We were looking for a get-away and Princess is always a good bet. Itinerary was so so. Stateroom C406 balcony was very good. Well placed. Excellent embarkation. Quick and professional. Room was ready. Bags arrived at 2 pm. Excellent steward. Always had fresh ice. No production show 1st nite. Excellent show “Bravo” 2nd nite. Good ship nite activities. Buffet “Marketplace” 3/10 on a good day. Boring selections, tasteless, dry, bland. Lots of bread and pasta. Limited meats. Deserts looked pretty, but stiff and boring. Shuckers seafood was empty for a reason. It is awful. We ordered and it took 1 hr to get a limp bowl of tasteless salty seafood. Avoid. BBQ was not much better. Ribs were overcooked and heavily sauced. Meats were so so. Not worth even the $12 charge. Avoid. The Steak restaurant is a beautiful venue. The steaks are from frozen stock and not dry aged. Not a bad experience. The service was excellent. Deserts superb. The italian was excellent. Delicious food well prepared. Real hand made pasta. Incredible desert. The main dining room was not a treat. The food was mediocre to plain bad tasting. Prime rib was fatty and loaded with grizzle. Bad trim. Sine kind of shrimp smelled like bad fish. Ewww! Not one meal was any good here. Breakfast in main were all good. Highlight of our cruise was the chefs table. This is done once if your lucky. We had a GREAT chef. Chef Guido. 6 appetizers in the kitchen and then a five course feast. WOW. THE VERY BEST. Our compliments today Chef and staff. A once in a lifetime experience. THANKS SO MUCH! The ports were mediocre. Ships entertainment was excellent. Pizza at Slices was wonderful. Internet was great but internet staff was EXCELLENT. Read Less

Just back from a week long Western Caribbean cruise with the Regal Princess. Had a great week because of the company, there were six of us all there for Spring Break from California. Great times and memories with the girls, but some not so happy thoughts about the ship. Embarkation was delayed due to Coast Guard inspection and we had been given notification of that. The employees both at the check in counter and to direct people onto the ship were some of the most unfriendly I have ever seen for Princess. Not a great start to the cruise! We were in a balcony cabin E203. Ok on size, the beds were split into a twin. For two females, we have learned to bring some wire hangers as there are never enough and we just throw away at the end of the cruise. This was my 4th Princess cruise and second year in a row on the Regal. The room stank like fish! When I complained, our room steward said he would have the carpet cleaned in the morning. Not sure if this was ever done, the smell was still there at the end of the week. I smelled one of the pillows and it was bad and did get that replaced immediately. The mattress was rock hard! We had adjoining balconies with E201 and E125. The balcony on E125 was wider and much better than ours. Would get that cabin if I could next time. No complaints about cabin steward kept our ice bucket filled and gave us two Patters every night. Disappointed in room service for breakfast, there is basically nothing you can order. I used to order eggs, sausage and toast and now all you can get is Danish, croissant, and a breakfast sandwich with Canadian bacon. We had anytime dining and were able to make that work for us except the service was so extremely slow every night with very little interaction with the servers. We tried to engage but I just think they are completely overworked. It took us over 20 minutes to get bar service and coffee on two separate nights. Food was almost the exact same as last year and would love to see some new items changed out. Obviously I did not starve and could always find something. I did find the lobster tail to be of good flavor this sailing, along with the Beef Wellington. The buffet is the buffet and just find bites of things that I like. The international Café had amazing treats every day, but again the service staff was very unfriendly. Also disappointed that the Pub Lunch no longer includes shrimp and chips. Seems like they just keep taking away more and more! Did excursions both with Princess and outside of Princess and had fun on all. Did a bike tour of Princess Cays and that was worth every penny, something different to do. Overall, again, amazing cruise because of the company and cannot complain to be on vacation, but so disappointing about the level of service almost everywhere on the ship. Not just the Princess employees, so many angry people on board, makes me very sad. Overall, not the best cruise ever and one of the most disappointing, but it will definitely not stop me from cruising. Read Less

