Royal Princess Transatlantic & Mediterranean Cruise – April 18 – May 17 Day by Day

Thanks for your review! I'm sailing Royal in June and can't wait!! First cruise on Princess.

We are doing traditional dining so it has not affected us, just have heard from those doing anytime!

OK thats good

what I never understand is those that stand in line have a moan then go stand in the same line the next night,

shift your eating time a bit and the problem usually gets solved.

4/23/17 – Sunday Sea Day & Winemakers Dinner

We stayed out late on Saturday night so I woke up on Sundaymorning just in time to go to Zumba at 9:00 AM. They held it in the Piazzawhich I HATE!! It is extremely crowded, but Marvin makes it really fun and Ilove going. He worked us hard for 50 minutes and then I went back to the roomto clean up. We are on deck 14 and they were having church services at thewedding chapel when I walked by. There were people out in the hall it was sowell attended. I felt guilty

walking thru in my smelly, wet clothes!

Other choices for the morning were the same I have beenlisting – I will only add any new ones from now on. If you have a questionabout an activity let me know. The enrichment lecturer spoke on stayingmentally sharp. 60 second frenzy game show in the Piazza, cooking show inPrincess Live and the port lecture on Cartagena.

Pub lunch is every sea day in the Crown Grill. This is stillfree and well attended. The afternoon movie was Hidden Figures in the Princesstheater. A hula dance class, pet lovers get together, sexy legs competition bythe pool, paper plane challenge, Origami arts & crafts, the movie “Ant Man”was at MUTS and a Red Wine & Tapas Stammtisch at Vines.

Tonight we had the Mondavi Winemakers dinner. It isdescribed by Princess as, “A pairing of food and wine in collaboration withWine Maker, Michael Mondavi Family wines and Princess Cruises Master Chef,Alfredo Marzi. We had done this on aprevious cruise, so we found 5 other couples on our roll call to join us. Theminute I got on the ship on embarkation day I turned in our group of 12 by calling the Dine Line. We got out letters in ourcabin mailbox informing us that ours was on Sunday night and to meet at theInternational Café at 6:30 PM and they would walk us to the Symphony diningroom. Everyone in my group was punctual and we were met by one of the headwaiters, Marvin. He is from Barbados and was delightful. There is a special section in the Symphonydining room that is reserved for the Winemakers dinner. It is a beautifully settable with an elaborate fresh flower arrangement. There are 12 leather chairs withtall backs. The walls are wine cabinets with lights and it makes for a cozy,private dining experience. Marvin introduced himself and his junior waiter andtold us about our meal. Our first wine was a white wine – Anthilia Donnafugatafrom Sicily, Italy. It was a very goodwine and was not too dry. The description read, “Ansonica and Caterratto grapescarefully blended to create elegant fruit sensations with notes of peaches andplums”. I thought that was a great description as I could definitely pick upthe peach notes. We had this wine with our first two courses. The appetizer wasnot only tasty, but beautiful too. It was called “amuse gueule”, which was alarge prawn wrapped in bacon and enrobed in puff pastry. It was neat how thechef left the tail on the shrimp and it gave you something to hold on to. Itwas served with a spicy tomato dipping sauce. Our soup course was next and wewere served, “White bean veloute and chorizo with langostino flambe andCalvados brandy”. This was also veryrich and good – there was tiny pieces ofchorizo throughout and several langostinos. Garnished with green apple to bring out theapple taste in the Calvados brandy. The minute our wine glasses were low theywere immediately filled, they did not skimp on the wine at all. The next coursewas prepared table side by Marvin – Asiago cheese stuffed Gnocchi withportabello mushroom cream sauce. OMG --- I could feel my arteries clogging as Iate this amazing dish. I cannot begin to tell you how rich this was!

We now were introduced to our red wine, “Petite SirahSpellbound” from California. It wasdescribed as having intense colors and aromatics of black fruits, vanilla beanand roasted coffee. I do not like red wine as a rule, but this one was verygood. Those at our table that loved red wine raved about this wine. We werethen served our main course, “Tournedos Rossini”. This was a 3” thick filetmignon served on a crouton topped with a slice of fois gra terrine and finishedwith truffled madeira demi-glace sauce. We were all asked how we wanted itcooked and ours was cooked perfectly medium rare. There was also an assortmentof freshly steamed veggies that had been cut into perfect ovals. At this pointI was getting very full and wished I could get a to-go box! I knew the dessertwould be amazing so I ate very little of the butter tender filet mignon. Ourdessert was called, “Napoleon of Three Mousses”. This was beautifully presentedon a plate with a cursive “R” made with chocolate. The three flavors of moussewere chocolate, coffee and Cointreau.

