Newbies on Royal Princess

[mathan416]

Hi Everyone,

I figured I'd start a thread with my thoughts and experiences on Royal Princess this past week. If this was your first cruise ever, and it was Royal Princess - I'd be curious about your own thoughts. I am going to post several responses covering all 5 days of our trip.

 

Where do I even begin with my thoughts on our first cruise and that being on Royal Princess?

 

Scott and I were completely blown away. We were already saying by the end of the first night, "Would there be any doubt we'd want to do this again? When do we sign up for the next cruise?” And we know it will more than likely be to Alaska, though admittedly we’d love to do Golden Week in Japan on Diamond Princess. So that will have to wait. ;)

 

Day 1

Firstly - boarding was completely smooth and effortless. No huge lines, in fact our “non preferred member line” was completely empty relative to the elites that were on board. Waiting wasn’t that long, and they started boarding early - 11:30am and all staterooms were ready for us to take our belongings to. Amazing given the stories I’ve heard.

 

We made our way through the Casino to the elevator and up.

 

I have to admit, my expectations were set much lower courtesy of Cruise Critic about the size of the room and balcony. When you haven’t cruise before, you don’t know what you’re missing.

 

We were VERY happy with the size of the room (Balcony), despite having to dance a bit to get around each other

 

Even the balcony, I had feared that only one of us could fit, that’s not the case at all - both of us at above 6ft (I’m 6ft3) and above 270lbs, we fit no problem for both champaign and dipped strawberries; and the Ultimate Breakfast. I would have no issue booking the same room again especially if it means saving some money. We didn’t spend a lot of time in the room anyway.

 

We made our way up to the Horizon Court which is the main buffet on the ship and then out to Horizon Terrace which is a lovely dining area outside the aft of the ship. It was so breezy, I have to admit I was losing my peas. (almost sounds like being mixed up like conch! LOL!)

 

I’ve got two criticisms of Horizon Court/Bistro which others have already mentioned:

• I did find the food a bit cool, however, I also walked around a fair bit trying to find foods to eat and what was being offered. Still, it was tasty.
  
• I put myself in the shoes of some of the older folks around me. It does seem like a long way to walk - especially if you want to go from the Horizon Court to the Patisserie.
  

 

I don’t know how other cruise lines handle this on bigger ships like Allure, etc…

 

We ran around the ship looking for everything. It’s not a bad ship to get around, honestly. But again, putting myself in the place of someone who is older, I can understand the mid-ship staircase issue. I think if the elevators were working with a better algorithm, that would elevate the mid-ship staircase question.

 

The biggest confusing thing about the elevators in the front and aft of the shift, was that all four were not connected to the same up and down buttons. They were in a 2/2 configuration. This, I think, is also slowing things down because you get people pressing both the up and down buttons. That said, for those who are able bodied, those flights of steps are also not too bad for going up and down. Don’t always rely on the elevators.

 

I stopped at the International Cafe for a Tiramisu shot. I wasn't hooked - and I love Tiramisu. That said, everything else I tried at IC was great!

 

After that, we made our way to the Lotus Spa where we booked ourselves for a 4:30pm seaweed wrap couples massage at a VERY nice discount given it was embarkation day. It was amazing. We also arranged use of The Enclave which has a Turkish Hamam, wet and dry saunas, aromatherapy showers, a massive hot tub, heated stone beds. Ahh luxury.

 

The aromatherapy of the Lotus Spa is quite something too. Very relaxing and soothing.

 

 

Yes it meant we completely missed our first sail out and the photo opportunities that provides, but we did get the Reflections video, so… :) It’s bittersweet. The massage has helped to put away the rush of the first three days at WDW and the pain of walking so much.

 

We did dinner at the Concerto dining room. Oh my - the desserts. Really, I kind of felt like Scott and I are at Adult Disneyland right now. My appetizer was three kinds of melon drizzled with port; a pina colada soup with rum in it served in a cocktail glass with straw, Hawaiian Luau Pork and then the Chocolate Love Boat Dream to top it off. It was a meal that felt, sinful and wrong, but oh so amazing for me.

