Royal princess cruises

[Nancwah]

If anyone out there has been on a recent royal princess cruise let us know how it was.

[Colo Cruiser]

If anyone out there has been on a recent royal princess cruise let us know how it was.

 

Did you look in the review section?

[f-mattox]

If anyone out there has been on a recent royal princess cruise let us know how it was.

 

In a nutshell, we were disappointed. Food was very good but the service everywhere was so-so at best. Not enough pools, not enough shade, not enough open deck space. The ship design was confusing at best. Not enough stairs, not enough elevators, elevators too small and not logically coordinated. We had an Owner's Suite with a huge balcony that was unusable after the first night due to a nightly dusting of oily soot.

 

We were traveling with a group of 10 Princess veterans and we all agreed we would not be booking Royal Princess or Regal Princess again.

[Mom33]

Our experience on the Royal was wonderful. My review is below. :D

[smtcan]

We were on a Baltic cruise last month and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was aware of the perceived shortcomings of Royal Princess, but they really did not bother us in any way. Our balcony cabin was aft, so the absence of a central staircase was not an issue. The elevators in that area were quite adequate, and since we were on a port intensive itinerary we had no need of a wrap around promenade deck - we walked more than 5 Km in every port!

 

The food was better than we have experienced on our other Princess cruises, and the layout of the buffet area was a definite improvement. Service in the MDR was efficient. We had anytime dining, but since we were a group of ten with four children we arranged to have the same table every night. We did not see many shows, but enjoyed the ones we did see.

 

I would not hesitate to cruise on Royal Princess again

[Astro Flyer]

If anyone out there has been on a recent royal princess cruise let us know how it was.

I notice that most of your posts are asking about other passengers experiences on the Royal Princess. Like most anything you'll get differing opinions about the same thing on the same ship on the same cruise. My suggestion is to go with an open mind & to form your own opinion. If I based my decisions on CC posts, I might not cruise again. ;)

 

Have a Buon Viaggio which has been our experience on all of our cruises including 18 enjoyable days on the Royal Princess. :D

Edited September 3, 2014 by Astro Flyer

[Lovetocruiseprincess]

In a nutshell, we were disappointed. Food was very good but the service everywhere was so-so at best. Not enough pools, not enough shade, not enough open deck space. The ship design was confusing at best. Not enough stairs, not enough elevators, elevators too small and not logically coordinated. We had an Owner's Suite with a huge balcony that was unusable after the first night due to a nightly dusting of oily soot.

 

We were traveling with a group of 10 Princess veterans and we all agreed we would not be booking Royal Princess or Regal Princess again.

 

Thanks for an honest opinion but it sounds like there were to many people & to little ship. It doesn't give me a warm fuzzy feeling about the Royal and although I can keep an open mind I do have my doubt's about the Royal.

[kendon]

Our experience was fabulous!! The ship did not feel crowded at all.

[kendon]

Our experience on the Royal was wonderful. My review is below. :D

 

We may have been on the same cruise. Were you on in February? Seems like I might have seen your posts on our roll call....

[kdkmilwaukee]

We took a 7 day Caribbean cruise on the Royal last January and enjoyed it. We did miss the center staircase but got used to walking down to the end staircases, and figured the extra steps were good for us. We were in a mid-ship mini suite with an extended balcony, though it was still quite a bit smaller than we were used to. Service overall was great (except for our cabin steward - he was definitely the low point of our trip), and it honestly didn't feel overcrowded to us. We didn't have problems finding deck chairs and always found room to sit in the buffet area. We did anytime dining and never had to wait for our dinner reservations. Perhaps we had a better experience because we sailed after the holiday rush. We'll be sailing the Royal again over New Year's, a new experience for us, and we anticipate things will be much more crowded this time around...

