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Jim W wrote a review Jan 2023
4 contributions4 helpful votes
Well as you can imagine there's a long story behind the title but in the end this is a beautiful ship with so much potential but unfortunately it sounds like from the top down within the organization princess has decided to become the cruise line of mediocracy. We had reason to expectations good, not great, food, good service, a vacation feel with happy people, to be treated like customers, and to receive what we paid for. After addressing the issues on our 5-day cruise with the cruise lines we were inevitably told that we should find a new cruise line that can deliver what we expect understanding the above was all we really expected.

In the end the cruise line fell short in several areas. The food in the buffet was scarce and tough to eat. They were often out of most items and anything for kids was gone shortly after opening and not replaced. Believe it or not it was kind of tough to find something decent to eat on this cruise ship without waiting an extremely long time for it to be delivered through the app which often took two and a half hours or more. We attempted to get into some of the specialty restaurants but they were all fully booked for the cruise yet as we walked by them seem to have several available tables we got the feeling maybe they weren't seating all tables as there was a staffing issue. The first night the lava cake could not be penetrated with a forkery knife seriously we pointed it out to staff they found it quite amusing and continued to stab at it in amazement laughing it off the entire time but it was indicative of quite a bit of the food we attempted to try during the trip including the food in the dining room which was almost unedible on prime rib night.

We also encountered a whole lot of grumpy people Don't quite know what it was from the person who made us get up out of our chair when we relaxing on the upper deck watching the Christmas boat parade to the security officer who grabbed my granddaughter's hot chocolate out of her hand and threw it in the garbage as we were exiting the ship as we weren't aware we couldn't leave with a hot chocolate. It wasn't the fact she did it... it was how she did it and we encountered quite a few people that just seemed to be very unhappy in what they were doing on the ship.
Oh and by the way if you win something in the casino and can't find anybody to help you cash it in it goes on your account but then they don't send it to you for 12 weeks until after leaving the ship. We have been on several cruises and never heard of such a thing they don't print out tickets to cash in it just goes on your bank but then try to find somebody to cash that bank in was almost impossible. The whole thing was really weird and continues to feel weird as we're told will receive our winnings in another couple of months has the casino is operated by a third-party vendor. The third party vendor happens to be carnival Cruise lines which owns princess. Seems pretty convenient for them to be able to hold on to that money for a long period of time....... Just odd.
And finally the one that totally shocked me. I had purchased the premium drink package which allowed me the top shelf alcohol. I was ordering old fashions and was noticing quite a bit of change and taste from bar to bar. Then I got one that was just really lousy and I went back to the bar and asked the bartender if he in fact served me the right alcohol. He responded that they hadn't had any of what I had ordered for quite some time so he had poured me Jack Daniels. I started kind of watching this for the rest of the cruise and noticed when I went bar to bar some places would grab me some Woodford not necessarily the woodford I had ordered as they had a higher grade Woodford on the menu and some would grab me chevis and some would grab me jacked annuals in other words they would pour whatever they had available Even if it was an $8 alcohol and I was ordering and $18 alcohol. You get that's kind of a bait and switch it's not ethical and it's not right and it seemed to happen throughout the ship. Now here's the real rub when I tried to take this information to princess Cruise lines they acted like they don't want to hear it. They're not interested in discussing it they didn't find it interesting or out of the ordinary they just responded that I should shop elsewhere for a different cruise line that could provide what I expect. I expect to get what I paid for which I think is the expectation of any consumer. So in the end if you have any expectations princess is not the cruise lines for you and that's directly from there corporate customer service representatives.
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Sail Date: December 2022
Cabin Type: Suite
Type of Trip: Family (young kids)
Destination: Mexico
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
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Royal Princess

165 reviews
 All photos (2,740)2,740
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Traveller (612)
Common Areas (1,576)
Dining and Bars (842)
Itineraries for this ship
Itinerary

Overview

About
Passengers: 3,560   |   Crew: 1,346
Passengers to crew: 2.64:1
Passengers to space: 39.95:1
Launched: 2013   |   Refurbished: 2018

Decks

  • Deck 4
  • Deck 5
  • Deck 6
  • Deck 7
  • Deck 8
  • Deck 9
Additional decks
Deck 4 layout
 