Awesome cruise experience. The ship was in excellent condition and cleanliness an obvious priority. Service staff exceptional and always greeting with a warm, sincere smile. Cuisine was solid - something for all tastes. Only regret was that I could simply not taste all the dishes! Did have to wait a couple times for seating on anytime dining plan but pleasantly sat in the piazza to pass the time. Lucky that this voyage was “Entertainer of the Year” nominations performing so needless to say shows were great - packed houses. My only complaint was the vendors in Jamaica are aggressive in asking for tips. Rude and direct - I wish this was truly all inclusive in the pre-purchased excursions pricing. My second Princess cruise and I can say both times my expectations have been exceeded. Great family experience, excellent itinerary. Over 4,000 guests on the ship yet never ever felt crowded. Highly recommend. Read Less

I chose this cruise for the ports visited and the slightly longer length than my usual week. As a solo traveller who will not cruise without the luxury of a balcony it is an expensive holiday due to the 100% surcharge for single occupancy. However , that is my choice. I loved the fact that this cruise departed on a Tuesday - no crowds at the port for embarkation and this aso made a difference to the number of ships in port when we were there. My balcony cabin B226 was TINY , as was the bathroom. How two people can live in that size of cabin for up to 20 days amazes me. The balcony was an average size, the same as other (Norwegian) ships , just enough room for two chairs and a small table. Don't even think about having a romantic room service dinner for two - you will be eating it on your lap ! The bedding was a pale shade of grey and I can't be sure, but I think the sheets were not changed once in 10 days ! Room cleaning was below standard, sand remained on carpet for days and glasses used the previous night were not once replaced or washed out .Balcony floor not cleaned for the whole duration of the cruise. My initial impression of the ship was favourable . The public areas are plush and elegant. Pools on deck 16 are adequate. Movies under the stars a great idea, but you need to get a bed early or you won't get one at all ! I LOVED the Retreat pool on deck 17. Usually a bit more windy than deck 16 but soo worth it. The pool was a comfortable temperature and there are 2 jacuzzi tubs and exclusive Cabanas which can be rented for a fee. Peace and tranquility reigned here , No kids screaming and jumping in the pool. No loud pumping music. I did not use the Sanctuary. Fee applies. Now to my biggest disappointment - the food. I gave up on the Horizons buffet for breakfast after 2 days. confusing layout, lacklustre choice of breakfast items and no stations where you could have your eggs cooked to your liking. Eggs looked like they were powdered eggs and were swimming in liquid. Everything , but everything I ate in there was luke warm , if not cold. This was the same whether it was breakfast , lunch or dinner. Had breakfast in the Symphony dining room once , thinking I would at least get hot food freshly prepared. I was so wrong. Ordered poached eggs on toast and they arrived COLD.. Very unhappy but couldn't be bothered sending them back. Luckilly , I then discovered the International Cafe on Deck 5. A lovely little Patisserie type cafe with fresh, delicious, croissants and pastries and muesli and of couse speciality coffees. At lunch they serve delicious appetiising salads , quiches, and sandwiches, which are beautifully presented and all tasted excellent. The only thing I found I didn't like about this place was that you are served your choice of salad on a tiny sideplate, so if you wanted to have a meal of salads, you would need more than one plate ,like a Tapas bar, which I think discourages people from using the cafe as anything but a place for a quick snack. Shame. Best food on the entire ship ! Entertainment : I didn't get to see any shows. ( due to a 5 hour time change, I was usually flagging by 8.30 pm !) but there was always something going on in the public areas on deck 5, a good place for people watching. Shore excursions: I didn't use any of these, mostly because they were extremely expensive and I had researched beforehand which beaches I wanted to visit. The ports were all crowded . some vendors selling quite aggresively, but just stick your head down and say NO ! I would advise to ALWAYS check beforehand how much you should pay for a shared taxi to wherever you wish to go, otherwise you are leaving yourself open to being ripped off. Having said that , as a single woman , I never felt threatened, or uncomfortable. Favourite beaches were Antigua - Valley Church Beach and Barbados - Rockley Beach. So, the bottom line .... Comparing Princess to 2 Norwegian cruises, which would I choose ? Well the jury is still out on that one. Maybe try RCL or Celebrity next time ! Read Less

