Royal Princess - the Sanctuary and restaurants

[sskate]

Pictures of the Sanctuary of the Royal Princess that I've seen show that there is a small outer deck in front of the Sanctuary   Does anyone know if it is accessible from the Sanctuary?  Is it open to people using the Sanctuary?

 

Am I correct that no restaurants on the Royal give a foreview?  Any restaurants, other than the specialty restaurants which you have to pay, give a good side view?

 

Thanks

[DDG 41]

The Outer deck in front is not accessible by anyone except crew.

[sskate]

4 hours ago, DDG 41 said:

The Outer deck in front is not accessible by anyone except crew.

Thanks.

[lx200gps]

8 hours ago, sskate said:

Pictures of the Sanctuary of the Royal Princess that I've seen show that there is a small outer deck in front of the Sanctuary   Does anyone know if it is accessible from the Sanctuary?  Is it open to people using the Sanctuary?

 

Am I correct that no restaurants on the Royal give a foreview?  Any restaurants, other than the specialty restaurants which you have to pay, give a good side view?

 

Thanks

If by "foreview" you mean looking forward, then no, there's pretty much nothing. Compared to other cruiselines we've been on, NCL and Celebrity, Princess ships don't give pax many opportunities to experience the sea while dining. Upstairs, there's always the pandemonium of the buffets which do have a lot of window seating if you can find any open. Downstairs, the MDRs have a very few window seats but they are very hard to come by. Sabatini's and the CG also have a few window seats though the views aren't the best either. The best bet may be Alfredo's. Free, not usually busy outside of peak times and a decent proportion of good window seats with no passenger decks right outside to block the views.

 

Our favorite dining experience is on the older ships where Sabatini's or Share are upstairs at the stern, and have banks of window seats looking out over the wake. Not available on the Royal or Regal, sadly

[sskate]

17 minutes ago, lx200gps said:

If by "foreview" you mean looking forward, then no, there's pretty much nothing. Compared to other cruiselines we've been on, NCL and Celebrity, Princess ships don't give pax many opportunities to experience the sea while dining. Upstairs, there's always the pandemonium of the buffets which do have a lot of window seating if you can find any open. Downstairs, the MDRs have a very few window seats but they are very hard to come by. Sabatini's and the CG also have a few window seats though the views aren't the best either. The best bet may be Alfredo's. Free, not usually busy outside of peak times and a decent proportion of good window seats with no passenger decks right outside to block the views.

 

Our favorite dining experience is on the older ships where Sabatini's or Share are upstairs at the stern, and have banks of window seats looking out over the wake. Not available on the Royal or Regal, sadly

Which are the older ships you refer to?  Could you please suggest?  I quite like the layout of Golden Princesd because the fore deck doesn't have any tall tinted glass panels which block your view.

[MJSailors]

You may be interested to n the Grand Class of ships that have more open views of the sea.

Some of these ships are : the Caribbean Princess ,the Crown, the Ruby, the Diamond and Sapphire and the Grand Princess.

 

[lx200gps]

28 minutes ago, sskate said:

Which are the older ships you refer to?  Could you please suggest?  I quite like the layout of Golden Princesd because the fore deck doesn't have any tall tinted glass panels which block your view.

Sorry, I guess "older" wasn't the best wording ;o) Share is on the Ruby and Emerald (and possibly other ships as well), in the location formerly occupied by Sabatini's. Sabatini's may still be in that location on other ships. If you Google "Ruby Princess Share" and go the "Images" tab, you'll see lots of photos of what Share looks like in that location, and you'l see how nice the view is from the tables for two at the windows. It's not TOTALLY unobstructed, but the view is great.

[sskate]

1 hour ago, MJSailors said:

You may be interested to n the Grand Class of ships that have more open views of the sea.

Some of these ships are : the Caribbean Princess ,the Crown, the Ruby, the Diamond and Sapphire and the Grand Princess.

 

All of these ships are better than Royal which has no forward looking view either from restaurants or open deck!  Sadly, I am going on the Royal.

[MaineCruiser243]

On Caribbean Princess we often ate breakfast at Steamers which is at the port side aft of the ship and was usually less crowded than the main buffet (World Fresh Marketplace on this ship) and we always got a window seat. You could also sit outside and get a good view aft. Steamers had some of the same things as the main buffet plus omelettes or eggs any style cooked to order and no charge for breakfast or lunch. Ditto for Planks on the other side although we always ended up at Steamers for some reason, habit I guess, plus you get to know the servers.

[lx200gps]

2 hours ago, sskate said:

All of these ships are better than Royal which has no forward looking view either from restaurants or open deck!  Sadly, I am going on the Royal.

Not entirely correct. There is the Sanctuary, though at $$$ extra cost, and there should also be the huge, but often VERY windy observation deck forming the roof of the bridge. Not always open, but a great forward viewing area for arrivals and departures from port. But no, certainly no dining facing forward. There are options at the other end though for viewing the wake.

[Pam in CA]

The Coral and Island have their buffet areas far forward with great views while eating.