So sad...Royal one star reviews

[baldercash]

I have found reading this thread most enlightening not about the Royal but about CC posters.

 

We have posters who say those who give Royal a 1* or a generally poor rating should have known better and not sailed her.

Not all CC members are that obsessive that they research in depth on every ship. Take note on how often the coffee card question comes up how are these cruisers to sort the intricacies of booking a decent cabin and know what to expect on Royal.

 

You have the argument that they should not have gone on Royal and thus not have had to post a 1*.

So being disappointed in Royal is their fault?

But if 1* reviews are not posted then those who do bother to read the reviews would not see any negative reviews and cruise Royal and then be disappointed.

 

Then people question who these one review members are and what is their hidden agenda is.

Well some may be new to CC but were so disappointed in their cruise they searched for a venue to voice their displeasure and found CC or they may be CC members who have never had cause to post or complain and Royal supplied motivation to post.

 

I just took the time to read the most recent 15 reviews posted on Royal and the reviews are no better now then when Royal first sailed.

 

A disproportionate number of cruisers seem to have a visceral reaction to cruising Royal causing an out right dislike of the experience.

 

Then you have those who give a decent rating but state they will not sail her again or will but only for the itinerary and there being no other ship choice.

 

Then you have reviews awarded a 5* but the poster identifies deficiencies but what would they rate the cruise if they had not encountered them? How can it be a 5* but there were things they noted that were not up to snuff.

The 5* posters also often acknowledge they were aware of the deficiencies with the Royal before sailing but state they are of no matter or they don't care or it did not affect them or just get over it.

 

In reading many of the 5* posting it would also appear the posters are very experienced and loyal Princes cruisers who use their knowledge and loyalty perks to their full advantage. This is something a novice or new cruiser cannot do and thus they do not share the same ship board experience.

 

The Royal is rated the lowest in the fleet there is a reason and I don't think blaming the posters is the answer.

I will be interested if Regal is reviewed any better from the start it seems to be the ship design is the problem not that it is new.

As a poster noted Princess had a culture of it's own that attracts a certain personality and maybe Royal would be a better fit in a NCL or Costa cruise culture?

[PescadoAmarillo]

But if 1* reviews are not posted then those who do bother to read the reviews would not see any negative reviews and cruise Royal and then be disappointed.

 

Then you have reviews awarded a 5* but the poster identifies deficiencies but what would they rate the cruise if they had not encountered them? How can it be a 5* but there were things they noted that were not up to snuff.

 

What we have here is the reality that some cruisers' expectations are too high because other cruisers' tolerances are too high

[Mom33]

What we have here is the reality that some cruisers' expectations are too high because other cruisers' tolerances are too high

 

Are you saying that people that have enjoyed their cruises are at fault for the people that are disappointed in theirs? Could you elaborate? I'm not sure I understand what you are trying to say.

[baldercash]

What we have here is the reality that some cruisers' expectations are too high because other cruisers' tolerances are too high

 

I understand the 5* reviews but why does Royal draw such a visceral reaction from so many cruisers that it has the lowest rating in the fleet?

The other Princess ships don't score as low so it is the ship not the cruisers and as noted X does not get this with their new launches they are at 90.

I don't think HAL or Royal Carribean get savaged like this on their new launches.

 

I also doubt the reaction and disappointment to Royal is restricted to just CC posters which must be a bigger concern to Princess.

Edited April 11, 2014 by baldercash

[PescadoAmarillo]

Are you saying that people that have enjoyed their cruises are at fault for the people that are disappointed in theirs? Could you elaborate? I'm not sure I understand what you are trying to say.

I believe that people who can cite several Royal Princess shortfalls but still offer glowing 5* reviews do cause other cruisers to have unrealistic expectations. I like the Royal; I would never give it 5*. Perhaps 4* if I was in a good mood, but more likely 3.5*. Frankly, I have as much trouble understanding the 5* reviews as the 1* reviews.

 

And, yes, I think threads that were forced to be all positive, all the time DID cause people to have unrealistic expectations.

[JimmyVWine]

Are you saying that people that have enjoyed their cruises are at fault for the people that are disappointed in theirs? Could you elaborate? I'm not sure I understand what you are trying to say.