 

After we walked around the ship some more, checking out the Karaoke Power Hour, stopping at Facets duty free shop for me to pick up a watch - a Citizen Proximity Eco Drive and a very nice price, stopping at the Lido deck to have ice cream and pizza, watch the fountain light show, and then back to Karaoke Power Hour where Scott belted out two songs (awesome) and I did an almost scrag drag version of Madonna’s Material Girl - it had to be seen.

[mathan416]

Day 2 - Eleuthera, The Bahamas

I highly recommend getting out of Princess Cay, and exploring the land that is Eleuthera going to Rock Sound and Tarpum Bay:

• The people here are amazing
  
• The economy is not doing great and Royal Princess was the first ship in 8 months to visit their port - yes, it’s a seasonal business
  
• It’s very safe if you’re nervous about that
  

 

We learned heaps about the culture (You mixed up like Conch Salad!), food, customs and the amazing waters of the Caribbean. You definitely don’t want to miss this tour!

 

I really do hope that Princess can invest more in the local economy, than they do. I was disappointed in some respects that EVERYTHING food and drink-wise to run Princess Cays comes from the ship and is not locally sourced. It may be a cost savings thing, and that I can appreciate, but I also believe in helping local economies out.

 

The Ocean Hole was the coolest part of the tour - so many fish, that I had only seen in an aquarium, in their natural habitat.

 

The Tender boats are REALLY cool and pretty quick. It’s really cool how they just keep going back and forth to the ship like a mini transit system.

 

After the tour, Scott and I headed to Princess Cays and got some key photos and water time.

 

One last cool thing - they sent a videographer with us and as a result, a bunch of us were on the Reflections channel on the TV and the Reflections DVD sold. You’ll catch Scott and me dancing with the Junkanoo.

 

That night we had the champagne, roses, and chocolate covered strawberries delivered to our room and enjoyed them before dinner as we saw the sun set.

 

Before going to dinner we stopped in to see Sylvain, the Future Cruise Consultant and arranged our deposit on a future cruise. The great thing about Princess is that you don’t have to pick a specific cruise or destination. You make the deposit, it’s placed in your Circle Savings account, and you book when you want. If you don’t use it, then you get the money back. Simple and sweet.

 

That night we had dinner with a group of people in the Symphony dining room.

 

I will say, the service was slow in both dining rooms. At one level I wondered if it was the case that, “Hey, we’re cruising, we’ve got nothing to do” which is not quite true because there is lot to do. But, no, the waitress we didn’t have the backup and support she would normally have. As a result, one of the women at the table ended up serving her own wine.

 

As much as I appreciate the service on board, which is very good - this was one area that I will give the main dining room a failing grade. The service was just too slow. I did mention this to Princess in my post-cruise survey.

 

That said, the final night - was much faster and more attentive.

 

That night we went to Princess Live for Princess Popstar, Star Trek on MUTS (Movies Under the Stars) where I had my first fix of Cookies and Milk :)

[mathan416]

Day 3 - Sea Day

We got up, had the “Ultimate Breakfast" on our verandah - which really was too much food, but tasty, headed to the Circle Host meet and greet to pick up our gold pins and passports (YAY!!!!), Cruise Critic Meet Up and Gift Exchange (thanks everyone!!), Cruise Critic Lunch in the Allegro dining room (I like the decor here and the service was impeccable and the foot awesome!) and then spent the afternoon on the Lido deck in the pool and hot tub.

 

Oh, and I’m overjoyed that the police found the Rob Ford video. Here’s a hint - Notifications on iOS are amazing. Despite not paying for net access, somehow notifications still come through so I was getting news notifications all through the trip.

 

Oh, and a wonderful system - I must say Princess@Sea is awesome. Why carry around your Princess Patter when you can use an iPhone or iPad to see what’s going on? I hope Princess rolls this out to the rest of the fleet.

 

We did the wine tasting which was awesome! Some funny jokes from the staff, but also some good information about the wines we were tasting. If you’re looking for a stuffy wine tasting experience, this is not the wine tasting event for you. As someone relatively unrefined when it comes to wine, I really appreciated the wine tasting events.

