Live From The Royal Princess

[Ga Peach]

To all:

 

Since your next stop is Livorno, I'm asking a favor for those of you that have decided to go to Cinque Terre with a Princess shore excursion. I've found a few older postings (not on Princess Forums) mentioning that things have not been great, nor enjoyable because of conditions there and problems people have encountered.

 

Would someone please make a posting of your experience (traveling there, closures encountered, how you managed to get from town to town... any problems.... and all the good stuff)

 

Bottom line: was it worth going or would you recommend that we do a different shore excursion on our Sept cruise?

 

Your help on this is appreciated!

 

Mike

 

On a recent cruise stop in Livorni, we went on a Princess excursion to Lucca. This was a very good excursion..the town was lovely and has a very interesting history. Would recommend it.

[PescadoAmarillo]

I've always thought that a lot of life is expectations. You expected the balcony to be small so when you saw the reality it wasn't so bad. This might be an answer to everyone that got upset at the negative posts. I, for one, just like to have as much info as possible, good AND bad, so I know what to expect.

Very true, Karen, and I agree totally. Of course, I could go on a ship that everyone disliked, and that wouldn't influence how I felt about it. My emotions also don't get wrapped up in others' opinions. I love the fact that so many of us are now better prepared to cruise on the Royal Princess. My expectations are set pretty darn low...and I bet I'm pleasantly surprised once on board!

[caribill]

Slow sending from Ship...

 

The picture about the Royal Afternoon Tea is hard to read.

 

Is the the regular afternoon tea that now has a $10/person charge or is it something special that is in addition to the no-charge afteroon tea?

 

Thanks

[sashas_mom]

The picture about the Royal Afternoon Tea is hard to read.

 

Is the the regular afternoon tea that now has a $10/person charge or is it something special that is in addition to the no-charge afteroon tea?

 

Thanks

Please tell me they are not charging for the afternoon tea. That would just be wrong. A few sandwiches and pastries, why would they charge for that??? I hope someone confirms this because I have a whole group organized to do a tea together (the one they offer for free on every other ship), and I doubt we will do it if they now charge.

 

Thanks.

[Iamcruzin]

Please tell me they are not charging for the afternoon tea. That would just be wrong. A few sandwiches and pastries' date=' why would they charge for that??? I hope someone confirms this because I have a whole group organized to do a tea together (the one they offer for free on every other ship), and I doubt we will do it if they now charge.

 

Thanks.[/quote']

I can't imagine what kind of tea this could be for $10. I would rather order a Long Island Iced Tea for $8 at the bar and I will grab something to eat at the buffet or IC for free.

[Gig103]

Please tell me they are not charging for the afternoon tea. That would just be wrong. A few sandwiches and pastries' date=' why would they charge for that??? I hope someone confirms this because I have a whole group organized to do a tea together (the one they offer for free on every other ship), and I doubt we will do it if they now charge.

 

Thanks.[/quote']

 

I hope not too! Celebrity charges $25 for a 'champagne tea' which is similar to the free Princess one plus a glass of champagne. Big bummer!

[Coral]

The picture about the Royal Afternoon Tea is hard to read.

 

Is the the regular afternoon tea that now has a $10/person charge or is it something special that is in addition to the no-charge afteroon tea?

 

Thanks

 

There was a rumor a friend had heard many months ago while on a ship that they may start charging for afternoon tea. It may be true!

[drpepr]

Love the updates....thanks. Do you know the hours for the enclave?

[Dietemann]

Please tell me they are not charging for the afternoon tea. That would just be wrong. A few sandwiches and pastries' date=' why would they charge for that??? I hope someone confirms this because I have a whole group organized to do a tea together (the one they offer for free on every other ship), and I doubt we will do it if they now charge.

 

Thanks.[/quote']

I can't remember who talked about it, but the "Royal Tea" at an extra charge is a special tea event, not the regular afternoon tea we are used to. Someone talked about it and that their friend attended, but did not think it was worth the additional cost.

[Mom33]

From what I read on a news item for Royal Princess, it appears there will be a special Royal tea for a fee and the regular afternoon tea will be held in the new pastry shop.:) I tried to link it but it says the page is no longer available.

[Coral]

This doesn't help much:

 

Tea Tower

Featuring a tea sommelier and a choice of 250 blends, tea lovers will revel in Royal Princess’ unique tea tower located in the ship’s central Piazza. Here passengers can enjoy pre-blended tea varieties or create their own custom flavors. The ship’s tea sommelier, an expert on tea blends, hosts tea tasting events and a new Royal Afternoon Tea Experience, inspired by some of the most famous tea spots in London.

[harfield]

To all:

 

Since your next stop is Livorno, I'm asking a favor for those of you that have decided to go to Cinque Terre with a Princess shore excursion. I've found a few older postings (not on Princess Forums) mentioning that things have not been great, nor enjoyable because of conditions there and problems people have encountered.

 

Would someone please make a posting of your experience (traveling there, closures encountered, how you managed to get from town to town... any problems.... and all the good stuff)

 

Bottom line: was it worth going or would you recommend that we do a different shore excursion on our Sept cruise?

 

Your help on this is appreciated!

 

Mike

Hi Mike.

Mainly reading this thread because we we are traveling on the Royal for the first time in Sept 2014 Iceland European cruise for 17 days and cant wait.

