Live from the Royal

[as promised, albeit a late start]

Position: 27N 64W on ENE course, ocean depth 16,500 ft:eek:

290 nautical miles from Bermuda, closest we'll be to land til Sat.

Weather: warm, humid, hazy (but did see moon, Jupiter last nite)

Time zone: Atlantic, lost our first hour last night

We boarded the Royal in Ft. Lauderdale on Sat. for a 14-day sail across to Europe. There are more than 200 on our RC and many activities have been planned for the sea days ahead. Quite a few of our fellow RC members (and, no doubt, many other pax on the ship) are continuing on for the first 12-day British Isles cruise. We are Barb & Al, both retired, from a northern suburb of Detroit. This is our 26th Princess cruise and 46th overall; our 7th TA and 3rd eastbound.

Lisa Ball is our cruise director and we are happy to see her again, having enjoyed her many talents as CD and performer on the Crown for a Caribbean B2B in Jan. 2014. She told us that Dan, her Deputy CD on that cruise, is now a CD! He also got married since then. He was fantastic (very, very funny!) and we were happy to hear he now has his own ship (Island P).

I LOVE the ship so I’m sorry I was a bit negative about it sight unseen. It really IS spectacular as many, many others have said. In our first 36 hours I think we’ve done pretty well experiencing many of the unique features of the ship and her sister, the Regal.

I had a massage in the Lotus Spa on Plaza deck fwd early yesterday morning. This relocation was one of my major complaints about the Royal’s design, as it eliminated all the unobstructed OV cabins—one of our preferred cabin areas on the older ships. I now regret that I didn’t do the spa tour as I usually do so I didn’t see the Enclave or anything other than the ladies’ dressing room (no free sauna there) and my treatment room.

I visited Bellini’s (Deck 6) in the late afternoon for a Classic Bellini—great place to watch the ballroom dancing one deck below. The Rick Kilburn [he’s a crooner] quartet provided the music. We’ve had lunch in the Horizon Court (love it!!) and in the Horizon Bistro (like it, too). Visited the Pastry Shop just once so far—trying to be more careful in the calorie department. Had dinner in the HB; the Crab Shack ($20) was staged there, too.

Last night we were part of the live audience for a taping of the Yes/No game, which Lisa mc’d, in Princess Live! It was hilarious, as usual, and the audience really got into acting like TV audiences do. Later we watched the “dancing waters,” Watercolor Fantasy with a James Bond theme. Also have walked through both skywalks, both through them and on top of them (didn’t know you could do the latter).

to be continued

Looking forward to your Royal experience. We will be first time Royals in Oct. May we also ask for your and fellow shipmates room pros and cons as you go along?

Thank you for posting. We'll be on the second leg of your cruise to the British Isles, leaving on May 9th. Looking forward to updates.

Thank you for sharing your journey with us. Look forward to your continued updates.

Melissa

I am so glad to see a "live from". We will be boarding on May 9 for the British Isles cruise. This will be our first time on the new Royal, so I am interested in your impressions.

Hi

Post when you can, as for those heading to UK weather is some what interesting,

last week day time temps here was 21c yesterday 1c over night was 10c in highlands last night minus 8c,

today at sea level snow.

hope you packed you fur bikinis,

yours Shogun

T hank you for the posting of your Royal Princess cruise. We are on the

May 9th. cruise. We were on the old Royal Princess in 2001. I am sure

it has changed quite a bit. We leave for London on May 6th. Looking

forward to this trip and to see the new Royal Princess.

See everyone soon,

Adrianne

Looking forward to your Royal experience. We will be first time Royals in Oct. May we also ask for your and fellow shipmates room pros and cons as you go along?

Ask away!

Thanks for doing this...we are among those who love the Royal and Regal, and glad that you have found things to love too.

Thanks for doing this...we are among those who love the Royal and Regal, and glad that you have found things to love too.

I just got off the Royal on Saturday and loved it too. I can't believe people complain about it.

Sue

Thanks for the live report. Enjoy your cruise. :D

Position: 28N 56W on ENE course, ocean depth still 16,500 ft :eek:

500 nautical miles from Bermuda

Weather: high of 75, humid, hazy (saw only a hazy moon last nite)

Have sailed 1,524 [land] miles, 1,877 [land] miles to Ponta Delgada (will reach halfway mark tonight)

Our itinerary: Ft. Lauderdale—6 days at sea—Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel, The Azores—2 days at sea—Cobh, Ireland (for Cork etc.)—1 day at sea—Rotterdam, The Netherlands—Zeebrugge, Belgium (for Bruges, Brussels)—Southampton

This is our shortest eastbound TA with just the 4 ports. Our first 2 EB TAs were from Ft. Lauderdale to Copenhagen. The first (Star P, 2010) was 18 days long and included stops at Le Havre, Goteborg (Sweden), and Oslo in addition to the ones on our current cruise. The second (Emerald P, 2012) was 16 days long and stopped at Ponta Delgada, Cobh, Falmouth (England), Le Havre, Rotterdam, Zeebrugge and Oslo.

