Soot Problem on Royal and Regal

[cruiseintoheaven]

What you get has a lot to do with ship speed and prevailing winds. On our Royal cruise we had absolutely perfect weather for the majority of the trip with smooth seas and light winds across the bow. You could watch the exhaust go high and off the boat at and angle and we were soot free. The one dayg that the weather was different you could see the exhaust hanging low and directly out the rear of the ship and the balcony was completely unusable because of the soot and the smell.

 

I absolutely loved the Royal and I will sail on her or her sister again but I don't think we will take the chance with an aft balcony on them again.

 

hmnnn......I don't know enough about any of these factors, and more to the point, I can't predict what they will be on an E. Carrib. sailing in November...so I may be contacting our TA to see what our options are. It would kill me to pay a higher price to have a large and unusable balcony :mad:

[RocketMan275]

hmnnn......I don't know enough about any of these factors, and more to the point, I can't predict what they will be on an E. Carrib. sailing in November...so I may be contacting our TA to see what our options are. It would kill me to pay a higher price to have a large and unusable balcony :mad:

 

I can certainly understand your point but I would not sail Regal or Royal and be stuck in one of those miniature side balconies.

[cruiseintoheaven]

I can certainly understand your point but I would not sail Regal or Royal and be stuck in one of those miniature side balconies.

 

And therein lies the problem for balcony lovers. I'm really excited for the cruise and the ship, but we had the same reaction to the small side balconies. Think I'm going to wait a bit and do a bit more searching and weigh the pros and cons....would be great if someone posts that they've sailed on the Regal in an aft balcony and had NO issues with soot....:rolleyes:

[bhopal21]

It is amazing to me that after 50+ years of diesel powered ship building,

that the process hasn't been refined to avoid something like this.

 

Besides Royal/Regal, do other recent ships have this problem?

 

We had the same problem (just not as bad) on the Island on our canal cruise. We were in vista suite C704 and if you didn't wipe down the chairs before you sat your clothes would be black from the soot.

 

I am of the opinion that it is the grade of the fuel.

 

Mike:)

[Sunviking]

We had the same problem (just not as bad) on the Island on our canal cruise. We were in vista suite C704 and if you didn't wipe down the chairs before you sat your clothes would be black from the soot.

 

I am of the opinion that it is the grade of the fuel.

 

Mike:)

 

We've sailed on both the Island and the Coral in Caribe deck suites (C628, C702 and C704) and have never had a problem with soot. The only time we ever experienced a soot problem was in an aft cabin on the Celebrity Infinity which has the tiered aft decks. We've sailed in many aft suites on the Grand Class ships and never had a problem with soot. I don't believe it's a problem with fuel grade but rather a design issue.

[bhopal21]

We've sailed on both the Island and the Coral in Caribe deck suites (C628, C702 and C704) and have never had a problem with soot. The only time we ever experienced a soot problem was in an aft cabin on the Celebrity Infinity which has the tiered aft decks. We've sailed in many aft suites on the Grand Class ships and never had a problem with soot. I don't believe it's a problem with fuel grade but rather a design issue.

 

Then I would be interested in how you would account for the soot on our balcony on the Island as the design of the ship has not changed.

 

And the aft suites on the grand class ships we have sailed are covered.

 

Mike:)

[Sunviking]

I realize the design hasn't changed on the Coral and Island. The suites we stayed in are on the sides a little forward from the stern. I can't account for what you experienced. I just know we never had a problem with soot. Perhaps the wind was blowing in a different direction. BTW, there are no aft facing cabins on either of those 2 ships.

[bhopal21]

I realize the design hasn't changed on the Coral and Island. The suites we stayed in are on the sides a little forward from the stern. I can't account for what you experienced. I just know we never had a problem with soot. Perhaps the wind was blowing in a different direction. BTW, there are no aft facing cabins on either of those 2 ships.

 

Yes, having cruised several times on those ships I was aware that there were no aft facing cabins.;)

 

And since this was a cruise long problem from the west coast to FLL I don't think it could have been the wind or it would not have been a problem for the whole cruise.

 

Mike:)

[Holomoku]

We have never experienced this on Princess, but while walking the deck one late afternoon on the RCCL Liberty the 4 of us were hit with dark spots on all our clothes and then looked at the carpet and walls around us on one part of the aft upper open decks. They were covered with the stuff, the stains did not come out of our clothes.:mad: We suspected it was from the engine exhaust stacks but were not sure. This confirms the source to us. As I said, this is the first we have heard of anything like this on Princess. We'll wait to take a cruise on the new R & R ships until we hear the problem has been solved.;)

[KarateMan]

It has been an issue for well over a hundred years now with ships. Why do you think that aft cabins and decks were typically 3rd class areas in the old days.

