Review - Royal Princess Maiden Caribbean Sailing (Long)

[Freq Traveler]

Thank you so much for your review. Some people go on a ship looking for something to complain about. They will surely find it. I choose to go and enjoy myself. No cooking, cleaning or getting up early for work. A beautiful ship, sunshine and blue waters FAR out way any small issues I have encountered over our 20 cruises. So glad you had a good time on your cruise.

[kaiemiascott2]

Jerry,

 

I too enjoyed reading your review. I have not sailed with Princess for about 7 years and I find myself reading as much as I can about the Royal since we are booked on her in January. Was starting to get very nervous after reading some of the reviews and must say after reading yours I feel much better. We are very experienced cruisers and have been on 51 cruises so far and have really enjoyed all of them with the exception of two.

 

I do have one question for you if you do not mind answering it for me. You mentioned the Sky Walk. Could you please tell me what deck it is on. We are on the Baja Deck and read if you are below the Sky Walk they can see on the balconies below. I have looked on one of the Internet sites but could not find the Sky Walk on the deck plans.

 

Sandy

[CruisingJs]

I'm not Jerry, but I can tell you the Skywalk is on deck 16, which on this ship is Lido deck. I didn't see a lot of people on it after the first day and none of them were looking at the balconies. I don't think it will be a big deal.

[tobyt]

Thank you this! I do I admit love that new ship smell and booked to catch a whiff! I think that regardless of the less than items it is a week with my hubby, eating what and when I want with no clean up and the chance to try something new, what more could I want?!

[High C's]

Excellent, well balanced review, keeping everything in perspective. Thank you for taking the time to write this. :)

[Lynda90]

Jerry, thanks for the review. I agree with pretty much everything you said. I also enjoyed Zumba on sea days. Quite a workout! :p

[JerryinBWB]

No, we did not use Spa but did go through. It looks fine, but whether it is worth it for the various services is really a subjective thing. I hope it works out for you.

 

Skywalk is on Lido Deck, I believe, and that is Deck 16, if I am not mistaken. As I mentioned earlier, those I spoke with who had cabins/balconies under the Skywalk did not think it was a problem.

 

Gelato. Oh, yes, I forgot to mention it. My wife tried it. She said that something I think she called Double Chocolate Something or Other was great. Yes, she used Coffee Card to get the Gelato. She actually got two scoops, and was told the normal portion is three scoops, so they gave her an "IOU" for one scoop-- to be used later.

[Daniel1313]

Great review Jerry !!!!

[abbydancer2003]

Great review!

 

One thing. I don't think there are good sight lines in all of the theater. We got to Colors of the World (a pretty good show) just as it started, and rather than climbing over people, we went to the back corner, just to the side of the entrance door. I had to sit on the top of the seat in the back row to see over all the people, and I know others in that section were having trouble because they all kept moving around.

 

I agree on the food - all excellent.

 

I'm not sure I'd book again, as walking the promenade is for us a key part of the cruise. It's not just exercise, it's doing foxtrot for the entire length - just not the same on the jogging track. Also, we miss the dance floor in the Wheelhouse and Explorers.

 

But, all that said, it was a very fun cruise, and a beautiful ship.

[Loonbeam]

This, this, a thousand times this....

 

 

Now here is my theory. It is just a theory; could be right or wrong, but it is my theory based on interacting with these three people as well as many, many more people on the ship, and reading many things here on Cruise Critic.

 

The more seasoned Princess cruisers, Platinum and Elite for example, have come to enjoy Princess for any number of reasons. This is demonstrated by their continuing to cruise on Princess. That is what made them Platinum or Elite, after all. They all know, in detail, a great deal about Princess. They can tell you what balconies are the largest, which ones are the smallest, which ones are covered, partially covered, or not covered. They know which cabins are best to get, which ones are less desirable. They are experts on dining venues, processes, procedures, and on and on and on. And in large measure - - - they expected Royal Princess to deliver ALL the things they have come to know and understand AND be new and modern and provide even more "bells and whistles" than the older ships. That is not what Royal Princess is all about. In fact, it is a new ship that has some of what we like about the older ships, but does not have some of what we like. It has changed some things. It does have new "bells and whistles" and, I think, should be evaluated for what it is - - a new class of Princess ship. The fundamental question is therefore NOT, is it better or worse. The fundamental question IS, can I have a wonderful experience on this ship even though it is a change from what I have experienced before.

 

.

[homeinboca]

Jerry,

 

Thanks for the great review. I was on the Royal this summer in Europe and I would have been like the second person you met - loved everything about the ship and consider myself lucky to be able to cruise with the love of my life.

 

Q-Tips!! Seriously??? DW always travels with a pack of 500, I'll be glad to give her some of ours!

 

Ron

[ltcal94]

This, this, a thousand times this....

 

This is my theory as well ... to many know it all "Don't you know who I am" Elites. IMHO there will be more balanced reviews in the future .

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app

[Pam in CA]

What I WILL miss is the option of purchasing a beverage (alcohol) package (I was told by a Princess exec that a package will be available very soon, but that was in June...

