Review - Royal Princess Maiden Caribbean Sailing (Long)

[Julia’s Journey’s]

Great reveiw Jerry, Aubrey and I missed you and Marla on the TA :)

 

We enjoyed the ship, never seemed crowded to us except the elevators with lots of rude people but that sure is not a ship problem:rolleyes:

[JerryinBWB]

Great reveiw Jerry, Aubrey and I missed you and Marla on the TA :)

 

We enjoyed the ship, never seemed crowded to us except the elevators with lots of rude people but that sure is not a ship problem:rolleyes:

 

Hi, Julia. Good to hear from you. We were originally booked on the TA, but had to bow out. We went on this 5-day just so we could evaluate the ship. Glad we did. Hi to Aubrey.

[goodie2shoes]

I have been reading reviews of the Royal, searching for a mention of the coffee served on board, without much luck. My TA was on the short cruise to nowhere out of Ft. Lauderdale, and he came back and told me that Princess finally got something right. They served brewed coffee everywhere instead of the dreadful stuff we are used to getting.

 

Can anyone who has been on her confirm this?

[iceman2a]

I have been reading reviews of the Royal, searching for a mention of the coffee served on board, without much luck. My TA was on the short cruise to nowhere out of Ft. Lauderdale, and he came back and told me that Princess finally got something right. They served brewed coffee everywhere instead of the dreadful stuff we are used to getting.

 

Can anyone who has been on her confirm this?

 

Everywhere but the Horizon Cort/Bistro, but according to my DW there is a place, I think she said in the "Patery Shop" where you can get brewed coffee if you have a coffe card. I personaly never saw it but I was never in the pastery shop!

[iceman2a]

Just to mention, I thought the "coffee card" was a great deal! My wife bought one and between the "specialty" coffees (frozen lattes) and gelattos I think we got our moneys worth. Also the fresh brewed coffee while sitting in the Piazza!

[lynwar]

Hi

Thanks for a wonderful review. It's about the best one I've seen.

I will check into that coffee card, as I'm the coffee drinker in the family and drink a lot of it. I never did complain about the "old" coffee, but the brewed should be very nice.

 

We've never had a bad cruise and never have any grand expectations. We are platinum but still haven't studied everything there is to a ship or cruise. Most of the time we just do our own thing, and have enjoyed a few roll call groups along the way.

 

I'm not a big pool person and I don't think we've been in one since we started cruising-although Hubby has been in a couple of times. He'll probably assess the crowding and access to the pool.

 

Anyway, thanks again. We are looking forward to our cruise and mostly won't contend with the midships elevators. We are slightly aft of them. And, we're used to walking the halls if we get on the wrong ones, anyway. ;)

 

Take care. Lynne

[caribill]

I have been reading reviews of the Royal, searching for a mention of the coffee served on board, without much luck. My TA was on the short cruise to nowhere out of Ft. Lauderdale, and he came back and told me that Princess finally got something right. They served brewed coffee everywhere instead of the dreadful stuff we are used to getting.

 

Can anyone who has been on her confirm this?

 

There have been several posts on various threads that have agreed that the coffee served in the Horizon Court is much better than on the other ships.

[mathan416]

There have been several posts on various threads that have agreed that the coffee served in the Horizon Court is much better than on the other ships.

 

That was something that was missing in my review thread. I was expecting the coffee to be absolutely horrible, and it was pretty comparable to good diner coffee.

 

I've had better, but it's by no means the worst and I was more than happy to drink it.

 

BTW I also had a cappuccino at the Princess Live cafe which was pretty good.

[ne1travel]

Thanks for such a nice review. We will be sailing her soon and are doing so with open minds.

[JerryinBWB]

There have been several posts on various threads that have agreed that the coffee served in the Horizon Court is much better than on the other ships.

 

You know, we ate breakfast in the Horizon Court each morning, and I thought the coffee seemed better. I thought I was probably just imagining it, but apparently others have felt the same way. Perhaps there is something new/different?

[UpcountryTravelers]

Oh, one thing I forgot to mention. The Lido deck pizza on the Royal Princess was pretty good (not great) which is WAY better than on our two previous cruises. It wasn't burnt on bottom and you could actually bite (as opposed to gnaw) through the crust!

 

Alfredo's pizza was GREAT, and so was the service.

[Julia’s Journey’s]

Hi, Julia. Good to hear from you. We were originally booked on the TA, but had to bow out. We went on this 5-day just so we could evaluate the ship. Glad we did. Hi to Aubrey.

 

I remember you were booked on it - life happens and at least you could enjoy the Royal. Just booked the Ruby and have the Regal booked booked for 2014 - wonder if I'm going to find the Ruby 'old' after being on the Royal - such problems LOL:eek:

[Julia’s Journey’s]

I have been reading reviews of the Royal, searching for a mention of the coffee served on board, without much luck. My TA was on the short cruise to nowhere out of Ft. Lauderdale, and he came back and told me that Princess finally got something right. They served brewed coffee everywhere instead of the dreadful stuff we are used to getting.

 

Can anyone who has been on her confirm this?

 

They have new coffee machines which is a great improvement but its more like instant than brewed. Brewed is available at the IC in the Piazza but not at the coffee bar on 16 (Horizen).

[Julia’s Journey’s]

You know, we ate breakfast in the Horizon Court each morning, and I thought the coffee seemed better. I thought I was probably just imagining it, but apparently others have felt the same way. Perhaps there is something new/different?

