What do You like & dislike about Royal Princess

[oskidunker]

What may save the smaller ships are ports that wont let big ships in.  Venice, Antartica, maybe Alaska, in the future. 

 

They keep The Pacific, for now. 

[milolii]

What deck embarkation?  6 or 7?  Thanks 

[MissP22]

7 hours ago, ceilidh1 said:

Is this true? I love the Grand Class - Royal definitely not a favorite! I was hoping to have a future ship with the good bits of both!

Although the older class ships will be around for many years to come it seems that all the new designs are along the lines of the Royal class with some modifications. I wouldn't expect to see a full promenade deck any more or bigger balconies for that matter. 

It's all about maximizing the space for their benefit. 

[dockman]

To me one of the saddest things about the new ship designs is the lack of a full wrap around promenade deck.  Not only does it serve as a great exercise/walking/conversation area it is one of the few places left on the megaships where you can be relatively close to the ocean, feel the breeze and inhale the clean salty air while also  not having to listen to some piped in music.  Not at all the same experience as being 17 decks above the water looking through plexiglass.

 

It really does not seem to me that it would be very difficult to design such a deck without giving up very much if any revenue producing areas...there is a LOT of wasted space in the interior of the Royal Princess.....but maybe they just do not want the pax to actually be close enough to the ocean to feel like they are on a ship rather than a floating shopping mall.  SAD.

[CRUISEWITHH]

 

I miss a "decent" library.  The library is way too small and has more games on the shelf than books.  Also there isn't enough seating or table space for someone to lay out a puzzle and still to have room for a four-some to play cards or a game.

I was really disappointed...

[scarlett39]

We were on the Royal recently for a Mexican Riviera cruise and our son who was traveling with us likes using the library on our cruises. He mentioned that the one on the Royal was very small and disappointing. I don't think I ever even saw it. It must be tucked away somewhere.

[KG2019]

what about electrical outlets in cabins on the Royal Princess?  Were there enough?  Are you even allowed to bring a power strip?

[louden]

We sailed on the Royal for its maiden trans-Atlantic crossing.  At the time we were Elite status and had cruised almost exclusively on the Grand class with the exception of two cruises on the Sun.  We were eagerly awaiting our chance to sail on a "new" ship but booked an inside cabin because of how disappointed we were with the balcony on the Sun.

 

The comments that follow are about our observations of the Royal on that crossing and do not reflect subsequent modifications they made to the Royal and its sister ships to address some of the shortcomings mentioned below. Perhaps the Royal should have been named the "Royal Disappointment", "Royal Folly" or "Royal F--- U-"?

 

Shortcomings in no particular order:

• Useless  balconies.
• No promenade.
• No Skywalkers.
• No aft pool.
• Two small center ship pools not separated so just a massive noisy mob.
• Useless water feature which was infrequently used and when in operation just flooded the adjacent bar.
• No side aisles in theater which made access and egress very difficult.
• No drink holder in theater seats.
• No center ship staircase.
• Only one aisle in Princess Live and seating unsuitable for any team games.
• Club 6 poor substitute for Skywalkers.
• No Explorer's Lounge
• Inadequate wind breaks in the Sanctuary area.  This resulted in much of the deck decoration being destroyed by the heavy winds during the crossing.
• Slanted layout of stern balconies resulted in these being covered in soot.
• Did I mention the useless balconies.

Positives:

• Great crew.
• Wonderful Atrium.
• Improved Horizon Court traffic flow.
• Improved cabin and bathroom facilities .

[Mom33]

3 hours ago, louden said:

We sailed on the Royal for its maiden trans-Atlantic crossing.  At the time we were Elite status and had cruised almost exclusively on the Grand class with the exception of two cruises on the Sun.  We were eagerly awaiting our chance to sail on a "new" ship but booked an inside cabin because of how disappointed we were with the balcony on the Sun.

 

The comments that follow are about our observations of the Royal on that crossing and do not reflect subsequent modifications they made to the Royal and its sister ships to address some of the shortcomings mentioned below. Perhaps the Royal should have been named the "Royal Disappointment", "Royal Folly" or "Royal F--- U-"?

 

Shortcomings in no particular order:

• Useless  balconies.
• No promenade.
• No Skywalkers.
• No aft pool.
• Two small center ship pools not separated so just a massive noisy mob.
• Useless water feature which was infrequently used and when in operation just flooded the adjacent bar.
• No side aisles in theater which made access and egress very difficult.
• No drink holder in theater seats.
• No center ship staircase.
• Only one aisle in Princess Live and seating unsuitable for any team games.
• Club 6 poor substitute for Skywalkers.
• No Explorer's Lounge
• Inadequate wind breaks in the Sanctuary area.  This resulted in much of the deck decoration being destroyed by the heavy winds during the crossing.
• Slanted layout of stern balconies resulted in these being covered in soot.
• Did I mention the useless balconies.

Positives:

• Great crew.
• Wonderful Atrium.
• Improved Horizon Court traffic flow.
• Improved cabin and bathroom facilities .

 

Since your cruise on the Royal during its inaugural year, there have been updates to the ship: Central staircase was opened  and side aisle access stairs were added to the theater.  I guess you missed the third pool in the forward section of the ship. It is right outside the Sanctuary and is called the Retreat pool. As for the useless balconies, they come in various sizes depending on which cabins you select. We have had wonderful cruises with small and large balconies. Perhaps if you had not selected an inside and researched the ship before booking , you could have sailed in a "useful" balcony.

