Royal Princess Review (first timer on Princess)

[1SlyFox]

This was our first experience on Princes and in a suite. We LOVED it! The embarkation and disembarkation was the smoothest we’ve experienced. No rush to get you off the ship and customs was a breeze. The suite was spacious and well-kept! The bathtub was a soaking tub and bath salt was included.we did not notice guests looking over the balconies to lower levels. Soot was minimal and did not bother us. I bought the ultimate drink package and did not “break even.” It was more of a safety net. There were several wines by the glass priced over the $12 limit at Vines and in MDR. The suite had the new bedding and was very comfortable. Food was delicious, but coffee sucked. It tasted like Boyd’s. One morning, it tasted like dishwater. The server looked into it and said they were having problems with one of the brewers. I overheard guests say that the food quality was going downhill compared to previous cruise. Staff were top-notch for the most part. Only had one bad experience in the MDR when I took a bottle of wine. Ship interior and decor was well-maintained.

 

We went to one production show (something Silk). I was expecting something more and the cast was too much for the small stage. We arrived 15 minutes early and seats were pretty much filled. The Movies Under The Stars was fun, depending on the movie. Great way to watch NFL playoffs, too. 

 

Our cruise was was the first with their new internet service. Still quirky. The IM service on their WiFi was quirky and delayed receiving messages often in the beginning. It felt like they were getting ready to retry the medallion service to open cabins, pay for stuff. Crew said the employee WiFi was much faster with the new network deployed during our voyage.

 

Would I book the suite again? You bet, but only if I receive a similar off. Retail price was over $7000 US for 7 nights. Perks were nice, but not fully utilized. Loved the extra space and not feeling crammed. Nice to have a quiet deck to ourselves and a bar 2 decks away if needed. 

[Travelw]

Currently on Royal.  Terrific ship, early traditional dining is 5:30.  Secret Silk was a good performance, did not like Encore, too much opera.  That is a personal dislike, others gave standing ovation. Food quality in my opinion was better than average, did not have a bad meal.  One night the selection was not the greatest but found something to eat.  Would sail again in a heartbeat with Princess.

 

Dennis

[satxdiver]

It has been our experience that the audience frequently gives performances by the ship's singers and dancers a standing ovation.  It sometimes may be warranted but often not however pax are on vacation.  One has to appear in the theater a lot earlier than 15 minutes before the performance starts for most shows.  OP is lucky they found a seat.  Food quality is in the eye of the beholder and highly subjective.  When was the second TD?  

[Travelw]

Second traditional dining is at 7:45.  I agree about the theater,  we were seated most days 50 minutes before the performance started.  Comedian and male singer were fantastic.  The comedian was Robbie Printz and singer was Lou Gazzara.

 

Dennis

[Sea Hag]

I'm glad you had such a nice time on your first cruise with Princess!

[Georgie562]

Do you remember if they were serving popcorn during the Movie Under the Stars?

[c-boy]

Sly welcome to Princess, I'm glad too read you had a great time . 

[puppycanducruise]

Thanks for posting your comments.

Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

[riffatsea]

We also had our first Princess cruise experience in a suite and loved it too!

Thanks for writing! We were on the Coral so good to read about a different ship.

As to morning coffee did you have the suite breakfast in the special restaurant set aside for that?

I enjoyed having capuccino every morning in  Sabatini's!

We did not take the drink pkg and just used our tons of OBC to pay for most of it!

[1SlyFox]

No, we did not use the special dining perk. Since we were traveling with friend’s who had a standard balcony room. They could not join us for that. We’d hit the buffet before shore excursions. 

 

There was popcorn for the movie. Guests were perplexed why there was no staff available to check off blankets were were returned after the movie to avoid charge. They reached over counter and marked blankets as returned.

Edited February 2, 2019 by 1SlyFox
Clarify responses.

[Cruise Raider]

We are sailing on the Royal in April.  Was wondering if the internet service improved during your cruise?  Do you think it is good enough to stream video?  thanks!

