Semi-Live from the Royal Princess Venice to Barcelona Aug 22 - Sep 3

[castle12]

We are eight days into the Royal Princess Aug 22-Sep 3 Venice to Barcelona cruise. I'll try to write down our initial impressions of the Royal.

 

DW and I are newbie cruisers, this being our third cruise and our first Princess experience. But we are travelling with a Princess Elite couple and I'll include some of their observations as well.

 

We spent a week in Venice prior to the cruise, so we were there for the Royal's arrival in port on Aug 21. DW and I decided to position ourselves in the campanile on San Giorgio. When we got up there, the Royal was a distant smudge on the horizon. Over the next hour, we watched her detail become clear as she drew closer. Of course, we knew from photos that she is a brilliant white, but what struck us were the blue metallic highlights as the water and sky reflected off the balcony glass. A majestic and lovely ship!

 

The embarkation experience the next day was smooth. Admittedly, that was helped by our being taken in tow by our Elite friends who literally dragged us through the formalities. No waiting whatsoever.

 

We have a mini-suite forward on the Riviera deck. It more than meets our expectations. The walk-in closet is larger than we need. The bathroom is very spacious and has lots of room on the shelves for our toilet articles. I've read some amusing comments here about the toilet roll positioning, but it seems perfect to us. Hot water is instant, and the shower/bath is very functional. To us newbies, it seems like the perfect design for a cruise ship bathroom.

 

Now to the balcony. Yes, it is shallower than the two previous balconies in our experience, but it's working for us. The chairs are comfortable (I don't understand what other posters are complaining about) and the table is a good size for two of us to have a casual room-service breakfast. Having said that, we've only done that once, on the first morning aboard when the ship was still in Venice. For the sailaway, we hosted our travelling companion Elite couple. To give space for all four of us to stand at the rail, we moved the table back into the corner away from the door. Since then, we've left it there. With that arrangement, both DW and I have room to sit and stretch out, usually sharing one of the footstools and leaving the other underneath the chair. We have our room-service breakfast on our laps with the tray on the table back in the corner. We have no problem with this arrangement. We have each had a couple of good afternoon naps out there.

 

By the way, there are two sizes of balcony tables. DW noticed that when we were on the dock today. The larger tables like we have seem to be on the mini-suite cabin balconies, but you would need a deck plan in hand to confirm that from the dock.

 

We found the food overall to be excellent. The Horizon Court quality is surprisingly good. We like the arrangement, which is similar to our previous experiences with Cunard and HAL. I think I could live without the main dining room, which on the first couple of days had what seemed to us to be very ordinary offerings. But it's picked up since then. The beef wellington last evening was superb. We've eaten once in the Crown Grill, which was perhaps my best meal yet. The others would say that the best meal was the Chef's Table which we did on Sunday night. That was indeed a great experience, seeing the galley and sitting at that special table with the fancy curtain and the wonderful service. But I'm a meat-and-potatoes guy, and the rib steak at the Crown Grill was very nice indeed. Also, the pizza at Prego's was very good.

 

The entertainment has been good. On this cruise, we have The Volume, who seem to be everywhere and I could listen to them all day.The Orphea Band is also very good. They play frequently in the Piazza. We've attended one show in the theatre, Colors of the World, which was excellent indeed. DW still talks about it. They also have a couple of good "cocktail room" pianists, David Juneau and Juan Hermida. Kory Simon in Crooners is very listenable but he expects more audience participation then we're prepared to give him. I wish he's just play and sing. There are other musicians but I haven't caught them as yet. And there's one I definitely didn't appreciate.

 

On the evening we were in the Crown Grill, our reserved table was close to the Wheelhouse Bar, which one might think would be a good arrangement for pleasant background music to your dining. Well, that wasn't the case for us. Pianist Ray Coussins was playing, and he is loud. It's a wonder the keyboard doesn't collapse with the pounding he gives it. So when the maitre d' came around to our table to ask how we liked the food, once we had provided him with the well-deserved praise for the food, I asked him if anyone had ever complained about the pianist. He plays so loud that we found it difficult to carry on a conversation, I said. The maitre d' stepped over to have a look at the Wheelhouse Bar, and then he walked quickly away. Five minutes later, three waiters appeared at our table and announced that they were moving us. They picked up everything and shifted us to a table well away from the Wheelhouse Bar. Two minutes later we were eating once more as if nothing had happened. And we could converse!

