Royal Princess Spanish Passage Transatlantic Trip Report

[arctickitty]

Hello everyone, I have been waiting for a rainy day to write this report. While there have been plenty of rainy days, there hasn't been one when I wasn't working or doing chores or somesuch. I traveled with my husband (we are in our thirties) and his parents (post-retirement age). We traveled this way because I have a medical condition that makes life logistically complicated but otherwise doesn't slow me down, and also because we were tired of visiting our relatives in their boring civilized suburbs. This was the third cruise for each of us, but our first time traveling together. I promise readers an odd assortment of details and a different perspective on many things.

 

The cruise started on Friday, April 22nd, but my trip several days earlier due to the complicated transportation logistics involved in departing from my island. Our island only has flights on Sundays and Thursdays. As it is impossible to get from our island to Florida on commercial flights from a Thursday to a Friday, Sunday was our day.

 

Sunday April 17th

Our island is the western most municipality in the United States and the southernmost in Alaska. We are the smallest community served by AlaskaAir and the smallest in Alaska to have a TSA checkpoint. Our day started like many other Sundays, as a workday for both of us, with the added layers of details related to leaving on this trip. We both work at the airport and were both scheduled to work prior to hopping on the jet. We had shifts that were normal for our two different positions, except that we had to have co-workers do some tasks for us related to our tickets as we cannot check ourselves in or screen our own luggage (for example). Right before boarding, a friend stopped by the airport to pick up my uniform and we went through security, at which point the xray machine went down. And didn't come back up. And our island, being such a small community, only has one such xray machine. So a different procedure had to be utilized and every tiniest thing in my carryon so neatly packed full of tiny things was absolutely dissected. My husband boarded in his uniform, which he left with a co-worker in Anchorage, our first stop, which we reached about 3 hours later. I usually love flying AlaskaAir but I was discombobulated from my carryon bits being a mess. I was also under a lot of pressure to complete so horrendously boring paperwork for one of my other jobs, and continued to procrastinate about it. Upon arrival in Anchorage, we picked up our luggage and a very fast shuttle to our hotel, Home2 Suites, in midtown Anchorage. We chose this hotel because they offered a points & dollars promotion that used up some stray Hilton points and brought the price down to what we would pay if we'd stayed in a hostel. Instead we had maid service, a king sized bed, a private bathroom, and a kitchen.

 

Monday, April 18th

After hotel breakfast we walked to the eye doctor. What an exciting start to a vacation! Yippee! Remember, we live in Alaska. So when we go to Anchorage, we do lots of boring, normal things that many people take for granted, that we cannot do at home. Anyway, we were trying a new eye doctor, and they got our thumbs up. They have a paperless office! You fill out your forms on a laminated card they scan into your file. Then they wipe it clean for the next person. They also had some device that mapped our eyeballs so that we didn't have to have to get our pupils dilated. Afterwards, we walked to the midtown Fred Meyer to pick up some fresh food for our short stay in Anchorage. This is when things got really exciting...really...because they were having a special promotion called "A Taste of Spain." Prior to this moment, we had never seen Spanish food advertised in Alaska. We got a paella kit, fresh veggies, and mix for Crema Catalana, that we later cooked in our hotel room. The room has a sink, dishwasher, microwave, and 5/6 size fridge, and the front desk loans out convection cook tops and pots and pans. We bought the #1 vegetable we cannot get on our island: eggplant. It was scrumptious.

 

Throughout the afternoon, I had some teleconferences for one of my jobs and possibly started on my paperwork, while we worked on our "trip to do list" and "internet to do list." When you live on an island with very expensive, very limited internet, you maintain an "internet to do list" of all the things you want to do online when you get to the mainland. We enjoyed the saline swimming pool and very nice gym at our hotel.

