Royal Princess Review - Jan 19-26, 2014

[Acosmo]

I wasn't going to post this review since there are so many already on CC currently. But then I thought about the tips I've picked up from the many reviews other cruisers took the time to write and decided to put this out there in case one person can get one idea for their own trip. Plus it's snowing and the other choice is to go out and shovel. :p

 

We flew into Ft Lauderdale a day early and stayed at the Hyatt Place Convention Center on 17th St. using points for a free night. Hyatt Place has a free shuttle from the airport to the hotel and an expanded continental breakfast. It's also walking distance to Publix, Total Wine and More, many restaurants, as well as easy access to the Sun Trolley that costs .50 cents to ride anywhere on the 17th Street Causeway.

 

Hyatt Place takes reservations at check-in for the shuttle to the pier. I don’t remember the exact cost but it was reasonable, maybe $10/pp. We were on Avanti Shuttle and the driver, Louis, passed out company cards for us to call for rides after the cruise. We didn't need to call them since there are abundant taxis and shuttles following the cruise. After the cruise is over, I recommend you take a taxi from the pier to the airport since it’s $14.00 flat rate for 2 passengers and your luggage.

[Acosmo]

We did the usual pre-cruise: shopping for last minute items, dinner, sleep, breakfast and joined the other cruisers in the hotel lobby. At 11:30 we headed to the port and were on the ship by 12:30-1:00. On the way up the gangplank I broke the news that we were upgraded from a deluxe balcony, obstructed view E109, to a mini-suite, M205. DH was so glad to have the extra room in the cabin, he's a night owl and likes to stay up late to read or watch sports.

 

M205 is the standard mini-suite, forward, close to the stairs and one flight up to the lido. It was a quiet room and I wouldn't hesitate to book it or any room in that area of the ship.

 

 

 

 

[Acosmo]

Balcony was small, but worked for the two of us.

 

 

View forward to the bridge:

 

 

The first thing we noticed on the ship was how every employee looked us in the eye, smiled, and greeted us, from the officers to the clean up staff in Horizon Court. We appreciated the courtesy of the staff throughout the cruise. There were passengers having lunch in Alfredos, the International Café, and, of course, Horizon Court buffet. Alfredos is perfectly located as you board the ship, if it had been tucked away anywhere else it would have gone by unnoticed. It has 3 separate seating sections and was never overly crowded.

 

I’ve read the cruise critic reviews with all the thoughts on things like toilet paper placement, the soap and shampoo dispensers in the showers, missing pools, etc. The only complaint I have in agreement is the lack of staircase mid-ship. It seemed that we were always mid-ship, perhaps that was due to using stairs as often as possible that we noticed at all.

[Working 2 Cruise]

Your efforts are appreciated! Thank you!

[indiaksue]

Thanks for taking the time to make a review. Looking forward to reading the rest.

[Acosmo]

Evening shows and entertainment in the Piazza were very good to excellent, they don't last long so you can catch many different venues in one evening. We especially enjoyed watching our fellow passengers dancing to the music in the Atrium. Royal Princess bar staff has become part of the entertainment performing tricks with cards and match sticks while we sat and had drinks.

 

There were so many who went out of their way to talk to us, the only dud was a bartender in the International Café bar who never acknowledged us after we were seated for a few minutes. That was fine, we just zipped across the Piazza to the Wine Bar and had flights of wine.

 

Complimentary antipasto appetizers, cured meats, cocktail onions, bread sticks, and olives are served along with their drinks at the Wine Bar. Ocean Terrace serves complimentary edamame, wakame, egg salad, herring salad, and bay shrimp salad if you order a drink.

 

 

 

Later in the week we stopped back at the Ocean Terrace and ordered the Chilled Seafood Sampler for 2 ($20). It was fantastic, I regret that we never got back to the OT to try any of the other items on their menu. There's only so much eating you can fit into 7 days, though. :)

 

[tobyt]

Thank you so much for this! Much better than shoveling, keep it coming we board this Sunday!

[bichonsx2]

loving your review. Can't wait to continue.

[Acosmo]

We had a very windy and cool sail-a-way day and first day at sea, it was almost too windy to enjoy being out on the decks. At Princess Cays we stayed on the ship and did some exploring.

 

We had been to Princess Cays on our last two Princess cruises and know that we'll be there again in the future, we felt the less crowded ship would give us time to really sort out where things were located.

 

International Café offerings:

 

 

 

 

 

Some of the food on the ship, especially desserts both in the IC and in the Horizon Court buffet, looked good but had little to no flavor. Others were worth a second serving. ;)

[Acosmo]

Thanks for all the comps and encouragement, helping others with their trips is the best part of CC. I'll keep moving with this, as long as I can hear DH running the snow blower I know I'm not needed, yet. :)

[geoherb]

Thanks for posting. Which desserts did you want seconds of and which ones are better off avoided?

[Acosmo]

In St Thomas we got off the ship when it was cleared and hopped a cab for $10/pp to Secret Harbor, 15 minutes from the port. Ms. Winifred Hood dropped us off with directions about where to find her when we were finished at the beach, we asked her to come back for us at 1:00.

 

We walked through the lobby down to the beach and grabbed two loungers to put under an umbrella close to the Dive Shop.