 

They have new machines for the coffee and hot chocolate - they had the same on the Legend in June but in those machines they had full beans in and you could see the level fluctuating when the machine was used - on the Royal it looked like either ground or instant coffee in the machine - definately wasn't full beans.

I drank a lot of tea from the IC this trip instead of coffee and love the coffee card - it is a couple of dollars cheaper to pre-order it than buying on board if you are ordering other stuff :D

[JerryinBWB]

They have new machines for the coffee and hot chocolate - they had the same on the Legend in June but in those machines they had full beans in and you could see the level fluctuating when the machine was used - on the Royal it looked like either ground or instant coffee in the machine - definately wasn't full beans.

I drank a lot of tea from the IC this trip instead of coffee and love the coffee card - it is a couple of dollars cheaper to pre-order it than buying on board if you are ordering other stuff :D

 

I did not know that. You can order the coffee card before boarding? How? On the Personalizer somewhere?

[caribill]

I did not know that. You can order the coffee card before boarding? How? On the Personalizer somewhere?

 

http://www.princess.com/learn/onboard/gifts_services/cellars_culinarydelights/princess_cellars/index.jsp

 

Towards the bottom

[lovevacadays]

Jerry, I loved reading your review. I think it is one of my favorite if not favorite reviews of the Royal. I think your review is very balanced and also informative.

[lynwar]

I just checked that link. It looks tempting, as I'm a coffee drinker. However, I'm not sure that I'd get my money's worth because I wouldn't be drinking many specialty coffees. Is the brewed coffee still free at the International Café and you pay for what you get with it?

 

Lynne

[caribill]

Is the brewed coffee still free at the International Café and you pay for what you get with it?

 

Lynne

 

Never has been free* unless you have the coffee card.

 

(*An exception: Overnight, while there is no coffee available in the buffet area, the brewed coffee is at no charge at the IC.)

[BRANDEE]

I have been reading reviews of the Royal, searching for a mention of the coffee served on board, without much luck. My TA was on the short cruise to nowhere out of Ft. Lauderdale, and he came back and told me that Princess finally got something right. They served brewed coffee everywhere instead of the dreadful stuff we are used to getting.

 

Can anyone who has been on her confirm this?

I'm a big coffee drinker, especially iced coffee. HC coffee was very good on our cruise (July 5th). Best in 12 cruises with PC. New pots? Being two floors below the HC I could hop on the central elevator and get my iced coffee and swirls ice cream in one shot and be back on my balcony in five minutes :).

[Woobstr112G]

Jerry (OP);

 

Just had a chance to read your review. Thanks for taking the time to write it. We missed not having you guys on the T/A. Glad you enjoyed your short cruise on the Royal.....:):"):)

 

Bob

Edited November 9, 2013 by Woobstr112G

[JerryinBWB]

Jerry (OP);

 

Just had a chance to read your review. Thanks for taking the time to write it. We missed not having you guys on the T/A. Glad you enjoyed your short cruise on the Royal.....:):"):)

 

Bob

 

Hi Bob, sorry we missed it and missed seeing you and Holli. We love TAs, and missed seeing so many people we know. We followed along with various "live froms" and other threads. Next year we are trying Fjords and Baltics. Hope to see some familiar faces then. Come go with us.

[macusr]

I found myself agreeing with you on many of the topics. We really enjoyed getting to talk with you guys and comparing experiences. Hope to cross paths with you again someday!

[kdkmilwaukee]

Thank you for the great review - very fair and insightful. Dare I say we're barely 60 days out until our trip and I'm already restraining myself from pulling out the suitcases! :D

 

If you do not mind, I have just a few questions:

 

Did you happen to see the list of airlines that participated in the EZ Check service....and if so, did it include Southwest Airlines? I called Princess a few months ago, and the rep said that this airline wasn't included. However, a fellow CC member said that it was. I hope the latter is true!

 

Is it true that you should wait until after you leave Port Everglades to purchase the soda card so that you don't have to pay the local sales tax?

 

And, finally, were you able to hear your neighbors in adjacent cabins at all? TVs, etc? I'm debating packing our (small) white noise machine based on other reviews I've read.

 

Thanks again - we truly appreciate your review!

[JerryinBWB]

Thank you for the great review - very fair and insightful. Dare I say we're barely 60 days out until our trip and I'm already restraining myself from pulling out the suitcases! :D

 

If you do not mind, I have just a few questions:

 

Did you happen to see the list of airlines that participated in the EZ Check service....and if so, did it include Southwest Airlines? I called Princess a few months ago, and the rep said that this airline wasn't included. However, a fellow CC member said that it was. I hope the latter is true!

 

Is it true that you should wait until after you leave Port Everglades to purchase the soda card so that you don't have to pay the local sales tax?

 

And, finally, were you able to hear your neighbors in adjacent cabins at all? TVs, etc? I'm debating packing our (small) white noise machine based on other reviews I've read.

 

Thanks again - we truly appreciate your review!

 

Well, I really do not know about the EZ Check service. We did not use it, so didn't really pay attention. Perhaps someone else will respond.

 

We did buy a soda card, but not until the first evening, so I cannot be sure --- but I doubt the local sales tax is included.

 

I can comment on cabin noise. We were really very surprised at how little we heard from any neighbors. Noisy folks in the hall can be heard, but not anything horrible. My disclaimer would be that noise level can be a function of cabin location and what neighbors you get, but we never heard our neighbors. We only knew they were there because there were names on the door. We had cabins above and cabins below ---- always a good idea. No clubs, pools, dining rooms, etc to deal with above or below us.

 

Have a great cruise.