 

That's an extreme example of good service, but I have to say that the service overall has been excellent. Princess probably picks the staff for a new vessel very carefully, and it shows. Lots of smiles, and some even remember our names. Which I do expect from our cabin steward (Fernando is the best we've had in our short cruising career) and MDR server (our Tanya is a friendly and amusing waitress) but here the bar staff are pretty good as well. Nadiia in Crooners remembers my name, knows my drink and has an enthusiastic approach to shaking our cocktails at our table. She always has a smile.

 

DW misses the promenade deck. She's tried the decks outside Crooners and Facets, and the two decks aft on the quarters, and they don't cut it for her. But I think that's the only negative she has about the Royal.

 

Elevators … except for embarkation day and a couple of days when we were returning from excursions, we haven't had to wait long for elevators. Of course, we are only two decks away from the Lido Deck, we usually take the stairs when going up there.

 

A couple of days into this cruise, I asked the others what they liked best about the Royal. The two old hands said "everything!" I said "the cabin" and DW said the Piazza. Now after a few more days, I'm agreeing with DW … the Piazza is a great place to lounge about and people watch, listen to music or read a book. I'm typing this off-line, early in the morning sitting at a table in the Piazza, watching the ship come alive with a cup of coffee from the International Cafe at my side. Very nice. And yesterday, a sea day which was a bit windy for my taste, I spent a good part of the day at a table near the International Cafe, drinking coffee, listening to live music and reading.

 

Which reminds me … the coffee on this ship is pretty good. Even the HC and room-service blends are good. I mentioned this to one of the ship's managers, who happened to have a cup of coffee on her desk as we did our business, and she said that in her view, the Royal was the best ship yet for coffee.

 

On the one sea day when we had sun and light wind, we set up chairs on the Sky Deck overlooking the Retreat. We enjoyed that. I checked on the Retreat cabanas. All were booked even though a few were not occupied. Also, on embarking I checked the Sanctuary. It would not have been possible to book a chair for the entire cruise - all available had already been booked. They save a few for daily use, and I saw the lineup early in the morning of our first sea day. I haven't bothered with trying that.

 

The internet works better than on our previous ships. Our Elite friends think so too.

 

DW reports that on her two visits to the laundry on our deck, things have worked well.

 

For Athens, Kusadasi, Istanbul and Naples we have taken Princess excursions. All were very good. Our tour guides were excellent. The Royal's organization to get you mustered, disembarked and onto the right bus was very competent.

 

I'm finishing this just before our Naples sail away, and we have a reservation for Sabatini's after that, so I'll wind this up for now. I'll add more observations if I come across any points not covered above.

[sunsetbeachgal]

Love your review...we did the Royal on July 17...Barcelona to Venice and we LOVED the ship. Like you, one of our favorite places was sitting in the Piazza with a cup of coffee. And After 12 days the ship felt like home! No one wanted to get off.

 

Enjoy the rest of your trip and thanks for sharing it with us!!

[gawyldcat]

I truly enjoyed your review!! We are set to sail on the Royal in February and I can't wait. I hope you continue to enjoy the rest of your trip and I look forward to your next installment. :)

[caribill]

Thanks for your "live" report.

 

It is good to hear that both yourselves and your Elite friends are having a great cruise and like the ship.

[umbertsmum]

You are bringing back lovely memories from the maiden in June- loved the Piazza and spent many a happy hour sitting there drinking coffee and wine in the IC

[Pam in CA]

Thank you for your observations. Can't wait to board her in about six weeks.