 

Look at it like this. In a typical statistical mapping, we should see a bell curve. A few 1* and 5* reviews with most falling in the 3* or hopefully 4* range. But we don't. The 1*, 2* and 5* reviews outpace the 3* and 4* reviews. That is odd. And what it results in are people thinking: Those 1* reviews must be from spoiled, irrational, impossible to please people. I'll bet that I can easily overlook whatever those people don't like and I will fall in line with the 5* folks who were very happy. So that person has high expectations because they are optimistic that they will be as easy to please as the person who was a but aggressive with their 5* review. They then get on the ship and realize that they aren't quite as happy as the 5* person and their sense of disappointment is magnified by unmet expectations. If there were more 3* and 4* reviews instead of the slew of unrealistic 1* and 5* reviews, people would have a better sense of what to exoect. Right now, reading the reviews, one would expect either a prison ship or a floating Four Seasons. Neither is the case.

Edited April 12, 2014 by JimmyVWine

[kendon]

Since nothing is perfect and some things are pretty bad, I have my own scale of 1-5...

1 being pretty bad and 5 being pretty darn good. I gave the Royal 5 stars, as my overall experience was pretty darn good...keeping in mind nothing's perfect (debatable, lol)

 

Interestingly, the Celebrity Summit overall gets 4-5 stars on the CC reviews. I must be from Mars because I HATED that cruise experience and I would give it a 2! The only thing good about that cruise was Bermuda, nothing Celebrity could control.

 

I also believe that the 65% approval rating began in the very beginning and the Royal is having a hard time climbing out of the hole that was created way back (promenade, mid ship stairs, toilet paper, soot, etc).

[bhopal21]

 

I also believe that the 65% approval rating began in the very beginning and the Royal is having a hard time climbing out of the hole that was created way back (promenade, mid ship stairs, toilet paper, soot, etc).

 

It was early and the justification given back then was "This is only 12 reviews and as soon as more come in you will see a different trend".

 

It's no longer a few reviews and the climbing has not begun.

 

Mike:)

[Loreni]

?..why does Royal draw such a visceral reaction from so many cruisers that it has the lowest rating in the fleet?

 

Maybe because it has taken away what many love about cruising...a connection to the sea. No decent promenade. No decent balcony. No forward observation deck.

 

The small balconies seem especially mean spirited and calculating. It couldn't possibly have cost Princess that much more to provide balconies of same size as on most of their other ships. So why make them so small? Maybe the same reason they are placing such uncomfortable furniture on the balconies of their other ships? They don't really want us there. I get it. We don't spend any money while lounging on our balconies. Still, they needed to at least offer a token balcony to stay competitive with other lines. But the tiny balcony is a very heavy-handed and coercive approach. It seems almost abusive. Stuff like this only works well when it is not obvious us to the customer that he is being manipulated. Princess can't force me off the balcony to make me spend money in the Piazza. They also can't force me to sail the Royal.

Edited April 12, 2014 by Loreni

[Mom33]

We gave the Royal cruise a 5+ based on our experience through out the week.

It was our opinon that Princess and their employees did a fine job. If someone else took the cruise and doesn't agree with my rating, that is their perogative. All I know is we had a marvelous cruise and will sail her again.

I won't apologize for liking the ship. What matters to others about the ship is their business and what matters to me is my business. I don't think less of people that don't agree with me and I would hope they would reciprocate.

[toledo_cruiser]

If a decent size balcony and a promenade deck etc are important to a cruiser then Royal isn't a good thing. But, these things were known a year ago. Many of these one star reviews could have been avoided if people did their homework and just picked another ship. It's pointless to read about the faults of a ship, ignore the reviews and then come back and complain about the same things.

 

Your comments are true and normally it's my job to do the research for the cruises my sailing group. Unfortunately, we had not planned a cruise on Princess this year so I was not up to date on all things Royal. Following the most brutal winter in recent memory (for my home), I made a last minute booking after a flash sale. The fact that it was a new ship was a major factor. As many others have said, the Royal is a beautiful ship. Hurried research told me the balconies were going to be smaller, even in a mini-suite, but the reality was they were even smaller than I expected. DW was very disappointed. Of course the balconies are usable, but not so much when compared to the other Grand ships.

 

Still, there is no way I would rate her less than a four. We had a great cruise. For us the ship was the destination and the few stops along the way just broke up the daily routine.

 

Would I sail her again, yes. It would not be my first choice, but given the right itinerary and price I would. Might have to spring for one of those aft suites, however.

 

Other items:

Promenade -- only went out on it to check it out. Not a deal breaker, but it just didn't look right.

Aft Pool -- we wouldn't have used it, but missed the look. One of our sailing companions loved the expanded area by the outrigger bar so much she did her Bible reading there each day.

