DChabira

18 minutes ago, baelor said:

Was the drug use marijuana, or did it also include harder drugs?  That seems weird for a cruise line to allow, although maybe that is part of the target clientele (and not something that VV can openly advertise LOL).  

 

I am still pressed about the dinky pool though.  Who thought that having only one deck pool the size of a hot tub was a good idea?

 

 

I don’t even consider marijuana an illegal drug anymore, since it’s been legalized in so many states, either medically or for recreational use. They smoked pot all day long on the balcony just forward of ours. When we were in the pool, I saw people taking something orally that was wrapped in foil. I couldn’t tell if it was pills or powder, but they weren’t snorting it. The use of glass in the pool struck me as very odd and unsafe. There was higher roller in the pool buying bottle after bottle and they were being passed around. They kept washing out their drinking glasses in the pool. Gross! I saw dozens of people drinking directly from the bottles they were passing around. Not very sanitary in this pandemic environment.

33 minutes ago, sweetest8 said:

I was on the 2nd leg of your B2B.  This was our 2nd VV sailing.  After our 10.2021 VV sailing, I had declared Virgin as our new favorite cruise line.   But I also noticed the likely drug use and borderline behavior in/around the pool and in the Manor on this sailing.  I'm all about a good party (which is why I was at the pool and in the Manor every night), but this was borderline trashy stuff... and the trashy stuff was 100% absent on our 10/21 sailing.

 

For the food, I do think that VV has some of the best food at sea without having to pay for upcharge dining.. but they do try too hard to do "something extra and over the top" to most everything.  For instance,  the breakfast avocado burrito is so good, except they add a sweet-pickled purple floral/onion/cabbage thing to it... the flavor was just off... I thought it was me but our travel mate agreed (I tried to order it on the side but was told that would be a 30 minute wait).  Or even some of the sauce/garnish drizzle.... perfect dish and then the final drizzle sauce is just a bit extra/off.  I will say, on our 1st sailing our Wake dinner was kind of Blah, and this 2nd sailing the Wake dinner was much improved and one of our favorite meals.

 

They need to have better DJ and live music.  Both sailings the music on board and on Bimini was disappointing, though this sailing was better.

 

Wifi is pretty good.  I love that there is no All-you-can-drink package... drinks are so reasonable with tips included and I would think helps to keep the out of control drinking in check. 

 

I really hope that VV can figure out their small misses, find their sailors and fill their ships.  I feel like they got the Big things totally right, but they have a lot of little things to figure out and this is a tough time in a tough cruise market to try to do it.

 

 

I saw a lot of drug use. I deleted it from the first draft of my review, as I was afraid they might not publish it. 

17 minutes ago, cantgetin said:

Prices on VV include the tip--no added 18%.

Correct!

37 minutes ago, Pebbs48 said:

@DChabiraHow much were alcoholic beverages on board?  Trying to decide if a suite is worth the added expense.

A pina colode was $13. Beer was between $5-$8

It’s day three of our first voyage on the Scarlet Lady. We’re booked on back-to-back sailings, May 22-27 “Riviera Maya”, and May 27-June 1 “Dominican Daze”.

First, some background. I am 63-years old and my wife is 61. We’ve been married 38-years, and this is our 31^st and 32^nd cruise. We’ve sailed on most major cruise lines, but primarily on Royal Caribbean, NCL and Celebrity. We have Diamond Crown & Anchor status on Royal Caribbean’s loyalty program, but that’s mostly because we sailed with them a lot when our children were young. Our tastes fluctuates but at this stage in our life, we’re big Celebrity cruise line fans, with NCL coming in a close second.

We were initially booked on the Scarlet Lady’s second voyage in 2020, but the pandemic forced us to re-book multiple times. We received a considerable boost in Future Cruise Credit which afforded us these two sailings in a Seriously Suite stateroom.

