On board British Isles cruise Royal Princess

Not that they are very accurate but have you looked at your pre cruise emails?

They are viewable in the personalizer if they are not in your regular email. ;)

Yes I did look at my pre cruise emails. I just thought it best to someone who is on the ship currently. The pre-cruise email also said that Captain Bob Oliver was the captain and I don't believe that to be true either so you are right can't believe what you see. Are you going on the July 8 British Isles cruise with us?

Yes I did look at my pre cruise emails. I just thought it best to someone who is on the ship currently. The pre-cruise email also said that Captain Bob Oliver was the captain and I don't believe that to be true either so you are right can't believe what you see. Are you going on the July 8 British Isles cruise with us?

It is quite possible that Bob Oliver will be your captain. When he left on May 9 I heard he was taking a 2 month vacation. There was a thread on here where people listed the cruise ship captains. It said Bob Oliver would be back on the Regal on July 2. It is possible it meant the 8th which is the end and beginning of a new cruise.

It is quite possible that Bob Oliver will be your captain. When he left on May 9 I heard he was taking a 2 month vacation. There was a thread on here where people listed the cruise ship captains. It said Bob Oliver would be back on the Regal on July 2. It is possible it meant the 8th which is the end and beginning of a new cruise.

Thank you but I will be on the Royal Princess on July 8 and not the regal so I am assuming it is still nick Nash.

Hi all, well home, unpacked and two loads of laundry done. Tomorrow I will go through this thread and answer questions, but thought I would just let you know about the "flu" situation.

 

It was announced on, I think Thursday evening, that there were "more than usual" numbers of people reporting, colds, coughs and sore throats, and I do believe flu may have been mentioned as well. Certainly by the time we left this a.m. There were quite a few people coughing and sniffing, not least, I am afraid to say, me😒😒. Started with a sore throat on Fridaynight, by yesterday it was what I call a "mucky cold" and now I have a very red, sore nose and now it is turning into a cough. Not how you want to return from a wonderful cruise. But to put this in perspective, my illness has just about annihilated my immune system, and if there is a bug anywhere it will find me. On the other hand, the Ancient Mariner, who has been with me at all times, and has even😱slept in the same bed as me😊😊 is as fit as a fiddle, not even a tickle in the throat.

 

In other words, yes it's a cold, and yes you may get unlucky, but as long as you keep washing your hands, and use good cough and sneeze hygiene, you will be fine. Most people did not have it. But if I was you I would pack a few of your favourite cold remedy, just in case.

 

Back tomorrow with all those answers, am taking my cold and my cocoa to bed right now. Talk tomorrow,

Sue

Thank you for all of your great feedback and information. The trip sounded great. What were your favorite ports?

Thank you but I will be on the Royal Princess on July 8 and not the regal so I am assuming it is still nick Nash.

Sorry, I meant to say Royal. That is the ship I was on. I have been reading a live from the Regal so that word must have been on my mind.

Bob Oliver is indeed supposed to be the Captain on the Royal, at least for the July 20 sailing--I think he starts July 2 or something like that.

We are just off the Royal Princess, June 2nd sailing, and yes, there were an exceptional amount of colds, coughs. Staff would not let us into the dining room without actually washing our hands. And my husband brought home one of those colds.

The other thing that was going around on this sailing was lost luggage. Princess said they had a large amount of people on this cruise that had missing luggage. Unfortunately, this included us....my bag finally got to me 3 days before the end of the cruise, and British Airways still doesn't know where my husband's luggage is over 2 weeks later. We do not understand why British Airways will not allow the travel insurance or Princess talk to them. Some kind of new privacy rules!!

Princess was fabulous about our missing luggage. They did the best they could with trying to track the bags. They tried to help with finding the bags and they helped out with the amount of laundry that we had to do. There was a wonderful agent at the check in desk in Southampton that got us a taxi and sent us to a particular store in the town to get some basic clothes items. Of course, we were not able to attend formals this cruise, though.

I'm glad that my husband convinced me to stay for the cruise, rather than go home. We did the best we could and enjoyed ourselves the best we could under these conditions and stresses.

We are just off the Royal Princess, June 2nd sailing, and yes, there were an exceptional amount of colds, coughs. Staff would not let us into the dining room without actually washing our hands. And my husband brought home one of those colds.

