Suite Life on the Royal

[slc22]

Hi slc22,

 

I am sure you will be happy with your balcony, I took a photo over the top of our divider of D425's balcony which is the starboard side corresponding one to yours, it is 8ft from the window to the rail, which gives you plenty of room to sit & stretch your legs out.

 

We had to lean out slightly to be able to view the seawalk, the lights were lovely at night. One thing that I haven't read anywhere, but feel that I should mention, the glass on both the seawalk & seaview is 2 way & therefore looking up from our balcony we could see the people walking on the seawalk above..

 

Oh, Dragonqueen Thanks so much for the picture. I can't wait for my cruise, what a great balcony. It has to be one of the Royal's best values, for a standard balcony category!

 

You make a really good point about view up to sea walk and sea view! Ha!

 

Thanks again!

[Kentchikan]

Oh, Dragonqueen Thanks so much for the picture. I can't wait for my cruise, what a great balcony. It has to be one of the Royal's best values, for a standard balcony category!

 

You make a really good point about view up to sea walk and sea view! Ha!

 

Thanks again!

 

Sounds like the view is more than just a sea view. An unintended consequence as we say.

Edited August 22, 2013 by Kentskie

[Quacky]

Dr. Pam,

 

Thank you so much for your posting! Very informative and enjoyable reading!! Quick question if you do not mind answering -- were you allowed access into the Enclave as part of being in the Owner's Suite. Our family is sailing on the Royal and we hav the Owner's Suite on the Riveria Deck.

 

Thanks so much.

:)

[CinWin]

We were upgraded to E727 - aft. Not sure if it is a suite or a mini-suite. Also - we have never been on the Emerald deck and wonder if those verandas are covered.

Cindy

[Kentchikan]

Congratulations. You can look up your new room here.

http://www.princess.com/learn/ships/rp/deck_plans/index.html

[dmwnc1959]

We were upgraded to E727 - aft. Not sure if it is a suite or a mini-suite. Also - we have never been on the Emerald deck and wonder if those verandas are covered.

Cindy

 

 

Hi Cindy,

 

E727 is a Deluxe Balcony. Here's an arrow for you... :D

 

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2855/9572365587_0f2636abd9_b.jpg

[RNGALNG]

We were upgraded to E727 - aft. Not sure if it is a suite or a mini-suite. Also - we have never been on the Emerald deck and wonder if those verandas are covered.

Cindy

 

I will be on the Crown this winter and took the last room port side on the Riviera deck. People have told me that the only problem with the end unit is that you will have to lean to see behind you as there is a steel wall there. I am sure you will have the same problem, if one could call it that!

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[CinWin]

Thanks for answering, dmwnc1959. Both my TA and myself must have an older brochure showing it as a suite. We both found out today that our upgrade is really a Deluxe Balcony. We are o.k. with it but still wondering if the E727 balcony is one that is covered.

Cindy

[Kentchikan]

Thanks for answering, dmwnc1959. Both my TA and myself must have an older brochure showing it as a suite. We both found out today that our upgrade is really a Deluxe Balcony. We are o.k. with it but still wondering if the E727 balcony is one that is covered.

Cindy

 

I read the description and it sounds like more room and other amenities.

[dmwnc1959]

Thanks for answering, dmwnc1959. Both my TA and myself must have an older brochure showing it as a suite. We both found out today that our upgrade is really a Deluxe Balcony. We are o.k. with it but still wondering if the E727 balcony is one that is covered.

Cindy

 

Hi Cindy!

 

Here's another image showing a better view (but doesn't have an 'arrow' this time). Your balcony is the next to last door on bottom balcony deck which is Emerald Deck. The last door belongs to the suite. You can see that your balcony has the standard overhead coverage as most all of the other side facing balconies.

 

(click on image to enlarge)

http://photos.marinetraffic.com/ais/showphoto.aspx?photoid=1351310&size=full

 

:D

Edited August 24, 2013 by dmwnc1959

[PrincessCatarina]

I was on this cruise as well and enjoyed reading the review. I hope to post something soon from the perspective of a family travelling with a toddler. Decided to arrive at the port in Venice a little later at around 12:30 pm to hopefully board immediately as it is tough to wait around with a little one. We are Platinum and headed to the Elite/ Platinum check-in desk. Upon processing my paperwork the lady gave me a piece of paper stating we would be welcome to board following all priority passengers and other groups currently waiting....I asked what happened to Platinums? Se apologized and quickly told me I was welcome to board immediately. Then the same happened to other Platinums in our party! I guess they had started processing everyone in the priority desk area at that point and were not paying attention. This was my first cruise as Platinum and not what I had expected. It was not tremendously crowded at the port at this time and we were on the ship shortly after 1 pm.