I wanted to wait a few days before starting my assessment, so we could get a good feel for the vessel, and for the Virgin Voyages experience. So far, we’ve had a day at sea, a stop in Cozumel yesterday, and we are at sea again today, headed for tomorrow’s stop at the Beach Club at Bimini.

Embarkation was extremely smooth. We arrived with our Covid Test results from Walgreens, and walked right onto the ship at 1:30pm.

The ship itself is beautiful, as is our suite which I’d equate to a Jr. Suite on most other lines. There are lots of 110v and USB outlets which are lacking on most ships. The bathroom and shower are massive. Each suite has a turntable and a few vinyl records. I understand the desire for quirky, but this is just a giant waster of valuable counterspace which is always in short supply. The compact Bluetooth Speaker is really all that’s needed. The mini-bar is well stocked with many items, some are free and some are for sale but which is which is never fully explained.

I did not find the ship easy to navigate. Signage is limited and not very intuitive. There’s little mention of Aft, Mid-Ship, or Forward so it’s difficult to figure out where exactly things are located. After three days, I still find myself searching for places I’ve been to before.

There’s no daily cruise letter, rather you’re expected to use the VV App on your smart phone for most everything, to get alerts, to book dining reservations, and to learn what activities are going on. We are very tech savvy but I found the use of the App awkward, and the flow of communication poor. I also hated scanning the bar code in restaurants to view the menus. Unless you’re carrying around a tablet, a phone screen isn’t the best option for viewing a full menu. If you ask for a paper menu, the server will bring you one, and we opted to go that route when dining.

The crew and staff are top notch, a step above any cruise line we’ve ever sailed with. Everyone goes above and beyond to welcome you aboard and to accommodate any and all requests. They are more fluent in English and appear more educated and refined than many of the third-world teams we’ve sailed with before.

Adults only, is also a huge plus for VV. We love children and have three grandchildren of our own that we adore, but that doesn’t mean we want to spend every vacation with small children. Not having kids running and screaming around, and splashing in the pool was a godsend. While we’re talking about the swimming pool, it was woefully inadequate for a ship of this size and stature. The ship can lodge 2700 passengers. We had roughly 900 on our first voyage and 1400 on the second leg of our trip, and the pool was shoulder to shoulder crowded to the point of being uncomfortable. The eardrum busting techno music didn’t make the pool experience any more enjoyable. Personally, I’m a big fan of a large outdoor swimming pool and a second enclosed pool on a cruise ship. VV wants to attract a younger market and I think they’ve been somewhat successful. We are not fans of Carnival cruise lines, because of their “Party till you Puke” clientele. The pool crowd on the Scarlet Lady was a rowdy bunch also, actually scary at times. There was some serious drinking going on every afternoon. Security made no attempt to keep things orderly because the offenders were dropping big cash on bottle service. There were a number of altercations at the pool and more than once someone was so drunk or high that medical services had to be summoned. I’m all for people living it up on vacation, but not at the expense of others enjoyment. I guess it just wasn’t our crowd.

Yesterday, we visited Sir Richard’s Beach Club at Bimini. This was a highlight of the cruise. We’ve visited most every port in the Caribbean, and we no longer care to disembark at some ports of call.  We’ve also visited most cruise line’s private island stops. The Beach Club provides a Virgin-centric experience, it's not a private island, so passengers have the option to explore other parts of Bimini, should they wish to do so. A ten-minute shuttle ride delivers you to the Beach Club which is super clean and meticulously maintained. It’s a beautiful facility and a gorgeous stretch of beach. With the exception of the food served, I’d give it an A+. I’ll cover all of the food, a little later in this review.

I read a lot of Scarlet Lady reviews prior to our trip, and I scoured through the Cruise Critic Boards before we sailed. Multiple reviews praised the food, so our expectations were sky high. Sadly, our dining experiences turned out to be our biggest disappointment. Breakfast and Lunch options were adequate, but trying to determine what was available when and where was confusing. Cinnamon Buns were available for lunch, but not for breakfast? Also, variety was in short supply throughout the ship. Same three Ramen options every day, same desserts, same ice cream choices, same two taco options, same sandwiches. You could order an Omelette and specify the ingredients, but the Pizza Parlor offered a choice of six pies with no substitutions, and little variety. Free soda with lots of soft drink options was one of the few bright spots. It was also difficult to find many snack options outside of regular hours.

