2013 Christmas Cruise on Royal Princess - A Photo Review!

[LittleMissMagic]

Hi Victoria, we were on the Allure that week. We were on the port side so we didn't get caught in any of your pictures. :) One thing that appears significantly different between the Allure and the Royal Princess is the use of the pool deck at night. Except for am occasionally person in the hot tubs the pool deck is really a dead area at night on either the Allure or Oasis, but on the Royal Princess the pool deck seem like a lively place with bands, dancing, pizza, bars, etc. However the winds were very strong that week so it was not very comfortable to be on the top deck or pool deck on Allure. Is the Royal Princess built in a way that protects the pool deck from the winds or were activities cancelled on several nights?

 

Thanks for another great review.

 

I've always found that the lower you are, the less windy it is, so that might have something to do with it. And the pool deck was rather protected by the sun deck above which blocked much of the wind. It was our first sea day which was just unbearably windy, but besides that, I didn't find the top deck to be too windy.

[LittleMissMagic]

Wow great pics and looking people. Love the review and you girls look great ever night :-)

Can you tell me what kinda party they have at night ? Is there still a white party ? How many deck part ? Did you attend the disco ? The Bellini bar looks amazing how did u like it there ?

 

We did Rccl Oasis in 2010 and loved it.

 

Thanks again for all as we will be on her this Sunday Jan 12th.

 

Sea ya

Eric

 

The deck party that the Royal Princess had was a latin dance party. I think the White Hot Party you're thinking of is on the Norwegian Epic. I went to Club 6 when it was a club only the first night and wasn't a big fan of the layout. I probably should've given it another try on a livelier night, but never did. The Bellini bar was fun and a great atmosphere.

[LittleMissMagic]

Your pictures are making me want to invest in a better camera!

 

As for the illusionist David Cats, I ran across him in the International Cafe one day and asked him if he was going to be on for Week 2 of my B2B and he said 'No', that they were getting off the ship that next week but would be back. When I told him that I was sorry that I had not seen his shows during that week the look on his face was priceless, as if to say 'How could you possibly miss my shows'? Other than the opening number of his act, maybe it was a good thing I skipped it?

 

If you already have a DSLR, I'd suggest upgrading your lens first. While I do have a nice camera body, I think it's the steady f2.8 aperture of my lenses which really help make some of my pictures.

 

Yeah, David Cats seemed more like a street illusionist who decided to create a stage show with all of his street tricks. Maybe some people enjoy watching card tricks on a giant monitor, but I wasn't a fan.

[LittleMissMagic]

I'm trying to respond to all of your questions, but it starts to get a little confusing, so let me know if I've missed you.

 

For all of you who comment on how much you are enjoying my review and my photographs, while I don't respond individually to each of you, I'd like you to know that I read each of your comments, and they really mean a lot to me. Photography is something that I've been working on improving for the past three years or so, and I feel like I've really come a long way (which you can tell if you remember my older reviews), and I'm excited about the future. My personal goal is that each of my photo reviews is an improvement over the last - that it provides more information (need to get better at taking notes), better photographs, and that it makes the reader feel like they are on vacation with me. Thank you to everyone who reads my reviews - the encouragement from each of you is outstanding and why I continue to do these photo reviews!

 

Now on with the show....

 

December 27, 2013

 

One of my goals for this trip was to take long exposures of the ship at night. This is something that I kind of started on my Epic cruise with a gorillapod. This cruise, I brought my travel tripod and remote with me. I knew that I wanted as few people as possible in the frame, and like I said before, the key to that is patience..... or getting up remarkably early. I set my wake-up call to 5 am, and while I did not want to get up, I knew that the photographs would be worth it, and I'd regret it if I didn't.

 

I started with the pool deck.

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

Edited January 6, 2014 by LittleMissMagic

[LittleMissMagic]

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

This part of the ship always started to remind me of a shopping mall. I think it's the tile floor.

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

This is the first ship that Princess placed the spa not by the gym, but by the lobby. The idea was so that people would walk through. I need to ask Rachel how she felt about that.

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

[LittleMissMagic]

5AM is a fun hour because you run into two different types of people - those who still haven't gone to bed, and those who are early risers. It's pretty easy to tell who is who based on what they're doing and what they're wearing.

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

[LittleMissMagic]

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

In Club 6, I ran into people who hadn't gone to sleep. They were just chilling and talking on the sofa. They noticed me and asked if they needed to move. I told them no. It turns out that they were aimlessly wandering the ship. I ran into them again in the Princess Theater where they were trying to get into all types of doors marked "Crew Only." Go to bed!

[LittleMissMagic]

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

[LittleMissMagic]

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

[LittleMissMagic]

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Rachel said that when she was walking to the spa early the other morning, she passed the Princess Live theater. You could tell that the crew just got out of some sort of morning meeting, and they were all standing around the door because something was going down. "I'm just telling you what needs to be done!" "But I don't see why we can't do it this way!" Everyone else was really interested in this argument and Rachel walked by unnoticed until someone yelled, "Guest! Guest!" And everyone went silent. She kept walking, pretending she didn't see, and then she heard someone say, "Okay, we're good!" And they went back at it.