[Kentchikan]

I was on this cruise as well and enjoyed reading the review. I hope to post something soon from the perspective of a family travelling with a toddler. Decided to arrive at the port in Venice a little later at around 12:30 pm to hopefully board immediately as it is tough to wait around with a little one. We are Platinum and headed to the Elite/ Platinum check-in desk. Upon processing my paperwork the lady gave me a piece of paper stating we would be welcome to board following all priority passengers and other groups currently waiting....I asked what happened to Platinums? Se apologized and quickly told me I was welcome to board immediately. Then the same happened to other Platinums in our party! I guess they had started processing everyone in the priority desk area at that point and were not paying attention. This was my first cruise as Platinum and not what I had expected. It was not tremendously crowded at the port at this time and we were on the ship shortly after 1 pm.

 

The people working boarding are not Princess employees and work different and might get confused this is not an excuse just a possible reason. I'm sorry you weren't treated better. One of the best benefits of Platinum is the early boarding. (and the internet of course). I hope your next experience is better. I hope that you and your toddler had fun on board. I've seen the way the crew treats kids and they are wonderful with them.

[DLSHS_Mom]

Dr Pam,

Thank you so much for your detailed review. We are going to take the same cruise next year on the Regal so I really appreciate your advice. We have also found private tours are a much better fit for our family....my husband and son hate tours with shopping involved :)

Thanks again,

Julie

[Dr. Pam]

Dr Pam, thank you so much for taking the time to write such a long review, very helpful! I am booked in a S4 but am seriously thinking of changing to an S2 and have been dying to read a review of one of those cabins! Also, have been curious about the Concierge Lounge and your review was helpful. It is unfortunately what I thought it would be...not much. But, better than no lounge at all! The balcony is the reason we are thinking of switching and you were helpful there also. The very few pictures I have seen look like there is a hallway from the living room to the bedroom that might have closets along the wall/hall, is this correct? Bathroom in between the 2 rooms off the hallway? By any chance do you have pictures that you can share?

Thanks again for a great and informative review!!

 

I hope this pic helps. I found that there was ample closet and drawer space and between you and me, I am not a light packer!

[Cruise Junky]

There's a new review of the Penthouse Suite posted if anyone is interested...

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=226216

[Dr. Pam]

Dr. Pam,

Thanks so much for taking the time to post your review. I understood what you were saying.

 

After lots of research, I booked R731 the first day it opened. We are looking forward to all the sunshine although it is nice to get a little shade once in a while. The first thing I noticed when I saw a picture of the balcony, was that there were only two chairs with the table. Did you ask your steward if he could get you two more chairs? Our son is also joining us and we always eat lunch on our balcony along with many dinners. We also have guests over every night so I am real disappointed they cut back. Wonder what they will do when we order the balcony dinner - maybe bring a folding chair in:D.

 

It is interesting about getting a bottle of bubbly with your first night dinner. We did four cruises last year and the AMEX- plat perk gave us a bottle with dinner but not the first night in the suite dinner. Maybe that is a something new.

 

So, what exactly did the person in the lounge do for you? Did he help with excursions? Dinner reservations? And was it the same person every day or different ones? Do people come in and just sit around having coffee or take it back to their cabins? We always get a call from the dinning room staff the first afternoon asking when we want dinner - did they call? or was that taken care of in the lounge?

 

Did they invite the suite people to stay in the new lounge the last morning. They had a special morning lounge for suite people on the Star last spring. It was really nice.

 

I hope you will continue to answer our questions. Thanks again for spending your time with this.

 

HI Compozer...

 

We received a bottle of "champagne" at each of our 3 dinners. 1 suite gratis dinner, 1 plat amex dinner and 1 from our internet TA agency. All of them came with a bottle. :) It was fun!

