Please tell me about the new Royal Princess

[Sandy R]

Weve put a hold on a booking on the new Royal Princess for 2008. I know it used to be one of the Renaissance ships so I've seen some photos and frankly, I'm not all that impressed. On the other hand, the itineraries are great. My concern is, we really like the size of the Sapphire and Diamond... will we like the Royal?

 

Any help would be so appreciated... Sandy

[LARGIN]

Princess has some info... Go here... http://www.princess.com/ships/rp/index.html

[Toto2Kansas]

Oh, that is a toughy. Especially if you are really into the larger ships. The new Royal is in the same class as ships like the Tahitian and Pacific, without the mini suites. I can tell you, even though we enjoy the smaller ships of the fleet, these ships are really really small in comparison.

Although we enjoyed the Tahitian Princess itinerary, it was just too small with fewer dining opportunities and shipboard places to explore for our tastes.

 

Definitely look into this one before deciding to book. Many love the really small ships. For us, we much prefer the medium ships in the Sun Class to the Grand Class and above, and this size of ship was even too small for our taste.

[paul929207]

We have been on the (new) Pacific and the Tahitian and loved both. We are booked on the (new) Royal in November.

 

We love the smaller ships. They don't have all the amenities that the larger ships have, but you get to know people better on the smaller ships.

 

Paul

[Druke I]

Another small ship lover here.

 

Been on Pacific Princess (new), and two of her sisters, Oceania's Regatta and Nautica.

 

Strange, many Princess posters forget that when the Sun class debuted, they were the largest cruise ships then on the seas.

 

My 1st cruise, back in 1964, was on P&O's Oriana - and at approx. 39,000GRT (if memory serves correctly), she was the 6th largest passenger ship then afloat.

[wdrl]

We've have been looking at the 2008 cruises for the Royal Princess and are still in sticker shock. I didn't realize how expensive it is to sail on the Royal! We realize the smaller ship has advantages but wonder if you get anything more for the extra $$$, like special meals or better entertainment? She does have some wonderful itineraries! I know there are a lot of Royal Princess fans out there. What do you all think?

 

FYI, I tried to go onto the Princess website as LARGIN suggested but the site is down.:(

[Poulsbo Cruisers]

If the Royal is the same size as the Tahitian and Pacific, but without the Mini Suites it would seem that it may be carrying more passengers in the same space. Does anyone know if this is true? I note that the Princess site shows both the Tahitian and Pacific to be 670 passenger ships; however, it does not mention the passenge capacity of the Royal.

[shellbeachjim]

If the Royal is the same size as the Tahitian and Pacific, but without the Mini Suites it would seem that it may be carrying more passengers in the same space. Does anyone know if this is true? I note that the Princess site shows both the Tahitian and Pacific to be 670 passenger ships; however, it does not mention the passenge capacity of the Royal.

It is somewhere between 710 and 720 passengers.

 

Jim

[Druke I]

Brochure lists 710 (double occupancy), for Royal Princess.

[sunsetbeachgal]

Wdrl and others...I'm with you...the Royal itineraries sound wonderful to us since we have taken five Med cruises and while the ports are lovely, it is harder to find one that is not mostly repeats for us...however, the Royal being smaller has some great ports-Amalfi, Portofino, etc. Great sights right there and less of your precious port time to spend in taxis and tour buses. However, I would like to read a review before I spend that much.

 

Does anyone know when the ship was built? We were on a Silversea cruise five years ago and when we stopped in Genoa, Italy all of the old Renaissance ships were all lined up at the dock as the line had gone bankrupt.

[shellbeachjim]

The Royal Princess is the current Minerva II and was originally the R8. It was the last Renaissance ship placed in service in 2000. Renaissance went out of business in September 2001.

[Poulsbo Cruisers]

I understand that when this ship was with Swan Hellenic, they made some major changes to include the removal of the casino. Does anyone know if Princess plans on having a casino on this ship?

[CruisenOne]

Does anyone know if Princess plans on having a casino on this ship?

