Regal Princess – 12/6/15 – 12/13/15 (Owner's Suite, AIBP, Ship, Culinary)

[Sam.Seattle]

Welcome back! Will you be doing a review?

 

I have to ask..

 

1). Did you enjoy the suite? Would you book it again?

2). Was Luidmyla your Concierge? What did you think of the Concierge service?

 

We cancelled the suite for next year and have decided to book a Deluxe Aft Balcony. Even with having to pay for the AIBP for two weeks, by

moving from the Owners Suite to the DAB, we are able to sail for two weeks for only $400 more than what the suite cost for one week.

Hi Jeff....

 

Yes, I enjoyed the suite. The primary reason I would cruise Princess again is for the adult pool and I just really love a large balcony. First the suite... I was detemined not to let the soot issue bother me. So, I just cleaned the rails, furniture etc every morning when there was soot. The balcony was awesome! We had breakfast there often and dinner twice. Did you know that you can order from the dining room menu when in a suite? The table on the deck was smaller than in the past and really only accomidated two for dinner. The acutal room was so so... The sitting area was really too small for having guests over, but nice to have the seperation from the bedroom. Would I book this suite again? Yes probably if I were to book with princess beacuse all the other rooms have narrow balconies. Being on the stern also allows us to see lots of amazing sunsets which is a ritual we toast to when ever possible.

 

Emma was our Concierge. She is lovely! And derserves high scores... Princess however needs to take a lesson from Royal and find a better location for the lounge and allow the concierge more authority to make shore excursions etc. I found Emma to be much more concerned about us than any Concierge I have expereinced on Holland, even when staying in the Pinnacle Suite on Holland and the Owner's suite on Royal. Nice to see that Princess is adding Concierge service and I am sure it will just get better with time.

 

We were on B2B and they mini bar was re-stocked the 2nd week. I was also able to change out the beverages. I realize that I don't really like drinking in my room vs. the lounges, shows and at dinner. So, the mini bar perk was kind of wasted as I purchased mixed drinks and wine through out the ship. I guess Royal works better for me as they will provide free drinks through out the ship duing certain evening hours.

 

I have to compliment "Roman", the poolside bar waiter during the day and the casino bar waiter in the evening. He was simply excellent!

 

Let's talk about the pool and Sanctuary. It is simply CRAZY that you have to be the first to board and RUN to the Sancatury in hope of geeting a cabana etc. For our first week I was able to secure an adult pool cabana for one day. For the 2nd week, you could book the next week on the last sea sea day beginning at 9:00am. I got there at 8:30am and they let me book the pool side cabana for the next week I was amused that they let me book early and even more amused that there were many secured reservations in front of me. Oh well, I got what I wanted. I reseved a cabanna for everyday due to the "chair hogs" and was very pleased to know a pool side chair would be waiting for me. Princess could take a tip form NCL and try to not allow saving of chairs.

 

I have to give Princess high marks for the buffet. It was spacious and had a nice selection. I also appreciated the extended hours vs. Royal's more limited hours.

 

Chef's table was amazing! If you get the chance to experience it, do it!

 

Boarding. We did not use terminal 2 and there were 7-other ships in port so our experience probably was not typical so I will not comment. I will say that when my daughter boarded week two she had a great experience. She is a young elite cruiser and does not really pay attention to her perks. She was in the main line and they pulled her out and moved her to the Elite line which was nice and much apprecaited.

 

So, woiuld I book Princess again? Perhaps, but I think Royal will be my first choice.

Edited January 9, 2016 by Sam.Seattle

[WISH84]

Glad you enjoyed the suite (as we did). As I mentioned earlier, we took ourselves out of the suite for this December and moved into the cabin next door to the suite you and I both had.

 

We did order room service from the main dining room and that is a benefit of the suite I will miss on our B2B.

 

Glad you had a great time. We are very excited four our B2B!

 

Oh, we met Emma on our last day. She seemed very knowledgable and we did enjoy her assistance. Glad she made your trip special.

 

Thanks for your comments

[keithm]

Glad you enjoyed the suite (as we did). As I mentioned earlier, we took ourselves out of the suite for this December and moved into the cabin next door to the suite you and I both had.

 

We did order room service from the main dining room and that is a benefit of the suite I will miss on our B2B.

 

Glad you had a great time. We are very excited four our B2B!

 

Oh, we met Emma on our last day. She seemed very knowledgable and we did enjoy her assistance. Glad she made your trip special.

 

Thanks for your comments

I'm kind of surprised at the lack of amenities for such a suite. On Celebrity/Cunard/HAL etc. you would have use of a butler & lots of perks. In most cases drinks would be included in such a suite. It's things like this that have me questioning whether Princess is a premium or more standard line. We've normally done Cunard/Celebrity & they REALLY know how to take care of suite pax. You have a restaurant only for suite guests, a butler & a ton of amenities. A free meal or 2 in Crown Grill/Sabatini's really isn't that great a special treatment. Our B2B in Feb. on the regal is our first try on Princess. We've booked an inside, as I don't like going all out on a line until I'm familiar with their level of quality. I'm sure we'll have a good cruise. Will it be good enough to switch to Princess for a while? Time & my review will tell.

