Royal Princess Cruise Reviews - Reviews

My wife and I went on our first cruise aboard the Royal Princess this February. We were somewhat apprehensive in taking this cruise because of recent incidents reported about the cruise industry. Based on our limited experience we would not hesitate to sail on any of the Princess fleet of ships. We have already deposted money for our next Princess cruise.

The Royal Princess embarking and debarking processes are smoothe.  The cruise in the middle was delightful. Great Crew - especially our cabin steward.  We hope all others who choose to sail with Princess feel that they are as fortunant.

This new ship was beautiful, best food and evening entertainment.  Princess still has some design flaws.  No middle of ship staircase, some areas very dark.  Very small, "postage stamp disco". The bath towels are horrific!  I've never experienced such awful quality on a ship.  Unfortunatley, not much to do during the day as far as activitities.  We will be going back to Royal Caribbean.  If you just want to relax, eat, and listen to good music, this is your ship.

The Royal Princess is a beautiful ship. Our stateroom was comfortable with lots of room for hanging clothes, and  plenty of draws and shelves for storing clothing items. The bathrooms were sufficient and stocked daily with clean towels.The staff really went all out to make us feel comfortable and welcome. There were some issues I felt were lacking: 

As there were recent outbreakes of the Noro Virus on two other ships shortly before our departsure, I feel the buffet should have had staff dishing out our food instead of all passengers handling the tongs. I had seen passengers reaching in with their hands and taking rolls, and cookies with their bare hands. Distasteful and unsanitary to say the very least. The food was just average with pretty much the same breakfast items daily at the buffet. We had to ask some of the wait staff to clear off our tables when they walked by and did not offer to take away the dirty dishes. On the other hand we have to give kudos to Milan of Hungary who was charming, fun and very helpful in accomodating our every request. We thoroughly enjoyed him he has a great personality and made our dining experiences most enjoyable. Kudos also to Petar and Rommel for all their attention to us. 

The lounge chairs at the pool were very uncomfortable with few cushions to be had. On sea days many of us couldn't even find an available lounge, however the pizza at the pool was great!

We thoroughly enjoyed watching the Dancing at Sea group. Great idea to have them at the Piazza for those of us who didn't get to the show or didn't care too. They provided great entertainment as were all the musicians at the Piazza.

I really enjoyed the casino, even came away a winner!

All in all we had great weather and embarkation and disembarkation were a breeze. No long wait. 

Ship flaw - no central stairwell. We were on the 8th floor central, so it would have been easier to pop down to the atrium area if we had not had to walk to either end of the ship to do so. I would think it would make it less afe in an emergency too although I did find and use the service stairwell.

Other than that it was a beautiful cruise.

I enjoyed this cruise because the ship was so well maintained.  You never saw  a table in the Horizon cafe sit there dirty for any length of time.  The staff was always clearing and cleaning them.  Our cabin steward, Randy, kept the cabin in pristine condition. The ports of call allowed you just enough time to see the island if that is what you wanted. I especially enjoyed the private island.  Unlike other lines where you were packed  in on the beach that was not the case on their private island.

My only disappointment was the food in the dining rooms (not the service).  The entres were not what I would consider of high quality.  The meat was over cooked and of imferior grade.  The vegetables were also over cooked. Your could order something else if you were not pleased but based on what I saw there was very little difference.  Since this ithis aspect of the cruise is very important to us, this would keep us from sailing with  Princess again  The cuisine on Celebrity is far superior.

The food in the Horizon cafe specifically breakfast was very good.

Sincerely,

Dale A Carey

James J. Saulenas

Cruise week of 1/19/14

Cabin number B254

All-in-all, I LOVED this cruise.  The cruise director's staff is very high energy and fun (several are downright outrageously funny).  The shows were varied, interesting and entertaining.  There were plenty of activities and options for the active cruise passenger and plenty of opportunities and places to just relax for the more sedate passenger.

While the ship is very large (largest in Princess fleet), there are still places to go where you don't feel like you're in a crowd (check out the partially hidden and hard to find "escapes" outside on what would ordinarily be the Promenade Deck on either side of the ship, accessible from Deck 7 midships behind either the jewelry shop or the bar).  The Piazza, consisting of 3 levels located midships, is the "heart" of the ship.  It is just beautiful and is used often as a location for events.  Most of the public venues are accessible from the Piazza, with the exception of the buffet and sports venues, which are located at the highest decks of the ship.  The fitness room was large, held lots of varied equipment and overlooked the sea.  There was a jogging/walking track with exercise/fitness stations evenly spaced along the way.  There was a sports court which was shielded from the wind.  The large outdoor screen offered movies and recorded concerts in the evenings with plenty of popcorn and ice cream cones nearby.  A new and interesting feature to the ship are bowed-out walkways with see-through floors high on Deck 16 midships, offering views to the sea below from either side of the ship.  The staterooms are small (as with most of the new, large ships), but you don't end up spending that much time in your room.  Having a balcony was very nice and was worth the extra cost.

