Royal Princess Cruise Reviews - Reviews

As always, Princess has met and exceeded our expectations...Staff with their attentiveness is certainly a big part of our accolades.  However, because of our Elite status, having our laundry washed (or dry cleaned), 500 free minutes of internet, our mini-bar filled (free), being invited to the officer's cocktail party, and being invited to a very special luncheon with the officers & Captain as one of the most traveled passengers, also contributed greatly to our experience. 

The service was exceptional. Food was good; however, the ship had an older population of travelers.  We prefer a younger population of travelers and more activities. 

I have experience with several other cruise lines, but have never been on Princess. I was impressed with the innovative menus, seeing things I have never seen on other ships. The entertainment was the usual:  production shows, mentalists, instrumentalists, comedians. Not much improvement on other lines but competitive. This was a grey-hair cruise, with the majority of the passengers over fifty, so little harassment from children. Therefore the pool experience and hot-tubs were a joy to partake of. Movies under the stars, as well as in the various theatres, were also available in the rooms. One of the best parts was there weren't many nights with parades through the dining area, of staff, cabin-personnel, nor were there many photographers disturbing the evening's conversations. Although the daily schedule was amply filled with activities, there was little hype to 'buy this, purchase that' that one often gets. As a first-timer, I was not invited to 'loyalty' freebies, but there was also discretion about where they were held and what was offered, so I did not feel deprived of attention. I especially liked the ports of call - the two nights in Rotterdam, right in the city, with free transfers offered by the city, was a welcome bonus; Le Havre and Vigo offered a chance to visit major attractions, or an option to see the ports themselves. I only took one excursion  to Sintra and Cascais: the guide was well prepared with the history and points of interest and the outing gave ample time to discover the places for ourselves. Altogether, I am VERY pleased with the cruiseline and look forward to taking another cruise on a Princess. Despite being a large ship, and traversing the Bay of Biscay (usually rough seas), it was difficult to feel the ships movements and few people complained of sea-sickness. Oh, only one bad comment - too much waiting time for elevators. There were ample elevators, but they often stopped on every floor, without the floor being selected on the inside, nor having someone waiting outside for it!

Overall experience was good.Best part by far was entertainment.It was better than any other cruise entertainment we have seen so far.Worst was dining in Symphony restaurant where we were assigned to.One of the greeting personnel behaved as the guests were there because of her and not other way around.We would recommend the cruise to our friends and wold take it again ourself but would strongly advise  against choosing Symphony for dining.

Beautiful ship in public areas. Was disappointed with food in general except steak and salmon. Desserts were okay. Robe for the room was cheap. Carnival has a great warm chocolate molten cake with vanilla ice cream and the Carnival robes in the room are excellent.  Also prefer room with port hole or window but not available

on this ship. Hours for casino were very confusing.

My family and I really enjoyed the Ports we visited - we chose the cruise because of the itinerary.  Had a really great time.

The Cruise?  The Royal Princess is a really beautiful ship, clean and the staff were truly wonderful - they did everything they could to make a person welcome.

Cabin was clean and roomy, everything we needed.

The food was really poor - we started off at the late seating in the main dining room.  Food was cold, uninteresting - in fact the head waiter suggested that we choose off the children's menu.

Moved to the Horizons buffet - much better with a large choice - but still could do the improvement as food was over cooked and dried out.

It was a good trip and a good ship - excellent entertainment, hospitable staff BUT be wary of the port excursions.  They are expensive.  When people pay top dollar they expect a top tour.  I was told by the cruise staff that Princess contracts with Trafalgar.  I had a great overland tour with that company, albeit some number of years ago.  The bus was comfortable then, but they are NOT comfortable now.  I have taken overland tours all over the world.  Never a problem.  I assume there are "special" buses for day tours designed to pack travelers in, without regard to comfort.  I cancelled all of my long ride tours.  It just isn't worth the back ache.  And then there is the issue of Princess getting the most bang for its buck.  One tour had every seat taken including the two middle seats in the back row.  You cannot see out of those seats.  Shame on Princess.  Multiple buses were contracted for each tour.  As you might expect, the buses that had good guides had satisfied travelers.  If Princess cannot get uniformly good guides, they should limit the buses to the extent that they can get good guides.  I was on a bus tour where approximately 40% of the travelers were disabled.  To say that Princess was unable to cope with that is an understatement.  At a time when organization is clearly required there was a total organizational breakdown.  We were counted and recounted until they finally just gave up.  I think it is obvious that a time accommodation should be given if you have a significant  number of travelers who need extra time.  This was not done and it was not fair to any of the passengers.  I did have good guides and good trips.  But it is a hit or miss proposition.  In the future, this will discourage me from taking cruises on big ships unless I just want to enjoy my time on board the ship.

