Goldenpaw

We're booked on the Royal for 20 days in December. This could also be booked as two ten day segments. We are Platinum but unsure if we will each get 250 minutes for each segment for a total of 500 or only 250 total. Anyone know?

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We sailed to the Mexican Riviera on the Golden and again on the Crown. I recommend the Tequila factory tour in Puerta Vallarta. I don't remember many specifics about the ship, sorry.

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Have to admit I'm confused. What is UBD?

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Thank you! We've decided that we'll just use pool towels to sit on. Love the view from the back of the ship.

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We were in an aft cabin on our one and ONLY Carnival cruise. Only 'soot' was cigar ashes from the balcony above us....

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Hoping for more information from someone on the repositioning cruise about this issue. We're booked in R734 in December for 20 days and hope to use the balcony!

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Wonder if you can confirm something. We're on a Dec cruise on the Royal, Riviera deck, aft facing balcony. Just read that they're covered in soot every morning. Would like to know while we can still change cabins....

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We're booked for 20 days on the Royal in R734, which is an aft facing balcony. Just read a comment that the aft balconies on Royal & Regal are covered with soot every morning.

Can anyone confirm whether this is true! I enjoy my morning coffee on the balcony and love watching the sunrise. If this is a confirmed issue, may look into a cabin change...

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We aren't big drinkers, but Princess usually has one or two happy hours with 2 for 1 drinks.

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So, cash it is. Basing this on our experience that our room stewards on every cruise so far have been from the Philippines, a mostly Catholic country.

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We're on the Royal for 20 days, embarking on Dec 10. We want to do something for our cabin steward on Christmas, but I'm a bit baffled as to what might be appropriate. Is cash in a Christmas card acceptable? Perhaps an edible treat we've picked up in a port?

What do others do?

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Good news is that when the Royal was in dry dock recently the center staircase that was formerly crew only was finished for passenger use. [emoji106]🏻

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As it turned out, the hide-a-bed was quite comfortable. Buying another cabin was not an acceptable option as Mom would not have been comfortable in a cabin alone. DW was prepared to take the hide-a-bed if necessary, but it worked out ok.

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We have sailed on the Regall, Crown, Golden and Star since December and all told me no GF hamburger buns were available. I wasn't a fan of the GF bread. On the Crown, Alfredo, the head waiter, was amazing, even remembering our cabin number.

Our experience is that you update your cruise profile to include your dietary restrictions and find a head waiter in the Horizon Buffet or MDR after boarding. In the buffet area ALWAYS ask a chef if items are GF. They are easy to spot as they wear tall hats. The head waiter will take care of you in the MDR, almost everything on the menu can be prepared GF, including pasta! Desserts are not the best, but the buffet always has at least one. The coconut cake and flourless chocolate cake are excellent! They can also make a GF pizza, some ships require 24 hours notice. We've sailed on Princess 4 times since I was diagnosed with Celiac and never a problem!

You can view photos of the Regal on CC. As I remember from a December cruise on the Regal, the table is a small (approximately 15-18 inch diameter) table that is more of an end table. Seems like I used it to prop my feet up...

On the Regal (I assume Royal as well) you don't have the option of inserting quarters, you swipe your cruise card for tokens.

We sailed out of Vancouver a month ago and had similar issues with embarkation, except the added confusion and crowd of a 3d ship boarding.

We sailed back into Canada Place a week later and it was just as described, except our ship was delayed leaving San Francisco and didn't pull into port until 2:00. We managed to get off only to have to wait because the luggage was still on the ship! We had to catch the Amtrak back to Seattle and discovered after arriving at the station that one suitcase was damaged.

We've cruised 9 times, 4 different companies. We walk around the ship a lot, and try to limit desserts. I've never gained weight on a cruise, but I suppose an extended multiple week cruise could be different!

We encountered crew members who refused to allow us to utilize the crew stairs to return to our cabin. We were directed down the stairs to attend the muster and then told we couldn't use them to go back up.

We cruised on the Regal in December 2014. The lack of stairs midship above Deck 7 was an issue after the muster when we couldn't get on an elevator. A group of us located a 'crew only' staircase that wasn't guarded and returned to Deck 9 that way. Otherwise it is an amazing ship. A nice touch is the hooks behind the door in our cabin. Nice to hang a hat, jacket, etc.

We were upgraded from a balcony to a mini-suite on our last cruise and they notified us by email. We had the option of declining it - yeah, right!

It's our understanding that the Royal and Regal are sister ships and nearly identical, so I would imagine they both have the same type sofa.

Looking for information on the hide-a-beds in the mini suites on the Regal Princess. Anyone ever slept on one? Would you put your mother on one for 7 days?