This is our 7th cruise with Princess, and the Royal was definitely the largest ship we have sailed on. It is beautiful ... the atrium is gorgeous .... as well as the decor throughout. The ship was beautifully decorated for the holidays. The ship's layout is slightly different from the others in the fleet ... Crown Grill has moved, and Explorers lounge is now next to it .... it's now between mid and aft. The shops are still located in the atrium area, but are more spread out, and offer a larger selection of items, including Norman Love candies. The casino is now off the main atrium area, almost at the base of the staircase, which has it's pros and cons. Our room was on Dophin (9) midship. The room seemed slightly smaller, perhaps because of the installation of the larger TV at the foot of the bed. The bathrooms are laid out differently, to add a little more space to shower area. Our balcony area seemed slightly smaller than previous ships. Although our room was clean, the carpet needed to be scrubbed as there were many spots on it. Our stewardess was excellent.

There are hundreds of activities to do, almost too many to cover in one day. We were disappointed in the Christmas Eve activities. We expected the Christmas singalong as on previous ships and the snowfall, but the singalong wasn't done until the night before we were to leave the ship. No Catholic midnight mass was offered. Instead we were told (at the last minute) arrangements had been made on St. Lucia (Christmas Day) to attend a service there. Only problem, we were scheduled for an excursion.

Despite the large number of people on board, we never experienced a wait for food except at breakfast grill for special orders. We were slightly disappointed in the limited menu in restaurants; and food on the buffet was okay (excerpt the watery soups served each day)--nothing exciting but especially liked the huge prawns served one evening. We found service to be a little less than satisfactory in the buffet area. Many times we had to stop a server to ask for drinks or get it ourselves. In fact, we thought many were in training. Other areas, bars, eateries, etc, were fine. Loved the "adults only" pool area. Future cruises definitely needs additional staff--wait to discuss/make deposits was always long. The special photo deal of $49 for all photos was especially nice, as we have spent hundreds on previous cruises--hope it continues. Despite the many criticisms, which we hope will be used for improvements, we would recommend the Royal and the Princess fleet.