 

The 2 concierges that I saw were not that proactive....mainly sitting at their desk (expected) and greeted people. One day, it was noted that my key card was demagnitized for paying for ship items (not disembarking or embarking at ports), I had thought that perhaps she could fix it for me, but the concierge in the lounge does not have the same equipment as the purser's desk (quite different from RCCL..one stop fixes :) ). Since we were running late coming in from port, I asked if there was anyway she could expedite (READ>>>fix it for me). She said it would take a couple of hours before she could go down. OK... got it...this is not a land based concierge system. No problem (Others...pls do not flame me for this oversight, but a good concierge would have this situation rectified in minutes...just my $.02)

 

Re: Chairs on balcony. We moved the 2 blue chairs from our kids (connecting balcony) and placed them around our verandah dining table.

 

Ok, Sorry, was distracted for a sec (life)..Re: call from dining room did NOT happen. We had to make our own way. (nothing was taken care of in the lounge). So do not get excited about the CL......Concierges with good memories but no personalities. WE did not need help with excursions as I had organized them all myself and as far as meeting other guests and having coffee....well it just did not have that vibe. Very disappointing...but perhaps it might change.

 

RE: our last breakfast onboard. We ordered a full room service breakfast and dined on our lovely verandah one last time :(. (I am still missing wonderful Agnes) I have to stress once again, what a lovely Princess suite perk it to have this option!. We finished breakfast and then sadly departed to the Concierge lounge to be called. It was not crowded and again....the concierge left us with a less than a warm and fuzzy feeling...(HELLO CORPORATE....something called FIRST and LAST IMPRESSIONS). I will stress once again that we are not needy travellers. We are independent and only will ask for help if we cannot fix it ourselves. However, we do appreciate polite inquires and conversation to see if everything is OK. Again, just my $.02. RCCL concierges have got this down to an art. They are amazing. For a larger size ship, I would take the Celebrity Equinox Royal Suite (minus the butler), put in a RCCL Concierge Lounge with ALL of their amazing staff, and to keep our palates happy, Princess is in charge of the food! Of course, Andre (our suite steward) and Agnes (our room service steward) would have to be included!

 

Again, any day on a cruise is a great day......:)

Edited August 31, 2013 by Dr. Pam

[Dr. Pam]

Sorry Compozer...here is a pic of closet in R731 suite.

 

Pam

[Dr. Pam]

Dr. Pam,

 

Thank you for your review. It was very helpful as we will be on the 9/3 sailing and this will be my first cruise ever... :eek: So, I have been trying to read everything I can on Cruise Critic to learn the ways from the experts...so Thank you again for your time.

 

Quick question, do you know if they had hot water in the Concierge Lounge?

I was thinking of bringing along a coffee press for morning coffee or tea. I think you said they had coffee in the lounge, but the talk about the coffee quality on the ship got me thinking of other options. :confused:

 

Newbie...Chris

 

They definitely had hot water in the lounge. It was from the same machine that made cappuccinos, coffees, etc. They also had a selection of tees. Enjoy your cruise!

[Dr. Pam]

Dr. Pam,

 

I am very thankful for your understated mention of the amount of children & specifically the disruption that a small portion caused. I was unsure whether my husband & I had become so totally out of touch with how children should behave & modern parenting, I believe that even more disruption was caused on the final night causing damage in Bellinis & the whole of Horizon court to be closed due to tampering with the food.

 

 

As for the Meet & Greet, I think the timing at 11.00 am was unfortunate, I had researched & taken advice from previous organisers & prepared & given to the customer services, individual & personalised invites for all the senior staff, (including the Captain), & the editor of the Princess Patter who kindly included it in the Patter. The Maitre'D was kind enough to pop in & apologise for not attending, but looking at all the other events & activities that were coinciding with our M&G I was amazed that anyone turned up at all, I would like to say a BIG thank you to everyone who did & especially to Shauna who did all our name tags & the 2 members of staff from the Teen Program.

I am surprised that Princess doesn't seem to recognise the work & affect that cruise critic can afford their business & I was surprised to receive documentation off Princess who had misunderstood our M&G & thought I was some kind of tour guide/organiser for the group & requested that I completed the disembarkation forms for everyone in the group :eek:

 

 

 

Hi Dragonqueen,

 

Thank you for your response....you were so lovely and amazing in bringing us all together!

