Live from Royal Feb 22nd 10 Day Eastern Carib

[trystran72]

Beautiful!! Thank you for taking us along on your journey! :)

[Steelers0854]

The Good, The (Not so) Bad, and the Ugly

 

The Good

 

-The Royal Princess: we loved this ship, from the decor to the state rooms to all the venues. Overall, this is a fantastic ship and we would have no qualms about sailing on her again.

 

-10 days at sea: Up until now we have always done 7 day cruises. We have always left feeling like we just hit our stride when we had to leave. The solution? 10 days! We felt this was the perfect amount of time and really enjoyed the extra days. Of course, 14+ is always great, but getting time off for 10 days was hard enough! One day though......

 

-Selling the extras: This ship had the perfect balance, from the spa to the piazza we never felt pushed to buy anything, people were there if we needed anything, offered to sell us products on occasion, but no one was every overly pushy.

 

-The Lotus Spa: We are spa people and this class of ships really focuses on the spa. The space is huge and beautiful. If you enjoy using the spa this ship does it right!

 

-Horizon Court/Bistro: How I wish they had this on every ship. While I still think it could be a little less confusing in its layout, it is far and away the best buffet in the fleet. Not only was the variety excellent, but the food was always hot and refreshed often. We really enjoyed the themed dinner nights as well. We skipped the MDR one night to go to German Night buffet and had an excellent meal. My one tip, as many have said before, before even grabbing a plate, walk through the ENTIRE buffet of the court and bistro before making your selection. They like to hide new and different food in between repeats of soup and salad setups (PS the soups are all the same at each station). But kudos to Princess for getting this right. Also, there is a coffee bar in the pastry shop which is a nice addition.

 

-Service on board: With the exception of the one topic discussed below, we had fantastic service while on board. Our dining room staff was great, and we saw the same level of service all over the ship.

 

-On Demand TV's: This is one of the best things on board. They have a few live channels (ESPN and a couple of news stations) but the rest of the system is all on demand, from discovery channel shows to food network programs, you watch what you want, when you want and can resume it when you come back. They also post shows filmed in Princess Live that you may have missed such as the marriage game show etc. A fantastic system so you don't have to stay up til 11pm to catch a movie that you wanted to see. I can't wait for this system to be on all the ships.

 

-Discovery@Sea: I'm a huge Discovery Channel fan. I love the partnership that Princess has with them. From themed trivia, to star gazing to presentations, I truly hope this partnership continues to grow and stick around.

 

-Kory Simon: He was an entertainer that mainly played in Crooners, but also did shows in the Vista lounge. He was excellent, and we enjoyed his performances every chance we got. I wish princess had more people like him and various venues then some of these large scale production shows that have really gone down hill over the years.

 

 

The (Not so) Bad

 

-Missing center stairs: This is a minor inconvenience, and certainly would never impact our decision to sail on her again. We were in a midship mini and the lack of center stairs was disappointing. The problem is compounded by the way they have the elevators programmed. Because of the panoramic elevators there are 2 sets of buttons, one for the main elevators and one for the panoramas. People will hit all the buttons to get the fastest response. When they get on one elevator the other request is still pending. Often times you stop at almost every floor with no one waiting because of this. If they simply changed the way the buttons worked this would be a big help. We also found that when we decided to take the elevator, vs walking to either end of the ship, they were often full and we would give up and take the stairs any way. Again, a minor inconvenience but hopefully it will be resolved in dry dock and then it will all be a mute point.

 

-Room Steward: For the first time in our Princess experience we had a less than stellar cabin steward. He did his job, the room was made up each morning and evening, but we have been so accustomed to amazing service that we were let down. The cabin was not as clean as we have had in the past. He did what he needed to do, but certainly never went above and beyond. Plus there were times that we had to ask for basic items that we had run out of and he never replenished, ice, tissues etc. We always leave on the auto tips and have always tipped our wait staff and room steward more as we always received great service. This was the first time we ever even needed to discuss whether to leave him an additional amount. We did in the end, as these are the hardest working people I have ever met, but hopefully next time the service will improve.

