Royal Princess - much too loud

[IECalCruiser]

There is entertainment in the Piazza on other ships but it doesn't interfere with Vines, Alfredo's or the shops like it does with Vines, Sabatini's and the shops on the Regal and you are able to have a conversation while enjoying the musicians and performers on other ships. The high volume is not necessary. I stopped at Passenger Services to complain and state that the music was so loud that you couldn't talk to someone next to you on the Promenade deck, two decks above the Piazza. The response was that the sound had to be loud enough so you could hear it over conversations. What the??

[SoCal Cruiser78]

...Between the lack of a central staircase, slow elevators and now loud entertainment, the midship location is no longer desirable for me. Factor in the aft soot issue and it looks like forward is the prime location on these new builds...

 

Shhhhhhhh! Let's keep that our little secret so they don't raise the fares for the forward cabins :).

[SoCal Cruiser78]

...Having blaring noise when people are trying to eat and have a conversation over a drink to the point that you're yelling is just bad planning...

 

I agree. The Piazza area is not just a music venue, it also has the IC, bars, restaurants and the CSD adjacent on some ships. Passengers and staff have to speak to each other in these areas in order to conduct their business, so any music should be at a volume that allows for that.

 

When I was on the Golden a few months back, a CSD staff member and I had to shout at one another to be heard over the band playing nearby in the Piazza :(. Yes, IMO, bad planning.

[sawtooth]

Yes, we found the Atrium very busy, maybe too busy and noisy at times.

If you just wanted a glass of champagne at the Bellini Bar many times you couldn't find a seat as it was often taken over by people watching the entertainment and not even buying a cocktail.

Martinis were better and more quietly drunk in the Wheelhouse Bar.

Having said all this, we did enjoy some of the liveliness and shows in the Atrium...just not all the time.

I agree, take out Princess Live and make it another lounge. They can still film there.

[Sprig of Mint]

The Piazza used to be a place to meet friends, have a conversation, have a quiet drink and a snack, and just enjoy the beauty of the décor. Not any more--especially on Royal Princess. Now it is a practically non-stop entertainment/event venue. I can understand holding the Captain's party, the champagne waterfall, and a few other big events there; but the near-constant parade of singers, jugglers, acrobats, etc. etc. has driven me out.

 

Just returned after our second trip on the Royal and after the first time we thought we would give it a second chance, but NEVER ever again! Not once did we find we could have a 'quiet time' on any of the decks of the Atrium. If it wasn't loud music it was line dancing instructions being shouted out or other dance instructions - we thought we were on the edge of a parade ground. Why oh why couldn't these classes be held in the Vista Lounge, an area that can be 'shut off' and therefore cause no disturbance to others, as they do on P&O. Yes we only wanted to have a quiet chat over coffee, or read a book. A library might have been a choice but on the Royal its a joke, we have bigger rooms at home, hence we were driven back to our cabin - not somewhere to spend leisure time out of choice on holiday, even though we had a balcony! However, what did please us were the waiters, always smiling and looking to serve with a caring attitude - they all get a gold star! Look after them Princess or like a lot of dissatisfied passengers you'll lose them.

Edited June 28, 2015 by Sprig of Mint

[PescadoAmarillo]

This is my biggest concern about the new ships, which is sad, because it has nothing to do with the ships and is totally correctable. When I did a 5-night cruise on the Royal, the most significant negative takeaway I had was about the elevators. When we returned to the ship on a BVE later, I thought it was nothing sort of gorgeous. Of course, we were the first ones on the ship. Then it started filling up and the music kicked in and it was cringingly loud. There is no escaping it by the pool as it bleeds into the "Retreat" pool, but it was at its worst in the Piazza. They had the party band playing in there during embarkation (whatever happened to some soothing piano music to calm travel-worn nerves?) and, of course, the wait for an elevator midship was endless. It was so painfully loud in that area that, when we finally got an elevator and the doors closed, the only topic of conversation in it was about the awful noise in the Piazza, not the beautiful Piazza itself.