I highly recommend this winemakers dinner. They now have 3different ones and they are only available on the Royal and the Regal (maybe onthe Majestic – not sure). If you do not have a group to go with, you can justcall the dine line and put your name on the list and they will pair you up withothers.

We walked (rolled) out about 9:30 PM stuffed to the gills andhappy that we had so much fun getting to know everyone. Between courses eachcouple introduced themselves and told a little about themselves. We went to thePrincess theater afterwards and caught the late show of the comedian, RitchShydner. He was really funny and we will catch him again when he does his secondshow.

Other choices for this evening included MUTS showing “Passengers”,Sonia Selbie in the Vista Lounge, Music trivia, Finish the Lyrics game show(Which I hated to miss!), karaoke and various Effy presentations.

Tomorrow is another sea day – stay tuned!

Gwen...thanks for your "Live" and sharing your Winemakers Dinner experience. We've greatly enjoyed it on all 3 of our Royal & Regal cruises and will do it again.

On one TA we considered doing it a second time but would have preferred one of the other two menus. However they said the Mondavi menu was the most popular one so it'd be the same menu. I agree that it's the best menu but wanted to try one of the other menus so we didn't book another Winemakers Dinner.

Even though the Wine Cellar dining area is only on the Royal & Regal, I wish they offered the dinner on all ships like the Chef's Table. The CT was very successful long before the Royal & Regal's CT Lumiere ring of lights dining area was added. The CT on other ships is served in a dining room & they could do the same thing with the WM Dinner. At $40 per person, it's a great meal & dining experience & we enjoyed the wines that were paired with the meal. :)

Thank you for your description of this wonderful cruise. We love the Royal and will be on her return from Barcelona. Hope you enjoy the rest of your trip.

Gwen...thanks for your "Live" and sharing your Winemakers Dinner experience. We've greatly enjoyed it on all 3 of our Royal & Regal cruises and will do it again.

 

 

 

On one TA we considered doing it a second time but would have preferred one of the other two menus. However they said the Mondavi menu was the most popular one so it'd be the same menu. I agree that it's the best menu but wanted to try one of the other menus so we didn't book another Winemakers Dinner.

 

 

 

Even though the Wine Cellar dining area is only on the Royal & Regal, I wish they offered the dinner on all ships like the Chef's Table. The CT was very successful long before the Royal & Regal's CT Lumiere ring of lights dining area was added. The CT on other ships is served in a dining room & they could do the same thing with the WM Dinner. At $40 per person, it's a great meal & dining experience & we enjoyed the wines that were paired with the meal. :)

I agree with you 100% [emoji106] - thanks for reading along!

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Does anyone know if we need the ship shuttle if we are doing one of the taxi tours tomorrow in Madeira

Does anyone know if we need the ship shuttle if we are doing one of the taxi tours tomorrow in Madeira

You don't. The taxis come right on the pier.

Gwen, I am loving your Live From. Thanks for taking the time and making it so enjoyable.

We will be joining the Royal Princess 21 day Mediterranean cruise on May 6 2017 and was wondering the best and most cost effective way of converting US dollar to euros.

There are 7 adults and will need to exchange at a minimum $4000.00 USD to Euros.

Does anyone know what Princess service fees on currency exchange are?

How much more percentage to they add to the current exchange rate or what it actually is currently?

Is it a better idea to exchange here in the states before heading to Europe?

Thanks for the help and information.

We will be joining the Royal Princess 21 day Mediterranean cruise on May 6 2017 and was wondering the best and most cost effective way of converting US dollar to euros.

There are 7 adults and will need to exchange at a minimum $4000.00 USD to Euros.

Does anyone know what Princess service fees on currency exchange are?

How much more percentage to they add to the current exchange rate or what it actually is currently?

Is it a better idea to exchange here in the states before heading to Europe?

Thanks for the help and information.

Your question is answered on the other thread you posted,

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2492101

Pub lunch is every sea day in the Crown Grill. This is still free and well attended.

Nice to know.

Following your updates and thanks for taking us along.

Does anyone know if we need the ship shuttle if we are doing one of the taxi tours tomorrow in Madeira

No - they pick you right up there!

4/25 thru 4/26 – Sea Days

I am starting to feel like a broken record, so I am combining 2 sea days and hitting the highlights.

New sea day activities for the 25th included a marzipan demo, bocce ball, RV’ers get together (thought of my Sis & herhusband!) slot tournament, afternoon movie, “Jackie”, History of comedy seminar,Human slot machine, bean bag toss, arts & crafts card making. Eveningentertainment in the Princess theater was the production show, “What the Worldneeds Now”. Majority Rules was held in Princess Live and was a lot of fun.

