Royal Princess aft balcony

Has the soot problem been resolved or is it still a problem for those staying in the aft balcony?

.

Has the soot problem been resolved or is it still a problem for those staying in the aft balcony?

.

.

G'day Mate

The short answer to your two part question is No and Yes.

These are the latest answers I can find which I will requote here as there is still no search function for anyone to utilise anymore it seems, unless you want to go down the Google route. :mad:

.

I think the biggest problem is that the Royal is just longer than the other ships (132 feet longer than the Grand-class!).

 

So the distance from the funnel to the back of the ship is longer...ergo, soot that normally clears the aft section of the Grand-class ships lands at the back of the Royal.

.

 

Word on the street is. They are blaming the soot issue on the MUTS screen.

 

It's supposed to be creating some kinda air currents that causes the soot

Not to lift high enough over the ship to get it out of the way.

 

I also heard that when the designers were doing their air-flow test with a model,

they forgot to put a mini MUTS screen in place.

 

Oops. :eek:

.

So from the Regal sister ship thread there has been no Installation of any type of scrubbers or other technology to clean up the exhaust deposits or exhaust fumes on her or no retrofit or solution to the Royals well documented problems I guess.

.

:confused:

As usual no official statement from Princess, close your eyes the problem doesn't exist standard operating practice... :o

So from a chimney-sweeps point of view the larger soot landings to avoid are : -

Owners Suites

M722. M723. R730. R731. B734. B735. D726. D727.

Premium Deluxe Balconies

M724. M726. M727. M725. R732. R734. R735. R733.

B736. B738. B739. B737. D728. D730. D731. D729.

.

Hope that helps...

Cheers.

:cool:

We stayed in B738 on the Feb 23rd sailing. For 6 of the 7 days, we just had very fine black dust which we wiped off each morning with the extra beach towels our room steward provided for that purpose. However, on the morning we pulled into St Martaan, the deck was covered in large (approx. 3/4 - 1 inch in diameter) oily pieces of soot. It took two towels to get most of it, but it was very nasty. I decided to make a trip to passenger services to register our dissatisfaction. She immediately apologized and said they are aware of it but it can't be fixed in 24 hours, so she would have her manager call us to discuss compensation. We received a very nice shipboard credit. Since we couldn't use it all in the days remaining, on the last night they refunded the credit balance to us in cash. The said they no longer put a credit on your credit card or mail you a check so we got cash. Our balcony was half open and half covered and all the other fully AFT balconies looked the same throughout the week. Hope this update helps.

As mentioned the best information available is that the problem is caused by an air flow problem around the MUTS screen. Read a STRUCTURAL issue. This won't be fixed until a dry dock and there are none in the Royals current schedule. There was a suggestion that the ship might switch to a lower emission fuel to help. They currently have to use low emission fuel to sail in US waters so I don't think thats the fix. Don't hold your breath on this issue going away soon. Hopefully the Regal will sail out with the solution already incorporated into the design especially since she has an aft pool added as well.

We stayed in B738 on the Feb 23rd sailing. For 6 of the 7 days, we just had very fine black dust which we wiped off each morning with the extra beach towels our room steward provided for that purpose. However, on the morning we pulled into St Martaan, the deck was covered in large (approx. 3/4 - 1 inch in diameter) oily pieces of soot. It took two towels to get most of it, but it was very nasty. I decided to make a trip to passenger services to register our dissatisfaction. She immediately apologized and said they are aware of it but it can't be fixed in 24 hours, so she would have her manager call us to discuss compensation. We received a very nice shipboard credit. Since we couldn't use it all in the days remaining, on the last night they refunded the credit balance to us in cash. The said they no longer put a credit on your credit card or mail you a check so we got cash. Our balcony was half open and half covered and all the other fully AFT balconies looked the same throughout the week. Hope this update helps.

Do you mind me asking what the credit was? I couldn't imagine not using my balcony.

Did the cabin attendant clean the balcony each day or did the soot just accumulate?

Do you mind me asking what the credit was? I couldn't imagine not using my balcony.

We received $350 per person that we just applied to our next cruise. We had a really big balcony that we couldn't use. Was just a deluxe balcony cabin though, not a suite.

.

Did the cabin attendant clean the balcony each day or did the soot just accumulate?

.

I think you need to read lucky 951's quote accurately.