[1SlyFox]

I do not know since we only used the WiFi to access their website and IM service to reach other guests on same cruise. 

[Travelw]

Got off Royal this morning.  I am not sure about streaming video but I will say the WiFi was fastest we have experienced on any ship.

 

Dennis

[hobbyfarmer2]

OP, my wife and I really like a good coffee at times when onboard.  We will drop by the IC before or after a visit to the buffet.  Coffees are included in the drink pkg as well.

[Geoffa30]

On 2/2/2019 at 1:40 AM, Cruise Raider said:

We are sailing on the Royal in April.  Was wondering if the internet service improved during your cruise?  Do you think it is good enough to stream video?  thanks!

 

We sailed on the Regal which had the improved MedallionNet internet and were able to stream Netflix. This was in the Caribbean. Hopefully the Royal should be able to too. 

[floridalover5623]

On 2/1/2019 at 6:36 AM, Travelw said:

Currently on Royal.  Terrific ship, early traditional dining is 5:30.  Secret Silk was a good performance, did not like Encore, too much opera.  That is a personal dislike, others gave standing ovation. Food quality in my opinion was better than average, did not have a bad meal.  One night the selection was not the greatest but found something to eat.  Would sail again in a heartbeat with Princess.

 

Dennis

If you didn't like Encore, don't go to see Bravo. It's all opera.

[Cruise Raider]

6 hours ago, Geoffa30 said:

 

We sailed on the Regal which had the improved MedallionNet internet and were able to stream Netflix. This was in the Caribbean. Hopefully the Royal should be able to too. 

 

I just purchased the package ... price was great pre-purchasing it and I can always cancel if they don't install the new MedallionNet in time for my sailing.   They are selling it as MedallionNet in my cruise personalizer ...

thanks!  

[trbarton]

On 1/31/2019 at 10:35 PM, 1SlyFox said:

This was our first experience on Princes and in a suite. We LOVED it! The embarkation and disembarkation was the smoothest we’ve experienced. No rush to get you off the ship and customs was a breeze. The suite was spacious and well-kept! The bathtub was a soaking tub and bath salt was included.we did not notice guests looking over the balconies to lower levels. Soot was minimal and did not bother us. I bought the ultimate drink package and did not “break even.” It was more of a safety net. There were several wines by the glass priced over the $12 limit at Vines and in MDR. The suite had the new bedding and was very comfortable. Food was delicious, but coffee sucked. It tasted like Boyd’s. One morning, it tasted like dishwater. The server looked into it and said they were having problems with one of the brewers. I overheard guests say that the food quality was going downhill compared to previous cruise. Staff were top-notch for the most part. Only had one bad experience in the MDR when I took a bottle of wine. Ship interior and decor was well-maintained.

 

We went to one production show (something Silk). I was expecting something more and the cast was too much for the small stage. We arrived 15 minutes early and seats were pretty much filled. The Movies Under The Stars was fun, depending on the movie. Great way to watch NFL playoffs, too. 

 

Our cruise was was the first with their new internet service. Still quirky. The IM service on their WiFi was quirky and delayed receiving messages often in the beginning. It felt like they were getting ready to retry the medallion service to open cabins, pay for stuff. Crew said the employee WiFi was much faster with the new network deployed during our voyage.

 

Would I book the suite again? You bet, but only if I receive a similar off. Retail price was over $7000 US for 7 nights. Perks were nice, but not fully utilized. Loved the extra space and not feeling crammed. Nice to have a quiet deck to ourselves and a bar 2 decks away if needed. 

 

Welcome to Princess. Here’s some things to consider. If your have prior military service you can get OBC if you register with Princess. If you have at least 100 shares of Carnival Corporation stock you can also get OBC. The amount you get depends on the length of your cruise. For 14 days or longer you get $250 each so that’s $500 to spend on board. 

