Royal: Soot? Laundry? Really? Having second thoughts.

[zlato]

Wife and I have cruised with many different cruise lines (Holland America, RCL, Seabourne, Tauck river cruises, etc. Although we are platinum members, it has been some time since we have cruised on a Princess cruise ship (like the old Royal and Regal). My wife, however, discovered an itinerary in April of 2015 which is appealing; i.e., 26 day TA from Miami and then cruising British Isles. Thus, I have placed a down payment for an owner's suite for this cruise on the Royal Princess. After reading the comments about less then prompt laundry service and, especially, daily soot on balconies of owner's suites (aft), I am pondering as to whether we should return to Princess. We always attempt to book a large suite, and it appears that the larger suites are owner's suites in the aft section. One of the attractions of the owner's suites are the large wrap around balconies; however, if there is really a daily renewal of soot thus making the balconies useable, what is the advantage? Also, we have never cruised on a ship larger than 1200 passengers (will be on Celebrity back2back cruises next month on ship with 2000 capacity). Reading about 3 day service wait for laundry, toilet problems, soot. Am I overly concerned or are these problems which will not be resolved in the near future? Would appreciate your thoughts on this matter.

[SoCal Cruiser78]

...One of the attractions of the owner's suites are the large wrap around balconies; however, if there is really a daily renewal of soot thus making the balconies useable, what is the advantage? Also, we have never cruised on a ship larger than 1200 passengers (will be on Celebrity back2back cruises next month on ship with 2000 capacity). Reading about 3 day service wait for laundry, toilet problems, soot. Am I overly concerned or are these problems which will not be resolved in the near future? Would appreciate your thoughts on this matter.

 

I haven't sailed on the Royal yet, but that does sound like a great itinerary. At the risk of asking the obvious, have you considered one of the forward suites? You won't get the aft view, but also should have no soot worries. If you don't care to be that far forward, there are also some smaller suites midship.

 

With regard to the size of the ship, you should get a better idea of your feelings about larger ships after your upcoming on X. You'll still have time to cancel your Royal cruise if you find you'd prefer to rebook on a smaller vessel.

 

Best wishes for a great cruise, whatever you decide!

[f-mattox]

Zlato, I've said enough already about the oily soot and other things I did not like about Royal Princess so I'll give that a rest. But you mention something else I should comment on: I was in E729 this last April and I must tell you, for an Owner's suite, except for the balcony, it was no larger than a Vista suite on any Grand Class ship and not nearly as well designed. It was beautifully appointed--and of course new--but we could not comfortably fit eight people in the sitting area for a Bon Voyage party. We just had a Premium suite on Golden Princess and enjoyed it MUCH more than the Owner's suite on Royal Princess. I did not take a tape measure with me but I would swear the Premium suite was bigger AND more logically laid out.

 

If you decide to stick with Princess and try the Royal--your itinerary sounds wonderful--I would seriously consider switching to a Penthouse suite mid-aft on Riviera deck; the balconies are very narrow for a suite but they are at least useable and the cabins are laid out much more logically.

[Pam in CA]

Soot aside, the only times that I know of a laundry problem have been with a lot of Elite onboard and in particular, when many have taken several days pre-cruise before boarding so they often send out a lot of laundry the first day or so. Elite get unlimited free laundry that is supposed to take 1-2 days so three days isn't awful. If you're paying, you can always request same or next day.

Edited September 7, 2014 by Pam in CA

[Working 2 Cruise]

Are you sure this cruise departs from Miami?

[-Lew-]

 

Are you sure this cruise departs from Miami?

It doesn't...It departs from Port Everglades.

 

Our shuttle driver just last month related a story about a woman who was boarding his vehicle to go her ship at Port Everglades when she learned her ship was in Miami. :eek:

 

I would agree with f-mattox, above, about the size of Owners and Penthouse suites. They're virtually the same size on the Royal. However, the OS balcony is much larger...not worth the extra cost IMHO.

 

Lew

Edited September 7, 2014 by -Lew-

[RocketMan275]

I share your concerns about the soot. We've booked an owner's suite on Regal this spring and we are looking forward to that experience. We are balcony people. We do very few shore excursions. In fact, we do like port days, but only because the ship is far less crowded. The ship is truly our destination.

 

We really did want to try Regal/Royal since the ship is so beautiful and we wanted a suite. Here's our thought process.