[Mom33]

Thanks for your perspective of the Royal Princess. Enjoy the rest of your cruise and I hope you'll report some more.:D

[IECalCruiser]

Thanks for taking the time to post on such a port intensive cruise :) Those of us boarding later this year have been in "Live or Semi-Live From" withdrawal. It is nice that you could give the perspectives of both newbies and seasoned Elites. Hope you have time to post again.

[TorontoTL]

Live, semi-live or after the fact reviews are all appreciated. Thanks for your post, it really makes those of us with cruises booked on the Royal more excited each day.

[Astro Flyer]

Thanks for your thorough review & I'm looking forward to the same experience in October for 18 days including 10 seadays to fully explore the ship. :D

[dmwnc1959]

Really enjoyed your wonderful review! Looking forward to the next update. :D

 

Have a great cruise and don't forget to come back after you've disembarked to give us your final thoughts!

[triviaplayer7425]

We are eight days into the Royal Princess Aug 22-Sep 3 Venice to Barcelona cruise. I'll try to write down our initial impressions of the Royal.

 

DW and I are newbie cruisers, this being our third cruise and our first Princess experience. But we are travelling with a Princess Elite couple and I'll include some of their observations as well.

 

We spent a week in Venice prior to the cruise, so we were there for the Royal's arrival in port on Aug 21. DW and I decided to position ourselves in the campanile on San Giorgio. When we got up there, the Royal was a distant smudge on the horizon. Over the next hour, we watched her detail become clear as she drew closer. Of course, we knew from photos that she is a brilliant white, but what struck us were the blue metallic highlights as the water and sky reflected off the balcony glass. A majestic and lovely ship!

 

The embarkation experience the next day was smooth. Admittedly, that was helped by our being taken in tow by our Elite friends who literally dragged us through the formalities. No waiting whatsoever.

 

We have a mini-suite forward on the Riviera deck. It more than meets our expectations. The walk-in closet is larger than we need. The bathroom is very spacious and has lots of room on the shelves for our toilet articles. I've read some amusing comments here about the toilet roll positioning, but it seems perfect to us. Hot water is instant, and the shower/bath is very functional. To us newbies, it seems like the perfect design for a cruise ship bathroom.

 

Now to the balcony. Yes, it is shallower than the two previous balconies in our experience, but it's working for us. The chairs are comfortable (I don't understand what other posters are complaining about) and the table is a good size for two of us to have a casual room-service breakfast. Having said that, we've only done that once, on the first morning aboard when the ship was still in Venice. For the sailaway, we hosted our travelling companion Elite couple. To give space for all four of us to stand at the rail, we moved the table back into the corner away from the door. Since then, we've left it there. With that arrangement, both DW and I have room to sit and stretch out, usually sharing one of the footstools and leaving the other underneath the chair. We have our room-service breakfast on our laps with the tray on the table back in the corner. We have no problem with this arrangement. We have each had a couple of good afternoon naps out there.

 

By the way, there are two sizes of balcony tables. DW noticed that when we were on the dock today. The larger tables like we have seem to be on the mini-suite cabin balconies, but you would need a deck plan in hand to confirm that from the dock.

 

We found the food overall to be excellent. The Horizon Court quality is surprisingly good. We like the arrangement, which is similar to our previous experiences with Cunard and HAL. I think I could live without the main dining room, which on the first couple of days had what seemed to us to be very ordinary offerings. But it's picked up since then. The beef wellington last evening was superb. We've eaten once in the Crown Grill, which was perhaps my best meal yet. The others would say that the best meal was the Chef's Table which we did on Sunday night. That was indeed a great experience, seeing the galley and sitting at that special table with the fancy curtain and the wonderful service. But I'm a meat-and-potatoes guy, and the rib steak at the Crown Grill was very nice indeed. Also, the pizza at Prego's was very good.

 

The entertainment has been good. On this cruise, we have The Volume, who seem to be everywhere and I could listen to them all day.The Orphea Band is also very good. They play frequently in the Piazza. We've attended one show in the theatre, Colors of the World, which was excellent indeed. DW still talks about it. They also have a couple of good "cocktail room" pianists, David Juneau and Juan Hermida. Kory Simon in Crooners is very listenable but he expects more audience participation then we're prepared to give him. I wish he's just play and sing. There are other musicians but I haven't caught them as yet. And there's one I definitely didn't appreciate.