The fine dining options for dinner were a huge let down for us, with the exception of the Wake. For some crazy reason they attempted to limit you to only eating once at each one of these establishments. This would have rubbed me the wrong way under normal circumstances, but with the ship only 35% occupied, it was particularly annoying. Staying in a suite and being a “Rock Star” passenger, you were occasionally able to get your agent to subvert the rules, but it was still irritating. If I want to eat at the same restaurant every night of my cruise, that should be my prerogative.

There are six restaurants onboard that I would consider to be fine dining, The Wake (Steak & Seafood), Razzle Dazzle (Primarily Vegetarian), Pink Agave (Mexican), Extra Virgin (Italian), Gunbae (Korean BBQ), and the Test Kitchen (*****). The Wake was by far the best of the six that we dined at. The Main Courses offered there, were of a more traditional nature. The appetizers and sides were less traditional but acceptable. Extra Virgin was also better than average, but offered another unconventional menu. All of the desserts on the ship were ok, but we didn’t have one single dessert that we would consider exceptional. The Filet Mignon on the other hand is one of the best we’ve ever had, and that’s saying a lot.

The main problem with these high-end restaurants, and with a lot of other amenities on the ship was VV incessant desire to be avant-garde. Main course options were extremely limited and delegated to a few frou-frou or fusion items. If that’s your thing than it’s wonderful, but adding a few classical dishes would have gone a long way towards pleasing a broader clientele. You’re not going to find any Fajitas in the Mexican Restaurant, or a steaming dish of Lasagna in the Italian restaurant, that’s for sure. We’re pretty adventuresome eaters, but after a handful of attempts, we gave up and started frequenting the Galley (Food Court) for most of our meals. The Beach Club food options were no different, just more haute cuisine, where Burgers and Pulled Pork would have been a bigger hit.

It's obvious that VV is still sorting things out. There was a lot of confusion around the protocols for our back-to-back sailings. When our Rock Star Agent didn’t have the answers, I went to the Sailor Services Desk, but even the two customer service representatives there, couldn’t agree on what the policies were. After one of them consulted with a supervisor, we were instructed to go to the Medical Center between 4pm-6pm the last night of our first cruise to take new Covid tests. When we arrived at the Medical Center, they knew nothing about this. They told us that testing would happen the next morning at 10am in the Sip Lounge. The next morning, we arrived at 10:00am and took our tests. At 10:45am we were escorted off the ship to get checked out by Border Patrol, and then checked back in. The entire process took about 90-minutes. Once back in our cabin, we were anxious to go and explore Miami. When we departed, we were told that if we left the ship, we’d have to test again, before coming back onboard. However, when we returned to the ship later in the afternoon, we were able to walk right on without being retested?

Before I comment on the Entertainment, I need to make a full disclosure. My wife and I have been in the entertainment business all of our lives. I worked for Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas for twenty-one years, until 2019, and I’m currently the General Manager of the Big Apple Circus. We love shows and make regular visits to Broadway and to the West End in London to see shows. A ship as grand as the Scarlet Lady deserves a majestic theater venue, a first-class showroom. The Red Room does not fit that bill. It looks like a Cirque du Soleil training room, or some kind of elementary school gymnasium or multi-purpose room. I really couldn’t wrap my head around what it was designed for? Certainly not a headliner, a comedian, or a production show. We only attended one show, the acrobatic (Cirque Like) show titled “Dual Reality”. While the Performers (Artists) were all very talented, I thought the show was a total train wreck. I’m not sure if this is true of every show onboard, but for this production you were not allowed to leave during the performance which seems like a really bad idea. What if you have to go to the bathroom? What if you just don’t like the show? There was also a lot of pop-up performances around the ship. All were good performers but the way they were presented didn’t do any of them any justice.