 

The other thing that was going around on this sailing was lost luggage. Princess said they had a large amount of people on this cruise that had missing luggage. Unfortunately, this included us....my bag finally got to me 3 days before the end of the cruise, and British Airways still doesn't know where my husband's luggage is over 2 weeks later. We do not understand why British Airways will not allow the travel insurance or Princess talk to them. Some kind of new privacy rules!!

 

Princess was fabulous about our missing luggage. They did the best they could with trying to track the bags. They tried to help with finding the bags and they helped out with the amount of laundry that we had to do. There was a wonderful agent at the check in desk in Southampton that got us a taxi and sent us to a particular store in the town to get some basic clothes items. Of course, we were not able to attend formals this cruise, though.

 

I'm glad that my husband convinced me to stay for the cruise, rather than go home. We did the best we could and enjoyed ourselves the best we could under these conditions and stresses.

Sorry about your lost luggage--you were a good sport about it. I would be really upset to be without my clothes for a 12 day cruise. I think I'll split our clothes between two bags so we'll have something if one of the bags get lost, but of course, that wouldn't help if both bags get lost. This reminds me to also pack a few things in my carry-on bag. My bag got lost on our last TA starting in Venice, but thankfully, it arrived two days later before we boarded the ship. I was so glad we had gone a few days early as it gave my bag time to catch up with us.

Sorry about your lost luggage--you were a good sport about it. I would be really upset to be without my clothes for a 12 day cruise. I think I'll split our clothes between two bags so we'll have something if one of the bags get lost, but of course, that wouldn't help if both bags get lost. This reminds me to also pack a few things in my carry-on bag. My bag got lost on our last TA starting in Venice, but thankfully, it arrived two days later before we boarded the ship. I was so glad we had gone a few days early as it gave my bag time to catch up with us.

I am completely obsessive about cross packing. For my next cruise, I have to take 3 suitcases (one is going to my sister, plus I have 3 weeks in Turkey (HOT!!!) and a 2 week cruise (cooler) so I need more clothes than usual). Each of those 3 bags, plus my carryon, will have some of my clothes for Turkey and some of my clothes for the cruise. Whatever bag has the clothes also has any accessories or shoes needed. So all my black things will be in one bag, and all my navy in another, etc. I figure it's unlikely they will lose all 3 bags, but if they do, at least I'll have my carryon items!

My goal is to do a cruise with just a carryon bag, but when I'm bringing stuff for someone else, plus dealing with 2 climates, it's just not doable. Hopefully my Caribbean cruise in February!

Hi all, well first of all apologies for not getting back to you, as promised, on Monday, but the cold has done its worst and I have been quite poorly for a few days. My nose is no longer resembling the Northern Lights thank goodness and it seems that I now have the cough!! Such fun😀.

Anyway, here I am. I have just read through this thread so that I could answer any questions that weren't answered, and I have relived our cruise. In retrospect it was lovely. The weather was not as bad as we had anticipated, indeed it was great for much of the cruise. The itinerary was splendid. And I have to say that Royal Princess was superb. I am not a big fan of the very large ships, and there is no doubt with mobility problems they pose a real challenge for me, but this ship is wonderful, and although it is visually beautiful, For me the best bit was the crew. What a wonderful, friendly, hard working bunch they were, and those who worked in the Concerto Dining room were the best. We nearly always eat in main dining rooms and breakfasted and dined each evening in there, and lunched there when it was open. Superb.

Someone did ask about food and the gluten free diet I have. The food was excellent, don't think we had a bad meal, and judging by the amount my Ancient Mariner tucked away it would seem he agreed with me. My gluten free diet was fine, the Head waiter, Vicente, in my area of the Dining Room brought menus each evening so that I could order for the next day. The system is tried and tested and works very well. Vicente "surprised" me each evening with a dessert, which, because you order 24 hours in advance, was nice. Vicente made the whole process very pleasant and he went to a great deal of effort to make my cruise dining experience everything it should be. The gluten free desserts on this ship, both in the Pastry Shop up in Horizon, and in the Dining rooms, were superb. Only slightly down side was the gluten free bread. It s a very difficult thing to get right and this was no worse than normal, in fact the walnut gluten free bread they produced was really quite nice. But overall, superb.

Wifi was queried, I used my iPad in the cabin, and around the ship, and the signal was pretty good. Not as fast as at home, but was pleasantly surprised. And the Princess at Sea app was also very good, really useful.

