Royal Princess

[LAHAPPY13420]

Input on Royal Princess. Pros, cons? How’s the food? I’m getting the bev/coffee card that includes all types off coffees correct? Does this ship have milk shakes? Any other info is appreciated. I’m a huge foodie so keep it coming. 
 

Also does anyone know why my picture keeps posting side ways?

[skynight]

2 hours ago, LAHAPPY13420 said:

Input on Royal Princess. Pros, cons?

How’s the food? Great buffet. Very Large. DR food is good standard banquet food. International Cafe has a nice selection of sandwiches, salads, desserts and other items. Alfredo's, waiter served, has nice pizza and other menu items. We enjoy the burgers and pizza by the slice by the pool. Previous mentioned are all no charge.

Specialty Dining  includes Crown Grill, $29/pp, Sabatini's, $29/pp, and on some evenings the Crab Shack, also $29/pp. Dining experiences include Chef's Table, Winemaker's Dinner, Ultimate Balcony Dining.

You can google to find the menus.

I’m getting the bev/coffee card that includes all types of coffees correct?

New Ground Coffee Package? It includes 15 specialty espresso drinks, lattes etc., plus unlimited brewed coffee, specialty tea (Mighty Leaf), and hot chocolate.

https://www.princess.com/ships-and-experience/food-and-dining/beverages/

Does this ship have milk shakes?

Believe milk shakes are available at Coffee & Cones by the Lido pool. There is a cost maybe around $4.

Any other info is appreciated. I’m a huge foodie so keep it coming.

If food is your thing suggest you consider the Chef's Table, $115/pp. Sign up on boarding day.

There is a tea each afternoon in the DR, no charge. A few days there is a Royal afternoon tea which has a modest cost, $10? $20? There are two different prices with and without champagne. 
 

Also does anyone know why my picture keeps posting side ways?

See above.

[capriccio]

In addition to (or instead of) the Chef's Table try the Winemaker's Dinner only available on Royal class ships.  It is limited to 12 people and includes a three course menu with wine pairings for less than half the price of the Chef's Table.  See https://www.princess.com/news/backgrounders_and_fact_sheets/factsheet/Princess-Cruises-Chefs-Serve-Up-Fresh-Made-Dining-Choices.html  for a description of all the various food options.  The 'Wine Cellar' is the Winemaker's Dinner.

[skynight]

Correction. On further thought I think the milkshakes are available at gelatos on the Piazza.

[Cruiser_1977]

@capriccio So, both the Chef's Table and Winemaker's Dinner require guests to sign up once onboard? There is no way to reserve in advance? Also, I grew up in Harrisonburg 🙂

[kywildcatfanone]

The royal class ships all have a better buffet than others, and they have brewed coffee in the buffet as well, which is a plus. 

[capriccio]

Jenny - that's correct.  There are no advance reservations.  We're in northern Shenandoah County but Harrisonburg is well known to our family:  my brother and sister-in-law went to JMU in the late 70s/early 80s and all 3 of my sister's kids went there in the 00s. 

[Cruise Raider]

The Royal is by far the most beautiful Princess ship ... she just sparkles!!  

The cabins are super comfy, including the beds.  

There were all sorts of little outdoor seating areas all over the ship to get away from the crowds of fellow passengers.  

I thought the food was very good to great in every venue.  

The Medallion is in full swing ... we sailed on her on the cruise they rolled it out and had a few issues but, all in all, it's a wonderful feature.  The Medallion Net internet works great and is relatively inexpensive.      

All the bartenders that we met were phenomenal.  

Alfredos ... all I can say is YES!  YES!  YES!

Crooners ... OMG, very fun and entertaining! Great seating there, too. 

The fountains up at the pool ... NICE!!! 

Our cruise director, Matt O (If you are lucky enough to get him) was the BEST CD ever!

The entertainment was also wonderful ... I'm sure a lot of that has to do with the CD and his staff.  

