Not the best

Item: Royal Princess
Rating: 3.5
Author: catenggm

Royal Princess Cruise Review to Europe - Western Europe

catenggm

Contributor Level: Deck Hand

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 12

Overall rating:

3.5 out of 5

Verified Review

12 Night British Isles With Kirkwall (Southampton Roundtrip)

Sail date: August 29, 2018

Ship: Royal Princess

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: M717

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 6 years ago

Review summary

Rather disappointing cruise, not a good value, ship will nickel and dime you to death, ports to cities not disclosed as inconvenient. Food was about a 5 on a 10 scale, steak in Crown Grill specialty restaurant was very fatty.

Embarkation

4 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

Cocktails expensive, tight pours, automatic tips over 500% markup on booze

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Service and Staff

4 out of 5

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

2 out of 5

Small cabin with balcony, beds very uncomfortable

Ship tip

Don't plan to freewheel it on tender served ports takes hours to get off the ship

Thumbs up

Ports of call

St. Peter Port, Guernsey, Channel Islands

2 out of 5

Cobh (Cork), Ireland

2 out of 5

You need to pay for transportation to get to Cork from Cobb

Thumbs Up 1

Dublin, Ireland

2 out of 5

They charge $8 per person each way for port to city shuttle service

Thumbs Up 0

Belfast, Northern Ireland

4 out of 5

Greenock (Glasgow), Scotland

4 out of 5

Kirkwall, Orkney Islands, Scotland

5 out of 5

Invergordon (Inverness & Loch Ness), Scotland

5 out of 5

South Queensferry (Edinburgh), Scotland

5 out of 5

Le Havre (Paris), France

5 out of 5

Visited Normandy beaches WW2 D Day memorials

Thumbs Up 6

Disembarkation

5 out of 5

9 Comments

neekay 6 years ago

Fake, no cruises posted, no photos in profile. Hate fake posts like this

Thumbs Up 0

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Lazyboy 6 years ago

Nickle and dime came about because of complaints about paying for what you did not use/need. Like why should I pay for all the alcoholics to kill off brain cells when I do not care to drink? If you do not want nickel and dime, then go on lines like Scenic, Seabourn, Crystal or similar ones. But even on those there are exemptions that you pay extra for like the Spa.

Thumbs Up 1

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RetiredRay 6 years ago

BTW, what steak did you get that was so fatty? I have found that a great ribeye has about 40-50% fat and bone and a professional chef I know said that is what the better cuts are.

Thumbs Up 1

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gatorhotline 6 years ago

Price a cruise with the all inclusive lines such as Oceania, Crystal, Regent, Silversea, etc. You may find Princess is a bargain.

Thumbs Up 4

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Shh813 6 years ago

We've been on Royal Princess and loved it. Food was great. I think cruising isn't for you. We love it. The best vacation ever.

Thumbs Up 3

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bdidion 6 years ago

It is possible to board a Princess ship and not spend another dime onboard. You will need to eat your meals in the main dining rooms or buffet not the specialty restaurants, drink the provided juice or tap water not sodas or alcohol. The majority of the entertainment is free but things like bingo have a charge. Don’t go to casino The other thing that you could do is before your cruise put some money into your onboard spending account. This can be done in the cruise personalizer on the Princess website. With the onboard spending account you can have those drinks, speciality dining and entertainment but not feel like your getting nickel and dimed

Thumbs Up 1

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RetiredRay 6 years ago

Unless you go with one of the high end ($$$$) lines, you will see that nickel and dime syndrome, although I am told that Princess is not as bad as some of its peers. That came about because folks did not want all inclusive prices that charged for things they did not use. What do you mean ports are inconvenient? Princess does not dictate where they park, the port does. Princess does say if it is a tender port, but sometimes they get bumped from the pier by the port authorities. From the several lines I have considered, I suspect you should 1. Stay away from cruises or 2. Go with the high end cruises ($$$$) that have all the extras rolled into your base fare.

Thumbs Up 3

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youreadyb 6 years ago

Royal princess / Royal Caribbean I think

Thumbs Up 0

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Lashae65 6 years ago

What cruise was this??

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