It had been a while since we cruised with Princess and we might not have chosen this cruise except that the itinerary (10-day eastern Caribbean) and the timing were exactly what we were looking for. The Royal Princess is the biggest ship we have sailed on so we were a bit apprehensive about crowding and getting around the ship but these fears proved to be unfounded. The layout is similar to that of other Princess ships so finding our way around was no problem, it was just a longer distance to get from one end to the other. We never felt crowded, although we were never able to get a seat in the theatre to see a show because there were simply not enough seats for the size of the ship. Getting into the restaurants was actually easier than on recent Celebrity cruises. There were seldom any lines and we were always seated fairly quickly. One pleasant surprise was the cabin layout. The cabin was small, but there was lots of space to stow our things away. There were even enough hangers - on other ships we have always had to ask a steward for extra hangers. And they were real hangers, not the ones where you have to get a little prong into a little slot every time. We weren't very happy with the steward service. He didn't stop by to introduce himself when we boarded and there was no information in the cabin on who he was and how to get in touch with him. We finally found him when we went to dinner and he had fulfilled our request for an extra box of tissues and a bathrobe by the time we returned to the cabin. However, we also asked to have the duvet replaced with a sheet and blanket and he said he would do that but it never happened. (We hate duvets. They make you too hot or too cold but almost never just right. Our recent cruises were on European rivers and there was never a problem with substituting a sheet and blanket there.) The steward was slow to service the cabin, and on some days it just never got done. We would leave in the morning and put the little service request card in the door and return hours later to find that nothing had been done. Then he would show up mid-afternoon when we were taking a rest so we would send him away. His timing was bad at night too. The food was not as good as we have had on Celebrity. On the plus side, they have reduced the portion sizes in the dining room and they have included a few dishes on the menu from the area we were sailing through. But calling something a Caribbean shrimp cocktail is meaningless if it turns out to be the same old shrimp cocktail you get anywhere. And a creme brulee should have a crust that you have to break with your spoon, not brown liquid floating on top. The special chocolate desserts by Norman Love on formal nights were fabulous, but we had hoped there would be more available in the dining room on other nights. The Horizon Court buffet had a good variety of dishes available for all meals, although it took us a while to figure out the there were different selections available at what they called the Horizon Bistro right next door. The service staff was very good about setting out napkins and cutlery on the tables, a nice touch that meant that you didn't have to carry them around while getting your food. There were too few places to get plates, though, and very few places to get drinks. The servers would bring drinks to your table, but you couldn't get your own ice tea or lemonade at the drink stations. Afternoon tea in the dining room was good. The breakfast menu in the dining room was very limited, though, as was the breakfast menu for room service. The only hot option for cabin service was an english muffin with egg, bacon and cheese. Given how small the cabins and balconies were, perhaps that is all you could reasonably eat in your stateroom. I didn't mind the process cheese on the breakfast muffin, but it was nasty on the afternoon tea sandwiches. We were pleasantly surprised by Princess Cays. Perhaps it was because ours was the only ship there that day but there were lots of beach chairs to go around, even in the shade. It was nice to get food right on the beach rather than having to wait for a tender to go back to the ship, but the flies landing on everything were rather off-putting. We knew we would have to tender at Princess Cays, but it was weird to have to stand in line to sign for a beach towel. It's their resort after all, so if you didn't bring the towel back it would still be in their possession. As it turned out we couldn't figure out how to return it. We called the service desk and they said to leave it with the steward, but the steward said to take it with us and leave it at the departure area at the next port, but when we tried that they said to give it to the steward. As far as I know we weren't charged for the towels so I guess it worked out. The people we were traveling with just picked up towels at the pool and dropped them back there later, which seems a much easier option. We enjoyed all the other ports - St. Thomas, Antigua, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Barbados, but we felt really shortchanged for time in Barbados, where we left at 4pm. We had booked a six-hour island tour with Shore Tours and we just managed to fit it in. Taking independent tours always makes me nervous because the ship won't wait for you if you're late (although Shore Tours will get you to the next port if you miss the sailing) so having such a tight window was difficult. It was worth it, though, because I particularly wanted to show our travelling companions all the beautiful sights on the island and no ship excursion offers that. As it was we didn't make it to all the places on my list, but we had a great guide who knew the island and its history and was very happy to go where we wanted to go. We took ship's excursions in Antigua, St. Lucia and St. Kitts. In Antigua we took one that went to Shirley Heights, Dow's Hill and Nelson's Dockyard. It included a stop at the blockhouse, which didn't really add much to the excursion and left us with too little time at Nelson's Dockyard. In St. Lucia we took one that took us to the Pitons and Sulphur Springs and included a scenic cruise and lunch. Unfortunately, because ours was the second group to leave, the tour began with the cruise rather than ending with it, so those of us who took the opportunity to swim when the boat stopped in a bay were left in wet bathing suits for the rest of the tour. Seeing the Pitons from the boat was absolutely the right thing to do, though. Sulphur Springs was interesting, but lunch was just okay. The excursion in St. Kitts was disappointing. We went to Fairview Great House and Timothy Hill simply because we had already seen the other major sights. We were given a great deal of time at Fairview to see not much of anything. There was not much in the house, and the so-called botanical gardens were pretty lame. There wasn't much there, and what there was you can see just about anywhere in the Caribbean, and it wasn't in particularly good shape. The included drink was fruit punch from a can. The view from Timothy Hill was nice, but our guide was annoying. So a mixed experience, but I would say that we were all pretty happy overall. Read Less

