We went on the first voyage of the Royal from Port Everglades. There was so much hype about it that our expectations were very high! We did expect it to be a big send off with items indicating that it was the maiden voyage but we were disappointed in that area.

The ship is lovely and the Horizon Buffet was huge and we never had trouble finding a seat! The fountain light show was outstanding but it was on so late that we only saw it once. We would have rather had more pool area because that is something we used every day. The Seawalk was unique but I would rather have had a promenade deck that you could walk completely around the ship. The atrium was beautiful but the stairs and elevator situation took away from it. It just seemed that the special additions removed things we were used to on other Princess ships. We are balcony lovers but the balcony was smaller. The crew was fine but we never heard our name used by our room steward or our dining room staff.

Nice touches were: the sayings in the elevators, soft serve ice cream until 11PM, an enlarged, 24 hour, International Café, the cooking show, great entertainment including “The Volume” singing group and Carlos Oscar. My husband’s favorite was free on demand and up to date movies in the room! Read more