sherman931

Just noticed I said our cabin was E 436. Correction it was B 436

Wife and I sailed on the CB on her 2nd voyage out of Port Everglades 10 years ago. The ship still looked pretty good today. It was clean, well maintained and our cabin (E436), bath and balcony were in excellent shape. Overall, service was great. Our room steward Rodelio was excellent. He made sure we had everything we needed or requested and then he was invisible for the rest of the cruise.*

After many cruises in the Caribbean my wife and I do not go ashore much, we cruise to eat, drink and gamble. Also, we are no longer youngsters.*

Saturday. Dress code Casual

We sailed on time. It was hot, but the weather was good. We always reserve a our favorite table in the Coral dining room for anytime dining. We ate at 8 PM each night. The show in the theater was the usual Welcome Aboard Presentation. There was also a preview of the comic who was on board Carlos Oscar. He performed the next night and then left the ship. No more comics after that.*

There was a movie everyday at 1PM in Princess theater. Today's movie was Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit.*

Sunday. Princess Cay. Dress code Casual. Anchored

Today we anchored off of Princess Cay from 9AM to 3 PM. The show in Princess Theater was Variety Showtime and the comic Oscar Carlos. A Princess favorite Bert Stratton was in Crooner's Bar. Bert turned out to be the primary entertainment for the week appearing in Crooner's, Explorer's Lounge and even in The Princess Theater. I like Bert, but his act hasn't changed much that I could tell.*

The afternoon movie in the theater was X-Men, Days of Past.*

Monday At sea. Dress Code Formal

Today was the first sea day. It is also the day of the Champaign Waterfall. The show in the Princess Theater was Piano Man. Another daily Entertainment group appearing throughout the week was the Sounds of the Los Brilliantes Mariachi Trio.

British Style Pub Lunch available in Crown Grill.*

The afternoon movie in the theater was Non-Stop.*

Tuesday Ocho Rios. Dress code Casual. Docked at pier

We arrived at Ocho Rios at 9AM and departed at 4:30PM.*

The show in the Princess Theater was Caribbean Caliente. There was a jazz group in Crooner's, The Jazz Cafe. Today they held a Black Jack Tournament.*

The afternoon movie in the theater was Million Dollar Arm.*

Wednesday anchored at Grand Cayman. Dress code Formal

Entertainment in Princess Theater was an illusionist, Landon Swank. The jazz group was in Crooner's and Bert was nowhere to be found.

The afternoon movie in the theater was Captain America, The Winter Soldier.*

We left late because they had a hard time weighing anchor. It took almost an hour to get the anchor free. Never found out what the problem was.*

Thursday Cozumel at the pier. Dress code Casual.*

We arrived at Cozumel at 10:30 and departed about 8PM.

The shows in Princess Theater were Do You Wanna Dance and The International Crew Show. Bert was in Explorer's and a pianist was in Crooner's.*

The afternoon movie in the theater was Chef.*

Friday At sea Dress code casual.*

Show in Princess Theater was Variety Showtime with mentalist Carl Andrews. A pianist was at Crooners and a group called Passion was at Explorer's Lounge.*

The afternoon movie in the theater was The Lego movie.*

Other observations:

No poker tournament.*

MUTS included: Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Million Dollar Arm, Scene It Movie Second Edition, Frozen, Concert Sheryl Crow, Gravity

Crab Shack was available on Tuesday and Thursday.*

Flamenco Dancers appeared in the Piazza.*

Steel Drum frequently performed in the Piazza

Pianist frequently appeared in the Piazza.*

The weather was great and the seas were smooth.*

Conclusion.*

We enjoyed the cruise. We love the Caribbean Princess. We had previously cruised on the new Royal and did not care for the changes that were made. It is a beautiful ship but we felt it was not as "functional" as the grand class ships.*

Back to the CB. I thought the food was average, it was all good but not great.

The crew were wonderful, except for the waiter in the Coral Dining room who thought he was a wine sommelier. He was pushy and obnoxious. I would never put that on a comment card because I believe Princess may be too harsh with a reaction.*

The casino was good to me because I got to play with there money for several days although at the end they did, as always end up with some of mine.*

We have Aloha 732 booked - not too far from the cabin you were in. Did you notice any bad smells or odors in your cabin or on your balcony? Did you have any soot issues?