Clothes has been a major issue for you all, I am sure. Being a Brit, and well aware of the vagaries of our climate, the only advice I can give is layers. At the moment I am sat in vest top and shorts and it is very warm here indeed. But I am watching the TV weather as I write and the guy is saying that this weekend we will have "sharp showers, some sun and some overcast!!!" In other words, anything could happen.

My favourite Port? Surprisingly probably Liverpool, because it was buzzing, and I was very proud of it. It's a city I know well, in the days, long, long ago, when the Ancient Mariner went to sea he was often in Liverpool and it was a typical working port. But they have put a tremendous amount of work into regenerating the docks area and it was amazing.

Having said that every port had something, and it is a great itinerary. You will not be disappointed. Sadly I didn't get ashore in Edinburgh or Le Havre but the AM did and he said both places were great. We have visited Edinburgh before so he just took the tender over to Queensferry and he says it was delightful. And Le Havre, I am reliably informed by Captain Nash, was rebuilt after the War with the aim of creating Utopia, and the architecture is very different. Speaking to someone who did go ashore and visited the Cathedral, they said it was stunning.

The only other thing I haven't reported on was disembarkation. As usual Princess had it off pat. Everything like clockwork. We were due in our Lounge at 9.10 and after an 8 am breakfast we made our way up only to be told they were running about an hour early so we could disembark straight away. In the car at 9.10 and home by lunchtime. Everything very smooth and easy.

Final reflections are purely personal. A lovely holiday, excellent ship, weather ok, no complaints at all, apart from a problem we had with our cabin, and the lifts. The lifts for people in wheelchairs can pose a problem, at peak times it can be impossible to get in them. But I do not think there is an answer to this perennial problem.

Well I will say goodbye, hope you all found something of use in this thread, and if I can help in any way, just shout and I will do my best.

Regards to all, hope you enjoy your cruises as much as we have

Sue and the Ancient Mariner

Hi Sue

I kept looking out for your next post but guessed that you mustn't be feeling well when nothing appeared.

Glad to hear you are feeling a bit better.

Only a week now till we go and I have been trying to decide what clothes to take .I think your answer of layers is about right as today in Manchester where we live it's cold and windy.I'm wearing a cardigan and fleece jacket doing my garden (Lucky you in your shorts).!

The weather in the UK can be so different North to South.

Thanks very much for all the info you gave us whilst on your cruise and I'm glad you enjoyed yourselves.

Regards Lynn

Thanks for the great summary. My DH and I were also on this cruise. I just returned from the doctor and receieved an antibiotic for my cruise cold. She said my chest was clear and the cough was from the post nasal drip. DH is now starting to feel the same symptoms. On the ride from the ship to LHR, it sounded like the symphony of coughs on the bus!

Someone asked about the movies. The new entertainment system in each cabin gives you a wide selection of movies that you can choose by category. Lots of action/adventure films. I was able to catch up on quite a few I missed: Philomena, Gone Girl, Amore (subtitles), Still Alice, Fury, Into the Woods, Frozen (sing-a-long) to name a few.

The weather in each port was terrific. Other than a really blustery Liverpool, I can't recall needing to open the umbrella or pull up the hoodie. Edinburgh was bustling with people along the Royal Mile and at the castle. We used the local shuttle bus for 10 GBP per person round trip. We went to Normandy and had a truly information filled tour given by Florin Petre of Spearhead Tours.

The tides were an issue in several ports which changed port times but nothing was a show stopper. Capt. Nash is a personable guy with a keen sense of humor.

Before boarding the ship, I, too, was not thrilled about the size of the Royal, but the ship is beautiful, and except for a few design flaws (that midship stairwell is one), everything is very well placed. I really never did feel the crowds except for showtime(the theater design is flawed) and peak buffet periods. The new buffet layout is quite nice, but it is difficult to locate items. On the last night we arrived late from our excursion and went to Horizon. I saw people with fried shrimp on their plates but never did find out where they were! We also used the dining room for most meals. Alfredos is a wonderful new addition to the dining options and we ate there multiple times. The meal at the Crown Grill was delicious. Given the right itinerary, I would sail on the Royal again, but I still prefer smaller ships.

All in all, it was a great cruise.

Sue, I echo so many others in thanking you for your generosity in sharing with us the many highlights of your trip. My partner and I are on the July 8 sailing of your itinerary, and your tips and comments have been very helpful. I also love your enthusiasm and positivity in the midst of challenges--- rather than "whinging" about them, you enjoy and appreciate the possible, a lesson for all of us. If you'd like to being the AM and come back on our cruise, I'd enjoy hanging out with you!