[Pam in CA]

I loved the ship and am boarding her again next week. So many great things about her. The Piazza is stunning and huge with lots of seating, the IC and entertainment. Alfredo's is expanded with more to offer than just pizza. The buffet is HUGE, well laid-out and with a wide selection of fresh food. We liked it so much we wound up eating dinner there every night... and we're not dinner buffet people. It was that good. There are three different salad bars plus a made-to-order sandwich station. The cabins are beautiful and the bathroom is larger as is the shower stall which has a foot rest in it. The desk has two outlets at each end of the desk which gives you more charging options.

 

Yes, the elevator and stair design are a bit lacking but I just adjusted. For my upcoming cruise, I booked more aft so I wouldn't have to deal with it. True, there is a lack of shade on Lido deck around the pools (actually, only small pockets of shade) but again, that didn't bother me as I'm not a pool person. I found some really comfortable chairs on Lido just outside the Horizon Bistro.

 

I can't wait to board her next week! :)

[Mom33]

We may have been on the same cruise. Were you on in February? Seems like I might have seen your posts on our roll call....

 

We were on the end of March, beginning of April. I was only on that roll call.

I think we post on a lot of the same threads. :D We are booked on the Regal for Dec. 7.

[Mom33]

I loved the ship and am boarding her again next week. So many great things about her. The Piazza is stunning and huge with lots of seating, the IC and entertainment. Alfredo's is expanded with more to offer than just pizza. The buffet is HUGE, well laid-out and with a wide selection of fresh food. We liked it so much we wound up eating dinner there every night... and we're not dinner buffet people. It was that good. There are three different salad bars plus a made-to-order sandwich station. The cabins are beautiful and the bathroom is larger as is the shower stall which has a foot rest in it. The desk has two outlets at each end of the desk which gives you more charging options.

 

Yes, the elevator and stair design are a bit lacking but I just adjusted. For my upcoming cruise, I booked more aft so I wouldn't have to deal with it. True, there is a lack of shade on Lido deck around the pools (actually, only small pockets of shade) but again, that didn't bother me as I'm not a pool person. I found some really comfortable chairs on Lido just outside the Horizon Bistro.

 

I can't wait to board her next week! :)

 

Enjoy your crossing on the Royal Pam.:D

[riansgrammy]

We just spent 11 days on the Royal and loved it. We didn't have any of the issues that seem to bother others. In short, I agree with Pam's comments. I would sail her again.

[bassmaster150]

Just off the ship on Aug 17, 2014 after a amazing Baltic Cruise. In a nutshell, we have cruised 14 times, and this is the best ship we have ever been on. I am not going to be nitpicky and say that since there wasn't a central staircase, my entire cruise was runied...I just don't understand some people. We never waited in line one time for meals or anything. We were in a forward facing mini-suite, and if we had the opportunity to jump on the Royal Princess again, we would do it in a heartbeat. We ate in Crown Grill twice, the MDR 4 times, Lido a few times (ok..so Lido food was kind of meh...better on Carnival), and Alfredo's like 4 times (it was excellent). Still, it is the best ship we have ever been on like I said above. If you have specific questions, ask away and I will answer.

[Astro Flyer]

There isn't a perfect ship for everyone & some prefer to not sail on the Royal & Regal. Some base their decision on reviews & not on personal experiences which is confusing to me. Some sail on any ship despite negative passenger reviews on CC & return to post that their fear was baseless & they had a great cruise.

 

I think that sometimes the word "critic" in CC is taken too literally. I share my experiences & opinions but do not attempt to convince anyone to feel the same way. I enjoyed the Royal enough to book her & the Regal again after missing so many of the positive things for me that were not on other Princess ships.

 

The new ships are not best for everyone & often despite many who post their enjoyment of the new ships it's the negative opinions that are remembered the most. Whether pro or con it's merely "opinions" & not necessarily "facts" and I will never solely base my cruise decisions on "opinions".

[dchip]

We were on the Royal for its first 3 Caribbean sailings. I boarded with a little trepidation after reading the early reviews. We loved our cruises on the Royal. As Pam said, the Horizon Court and Bistro are amazing. In 14 cruises we NEVER ate in the buffets. The Royal cruise changed that pretty quickly. There are so many options for food and drink. We loved the expanded Crooners. We were always able to find a seat no matter when we arrived.