I didn't try it but the Royal Tea looked like a great event!!  

 

Now, for the criticisms ... take them for what they are worth!  We still had a great cruise and have booked on her again and again ... Just know more of what to expect on our future sailings on her.  

Princess Live has inadequate seating for the shows / events they hold.  Go early and be prepared to wait!  Rather ridiculous but not uncommon for Princess!

The music in the piazza, while very lively and really good, is at a volume level that is so loud, you can't have a conversation with anybody even on the decks up above.  I understand the late night music being loud, but pre-dinner?  The volume should have come down a notch or before dinner when people meet for a cocktail and conversation.  

The buffet, while they serve awesome food and a great variety of it, the place is total chaos during meal times.  I put in my order at the egg station, waited and waited and they gave my order to someone else .... not once, but twice!  I never got my food after waiting for over 45 minutes because they just kept giving it to someone else.  Hey, I am waiting right here!!  When we went while the ship was in port, we couldn't say enough good things about it!  Seriously good food for a buffet! 

In the MDR, there seems to be a shortage of staff (almost like they were staffed for 1000 less passengers than they had) ... waiting and waiting and waiting just to get your order taken.  We did happen upon a wait team that was just phenomenal but you can't reserve a table with a specific wait team so we were only lucky enough to sit in their section for 3 out of 7 dinners.  Because we gave up on the buffet, we'd go to the MDR for breakfast.  One of the waiters actually told me it was a 'pain' for him to get my order.  Really?  It is only because I don't eat pork and requested turkey sausage ... never did get it.  Hmmm?  We also had a wine bottle package but that seemed to also throw them for a loop.  I asked that we have our wine while waiting for our meal, but they brought the food and the wine didn't show up until 45 minutes afterwards.  I am not exaggerating ... seriously??  Our appetizer was a cold dish so we just waited and waited for our wine to arrive before we ate.  I think this may have annoyed the waiter as he wanted to serve our entree ... all I would have to say is 'get our wine', we'll be happy to oblige.  

Thank goodness for Alfredos!!  Everybody in there was top notch!!  

On the topic of food, go really early if you want to partake in the Pub Lunch.  We were in line for not quite an hour and were the last ones seated and at a shared table.  Everybody that was behind us got skunked.  I asked if they could get us a drink but, they actually said they were too busy.  Seriously, I think majority of my criticism was about the poor or lack of service in the dining areas (except for Alfredos and that one wait team we had in the MDR).  Hopefully, some training has gone into this area or maybe just more staff.  

 

So, the Royal is a wonderful ship ... with probably the smoothest ride we've encountered on our many cruises throughout the years ... with just a little improvement needed in a few areas.  All in all .. it was still a great cruise and like I said, we have bookings on her 3 more times for this coming year.  Bon voyage and enjoy your sailing.  

 

 

 

 

[dfields1814]

We just got off the Royal last week.  I would not hesitate to take a cruise on her again. In fact I may RSVP a cruise on her today.

 

That being said she is not my all time favorite ship. There is no prominade deck on level 7. You can't walk around the ship on that deck. You have to go up tp 17. The balcony is tiny. You have to sit sideways.  There is no Skywalker's and Explorer's lounge. Club 6 is the replacement for Skywalker's. From some reason they turn up the AC in there - always very cold.  They  have a room called Live where they do game shows instead of the Explorers Lounge. The music and dancing has been moved to the piazza. Good luck finding a seat there during popular times. 

 

There are a lot a good things as well about the Royal. The bathroom and the shower seem larger. I don't know if there are or not. But they do seem larger.  The entertainment is second to none. Encore and Silk are great shows. On our last cruise the Sunset Quartet in the Wheelhouse Bar was absolutely the best. The buffet is huge. I am not fan of any buffet but my wife liked it.  The ship doesn't seem crowded even thought here are like 600 more passengers. Never had an issue with crowded elevators except at prime times like 5:00 PM. It is a medallion ship.  And the big positive. My wife doesn't get motion sickness on the Royal. On the smaller ships she does. My theory is that she is so big there is not as much motion.  

