Royal Princess Jan 29 - Feb 8 Review Southern Caribbean

I'm not real great at this but I love reading others reviews so I will attempt to return the favor...

Just to give you a better understanding of our experience, my husband and I often cruise with 2 other couples, our long time friends. So we're a group of 6 adults. We all are in our early 50's.

We flew into FFL and used All Service Shuttle for 3 transports. I booked them several months in advance. They were friendly, efficient and on time. It was a private shuttle van and the rates were great. We flew in a day ahead and stayed at Embassy Suites on 17th St. We could not check in until later in the afternoon but they were willing to store our luggage so that we could go sightsee.

Welcome to "Sunny Florida" ; ) We arrived to find a very rainy day. We were so looking forward to some sunshine but being from Washington state we are quite used to the rain and at least it was warm so umbrellas in hand we took off exploring. The hotel is in a great location. Lots of shops and restaurants nearby. We walked down to the 17th St. bridge and got on the water taxi. We really enjoyed it. It is a very convenient way to get to other areas when you do not have a vehicle. They narrated along the way & we enjoyed seeing all the fancy homes & yachts. We had a pleasant stay at Embassy Suites. The rooms were spacious and clean. However, our friends room did have a strong musty smell. They just mentioned it to the cleaning gal outside the door and she came in and sprayed some deodorizer & it was much better. The interior of the hotel is very beautiful with a tropical like feel & the breakfast served in the morning was very good.

We used All Service Shuttle again for shuttle to the port. We like to arrive early, and had dropped our luggage off to the Porter and was in line by 10 AM. Embarkation was a breeze! Very quick and smooth! We were near the front of the line, & the line moved quickly. After check in we went to the sitting area to wait & we waited maybe 10 minutes before we started boarding. We were on the ship by 11:30 AM. Our cabin of course was ready when we arrived & surprisingly most of our luggage was already there. We had an inside cabin on deck 10, Caribe, C724. It was very sufficient, laid out very similar to other princess ships but some nice changes as well. The biggest improvement we noticed was in the bathroom, the sink was bigger & the shower was a bit bigger. Everyone knows any extra room in the shower is a huge improvement!!! : )

The ship is stunningly beautiful! That first glimpse of the Piazza... WOW!!!

To be continued.....

We decided to have lunch at the buffet, and again was wowed. The size and layout of this buffet is so drastically different than the other Princess ships that we have been on. It does not even compare. It has so many different areas and stations. I am sure my descriptions will not even begin to do it justice. The variety of food was overwhelming. Let me stop here and say, we are not huge buffet lovers. Most of the time on other cruises we may go to the buffet once or twice during the whole cruise. But on this cruise we had breakfast and lunch here several times as well as dinner one night. The whole experience of this buffet was definitely different. There was no line per se. It was so spread out that you could just kind of come and go to your selections freely. We ate there on several occasions and found the food to be tasty and at least quite warm if not hot. There seemed to be plenty of seating most of the time, however, we found ourselves searching for a table a couple of times during the lunch rush. After that we just altered our time to go at less crowded times. The pastry shop was awesome! It was nice to have the desserts in a completely separate area than the rest of the buffet items. Another plus, was the coffee bar located in the pastry shop where you can get specialty coffees and use your coffee card. The buffet was open until 11pm so sometimes we would come here late in the evening for an extra dessert and coffee.

Lovin' your review so far! :-)

I take it there were no vibration issues despite being so far aft?

On a side-note, the Bistro area of the buffet had a taco bar that had guacamole that was to die for. It was available every day. I had it often along with chips. A few times I even took a bowl of guacamole with some chips back to my cabin and put it in the refrigerator for a late night snack. ; ) Sooo Yummy!!!

We enjoyed the first few days at sea. Although it was quite breezy outside at times, we found plenty of other things to do.

There was always something going on around the ship that would appeal to a wide variety of interests. The 2nd night we enjoyed the magician on board, Hawley Magic. They were a great husband and wife team. They have a great show, definitely worth seeing! However, we arrived about a 1/2 hr early for the 8:15pm show and had a very difficult time finding a seat. The show was packed! (We discovered that time was always packed every evening). I have very few complaints about the ship. But the theater does have some disappointments IMO. One is that if sitting in the lower section, close to the stage, the outside seats cannot see the center of the stage. Also, being that there are no side aisles in the Princess Theater, if you are sitting all the way in a row and need to get out for any reason it is extremely difficult and frustrating.

