PurpleTraveller

I have stayed at Hotel Olimpia which is very close to Piazzale Roma with only one bridge to cross and two bridges from the train station. It has a lovely small garden where you can have breakfast or escape the hustle and bustle of Venice.

It would be very dependent on the ports on an itinerary. For instance ships anchor in Kotor, Montenegro and the view is lovely because you can see the bay plus you get a beautiful sail in and sail out of the Bay of Kotor. When you dock at Katakolon, Greece you have a view of the very cute town. Messina, Sicily has a nice view over the city and you can watch the ferries coming and going from the port. Naples, Italy has a nice view of the city and across to Mt Vesuvius. In Corfu you have a view across to the city and forts. Valletta, Malta has a beautiful view of the harbour and city, Rhodes, Greece has a view over the old city and Kusadasi, Turkey has a view of the city and Pigeon Island. You can get a good view of Santorini and also Mykonos in Greece. I could go on and on as I have been to many of the ports in the Mediterranean but I won't bore you. As a very general rule the larger ports such as Barcelona, Civitavecchia (for Rome), and Livorno (for Florence) are not particularly scenic but the smaller ports often have a lovely view but is not always the case. There is beautiful scenery from the ship in both east and west Mediterranean ports but in my opinion the east probably just beats the west. I daresay others would think the opposite. 😊

Wow! Firstly, I'm glad you are okay and managed to join your cruise and husband. I hope you enjoyed your cruise because you deserved to after all you went through. Secondly, thank you for taking the time to write your account of your experience. It is very informative and interesting to see how it all worked. I had a similar experience on a metro train in Madrid in 2022 but fortunately I escaped the two men who targeted me thanks to a local man who warned my husband. So I know it can happen very quickly and please don't blame yourself in any way because they are experts at stealing.

I don't know if this would interest you but it could be nice to visit the Villa Borghese Park. Besides being a shady and quieter haven from the hustle and bustle of Rome there is a small lake where the Temple of Asclepias is. You can hire row boats which are fairly inexpensive. This could be a fun activity particularly if it is a hot day. Your four year old could also look for tortoises in the lake. The gardens are also nice for a stroll under the trees and there are playgrounds for children. There is also a Zoo which has a cost to enter and there used to be a little tourist train that went around the park. There is a wonderful view over Piazza del Popolo and Rome from the Pincio Terrace. The park is large so it would be best to look at a map to see where things are so you don't have to walk further than you need to. The nearest metro stops are Flaminio or Spagna. http://mobile.060608.it/it/cultura-e-svago/verde/giardini-ville-e-parchi-urbani/villa-borghese-parco-di-culture.html https://www.turismoroma.it/en/places/villa-borghese-park The Spagna metro station is close to the Spanish Steps and the Flaminio metro station is close to Piazza del Popolo. You could get the train from Civitavecchia to Rome and the metro to Colosseo station to see the Colosseum then get the metro to Flaminio or Spagna station and walk from there to the park. After visiting the park get the metro from Flaminio or Spagna station back to Termini to get the train back to Civitavecchia.

I was on the same Royal cruise as azbirdmom in December and thought the breakfast buffet was much the same as prior to Covid. We didn't eat in the buffet for lunch or dinner. In the MDR for lunch on sea days it was the same menu every day and the food was good. There was no repetition during the 13 nights of dinner menus in the MDR though I found some menus were not terribly interesting. The food was good but not great and I only had a couple of very good meals. For the first time ever (after twelve Princess cruises) I had a meal that I thought was horrible and had to ask for something different. I thought overall the meals I had in the MDR on Crown Princess in June 2022 were better. I thought the pizza from the pool deck was very good.

I have seen the minimum bid to upgrade go down as the cruise got closer. On my June 2 Alaska cruise the first email on March 20 it was AUD425.00 per person minimum bid to upgrade from an Obstructed Oceanview to a Standard Balcony. On May 5 it was AUD296.00. It probably depends on how full the ship is and how many have placed bids for the different categories.

I was on a Celebrity "Small Group" excursion in Kotor, Montenegro in June 2022 which had 29 passengers and we were in a full size bus. On a Celebrity standard excursion a few days later in Messina, Sicily there were 28 passengers. If you want a true small group maybe look for a private tour where you know how many participants there will be.

