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Live from the Royal Princess, January 28- February 7: The Move-Over Boomerang Cruise

TracieABD

By TracieABD,
in Princess Cruises

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ellie1145

ellie1145

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I hope that your flight made it ok and that you have an awesome cruise. Due to a lot of negative reviews, I am looking forward to some positive comments on your journey on the Royal. We sail on February 27, 2015 and are really excited about it. Look forward to your live feedback!

 

We, too, were concerned about the negative reviews before our New Year cruise.

 

All I can say is that some people must have too much time on their hands, and feel the urge to find fault in everything.

 

Royal was stunning, spotlessly clean, and beautiful. The crew were superb, always smiling, ready to greet you, happy to help you without being asked, we could not have asked for more. As for the food, well it was amazing, the new buffet areas are simply wonderful and I have never seen such a wide range of excellent food on ANY ship (and we have sailed on over 40 cruises including Cunard and Celebrity). I won't even mention the Pastry Shop, just thinking about it will put pounds on! Food and service in the MDR was first class, and the range of food, including Princesses soufflés, was awesome.

 

Yes, there is NO staircase by the central lifts. It might have been a minor irritation to some, and it would have been better with one, but it did not affect our cruise one iota. Yes, our balcony was small, but it was perfectly formed, and our family of four spent a wonderful sail away on it with no discomfort whatsoever.

 

Add to this the wonderful ports we visited, it really was a great cruise, even though we missed St Kitts due to high winds.

 

If I am honest the entertainment was a little disappointing, and our CD was one of the worst we've ever had, but we did not have high expectations of Princess as we know its not their strong point, but it certainly didn't wreck our vacation. We enjoyed leisurely dinners, and made our own entertainment, being with family was the most important thing. Other people may have enjoyed the entertainment, that is just our view on it.

 

So please look forward to your Royal cruise, ignore the whingers, and I hope you have as good a time as we did!

 

Bon Voyage!

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TracieABD "Live from...." Rare

TracieABD

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Thursday, January 29, 2015

 

Sea Day! Sea Day! Sea Day! (said in my best Monster Truck Announcer voice)

 

It is not even 7:30 am and already I am up and moving, so I thought I would add a bit to the thread. I will say, I am cruising with a very sleepy batch. The IC is a veritable graveyard. There is one lonely guy drinking coffee and a table of three women chipping teeth. I know some have said finding a place to sit here can be a challenge, well, that is certainly not true at 7:28 am. So, I guess it is a matter of perspective.

 

I was up pretty early, so I popped over the the Concierge Lounge (CL) for a quick iced latte to get me moving. I know there has been a bit of discussion about the CL and its usefulness. I really like it. It is not as big as HAL's Neptune Lounge, but it has all of the really important stuff. Like an espresso machine. It is a bit smaller, but I have seen it utilized quite a bit. I know that this is a new concept on Princess, but I really do it hope it catches on to other ships in the future.

 

After my first latte, I dressed and went up to the jogging track. I have written a number of times about how I am not a fan of Princess jogging tracks. They are either too small (16 laps= 1 mile--- who can even count that high, coupled with knee stress- as you are in a turn constantly) or the track is around the mini-golf so you have people standing on the track; or the track is in a prime viewing area so people stand on the track and create congestion (come on, folks. There are 16 available decks on most Princess ships- do you have to stand on the track???); or in the case of the NCL Spirit: the jogging track is in the smoking area! Yep. Can't make that stuff up!

The verdict for the Royal jogging track? I really like it. It is marked with two lanes- one for walkers and one for runners (still this confused some of its patrons- SMH). It is a 7:1 ratio, so you don't get knee fatigue. There is not any other huge incentive or distraction to create unnecessary traffic. I am just trying to get back to jogging, so I would walk on, then jog one. The jogging is questionable however, as I am slower than a herd of turtles stampeding through peanut butter, but I was able to maintain the ratio for 45 minutes. Like I mentioned last night, it is going to be a battle to balance caloric intake with a bit of exercise. I am hoping to be up to a couple of miles of slow jogging by the time I must disembark. This is such a great venue to make that attempt. Now, if I can manage my expectations vs. my reality.

