Royal Vs Majestic

[danny8826]

 

We just got off Majestic for a 7 days Alaska cruise.  We had a GREAT time although they need some improvement on the entertainment portion because 4 out of the 7 nights are comedy shows and that is a bit much.  My travel companion wouldn't want to go back to Royal Caribbean even though we were loyal to them.

 

The service on Majestic is outstanding and the staff are amazing.  We are wondering, how is the service on Royal Princess?  Are the service the same across the board on all of their ships?

If you have been on both or just on the Royal Princess, please share your experiences especially when it comes to service, food and entertainment.  

 

Thank you in advance.  

[Sea Hag]

We've only sailed once on the Royal, but as I remember it, the service as great. Can't help you on entertainment, since we never go.

[partybarbie]

Just spent two weeks on the Royal, my fourth cruise since the restart.  Everything was pretty much perfect. Outstanding service from everyone we encountered. I have two more cruises booked on her. 

[Jeter02]

Service fleetwide is always outstanding at least from my experience. As far as entertainment it's hit and miss on what you will get. Sometimes you'll get comedians, magicians, tribute singers, etc... it's the luck of the draw.

[danny8826]

1 hour ago, Sea Hag said:

We've only sailed once on the Royal, but as I remember it, the service as great. Can't help you on entertainment, since we never go.

 

1 hour ago, partybarbie said:

Just spent two weeks on the Royal, my fourth cruise since the restart.  Everything was pretty much perfect. Outstanding service from everyone we encountered. I have two more cruises booked on her. 

 

1 hour ago, Jeter02 said:

Service fleetwide is always outstanding at least from my experience. As far as entertainment it's hit and miss on what you will get. Sometimes you'll get comedians, magicians, tribute singers, etc... it's the luck of the draw.

 

 

Thank you everyone.

I appreciate your feedback.

 

[JimmyVWine]

1 hour ago, Jeter02 said:

Service fleetwide is always outstanding at least from my experience. As far as entertainment it's hit and miss on what you will get. Sometimes you'll get comedians, magicians, tribute singers, etc... it's the luck of the draw.

This. Keep in mind that ships are not living, breathing things. They are a compilation of the people who serve on them and those people come and go, and get moved from ship to ship. A ship does not have great service or great entertainment. A ship, at any one point in time, has a great crew or great entertainment. But those crew and entertainers could be on a different ship next week. Or on a contract break next week. Base your decisions on the cruise line generally, as each line has an overall culture. But don’t choose a ship for a cruise 6 months from now because someone had a great cruise on it 6 months ago. By the time you board, there could be a complete turnover in the galley and the entertainment staff. 

[LACruiser88]

39 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

This. Keep in mind that ships are not living, breathing things. They are a compilation of the people who serve on them and those people come and go, and get moved from ship to ship. A ship does not have great service or great entertainment. A ship, at any one point in time, has a great crew or great entertainment. But those crew and entertainers could be on a different ship next week. Or on a contract break next week. Base your decisions on the cruise line generally, as each line has an overall culture. But don’t choose a ship for a cruise 6 months from now because someone had a great cruise on it 6 months ago. By the time you board, there could be a complete turnover in the galley and the entertainment staff. 

Very on point comments.  The crew and entertainers onboard are constantly rotating between ships and contracts.  It's like a box of chocolates...

 

 

 

 

Edited July 26, 2022 by LACruiser88

[partybarbie]

While having excellent service from the crew is certainly a plus, I really like the design of this ship. My favorite spots are the adults only retreat pool in the forward top section, the sushi bar (with reasonably priced sushi and sashimi), the complimentary pizza restaurant, and the Crooner's Bar. The atrium is beautiful and there's always some kind of activity going on there.  I thought I would miss Skywalker's and the Explorer's lounge, but not so much.  

[danny8826]

16 hours ago, JimmyVWine said:

This. Keep in mind that ships are not living, breathing things. They are a compilation of the people who serve on them and those people come and go, and get moved from ship to ship. A ship does not have great service or great entertainment. A ship, at any one point in time, has a great crew or great entertainment. But those crew and entertainers could be on a different ship next week. Or on a contract break next week. Base your decisions on the cruise line generally, as each line has an overall culture. But don’t choose a ship for a cruise 6 months from now because someone had a great cruise on it 6 months ago. By the time you board, there could be a complete turnover in the galley and the entertainment staff. 

 

15 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

Very on point comments.  The crew and entertainers onboard are constantly rotating between ships and contracts.  It's like a box of chocolates...

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am aware of that.  This is not my first cruise.

 

[JimmyVWine]

2 hours ago, danny8826 said:

 

 

 

I am aware of that.  This is not my first cruise.