 

Tuesday, April 19th

Tuesday was a blur of working on our to-do lists, packing up, and camping out. We negotiated for a slightly late check out, put our luggage in hotel storage, and spent most of the afternoon parked in their lobby/work space area. This is when I finally started doing my paperwork, having finally found my concentration for it. Meanwhile my loving husband did laundry. I have a medical condition that creates a lot of laundry so we have learned to do it whenever we get the chance. (To recap, our vacation so far we have: gone to the doctor, gone grocery shopping, done work, and done laundry). My husband wasn't the happiest husband, but we had the possibly nutty idea to go back to Fred Meyer (grocery store) and buy a lot of Spanish food, and buy a big plastic storage tote, and then walk it to the post office and mail it home. We kept thinking, nah, that is too much work, or nah, that is too nutty. But at 4pm we found ourselves heading into Fred Meyer, with a strategy to buy and fill a tub and haul it to the PO prior to closing at 5pm. Shopping went very quick, and we even remembered to buy packing tape to seal up the tub, but my husband picked a very slow cashier. I had a premonition that he'd picked a very slow cashier and I didn't want my husband to say I was being picky if I suggested a different line, so we just had to wait in line and find out that I can spot a very slow cashier when I see one. Anyway, I thought we should take the shopping cart all the way to the Post Office, and then bring it back, but husband said absolutely not, so we carried the tote, taking turns, sometimes together, either way with frequent stops, about 1 mile to the Post Office. I had work paperwork to mail, too, and we realized we didn't have a marker to write our address on the tote. Fortunately the clerk let us borrow one from her. So at this point if you are wondering about "can they really mail groceries in a plastic tote?" the answer is

"yes you can!" In Alaska we call plastic totes "bush luggage." We called a friend to arrange for her to pick it up when it got to the Post Office on our island, to keep it safe from rats. In return, we told her she could take an item out of said tote.

 

We still had many hours until our red-eye flight (whose genius idea was that?) and decided that the best use of our time was to stop in Lowe's on the way back to our hotel. While there, we looked a lots and lots of boring things (my opinion of 95% of Lowes' stock) but came to some major design "ahas" namely that I like the idea of a castle door but its crazy expensive and my husband's idea to tile a living room is actually a good one. We meandered back to our hotel, got our luggage, including our damp laundry (lots of things cannot go in the dryer) and rode the shuttle to the airport.

 

Spoiled brats that we are, we wheeled up to the MVP Gold desk to check in and had a first time occurrence "I'm sorry, you're too early to check in." So we stood to the side and waited 30 minutes and then tried again, just a few minutes after the appropriate amount of time had passed. We went through security, with my husband enjoying his first time through PreCheck, and me having some sort of adventure, because I always have an adventure going through TSA, but because I have so many of said adventures, I can't remember which one I had on Tuesday, April 19th.

 

Next, we headed to the AlaskaAir Board Room, which is further proof to my parents (and perhaps others) that I am hopelessly irresponsible with my money, because I have a membership. This was why we wanted to come to the airport early--so we could have "free" dinner. They always have such lovely salad with spinach (spinach is the #2 vegetable that is the hardest to get on our island) with grape tomatoes. I fly so much that not only is the salad in the AlaskaAir Board room one of my most dependable sources of vegetables, but that the price per visit in my first year of membership averaged well below $5. I tuned out & plugged in and became amazingly productive while we waited for midnight.

 

To be continued...

[arctickitty]

Wednesday, April 20th

Shortly after midnight we exited the AlaskaAir Board Room and headed to our gate. We boarded and I continued my fervent spreadsheet filling and paperwork shuffling. I worked until my computer froze with its screen image in a sideways position and then joined my husband in sleeping. We arrived in Seattle at 5 in the morning and zombie-shuffled into one of the two AlaskaAir Board Rooms in SeaTac, where we enjoyed First Breakfast. (My husband has a high metabolism and is very active so he eats all day long, often having First Breakfast, Second Breakfast, and sometimes Third Breakfast, prior to First Lunch, Second Lunch, etc, all the while remaining quite small). My computer continued to be frozen with the screen sideways, so all my desire to work was for nothing. Around 8:30am we took off for Florida. We debated, and ultimately decided to use a free internet pass I had. We put it to good use doing more trip research.

