msw.delafield

Have stayed in Riviera aft balconys (R746/R747) several many times, IMO the further back is best to avoid noise from above.

The aft pool is essentially empty and uninhabited after about 7pm.

This is a nice location on the ship.

Easy access to aft elevators and close to Horizon Court.

Your only concern might be with the door that leads out at the end of the hallway to the aft pool, it can slam at times under certain conditions.

Many here comment on this door issue but It's never been a problem for us on any of our trips.

Hope this helps your decision!

Suggest you try the Trident Grill, they do a selection of BBQ foods there in the evening.

Here is a link to review and pictures of our December cruise in L108 on Royal, should be reasonably identical to the Regal and may answer any questions you have about the cabin.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=522096

If you look at the cabins on Princess website (as Fishywood suggested) you'll see sofa bed mentioned and also an 'upper' noted too.

this indicated the cabin has both a sofa sleeper and a pullman bed in the ceiling.

The only pullmans I've seen in deluxe balcony's have dropped from the ceiling - not mounted to the wall.

My most favorite Princess ship!

We have also stayed in R750 and R751 on several cruises on Ruby.

Agree that these are great cabins in a great location on the ship.

I recognize this is an older thread, but my response to the original post is to simply add that we were affected by plumbing problems during a two week B2B trip in December of 2014 while occupying R750.

We got the impression this was a recurring issue for this location on Ruby.

We returned to the cabin late in the afternoon to find that our small stretch of corridor was flooded.

Both R748 and R750 were saturated with a good inch or two of water.

Not just 'wet' mind you, but the water was noticeably sloshing around in the cabin, deepest by bath closet but significant throughout.

We were repeatedly assured this leak was from the fresh water supply lines and not sewage.

There was no apparent odor, so gave them benefit of the doubt that it was just a fresh water leak.

Crews responded immediately, water was removed, carpets pulled away from the walls and numerous fans set-up to dry the space out.

Furniture was placed out on the balcony during this process.

The steward was summoned to assist with relocation of our belongings to our temporary accommodations.

He commented that this had happened before many times and it was obvious he was not happy to be dealing with it again.

We were relocated to an oceanview on Emerald deck for two nights during the cleanup over the next three days.

During the process, we did ask several maintenance supervisors why they didn't simply replace the carpet?

My point being that replacement would've resolved this problem in hours - instead of days.

We never did receive any definitive response - just that the 'carpets dry quickly' and this was the 'best solution' for this particular problem.

Ultimately, resolving this issue took the better part of three cruise days and our loss of that great cabin and all that comes with it for two evenings.

Upside is that we didn't skip a beat!

It's a boat, stuff happens and things break.

We were on a great cruise, having a great time so we took it all in stride.

Southpaws,

I did find the outlets near bed to be the round euro two prong type on my last Royal trip.

I picked up a couple basic adapters to take with on future cruises from Amazon.

Avoids the concern for stringing an extension cord about the cabin.

No, you would be responsible for claiming them at baggage claim and taking them with you on whatever mode of transport your choosing.

Embarkation –

Painless! Really, painless!

Best ever in our 20+ departures from Port Everglades.

Arrived early, let into the terminal about 11am and on board 30 minutes later.

Impressions of the ship –

Nice, clean, new - was noticeable compared to past cruises.

Really liked the decor, felt warm and well appointed. Not garish as some ships design can be.

Layout is adequate with most ‘destination’ venues contained between decks five and seven or up on Lido deck.

This ship was noticeably bigger, compared to the Princess Grand class ships. Felt like we were walking farther than on past Grand class trips.

It never really felt very crowded; design helps to break spaces into smaller areas that seemed to feel more comfortable. The only real crowd concern we repeatedly encountered was getting in/out of the aft MDR.

Main pool layout on Lido deck was very unappealing – not enough pool space for this ship to support warm Caribbean cruising. The entire space was exposed to the MUTS experience, not separated like on Grand class ships. They need to fix this on newer designs to maintain appeal into the future.

Crew and Staff -

All experiences were great. Everyone was helpful and most kind.

Outstanding IC crew and Sanctuary was top notch!

Was nice to reconnect with a few from previous cruises, seeing Hristo managing in HC (formerly a Sanctuary manager) was a pleasant surprise!

Dining –

MDR was as expected. Food was good but not great, the dining process took it’s time too - over the course of 90 minutes or more. Staff here was not consistent and appeared rushed and inexperienced. We felt food from the Horizon Court buffet was equally appealing, but the layout was confusing, no real consistency or clear indication of which lines were serving.

Horizon/Caribe was never really crowded, aside from peak times in the morning before port disembarkation. It was nice to have the seating on the aft terrace, but that was fairly windy when the ship was underway.

Crown Grill was outstanding, it felt less intimate because it’s open to the adjacent bar and traffic corridor.

