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Another Royal review - 2/2/14

NewPennCruiser

By NewPennCruiser,
in Princess Cruises

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NewPennCruiser

NewPennCruiser

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Royal reviews are popular these days but I thought I would add some of our own impressions as well. It’s been a few weeks but I finally had some time to put my thoughts together from our 2/2 cruise since I thought it would be helpful to some. We signed up for this cruise as soon as it was available for booking and really had been looking forward to seeing the new ship. We did make one change to our reservation based on other reviews and that was from a suite to a mini suite. We usually book mini’s but after cruising in a Sapphire vista suite last year, we decided to splurge on a suite for this cruise as well. However after seeing the prices for the mini’s drop significantly as the sailing got closer and no discounts on the suites, we changed before final payment and saved a bundle of money.

 

First impressions were all positive. As everyone has said, the ship is stunning. While some of the decisions like smaller elevators or not having a center stairwell can be legitimately questioned, you can’t fault the decorators and designers any. After reading how impressive the Piazza is, I went in expecting to be wowed and I was. The lighting, artwork and basically everything around the ship is elegant and makes you feel like you’re in a 5 star hotel. Even though the ship is “different” and new, if you’re familiar with the Grand Class ships, you’ll learn to get around quickly.

 

As for our room, it was pretty much what we expected. I like the new desk layout in the mini suite and the bathroom was pretty much the same. Having the TVs mounted on the wall and eliminating the circular room divider seemed to open up things more and there was plenty of space. The much maligned balcony was functional for 2 and ok for us. But really, I can’t believe they had foot stools included with the chairs because basically there is no room for them. They just sit under the chair and get in the way. It appeared there was room to use them on some of the mid ship extended balconies but why waste money on them when they can’t be used on 90% of the balconies! It seems like they just plopped the same furniture on the balcony that they would any ship and expect it to be useful. I can just see a manager with a list somewhere… mini suite gets two chairs, two foot stools and a tall table…. check. Nevermind everything really doesn’t fit.

 

As for dining, we tried to experience some new things being offered on Royal that the other ships don’t offer. The expanded Alfredo’s is fantastic and we ate there numerous times. In fact we ate lunch there on embarkation day and had the place to ourselves. It seems to take people a good portion of the week to realize it is a “free” alternate dining option. The International Café was great as always and the expanded Horizon Court is everything people said it is. The options are endless and food was very good. We also liked the Horizon Terrace area and I seriously think some people didn’t realize it was back there. We loved sitting out back for breakfast or just to relax in the evening. We only ate in the main dining room once, buffet on both formal nights and we tried a couple of the offerings only available on Royal so far. First, the Wine Cellar Dinner, which was wonderful ($40 charge) and we tried the Fondue Dinner available last night of the cruise in a roped off area in the back of Horizon Court ($20 charge). We enjoyed that as well because it’s not something we would usually do at home. Pizza on deck was great as always and it was nice to see BBQ options at the grill for lunch or dinner on various days.

 

Entertainment was plentiful and there was something to do everywhere. The bands were all excellent and it was just nice to sit in the piazza in the evening and watch people dance or maybe get some ice cream or coffee to relax. Everything is very high tech on this ship, from Princess Live, to the lighting and sound of the new theatre to the amazing MUTS screen and surround sound. They certainly did not spare any expense to make things current and flashy. We liked the production shows especially Sweet Soul Music and actually enjoyed the water shows on deck. They seem to show them at dinner time so most people don’t even pay attention, but on the last night, they showed them all one after another so you could catch them all at one time. More people seemed to watch it then. I didn’t expect it to be Bellagio and it’s not but it’s nice for what it is. If it’s windy, the water goes everywhere.

 

It rained the night of the Hot Latin Night party so it was moved to the piazza and the other big feature for our cruise was the Super Bowl; which was a beautiful evening and the new MUTS showed itself off nicely for a packed deck party.

 

I thought I would miss Explorers Lounge but really didn’t and see that Princess Live is very popular and active all day. The Vista Lounge was a great place for many of the shows although the seating is cumbersome for many and the new Princess Theatre is quite dazzling. Almost everything taped in Princess Live is available later on the TV in your room so don’t worry if you can’t get in to see something. It got packed for many of the lectures and game shows that were presented there.