 

Tonight was Formal Night. Scott had on his wedding suit, I had on my kilt with a shirt, vest and jacket. There were photographers everywhere, and they also had Hallowe’en things everywhere.

 

Scott and I ate at Sabatinis that night. Scott loved it having had the antipasto with prosciutto and on crustini (good), seafood and tomato soup (AWESOME!), pasta course (bow tie pasta, parmesan and a tomato sauce), and Strip steak (Scott) and Lobster (Iain).

 

The service we had at Sabantini’s was awesome.

 

The food in my books was sub-par. Now here’s the thing - I have no idea if my taste buds were off, or if the food flavour was just too subtle. The tomato sauce on the bow tie pasta was only lightly flavourful. Maybe it was because I started with the tomato soup.

 

The other problem was that the bow tie pasta came out partially uncooked. I have to admit, in my head I was thinking, “How do you mess up the pasta course when you’re THE premier italian restaurant at seas second to Alfredo’s?”. Unfortunately that set the tone of the meal for me. I was just disappointed.

 

I do have to call out that the meatballs were awesome and the server did take care of the issue immediately, and did talk to the chef, and they realized that the past wasn’t cooked long enough.

 

Scott loved his steak and it was tasty - I’m not a big red meat eater, yet every time I try steak, I keep saying “I need to have this more often”.

 

The lobster while the presentation was great, I found disappointing. Again, I have no idea if it was my taste buds being off or if it truly was the food served - the lobster reduction and the lobster, combined, were tasteless. The lobster by itself, was not bad. The risotto was not bad.

 

Overall, I’m still not impressed with Sabatini’s food-wise. Service, was awesome. I did say to Scott I would be willing to try them again, to give them one more chance. Scott also called out that italian food can be quite subtle in flavour. I don’t know, I found this too subtle.

 

When I arranged the honeymoon, I had listed that we would be celebrating our honeymoon on board and had picked October 31st as our day to celebrate. In the morning (or the night before - I can’t remember), we received a card saying, and I paraphrase, “Present this to the waiter for a treat”.

 

They presented us with a chocolate cake and the restaurant staff singing happy honeymoon to us. A nice cap to a challenging meal.

 

Sabatini’s will be at least a two-hour dinner if you go.

 

We then went to get our formal photograph taken at several stations.

 

While I love and appreciate the photo services, I do have to say they are very expensive. There were a LOT of photos we returned that we didn’t want that they had printed. And they do have a full photo lab on board, that does use a full proper photo process to print those photos. Yes, they recycle both the silver and the paper, but it does still create a lot of waste.

 

I do know they’re trying to get the digital photo system up and running so they can reduce the number of prints they make - which I would hope would bring down prices - which it probably won’t. But hey, we only do this on our honeymoon and while I am sure we’ll get photos from time to time on future trips, we don’t have to buy as many as we did. :)

[mathan416]

Day 4 - Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos Islands

Welcome to the 6 mile by 1 mile island of Grand Turk. I had no idea what to expect, and of course being who we are, we got off the beaten track and actually visited the whole island, learning about what makes these people tick, visiting a church, the main town, passing by parliament, eating conch fritters and visiting where they used to make salt.

 

The tour stopped at Governor’s Beach which is close to the Cruise Ship Terminal. I was initially hesitant at going swimming and snorkelling - don’t ask me why, I just wasn’t totally the mood, but I decided to go with the flow and I know Scott really wanted to.

 

WOW! I’m so glad we did! I learned a few things

• Snorkelling is such a mind trip. Breathing underwater and all that. I finally got the hang of it.
  
• The fish we saw!! So much wildlife swimming around below us!!
  
• I have to admit, I freaked when I saw jelly fish and pretty much did run out of the water and on to my lounge chair. It was confirmed later that they were harmless - still, it’s a fear I’ve had and they still scare the you-know-what out of me
  
• Scott saw smaller sharks in the distance. Very cool!
  

 

This was the prefect complement to the semi-sub tour we took later in the day that took us over the reef and where it drops off by 7,000m; explaining all the fish we saw.

