ceilidh1

Cruise Staff Team: It was a huge let down to have no cruise director on the sailing. Apparently, Natalie was coming to the end of her contract and injured her knee so ended up leaving early (I believe she left prior to the sailing before ours). The cruise staff team worked hard and were enjoyable, but I missed that high energy, face of the ship that a good cruise director becomes. I found the entertainment director, Ruth, very awkward in her announcements and felt that Guido or Jase would have done a much better job (those two really held the entertainment together). Some aspects felt very cobbled together - The Voice of the Ocean, for instance, had the crew manager as a stand in to present it (someone that no one on the ship had even heard of, never mind seen). It was meant to be hosted by Holly (cruise team) but she had been losing her voice earlier in the day so I guess she was taken off it (hopefully not Covid). I still enjoyed the activities and games and trivia offered but also feel it's time for Princess to offer something new and different rather than recycling the same things over and over.

https://www.princess.com/plan/cruise-with-confidence/cruise-health/vaccine-testing-requirements/ It's updated now!

Fair warning...the Coco Cafe is NOT good. I found out the hard way. Of course, I still finished it...

Never heard a peep from the Retreat/Santuary, BUT this was Alaska so I can't imagine too many people were up there at night (brrrr). Also no noise from MUTS or pool deck. The quietest cabin we have had

I forgot to mention the International Cafe in the food section above. I'm so sad that they no longer offer the chicken salad sandwich, but only have the chicken salad as a stand alone flower pot. That was always my go to snack. They did, however, have my favourite chocolate mousse. The donuts at breakfast were delicious and we often made our way there after failing to find anything at the buffet. It's great that it is open 24/7 as, coming from the bar late at night, it was the only place to get a snack!

Food: Obviously, this area is always subjective. I'm neither a gourmet foodie, nor a picky eater and felt the food we had on the ship was pretty good. Definitely nothing that wowed me, but nothing that was inedible. Food used to be outstanding on Princess - I don't find that the case now, but that is not unique to this ship/sailing. Most memorable meal was Crown Grill - steak was cooked perfectly and very tender and tasty. The sides, however, were a let down - mushrooms were cold and soggy, creamed spinach was most definitely not "creamed" and asparagus was overcooked. I was also disappointed to find that the dessert selection no longer included the "trio" sampler but the new desserts were good. I disliked that the cold soups in the dining room (my favourites) are no longer served in glasses, but in bowls. While they still tasted the same, the presentation just didn't work. Also, what did they do to my go-to dessert - the Love Boat Dream? That bright red outer shell is just a no for me! Alfredos did not disappoint - the pizzas and veal agnolotti are to die for. Kids also had several slices of pizza at the outside pizza place and reported favourably. We only went to the buffet two or three times and had trouble finding anything that appealing - no made to order crepes at breakfast, very small dessert selection in the pastry shop, and the tiny flower pot sized grab n go options were tough to juggle when carrying a plate and cutlery. Overall, I would give the food a 7/10 (with most of that 7 being Alfredos, which was the true winner in the food department).

Believe it or not. the Royal in Alaska just last week. I had heard bad reports so wasn't expecting much but, other than slowing down among the glaciers (to be expected) we had zero issues with the wifi and had 4 devices connected at all times. I was able to do a live from thread, post pictures, use all social media, and the kids even watched a movie or two. No complaints for once about wifi!

You recall 100% correctly. We just did the same thing last week - package was under my name, kids redeemed by logging in with my date of birth/room number. All four devices remained connected all week and wifi worked almost perfectly.