On the second leg of our journey, on the sea day, there was a medical emergency and a helicopter had to evacuate someone from the ship. This was handled quickly and efficiently, and our prayers go out to the individual involved.

This was our first time in the Dominican Republic. Nice port if you don’t leave the Disney-like cruise terminal area. We walked the mile back and forth into downtown, badgered by local tour guides, taxi drivers, and merchants hawking their wares. Nothing to see outside of the cruise compound but poverty and sketchy characters. If you go there, venture outside at your own risk!

Today is the final day of our journey, and we spent a pleasant day again at the Beach Club. Bimini was by far the nicest stop on our journey and we were happy to visit it twice. Today we learned that there’s a ferry that runs three days a week, back and forth between Bimini and Fort Lauderdale. We will definitely make it a point to come back for a long weekend, and stay at the Hilton property here on the island. Tonight, we will return to the Wake for another Filet Mignon dinner to close out our vacation on a high note.

I’m sure many will find this review gloomy or downright negative and that isn’t my intention. Food, Entertainment, the entire Cruising Experience is very subjective. To each his own. This is just my personal observations, and it doesn’t mean you won’t love it. There were many positives, and any day cruising is a great day. Every cruise line markets to a certain demographic, and this model just didn’t work well for us. Virgin Voyages is in its infancy as a cruise line, and I strongly suspect they will make a lot of tweaks and changes in the coming years. I’m not sure it will be enough to lure us back, but I’ll keep an open mind.

Where does the Scarlet Lady dock in Cozumel? Which of the three terminals does VV utilize?

5 minutes ago, jj1814 said:

Just regular and diet available? I will need to bring my own Coke Zero and Sprite Zero, eh?

I'm a Diet Dr. Pepper person myself, so I'll bring some along, but I can handle Diet Coke if necessary.

1 hour ago, jon81uk said:

Coke products. Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite are all commonly available.

In the Galley there is Nestle Vitality juice from concentrate.

I was drinking rum (Barcardi) and Diet Coke as well as Absolut vodka and Sprite. Spirit and mixer is $7.

Thank you very much for this information!

Virgin Voyages advertises free soda, but no one has been able to tell me what the selection of sodas is? Coke or Pepsi products? I’ve Googled it a number of times, and I found one review over a year old that said they don’t offer any mainstream soft drink choices? This seems impossible to believe? What if someone wants a rum and coke, or a seven and seven?

We loved this cabin on our 15-day transatlantic cruise last month. The only obstruction is if you lean way over the railing and look forward , but we didn’t find it an issue at all. 

Email me at dchabira@hotmail.com

Royal Princess Stateroom E428 (Emerald Deck 8) is listed as "Obstructed View" but it is not. The balcony is actually larger than most and you have a lovely view from your balcony. I have photos if anyone is interested.

Every cruise is a great cruise, some are just better than others. I didn’t post this review to start a debate. It’s just our perception, one person’s opinion. For me the change of itinerary was not that big of a deal.Sure, it was disappointing, but you can’t control mother nature.

I’m sure those that had traditional dining, probably received better service and hotter food. I just don’t think Princess has perfected “Anytime”dining. We preferred traditional dining ourselves for many years, but have come around to the “Anytime” dining concept in recent years.

We have cruised on the NCL Epic and Breakaway over the past few years and loved all of the different dining options. Earlier this year we did an 11-day voyage on the Celebrity Reflection and loved everything about Celebrity.

I do agree that he 20% compensation for the missed ports,will make it hard not to do another Princess cruise in 2019.

Royal Princess Review September 10, 2018

Embarkation

The taxi driver dropped us curbside at the Southampton Cruise Terminal, and our bags were immediately whisked away. Unlike many terminals, you check in first, prior to going through security. The lines moved quickly and we were checked in within twenty minutes of our arrival. After being checked in, you’re given a number and told to relax in the waiting room until your number is called to go through security and board the ship.