I had a wonderful time - beautiful ship - staff very friendly and helpful; the food was great, a wide variety of selections to choose from; the entertainment was very special; the countries were very beautiful although a bit too cool for summer. The only negatives was on some of the Shore Excursions, e.g. 4 or 5-hour "On your Own" in countries that I never visited prior.  

The beginning of the cruise was a little tense given that we were notified of an intestinal virus that had to be cleansed from our ship before departure, which was delayed by about 2 1/2 hours. Sanitary precautions were required at every station but the Captain kept us well apprised of the situation. The crew did an excellent job of sanitizing the cabins and dining areas and we settled into an acceptable routine. The food, entertainment, cabins, and overall amenities were excellent. We were not able to dock in Dublin due to bad weather, which was a disappointment. All other excursions were well organized and fun. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the cruise and commend the Captain and crew for making a tenable situation pleasant.

Overall we had a great time. We wish we could have stayed longer in some locations. Our choice of date was lucky because many of the places we went had festivals going on. Downtown Liverpool was completely shut off to traffic. Edenburgh had the arts festival with buskers everywhere.

While the ship is a beautiful ship, the dinner menus were lacking, and the "Any Time Dining" preference that was forced on us back in April when we booked this cruise is - to be blunt a cruel joke.  While our card read, "Any Time, Any Table," the truth is just the opposite.  "Any Time Dining" is assigned but to only two dinning rooms, and "Any Time Dining" is available only after 7:35 p.m. each night.  Princess takes reservations for these dinning rooms, and the reservations fill up the dining room leaving little dining options left for the "Any Time" diner.  Of course, Prince will give out buzzers (just like you get in restaurants at home) that allow you to wait for a table, except for when all the buzzers have been given out.  My wife became ill with the Norovirus early in the cruise and on the first formal night; so, we missed that formal dining opportunity.  On the second night, we dressed in our formal attire for dinner.  I called much earlier in the day for a reservation only to be told that none were available.  However, I was also told that there were plenty of tables available designated as "Any Time" dining.  We showed up at our designated "Any Time" dining room at 7:30, and we were turned away because they were full and did not expect any tables to become available.  We went to other dining rooms including the specialty dining rooms, and we were told by each on that they were full and closed for the evening.  My wife and I, dressed in our formal attire, ended up eating dinner in the Pizzeria. The entertainment was too heavy on local culture.  The local culture was interesting, but there was too much of it.  We have experienced much better entertainment on other cruises.  On the bright side, we liked the way the Princess staff handled the flow of people in the Horizon Cafe on Deck 16 where people usually go for breakfast.  We did not have a problem finding a table as we have on other cruise ships, and Princess had people waiting on us at the table to serve coffee and juice.  There was no waiting line for omelets as we simply ordered the omelet and went to our table with a ticket that was picked up by the waiters.  The waiters then brought the freshly cooked and still hot omelet to our table.  Ports of call were very good, and we enjoyed our tours that we were able to keep.  We could not attend two tours because of illness, and the cruise bypassed Dublin because of bad weather.  On the one hand, you should know that when a passenger becomes ill and reports the illness to the medical room, the medical staff will stamp your tour tickets.  You then turn them back to the tour desk, and your money for these tours will be refunded.  On the other hand, you should know that if you become ill with the Norovirus, Princess does not look out after your diet in recovery.  We called for chicken soup and rice, and we were told that room service did not have it on their menu and to go to the Horizon Café.  I went there and asked for this food, and was told to call room service. 

Goods experience, would have been better if some funds had been reimbursed as ship did not dock in Dublin.  Ship shouldn't dock  when places are closed due to ba holidays ( e.g. bank holidays) .

The Royal Princess is a beautiful ship.  The line-up of this particular cruise and the ports of call were excellent choices.  One can easily maneuver around on their own to the different ports without feeling the pressure of purchasing shore excursions. Restaurants separate from the buffet were just as nice and were exceptional when it came to your choices on the menu.  We were summoned to a late check-in due to illness on the ship.  But under the circumstances, Princess seemed to have it all together and ran its course rather smoothly thereafter.  We've cruised with Princess before but never in a balcony accommodation.  My husband and I decided for now on we will probably do so after this cruise..  The acknowledgement of our anniversary was an added plus.  Currently, we are "Ruby" members and have revery intention of making "Elite" members.

