Royal Princess West Coast Debut - March 23rd-30th REVIEW

[Georgie562]

Thanks for your review. Will be on 4/27

Are you able to tell me how did tendering work in Cabo for non Elite members?

I am assuming they set a place and time to pick up tender stickers? I'm wondering if tendering went smooth for a ship this size in Cabo.

Edited April 1, 2019 by Georgie562

[DrivesLikeMario]

Excellent review and thank you so much for the pictures.  Really makes you realize how blocked that sliding glass door is!  I thought you meant it was blocked by the bed which was sitting lengthwise and only blocking less than 1/2 of the door but whomever designed the bunk the way it is that is really did a poor job IMO. 

[AF-1]

I never head of dirty chai either; but I have heard of dirty coffee; for adding shot of expresso.  So I guess that would make sense for the dirty chai

[AF-1]

Does this ship have a coffee bar much like the grand class ships do or is it more elaborate?  On the princess website under regal princess there is a video.  at 24 seconds into the video they talk about coffee and tea blends; and show a princess employee holding a spoonful of tea leaves.  Can anyone tell me what this is?  Thanks.

Edited April 1, 2019 by AF-1

[Astro Flyer]

41 minutes ago, AF-1 said:

Does this ship have a coffee bar much like the grand class ships do or is it more elaborate?  On the princess website under regal princess there is a video.  at 24 seconds into the video they talk about coffee and tea blends; and show a princess employee holding a spoonful of tea leaves.  Can anyone tell me what this is?  Thanks.

It’s a slightly larger IC and the Pastry Shop in the buffet has specialty coffee.

 

This is what you saw in the video in the Piazza & as I recall there’s an additional fee for these teas.

 

Tea Tower – Featuring a tea sommelier and a choice of 250 blends, tea lovers will revel in Royal Princess’ unique tea tower located in the ship’s central Piazza. Here passengers can enjoy pre-blended tea varieties or create their own custom flavors. The ship’s tea sommelier, an expert on tea blends, will host tea tasting events and a new Royal Afternoon Tea Experience, inspired by some of the most famous tea spots in London.

Edited April 1, 2019 by Astro Flyer

[ceilidh1]

4 hours ago, Georgie562 said:

Thanks for your review. Will be on 4/27

Are you able to tell me how did tendering work in Cabo for non Elite members?

I am assuming they set a place and time to pick up tender stickers? I'm wondering if tendering went smooth for a ship this size in Cabo.

Tendering in Cabo was very slow - not sure why but there was a delay getting the first few groups out. I was on an excursion so we just met in the theatre and were taken from there - even so, we sat for an hour before being called and the tender seemed to take forever to actually get to the pier! I did hear other passengers complaining that it took so long. You will need to go to the assigned lounge and get a ticket, then wait until your number is called. Coming back to the ship was much faster!

[Astro Flyer]

21 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

Tendering in Cabo was very slow - not sure why but there was a delay getting the first few groups out. I was on an excursion so we just met in the theatre and were taken from there - even so, we sat for an hour before being called and the tender seemed to take forever to actually get to the pier! I did hear other passengers complaining that it took so long. You will need to go to the assigned lounge and get a ticket, then wait until your number is called. Coming back to the ship was much faster!

I read another post that due to a later arrival the Royal was further away resulting in longer tender times.  Waits of 60-90 minutes were being reported to get on tenders (slightly faster for elites) & hopefully that won’t be common in Cabo where we’ll be in a couple of weeks.

Edited April 1, 2019 by Astro Flyer

[ceilidh1]

4 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

I read another post that due to a later arrival the Royal was further away resulting in longer tender times.  Waits of 60-90 minutes were being reported to get on tenders (slightly faster for elites) & hopefully that won’t be common in Cabo where we’ll be in a couple of weeks.

The ocean was also pretty choppy the day we were in Cabo so that may have been a factor, too!

[AF-1]

52 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

It’s a slightly larger IC and the Pastry Shop in the buffet has specialty coffee.

 

This is what you saw in the video in the Piazza & as I recall there’s an additional fee for these teas.

 

Tea Tower – Featuring a tea sommelier and a choice of 250 blends, tea lovers will revel in Royal Princess’ unique tea tower located in the ship’s central Piazza. Here passengers can enjoy pre-blended tea varieties or create their own custom flavors. The ship’s tea sommelier, an expert on tea blends, will host tea tasting events and a new Royal Afternoon Tea Experience, inspired by some of the most famous tea spots in London.

