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The Royal...My List of Hits and Misses!

sunsetbeachgal

By sunsetbeachgal,
in Princess Cruises

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sunsetbeachgal

sunsetbeachgal

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Having returned from our recent cruise on the Royal I thought that in addition to writing my review, which is now posted, I would compile a list of hits and misses. Please keep in mind that these are items that affected us and are my opinion! We were on a port-intensive itinerary and were traveling with DD, son-in-law and two small children so we did not go to any of the surcharge specialty restaurants, the Sanctuary or the Spa.

 

In summary, this ship is gorgeous and we absolutely loved her. The service levels were top-notch and the food at all venues was the best we have had on a Princess ship. We enjoyed the entertainment, although some nights we were tired from full day tours and skipped it! The ship sailed full with over 3,900 passengers including over 800 children and teens, weather was sunny and hot, and for Princess it was a younger crowd with a lot of families and an international passenger make-up.

 

Hits:

-Piazza-to us this felt like a beautiful "town Center" where we enjoyed sitting with a cup of coffee, people watching, relaxing or enjoying the entertainment.

-Horizon Court-this has, IMHO, always been a big weakness of Princess. Well, no more!! :) The Royal's Horizon Court has multiple buffet lines thus eliminating queues, plenty of attractive seating and best of all very good food displayed quite nicely. A huge hit!

-Alfredo's-Loved it on the Sapphire and this one on the Royal has expanded menu including salads & appetizer plates, some pasta dishes, desserts in addition to great pizza. One of our favorite places!

-Food quality-I must say again that the quality was excellent. There were never lines more than a few couples at the Anytime Dining Rooms.

-The Retreat Pool-a quiet, lovely relaxing pool for adults only. I enjoyed this area very much. Lots of seating and when full plenty of areas around the pool to sit. DD and family used the main pool and enjoyed them, found seating (some in the shade!) and did not feel it was over-crowded even on sea days.

-Jogging/Walking track-a nice addition and DH who is a runner said it was used only by those walking or running.

-CD Ron Goodman and his staff were very visible throughout the ship, and greatly added to our enjoyment of the cruise.

-The cabin décor is very nice and we all loved the new larger flat screen TV's with on-demand programming and the hand held showers. Like that there are some connecting cabins on this ship...DD and family had connecting cabins and loved them.

-Children's Program-I have no basis of comparison, but the girls begged to go back several times, so it must be very good!

 

Misses:

-I missed the Promenade Deck. There are areas you can go outside on Deck 7, but it is definitely not a walking deck.

-I missed the Explorer's Lounge and was not as crazy about Princess Live. Enjoyed having the Vista Lounge back...am not a fan of Club Fusion on other ships.

-The entertainment in the Piazza at night alternates sets with Crooners which is two floors above it. I think the sound would interfere with each other if both were going on at the same time. Therefore the sets played at Crooners, which is a venue we enjoy, are shorter. Cory Simon was the entertainer in Crooners and on the Emerald in January you couldn't get a seat for him, and on this cruise there were plenty!

-the stairwells and elevators were hot at times, especially towards the end of our cruise. Not sure if something was wrong with the air conditioining. Our cabin temperature control worked quite well.

-Balcony depth is smaller.

(With our cabin location we were not affected by the lack of center staircase.)

-I missed the aft hot tub. There are lots of nice areas to sit, relax and eat on the aft areas of the ship, but a hot tub or pool would have been nice.

 

I will try to post some pictures...but it may take me awhile!

Carole

Edited by sunsetbeachgal
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CamCruiser

CamCruiser

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Thank you for your observations on the Royal which includes "hits" along with the "misses". So many of the reviews of the Royal only describe negative aspects of the ship. We are booked on the Regal in 2014 and start to second guess our choice for our first ever European cruise when reading some of the Royal reviews. Hopefully Princess will really listen to the passengers likes/dislikes for the future.

With that said, we are sticking with our Regal booking and are very excited to board the Regal. I know we will find her to be a beautiful ship with many great features. Just to be aboard and cruising is thrilling and we can't wait!

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CQG67

CQG67

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Carole - thanks so much for your honest and helpful info about the ship. From what I've read, I think we can easily live with the misses on this ship. Certainly they are no deal breaker. The pros we will deinitely appreciate. One less pool is no big deal for us as we all have skin cancer and don't sunbathe or swim on a ship. I too have always felt that the buffet area is one of Princess' weaknesses - especially when you have experienced the one on a solstice class Celebrity ship or a Royal Caribbean ship. Being spread out and having some elbow room will be a definite plus. One of my favorite spots was on the old Sun that had the separate pizza restaurant - so good so we are looking forward to Alfredo's as we didn't go there on our last cruise for some reason. Princess offers so many nice things including perks for elite status. guess that's why we have cruised this line the most. Glad you had a great cruise. With all of the traveler warnings out there now for that whole area, you went at a good time. Thanks again for your daily posts. Barb

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sunsetbeachgal

sunsetbeachgal

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I keep forgetting things (!!)...forgot to mention how wonderfully comfortable the beds are (pillow top...soft but not too soft) and the fine quality of the bedding. I could not feel the separation in the beds when made up as a queen, as I often could on the other ships.

 

Thanks for the nice comments...for us, the hits FAR FAR outweighed the misses!

 

We also all commented that we never waited in line anywhere or felt crowded. The only queues encountered were short ones to get back on the ship at the end of the port stop, and usually we passed the short wait while refreshing ourselves with a cold face towel and thinking about what goodie we would consume from the International Café'! I also forgot to mention how much we loved the IC and the set-up of the coffee bar, which is more like a Starbucks as you order in one place and then move aside to another place to pick up your coffee item. Much improved flow.

Edited by sunsetbeachgal
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Bluwaterz

Bluwaterz

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Thank you Carole for your comments. I, for one, am very excited to board the Royal. I know it won't be perfect but the positives far outweigh the negatives in my view. I know the balconies are smaller, there is no cental staircase, no promenade but there are many other features I am looking forward to. I figure I can make or break my own cruise & I plan to have a wonderful time! Sappy but that is how I look at it.

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Northender

Northender

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Carole, thanks so much for your thoughts, opinions and wonderful pictures.:) All we needed was a fun person with a great attitude (like Shogun) to bring everything into perspective.:):)

 

Just wondering tho, you never mentioned that darned TP roll placement.:D:D

 

Keep sending Dave pictures.;)

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mountainmaniacs

mountainmaniacs

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Thank you sunsetbeachgirl for the great breakdown on the ship. My DH and I are sailing on her in Nov. and I was starting to get a little worried about all the negative things people were saying. You have ease my fears. Carol thanks for the pics, I loved looking at them. We have booked a mini but have yet to get assigned a cabin. Maybe the upgrade fairy will come see us

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sunsetbeachgal

sunsetbeachgal

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Carole, thanks so much for your thoughts, opinions and wonderful pictures.:) All we needed was a fun person with a great attitude (like Shogun) to bring everything into perspective.:):)

 

Just wondering tho, you never mentioned that darned TP roll placement.:D:D

 

Keep sending Dave pictures.;)

 

We were upgraded to a handicap accessible balcony cabin, thus the toilet paper was on the wall next to the toilet. So, can't comment!

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sunsetbeachgal

sunsetbeachgal

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Thank you Carole for the great info. Could you please advise whether the adult pool has steps leading into the pool or only ladders? Many thanks - 144 days to my cruise on the Royal Princess!

 

The Retreat Pool has tiered steps leading into the pool...in the first photo the central bar in the foreground goes along the center of the steps...there must be about six to eight steps...the main pool does not have steps, only ladders.

Edited by sunsetbeachgal
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