We had traditional early dining 5:45pm in the Allegro dining room located on deck 6 aft. This always works well for us, as we had an aft cabin it was just 4 decks down and we had the option of using stairs if we chose. The dining room was very nice, but IMO lacks a bit of "pizzazz". Also, I was a bit disappointed with the location of our table. It was tucked way back around the corner of the dining room, and I did not care for the fact that one side was a bench for 3 people & the other side of the table was chairs. We prefer a round table with chairs which is better for group conversation. That was my only complaints regarding the dining room, very minor. We had excellent Service from our waiter Edwin & his assistant Claudia. We thought the food in the dining room was excellent as usual. [ATTACH]376072[/ATTACH][ATTACH]376073[/ATTACH][ATTACH]376074[/ATTACH][ATTACH]376075[/ATTACH][ATTACH]376076[/ATTACH][ATTACH]376078[/ATTACH][ATTACH]376079[/ATTACH][ATTACH]376080[/ATTACH]

The 3rd night was formal night & The captains welcome aboard party with the champagne waterfall.[ATTACH]376081[/ATTACH][ATTACH]376082[/ATTACH][ATTACH]376083[/ATTACH]

That evening we saw "Colors of the World", a stunning performance by the Princess singers & dancers in the Princess Theater.

Thanks for the report!

There was always something going on around the ship that would appeal to a wide variety of interests. The 2nd night we had reservations at Crown Grille for dinner. As usual, it was excellent! We enjoyed the magician on board, Hawley Magic that evening. They were a great husband and wife team. They have a great show, definitely worth seeing! However, we arrived about a 1/2 hr early for the 8:15pm show and had a very difficult time finding a seat. The show was packed! (We discovered that time was always packed every evening). I have very few complaints about the ship. But the theater does have some disappointments IMO. One is that if sitting in the lower section, close to the stage, the outside seats cannot see the center of the stage. Also, being that there are no side aisles in the Princess Theater, if you are sitting all the way in a row and need to get out for any reason it is extremely difficult and frustrating.

We had traditional early dining 5:45pm in the Allegro dining room located on deck 6 aft. This always works well for us, as we had an aft cabin it was just 4 decks down and we had the option of using stairs if we chose. The dining room was very nice, but IMO lacks a bit of "pizzazz". Also, I was a bit disappointed with the location of our table. It was tucked way back around the corner of the dining room, and I did not care for the fact that one side was a bench for 3 people & the other side of the table was chairs. We prefer a round table with chairs which is better for group conversation. That was my only complaints regarding the dining room, very minor. We had excellent Service from our waiter Edwin & his assistant Claudia.

The 3rd night was formal night & The captains welcome aboard party with the champagne waterfall.

That evening we saw "Colors of the World", a stunning performance by the Princess singers & dancers in the Princess Theater.

To be continued…

I take it there were no vibration issues despite being so far aft?

We always choose an aft cabin. We like that location. We have never experienced any out of the normal vibration issues. We find it to be actually a very quiet area.

Mon - We arrived in Aruba at 8am. Let me just say, I really appreciate people sharing their experiences. I learn so much from others here on CC. The knowledge I gain from others is so valuable! From the information I had gathered, we had plans to take the trolley into the downtown shopping area to do a bit of shopping first before heading to Eagle beach. The day could not have worked out more perfectly. It was all so easy to do.

The trolley stop is located just outside the port gate across the street. It is free to ride and comes about every 20 minutes. It was a very relaxing ride. It is a nice way to see all of the downtown shopping area, even if you don't want to shop and just go for the ride. We did shop for a bit hopping on and off of the trolleys. We then took the trolley back to the port.

We wanted to take a bus to Eagle beach. The bus station is directly across from the port as well. There were two buses parked in the lot with the drivers standing outside talking, we just asked them when was the next bus going to Eagle beach and one of the drivers said he was going to Eagle beach. I can't remember the cost exactly I think it was $3.25 each way. When we got on the bus there were others on there from our ship that were headed to Eagle beach as well. The driver announced the stop for eagle beach before we got to it, so although we had no idea exactly where we were, we arrived at our chosen destination.

We walked across the road and down the beach a bit to a less crowded area. The beach was gorgeous! The water so blue, the sand so white! We swam & enjoyed the beach for a while. The only downside was that there were no amenities or places to change on the area of beach where we were. We were able to dry off and with holding towels for each other, change a bit before heading back to the ship.

We went out to the road to stand and wait for a passing bus, but while we were standing there a newer, white shuttle van pulled over and the lady driver asked us if we were wanting to head back to the ship. There were already 4 other passengers in the van and she quoted us a price less then the bus fare so we took her up on the offer. It was very convenient she let us off directly in front of the port.

It was a beautiful day! We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Aruba!

What a great, detailed review!!! Waiting for the rest. I appreciate you taking the time to do this. We are taking the same cruise in March, and this review is AWESOME so far............