 

 

 

We landed, found our luggage, and found the shuttle to our hotel, Spring Hill Suites FLL Airport Cruise Port Dania Beach, what a mouth full. The shuttle dropped picked up some other passengers and dropped them off at another hotel. Along the way we passed a trailer park with immaculate lawns. We selected our hotel for its free shuttle to the airport and the cruise terminal, free breakfast, and lower level of hotel points required for redemption. We were quite happy with it. After my husband tore me away from my paperwork, we walked across the highway for dinner, and found our pre-selected restaurant, Urban Café, closed. We were quite hungry and walked to a nearby Subway instead of consulting Yelp. We shared a sandwich, and finding ourselves still hungry, consulted Yelp. We found out that the neighborhood was the falafel capital of Florida, and we were spoilt for choices. We went in one and discovered ourselves transplanted into Israel, with hollering Israelies, families with 10 children, cooks wearing Yarmulkes, and a salad bar of every type of pickles you could identify mixed with those you could not. We jostled for our place in line and were rewarded with a delicious falafel platter with hummus and salads. We necessarily sampled every type of pickles, including those we could not identify. We tried to imagine bringing the in-laws, but didn’t think they could take the din.

 

Thursday, April 21st

Between Wednesday and Thursday we powered through our to-do list, which included printing maps and directions, swimming, exercise, going to the post office yet again, and sampling Cuban coffee. I mailed my still-broken computer back to headquarters for TLC. Midday we rode the shuttle back to the airport, greeted the parents, and hailed a shuttle back. We dragged them across the highway to Las Vegas Cuban Cuisine, where we got the Cortadito (Cuban coffee), Materza (soda made with yerba mate), and a massive appetizer sampler platter. I also ordered the one and only Cuban sandwich they had available. We left the parents watching the news about Prince’s death and explored the strip mall across the highway. We failed at our mission of finding fresh flowers to gift to my MIL but succeeded in finding lots of things that we did not need, most of which we did not buy.

 

 

Friday, April 22nd Embarkation Day

Embarkation Day at last! We woke up and went in the swimming pool (me) and hot tub (husband). I cannot go in hot water and my husband does not like cold water so we have learned to go our own ways in the water. We ate our Cuban leftovers while the parents ate from the breakfast buffet. We went to the lobby at 10:45am as directed, and shortly thereafter began boarding one of several full-size motor coaches for the ride to the port. This marked the beginning of the many “young people jokes” we endured during the cruise. This also marked the beginning of needing to get used to people randomly striking up conversations with us. We live on an island where we know everybody and everybody knows us and our lifestyle is not mysterious or interesting to any of us. We are not used to being around many people, much noise, or traffic of any kind, either. Anyway, there were people on our bus who started talking to us, who kept talking to use throughout the entire cruise. That was a mystery to us, but we accepted it as a common cruising behavior we ourselves didn’t possess.

 

 

 

For those who like details, this was the only part of the trip we timed to the minute:

11:03 departed hotel

11:43 exited bus and got in line

12:36 we were past security onboard

 

 

Now to me that was fast, easy, & quite painless. But throughout the cruise we heard many complaints about embarkation. I know from reading the CC boards we all have our own opinions. The four in our group thought it was a breeze.

 

 

Thanks to CruiseCritic, I was on a mission to not only experience Embarkation Day Lunch, but to convince my family to join me. My husband, having been converted to MDR by my research previously, was an easy sell. His parents, however, were not, but they like to please their daughter in law, so they agreed to join us. This was the first of many, almost entirely lovely meals we enjoyed in the MDR, and one of more than several in which I remembered to write down what we ate. My husband has little choice but to share most of his food with me, as I will pout if he doesn’t and he doesn’t like me to pout, so he does. So whenever I list what we ate, please remember this is a collective we and not a royal we, and also remember that my husband has a high metabolism and is very active and literally needs to eat all the time.