My wife normally packs a small paring knife in her checked luggage for slicing up fruit in our stateroom. Security noticed the knife when the bags were being x-rayed, and we were summoned to security to locate the knife and dispose of it. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise. After we disposed of the knife, we were taken directly to the gangway to board the ship, and therefore we missed the entire waiting room process.

Cabin

Our balcony stateroom Emerald 428 on Deck 8, is listed as having an obstructed view. I read a number of reviews of this cabin before booking it, that said it didn’t have an obstructed view. Obviously, I was a little nervous to see for myself. The balcony it actually a little larger than most because of the shape of the ship. There’s a lifeboat to the left, on the deck below which is why I assume it’s listed as having an obstructed view, but I wouldn’t consider it an obstructed view at all.

We liked the layout of the room and our stateroom position mid-ship. We also liked the 42” flat panel LED television on the wall at the foot of the bed. We were very close to the mid-ship elevators and it was a convenient location to get to everything.

Our sliding door to access the balcony was extremely difficult to open, it took both of us to slide it open.

Our cabin steward Renaldo started off sensational but service rapidly declined as the cruise progressed.

Ship

This was our 28th cruise and our third with Princess. Although we have Diamond Status with Royal Caribbean’s Crown &Anchor Society, and Elite Status with Celebrity’s Captain’s Club, now we mostly book our cruises based on itinerary and the price.

One of the best thing about the Royal Princess, is the self-service Laundromats on each deck. We had been in the U.K. a week before boarding, and it was wonderful to wash and dry a couple of loads of laundry after we boarded.

Although, the ship was built in 2013 and is only five years old, it feels much older in every way. The décor in general feels very outdated. It’s quite worn for such a new ship. We noticed boarding how rusted the hull is. The carpets, the furnishings, almost every aspect of the ships hows signs of excess wear and tear.

Dining

What really shocked us, was that a newer ship would be built to such old standards. In a world of competing mega-ships that offer dozens of dining options, the Royal Princess is like a twenty-year old ship trying to adapt itself to modern day standards.

There are only three Specialty Restaurant options, Crown Grill (Steakhouse), Sabatini’s (Italian), Crab Shack (Seafood). Only Sabatini’s is housed in a purpose-built restaurant space. The Crown Grill is in a pub space, and the Crab Shack is hosted in a roped off section of the Horizon Court(Buffet) area. On this fifteen-night cruise, the Crab Shack option was only offered on two nights. The Crab Shack menu was wonderful and the food was exceptional. However, the ambiance was terrible sitting among the buffet guests. The Sabatini’s menu offered a poor selection of Italian specialties,and the Crown Grill was by far the best of the three specialty restaurants. We celebrated my wife’s birthday at the Crown Grill and it did not disappoint, her Ribeye was incredible, and my Filet Mignon was exquisite.

The main dining room menu options for dinner were some of the worst we’ve see in our thirty-four years of cruising. The food was mostly mediocre to poor, with the deserts being the highlight of most of the dinners each night. The rolls and bread were extremely hard, maybe it’s a European thing, but we prefer softer bakery items. There are three main dining rooms,The Symphony, The Concerto, and the Allegro. We had “Anytime Dining”, and which dining rooms we could eat in at which times was very confusing. Getting a table for two was extremely difficult. There were only a handful of real tables for two in each dining room, the majority of the time we were seated in areas where long tables were pulled a foot or two apart, and you were seated 18” from the person next to you. This is not what I consider a table for two. Also, the staff encouraged you to share tables, and shamed you for asking for a table for two. This is also the first cruise we’ve been on where the waiters are constantly trying to upsell something. The dining rooms were severely understaffed. Our waiter one evening had five two tops and three five tops. One waiter trying to serve 25 guests with “Anytime” dining results in a disaster.Assistant waiters were in very short supply. The food was rarely ever hot.Often, we watched our dinner sit on the waiter’s station for 10-15 minutes prior to the them delivering it to our table. On numerous occasions, my wife sent her dinner back as it was cold. This goes back to the ship trying to operate “Anytime” Dining using the old Traditional Dining model, and not like a regular restaurant where diners come and go.