Thoroughly enjoying your review. Going in March and I'm anxious to hear all the tips.

We decided to eat dinner at the Horizon Court buffet as they were having the Brazilian dinner. We were not disappointed! There was so much meat.... Beef, lamb, chicken, pork, and more all done many different ways. My favorite was the bacon wrapped chicken. So moist and delicious!

Tues - We arrived in Bonaire at 7am.

More to come.....

Thanks for taking the time to post your review.....:):):)

Bob

Thanks for more of the review. The pictures do add a lot.

Enjoying your review! I'll agree - their guacamole is SO GOOD!! I made guac tacos with it many days....

Tues night just as we entered our cabin to get ready for bed The captain came on the speaker with an emergent request. There was a passenger on board that was in urgent need of a blood transfusion. The captain made a plea for anyone who was able and carried a current donor card to meet in the vista lounge to be screened by medical personnel. The next morning the captain thanked all of those who came forward and offered or did indeed give blood. He happily announced that the patient received the blood transfusion and was doing well. I hope & pray that our fellow passenger is indeed better & continues to do well.

Wed - Early Morning Rescue!

After the urgent request from the captain the night before, we woke the next morning early to find ourselves in another urgent situation. There was a sailboat that was disabled and in distress. Our captain veered off course quite a ways to lend assistance. He sent out a rescue craft from our ship to the disabled vessel. He later came on the speaker to announce that the two passengers aboard the sailboat had decided to abandon their vessel and come aboard our ship. They sailed with us to Grenada and got off there. I commend Captain Oliver & the crew of the Royal Princess for their efforts.

This caused us to arrive in Grenada about 1 1/2 hrs late. We were scheduled to be there at 12 PM. After the rescue and we were back on our way to Grenada, the shore excursions desk was a busy place trying to adjust all of the affected excursions.

I'm just lovin' your review. We (Sister and I) are taking this cruise in a couple months, and I'm taking notes on your observations. Thank you for the details - they are so helpful.

Maddle

Wed - We arrived in Grenada in the early afternoon. We had plans for a beach day but decided to head out of the port & to the spice market first. We were not real comfortable with the surroundings and the atmosphere away from the port so we did not stay long before we headed back.

Our plan was to take the water taxi to Grand Anse beach. It was very easy to do and ended up being a very pleasant day. To get to the water taxi, you walk through the port mall and follow the signs to the left, out the other side of the building to the dock. There were plenty of signs, it was easy to follow. The cost is $4 pp each way. We paid round-trip and they gave us a laminated ticket to use for return. It was about a 15 minute ride to the beach.

When we arrived at the beach we decided to go to the left of the pier. We could tell that the right side was busier and a lot more happening there, but if we wanted some quiet we would need to walk down for quite a ways. So we started walking to the left and were quickly met by a few "eagerly accommodating" vendors. We just kept walking for a ways & a very nice lady (Rosie) approached us and asked if she could help us. We told her we wanted to be at the very end so we could be in a less crowded area. She of course said "follow me, I will take good care of you". And she truly did just that! The cost was $1 a minute. I had a 20 minute massage and gave her a nice tip as well.

The restroom & changing facilities were very rustic and dirty, but it served the purpose. It cost $1 to use the facilities.

We really enjoyed our day in Grenada at Grand Anse beach.

I forgot to mention that the guys in our group went to Crab Shack last night, Tues, for dinner. They had a great time loved the food! They say it is well worth $20 cover charge.

The girls went to the MDR, as a couple do not eat seafood. Very enjoyable evening!

Wed. evening we ate dinner in the MDR again, as always excellent food/excellent service. The tempura veggies were fabulous, sooo yummy! I believe they were offered as a main entrée, but I requested them as an appetizer instead.

My husband and I celebrated our 48th & 55th birthdays tonight. The dining room staff made it very special. Our room steward decorated our cabin door as well, with a few added touches from me. ; )

After dinner we went to the Princess Theater to see Beatlemaniacs. A great show!

We were on this sailing as well. It was a GREAT cruise! My only observation was that there needs an additional elevator bank forward (our cabin was very forward and it was a LONG walk to the elevators). Also, the midship elevator bank had no adjoining stairway. If you were going up or down just one or two decks, you had to wait for the elevator and sometimes for a LOT longer time than you could have walked up or down 1 deck. I know all the lines are nickel and diming more and more, but having to pay a surcharge for afternoon tea.......come on!!!!!!!!!!!!

We were on the same cruise and thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks for your review. Did you go to the "world concert" in the Piazzia on Saturday? AWESOME!!!