We have sailed with Princess many times and wanted to try their newer, larger ship. We also liked the itinerary and ports on this Easter Caribbean cruise. There were plus and minuses as outlined below: -Piazza area is much larger and easier to enjoy many of the activities occurring there. Lots of seating too on deck 5 and 6 in the Piazza area -Ship's decor is beautifully done in ivory and gold. All the public areas as well as our stateroom were fresh and new looking -Movie screen on the pool deck is very clear and improved sound for movies under the stars -Horizon's Buffet is much more spread out which at first experience seemed much better, but as we dined there we felt it was too spread out and difficult to manouvre through with all the people wandering around. The food wasn't very hot by the time you found a table. We preferred the dining room. -food in the dining room was tasty and a variety of options were provided. We did notice that they have switched real whip cream in many of the desserts to an oil based cream. This was especially apparent in the many layered caked and mousse desserts in the International Cafe and Horizon's Pastry area. This cost saving step was disappointing and definitely changed the flavour of the desserts. -the new pizza restaurant in the Piazza area is wonderful. Pizza made to order as well as soup, salad and Italian pasta dishes are on the menu. A nice option for lunch especially on days at port when the dining room is closed. -shows and entertainment were pretty much the same as the other ships. Some of them are quite predictable and in need of changing for new ones - eg. Mardi Gras Parade, Love and Marriage Game Show, Karoke (they didn't have The Voice competition on this ship), etc. Even some of the comedian's jokes were the same old ones about life on a ship. Not so good when you know the punch line before the say it! We had to arrive at the Princess Theatre at least 30 to 45 minutes ahead of a show to get a seat. The new production show was very impressive for a ship show. -very disappointed that the Adults Only pool near the Sanctuary was 4 foot 11 inches deep at the most shallow point, so many passengers could not stand but had to hang on to the sides only. This pool on the smaller ships is shallower. -Embarkation and Disembarkation was quick and efficient -You can not walk around the ship outside on Deck 7. They only have 4 small areas on this deck to sit but they are not shaded. We really missed not being able to walk out on Deck 7 and enjoy fresh air as we walked along. In fact there aren't many decks where you can walk from the front to the back. To get to the pool on deck 17 from the aft of the ship you have to walk through the fitness center. When we booked this cruise we thought the experience of the newer, larger and remodeled ship might cause us to not want to return to the smaller Princess ships. While we thoroughly enjoyed our experience on the Royal, we would definitely return to the smaller Princess ships like Ruby, Emerald, etc. Read Less

This 10-day itinerary is great; Princess Cays, St. Thomas, Antigua, St. Lucia, Barbados, and St. Kitts. It has a good mix of great beaches, interesting scenery, and wonderful people. My husband and I took this same cruise 3-years ago and enjoyed it more because we felt the service, food, and entertainment were better. After 81-cruises we have seen much of the same entertainment but the group of Princess singers and dancers always puts a different twist on the production shows. On the March 20 sailing we were lucky to see one of the first performances of “The Secret Silk” and it was fantastic! Never before had we seen such a terrific mix of puppetry, wonderful music, and great costumes. Like others have mentioned in their reviews, mini suites on the Royal are unfortunately smaller than on other Princess ships. I find it ridiculous to have to move the coffee table in order to get a soda out of the refrigerator. While we had a larger, angled balcony, the limited overall balcony space requires a few gymnastics moves to get into the chairs if you plan to use the ottomans. It makes me wonder if the designers ever actually sat on the cabin sofas or balconies while the ship was being built. It is also disappointing that passengers cannot walk around the entirety of deck 7. I would have thought that Princess would have listened closer to all the customer comments about the top needs on the Royal, 1) center stairs, 2) aft pool, 3) outside walking space around the entirety of deck 7, and 4) same size mini suites as on the Ruby, Emerald, or Crown (at least they put in the center stairs). It was nice to see that Princess had installed center stairs on the Royal as the last time we sailed on her the stairs were behind closed doors and were only a available for emergency use only. Now if Princess would only add an aft pool! All in all we had a fun and relaxing vacation and will recommend this voyage to others. Read Less