Thank you very much for this info. 

Edited April 1, 2019 by AF-1

[Astro Flyer]

15 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

The ocean was also pretty choppy the day we were in Cabo so that may have been a factor, too!

Do they still use the port’s tenders instead of the ship’s tenders?  That could another factor when several ships are in port.

[Astro Flyer]

6 minutes ago, AF-1 said:

Thank you very much for this info. 

You’re welcome...on some days they used that area for the paid version of afternoon tea...$10 or $20 with a glass of bubbly.

 

The free version is still available in one of the dining rooms.

[rkacruiser]

18 hours ago, ceilidh1 said:

Buffet: The buffet is HUGE! If you thought I got lost on the ship, you should have seen me trying to find my way around the buffet! There were so many different sections and stations, but none of them were logical so I would see something but then forget where it was. Then I would end up on the other side of the buffet and not be able to find where I was sitting. I felt like I needed to leave a trail of breadcrumbs!

 

Your experience in the Horizon Court/Bistro was exactly mine.  There was no logic to the arrangement of the stations.  I'd see something that I thought I would choose during my survey of the Restaurant, but could not find it when I was ready to do so.  And, I, too, could not easily find the table where I tried to "save" a seat by placing a couple of books.  Having so few beverage dispensers in the Horizon Court/Bistro for the number of guests patronizing the venue results in long lines to get simple drinks.  It took me 2 or 3 days to realize that only the Court's/Bistro's Stewards could serve OJ during Breakfast.

 

If I sail on another Royal Class ship, given this experience, I think I will be better prepared to handle this rather chaotic buffet venue.

[AF-1]

Doesn’t waitstaff in buffet get your drinks?   

Edited April 1, 2019 by AF-1

[AF-1]

32 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

You’re welcome...on some days they used that area for the paid version of afternoon tea...$10 or $20 with a glass of bubbly.

 

The free version is still available in one of the dining rooms.

Thank you Astro Flyer

[Mom33]

11 minutes ago, AF-1 said:

Doesn’t waitstaff in buffet get your drinks?   

 

Yes they do.

 

[AF-1]

Thank you for your respne. Have a nice day. 

Edited April 2, 2019 by AF-1

[stvandy1]

I hope I wasn’t one of those who appeared to be snarky. If so, I apologize.

looks like I was right in getting no drink packages of any kind and just get them as I go. I will just get a few sodas, hot chocolates, gelatos and such when I want them. I know that young kids like sodas and mocktails. Because I am diabetic, liquor is off limits and rarely a soda, cocoa. I hope I won’t have to explain to the boys bartender what a Shirley Temple is. I like my sprite andgrenadine syrup.

Thanks for answering all my questions.

[4cats4me]

2 hours ago, AF-1 said:

Doesn’t waitstaff in buffet get your drinks?   

 

Yes, every time we’ve been on any Princess ship since at least 2008. 

We have never waited more than maybe a minute or so for one of the buffet stewards to take our drink requests on the Royal/Regal.  

 

Sounds like service  was not up to par on this sailing, or maybe they’re using fewer buffet stewards, or perhaps many passengers weren’t aware that buffet stewards would take care of drink service? 

 

[4cats4me]

1 hour ago, stvandy1 said:

I hope I wasn’t one of those who appeared to be snarky. If so, I apologize.

looks like I was right in getting no drink packages of any kind and just get them as I go. I will just get a few sodas, hot chocolates, gelatos and such when I want them. I know that young kids like sodas and mocktails. Because I am diabetic, liquor is off limits and rarely a soda, cocoa. I hope I won’t have to explain to the boys bartender what a Shirley Temple is. I like my sprite andgrenadine syrup.

Thanks for answering all my questions.

 

You can always bring on a bottle of grenadine, just in case! 

[ceilidh1]

4 hours ago, AF-1 said:

Doesn’t waitstaff in buffet get your drinks?   

IF you are lucky enough to find one then, yes they will. They were in pretty short supply on our sailing and if you wanted anything other than self serve coffee/tea/water/hot chocolate/iced tea then it was quicker to just go get your own drink from the bar. There is no self serve juice in the morning on Royal so if you want OJ you have to wait for a waiter - they did appear to have more staff during breakfast than at any other time of the day in the buffet.

