My wife and I cruised on the Royal in October, 2014. We honestly did not like the deluxe balcony cabin and many features of the ship, feeling that they had been "down-sized". In fact, we contacted our travel agent while on board and told her to either get us a mini on the Regal, or cancel our cruise. She was able to book a mini. Our selection of this ship at this time was due to our neighbors scheduling this cruise.

We had noticed Horizons was a huge improvement on the Royal over other Princess ships, both in selection and food quality. On the Regal food in all the dining areas was a notch better than anything we have experienced on previous Princess cruises. Service was also a notch better, likely due to Princess staffing their newest ship with their best crew.

We were visited by the upgrade fairy and offered the Auckland Suite at a very slight increase in price over our mini. We quickly snapped up this option. The suite was fabulous, with a large seating area, including a sofa, table, desk, and two chairs. There was an incredible marble bathroom, with toilet in a separate room, and full bathtub and large glass enclosed shower. Closets lined the hall to the adjoining bedroom. The suite featured two sliding doors to separate balcony areas. Read more