Royal Princess Review
Royal Princess, British Isles; A Little Disappointing
Rating by category
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We had book a mini suite a year in advance as we wanted a "slightly bigger" and it was only slightly bigger. Balcony no bigger. I would have thought the mini suite besides size would have had a higher level of quality but the towels were like sandpaper. The Royal is a lovely ship, lots of lounges & well appointed. Loved having self serve laundry on each floor.
Our Cabin Steward & the Beverage Steward @ Vines were excellent as they were attentive & met our needs but I can't say the same for the remaining staff. They seemed indifferent & not personable. Is it because "gratuities" are just a given so why go out of your way. We had to wait quite awhile in some of the lounges for service or refills so when we found Gerry at Vines we kept going back.
We had a 6:00 pm dinner seating and found the service overall slow. I found our Waiter did his best but not sure why it took almost 2 hours for dinner with a lot of waiting between courses. Our Wine Steward was atrocious. He should not be working with the public as not friendly (we tried to warm him up) and was snippy when we asked for more wine telling us "to wait a minute". We had to ask our waiter to follow up or for a refill. Other than the beef medallions (a menu staple), one night prime rib & lobster the menu overall was not palatable.
Cabin Review
Mini-Suite with Balcony
For a mini suite the additional space could accommodate a full size couch & a 2nd TV. Our friends had a balcony stateroom & they only had a chair so the additional space was appreciated. Towels www like sandpaper for all concerned. Even our 3 star hotel in Paris had better towels. Our Cabin Steward was wonderful as he always had are room prepared, even if we came back early in morning before going ashore room was made up or in early evening. We always had ice & he made room in our fridge to keep the ice cold.
Port Reviews
St. Peter Port (Guernsey)
Rained but very walkable. Not very big place.
Cobh (Cork)
Stayed in Cobh. Walked countryside to a cemetery containing graves from Lusitania sinking. Very walkable & weather made all the more scenic
Dublin
Ship provided an "expensive" shuttle service into town @ USD$16 per person. Did Hop On & Off.
Greenock (Glasgow)
Did Hop On Hop Off. Cruise excursions were too expensive for what was offered.
Invergordon (Inverness)
Walked into town, tourist centre helpful, residents very friendly & helpful. Ended walking 3 miles to Alness were there were more shops. Invergordon has been adversely affected by the oil recession & lots of businesses are closing but still charming countryside. Had a pint at the Silver Dollar, "the Beer is Crack" to quote a local.
Le Havre
We had obtained permission to disembark as we want to see the Canadian D-Day beaches & cryuse line excursions focused on American sites only & very expensive. Four of us booked independently with Normandy Spearhead Tours (euro 560) a full day with a fabulous guide Florin & we saw it all, American English Canadian & more. As we stayed 3 nights in Le Havre before going to Paris, we took the bus & spent the day in Honfleur. Magnificent!