Royal Repo Review

[cruise2relax]

Royal Princess...NYC to Fort Lauderdale, 10 day islander.

 

Embarkation was a breeze at red hook. I know a lot of people complain about Princess's use of Brooklyn versus Manhattan but we have always found it to be simple and well organized. We arrived at around 11am, checked in and were on the ship slightly before noon. For those of you, like us, that prepaid for the ulimate beverage package, the sticker is on your card at checkin. Our room was D723 deluxe blacony. It was more than adequate for our needs with a little extra space over the regular balcony room without the price of a mini suite. This coming from people who always book a mini on the gem and grand class ships. I did miss the larger full bathroom, but at least they had the shower larger and more user friendly.

 

The ship itself is stunning. A lot has been said about this ship and I read lots of it and a lot was negative. I offer my opinion for what it is worth. The public interior spaces are well thought out with a lot less dead space as I find on the gem class ships. It never felt over crowded and we found the decor soothing, elegant and upscale. The dining room set up is a welcome improvement. Gone are the steps up here and there and the odd configurations. The floor plan is so much improved that more tables for two are offered and they are appropriately spaced from one another. A major result of this design is that it is much quieter when full. The upper decks are easier to navigate as well with an abundance of deck chairs and open space. In short, we really liked the design and felt it was a serious progression and evolution of the fleet, correcting a lot of the faults of the prior ships. The bad of the design...we did miss the promenade deck but not as much as we thought we would. The balconies are small but it was fine for two of us, more than two, not so much. The fact that Princess chose to not to finish the mid ship stairs for passenger use is inexcusable.

 

The food. Subjective though it may be, we found the quality of the food to be very good. We ate most meals in the dining room with the exception of a couple of lunches. The service in the main dining room for breakfast and lunch was quite poor with long wait times for food and missed items in the orders. Dinner was spotty as well until on the fourth day when we found the greatest team who we stayed with the rest of the cruise. They made all the difference for us. We did not eat at Sabatinis or the Crown Grill, although in all our cruises we have neer seen the Crown Grill this busy. We heard many compliments. Alfredos in the piazza is a huge hit. The food is wonderful. The ocean terrace bar serves terrific fresh seafood at really reasonable prices. The tuna poke for $4 would be at $13-15 appetizer at home. Sadly very very few people ordered any food there. We went to the buffet once, although much expanded and improved, it is just not our thing.

 

Bar service was very good. Noteably we find the servers at Crooners to be engaging and fun, this group lacked any personality. The Wheelhouse was the place to be on this cruise. Great service, engaging staff. We had the ultimate beverage package and would do it again in a heartbeat. We like to drink but not excessively: a morning bloody mary, wine or beer with lunch, pre dinner cocktails, wine with dinner. It also includes the specialty coffees, teas, bottled water and gelato. We exceeded the cost daily. Admittedly this was a heavy sea day cruise and would think this through if it were a port heavy cruise and you planned to be in port a lot. Warning for those with the package, watch your onboard account. We had multiple charges appear, mainly from dining room staff early in the cruise before we found our team. Passenger services would remove them but it was a pain. My guess just one of the kinks being worked out. Biggest complaint was the internet service...abysmal. The worst I have ever had connecting, staying connected, and speed. You name it and it was terrible. I have no explanation as to why but it annoyed me endlessly as i am self employed and rely on the ability to check my email while away. Interestingly, I came off the cruise to find the news article from Carnival corp about rolling out better internet service...it is overdue my friends.

 

All in all another solid Princess cruise. We will not only continue to sail with the company but will actively seek out the Royal, Regal and whatever they name the next one.

[Daisyloo]

Great review. Thanks. Nice to hear some positive things about the new ships. Looking forward to trying it out for myself.

I know the balconies are not big, but when you say small can you be a bit more specific? How many feet wide, how many deep.?

[Pam in CA]

Thanks for the review. Had no problem with the Internet on the Royal's T/A in September. Perhaps the slowness was due to factors such as what people were doing on the Internet.

 

The balconies are smaller than the Grand-class ships. Those balconies are approximately 9'x5' or 9'x9'; the Royal balconies are approximately 9'x4'. A bit narrower but just as wide.

[Whimsy]

Nice review. I hope to sail the Royal or Regal in the future.

[Mom33]

Great review. Thanks. Nice to hear some positive things about the new ships. Looking forward to trying it out for myself.

I know the balconies are not big, but when you say small can you be a bit more specific? How many feet wide, how many deep.?

 

If you look on the deck plans for the ship, you can click on the cabin you are interested in and you will see the measurements. Some of the balconies mid-ship, forward and aft facing are much larger than 9x4. We had a 9x4 balcony and were comfortable on the Royal. This time on the Regal, we will have a 9x6

mid- ship balcony.:)

[Mom33]

cruise2relax.....Thank you for your helpful review. I am glad that you enjoyed the Royal. :D

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for your report.

[lovevacadays]

Thank you for your informative review.:)

[kenorus]

Enjoyed the ship as we have not sailed princess in along time. Staff were amazing around the whole ship. Food for me was very subjective. Lunch was not fantastic in my point of view buffet was cold at times and could have had a asian buffet. British pub lunch was the best i could have ate that at dinner. Elevators was sort of a pain but then just ended up taking the stairs. Pizza place was awesome movies under the stars were great. Enjoyed the international coffe shop also. Gym was awesome also to. Activities were great for everyone. I will definately sail again on the royal.

[sunsetbeachgal]

Thank you for your review. We loved the Royal last year and are sailing the Regal in January.

[Jimbo59]

What was Princess thinking when they designed a ship for 500 to 1000 more passengers than their older ships - and reduced the number of pools?

 

The Royal has one adults-only pool, one main pool, and another that is essentially the size of a large hot tub.

 

There is no covered pool as on the Grand class ships.

[Daisyloo]

Thanks for the review. Had no problem with the Internet on the Royal's T/A in September. Perhaps the slowness was due to factors such as what people were doing on the Internet.

 

The balconies are smaller than the Grand-class ships. Those balconies are approximately 9'x5' or 9'x9'; the Royal balconies are approximately 9'x4'. A bit narrower but just as wide.

 

 

Thanks. Just having any balcony will be great. :)