On the 26th they had new activities including acast costume presentation, table etiquette demo with the maitre’d, port lectureon Toulon, blackjack tournament, afternoon movie, “Arrival”, investors gettogether, technical@sea presentation, arts & crafts paper flower making,Snowball jackpot bingo up to $1795. The evening included the Liberty Stringquartet with Strings on Fire, in the Princess theater Richard Rubin (pianist)and Nathan Foley (vocalist). They premiered a new game show, “Hollywood ScreenTest” that was honestly the worst I have ever seen! I will never get that hour ofmy life back!!!

Tomorrow is our first port day, Funchal, Madeira. We have ashared tour with some from our roll call and I think we are all ready to seesome land!!!

4/27 – Funchal, Madeira

It was so exciting to see the port of Funchal when we wokeup this morning. It is so picturesque with all the red tile roof houses. Theport area is very modern and has a nice reception area. We are on a shared tourwith 2 other couples from our roll call with a tour called Upcountry Jeep Tours.There are also 3 couples in a second jeep. One of the couples had done thistour last time and said it was great fun, so we signed up. Walking off the shipwas fairly fast, the ship cleared quickly and the lines went smoothly. It was overcast, about 65 degrees and we hadbeen told to expect showers, so we brought jackets and wore jeans. Our drivermet us with a sign and we were off quickly. We drove thru downtown and werequickly on our way up to the countryside. It first started misting and thenlater in the morning – POURED rain. But we stayed fairly dry and did not let itdampen our spirits. The streets are very narrow, have no shoulder and arecobblestone. Around each corner were views of lush, green mountains and sprawlingvalleys. Every tiny piece of land is cultivated with either flowers or crops.The flowers blooming were absolutely amazing. Wetraveled past vineyards, terraced fields, banana plantations, and pine andeucalyptus groves to the cliff top of the postcard perfect Camara de Lobos, apicturesque fishing village. The scenes changed with each turn in the mountainthat could only be accessed by 4WD jeeps like the one we were in. We made astop at a tiny store for a potty break and sampled the famous drink, “Poncha”.It is made with island rum, fresh orange juice and local honey. Some also hadthe local beer. We were also offered their traditional honey cake called Bolode Mel. We continued to climb even higher and ended up for lunch at a unique chirrrascuria– the meat market is on one side of the street and we actually picked out themeat we would have cooked across the street at the restaurant. We picked outbeef, pork ribs, pork sausages, chicken legs and a local cheese. We also gotthe local round loaf of bread and sides of salads and fried polenta. Across the street there were large pit ovenswith open flames that roasted all of our meat on long skewers. Over our headsthere was a metal clothesline that they hung these skewers from and we pulledour cooked meat off them. The cheese was the first finished item from the fireand it was a very mild white cheese that was creamy on the inside and brownedfrom the fire on the outside. The salad was one of my favorites – a largeplatter that was in layers. Bottom layer of lettuce, next layer was cucumbersand onions, sliced tomatoes next and topped with sliced avocados and had themost wonderful vinegar and oil dressing on it. We had white wine, red wine,beer or soft drinks with our meal. As meats were cooked they brought them overand hung them above us. We also had local broiled sweet potatoes and French fries.The beef was my favorite of all the meats – it had such a wonderful flavor. DH favoritewas the pork ribs. We had worlds of food for all 14 of us! For dessert theyroasted slices of local pineapples that they had dusted in cinnamon. They werethe perfect touch of sweet at the end of the meal. This huge feast was splitevenly amongst us and came to 17 euro PP – quite a cheap meal comparing it toFogo de Chao in Dallas that charges $75 PP for a meal that is not nearly ascharming and not nearly as good. Plus the local wine was pretty good for just atable wine. I highly recommend this type of lunch!

After lunch, it had quit rainingand we drove to Poiso Pass, which rises 1800 feet high and has amazing views ofthe ocean. Along the way we saw small waterfalls, charming villages and plentyof photo stops. We then went downtown to the market on our way back to the shipas Lynn and I wanted to get some flowers for our cabin. Local ladies had stallswith buckets and buckets of beautiful local flowers and fashioned a bouquet ofthe ones you chose. My large bouquet was only 5 euros and included 5 differentflowers. I thought of my daughter, Penny when I chose calla lilies for it, theyare her favorite flower. When we were getting on the ship I could have sold thebouquet a hundred times as people did not think to purchase one for their cabin.My room steward found me a lovely vase for it and it is so pretty on mydesk. I chose several flowers with budsand I hope it lasts for a while! We were back on the ship by 4:15 and had awonderful day. If you are looking for a different tour while in Madeira Ihighly recommend the tour company http://www.upmountainmadeira.com/ Costper person was 45 euros.