As far as meals are concerned, I preferred the dining room food (Symphony or Allegro dining room) over the Horizon Court/Bistro buffet.  I found the dining room food to be very good, the waiters solicitous and, for the most part, attentive.  The kitchen accommodated requests to modify the menu (substituting one vegetable for another, etc.).  We noted that service was quicker if you chose to eat at a table for 2 as opposed to sharing a table with others.  The buffet was a fairly typical buffet with the exception that you could get lost and it is rather spread out.

The only things preventing me from giving this cruise (and ship) 5 stars would have to be because of the lack of adequately-sized elevators, the lack of midships stairs, and the discomfort of the large space seating.  There were no top-to-bottom midships stairs, so those who actually like to take stairs had to hike to either end of the ship for stairs all the way up and down.  Otherwise, if you took the elevators, you had to wait and when one would finally arrive, it was invariably already crammed full of people. The elevators were FAR too small and rather slow. Also, the seats in the Princess Theater and Princess Live! Studio (both widely-used venues) were VERY uncomfortable and designed to hold the tiniest and slimmest of people (into which category I definitely do not fit and neither did the vast majority of other passengers).

In regard to the destinations for this cruise, Princess Cays could only be classified as so-so.  It is owned by the cruise line, so you are precluded from finding any off-ship deals for excursions or activities, and the beach just wasn't that great and that portion of the island just wasn't very pretty.  I would have rather spent another day in St. Thomas or St. Maarten, both of which were WONDERFUL destinations.

We did our own off-ship excursion (island tour) in St. Thomas, which was just great.  We booked two excursions through the cruise ship with mixed results.  The America's Cup yacht racing excursion in St. Maarten was expensive, but FANTASTIC - a GREAT experience!  The rental of a Hobie Cat in Princess Cays wasn't a very good experience or value for the money ($55 for one-hour rental) since the equpment wasn't in good repair and we had to wait a considerable amount of time (45 minutes) beyond our reservation time to get the equipment.  The operators allowed "walk-up" customers to have priority over those who had a pre-paid reservation, which didn't sit well with us.  When we complained, we were offered additional equipment to use after our time with the Hobie Cat was over, but by that time, we were ready to call it a day and return to the ship.  Upon return to Ft. Lauderdale, I booked an excursion (through the ship) to the Everglades and Flamingo Gardens.  This was a WONDERFUL excursion and after it was over, they deposited me (and my luggage) at the FLL airport, where I caught a free hotel shuttle.

Again, overall, it was a very good short cruise (7 nights) and I had a WONDERFUL and enjoyable vacation.

The ship is beautiful.  The service and appreciation of the staff to serve you is outstanding.  Highly recommend! The mini suites have two flat screen TV's in seperate rooms. The food is outstanding. 

We cruise quite often and have been on many ships.  We were disappointed in the spaces....veranda rooms were smaller (even though we upgraded to the larger veranda), the casino chairs bumped into each other no matter what games you were playing, and the configuration of the ship wasn't best.  The platinum gathering area was in the dark disco mid-ship, as opposed to the top observation bar areas on the Crown and others.  And the inability to  pre-reserve space in the sancuary was not good.   Food was good, staff was great.

We had a wonderful time on the Royal Princess. The food was great, the service was wonderful.

We also enjoyed the entertainment. We enjoyed the much larger Piazza. Overall  we had a great time and

wished we had more time to enjoy.

The Royal Princess is a fantastic ship! Nicely furnished and comfortable in every aspect of cruising. Onboard crew members were pleasant and efficient in their roles. The Royal Princess Singers and Dancers were spot on and technical staging for the shows was excellent.

We were in an interior cabin and we enjoyed the spacious and thoughtful layout. The TV  entertainment was top notch and selection of first run movies was appreciated. The only negative comment would be, that we did not have access to our onboard account via TV as onboard other cruiselines.

