Loved every minute of our 19 day cruise experience except the disembarkation. Even though the last day (disembarkation chaos) was a black mark on Princess and the cruise overall I would reccomend this cruise itinerary, ship, staff and Princess in a heartbeat.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
A little slower than past embarkations. Seemed to be some delays with so many passengers showing up the same time instead of a staggered checkin.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
Never did any specialty restaurants other than Alfredo's. The MDR was excellent. Food delicious and hot. Great service all round. Alfredo's, Gelato and all buffets were exceptional.
Alfredo's Pizzeria
5 out of 5
Had 3 meals here with couples we met on board. All great each time. Specialty restaurant without a specialty charge.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
Hubby used the gym. All good. Walking/running track was great. Didn't use pool area at all. Not big pool fans. Did sit around the pool area when there were activities on the go. All good.
Celebrations
5 out of 5
Great selection for any odds and ends you may need and any snacks like chips, candy, etc that you may crave even though there is more than enough to eat on board.
Entertainment
3 out of 5
Comedians they had on board were excellent but would have liked if there were more of them. Production shows were okay when we saw them in Dec 2017 so we didn't return to see them this trip as they were the same. The musicians in the Piazza were mostly good. Music is subjective to the individual. Spent a lot of time at Crooners listening to Cezar. The bands in the Piazza played a decent variety of music. DJ brickhouse was good when we heard him but didn't make a point of going to Club 6 to hear. Would suggest bringing a bigger selection of comedy shows but again entertainment is subjective to the individual. Matt O and the entertainment staff are absolutely awesome.
Children's Programs
Not travelling with kids.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
All personnel on board were super great. From Rashan our Room Steward to all the servers around the ship, waiters in all areas, bartenders, guest services, shore excursions staff, maintenance persons, shops staff, cooks, etc....all top notch service everywhere on the ship.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Love, love, love the Royal Princess. The staff do a great job of maintaining the ship. Never saw any areas that needed attention. The staff are on top of everything all the time.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Cabin size was adequate. Loved having a balcony once again. Great for sitting out while at sea or in port. Hubby loves going out there when arriving and leaving ports. Cleanliness was a top priority of our cabin steward Rashan. No complaints whatsoever.
No shore excursion. Been many times. All good. Can't beat the Caribbean ports of call for the ocean colors and sunny disposition. Not one of our favorite ports but okay. We just walked ashore and did some shopping.
Did a ship bought shore excursion. Not impressed at all. Seems as if some excursions were thrown together last minute. City was extremely dirty and rundown. Getting off and back on to the ship was a dreadful experience. So much of getting on and off shuttles just to get off the and on the ship. Let alone going on a shore excursion....more shuttles. Not sure why this port had such a strict protocol for letting passengers on and off. I understand security but this Port of call is over the top.
Third Brazilian port of call and the protocol for getting on and off the ship was nothing like Fortaleza. So easy to just walk off and back on. Did a shore excursion from Riotours when we walked to the cruise terminal. Paid a quarter of the cost of the same tour offered on the ship. Rio is a beautiful city. Lots to do and see.
No excursion but did have a debark tour booked but because of an 11 hr delay getting to port all day excursions were cancelled. Just disembarked and had shuttle right to the airport with no time to spare. From what we saw on the way to the airport looks to be a lovely city.
This had to be one of the worst disembarkation experiences in 14 cruises. A perfect storm of circumstances...late arrival in port (11 hrs late), low tide, power outage in cruise terminal, 34° C heat and almost half a ship disembarking and half a ship embarking the same time caused a flurry of chaos that we have never seen before. 2 1/2 hrs after getting off the ship waiting in a hot cruise terminal waiting for luggage that had to be taken off the ship piece by piece, people fainting from the heat and crowds in such a congested area was a bad end to an otherwise exceptional cruise. The port people were doing their best given the circumstances they were faced with. We did see Princess wait staff bring cold drinks and snacks for the embarking passengers but Princess was not concerned about the disembarking passengers at all. The port staff brought benches for people to sit on after one lady fainted and also provided glasses of water. Usually when disembarking you are not off the ship until your luggage is off and ready for pickup. This scenario had passengers all disembarked first. Not one piece of luggage offloaded until almost half the ships passengers that disembarked were herde inside of a hot terminal with no electricity while luggage slowly came ashore piece by piece literally. You have to feel for the port staff in a situation like this. Princess could have done a much better job as far as we are concerned even given the circumstances. We expected much more from Princess given that the rest of our cruise experience was so exceptional.
Sounds like you had a bit of a mixed bag of a cruise, overall enjoyment on your part. Brazil has reputation for rampant petty crime, I glad you were safe. Thanks for your review.
Princess is sort of at the whim of the port authority. Sorry to hear about yout disembarking horror story. The cruise line usually have zero presence at the baggage claim, unlike the embarkation area. Mainly because of customs. We are looking forward to our first Princess cruise in 3 weeks.
I think it was a combination of several things. Late arrival, low tide, almost half the passengers on the ship disembarking while another half looking to embark, no power in terminal baggage area and not to mention but about 1800 passengers who had shore excursions cancelled because of the delay getting into port. They were all looking to get off the ship I would assume too to try and salvage the port of call. Just a perfect storm of events. Either way you will enjoy your cruise. The Royal is a beautiful ship. The staff, food and services on board are exceptional. We loved the whole 19 days. Enjoy your voyage.
11 hours late? That is bad. The area or just circumstances I wonder for the confusion on disembarkation? Agree with you on Alfredo’s. Looking forward to boarding in 222 days for the Sea of Cortez.
*Cruiseline.com is not a booking agent or travel agency,
and does not charge any service fees to users of our site. Our partners
(travel agencies and cruise lines) provide prices, which we list for our
users' convenience. Cruiseline.com does not guarantee any specific rates or
prices. While prices are updated daily, please check with the booking site
for the exact amount. Cruiseline.com is not responsible for content on
external web sites.
Contact us
Submitting...
Need help from a personal vacation planner?
Loading...
Find the perfect cruise with weekly tips and cruise deals for as little as $30/night!
Sign up for weekly cruise deals
Join other subscribers and get the best
cruise deals of the week in your inbox every Thursday.
