NeurosurgeryNP

I would love to know what kind of music to expect in the atrium area and do they have a magician performing ? I'm like a small child when it comes to magicians, wide eyed and on the edge of my seat (LOL).

 

For us they had the Rick Kilburn Quartet - they were very enjoyable to us. They had a party band Good Times Inc - very varied genres - jazz, from hits to 80 and 90's and today. Didn't hear any acapella. The Caribbean Band was Caribbean Band Steele - no steel drums like the name may imply and they were OK too.

I also love accapella singing, like Pentatonics and Delilah. Do they have anything like that?

 

Who are the comedians on board this month ? If you've seen them, how were they?

 

Miguel Washington was on board the mid - later part of the week for us - but don't think he is a resident comedian.

Thank you so much for posting live. I don't sail until March 30th so if you want you can wait until you're back to answer my questions. I'll be glued to my monitor waiting for your review anyway!!

 

They also had 5-10 min performances by an acrobat - who was very good and the dancers singers.

Here we sit in the platinum disembarkation lounge waiting to disembark. Sigh. Great cruise. Great crew. Every single time a crew passed us in the halls or on deck we were addressed. Everyone had high energy. More to report later should be getting off in a few.

One of my table mates had it as an entree this week. The entree size was definitely about double in portion size.

Yup one at a time. No limit within reason. If you are drunk, as always they can cut you off. We saw this happen for a passenger not using the package this cruise.

Ummmmmm. Yes. I will confess. I had two servings tonight for our last dinner.

St. Thomas was on Wednesday. Sea day prior. Pretty mellow for us. Not too much to report from our sea day. We were on deck around 8 am to get some loungers. Stayed on deck for a few hours. Wind was crazy at 20 knots in the lower decks and 4o knots. So we left the open decks at about noon and had lunch again at Alfredo's which was of course incredible.

 

We were docked at the WICO dock in St.Thomas. We went diving. Met up with a friend and had a nice shallow refresher dive. The day was beautiful. Went to lunch by the Crown Bay pier on the water at Tickles. Great burgers and wonderful views. Returned to Havensight and walked around and did some shopping until we returned to the ship. Dinner was Italian Night and was very good. I had the pot roast. We went to the Ye Old Pub night and it was funny and entertaining. Then Michael Katz an illusionist and it was pretty good.

 

St. Maarten was yesterday. Beautiful weather. We booked Bernards Tours (who we used in the past for a private island your) and went to Maho Beach and watched the airplanes all day. It was pretty amazing. After the beach our driver dropped us off in Phillipsburg where we walked around for a bit. After an hour or so we returned to the ship and watched the sailaway. There was a horn battle between Celebrity Solstice when they were pulling off the pier and our love boat horn. Pretty funny. You could hear the passengers on the Solstice cheering.

Dinner for us was the Ultimate Balcony Dining and I can't recommend this highly enough. Four course meal, cocktail each included and half bottle champagne. We had the alcohol package and the assistant waiter even went down for us and got us another cocktail each. Food was amazing. Canapes, huge salad with cream cheese, candied walnuts, field greens and home made balsamic dressing. Main meal was surf and turf. Amazing filet and sweet lobster tail. Dessert was a sampling of four mousses on a dark chocalate presentation. Can not say enough. Waiter and assistant waiter were amazing. After dinner we went to the comedian show Miguel Washington and he was very funny. Then we went to the deck party and found out dinner table mates (which we clicked with the first night. We always seem to get amazing table people). Hung there until midnight or so. Great time. Then headed to the club for a bit.

 

Today Thursday, is a sea day. Georgous up on deck. Chair hogs were in full force this morning. Deck attendants didn't seem to be enforcing today. We wound up on the sun deck. And it is beautiful up here. Some women shouldn't be wearing bikinis. Just sayin.

 

Will look completely through questions when we gat back to FLL and answer what I can.

 

Yes, still happy with the alcohol package. Any wine under $10 per glass is covered. I am not a big wine Fri Ker but have been able to sample more with the package.

Sea day yesterday. We got up early to get some loungers and grab some breakfast. Sun was nice but wind was stiff at 21 knots or so lower decks and 40+ knots on upper unprotected decks. Watched MUTS which had Hitch on it. Wound up leaving around lunch time as it was quite chilly with the winds. Lunch was at Alfredo's again which was delicious. Then we returned to our cabin to take a nap. We needed to catch up on some sleep. Formal night tonight. We had a sitting with the Platinum Artist for some black and white photos. We will view them tonight but I think they will be awesome by the preview on the camera. No sorting fee. No obligation to buy. But he did capture some amazing shots. Dinner was amazing. Filet medallion was my choice and they were cooked perfectly. I had the grilled bees Thai appetizer and it was very good. Show was Colors of the World. Decent show, even if the production shows aren't our thing. We headed to Club 6 for the Wild Bunch party and grabbed a drink then bedtime for us. It is 8 am here and we arrived in St. Thomas about an hour ago, definitely on the earlier side of what was predicted.