 

Thanks for the review - very helpful.

No problems with soot or anything else. Great cabin and great location.

Thanks for your thoughts on the Royal.

 

Our group will be on the Regal Maiden TA next October and are thinking of using anytime dining. How and when did you make your reservations?

 

Thanks in advance.

Check the Patter the day you board. There is usually a notice stating where and when the Maitre D will be taking reservations. He is usually in one of the dining rooms.

Just back from the 5 day Royal Princess cruise 10/29-11/3

This is not a full review, just some observations (likes and dislikes) about the Royal and the cruise. Wife and I were in Aloha708 a balcony cabin.

Living Area

The cabin was nice. The big screen TV mounted on the wall is a nice improvement. The layout is basically the same as grand class ships. With the TC on the wall the area over the refrigerator was more open. There was some nice to have shelving adjacent to the refrigerator cabinet. Took a while to figure out you have to leave your cruise card inserted in the master lighting switch by the door.

The balcony seemed a little less deep than grand class ships, but is was still OK.

Cabin storage also seem a little smaller in the area of the closet/shelves. Sare is a little bigger and now has a shelf included. You can easily store a tablet, but not a laptop

Bathroom had a bigger shower with a foot rest for the ladies. Shelving seemed larger also. The sink and counter is definitely larger Same storage under the sink. These space improvements are at the expense of standing area in the bathroom. Not a lot of room for standing and drying yourself after a shower. NOTE: toilet paper holder is definitely a problem. Princess needs to find a better location.

Horizon Court

Big improvement. Spacious and open, with lots of seating. Takes awhile to figure out the food station arrangements. Food was good although we only had breakfast up there a couple of times.

Anytime Dining

We always eat any time dining. We had a standing reservation for 8PM at the same table with the same servers. Service was excellent. Dining room was never really packed on any of the nights. Princess makes great appetizers and soups. I seem to find entrees hit or miss, especially meat dishes. Meats tended to be dry and tough. As always fettuccine Alfredo was great. We ate lunch at Alfredo's Pizzaria once. I had a calzone and antipasta, wife had a pizza, all was good.

General Areas

Atrium is spacious and very elegant. Vines, International Cafe still on deck five. Purser and Tour Desk is now on deck five also.

No Explorers Lounge (which I missed greatly) and it is replaced by Princess Live which is like a TV studio. There were a lot of activities i.e. karaoke, Princess Pop Star, newly wed game, scheduled in this venue. It is not that big and as people walk by they group around the small entrance door to see what is going on and others can't get in or out. Personally I think in is totally impractical concept.

No central staircase above deck 7 which seemed to overcrowd elevators as those whose cabins are in the central area of deck 8, 9, etc. had to use elevators to go up/down one or two decks. Also elevators are smaller. I could touch both sides.

Crown Grill is adjacent to the Wheelhouse Bar. In order to get to grill you have to walk through wheelhouse. Also there is no separation, some of the tables in the grill are right next to tables in the wheelhouse. Close enough to shake hands with the people at the next table.

It seemed to me that Princess may have lowered staff ratios. Hard to find a server in the Atrium area. Also while on the upper decks no one seemed to be soliciting drinks as was the usual practice. If you wanted a drink you had to find a server.

I like playing slots, but for the life of me could not win a nickel, until the last night when I did cut my losses a little. Early on in the cruise I was sitting at a bank of 3 machines. I was playing at #3 and won $0, a lady was playing at#1 and she hit a jackpot for $9,000. The casino had a small smoking section. Also the chairs in there are so big it makes moving around difficult.

Shows were OK. Typical Princess fare.

Summary

All in all we had a good time. Ship is really very elegant and beautiful, but I found it to be all show and little substance. I guess I am just a big fan of Grand Class ships because we will not sail on Royal again, but are still Princess fans.

I hope you will enjoy the Coral as much as DW and I did. Great ship with a great crew.

If someone who bakes bread is a baker, why isn't someone who cooks food a cooker? ;)