Food throughout all the dining areas was exceptional, and for us being from England the Wheelhouse Bar served and English faire on two of the cruise days. Also, no crowds of people in any of these areas, even though it was a full passenger list onboard. The dancing waters was a great feature as was the movies under the stars!

This was a beautiful trip, we celebrated my Granddaughter;s 21st birthday.she's been sailing since she was about 3 years old.Her choise was the Royal. It was a family affair to make it special.The crew and staff on this ship we the nicest people. we like to reconize Gretel Garcia,Waiter, Ruel Orilla, asst waiter for making it special. To Franco the supervisor in the dining room (anytime vdining) Michael supervisor. We hope to be sailing again in the near future. the food was excellent as the service. From the cabin stewart to all the orther workers.on the ship.

Some hits and misses.....elevators too small....show room has inadequate seating for the number of passengers....failure to have trash cans around cruise ship.....towels are non absorbent and rough to the touch.....Concierge Room not up to the standard of the Holland America line's Neptune Room.....televisions in room were too difficult to navigate...a better system is needed.

Service was outstanding.....Room steward, David, was outstanding.....service in Sabbatini's was perfect with Anna Maria and staff.....food was very good.  Charges for hairdresser seemed to be too costly.....especially when they encourage an added gratuity.

THE LAYOUT OF THE SHIP WAS A LITTLE CONFUSING. DINING WAS ON THE 5TH FLOOR BUT TO GO TO THE STORES YOU HAD TO GO TO THE CENTER OF THE SHIP. WE HAD TO GO UP TO 7TH FLOOR , GO ACROSS TO CENTER OF THE SHIP AND THEN GO BACK DOWN TO THE 5TH FLOOR.

THE DINING ROOM FOOD AND SERVICE WAS EXCELLANT.

WE ATE AT SABITINOS BUT WERE VERY DISAPPOINTED WITH THE POOR WAITER SERVICE.

WE WERE GOING TO EAT AT THE STEAK RESTAURANT BUT IT LACKED ANY ATMOSPHERE SO WE DECIDED NOT TO EAT THERE AND ANOTHER COUPLE FROM OUR TABLE DID EAT THERE BUT SAID THE LOBSTER AND STEAK WERE TOUGH.

The ports were wonderful, as always.  Our cabin attendant and waiters were excellent.  All of the ship staff that we encountered were attentive, patient and helpful.  Our cabin was acceptable.  We were disappointed overall with the ship.  It felt cramped and claustrophobic.  It appears that this ship was designed more for efficiency and economy than the comfort and convenience of the passengers.  Our biggest disappointment is with the Travel Agent.

We were traveling with a small group of 14.  We booked our cabins in September of 2012 and we selected cabins on the same deck close to each other.  We were all assigned different cabins on different decks after we had made the final cruise payment.  The cruise line blamed the travel agent and the travel agent blamed the cruise line.  This is unacceptable.  We have cruised more than 30 times and this was our fifth or sixth with Princess.  We will not book with a travel agency again and we will be very cautious about booking with Princess in the future.  Thank you for soliciting our opinion.

Embarkation was terrible.  Long slow lines.  Once checked in, you had to turn around and push your way back thru the line of waiting people & with luggage sitting everywhere.  Lots of people seem to be carrying their own luggage now.  Dining room the first night was bad.  The poor guys just didn't seem to know what to do.  Lots of confusion. It did get better has the week when on.  We had an upgraded balcony cabin & after 18 cruises, it was the smallest cabin we have ever had.  There was 2 ft between the bottom of the bed & the wall.  Entertainment was good but shows were only 1/2 hour.  Theaters are very tight w very small seats.  The buffet at breakfast & lunch was boring - the same dishes repeated many times with too much Asian food.  The Steakhouse was wonderful.  Great food & service. Bar service was good.  Would like to see more big screen movies, only football in the theater.  The worse part of all is the elevators.  Too small, too slow & too few of them.  Cabin service was good - no little towel animals tho.  I didn't sign up for internet but heard lots of complaints about being slow & couldn't sign on.  We sign up for a 7:30 debarkation & it was quick.  Overall it was a nice cruise but in the future, I will avoid such new ships. 