Premiere Upgrade: Was the upgrade from Plus to Premiere worth it? That is a tough question since there are several factors to consider for my case. Firstly, I was fortunate to get an experienced rep who was able to upgrade just my package and not that of DD (only because she was a minor - this is not possible if guests 1 and 2 are both adults). After doing all the math, I saved just over $100 by removing the Plus package from DD, adding the Premiere package for me, and then separately pre-paying grats and buying the coffee/soda package for DD. Since this was only a 7 day sailing, the additional cost for me to upgrade was $175. I thought this was reasonable as I would have had to upgrade the wifi to 4 devices anyways, we planned on going to Crown Grill anyways, and I REALLY wanted to get photos. I wasn't expecting much from either the upgraded drinks or the Princess Prizes (and my expectations in those areas were met...lol) I mentioned several times that most of the more expensive cocktails were not available as the high end alcohol was not available for them. I asked at several bars and received the same answer at all of them. I did get some great bartenders who were very creative and substituted with other high end alcohol, not to mention my favourite guy at Princess Live who would literally top up my margarita with Tequila and Grand Marnier each time I took a sip! I did have a few glasses of the more expensive wine at dinner a few times but, honestly, I probably wouldn't have known the difference between a $12 glass of wine and a $16 glass of wine so that piece is likely wasted on me! Had I purchased the upgraded package for the drinks alone (which I feel many will do) I would have been pretty annoyed. As it was, I got my fill of drinks and my bartenders took great care of me (and yes, I did end up tipping above and beyond...) Princess Prizes became a little addictive - I got a kick of going to the room and seeing a screen pop up either telling me I had an entry into the draw or a "Better luck next time". I did get an instant prize of $25 OBC, which was nice. I was very much looking forward to the end of cruise draw as I expected it to be some big, glamourous affair. This wasn't the case at all - the winners had all been pre-drawn and the names were just read off a card. You didn't even need to be present to collect the prize. The big prize of $5000 was a big cheque with the winner's name taped on and that was it. No fanfare, no excitement. It also very much sounded as if anyone opening their door was entered into the draw - I'm sure that's not the case, but it also felt like those that were there and won something seemed very clueless about how/why they had won. It felt a little strange (but it was the morning after I had been at the bar until 3:30am so maybe I was still a little intoxicated). Photo Package was the sole reason I upgraded and I definitely made use of it. We ended up with 72 digital photos and 3 prints. I wish they still did the photos at ports, but at least we got the embarkation one and some of the cheesy backdrop ones. The kids even got a recreation of Titanic! Ha Ha. Had this been a longer sailing, I likely wouldn't upgrade just for the photos as then the package becomes very expensive, but for 7 nights or less it would be worth it to me for this aspect alone. Would I upgrade again? Yes, on a 7 night or less sailing. Any more than 7 nights and I feel like the package loses value. If Princess were smart, they would introduce an incremental aspect - longer voyages get more dining, for instance. I also think that, if they want this package to succeed, they need to make sure that what is offered in the package is available on the ship. I understand everywhere is having supply issues but, if that is the case, then don't advertise what you don't have. I found it very hard to find pricing or availability of any specific brands of alcohol - Princess doesn't have a menu that lists this, only the menu of cocktails, etc. I love Pina Colada but dislike Bacardi so requested Zacapa - nope. Closest equivalent was Kraken. Everything drink related seemed like hard work, to the point where I gave up and just stuck to the listed cocktails (which is probably what they want you to do).

Recap and Thoughts... Was this cruise perfect? No. Did it have a few issues/glitches/frustrations? Yes. Did I have a blast? ABSOLUTELY! The following posts will be my thoughts and opinions on what was done well, what could have been improved on, and my conclusions on the sailing. These are my thoughts/opinions only and I totally appreciate that what might be frustrating for me might not even be on the radar of someone else, and vice versa. That being said, I always welcome thoughts and opinions of others (especially when they differ to mine) as I feel like it often puts things into perspective and what might feel like a big deal at the time, is actually pretty insignificant in the grand scheme of things. So don't hold back - I promise not to get offended or take it personally! CABIN: We were in a mini suite on Lido deck at the very front of the ship (L221). While I'm not at all picky about room location, I do tend to sail aft more than anywhere else simply due to the proximity of the kid clubs. I chose this room specifically to try out forward and Lido (neither of which I have tried previously). First thing to mention is that, while this is a connecting room, we had no one in the adjoining room so I can't accurately report on whether this would be an issue or not. Since the room was in a hallway forward of the forward elevators, the only reason to come that way would be to get to your room. This meant very little foot traffic and it was SO quiet - possibly the quietest hallway I have ever stayed in. I loved the proximity to the outside deck pizza, ice cream, and burgers (and bar) and this was great to run out and grab a snack. I also loved that the elevator ALWAYS seemed to be on deck 16 and it was a quick trip down to 5 for the International Cafe. I pretty much avoided the buffet this cruise because it just always felt crowded with the small sections they had open, but the room was also very convenient for the buffet. What I disliked about it was having to walk through the buffet to get aft to the kid's club - I love the handwashing stations but then always felt obliged to stop and wash my hands even though I was only passing through. Lol. I'm not sure if the lack of outlets is unique to a mini on Royal (I am almost positive that the balconies we stayed in on this ship had the USB in the lamps) but this was a real issue for us - with four of us, each with two devices and only two outlets it was a constant plugging and unplugging dance. I also didn't like that there was no outlet near the bed so I couldn't have my phone charging on the nightstand - if I woke in the night I had no clue what time it was as my phone was all the way over on the desk. Despite being so far forward, I felt very little movement on the one day that we had choppy seas. I would definitely stay in this area again and would give the cabin a solid 8/10 (really only lost points for the lack of outlets and USB sockets)

Here we go again... Just finished one cruise and now preparing for our December cruise. Right off the bat, the app is giving me issues but this time, in a new area (for me). I'm trying to order the medallion, since you need this to get into the green lane. Being in Canada, I obviously can't have it shipped (thank, Princess) but the "pick up at port" option says it's unavailable. So...what do I do? Is it because we are sailing from Galveston and it's a new port? Anyone else have this issue?

