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Item: Royal Princess
Rating: 4
Author: janarx70

Royal Princess Cruise Review

janarx70

Contributor Level: Second Mate

69 Days Till Next Cruise

Cruises: 2-3 cruises

Reviews: 3

Helpful Votes: 70

Overall rating:

4 out of 5

7 Night Classic California Coast (San Francisco Roundtrip)

Sail date: April 16, 2023

Ship: Royal Princess

Cabin type: Suite

Cabin number: R423

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 1 year ago

Review summary

We took this particular cruise for the ship itself, not the itinerary. It was a great ship, despite the large number of passengers. My husband and I prefer the smaller ships, but we definitely enjoyed the ship and its layout. Our favorite spot was Deck 16 aft. Wonderful relaxing terrace on port days.

Embarkation

4 out of 5

Embarkation was much better this time than my last cruise out of SF. Granted, the line to get into the terminal & through security was long, but once through, check-in and on to the ship was very quick. From start to finish was about 1.5 hours.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

Trident Grill

4 out of 5

The Lobster Roll is worth the $15 charge! Big chunks of lobster on a roll, drenched in butter then grilled on the flat top! It was really good! The Princess burger (add bacon) was a really good burger. The chicken tacos were good, but I think lacked some of the flavor that I remember them having on past cruises.

Horizon Court

4 out of 5

Typical buffet. The food was plentiful and most of it was really good! But with 3000 people on the ship it was mostly chaos in the buffet lines. There was no flow. The salad bar was a favorite, only because there were so many toppings to add to your salad. The blue cheese and ranch dressings were very good. There was Horizon Court and Horizon Bistro. Both were usually open at the same time. More choices in Horizon Court. And right in the middle was the pastry shop. Note: in the cookie section…if you want peanut butter cookies, you have to ask for them. They keep them separate from the others because of peanut allergies.

Prego's Pizzaria

3 out of 5

Nothing exciting….the pizza compares to Costco pizza…but that’s only my opinion. They did offer a Glacier pizza one day and it was good.

Ocean Terrace Seafood Bar

5 out of 5

How I wish every ship in the fleet had Ocean Terrace! The sushi and rolls were excellent and very reasonably priced! The BBQ eel roll was fantastic! The blue fin tuna was so fresh. I had it over a pillow of rice & it melted in my mouth. So good!

International Cafe

4 out of 5

Good for early morning coffee. The ham & egg burrito is very tasty.

Gelato

4 out of 5

The Gelato bar was a nice treat. The premium desserts that were included were a bit on the excessive side. So I was more than happy choosing from a variety of sundaes or the occasional banana split. My husband enjoyed the multi-layer chocolate cake. I would suggest visiting the gelato bar earlier in the day/evening, rather than later. They tended to run out of some things by 8pm.

Concerto Dining Room

4 out of 5

We traveled Reserve Collection, so having our own section of the dining room is a plus. There is no wait for a table. Unfortunately, due to menu items not being all that appealing to my husband and me, we only ate 1 lunch and 1 dinner in our MDR. But, the 2 meals we did eat were very good!

Alfredo's Pizzeria

4 out of 5

Always a good choice if the MDR menu doesn’t appeal to you. You can’t go wrong with a salad & a pizza!

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

The Patter was full of all kinds of activities going on daily. My husband I were there to relax, not go 100mph every day. So we relaxed and did our own thing and enjoyed ourselves.

Entertainment

4 out of 5

We really only went to the Piazza for musical performances. Jaame’s Band was great! They sang a variety of songs from many different genres. We checked the Patter every night for their upcoming performances. Definitely worth catching their show(s)!

Service and Staff

4 out of 5

I am only giving 4 stars, just because most of the staff was amazing! But then there were some that were good, but weren’t quite what I’m used to with past Princess staff. Our room steward (SJ) was good. He came by & introduced himself when we got settled into our room. He took care of any requests we had and kept our room cleaned & stocked. Renata in Guest Services was fantastic! I had an issue with my onboard account and she took care of it with a smile & great attitude.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

Our cabin was very nice. Comparable to the previous mini-suites that we have stayed in…with the exception that the toilet sits at an angle toward the bathtub. That’s fine if you’re short, but my husband and I are both over 6ft tall…our knees were jammed against the side of the tub. The balcony on the Royal was not as deep as the previous ships we’ve been on. I definitely missed having the extra space. The bed was wonderful…the couch had ample room and there was plenty of space in the living area of the cabin. One thing to take into consideration…being on the 14th deck mid-ship, you will get more noise from the Lido Deck. Also, we were 2 decks below the sky walk. Anyone walking on the sky walk could look down onto our balcony. If you want more privacy & quiet, look into one of the lower decks.

Ship tip

There are a lot of people on this ship…sea days (especially during inclement weather) are extremely crowded in all the popular places. A book & a balcony are a nice escape.

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