Center Stairs -- only an issue for us following the lifeboat drill.

Piazza -- loved the expanded look. We noticed, however that some of the surrounding venues were rarely used. We found our way there each night following the shows.

 

Jim

[dmwnc1959]

It was early and the justification given back then was "This is only 12 reviews and as soon as more come in you will see a different trend".

 

It's no longer a few reviews and the climbing has not begun.

 

Mike:)

 

Mike,

 

You may remember a thread started by Shogun asking about her very early approval ratings last summer, which at that time stood at 32%.

 

Her highest has been 66%.

 

Current rating is at 65%.

[bhopal21]

No it wasn't Shogun's thread; but 65% has certainly got some head scratching going on in Santa Clarita.

 

Mike:)

[dmwnc1959]

Thank you for posting these pictures. It is even worse that I imagined and we don't plant to sail the Royal or Regal.

 

Although this class of ship does not have a walkable promenade deck, it does however have several very nice seating areas amidships and aft on Deck 7 (both port and starboard sides) with chairs and loungers.

 

 

 

 

 

[JimmyVWine]

We have CC members that come to the boards to complain, criticize or review cruises and they do it in the public forums where they can be challenged or agreed with. I find those posters to be more trust worthy then those who hide behind another ID on the Member Review site.

 

There is no way I put any credence to a 1 rating on that site. They actually look ridiculous when there are many 5 and 5+ reviews. If the ship was really so bad, there wouldn't be any 5 or 5+ at all.

 

I won't apologize for liking the ship. What matters to others about the ship is their business and what matters to me is my business. I don't think less of people that don't agree with me and I would hope they would reciprocate.

I'm having a difficult time reconciling the second statement with the first.

[dmwnc1959]

No it wasn't Shogun's thread; but 65% has certainly got some head scratching going on in Santa Clarita.

 

Mike:)

 

Shogun was the OP...

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1872955

[Loreni]

Although this class of ship does not have a walkable promenade deck, it does however have several very nice seating areas amidships and aft on Deck 7 (both port and starboard sides) with chairs and loungers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, but no shade. Not very many chairs for such a large ship. And also we like to walk for exercise on the shaded promenade deck. This just isn't possible. Those are nice pictures, though. Thank you for posting them.

[bhopal21]

Shogun was the OP...

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1872955

 

He may have been the OP of your reference but not mine as I don't read Shogun's threads.

 

Mike:p

[dmwnc1959]

Yes, but no shade. Not very many chairs for such a large ship. And also we like to walk for exercise on the shaded promenade deck. This just isn't possible. Those are nice pictures, though. Thank you for posting them.

 

One side was always shaded depending on the direction of the ship. No, it wasn't permanent shade, but it was there.

 

[dmwnc1959]

He may have been the OP of your reference but not mine as I don't read Shogun's threads.

 

Mike:p

 

You may not read them, but you sure posted on that one. ;)

[bhopal21]

You may not read them, but you sure posted on that one. ;)

 

I have posted quite a bit over the years. But I quit reading some quite a while ago.

 

The facts are there and berating the ship and/or tossing pom poms are not going to make a bit of difference in the bookings or ratings.

 

Mike

[Mom33]

I'm having a difficult time reconciling the second statement with the first.

 

Don't worry about it. I have difficulty understanding you too sometimes.:)

[dmwnc1959]

I have posted quite a bit over the years. But I quit reading some quite a while ago.

 

The facts are there and berating the ship and/or tossing pom poms are not going to make a bit of difference in the bookings or ratings.

 

Mike

 

Agreed. To each his own opinion. The berating has gone on far longer than the tossing of pom poms. And I understand the desire for a better ship, room to improve on this current new class. But beating each other up here on Cruise Critic isn't the answer. Vote with your feet and your wallet. Write Princess Cruises and start a campaign. It's too late to make drastic changes now. But not for the next series of Love Boats.

[Woobstr112G]

I am so sorry to see all the one star CC reviews of the Royal Princess. I thought the ship was top notch. It is not a family fun ship by any means, bonus points for us! A brand new ship, great service, good food and entertainment...one star? Geez. Sad.

 

Different strokes for different folks. Some like, some dislike.....:):):)

 

Bob

[Woobstr112G]

Yes, but no shade. Not very many chairs for such a large ship. And also we like to walk for exercise on the shaded promenade deck. This just isn't possible. Those are nice pictures, though. Thank you for posting them.

 

Gotta love the "Promenade Patios.".....:D:D:D

 

Bob