 

The MDR food was about standard for a Princess shop. No better No worse. Except the steak on both cruises was a bit tough. I eat mostly seafood anyway so that was not a big deal. Other than that the food was fine. But I am no foodie. If they give it to me I just eat it. 

 

The Royal is my wife's favorite ship by far. (This is the only Royal class we have been on.)

 

We have been on her twice. The first time was a 50 day cruise from FLL to LA. Both my wife and I say that that cruise was our all time favorite,  So for me even with its faults it provided me with the best cruise ever!

[Mike45LC]

I have seen the buffet on the Royal praised by many people.  I disagree, the buffet is NOT great.  Poorly organized, the same items in multiple places, but not grouped properly together.  Just as one example, there are no bagels located near the lox and cream cheese.  There were no tomatoes nor onions near the lox or the bagels.  So on the first day, I had to spend ten minutes or more finding the necessary fixings for my bagel, cream cheese and lox!  The next day, I knew where the bagels and onions and tomatoes all were.

 

I found the fried eggs to be greatly undercooked, every day.  I went to the various fried egg platters (probably three or four of them scattered around the buffet area) and all were wet sunny side up, with the egg whites not cooked.  What about all those health warnings about eating undercooked/raw eggs?  

 

I decided to get a made-to-order omelette.  Unlike other Princess ships, you do not tell a server what you want, instead you pile what ingredients you want into a bowl.  I was fine with that system.  But then my omelette was delivered, it was someone else’s.  (Probably Cruise Raiser’s!) And that person might like ingredients that I am not allowed to eat.  It could have triggered a medical crises, but I saw that it was not my omelette before I took a second bite.  So the omelette station was off my list!

 

I was completely underwhelmed with the buffet.  Happily, I do enjoy the double chocolate cookies, which they had every day.  But most of the desserts were not worth trying.

 

The pizza by the slice was just barely edible.  Although the pizza at Alfredo’s was good.  

 

I did not try the poolside burgers, hot dogs, etc., but the fries were good.

 

The International Café kept my wife from starving.

 

As to the Main Dining Room, my major complaint was that we were on Anytime Dining.  Second Seating was full when we booked our Royal cruise, and we were still wait listed when the ship sailed.  I dislike Anytime Dining.  I like having the same waitstaff every evening, so they learn our preferences.  I do not like waiting for a table for dinner, even though we did not have outrageous waits for a non-shared table – that worked pretty well.  There was one evening when there was a long wait, so we went to Alfredo’s that night.

 

[LAHAPPY13420]

Thanks everyone for your input. I can’t wait. Few more questions. Does this ship have a swirls or coffee and cones? I’m getting the soda card that’s combined with the coffee card. Am I able to use this card for the specialty items at the Gelato bar or only milkshakes if available? Also what’s the difference on tea time from the complementary one and the sur charge one?

[Outerdog]

18 hours ago, LAHAPPY13420 said:

Also does anyone know why my picture keeps posting side ways?

 

It has to do with the rotation parameter in the EXIF data of the original image before you uploaded it to the CC server, is my guess. Use an EXIF view/removal tool to check and remove the EXIF data, then upload it again to CC and see what happens.

 

https://www.verexif.com/en/

 

Why is my image rotated when I upload it...

https://www.howtogeek.com/254830/why-your-photos-dont-always-appear-correctly-rotated/

 

[XBGuy]

Since you are interested in food.

 

A few people have mentioned the Winemaker's Dinner.  On our Royal Princess cruise in September, that event took the form of a Super Tuscan Dinner held in the Sabatini's room.  That was the the culinary highight of our 12-day cruise (which also included the Chef's Table Luminiere).  Multiple excellent courses each paired with an Italiian wine.  Actually, not all the wines were Super Tuscans--a Prosecco was handed to us as we entered, then a Sardinian white with the appeztizer, then Super Tuscan reds with the next three courses (a soup, a rissotto and a steak) and a lemoncello with dessert.

