A1A Posted April 6, 2014 #1 Share Posted April 6, 2014 (edited) After much anticipation, today marks the beginning of our Royal Princess cruise. Beginning with Dave’s everything thread and after reading reviews from others including Crusin’ Chris, Neurosurgery NP and Toronto TL we have been awaiting our turn on this new Princess Ship. Really wanted to thank Dave for the great photos of his trip as well, gave us some great insight on what to expect! We live in South Florida so our trip will begin soon as family will be driving us to Port Everglades. We have beautiful weather here today and our extended forecast looks great for Princess Cay, St. Thomas and St. Maarten. Usually takes a little more than an hour to get to Ft. Lauderdale, hoping the boarding process goes smoothly! We have a very enthusiastic roll call and have planned a meet and greet this afternoon at sail away. We also have a group excursion in St. Maarten which we are looking forward to as well. Other group activities include the slot pull and cabin crawl. Some of our members have exchanged ideas and information with the April 13 sailing so I know some may be following along. Lastly, one of our members, John (Balcony Bum), had to cancel the cruise recently so we will send our greetings to him and want him to know he will be along with us in spirit! First “live from” for me, will try to post as regular as I can and hopefully I can answer some questions you may have. Ken Edited April 6, 2014 by A1A Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RhondaPerr Posted April 6, 2014 #2 Share Posted April 6, 2014 Have a great time! We are right behind you on the 13 th! After much anticipation, today marks the beginning of our Royal Princess cruise. Beginning with Dave’s everything thread and after reading reviews from others including Crusin’ Chris, Neurosurgery NP and Toronto TL we have been awaiting our turn on this new Princess Ship. Really wanted to thank Dave for the great photos of his trip as well, gave us some great insight on what to expect! We live in South Florida so our trip will begin soon as family will be driving us to Port Everglades. We have beautiful weather here today and our extended forecast looks great for Princess Cay, St. Thomas and St. Maarten. Usually takes a little more than an hour to get to Ft. Lauderdale, hoping the boarding process goes smoothly! We have a very enthusiastic roll call and have planned a meet and greet this afternoon at sail away. We also have a group excursion in St. Maarten which we are looking forward to as well. Other group activities include the slot pull and cabin crawl. Some of our members have exchanged ideas and information with the April 13 sailing so I know some may be following along. Lastly, one of our members, John (Balcony Bum), had to cancel the cruise recently so we will send our greetings to him and want him to know he will be along with us in spirit! First “live from” for me, will try to post as regular as I can and hopefully I can answer some questions you may have. Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmwnc1959 Posted April 6, 2014 #3 Share Posted April 6, 2014 Hi Ken, Have a GREAT cruise!!! I'm looking forward to reading all of your impressions; the good, the bad, and the ugly. Bon Voyage! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaTene Posted April 6, 2014 #4 Share Posted April 6, 2014 We sail this beauty on Feb 7-17 and are sponging up as much information as we can garner from folks who have sailed her. Thanks for taking the time to post as much as you can during your cruise. So very much appreciated. Have a wonderful time. Wishing you sunny skies and smooth sailing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TorontoTL Posted April 6, 2014 #5 Share Posted April 6, 2014 Have a wonderful cruise Ken. You're going to love the Royal. I can't wait to hear what you think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Tak8 Posted April 6, 2014 #6 Share Posted April 6, 2014 Enjoy your cruise. I will be on the Royal for Christmas. I'm looking forward to your observations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kywildcatfanone Posted April 6, 2014 #7 Share Posted April 6, 2014 We are at FLL after getting off the Royal. Beautiful ship. I hope you don't experience the power loss we had on a couple of days. Other than that, it was a wonderful week on a gorgeous ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colo Cruiser Posted April 6, 2014 #8 Share Posted April 6, 2014 Bon Voyage! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam in CA Posted April 6, 2014 #9 Share Posted April 6, 2014 Have a great cruise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atomic911 Posted April 6, 2014 #10 Share Posted April 6, 2014 have a nice cruise :):):) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanibel*Gal Posted April 6, 2014 #11 Share Posted April 6, 2014 Bon Voyage & Enjoy!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dchip Posted April 6, 2014 #12 Share Posted April 6, 2014 Bon Voyage!!! We can't wait to hear what you think of the Royal. We are looking forward to 20 days at this time next year. Cheers, Denise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