 

It is also inevitable that whatever comes out of a ships funnel is going to come back down in some place.

 

Besides that it may not be engine soot. It could be incinerator waste as ships use incinerators for certain types of garbage disposal that cannot be recycled.

[joeyancho]

Saw the pictures, that can't be healthy.

[Lanwood]

I decided not to risk it, and changed my booking from an owners suite to a penthouse suite on my b2b on Regal next year. The answer to the question "is it resolved" seemed too vague to me at this stage.

[jammen]

This happened to us also.

[lfk60]

On our cruises where we've had an aft cabin, we have noticed that there is a plume of smoke or soot that can easily be seen from our balcony. Usually, this plume is high in the air above the ship and it can be seen drifting downward towards the sea. The plumes we've observed have been intersecting the sea about a quarter mile aft of the ship. Obviously, various combinations of ship and relative wind speeds could, but not always, cause the plume to intersect the ship.

 

If the plume doesn't rise sufficiently above the air flow close to the ship, it could be pulled downward across the aft balconies. The smoke stack extensions seen on Regal are a 'quick fix', something that could easily be done. It could be effective in certain conditions and not so in others which is consistent with reports of varying amounts of soot. I would expect Princess to be working more effective fixes for the first dry dock for each ship.

 

I've got an aft booked on Regal in March. Wife and I discussed the 'soot' issue last night. The wife noted our cabin on Dolphin is partially covered which should mitigate any issues. We've decided to keep our reservation as is and see what happens.

 

We are balcony people and we know we'll not be happy with the miniscule side balconies. This is a gamble we're willing to take in order to try Regal.

 

Just a suggestion if you are concerned about the soot. The mid ship mini suites have larger balconies plus the larger bathrooms and interior space and are currently less expensive then the aft balconies!

 

We were in B409 on the Royal and loved it! And there was no issue from folks walking the Seawalk as we were far enough down. IMHO, anything on Baja, Caribe or Dolphin under Seawalk or Seaview Bar are great!

 

And the tub/shower combo is heaven! :)

[Loonbeam]

Occasional soot has always been and will continue to be an issue. I've always understood in an aft cabin there may be a day where the balcony is either unavailable or limited use. This is a significant level above that in terms of frequency and volume where it may be unusable for an entire cruise, and that's not normal.

It has been an issue for well over a hundred years now with ships. Why do you think that aft cabins and decks were typically 3rd class areas in the old days.

 

It is also inevitable that whatever comes out of a ships funnel is going to come back down in some place.

 

Besides that it may not be engine soot. It could be incinerator waste as ships use incinerators for certain types of garbage disposal that cannot be recycled.

[Bently57]

Celebrity's Solstice-class...

 

 

We were in an aft sky suite on Silhouette in March on deck 9. Was there soot? Yes, but it was minuscule. It did not collect on our seating, just a tiny bit showed up on the corners of the balcony. We were corner aft. We absolutely loved the cruise and soot was not an issue.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[jagoffee]

Well this is not good news - we have R734 in November for 7 day cruise - husband really looking forward to first aft balcony and a large one as well.....wondering if we should switch.....:confused:

 

We had three connecting balconies Aft on that deck. We would not hesitate to book them again. The balconies are huge. We had some soot and had it cleaned several times. IMO it is well worth the hassle.

[jagoffee]

Celebrity's Solstice-class...

 

I have cruised in an Aft balcony on both a Celebrity's Solstice Class ship and Princess's Royal and the Royal certainly had more soot.

[cruiseintoheaven]

We had three connecting balconies Aft on that deck. We would not hesitate to book them again. The balconies are huge. We had some soot and had it cleaned several times. IMO it is well worth the hassle.

 

So good to hear some encouraging information. Can you expand a bit on your experience? Was it a daily issue? also, if I'm not mistaken the Riviera deck is not covered.....was privacy an issue? Heat? (Hubby loves the sun/heat)....and what about furniture? To have such a large balcony it would seem logical to have more than the standard two upright chairs(?)....pictures would of course be awesome, but any additional info is great - I appreciate folks that offer opinions on the Royal, but it is a different ship, and there just isn't the much info on the Regal. Thanks again!