 

 

Embarkation Day Lunch:

Bay Shrimp with Avocado

Antipasto of Dry Cured Salami

Tuscan Chick Pea Soup

Baby Oak Leaves and Limestone

Spinach-Riccotta Ravioli

Nutella Ice Cream

 

During our previous Princess cruise together, my husband and I had agreed that when it comes to food, Princess has certain things it excels in, including pasta, Italian food, and ice cream. This proved to be true throughout our cruise this time as well.

 

 

In the afternoon and evening we explored the ship, where we especially enjoyed what we called the “adult playground” on the jogging desk—things to sit on and spin, things to stand on and swing. My husband says I am just a big kid, and that is very true. We had a list (not a to-do list mind you!) of things to try on the ship, and those we accomplished this first day included: panini, Mighty Leaf Tea, Seawalk, Norman Love, and going to the MDR just for dessert. We had a tomato-mozzarella panini from the International Café that was good but not amazing. The SeaWalk was small as many before us have said. We thought it was no big deal, and not even a deal at all but we watched many others run from it in fear. So perhaps it is a deal, a very, very big deal after all. Although we usually try not to pay for any extras on a cruise, we had decided to drop the $33 on a coffee card because 1) I am obsessed with tea 2) we are learning about coffee 3) we like to try new things and 4) we know how get the most out of a membership card of any type. The Mighty Leaf tea bags are free unlimited during the cruise in which the card was purchased. The loose leaf teas and fancy espresso drinks are one punch each on the card. The first tea I had was Vanilla Black tea and I immediately encountered a logistical problem: it was served to me in a to go cup and I happily walked off with it, but then could not find anywhere to leave the tea bag once my tea was steeped. I am a person that steeps my tea and takes the tea bag out, not leave the tea bag in forever. There is a big difference that I can taste. I wandered around helplessly dangling my tea bag not finding any trash cans or saucers until another passenger noticed my plight and offered his empty glass. I learned from this and planned ahead for my future tea bag needs. In the evening I got a citrus chamomile and asked for it iced. They brewed the tea hot and then poured it over ice. I convinced my husband to go to the MDR with me for just dessert. We had fruit cocktails from the appetizer menu “trio of melon with port, lime and mint” and Norman Love White Chocolate Souffle. My husband ate almost the whole bowl of chocolate sauce with a spoon. Finally, in the evening, we achieved a major accomplishment: we stayed up late enough that our room steward had time to provide us with evening turn down service. Still, we went to bed far earlier than the parents every single night of the cruise.

[arctickitty]

Saturday, April 23rd

 

First off, things we accomplished from our list of things to try on the cruise: breakfast buffet, smoked salmon, library, MDR lunch, Zumba, daily puzzle, Indian food, in-room fruit bowl, ping pong, classical music, and mini golf.

 

After we showered in the morning, we went up to the jogging deck and played basketball and tennis. We absolutely loved that we could use this space so often throughout the cruise. On the Mexican Riveria, it was always packed. We nibbled our way through the breakfast buffet sampling:

 

mini breakfast burrito

hashbrown puffs

a beautiful over-easy fried egg

fresh salsa

tomato slices

cucumber slices

lox

eggs with asparagus

bagel

gouda

potatoes

fruit bowl

 

I went to Zumba and worked hard while my husband went and visited his parents, who are easy going and comfortable letting us come and go. My husband met up at the library and found that although it is small there is actually a lot crammed into the small space. We got three books: a field guide to birds of the Mediterranean, a Scrabble dictionary, and a novel by Isabel Allende. We looked at the bird book a little almost every day, used the Scrabble dictionary to referree a game (and then returned it), and I tried very hard to read the novel, but didn't finish it because I was so busy and there were so many other things to read. We didn't successfully any new-to-us birds (we try but are not very good birders) but we still really enjoyed looking through the book and learning about birds. We usually think about nature in Alaska and art in Europe not the other way around. We also picked up the daily puzzle, which we did as a group of four over lunch, and which proved to be a popular activity, with the parents later asking me if there were any new puzzles out. Today's puzzle was a quiz about inventors.