 

-Mini-Suite: we always book a balcony cabin, but this was our anniversary cruise so I booked a mini, plus I had wanted the larger angled balcony given the complaints of the small balconies on board. The mini was huge, had a full sized sofa, 2 TV's and an amazing bathroom with a full sized tub. While the size of the room was nice, we both agreed that we would be just fine in a balcony and it wasn't worth the extra money for the mini. Would I take it as an upgrade if offered? Absolutely, but I wouldn't pay the large price difference in the future as I did this time. I also believe that the standard balcony size is just fine for what we use it for, 2 people sitting reading, enjoying a drink or watching an arrival/sailaway.

 

-Somkehouse BBQ at the Trident Grill: So I love BBQ, and was excited to hear that for dinner the Trident grill offered BBQ options. Well I was more than disappointed. The pre-cooked pulled pork was the same saucy mess that was served in the buffet for lunch as Mexican pulled pork carnitas. The chicken was ok and marinated in a sauce, but there is no way they should call this food BBQ. I know we are onboard a ship, and therefore they cannot actually BBQ, but these were terrible and they should just not offer anything than these poor alternatives.

 

-Voice of the Ocean: so princess has partnered with the Voice and used their branding for a passenger based singing show on board. I remember them doing this before but I think it was based more around American Idol. This is a fail in my book. They have the graphics, music, and even the turning chairs from the show. However, atleast on our ship, the show was poorly managed, the judges were a comedian who was on board, a pianist who was on board, and a member of the entertainment staff. It didn't seem like the judges were adequately prepared, the show seemed hastily put together, and it just didn't seem to work. Also, it was dragged out with the pomp and circumstance of the turning chairs, and picking of teams etc.

 

The Ugly

 

-Coming home

 

-Coming home with 8 extra pounds, and I'm not talking in the suitcase!

 

 

 

Other random items:

 

-In order for your cabin's power to function you need to leave your room key (or any other similarly sized card [emoji6]) in a slot by the door. We had no issues with this, we never once forgot our key and actually found it quite helpful not to have to turn on and off all the lights each time we got in or left.

 

-We aren't big pool users, so I didn't post this in any category above, but I really think they need to have 1 more pool on board than they do, especially for a non-port heavy cruise.

 

-MDR menus are posted outside of every dining room as well as the back of the buffet. They updated for breakfast, lunch (if a sea day) and dinner menus each day. On the Grand class ships, if I remember correctly, it was only posted outside the traditional dining room at the back of the ship, thus requiring the daily pilgrimage to see what was for dinner each night.

[EMS8]

Thank-you for a great report and balanced review. We board Royal on the 23rd. Hope we have as good as cruise as you did.

[Nanatravel]

Steelers0854, again thanks so much for the details. One question, if they are only supplying Beach Towels in your cabin for the port of Princess Cays, where or how do you get beach towels when going ashore for other ports? Pool Deck, Leaving ship area??

[Steelers0854]

Steelers0854, again thanks so much for the details. One question, if they are only supplying Beach Towels in your cabin for the port of Princess Cays, where or how do you get beach towels when going ashore for other ports? Pool Deck, Leaving ship area??

 

 

Yes towels for Princess Cays are provided in your room. Otherwise they are available just before leaving the ship on the gangway.

[caribill]

Steelers0854, again thanks so much for the details. One question, if they are only supplying Beach Towels in your cabin for the port of Princess Cays, where or how do you get beach towels when going ashore for other ports? Pool Deck, Leaving ship area??

 

The beach towels in your cabin can be taken off the ship in any port. Just be sure to bring them back to the ship. Your cabin steward will replace them with clean ones.

[caribill]

-MDR menus are posted outside of every dining room as well as the back of the buffet. They updated for breakfast, lunch (if a sea day) and dinner menus each day. On the Grand class ships, if I remember correctly, it was only posted outside the traditional dining room at the back of the ship, thus requiring the daily pilgrimage to see what was for dinner each night.

 

The dinner menu on the Grand class ships is posted outside each dining room, not just the aft one.

