Royal Princess Review
Rating by category
Additional details
This was an exciting cruise going all the way aroundSouth America from Ft. Lauderdale to LA. We were a bit apprehensive about the length of this cruise as it was over 20 days longer than our previous longest cruise. That ended up not being an issue as the cruise was a very good mix of sea and port days.
This was the first time the Royal had been in most of these ports and was the biggest cruise ship many of these ports had seen. This was in part a repositioning cruise getting the Royal from the east coast to the west coast.
While we have been on many Princess cruises this was our first time on the Royal or a Royal class ship. We missed the Explorers Lounge and did not like the Princess Live venue for trivia. The Piazza was used a lot and was the venue for music at night and dancing. Seating could be a bit of a challenge in this area.
Cabin Review
Premium Suite with Balcony
Suite D122 is one of the most forward staterooms on the Royal. We were in this cabin for 49 days so got to know it pretty well. You will pass 30 cabins when you get off the forward elevators and start down the passageway to this room.
The suite is very spacious. The walk-in shower was very nice. The balcony is long and narrow and while it is difficult to lounge on the balcony we rearranged the furniture a bit and enjoyed sitting outside when the weather was pleasant and the view entering and leaving port.
Being this far forward when the sea gets rough you feel it in this cabin. There is a lot of motion and when the bow is cutting through the waves and loud banging noise. If a rough noisy ride in bad weather is going to bother you this may not be the suite for you.
Suite D122 is very noisy when the Royal is entering and leaving port. On days that the ship ties up to a pier, the thrusters are used to move the ship sideways into place and are very noisy and there is a lot of vibration. On the days the ship anchors the dropping and raising of the anchor is very noisy in this suite. If you are thinking of sleeping in on a port day you will be woken early by the process of getting into port.
A big surprise and disappointment is that there are no electrical outlets on the nightstands. There is a lamp on each nightstand so power is there, just no outlets. We always bring extension cords but needed one from the steward to get power to both nightstands.
This was our first time in a suite and was a paid upgrade from a minisuite. It was very nice for this long cruise but we don't think we would upgrade again to a forward suite because of the noise, extra walking and rough seas.
Port Reviews
Antigua
Walked around the town and had a nice lunch. A nice day.
Rio de Janeiro
Had a great day is a small van seeing the beaches and parks of Rio.
Stanley
Took a local van for $20 each to Gypsy Cove to see penguins in the distance. A bit of walking but a good trip.
Ushuaia (Tierra del Fuego)
A very nice Princess tour.