Royal Princess-outside promenade deck

[sskate]

I have watched a couple of Royal princess walk through videos on YouTube, both YouTuber said the outside promenade deck on deck 7 was closed during their entire trip.  Is it the case? Anyone has the same experience?  

[kitty2264]

18 minutes ago, sskate said:

I have watched a couple of Royal princess walk through videos on YouTube, both YouTuber said the outside promenade deck on deck 7 was closed during their entire trip.  Is it the case? Anyone has the same experience?  

The outer decks on deck seven are always open while in port with the rare exception when they are refueling.  They do sometimes close them while at sea due to wind conditions.  We haven't been on a cruise when they closed them off for the entire cruise.  We have sailed on the Royal and Regal about ten times. 

[dreaminkel]

We were on in December, what little passenger areas there are were open most days in port and when at sea, most of deck blocked off as crew only area. Not my favorite ship with no promenade going around the ship like the grand class, imho.

[Colo Cruiser]

I have seen them closed on the Royal/Regal for high winds and fueling.

[sskate]

I am planning to go on Alaskan cruise on the Royal, no fun if the promenade deck is closed all the time.  I like the sun deck of Golden princess as you can move around from one side to the other side easily and the foredeck is not blocked by  tall tinted glass panels.  However, there are recent reviews that  the ship is leaking everywhere and in poor condition.

 

[kitty2264]

5 hours ago, sskate said:

I am planning to go on Alaskan cruise on the Royal, no fun if the promenade deck is closed all the time.  I like the sun deck of Golden princess as you can move around from one side to the other side easily and the foredeck is not blocked by  tall tinted glass panels.  However, there are recent reviews that  the ship is leaking everywhere and in poor condition.

 

It's hard to refer to those four outside decks on the Royal/Regal as "promenades".  Additionally, they don't have cover from rain like the Grand Class ships.  We were on one cruise where they opened the crew passage-ways between the aft outer deck and the mid ship outer deck so we could walk from mid ship to aft, but on every other cruise, they have been closed and restricted to "crew only".

[geoherb]

On the trans-Atlantic cruise this past fall, the outside Promenade Deck areas were sometimes closed. At times, though, they had some of them closed and others open. If one is closed, make sure you look to see if the others are before giving up.

[BarbinMich]

IMHO, the biggest disappointment with the Royal/Regal is the lack of the "traditional" promenade deck; i.e. a complete wraparound that is wide enough to accommodate deck chairs and a wide walking area all covered to provide relief from the sun or rain.  This was the norm from the Grand class through the Crown class (ships built 1998-2008).  Then they started building the Royal (2013), followed by the Regal in 2013 and the Majestic in 2017.  We've been on the Royal twice (total of 24 days) and while it's a gorgeous to spectacular ship inside, the lack of the traditional promenade deck was a major disappointment.  I have spent many an enjoyable time sitting on the promenade on our cruises.  The last time we were on the Royal, I did find something of an alternative.  Aft of the Horizon Court is the Horizon Terrace.  The latter is totally covered, but open on 3 sides, and has a number of lounge chairs.  When in a warm climate, it's a delightful place to while away the time; also has bar service if one wants a cool drink (also coffee urn).