Live from the Royal

Looks like nice weather. :D

Hi There, Katy my other half and I join RP in Southampton, for our second around Britain last time was Golden Princess. Really looking forward to it.

Been checking the long range weather forecast....not too bad, somewhere around 58 / 65 for the 2 weeks starting next Saturday. Good news is it looks as if the 13 days will be relatively dry all the way including Scotland.

Guernsey on the Sunday is predicted Sunny, Cobh and Dublin Sunny / Cloudy etc.

Great to know there is a good atmosphere on board.

Anyhow as a local has sorted out what we are going to see and do in each port so if you want any advice let me know.

Joe Hamilton:)

The full laundry story was missing; all's well that ends well:

 

Laundry: upon embarkation, Elites were greeted in their cabin with a notice stating that we should expect laundry turnaround to be 72 hrs because there are so many of us aboard. Happily, it’s only been 48-hrs the two times we’ve sent laundry in. However, they managed to “replace” my heavy tan rib knit cotton sweater with a flimsy purple hoodie in the first load. It took 2 more days to get my sweater back. Then today’s return was missing a t-shirt. Neither of us could remember whose shirt it was or what it looked like and I think it was a clerical error on my part while filling out the form. Oops!

Enjoy the rest of your cruise.....:):):)

Bob

It sometimes pays to take a photo of the articles you seen in for laundry in case something of value turns up missing.

Hi BarbinMich,

Has the MDR menu changed since the Caribbean sailing? My British Isles cruise on the Royal is coming up in a few weeks. Please share any info you have on the MDR menus. Thank you! :)

Land ho! Plus the sun, too!! Can’t get better than that after 6 cloudy/rainy days at sea. We love Ponta Delgada and Sao Miguel so it was good to be back. We hadn’t made any plans, but had a few ideas. As I mentioned earlier we knew the Caribbean P had been diverted here after not being able to stop at Bermuda. They got to dock at the terminal and we were docked just opposite, along the breakwater. However, we learned from a couple off the CB, whom me met in the Jardim António Broges, that the CB pax got no shore excursions so docking at the more convenient terminal was the least Princess could do for them. [The couple also told us that the CB will be in Cobh with, another unscheduled stop for them.] Not only did all the Princess shore excursion busses come out to the Royal, but also all the private excursion vehicles. The shuttle busses ran very frequently between the Royal and Sao Braz Fort at the west end of downtown Ponta Delgada.

As mentioned above, we made our way to the Jardim António Broges, which is about 0.5 mi. north of the fort. Even though the town is not laid out in a grid, the port guide map helped us find the park fairly easily. FYI, it involves a bit of an uphill walk. It was well worth it! A very green oasis, full of large palm trees, stands of bamboo and lots of shrubs. The azaleas were pretty much finished, but there were other flowers blooming. Lots of birds singing in the treetops; finally saw a few on the ground, which were all new to us. This must be a wonderful place for the locals who live in townhouses or apartments with no lawn whatsoever. The park also has a playground for younger children.

We took a different route on the way back and ended up at the Cathedral downtown. I have loved what the Portuguese do with their sidewalks since seeing it for the first time we first visited Lisbon in 2003. The practice has been continued in the Azores. So many different patterns! Even on the narrow stone sidewalks on the way to the Jardim, there were several different patterns. We found the town fairly quiet, especially on a Saturday afternoon when many shops are closed.

[Just had Sun. noon report from the bridge: we’re 400 mi NE from Ponta Delgada and have over 900 mi to go to Cobh. Ocean depth back down to 12,000 ft. so we’ve moved away from the undersea mountain chain on which the Azores sit. It’s overcast, but visibility is 15 mi, far better than on the way to the Azores.]

In the afternoon, I finally had the chance the explore the outer, upper decks of the ship, from stem to stern. And while those areas aren’t as spacious as on the older ships, they do exist. It’s very easy for us to get up to the Retreat Pool area as it’s directly above us and a bit forward. Pax were enjoying the pools, hot tubs and loungers. Really the first day to be able to do so, as it was raining off and on even in FLL before and as we left.