 

Before that we did a big no-no for us. We ate at Margaritaville at the Cruise Center. Yeah… no… Won’t do that again, I mean it was a good burger and all that, but… I want local flavour! Not that there was much in the Cruise Center.

 

We also went and saw the NASA/John Glenn exhibit. So cool seeing this as I had written a speech, I though, in grade 4 but it may have been in grade 6, about John Glen’s orbit around the earth.

 

On our way to the semi-sub, we noticed an ambulance picking someone up at one of the tours. Be smart people - drink in moderation and be aware of how much sun you’re taking.

 

Going to and from the semi-sub, we got some great photos of Royal Princess.

 

After we got back from Grand Turk, we headed to Lotus Spa for our facial massage as part of our honeymoon package. They surprised us by taking us up to one of the Cabanas at The Sanctuary for the massage! The view there is amazing, and the cabanas are AWESOME if you’re able to afford it. The Sanctuary wasn’t all that busy when we got up there, but I suspect Lotus spa was pretty busy.

 

That night we went to Alfredo’s and had, what I think is the best meal of the trip. Prosciutto and salami antipasto, Hawaiiana pizza (YUM!), and Tiramisu. YUM! The service was great and quicker than any of the restaurants we ate at.

 

The Latin Night party was fun, with a bunch of us from the LGBT meet hanging around the SeaView Bar. Sam, the Cruise Director and her husband stopped by to introduce themselves. I really like Sam’s approach and how personable she is.

 

Day 5 - Sea Day

We pretty much had nothing planned this day except for the Grapevine Wine Tasting, packing, sunning ourselves and going for Afternoon Tea however our plans were turned up side down because… I was selected to go on the Ultimate Ship Tour! Unfortunately, Scott was not - and I think there was a miscommunication on how to fill out the form. I thought I had to put Scott’s name with mine on one line, instead of using two lines.

 

So that said, I will sign Scott up for the tour on our next cruise.

 

We had breakfast in Horizon Court and then went to the second wine tasting of our trip. I figured out why they actually do the wine tasting before they even finished the tasting. Yes, one reason is so that we can have some great tasting wine and learn a few things. The other part of it is so that the staff, especially those who speak english as a second language can get used to speaking publicly and build their confidence. Such a wonderful program, seriously! So I really do hope the people who say that the "wine tastings are not great" do give this a second thought. Some great stories, some great humour and again great lessons in wine for those of us who are only just starting to appreciate wine. We all have to start somewhere.

 

And we got a free glass at this wine tasting.

 

The Ultimate Ship Tour started at 1pm and we saw Princess Theatre during practice, the galley (drink and canapés served), where they moor the ship, procurement, photo shop, print shop, engineering, stacks and the bridge (drinks and canapés served). It was a great tour and I learned a lot about how the ship runs and hive mentality (from one particular person on the tour who was asking inappropriate questions and making statements rather than asking questions).

 

Those taking the tour also get:

A Princess Cruises apron - used to be a chefs jacket, which I think the apron is more appropriate

A bathrobe

4 ot 5 pictures, one framed with the captain and actually signed

A pad of paper with your name on it

 

Scott went and had Tea and also attended an Art Auction. No mysterious packages have arrived yet and no odd charges were made to our stateroom, so I think we’re okay! LOL

 

We ate at the main dining room and we both had lovely steaks, plus witnessed the parade of the Baked Alaska.

 

After we went to our first show at sea - Colours of the World, capping off a lovely trip.

[mathan416]

Further Thoughts

Yeah, things aren’t perfect on Royal Princess and I do hope they get addressed

• The slow service in the MDs - They really do need to do something about this
  
• The elevator algorithms at mid-ship - I think this will help a lot with no staircase, and I appreciate how much of a walk it would be for older people
  
• The soot issue wasn’t something that concerned me, but I know Princess is looking into it.
  

 

I have no doubt that Princess will rectify these issues.

 

We often had a late night snack, sharing pizza from Prego’s, ice cream at Swirl’s, Gelato/Ice Cream at Gelato’s or something from the International Cafe.

 

I will say the sweets and sandwiches are very good at International Cafe, and the Tiramisu did redeem itself there on my second trying. Scott loved the chicken salad there.

