This was our second cruise on the Royal and likely our last. The main issues of this ship have been well documented here before so I will not go into details, I’ll just mention that the balconies are very small, even on suites, the elevators are insufficient for such a large ship, there is no walkable promenade deck, the MUTS screen blares loud music all day long, too loud for comfort unless you are drunk, there is soot all over the aft areas, etc. We cruised the Royal in March of 2014 and were aware of these issues but decided to sail again due to the itinerary. What we did not expect was than on a 10 day cruise the standards would be even lower.

First, nothing has been done to remedy the soot problem, all open aft areas are still being showered by soot from the stacks. We felt sorry for those that paid good money for aft facing cabins, those are normally very desirable but not on this ship. The black soot on the balcony floors and furniture was evident from above. It has been a year an a half since this ship was launched and apparently Princess is unable to solve the problem prior to a dry dock if at all.

Secondly, as another reviewer posted already, the ship felt like a nursing home. There was an inordinate number of scooters and wheel chairs on board, far more than we have seen on any cruise. This made the pool areas, the hallways, and the entrances to the MDRs a maze to navigate. Read more