The Allegro Dining Room is the only dining room that served Breakfast and Lunch. Guest began lining up thirty minutes or more before this dining room opened, to get a table. Once the dining room was full, there were long lines and long waits. A second dining room should have been opened,as no one should have to wait in line to have breakfast or lunch. We have always preferred to eat breakfast and lunch in the dining room, as it is generally served hotter than the luke warm food at the buffet. Again, we were disappointed as the food almost always arrived cold. The breakfast and dinner menus in the Allegro were no more inspiring than the dinner menus. The breakfast menu was always the same, on the left with one or two special items on the right side that differed every day. Many fundamental breakfast items were missing, like waffles, French Toast, and Eggs Benedict.

The Horizon Court Buffet was adequate, but it offered typical smorgasbord fare that was faintly warm and never hot. There was one Omelet station, but you had to really search for it, and very few cooking stations where chefs offered anything fresh or custom.

I can understand an old ship being retrofit to accommodate “Anytime Dining” but with ships the same age like the NCL Breakaway& Getaway being outfitted with twenty-one restaurants, the Royal Princess dining options are quite archaic.

Service

With the exception of our stateroom steward who went above and beyond at times, the staff and crew were unenthusiastic. They went through the motions, but mostly they made you feel as if you were bothering them, if you made a request. This was particularly true in the dining rooms. The majority of the staff did not have a very good command of the English language. On a few occasions the staff was downright rude. One night my wife moved her fork from where it was placed, and the waiter said “What’s wrong, are you left handed or something”?

Itinerary

We chose this particular cruise especially for the itinerary. Following the first two ports, Rotterdam and Hamburg, the captain informed us that the next three ports were being cancelled, due to inclement weather concerns. Bergen Norway, Belfast Northern Ireland, and St John’s Newfoundland were quickly replaced with two new ports, Vigo Spain and Ponta Delgado, and the ship would cross the Atlantic on a more southern course,arriving in New York on schedule.

We docked in Vigo on a Sunday when absolutely nothing was open. Ponta Delgada was better than Vigo but still these ports paled in comparison to our original itinerary. After we sailed from Ponta Delgada, we received a notice that each guest would receive a $200 credit for the disruption to our schedule. While this was a welcome gesture, you really can’t put a price on missing destinations that you had dreamed of visiting all your life. I suppose the only positive, was the few days of warmer than expected weather. Sadly, we hadn’t packed shorts or any cooler garments, knowing this was going to be a cool weather cruise.

The Ship

Much of this I’ve already covered in some form. As is the case with most cruise ships, the hot tubs were far from hot. There’s no covered pool which is disappointing, and I never wrapped my head around the area they call the “Retreat”. It’s an exclusive area where you can rent an expensive cabana, but there’s no pool? The areas for walking are extremely limited and the outside deck on level seven is restricted to crew only. There’s a tiny walking/running track at the stern of the ship, that requires seven laps to equal a mile.

Entertainment

The entertainment onboard was poor to begin with, and the change in itinerary only complicated the already weak lineup. We have an entertainer friend that works on cruise ships year-round for a living. He tells us that Disney pays the best, with Royal Caribbean and Celebrity not too far behind. However, he says that Princess and their sister companies, Carnival and Holland America pay their entertainers 50% less. It was very obvious on this cruise.

The Transatlantic Crossing

Since this was our first Transatlantic voyage, we were a little nervous. On our five days crossing the Atlantic, the weather was fairly good. Only the third day Saturday, did we have rough seas, and on our last day it was cold and gloomy, with scattered rain.

