Royal 3/23 - 4/2 Mini Review

[patrickmoran]

We were on the Southern Carib 10 day itinerary. I thought I would post a few thoughts/info that I haven't seen in other reviews.

 

We had a sideways inside cabin on Riveria Deck, R227. We have stayed in many Princess inside cabins and wanted to try a sideways one. I thought the shelf space was excellent and the cabin had a longer desk so more surface area to put stuff. The cabin did feel a bit bigger. We had twin beds to give more space in the middle. With the twin arrangement, you loose the pillow top mattress pad. The mattresses were very firm. I had the stewardess put on foam toppers and top sheets. that worked well though the wife thought the bed wasn't real comfortable. I slept fine. I liked the cabin and location.

 

We ate mostly in the Horizon Court. We liked the food and there was certainly plenty of it. The specialty nights were very good. Lots of servers clearing tables, getting drinks, etc, for all meals. Generally, the hot soups on the MDR menu will be on the buffet. There may some other items also from the MDR menu. there was more fish available in MDR than the buffet. The MDR menus generally weren't interesting enough to justify the time at dinner. Seemed like there is more port on the menus than before and less beef. We ate 1 dinner, 1 lunch and 1 breakfast in the MDR and they were good. We ate lunch twice at Alfredos and liked that. We did Crab Shack once and enjoyed it though I think the $20 pp is getting a little high compared to the other specialty restaurants.

 

Dominica is the poorest island visited. Seemed like the best prices for trinkets. The ship docks outside of town and there is a shuttle bus to the tourist area in town. I think it cost $3 pp each way. There was a warehouse where the ship docked and a flea market was set up inside. Some vendors would bargain; others not. Our day there was rainy.

 

I snorkeled on ship excursions in St Thomas and Bonaire. Both excursions were fairly priced. Both were had 2 snorkeling stops. The snorkeling in ST was poor but the rum punch and snacks great. Opposite for Bonaire, one of the best snorkeling excursions I have been on (Sea Cow). Also more snorkeling time because we were just across from where the ship docked so less back and forth.

 

First several days, it was very windy up on deck. I like the Retreat pools on Princess ships so that is where I would hang out. Needed to batten down the hatches.

 

Debarkation was very swift. I have never seen such short lines for immigration. We got off late so I don't know how it was earlier.

 

Spent lots of time in the Piazza reading. Surprisingly, it was not usually crowded though our weather was good. But even in the evenings, it was not crowded.

 

We got the Soda & More package and that worked fine for us. I had brought a couple of bottles on board. It is no problem, and no corkage fee, to take the bottles to the buffet. The servers quickly got us wine glasses.

 

Anyway, we enjoyed the ship and the cruise. We are looking forward to our TA in the Fall aboard the Royal.

[villager13]

Thanks for your review! Is there a time on your boarding pass and do they allow you to board earlier than the time stated? What is the earliest you are allowed to board the ship? Also did you do Anytime dining and how did you find that to be on this ship?

[patrickmoran]

Thanks for your review! Is there a time on your boarding pass and do they allow you to board earlier than the time stated? What is the earliest you are allowed to board the ship? Also did you do Anytime dining and how did you find that to be on this ship?

 

We got to ship about 1pm. We drove to a parking lot near the airport and rode a van to the pier. Lots of people arriving then. We are Platinum so it took maybe 15 minutes to get on the ship. We dropped the bags in the room and had lunch in Alfredos, nice and quiet with good service.

We did have Anytime Dining but only ate in MDR on the 1st formal night. We went to the show first then went to the dining room on deck 6 and were seated immediately. The section was not busy and enjoyed a fairly quick dinner.

[patrickmoran]

Forgot to add that one evening I tried the BBQ from the Trident Grill. BBQ is available after 6 pm. The grill has 2 menus that alternate. I had the one with ribs, wings and beef brisket. The food was good though the BBQ was "Kansas City" which was a bit mustardy for my tastes. The wing was very mild but tasty. The brisket was tender. The ribs were not baby back and a bit chewy. I liked the option of BBQ.

[riclop]

We were on the Southern Carib 10 day itinerary. I thought I would post a few thoughts/info that I haven't seen in other reviews.

 

We had a sideways inside cabin on Riveria Deck, R227. We have stayed in many Princess inside cabins and wanted to try a sideways one. I thought the shelf space was excellent and the cabin had a longer desk so more surface area to put stuff. The cabin did feel a bit bigger. We had twin beds to give more space in the middle. With the twin arrangement, you loose the pillow top mattress pad. The mattresses were very firm. I had the stewardess put on foam toppers and top sheets. that worked well though the wife thought the bed wasn't real comfortable. I slept fine. I liked the cabin and location.

 

We ate mostly in the Horizon Court. We liked the food and there was certainly plenty of it. The specialty nights were very good. Lots of servers clearing tables, getting drinks, etc, for all meals. Generally, the hot soups on the MDR menu will be on the buffet. There may some other items also from the MDR menu. there was more fish available in MDR than the buffet. The MDR menus generally weren't interesting enough to justify the time at dinner. Seemed like there is more port on the menus than before and less beef. We ate 1 dinner, 1 lunch and 1 breakfast in the MDR and they were good. We ate lunch twice at Alfredos and liked that. We did Crab Shack once and enjoyed it though I think the $20 pp is getting a little high compared to the other specialty restaurants.

 

Dominica is the poorest island visited. Seemed like the best prices for trinkets. The ship docks outside of town and there is a shuttle bus to the tourist area in town. I think it cost $3 pp each way. There was a warehouse where the ship docked and a flea market was set up inside. Some vendors would bargain; others not. Our day there was rainy.

 

I snorkeled on ship excursions in St Thomas and Bonaire. Both excursions were fairly priced. Both were had 2 snorkeling stops. The snorkeling in ST was poor but the rum punch and snacks great. Opposite for Bonaire, one of the best snorkeling excursions I have been on (Sea Cow). Also more snorkeling time because we were just across from where the ship docked so less back and forth.

 

First several days, it was very windy up on deck. I like the Retreat pools on Princess ships so that is where I would hang out. Needed to batten down the hatches.

 

Debarkation was very swift. I have never seen such short lines for immigration. We got off late so I don't know how it was earlier.

 

Spent lots of time in the Piazza reading. Surprisingly, it was not usually crowded though our weather was good. But even in the evenings, it was not crowded.

 

We got the Soda & More package and that worked fine for us. I had brought a couple of bottles on board. It is no problem, and no corkage fee, to take the bottles to the buffet. The servers quickly got us wine glasses.

 

Anyway, we enjoyed the ship and the cruise. We are looking forward to our TA in the Fall aboard the Royal.

 

Thanks for the review and i agree the buffet was better then going to the MDR.

[Clarea]

Thank-you for the feedback.

[Keith1010]

Glad you enjoyed the cruise.

 

Keith

[easyboy]

Thanks for sharing.

[CrowCaw]

We did the same itinerary back in October and St. Thomas and Bonaire were, frankly, the low-lights of the cruise. Aruba and (to a lesser extent) Grenada were our favourite.

 

We're going to book back again for Jan/2017 to do the back to back (20 day) Caribbean trip. :)

[susancruzs]

Thanks for comments on the cabin! I'm on the Regal Princess 4/17 for TA + Baltic and having a sideways inside for the first time. I thought extra storage would be nice plus the bigger desk!