Mikeyto

FYI, it's simpler, easier and you'll save a lot more by finding a TA who books a lot of Princess cruises. You can save 10-20%, depending on the cruise and cabin categories. Princess allows TAs to discount fares, unlike some other lines. I haven't paid attention to past passenger fares in years, maybe decades.

Thank you Pam, I'll keep that in mind as well!

And just in case you are traveling with others, the past passenger may also be able to "Share the Savings" with 2 additional cabins. Meaning, they get the lower rate too. Past guest needs to make their reservation first, provide contact info to Princess who will then extend an invitation to the others, and then they make their reservation as a result.

 

We did this on our upcoming PCL cruise. I'm a past passenger and I was able to share my rate with 2 additional cabins for my family. Nice!

Thank you, that's good to know as there will be four others in the party.

Thank you for your review! We will be sailing on the Royal in January with our son who is in a wheelchair. I was curious if you have any info on going ashore in a wheelchair? We will be going to Princess Cays, St. Martin and St. Thomas. Were you able to tender in Princess Cays with your wheelchair?

St. Martin and St. Thomas are both docked ports, so there won't be an issue there. However, Princess Cays is tendered and they generally don't allow anyone in a wheelchair to board tenders, especially if the seas are anything but calm. This is for the safety of the crew and passenger(s). I did watch the tender process onboard and I personally wouldn't try it myself and I generally don't shy away from trying things. I spent the day at Princess Cays just relaxing around my room, the pool area and checking out the ship.

From the people I talked to onboard, the opinion of Princess Cays doesn't seem to be one of high regard anyway. I think a lot of people are indifferent to the stop. I could be wrong though.

Have a great trip!

Great, thank you!

How does Princess handle a statroom where one person has previously cruised but the other hasn't? Do both get the past cruiser discount?

We will be in cabin C302 on our upcoming cruise on the Royal. It was nice to know the accomodations in that cabin worked well for you. Are there servers in the Horizon to help carry trays back to the table? Thanks for your review.

You're very welcome. Feel free to private message me and I will send you some pics of the stateroom.

Yes, the servers in Horizon Court are more than happy to assist. If you would happen to have difficulties finding someone just ask one of the cooks to get someone.

:) I liked your review. We are thinking about booking the Royal this weekend.

 

Can you tell me what they served at the crab shack and what you liked best? I think my family might like a crab shack dinner.

 

Thanks!

Yes, I would be happy to share the menu.

The appetizer and soup were set, it was the main course that you could choose from four different options.

The appetizer was listed as baby shrimp, however they looked more like jumbo shrimp to me. It was also served with hushpuppies and accompanying sauces. One was tartar sauce and the other was some type of cajun sauce. It kinda reminded me of the same sauce that is on the Big Mac actually.

The soup was a very good Manhattan Clam Chowder. Normally I prefer New England Clam Chowder but this was very good and did have a kick to it. They had full clam shells inside the soup which enhanced the flavor to me

The main courses were a peel-n-eat shrimp dinner, clams/mussels dinner and the one I had consisted of crab legs, clams, mussels, jumbo shrimp with new potatos and corn on the cob. It came in a big bucket like you would expect from a clam bake or Joe's Crab Shack. The food was steamed perfectly for my taste.

I passed on dessert but it was a couple of different types of pies and cakes.

It is a $20 nominal charge but well worth it in my opinion. I hope this helps!

OP;

 

Thanks for taking the time to post your review.....:):):)

 

Bob

You're welcome! I want to thank you as well for your reviews during the crossing.

THANK YOU for the wonderful review. I very much appreciate the comments on Dining. Alfredos' seems to be a real hit, was it really busy during your lunch and that was the cause of the slower service? I also wonder if a small surcharge is in the future for Alfredo's like that of the Bistro on 5 with Celebrity Cruises? And I am glad you enjoyed the Crab Shack, which I plan on visiting twice on my upcoming B2B in December.

 

21 Days until Wheels Up... :D

Yes, it was busy that day being the last full day. However, we felt they could've prepared for that possibility better.

Thanks for your review....Glad you enjoyed the cruise and found your toilet roll in the right place!:D:D

It is nice to hear that the ship was easy for you to navigate. Did you have any problems with elevators? There have been many complaints about the midship ones being over crowded. I am looking forward to the Crab Shack too and pleased that you liked it.:)

With the exception of Embarkation/Disembarkation periods I really didn't find the elevators to be an issue. My stateroom was just outside the Fwd elevators so I generally used them. Very rarely did I find having to wait for more than one evelator. I did a couple of times go down to go up and visa versa but no more than twice I think. Just be aware that the call buttons for elevator banks Fwd/Aft are separate and do not work together. So to help it's best to press both sets of buttons.

