Royal Princess was great for a new ship overall. While you can take apart the ship you go home with your overall experience, which for us was great. The trip was about the ports and not necessarily the ship. We had the best cabin on the ship. Best dollar for value, largest balcony on the seas, and a super layout that was premium for dollar spent. Having spent over a year in preparation for the cruise we were not disappointed or let down other than perhaps in the entertainment. We moved back to a larger ship in hopes of seeing some top entertainment and production shows. While the ship has the theater to delivery it failed with the line ups and productions. Pitiful costumes and 30 minutes shows that were really minimal teasers. One good show was the finale. Overall dining experiences were good, not great, unless you pay for the premium restaurants. Crown Grill was disappointment. Design was poor, matire D was very unsocial, and service poor, food no better than MDR. We were able to get into Chef's Lumiere dinner which was fantastic and worth every penny. Not able to get into the Wine dinner so cannot review. We had anytime dining and had better dinner in the There are many areas that are just wasted space, seldom used by anyone and Princess needs to take note and make some changes before the Regal comes out. Crooner's had a good piano player and service was good. Bellini's was empty 24-7 and Vines was dull, while service was OK. There is no separation from the large atrium and many surrounding venues suffer from this, Vines especially. The Wheelhouse needs more separation from Crown Grill. Music and noise bleed over into Crown Grill kill things in CG along with views into life boats. Some designer had their head in sand when the thought you would like to view the inner workings of lifeboats while eating dinner. They should draw the blinds over the windows or put in a picture to hide the views. Sabatini's was great and staff along with their supervisors are all on board to make your dinner enjoyable. Crown Grill was exactly opposite. Alfredo's Pizzeria was dead space and the Ocean Terrace was about the same. These areas need to be revamped. Gelato's was Ok and the Pastry Shop was a definite winner with their 24 hour menu. We did not utilize any Princess Tours so cannot comment on these. We had lined up our own and worked out just fine. Getting off using the Tender in Cannes was very slow. This was the first time the ship actually had to tender in and they must have been learning. We had to stop the ship shortly after leaving port as one of the tender boats had not been properly secured and they had to lower it and re secure.

The Sanctuary was nice and when the ship moves to work out of Florida it's going to get some heavy use. Be prepared to get up early to secure a spot. If you don't like to be around deck hogs you will have too. The deck staff never will just pick up towels and free up chairs around the pool from the deck hogs which would go along way to make a general pool experience enjoyable. Instead as happens people go out and throw down towels and a book to block out their territory with only plans to stay on deck a couple hours. As a result it was difficult to find a chair anywhere around the pool. Bar service around the pool was also lacking, regardless of which deck or area except the Sanctuary. We did not use the SPA's so no comment, or the sports decks, facilities.

The water and light show is a total joke and waste of investment. They need to rip this out pronto and put in another pool. Casino is large and not easy to get around with a maze layout. We did not find the machines to be rewarding, but they are there and during the enter 12 days quite busy. Read more