First, this is our 8th Cruise. We have traveled on Oceania, Renaissance, Carnival, Windstar, Norwegian, Viking, and our 2nd Princess Cruise - to places from China to Istanbul, Denmark to Tahiti, Danube River, etc.

​The Royal Princess is a large beautiful ship, with activities for everyone. And an impressive array of tours in each port. The cabins are very comfortable and well appointed. Since we had a suite, the service and perks were generally very good, especially the Concierge Lounge. The speciality restaurants were excellent - both cuisine and service. We only attended one show (production) and it was quite good. 

What is not said above.....it seemed that Princess "nickles and dimes" everything. Soft drinks, a latte at the coffee bar, speciality restaurants, sea food bar, and on and on. When paying in excess of $17,000. for a cabin, you would think more than 6 sodas , one bar set up and a bottle of sparkling wine would be included!  On other cruise lines there were fountain soda bars where you can get your own...this was especially bothersome to us. Princess does offer soda, wine, drink, speciality coffee packages, etc.....for an extra charge. The quality of food at Horizons Buffet was spotty as well as the service....not always the friendliest. Example - for coffee you have to wait for a steward to serve you a cup and then add cream, if desired.  Many of the staff did not seem to have answers to questions or gave wrong answers, this may be because, I learned, they  rotate jobs. A major problem - the day of the virus being announced we were on a shore boat, a passenger vomited at the back of the boat (EEK), we were totally unable to understand the pilots announcement due to language difficulties, this was serious. And of course there was an uncontrolled rush to get off the shore boat when we sided to the Princess. If a crew member has responsibilities that pertain to passenger safety, their English should be as such that they can effectively communicate the instructions.

Unfortunately, on our cruise there was a virus outbreak 4 days out from the final port - see above. The Princess crew handled it very well on board,  but it made one nervous to venture into some of the public areas, especially Horizons.

Finally, we will not travel on this large a ship again, or Princess, it is not for us. There were many on the ship who were on their 10+ Princess cruise and loved it...it's a matter of taste.

Princess cruises are not nearly as attractive as they once were.  Overall, trip seemed more like the old Carnival cruises.  I felt that Princess had gone the way of todays airlines, marginal value and constantly paying extra charges.  I no longer consider Princess a premium cruise line and will not sail with them in the future.

Disappointed in entertainment on cruise. Most of the staff weren't friendly. Food wasn't as good as the cruise I went on in Alaska. Shore excursions were great. 

The ship was spotless and the staff extremely hospitable and helpful. Traveling with a food allergic child is always a scary proposition, but the Princess staff took excellent care to keep him extra safe and happy. Special thanks to our dining room staff--Aurel Cristea, Thanakorn Khamngern and Maurice Ponce!!!!

A very, very pretty part of the world. The scenery could not have been more beautiful The weather was terrific, although a little chilly. The cruise ship, The Royal Princess, was a good experience despite its size

Overall it was a good trip. Princess didn't do a superb job though. Food was of good quality; yet it lacked imagination, innovation or excitement. It was mostly standard fare and repetitive. The on board activities were mostly boring and the ships show performers really weren't that good. They were extremely disorganized on shore excursions that began on the pier. It was blamed on short staffing which if true is not speaking well for Princess when we paid top dollar for the trip.

We very much enjoyed the ports themselves and the excursions. Aside form the above complaints we had a relaxing time in the British Isles.

We had an excellent time on our Royal Princess 12 night British Isles cruise.  While there were 3500 passengers onboard, the ship is huge and so never felt overwhelmingly crowded.  Service from the crew was outstanding. Our stateroom steward Geraldo treated us extremely well in meeting or even exceeding our needs.  In addition, the dining service we received from our waiter Luisito and assistant waiter, John Paul was top notch!  They treated us "royally" every night. The ports of call were awe inspiring; from Ireland's and Scotland's castles and beautiful scenery, to nature's wonders of "The Giant's Causeway" in Northern Ireland and "Stonehenge" in England.  In addition, we enjoyed a scenic cruise on Loch Ness, and a fabulous luncheon cruise along the Seine River in Paris. While in Paris, we viewed iconic sites such as the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Louvre, Notre Dame Cathedral and a brief, but productive souvenir shopping trip along the Champs Elysees.  While we had an awesome time, we would have preferred to have 2 days each in England and France and only 2 ports in Scotland instead of 4 ports, as there was more of England and France we would have liked to have visited.  But that's just our opinion.  All in all we give this trip 5 stars! One final note is that our flights were with British Airways and we highly recommend using them for your flight plans, as we had a very positive experience with them too.