 

On the evening we were in the Crown Grill, our reserved table was close to the Wheelhouse Bar, which one might think would be a good arrangement for pleasant background music to your dining. Well, that wasn't the case for us. Pianist Ray Coussins was playing, and he is loud. It's a wonder the keyboard doesn't collapse with the pounding he gives it. So when the maitre d' came around to our table to ask how we liked the food, once we had provided him with the well-deserved praise for the food, I asked him if anyone had ever complained about the pianist. He plays so loud that we found it difficult to carry on a conversation, I said. The maitre d' stepped over to have a look at the Wheelhouse Bar, and then he walked quickly away. Five minutes later, three waiters appeared at our table and announced that they were moving us. They picked up everything and shifted us to a table well away from the Wheelhouse Bar. Two minutes later we were eating once more as if nothing had happened. And we could converse!

 

That's an extreme example of good service, but I have to say that the service overall has been excellent. Princess probably picks the staff for a new vessel very carefully, and it shows. Lots of smiles, and some even remember our names. Which I do expect from our cabin steward (Fernando is the best we've had in our short cruising career) and MDR server (our Tanya is a friendly and amusing waitress) but here the bar staff are pretty good as well. Nadiia in Crooners remembers my name, knows my drink and has an enthusiastic approach to shaking our cocktails at our table. She always has a smile.

 

DW misses the promenade deck. She's tried the decks outside Crooners and Facets, and the two decks aft on the quarters, and they don't cut it for her. But I think that's the only negative she has about the Royal.

 

Elevators … except for embarkation day and a couple of days when we were returning from excursions, we haven't had to wait long for elevators. Of course, we are only two decks away from the Lido Deck, we usually take the stairs when going up there.

 

A couple of days into this cruise, I asked the others what they liked best about the Royal. The two old hands said "everything!" I said "the cabin" and DW said the Piazza. Now after a few more days, I'm agreeing with DW … the Piazza is a great place to lounge about and people watch, listen to music or read a book. I'm typing this off-line, early in the morning sitting at a table in the Piazza, watching the ship come alive with a cup of coffee from the International Cafe at my side. Very nice. And yesterday, a sea day which was a bit windy for my taste, I spent a good part of the day at a table near the International Cafe, drinking coffee, listening to live music and reading.

 

Which reminds me … the coffee on this ship is pretty good. Even the HC and room-service blends are good. I mentioned this to one of the ship's managers, who happened to have a cup of coffee on her desk as we did our business, and she said that in her view, the Royal was the best ship yet for coffee.

 

On the one sea day when we had sun and light wind, we set up chairs on the Sky Deck overlooking the Retreat. We enjoyed that. I checked on the Retreat cabanas. All were booked even though a few were not occupied. Also, on embarking I checked the Sanctuary. It would not have been possible to book a chair for the entire cruise - all available had already been booked. They save a few for daily use, and I saw the lineup early in the morning of our first sea day. I haven't bothered with trying that.

 

The internet works better than on our previous ships. Our Elite friends think so too.

 

DW reports that on her two visits to the laundry on our deck, things have worked well.

 

For Athens, Kusadasi, Istanbul and Naples we have taken Princess excursions. All were very good. Our tour guides were excellent. The Royal's organization to get you mustered, disembarked and onto the right bus was very competent.

 

I'm finishing this just before our Naples sail away, and we have a reservation for Sabatini's after that, so I'll wind this up for now. I'll add more observations if I come across any points not covered above.

 

I was on the inaugural of the Royal and wanted to mention Alfredo's Pizzeria on Deck 6. If you like eggplant, be sure to try the Eggplant Rollatini while you are aboard. It is stuffed with angel hair pasta, cheese and has a wonderful sauce. Actually, everything was good there, but this was the best.

 

Joyce

[slc22]

Thanks, Castle....