[Sam.Seattle]

I'm kind of surprised at the lack of amenities for such a suite. On Celebrity/Cunard/HAL etc. you would have use of a butler & lots of perks. In most cases drinks would be included in such a suite. It's things like this that have me questioning whether Princess is a premium or more standard line. We've normally done Cunard/Celebrity & they REALLY know how to take care of suite pax. You have a restaurant only for suite guests, a butler & a ton of amenities. A free meal or 2 in Crown Grill/Sabatini's really isn't that great a special treatment. Our B2B in Feb. on the regal is our first try on Princess. We've booked an inside, as I don't like going all out on a line until I'm familiar with their level of quality. I'm sure we'll have a good cruise. Will it be good enough to switch to Princess for a while? Time & my review will tell.

So you normally travel in a suite on Celebrity, Cunard and HAL? And. you are going to compare Princess from an inside cabin? Unless your are Elite, you will be in standard lines. You won't be able to compare the Concierge Lounge... Not sure how you will be able to compare.

[WISH84]

So you normally travel in a suite on Celebrity, Cunard and HAL? And. you are going to compare Princess from an inside cabin? Unless your are Elite, you will be in standard lines. You won't be able to compare the Concierge Lounge... Not sure how you will be able to compare.

 

 

I see where he is coming from. The Concierge Lounge and suite perks are a small part of the entire cruise experience.

 

Sailing on Princess for the first time in an interior cabin will expose him to 90% of the Princess experience and from there he can make a decision on whether or not to invest the big bucks on the suite.

 

From what we've experienced and from what you've told me of your experience on other cruise lines when traveling in a suite (which also sounds very similar to his experience) I think he will find the suite experience lacking on Princess compared to those other lines however he may find his Princess cruise good enough to continue with Princess, just not in a suite.

[keithm]

So you normally travel in a suite on Celebrity, Cunard and HAL? And. you are going to compare Princess from an inside cabin? Unless your are Elite, you will be in standard lines. You won't be able to compare the Concierge Lounge... Not sure how you will be able to compare.

I think you TOTALLY missed my point. I was talking about the relative lack of amenities offered in the suites on Princess compared to other so called "premium" lines. On Celebrity/Cunard & some other lines you are in a restaurant paired only with the suites. On Princess you pretty much get some time in a specialty rest. but still often you eat in the MDR. with no "special" menu. Going through the regular lines is not as important as to what's offered to the Suite pax who booked a much more expensive cabin compared to everyone else. We normally book an inside to get a flavor, then go for higher end if the cruise line did a good job providing for our needs. Yes we obviously know we will not get Carte Blanc treatment in an inside cabin, but will get a good feel for the line.

[keithm]

I see where he is coming from. The Concierge Lounge and suite perks are a small part of the entire cruise experience.

 

Sailing on Princess for the first time in an interior cabin will expose him to 90% of the Princess experience and from there he can make a decision on whether or not to invest the big bucks on the suite.

 

From what we've experienced and from what you've told me of your experience on other cruise lines when traveling in a suite (which also sounds very similar to his experience) I think he will find the suite experience lacking on Princess compared to those other lines however he may find his Princess cruise good enough to continue with Princess, just not in a suite.

Thank you for seeing the fairly obvious. When in a suite in the Grills on Cunard, without a doubt Princess doesn't come close with the amenities offered....No butler/special suites only rest./Before dinner canapés/suites only lounge etc. Yet the pricing for Princess suites is still fairly close to those on Cunard/Celebrity/HAL. This is from researching the lines rather closely. I'm still very interested in seeing how close they matching a more standard cruise, which we've done as well on the other lines. We don't always book suites. Those are more for special celebrations & such. I'll post a good review of our Feb.7 B2B once we get back. I'll try to show the pluses & minuses of each ship & let all the readers form their own opinions.

[Sam.Seattle]

Thank you for seeing the fairly obvious. When in a suite in the Grills on Cunard, without a doubt Princess doesn't come close with the amenities offered....No butler/special suites only rest./Before dinner canapés/suites only lounge etc. Yet the pricing for Princess suites is still fairly close to those on Cunard/Celebrity/HAL. This is from researching the lines rather closely. I'm still very interested in seeing how close they matching a more standard cruise, which we've done as well on the other lines. We don't always book suites. Those are more for special celebrations & such. I'll post a good review of our Feb.7 B2B once we get back. I'll try to show the pluses & minuses of each ship & let all the readers form their own opinions.

I look forward to following along and reading your review.

[keithm]

I look forward to following along and reading your review.

I'll be rating the ship on several levels: Food quality(we're foodies & in the food industry) Ship amenities(spas, pools, bars, general "comfort" of the ship)staff attention to detail(things like cheerfulness, correctly taking food orders, generally how well pax are cared for. Obviously based on a "standard" level cruise. Entertainment(this one is really subject to differing opinion)Ports & such are pretty much standard across the industry so most cruiselines' port visits are similar. One thing we noticed in the past was how was the shore staff set up. On Cunard/Celebrity, for example the staff had seating areas & cold drinks & cold cloth towels for pax returning to the ship. To me that's kind of a nice touch. On Oceania's Riviera(which was right next to the Eclipse last Jan.) you just boarded, no nice amenities for pax who might have been really parched from the heat. Oceania calls themselves a "Premium" line. Things like I mentioned, I feel, show what a real premium line can be. Should be an interesting cruise.