 

We sat on the parents' balcony and read until we fell asleep. On the way to the MDR for lunch, I picked up a white tea. I never figured out during the whole cruise that you can possibly order the premium teas in the MDR. Maybe? I don't know...I always planned a few minutes to go get it myself on the way in. Sometimes the waiters would bring me extra hot water and I could re-steep my tea bag instead of wasting it. For lunch we had:

 

Caprese Salad

Mussels

Spinach Fettuccine

Chicken Korma

Rice Pudding

Fruit Plate

 

I had clapped my hands when I saw Chicken Korma on the menu because I had heard about it over and over again from PescadoAmarillo. It really is a thrill for the waiter to bring this huge tray of toppings. Being the person that I am, I took one spoonful of each, to try them all: coconut, jalapeno, red onion, chutney, almonds, cilantro.

 

Later we went back up to what we call the "fun deck" on and above the jogging deck and played ping pong for a good long time and did a little putt putt and quite a lot of spinning on the thing you can sit on and spin around. We started on laundry and my husband got ready for running. Our in-room fruit bowl arrived and we thought the little plate that came with it was so cute. We enjoyed cutting the fruit and having snacks whenever we wanted. Fruit requires a lot more work at home. We shared a bottle of sparkling Italian wine and an apple with the parents before dinner and then headed to Alfredo's:

 

Antipasto with mortadella, salami, prosciutto

Salad

Pizza vegetariana

Sicilian baguette with tuna

 

We got dessert from the International Cafe:

Pistachio pudding

Strawberry cheesecake

 

We enjoyed watching the Alegria String Quartet, our favorite performers of the whole cruise. After listening with the parents for awhile, our need to move kicked in and we went back up to the fun deck for more putt-putt.

[arctickitty]

Sunday, April 24th

 

Today's list of accomplishments: cronut, fruit for breakfast, MDR breakfast, line dancing, IC lunch, Sabatini's, shuffleboard, and lobster.

 

We woke up at 5:30am and felt well-rested to we got right up. We put on our swim suits and went up top only to discover that the pools don't open until 8am. We got dressed and visited the International Cafe and happily discovered that one's of the day's treats was the croissant donut, otherwise known as a cronut. We took this back to our room to have with the coffee & hot water that arrived via room service from the card we'd left on the door the previous night. The cronut was good but not amazing--perhaps too much expectation built up for it. The museli had a very nice flavor. That was first breakfast.

 

At 7:30 we went to the MDR for second breakfast:

 

Melon cocktail-cantaloupe, honeydew, & watermelon finely diced

Half portions of bagels & lox

 

We had green tea from the IC and coffee. We thought the bagels & lox was better in the MDR than the buffet. I went to Zumba & then all 4 of us relaxed on the Lido deck partially watching a Cirque du Soleil show on MUTS.

 

We picked up more tea and had lunch at the International Cafe:

 

Green Salad

Tomato-zucchini-mushroom salad

Vegetable curry pie

 

I tried out line dancing class but it was too slow; it was time for second lunch:

 

Cuban Sandwich

 

We enjoyed the parents' balcony & worked on the ever-present laundry. The parents wanted to go to the Captain's Circle Party so we agreed to join them, and were pleased to get free beverage tickets. Dinner was the first formal night but we 4 had reservations at Sabatini's courtesy of the promotion under which we had booked the cruise. Everything was as tasty as we'd hoped and our waitress enjoyed herself.

 

Burrata (that oozed!)

