So sad...Royal one star reviews

[dmwnc1959]

THANKS Mike. That's what I was thinking too but wasn't sure.

[tip]

We are seasoned cruisers, twenty-five under our belt, including four with Princess. We sailed Royal during the first week in January and had a terrific time with no complaints.

 

As far as all the negativity is concerned, my boss and I used to have a classic code word for it, "Shakespeare." That is, "Much Ado About Nothing.";)

[Cruise Junky]

We are seasoned cruisers, twenty-five under our belt, including four with Princess. We sailed Royal during the first week in January and had a terrific time with no complaints.

 

As far as all the negativity is concerned, my boss and I used to have a classic code word for it, "Shakespeare." That is, "Much Ado About Nothing.";)

 

Right, cause everyone should have the opportunity to pay to have soot rain down on them :rolleyes:

[sun14]

As far as all the negativity is concerned, my boss and I used to have a classic code word for it, "Shakespeare." That is, "Much Ado About Nothing.";)

 

The Royal has a Cruise Critic approval rating of 65%, the lowest of all Princess ships. This is "Much Ado About Something". The consensus of the reviewers, nearly 300 of them, is that The Royal is not as nice a ship as the others on the Princess fleet. No amount of lipstick can change that sad fact. :(

As another reviewer (Pescado Amarillo) said: “The frustrating thing is that the Royal Princess could have been so much better.”

[BRANDEE]

Can anyone comment upon the effects of the lack of a mid-ship staircase upon wait times for an elevator? We usually book mid-ship mini suite rooms, as this helps my husband avoid seasickness. We have a toddler who loves taking cruises, but can't really wait a long time for an elevator. I was really looking forward to the Royal Princess, but this might be deal breaker for our family.

 

Sailed in July'13 and found the wait at the mid elevators same as any other sail. Crowded on embark and debark, but the rest of the time fine. We did leave a little extra time to make up for the fact that the lovely "younger" passengers loved to hit every button on the elevator. We were mid Riviera deck and kept looking out the balcony to see if we were moving. So smooth!

[JimmyVWine]

The Royal has a Cruise Critic approval rating of 65%, the lowest of all Princess ships. This is "Much Ado About Something". The consensus of the reviewers, nearly 300 of them, is that The Royal is not as nice a ship as the others on the Princess fleet.

It is going to be interesting to see how Regal's ratings develop. Will the addition of an expanded Promenade and/or aft plunge pool make a difference? Will there be other, subtle changes that cause a bump in the approval rating? Or, perhaps more importantly, will the passengers who sail and review her be more self-selected with a year's advance notice and warning under their belts such that there shouldn't be as many surprises or unmet expectations. Anyone who boards Regal without a firm understanding of the lack of a central staircase or what the balconies will be like just isn't paying attention. So the early reviews of Royal that seem to be bogging down the approval rating should not be echoed by the early reviews of Regal. I can't imagine that there will be as many "What were they thinking" reviews of Regal, simply because if the design features (or lack thereof) that would cause one to rate the ship poorly matter to you, you shouldn't have had any reason to sail on Regal. At least with Royal, one could claim surprise. Not any more. If Regal clocks in with an 80%-85% "love it" rating while Royal toils at 65%, I suspect some changes will have to be made, either to the ship or its pricing structure.

[dmwnc1959]

Regal Princess does NOT have an expanded promenade deck.

 

Edited to add: hers will be identical to that of Royal Princess

 

.

Edited April 11, 2014 by dmwnc1959

[JimmyVWine]

Regal Princess does NOT have an expanded promenade deck.

 

Edited to add: hers will be identical to that of Royal Princess

 

.

I'll take your word for it, but I thought they had announced that they were going to be opening up more of that deck than the outdoor platforms on Royal.

[dmwnc1959]

I'll take your word for it, but I thought they had announced that they were going to be opening up more of that deck than the outdoor platforms on Royal.

 

A Royal Princess passenger from January reported that at a lecture held in Princess Live! it had been mentioned by one of the designers that at one time there had been a decision to try and open the very narrow access area behind the lifeboats for passenger use, but it had since been decided not to do so.