 

Tom😀

[2BCruising]

Was on the Royal Princess for B2B in January when they switched over to the MedallionNet mid-cruise.  The internet speed was fast.  No issues with posting blog entries and lots of pictures of our cruise.  Enjoyed not having to worry about login/logoff during the second week of our cruise.  It was interesting to see the difference from the old to the new.  From Princess @Sea to Ocean Concierge (browser).  

[lynn247]

We also got off on Saturday after a b2b and thought the food was very good. First week we ate in the buffet  most nights. I was surprised at the variety , tastiness, and tenderness of the meats offered at the carving stations.  Second week we ate in the Dining room as well as Alfredo's. No complaints there either. But, I did not enjoy my meal in the steak house. The veal chop was very fatty, with very little tough meat. And no, I didn't send it back. My husband's lobster was shockingly tiny. Albeit tasty and tender. I thought there was a law against harvesting such tiny lobsters.

I was one of those on a long line twice with WiFi problems.  Both times were at the start of the cruise. I also found out on the last night, not to trust the log out button. I lost 110 minutes.  When I used my tablet, I had to type in signoff.com in the address bar. Forgot to do that the last day and hit the log out button. Bad on my part. 

There were a few little stupid things that were no big deal. We were in a mini suite and our room steward was not the best. Not bad, but I felt he was not giving us a "finished" job. You get used to little touches that were missing. I was once told I keep a very tidy cabin, so I know it wasn't necessary for him to spend a lot of time there. We always knew when someone else did the cleaning. Because the finishing touches were there. And my used wine glasses were replaced, not taken away. Got tired of calling, waiting and tipping room service everyday for 2 wine glasses. And no, the bar wouldnt give us any either. 

We always trade our mini bar for pinot grigio. No longer available. Instead I found a new favorite chardonnay.  The brand of wine our TA sent us was substituted for a less expensive bottle. It was good, so no complaints on our side, but our TA was P.O. 

I felt that the elite Lotus Spa gift bag is being phased out, or just trying to use up leftover products. First bag was missing the eye mask and the sistal mitt. But I did get 2 lip balms. Second bas was also missing the mask, the mitt as well as the linen spray and the shower cap. But, again I got 2 lip balms. So, with 4 lip balms, I felt like a winner.

Our future cruises are on the Caribbean Princess, the Crown and the Sky. I hope to enjoy them as much as we enjoyed our time the Royal Princess. 

 

 

 

[floridalover5623]

18 hours ago, lynn247 said:

And my used wine glasses were replaced, not taken away. Got tired of calling, waiting and tipping room service everyday for 2 wine glasses. And no, the bar wouldnt give us any either. 

We noticed the same thing & solved the problem by taking 2 larger water glasses from the DR as needed & used them as wine glasses to carry to dinner in both the DR & buffet.

They're larger than the typical wine glass & hold about 1 1/2 times as much. 

[2BCruising]

On 2/1/2019 at 11:37 AM, Georgie562 said:

Do you remember if they were serving popcorn during the Movie Under the Stars?

Yes, popcorn is available.  I do not recall anyone going around and handing them out like on our previous cruises.  The bags are available on a tray at the Mermaid's Tail bar (between Pizza and Grill).

[Cruise Raider]

3 hours ago, 2BCruising said:

Yes, popcorn is available.  I do not recall anyone going around and handing them out like on our previous cruises.  The bags are available on a tray at the Mermaid's Tail bar (between Pizza and Grill).

 

I haven't seen them hand it out in the last 3 -4 years.  You have to go up and get it yourself now.  Not an issue ... it's just don't service the seating at MUTS anymore like they used to.  

 

[floridalover5623]

1 hour ago, Cruise Raider said:

 

I haven't seen them hand it out in the last 3 -4 years.  You have to go up and get it yourself now.  Not an issue ... it's just don't service the seating at MUTS anymore like they used to.  

 

It not really that far to walk & get your own.

[Cruise Raider]

1 hour ago, floridalover5623 said:

It not really that far to walk & get your own.

 

1 hour ago, floridalover5623 said:

It not really that far to walk & get your own.

 Correct ... that’s why I said it was not an issue.