Compared to Celebrity, drink prices on Princess are very reasonable. A Long Island Iced Tea, Gin & Tonic or Bloody Mary is $5.50; a martini is between $7-8, depending on vodka brand. A soda "card" (really a sticker on the cruise card of the person for whom it's bought) is @ $5/day for unlimited bar-dispensed soda, @8/day for unlimited soda, mocktails, juices, and smoothies.

[mathan416]

Great review and you added some stuff I forgot to add about how comfortable the beds were, and I LOVED the TV system. Some great info on it.

[dmwnc1959]

THANK YOU for such a wonderful review.

 

:D

 

26 Days and Counting....

 

The fundamental question is therefore NOT, is it better or worse. The fundamental question IS, can I have a wonderful experience on this ship even though it is a change from what I have experienced before.

[JerryinBWB]

Jerry, thanks for the review. I agree with pretty much everything you said. I also enjoyed Zumba on sea days. Quite a workout! :p

 

Hi Lynda, Glad to hear from you. I think we were on the same cruise, perhaps the Ruby TA in 2011. Maybe others, as well. I did hear from several people that they "loved" the Zumba classes. We did not do them on this cruise, but have at other times. What a great combination of exercise and having fun. Happy Sailing!

[JerryinBWB]

This is my theory as well ... IMHO there will be more balanced reviews in the future .

 

Do you think all new ships have had this kind of mixed review early on?

[Breeze4217]

Thanks for the review, can't wait til march for our cruise. Have a balcony question. Can you still open the separation between balconies next to you if you want?

[iceman2a]

Good job Jerry. This is why I decided I would not review this cruise, I could not have done it as well as you and others have.

As Pam said no ship is perfect and the "misses" on this build had no negative impact on my first Princess cruise. Even the tendering to princess cays bothered me only until we got there and did not impact my overall experience.

Edited November 6, 2013 by iceman2a

[iceman2a]

This is my theory as well ... IMHO there will be more balanced reviews in the future .

 

Do you think all new ships have had this kind of mixed review early on?

 

I remember booking the NCL Epic before the ship was finnished and it got hammered from everything form it's ugly looking design to the bathroom sink. It was going to cause the the ruin of NCL. That was a great cruise for me despite the design flaws. People will find something wrong with anything!

[timetravler]

I was also on this cruise and the TA cruise before this one. Your review was spot on and I totally agree. What I found annoying on the TA cruise were many elites thought they were so special and should have special privileges. One person even thought her elite status gave her elevator priority. So silly. Btw I am elite. On the TA getting your laundry done took up to 5 days, but that was again because of the huge number of elites.

But I truly loved our 2 cruises and the ship I would gladly sail on her again.

[UpcountryTravelers]

Thanks for the review, can't wait til march for our cruise. Have a balcony question. Can you still open the separation between balconies next to you if you want?

 

Yes, you can. We did.

[UpcountryTravelers]

Excellent review, thank you. We agree with most......not all.

 

The TV should have some directions, as it is completely different from what one has at home. (And this is from a tech "power user".) One shouldn't have to spend an hour experimenting.

 

Yes, the balconies are smaller, but not enough to be an issue. Why has nobody mentioned that the stateroom halls are wider? (They are.)

 

We like Grand Turk and would gladly exchange the Princess Cays stop for Grand Turk.

 

We saw no people flaunting their status. We're Platinum, which gives us the exact same social status as Blue, Gold, Ruby and Elite.

 

Great cruise, wonderful ship, and we are looking forward with excitement to being on her twin next summer!

Edited November 6, 2013 by UpcountryTravelers

[JerryinBWB]

Excellent review, thank you. We agree with most......not all.

 

The TV should have some directions, as it is completely different from what one has at home. (And this is from a tech "power user".) One shouldn't have to spend an hour experimenting.

 

Yes, the balconies are smaller, but not enough to be an issue. Why has nobody mentioned that the stateroom halls are wider? (They are.)

 

We like Grand Turk and would gladly exchange the Princess Cays stop for Grand Turk.

 

 

Great cruise, wonderful ship, and we are looking forward with excitement to being on her twin next summer!

 

I agree with you that some instructions for TV might be helpful. There may have been some somewhere, but I did not look. To ensure all levels of technology comfortable folks can use the TV quickly, some instructions would be nice.

 

Also I agree with you that skipping Princess Cays is not a really big deal. I am not all that thrilled with Grand Turk either, but would probably choose it if I had to pick just one. Most itineraries will have Grand Turk and some other stops.

 

Your thoughts about hallways being wider reminds me that we commented during the cruise that most venues seemed less crowded than other ships, even though there were more passengers. The IC, Piazza, Horizon Court come to mind.

[Stu K]

Great review ! Yes we went up the central stair case to dead end (at least 3 times) and almost pulled the arm rest off the theater seat looking for the table lol. but the positive's were so wow i dont mind! Loved sea View bar Maybe they can do 2 on the regal as more people used bar that sea walk!

 

Stu K