[Working 2 Cruise]

I'll be rating the ship on several levels: Food quality(we're foodies & in the food industry) Ship amenities(spas, pools, bars, general "comfort" of the ship)staff attention to detail(things like cheerfulness, correctly taking food orders, generally how well pax are cared for. Obviously based on a "standard" level cruise. Entertainment(this one is really subject to differing opinion)Ports & such are pretty much standard across the industry so most cruiselines' port visits are similar. One thing we noticed in the past was how was the shore staff set up. On Cunard/Celebrity, for example the staff had seating areas & cold drinks & cold cloth towels for pax returning to the ship. To me that's kind of a nice touch. On Oceania's Riviera(which was right next to the Eclipse last Jan.) you just boarded, no nice amenities for pax who might have been really parched from the heat. Oceania calls themselves a "Premium" line. Things like I mentioned, I feel, show what a real premium line can be. Should be an interesting cruise.[/quote

 

Honestly, I think you'll be disappointed. Princess doesn't consider itself a premium line. Rather, it's comfortable and enjoyable and the nicer of the mainstream lines. You definitely won't find the bells and whistles you'd find on Cunard or Oceania. It seems you have very high expectations. I don't think they will be met.

 

With Princess, you'll get great service. The crew is fabulous! However, no special seating in ports, etc. However, we can always find great deals (we don't sail in suites) and Princess is our unofficial home. You should consider other premium lines, such as Seabourn, Regent, and others. Those should really spoil you!

[capriccio]

 

Honestly, I think you'll be disappointed. Princess doesn't consider itself a premium line. Rather, it's comfortable and enjoyable and the nicer of the mainstream lines. You definitely won't find the bells and whistles you'd find on Cunard or Oceania. It seems you have very high expectations. I don't think they will be met.

 

With Princess, you'll get great service. The crew is fabulous! However, no special seating in ports, etc. However, we can always find great deals (we don't sail in suites) and Princess is our unofficial home. You should consider other premium lines, such as Seabourn, Regent, and others. Those should really spoil you!

 

I agree and any worthwhile comparison will need to include price for equivalent sized cabins on each line.

[keithm]

I agree and any worthwhile comparison will need to include price for equivalent sized cabins on each line.

Basically, the price was about equal for the Jan.24 trip on the Celebrity Eclipse. this was for an inside cabin as well. scheduling issues prevented us from taking that cruise. As to premium..both Cunard/Celebrity have prices very similar to Princess for their standard cabins. It's the suites on these 2 lines that really give you perks. I'm really waiting to see if Princess offers the same standard of overall excellence in their "standard" cabins as Cunard/Celebrity. If so, we'll probably add Princess to our choice. If not, we'll return to Cunard/Celebrity. My review will indicate my overall opinion(mostly of the Regal), which I'm sure will be subject to various yeas & nays.

[keithm]

I'll be rating the ship on several levels: Food quality(we're foodies & in the food industry) Ship amenities(spas, pools, bars, general "comfort" of the ship)staff attention to detail(things like cheerfulness, correctly taking food orders, generally how well pax are cared for. Obviously based on a "standard" level cruise. Entertainment(this one is really subject to differing opinion)Ports & such are pretty much standard across the industry so most cruiselines' port visits are similar. One thing we noticed in the past was how was the shore staff set up. On Cunard/Celebrity, for example the staff had seating areas & cold drinks & cold cloth towels for pax returning to the ship. To me that's kind of a nice touch. On Oceania's Riviera(which was right next to the Eclipse last Jan.) you just boarded, no nice amenities for pax who might have been really parched from the heat. Oceania calls themselves a "Premium" line. Things like I mentioned, I feel, show what a real premium line can be. Should be an interesting cruise.[/quote

 

Honestly, I think you'll be disappointed. Princess doesn't consider itself a premium line. Rather, it's comfortable and enjoyable and the nicer of the mainstream lines. You definitely won't find the bells and whistles you'd find on Cunard or Oceania. It seems you have very high expectations. I don't think they will be met.

 

With Princess, you'll get great service. The crew is fabulous! However, no special seating in ports, etc. However, we can always find great deals (we don't sail in suites) and Princess is our unofficial home. You should consider other premium lines, such as Seabourn, Regent, and others. Those should really spoil you!

Seaborne/Regent are generally out of our price range. We've done a few suites on Cunard, but on Celebrity, we've done just the inside cabins. I apologize if folks thought we sailed exclusively in suites. The standard cabins on Princess are really just about the same as Celebrity/Cunard. It's those 2 lines attention to detail(as mentioned how returning pax are treated etc.)that really seems to make a difference to us. Do you get cloth towels in the restrooms? Little things like that make the experience a little more special. Pricewise, it would cost Princess very little to "up" their game a bit. Most especially on their flagships.