Quick summary review Royal Princess - July 6

[hubofhockey]

Just got back from a great cruise on the Royal Princess. The Baltic itinerary rivals the Med as a spectacular voyage.

 

As for the ship, it has it's pluses and minuses.

 

HITS - Expanded piazza with more entertainment, Enclave, layout of mini-suites, Princess Live, Alfredo's.

 

MISSES - Horrible elevator system with constantly packed elevators which seem to stop on every floor. I get a bit claustrophobic in elevators and hated this. So much for "relax completely" Princess philosophy. It's my biggest issue with the ship. They need to address it. The Sea Walk is a frivolous ten step walk. Really Princess? Pools - lucky you don't need them much in Baltic Sea and Scandinavia. Club 6 not used much at all. Not sure why. I guess it's a smaller interior version of Skywalkers. I missed the Explorers club from Grand class. Oh well

 

If you are considering booking this ship for British Isles next summer, I would strongly recommend. I would also recommend the Regal for the Baltic itinerary next summer. I would never book a Caribbean cruise on it. To each his own. There are hits and misses on this one. We had a great time. I do love great big ships. The Size is not an issue as much as other things. The Ruby is still my favorite on Princess though.

[janetz]

Thank you for your thoughts. Why ould you not do a carribean cruise on the Royal?

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[frannie]

Just got back from a great cruise on the Royal Princess. The Baltic itinerary rivals the Med as a spectacular voyage.

 

As for the ship, it has it's pluses and minuses.

 

HITS - Expanded piazza with more entertainment, Enclave, layout of mini-suites, Princess Live, Alfredo's.

 

MISSES - Horrible elevator system with constantly packed elevators which seem to stop on every floor. I get a bit claustrophobic in elevators and hated this. So much for "relax completely" Princess philosophy. It's my biggest issue with the ship. They need to address it. The Sea Walk is a frivolous ten step walk. Really Princess? Pools - lucky you don't need them much in Baltic Sea and Scandinavia. Club 6 not used much at all. Not sure why. I guess it's a smaller interior version of Skywalkers. I missed the Explorers club from Grand class. Oh well

 

If you are considering booking this ship for British Isles next summer, I would strongly recommend. I would also recommend the Regal for the Baltic itinerary next summer. I would never book a Caribbean cruise on it. To each his own. There are hits and misses on this one. We had a great time. I do love great big ships. The Size is not an issue as much as other things. The Ruby is still my favorite on Princess though.

What about shopping on the royal . I like to browse shops in the evening to look for a few deals on items especially jewelry . How about the shoping in port any good buys

[hubofhockey]

Thank you for your thoughts. Why ould you not do a carribean cruise on the Royal?

 

Shortage of decent sized pools and small balconies. Also, with more days at sea, elevator (lack of additional staircase) can be problematic for some. Both of these issues would impact the relaxation comfort factor that I generally love about Princess. I still had a great time and enjoyed the ship. It really works well for its current itinerary and will be great for British Isles next summer. We did British Isles on the Caribbean Princess and would rather have done it on the Royal.

[hubofhockey]

What about shopping on the royal . I like to browse shops in the evening to look for a few deals on items especially jewelry . How about the shoping in port any good buys

 

Typical shops you would find on most ships. Prices are high to exorbitant at many of these ports, especially Oslo and Stockholm. We loved Tallinn and the art work at decent prices. Dollar does well in St Petersburg too. St Petersburg is THE star of this itinerary. It's an amazing city. I was blown away. The rest of the itinerary is great as well. I could have done without the Aarhus port stop. Nice small city. We went to Den Gamle By. It's okay, but doesn't measure up to the rest of the ports.

[A1A]

Shortage of decent sized pools and small balconies. Also, with more days at sea, elevator (lack of additional staircase) can be problematic for some. Both of these issues would impact the relaxation comfort factor that I generally love about Princess. I still had a great time and enjoyed the ship. It really works well for its current itinerary and will be great for British Isles next summer. We did British Isles on the Caribbean Princess and would rather have done it on the Royal.

 

Having completed a Caribbean cruise on the Royal I agree completely with your comments. I am surprised to hear that the elevators are still an issue, they were unsatisfactory on our April sailing.