 

The water fountain shows, while to some they may be corny, I actually found them quite romantic. Try sitting with your feet in one of the pools while they run or watch from a higher.

 

On our Honeymoon celebration day, the staff put up a poster and balloons on our door. This was really sweet, and I loved seeing people celebrating birthdays and such all over the ship. This is a REALLY nice touch and much appreciated.

 

During MUTS, the pools aren’t closed but it can be a bit cool out. Try jumping in and watching the movie! Just be sure to not splash about too loudly for the enjoyment of others. Also don’t expect to be served cookies and milk in the pool either - a bonus, watching on one of the chairs. ;)

 

I actually walked on the SeaWalk a few times on both sides (by the SeaView Bar). I actually kind of like it.

 

The only explanation I have for the lack of Promenade space is the way the tenders and emergency boats are placed. I wouldn’t want someone tampering with them. Could the placement have been designed differently? Probably as they are on other ships. I can appreciate the Promenade deck point of view now, because it would have been pretty romantic to have one, more so than the glass of the Lido and Sky decks. I suspect Princess has heard us loud and clear for the next generation of ships, but I suspect Regal Princess and Britannia (P&O) will probably have the same issues as Royal in this regard. Maybe we’ll see something different.

 

After talking to several crew members - I think they honestly enjoy working for Princess, and I don’t think they were touting the party line. They genuinely enjoy working with Princess and they work hard. And seeing that Princess has put in amenities for staff like the pool and two hot tubs at the front of the ship for staff, says a lot to me. I’m happy to support a company that treats their staff well.

 

All in all, yes we had challenges, they were resolved to our liking as much as they could and quite honestly, I was brought to tears with how perfect everything turned out for Scott and me on our honeymoon.

 

One last thing - we never met our Stateroom Steward. Not at all. Now I'm not sure if it was because we were up early and on the go and we didn't stay in the room that much. Now we also never called Passenger Services to say, "We'd like to meet our Steward" - so we may have to bear some responsibility there. ;) Still, the room was always tended to - turned down, chocolates at night, etc... save for vacuuming, which others had noted.

 

That said, we’ll definitely be back, as I mentioned at the beginning of this series.

[rdsqrl]

Congratulations on your marriage; I'm glad you had a such a good time on your first-ever cruise. We probably warned you how addicting cruising was . . . .!

 

Really enjoyed your detailed review; thanks for doing it. I'm a little confused about why were the police were onboard looking for a video. And who's Rob Ford?

[mathan416]

I'm a little confused about why were the police were onboard looking for a video. And who's Rob Ford?

 

Sorry, it was a non-sequitor about news notification updates I was getting on my phone about the mayor from the city I live in - Toronto.

 

In short, there was a video of the mayor allegedly smoking crack. The mayor said it didn't exist, and the police finally found it in Toronto - not on Royal Princess. LOL!

[dmwnc1959]

A really wonderful read! THANKS for taking the time to share your amazingly detailed thoughts, good and bad, on Royal Princess as a 1st Time Cruiser. :D

[Skai]

It's nice to read 1st-time cruiser reviews. I too had found cruise critic before our first, but primarily focused on the roll call board and not this one. So I didn't have any preconceived notions/expectations about the ship/line at all before sailing.

 

We also had a great time on our first cruise, and must admit that we're kind of hooked now, going on our 4th in a couple of weeks.

 

Sometimes after reading the reviews of SOME long-time 'elite' level cruisers on here, I wonder if they even really enjoy cruising that much anymore with how many expectations they've built up. Perhaps cruising has become so familiar to them and they've become such 'experts' at cruising, that nothing seems as new, fresh or exciting as it was for them their 1st few times cruising. Having become so critical of every little aspect, perhaps they've forgotten to see the forest for the trees. That's pretty sad if you ask me.

 

Thanks for your review. Here's to not complaining about whether there are complimentary cotton swabs in the bathroom or not, or whether railings are in need of a fresh coat of varnish. Have fun on your next one:)

 

However, I'm surprised that you never met your steward. They usually make a point to introduce themselves right when you first get to your cabin or very soon afterwards.

