Review : Royal Princess

[DrSch]

Overview

I was excited to go on the Royal Princess. It was a new ship. Sailing on the Ruby, the Emerald, the Crown lately, cruising on Princess was getting to be routine – nothing exciting, so the idea of a new class of ship was enticing. Be careful what you wish for. Unfortunately, in many instances Princess missed the ball with the design of this behemoth. It seemed they took all that was good and either discarded it, or exaggerated it so much that it lost either its function or charm.

 

 

The Ship

One of the places that was always a pleasure for me was the Sanctuary. They tripled the size of it on this ship in their attempt to triple the revenues from it. Unfortunately this made a place that was quiet and relaxing in the past, into a much busier area. The service up there is still impeccable, and some of the best and most personal service on the ship, but the influx of so many more people means more people chatting, more talking, more clanking of silverware from the buffet food they bring up with them.

 

The area next to the Sanctuary is the adult only pool retreat. With the loss of the pools in the mid and aft sections, this area was far more crowded than it used to be. Again Princess in their attempt to increase revenues has put seating in this area that you need to pay for to sit in. The pool is surrounded by the pay for use cabanas, and a 2 foot or so wall around it. In order to get into the pool, you need to climb over the wall. Because of the cabanas, there really isn’t a place to put your towel or glasses down while you get into the pool. It left me feeling like I was sneaking into an area I did not belong in. The pool however, was refreshingly cool.

 

Throughout the ship there are all sorts of design flaws – things that sounded good on paper, but do not work well in the real world. The decks surrounding the Sanctuary and Retreat pool are no longer carpeted / astro-turf, but instead have been painted to resemble a teak deck. While this looks pretty, the problem is that darker painted colors attract heat, which means that the decks are burning hot in the mid afternoon sun. Be warned, make sure you wear some sort of foot ware when walking around up there.

 

Beyond the wall you get to the center of the sun deck – the main pool area. The problem with this area is there is not enough pool for all the people. There is one pool, and a wading area. With the removal of the pool in the back, and the second pool up top, this is just not enough pool space for over 3000 people.

 

In the center is the lighted water show area. This is turned off during the day, and filled with deck chairs. They might want to consider keeping the water fountains going during the day so that kids can play in them, or adults can cool off quickly in them. As to the light show at night.. the only safe place to watch it from is inside the showers that are near it.. Otherwise you may get soaked based on the prevailing winds.

 

Across from the light show on one side is the sea view walk, on the other, the sea view bar. The sea view bar is manned by some of the best bartenders on the ship. Exceptionally friendly, and very good at their job.. very entertaining to watch make drinks too. Make sure you visit them one evening.

 

The sea view bar has the glass windows in the floor you can look down at the ocean through. One minor problem however – the water from the light show floods the area, and there is no drain there. The night we were out there, you couldn’t stand on that side of the bar due to about 2 inches of water. On the other side of the ship, the Sea View walk was fun, but lost its appeal once you walked over it once or twice. Like much of the new additions to the ship, it was flashy, but with no real substance or worth.

 

Mid-ship is the expanded atrium area. It is beautiful to look at, and rather grand. It takes a while to get used to where things are, and what floor they are on, but that’s part of the fun of being on a new ship. My only complaint is that there are no stairs mid ship after deck 7. You either have to wait for the elevators that are there if you want to go up, or walk to the front or back of the boat on deck 7 to get to stairs and then walk back. I try to never use the elevators unless I have to, so I found this to be a bit inconvenient.

 

Deck 7 is what would be the promenade deck. The biggest complaint I heard from many people was the loss of the promenade deck. It’s not something that I typically found myself on, so I did not bemoan the fact that it was gone, however after talking to some people, I can understand why they miss it. Essentially, there is nowhere you can go to sit or stroll, that is not in the sun, or the noise. If you want to stroll in a comfortable place, you need to walk the decks inside. There are very few places you can go to stand over the balcony and enjoy the view and sound of the ocean without hearing the blaring noises of shipboard entertainment. There is a small section of the Deck you can walk outside on, but the smell of diesel is quite apparent down there, and on at least one side is the smoking area.. not sure if the smell of diesel and smoking really go together.