 

Loved reading your Post. I suspect the Piazza will be one of my favorite places in a little over 3 months as well. Enjoy the rest of your cruise! So nice to hear positive feedback....

[Northender]

Thanks, Castle. I am very happy to read your semi-live.:)

 

I see that DW did laundry. Could you please inquire about how one pays for this. I have heard that you just get tokens by putting in your cruise card. Right now I have saved $12 in quarters.:D To bring or not to bring, that is the question. ;) Thanks

 

Looking forward to the next installment.:)

[Pia1913]

Thanks, Castle. I am very happy to read your semi-live.:)

 

I see that DW did laundry. Could you please inquire about how one pays for this. I have heard that you just get tokens by putting in your cruise card. Right now I have saved $12 in quarters.:D To bring or not to bring, that is the question. ;) Thanks

 

Looking forward to the next installment.:)

 

Don't bring quarters. Royal is using tokens.

[Northender]

Thanks. I will save them for the Ruby in April 2014.:D

[lovevacadays]

Thank you for your review. I enjoyed reading it. It is nice to see reviews from cruisers who are actually cruising the Royal. So far, the majority have seemed very balanced. I'm also noticing that the reviews have been very positive.:)

[Julia’s Journey’s]

Thanks for the review - love reading about the ship from people actually on the ship:D:D

Can't wait for my turn - 5 weeks to go:D

[IECalCruiser]

Thanks for the review - love reading about the ship from people actually on the ship:D:D

Can't wait for my turn - 5 weeks to go:D

We have less than 4 weeks :):)

[castle12]

A few random notes in addition to my original post ….

 

SeaWalk and SeaView Bar - Even after 10 days on board, I still get a charge walking over that glass. And I notice others who feel likewise. You do see into the balconies directly below and it would bother me to have one of those cabins. In the daytime, you don't see into the cabin itself unless the door is open, but at night with cabin lights on and the curtain open, you can see right in. I think that's more of an issue on the SeaView Bar side. On the SeaWalk, people travel through and don't hang about, but some patrons of the SeaView Bar (like myself) like to lean against the rail and watch the wake. So if something "interesting" is happening on a balcony, your eyes could be drawn there.

 

Coffee - I've already mentioned that the coffee on board is pretty good, but I should have reported on the Americano. The first couple I ordered seemed bland to me. A helpful server suggested a double shot of expresso, and that fixed it. It's still only a single punch on the coffee card.

 

Piazza Happenings -

 

- yesterday, a local tenor by the name of Corrado Amici performed at cocktail hour while we were still alongside at Civitavecchia. Normally this isn't my kind of music, but he sent chills up my spine.

 

- a couple of times, DW and I have had oyster shooters at the Ocean Terrace. But the pepper one almost blew my head off.

 

- The "Flamenco Express" have put on some entertaining exhibitions of flamenco dancing.

 

- I don't often have a Bellini, but I've never had a better one than the one I had at Bellini's. However, DW thought it wasn't peachy enough.

 

Other venues ...

 

- my buddy and I watched Iron Man 3 out on MUTS. The quality of the screen and sound were amazing to me, but Elite buddy says that other Princess ships have good MUTS systems too.

 

- On Friday evening we dropped in to the Vista Lounge to hear The Volume. They were great but it was a very sparse crowd. I think people are exhausted from the port visits (that was our Naples day and Pompeii was hot).

 

- Sabatini's has good atmosphere and the service was exceptional. The ladies enjoyed their lobster dish but my buddy and I thought our steaks to be ordinary. It's probably not the place to have steak.

 

- Outrigger Bar - DW and our travelling companions like the Margaritas that they push in that venue. That's not my drink, but they will do other drinks. Just ask. That's become our place to meet after a day ashore.

 

Finally, I'll echo what another poster has reported, that despite having 4,000 other passengers on board, the ship doesn't feel crowded. You can usually find a seat wherever you want to be (except perhaps the Piazza at mid-day on a sea day!) On the one sea day that was perfect for sitting in the sun, even though we were rather late in getting up top, we readily found two chairs in the sun. And there were some in the shade too if that's what you want. But as I reported previously, the Retreat was full on that day.

