I was so impressed with the Royal Princess and all it had to offer in March 2015. Two years later this past March I did the same itinerary on the same ship. This time around left much to be desired. We tried the set dining time in the Concerto dining room and the anytime dining in the Symphony dining room and both experiences were rushed service, with no attention to detail. Dishes and condiments were forgotten and staff had to be reminded and dirty plates were not removed before starting coffee/tea service. The food was repetitious, never hot and had no wow factor. There were issues every time we went to the dining room and it was not an enjoyable experience. So 7 out of 10 nights we ate in the Horizon Court buffet which we found to be 100% better. We did enjoy the buffet and the great selection and special theme nights but would have preferred the dining room experience had the service and food been better.

I don't remember the first time sailing on the Royal Princess getting seats in the main theatre being a problem. This past cruise, if you didn't show up at least 30 minutes before curtain time, there were no seats available. So to have to rush through dinner and race to the theatre to find a seat and sit and wait a minimum of 30 minutes until curtain time was unacceptable especially when the shows were not very good. Once again there was alot of focus on "soul music and the production shows". The comedian that performed the first two nights was anything but "funny".....One thing that really makes the difference in a cruise is the cruise director. I found Kelly Rose to be very annoying when she spoke, and someone not deserving of the title "Cruise Director" During my 10 days on this ship her appearance was almost non existent. She was rarely there with opening or closing remarks in the main theatre and NEVER once did I see her make an appearance in any outside common areas around the lido deck, poolside during the day. There was also a noticeable lack of organized games or activities on the lido deck led by cruise staff.

I found myself spending alot of time in the main atrium enjoying the musical entertainment and house bands. Rhapsody was fantastic and offered a wide variety of music for everyone to enjoy. Read more