 

Speaking of the smell of diesel, I went running up on the running track one of the sea days. Guess what area also had a heavy diesel smell?

 

Lotus Spa

This is the hardest part of this review for me to write. The Lotus Spa has always been one of my favorite places to spend time on a cruise. The new design of the Spa is spacious, and has a clean fresh look to it, but it seemed to lose some of the tranquility that was offered in the new design. It seemed more sterile, and a bit colder. Nice rooms, nice facilities, but cold and unwelcoming however, moving it from the top deck down below and central was nice and made it easier to get to.

 

The central desk for the spa is always a zoo. There are no lines, or queues, and people crowd it, making it difficult for the people behind the desk to service people, and making it difficult for people to communicate what services they are looking for. This is not a new problem, but seemed to be exaggerated with the size of this ship, and the amount of people attempting to book services.

 

We looked at the enclave, but decided not to purchase it. I have purchased the similar area on the other ships, and found that I did not use them all that often.

 

The biggest problem I had with the spa, was that they kept changing the rules, and modifying my reservations. There is a special deal at the spa called the 10-20-30 package, which I have used on several cruises on other Princess ships. With this package you book 3 treatments and you get 10% off the first 20% off the second, and 30% off the third. You need to choose treatments that they consider signature treatments. In my cabin was a Lotus Spa book that showed the signature treatments. When I went down to the desk to book, I was told they had changed the available treatments and ones I wanted were no longer allowed. I was told this was the decision of this ship, and was not pleased. We negotiated for a while, and finally came up with a set of treatments that we were both happy with.

 

The first massage went perfectly. The Bamboo massage is great, and will work out most kinks you have in your muscles. If you do go to the spa I recommend it. After that treatment, everything went downhill.

 

My friend went down for his second massage, which was supposed to be a 50 minute massage. I had stopped down there earlier that morning to verify the time, and insure that it was a 50 minute massage. When he was finished, they gave him the bill. They had modified it and made it a 75 minute massage, charging about 40 dollars more than was expected.

 

I called down to discuss it, and the Spa Manager began to argue on the phone with me, and tell me that the 50 minute massage was not included in the signature services. She was abusive and raised her voice to me on the phone. She said my option was to either pay for the 75 minute massage, or they would take all the discounts from the previous massages off, and bill me the full price on the 50 minute massage. I told her that we were done talking and I would take it up with passenger services.

 

I went down to passenger services to complain about the problem. They in turn called the Spa manager who refused to do anything. I went to the front desk and demanded to have a meeting with the Hotel Manager, and the Spa manager in a private office. After about 10 minutes of waiting, the passenger services rep came out and told me the Spa manager had agreed to give me a 40 dollar discount on massage 3.

 

We went down for the 3rd massages. This was supposed to be a 50 minute couples massage. I asked and verified 3 times that this is what was ordered. At the end the bill came. The 40 dollars was subtracted. However, they billed it as two 75 minute individual massages. I wasn’t going to fight with them anymore on board and will discuss this further with Princess Corporate.

 

The Spa seemed to have no problem with a bait and switch scheme. I would suggest to anyone going on the ship, get the bill before you let them touch you, and make sure it is what you ordered.

 

Stateroom

The staterooms are definitely smaller and streamlined. We had a deluxe balcony, and it felt cramped. The balconies are very small, and you cannot maneuver well on them. Soot definitely does accumulate on them. They took out the TV console and put in a large screen tv. The large screen TV is great, however I missed the console as it gave us additional storage space in the past. Oh well – progress does has its costs. The shower was about 6 inches bigger, and a bit easier to use. They have mounted soap and shampoo dispensers in the shower, which are nice, but the soap does not lather well. The worst design flaw on the ship is the placement of the toilet paper dispenser under the sink, where it is difficult to reach, and mounted sideways so the paper is hard to get at.

 

The new and improved mattresses on the bed were better than old cruises, but still quite hard. I would equate it to a mattress in a Mexican hotel, rather than an American chain. I don’t think the egg crate was available, but we needed one.

 

Cabin Entertainment (movies, tv)

The DVR style movies are wonderful. Loads of stuff to watch when you want to lie in bed and relax.

