Royal Princess Review

4.0 / 5.0
1,777 reviews

Traveled as a single and loved the Royal Princess

Review for the Western Mediterranean Cruise on Royal Princess
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dhaslett87
10+ Cruises • Age 70s

Rating by category

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Value for Money
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Sail Date: Sep 2017
Cabin: Deluxe Balcony

Cruising Europe was on my bucket list after 35 plus cruises on 17 different cruise lines to six of the seven continents over the years. Princess had the best itinerary, called the Grand Mediterranean, which was actually two cruises back-to-back for 21 days total. I had cruised Princess before and liked it, but truthfully only chose them due to the itinerary and price. But from now on Princess is definitely my first choice! I traveled alone and booked very early, so I got a great price on a deluxe balcony cabin. Close to sailing the price for that category was almost double!!

The Royal is by far the biggest ship I've sailed, and I was apprehensive about getting overwhelmed by the size. Instead I loved every minute on the ship and never felt uncomfortable sailing solo. The 3560 passenger ship is gorgeous and very spacious. I never had a problem finding a place to sit either indoors or out on deck. There were lots of places to be more private scattered around the ship, including an outdoor area beside the shops that was a small deck with tables and chairs where you could often be alone.

The Princess EZ Air program was great. They booked me in business class on my preferred airline, KLM, for about half the retail price. And the flight is flexible/refundable until 45 days out. I loved the flight to Amsterdam and passengers were met, escorted to the bus, and taken to the pier very efficiently. Embarkation was incredibly efficient and quick. They had a small army there checking us in and I doubt I spent more than 10 minutes in line. My luggage was delivered to the cabin very quickly.

Cabin Review

Deluxe Balcony

Cabin D4

I had cabin B738. This is in the deluxe balcony category and is at the back of the ship overlooking the wake, which I love. It has one of the largest balconies available in this class and also had shade from the deck above. You could lie down flat in the lounge chairs. The balcony sizes vary quite a bit in this category and only decks B and D have shade from the decks above. Princess made the cabins on this ship a bit smaller than their prior ships and many passengers complained about the tiny balconies in the standard balcony cabins along the sides of the ship, where the chairs barely fit facing to the side and you could not lie down. I had no problem with cabin storage but it would be tighter with two people. The bathroom is very efficiently designed but quite small. Really no room for two to be in there together. The shower did have the "clingy" curtain, but because of the slight outward curve in the design I never had a problem with it clinging. Shampoo/conditioner combo and liquid soap are provided in the shower dispensers. There's a laundry line in the shower that I found handy. I liked the open design of the closet which really made it just like a walk-in but without a door. The bed was very comfortable and you get a bathrobe in this category. It was nice to have a small sofa instead of just a chair. The desk and frig were pretty standard. The flat screen TV on the wall was quite large and could be seen from either the bed or the sofa. A large variety of movies and videos were offered as well as the port talks, bridge cam and some ship activities. The cabin doors are narrow and very heavy, so exercise caution getting luggage or large bags through the door!

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