Greetings Fellow Cruisers! Well, I've been home for a few days now and I provide a quick review about my experience onboard Royal Princess. Please keep in mind I am in a wheelchair fulltime so I did have an accessible cabin, which I later found out has one big difference besides the size...Apparently the toilet paper holder in my bathroom is in the proper location whereas it isn't in most others.

Overall I was very pleased with Royal Princess. She is in my humble opinion a very beautiful ship and I look forward to sailing her and the Regal again.

Stateroom:

I was in C302 which as I stated is an Accessible Balcony room. I found it very easy to maneuver around and get out to the balcony. I think my only complain about the stateroom is the balcony door is a little hard to close once opened. Otherwise I felt I had plenty of closet/drawer space.

Public Areas:

I spent a large part of my time onboard in the Atrium area on Decks 5, 6 and 7. I found the Atrium to be beautifully layed out, very spacious and easy to get around. Up on Deck 16 & 17 I was pleasantly surprised with the automated doors to get outside. I had not previously heard of this upgrade and was worried about how I would manage the heavy doors considering I was traveling alone this cruise. So BRAVO to Princess for this upgrade! I didn't utilize the pools at all but did wheel around the pool areas with considerable ease. The ship was not full but it did look like most every chair was being used. I did venture out to the SkyDeck many times during the cruise and enjoyed the views. Yes, you can see the balconies below but really only if you walk along the outter edge. While onboard I never heard anyone from those rooms complain about having that above them.

Entertainment Venues:

I really was only in the Princess Theatre and Vista Lounge. Both were considerably larger compared to other Princess ships. Great seating options but like others have said, I did miss the cocktail tables in the Vista Lounge. I did take a peek into Princess Live but never attended anything in it, mostly due to other plans or I just didn't see anything that peaked my interest. Admittedly I did miss Explorers Lounge though and several folks I met onboard commented the same.

Dining:

I only ate in the main dining room twice, the first and last nights. Otherwise I ate in the Crown Grille our second night which once again provided me with great service and great food. My only complaint there is how it's connected to the Wheelhouse Bar. It does take away from the quiet/peaceful setting of the Crown Grille somewhat. Nevertheless it didn't deter me from enjoying a wonderful meal! Our second to last night was the Crab Shack which I had to experience. This is located up in Horizon Court and is considered a Speciality so there is a nominal $20 fee but well worth it in my opinion. Again service and food were up to Princess standards. For lunch on our final full day I went to Alfredo's with some friends. Service here was rather slow as my friends acknowledged having eaten there previously during the crossing. It took about 20 minutes and several requests before we were given water. Once our food arrived, which also seemed rather slow, I can say I did enjoy my gluten-free pizza (pre-ordering strongly recommended) and requested the recipe later that night. I did eat lunch and breakfast a couple times in Horizon Bistro/Court. I must say, they did a great job setting up these two areas. The food and service was good and there always seemed to be a good variety of things.

As I stated earlier, I loved the Royal Princess and will cruise her again in the future.

Thank you to everyone who posted their insights and experiences onboard! I look forward to boarding Royal on Tuesday for the Maiden Caribbean!

Yes my kindle fire works great and shows all the activities on board.

Great news! Thank you so much!

Has anyone tried the intranet? Would think they would have posted about the cancellation of the port - among other things!

 

Was thinking of carrying my Kindle Fire HD with me but maybe just the Patter will handle all I need to know.

 

Thanks.

I would be curious to know the answer to this as well. I also have a Kindle Fire that I will be taking with me. Thanks!

Ok! New to Princess.... please explain What is IC?

 

Thanks,

Joanne

Mmmm mmmm mmmmmmmmm....Good stuff at the IC!!! A Must on any Princess ship with one.

We stayed in F307 on the Golden for a 14 day Hawaii cruise. It was an upsell deal, first and last we've ever been offered, but well worth the extra $$. The suite breakfast in Sabatini's was the icing on the cake. We were totally spoiled!

 

Judy

Judy, I have to completely agree with you regarding the suite breakfast. I took full advantage of breakfast there. I had an omlet, crispy bacon, chocolate donut and freshly squeezed orange juice every mornning.

I was in F301 last year for my first cruise to Alaska with my parents. I am in a wheelchair and it was a little tight for us but we made it work. We booked pretty late otherwise it appears F315 would've been perfect for the 3 of us. Just a word of caution, make sure the door to the main hallway is closed. If not you can get some smoke smell from the sports bar, especially if their door is open, which it was one night on our cruise. Otherwise we really enjoyed the WS and would stay in one again.

Does anyone know how long Capt. Tony Draper will be with the Royal initially? I'm sailing on the Caribbean Maiden Voyage and am hoping he's still her Captain at the time.