 

I headed down to Sabatini's. I am the only patron this morning. Of course, the ship is a bit of a ghost town and Sabatini's certainly reflects this. But as always, the staff are falling over one another to be accommodating. I ordered my super-special coffee (double espresso, a glass of skim milk, and a glass of ice). I am super control-freak when it comes to my coffee, so I have to prepare it. I ordered my fruit plate (no apples), one poached egg and 2 slice of bacon. I was super slow to eat the fruit plate. I really like that they did not even begin to prepare the egg and bacon until I finished the fruit plate. Cold poached egg= icky. And here I sit, writing... Not even 8 am and it is already a perfect day!

 

...And a busy one, as well. I have the Sanctuary booked, the CC Meet and Greet; and Royal Tea reserved. I am looking forward to the Royal Tea, as we actually managed to have a reservation at Raffles in Singapore the day before the second "cruise that never happened" so this is sort of a make-up tea. I will report back on it later tonight.

 

For now I will sign off! Thanks for hanging in with me.

More later!

TL :) :)

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compozer

compozer

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Glad you made it.

 

We have been doing suites for ten years and have never had a steward come in with a clipboard. That is a good idea - maybe it is his idea - you hit the jackpot with him. Usually room service delivers the fruit. Again, your guy really wants to make things nice for you. Makes you feel really special - relax and enjoy your trip.

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jagsfan

jagsfan

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Ummmm, in the IC there were three ladies chipping teeth? Were the pastries that stale, or were they frozen? Or were they chewing on the tables? I'll have to start getting up earlier on my cruises to see what people are up to.

Have a most glorious cruise, and don't leave anything out.

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Camelia-

Camelia-

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the fact that we all totally empathize so strongly with the worry of not being able to step onto that cruiseship..lol!! We've all been there at one time or other!! I'm sending positive thoughts and really look forward to the "live" too..I'm so looking forward to checking out the Royal..

 

Camelia-

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Bolthead

Bolthead

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With 56 days to go to our cruise, reading reviews like this only makes the time go slower. (Sydney - Singapore) I AZ m enjoying this report and it only motivates me to do s similar review when we sail.

 

sent from Bolthead's Samsung 3

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TracieABD "Live from...." Rare

TracieABD

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Friday, January 30, 2015

 

Another Sea Day! Sea Day! Sea Day!!!!

 

Good morning-

I feel as though I have returned from the dead. Yesterday, not much worked as planned, but that was really for the best, as I was not feeling well. I am pretty sure I was not sick, just exhausted. I was supposed to be in the Sanctuary and go to the Royal Tea. Neither of those things happened, but luckily, I get a do-over today.

 

So yesterday...

I went up to see my lounger at the Sanctuary. I cannot be in the sun (even for really short amounts of time). It was so windy up there. Not breezy. Not blowy. But, blow your lips back windy. The only available lounger was in a veritable wind tunnel, so I declined. Without any issues, Princess removed the charge from my account. I decided to just spend some time in the Enclave instead.

 

The Enclave is beautiful. It is quiet and peaceful. I love the therapy pool. Yes, the loungers are only heated slightly, but I found that to be advantageous, as every other part of this area was heated nicely. This actually gave me a place to cool down a bit. They have instituted other changes to this area as well. There are four specialty showers. Each shower has a different theme, such as Siberian Rain or Tropical Mist. There are two water loungers, but I could not really figure out how to best utilize these, so I just stayed away. There are three steam rooms. Each of these rooms has a different twist as well. In the back of the Enclave is a partially walled off section with another four tiled loungers (I guess for added quiet). This was not included as a suite benefit and it was a bit more spendy than the Thermal Suites of other ships, but I have no regrets. It is a lovely area and I am thrilled with the addition of the therapy pool. I think this change is a definite keeper! Sadly, after a couple of hours down there, I began to feel not so great.

