Royal Princess Review
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Itinerary: leave out Caribbean islands except for Trinidad/Tobago; Fortaleza Brazil NOT worth visit/ exclude. Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires are wonderfully memorable stops. But disembarking at BA was the worse experience we’ve ever had. Taxis are scarce ( though not expensive) and we spent 2 hours in bad heat/ humidity on line of at least 100 people for few taxis. I advise you pre-book private pickup at any price ($75??).
Cruise director Matt O’ was best in the business. Buffet food was also best we’ve ever had, especially dinner. Room service and stewards were excellent. Entertainment top notch. Deluxe Balcony cabin D148 was fine with good AC ( tiny balcony but not important). PLEASE improve Shore Excursions and ask for evaluations right afterwards. The vans on all Caribbean islands were I poor condition with poor AC and very cramped. Guide’s ok. Trinidad/Tobago was Best island stop with great guide and van. Shore excursion of Monastery in hills with homemade breads/cakes, tea was SO lovely. Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires are unforgettable and worth money of cruise to see! Ship Captain excellent. Others were doing longer 49 day segments. We were happy and ready to disembark at 19 days in Buenos Aires.
Cabin Review
Deluxe Balcony
Excellent. Balcony is tiny but stateroom is fine. It's living area is smaller than we expected for a deluxe balcony, but worth the larger shower ( bathroom is small but shower is larger than normal). Bed very comfortable. Room AC excellent, but wish halls had AC. The "refrigerator" should be colder. TV choices excellent. Steward, Jeffrey, perfect. PS. It's a long walk to Aft buffet and gym. Gym AC is too warm. Aerobics/stretch room even worse, but good class.
The entertainment was fine. The Destination Lecturer, Vicky, is really outstanding. Her lectures actually packed the Princess Theater (even though they were also televised), so go about 10 minutes early. She is a lovely person and very thorough and honest, not there in order to sell a product. She prepared excellent powerpoint or slide shows for every lecture. They start and end on time, though she will stay for questions. The whole thing lasts for about at least 45 minutes to an hour.
The Enrichment lecturers were a husband and wife team, a psychologist /author, and an actress. These lectures were well-attended compared to others on many different cruises, but did not fill the theater. They were human interest, male-female relations, "pop" psychology, VERY interesting, funny, and well done, actually helpful.