We prefer to DIY whenever we can too but have also done a number of wonderful private tours. We tend to do ship shore excursions when we have lots of OBC or there is not a lot of choice of private excursions that I am interested in or if they are on a big sale with Celebrity. I haven't used Shore Excursions Group before so will check them for tours in Iceland. Thanks.

With Princess even though they are refundable I have to take into consideration the currency exchange between USD and AUD. For my Alaska cruise last June I lost AUD120.00 in currency exchange when I cancelled and rebooked my cruise to get a better fare and all my booked excursions were cancelled and refunded. Then the excursions were all USD20.00 per person more expensive when I rebooked them. Luckily the saving from the better fare was more than the exchange loss and higher prices. That's why I am reluctant to buy the excursions so early if I'm using my money but I think I'll have to for the popular ones. If I use OBC I don't have to worry about exchange rates as my OBC is in USD. I booked a heap of excursions for my two Celebrity cruises next June at 45% off and one at 50% off which saved me a huge amount. Also Celebrity charges me in AUD so if I cancel an excursion I get refunded the exact amount I paid with no exchange rate losses.

I completely understand as I didn't want to buy September 2025 excursions so early. I was surprised when they went up so far before the cruise. I still haven't bought mine even after seeing three of the ones I was interested in go up USD15.00 per person. I might buy one at a time but it still seems really early to buy them.

In ten years I have never seen a sale on Princess excursions. I have seen the prices of some excursions go up including some of the ones I was looking at for my September 2025 cruise to Iceland.