Alfredo’s was tasty, menu here could be expanded (no blanco pizza).

International Café was as expected based on prior experience on other ships.

Never got a chance to try the Seafood bar, maybe next trip!?

Entertainment –

Plenty of variety.

Massive amount of options in the early evening but after 9:30-10pm there wasn’t much other than music and dancing.

Theater shows were crowded and the seating layout was constricting, less accessible on this ship.

Casino was fair for this size of ship, but the entire aft of this deck reeked of smoke.

Between Casino and Churchill’s smoking they might’ve benefited from more aggressive ventilation systems on this deck.

Piazza –

Loud!

Most enjoyable in the morning with no entertainment, enjoyed many early morning coffees while planning the day.

Performers below and piano entertainer above, plus general crowd noise – made it challenging to enjoy any one performance without interference from another.

Lack of center stairs –

No issue for us, we detest climbing stairs.

Noticed that there are center stairways between decks four and seven – probably where most essential and important.

Not really sure why this is such a concern?

Elevators –

At times they arrived promptly and we were able to transit directly to destination deck.

About 30% of the time we were less fortunate, either waiting interminably or once on board we were subject to a tour of every floor on our way up/down.

Programming of these elevators is an issue, it shouldn’t be difficult to address and Princess is remiss in resolving this problem.

Outstanding Cabin – L108 Mini-Suite!

We were fortunate to upgrade to this cabin when there was a reduction in pricing.

This was a front-corner mini-suite on Lido deck, starboard side.

The cabin was two separate rooms, the main space with balcony door out to the side of the ship and a forward space for the bedroom with a huge window out onto the forward balcony.

Three storage closets for hanging clothing, a fourth with shelving and safe.

Main cabin space had a ten foot long counter/desk, small sofa and table. Only two US plug receptacles.

Bedroom space had the usual bed/s and twin nightstands.

Bedroom had a huge forward facing window – we kept this open night and day.

Two large wall mounted flat screen TV’s – one each for BR and LR.

Bath was standard mini-suite tub, etc.

Oddly, only one phone – on the desk in main cabin space, about 30 feet from the bed. Annoying for wake-up calls as it honestly forced you to get up and go answer.

Also, no (US standard) plugs in bedroom space – need to bring Euro adapters!!

Killer Balcony!!

Easily one of the top 10 balcony’s on this ship!!

Balcony door opened off main cabin to the starboard side of the ship, balcony here was only about 4-feet deep.

But the balcony extended forward and wrapped around the front of the cabin, was easily 20-feet wide by 12-feet deep in front – absolutely huge!!

Enough room to comfortably accommodate over a dozen folk milling around!

Two teak loungers w/side tables and a full teak table with four teak chairs – all had comfortable cushions.

We had fantastic forward and starboard views!

Was most enjoyable to order room service and sit on the balcony as the ship came into each port.

Bottom Line –

We will continue to defer to Grand class ship itineraries, but if/as needed we will be comfortable cruising on the Royal class ships.

These Royal class ships need a top deck makeover to be more appealing in warm Caribbean climates. Pool spaces need to be redefined – you cannot support the warm climate trips with only two pool spaces (sorry, the aft wading pool on Regal doesn’t count).

Grand class ships had the most functional top deck facilities in the industry – too bad Princess didn’t recognize that!?

Wind?

Keith,

We did Royal 10-day on L108, similar corner mini with obscenely large balcony.

Two teak loungers and a large teak table w/4 chairs - room comfortably for a dozen folk to mill around.

Underway, wind was noticeable exiting the door on the starboard side of the stateroom but once you walked around to the front of the balcony you only noticed wind standing at the forward rail.

If seated, or standing further back from the rail - especially closer to the cabin walls there was literally no wind.

It seemed that the angled steel plates that formed the front of the balcony deflected the wind up, minimizing any impact.

There was no restriction on use of balcony underway aside from the standard 'keep door closed' sticker.

Look at this website within seven days of sailing and it will indicate what pier is allocated for Emerald.

It appears to be docking at either pier#2 or pier#4 based on December departures.

https://pevvesseltraffic.broward.org/webclient/public/publicmovements.aspx

Got two of these last month while in Mini-Suite on Royal, I would expect you would see them as a Suite passenger on Regal as well.

I do this regularly on each trip, is a great way to relax every few days.

No straight razors, they used a 5-blade unit on my last trip.

As others have said, great facial scrub, hot towels, double shave and scalp/neck massage.

Consider getting a few and take advantage of the 10/20/30% discount package.

We just had a forward facing mini-suite at the front of Lido deck on Royal, directly under Sanctuary.

We didn't have any noise issue from above during the entire trip.

Found the forward Lido location very convenient to elevator and an easy walk to grill, pizza, seawalk and finally Horizon Court.

Proximity to elevators worked well for us too, able to access Decks 6/7 quickly which provided access into the Piazza spaces.

