sawtooth

I've only been to that port once. Do you think you'll be able to see both ships from the 17th St bridge? Also is the Allure (I think someone mentioned they will be there too) as big as the Royal/Regal?

I have been reading on my roll call for the 1/18/15 Royal cruise that the sister ships will be in the same port at the same time and leaving together.

Some have suggested that Princess is planning something special for this rare event.

Has anyone heard of this? What do you think they might do? Free champagne all around?

Do this trip if you can! We did it as part of our SA cruise along with 2 days in Rio.

The falls are spectacular and the Hotel de Cataratas is an elegant old world hotel.

Enjoy!

You can also buy some plastic reusable luggage tags from cruise critic and put you paper tags in them to protect them from the elements or ripping off. They are pretty inexpensive.

How about M105. Not as big as the corner but still looks larger that regular mini suite. It is priced as a deluxe. Would balcony access be any different? There is only 1 left on our cruise and I am considering moving from our starboard mini on Baja.

Lucky cruisers whose prices went down. Our 1/18 cruise on the Royal hasn't gone down a dime. In fact, they've lowered the onboard credit amount!

Thank you Pam for your explanation. I found it!

What are cruise credits and how do you get them?

I know we are newbies getting ready to take our fourth cruise, always in a mini and after this trip will be at 42 days, paltry I'm sure, in comparison to others.

Totally agree. We have always been early risers and love to start the day early. Love to get a workout in and 5:30 would be ideal. Then a nice breakfast and the whole day still ahead of us. Relax on a lounge chair (on sea days) and take a nap!

I know it's not everyones idea of a vacation but it works for us!

Also, good to get some kind of exercise in early on port days.

That's great news. I would have no problem using the ellipticals and other quiet machines for a while before the treadmill. I like the cycle classes and stretch as well. Will have to try the TRX this cruise.

And, of course, will try out the outdoor track as well.

Please tell me that the fitness center opens early, like at least 6am.

We are early risers and enjoy a very early morning workout and some classes before having breakfast @ 7:30.

I thought that I read that some centers don't open until 7am, for us that is late. Personally, I think they should be open 24/7. I know....even on vacation.

Dave,

I just finished reading the whole thread about your Royal voyage.

It was great. The pictures, wonderful; your insight and observations, priceless.

This really gives me a good understanding of the ship and all the various venues. I am sure to enjoy our 10 day Eastern Caribbean cruise and owe much thanks to you.

We are sailing the Royal in January, having just come from the Island, it will be nice to have the International Cafe and Vines back.

Several new places are intriguing like Bellini's and The Ocean Terrace.

Has anyone enjoyed these places. What do you think?

Is there a charge for The Ocean Terrace?

Also, The Crab Shack. Is that in it's own space or do they just close off a portion of the Horizon Court.

With so many choices we may never eat in the MDR.

It doesn't seem that there is a detail plan of the Royal that I can find. Even Theo's site does not have pictures yet.

Thank you. I will start with these two.

I remember that there is a gentleman who has done exhaustive study and has pictures of various princess ships and their staterooms and deck plans.

Can anyone share that link with me?

HAs anyone stayed in either of these cabins? They are at the front (bow). They look pretty large but talk about some obstruction and the possibility on no deck access while at sea. The L108 lists at 558 sf which seems huge for a little more than the average mini suite price.

Pros/Cons?

We are just off the Island on 1/31 and did the ferry transit through the canal.

Since transiting the canal was the main purpose of our cruise we were determined to take the ferry despite a lot of conflicting reviews.

I could not have been happier. We had a smooth transit, relatively fast. I had heard that if you get stuck behind a big ship the day could really drag. We were fortunate.

The ferry has an upstairs and downstairs. The upstairs is mostly covered by a canopy. If you sit upstairs on the left side (facing forward) you will be in the shade as well as higher up and getting more of a breeze than downstairs when being lowered in the locks.

There was plenty of water and soda (no sugar free). The food was simple and there was plenty.

After all, I am very happy to have done it. The stars seemed all aligned for a good trip, no rain, not too hot, slight breeze and relatively quick, around 3 hours.

The guide mentioned that he has been on some that take much longer...luck of the draw, I guess.

We are just getting off the Island this morning

Use Claudia Vidal in Cartagena, great tour.

If you don't book a ship tour in Panama you can't get off the ship until Colon and will miss much!

We did the full transit on the ferry and it was worth every penny to go through the whole canal.

Thought Limon, Costa Rica was a pit so do a tour to get out of the city, same with Ocho Rios.

The Canal was the whole point of the trip and Cartagena was great, not so much in the other ports.

We are in a mini suite on the Island. Do the rooms have DVD players to use with the TV's?

We are booked with Claudia and are on the 1/20 sailing on Island Princess.

We would welcome company. If you are interested contact Claudia and ask to join our arranged highlights tour. Right now there are only 2 of us.

The more the merrier!

Join the Mello tour.

Sorry, we are boarding in the 20th.

We are boarding the Island on the 19th and so I'm very interested to read the rest of your review.

Thanks for posting!

Any input on this?

We are stopping at Aruba, Cartagena, Limon, and Ocho Rios.

Does anyone know if we can find a wifi hot spot or wifi cafe at or near the ports?