Overall, we did enjoy our first cruise on Princess Cruises Royal Princess. We need another cruise to erase any negatives.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Embarkation was fantastic. Princess staff greeted us with a very warm welcome at the port. Luggage handling was a breeze. Princess uses a multistep process to get you ready for embarkation day using their Ocean Medallion. It's a programmable chip making the entire cruise easy to navigate even for new cruisers.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
To prepare for our first cruise, I watched CruiseTipsTV, Tips for Travelers, Cruise with Ben and David and read reviews on Cruiseline.com. I selected Princess partially based on their raving reviews of the food. Perhaps their excitement set my expectations too high. The main dining room food was mediocre. It seemed as if it was reheated in the microwave from frozen. The Horizon buffet was much fresher and tasted better. We attempted Crown Grill (specialty dining) on the final day of our cruise however, the seas were rough. This made me sea sick and I had to run back to my stateroom. I had hoped they would be redeemed there. Afternoon tea was a high point as well as Alfredo's. Definitely recommend those two stops on the ship.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
This was an anniversary trip for my husband and I so, we were happy to keep it low key. However, it was a little too slow. There weren't a whole lot of activities and the appealing ones were packed, standing room only. Being December, it was too cold to swim and there are no rock-climbing walls. I wouldn't recommend for active kids. We have teenage boys and I fear they would have been bored. We were pleased with Movies Under the Stars and the daily basketball activities.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
When we were able to get into the theater, the entertainers were good. There were some scheduling challenges with the comedian and the final day we experienced technical issues delaying shows. We spent a lot of time in the Crooners bar listening to piano music. That was relaxing.
Children's Programs
We did not bring our children on this cruise nor tour the kids club. I've seen other ships with race tracks, water slides and rock climbing walls, which this ship did not have. With my boys energy, I think they would have preferred those amenities.
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
It was difficult rating the service and staff because we had varying experiences. Our room steward was great when we encountered a strong odor in our stateroom. He resolved it immediately. Rout and Vlada work at Princess Live Cafe and Crooners Bar respectively. They went out of their way every time we came by. Vlada even wrote our names in chocolate in our chocolate martini. The Cruise Director was Marcus and he did a great job keeping us informed and interacted well with passengers. We had the opposite experience with rudeness from Siri at Concerto Dining Room, Veronica at Crown Grill and Iryna at Princess Live Cafe.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
The ship's layout is very beautiful and spacious. It was nice to see how clean it was kept. We periodically watched as the staff disinfected the hand rails and common areas. That always makes me feel better. It could use some design updates and the only reason I didn't rate this area a five.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
I thought the cabin was a reasonable size for a room in a ship. All those great reviews I considered prior to the trip encouraged space saving techniques. These tips were fantastic and worked very well. For example, use a hanging toiletry bag. We did have a smell issue that was resolved right away. The balcony view was great once we left San Pedro but, the glass needed to have the sea water wiped off. Small rust spots were on the railing and fresh bird waste, which really cannot be helped.
Ship tip
I decided to use the shampoo and soap on board. They use the refillable bottles in the shower. There is no solo conditioner. If you have long hair, take your own travel size ones.
The views are amazing with the rock formations. The street vendors are a bit annoying. We did an excursion to sail around the port and lucky enough to see whales. It was beautiful!
Things you shouldn’t complain about you did. You said the water was too cold to swim, you picked that month to cruise. No rock climbing walls, you picked that ship. You didn’t do enough research. Royal Caribbean and Carnival would be good ships for you with kids.
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