Royal, 4/27/2019 Mexico Review

[1emerald1]

After all of the negative reviews posted since the Royal's west coast debut, I must say things have turned around!  I have been on around 30 cruises and this has to rank as one of the best.  When I was able to get to my cabin my room steward told me that the room wasn't completely ready as Jan Swarz and Arnold Donald, along with other Princess VIP's were on the ship to conduct mandatory training.  They clearly listened to complaints and took them seriously as I received excellent service across the board.

 

To start, here are the Officers:

 

Captain, Tony Draper

Staff Captain, Alessandro Genzo

Chief Engineer, Fabio Braccelli

Hotel General Manager, Bosco Pires

Entertainment Director, Billy Hygate

Cruise Director, Matt O'Brien

Senior Doctor, Dylan Belton

Customer Services Director, Carla Ramos

Food and Beverage Director, Guy French

Staff Engineer Officer, Luigi Iaccarino

Chief Electrical Officer, Allesio Leo

Executive Housekeeper, Marilena Voinea

Executive Chef, Giovanni Sisto

Maitre d' Hotel, Generoso Mazzone

 

My Uber dropped me off at the luggage drop off area and the baggage porter collected my bags immediately and was very friendly.  Then I went inside to start the boarding process. Embarkation was very smooth,  I had to pick my medallion at the pier and that was very easy.  I was directed to the desk as was waited on immediately.  I was then shown where the boarding area was.  I have to say the embarkation area is very small, claustrophobic for me in fact.  I hope that Princess will expand that area because it is very small compared to the amount of passengers on the Royal.  I believe I was on the ship around 11:30.

 

I ate lunch in Concerto dining room.  The food was excellent and I had the friendliest waiter I've every had on turn around day.  I then went to my cabin, E407, deluxe balcony, and was very pleasantly surprised.  The cabin was larger than expected and very well appointed.  I had the larger extended balcony and I highly recommend this cabin.  The balcony was listed as obstructed, but when on the balcony sitting, or in the cabin there was no obstruction.  You had to go way out on the balcony and look hard to the left or down, and then saw a life boat and the small deck below.  The cover over the balcony was huge as well, very much protected from full sun.  My room steward, Tito, was excellent and accommodated all of my requests and was friendly, yet still professional.  However there were several large stains in the carpet that Tito could not get out, the carpet in that cabin needs to be replaced.  In the room I looked at my dining card and was confirmed for 5:00, which was surprising because this ship offered early dining at 5:30 per previous reviews.

 

I went down to see the Maitre D', Generoso Mazzone, who confirmed that yes, they had just changed early to 5:00 and late to 7:15.  I changed my time to 7:15 and wanted a table to myself and he graciously accommodated.  I then wanted to go to Sabatini's to make a reservation.  He caught up with me and we had a very nice chat, and he walked me over to Sabatini's and personally made my reservation, as no one was in the restaurant at the time.

 

I had late traditional in Allegro and for the first time, ate by myself.  I loved it as I made it to the shows in time and still chatted with people passing by that I had met and my wait staff.  My waiter was Alicia from Jamaica and she was very efficient and fun to chat with.  Head waiter was Marvin, and he as well greeted me and chatted with me.  Junior waiter was Alexandra and she too was efficient and friendly.  She kept my wine glass full and knew I wanted coffee after my meal every evening.  Generoso however made my dining experience.  He stopped by at least 2 times every evening, always ensuring that everything was to my liking and a quick chat. Seeing how busy he was, it really meant a lot.  Not only my wait staff, but other head waiters would come over and say hello.

 

The food was good, but overcooked to my liking, especially the meat. And the butter rumors are true, they do not provide real butter, but rather some sort of blend, which I thought was terrible.  It's a real insult to the bakers to put that spread on their delicious rolls.  Next cruise I will bring my own butter, the individual slices wrapped in foil.

 

I went to the first production show, Sweet Soul Music and thought it was amateur.  Evidently the dancers were new on the ship and weren't in sync at all.  I missed the next show as I was tired and went back to my cabin after dinner.  The last show, Encore, was spectacular.  The stage setting and costumes were on par with a broadway production and the singers were excellent.  The comedian was Robbie Printz and he was hilarious.  And clean humor, nothing dirty or offensive.  In fact during his first show I laughed so hard I gave myself a migraine.

 

Cabo - This port was too noisy and crowded for me.  I went through the vendor area and walked around a little and took pictures then went back to the ship to take pictures from up on the deck.

 

Mazatlán - My least favorite port.  I got off just to go through the vendor area then went back on board.

