After reading all of the negative reviews regarding the Royal I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the ship! I suspect the negative comments come from those travelers that don't like change to traditional ship layouts. I found all of the changes to be beautiiful and positive for me as a traveler. The major complaint seems to be absence of stairs to upper floor in the central area of the ship. So- go find another set a stairs or elevators they were a short walk away.

I not only appreciated but loved how the designers were able to create a small ship feel on a large ship. The only crowds I encountered were those lined up to get off the ship on a tendered port day. Kudos to the architects who finally figured out how to avoid standing in a buffet line!! I found the food and service in the buffet area excellent.

Regarding the ship sanitization for the virus outbreak- Having experienced the virus on another ship-one time- I take extra precautions to make sure that doesn't happen to me again. I have tremendous respect and admiration for the Princess Cruise line to take the extreme actions they did to sanitize the ship knowing they would be facing major complaints on Cruise Critic from the cruise passengers inconvenienced upon embarkation. I am also amazed that a six hour embarkation window was narrowed down and completed in three hours despite the grumbling. Read more