[sun14]

It is going to be interesting to see how Regal's ratings develop. Will the addition of an expanded Promenade and/or aft plunge pool make a difference? Will there be other, subtle changes that cause a bump in the approval rating? Or, perhaps more importantly, will the passengers who sail and review her be more self-selected with a year's advance notice and warning under their belts such that there shouldn't be as many surprises or unmet expectations. Anyone who boards Regal without a firm understanding of the lack of a central staircase or what the balconies will be like just isn't paying attention. So the early reviews of Royal that seem to be bogging down the approval rating should not be echoed by the early reviews of Regal. I can't imagine that there will be as many "What were they thinking" reviews of Regal, simply because if the design features (or lack thereof) that would cause one to rate the ship poorly matter to you, you shouldn't have had any reason to sail on Regal. At least with Royal, one could claim surprise. Not any more. If Regal clocks in with an 80%-85% "love it" rating while Royal toils at 65%, I suspect some changes will have to be made, either to the ship or its pricing structure.

 

In general I agree with you. A couple of thoughts however.

 

There are some of us that may sail the Royal or the Regal because we want to do a particular itinerary not available on other ships. This does not mean that we are not "paying attention" or that we like the ship any better.

 

On my own Royal sailing the price had been substantially discounted so I suspect that it is playing a role already, at least with Caribbean sailings.

 

Personally I was not surprised that the balconies were smaller, I knew that going in. What I was surprised about it how much smaller they were. Even with the exact dimensions it would have been difficult to do a lay out with furniture and get a feel for the very limited space.

 

As you mentioned it will be interesting indeed to see how the Regal ratings develop. This will take a while as we would need a large number of reviews to really matter.

[dmwnc1959]

I'll take your word for it, but I thought they had announced that they were going to be opening up more of that deck than the outdoor platforms on Royal.

 

Here are a few pictures I took while aboard Royal Princess of the areas behind the lifeboats. Even if they could open it up, it would be a tunnel. That, and having so many control mechanisms for the lifeboats within easy reach, it may have been deemed a safety hazard to allow passengers back here.

 

 

 

 

[SeagoingMom]

I totally disagree - you know what they say about opinions...everyone has one. Regal Princess 1 was my favorite Princess ship and still has not been surpassed. I could have put a review of her and given her five stars because she suited me well. At the time she was ready to leave the fleet, I'm sure the majority of the people on this board would have disagreed with me.

 

Another poster indicated that people had already formed negative opinions about the ship before even sailing on it and so conveyed negative reviews. I would postulate that the number of people who formed positive opinions of the ship before even sailing it outnumber the the people with negative opinions. How many of these folks provided the five star reviews?

 

The truth is probably somewhere in the middle.

You make a good point, but I think very negative (1 star) reviews are often the result of overly optimistic expectations engendered by both advertising from the cruise line and "cheerleading" from loyals of whatever ship or line is being discussed. When folks give nothing but 5 star glowing reviews, others get "stars in their eyes," develop unrealistic expectations, and then when they take their cruise, they feel disappointed, get angry and give abysmal reviews. (This, of course excepts those who can't seem to find anything good to say about a cruise and appear to want to express how superior their tastes are, such that no cruise would seem to satisfy them.)

 

I have let myself become a "victim" of overly high expectations from the causes described above, and experienced disappointment. I do not, however, give abysmal reviews, but try to be balanced. When I review or comment on a cruise, I feel if folks have an idea of both my positive and negative impressions, they will go into their own experience with realistic expectations, not be disappointed, and perhaps even find their cruise better than they expected and get off the ship happy!

[sun14]

A Royal Princess passenger from January reported that at a lecture held in Princess Live! it had been mentioned by one of the designers that at one time there had been a decision to try and open the very narrow access area behind the lifeboats for passenger use, but it had since been decided not to do so.

 

There was an earlier interview with the President of Princess (who has since been replaced) and he mentioned the opening of the Promenade on Regal. I have no new information to share on this however from my own experience on The Royal I can see why they would not open the areas behind the lifeboats. They are very narrow indeed and would be difficult for more than a couple of passengers to pass at one time. From your post it looks like they arrived at this conclusion.