Cabins

Balcony
Cabin size: 222 - 233 sq. ft.
Connected rooms: 30
Accessible rooms: 29
Maximum passengers: 4
Number of cabins: 1029
Traveller rating
  • 74
  • 32
  • 28
  • 14
  • 17
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SharmaClan wrote a review 26 Mar
7 contributions11 helpful votes
My family of 4 (37, 35, 5, & 3) went on this cruise just before Thanksgiving 2022. It was my mother-in-laws birthday and in total, there were 15 of us on this trip. On the first day of the trip, both of my boys got sick Pink Eye. We had not even left the Port at the time but by the time they woke up from their nap, they had the nastiest bout of pink eye that we freaked out! As such, it was off to the sick bay! This was a little expensive but what else could we do! The boys spent all night coughing with pink eye. My wife said that something was not right. Back to the sick bay on day 2. Boys had RSV - a respiratory virus requiring antibiotics. Next thing, we are self-qurantined in our room for a total of 4 days on a 7 day trip, leaving the room rarely. On day 4, the boys are much better and everyone is finally starting to enjoy the trip. We ended our trip having a beuatiful birthday party for my mother in law that was arranged by the crew and was essentially free of charge (I think we were charged a total of $200 for food, drinks, photographer, etc. for 2 hours so very cheap we believed for great customer service). Because we spent EVERYDAY on board, we actually really, really enjoyed the service!! The crew, from top to bottom, was absolutely fantastic! As such, we would like to thank everyone we interacted with becuase it was more than just an interaction - they went out of their way to make us feel special! Senior Officers: Ina and Shashank Housekeeping: SunnyTo Princess Store: Mirian Bar: Kalpesh, Rout, and Javed Horizon Court: Atul, Chirag, Sunil, Daniel, Pedro, Jacky, Victor, Gio, Suman, Kuldeep, Deepak, Cindi, Dharmesh, Kiran, and Sagar Kids Club: I am sorry I did not get your names but thank you so much to the 3-5 age group leaders! They helped my 5 year old with alll his homework! This was our first trip we had ever been on and we learned much about the crew - but they also learned soooo much about us. It was a very touching experience as the crew was very genuine, very caring, and made sure that we had a great time. Thank you Princess Cruises for everything!
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somersetlady2018 wrote a review 7 Mar
Somerset, United Kingdom94 contributions15 helpful votes
We have cruised for years, but never with Princess. As we were holidaying in California and the Royal was sailing roundtrip San Francisco, the temptation over came us and we also snagged this at a great price. The ship was not sailing at capacity (about 75%) which proibably helped with our impressions, and there were very few children on board. We had a very spacious suite, and loved the concierge lounge in the evenings, which was certainly a good perk as a suite guest. We were able take breakfast every day in Sabatini's restaurant, which was really top notch. Lunch taken around the ship on sea days, but never in the buffet, although some of the food (especially salad based) looked appetising. It was convenient to have anytime dining, but on 4 of the 10 nights we chose to eat in the premium restaurants; the italian one was especially good for service and ambience. We are not constantly wanting entertainment by day and night but found some first class musicians and bands around the venues. The outdoor space was very pleasant and never full on this trip. The swimming pools are wonderful with depth for a good workout. We loved the technology offered for everyday use by the medallion(app) and found the staff friendly and responsive. The ship was spotlessly clean at all times. Would we cruise Princess again? Yes, certainly, but not in high season whena ship is likely to have high pax numbers, or on a larger class of vessel.
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Tara F wrote a review 6 Mar
1 contribution
I will never cruise with Princess. My family decided a few months ago to go on a cruise to Alaska for my Dad's 80th birthday. My nieces school is doing a fundraiser with Princess so we booked as a group with Princess employee Jeff Stanley. From the beginning, he was terrible. He put wrong information on our reservations, booked us with the wrong family/group, would not return phone calls and emails, horrible customer service. We book our room and my daughters room with a refundable deposit, we had until March 13th to pay in full. My daughter decided, around the first of February, she cannot go on the cruise. So my husband emailed Jeff and got no response. He called a few times before finally reaching Jeff on February 10th to cancel her reservation. Jeff made sure we wanted to cancel as they were sold out of balconies and my daughter would be giving that up. Yes, we wanted to cancel. Jeff said he would send a confirmation and we would get a refund of the deposit in about 5 to 7 days. 3 weeks later, no refund. So my husband started to email Jeff, call him, no response. He finally called Princess and was told reservation was never canceled. So that person canceled it and within a day we had our deposit. The next day, Jeff called and admitted he held our reservation and deposit because he was waiting for someone else to decide if they wanted my daughters room! So our money was held up for someone else, which sounds completely illegal to me. I contacted customer service and basically Jeff got a slap on the hand and we were offered a $50 on board credit for a future cruise. Really?????? Your employee did something ILLEGAL and that's all you have to offer? I will never cruise Princess, and everyone I know, every social media site will know about your illegal practice and lack of ownership/compensation. Shame on you.
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Pamela M wrote a review Feb 2023
6 contributions1 helpful vote
We have cruised a number of times, with several different cruise lines. The Royal Princess was one of the best ships we’ve been on. We have sailed previously on Viking, Carnival, NCL, Royal Caribbean, and another Princess ship. Embarkation and debarkation went smoothly. The medallion and internet worked well; never had any issues other than sometimes it loaded a bit slow. The internet was a little slow at times, but not terrible. The food was very good and plentiful (contrary to a previous review, there was yogurt, smoked salmon, and several varieties of cheese). We ate at both the steakhouse and Sabatini’s, and thoroughly enjoyed both. Special mention needs to go to our server, Everton, at Sabatini’s. He was amazing.The buffet was average. Good selection, but boring after 15 days. The dining room food was good, and servers were very good everywhere. The ship was very clean, and in excellent condition. Our cabin C120 was immaculate (Thanks Dan). The drinks were good, although mango daiquiri needed more mango, which was added when I asked. The free coffee was not the best, but we had the Princess Plus package, so I got the good stuff both at the buffet and at the Cafe on deck 5. Our balcony cabin was on deck 10, near the front of the ship. Unfortunately we had a couple days with unusually high seas, and we felt more movement than we liked. If you are prone to motion sickness, get a lower cabin, mid ship. The entertainment varied from OK to excellent, but given that the cruise industry is still recovering from the pandemic we understand that booking some high end performers has not yet been possible or feasible. The gym is well equipped and clean. I had to make an urgent phone call while at sea, and could not use my cell phone. The customer service staff quickly helped me deal with the issue. Thanks a lot!
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JAD wrote a review Feb 2023
23 contributions7 helpful votes
Have cruise scheduled for June 2023. Having trouble with cruise ready app…have talked to people 2 times by phone with no help. Last time about 2 weeks ago said would have someone call me but 2 weeks and have heard nothing. Have sent 3 e mails about issue but no response. This is for a future cruise not one we have already been on. Difficulty getting help with app.
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
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