 

 

 

 

It was a beautiful morning and as we relaxed in the lounge chairs we watched the pelicans diving for fish right in front of us.

 

 

 

[Acosmo]

When the dive shop opened we paid $10 apiece for the loungers and a $5.00 deposit to ensure we brought the chairs back to the Dive shop when we finished for the day. You get the deposit back.

 

The view was incredible, this is what vacation is all about:

 

 

[Acosmo]

DH got beers at the Sunset Grill I ordered a coke. $3.50 for a cup of ice and splash of coke, we found out later that the Dive shop has canned and bottled coke and other soft drinks, water, sports drinks and snacks for very reasonable prices.

 

 

 

If you want real food, sandwiches, chicken wings, etc, you can get them at the Sunset Grill, keep in mind that the Dive Shop has low prices for soft drinks, sports drinks, and water. There was no charge to use the Secret Harbor restrooms.

 

We bring blow up inner tubes with us on cruises to use at beaches. The Dive shop rents them but filled ours for us for free, we floated all around the harbor and loaned them out to a group that showed up later with kids. They really appreciated not having to rent floaties for their kids and had a good time with them.

 

Some more pictures of the grounds at Secret Harbor:

 

 

 

 

As time went on and it got closer to noon we noticed how busy the beach had become and realized that taxis full of cruise pax were showing up and it was getting really crowded. Asking our cab driver to come back at 1:00 was good timing, we headed out at a quarter till and Ms. Winnifred came to pick us up shortly after.

 

She told us that Sapphire Beach is closed due to declining sanitary conditions so taxi drivers and cruise tours are scrambling for beaches to end up after the island tours are done. Secret Harbor is one that they've started coming to as an alternative.

 

My advice, get off the ship EARLY and maximize the time you have before all the other cruisers show up. Also, bring water shoes or good sturdy beach sandals, the beach can be rocky at places and had some rocks in the water. Snorkeling must be very good, I heard many talking about all the different fish they saw. It's a beautiful beach, and not very big.

[janetz]

Loving it. Keep it coming...:)

[Acosmo]

We had plenty of time to go back to the ship, drop our beach things, get a bite to eat on the ship and come back out to browse the shops.

 

 

some of the Yachts in port:

 

 

[Acosmo]

On the two formal nights, the Crab Shack is set up in Horizon Court, back of the ship for a seafood feast similar to a New England Crab Boil. This is a hidden gem, for $19/pp you get your choice of steamed buckets of seafood. The waiters recommended the crab leg bucket and you do get a nice bell (the clump of meat that connects the legs to the body of the crab) along with the legs.

 

Fried Buttterfly Shrimp and Freshly made Hush Puppies:

 

 

 

Seafood Chowder:

 

 

And the Highlight of the Show:

 

 

And another view:

 

 

 

And one more look:

 

 

 

The staff seemed very pleased to have us there and gave us great service, honestly, if the second formal evening hadn't been lobster night, we would have gone back to the Crab Shack.

 

Sopha was our server and we had him again as a server in the Crown Grill. The Crab Shack will show up on the Patters and says reservations recommended. I think as it catches on, you will need reservations, but for now it's not well known.

 

We stopped to tell the chef how much we enjoyed it on the way out after our meal. It's a casual attire dinner, we were dressed for formal night but didn't feel out of place.

[Acosmo]

After dinner drink:

 

 

 

View of a sunset from the balcony:

 

[Acosmo]

St Maarten:

We planned to hang around in town then head to Maho Beach at about noon. After getting off the ship, we walked out the gate along the sidewalk about 10-15 mins into town. It's an easy walk and gets you into town faster than waiting for the first water taxi to fill with passengers.

 

 

 

We stopped here to have breakfast:

 

 

 

We ordered from the breakfast menu, but later in the afternoon we came back and split an order of the Stewed Beef with Coconut Dumplings. For $8.95 you get enough for two. We went up to the second floor where there was no crowd and beautiful views.

 

[Jetswdo]

We plan on doing the MDR second formal night for the included lobster.

So the crab shack is only available on formal nights? a bit confused here.

[Acosmo]

Trendy Local Food:

 

 

This was our view at breakfast:

 

 

Upstairs is this way:

 

 

 

[Acosmo]

Then we walked into town. I know this isn't the time to shop, you don't want to be the vendor's first customers so we just walked and walked enjoying the crowd-less streets and St Maarten "waking up".

 

 

 

 

 

[Acosmo]

Early Morning:

 

 

 

 

 

Many of the dogs had collars but as a pet lover, I still wanted to feed all of them:

 

 

 

Uh-oh, here come the water taxis with cruise pax:

 

[Acosmo]

Thanks to all of you for reading it, I'm posting as fast as I can. :)

[Acosmo]

Thanks for posting. Which desserts did you want seconds of and which ones are better off avoided?

 

Herb, right off hand I'd have to say the only one I distinctly remember was a raspberry/mint mousse. I'm not one to waste food, so I ate what I took, even if it wasn't as beautiful on the tongue as it was on the plate. The little delicacies are really only a bite or two so it's not a lot of waste if you don't finish.

Edited February 3, 2014 by Acosmo
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