[Steviewonder1]

We have cruised both the Crown and Ruby with Aloha Deck Rear Penthouse Suites and Never had a soot issue. It is pretty obvious that the soot issue on these two ships (Regal and Royal) is a ship design issue, it has already been noted that wind tunnel tests of a scale model did not include the MUTS screen on the ship. Until a major change in the stacks or MUTS is done, it is not going away for those on the aft end of the ship. We will be booking side suites on the Royal next year.

[GTletsgocruising]

It is pretty obvious that the soot issue on these two ships (Regal and Royal) is a ship design issue

 

We had the owner's aft suite on the Regal this summer and did not experience the soot issue. We used the balcony extensively so I suspect either the design has been improved, or our Med weather kept the soot away. I wouldn't hesitate to rebook an aft suite on the Regal again. (I did post on this subject this summer).

 

On the other hand the Royal appears to be haunted by this issue. Until they drydock for repairs it appears the soot issue will continue. I will add re the Royal - there have to be many that have sailed in aft cabins by now. This board seems to attract more negative soot comments than positive. I am wondering if the positive experiences just don't post? The negative soot complaints do post, but maybe the ones not so impacted by the soot on the Royal are not posting?

[Coral]

We had the owner's aft suite on the Regal this summer and did not experience the soot issue. We used the balcony extensively so I suspect either the design has been improved, or our Med weather kept the soot away. I wouldn't hesitate to rebook an aft suite on the Regal again. (I did post on this subject this summer).

 

This issue came up mostly after the TA cruise last year. I wonder when it is not sailing fast (in the Med) if there is a problem or if the problem has been resolved. I guess we will find out when the TA people return from their cruise on the Regal.

[jagoffee]

So good to hear some encouraging information. Can you expand a bit on your experience? Was it a daily issue? also, if I'm not mistaken the Riviera deck is not covered.....was privacy an issue? Heat? (Hubby loves the sun/heat)....and what about furniture? To have such a large balcony it would seem logical to have more than the standard two upright chairs(?)....pictures would of course be awesome, but any additional info is great - I appreciate folks that offer opinions on the Royal, but it is a different ship, and there just isn't the much info on the Regal. Thanks again!

 

We were on an 11 day cruise and probably asked for it to be cleaned twice, but we wiped down the chairs a few times. The soot was there, but the huge size was worth the hassle IMO.

 

Just the regular furniture for a deluxe premium balcony. I will have to check with my wife tomorrow, but I think it had foot stools. Since we had three cabins it was easy to put all the chairs on only one of the balconies. All three were deeper and two of them (the two in the center were also 50% wider). Although they were having a very warm August in the Baltic the heat was certainly not a problem. It might be an issue for a Panama Canal cruise.

 

Yes, it was not covered and the people above you could see down. It was like the Mini Suites on the Emerald. It did not bother us.

 

As I mentioned I would not hesitate to book the cabin again.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

[cruiseintoheaven]

We had the owner's aft suite on the Regal this summer and did not experience the soot issue. We used the balcony extensively so I suspect either the design has been improved, or our Med weather kept the soot away. I wouldn't hesitate to rebook an aft suite on the Regal again. (I did post on this subject this summer).

 

On the other hand the Royal appears to be haunted by this issue. Until they drydock for repairs it appears the soot issue will continue. I will add re the Royal - there have to be many that have sailed in aft cabins by now. This board seems to attract more negative soot comments than positive. I am wondering if the positive experiences just don't post? The negative soot complaints do post, but maybe the ones not so impacted by the soot on the Royal are not posting?

 

I think there is definitely something to your point - people will take the time to complain, comment or review something they didn't enjoy, but not necessarily take the time to write a positive review. Thanks for the reply and sharing your experience on the Regal....I'm tempted to just cross my fingers and wing it :)

[cruiseintoheaven]

We were on an 11 day cruise and probably asked for it to be cleaned twice, but we wiped down the chairs a few times. The soot was there, but the huge size was worth the hassle IMO.

 

Just the regular furniture for a deluxe premium balcony. I will have to check with my wife tomorrow, but I think it had foot stools. Since we had three cabins it was easy to put all the chairs on only one of the balconies. All three were deeper and two of them (the two in the center were also 50% wider). Although they were having a very warm August in the Baltic the heat was certainly not a problem. It might be an issue for a Panama Canal cruise.

 

Yes, it was not covered and the people above you could see down. It was like the Mini Suites on the Emerald. It did not bother us.

 

As I mentioned I would not hesitate to book the cabin again.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

 

thanks for the additonal info....we are leaning towards keeping the aft balcony at this point. was going to say "how bad can it be" but think I'll refrain from that :D