We have also done 3 westbound TAs, 2 from Southampton (14- and 18-days) and 1 from Copenhagen (16 days). Those TAs are a whole other story—itinerary disruptions are common due to bad weather in the north Atlantic in Sept. Not to mention encountering that bad weather (the weather was so bad that the doors to the outside decks were locked one day on our Sept. 2009 TA on the Crown). We’re not bothered by high seas, but those who are would want to be sure to be prepared. In contrast, the eastbound TAs are usually fairly tranquil affairs with no missed ports.

Royal cabins: we are in E228 with balcony, just fwd of the fwd stairs/elevators and up one deck from the theater. This is a very handy location! We usually prefer being mid-ship on Deck 8, but with no mid-ship stairs on the Royal, it didn’t make any sense to be there for this cruise.

My overall impressions of the cabin: lighting is much better/brighter (they’re probably now using LED bulbs, which are economical to use). With the TV shelf over the fridge now a thing of the past, the outer wall of the cabin is more open visually (not to mention no more bumping one’s head on that shelf!). There are now matching mirrors over the desk and the fridge, giving more visual openness. Otherwise, the cabin layout is unchanged. The closet seems a bit narrower (both shelves and hanging area) and the bath is configured differently as has been reported. The shower is larger, the toilet moved to the side wall, and the sink/counter about the same, but the sink is wider, deeper, and rectangular in shape (very nice!). I do happen to have a tape measure with me if anyone wants to know the exact measurements! [it was in a goody bag we received at the Best Western Plus on Stirling near FLL.]

Night Entertainment--We’ve enjoyed the first 3 evening shows: Sat.: the usual first night with the lead male singer and dancers doing “Let Us Entertain You,” the first comedian on this cruise (American Cary Long, who does his full show tonight), and Lisa the CD introducing her staff; Sun.: violinist George Scott from Manchester, Eng. (played a variety of music from Whitney Houston tribute to gypsy music to Riverdance and more); and Mon. (formal night): production show, “Colors of the World.

Daytime Entertainment—more trivia than ever, culinary demonstrations, Zumba, ballroom dancing lessons, Pop Choir rehearsals, etc. The nearly daily lecturer is Ian Black, who will be talking about Lord Nelson and other prominent British men of the seas (we went to today to hearPrincess is also featuring Sound of Music events since it’s that movie’s 50th anniversary as well.

Thanks for taking your time and internet minutes to help us follow along on your cruise. I see you are in cabin E228. We'll be be in E226 later this fall. We picked this room for the same reason as you, no central stairs. One question is since it's an obstructed cabin how obstructed is it? Also what about motion? A little concerned you might feel a bit more movement there than more midship? Thanks for your input and answering questions.

duplicate

The final paragraph in my post earlier today got messed up. Here is what I meant to write:

Daytime Entertainment—more trivia than ever, culinary demonstrations, Zumba, ballroom dancing lessons, Pop Choir rehearsals, etc. The nearly daily lecturer is Ian Black, who will be giving 8 lectures about Lord Nelson and other prominent British men of the seas, as well as other naval history topics. Today we went to hear about looking for the Northwest Passage and learned a lot of the brave men who gave their lives looking for the NW Passage. Loie Lennon is our port lecturer and today was her presentation on our first port, Ponta Delgada, the capital city of the Azores. Both Ian and Loie are good speakers IOHO.

*******

Tomorrow: a shout-out to our RC organizers, party planners etc.!

Horizon Court & Horizon Bistro - what's the diff?

The final paragraph in my post earlier today got messed up. Here is what I meant to write:

 

Daytime Entertainment—more trivia than ever, culinary demonstrations, Zumba, ballroom dancing lessons, Pop Choir rehearsals, etc. The nearly daily lecturer is Ian Black, who will be giving 8 lectures about Lord Nelson and other prominent British men of the seas, as well as other naval history topics. Today we went to hear about looking for the Northwest Passage and learned a lot of the brave men who gave their lives looking for the NW Passage. Loie Lennon is our port lecturer and today was her presentation on our first port, Ponta Delgada, the capital city of the Azores. Both Ian and Loie are good speakers IOHO.

