Thoughts of Royal Princess please

[margeg]

Here is a review of our experience on the Royal. We enjoyed our cruise. :)

 

Royal Princess Cruise…. A Royal Treat - Review

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2023448

 

Thank you so much for the wonderful review and pictures. We will be on the Royal in November and was getting depressed with all the complaints!

:)

[Flo71]

Using deck 7 as a walk through would be preferable if you ask me Donna. We had an aft cabin on Britannia (which also lacked midship stairs above deck 7) and it wasn't a pain at all. However the day we walked to the midship lifts we waited for ages so I would avoid those.

 

I like the sound of Alfredos being complementary. Any recommendations?

 

Thanks, I have been studying deck plans and am happier now, although still contemplating if we would have been better not being upgraded from our forward cabin, lol.

 

Donna x

[Palmist]

We have been on the Royal twice and already booked Nov. 30 this year for another 10 day Caribbean trip. We had a blast and can't wait to go on this ship again.

Myrna

[LoriPhil]

Our experience and observations on our 10-day Southern: We were in B414 which is an extended balcony mini suite and loved the cabin and location. No problems being under the seawall-bar side. Sure, if people wanted to look down while I was at the railing I could be seen, but it was no big deal for us and we didn't consider it intrusive. I just figured walkers who decided looking in balconies was more interesting than the water were just envious of our large comfy accommodations. ;) We booked the Enclave instead of Sanctuary and were very pleased with our choice, particularly since we could use it until about 10-ish in the evenings. Loved the expanded Vines lounge, additional seating in the IC and the MDR dining experience was positive. Buffet was excellent. Never made it to the fountain-light show (drat) so we'll just need to book another cruise for that. Not having a central stair was no biggie for us - gave us an excuse to walk down the hallways and enjoy the wonderful passenger photos that are on display! No complaints the few times we took the central elevators though - once had to wait for the next car due to crowds but we weren't on the clock so that extra 45 seconds wasn't a problem. Hope you have a great cruise and enjoy exploring this new ship as well!

Edited May 31, 2015 by LoriPhil

[jimmybean]

Here is a review of our experience on the Royal. We enjoyed our cruise. :)

 

Royal Princess Cruise…. A Royal Treat - Review

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2023448

 

Great review and great photos, Mom33 !!!

 

Thank you for sharing!

[58Piano]

The Royal was our least favorite ship. The design is odd. You do not know where you are until you are there. You can't see all the shops all around the deck from looking above. The sanctuary is in the wrong area. It feels like a hurricane winds while sailing on that deck. No Explorers Lounge. One lounge where they put the TV shows and all the game shows has only one entrance. You exit and enter thru the one door. The seats in there are hard cramped and uncomfortable. The lounge where they have all the broadways shows is poorly designed. The seats on one side are up against the wall. So you can only enter the row of seats from one side. The horizon buffet was amazing. Lots of stations and choices. But very huge and spread way out. They have less pools to use. The decor all over the ship is awful. Looks like pictures someone took from there cruises. There is a water fountain on the Lido deck. They have colorful water shows. But it sprays all over the deck. So plan on wet seats for MUTS. Oh yes you must insert your room card in your stateroom and leave it inserted. Otherwise you have no lights to use. Who come up with this crazy idea? Food and service was fantastic as always.

There was no soft romantic music live band to slow dance to.

All they had was a lounge with videos of music bands. How awful was that?

I can turn on MTV at home and see the same thing. Not my favorite ship!

[Mom33]

Thank you so much for the wonderful review and pictures. We will be on the Royal in November and was getting depressed with all the complaints!

:)

 

Great review and great photos, Mom33 !!!

 

Thank you for sharing!