Would book this same location under Sanctuary again in a heartbeat.

skrapngal,

As you browse cruises, the 3rd/4th passenger pricing is listed right on the cruise detail page.

See attached image.

JEDMELK,

These cabins you note, M711 thru M715 are located directly below the Lido Horizon Terrace on the deck above.

You may experience noise from overhead throughout the day (and possibly well into the night) from passenger/crew foot traffic and moving chairs/tables, etc.

If you must have Marina deck, I suggest you look closely at the Lido deck layout to better assure you won't have annoying noise above you.

Possibly consider Marina cabins in the front portion of the ship, located beneath Lido deck cabins.

That may minimize concern for most noise from above.

These would include Deluxe Balcony cabins M126 thru M201 and M232/237.

medsed,

we will be sailing in L108 this thursday, the starboard twin to your L107.

if you would provide email, would be glad to send you a few cabin pics upon return.

Ruby is unique as it has balcony cabins aft on Riviera deck. Check out R748 through R751.

These cabins are a great location facing aft, just steps away from the Terrace pool and Cafe Caribe / Horizon Court.

A few quick thoughts, may have more after I ponder this for awhile...

- Expand the Sanctuary concept to include a section of cabins, located near/adjacent to the Sanctuary space. (similar in concept to the Haven or Spa categories on other lines)

- Others mention a Crowsnest type of venue, simply relocate the Skywalkers forward and allow it to double as both daytime lounge environment and nighttime it becomes a dance venue.

- Bring the Piazza up several levels, instead of relegated to decks 5/6/7 – move it up so it’s on 9/8/7 or so, leveraging deck 7 for a full promenade (or maybe multiple decks for promenade as on grand class).

- Offer watersports from the ship, utilize space on lower deck to create a ‘sea platform’ where guests could use jet-skis, sailboats, etc while tendered or in ports.

- Create a true outdoor BBQ venue on an upper deck, real wood smokers or charcoal grilling.

- Figure a way to create a ‘moving walkway’ on one deck – maybe in segments. Simply a way to help those that are mobility challenged a method to traverse the length of the ship. Even I struggle with the thought of walking the entire length of the ship repeatedly at times.

- USB charge ports in cabins at desk/counter space.

- Audio/Visual interface on cabin TV's - USB, HDMI and analog ports for passengers to connect whatever.

- AUX input in cabins to allow passengers to connect media players to play over the in-cabin speakers.

- Mount the cabin phone on the wall - free up the desk/counterspace.

- Wall sconces at bedside, free up the bedside tables.

- Incorporate the wristband concept as RCI has. For everything from cabin access, charges/purchases and scanning on/off the ship when in port.

Thank you to those that have responded, but let me clarify my question -

I've read other threads here on CC from Royal cruisers that Royal has required you make a call to the Sanctuary once on board to pre-book your Sanctuary reservation BEFORE 'showing up' in person to actually transact your reservation.

I'd rather not just run up there at embarkation, only to be told that I must go find a phone somewhere to make this pre-call to complete the reservation process.

So, my most specific question is;

Do they continue to require this pre-call on Royal, or is more similar to other ships where you make the mad dash to secure a reservation.

This is what I'm hoping a most recent Royal cruiser might be able to answer.

Recognizing that time is of the essence in assuring Sanctuary space, am just hoping to avoid any snag or delay once on board.

Thank you

Has anyone recently booked Sanctuary on Royal Princess?

We’re on a 10-day in a couple weeks and was hoping fellow CC members that have traveled on her in October/November might have input on the current Sanctuary reservation process?

Thanks in advance!

Check this site - should be what your looking for...

https://sites.google.com/site/cabinviewbyrenmar/home

Am trying to search cruises in fall/winter of 2016 and just keep getting 'pricing not available' tonight.

Too bad for Princess, am in the mood to spend.

Quick Search and found CC posts that linked to this previous occupant of E733.

There were only a few pictures of the cabin.

In one pic, there appears a faint outline for what might be the pull-down berth above the couch.

Others here on CC may also provide a definitive answer for you as well.

http://s1097.photobucket.com/user/oldfriendsmedia/media/2014%20Ruby%20Princess%20-%20Grand%20Turk/Stateroom_1.jpg.html

I would be partial to the Ruby (but honestly have never sailed on the Star).

Newer ship overall with slightly more tonnage to take on the Pacific.

She's a big girl and has always accommodated the 'extra' deck of passengers well in our opinion, we never felt any more/less crowed than on any other grand class ship.

Newer venues or shows would be a treat as well, if available.

Eula also helps to score a mark favoring Ruby, along with the US departure port.

We also really do prefer the Riviera Aft facing balcony cabins on that ship, Star does not have these.

All of these reasons i list are personal preferences, let your own drive your decision!

Enjoy your cruise!