This cruise was 10 days. We live in Florida & love to cruise We had been on the Royal Princess ( ship is fairly new & beautiful & set up like the Regal Princess) prior & I really enjoyed my past Princess cruises. Being Elite members I love the perks. Free internet , free mini bar, free laundry to name a few. This cruise I was totally surprised with the cutbacks in staff. It seemed that quite a bit of the staff were not as friendly & helpful as before. My cabin stewardess started her day early & never finished before late in the evening. Some days she didn’t get to our cabin to make the bed before 1pm( & it wasn’t because we didn’t leave the cabin). Gone are the days when you go for breakfast to return to a sparkling clean room. I don’t blame the staff I think they have too many rooms to clean. My biggest shock came when we went to the Captains Circle Past Guest party. My husband was charged for his drink because he asked for something not on the tray. On previous cruises this party was a lovely time. White glove service , food , any kind of drink you wanted & dancing to live music. Not this time 25 mns later we were told to leave the lounge. I wrote a note to the hostess & she never bothered to contact me. The food was very good in the dining room but breakfast service was slow most mornings. The ship is very nice & the entertainment was very good. I love that there are new movies on demand in your room. I have been on over 70 cruises 20 on Princess & it seems the cruise lines just keep cutting back on service & quality of foods. I do think the menu is much better on Princess than Carnival & NCL. The laundry service was a little better (faster)than other ships in the past. In St Thomas we went on a snorkel excursion that was a big disappointment. The reef was boring & the shipwreck was dull. The tour was ok but not what I wanted. In St Lucia we had to change plans because our original trip (booked on Shore Excursioneer) was cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances. I then booked a Princess excursion to pay more for less services than originally ordered to go on the same boat I originally booked. Princess added tours on that day & the vendor cancelled private tours. We booked private excursions for Barbados & St Kitts which were very nice. The shipwreck in Barbados was 1 of the best we have ever snorkeled. After we were left at a beach for lunch & relaxation. Read Less

Stayed at Hampton Inn North Cruiseport night before, 3rd or 4th time there, decent hotel, free shuttle from airport and transport to cruise port for like $6 pp. 7th Princess cruise, 2nd on Royal. First time with cabin on Lido deck, L202, and really liked being there and would/will do it again. Another good Princess cruise! Beautiful ship. Always good service. Justino was one of our best cabin stewards in 25 cruises. The show The Secret Silk was VERY good. Early set dining at 5:30, table for 2, and it went well. Alfrado’s good as always, good soup before pizza came out. Enjoyed the padded lounge chairs outside on Promenaude deck aft several times for hours. Wife and I are mid 60s. Very fast embarkation and debarkation (self). Would do it again, and will. We particularly enjoyed St. Kitts and our excursion to Nevis for tour, lunch and beach. We’d spent a month on Nevis 20+ years ago and it was our first time to return to Nevis. Read Less

This was our third time on Royal Princess in the last 24 months. We have come to really like this ship and the employees on the ship. Overall service was very good to excellent. Food was as good as the previous two cruises. Drink prices seem to have risen somewhat. We like this ship so much that we will be on her again next year. Maybe twice next year! We really came to like the Maitre D on this ship. We were planning on taking a VERY nice bottle of wine to dinner on the first formal night and I asked our waiter to arrange for two large Riedel glasses for our table the night before the formal night. On formal night, no large Riedel glasses on the table and we did not open the wine. The waiter said he was unable to get them, only Vines had them. Later, the ship Maitre D came by our table and apologized profusely. He promised to have nice glasses for us the next night at the Crown Grill. We had nice glasses the next night. We also had the same nice glasses on the last formal night when we brought another excellent wine to dinner. The Maitre D sent chocolate covered strawberries and a fruit bowl to our stateroom as a goodwill gesture. It was appreciated by us but not necessary. Read Less