We were excited to learn about the new royal princess born to our ship's godmother Kate today [sat.] on MSNBC. The Capt. mentioned it, too, when he made his departure remarks later. I thought maybe they'd string a banner across the Piazza. :p Or at least put up a little sign on the display case with Kate's dress and other mementos from the launch/christening.

Last night was the International Music Show in the Piazza. It involved every musician on the ship and all the singers and vocalists. There was music from Brazil, Italy, Greece and many other countries. It was magnificent! The night before (Fri.) we had the Mardi Gras Celebration in the Piazza, which involved the pax playing steel drums and other drums and dancing. Another spectacular event.

Friday night we also had our first DR experience (in Concerto). My husband loves lobster so that means we eat in the DRs at least twice a cruise. This was one of our best DR experiences ever. We had a table for 2 and I like the way they’ve arranged some of them in a semicircle. Even with the greater distance between the tables than usual there was more comr aderie, I think because our waiter was entertaining us all.

Land ho! Plus the sun, too!! Can’t get better than that after 6 cloudy/rainy days at sea. We love Ponta Delgada and Sao Miguel so it was good to be back. We hadn’t made any plans, but had a few ideas. As I mentioned earlier we knew the Caribbean P had been diverted here after not being able to stop at Bermuda. They got to dock at the terminal and we were docked just opposite, along the breakwater. However, we learned from a couple off the CB, whom me met in the Jardim António Broges, that the CB pax got no shore excursions so docking at the more convenient terminal was the least Princess could do for them. [The couple also told us that the CB will be in Cobh with, another unscheduled stop for them.] Not only did all the Princess shore excursion busses come out to the Royal, but also all the private excursion vehicles. The shuttle busses ran very frequently between the Royal and Sao Braz Fort at the west end of downtown Ponta Delgada.

 

As mentioned above, we made our way to the Jardim António Broges, which is about 0.5 mi. north of the fort. Even though the town is not laid out in a grid, the port guide map helped us find the park fairly easily. FYI, it involves a bit of an uphill walk. It was well worth it! A very green oasis, full of large palm trees, stands of bamboo and lots of shrubs. The azaleas were pretty much finished, but there were other flowers blooming. Lots of birds singing in the treetops; finally saw a few on the ground, which were all new to us. This must be a wonderful place for the locals who live in townhouses or apartments with no lawn whatsoever. The park also has a playground for younger children.

 

We took a different route on the way back and ended up at the Cathedral downtown. I have loved what the Portuguese do with their sidewalks since seeing it for the first time we first visited Lisbon in 2003. The practice has been continued in the Azores. So many different patterns! Even on the narrow stone sidewalks on the way to the Jardim, there were several different patterns. We found the town fairly quiet, especially on a Saturday afternoon when many shops are closed.

 

[Just had Sun. noon report from the bridge: we’re 400 mi NE from Ponta Delgada and have over 900 mi to go to Cobh. Ocean depth back down to 12,000 ft. so we’ve moved away from the undersea mountain chain on which the Azores sit. It’s overcast, but visibility is 15 mi, far better than on the way to the Azores.]

 

In the afternoon, I finally had the chance the explore the outer, upper decks of the ship, from stem to stern. And while those areas aren’t as spacious as on the older ships, they do exist. It’s very easy for us to get up to the Retreat Pool area as it’s directly above us and a bit forward. Pax were enjoying the pools, hot tubs and loungers. Really the first day to be able to do so, as it was raining off and on even in FLL before and as we left.

 

We were excited to learn about the new royal princess born to our ship's godmother Kate today [sat.] on MSNBC. The Capt. mentioned it, too, when he made his departure remarks later. I thought maybe they'd string a banner across the Piazza. :p Or at least put up a little sign on the display case with Kate's dress and other mementos from the launch/christening.

 

Last night was the International Music Show in the Piazza. It involved every musician on the ship and all the singers and vocalists. There was music from Brazil, Italy, Greece and many other countries. It was magnificent! The night before (Fri.) we had the Mardi Gras Celebration in the Piazza, which involved the pax playing steel drums and other drums and dancing. Another spectacular event.