The morning of our final day at sea, a guest had medical complications, and the Coast Guard in Boston had to send a helicopter with airplane support to extract the guest.

Disembarkation

We walked off with our own luggage as we had an early flight out of JFK, and the ships transfers wouldn’t guarantee you’d arrive in time for any flight before 2:00pm. Walking off went smoothly and quickly.Getting a taxi sucked. We had 20 people in front of us, and 100 behind us, and we waited over an hour. On average one taxi pulled up every five minutes? Why there was a shortage of taxis, I have no idea. We taxied to the nearby Jay Street Metro station, and took the subway to JFK, arriving at 10:20am, in plenty of time for our 12:27pm flight.

Wrap up

We’ve lived in Las Vegas for twenty-one years and have seen the cost cutting that’s gone on here locally for the past two decades.Everything is all about the bottom line. The cruise industry is no different,and each cruise we take, we notice the cost cutting, less staff doing more, and the decline of service and quality. Now that tips are automatically added to your bill, I have to wonder if the staff even gets them any longer, or if they’re all just on salary now. Without the old-style tipping process, there’s really no incentive for them to give you great service? I understand why mandatory gratuities were put in place, as many guests used to stiff the crew. There’s really no good scenario either way.

Some cruise lines are worse than others and it was certainly noticeable this time with Princess. Sadly, nothing stays the same.

I’m not going to say explicitly that we will never sail with Princess again. Sometimes it the management or the crew of a specific ship and not necessarily the cruise line as a whole? However, Princess is not going to be high on our list for any vacation in the near future.

Thank you!

My wife and I are booked on a 15-Day Transatlantic Cruise onthe Royal Princess next year. We have reserved cabin E428 on the Emerald Deckwhich is Deck 8.

I’m looking for anyone who has stayed in this cabin, on thisship, not the Regal? I’d love to see some photos, or video?

The cabin is listed as “OBSTRUCTED VIEW” but I’ve read someposts from others saying it doesn’t have any obstructions. It has a larger thannormal balcony, and some say the reason it’s listed as an “OBSTRUCTED VIEW” isthe odd angle of the balcony?

I found a video on YOUTUBE of E429 which is the mirror imagecabin on the opposite side of the ship, and I don’t see any obstructions?

Any help would be appreciated?

My wife and I are booked on a 15-Day Transatlantic Cruise on the Royal Princess next year. We have reserved cabin E428 on the Emerald Deck which is Deck 8.

I’m looking for anyone who has stayed in this cabin, on this ship, not the Regal? I’d love to see some photos, or video?

The cabin is listed as “OBSTRUCTED VIEW” but I’ve read some posts from others saying it doesn’t have any obstructions. It has a larger than normal balcony, and some say the reason it’s listed as an “OBSTRUCTED VIEW” is the odd angle of the balcony?

I found a video on YOUTUBE of E429 which is the mirror image cabin on the opposite side of the ship, and I don’t see any obstructions?

Any help would be appreciated?

Thanks for your input. I've been to the port 8-10 times. I've used Nativeway before which does a great job. In this circumstance they charge $60 and the ships excursion is $56. The boat the ship uses is much nicer and has rear step access. We have a handicap individual with us so this is much easier for them.

It may be a ten minute tender trip but with thousands getting off the ship it takes a lot longer than ten minutes, even using the larger local tenders.

I'm looking for someone that's done this tour recently that can give me hard facts.

Docked at 10:30am

On Shore at ?

Tour departed town at?

Tour returned us to town at?

On Royal Caribbean’s website it says the tour “DELUXE STINGRAY CITY SANDBAR” is 2.5 hours long. We’re only in port from 10:30am – 6:00pm. Can someone that’s done this excursion recently, tell me the time frame from start to finish? I’m trying to figure how much time we’ll have afterwards to look around Georgetown or go to 7-Mile Beach. I know we tender in which eats up time, so I’m debating whether or not this tour will eat up our entire time in the Cayman Islands?

Thanks in advance for your help.