Kathy

Oops! That should be BRING the AM! Loved that, too!

Sue, thank you for this thread. I'm on this trip July 8 and have really enjoyed reading your experiences.

as19111, great to hear your experience with Florin, I have him booked for the 9th.

So excited!

Hi Dinah'smom thanks for your kind words. I would just say that I became disabled after a bad reaction to a vaccination, long story which I won't bore you with. Two years in bed and then totally wheelchair bound and I was not a happy bunny. But it suddenly dawned on me that being miserable doesn't change anything, as the saying goes, "stuff happens". So I now try to concentrate on what I CAN do and not mourn the things I can't. Easier said than done some time. But one thing I do know for sure, without the Ancient Mariner I would be in a very bad place. We will be celebrating 50 years in 2018 (that's what is called optimism in more ways than one, as he is still on trial) and we are saving hard for a really great cruise.

So hopefully I will be back on these boards then, if not before. It's been great hearing from everyone and how they are getting excited, hope it is as good as ours

Sue

Sue,

Thank you for the info about gluten free dining. Sounds like Princess policy is the same across all of their ships, which is reassuring. As you said, it's tried, tested and works really well. We have set dining for the late seating, on the August 1st sailing. From what I've read on other forums, we will be in the Allegro Dining Room. I might have to sneak down the hall to steal your Head Waiter Vicente from the Concerto Dining Room. And I must remember to ask him about the Walnut Gluten Free Bread. I also plan to try the gluten free pizza as I was impressed with it at Prego Pizzeria on the Coral in 2013. Only downside is the need to pre-order the special crust a day ahead of time.

It's also good to hear your iPad worked well for you as that's what I will be using when we sail.

I sure hope you're feeling better and are fully recovered from the virus that accompanied you home.

Blessings

--Laureen

[edit ... not sure how that sad face emoticon got in the subject line and I do not seem to have the option to edit it out ... which does make me sad. To properly reflect my feelings, it should be a happy joyous emoticon :-)]

Hi Laureen, just a word on the pizzas. We were told it was a 24 hour pre order for it, but it was worth asking if they could do it same day. Sure enough we went in one lunchtime and I just asked if it was possible and the waiter went away, had a word with Chef, and came back and said ok. So we waited about 20 minutes and the gluten free pizza arrived. Have to say it was a bit soggy in the middle, but a nice treat nonetheless.

And I think the walnut gluten free bread was regular, they seemed to do three types, plain white, a sweetish sultana bread and the walnut one, and they seemed to do them on a rotating basis.

Hope you have a good cruise,

Regards

Sue

Bob Oliver is indeed supposed to be the Captain on the Royal, at least for the July 20 sailing--I think he starts July 2 or something like that.

Yes July 2nd.

As far as the dress on formal nights, I think you have to remember that a large number of people never got their luggage on this cruise. And that includes my husband and I. His full suit stayed in his luggage until we received his bag 4 weeks after we left home. My bag came 3 days before the cruise ended, long after both formals. One of my dresses was actually missing when I received the bag. And we were told by Princess staff that an unusual amount of luggage didn't make this cruise!

Please be considerate when you see those people in jeans on formal night. It may not be there choice. I had never missed a formal on a cruise before. I still cannot believe that we went on a 12 day cruise and 2 days in London with such a limited wardrobe.

We were able to see many places new to us and really enjoyed the touring for the time that we were not stressing on this vacation.

As far as the dress on formal nights, I think you have to remember that a large number of people never got their luggage on this cruise. And that includes my husband and I. His full suit stayed in his luggage until we received his bag 4 weeks after we left home. My bag came 3 days before the cruise ended, long after both formals.

How come all that luggage did not make the ship?

wrong thread, sorry

It seems that more and more airlines just don't care about what happens with these bags, even after collecting the huge fees that they take in for these bags. It probably starts with those who have had connections, as we had. We went in 2 days ahead of time just for this sort of thing. The bags never made it to the hotel in London until 2 days after we boarded the cruise. British Airways and our travel insurance had our cruise schedule, but the bags always seemed to make it to the port we just left and then we'd have to reschedule all over. I made friends with someone else onboard who was with Delta and also never got her bags. And Princess told us that there were many onboard this cruise who lost their bags.

I still can't believe that we did a 12-day cruise with practically no wardrobe.