.

'we just had very fine black dust which WE wiped off each morning with the extra beach towels our room steward provided for that purpose.'

.

I have not read or heard of anywhere that Princess employees clean this mess up, they expect you to waste your holiday time doing it for them while YOU pay them a premium for the privilege.

You should feel special you get on board staff training! :rolleyes:

The fact that they are giving you beach towels to assist makes all the difference though.

Who knows some enterprising entrepreneur might start selling Royal bucket & mop kits complete with striped t-shirt that reads: -

" I swabbed Princess Kate's God-Daughters Aft!'

.

:eek:

Hmmm now there's a thought screw the refund be pro-active!

:(:o

Did the cabin attendant clean the balcony each day or did the soot just accumulate?

rabbitoh_777 - you are wrong.

The cabin attendant cleaned the balcony twice a day but if you wanted to use the balcony for breakfast (before he came in for the morning cleaning) you had to clean it up yourself.

As lucky951 said - he gave us extra towels and told us we should use them to sit on the chairs (which we did every day, just in case).

There was only one morning that it was so bad that you really couldn't go out.

I don't know if it matters but , soot and all, it was a lovely balcony and I would book it again.

I knew about the soot before-hand so wasn't surprised and knew what to expect .

I don't know if it matters but , soot and all, it was a lovely balcony and I would book it again.

I knew about the soot before-hand so wasn't surprised and knew what to expect .

I tend to agree with you. There is no perfect cabin, it's just a decision between trade-offs. By the way, has there been any discussion of toxicity.

I will never book the aft balcony cabins again. We couldn't use the balcony at all for 7 days. Stood out there before sail away in St. Thomas as were a lot of others. Every single person had a frown on their faces and we all talked about the soot.

I switched cabins to the side for the Regal sailing. Got a nice size balcony which is rare on this ship. Too bad but I probably won't be sailing on this class of ships very often. Balconies are very important to me.

Luckily I also knew about the soot issue before we left.

I assume that the soot production issue occurs while the ship is under way. That means there is no soot produced while the ship is in port. Is that correct? (I am booking an aft cabin that is on a port intensive itinerary.)

I will never book the aft balcony cabins again. We couldn't use the balcony at all for 7 days. Stood out there before sail away in St. Thomas as were a lot of others. Every single person had a frown on their faces and we all talked about the soot.

 

I switched cabins to the side for the Regal sailing. Got a nice size balcony which is rare on this ship. Too bad but I probably won't be sailing on this class of ships very often. Balconies are very important to me.

 

Luckily I also knew about the soot issue before we left.

Just started doing the research for a balcony room on the Regal. Could you share your rare find cabin. I am not finding too much good info about any 'unique' balconies. TIA

Dave

I assume that the soot production issue occurs while the ship is under way. That means there is no soot produced while the ship is in port. Is that correct? (I am booking an aft cabin that is on a port intensive itinerary.)

The soot seems to be dependent on the direction of the wind.

If you stand on your (aft) balcony you can see the smoke the stacks produce. If the wind is blowing across the ship you'll get soot. if it's blowing out to sea you won't.

I wonder if they haven't found somewhat of a resolution - Sox Fan's cruise was in the fall and was awful. Ours was in February and only one day was awful.

Just started doing the research for a balcony room on the Regal. Could you share your rare find cabin. I am not finding too much good info about any 'unique' balconies. TIA

 

Dave

There are two minor bump outs just foward of the midship elevators. There a few cabins that are actually full size and not those time little things all over the rest of the ship. Just make sure that you aren't too high as then you have the problem of the SeaWalk looking down at you.

We went with E429, but you could also get E433 or E425 on either side of that and E405, 407, 409 a little forward. And off course on the matching cabins on the other side of the ship would be equivalent.

I gave you ones on Emerald deck but you can check out the similar cabins on the upper decks.

There are two minor bump outs just foward of the midship elevators. There a few cabins that are actually full size and not those time little things all over the rest of the ship. Just make sure that you aren't too high as then you have the problem of the SeaWalk looking down at you.

 

We went with E429, but you could also get E433 or E425 on either side of that and E405, 407, 409 a little forward. And off course on the matching cabins on the other side of the ship would be equivalent.

 

I gave you ones on Emerald deck but you can check out the similar cabins on the upper decks.

