10 days on the Royal, magnificent

[bluesea321]

Makes sense that the Royal has a lower approval rating as it was the ice breaker for a different class of ship, so initial reviews went to extremes bringing the number down.

 

There has to be more than that to this. RCI's Oasis and Celebrity's Solstice are both the first of their class and they both score 82%, substantially above the Royal's 64%. The Royal was higher last year, its rating has not improved. For whatever the reason, the Royal is not reviewed as well as the previous ships. RCI's Quantum is not doing well either, the new technology on that ship seems to be full of bugs making people unhappy. What really counts from a company's perspective is profitability and time will tell whether the Royal class is a winner for Princess or not.

[bluesea321]

I can hardly wait to have my experience and form my very own opinion.

 

As it should be... :)

[riclop]

Thanks for your thoughts.

[caribill]

Regal and Quantum are new this past year and Regal has a 72% rating while Quantum has a 43% rating. Quantum was rated a 5 by CC Editors. I wonder why the cruising public doesn't agree. :confused: ;)

 

Quantum's "Dynamic Dining" may have much to do with the low rating.

 

It may have about 22 restaurants, but all but about four have a surcharge and the four that have no surcharge have menus that remain the same for the entire cruise.

[jagsfan]

Quantum's "Dynamic Dining" may have much to do with the low rating.

 

It may have about 22 restaurants, but all but about four have a surcharge and the four that have no surcharge have menus that remain the same for the entire cruise.

 

Wow! DH would be most unhappy with that. He made me promise our upcoming Royal cruise would not include Crown Grill or Sabatinis. This will be our first cruise without them,

but in his old age, he's tired of paying extra when he happy with the MDR and Horizon.

Loved Oasis, by the way, even though we didn't think the food was up to Princess's level.

[sunsetbeachgal]

Wow! DH would be most unhappy with that. He made me promise our upcoming Royal cruise would not include Crown Grill or Sabatinis. This will be our first cruise without them,

but in his old age, he's tired of paying extra when he happy with the MDR and Horizon.

Loved Oasis, by the way, even though we didn't think the food was up to Princess's level.

 

We loved the options of the Horizon Court and Alfredo's so much on the Regal, that on our recent cruise we only ate in the MDR three nights. The food and selection in the Horizon Court is excellent, and you can see the meat being carved so you can get it exactly the way you want it. Some of the pastas were being prepared as we watched. And I love salad, so could make it the way I wanted with the amount of dressing I wanted!

 

And I just can not say enough about Alfredo's and what a nice, quiet little bistro this is. It is way more than pizza! We had our last night dinner there, and the couple seated next to us handed the waiter a nice tip at the end of the meal, and said they had eaten dinner there every night!

[Mom33]

Makes sense that the Royal has a lower approval rating as it was the ice breaker for a different class of ship, so initial reviews went to extremes bringing the number down. The Regal came out and people are now warming up to the larger Princess ship.

 

Good point. :)

[Mom33]

Quantum's "Dynamic Dining" may have much to do with the low rating.

 

It may have about 22 restaurants, but all but about four have a surcharge and the four that have no surcharge have menus that remain the same for the entire cruise.

 

Perhaps Royal Caribbean should rethink it's dining program. :)

[TorontoTL]

Perhaps Royal Caribbean should rethink it's dining program. :)

 

 

They have, when Anthem of the Seas comes out it will have a Classic Dining option.

[caribill]

They have, when Anthem of the Seas comes out it will have a Classic Dining option.

 

Still limited to a few fixed menus it seems.

 

Per a post on the RCI section of Cruise Critic:

 

Anything can happen to the menu but it is likely to stay as is - fixed menu in each venue. To appease the traditionalists, a Classic choice will be added to the dining option which will make a standing reservations (either early or late) at each venue in some sort of rotating order. With this choice the wait staff moves with you to each venue.

[registrarln]

KruzNut: I'm going in September and am looking forward to it. And I always form my own opinions, too.

Edited February 25, 2015 by registrarln

[Grego]

Or doesn't sweat the small things for the overall good.

 

I agree. Love it when they complain that you need to leave 10 minutes early to go 3 decks when it takes one minute to walk from midship to either forward or aft stairway.

 

The Royal and Regal are great ships with nice changes and no reason not to sail on either one....oh, we are on the Royal again Friday so there!

[susancruzs]

Thanks for the positive comments! I haven't sailed on the Royal/Regal yet but plan to book the Regal for a Grand Adventure in 2016.

 

Reading reviews, it absolutely amazes me. One fellow went on and on about elevators and central stairs, how he was on Marina and had to wait forever to get to the Horizon. One deck up? You miss stairs apparently you can use them, why not walk to the back of the ship?

 

I was on the Emerald for 25 days, never used central staircase. Reading comments about stairs to nowhere, choppy deck plan, I really was surprised. If these people have sailed with Princess, aft dining room on deck 6 has been that way for a long time, not a new concept. They talk about it like it just happened on these 2 ships!

 

I can't wait for my Regal cruise, plan to book as soon as bookings open in March! :)

[jagsfan]

Still limited to a few fixed menus it seems.

 

Per a post on the RCI section of Cruise Critic:

 

Anything can happen to the menu but it is likely to stay as is - fixed menu in each venue. To appease the traditionalists, a Classic choice will be added to the dining option which will make a standing reservations (either early or late) at each venue in some sort of rotating order. With this choice the wait staff moves with you to each venue.

 

 

Sounds like Disney, changing dining rooms every night but keeping your table number and wait staff. At least that's how it worked on my two Disney cruises. The bonus was that if there was something on the previous menu you liked, easy to get it in the next dining room. Waiter said it was one big galley.

[caribill]

Sounds like Disney, changing dining rooms every night but keeping your table number and wait staff. At least that's how it worked on my two Disney cruises. The bonus was that if there was something on the previous menu you liked, easy to get it in the next dining room. Waiter said it was one big galley.

 

I assume Disney will change the menu if you rotate to the same dining room a second (or third) time.

 

RCI's Dynamic Dining does not. If you are on a trans-Atlantic for 15 days, you will have the same menu up to four times in each dining room.