 

 

Current Deck Plan that we have shows a Casino;

Deck 5, Mid-Ship

[katisdale]

The deck plan for the Royal on Princess.com show a casino.

[SingerEsq]

It's all a matter of your personal taste for ships, itinerary, activities, etc. Personally, we love these ships (the former R ships). It was a very sad day when Renaissance went under b/c we thought we had really found something the way of unbelievable prices (apparently so ... :( ) with a great quality product.

 

No, the Royal will not be like the CB or the Grand or the Crown, as it does not offer as many dining experiences, 4/5-story atriums, Vegas floor shows, etc. If that's what you're looking for, then these ships are not for you. It's more like a floating country club, rather than a hotel in Vegas. We're planning on doing the Tahitian in 2008 and frankly, I cannot wait until we return to that level of cruising.

[rwdtgb]

Sandy R

 

Roger and I have been on the Tahitian Princess twice as well as the Larger princess ships. We actually like the Tahitian Princess, so we are booked on The Royal for This September. E-mail us if you have any questions.

 

Tom

[Pam in CA]

We've booked the Royal for November as well. Having loved the "old" Royal Princess and miss her greatly, I know I'm going to love the "new" Royal Princess. As long as there's a dining room, that's enough dining option for me. :) Traditional? So much the better. Give me a library, lots of books and some place to hang out and I'll be a happy camper. Of course, our itinerary is very port intensive so we won't have much time for lounging around with a book.

[Seadoers]

I say this only if you get off and tour the ports... and do not use the ship as a location to just 'plop down'... then I understand the Diamond and Grand-- these are Cities on the sea.

 

We were on the Tahitian Princess last April and loved it... also do not miss the opportunity to book the 'private spa area' forward of the gum.. they will only book 18 people per day... about 1000 square feet of kid free sunning-hot tubbing- viewing area..... Great-- also the specialty restraint's and library.

 

We have booked the August 12th cruise - from Athens...

 

Have a great cruise... yes it's worth it as your not arriving in port with 3,000 other people.. trying to go and do the same thing....

 

Truly Mike

[simbacat]

http://www.swanhellenic.com/aboutminerv.asp

 

We're sailing out of Venice 6/25 on the Royal and I've heard mostly good things, especially the 4/2 Princess press release on culinary enhancements being introduced here and on Emerald. This website has some great pictures of the ship before Princess took it into drydock recently and I've read great reviews of its cruises under Swan Hellenic, also a P&O company I think.

Only cruised twice before but always pick first based on itinerary and this one looks great.

[NAS-KARR]

To get more info on the Royal and the other "R" class vessels there are tons of itinerary and/or ship reviews from PRINCESS AND OCEANIA available in this site and other cruise sites. From investigating the same query I had, I'm most anxious to sail the TAHITIAN AND INSIGNIA cruises we have booked.

 

CIAO,

[chasetf]

We've have been looking at the 2008 cruises for the Royal Princess and are still in sticker shock. I didn't realize how expensive it is to sail on the Royal! We realize the smaller ship has advantages but wonder if you get anything more for the extra $$$, like special meals or better entertainment? She does have some wonderful itineraries! I know there are a lot of Royal Princess fans out there. What do you all think?

 

FYI, I tried to go onto the Princess website as LARGIN suggested but the site is down.:(

I think what you are paying for is the itinerary. We sailed the Tahitian and comparing to other Princess ships I would say the following. The ship will be upscale as far as her decor. Richer woods, carpets and drapes than the run of the mill Princess ship.

 

There will be less lounges and they will be smaller and more quaint. The number of dining rooms to select from are less. We found the food comparable with the rest of the fleet. The theater is smaller which means the cast will be smaller and less elaborate productions. One thing we heard is they use the smaller ships to "tryout" the talent for the larger ships.

[Ms. Alpha]

We are looking at the Royal Princess for July 2008 so I am interested in hearing what you all have to say. We were drawn to the itinerary, but have never sailed on a smaller ship before. Our past experience has been in the 1400 -1800 passenger size. I guess we will wait for the reviews that will come in after the end of the month.