 

 

 

The Staff

There were two types of staff working this ship. Ones that obviously had been top notch staff members on previous ships, and knew the CRUISE program, and what that requires from them, and others that were clueless as to what customer service means. It was easy to tell them apart. The trained staff smiled, greeted every passenger, and did what they could to help make peoples vacations better. The bartenders at the Sea view bar and Crooners were outstanding. Our cabin attendant was efficient, but not personable. No complaints about him, but nothing special. The wait staff was energetic and did their best to accommodate.

 

The others – not so much. They were lost, and confused. They ignored the passengers and looked down at their feet when they walked by you. They stood in the corner talking to one another. It’s a huge ship with a lot of acreage to cover, and surely there will be new employees, but Princess needs to supervise them a bit more, and train them a bit more before throwing them to the wolves.

Dining

The Chef's Table was an enjoyable experience as usual, however the galley tour seemed rushed. We were lucky enough to have our Chef’s table hosted by Alfredo – the master chef for all of Princess. He put on a spectacular meal, however the wine pairing was minimized to 2 different types, and there were some courses that seemed to be missing. As to the Luminaire table - it is stunning, and sitting in there with the light curtains surrounding us was an enjoyable experience.. except for one minor design flaw.. there is no air movement in there. You are surrounded by a wall of lights generating heat, but there is no air vent, or ceiling fan above you. It got quite warm… so if you are lucky enough to do the Chef’s table – make sure to dress comfortably.

 

We were in Anytime dining, in the Concerto dining room. Things were wonderful and our server was top notch. We asked for escargot and ended up getting it every night. All of our favorite princess foods were served.

 

The expanded buffet is amazing, and there are no complaints about the food served up there. My advice, before you start putting things on your plate, checks out all the aisles, because there are so many good things to eat. And please, use the hand washing sinks that are outside the buffet, or at least the purell stations – we saw way too many people attack the buffet without washing first.

 

We tried to go to Alfredo’s for pizza one day, but were denied. The head waiter in the blue coat, told us there were no tables available. When I pointed to the 4 empty tables, he spoke to me in a condescending manner, and told me that we would have to sit and wait for a long time. When I said that’s ok, he told me we would have to share a table with other people. We walked away. I felt like he was waiting for me to slip him 20.

 

Princess Cay – Tenders.

They had 4 Tenders operating for Princess Cay. We had a sanctuary cabana, so went off on the first one. The drivers had difficulties maneuvering the tenders as they had never used them at Princess Cay before. With only 4 tenders operating, there were long wait times to get from the ship for other passengers.

 

When we arrived at the Sanctuary cabana area, there were no staff members present. We walked down to our cabana, and after about an hour and half, I wandered up to the front to see if I could get a beverage. After about another hour, they finally got staff in place.

 

The sanctuary cabana area is supposed to be private, but no one was stopping anyone from walking through there, so in effect we paid about 100 bucks more to walk further down the path, and not for what was supposed to be offered.

 

Internet

The internet café is exceptionally small, and the computer stations are slow – very slow. I found I got better access from my phone using wi-fi.

 

 

Summary

The bottom line would be that I didn’t feel as if I was on a cruise. I felt like I was on a large floating hotel. The things that make cruising fun seemed to be downplayed or eliminated, and the focus seemed to be on packing as many people into as little space as possible, and nickel-diming them for every possible cent that they could get out of them. I did not escape completely, but the money in my wallet seemed to.

 

This definitely was not the ship for me, nor do I think it is the ship for people that are fans of the Princess brand, and standards. This seems more of a ship for a new breed of cruisers that have never experienced the way cruising used to be. I would liken it to getting a cheap airline ticket and then having to pay for every minor convenience, except the initial ticket price wasn’t that cheap.

 

This ship will most likely be filled by passengers from other cruise lines such as Carnival or Norwegian, but will suffer the loss of past Princess Passengers. I am hopeful that this ship and the soon to arrive Regal, will not become the norm of the Princess fleet, but just another facet. Princess is trying to compete with the other mega-ships out there, but hopefully won’t abandon what made it such a great cruise line.