 

The forward suites are not an option for us since there is at least somewhat of a possibility that they will be unusable due to the wind over the deck. Also, we like shade and they are completely uncovered.

 

We are not at all interested in the suites along the sides of the ship due to the minuscule balconies. We understand why they are small but they are totally unusable for our purposes.

 

That leaves us with the Owner's Suites. About the soot. There have been at least some reports that the soot issue has been mitigated to a large degree on Regal. (You'll have to do your own research since I don't have the links.) Look on the Regal threads and you may find some discussion of extensions applied to the smoke stacks which some claim have pretty much solved this issue. You're not sailing until April so you will have time to do your research.

 

On every cruise we have taken, we have observed 'soot' from our aft cabins. You can see the dark, smudgy, smoke from the funnels if you look for it. It starts far above the ship and falls toward the sea. Depending upon the speed of the ship, the direction of the wind, and the speed of the wind, this smoke will be closer to or further from the ship. Under the right conditions, there will be soot on any ship.

 

The bottom line for us was this. We wanted to do Regal and there were no other options but an Owner's suite. We'll take our chances with the soot. If it exists and is a very bad factor, then we'll not cruise Regal or Royal again.

 

As to the laundry. We can only do seven day cruises so laundry is not really an issue for us. We drive to the ship so we can take extra clothes and leave them in the car.

 

We are cruising Regal in March and I'll comment upon the soot when I return.

 

One final thought. Once an issue is raised on CC, there will be many who will insert that issue into any discussion they can whether they have any first hand information or not. They are only trying to be helpful but often they do not have the correct information. Soot may or may not fall into that category.

Edited September 7, 2014 by RocketMan275

[Kennykat]

Wife and I have cruised with many different cruise lines (Holland America, RCL, Seabourne, Tauck river cruises, etc. Although we are platinum members, it has been some time since we have cruised on a Princess cruise ship (like the old Royal and Regal). My wife, however, discovered an itinerary in April of 2015 which is appealing; i.e., 26 day TA from Miami and then cruising British Isles. Thus, I have placed a down payment for an owner's suite for this cruise on the Royal Princess. After reading the comments about less then prompt laundry service and, especially, daily soot on balconies of owner's suites (aft), I am pondering as to whether we should return to Princess. We always attempt to book a large suite, and it appears that the larger suites are owner's suites in the aft section. One of the attractions of the owner's suites are the large wrap around balconies; however, if there is really a daily renewal of soot thus making the balconies useable, what is the advantage? Also, we have never cruised on a ship larger than 1200 passengers (will be on Celebrity back2back cruises next month on ship with 2000 capacity). Reading about 3 day service wait for laundry, toilet problems, soot. Am I overly concerned or are these problems which will not be resolved in the near future? Would appreciate your thoughts on this matter.

 

 

We too have a balcony C743 that we are currently in (September 7, 2014 )we get oily soot on our balcony. We are not happy as Princess knew that this was and continues to be a problem and hide it from their customers! We are really upset about this as we have a balcony we can't use. We are requesting a new cabin and they said we might get one when we dock in Copenhagen....not good customer service. So be warned don't book any cabins in the back as you will not be able to enjoy the balcony you paid extra for.....claudia

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[-Lew-]

 

We too have a balcony C743 that we are currently in (September 7, 2014 )we get oily soot on our balcony. We are not happy as Princess knew that this was and continues to be a problem and hide it from their customers! We are really upset about this as we have a balcony we can't use. We are requesting a new cabin and they said we might get one when we dock in Copenhagen....not good customer service. So be warned don't book any cabins in the back as you will not be able to enjoy the balcony you paid extra for.....claudia

So sorry to learn the soot issue has been so bad for you. Hope you can get into a different cabin in Copenhagen so you and Ken can enjoy the rest of your cruise.

 

Lew

Edited September 7, 2014 by -Lew-

[capriccio]

We experienced the soot and exhaust problems first hand last December in an aft owner's suite on the Royal Princess. Until someone assures me definitively that the issues have been fixed, I would never spend my money on any aft facing cabin on the Royal nor would I recommend it to my friends and family.

 

In fact I will never spend the money for an owner's suite on the Royal or the Regal (but would be willing to cruise in other cabins) because they are a poor excuse for a top of the line suite, especially compared with the suites on other Princess ships. See my thoughts (and others') on these cabins being owners suites in name only at http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1956349