Review: Royal Princess - Transatlantic and British Isles 26-day in Sideways Inside

Conclusion - another lovely cruise aboard the Royal. Still miss a full promenade and central staircase, though.

DD and I took the 26-day transatlantic/Baltics last year on the Royal in L108 (front corner mini-suite). We had a great time but there were some noise and vibration issues with the cabin. This year I chose a sideways inside (B406) and I'm glad I did. Great cabin. Quiet. No cabin on one side (crew hallway - no issue with noise). No issue with metal strip for fire door (some have reported noise from carts, etc. - never heard any noise). Cabin itself was more than sufficient in terms of storage. I brought metal hooks and a shower curtain so my daughter and I could have a modicum of privacy (Mommy needs her space). Bathroom fine although water from shower can accumulate on floor. Great tv programming. Only issue was twin bed. Very short (feet almost reached the end and very narrow. Almost fell off a couple of times. However, mostly slept very well. Very happy to be in my own king bed again.

I have to thank poster Dave for his helpful posts on the sideways cabin. Those posts convinced me to book this cabin and I wasn't disappointed. Thanks, Dave!

Cabin: Overall Very Good

The ports were great. We did have a medical emergency (med evac) enroute to Cork but we arrived at destination more or less on time (apparently person is doing ok). We missed much of our Belfast day due to high winds but I was able to get into the city for about 4 hours. My favorite ports were Liverpool, Guernsey, and Invergorden/Loch Ness. I did the full-day Beatles tours (pricey). But the time inside Lennon's Mendips and McCartney's Forthlin Road homes were priceless. Loved the city. Very clean and vibrant. Would love to return. Loved Scotland and the Scottish people. Very friendly, funny, and always talking about having a "wee nip" of whiskey. Wonderful people. Loved St. Peter's Port. Great little island. Very pretty and great place to spend some time.

Ports: Very Good

My cabin steward was fast and efficient. Everything cleaned properly. No issues at all. Overall the service onboard was consistently good. No issues at all.

Service: Very Good

Onboard activities were good during the first 14 days. The next 12 days were basically a repeat of the previous activities and movies. I wish they would have had different activities as 700 of us took the entire 26-day cruise. Cruise Director Lisa Ball seemed competent and involved.

Onboard Activities: Fair

My DD basically lived at the kids club. Only a handful of kids on the cruise. Wonderful arts and crafts, etc. She had a great time and continues to proclaim her intent to live on a cruise ship someday (she's 6).

Kids Club: Very Good

The passengers on the first 14 days were a great bunch of people. Very polite and friendly. That somewhat changed on the 12 day segment. Lots of people trying to cram themselves into elevators. Saw some rude behavior. Tenor of cruise changed on the second segment. Still, overall, passengers were nice and very kind to my DD.

I realize this review is a little general but I'm still delirious from jet lag. I put a deposit down for another Princess cruise. Overall, another lovely cruise!

Thank you for the review. We have cruised twice on Royal and love the ship.Cruising with your child will be a memory she will never forget. We started our cruising when our kids were young.

I have to thank poster Dave for his helpful posts on the sideways cabin. Those posts convinced me to book this cabin and I wasn't disappointed. Thanks, Dave!

You're welcome! :o

:D

Thanks for sharing

Nice report

Srpilo

Can you tell me what movies were playing on MUTS? On the British Isles portion of the cruise, do you know which night they had the lumiere chefs table? Thanks.

Can you tell me what movies were playing on MUTS? On the British Isles portion of the cruise, do you know which night they had the lumiere chefs table? Thanks.

Don't know about the specialty chef happenings but the following were playing on MUTS (to the best of my recollection):

The Theory of Everything

Mockingjay

Imitation Game

Interstellar

Into the Woods

Selma

Exodus (with Christian Bale)

Newest Hobbit movie

interesting observation about the change during the second part of your cruise. Also great to see that you liked the cabin. I've never been in one but all the positive comments are perking my curiosity a bit!!

We were on the Carbbean Princess TA ..sharing part of the route with you ..and we also had a medical evacuation after leaving the Azores on our way to Cork! I'd never experienced this - it was very dramatic and surreal since it happened in the early ours of the morning and we had to quickly evacuate our cabins while it was going on. No one ever explained the reason why. Luckily the patient was able to arrive in time for surgery and is recovering.

Camelia

Thank you for the revew. We sail on the Royal in 30 days, and this just makes it a little more real!

I think we were on a shore excursion together. We too had a great time. Luckily we did not observe the rude behavior you did. Second half of cruise to us was different just because there were different people and it was port intensive so not much down time like on the TA. We got home yesterday and are just about all unpacked. Now all we have are wonderful memories.

I think we were on a shore excursion together. We too had a great time. Luckily we did not observe the rude behavior you did. Second half of cruise to us was different just because there were different people and it was port intensive so not much down time like on the TA. We got home yesterday and are just about all unpacked. Now all we have are wonderful memories.

Which shore excursion?

OP;

Thanks for taking the time to post your thoughts. Glad you enjoyed your cruise.....:):):)

Bob

Thank you for the revew. We sail on the Royal in 30 days, and this just makes it a little more real!

I'm soooooo jealous....

Have a GREAT cruise!!!

:D

we also had a medical evacuation after leaving the Azores on our way to Cork! I'd never experienced this - it was very dramatic and surreal since it happened in the early ours of the morning and we had to quickly evacuate our cabins while it was going on. No one ever explained the reason why.

If you mean why you had to leave your cabin, the reason is in case of the remote possibility of the helicopter crashing into the ship, you would be safe away from your cabin in the areas you were asked to go.

Which shore excursion?

Don't remember which excursion but if you are who I think you are we met on an excursion where you said you were supposed to take your daughter with you but cancelled because your daughter wanted to stay onboard in the kids club. We both agreed that it was a good thing because she would have been bored with this particular excursion. We sat right by each other on the bus. I think we were one row behind you. My dh is 6' tall and probably complained about how uncomfortable the seats on the bus were because of lack of leg room.

Thanks for the review.

Very Interesting. Thanks

Bob

Thank you for your review. I'm happy to hear you and your daughter enjoyed the cruise.:)

Don't remember which excursion but if you are who I think you are we met on an excursion where you said you were supposed to take your daughter with you but cancelled because your daughter wanted to stay onboard in the kids club. We both agreed that it was a good thing because she would have been bored with this particular excursion. We sat right by each other on the bus. I think we were one row behind you. My dh is 6' tall and probably complained about how uncomfortable the seats on the bus were because of lack of leg room.

Yes. That was me. DD loved the kids club so much she never wanted to leave! It may have been the Bruges walking tour as I remember discussing how she would have been bored with all of the sightseeing - although momentarily happy with the chocolate demonstration! :)

If you mean why you had to leave your cabin, the reason is in case of the remote possibility of the helicopter crashing into the ship, you would be safe away from your cabin in the areas you were asked to go.

That makes perfect sense! Hopefully there won't be any more of such occasions but at least I'll know why!

Camelia