We had a few people missing and theycalled their names when we were seated for dinner, but they must have been onthe ship as we pulled away from the port at 5:45 – right on time. If you stayedon the ship there was a limited number of activities. The afternoon movie was, TheEdge of Seventeen.

MUTS movie tonight was Jason Bourne.It was 70’s night in the Vista lounge. In the Princess theater was the productionshow, “Colors of the World”. An interesting note is the presence of a couplefrom the American Sign Language association that is signing for a small group.They have a reserved area in the front of the Princess theater for each showand I have also seen them at other functions. This is such a wonderful serviceand find myself mesmerized by how beautiful sign language is.

The Liberty String Quartet was inPrincess Live. There was dancing in all the usual places. We actually won alittle at 3 card poker tonight and Jerry hit a slot for $330.00. The casino ishaving issues with the air conditioner and it gets so stuffy in there with noair. I keep hoping they will get it fixed!

Sea Day tomorrow and then Gibraltar –stay tuned!

Do you know how long Ron will be the CD and how long Joey will be in Crooners?.

Do you know how long Ron will be the CD and how long Joey will be in Crooners?.

I will check!

Enjoying reading your live! Sounds like the jeep tour was a great experience. I was drooling over your lunch experience.

Looking forward to reading more about your tours and ship experience.

Hope all is well with you guys!

Kathy & Herb

4/29/17 – Gibraltar

Rain, rain and more rain greeted us this morning. We could not even see the rock as we came into port for the heavy clouds that were hanging low. We ate breakfast and then met our group in Vines. I am the tour leader and we find that Vines is a great place to meet on this ship. Ship cleared quickly and we walk off together and see our tour guide with my name on his sign. He speaks fluent English and has a newer Mercedes van. Our cost was 50 GBP for 3.5 hour tour. Of course, every place we are going to it is raining, so it really makes for a chilly, messy day. Gibraltar is a very clean and modern city. We first went to the beautiful caverns of St. Michaels Cave. It was even dripping rain from the ceiling in here. We then went to the top of the rock and saw all the families of the Barbary Apes. Most of them were not aggressive, but both Jerry and I had one jump on our back as we were walking by. The one that jumped Jerry wanted his baseball hat – a SOONER fan I guess, but Jerry got it back. The females were pregnant and would be giving birth very soon. The apes jumped from van to van and put on quite a show. They are very well taken care of by the city of Gibraltar and even have their own vet. They live about 20 years and when the population gets out of hand they donate them to zoos around the world. Each colony of which there are about 6, has about 35 apes. The males fight relentlessly to establish dominance during breeding season in the fall.

From there we drove through the fortress city walls and thru all the tunnels. We saw the pillars of Hercules and the 100 ton gun. We drove out to Europa point and the Catalan bay. We also drove across their unique airport which allows cars on it. We returned to the ship about noon and were ready for a hot shower to warm up. It had never stopped raining and we had enough of this. I am sure this is a beautiful place as we have sailed by on another transatlantic cruise, but today was not that day. I highly recommend the tour company - http://gibraltar-rock-tours.com/

We spent the afternoon resting and watched a movie on the TV. This afternoon they planned a Zumba sail away party at 5:15, but it was too wet and chilly for me. The evening movie on MUTS was “A Monster Calls”. Tonight, is the runway fashion show. In the Vista Lounge they are showing “Hell or High Water”. Amusing note on this film, we saw it in the theater and they were passing off a casino in New Mexico as being in Oklahoma. We had just been to that casino on our way home from Las Vegas and knew exactly where it was.

In the Princess theater was one of the BEST R&B singers I have ever heard on a Princess ship. Donny Rae Evins put on a whole show on Nat King Cole. He was an amazing singer, story teller and dancer. The place was packed and he got a rousing standing ovation at the end of his set. He will be back to do another show called, “Sweet Soul Music” and I will be there early to get a good seat. In Princess Live they held the Princess Pyramid Game show. We played a little in the casino and went to bed early tonight. Tomorrow is Cartagena! Stay tuned!