Thanks for this info,we're considering E433 was it noisy with the promenade deck below or in the evening etc? Would love the larger balcony Thank you!

Thanks for this info,we're considering E433 was it noisy with the promenade deck below or in the evening etc? Would love the larger balcony Thank you!

Absolutely zero noise front the promenade below. No one uses it on these ships. It's so small that you only get the occasional strollers or someone wanting peace and quiet.

BUT, the one complaint I have for deck E is at night. The lights on the deck rail of the promenade don't have a top shield to them so the light shines up and right in your face on your balcony. I'm sure it's nothing that Princess thought of when they designed the ship. It was very annoying when trying to look out at the water. We kept having to shield our eyes from it. Did it ruin our cruise? Absolutely not. Did it ruin our balcony experience? No. But for our next Royal or Regal cruise, we will go up on more deck and hope it's better.

Just something to think about.

Absolutely zero noise front the promenade below. No one uses it on these ships. It's so small that you only get the occasional strollers or someone wanting peace and quiet.

 

BUT, the one complaint I have for deck E is at night. The lights on the deck rail of the promenade don't have a top shield to them so the light shines up and right in your face on your balcony. I'm sure it's nothing that Princess thought of when they designed the ship. It was very annoying when trying to look out at the water. We kept having to shield our eyes from it. Did it ruin our cruise? Absolutely not. Did it ruin our balcony experience? No. But for our next Royal or Regal cruise, we will go up on more deck and hope it's better.

 

Just something to think about.

Thanks! That's great to know. It's difficult to tell on the deck plans but if we're in E 433 are the lifeboats still aft? Not right in front? Hoping our view straight off the balcony will be pretty clear but it is an obstructed category. These angled balconies may also limit the view forward? Thanks again!

I will never book the aft balcony cabins again. We couldn't use the balcony at all for 7 days. Stood out there before sail away in St. Thomas as were a lot of others. Every single person had a frown on their faces and we all talked about the soot.

 

I switched cabins to the side for the Regal sailing. Got a nice size balcony which is rare on this ship. Too bad but I probably won't be sailing on this class of ships very often. Balconies are very important to me.

 

Luckily I also knew about the soot issue before we left.

Absolutely love aft (wake) view cabins; just not on the Royal. We had an OS suite and the balcony was pretty much useless due to the soot. We hosted a saliaway party out of Venice but after that, we noted the daily buildup that made it a not so nice situation. I wasn't affected by it, but DW has allergy issues and she could not go out on the huge balcony for more than a couple of minutes.....

Bob

Our Caribe aft, so called deluxe balcony was totally useless. Yes, the cabin attendants tried and tried to keep it cleaned up but it just wasn't happening. Princess did switch us to Dolphin forward mid cruise and gave us a credit. This was on the Maiden TA.

Our Caribe aft, so called deluxe balcony was totally useless. Yes, the cabin attendants tried and tried to keep it cleaned up but it just wasn't happening. Princess did switch us to Dolphin forward mid cruise and gave us a credit. This was on the Maiden TA.

On the same cruise we didn't switch our cabin but did get a nice pp credit for a future cruise.....:):):)

Bob

On the same cruise we didn't switch our cabin but did get a nice pp credit for a future cruise.....:):):)

 

Bob

How well I remember, Bob.:D:D Its funny, you are Bosox got the credit for a future cruise. We got our credit posted to our Credit Card within 10 days.

How well I remember, Bob.:D:D Its funny, you are Bosox got the credit for a future cruise. We got our credit posted to our Credit Card within 10 days.

We also got a nice pp obc for the same future cruise. Applying them both to our T/A in September. Got a sizeable amount off and the obc credit along with cashing in some Princess Rewards Visa points will give us over 1K obc to start the cruise....:):):)

Bob

We received $350 per person that we just applied to our next cruise. We had a really big balcony that we couldn't use. Was just a deluxe balcony cabin though, not a suite.

Was this on the Royal? Will it be an issue on the Regal? Well, not giving up the aft, but will compain if sotty and see if I get lucky with an OBC too.

It was on the Royal. But we were on the Regal in Nov and looked down and saw soot ont their balconies floors. And the smell was so bad we could stay back there. Cancelled our aft cabin on the Royal for this Nov and booked one of the side rooms with a half decent balcony. There aren't many on this ship.