 

I am a pool person and had no trouble finding a spot at the retreat pool except for week two when the Chumbley Bears joined the cruise. Took care of that problem by booking the Sanctuary for the week. Something I said I would never do. Well, I loved that experience too :D

 

We cruised on the Grand in January. We enjoyed the cruise but after the Royal there was a lot to be desired!!

 

We get to cruise on the Royal again in the Spring for 20 days. We can't wait!!

 

Cheers, Denise

[CI66774]

Been on Royal twice - loved it both times.

[Mom33]

We too loved the Royal and have 2 more cruises booked on her in 2015 and will be sailing on the Regal in November. We missed the updated features and venues when we sailed to Hawaii earlier this year, and we had more toilet problems on the Star than on any previous cruises. so, you can have toilet problems on any cruise. If you go with an open mind, I think you will be pleasantly surprised by the Royal. A new design will always have more critics simply because most people just don't like change.

 

You can also have elevator problems on other Princess ships too. There have been several reviews with complaints about the Crown's elevators.

 

We have been on 10 Princess cruises on different classes of ship and enjoyed them all.

 

Chances are that, if one has a negative vibe when they board a ship, they most likely will have a miserable time. Seems like such a waste of time and money.

[LoriPhil]

Just starting to research cruises for spring and based on this, think we'll give the Royal a try! Sorry if this is asked elsewhere, but do all midship mini's have larger balconies, or are there only certain decks for those?

 

Thanks

Edited September 5, 2014 by LoriPhil

[Mom33]

Just starting to research cruises for spring and based on this, think we'll give the Royal a try! Sorry if this is asked elsewhere, but do all midship mini's have larger balconies, or are there only certain decks for those?

 

Thanks

 

 

No they don't. The larger balconies are located midship on all decks , aft facing and forward facing cabins. The mini suites are mixed in with regular and deluxe balconies which can also have larger balconies. You have to check the deck plans. If you click on a cabin number it tells you what the measurements are.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[Woobstr112G]

In a nutshell, we were disappointed. Food was very good but the service everywhere was so-so at best. Not enough pools, not enough shade, not enough open deck space. The ship design was confusing at best. Not enough stairs, not enough elevators, elevators too small and not logically coordinated. We had an Owner's Suite with a huge balcony that was unusable after the first night due to a nightly dusting of oily soot.

 

We were traveling with a group of 10 Princess veterans and we all agreed we would not be booking Royal Princess or Regal Princess again.

 

I would agree with this as well. The food was for the most part very good. Other than our fantastic cabin steward, other service was not up to usual Princess standards, especially bar service. The Royal is a beautiful ship but with several confusing design features. Lack of a real promenade deck, confusing HC layout, small pools for how many people on the ship, ridiculously small regular room balconies. We had an Owner's Suite with a huge balcony. The cabin was obscenely overpriced for what is actually offered. The balcony, while the biggest we've had on a ship, was unusable after the first day due to the daily build up of soot. Other issues were , lack of central stairs, and ridiculously small elevators. I won't be sailing on the Royal,Regal, or the 3rd mistake Princess will be making (in 2017) anytime soon.....:):):)

 

Bob

Edited September 5, 2014 by Woobstr112G

[Lovetocruiseprincess]

All the conflicting posts still make me wonder about the Royal. Some are major to me, some not so important but overall we're willing to risk a trip to form our own opinion. The food would have to be pretty bad for us to knock it but something like crowded pools without sufficient shade or balconies covered with soot could make for a miserable experience.

[cruisin56]

Our experience on the Royal was wonderful. My review is below. :D

I know there is no charge for the retreat pool but what about those huts....

Thanks for a wonderful in depth review!

[Mom33]

I know there is no charge for the retreat pool but what about those huts....

Thanks for a wonderful in depth review!

 

You're welcome!

 

The "huts", or cabanas by the pool, rent by the half day or whole day. I am not sure of the cost. :)