 

We are sad that our time on the Royal is coming to an end. Even without a proper promenade deck, she is a beautiful ship. We will be back.

[Astro Flyer]

Thanks again...have you heard anything about the $40 Winemakers Dinner or the Super Tuscan tasting & snacks?

[Woobstr112G]

We are eight days into the Royal Princess Aug 22-Sep 3 Venice to Barcelona cruise. I'll try to write down our initial impressions of the Royal.

 

DW and I are newbie cruisers, this being our third cruise and our first Princess experience. But we are travelling with a Princess Elite couple and I'll include some of their observations as well.

 

We spent a week in Venice prior to the cruise, so we were there for the Royal's arrival in port on Aug 21. DW and I decided to position ourselves in the campanile on San Giorgio. When we got up there, the Royal was a distant smudge on the horizon. Over the next hour, we watched her detail become clear as she drew closer. Of course, we knew from photos that she is a brilliant white, but what struck us were the blue metallic highlights as the water and sky reflected off the balcony glass. A majestic and lovely ship!

 

The embarkation experience the next day was smooth. Admittedly, that was helped by our being taken in tow by our Elite friends who literally dragged us through the formalities. No waiting whatsoever.

 

We have a mini-suite forward on the Riviera deck. It more than meets our expectations. The walk-in closet is larger than we need. The bathroom is very spacious and has lots of room on the shelves for our toilet articles. I've read some amusing comments here about the toilet roll positioning, but it seems perfect to us. Hot water is instant, and the shower/bath is very functional. To us newbies, it seems like the perfect design for a cruise ship bathroom.

 

Now to the balcony. Yes, it is shallower than the two previous balconies in our experience, but it's working for us. The chairs are comfortable (I don't understand what other posters are complaining about) and the table is a good size for two of us to have a casual room-service breakfast. Having said that, we've only done that once, on the first morning aboard when the ship was still in Venice. For the sailaway, we hosted our travelling companion Elite couple. To give space for all four of us to stand at the rail, we moved the table back into the corner away from the door. Since then, we've left it there. With that arrangement, both DW and I have room to sit and stretch out, usually sharing one of the footstools and leaving the other underneath the chair. We have our room-service breakfast on our laps with the tray on the table back in the corner. We have no problem with this arrangement. We have each had a couple of good afternoon naps out there.

 

By the way, there are two sizes of balcony tables. DW noticed that when we were on the dock today. The larger tables like we have seem to be on the mini-suite cabin balconies, but you would need a deck plan in hand to confirm that from the dock.

 

We found the food overall to be excellent. The Horizon Court quality is surprisingly good. We like the arrangement, which is similar to our previous experiences with Cunard and HAL. I think I could live without the main dining room, which on the first couple of days had what seemed to us to be very ordinary offerings. But it's picked up since then. The beef wellington last evening was superb. We've eaten once in the Crown Grill, which was perhaps my best meal yet. The others would say that the best meal was the Chef's Table which we did on Sunday night. That was indeed a great experience, seeing the galley and sitting at that special table with the fancy curtain and the wonderful service. But I'm a meat-and-potatoes guy, and the rib steak at the Crown Grill was very nice indeed. Also, the pizza at Prego's was very good.

 

The entertainment has been good. On this cruise, we have The Volume, who seem to be everywhere and I could listen to them all day.The Orphea Band is also very good. They play frequently in the Piazza. We've attended one show in the theatre, Colors of the World, which was excellent indeed. DW still talks about it. They also have a couple of good "cocktail room" pianists, David Juneau and Juan Hermida. Kory Simon in Crooners is very listenable but he expects more audience participation then we're prepared to give him. I wish he's just play and sing. There are other musicians but I haven't caught them as yet. And there's one I definitely didn't appreciate.

