I wanted to try the newest princess ship, the Royal and overall was very impressed. She is obviously bigger than any other Princess ship. I mostly liked the way Royal was designed. The enlarged Piazza is definitely the focal point of the ship. The various eateries in the Piazza were a definite improvement. Alfredo's pizzeria is a great addition as is the expanded Vines wine bar. There is a seafood bar which includes sushi. The International Cafe is a definite crowd pleaser. The Gelateria is now in its own separate location. One nice feature you can use your coffee card for Gelato. Sabatini's is on deck 5 near Vines. I stopped eating at at Sabatini's when the format was changed several years ago. In my opinion they went from treating you to a night in Italy to dining at an Italian restaurant back home.

The Royal has 3 main dining rooms. One dedicated to fixed seatings, one has a 5:30 fixed seating and is open to any time dining at 7pm and the third dining room is any time dining. I always choose any time dining. I found a mixture of great service with some so so service. A great lead waiter , Ivan from Serbia placed us at table 307 in the Concerto dining room after 2 days of very slow service. Our Waiter was Grace and her assistant waiter was Tranquilino, both from the Philippines. Their service was outstanding. Their time management and excellent customer service skills were probably the best I've ever had with Princess. The food in the dining room did not disappoint, fantastic as always.

The horizon court has been expanded with numerous food stations. They also added a horizon bistro for something quick and a pastry shop. This is a real plus. Read more