 

Friday night we also had our first DR experience (in Concerto). My husband loves lobster so that means we eat in the DRs at least twice a cruise. This was one of our best DR experiences ever. We had a table for 2 and I like the way they’ve arranged some of them in a semicircle. Even with the greater distance between the tables than usual there was more comr aderie, I think because our waiter was entertaining us all.

Glad the weather has improved some and glad you're having a good time , enjoy the rest of your cruise.

Here are responses to some recent posts:

Tracie ABD: I talked to Lisa Ball and she said she’d be on til January.

Alabaster Cruiser: thanks for the info re the mid-ship restrooms on Deck 7; unfortunately, there’s no sign for it in the main hallway, but is on the deck plan in the elevator lobby.

WisCruiser2: We’re sorry to report that the Rick Kilburn Quartet is leaving the ship soon (Cobh, as I recall). I really enjoy listening to them and watching fellow pax dancing to their music. They’ve been playing in the Piazza since we got on except last night they played in the Vista Lounge—dance floor’s not very big but they still drew the couples I’ve been watching in the Piazza.

Miss Pat: thanks for the tip re photographing one’s laundry before sending it in.

chloral: We rarely eat in the MDR and I have no idea what the menus were during the Caribbean season.

Thanks to the rest of you for your good wishes.

Yesterday’s weather was dry and overcast, but the “ceiling” was much higher, so it was not nearly as gloomy as before the Azores. Today’s weather is partly to mostly sunny! It’s pretty cool and windy outside, though. We are on an altered course as we have a seriously ill passenger who needs to be Medivac’d. I assume we’re aiming towards Cornwall although the capt. was not specific when he made the announcement at noon. The transfer isn’t expected to take place until 9 or so this evening and no word yet on how this will impact our arrival time in Cobh tomorrow (orig. scheduled for 9 am, departing at 8 pm). Our thoughts and prayers are with the ill passenger and his/her family.

The big event during the day on Sunday was “Broadway Blitz,” with a 100+ pax cast plus some of the onboard entertainers. Toby, our Dep. C.D, led the cast into the Vista Lounge singing “Can You Feel the Love Tonight,” one of my favorite songs from Broadway. He has a wonderful voice and had once seriously considered live theatre as a career. In addition to various other songs from Broadway, the cast also had dialogue that tied the songs together. Really an impressive and memorable event!

Loie Lennon, our Destination Expert aka port lecturer, talked about Zeebrugge, our last port of the TA voyage, and neighboring Bruges, Ghent & Brussels. We’ve been to all those places so we plan to explore the small, quaint town of Blankensburg, just outside the port, weather permitting. Loie indicated there are a lot of things to see and do there. Earlier on Sunday, Ian did his last naval history lecture—this one on current piracy off Somalia. Today he talked about the British royal residences, both past and present, and including those currently occupied by the Queen’s extended family. He said he spends most of the winter lecturing on ships in the Caribbean, so look for him on your next cruise.

The last few days we’ve watched the Wake Show being taped in Princess Live! (usually some time between 1 and 3 pm). It gets confusing for both the audience and the participants. For example, today the officer who does the noon report from the bridge gave comparisons between the Royal P and the Star Wars ship (Vulcan something?) because it’s May the 4th, a major “holiday” for SW fans (Shea, the ship’s DJ and 3rd participant on the WS, had to explain all this to Lisa and many of the rest of us clueless folks.)

So Lisa starts talking about Star Wars during today’s taping forgetting that the tape was to be shown tomorrow, May 5. Course that makes tomorrow Cinco de Mayo and they didn’t really bring that holiday up. My DH was one of the 2 winners of the Question of the Day drawn at this taping. He hasn’t gotten the prize yet so we don’t know what he won (maybe it won’t arrive until tomorrow)—in the past it’s been coupons for that contraption in the Casino where one manipulates the arms to try to grab a packet of money.

Ah, such is life at sea!

For example, today the officer who does the noon report from the bridge gave comparisons between the Royal P and the Star Wars ship (Vulcan something?) because it’s May the 4th, a major “holiday” for SW fans

Right. It is based on "may the 4th be with you," a play on "May the force be with you."

Hi...Thanks for your live report, We are due on The Royal on 14 june for 12 day baltic cant wait.