 

You are both welcome! :D

[Astro Flyer]

The biggest "complaint" I have about Royal-class ships is that neither are on the West Coast & that the 3rd ship is going directly to Asia. ;)

Edited June 1, 2015 by Astro Flyer

[cruiseJMO]

Jo, I'll try to make this quick; we sailed the Royal in a mini suite and found the room comfortable, balcony (extended) was very nice but completely uncovered, ship is beautiful, Horizon Court buffet is tremendous with plenty of inside and outside seating, theater was disappointing as it felt small and cramped, entertainment was just ok. All in all we loved the ship and will be sailing the sister ship, Regal, this November. Hope you have a great cruise.

 

Agreed, and we also had a mini suite.

Service was great, except for our room steward who was horrible at cleaning and a thief.

 

They could definitely use an aft pool, but the area back there is still great for lounging. Pool boy back there (in the non-pool zone) was great, very at tentative.

 

There's a wonderful dance club. Staff is so friendly. I don't dance, but luv watching others & mingling. Comedy was pretty good. But, the main venue for shows definitely should have been designed differently. Very cramped, no place for drinks, which I thought they were trying to sell. I had to walk out of one show because the horrible & way over applied perfumes were giving me such a bad headache. What made that worse was I already felt bad walking out on a show (kind of rude), but an officer of the ship was standing there on my way out, kind of giving me a stinky look. I suggested that maybe they put a note in the patter asking folks to avoid wearing too much perfume so that everyone can enjoy the shows. Apparently he found that to be absurd.

 

I don't know if this makes much of a difference to you, just throwing it in. Seemed the majority of cruisers were 70 & up; many over 90. It was an 11 day Caribbean.

 

I'd definitely do it again, but the price would have to be right.

 

If you're big on service, you'd probably appreciate most of the ship. The staff in the buffet area & MDR were outstanding.

[Colo Cruiser]

We enjoyed Ocean Terrace. :)

[pppatpc2]

Using deck 7 as a walk through would be preferable if you ask me Donna. We had an aft cabin on Britannia (which also lacked midship stairs above deck 7) and it wasn't a pain at all. However the day we walked to the midship lifts we waited for ages so I would avoid those.

 

I like the sound of Alfredos being complementary. Any recommendations?

 

They had a dish where eggplant was stuffed with angel hair pasta, and a very good Calzone. The Calzone was very large, good to share with maybe a soup or salad.

[Astro Flyer]

They had a dish where eggplant was stuffed with angel hair pasta, and a very good Calzone. The Calzone was very large, good to share with maybe a soup or salad.

 

I haven't had anything on the Alfredo's menu that I would not recommend including the Agnolotti Gratinati alla Piemontese (gratinated pasta pockets filled with veal beef and parmesan cheese tossed in creamy veal sauce and sage) which was very tasty. :)

 

Here's Alfredo's expanded menu only on the Regal & Royal:

 

http://www.beyondships2.com/uploads/8/2/4/5/8245255/rp-alfredos_pizzeria-23-may-13.pdf

[Colo Cruiser]

They had a dish where eggplant was stuffed with angel hair pasta, and a very good Calzone. The Calzone was very large, good to share with maybe a soup or salad.

 

The calzones are big! :)

[cruiseJMO]

They were $6.00 at the Ocean Terrace Seafood Bar. I didn't have the three all in one visit. :D

 

I was so stuffed from all the delicious other food that I forgot to try this. Thank you so much for all your help in preparing me for my cruise on the Royal last December. I'm just getting back online; never had a chance to put my review up. Is it to late?

 

OP - definitely check out Mom33's reviews. She has link in her signature. They were so helpful, along with reviews by a couple other people. I'm sure you'll find them if you do a search in the forum.

[dmwnc1959]

The Royal was our least favorite ship. The design is odd. You do not know where you are until you are there...

 

You can't see all the shops all around the deck from looking above.

 

The sanctuary is in the wrong area...

 

The decor all over the ship is awful. Looks like pictures someone took from there cruises....

 

Oh yes you must insert your room card in your stateroom and leave it inserted. Otherwise you have no lights to use. Who come up with this crazy idea?

 

All they had was a lounge with videos of music bands.

