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LIVE from the Regal - Eastern Caribbean - 12/11/16

CanadianBurger

By CanadianBurger,
in Princess Cruises

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Weluv2cruise2007

Weluv2cruise2007

Posted
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Geocruiser and us missed winning trivia by one point!

 

After that I talked to the Photo Manager. He knew about the special $49 package price on the Royal, but said they were testing it on just the one ship. Apparently they are going to test various different packages (10-photo packages, for example) on different ships to see what gets the most traction. He also offered some insight into how photos will work on the Majestic: your photos will show up on your smartphone, and you can order them from your phone. There is no photo gallery.

 

Finally!!! I have been thinking about this for a long time...seeing the incredible volume of pictures which get tossed in the garbage after every cruise was sickening...and Princess could obviously stand to earn some points in the environmentally friendly department! It makes no sense to print thousands and thousands of pictures and then toss them out!

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Weluv2cruise2007

Weluv2cruise2007

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It will be interesting to see how that works out.

 

Only a guess, but I think sales will go down unless a person has the all inclusive photo package.

 

o I do not think the facial recognition software is yet good enough to actually show you every photo you are in (it certainly was not very good when we were on the Royal Princess and used their kiosks.)

 

o Not everyone has a smart phone (including me).

 

o Unless the software to show/purchase photos is extremely simple to use (and available for a number of languages), passengers will just skip trying to use it.

 

o Comparing two photos I expect to be harder on a smart phone that holding a print of each.

 

I also wonder what protection there will be to stop passengers from just saving a copy of a photo on the smart phone.

 

This is how it works at Disney. You have a photo card which you hand to any photographer taking your picture and your pic is available for viewing within moments of it being taken. I can't remember if it is even possible to download, but I imagine you could screenshoot it, but they are watermarked. Understanding not everyone has a smartphone/iPad they will have to offer kiosks or accessibility in the internet cafe. All in all I think it is a wonderful initiative and makes my environmentally friendly heart happy!

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CanadianBurger Great Review Rare

CanadianBurger

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It makes no sense to print thousands and thousands of pictures and then toss them out!

 

 

I had a conversation with the photo manager, as I work for Kodak (Fuji supplies the paper to most cruise ships.) The unsold prints are recycled to recover the silver. The actual cost of materials for one print is only 10 cents, so they don't need to sell a huge volume to make money.

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CanadianBurger Great Review Rare

CanadianBurger

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St. Thomas

Due to strong headwinds and currents, we were an hour late docking at Havensite. No problem for me, as my snorkelling tour isn't until 12:30. I did a private booking on the Fury to Turtle Cove with Captain Mike. I'll post pics from my GoPro later today. It's nice having AT&T data so I don't use up ship minutes today!

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gotta cruise again "Live from...." Rare

gotta cruise again

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Really enjoying your review, CanadianBurger!!

 

I did notice that the dinner menus no longer seem to have the items listed by course. There are appetizers and main dishes only; used to have the appetizer, soup/salad, pasta, then main course (or similar type listing of courses).

 

I didn't notice this last August so I'm wondering if this is a rather new change...maybe to discourage folks from ordering an item from each course (like 4 items) and now only ordering 2 (appetizer and main). That could get people through with their dinner more quickly and with fewer numbers of wait-staff nowadays, makes things easier/faster for them too.

 

Thoughts??

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geoherb "Live from...." Rare

geoherb

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I'm enjoying your review, especially the photos. I noticed that your Italian night menu is different from what we had last week on the Caribbean Princess. I did not recognize most of the items. For instance, I had the prosciutto and melon appetizer. I don't remember everything else--just that the items were different.

 

Having the menu arranged like this did not stop us from ordering what we wanted last week. DH frequently ordered an appetizer, soup, salad, and main dish. Others at our table would order two appetizers and a salad and a main dish. Our waiters were happy to bring us whatever we ordered. We were fortunate to have excellent waiters at dinner (second seating traditional).

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azbirdmom Great Review Rare

azbirdmom

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Check Alfredo's at lunch on a sea day. One of the chefs was making spaghetti carbonara in the middle of the dining area and it was excellent. And we love the veal ravioli too.

 

I agree that the MDR Italian menu on the Royal and Regal was different than what we have had on other Princess ships. The chicken dish on other ships does not have ham, and the eggplant parmesan appetizer (my favorite) isn't the same recipe either. I noticed differences on other nights as well.

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CanadianBurger Great Review Rare

CanadianBurger

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Had a fantastic outing on the Fury with Captain Mike. Loved being under sail with my feet over the deck. I highly recommend this if you're looking for a fun excursion in St. Thomas. The sea turtles were amazing.

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And yes, the AppleWatch series 2 can be worn while snorkelling!

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Edited by CanadianBurger
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CanadianBurger Great Review Rare

CanadianBurger

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Had to go to Alfredo's when I got back on the ship for the veal ravioli again. I was famished after snorkelling!

 

We went to see Nathan Foley's show in the Princess Theatre before dinner. Great musical performance, and he really engaged the crowd.

 

MDR Dinner, which was open seating tonight, but we got our usual table and wait staff.

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I had the Curtis Stone Pork Belly last September on the Ruby and didn't like it, but I thought I would give it another chance. I'm glad I did, as it was excellent and very flavourful. Oddly, the presentation was completely different from what it looked like on the Ruby, which I thought was strange given that it's a Curtis Stone dish.

I also had the Turf (no Surf), and it too was excellent.

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Finally remembered the dessert menu:

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caribill

caribill

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This is how it works at Disney. You have a photo card which you hand to any photographer taking your picture and your pic is available for viewing within moments of it being taken.

 

If you have a group picture taken does everyone in the picture hand over their photo cards?

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caribill

caribill

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The Norwegian Gem, Norwegian Epic, and the Regal, all lined up.

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Your picture gives the perfect answer to the oft asked question "shoild I book a cabin on port or starboard for the best view when in port?"

 

(By the way, the third ship from the left does not look like the Regal to me.)

Edited by caribill
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