We were on the Crown Princess June 2012 to the Medd and did the Cinque Terre Princess tour and found it a very good and a full tour. At this point I would like to say We normally always do private tours rather than Princess tours as the private one are usually 1/2 the the price and better and you are not treated like sheep. But when we did the research (as we always do months before) the private tours were no cheaper and being a full day and a long way from he ship you had the worry about being back on the ship on time so this time we selected the Princess tour.

It was a great day lots to do and see with plenty of private time to wander if you want. We went to about 3 to 4 different bays some we walked alone the walking path( very scenic and spectacular, some ports we were transported via ferrys ( they were very crouded) but again the water was fascinating to say the least. The last port we were left to do our own thing including lunch. They then met us at pre determined pick up point and travelled back to the waiting bus by train. It was a full day and tiring (as most people fell asleep on the long bus tour back to the ship) the only negitive was that it was so hot but that was no ones fault.

On the whole, it was a well organised, worth the exspence and loved the day. Out of 7 cruises wih Princess, this was our 3rd tour with them and thoroghly enjoyed the day with lots of good memories

I highly recommend this tour.

Bob

[IECalCruiser]

I was wondering about the success of Celebrations. Is anyone buying anything in there?

[Antonintassie]

Hi Dave

 

We have had a change of location from M108 to R603 do you have a pic ?

 

Kind Regards

 

Anton

[pablo222]

There was a rumor a friend had heard many months ago while on a ship that they may start charging for afternoon tea. It may be true!

 

I would not find this surprising at all. There are so many

things that used to be included in the cruise fare that there

are now extra charges for.

 

I would have said that used to be 'free' -- but there is one

pedant here who likes to point out that since you paid cruise

fare, nothing is free.

[Bippie]

Hi Dave

 

We have had a change of location from M108 to R603 do you have a pic ?

 

Kind Regards

 

Anton

 

Just curious - was this an upgrade or your choice?

[dmwnc1959]

Hi Dave

 

We have had a change of location from M108 to R603 do you have a pic ?

 

Kind Regards

 

Anton

 

Hope for you it was a change for the better?

 

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5512/9321702706_0d7d8bcc7e_o.jpg

[lynn_and_rob]

The picture about the Royal Afternoon Tea is hard to read.

 

Is the the regular afternoon tea that now has a $10/person charge or is it something special that is in addition to the no-charge afteroon tea?

 

Thanks

 

Sorry about the fuzzy pictures. In my attempt to save on Internet minutes I've been reducing the size of the images. I will hunt down as much info on the tea tower that I can tonight. I know my DW and I always do the afternoon tea , so we should be able to get more info from that as well, probably on the first sea day.

 

Lynn & Rob

[lynn_and_rob]

There is one cabin with a balcony like that on both sides of the ship, E125 and E130. There are what appears to be emergency exits from the Princess Theater that extends out on the Promenade below and the balcony covers that area. Those cabins are rated for four passengers.

 

Interesting. Do you know if they are balcony or deluxe balcony? It's hard to get a clear picture, but it appears the balcony extends out about 3' beyond the other balconies. The extended part is uncovered though.

 

Lynn & Rob

[lynn_and_rob]

We didn't bring any aboard so I don't know. However the only place they did any checking of items coming aboard was at security, and I don't think that is done by Princess? We walked on with two 20" wheeled luggage bags and no Princess people looked at it...we could have had a couple cases of vino in there!

 

Lynn & Rob

[sashas_mom]

Could you find out when during the cruise they do the Princess Pop Choir? Members of our roll call have a special song we've written and are supposed to perform it with the Choir. Someone said it's the last day of the cruise, which means the song wouldn't make sense and I'd have to change the words.

 

Thanks so much.

[Pia1913]

Could you find out when during the cruise they do the Princess Pop Choir? Members of our roll call have a special song we've written and are supposed to perform it with the Choir. Someone said it's the last day of the cruise' date=' which means the song wouldn't make sense and I'd have to change the words.

 

Thanks so much.[/quote']

 

It's always the last day. On every ship that has it.

[sailing sue]

Hi Dave,

Could you let me know if my cabin - M715 - for December sailing is covered or not and an arrow showing where it is? Greatly appreciated!

[lynn_and_rob]

I found out some things about the Tea Tower this evening. First of all, the "standard" tea is still available every day in the Concerto dining room for no extra cost. The new "Royal Afternoon Tea" is $10 pp, or $20 pp with champaign. It is held on sea days in the sitting area under the stairs in the Atrium (not sure if that area has a name.) It's limited to 24 people (they only have 12 tea sandwich stands) and you have to sign up for it in advance. You apparently get to try a number of different teas (your choice) our make your own blended teas. They use tea pots with built-in tea infusers and you can have a number of pots of tea on your table concurrently, not sure if there's a limit to how many you can have. You can also order the specialty teas from the IC anytime. They have a tea menu with the listing of the teas and it comes in the same tea pot with the built-in infuser. I think the cost for that was $2.35? Can't remember, but I think that was the cost. The Tea Tower itself is not complete yet. They have not put the labels on it and only about half of the draws have tea in them, though they do have all the tea available.

 

Lynn & Rob.

[Mom33]

Thanks for reporting on the Afternoon tea confusion. It is a good to know that the usual tea in the dining room is still onboard.

 

 

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