58Piano Posted April 6, 2014 #13 Share Posted April 6, 2014 We are going on the 13th. Your review will help. What time did you board? How long did it take to get onboard? Did you try to book the sanctuary for the week? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistyann Posted April 6, 2014 #14 Share Posted April 6, 2014 I read in a member's review that they offer no milkshakes on the Royal and read another post that said they do serve them at Swirls? :eek: Being you are there "live" maybe you could let all of us know for sure! We bought the unlimited soda and more card thinking we could get them...less than 2 weeks till we're aboard :D Thanks in advance and have a great cruise!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kywildcatfanone Posted April 6, 2014 #15 Share Posted April 6, 2014 We got ice cream at Swirls, but never asked about milkshakes. Did not see the machine for milkshakes there, but didn't look that closely either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A1A Posted April 6, 2014 Author #16 Share Posted April 6, 2014 We made it to the Royal Princess with only one minor issue. The traffic at and around Pier 2 was insane today, with three lanes merging into two and then merging into one lane as you drop your luggage. It took us 35 minutes to get from the entrance of pier 2 to the bag drop. However, once we were inside the terminal we noticed some of the great features of our newly acquired platinum status. We were whisked right into a preferred line, our bags were scanned. I was asked by the agent if I had two bottles of wine in my bag and soda, I replied yes and was waived on. Five minutes later we were checked in and on our way to the ship. What a beautiful ship! The piazza is much grander than we expected, the ascending staircases are stunning and the overall feel of the ship is spectacular. Really haven’t checked out the entire ship but overall we are impressed, she is so nice, new and squeaky clean, we will explore some more later! We are in Lido 208, our second inside cabin. Pretty cozy room and as we spend little time in our room it works out just fine. Our bags were up very quick, probably the fastest ever. Spent some time unpacking, plenty of room in here for all that we brought. Not flying we have the ability to bring everything we need and more, so we often do! Lunch in the HC was great, haven’t check the whole thing experience yet and I need to get my bearings, but initial impressions were very nice and bright, food as always was good! Service was great, as soon as we sat down we were greeted and provided with drinks! They are pushing the Crab Shack, it will be M,T,W,& Friday night in the HC $20 per person. We had about 42 show up for the sail away and were able to put a name with all the faces were have been chatting with for the last year. Nice folks, looking forward to our group excursion Thursday in St. Maarten. MUTS offers Last Vegas tonight and There is a Welcome Aboard Show in the theater at 8:30 PM. Off to dinner now and to make our donation to the casino! Hopefully we will post tomorrow from Princess Cays, we have paddleboard rentals and some snorkeling to do. Thanks for all the well wishes, will try to follow up on some questions when we can, will check in soon! Cheers! Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted April 6, 2014 #17 Share Posted April 6, 2014 Have a great cruise - I will be following closely as we board her in 2 weeks time. I tried to find Dave's "everything" post and it did not come up in my search. Dave if you are lurking, please post a link for me, thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom33 Posted April 6, 2014 #18 Share Posted April 6, 2014 Have a wonderful cruise :D...just got off today and had a wonderful time. The Crab Shack is a great experience and meal! Don't miss the Crab Margaritas at The Seafood Bar. :D I will be posting some pics in the next couple days and a review as soon as I get organized. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snorkel Dawg Posted April 6, 2014 #19 Share Posted April 6, 2014 Ken-When you get around to it this week, give us a report on the pizza onboard? Having only been on the Ruby was the best pizza I've ever had at sea. I look forward to following along :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kywildcatfanone Posted April 6, 2014 #20 Share Posted April 6, 2014 Ken-When you get around to it this week, give us a report on the pizza onboard? Having only been on the Ruby was the best pizza I've ever had at sea. I look forward to following along :) I ate the Lido deck pizza for lunch each day. Great pizza. Did not do Alfredo's, but understand it is very good too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kywildcatfanone Posted April 6, 2014 #21 Share Posted April 6, 2014 We made it to the Royal Princess with only one minor issue. Cheers! Ken Ken, would be interested to hear if you have any power issues. We had them on the first two days and it delayed us getting to St. Thomas by several hours. Didn't happen after that, so perhaps they fixed it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovevacadays Posted April 7, 2014 #22 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Thank you for posting your live from thread. I'm looking forward to following along. Have a wonderful cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldens4ever Posted April 7, 2014 #23 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Hey Ken....The April 13th gang will be following you every step of the way....thanks tons for taking the time to share your experience....it will make my week so much more exciting!!! I didn't realize your cabin was L208...I am L207...other side of the ship!!! If you get a chance, I would love to see some pics!!! Anyway, so glad you are there...on board and off on your vacation! Have a great time! Wishing you smooth sailing...beautiful clear skies....and millions of memories that last a lifetime! See you next Sunday!!!!;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janetz Posted April 7, 2014 #24 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Have a great cruise! We are also booked on the Lido in a inside sideways cabin, 211. Closer to the fun! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandatsea Posted April 7, 2014 #25 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Hi Ken............. enjoy your cruise. Wish we were there too !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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