Conclusion We had a great cruise and these are my opinions only. Embarkation and Disembarkation Embarkation took 40 minutes with most of that waiting in the line to get to the check in counter. Once we got to the check in counter hall we were able to use the Priority lane and were at a counter almost immediately. Once we had our medallions we were on board quickly. Our embarkation was thankfully a lot better than what we had experienced in Vancouver in June. Disembarkation was quick and easy. Ship Royal Princess is in great condition and is just as good as when we sailed on her in 2016. We like the larger Horizon buffet and Piazza but miss not having a full Promenade and Skywalkers. Overall she is a wonderful ship and we would happily sail on her again in the future. Cabin As I mentioned earlier we were upgraded from the Obstructed Balcony we had booked to a Balcony on Caribe deck 10. The cabin was comfortable and in a good location. We only used the lifts a few times and being on deck 10 meant it wasn't too far up to the Lido deck on 16 or too far up from the Piazza on deck 5 to our cabin on deck 10 when using the stairs. The only disadvantage of this cabin was that it is next door to a four berth cabin which I would normally never book a cabin next to. There were four older teenagers next door and at the start of the cruise they were a bit rowdy and we could hear and feel thuds and crashes from next door. We were happy that the noise lessened as the cruise progressed and we heard little from them for the last week of the cruise. Fortunately our bed was very comfortable unlike the terrible bed that we had on Crown Princess in June. Food We found the food in the buffet at breakfast was the same standard as we have had previously. We did not eat in the buffet for lunch or dinner. The International Cafe was great for a light lunch and we ate lunch there a number of times after returning to the ship from a day in port. We also ate at the Burger Grill and Slices Pizza on the Lido deck for lunch where the food was of the same standard we have had on previous cruises and was good. We ate in the Concerto Dining Room for dinner every night and the food was good with a couple of exceptions that were very good. We had better food in the Dining Room on our Crown Princess cruise in June. We did not eat at any specialty restaurants or Alfredo's which was deserted whenever we walked past. One thing I noticed was the very watery apple juice each day at breakfast in the Horizon buffet. Some days it was so watery it was more like a glass of water with a small splash of apple juice and was almost tasteless. I have never experienced this before as I always drink apple juice at breakfast when on cruises. Service Overall the service we received throughout the cruise was great. We had fantastic service in the Concerto Dining Room from our waiters Richard and Santosh. Robert the restaurant manager was outstanding and gave us excellent service and looked after me and my food allergy. They were the best dining team we have had on any Princess cruise. Occasionally the service on the back deck of the Horizon buffet was lacking and we either had to ask the crew who were standing in the sun chatting for a drink or go into the buffet to get ourselves a drink. The service in the Horizon buffet at breakfast could also be very slow and on the few occassions that we had breakfast inside we had almost finished our breakfast before anyone asked us if we would like a drink. Our steward didn't introduce himself or ask us if we needed anything. I only met him for the first time when I went to find him at 8.00pm on the first night to get towels as we didn't have any in our bathroom. We barely saw him but our cabin was kept clean and serviced. Packages We didn't purchase a package as we drink little alcohol, don't drink coffee and don't need daily internet. We had OBC and used it to pay for our shore excursion and our drinks during the cruise and left the cruise not owing anything. We used free internet on shore at Tauranga and Paihia only to check emails. We did not use OceanNow to order food or drinks as we are happy to get our own. Weather The weather forecast before we left didn't look good with cool temperatures and rain forecast at many ports. Fortunately, though the temperatures were not very warm they were higher than forecast and we didn't have any rain when we were in port. We also had a few sunny days. Unfortunately it was quite windy on many days, particularly our Sea Days, and the upper decks were closed on many days. Ports We enjoyed all our ports even though we had been to all of them previously except the Bay of Islands. We were delighted to get into the Fiordland National Park and see the Sounds on our third attempt. It was a pity that we missed the sail away from Picton as it was dark when we left but it couldn't be helped. New Zealand is beautiful and the people there are lovely, friendly and helpful. Shuttles We had to use shuttle buses at a couple of ports as they were industrial ports where pedestrians can not walk. We did not have any issues but apparently the shuttle buses to Christchurch from Lyttleton were a bit of a mess with some passengers not getting to Christchurch until well after 12.00pm. The Captain apologised for the long delays that evening but a number of passengers we met were not impressed with their shortened day in Christchurch due to the delays. We did notice that although times were given for shuttle and tender tickets to start being given out, that they started giving them out earlier than stated. Tenders We only had to use tenders at one port in the Bay of Islands. I thought that the tender ticket system worked well and we were happy with the time we were able to get off the ship. We did not have to wait to get on a tender to return to the ship. Shore Excursions We only did one shore excursion in Dunedin which we enjoyed though it was rushed. Other passengers we spoke to enjoyed the shore excursions they did. As mentioned previously it was fortunate that the excursion that was unable to return to the ship in Picton was a Princess excursion so that the passengers were looked after and were able to return to the ship in Auckland. Lectures/Presentations We enjoyed the Enrichment Lectures by Russell Twomey and DH particularly enjoyed the Navigation at Sea Presentation. We thought that the Destination Presentations did not give enough time to what there was to see and do and how to do it, at each port. We also noticed that the Tauranga public bus information given was incorrect. Entertainment We went to the Theatre to see three Production Shows, a couple of singers and the Farewell Variety Show. We enjoyed all of these particularly the "Colours of the World" Production Show. It was necessary to get to the theatre half an hour before a Production Show to get a choice of seats and 10 minutes before the show to be assured of a seat. We listened to other music around the ship and in the Piazza and enjoyed it all. Passengers The ship was almost full and most passengers we encountered were great. We met some lovely people when having dinner and in the Theatre. There was a wide range of ages from babies to older passengers. There were a number (but not a large amount) of children and teenagers on board and the ones we saw were well behaved. There was a large number of passengers from Asia and the important announcements were made firstly in English and then in Mandarin. (The following Christmas cruise was going to have 600 children on board and the same number of adults as this cruise.) Covid/Gastrointestinal Illness The ship had a deep clean before we boarded as the previous cruise had an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness. The crew were making sure that everyone washed their hands before entering the buffet and there were repeated reminders to wash hands and use the hand sanitizer. For the first few days bread rolls, butter and salt and pepper shakers were not on the tables in the main dining rooms and they were served by the waiters. We heard of a few of cases of gastrointestinal illness but we were not aware if it was a major issue. There were a few cases of Covid that we heard about on the cruise but it did not hear that it was widespread. We only used the elevators a few times and wore masks when we did. We also wore masks when the Theatre was crowded and on shuttle buses and the one shore excursion bus we were on. We also washed our hands and used hand sanitizer everywhere we went. Overall We had a great cruise and enjoyed visiting New Zealand again. Royal Princess is a lovely ship and we were pleased to cruise on her again. We would be happy to sail on Royal Princess again in the future. Well this is the end of my review. Where are we off to next? We will be going to India at the end of February next year, have a land trip to Turkey in June next year followed by a 7 day Greek Island cruise on Celebrity Infinity and a 10 day Italy and Croatia cruise on Celebrity Constellation. Our next Princess cruise is a 14 day cruise on Emerald Princess to Iceland and the British Isles in September 2025, though I wouldn't be at all surprised if I book another one before then. Thank you for reading my review. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and New Year. 🎄 Until next time Bon Voyage! 🛳️

