Join me as we take a tour of the magnificent Royal Princess, part of the
Princess Cruises fleet. I'm Gary Bembridge of Tips For Travellers. I'm here on board
the Royal Princess, and I'm going to show you around every part of this ship.Tthe
Royal Princess was originally launched in 2013 and was christened by Her
Royal Highness the Duchess of Cambridge. There are 19 decks, it holds 3,560
passengers and right across the ship there is a lot of things to do. What I
like about the Royal Princess is the decor. It feels very understated. It feels
very stylish but at the same time it feels pretty luxurious. It's not
glitzy, it's not brash, it's very refined. So what about the choice of things to do?
In terms of dining, included in your fare are a whole lot of options including
dining in one of the three main restaurants. You can either go for
traditional dining (so early sitting or late sitting) and you'll have the same table,
the same waiting staff or you can go for "anytime dining" which basically means
that the dining room is open normally around about 5:30 until nine o'clock in
the evening and you can either make reservations or just arrive and be either
sitting by yourself or with other people if you want to meet people. Other dining
options which are included in the fare: You have the Horizon Court, which is the
huge buffet restaurant with lots of choice. And it's open for breakfast, lunch
and dinner and has all sorts of amazing foods. They also have a fantastic area,
which is hugely popular, with the most amazing range of pastries. The
Horizon Court buffet is really really popular. There's a 24-hour dining option
which is called the International Cafe down in the Atrium. Food appropriate to the
time of day id served here. It's also a coffee shop where you can have your
specialty coffees. Every afternoon at around about 3:30 in the afternoon is
afternoon tea, served very traditional afternoon tea and that's included within
the fare. You can also go for the Royal afternoon tea which does have a
surcharge and this is held within the atrium. You also have 24-hour
room service which is included in the fare and also you can have dining at
Alfredo's pizza - really really tasty pizza. In terms of alternative dining
venues there's the Crown Grill. This is steak and seafood
which is renowned across the fleet. There's an Italian on board called
Sabatini's, again a very popular spot. You also have a sushi option which is called
the Ocean Terrace Seafood Bar. You can get free ice cream up in the Horizon
Court but there's also a gelato shop where you can have various gelato
or Sundaes, and there is an additional charge here. There is an enormous
selection of bars. Many of the popular bars are located close to or
around the Magnificent atrium area. The atrium is the real heart of the ship and
that stretches between decks five, six and seven. So some of the most popular bars
include the Vines which is a wine bar, Bellinis bar which is a really great bar
which overlooks the atrium, you have the Wheelhouse Bar which is located just
near the Crown Grill, Crooners bar is a really popular venue before or after dinner,
and you have someone playing the piano here. And then if you're looking for
something later at night there's Club Six. This is the nightclub and it goes on
to all hours of the early morning. In terms of entertainment on board of course the
most important entertainment venue of all is the Princess Theater. This is a
massive theater and it holds around about 950 people with two shows in the
evening and it's either a production show or will be various guest artists
brought on board. Also in the theater you'll have the enrichment lectures
where speakers talk about history or destinations. Another popular
entertainment area is the Vista lounge on deck 7 and there might be bands
performing or singers performing in here during the evening. Sometimes during the
day there will be a string quartet or some music down in the atrium area.
Another really important entertainment area is the casino. This is
a huge casino with lots of very modern machines and lots of tables. Really popular
venue. One of Princess Cruises signatures is Movies under the Stars, and this is a
massive big screen out on the pool deck where they may show concerts during the
day and they will often show movies in the evening. Princess Live is kind of the
television studio space onboard and a lot of the quizzes are held in here
and if there's ever any sort of events or talks these can also be held in here.
In terms of fitness and the outdoors: first of all of course there are
swimming pools. The Fountain Pool which is where the Movies under the
Stars are and then you have the retreat pool (which is actually my favorite pool)
towards the front of the ship and near the Sanctuary. The Sanctuary is a premium
area where you can hire a cabana or beautiful loungers here and relax in a
more quiet and peaceful area if you don't want to sort of hang around
by either Retreat pool or the Fountain pool. You have a huge and very
well-equipped fitness center, and you also have classes held in here. The
classes held in here tend to have an extra charge associated with them,
however if you're into something like Zumba often and particular sea days
there's Zumba classes held right down in the Atrium, and they are included within
your fare. If you're into running there is a very nice running track out on deck,
and then there's also other sports facilities including a place where you can
practice golf, there's places we can play sport outside and often there'll be
various sports activities held out on the sports deck. There's a huge big spa
on board and this is called the Lotus Spa, where you can have your various
treatments. They have saunas and hairdressers. If you're planning to
get married at sea, there is a wedding chapel where you can actually get
married or renew your vows. There's a number of Kids Clubs and their zoned
around different age groups. There will be programs run in the morning, the
afternoon and the evenings. On the Royal Princess there's a wide range of
shops. Of course you'll also have the photographic section where all the
various photographs taken during the cruise are for sale, a little camera
shop and then there are the other shops which sell pretty much everything you
want so jewelry, clothes, watches, cosmetics, there's a chocolate shop on
board and also there is one of those things that many cruise ships have -
the artworks and the art auction section. There are laundry rooms dotted
around the ship, and these are pretty big. There is a cost for using them but it's
not very much. Of course you're going to have things like your shore excursions
desk, you're going to have your future sales desk and of course guest service
desks. So the usual sort of facilities you would expect. The Royal Princess is a
very beautiful ship. It's got a very stylish decor,
it feels very luxurious, it feels very premium, it feels a little bit understated,
it's not loud and glitzy and I really like the feel of the ship. It did
just have a nice calming feel to it and a very stylish feel to it. As I mentioned
earlier it doesn't have all the glitz that you might have on a resort style
ship with climbing walls, ice-skating rinks, bowling rinks. It tends to be a
relatively traditional style cruising, really focusing on the accommodation,
focusing on places to eat and to drink, to socialize and of course traditional
shows and talks. It's a big ship with lots and lots of choice. I really like
the ship, as you can probably tell, and hopefully this video has helped you
decide if this is a ship suitable for you. If you enjoyed the video I'd love it
if you "liked" the video. You can watch many more videos about Princess Cruises
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