We are in E101 on the front and the top of the ship!!!:)

Ken and Pam

Barb, i have been enjoying your reports and reading them with great interest as we will be on the Royal's next transatlantic ...bringing it back to Florida in September.

Enjoy the remainder of your cruise and be safe.

Hi There,

Great story you have been telling, thought you might like a weather update for the start of the around the UK - Sat - Cloudy, light rain - Southampton mid morn to mid afternoon, the sunny spells, Guernsey - Cloudy in Morning -Sun breaking out mid / late afternoon, Cobh - Cloudy with Showers around lunch time.

Incidentally - Guernsey Around the Island local bus 91/92 - £1.00 for the round trip......Cobh around 4.5 Euros return on train to Cork centre, Dublin Train again to centre of Dublin, or to Greystones for Wicklow Costal Path outside dock gates.

Hope to see you guys on board :)

Joe Hamilton

Princess - Elite

Princess / Holland America / P&O / Royal Carib / Carnival / Costa ( that was a mistake!!!)

The medivac happened without incident about 8:30 pm Monday night. The Capt. updated us after we departed Cobh as to the passenger’s condition. He was helicoptered to Royal Cornwall Hospital outside Truro (Cornwall’s “capital”) and was still being evaluated for possible surgery. We hope all goes well for him and his family.

Monday’s main entertainment was “Sweet Soul Music” with the Royal singers and dancers. It’s another show with minimal staging, just non-stop singing and dancing. It was ok, but not one of my favorites. Later we had “The Marriage Match Game,” featuring one of our RC couples, Susan and Frank (magistics)! They came in 2nd and the newlyweds won. Stargazing was scheduled for the 2nd time, but still the weather was not cooperative.

It was a lovely sail into Cobh yesterday, starting at 7:00 am for us early birds. The Caribbean Princess was approaching from a more southerly direction, not having made the diversion we did towards SW England, and got to enter Cork Harbor first. We fell in behind. The weather was clear so with the sun behind us, the lighting was great on the green, green coast of Ireland. We got to dock at Cobh, while the CB made do at Ringaskiddy, the secondary port for the area.

In the 18 months since we were last in Cobh, the Visitors Center in the old train station has changed its layout and one now has to pay to see any of the historical material. I assume that because the foot traffic from ships no longer flows through the station, the restaurant was nearly deserted, where it used to be quite busy. I also don’t remember seeing the local crafts people selling their wares anymore.

The town is still as picturesque and interesting as ever. We didn’t do a shore excursion so enjoyed just walking along the waterfront, shopping here and there. We heard that Kelly’s was entertaining as usual. There were locals scattered around the tables who were happy to talk about the town and its history.

As we departed the port, the captain told us to expect rough seas today and tonight (Wed.) as we sail around the south coast of England, through the English Channel, and up to Rotterdam. I hope we get to see at least Dover while it’s still light enough to see the Cliffs. Certainly the seas have been rough, but the Royal is handling them well. Last night we “lost” our last hour of the cruise, but will “find” it again Friday night/Sat. morn.

Last night’s main entertainment was comedian Tony Daro. He was very, very funny! Down in the Vista the cast and entertainment crew did 2 performances of “Ye Olde Pub Night.” We caught the end of the earlier performance. I don’t know if this is only done when Lisa Ball is CD, but such cruises have been the only ones where we’ve experienced this show. It’s a rollicking good time! In another change of pace, we finished the evening with the wonderful Capriccio Strong Quartet—four lovely, talented young ladies from the Ukraine.

Thanks for the update. Hopefully, the seas won't be too bad in the Channel.:)

It has been a bit stormy in the UK, we are about 80 miles north of the channel and very blowy

I’m writing this as I sit at Heathrow, awaiting our flight home. :( I apologize for being incommunicado for the last few days but those port days kept us busy. The sail around the south of the England from Cork to Rotterdam was pretty smooth considering the slightly rough water AND it was sunny, a rare commodity at sea on this voyage.