 

While we thought the Sea Walk was sort of gimmicky, we really liked the Sea Watch Bar on the other side. It was usually packed and it turned out to be our favorite place to stop and get a drink in the evening. We also liked all the sofas and comfy furniture located everywhere. Nice touch and lots of outdoor tables for dining.

 

So much has been said up to this point about the missing wrap around promenade deck and aft pool area that I won’t even really comment on it. It is what it is and those “missing” items didn’t affect our cruise experience. As for the missing center staircase; what were they thinking! We avoided the mid ship elevators most of the cruise and stuck to the forward and aft stairs when we could. The aft elevators seemed to be the least crowded. That said, the elevator situation seemed about the same as we have experienced on other ships. Most people were patient and waited and then there were the usual folks who lacked any elevator etiquette. Really people, you’re on vacation, chill out. It’s not the end of the world if you’re late for bingo! And no, if the elevator door opens and it is packed to the rafters, there is not room for 3 more people!

 

Seas were extremely smooth so we were not really tested for how the ship would handle rough seas. Most of the time it didn’t even feel like we were moving. Staff on board was exceptional and you could tell that Princess has their “A” rated people on the ship. Most people we talked to were going to be heading on Holiday soon and come back to launch the Regal so Princess is really using their good people on the new ships right now.

 

One of our favorite places to hang out was on the back promenade “porch” where they had loungers. One sea day there was nobody out there and we found a couple of empty loungers in the back and we sat there most of the afternoon. It reminded me of our cruise last year when we had an aft vista suite and I would sit out on the balcony and instantly fall asleep to the sound of the wake. I’m not sure if many people realized these back promenade areas were there. You could smoke on the starboard side.

 

Sorry this ended up being somewhat disjointed and I was trying to remember some of the hits and misses of the cruise. It was mostly “hits” for us and in all we had a great time. I mean really, we were in the Caribbean when it was -2 degrees back home. I can’t complain!

 

I was reading so much beforehand about the ship that it became information overload and at some point I decided to stop reading and just take the cruise and experience it for myself. I like the Grand Class ships a lot but I really loved the Royal. It was for many reasons; the main one being that it’s different. Princess would be boring if they had 12 Grand Class ships and I saw a lot of “blue cards” on this cruise so if Princess was trying to reach out to new passengers by putting something elegant and different out there, they succeeded. It was one of the livelier Princess cruises we have taken. The Piazza was packed after 10:30 with people dancing every night and the casino and shows were all packed most nights. The only thing that I really didn’t like about the cruise was it was too short! We would definitely cruise on her again and I would just say for those of you looking forward to sailing on her for the first time, she’s not perfect, but she is a nice addition to the Princess fleet.

 

Dave

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NewPennCruiser

NewPennCruiser

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So if all things were the same, would you sail the Royal or a Grand class ship again if the itinerary was identical?

 

Personally for us, we would probably pick the Royal. We felt like the Grand Class ships would seem dated after cruising the Royal because at least in the public areas, especially the Piazza, it seemed like they really nailed it with the design. Of course that is just my opinion for what it's worth and our next Princess cruise is actually going to be the Ruby, so we'll get to test out that theory. Dave

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dchip

dchip

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Thanks, Dave. Enjoyed reading your thoughts. We loved Alfredo's and ate there several times. Wish I had those eggplant rollatinis right now. We tried to sit on the lounges on the aft promenade one day but it was seriously HOT. Love the location though.

 

Thanks again, Denise

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NewPennCruiser

NewPennCruiser

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Good review.:)

 

Benny, I wanted to thank you for your live thread. You sailed the week before us and I could tell your expectations were very similar to ours. I thought your observations were spot on. We enjoyed breakfast at Int'l Cafe, quiet time in the piazza early mornings and finding places off the beaten path to sit, relax, read and people watch. I'm enjoying your review (and pictures) as well. Feels like I'm there again instead of snow blowing the driveway! Dave

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Grego

Grego

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Thanks for the review and for being objective.