[JimmyVWine]

In general I agree with you. A couple of thoughts however.

 

There are some of us that may sail the Royal or the Regal because we want to do a particular itinerary not available on other ships. This does not mean that we are not "paying attention" or that we like the ship any better.

 

On my own Royal sailing the price had been substantially discounted so I suspect that it is playing a role already, at least with Caribbean sailings.

 

Personally I was not surprised that the balconies were smaller, I knew that going in. What I was surprised about it how much smaller they were. Even with the exact dimensions it would have been difficult to do a lay out with furniture and get a feel for the very limited space.

 

As you mentioned it will be interesting indeed to see how the Regal ratings develop. This will take a while as we would need a large number of reviews to really matter.

That all makes sense. Though it seems that the need for someone to write a scathing review the likes of which we have seen on CC for Royal would seem to have subsided. If there is a particular itinerary on Regal that interests someone and they book for that reason, they shouldn't come back to CC at this point and scream that Princess is crazy for building a ship without a central staircase or with 36 sq/ft balconies. One can be disappointed in those features, and they may indeed causse someone to knock a few stars off their rating. But the vitriolic one star ratings should be few and far between, I would hope. By way of example, personally, I detest mayonnaise. If I go to a brand new sandwich shop on the day it opens for business and find out that they put mayonnaise on every sandwich and you cannot "have it your way", I might go to Urbanspoon or Yelp and write a scathing review about what a bad decision this is and how unreasonable the shop is. But if that fact is made known to me for a full year and I elect to go to the shop anyway, who is the idiot then, the shop or me? Passengers booked on Regal are boarding a ship with eyes wide open, so I suspect that they understand and appreciate the design features, even if they don't like them or agree with them. That element of tempered expectations should reveal itself in the ratings.

[tobyt]

We sailed in Feb and it was great to be away from the cold but....there was something missing on this one and the more I think about it I do believe it is the combination which made us less than happy...missed the promenade enough said, missed the wheelhouse, enough said, missed crown grill having light and privacy and disliked the close proximity to the bar and having people look over while dining, we actively disliked the entertainment and did feel there were sufficient options unlike any other Princess cruise and yes the soot is annoying I had it all over my sneakers each time I tried to walk laps on the super windy walking area or take Zumba, annoying yup! Missing pool perhaps not a deal breaker but during warmer months it is going to be a huge issue! If I was writing a

performance appraisal at work, they would be a meets expectations and not an exceeds just too much missing.....

[SeaTheWorldBySea]

Regal Princess does NOT have an expanded promenade deck.

 

Edited to add: hers will be identical to that of Royal Princess

 

.

 

I am sure you are correct because you for sure are more up on Royal/Regal information than most. Somewhere (in a dream?) I got the idea that they were making a change on the Regal and we would be able to walk the length of the promenade, on both starboard and port, but not be able to make a full turn around the ship.

[Colo Cruiser]

They are air powered horns.

 

I think what occurred was the Island Princess played the theme over outside speakers and some passengers assumed that the multi horn array had been installed when it actually had not.

 

Mike:)

 

I think thats what happened too.

[kendon]

Right, cause everyone should have the opportunity to pay to have soot rain down on them :rolleyes:

 

Let's be nice....

 

They loved the Royal experience and so did we. Let's leave it at that.

 

Sheesh...

[kendon]

In general I agree with you. A couple of thoughts however.

 

There are some of us that may sail the Royal or the Regal because we want to do a particular itinerary not available on other ships. This does not mean that we are not "paying attention" or that we like the ship any better.

 

On my own Royal sailing the price had been substantially discounted so I suspect that it is playing a role already, at least with Caribbean sailings.

 

Personally I was not surprised that the balconies were smaller, I knew that going in. What I was surprised about it how much smaller they were. Even with the exact dimensions it would have been difficult to do a lay out with furniture and get a feel for the very limited space.

 

As you mentioned it will be interesting indeed to see how the Regal ratings develop. This will take a while as we would need a large number of reviews to really matter.

 

Regarding the Caribbean itinerary, it would be nice if they would shake them up a bit. Same Carib itinerary on both the Regal and Royal is dull. Add a port, change a port, something. However, the ship as a destination was great.