I love sailing into/out of Rotterdam so I was out on deck the whole way, at least once I got up around 8 a.m. By then we were pretty much into the port/industrial area. Downriver nearer the mouth the landscape is much more pastoral with swans here and there by the banks. The weather was looking iffy, but we didn’t get rained on. Saw lots of interesting and unusual ships and, of course, all the local traffic on canal boats. The captain had said the ship would be doing a 180 before we docked. I wasn’t sure the river was that wide! As it turned out, he turned the ship into ione of the side canals not too far downstream from the pier and then backed out going upstream. It’s possible that a tug pulled us the rest of the way to the pier—at least there was one aft, attached by a rope to our ship! We arrived right on time at 10:00, sailaway at 8:00.

We didn’t have any set plans for this port as we’ve been here before, been to Amsterdam, Keukenhof Gardens, Delft, the Hague, the K. Windmills, etc. on earlier trips. Princess offered a shuttle bus to the downtown area, which is across the river from the pier, so we took it without getting off. It took an entirely different route than it did when we were here in 2012, which was a pleasant surprise. We got to see the Cube Houses up close and personal, the old harbor area, etc. Each shuttle had both a driver and a guide and all the guides we/I had were good, with slightly different patter.

After lunch I took the shuttle by myself and explored the downtown area. One of the newest attractions and the first shuttle stop is the Markthof—a giant indoor market. The building is a short, squat horseshoe shape and at least 8 stories tall. There are apartments along the outside walls and inside the ceiling is painted with colorful, giant fruits and vegetables. There were stalls selling fresh foods of all kinds and others selling prepared, takeaway food. Along the edges were sit-down restaurants. A destination in itself! It was a glorious day for strolling around the city—more sun than clouds and temps in the 60s. I walked from the Markthof to the new Centraal Station (under construction back in 2012). It's quite a bold design as are so many of the commercial buildings. [Rotterdam was pretty much leveled by the Germans during WW II, hence the abundance of newish buildings.]

The sail back down the river ended just after sunset and it was one of the few photogenic sunsets we’ve had on this cruise. A lovely ending to our day.

Bright and early the next morning (Friday) was our last port, Zeebrugge, Belgium. The ship docks in a large commercial port—mainly a container operation. Princess offers a free shuttle to the port gate for independent travelers. It’s about a 5-10 min. walk from the gate to the tram, which takes you into the nearby town of Blankenberge, where you can take the train to Bruges, where most people want to go. I know I’m sounding like a broken record, but we’ve been there, as well as nearby Ghent, plus Brussels and Antwerp, which are further away. A day pass for the tram is just 5 euros. A number of pax took to the tram to Blankenberge as their destination for a day. And I was one of them—never thought I’d be spending a day at the beach in Belgium! Blankenberge has an extremely large white sand beach and pretty extreme tides. The beach is lined with hotels and apartments, probably built on a dike, since the town itself is about 3 stories below and would easily flood every high tide. There are dunes at the south end of town so probably similar dunes protected the town in the past. Parts of it are quite old (16th, 17th c.). Lots of typical Dutch (or Bruggian) buildings, a very large cathedral and lots and lots of shops and eateries. Well worth the visit, I think, and I didn’t even have time to visit their large casino or aquarium.

In my next post I’ll talk more about the the the Royal's onboard entertainment, which was wonderful, and which I've been neglecting so far.

Safe flight home Barb.

Many thanks for taking the time to write your fab reports. We are on the Royal around he British Isles in August and I am loving reading your posts. looking forward to those on the onboard entertainment.

Donna x

The full laundry story was missing; all's well that ends well:

 

Laundry: upon embarkation, Elites were greeted in their cabin with a notice stating that we should expect laundry turnaround to be 72 hrs because there are so many of us aboard. Happily, it’s only been 48-hrs the two times we’ve sent laundry in. However, they managed to “replace” my heavy tan rib knit cotton sweater with a flimsy purple hoodie in the first load. It took 2 more days to get my sweater back. Then today’s return was missing a t-shirt. Neither of us could remember whose shirt it was or what it looked like and I think it was a clerical error on my part while filling out the form. Oops!

We too were gifted with laundry, once a tennis sock and another time, a pair of beige slacks. I lost my favorite green sweater, but it turned up iyesterday n the lost and found on our last day. It took 24 hours for return for us too. We loved this Royal TA.