Edited November 5, 2013 by DrSch

[CI66774]

You should have stayed at a Holiday Inn? That statement ruined the credibility of your review for me despite the fact some of your observations have been confirmed by other reviewers. Sounds as if you were expecting a luxury brand at a mass market price. It also appears your expectations were unreasonably high and quite a bit of your review sounded as bit - let's see - nit picky - as if you were looking for things to moan and groan about.

[DrSch]

You should have stayed at a Holiday Inn? That statement ruined the credibility of your review for me despite the fact some of your observations have been confirmed by other reviewers. Sounds as if you were expecting a luxury brand at a mass market price. It also appears your expectations were unreasonably high and quite a bit of your review sounded as bit - let's see - nit picky - as if you were looking for things to moan and groan about.

 

It was supposed to be a joke as their commericals say that people who stay there are more educated than anyone else.. guess the joke got lost in the translation. I was trying to be witty.

 

Most of the things discussed are neither hit or miss for me.. not my cup of tea but some people might like the new additions. The only moaning and groaning I did was about the problems with the spa.

 

Budget price.. hardly.. I paid quite a bit.. and we spent almost 2000 on board on a 5 day cruise.. I don't mind spending the money if the quality of service equates to it.

 

Since you decided to attack me, rather than discuss anything in the review, I would return the favor and say you seem pretty quick to make dispariging remarks about people, rather than offer anything constructive to a conversation. Just another one of the people that doesn't have an opinion of their own, but feels they need to tell everyone else how wrong they are.

[JPEvans]

You should have stayed at a Holiday Inn? That statement ruined the credibility of your review for me despite the fact some of your observations have been confirmed by other reviewers. Sounds as if you were expecting a luxury brand at a mass market price. It also appears your expectations were unreasonably high and quite a bit of your review sounded as bit - let's see - nit picky - as if you were looking for things to moan and groan about.

 

Totally agree.

[DrSch]

If I could figure out how to rename it or delete the post, I would

[CI66774]

If I could figure out how to rename it or delete the post, I would

 

No worries. I understood the reference but a smiley face helps in the translation. :D

[KruzPrincess]

Thanks for your thoughts.

[unc84]

I appreciated your comments & views on the Sanctuary as this is one of

our favorite parts of Princess cruising - was wondering about how big it

seems & having cabanas with tv's - we like the quiet!

[mafig]

I got the joke. :)

 

Thanks for your review. It's very similar to others I've read here recently ... unfortunately.

 

I thought the title was cute.;)

[DrSch]

I appreciated your comments & views on the Sanctuary as this is one of

our favorite parts of Princess cruising - was wondering about how big it

seems & having cabanas with tv's - we like the quiet!

 

The Cabanas with the TVs are off to the sides, and as long as you aren't in front of them, they shouldn't disturb you.

 

In the inside area, there are the massage rooms, and a large covered area with the couches. the problem is if you are sitting near that area, that everyone convenes there, so the noise gets loud, when people are eating, or congregating.

 

The good news is that the music from the main pool area, only drifted in one afternoon. That was during a live performance. We didn't hear the MUTS at all while sitting in there.

[Pam in CA]

Thanks for your review. No ship is perfect nor is every ship for everyone. There are those who would never sail on the Ocean or Pacific, for instance. It's nice we have choices.

[Coral]

This definitely was not the ship for me, nor do I think it is the ship for people that are fans of the Princess brand, and standards. This seems more of a ship for a new breed of cruisers that have never experienced the way cruising used to be. I would liken it to getting a cheap airline ticket and then having to pay for every minor convenience, except the initial ticket price wasn’t that cheap.

 

This ship will most likely be filled by passengers from other cruise lines such as Carnival or Norwegian, but will suffer the loss of past Princess Passengers. I am hopeful that this ship and the soon to arrive Regal, will not become the norm of the Princess fleet, but just another facet. Princess is trying to compete with the other mega-ships out there, but hopefully won’t abandon what made it such a great cruise line.

 

I appreciate your comments and got the joke in the subject. Your review was very balanced. The past 2 paragraphs seem to be a theme I keep reading, sadly.

 

If the post is deleted, please repost with a different title as you pointed out some very valuable comments that people need to be aware of.

 

Some people seem to defend a ship as if it was their child and won't tolerate any comments other than rosy ones.

Edited November 5, 2013 by Coral

[san diego sue]

Good thorough review.