Sometimes bidding doesn't open until much closer to the cruise. For my recent Royal Princess cruise on December 2 we were not eligible to bid for an upgrade after final payment which was on September 2 until we were notified by email on October 27 that bidding had opened. This was only 37 days before the cruise.

I'm sorry but I don't know. I did meet a couple of people who were doing the following Christmas cruise to Fiji but I don't know what the procedure was. If anyone else knows maybe they could reply. Hope you have great cruises in March! 🛳️

Not at all! I loved how every day I would see some new decoration somewhere around the ship. I also loved the kangaroo and joey - a lovely Aussie touch! 🦘 Hope you, your husband and your family have a wonderful Christmas and New Year and hope to meet up again with you on a future cruise. 🎄

You are very welcome! Glad to have been of some help in your planning. Thanks for reading and I hope you have a great cruise! 🛳️

General Information Just a few extra bits of information. Ship's Senior Officers Cabin Power Points There are one European and two US power points at the desk in the cabin. Cabin Toiletries These are the provided toiletries in the cabin.

Christmas and Holiday Season The ship was decorated throughout for Christmas and the Holiday Season after we were in Christchurch (Lyttleton). There was a great display near the International Cafe on deck 5. Even the pool area got into the spirit.

Friday December 15 -Disembarkation Sydney We arrived in Sydney on a beautiful morning and the announcements started at 6.00am. We went up for our last breakfast on the back deck of the Horizon Buffett. We were able to sit in the sun and enjoy the view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House. We went for a last walk around the Sun deck where we could see the city. We returned to our cabin to collect our luggage and while taking a last look out from our balcony we saw Pacific Adventure sail under the Harbour Bridge. We made our way to Deck 7 at 7.40am and it took us about ten minutes to get off the ship. It was then another ten minutes to get through the queue to hand in our Incoming Passenger Cards to an Immigration Officer. At 8.00am as we walked towards Circular Quay we bade a fond farewell to the lovely Royal Princess. DH kept our luggage while I walked around to the Opera House for a couple of last photos. And our Royal Princess New Zealand cruise was over. 😢 I will post my Conclusion of my thoughts about the cruise shortly.

Thanks. I'm glad I've helped you look forward to your cruise. I'm sure you'll have a wonderful cruise as New Zealand is beautiful. Have a great time and enjoy spending the holiday season onboard! 🛳️

Thank you. I'm pleased that you have enjoyed the review. 😊

We weren't affected by the ticket system but I know many were. If they state a time to collect tickets they should stick to it or if the ship arrives early make an announcement with a new earlier time to collect tickets. That would make it fair for everyone.

Thanks, I'm glad that you have enjoyed the review. 🛳️

Thank you. I'm so pleased that it has brought back great memories to you. New Zealand is one of those places that you can go back to over and over again and still enjoy because it is so lovely. Thanks again. 😊

As the person who originally posted about the situation where we had to sail without our passengers, unfortunately it is true. On Royal Princess on December 8 when in Picton, New Zealand one of the Princess shore excursions was unable to return to the ship after being caught up in delays due to a traffic accident. We waited for five hours but eventually sailed. The passengers on the Princess shore excursion rejoined us three days later in Auckland on December 11. The relevant posts are #31, #33, #42 and #47 on my review. https://boards.cruisecritic.com.au/topic/2979295-new-zealand-on-royal-princess-december-2-2023/page/3/