[TorontoTL]

Great review! It is great having such a wonderful first cruise, you could have done much worse than it being on the beautiful new Royal Princess!

 

Congrats on your marriage. I assume, maybe incorrectly, that you're from Toronto? I'm glad that the police have the Rob Ford video as well. I can't wait to see it.

[sunsetbeachgal]

Thank you for the wonderful review and congratulations...may you have a long happy and healthy life together!

[Woobstr112G]

Thanks for taking the time to post your excellent review and congrats on your nuptuials.....:):):)

 

Bob

[silvercruiser]

You two really made the most of what the Royal has to offer. Congratulations on such a happy start to your marriage. After reading your mini-blogs I think there are a lot of people who'd love to cruise with you guys. Your enthusiasm is catching.

748 days at sea....38 ships.....7 continents

[ilovhywd]

I enjoyed reading your review!

 

In Post #3, you mentioned that you can get the Princess Patter on an iPad. Could you please tell me how that works? Do you have to use your internet minutes every time you want to read it?

 

Second question: Are Prego's and Alfredo's both pizza places?

 

Thanks for your help!

[silvercruiser]

Thanks for mentioning the tour of Eleuthera that you took. I don't recall it being offered on past Princess cruises that stopped at Princess Cay. Friends used to vacation there many years ago and I always wanted to see the whole island. Since you liked it I've already booked it for my Jan. cruise on Royal.

[unc84]

Loved, loved, loved reading your review - thanks for posting!

And congratulations!

[caribill]

[quote name=ilovhywd;40562350In Post #3' date=' you mentioned that you can get the Princess Patter on an iPad. Could you please tell me how that works? Do you have to use your internet minutes every time you want to read it?

 

Second question: Are Prego's and Alfredo's both pizza places?

[/quote]

 

The Royal's intranet, which can be used to see the Patters and other ship info, is at no charge. No internet minutes required or used.

 

Both have pizza, but Alfredo's is sit down and has more than Pizza.

[avcruz]

Thanks for a refreshingly unbiased review of the Royal Princess. Hopefully our paths will cross on another Princess Cruise one day as you sound like the kind of people I enjoy meeting when I travel!

 

Interestingly enough as I type this there's breaking news on the CBC - Rob Ford has just admitted to smoking crack!!! Unreal.

 

Adrienne

[Jasperdo]

Excellent review. Good to hear a fresh perspective from a Princess newbie. And congrats on your wedding.

[bkw67]

Thanks so much for the detailed review, and congratulations!

[TorontoTL]

And on another note, since it was brought up by the OP, Rob Ford admitted to smoking crack today.

[akeasley]

Great review! I was on the same cruise and really enjoyed reading your review. I will agree with the elevators needing to be in sync. Congrats on your marriage!

[Mom33]

Congratulations on your marriage and thank you for your honeymoon review!.:D Your joy comes through in your writing. :)

[mathan416]

Congrats on your marriage. I assume, maybe incorrectly, that you're from Toronto? I'm glad that the police have the Rob Ford video as well. I can't wait to see it.

 

Yes, we're both from Toronto. An amazing 48 hours so far. ;)

 

 

Thanks for taking the time to post your excellent review and congrats on your nuptuials.....:):):)

 

Thanks Bob! :)

 

In Post #3, you mentioned that you can get the Princess Patter on an iPad. Could you please tell me how that works? Do you have to use your internet minutes every time you want to read it?

 

Second question: Are Prego's and Alfredo's both pizza places?

 

Thanks for your help!

 

On Royal Princess, if you connect to Wifi and go to http://royal.princess.com in your browser, you'll see the events happening for the day, up to the minute. It's REALLY useful. It does not use your internet minutes either - we actually never used the internet onboard, simply too expensive and we were looking to disconnect.

 

Prego's is the Pizza place on the Lido deck. Not bad.

 

Alfredo's is the italian restaurant that overlooks the Piazza. It serves pizza and other italian dishes. VERY good.

 

 

 

Thanks for the congratulations everyone. ;)

[scott4020]

First, congrats on your marriage.

 

Second, thanks for the review.

 

Third, thanks for the entertaining mayor!