People have different metabolisms.

 

I don't anticipate the Princess demographic abusing this package and getting plastered and obnoxious. On a line with a younger and more party oriented demographic it might be cause for concern.

 

I agree with you on this. I know many people signed up for it by the lines on embarkatoon day. I have yet to see intoxicated people on this cruise yet. We have yet to be even buzzed as we are spreading the drinks throughout the day and night.

Great deal if you are a drunk. I'm sure a few will spoil it for some of us.

 

IMHO not a good thing.

 

framer

 

I am not a drunk, have to tell you. I have been enjoying drinks throughout the day including bottled waters, specialty coffees, etc. I am sorry if you think someone has to be a drunk because the have purchased the package.

From what I can tel all of the Martinis are under $10 and tun from $7.95-8.95 from what I rememberDay 2

 

Today was Princess Cays. What a beautiful day! Weather was perfect. We went to HC to grab some breakfast. Went to the dinning room to get our tender tickets and was in the first group. Landed on the island about 9:20 am and then headed to get our clamshell loungers. In the morning it was a bit cloudy, but by the afternoon the sun was intense. We did a morning banana boat ride. It was fun. Headed back to the ship about 1 pm, the earliest we've ever been of the island. Headed to the pool deck and lots of loungers were free. We wound up on the fountain deck. It seems that the deck attendants are removing towels of the chair hogs. It continued to be a beautiful day with intense sun. We had several drinks on the island as well as when we returned - as well as bottles of water and soda. The cans of soda are covered with the package at PC. The all inclusive package is working out well for us. We hit Alfredo's for an afternoon snack and DH had a gluten free pizza (that we requested yesterday - they are happy to oblige there and for Prego pizzaria when ordered the day before) and I had a ham calzone which was amazing.

After being sun drenched for the day we headed back to the room around 4:45 PM and showered. I have to say, the showers are the biggest I've been in at sea with the exception of the mini suite bath tubs we've had. There was a ledge for shaving and storing shampoo etc. And I didn't get loved by the shower curtain. ;) Then we explored areas of the ship we didn't see yesterday. It has become very apparent tonight what areas we missed with the sunscreen with those telltale lines or spots. ;). Speaking to a bartender tonight on deck, people who had bought the all inclusive package obviously didn't read the limitations (on the initial receipt was a printed list of what was included and what the price limitation was) of $10 as they complained and took his name after he wouldn't serve the passenger a "double" which was clearly over $10. Seriously, come back in five minutes or go to a different bar and get another drink. Why yell at the bartender for something out of his control that was clearly explained prior to purchase? I have to say,we are not complainers. We don't look for the bad to complain. We go with the flow. I do really miss the port and starboard different colored carpets. That's my main compaint at this point. ;) That and the well known fact of no center stairwell. We can't change that, so we move on.

Dinner was again awesome. Warm crab and artichoke dip with baguette slices. Filet and the most tender and sweet shrimp I've ever had. I skipped dessert as I was very full. We went to the Rock and Roll party for a bit. Music was excellent. Strolled around the pool deck for a bit, watched the fountain show, then another kind if early night for us. Sun will do that to you.

 

I will attempt to find out about the alcohol package and medical condition. From what I understand if there are under 21 in the cabin, they have to purchase the soda and more package and I wonder of that would apply.

Are there wine bottle packages being offered?

Thanks

 

 

 

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I was not specifically looking for the wine package, so I didn't see it. They didn't have a sign at the bar as wig the soda and alcohol packages.

Forgive the typing. Writing this on my phone and then pasting here when I go online.

 

Boarded the Royal yesterday. This is our seventh Princess cruise. We flew into FLL Friday and spent the first night in Key Largo and Saturday night in Fort Lauderdale. Returned the rental car and jumped on the free shuttle to the port. Arrived at the port approximately 10:00 am. We had preferred boarding so we were checked in and waiting in the terminal by about 10:35 ish. Check in was painless. Terminal staff were friendly and efficient. Embarkatkon began at 12:02 and we were in our rooms by about 12:15.

We promptly reserved our Ultimate Balcony Dining as this is a highlight for the cruise for us.

 

We then went to the International Cafe Bar and inquired about the all inclusive alcohol package we heard rumored to start this sailing. It was offered. $49 per person per day plus gratuity, and all over 21 in cabin much purchase. Includes every beverage under $10 which is most anything on the ship. A few wines and a few sparkling wines at Bellinis are over this as are a some of the single malt whiskeys. DH and I signed up and then off we went exploring the ship. First stop as always, was the pool bar to get our first drink of the cruise which is always a three berry dacquiri. Between iced coffee, several drinks through the day and evening, wine with dinner, bottled water and an energy drink or two, we did feel we got out money's worth the first day.

 

First impression of the ship was "wow.". It is beautiful. The Piazza is stunning. The music there carried throughout the entire atrium. Pool deck is nice. Seems like too few pools given the amount of people on board especially since they don't have the aft pool. We toured the Sanctuary, no interest in reserving a lounger there, but did want to see it. We had a quick bite to eat in the HC. The Horizon Court is much larger than on ther previous ships we have sailed and seems to be laid out more logical. The Pastry Shop had some scrumptious treats for dessert.