[ceilidh1]

2 hours ago, stvandy1 said:

I hope I wasn’t one of those who appeared to be snarky. If so, I apologize.

looks like I was right in getting no drink packages of any kind and just get them as I go. I will just get a few sodas, hot chocolates, gelatos and such when I want them. I know that young kids like sodas and mocktails. Because I am diabetic, liquor is off limits and rarely a soda, cocoa. I hope I won’t have to explain to the boys bartender what a Shirley Temple is. I like my sprite andgrenadine syrup.

Thanks for answering all my questions.

Not at all!  That wasn't directed at you!

[MsSoCalCruiser]

On 3/31/2019 at 8:51 PM, ceilidh1 said:

 

After seeing your photo I decided to move to a deluxe balcony cabin so the third adult in our cabin will now have the sofa bed and not a bunk. Thanks again!

[ceilidh1]

The Issues: So this is where it's going to get ugly so if you don't like hearing negative things abut Princess then skip ahead! I promise you that I am not exaggerating or embellishing anything that I am about to post. Individually, my issues would have been minor irritations - what was unacceptable was the manner in which these minor irritations were dealt with (or rather not)...

 

1. The Coupon Book: As you all know, the coupon book isn't worth the paper it's written on aside from one coupon - the bogo specialty restaurant on embarkation day. We always use it for Crown Grill so I made a 6pm reservation as soon as we boarded. When we got to our room, there was no coupon book - figured that they just hadn't got round to bringing it yet so went for lunch and a walk around. I stopped at passenger services at 1:30pm and inquired about the book - the rep told me it would be sent right up. Great. We explored the ship then headed to the room around 3ish to unpack before muster. No coupon book in sight. I called down to the front desk and asked again, and was promised it would be sent up immediately. No sign of it before muster, then when we returned after muster....still no sign. I saw our stateroom steward and asked her about it - she literally had no idea what I was talking about. Luckily, another steward was in the hallway and did know what I was referring to and explained it to our steward. She promised to look into it. We went for sailaway and then quickly ran to the room at 5:45pm to collect the coupon book to take to Crown Grill - no book. AAAGH. I went down to Crown Grill and explained the situation and was basically told "Sorry. No coupon, no discount"..... Not cool! I ended up cancelling my reservation. The coupon book finally showed up at 8:30pm - Crown Grill had no more reservations available.....

 

2. The soda package: You may have heard all about this from my other posts, but just so that it is all in one place...My booking came with the sip n sail - this was free AIBP for guests 1 and 2 and soda package for guest 3. Since guest 2 was my 11 year old DD, she would get the soda package instead of the AIBP. When we got to our room, the two tumblers and cards from room service saying that both kids had soda packages were there. I also had all of the confirmations printed. When we ordered the first drink, the bar tender told me that DD did not have a package, He said that sometimes the system is slow updating so just wait an hour or two and see if it shows up. No problem. Several hours later, still no soda package and now DD had 4 drinks charges on her card. I made my first trip to guest services with all the paperwork and explained the situation. The rep I spoke with looked on the computer and said there was no soda package. I handed her the paperwork and confirmation from room service - she refused to even look at it and said she would need to email corporate and they wouldn't be in until Monday. Seriously? I have all the proof yet they refused to honour it. I sent a quick email to my TA who immediately got on the phone with her rep at Princess and confirmed that yes, everything their end showed the package. The Princess rep emailed the ship (and cc'ed me) to confirm and told me to go back first thing next morning to make sure the package was applied. I went back next morning and the rep told me that no email had been received - I pulled it up on my phone and showed her - she still insisted it had not been received. I asked to speak to a supervisor and was told no one was available. She then told me she would have someone call me. No one called me. On Monday I went back again - same response, no email received and no supervisor to talk to. My TA in the meantime had been busy her end and had another email sent to the ship (cc'ing me) so I know for sure that they were getting the emails. I was again promised a call back. No call came. By Tuesday, I was really starting to lose patience - this was day 4 of a 7 day cruise and they still had not been able to honour something that was 100% confirmed by Princess themselves. I asked to speak to the supervisor and was told (surprise surprise) none was available - I told them that I would stand and wait until someone could speak to me. I didn't get to speak to a supervisor, but I did at least get the one and only front desk person that was competent and helpful - his name was Irfan and he was the only person that I actually wrote a commendation for. He listened, showed empathy, and actually seemed to care - most importantly, he apologized (no one else had done this and had implied that I was trying to get something I wasn't entitled to). Irfan promised that when the supervisor returned at 3pm he would personally speak with her and explain the situation and have her call me. He was true to his word and she did call me at 3pm - she basically said, "Yes, we did receive the confirmation a few days ago. The package should have been applied already"....Great - but it hadn't been applied. She then told me that I needed to purchase a package so that they could refund it??? What???? This made no sense, but I did as I was asked. She then assured me that everything was set, the package was applied, the drinks that had been charged had been refunded and we were good to go. Day 5 - we get drinks and now, not only does DD get charged but suddenly DS no longer has a package showing on his card. I actually thought my head might explode. Back to the front desk - they looked at the notes and confirmed that both kids should have packages, then asked what drinks I had been charged for. I told them it was for 2 choco-bananas.The rep said that these were not included in the package as they were not listed on the mocktail menu. I knew that was BS - partly because DS had been drinking them the past 4 days and not been charged...the rep said he would need to double check with the bar manager. Are you kidding me??? I just walked away at that point and decided to cut my losses and pay whatever I ended up being charged....At the end of the day on day 6, I got a card in the room saying that both packages were applied and drink charges had been refunded. Great - now that we are disembarking and can't use them, the packages work!! I have always had the packages on every sailing and never had this problem. There have been one or two times when I would get charged by mistake but it was always quick and easy to get the charge removed. I honestly have no idea why this turned into a 6 day frustrating ordeal when it should have been easily resolved on day one.

