Good Itinerary - Poorly Run Ship

Royal Princess Cruise Review to Europe - Western Europe

glenfrancine

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 48

Overall rating:

3 out of 5

12 Night British Isles (Southampton Roundtrip)

Sail date: August 25, 2015

Ship: Royal Princess

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: C504

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 9 years ago

Review summary

The Royal Princess ship and crew are a major disappointment. I have sailed on 7 other Princess ships so I thought I knew what to expect from Princess. In fact, I took this same cruise 3 years ago on the Caribbean Princess and had a very nice time.

I did manage to find a few things I liked about this ship: The Piazza area is lovely. The in-room TV has been upgraded to include movies on demand. The Horizon Grill area has been expanded to include a Bistro and additional seating. More nightly entertainment is offered. There is a nice "dancing waters" show several times a day.

Unfortunately, the negatives far outweigh the positives: Neither the ship nor the crew are capable of handling nearly 4000 passengers. The elevators are too small and there are not enough of them. You could easily wait 15 minutes for an elevator. There are no public staircases mid-ship past deck 7. Your are forced to use elevators that do not always stop. The food in the main dining rooms is mediocre as was the service. There are more specialty dining options available from $20-$25 per person. On this 12 night cruise we chose specialty dining 4 times. The first night in the Grill was worth the extra money - good service and good food. The other 3 (Crab Shack, Sabatino's and a return to the Grill) were not worth it. Service in specialty dining deteriorated as more people rejected the regular dining rooms.

Plumbing seems to be a problem on this ship. Toilets in public restrooms did not always flush.

The crew is not well trained ( or they don't communicate with each other) but they all have excuses. Too many times when asking directions, we were sent the wrong way.

The British Isles are lovely, but not on the Royal Princess.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Service and Staff

1 out of 5

Ship Quality

1 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

The shower and sink were clogged upon our arrival. When we told our room steward, she had someone fix it that very day. The TV lost power several days out and it took 3 phone calls to get maintenance to fix it. It only took minutes to reset the TV. We waited 1 1/2 days for bottled water and sodas to be placed in our refrigerator. Some rule about accounting and closing the books on the previous steward. We had to call Room Service to order water. Room Service (breakfast) was very thorough and prompt. I'm not sure the room was ever vacuumed during our stay. There was glitter on my dress (first formal night) and that glitter was still on the carpet on the last night.

Ship tip

Because of the mid-ship elevator situation, sometimes you have to take the Up elevator in order to go Down. Yes, it's ridiculous but what choice do you have? There are no stairs.

Thumbs up