Overall wonderful 7 day cruise

Item: Royal Princess
Rating: 4.8
Author: Lfisch

Royal Princess Cruise Review to Caribbean

Lfisch

Contributor Level: Third Mate

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 4

Helpful Votes: 134

Overall rating:

4.8 out of 5

14 Night East/West Caribbean Adventurer (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)

Sail date: November 17, 2018

Ship: Royal Princess

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: D326

Traveled as: Large Group

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

Great time. Downsides: Always long line at guest services. Even on day before disembarkation only had 4 staff on duty, other days less. Dining room reservations for anytime dining were always filled by the time we called. It wasn't until the last day that I noticed in the small print that reservation line opened at 8AM. Never knew that or would have called at that time. Dining room service could be quite slow (20 minutes between finishing main course and received dessert menu). Some of the longest dinners we've had on any cruise.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Sabatini's

4 out of 5

Excellent menu and food. Service good until we finished main course than after 20 minutes had to flag down server to even get dessert menus. She was serving our group and a table of 12 so she was stretched thin. Needed another server.

Vines Bar

5 out of 5

Love this bar on Princess ships. They have wines not available at other bars. They provide small tapas plate after 5

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

Casino

4 out of 5

Great selection of slots but pay schedule very poor. With all the time we played an money we spent you'd think that you'd at least get come payout. Never happened.

Service and Staff

4 out of 5

Cabin steward excellent. Dining staff not quite.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Ship tip

Enjoy the Trident Grill by the pool

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Princess Cays (Cruise Line Private Island)

5 out of 5

San Juan, Puerto Rico

5 out of 5

Just walked around Old San Juan

Thumbs Up 13

Amber Cove (Puerto Plata), Dominican Republic

5 out of 5

Second time we've done same excursion: Lifestyle VIP beach. All the drink and food and actual beds and hammocks on the beach. Our favorite

Thumbs Up 8

Grand Turk Island

5 out of 5

Just used the Margheritaville bar/pool

Thumbs Up 5

Disembarkation

5 out of 5

walked off ship with our luggage at 6:30. Thru security in airport and eating breakfast one hour after leaving our cabin

5 Comments

booger1xx 5 years ago

That one is hard to believe because it's so bizarre. How the heck did he get all his food onboard? Cruising is a great way to travel and is basically a bargain for the price.

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DFromATX 5 years ago

@RetiredRay wow, goes to show a little research goes a long way! He missed a lot of great meals.

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RetiredRay 5 years ago

Linlee14, don’t feel bad, a friend of mine was telling me about a guy he knew (a REAL tightwad) who took all the food he needed for the trip and stayed in his cabin except to go ashore because he thought everything was extra, including the entertainment. The last two days he learned it was included in the cost, and was he embarrassed at wasting all that money.....

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Linlee14 5 years ago

Oh, thanks for sharing the fine print, my first cruise I thought the only place I could eat was Horizon court! Figured it out day 4 of a 5 day cruise. Sailing on the Royal the end of March and food is a high priority this time. Lol

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RetiredRay 5 years ago

Gave up on that reservation line, never get in an I am elite. Usually hit the “service” desk before 11 AM, less of a line then. October for our turn.

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