Princess is trying to find the right combination of things that those new to cruising and those more experienced cruises would like to see with their new ships. As Pam said, there really isn't the perfect ship out there because everyone has different expectations. Princess has held her consistency model for years, as some other major cruise lines, which is important to maintain her customer base.

We look forward to being on the Royal this April and her sister, the Regal, this October as she makes her maiden voyage across the Atlantic to Port Everglades.

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OCruisers

OCruisers

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Thanks so much for your time to do this excellent and detailed review!

Very helpful since we haven't cruised on the new Royal Princess yet.

Appreciate your tip on "Sea Watch Bar". So you liked it better than Crooner's which is where we hang out on most Princess ships?

 

LuLu

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NewPennCruiser

NewPennCruiser

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Thanks so much for your time to do this excellent and detailed review!

Very helpful since we haven't cruised on the new Royal Princess yet.

Appreciate your tip on "Sea Watch Bar". So you liked it better than Crooner's which is where we hang out on most Princess ships?

 

LuLu

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Crooners was still popular but it's very different than the SeaView Bar. There was just something about being outside and there is a skylight above the bar that brightens things up and the view is spectacular. It's also sort of protected from the wind, etc and there were lots of places to sit. As for the bars indoors, we really liked the way the Wheelhouse Bar is associated with Crown Grill. There was usually a jazz duo or pianist playing there and we seemed to head that way if we were inside. Crooners is different on this ship and it's hard to explain why accept that it is more open to the piazza so it seems to be more included in what is going on elsewhere on the other levels. It seemed like it was still a great place to sit and hang out though. Part of the fun on this cruise was just exploring and seeing what we liked or disliked... by the end of the week we just sort of headed to certain places that were most comfortable to us. I guess we do that on the other ships as well. Dave

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NewPennCruiser

NewPennCruiser

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Thanks for the review. Looking for to Christmas on the Royal. One question: When you wrote there were BBQ options at the grill, are you talking about hamburgers, hot dogs or things like ribs, chicken etc.?

 

They had the usual burgers, hot dogs and stuff all the time, but on some days for lunch and dinner they had actual BBQ like pulled pork and ribs. It was quite tasty.

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NewPennCruiser

NewPennCruiser

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Looking at the Lido deck can anyone tell me about the Trident Grill, Mermaids Tail and Prego? Thanks ahead. :)

 

Trident grill is basically the place to get burgers, fries, hot dogs, brats, BBQ, etc. Prego is the traditional Princess pizza and Mermaids Tail in a bar. All are complimentary dining options, well of course except for the bar. :)

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NewPennCruiser

NewPennCruiser

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Thanks for your review! Did you check out the kiosks in the photo gallery? If so, what could one purchase? Prints, digital file of the picture? Thanks for your help!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

Someone else might be able to pipe in on this one, but we managed to mostly avoid the photographers this cruise. They will place out the usual port photos to browse, etc and it seemed like the kiosks were working as I watched some others bringing up photos... I'm just not sure what your options are and whether you can purchase digital files.

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NewPennCruiser

NewPennCruiser

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Dave,

Thanks for the great review, our turn in 45 days! Any more on Alfredo's we have it our our list of must do's for this trip, along with so many other things!

Cheers!

Ken

 

Alfredo's seemed to get more crowded as the week went on. I think we ate lunch there twice and dinner once as an alternate option on one of the formal nights. I really loved the minestrone soup, salad and Hawaiian pizza. My partner loved the antipasta options and we never did try the calzone... Maybe next time :) The expanded menu is fantastic in comparison to what is offered on Sapphire. The pizza is different than what you get at Prego; more like something from California Pizza Kitchen or some of the other specialty pizza places out there. It got a huge thumbs up from both of us!

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cindy144

cindy144

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The review was great, maybe because it was from a fellow 'yinzer' We're sailing in 3 weeks (my daughters surprised me with the cruise for my 50th birthday! Yay for me!) We're so excited as this is our first cruise and some of the reviews weren't so great so we were getting worried...your review has now put our minds at ease and now are even more excited and we are so looking forward to this trip. I can't wait to get on board and check it all out! Can't wait to get out of the 'burgh and dive into those clear, blue Caribbean waters!

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