 

I returned to the room to get ready for the CC Meet and Greet. I have to say, this was a really well attended event by both CC members and the crew. There were probably 50 CC members and at least 10 members of the crew, including the captain (I have never seen this before!). I made a small speech and told a couple of jokes regarding the lack of the center stair case. He also announce that on R3, there will be a center staircase (I will like that!). They provided salty snacks. I ordered a fountain ginger ale for my mom, and they did not charge for it. I am not sure if that was the rule, but it was nice touch. I still was feeling pretty out of it, so I was not terribly social. I did get to meet some of the CC "heavy hitters" and I might have gushed a bit. Vicki and Bernie were there and so was Lew! I was thrilled to meet them as I have been a fan for quite a while.

 

After the M&G, I had to take a nap. I don't nap often. When I do, it is normally a 15 to 20 minute power nap. This nap was a 2 hour coma. I woke more tired than I was before I slept. My mom and I decided to postpone our Royal Tea. I knocked around the ship a bit, but ultimately, I just returned to the room. We did not go down to TD. I ordered a little room service, but did not eat much. I was in bed and asleep by 9. To be honest, I was worried that I was getting sick. I am normally a go-go-go kind of girl, but I just could not move.

 

I have figured out how the TV works, and I love it! It is so nice to have movies on demand. If you do not have time to finish the movie, you can pause it and pick it up later. On the other system, where they played movies on a loop, you would have to wait until another showing to complete it. This is a great new feature. I hope they roll it out on all of their ships.

 

I will end this now, and pick up today in another post. Thank you for hanging in with me!

 

More later,

Tracie-Lynn :) :)

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KbdKid

KbdKid

Posted
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Friday, January 30, 2015

 

Another Sea Day! Sea Day! Sea Day!!!!

 

Good morning-

I feel as though I have returned from the dead. Yesterday, not much worked as planned, but that was really for the best, as I was not feeling well. I am pretty sure I was not sick, just exhausted. I was supposed to be in the Sanctuary and go to the Royal Tea. Neither of those things happened, but luckily, I get a do-over today.

 

So yesterday...

I went up to see my lounger at the Sanctuary. I cannot be in the sun (even for really short amounts of time). It was so windy up there. Not breezy. Not blowy. But, blow your lips back windy. The only available lounger was in a veritable wind tunnel, so I declined. Without any issues, Princess removed the charge from my account. I decided to just spend some time in the Enclave instead.

 

The Enclave is beautiful. It is quiet and peaceful. I love the therapy pool. Yes, the loungers are only heated slightly, but I found that to be advantageous, as every other part of this area was heated nicely. This actually gave me a place to cool down a bit. They have instituted other changes to this area as well. There are four specialty showers. Each shower has a different theme, such as Siberian Rain or Tropical Mist. There are two water loungers, but I could not really figure out how to best utilize these, so I just stayed away. There are three steam rooms. Each of these rooms has a different twist as well. In the back of the Enclave is a partially walled off section with another four tiled loungers (I guess for added quiet). This was not included as a suite benefit and it was a bit more spendy than the Thermal Suites of other ships, but I have no regrets. It is a lovely area and I am thrilled with the addition of the therapy pool. I think this change is a definite keeper! Sadly, after a couple of hours down there, I began to feel not so great.

 

I returned to the room to get ready for the CC Meet and Greet. I have to say, this was a really well attended event by both CC members and the crew. There were probably 50 CC members and at least 10 members of the crew, including the captain (I have never seen this before!). I made a small speech and told a couple of jokes regarding the lack of the center stair case. He also announce that on R3, there will be a center staircase (I will like that!). They provided salty snacks. I ordered a fountain ginger ale for my mom, and they did not charge for it. I am not sure if that was the rule, but it was nice touch. I still was feeling pretty out of it, so I was not terribly social. I did get to meet some of the CC "heavy hitters" and I might have gushed a bit. Vicki and Bernie were there and so was Lew! I was thrilled to meet them as I have been a fan for quite a while.

 

After the M&G, I had to take a nap. I don't nap often. When I do, it is normally a 15 to 20 minute power nap. This nap was a 2 hour coma. I woke more tired than I was before I slept. My mom and I decided to postpone our Royal Tea. I knocked around the ship a bit, but ultimately, I just returned to the room. We did not go down to TD. I ordered a little room service, but did not eat much. I was in bed and asleep by 9. To be honest, I was worried that I was getting sick. I am normally a go-go-go kind of girl, but I just could not move.