Edited January 6, 2014 by LittleMissMagic

[LittleMissMagic]

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

The Wheelhouse Bar is no longer all nautical-themed.

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Here is Crown Grill.

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

They took down this Christmas tree the night after I took this photo, so I was glad that I decided to do my photo tour when I did. However, the morning of our departure, I noticed that they had put the tree back up. They took it down for two days... and then put it back up!

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

[The Big Booper]

Great photos. I did see a maintenance guy who sneaked into your picture of the Piazza. :D

Edited January 6, 2014 by The Big Booper

[sunsetbeachgal]

I love the ones of the swimming pool with the colored lighting. Really gorgeous!

[spingal]

OMG your pictures are AMAZING!!!! Thanks so much for posting this review! Now I am dying to go on this ship.

[windjamming]

LMM, thanks again for another gorgeous review. As others have noted, you have a gift for storytelling, and the visuals are just stunning.

 

I'm curious, since you've sailed a number of lines, how did you find the "light" on the Royal? One of the features that I adore about RCI is the openness and airiness of their ships, and especially in their multi-story dining rooms. By comparison I felt NCL's dining rooms to be a bit claustrophobic.

[spingal]

P.S. This review was so great that I read your reviews of the NCL Epic. Also amazingly well done!

[jb9991]

It is so nice to see all the pictures, we are sailing on the 19th on the Royal.

 

We've been getting notices about a mosquito thing on the French side of St. Maarten. Was that going on when you were there?

[Ga Peach]

On another thread on the Princess Forum, there is a discussion of 'kids' being unruly and forced to leave the Royal at Princess Cay. I think it was your cruise. Were you aware of anything like that?

[LittleMissMagic]

Great photos. I did see a maintenance guy who sneaked into your picture of the Piazza. :D

 

Yeah, I thought he was a nice touch. There's also another atrium photo with a security guard on one of the upper balcony levels. For some reason, I was ridiculously nervous that he was going to ask me to leave or ask me what I was doing, but he never bothered me.

[LittleMissMagic]

LMM, thanks again for another gorgeous review. As others have noted, you have a gift for storytelling, and the visuals are just stunning.

 

I'm curious, since you've sailed a number of lines, how did you find the "light" on the Royal? One of the features that I adore about RCI is the openness and airiness of their ships, and especially in their multi-story dining rooms. By comparison I felt NCL's dining rooms to be a bit claustrophobic.

 

I feel you on that! The multi-story dining room is perhaps my favorite feature of Royal Caribbean ships. I wish that Princess did something similar. I didn't like being stuffed back in that little room in the dining room.

[LittleMissMagic]

P.S. This review was so great that I read your reviews of the NCL Epic. Also amazingly well done!

 

Thank you! I had a great time on the Epic. And Rachel liked the ship much better than the ports.... she's not a big fan of history, I've learned.

[LittleMissMagic]

It is so nice to see all the pictures, we are sailing on the 19th on the Royal.

 

We've been getting notices about a mosquito thing on the French side of St. Maarten. Was that going on when you were there?

 

There was a mosquito warning, and we packed bug spray.... and I never used it. And I didn't get a bite. I did notice other people with mosquito bites later around the pool deck, and I would point them out to Rachel and warn her of her future (who got a bite of some sort... but never sick). But this disease is only supposed to be caught from mosquitos, not passed from person to person.

 

They say to put the bug spray on over your sunscreen, if you want to take that precaution.

[LittleMissMagic]

On another thread on the Princess Forum, there is a discussion of 'kids' being unruly and forced to leave the Royal at Princess Cay. I think it was your cruise. Were you aware of anything like that?

 

Ah, that was not my cruise. That was the cruise after mine.

 

There were over 700 children (ages 17 and under) on our sailing. During the muster drill, they asked parents to please be mindful of their children, and they asked other passengers to remember that we were all children once.

 

I didn't have a problem with any kids except the obnoxious ones by us in the dining room. And there were some teenagers that liked to hang out on the stairs. For some reason, no matter what cruise ship I'm on, teens hang out on the stairs. WHY? There are SO MANY lounges! Why do you want to sit and block traffic on the stairs? And then there was another group of obnoxious teens that were quite rude to us in Horizon Bistro.

 

Teen years are so difficult.

[joe/jack]

Victoria,

 

Thank You for sharing all your photos

We are sailing on 4/6 and hope to have a

wonderful vacation as you did.

We have never had a bad experience on a Princess Ship!

 

;);)

[spingal]

I feel you on that! The multi-story dining room is perhaps my favorite feature of Royal Caribbean ships. I wish that Princess did something similar. I didn't like being stuffed back in that little room in the dining room.

 

I have always wondered about this.............are the multi-story dining rooms louder than the Princess dining rooms?? I realize you had a tough table for this cruise with that family that was seated near you. So maybe the Royal isn't a good comparison. Maybe comparing the RCL dining room to the Island Princess one would be better?