 

There is a water fountain on the Lido deck. They have colorful water shows. But it sprays all over the deck. So plan on wet seats for MUTS.

 

 

 

I'm not sure if you've ever been on any other Princess Cruises ships, but a comment like that highlighted above in red always warrants a repost of my previous comments regarding the interior design of Royal Princess:

 

Aside from the lack of a passenger accessible central staircase above Deck 7, for all intent and purposes the interiors of the Royal-class and Grand-class aren't that much different in their general layouts:

 

- Main showrooms (Princess Theater and aft main showroom) are in the exact same place.

 

- Main Dining Rooms (all three of them) are in the same exact place.

 

- the Atrium with its three main venues (International Cafe, Vines, Crooners) are in the exact same locations.

 

- The gift shops are all pretty much in the exact same areas.

 

- Not all Sabatini's and Crown Grill restaurants are in the same place on all Grand Class, nor are all casinos, however...

 

- The Casino is still basically in the exact same place.

 

- The three elevator banks are in the exact same place.

 

- The alternate entertainment venue (Princess Live) is in the exact same place as it's corresponding venue (Explorers Lounge) on the Grand-class ships.

 

- The main interior thoroughfare on Promenade Deck (from Princess Theater at the very front of the ship to the aft showroom at the stern) still runs along the exact same path.

 

- The main pool deck venues (Prego, Trident Grill, soft serve ice cream, Mermaids Tail bar) are all in the same general areas as on the Grand-class.

 

- The Horizon Court and Outrigger Bars are in the exact same place.

 

- The Sanctuary is in the exact same place.

 

 

I spent two weeks on Royal Princess and on Day 1 found it very easy to make my way around the ship. The Royal Princess really isn't that much different than Ruby Princess (which I was on the year prior) in their interior layouts.

 

The 'room-key in the light control switch' is a feature that most all new builds have and is an energy-saving feature, so that those passengers in hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds of staterooms that leave their lights on, don't. It cuts down on a huge amount of energy waste, fuel usage, and therefore saves the company money. However, it does not affect the air-conditioning system, which stays on regardless of if your room key is in the slot or not.

 

As for the "awful decor" (I'll assume you're only referring to the photographs in the passenger stateroom corridors ); yes, those are from past guests, and are the 1000 Memories at Sea Contest winners. You're the only person I've EVER read that complained about them.

 

The Princess Theater and Princess Live! issues regarding venue and seating access were corrected on Regal Princess, however during the two weeks I was aboard Royal Princess did not find these to be an issue for me personally.

 

The fountain shows do spray water. The deck staff wipe down affected chairs and squeegee the decks afterwards.

 

Not sure what lounge it is you're talking about that had videos of groups playing.

 

:D

[Astro Flyer]

Well said Dave...I've sailed on all classes of Princess ships numerous times & agree with Princess that the Royal-class is "evolutionary" and a modification of their previous ships.

 

I don't see how the design is odd because most spaces are in the same place & similar to other Princess ships. :confused:

Edited June 1, 2015 by Astro Flyer

[caribill]

Oh yes you must insert your room card in your stateroom and leave it inserted. Otherwise you have no lights to use. Who come up with this crazy idea?

 

Just about every hotel outside of North America.

[cruiseJMO]

Dave aka dmwnc1959 also has a great review & pics of Royal Princess. I'd attach the links if my tablet was working right.

 

Thanks again, Dave 😊😀😁

[dmwnc1959]

Dave aka dmwnc1959 also has a great review & pics of Royal Princess. I'd attach the links if my tablet was working right.

 

Thanks again, Dave 😊😀😁

 

You're welcome! :D

 

My review is a bit long.....

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=246787

 

 

And there's about 1200+ pictures....