[louden]

33 minutes ago, Mom33 said:

 

Since your cruise on the Royal during its inaugural year, there have been updates to the ship: Central staircase was opened  and side aisle access stairs were added to the theater.  I guess you missed the third pool in the forward section of the ship. It is right outside the Sanctuary and is called the Retreat pool. As for the useless balconies, they come in various sizes depending on which cabins you select. We have had wonderful cruises with small and large balconies. Perhaps if you had not selected an inside and researched the ship before booking , you could have sailed in a "useful" balcony.

Please note that I stated that there were improvements made to the Royal and sister ships after some of the mentioned shortcomings were "discovered".  Perhaps consultation with actual cruisers could have avoided these "mistakes".  There are forward pools on all the ships.  I lamented the removal of the aft pool.  There are no balconies equivalent to the standard  BD cabins found on the Grand class.  Lets compare cabin class to cabin class, not mini suite to standard balcony.

[MissP22]

4 hours ago, louden said:

Shortcomings in no particular order:

• Useless  balconies. Not All are tiny.
• No promenade. There is an area & it's hardly used. 
• No Skywalkers. Horizon Terrace is much better.  
• No aft pool. There is on the Regal. 
• Two small center ship pools not separated so just a massive noisy mob. All Princess pools as noisy. 
• Useless water feature which was infrequently used and when in operation just flooded the adjacent bar.
• No side aisles in theater which made access and egress very difficult. Yes there are. 
• No drink holder in theater seats. 
• No center ship staircase. Yes there are. 
• Only one aisle in Princess Live and seating unsuitable for any team games. It works for what is was intended for. 
• Club 6 poor substitute for Skywalkers.It works for what is was intended for. 
• No Explorer's Lounge
• Inadequate wind breaks in the Sanctuary area.  This resulted in much of the deck decoration being destroyed by the heavy winds during the crossing. It's comfortable in the Caribbean.
• Slanted layout of stern balconies resulted in these being covered in soot.
• Did I mention the useless balconies. Not All are tiny.

I can see you don't care for the Royal class ships that much. 

Better get use to them as they're all being designed in the same fashion. 

[louden]

42 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

I can see you don't care for the Royal class ships that much. 

Better get use to them as they're all being designed in the same fashion. 

Please note the title of the thread.  Also note that my comments were about the Royal as it was launched not as it is now after many modifications.

[MissP22]

50 minutes ago, louden said:

Please note the title of the thread.  Also note that my comments were about the Royal as it was launched not as it is now after many modifications.

The why post about items that have been changed?

[louden]

6 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

The why post about items that have been changed?

Something about a silk purse out of a sows ear.

[richsea]

1 hour ago, louden said:

Please note that I stated that there were improvements made to the Royal and sister ships after some of the mentioned shortcomings were "discovered".  Perhaps consultation with actual cruisers could have avoided these "mistakes".  There are forward pools on all the ships.  I lamented the removal of the aft pool.  There are no balconies equivalent to the standard  BD cabins found on the Grand class.  Lets compare cabin class to cabin class, not mini suite to standard balcony.

We also missed the aft pool on Royal, but felt it was made up for by the Retreat Pool, which is head and shoulders above the Retreat pool on Grand class ships. Although in looking at the deck plan of Sky Princess, they ruined the area of that pool by adding staterooms port & starboard where there are loungers on Royal & Regal. The almighty dollar at work. 

[happy cruzer]

26 minutes ago, richsea said:

We also missed the aft pool on Royal, but felt it was made up for by the Retreat Pool, which is head and shoulders above the Retreat pool on Grand class ships. Although in looking at the deck plan of Sky Princess, they ruined the area of that pool by adding staterooms port & starboard where there are loungers on Royal & Regal. The almighty dollar at work. 

Yes, it does look like it will be very different with the cabins around that area.  But surely there will be a hallway to access the cabins.  And there will be seating on deck 18.  Time will tell how it will look.

[Potstech]

On 5/28/2019 at 5:54 PM, rkacruiser said:

 

Yes, I agree with both of your comments.  Having to wait for 90 minutes holding a pager for a seating is unacceptable.  And, to compound the issue, to be seated differently than what I had requested was an additional insult.

 

Another poster had praise for the Seaview Bar Menu.  What I saw was disappointing as a solo diner and at the prices being charged.

Have never ever had to wait 90 minutes for a table in Anytime Dining. Longest wait has been about 5 minutes.  Did not see anything we would like on the Seaview Bar Menu.

[HBCcruiser]

16 hours ago, KG2019 said:

what about electrical outlets in cabins on the Royal Princess?  Were there enough?  Are you even allowed to bring a power strip?

 

We were in a suite and wish there were more outlets. Only one on bathroom side of bed and no usable ones in the bathroom. There were two nice outlets by the desk in the living room, but I like to use my phone at night to play white noise. Luckily, I DID bring an adapter with multiple inputs and brought long chords. This helped  A LOT! I have never had an issue with using it on multiple cruise lines.  You are not permitted to bring a power strip with a built in breaker. On many ships all power chords are confiscated.

 

Edited May 31, 2019 by HBCcruiser