Royal Princess Review

4.0 / 5.0
1,777 reviews

Wonderful Trip on the 'Late' Royal Princess to the Southern Carribean

Review for the Southern Caribbean Cruise on Royal Princess
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Sunluvr27
10+ Cruises • Age 50s

Rating by category

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Value for Money
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Additional details

Sail Date: Mar 2016
Cabin: Deluxe Balcony
Traveled with children
Drink special at the Captains Circle Happy Hour.
Brought our fishing poles for Princess Cays.
St. Thomas catamaran trip with Royal in the background.
Smaller than normal pool.

We are long time Princess cruisers (family of four) and we were delighted to cruise on the relatively new Royal Princess. I won't go into embarkation details since as Preferred Guests, it was easy for us. But I will say to allow time if you are traveling by shuttle or cab from nearby hotels. The line for drop off took us 25 minutes once we were in the Port itself. The Royal was beautiful. The new layout of the Horizon Court was much better than other ships. It seemed like there were more choices and better quality food. The new pizza restaurant was delicious with Napalese style thin crust pizza and great salads and antipasto. The main dining room was very consistent for anytime dining. However, they were not consistent on dress code. My husband was asked to leave and put on long pants one evening in place of his shorts. He was a bit peeved when we were later seated and other diners came in with shorts on with no comments from the hostess or other greeters.

As for the ship... the lack of a center stair case was not an issue for us, but I have seen other reviewers complain. What I did miss was the lack of a promenade deck. On other ships you can walk around the 7th deck all the way around the ship. With the new addition of more balcony rooms (but smaller balconies) and the move of the tenders down a deck, there is no promenade. Bummer. But the Sports Deck is better with four ping pong tables, a full basketball court and lots of stations for exercise. As well as a jogging deck. And as others have mentioned, the temperature on the boat was always on the warm side.

The kids club had lots of fun activities, but my spoiled children had already seen and done most of them on other ships. If nothing else, check out the kids club to see the chart they have with how many kids are on the ship. Good information to know for families. This was the first year the boys (11 &14) had their own (interior) cabin since we have outgrown a mini suite. It worked out well for all of us. They met friends and we hardly saw them with the exceptions of dinners and bed time. Meeting friends from different countries and cities is always fun for them. Just like us!

Cabin Review

Deluxe Balcony

Cabin DD

We specifically booked cabins by the bigger suites on the aft end thinking we would have better steward service. Not really the case. I think the priority was on the suites. But our room was clean and tidy. But smaller than on board the Emerald or other boats.

Port Reviews

Princess Cays

Princess Cay is a great first stop. It makes for an easy day of beach time relaxation with adult beverages. The kids could practice their snorkeling in calm waters with white sand bottoms. The food was much better with the addition of food truck type food from carts on the south side of the dock. Didn't notice if they had them on the north side too. Be prepared that everyone wants to go back to the ship at the same time. Either be the first to leave the island early, or be the last to avoid crowds.

Grenada

We took a water taxi from the cruise terminal to Grand Anse beach for $8 each RT. The beautiful, three mile beach was calm with lots of vendors renting umbrellas and beach chairs. Our taxi driver said to talk to 'Jack Sparrow' for a good bargain on chairs. I got them down to $10 for two chairs and an umbrella because we were only going to be there for two hours. The water was calm, walking on the beach was easy, and best of all our Jack Sparrow had ice cold beer. But watch out! If you order the local brew, it is only $15 for 6 but if you order Heineken or other beers it is $30! Personally, I like the local Caribbean beers. They all have a little taste of the sea.

Fort Lauderdale (Port Everglades)

On disembarkation, we rented a car and explored Fort Lauderdale. We had a hard time finding the landings to catch the water taxi at first. But then we went to have lunch at the 15th Street Fisheries and they pointed it out. We only wanted to go up one stop and didn't realize it was $25 per person. Yikes! Be warned that this is a good way to spend a day as an attraction. Not a conveyance for a quick trip between one or two stops on the trail.

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