That's too funny - my teen was coming down to meet me and said that on the elevator someone was asking for Tracey! So, right teen...just wrong mom! The 11 year old is my boy, who is definitely not blonde!

Wow - I'm surprised there are so few on the Mexico portion. I really wanted to do that one but couldn't get the time off work. I love the "empty" ships but also miss the atmosphere on ful ships....

The glass was way too small for my liking - literally, two mouthfuls and you need to order another! I'm not a wine drinker so no idea if the type/size of glass is dependent on the wine inside it but I do know that I don't want to have to be ordering another drink every few minutes. Lol

Over the next few days I will do a bit of a recap/final thoughts/what did I miss summary. In the meantime, disembarkation was super smooth and easy. We had Gold 1 tags, with a meeting time of 9am. At 8am, we vacated the room and went to International Cafe for donuts and coffee. At 8:40am we made our way up to the Platinum/Elite lounge on deck 6 and sat in there for around 7 minutes before our tag colour was called. We walked off and had no need to do anything with CBSA or passports, since that had all been taken care of ahead of time in Victoria (even though we didn't get off in Victoria). The terminal itself was a bit of a zoo as there were three ships in and lots of people, but we made a beeline for the street exit and walked with a purpose...lol. We were in the house by 9:20am.

Happy to see they have a cruise director for your sailing - hope she is good! Enjoy your cruise. I'm already having withdrawal symptoms...

I actually didn’t get there. I stuck mainly to Live bar as the bartenders took such great care of me

The last night onboard always feels sad. Everyone is trying to make the most of the time left but you can sense the mood has changed. DS commented “I can’t believe we have to wait three whole months until our next cruise”… I reminded him that most folks only do this once a year - he looked horrified

Victoria We ended up arriving around an hour earlier but we opted not to get off. We were later joined in port by Eurodam and Bliss

Ship pictures

You will find it a little different from the pre Covid /pre app times. The crew are really run ragged and, while I’m not sure if they are short staffed or just struggling to keep up with everyone ordering on the app in addition to regular ordering, it is apparent that this system is much harder for them. The bar and wait staff have been fantastic but there is often a wait in drinks as the bars are swamped with customers (who all have drink packages) and orders from the app. It’s not the fault of the staff. I hope you get a cruise director in Vancouver- I really missed having that “face” of the ship. Assistant cruise director Guido from Italy is fabulous - the others are good, too, but he is the stand out for me! Have an amazing time. Also, FYI only 3 confirmed positive cases on this sailing (that’s not to say there aren’t more that just haven’t told medical they are sick…)

Few things I forgot to mention over the course of the week: Laundry: I sent out two batches of laundry and both were returned within 36 hours. As usual, the laundry charge appeared on room bill and then was credited back overnight for the elite perk Wifi: pleasantly surprised at how well wifi has functioned all week. All four devices connected the whole time. Only in Endicott Arm was the signal spotty, but that’s to be expected. The app itself seemed to glitch and malfunction at times, but even when that wasn’t working wifi was d fine. Photos: you may recall I upgraded to premiere package as I wanted to get the unlimited photo package. There were ample opportunities for casual and formal portraits and they did have embarkation shots. However, no pictures getting off in port and I never saw anyone taking pictures in the dining rooms. We ended up with 72 digital pictures (could have got more but we were all smiled out) and you choose 3 to have printed. Initially, pictures of the kids that didn’t have me were not available for me to download but there is a station at the photo gallery where you pull up a QR code and scan it and download the picture that way. The staff were very helpful there Crew Chat: hands down one of the best features of the app. I never stood in line at guest services once - everything needed was taken care of through crew chat. I had lots of drink charges that needed to be removed and I would just send a message each day and it would be taken care of pretty much right away

Voice of the Ocean time

Update on cruise director situation- Natalie is meant to still be CD but she fell and injured her knee so is currently on medical leave. There was no CD this sailing or the prior one and no one seems to know if/when the next CD will join

Someone asked for pictures of gym machines