 

Puerto Vallarta - My favorite port.  I did Princess' PV highlights tour and enjoyed it very much.  Unfortunately the day we were there was a Mexican holiday so the shops in town were closed.

 

Guest Speaker, Paul Burrell, butler to the Queen and Princess Diana.  This was the highlight of the cruise for me as I am an avid Royal follower.  His talk was very informative and he shared experiences and personal photos that I had not heard before.  I bought his book which he signed and got a couple of nice pictures, plus he was answering everyone's questions as well, as much as he was able too.

 

I also had the pleasure of meeting several long time CC posters at the meet and greet and it was very enjoyable.

 

The Medallion - after all the hoopla mine was not responsive at all.  I had to hold it up to the scanner to get the green light.  No, I did not report it as I did not want to stand in line and then wait for a tech to go to my cabin.  For me, there was no difference between the medallion and a cruise card.  And as I did not want to carry my phone around, I did not use the apps to order drinks, or any of the other features.  And as I like to disconnect and unplug when I am cruising I did not use Medallion-net, so cannot comment on that.

 

Negatives - when you enter the elevators on the doors they have Medallion advertising on all of the doors.  I thought this was cheap and tacky, as we are all well aware of the Medallions, plus it was vertigo inducing.

 

Alfredo's - Although my food was delicious as usual, the service was not that great.  In fact I clearly heard two workers laughing and making fun of a couple that had just left.  I thought that was very unprofessional and unpleasant to hear.

 

Overall lasting impressions, this ship exceeded my expectations!  I think the kinks have been sorted out and I had a marvelous time.  I even had excellent service at the Guest Services Desk!  I would love to sail this ship again but do not like Mexico and prefer 10 day cruises.  So as I am in driving distance of the port, maybe I'll schedule some Bon Voyage Experiences to get back on the ship, if only for the afternoon!

 

 

[greenie082756]

Thank you for your review.

 

One of the things that I noticed was the elevator legend was almost impossible to see or read. Also to me the elevators seemed plenty but small.

 

 

[hpeabody]

Thank you for your review.  I was on the repositioning cruise around South America. On our cruise they were getting Ocean Medallion up and running and surprised us with medallions to use toward the end of the cruise. My Medallion did work OK, but varied depending on where I had it sometimes.  I am not too wild about it at all,  and they already had a whole section in the photo area to sell Ocean Medallion "stuff"   Which is part of the reason they are implementing it, so they can sell "stuff"   I am again sailing on the Royal, to Alaska, on June 1st.  My cabin is E409 next door to your E407.  I met Tito on board the last cruise when I checked out the location of E409.  I was on the other side and more mid that cruise.  Matt O, the CD is something else and I will miss him since he is going on Holiday soon.

[Kenosha Cruiser]

Thanks for your review of the Royal. The Royal and Regal ships are our favorites in the Princess fleet. My wife and I are looking forward to our Halloween cruise on the Royal to the Mexican Riviera this fall. We will be trying out the Ocean Medallion for the first time, it should be interesting if we like it or not. I'm glad you had a pleasant time on the Royal.

 

Cheers - Ken & Darlene

 

[mthomp5]

We were also on the 4/27 sailing and also enjoyed our time onboard.  Love the ship and thought our steward and dining room staff were great!  We only encountered one grumpy waitstaff person and that was at breakfast in the dining room on disembarkation day.  Figured turnaround day should must be the most stressful for them.

 

Liked the Medallion although I had to wave mine in front of the reader to open the door while my husband’s Medallion could open our door from 2 door away!

 

Shame to hear that about the Alfredo’s staff.  We like the food there and went three times.  I really liked one of the staff there...her name was Za Za and she always put a smile on my face.

 

Agree about the elevator doors!  

[mbisson]

thank you for your review.  I know it was posted a while back, but I just booked the Discovery princess and was hopeful to find just how obstructed E407 would be on that ship....I'll assume at this point that the deck plans are nearly the same 🙂

[Astro Flyer]

41 minutes ago, mbisson said:

thank you for your review.  I know it was posted a while back, but I just booked the Discovery princess and was hopeful to find just how obstructed E407 would be on that ship....I'll assume at this point that the deck plans are nearly the same 🙂

This website shows obstructed view cabins but doesn’t have a photo of E407 but it does show E403 which is 2 cabins forward. I’ve had cabins in this area and the only obstruction was when looking straight down you could see open Promenade deck.

https://www.cruisedeckplans.com/DP/deckplans/ov.php?ship=Discovery-Princess&cabins=E401-E445

 

 

Edited September 12, 2021 by Astro Flyer