[Colo Cruiser]

Just returned after our second trip on the Royal and after the first time we thought we would give it a second chance, but NEVER ever again! Not once did we find we could have a 'quiet time' on any of the decks of the Atrium. If it wasn't loud music it was line dancing instructions being shouted out or other dance instructions - we thought we were on the edge of a parade ground. Why oh why couldn't these classes be held in the Vista Lounge, an area that can be 'shut off' and therefore cause no disturbance to others, as they do on P&O. Yes we only wanted to have a quiet chat over coffee, or read a book. A library might have been a choice but on the Royal its a joke, we have bigger rooms at home, hence we were driven back to our cabin - not somewhere to spend leisure time out of choice on holiday, even though we had a balcony! However, what did please us were the waiters, always smiling and looking to serve with a caring attitude - they all get a gold star! Look after them Princess or like a lot of dissatisfied passengers you'll lose them.

 

I agree. Welcome to Cruise Critic! :)

[KruzPrincess]

I like good music. I have hearing loss from too many concerts in front of the big speakers up front. I like some good entertainment. However, what one person likes can be really annoying to another person. Music aside, though. I was in a cabin over the Vista Lounge in December and I could hear Zumba very clearly every morning at 9AM. I hated it. Hearing "Kick Kick Kick" over and over was not entertaining to me. I don't think it would entertaining to me to hear it while I'm getting a morning at the IC. The Piazza is the place they advertise for meeting people.....a town square as it were. I don't mind a couple nights of parties there, but I wouldn't want that all day or every night. I guess I'll see for myself and judge. Maybe my hearing loss will be beneficial. ;) Just want to add that I purposely haven't booked the RCI big ships because I don't want to sail a big floating shopping mall with a parade in the middle. I guess Princess really is trying to complete with RCI.

[jagsfan]

I planned to eat my IC lunch and read my Kindle on Royal, had no trouble finding a table, but the dance music and instructor's yelling drove me back to my balcony, where I ate my now cold panini. It's kind of strange, control in the atrium, but they don't drive people away.

[Ready to Sail!]

I planned to eat my IC lunch and read my Kindle on Royal, had no trouble finding a table, but the dance music and instructor's yelling drove me back to my balcony, where I ate my now cold panini. It's kind of strange, control in the atrium, but they don't drive people away.

 

We just got off the Royal and we found the noise level in the atrium way too much also. We also got our food and/or coffee at the IC and took it back to our cabin. Unfortunately, we couldn't get away from it while trying to enjoy other venues such as Alfredo's, or even having a sundae in Gelato's.

[HUNKY]

Maybe it was the times we were in or passing thru the Piazza, but I never noticed it to be overly loud back on Regal. On the other hand, MUTS was loud!

[blindrid]

The Piazza used to be a place to meet friends, have a conversation, have a quiet drink and a snack, and just enjoy the beauty of the décor. Not any more--especially on Royal Princess. Now it is a practically non-stop entertainment/event venue. I can understand holding the Captain's party, the champagne waterfall, and a few other big events there; but the near-constant parade of singers, jugglers, acrobats, etc. etc. has driven me out.

 

My take is there are plenty of places to drink and converse. My complaint has always been a lot of the fun ends at ten, then ship turns dull and quiet.

 

Obviously, to each their own.

Edited July 3, 2015 by blindrid

[Colo Cruiser]

My complaint has always been a lot of the fun ends at ten, then ship turns dull and quiet.

 

Obviously, to each their own.

 

All Princess ships are pretty much the same. At least on all our cruises.

Edited July 3, 2015 by Colo Cruiser

[blindrid]

All Princess ships are pretty much the same. At least on all our cruises.

 

I would agree. Each year my late nights do dwindle though :confused:

[IECalCruiser]

The noise (music) in the Piazza made it, at least for me, impossible to enjoy a quiet meal in Sabatinis which is adjacent to the Piazza. Another noise issue involved the placement of the Wheelhouse bar right outside of the Crown Grill. When the piano player was performing it was also hard to enjoy a quiet meal in the CG......

 

Bob

Bob, It didn't matter to us that the Wheelhouse Bar was next to the Crown Grill on the Regal. Even before the piano player started it was so loud in the Crown Grill that DW and I couldn't carry on a conversation across the table. Appeared to be poor acoustics in the room.