Been on the Royal, and feel it is for us but agree on lots that you posted.

[Rick-cruiser]

wow..... I actually thought it was a great review.. Very informative and very descriptive.. You don't have to eliminate the review just because of the title....ask the moderators to change it.. They will.

 

- Rick

.

Edited November 5, 2013 by Rick-cruiser

[caribill]

Sounds as if you were expecting a luxury brand at a mass market price. It also appears your expectations were unreasonably high.

 

 

I think the writer was expecting an experience at least as good as on the other Princess ships.

[Coral]

Title did get changed.

[DrSch]

I think the writer was expecting an experience at least as good as on the other Princess ships.

 

 

Thanks, Glad you understand.

 

 

I actually think too many people have expectations that are way too low.. but that's another story.

[DrSch]

wow..... I actually thought it was a great review.. Very informative and very descriptive.. You don't have to eliminate the review just because of the title....ask the moderators to change it.. They will.

 

- Rick

.

 

Thanks for the vote of support.

 

I wanted this to be about the ship, not about me, and the first couple posts were attacking me. I think we are ok now. I don't think they will delete, and I won't bother renaming.

[Bimmer09]

Thanks for the vote of support.

 

I wanted this to be about the ship, not about me, and the first couple posts were attacking me. I think we are ok now. I don't think they will delete, and I won't bother renaming.

 

Let me give you another vote of support for a well-written piece. I think the more reviews that are written can only help Princess in the future and I have a vested interest in them making better decisions in the future if they take the bad (reviews) with the good. I am a Sanctuary fan but only if it lives up to it's name and even one television up there is an egregious mistake. The Lotus spa sounds like the opposite of Escaping Completely.

 

Thanks for writing this.

 

Norris

[riclop]

Thanks for the review , it seems that if you dont say great things about the Royal people will not like it. Thanks for your insights.

[DrSch]

:D

Let me give you another vote of support for a well-written piece. I think the more reviews that are written can only help Princess in the future and I have a vested interest in them making better decisions in the future if they take the bad (reviews) with the good. I am a Sanctuary fan but only if it lives up to it's name and even one television up there is an egregious mistake. The Lotus spa sounds like the opposite of Escaping Completely.

 

Thanks for writing this.

 

Norris

 

I agree with you on the Sanctuary and the Tvs.. It might bring people in at the beginning for the novelty, but those that book it regularly will not.

 

The massages at the Lotus Spa were wonderful and relaxing. The tension would go right back into my body and negate the massage, every time they would change the price. I am demanding a spa credit on the next cruise from Princess.

 

And it looks like the review has been renamed. .so that solves that problem lol:p

Edited November 5, 2013 by DrSch

[Sayra]

Thanks for the review.

 

We had a similar spa problem a few years ago (Ruby, maybe?). We booked the Thermal Suites on the embarkation day spa tour. When I checked my statement, I noticed that it was $50 more than the price on the flyer. Checked at Passenger Services, who had me talk to the Spa Manager. After a 10 minute discussion/argument, where I was told that the flyer was old, she finally agreed to refund the difference.

[eroller]

I quite enjoyed your review! It was well balanced and obviously there were things you didn't like about the ship. You are not alone and besides it was YOUR review expressing YOUR opinions. Some people don't seem to get that, and the minute they read something they don't like or don't agree with they try to discredit you or knock you down. Best to ignore those people as they are not worth your time.

 

Something you wrote that I have read before is "lacking substance". Perhaps this is the underlying theme of RP? It seems unanimous the ship is aesthetically pleasing to the eye, but that is where the universal praise seems to end.

 

I'm sailing on RP next weekend and I know I will have a good time, but my expectations are definitely lowered which is probably a good thing. Less opportunity for disappointment.

 

Thanks again for taking the time to share your experience.

 

Ernie

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[Esprit]

A very well written review. Thank you.

 

Having sailed on Celebrity and RCL, I like the similarities their ships have with Royal Princess so it will fit well with my cruise desires.

[SeaBands]

and dining stewards on Princess were as good as we found on HAL. The Eastern Europeans don't seem to enjoy their work as did the Indonesians and Philipinos.Bar tenders who get more tips are better.