Royal Princess Review

Great fun but a little disappointed

Review for the British Isles & Western Europe Cruise on Royal Princess
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Gossyboy
2-5 Cruises • Age 50s

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Sail Date: Jun 2013
Cabin: Balcony

This was the second preview cruise on Royal Princess.Two nights down to Guernsey and back but due to heavy sea's we couldn't get off at Guernsey (no ones fault)Just gonna jot down my thoughts as they come up :)I have sailed with Princess before on the Crown for a xmas and new years cruise and had reservations sailing with them again due to their inability to serve any hot food. Although we loved our tour of the Caribbean during that time of the year the ship was very disappointing.I decided to give Princess another chance. Also I had one of my photos featured on the ship after sending in to a competition on the Princess website. 75,000 entries and I got in the top 1000. It was lovely to see my photo on deck 14 midship even though they had spelt my name wrong :( They have promised to reprint it..... I'll never know?I was impressed with the size of the ship, the skywalk was amazing as was the sky view bar but the layout of each deck left a lot to be desired. There didn't seem a lot to do for the size? The Lido deck felt cramped due to the fountain show area in the middle. Only one pool but plenty of Jacuzzi's (which were nice). There was a pool towards the Sanctuary but this was empty?At various times we found ourselves wandering up and down decks to try to get from one end of the ship to the other. It just doesn't flow.Didn't like the whole Princess Live thing. Too bright and clinical, preferred the old show lounge on the Crown. Don't know where the two glass duelling pianos had gone!? Sure I saw them in the pre cruise photo's?Lovely that there was no smoking in the Casino, although they were still allowing people to smoke to one side (still not nice! do it or don't!)The Atrium was large and quite stunning. The glass lifts seemed to be covered over. Didn't see them really.The whole "Princess" décor ideas seem set back in the 70's / 80's? Wood panelling, huge plush drapes and chandeliers. For a brand new ship it already looked dated. Not my cup of tea.Service was up and down. Waited ages at empty bars for drinks but had food cooked especially for me in the main DR.The beds and pillows were amazing!! The best I've slept on anywhere. The balcony was tiny. Maybe if we were on a longer cruise it may have been useful but on this one all we saw was the channel and it has put me off paying the extra for the view in future.Luckily we got to see Kory Simon again in Crooners bar. He was the amazing pianist we enjoyed on the Crown Princess two years ago. An excellent entertainer and a credit to Princess!! The buffet was huge (maybe a bit too spread out) with an amazing choice of food. This was all served fresh and HOT for a change. Alas the MDR was a bit hit and miss. Although the menus were inviting, the food was sometimes only just warm.On the whole we had a great trip but I think that will be my last with Princess.

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Balcony

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