 

We learned about this dinner while bantering with the headwaiter, Franco, on our first visit to Sabatini''s on Day 2 of the cruise.  He and I had a great time discussing wines.  So, he asked if we would be interested in this $60 pp event.  It did not even take a millisecond for me to agree, and he signed us up.

 

On the night of the event, Sabatini's was closed to other passengers.  When we were taken to our table by Franco, my wife was absolutely thrilled with the corner table next to a sea view window that was assigned to us.

[leck57]

The Royal is by far the best Princess ship we have been on. We just got off the Ruby and while I would cruise on her again, we have never been on a ship that felt as crowded as her. The weather outside was often cool so this may have contributed the number of people inside. The buffet on the Royal leaves most of the others for dead, it is large and has a wide choice, unlike the crowded chaos of the Ruby buffet.

Despite the Royal being larger than many other ships, we often wondered where the people were. Both of our cruises on her were full, yet we had no trouble with Anytime dining, getting in to shows (if the early show was full, just do something else and go to the late show), nor the buffet.

[Cruise Raider]

7 hours ago, XBGuy said:

 

We learned about this dinner while bantering with the headwaiter, Franco, on our first visit to Sabatini''s on Day 2 of the cruise.  He and I had a great time discussing wines.  So, he asked if we would be interested in this $60 pp event.  It did not even take a millisecond for me to agree, and he signed us up.

 

On the night of the event, Sabatini's was closed to other passengers.  When we were taken to our table by Franco, my wife was absolutely thrilled with the corner table next to a sea view window that was assigned to us.

 

We just love Franco!!  

[skynight]

On 12/6/2019 at 12:07 AM, LAHAPPY13420 said:

Thanks everyone for your input. I can’t wait. Few more questions. Does this ship have a swirls or coffee and cones? I’m getting the soda card that’s combined with the coffee card. Am I able to use this card for the specialty items at the Gelato bar or only milkshakes if available? Also what’s the difference on tea time from the complementary one and the sur charge one?

Swirls is by the Lido Pool. Free soft ice cream all day and evening.

No specific Coffee & Cones venue. But, specialty coffee drinks are available at various locations around the ship, for example Princess Live Bar.

Here are the terms for the Premier Coffee & Soda Package. I kind of remember that milkshakes are served in gelatos. They should be covered. Gelato is not covered, no food items.

https://book.princess.com/cruisepersonalizer/onboard/viewservicelisting.page?service=beverages&items=0535,0532,0540,2314,2316,0482,0481,0496,0497,0498,0499,0480

Regular afternoon tea is served in the DR. Small sandwiches, scones and other items are served.

The Royal tea is served in section of the Piazza, $10 or $20 with champagne. Fancier sandwiches, and other items. Try the regular tea first. 

[HBCcruiser]

Here is a link to my live review from less than a year ago. It includes videos of the ship in case you are interested. We loved the Royal and are doing a B2B on her this spring. 

 

[MsSoCalCruiser]

On the Port side of the buffet, at lunch time, there is an area where they make grilled vegetables and they are so good. 

[Steelers0854]

On 12/5/2019 at 10:30 PM, Outerdog said:

 

It has to do with the rotation parameter in the EXIF data of the original image before you uploaded it to the CC server, is my guess. Use an EXIF view/removal tool to check and remove the EXIF data, then upload it again to CC and see what happens.

 

https://www.verexif.com/en/

 

Why is my image rotated when I upload it...

https://www.howtogeek.com/254830/why-your-photos-dont-always-appear-correctly-rotated/

 

 

The easier way to resolve this issue is when you upload photos to CC via the website you need to upload them in FULL resolution.  Anything else and they get turned.  Took me a couple days to figure this out with help from another poster.