4/30/17 – Cartagena, Spain

A beautiful sunny morning greeted us today in penance for the ugly day we had yesterday. We have no planstoday as it is a Sunday and almost everything is closed today. We have a leisurely breakfast and then walk from the pier over to the downtown area with2 couples. Our only concrete plans are to see the old Roman theatre that is sowell preserved. It opens at 10:00 and we want to beat the huge bus crowds of Princess so we get our tickets when they open. This is a very interesting site,it has a lot of artifacts in the museum and the actual ruins are fabulous. I amamazed at the intricate steps that were all created by hand and all the stonescut individually and placed so carefully. We spend quite a while here until itstarts to get really crowded when the buses start to arrive. Even if you don'twant to visit the Roman Theatre, take the lift for €1 and go to the square atthe top. Great views of Cartagena and the amphitheater. Shortly after this we were back at the starting point of our walk. By this time, the streets had cometo life with music, market stalls and outdoor tables, so we visited the shops,cafes and walked some more. No need for an excursion here. We were back to theship by one o’clock and had a bite to eat in the HC. The food continues to be excellentin both variety and quality on this ship. If you cannot find something toplease you, you are not looking hard enough. I walked out to the pizza place and brought Jerry a piece of Mexican pizza – it is as close as we will get to sausageas they use chorizo on it. They also add jalapeno peppers and he loves those onpizza. We found some of our card playing friends in the HC and decided to playhand and foot canasta this afternoon.

An unusual side note – the Spanish government mandated a 10% VAT on food and drink while we were in Spanish waters or ports. This includes all drinkpurchases at the bars. It will be applied to all purchases 30 minutes before we get into port and 30 minutes after we depart.

The afternoon movie was Doctor Strange in the Princess theater. We set sail at 4:30 pm and it was a gorgeous sail away today. Tonight on MUTS isCollateral Beauty. Back in the VistaLounge is flutist, Suzanne Godfrfrey. She is a beautiful woman and can reallyplay her flute! We decided to give the mentalist a try in the Princess theater –Wayne Hoffman. I told our friends that I wanted an aisle seat as if he was a hypnotist, I was leaving early. I really hate when they try to embarrass normal people with hypnosis. But he was billed as an “Illusionist and mentalist”. He really had some great tricks to begin with and we all agreed he was better than average. He then asked everyone in the theater to write down a word or a name on a piece of paper and concentrate on it and he would try to read minds. He was amazingly accurate. I did not have paper so I took out my phone and wrote down “PENNY” in my note pad. This is a word with special meaning as my husband collects coins and we named our only daughter, Penny. So I was thinking of a large pile of pennies and my beautiful daughter. For his last mind reading he came over to our side of the theater and asked if someone had the initials GF.I raised my hand and the guy with the microphone came over. He asked my name and where I was from and I told him. He also asked if we knew each other and I told him not only NO, but that I was prepared to leave the show this evening and was surprised I stayed. He asked me if what I had written down was a name or an object and did it have special meaning? I said yes to all 3. The audience laughed. He thenasked if it was a coin and I said yes and he asked if I had written down Penny.HOW DID HE KNOW THIS?? He then asked if we had dated or seen each other earlier that day – and we all laughed and said no. He then went down to the audience,took off his shoe, unfolded a piece of paper and my name and Penny was on it. HOW DID HE DO THAT?? Many of my Cruise critic friends stopped me afterwards and the next day and asked about it. It really rattled me as I have no idea how he did it. But I even went back to the 10:00 show and watched him again and he could correctly guess the word for each person he interacted with. One guy even had written down the word “SPIGOT” and he got that one too! Truly amazing!

We played some 3 cardpoker and Jerry hit a slot machine for $400. He continues to be lucky and I continue to suck! We went to bed really late, I am glad we have an easy day planned in Palma, Majorca

Sounds like a great cruise! Thx!

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Sounds wonderful cant wait to board on Saturday!

Hi Gwen.

We cruised with you on the Royal a few years back. We were supposed to do a week with you on the Majestic but you switched to this one. We just got back from the Majestic. We went to a lot of the ports you are going to. I am enjoying your report as it helps to continue my trip. Please say hello to your friends. We are friends with them as well. We went to Hawaii with them for Christmas and New Years in 2015, 2016. I hope you all enjoy the cruise.

We are going on the Royal on June 10th. I see where you mentioned having new bedding and pillows. Do you know if they upgraded the entire ship to the new Princess mattresses?

We are going on the Royal on June 10th. I see where you mentioned having new bedding and pillows. Do you know if they upgraded the entire ship to the new Princess mattresses?

No, they have not gotten the new Princess beds, but I have not heard anyone complaining about theirs! We are sleeping like a rock!

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We are going on the Royal on June 10th. I see where you mentioned having new bedding and pillows. Do you know if they upgraded the entire ship to the new Princess mattresses?

Have you joined in on our Roll Call?