stay_or_go

Let's go with the story that the poster and family were so charming, the table for two people just changed their minds. :)

Actually I stalked them in the casino every day and reminded them that I would see them at dinner... :)

On our Royal Princess cruise we were at a table for 8, and two of the passengers said they only ever eat at tables for two and said they would be changing right away. After the first night, they joined my family of 4 and the two others at the table every night but one. Guess they actually learned to enjoy our company. Sometimes it is hard to share a table with others you don't know, but you always have cruising in common.

For budget: if you really want to save, cruise November / early December for off season prices. Book private excursions, take your own photographs, avoid the casino and don't buy art or anything else on board. On some cruises, we had enough on board credit left to get a refund.

For splurge: do something that you have never done before, para-sailing, white-water rafting, ocean kayaking, something that you will remember forever.

Not sure about the balcony dinners or chef's table as we ate in the MDR each night.

Beatles show was great as was the Spectacular. Magician did a lot of card tricks and illusions that you had to watch the screen for, so that was not that exciting for me.

My wife was exhausted most nights so there was no dancing for us on the cruise - saved her toes from my two left feet...

Welcome aboard was Sunday night.

The Comedian was Monday night..

Colours of the World was Tuesday night.

Illusionist was Wednesday night.

Beatlemaniacs were Thursday night.

Soul Music was Friday night.

Spectacular was Saturday night.

Beatlemaniacs encore was Saturday night.

Unfortunately they kicked us off the ship Sunday morning, but I would bet the cycle repeats itself, or is pretty close.

I am sure Princess has a formula for entertainment like every other cruise company and they keep doing what works for them. Right now the Beatles correspond with people in their 50's and 60's, so the Beatlemaniacs show fits nicely with the demographic.

Imagine when all of us that are turning 50 or 60 start to turn 70 or 80 and the cruise ship books new acts to cater to those turning 50 that grew up to music in the 1990's: U2 cover bands, Nirvana cover bands, pearl jam cover bands, stone temple pilot cover bands etc. ;-)

Thanks! Is this teen schedule applicable to 17 year olds or is it the younger teen category?

My son is 17 and he was in this age group along with my 14 year old daughter. So yes, teens 17 years of age in the program will have this schedule or one similar depending on the number of teens on board. They must be registered though in the program to participate in the events.

I went into the teen area to challenge them to some skee ball and unfortunately they kicked my butt. No respect for the person who pays their cruise fare... ;)

Hi

All of the Patters have been scanned to PDF including the Teen schedule. You can find them here.

http://imageevent.com/stay_or_go/royalprincesspatters

Jeff

I just pulled all mine today from March and will scan them this morning.

I think behavior by people in general has continuously gotten worse in all aspects of life and therefore expect no difference on a cruise ship.

Absolutely agree, well said!

We had two cabins, E312 and E314 during in March and the view was fine when you were standing looking out in all directions.

When you were seated, the view was obstructed but not too bad.

We heard no noise at all from the deck below, so that was good.

When we disembarked in Fort Lauderdale, the crew were out cleaning the lifeboat and doing routine maintenance right in front of the cabin at 7:30 am, which was neat too watch.

Robert was the head waiter in our dining room during our March break cruise on the Royal. Two members of my family are lactose intolerant and Robert did a great job helping us with the menus.

He would go through each option the day before and each night they would get the chef's choice for dessert. Sometimes the dessert was hit or miss but your mileage may vary with the gluten free options.

I think the Royal staff did an excellent job with the menus to accommodate the the members of my family.

There is a Publix just off of 17th St South which is 1A1 that leads to the Beach and to the port.

Cabs from the airport usually go a different way (back way) into the Port, so you will need to specify.

You can also get wine at the store if you want to take that on board too.

Instead of bringing a case of water, we used our own water containers and just filled them up with ice and water from the HC. That is another option.

Check google maps and you should see it.

Wow, nice return comments. :rolleyes:

If you spend a lot of time on the track you will get a bad odor from the ship.

There were times on the running track, which I used every day on the Royal Princess where the smell coming from the ship was awful. There were even days where you could smell it inside the ship near the Wheelhouse Bar and outside the Vista Lounge.

I used the track in the mornings and I used it in the afternoons and the smell was there, strong sometimes and less strong at others.

My nose is huge, twice the size of a normal nose, so maybe I am a little sensitive...

Just plug your nose on parts of the running track and you will be fine...

So does this mean you can figure how much you have "spent" on drinks, bottles of water, specialty coffees etc.?

I got most of the receipts but some bartenders did not give you a copy unless you asked. The receipt has a 0 total though, so you can not just add them up.

I kept track of everything I used the package for and and came out slightly ahead. But, had I not had the package, I don't think I would have drank the same amount.

You really have to consider how much you will drink and what you will be drinking. You have to drink a lot more cheap drinks to make it worthwhile compared to the $9.00 special drinks. If you have 5 or 6 beers a day and nothing more, then it is not worth it.

Sometimes you just cant fix stupid...

We had two cabins E312 and E314 and had the balcony divider opened on the first day. Even with it opened the space was really small. It was difficult to walk between rooms with the chairs and the small tables.

These cabins had an obstructed view and the obstructions only bothered me when I was trying to take photos. Otherwise the obstructions did not bother me.

We too just got off the Royal, first time on a Princess ship.

Loved it, it is really a beautiful ship.

The international cafe is great along with the pizza and the pub lunch!

We were in the middle of March break with tons of kids and teens on board and the ship did not feel crowded at all.

Yes the balconies are smaller and yes the elevator situation is poor, and yes there is a bad smell occasionally, but the ship makes up for that and more.

I don't think you would be disappointed, we certainly were not.

I had the alcohol package on the Royal last week and my son had the unlimited card for soda's and mocktails as he was in my cabin. The alcohol package was $394 all in for the 7 day cruise.

I tried real hard (gave it my best try), but I am not sure if I drank that much value including specialty coffees.

If my wife and I were in the same cabin, we would not have paid the almost $800 for two people for the cruise as there would be no way we both would drink that much.

So for me it would be a benefit to myself and Princess if both adults in the cabin did not have to buy the package. If both my wife and I don't have to buy the package then I will buy it for myself so Princess gets my $400. If both of us would have to buy the package, then I would not buy it and probably not spend $400 on drinks.

For me it is good news and I hope it is true.

Great review, cant wait to be back on the ocean n March!

Cool Video, first Princess Cruise coming up on the Royal in March, can't wait.

My review with lots of pictures is in my sig as well.

You can also find the capers from January, which are out of date now.

Its a great cruise, you will have a ball!

I think there is a Joseph and a Yoseph.

We never had Joseph by the looks of it.

Yoseph says "its showime" but never mentions the word supercharged. He too makes it around to most tables to say hello, or at least he did when we had him.

The capers from our cruise in January are in my signature, not sure if they will be like the "fun times" or not, but probably the same book with a different cover...

So when is the earliest I can check in and get on the boat as a non-platinum/VIP? I want to get on as early as possible but not stand around outside with my 3 and 4 year old.

We got to the port at 11:30 or so and were in zone 4, we were on board at 1:05. By the time they were loading zone 4, the line to check in was quite long.

If you get there early enough, I am sure you can get zone 1 check in, but you will still need to wait until they start boarding.