Edited December 7, 2019 by Steelers0854

[MissP22]

We feel that the food on any of the Royal class ships is either equal or above that of any of Princess ships. They always have something of interest at the buffet and it's always prepared very well. The DR was the same as most of the other ships.

[BarbinMich]

22 hours ago, MissP22 said:

We feel that the food on any of the Royal class ships is either equal or above that of any of Princess ships. They always have something of interest at the buffet and it's always prepared very well. The DR was the same as most of the other ships.

We've been on the Royal twice for a total of 24 days (14-day TA and 10-day Caribbean).  My main complaint about the buffet (which is wide open; not in a smallish room as on the older ships) is that the food is often tepid (i.e. not very hot).  Generally, we eat all our meals in the buffet so this was a major disappointment.  Also, missed the promenade found on older ships.  Was wowed by the beautiful atrium with its curving stairways and glitziness.  As others have said Princess Live is an inadequate replacement for the much larger Explorers Lounge (with tables and chairs instead of P Live's separate seats a la classroom-type seats) on older ships.  Finally, the casino (which is presumably a money-maker) is tiny compared to those on the older ships:  tables very close together and against one wall while the slots are very close to them and each other (inadequate space between the rows of machines).  On the plus side:  theater seating area seems larger, there's a wonderful quiet, covered seating area aft of the buffet area with loungers.  I enjoyed using that area while in the Caribbean!

[MissP22]

3 hours ago, BarbinMich said:

My main complaint about the buffet (which is wide open; not in a smallish room as on the older ships) is that the food is often tepid (i.e. not very hot).  Generally, we eat all our meals in the buffet so this was a major disappointment. 

 

I'll only address this portion of your post.

 

That sounds like a disappointment from how things use to be when the ship was in the Caribbean. We do like the openness of the Royal class ships to make it easier to get your food but it sounds as though they've fallen down on their ability to keep things hot.

If it happened to me I would be in the sous chef's face and want an explanation since they're constantly on duty throughout all the meals. After all, it's one of his job functions to monitor the foods temps. Since they always carry a thermometer in their top pocket I would follow him around to see exactly what he did to correct the situation. 

Once on the Royal I complained about an item being over salted & they immediately diluted it with more unsalted veggies for an immediate fix. 

They do listen when people comment. 

It also helps to praise him what things are great. 

I'm sure the Maitre D' would also want to know what people thought of his performance. 

[dara90210]

On 12/6/2019 at 10:45 AM, XBGuy said:

Since you are interested in food.

 

A few people have mentioned the Winemaker's Dinner.  On our Royal Princess cruise in September, that event took the form of a Super Tuscan Dinner held in the Sabatini's room.  That was the the culinary highight of our 12-day cruise (which also included the Chef's Table Luminiere).  Multiple excellent courses each paired with an Italiian wine.  Actually, not all the wines were Super Tuscans--a Prosecco was handed to us as we entered, then a Sardinian white with the appeztizer, then Super Tuscan reds with the next three courses (a soup, a rissotto and a steak) and a lemoncello with dessert.

 

We learned about this dinner while bantering with the headwaiter, Franco, on our first visit to Sabatini''s on Day 2 of the cruise.  He and I had a great time discussing wines.  So, he asked if we would be interested in this $60 pp event.  It did not even take a millisecond for me to agree, and he signed us up.

 

On the night of the event, Sabatini's was closed to other passengers.  When we were taken to our table by Franco, my wife was absolutely thrilled with the corner table next to a sea view window that was assigned to us.

That sounds amazing!

[Colo Cruiser]

I thought there were no milkshakes available on the Royal Class ships?

FWIW.....

On the Sky swirls on Lido deck did not have anything besides soft serve.

[frugaltravel]

My main complaint with the Royal, especially for a scenic sailing like Alaska or CA/NE, is that there is no forward public viewing area. No wraparound promenade deck. No forward area on an upper deck (all staterooms). Therefore IMHO the Royal is not an ideal ship for scenic sailings, which are more about the itinerary than the ship itself.