 

However, the dining room used for breakfast and for lunch (if at sea) will not have the menu there until after breakfast/lunch is over.

[chamima]

The beach towels in your cabin can be taken off the ship in any port. Just be sure to bring them back to the ship. Your cabin steward will replace them with clean ones.

 

We were also on the Royal with Steelers.

This cruise Princess had a cart of clean towels in the gangway area so you could grab a couple as you left the ship.

The only port we got them in our cabin (along with a note to please return them) was at Princess Cays.

Don't know if that was just our cabin steward , this particular ship or is new Princess policy but it made things very easy! :)

[Steelers0854]

We were also on the Royal with Steelers.

 

This cruise Princess had a cart of clean towels in the gangway area so you could grab a couple as you left the ship.

 

The only port we got them in our cabin (along with a note to please return them) was at Princess Cays.

 

Don't know if that was just our cabin steward , this particular ship or is new Princess policy but it made things very easy! :)

 

 

Seems like a ship-wide thing as we only had towels in the cabin on Princess Cays as well.

[floridalover5623]

It would be nice if they had a collection bin at Princess Cays. This way people wouldn't have to carry them back or just leave them on the chairs to have to be rounded up.

[chamima]

It would be nice if they had a collection bin at Princess Cays. This way people wouldn't have to carry them back or just leave them on the chairs to have to be rounded up.

 

We gave our towels to someone at the dock before boarding the tender.

[ar1950]

The Good, The (Not so) Bad, and the Ugly.

............................

 

The (Not so) Bad

 

............................The problem is compounded by the way they have the elevators programmed. Because of the panoramic elevators there are 2 sets of buttons, one for the main elevators and one for the panoramas. People will hit all the buttons to get the fastest response. When they get on one elevator the other request is still pending. Often times you stop at almost every floor with no one waiting because of this. If they simply changed the way the buttons worked this would be a big help..........................

 

We have been on the Ruby, the Star, and the Ruby again in the last 7 months and the mid elevators/panoramas work the same way on those ships. Also remember the same issue on the Golden a year and a half ago.

 

Just sayin'. :rolleyes:

 

 

....................................................

The Ugly

 

-Coming home

 

-Coming home with 8 extra pounds, and I'm not talking in the suitcase!

....................................

 

Oh boy, that sounds too familiar. :D

Edited March 6, 2016 by ar1950

[caribill]

We have been on the Ruby, the Star, and the Ruby again in the last 7 months and the mid elevators/panoramas work the same way on those ships. Also remember the same issue on the Golden a year and a half ago.

 

 

The difference is that on the Royal/Regal both types of mid-ship elevators go to all of the same decks.

 

On the Ruby/Star/Crown/Golden/Star/Grand, the regular elevators go down to deck 4 while the panoramic elevators do not.

 

The theory is that if both types of elevators were called by a single button, some passengers wanting to go to deck four would get into an elevator that does not go there.

[floridalover5623]

We gave our towels to someone at the dock before boarding the tender.

 

I haven't see that but it's a great idea. Maybe we went back to early? We're always on the first tender over & leave immediately after lunch.

[5knotsmax]

Hello. What an interesting and informative blog. Thank you so much for doing this.

I see you say:

 

Princess@Sea app. Let me just say the fact that they created an app that's sole purpose is to kick you over to the web browser once you log in is funny, I would have thought they would have done better. But the functionally is awesome! Being able to browse the patter and essentially create your own itinerary is a lifesaver. No more writing down on the edges of the patter when you schedule something. the communicator portion is also neat, you don't need to leave messages on other peoples doors about where you are etc. a win for princess on this one."

 

Does this mean you had to pay fir WiFi to connect? I thought it was free. Either way, my smart phone isn't compatible with it, but I should be able to get it on my android tablet but I don't want to pay their WiFi charges.

[Eleanor Rigby 14]

Wonderful meeting you and your wife, Steelers. It was a fabulour cruise and ship, wasn't it? I have really enjoyed your live blog and review. I would heartily recommend this ship to anyone...I just did not like the long waits to get on elevators...they were always packed!