 

*******

 

Tomorrow: a shout-out to our RC organizers, party planners etc.!

Horizon Court & Horizon Bistro - what's the diff?

Lots of rain today and how is the temperatures.

Thanks for taking your time and internet minutes to help us follow along on your cruise. I see you are in cabin E228. We'll be be in E226 later this fall. We picked this room for the same reason as you, no central stairs. One question is since it's an obstructed cabin how obstructed is it? Also what about motion? A little concerned you might feel a bit more movement there than more midship? Thanks for your input and answering questions.

Actually, I wish we'd pick that cabin! We are ahead of the foremost tender, but there's a little narrow platform just outside our balcony, below the railing. Not a big distraction, but I don't see anything at all obstructing the balcony next door. We're not particularly sensitive to the ship's motion, but we're far from the bow so I don't think motion should be a problem in E226.

Lots of rain today and how is the temperatures.

Yes, it's been pretty dreary, especially this afternoon, although the "ceiling" is lifting and the clouds appear to be breaking up. Noon temp was in the mid-70s. At this afternoon's rum tasting (free!) I heard a pax tell another that there had been 4 t-storms today. We only one thunder clap and that was after the rum event.

BTW, Loie, the port lecturer, said we should be on the lookout for whales as they're heading north right now. She had photos of them from last year's TA. We plan to do a whale-watching boat trip, weather permitting, while in Ponta Delgada.

Actually, I wish we'd pick that cabin! We are ahead of the foremost tender, but there's a little narrow platform just outside our balcony, below the railing. Not a big distraction, but I don't see anything at all obstructing the balcony next door. We're not particularly sensitive to the ship's motion, but we're far from the bow so I don't think motion should be a problem in E226.

If you meet or see Mary and Tom Sheridan, please say Hi to them from Bill and Diana McVey from Redding, CA. We met them on the TA Island Princess in March this year. We so enjoyed their company! Have a wonderful cruise, wish we were there too!:)

Hey Barb -- Have a great Cruise.:D

Say "Howdy" to Alan for me.

Thanks for taking me along Barb. So sorry I can't be traveling in person on a cruise we looked forward to for so long, but life happens. Bon Voyage and have a great time with our fabulous roll call and all the wonderful planned events. Folowing your live thread will lift my spirits.

Susan

 

This is our shortest eastbound TA with just the 4 ports. Our first 2 EB TAs were from Ft. Lauderdale to Copenhagen. The first (Star P, 2010) was 18 days long and included stops at Le Havre, Goteborg (Sweden), and Oslo in addition to the ones on our current cruise. The second (Emerald P, 2012) was 16 days long and stopped at Ponta Delgada, Cobh, Falmouth (England), Le Havre, Rotterdam, Zeebrugge and Oslo.

 

My overall impressions of the cabin: lighting is much better/brighter (they’re probably now using LED bulbs, which are economical to use). With the TV shelf over the fridge now a thing of the past, the outer wall of the cabin is more open visually (not to mention no more bumping one’s head on that shelf!). There are now matching mirrors over the desk and the fridge, giving more visual openness. Otherwise, the cabin layout is unchanged. The closet seems a bit narrower (both shelves and hanging area) and the bath is configured differently as has been reported. The shower is larger, the toilet moved to the side wall, and the sink/counter about the same, but the sink is wider, deeper, and rectangular in shape (very nice!). .

We were on the Star in 2010 with you. It was an excellent itinerary for our first TA. We regret not extending the cruise from Copenhagen to complete the Baltic cruise.

I agree the lighting is much improved on the Royal and Regal. I love the lights on the sides of the mirrors for applying makeup. I hope you have good weather as you continue on the cruise.:D

I just got off the Royal on Saturday and loved it too. I can't believe people complain about it.

 

Sue

we also got off her on saturday, we waited to get thrown off of the ship which happened at 10:30, I had to get full use of my beverage package, and was enjoying my bloody marys at the Outrigger Bar.

Hi Barb,

Can you please tell me if there are clotheslines in the showers? I will be in E310 on Deck 8. Also what is the wine policy for boarding on Princess cruises - 2 bottles ?- is there a corkage fee? Thanks,

Jackie

Hi Barb,

Can you please tell me if there are clotheslines in the showers? I will be in E310 on Deck 8. Also what is the wine policy for boarding on Princess cruises - 2 bottles ?- is there a corkage fee? Thanks,

Jackie

I'm not Barb but I have sailed the Royal and can confirm the presence of the clothes line in the shower.:D