 

Thanks for the review and comments, enjoy your posts.

 

Cheers!

Ken

[pablo222]

The Sea Walk is a frivolous ten step walk. Really Princess?

 

I keep hearing radio spots for princess that hype the sea walk.

 

What's the next important detail to convince me to book?

The ship floats?

[janetz]

Shortage of decent sized pools and small balconies. Also, with more days at sea, elevator (lack of additional staircase) can be problematic for some. Both of these issues would impact the relaxation comfort factor that I generally love about Princess. I still had a great time and enjoyed the ship. It really works well for its current itinerary and will be great for British Isles next summer. We did British Isles on the Caribbean Princess and would rather have done it on the Royal.

 

Ok. I had to ask because we are doing the repo. The things you metioned will not effect me. Thanks again.

[Mom33]

Ok. I had to ask because we are doing the repo. The things you metioned will not effect me. Thanks again.

 

The ship served us well in the Caribbean.:D

[janetz]

I am happy on any ship and the Royal looks amazing. :)

Edited July 20, 2014 by janetz

[napunani]

Thanks for your feedback. We are looking to finalize our British Isle cruise this week. TA advised that ROYAL and REGAL are getting very early bookings!

[hubofhockey]

Having completed a Caribbean cruise on the Royal I agree completely with your comments. I am surprised to hear that the elevators are still an issue, they were unsatisfactory on our April sailing.

 

 

 

Thanks for the review and comments, enjoy your posts.

 

 

 

Cheers!

 

Ken

 

 

Thanks Ken. That's great to read. I get so much out of this site and try to put something back for others.

 

I'm not sure what they could do to fix the elevator issue. Maybe it bothers me more because I get claustrophobic in elevators. At work, ours rarely are near capacity and I like to stand in back. I hope they figure it out on these ships.

 

I think Royal/Regal are great ships for British Isles and Baltic/Scandinavia itineraries. I hope next year's prices are as low as this year's.

 

Other positives include a nice expansion of Vines and a great staff there. It's such a nice venue. One other negative that might relate to all of Princess that I experienced for the first time on the Royal was the loss of fluffy omelets. They don't prepare them in separate pans, just on a griddle and they are flat. You also have to ask for smoked salmon.

[lovevacadays]

Thank you for posting your thoughts on the Royal. I was looking at a Caribbean cruise on the Regal but not quite sure yet. I don't hang out by the pool that often but I do like to know that there is enough deck space around the ship to find a lounger.

[rdsqrl]

I keep hearing radio spots for princess that hype the sea walk.

 

What's the next important detail to convince me to book?

The ship floats?

Not Princess. That's White Star Lines . . . and Costa.

[Lovetocruiseprincess]

We're booked for this November but I can seriously say I less than enthusiastic about this ship compared to all the others. It's our only choice for a local cruise longer than 7 days.

Bring back the Emerald to Florida.

[TrnrMom]

We were on the May 23rd sailing. Although we enjoyed the itinerary, for us, the service was a tad below what we've experienced on other Princess ships. The large size means more work for staff, and surprisingly longer waits for service in Sabatinis, a Wheelhouse and Passenger Services. We were actually completely ignored a couple of times and had to ask for service....and we weren't bring overly impatient. We hardly saw our steward. Guess we were really spoiled by our experience on the Island.

If you are looking for a quiet place to read a book, there is hardly a place for that on the a Royal....it is a big, busy ship with the atrium now the focus of entertainment. So strange that its designed so that it's such a pain to access via those elevators that stop at every floor for phantom passengers.

In the end though, it's one mans poison , is another's dessert, etc. Just not for us again. I've written a review that is in the process of being published in that section.

[hubofhockey]

If you are looking for a quiet place to read a book, there is hardly a place for that on the a Royal.....

 

I saw many people using those funky looking chairs in the lounge area outside of Princess live for reading and it seemed quiet there during the day. I did my reading on the balcony as we were lucky to have great weather all but one day. I do agree that service is stretched a bit as this ship struggles with margins and economics. I think this is the present and future of mass market cruise lines. It's one good reason to choose a premium line.