Sun shinned on Royal Princess

Woke up last Saturday with the sun shining, and an exciting feeling as I was off the see the Royal Princess.  You can’t beat stepping on board a new ship, sampling some fine food, being the first person to sleep in the bed and of course having a few drinks with my colleagues.

A very warm welcome was received when I stepped on board, staff wishing us a good day and then being shown to my cabin.  I was allocated a deluxe balcony cabin, first impression, very bland and small.

There was all the usual amenities you come to expect in a cabin but it just lacked a bit of colour and most important space.  I have to admit though the wardrobe area was great, it was large and open so was easy to see all your clothes, very important for a women!!  The bathroom was small and compact, the thing I didn’t like was the shower curtain……one of my pet hates.  Enough about the cabin let me tell you about my favourite part of the ship.  The Sanctuary & Retreat Pool …….

The Sanctuary and Retreat is an adult only area situated forward of the top deck.

Now I am a family girl and love spending time with my children but there comes a time in your life when you just want peace and quiet and to be pampered, and I think I have found it here. The Sanctuary is over 20% larger then on other Princess ships, with beautiful décor, and very relaxing lighting.  There are 2 Spa Cabanas offering you added privacy with a plush seating area, your own TV and waiter service.

The treatment area where you can have a couples el fresco massage has views overlooking the front of the ship.

There are also 4 new sanctuary cabanas, again with plush seating, TV, your own picnic basket of refreshments and even a bottle of champagne. It really is a peaceful haven for adults to recharge and enjoy being pampered.  Such a shame I didn’t get to sample it for the day, I have hinted to my husband, he did the normal and pretended he didn’t hear – oh well we can all dream…

We dined in the main dining room and enjoyed a lovely 5 course meal.  I was really impressed with the food, service was fantastic, it was all served hot and was washed down nicely with a  bottle of wine.

I really liked how the bars and public areas ran throughout the ship, plenty of choice, big enough to capture some atmosphere but not too big that they became too noisy, mind you with a load of agents on board the bars were quite busy, think there were a few hangovers the following day – I must add I was not one of them.

Overall the ship was wonderful, there were some really great ideas, I liked how the pool area had a seating edge where you could paddle your feet in.  I also loved where the hot tubs were.  They were allocated up on the deck above the swimming pool so you got a really good view of the area below you and also out at sea, or in port.  I do think the ship lacked a bit of colour though, there is only so much beige you can take…

I would certainly like to take a cruise on her, and if I was fortunate enough you would definitely find me up in the Sanctuary.