 

I was not disappointed with the number of children onboard....but rather the absolute lack of manners that was exhibited by some teens and children. My kids were appalled! Excuse me, but where were the parents???! I did not realize that when the Captain announced the banning of some families from sailing Princess that these above noted events had happened! I thought it was the fighting of some young guys by our aft elevator. Without doubt, there were some very rude children onboard!

 

 

RE: the M & G, I think that you did a wonderful job bringing everyone together...and what a great turnout! Even our short face to face meeting with all the other nice cruisers at the M & G, afforded some great impromptu get togethers... Hi ALI, Hi first time sailor! HI all. Thank you Dragonqueen for your efforts, it was very much appreciated!

 

 

Princess better roll out the RED Carpets for our man, Dave!!

 

Again, thank you for all your efforts......I really think that Princess dropped the ball on this one!

[Dr. Pam]

Hi slc22,

 

I am sure you will be happy with your balcony, I took a photo over the top of our divider of D425's balcony which is the starboard side corresponding one to yours, it is 8ft from the window to the rail, which gives you plenty of room to sit & stretch your legs out, my only disappointment was that we didn't have a foot stool, which would have fitted easily on our balcony.

 

We had to lean out slightly to be able to view the seawalk, the lights were lovely at night. One thing that I haven't read anywhere, but feel that I should mention, the glass on both the seawalk & seaview is 2 way & therefore looking up from our balcony we could see the people walking on the seawalk above. Now we were down on deck 9 & my distance eyesight is still pretty good, therefore there were times when I was aware of being able to view more than I would want people to see of myself. I should think that people on higher decks & further round under the walkway would have even more intimate views.

 

:O Whoops, that would have been me walking on the seawalk. My family forced me to walk it a few times to overcome my fear of heighS!!! My apoligies. :D

[sunsetbeachgal]

That is so sad, rather pathetic about the children and lack of parenting. We were on the cruise before yours, with over 800 children on board and not a whisper of a problem that we saw or experienced. Very sad...

[Dr. Pam]

Dr. Pam,

 

Thank you so much for your posting! Very informative and enjoyable reading!! Quick question if you do not mind answering -- were you allowed access into the Enclave as part of being in the Owner's Suite. Our family is sailing on the Royal and we hav the Owner's Suite on the Riveria Deck.

 

Thanks so much.

:)

 

I do not think that we were able to access the Enclave, but honestly, we did not check. I think that Princess should elevate the suite experience by having a letter of all the perks in our suite upon arrival. A lot of the things that were included were taken from CC and from their website. I believe that this is an oversight on PRincess' behalf.

[Dr. Pam]

Dr Pam,

Thank you so much for your detailed review. We are going to take the same cruise next year on the Regal so I really appreciate your advice. We have also found private tours are a much better fit for our family....my husband and son hate tours with shopping involved :)

Thanks again,

Julie

 

Thank you. You will have an amazing time. Happy and safe travels!

 

:)Pam

[IECalCruiser]

There's a new review of the Penthouse Suite posted if anyone is interested...

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=226216

Wish they could have posted photos. The review of the room is what I would have expected. The 5 foot wide balconies on the PH suites on Riviera deck on the CB Crown, Emerald and Ruby are barely tolerable and it appears the 4 foot wide balconies on the Royal and Regal are disasters :( Our PH on the Emerald was an inexpensive upsell and we knew what we would be getting for a balcony. If I was paying for a full suite on the Royal/Regal it would only be an aft Cat S2 and then only on Baja or Dolphin deck with the larger, half covered aft balconies.

[Cruise Junky]

Wish they could have posted photos. The review of the room is what I would have expected. The 5 foot wide balconies on the PH suites on Riviera deck on the CB Crown, Emerald and Ruby are barely tolerable and it appears the 4 foot wide balconies on the Royal and Regal are disasters :( Our PH on the Emerald was an inexpensive upsell and we knew what we would be getting for a balcony. If I was paying for a full suite on the Royal/Regal it would only be an aft Cat S2 and then only on Baja or Dolphin deck with the larger, half covered aft balconies.

 

I think there were Penthouse pictures posted when USA today did their review. If you google USA Today Royal Princess Pictures you'll probably find them.