 

We then walked around the upper decks picture taking and watching the other cruise ships in port.

 

First time ever for us we had the late seating for dinner. We met our table mates and were relieved. We chatted the entire dinner. Our wait staff Alvin and Jay are from the Philippines, and were outstanding. DH has a gluten allergy and this was handled very well as with all of our Princess cruises. Dinner for me was the crawfish Etoufee and it was amazing. Just amazing. DH had the prime rib.

 

Activities for the night included trivia, karaoke, and they had an Oscars viewing party in the Vista Lounge (Club Fusion on the other ships we have been on), and the Oscars were on the MUTS screen and in Club 6 and Chirchills as well.

 

We had a busy two days prior in Florida so for the first time ever on a cruise we went to bed before midnight.

 

Overall an amazing first day. Weather was perfect. Crew was friendly and fabulous.

Can you tell me what is included, bottle water, Pellegrino, etc and what is the price.

 

 

Thanks

 

Any beverage under $10 bottled water, specialty coffees, alcohol, soda etc. $49 per person per day plus 15% gratuity. Each person on cabin over 21 has to purchase. For our 7 day cruise it totaled to be $394.95 with gratuity.

Just boarded and they started offering the package today.

Where can we go to watch the ships leave from the canal? I know there is land twoardd the end of the canal that people watch the ship's leave. How do we get there?

Does anyone know if the package includes room service beverages such as the water and soda in your cabin fridge?

Many do know that some other lines (like Celebrity) have had a lot of success marketing their drink packages. What many do not know is that they have been quite profitable for the cruise lines. But here is a question some frequent cruisers might want to consider. How much is your usual bar bill on a cruise? Or, "do you normally spend over $112 per day (per couple) on drinks?" DW and I have been cruising for a long time and do enjoy drinking and wine. But it is rare that we could even spend that much in a single day...given the restrictions that are on drink packages. And one needs to consider that the typical cruiser spends a lot less on drinks during port days then sea days.

 

Hank

 

From my understanding, the only restriction on Princess's package is anything over $10 per drink - which only a handful are - some wines by the glass and some higher end scotches. As it includes bottled waters, specialty coffees, etc (any beverage under $10), I think it is easy to get your money worth and cover the cost. For DH and I, figure, a couple of bottles of water daily, a few drinks each by the pool, a drink or too (wine) with dinner and drinks in the theatre, casino and club at night. We have in the past spent pretty close or over on our bar tab to this, and now we won't have to worry with each drink we are charging.

$112 works out to 10 drinks total per two people daily. Or about five to six drinks each. And bottled water and specialty coffees are also included.

I feel really out of it! What is the alcohol package?

 

All inclusive alcohol and beverage package. $49 per day per person plus 15% gratuity. Includes all beverages such as bottled water and specialty coffees, and alcohol and wine by the glass. Anything under $10 is covered. Right now from what I understand all over 21 in the same cabin much purchase. And under 21 has to purchase the soda and more card.

From what I've been hearing on the forum, it wasn't offered last cruise. That rumor has it it will start next cruise, 3/2, which we are sailing. We are hoping so.

[quote name='downsmead']Out of interest what drinks are over $10? Are all the martini's $10 or less? I see from a previous post that cocktails are ~ $7.95, is that correct? Celebrity offered a package when we were on the Eclipse last Easter and had two different packages (I cannot remember the prices) but one covered drinks up to $8 and the other one up to $12 (if I remember correctly). That cruise we did not purchase a package but may consider it for this cruise. However if it is correct that all people in the cabin have to purchase it, then it will be a no go as not everyone drinks. We would be happy to purchase the upgraded soda package for those non-drinkers.
A question for people that have had the package; if you want a drink that is over $10, do you have to pay the whole cost as it is not included in the package, or are you charged the difference?[/QUOTE]

Some single malt scotch and a few wines may be over $10 . If over $10 it is my understanding you have to pay full price.

[quote name='Dreamer333']So maybe I misread something... but did somebody say the "booze package" also includes sodas and specialty coffees?[/QUOTE]

It includes any beverage under $10 from my understanding, including bottled water, soda, specialty coffees, etc.

OMG , that is 56 dollars a day with the 15 % , on todays exchange that is equivalent to 40 euros a day , that is more than DOUBLE what Costa charges for a drinks package per day (19.50 euros) , Costa also served all the top end brands for that price and not the european cheap stuff , Princess are trying to rip us off:(

 

Seems pretty reasonable to the drink prices where I live. If you think you would get your monies worth, then great go for it. If not, just pay per drink. No one is forcing it on us. Just an option for those who wish to get it.

Royal is supposed to start offering it on the next turn around! Sounds like you're in luck!

 

That would be awesome.

Would you mind letting us know?

 

Not at all.