We were really looking forward to our Thanksgiving cruise aboard the new Royal Princess. The ship is beautiful and very modern. You now must use your cruise card to turn on the lights in your stateroom! If you take it out, the lights go off after a few minutes. Now onto the poor dining room service. Our waitress provided teh worst service of our eight Princess cruises and 7 Royal Caribbean cruises. She made us feel unwelcome and unwanted in the dining room. This was the first time I have been on a cruise when the Head Waiter never once came to our table to introduce himself or provide any service whatsoever. Thoroughly disappointed and shocked at the service on Princess' brand new ship. Now onto the activities. For some reason Princess has decided to move almost all activities and enteratinment inside. Unusual and unwanted on a Caribbean cruise. The focus ois now on activities centered around the Piazza. I guess they believe this will bring more people indoors to shop at the Piazza stores. For a ship with such a beautiful pool deck with fountains and large open area, you would hope they focused on more outdoor activities and entertainment on the open deck. A band played no more than two days on the cruise for a total of thirty to forty minutes each time they played. With such a lovely pool area, live music should be playing all day. The Cruise Director's staff was quick to cancel outdoor activities for no known reason. They made little effort to entertain. Looks like it is time to go back to cruising with Royal Caribbean or another cruise line. Sadly disaapointed!

Great Ship - Great Crew.  We had no complaints.  Everyone treated us with courtesy and cheerfulness.  Food was wonderful, and the new ship is beautiful.

I heard great reviews from others regarding the Princess line but I have to say the food was disappointing.  The selection and variety was great but the food was either overcooked or was poor quality.  I ordered a scallop dinner one night and it was overcooked.  My husband ordered the leg of lamb on one occassion and my brother ordered the trilogy of lamb, chicken kabobs and pork.... lamb was overcooked or something... it was hard and could not be chewed.

The kids club was not well thought out ... it was closed from 5-6.  we have dinner seating at 5.30... so we had to either sit down and then get up after 30 min to accompany them to the Club or arrive to dinner late.  Same with lunch... cant the daycare provider stagger their schedule?  Also not sure why 2 year olds arent allowed.  My twins were turning 3 in 3 weeks and they wouldnt let them participate.  The parents of the younger kids get pagers so the same can happen if a diaper needs to be changed.  Had I known this prior to booking, I would not have choosen this cruise.  My travel agent said 2 yr olds were allowed.  Also, when I did go the the kids club with my twins, the center was doing Yoga.  My kids are not going to do yoga... so they went to the play gym.  I was told it was closed!!!  So what are they suppose to do?  They also wanted to play air hockey and I was also told it was closed and wont be turned on.  Ridiculous.  So should my 2 yr olds play bingo?  attend a spa event? tour the ship galley?  no they cant.  in addition, they are not allowed in the splash pool.  It is my vacation too.... so unfortunately, your rules were broken and your ship cant be run like a rigid detainment camp .

some good news, I thought the common area was well appointed and very tasteful.  There should be stairs by elevators as an alternate route.  The elevators were ofen jammed since there were no alternate stairs closeby.   For a ship with 3600 passengers, there was plenty of seating in the dining rooms so that there werent lines getting food whether on deck or in buffet (took a carnival cruise last year , medium size ship but always a line for food).  It would be nice to have music around the pool... instead the giant tv showed nature programs and even a glacier snow programs.   I think music came on once at 4pm when most were leaving to get ready for dinner etc.  

service in dining room was average... nothing notably terrific or terrible. Oh yea... would be nice if there was snack service past 11pm. My 9 and 7 year old kids started hoarding cookies so that they could munch on them at bedtime. 

I think princess is geared for the older traveler vs families with kids. I will stick with Disney til my kids are teenagers.  I literally babysat my kids on a cruise.  Not exactly a vacation for me... except that I didnt have to plan meals.  Could have done that at home if it werent for a family reunion. 

Beware of where your room is located.  We booked a balcony 8th fl forward not realizing that the Princess theater was on the 6 &7 fl.  We contacted the desk the 1st night to ask where the banging and vibration was coming from but couldn't get anyone to answer the phone.  Next morning we went down to the desk and they couldn't give us an answer but we figgered it out. Christine said she would speak to her supervisor and get back to us.  Nothing happen so that evening we went back down, and spoke to someone else who said the manager our off but would get back to us. Mean while when ever there was a show our walls vibrated and the noise was annoying.  That evening when we returned to the room there was a message stating that they would ask the theater to lower their base and they would like to offer us "EAR PLUGS" which we could pick up at the desk!!  NIce way to treat Platinium members!! (or anyone)  Not impressed with their customer service!!

Excellent service from start to end. Embarkation and disembarkation were fast and efficient. The Ship is fabulous and all the on board services were great. The entertainment was the best we have seen on Princess cruises.