 

On the evening we were in the Crown Grill, our reserved table was close to the Wheelhouse Bar, which one might think would be a good arrangement for pleasant background music to your dining. Well, that wasn't the case for us. Pianist Ray Coussins was playing, and he is loud. It's a wonder the keyboard doesn't collapse with the pounding he gives it. So when the maitre d' came around to our table to ask how we liked the food, once we had provided him with the well-deserved praise for the food, I asked him if anyone had ever complained about the pianist. He plays so loud that we found it difficult to carry on a conversation, I said. The maitre d' stepped over to have a look at the Wheelhouse Bar, and then he walked quickly away. Five minutes later, three waiters appeared at our table and announced that they were moving us. They picked up everything and shifted us to a table well away from the Wheelhouse Bar. Two minutes later we were eating once more as if nothing had happened. And we could converse!

 

That's an extreme example of good service, but I have to say that the service overall has been excellent. Princess probably picks the staff for a new vessel very carefully, and it shows. Lots of smiles, and some even remember our names. Which I do expect from our cabin steward (Fernando is the best we've had in our short cruising career) and MDR server (our Tanya is a friendly and amusing waitress) but here the bar staff are pretty good as well. Nadiia in Crooners remembers my name, knows my drink and has an enthusiastic approach to shaking our cocktails at our table. She always has a smile.

 

DW misses the promenade deck. She's tried the decks outside Crooners and Facets, and the two decks aft on the quarters, and they don't cut it for her. But I think that's the only negative she has about the Royal.

 

Elevators … except for embarkation day and a couple of days when we were returning from excursions, we haven't had to wait long for elevators. Of course, we are only two decks away from the Lido Deck, we usually take the stairs when going up there.

 

A couple of days into this cruise, I asked the others what they liked best about the Royal. The two old hands said "everything!" I said "the cabin" and DW said the Piazza. Now after a few more days, I'm agreeing with DW … the Piazza is a great place to lounge about and people watch, listen to music or read a book. I'm typing this off-line, early in the morning sitting at a table in the Piazza, watching the ship come alive with a cup of coffee from the International Cafe at my side. Very nice. And yesterday, a sea day which was a bit windy for my taste, I spent a good part of the day at a table near the International Cafe, drinking coffee, listening to live music and reading.

 

Which reminds me … the coffee on this ship is pretty good. Even the HC and room-service blends are good. I mentioned this to one of the ship's managers, who happened to have a cup of coffee on her desk as we did our business, and she said that in her view, the Royal was the best ship yet for coffee.

 

On the one sea day when we had sun and light wind, we set up chairs on the Sky Deck overlooking the Retreat. We enjoyed that. I checked on the Retreat cabanas. All were booked even though a few were not occupied. Also, on embarking I checked the Sanctuary. It would not have been possible to book a chair for the entire cruise - all available had already been booked. They save a few for daily use, and I saw the lineup early in the morning of our first sea day. I haven't bothered with trying that.

 

The internet works better than on our previous ships. Our Elite friends think so too.

 

DW reports that on her two visits to the laundry on our deck, things have worked well.

 

For Athens, Kusadasi, Istanbul and Naples we have taken Princess excursions. All were very good. Our tour guides were excellent. The Royal's organization to get you mustered, disembarked and onto the right bus was very competent.

 

I'm finishing this just before our Naples sail away, and we have a reservation for Sabatini's after that, so I'll wind this up for now. I'll add more observations if I come across any points not covered above.

 

Sounds like an outstanding cruise so far. Thank you for posting your observations. Gets me even more excited for our cruise in October.....:):):)

Bob

[Pia1913]

We have less than 4 weeks :):)

 

24 days and we're out the door. :D

[IECalCruiser]

24 days and we're out the door. :D

We have you beat by two days as we will be flying to BCN in 22 days :) :) Since we don't drink much white wine, there should be some left for you when you get to BCN though :D

[Pia1913]

We have you beat by two days as we will be flying to BCN in 22 days :) :) Since we don't drink much white wine, there should be some left for you when you get to BCN though :D

 

Enjoy! We've spent many days in that city. Will you be at "our" hotel too?