 

I had so many awesome moments on the journey but the one that stands out for me and my DH was when we arrived in St Thomas we took a 6 hour sailboat ride with Pat from Independence Sailboat Charters. One of the top ten travel experiences of our lives! If you have never been on a sailboat, try it. And I can say Pat ( and first mate ) Will were superb so do not hesitate to contact them. Top notch excursion.

 

Hope to see you on other cruisrs, Steelers!

[rebeljohn]

Steelers..........Thanks for taking the time to post this well done review. We will be on the Royal March 23. We haven't seen the movie 'The Martian' and are looking forward to seeing it on board. Again.......thanks for sharing your anniversary cruise with us..........John & Phyllis

[Steelers0854]

Steelers..........Thanks for taking the time to post this well done review. We will be on the Royal March 23. We haven't seen the movie 'The Martian' and are looking forward to seeing it on board. Again.......thanks for sharing your anniversary cruise with us..........John & Phyllis

 

 

I'm glad you enjoyed it. I really enjoy writing it as it helps me relax and remember the awesome day I just had.

 

I watched the Martian on board, it was awesome! You won't be disappointed. It was on MUTS and then available in the cabin shortly afterward.

[caribill]

Does this mean you had to pay fir WiFi to connect? I thought it was free.

 

Princess@Sea is what Princess calls the access path to both the Internet (for which there is a charge*) and the ship's intranet which is at no charge.

 

It is when using the intranet that you can view the Patter, check your onboard account, etc.

 

*There are some functions you can do on the Internet without signing on to use minutes. These include Princess.com and sending Princess e-cards.

[hockeygal54]

Eleanor R--what did the sailboat excursion cost? We're there other people on it besides u and crew? Going on the Regal in November and would like to do something better than a cab into Charlotte. [emoji35]

[Eleanor Rigby 14]

Hi Hockey Gal,

The cost was $140.00 per person....plus it cost $11.00/person taxi ride over to the dock. That might seem expensive but you get a lot for your money. Snorkeling equipment was included and the two couples who took advantage of it. said it was some of the best snorkeling ever...they saw fish they had never come across before...plenty of turtles too. This took place off the coast of St John in two different spots. A hot lunch was included....delicious pasta, salad, Death by Chocolate. And the most yummy rum punch I have ever tasted....and it just kept on coming! The captain is Pat and she is a sweet and knowledgeable woman who has put together the most perfect excursion. The water was such a gorgeous shade of green/blue and we loved just relaxing for 6-7 hours looking at it. My DH and I feel that this is one of the best decisions we ever made as far as optional tours go. She gets rave reviews on Trip Advisor!

 

Two other couples were with us...so there were eight of us counting the captain and first mate. Plenty of room! And a canopy on the back of the boat that provided adequate shade for those like me who burn easily!

 

Eleanor Rigby

[hockeygal54]

I've been snorkeling off St John years ago and that underwater "park" that had the markers on the bottom of the ocean. It was impressive.

[chamima]

Eleanor

I have to ask - is your real name Eleanor?

I was sitting at Kory Simon's show one night and he was talking to "Eleanor" and her husband and I was dying to ask if she was "Eleanor Rigby" from Cruise Critic but was afraid if it wasn't you I'd look foolish.

So - was that you?

[Eleanor Rigby 14]

Eleanor

I have to ask - is your real name Eleanor?

I was sitting at Kory Simon's show one night and he was talking to "Eleanor" and her husband and I was dying to ask if she was "Eleanor Rigby" from Cruise Critic but was afraid if it wasn't you I'd look foolish.

So - was that you?

 

No, alas, my name is not Eleanor. I am just a really big Beatles fan. And was totally surprised by the Beatlemaniacs' shows on the cruise. I just happened to have my Paul McCartney t-shirt with me and so I wore it to both of the shows I attended. We all had fun singing along and dancing...what a blast! I guess it was meant to be. :)

[Klynnn3]

Does the Lotus Spa have its own thermal suite? I have read that spa guests cannot use the Enclave and it seems odd to have a huge spa area with no amenities.