new ones. They were delivered.

 

The Royal will get better in time I am sure. We just went back on the Grand for the first time in 15 years and had a great time.

[FishOn55]

We just got back yesterday from our 7 nights on board the Royal.

 

My main complaint was my room steward. While pleasant and very willing to help, the lights in the room only stay on if your card key is in the slot on the wall. Not just once but 3 times he left his master key in our room and we had to chase him down to return it. But my primary concern was the obvious breach of security.

Linda

 

Can you add additional comments regarding "breach of security"? I'm not sure exactly what you mean.

 

Thanks.

[Pia1913]

Can you add additional comments regarding "breach of security"? I'm not sure exactly what you mean.

 

Thanks.

 

Having left his master key in their cabin, it gave them access to every cabin on his route. That was major breach of security. And three times? :eek:

[JPEvans]

I don't think poor, slow service in the dining room was the room steward's fault. The waiter just couldn't seem concentrate on his customers. When he should have been taking our order for dinner, he was putting tablecloths on surrounding tables. Bread and butter was never on the table when we arrived. It came much later.

 

We ate in the dining room every night so it shouldn't have been a surprise that we would show up. Looks like he could have prepared the tables in advance instead of taking two hours to serve our meal because he was busy doing those tasks.

 

The room steward was a joke! I had to directly ask for items. Plus, there was no plausible excuse for not even showing up on formal night to refresh the room. We left the room early to attend the Captain's Cocktail Party, and went to a show afterward. He simply never showed up. And, Yes, I put the "Please Refresh My Room" sign in the slot outside in the door. He was all cheerful the next day, trying to make amends. I was not amused.

 

On cruises that I have done anytime dining. To me the service was never as

Good as traditional dining. It seems that because everyone in an area are on

A different time schedule with their courses. The service has always seemed

More chaotic that traditional dining.

[JPEvans]

Sorry the photo is so small, but you can tell we are the only cruisers in our area of the dining room. You can see my glass of iced tea.

 

This is the way the dining room looked most of the cruise. I see no excuse for slow service, but it was very, very slow. Two hours to eat dinner is not acceptable with such a scarce crowd.

 

I think because ships today have more options for dinner than the

Dining room, people tend to be more spread out. I remember back

In the day. Dinner was in the dining room. Period! No specialty

Restaurant. No Lido buffet. No Pizza or Deli. Maybe a sandwich

From room service. Also the demographics who cruise are not the

Same people who cruised 20 years ago. People today are much more

Casual. And could care less about a formal dining room.

 

A year ago I did a Transatlantic on the Carnival Breeze. In our

Roll call were several families traveling together, who ate in the

Buffet for 15 nights and never set food in the dining room.

[dmwnc1959]

A photo of the dining room during our dinner time.

 

As JPEvans mentioned, I'm wondering if it has to do with so many other options for dinner besides the MDR, and people 'discovering' those quicker, casual dining options as the cruise continues throughout the week? With a Horizon Court, Alfredo's, International Cafe, and Sabatini's that are doubled the size of the ones on the rest of the fleet, plus with the Trident Grill BBQ, Fondues, the Crab Shack, and Prego as other evening options, fewer and fewer people may be using the MDR. I know for my upcoming B2B there will only be one time I will eat there in two weeks, and that will be the second evening at dinner.

[chamima]

As JPEvans mentioned, I'm wondering if it has to do with so many other options for dinner besides the MDR, and people 'discovering' those quicker, casual dining options as the cruise continues throughout the week? With a Horizon Court, Alfredo's, International Cafe, and Sabatini's that are doubled the size of the ones on the rest of the fleet, plus with the Trident Grill BBQ, Fondues, the Crab Shack, and Prego as other evening options, fewer and fewer people may be using the MDR. I know for my upcoming B2B there will only be one time I will eat there in two weeks, and that will be the second evening at dinner.

 

Except that you are probably signed up for Anytime and the OP was in the Traditional dining room.

If you sign up for traditional and don't show up it's a different story.

We always eat late traditional and the last several years (even as far back as 5 or more) the dining room is half empty. Everyone seems to prefer to eat earlier. We have always liked later but now have the added bonus of wait staff that isn't rushing around and can actually stand around and talk a little.

[Pia1913]

 

A year ago I did a Transatlantic on the Carnival Breeze. In our

Roll call were several families traveling together, who ate in the

Buffet for 15 nights and never set food in the dining room.

 

No need to be on Carnival to see this. Just follow us on most Princess cruises. Picky me gets more choices this way.