[Cruise Junky]

Let's be nice....

 

 

 

They loved the Royal experience and so did we. Let's leave it at that.

 

 

 

Sheesh...

 

 

Really? Yet you didn't feel a need to say that to people belittling the people that didn't like Royal? They're whiners and spoilt babies and you don't touch that comment. Nice goes both ways

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[sun14]

We sailed in Feb and it was great to be away from the cold but....there was something missing on this one and the more I think about it I do believe it is the combination which made us less than happy...missed the promenade enough said, missed the wheelhouse, enough said, missed crown grill having light and privacy and disliked the close proximity to the bar and having people look over while dining, we actively disliked the entertainment and did feel there were insufficient options unlike any other Princess cruise and yes the soot is annoying I had it all over my sneakers each time I tried to walk laps on the super windy walking area or take Zumba, annoying yup! Missing pool perhaps not a deal breaker but during warmer months it is going to be a huge issue! If I was writing a performance appraisal at work, they would be a meets expectations and not an exceeds just too much missing.....

 

I agree with all the things you mentioned as misses, I felt the same. However it seems to me that since you were less than happy and had all those "misses" the cruise in reality did not meet expectations. You are kind if you rate it higher than that.

[bluesea321]

For the record I am Platinum on Princess and have very much enjoyed my cruises on the Ruby, the Sapphire, and other Grand class ships. My cruise on the Royal was not as nice. I am no cheerleader for Princess, Celebrity or any other cruise line, I just enjoy a good cruise. In reading this thread it seems to me that going back and forth about the Royal being a 5 or a 1 or something in between misses the larger picture. The Royal has a Cruise Critic approval rating of 65%, the lowest of the Princess fleet. For the Ruby it is 85%. Celebrity’s newest ship, the Reflection, is at 90% and the Solstice, the original of the class, is at 85% just like the Ruby. Celebrity has a hit with their newest ship – Princess does not.

[shredie]

Since I try to avoid the mega ships when I can, I haven't considered a Royal itinerary. After all this talk, though, I'm thinking I want to sail her to see what the fuss is about! Is the controversy good for advertising?

[Loreni]

Here are a few pictures I took while aboard Royal Princess of the areas behind the lifeboats. Even if they could open it up, it would be a tunnel. That, and having so many control mechanisms for the lifeboats within easy reach, it may have been deemed a safety hazard to allow passengers back here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for posting these pictures. It is even worse that I imagined and we don't plant to sail the Royal or Regal. However, the Celebrity Solstice class have similar promenades, I hear. And they score much higher. So much more is wrong with Royal than just the promenade deck. If we were to sail a ship with such a poor promenade deck, then we would certainly need a balcony where we could lounge. I don't lounge on the upper decks...not enough shade and not enough connection to the sea. Royal and Regal provide neither a decent promenade nor acceptable balconies for us....so it's a deal breaker. Also, why would anyone pay extra for a mid ship location on the Royal or Regal? It would actually be much more convenient to be forward or aft where stairs are available. Of course not an aft balcony (soot) or a forward balcony (wind). If we were to give up stairs in exchange for a mid-ship extended balcony, I would need to remember to keep our curtains closed especially at night. Too many problems when there are so many other options. Maybe if the price were very low on a very port intensive itinerary, but even then, I doubt we would. Like I said too many options.

[pcsunlover]

Can anyone comment upon the effects of the lack of a mid-ship staircase upon wait times for an elevator? We usually book mid-ship mini suite rooms, as this helps my husband avoid seasickness. We have a toddler who loves taking cruises, but can't really wait a long time for an elevator. I was really looking forward to the Royal Princess, but this might be deal breaker for our family.

 

I just got off the Royal on Sunday. We had a midship minisuite on Baja deck under the SeaView bar (B414). We never noticed any long waits, and it was a fairly short walk down a hall and around a corner to the forward elevators/stairs instead of the midship elevators.

 

Honestly, I've experienced longer waits for elevators in hotels, hospitals, and businesses than I did on this ship. I don't know if we were just fortunate at the times we used them, or if we are just a little more patient than some people. :)