 

 

Royal Princess Part 1 (482 pictures)

 

 

Royal Princess Part 2

(695 pictures, it may take a little while to load but there are all different pictures than Part 1)

 

 

 

 

Stairs and art(49 pictures)

 

 

Bridge Tour (55 pictures)

 

 

Patters and various menus (7-day Eastern, 65 pictures)

 

 

:D

[TracieABD]

Dave's review was the mack-daddy, bomb-diggity for getting ready to sail on the Royal! I must have looked at the pictures 50 times. Once I got on the ship, it was like I had already been there (only much cooler, because the food is REAL!!!!)

 

Dave is a master at food porn. Watch and drool, friends. Watch and drool.

 

 

:)

[tml1230]

The Royal was our least favorite ship. The design is odd. You do not know where you are until you are there. You can't see all the shops all around the deck from looking above. The sanctuary is in the wrong area. Oh yes you must insert your room card in your stateroom and leave it inserted. Otherwise you have no lights to use. Who come up with this crazy idea?

 

Amazing...

[dickinson]

Just got off the Royal about 8 or so days ago after 26 days. As far as the lights go… you don't need to put your room key in there. Any business card will do. That is what we did and just kept it there but we ALWAYS turned out the lights.

 

As for the seats in Princess Theater that go to the wall…. a staff member (don't remember who) said when it goes in dry dock they will remedy that situation to make room for an aisle (sounds like they will take away some seats to accomplish this but at least there will be another way out of the row you are in).

 

BTW - we loved the ship inspite of some of the cons.

[billco]

We sailed on the Royal's Maiden Transatlantic and Caribbean cruises and liked the ship well enough to immediately cancel our 22 day Panama Canal cruise this Fall on the Coral Princess when I saw someone post on CC that Princess was offering mini suites for almost the same price as an inside cabin on a 20 day Caribbean cruise. The offer was up on the Princess website for a very short time.

 

We booked a Guaranteed Category MF Mini Suite on the 20 Day Caribbean Explorer Round Trip from Fort Lauderdale through Princess for $2000/PP total with $150/PP OBC and then transferred the booking to our TA for $1884/PP (including taxes & fees). We used FCCs as the deposit. The cruise starts September 21. Mini Suites are currently being offered on the Princess website for $3259 with taxes, fees, & port charges of $252.50.

 

Recently, I noticed in my Cruise Personalizer that the booking qualifies for the

 

“Share the Savings” program. You may invite up to two friends or family members (two staterooms maximum) to join you on your cruise, and they will be offered the same promotional pricing you received. Click “Invite Friend” below to get started! This offer available for a limited time.

 

You have shared with 0 friend, you have 2 invitations remaining.

 

As there have been no takers among my family or friends, I would be willing to pass on my invites to anyone who is interested. Just have to figure out a way to make the connection.

[Linerguy]

The Royal was our least favorite ship. The design is odd. You do not know where you are until you are there. You can't see all the shops all around the deck from looking above. The sanctuary is in the wrong area. It feels like a hurricane winds while sailing on that deck. No Explorers Lounge. One lounge where they put the TV shows and all the game shows has only one entrance. You exit and enter thru the one door. The seats in there are hard cramped and uncomfortable. The lounge where they have all the broadways shows is poorly designed. The seats on one side are up against the wall. So you can only enter the row of seats from one side. The horizon buffet was amazing. Lots of stations and choices. But very huge and spread way out. They have less pools to use. The decor all over the ship is awful. Looks like pictures someone took from there cruises. There is a water fountain on the Lido deck. They have colorful water shows. But it sprays all over the deck. So plan on wet seats for MUTS. Oh yes you must insert your room card in your stateroom and leave it inserted. Otherwise you have no lights to use. Who come up with this crazy idea? Food and service was fantastic as always.

There was no soft romantic music live band to slow dance to.

All they had was a lounge with videos of music bands. How awful was that?

I can turn on MTV at home and see the same thing. Not my favorite ship!

 

So I take it I won't be running into you on my October 24 ten night on the Regal, right?

 

Whew..what a relief.

[Astro Flyer]

Delete :o

Edited June 1, 2015 by Astro Flyer