Royal Princess Review
Royal Princess - Nov 10-17 - Eastern Caribbean
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I don't think this ship lived up to the hype of a "new ship." If I'd never cruised before I might have been more impressed, but some things were lacking. I missed the aft pool/bar area that was adults only. (It's now forward, and no smoking.) The shortage of smoking areas was an issue as well. I don't mind not smoking inside, but I did mind the lack of ventilation in Churchills and the only 2 outside smoking areas were aft, and the one on deck 7 I could not use as it was not mobility cart friendly. This meant a LONG trek from where ever I was to the aft end of the ship where there was pretty much "nothing." No bar, no pool, just some tables, or loungers in the sun. You could use e-cigarettes anywhere except the dining areas, but if somebody complained they would explain it was an e-cig. If they still complained you either had to put it away or move.
If you sail on this ship and require US style flat plugs at your bedside, take 2 or 3 VERY long extension cords and a couple of strip plugs. There are NO plugs near the beds you can use and NO ADAPTERS! On the desk/vanity area there are exactly TWO plugs. We ended up having to get a heavy duty extension cord from the ship and run it over to the bed across the floor from the desk to power our bipaps and creating quite a trip hazard for me. I did have a power strip, so we used that to create extra plugins since we both use bipaps and had a number of electronic toys to charge. We had to use the 2nd available plug to recharge my cart battery, or swap out one of the 2 plugs to power/recharge something else. We made it work, but it was rather awkward. Also, the room lights require a keycard to come on. The closet light switch is at the door which was weird and awkward. The bathroom is adequate, the shower is way better with a hand held adjustable shower head. LOTS of storage and closet space/shelving.
The elevators were TINY. More people meant more people needing elevators...can we say traffic jam? If you're designing a new ship and you know elevators are always a problem why in the world would you make the elevators smaller???
Cabin Review
Adequate if like us you're there to shower, change or sleep. Beds were awesome, pillows less so. On the small side if you require a wheelchair or cart, but the access to the door for these was quite good. Also, it's close to the elevators, but we didn't hear anything from that area. The tp holder is in the strangest place and very awkward to use, so we never did. (Btw - took us 2 days to FIND the tp holder.) We just placed the TP on the sink counter. LOVED the larger shower and hand-held adjustable shower head! Take extension cords and strip plugs. There are exactly 2 US style flat blade plugs available at the desk/vanity area, and if you require cpap or bibaps at bedside you'll need the extension cords, but watch out for them at nite as they trail across the floor. Plenty of storage and closet space. Also new on this ship - you will require your key card to turn on the lights. Just don't forget it when you leave. And the closet light is turned on by the door to the cabin, not near the closet. As I say, it's adequate and we adapted or made things work, but some things were definitely strange.