 

I have figured out how the TV works, and I love it! It is so nice to have movies on demand. If you do not have time to finish the movie, you can pause it and pick it up later. On the other system, where they played movies on a loop, you would have to wait until another showing to complete it. This is a great new feature. I hope they roll it out on all of their ships.

 

I will end this now, and pick up today in another post. Thank you for hanging in with me!

 

More later,

Tracie-Lynn :) :)

 

 

I thought I saw you on deck! kLrbhwBld8-rwqj0cXlDrdHt4KXPmJmVvITCT6S9CW4=s259-p-no

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TracieABD "Live from...." Rare

TracieABD

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More Friday, January 30, 2015

 

My Do-Over Day (Let's hear it for Mulligans!)

 

I woke up and guess what???? I felt better! We will have to chalk this up to exhaustion. Yay! Another to sea day to fritter away at leisure. :)

 

My mom and I went to Sabatini's for breakfast. After one whole day, the wait staff remembered EVERYTHING. It is mostly about my coffee. (see a couple of posts ago if you want to know exactly how high-maintenance I am). My mom really enjoyed breakfast there.

 

I had pre-reserved the Sanctuary with trepidation. I ran up to check on the logistics of the lounger (remember no sun), the wind factor (no wind tunnel tests), and the over climate. The steward captain found a lovely lounger for me in a shady spot, and the wind was in tolerable ranges. I decided to stick with my do-over plan. It was lovely up there. Breezy, warmish, quiet. I will say, this is a different crowd than on the rest of the ship. These are people who do not mind paying a premium to relax. My kind of people. I decided to eat my lunch up there. I had the edamame, the gazpacho, and the grilled chicken fattoush salad. The gazpacho was wonderful, as was the chicken salad. The edamame? Not so much. It was very over-cooked, almost to slimy. Maybe this was a one-time anomaly. A veritable international cornucopia of food. I planned to pick through this slowly. I know that some have complained about the $3 delivery fee, but this is not an issue for me. For those who have asked, it is $3 per time. You can order as few or as many dishes as you like :$3. It amazes me how quickly time passes in the Sanctuary, but I am glad I decided to go with the per diem plan. I am not sure I would get the full use, as this is a fairly port intensive cruise. I will keep attempting to book it at will, though. I really feel like I am on vacation when I am up there.

 

I will also take a moment to dispel some rumours about the suite/ Elite laundry amenity. I send out laundry almost everyday. I like to jog and exercise, so I end up with some pretty stinky clothes. I spoke with Richard, cabin steward extraordinaire, about our wish for (almost daily) laundry service. On morning 2, I stuffed the bag, filled out the slip and checked for standard delivery. Richard let me know that express laundry (in by 9/ out by 5) is complimentary! And there you have it, folks. I am witness to the privilege of Express Laundry!

 

Another item of interest: We do not drink, so we asked on day 1 to swap out the mini bar for 2 coffee cards. We went to lunch, and there were two coffee cards/ and the swap-out receipt on the desk, and the mini-bar was still intact. So I called room service to thank them for the coffee cards and to remind them to take the mini-bar. I left the cards attached to the back of the receipt. We came back later and the mini-bar was gone. The curious part of this was the attached 2 more coffee cards on the front of the receipt. So now we have 4 cards and a receipt. Thank you, Princess, for keeping me well caffeinated! We have debated a bit about whether or not to return the extra 2 cards, but they had to have known that we already had two, because they attached them to the receipt.

 

The Enclave picked up speed today. There were at least 5 people in there. OMG--- an over-crowding situation. Ok, maybe not so much. So far, the patrons have been very quiet. Unlike, one cruise on the Ruby. A family purchased one pass, and then sneaked the whole lot into the Thermal Spa. Then they would spend hours squirting one another with the hoses. This was the same family who did cannon-balls in the Lotus Pool. Wow. Just wow. I think this group may have a bit more comportment. At least, I hope so.

 

I am going to go ahead and post this, as it is getting a bit lengthy. I will post the rest of the day in a later post.

 

Thanks for hanging in with me!

 

More later,

Tracie-Lynn :) :)

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