 

Which is why it seems odd that you would think that someone's impression of entertainment on Royal 6 months ago will be at all reflective of how the entertainment will be on Royal 6 months from now.  Every single entertainer will be gone by then, replaced by new ones, and the Cruise Director will be gone then, replaced by a different one.  In my experience, the CD and Entertainment Director have more to do with the frequency and quality of the entertainment than the name painted on the outside of the vessel.   The stage shows may stay the same, but for the most part, those roll out fleetwide, so no one ship is going to be better than another.  As for service, as I noted earlier, that is more of a corporate culture.  You are going to find the same level of service across the fleet as the servers move from ship to ship which is intentional so as to homogenize the product.  If you liked the type of service you had on Majestic, you can expect that to be repeated.    

[danny8826]

2 hours ago, JimmyVWine said:

Which is why it seems odd that you would think that someone's impression of entertainment on Royal 6 months ago will be at all reflective of how the entertainment will be on Royal 6 months from now.  Every single entertainer will be gone by then, replaced by new ones, and the Cruise Director will be gone then, replaced by a different one.  In my experience, the CD and Entertainment Director have more to do with the frequency and quality of the entertainment than the name painted on the outside of the vessel.   The stage shows may stay the same, but for the most part, those roll out fleetwide, so no one ship is going to be better than another.  As for service, as I noted earlier, that is more of a corporate culture.  You are going to find the same level of service across the fleet as the servers move from ship to ship which is intentional so as to homogenize the product.  If you liked the type of service you had on Majestic, you can expect that to be repeated.    

 

Thank you.  I guess Princess is a bit different from Royal Caribbean.

We cruise with Royal Caribbean lots of times and their entertainment are consistent.  There were 1 ship we tried at different time and different year.  The service is the same and there were not much change in the entertainment either.

 

 

[vjmatty]

11 hours ago, danny8826 said:

 

Thank you.  I guess Princess is a bit different from Royal Caribbean.

We cruise with Royal Caribbean lots of times and their entertainment are consistent.  There were 1 ship we tried at different time and different year.  The service is the same and there were not much change in the entertainment either.

 

 

I hear ya….CATS has been on Oasis for what, 5 years? To be fair, Royal C puts a lot more into their shows as compared to other lines including Princess. Their Broadway musicals involve set construction intended to last for years. Coming from that type of experience, I can see why you might think entertainment is longer lasting on other lines as well. 

[danny8826]

On 7/27/2022 at 3:26 AM, vjmatty said:

I hear ya….CATS has been on Oasis for what, 5 years? To be fair, Royal C puts a lot more into their shows as compared to other lines including Princess. Their Broadway musicals involve set construction intended to last for years. Coming from that type of experience, I can see why you might think entertainment is longer lasting on other lines as well. 

 

Thank you.  🙂

[CruizinSusan70]

In general, there would be more similarities than differences between the two ships you're comparing since they are both in the Royal Class of Princess.  Since the Majestic was originally built for the Chinese market, there are nuances such as the noodle bar and the Conservatory that are unique to her.

If you were comparing one of the Royal Class ships with one of the older ones in the fleet there would be more differences.

[Guest ldtr]

Unfortunately what Princess calls comedians seem more like performers well past their prime performing rather mundane routines.  They have had some good comedians in the past but those on my last couple of cruises this year left a bit to be desired.

[caribill]

3 hours ago, ldtr said:

Unfortunately what Princess calls comedians seem more like performers well past their prime performing rather mundane routines.  They have had some good comedians in the past but those on my last couple of cruises this year left a bit to be desired.

 

Princess always has the best comedians in their price range.

[harryfat1]

On 7/26/2022 at 3:34 PM, danny8826 said:

 

Thank you.  I guess Princess is a bit different from Royal Caribbean.

We cruise with Royal Caribbean lots of times and their entertainment are consistent.  There were 1 ship we tried at different time and different year.  The service is the same and there were not much change in the entertainment either.

 

 

If you are talking about entertainment consistency/longevity of shows on RCI, that's partly because they build the platform/stages of their ships for the entertainment in mind. The aqua theater is for the water show.  The ice skating rink has it set of consistent ice skaters.  

 

I just checked the RCI web site and the Allure of the Seas is still running the same Oceanaria and Blue Planet shows from 2014 when we sailed on her. Easier to just run the show over and over again. Few pics from our prior RCI cruises below.

 

We will be on the Majestic in a week and I already told the family to tone WAY down the expectation for Princess entertainment from the various trip reports I have been reading on CC these few months.  Don't expect RCI level of high energy entertainment. We are going for the scenery of Alaska instead. Different cruise lines provide different venues.

 

Water show from Allure of the Seas:

 

 

 

 

Blue Planet show:

 

 

 

Ice shows from Freedom and Independence of the Seas:

 

 

 

[danny8826]

Thank you All.

 

We did the Majestic for Alaska Northbound

We just booked Royal for October for the California Costal.