 

3. The bathrobe: Once again, minor irritation by itself but by this point I was starting to think someone was playing jokes on me! I asked for a bathrobe as soon as I saw the steward (remember the good old days when they would be waiting for you in the room?) She told me they were all in the laundry and would be available next day. Sure enough, at turndown on day 2 the bathrobe was there. I took my shower in the morning, slipped on my robe and found the belt was missing - so I basically had a wide open jacket. Sigh. I left a note for the steward asking if she could get me a belt or a new robe. At turndown on day 4 I got a useable robe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ceilidh1]

46 minutes ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

After seeing your photo I decided to move to a deluxe balcony cabin so the third adult in our cabin will now have the sofa bed and not a bunk. Thanks again!

Were you originally in obstructed balcony? I don't know if all of them have this configuration - I definitely would avoid this type of set up with a third person, though. The deluxe balconies were nice - we saw one on our cabin crawl!

[ceilidh1]

The Ports: We had done this itinerary previously and weren't too interested in the ports but did decide on two excursions for Cabo and Puerto Vallarta. We stayed on the ship in Mazatlan.

 

In Cabo, we did the zodiac whale watch. I won't talk about tendering again as we discussed this earlier. The excursion was well organized and we were loaded onto small zodiacs - there were 15 to a boat, which seemed a few too many as there were not enough seats and a few people had to sit on the inflatable side of the boat. It didn't look very safe and they were literally clinging on for dear life. The scenery was stunning and the zodiac was a lot of fun. The ocean was very rough and almost everyone on the zodiac felt a little seasick (not me, though - I loved it). We did see a number of humpback whales that came very close to the boat - the driver had an amazing knack of knowing the exact second the whale would surface...he would literally count down and up it would pop. I joked that they were remote controlled whales for the tourists as he had such accuracy! I really enjoyed this excursion!

 

In Puerto Vallarta we did Las Caletas. WOW! This place is paradise. We were late setting off in the catamaran as we had to wait for the Carnival ship to be secured. I think this likely cut our time on the island short as it did feel very rushed. The boat ride there and back was so much fun with Nathan and the crew - they really seemed to love their jobs! Las Caletas was stunning, though the ocean was quite rough for swimming. I'm glad I insisted on the kids wearing life jackets as a few times DS was knocked off his feet by waves. DD really wanted to go paddleboarding but when she saw the waves she changed her mind. She did try snorkelling and also did the waterslide and the step up. DS did the kids adventure course and the zip line. The lunch was delicious and there was open bar the whole time. I would definitely do this excursion again if we ever return to Mexico!