Marinated veggies

Parma proscuitto

Breadsticks & grisini

Artichoke souffle

Calamari with Aioli (served in a paper cone, just like in Naples, and it was quite tender)

Spinach Manicotti

Langostini with Risotto (lobster)

Fish special

Cheese course (the waitress gave me a piece of each cheese)

Espresso creme brulee (outstanding)

Tiramisu

 

 

I knew from experience and from studying the menu, that we would likely like the appetizer and pasta courses the best. I didn't have the highest hopes for the entrees, but then again I am not much of an entree person. I loved everything except the entrees and tiramisu; I thought the lobster smelled and tasted funny and didn't think much of the fish. This fit in with what I think Princess does well in general. I don't think their fish and meat entrees are their strongest suit, which is ok with me because I'm not a meat & potatoes person and I can get fresh seafood out of the water whenever I want at home (and cook it how I want it). I don't expect excellent seafood from any restaurant anywhere. Period. The apps, pasta, cheese, and espresso creme brulee were long-savored; they still live on in my memory. The waitress wrapped the extra cheese for me in foil and we got to savor it again another day. The parents thought Sabatini's was okay, which means that it was a little too fancy for them.

 

After our scrumptious & filling meal, we spent time walking around the ship. Regarding layout, we frequently got frustrated by getting stuck. We looped around as best as we could and then played shuffleboard. We alternated sides we played from but the same side won every single game. My husband rounded out his day in the hot tub.

[arctickitty]

Monday, April 25th

 

Today's accomplishments: balcony breakfast, pub lunch, putting green, and badminton

 

We were woken up by a 5 minute early room service delivery with beverages and fruit bowls. We picked up hot breakfast for the parents from the buffet and haphazardly served them. We ate on their balcony and they ate inside. My mother in law was always cold and I was always hot. The entire cruise. We were on the same ship, I think.

 

We tried going out for a walk, but it was too hot, so we did laundry. I ordered a cappuccino from the Pastry Shop, and brought it back to the room to share. We were impressed--it was flavorful, well balanced, not bitter, and had a lot of froth with a leaf design. We wandered around looking for the parents and took them to Pub Lunch:

 

Fish & Chips with Mushy Peas

Ploughman's Lunch (pate, ham, cheddar, chutney, bread & butter)

Bread & butter pudding

 

The fish & chips were well-cooked and the peas were tasty. We wished there were more peas! English cheddar is always nice. The pudding was very smooth, like a custard, and not too sweet.

 

We got a handout from the art gallery that was supposed to be a self-guided tour of art on the ship, but most of the QR codes we tried to scan didn't work and people kept questioning our odd behavior when we were searching for the listed art. We asked for help at Passenger Services and were told to talk to the Art Gallery staff. When we later found the Art Gallery staff they were dismissive and did not answer our question. So that was the end of the self-guided art tour.

 

After a nap and blowing bubbles, we had dinner in the MDR:

 

Jerk Chicken Kebabs

Caprese Kebabs

Vegetable Korma with cucumber raita and naan

Norman Love Coconut dessert

Espresso Ice Cream

 

The korma was excellent, with some kick. Ice creams are typically our favorite Princess desserts, and their coffee flavors are especially good. The flavor was intense but not bitter.

 

We walked around and found our way into the sports court where we set up a net and played badminton for a really long time, gradually getting a little better (but not much) and at times having an entire bucket of birdies in play to keep things moving. We paused our workout to enjoy the sunset.

[arctickitty]

Tuesday, April 26th

 

Today's accomplishments: breakfast card, MDR oatmeal, cocktail soup, treadmill, elliptical, exercise bike

 

Another early day, with us waking up spontaneously at 6am. Coffee, tomato juice, and hot water were delivered, and we ate some fruit from our fruit bowl. We walked for an hour on the upper decks, enjoying the cool and shade available at that hour. It was a grey, cloudy, cool, winding morning--exactly our kind of weather.

 

We descended to the MDR for breakfast:

 

Hazelnut stollen

Chocolate chip muffin

Fruit salads

Oatmeal with cinnamon, brown sugar, very tiny raisins, & hot milk

Bagel & lox

Poached & fried eggs

 

I had heard about the MDR oatmeal from many posters here on CC so I was determined to be brave and try it. I only learned to enjoy oatmeal in the past few years and like it so thick it is more solid than liquid and can't be stirred with a spoon. I have tried to be brave in the past and try it in different places, with no success.

 

With Princess, however, I can gladly report success. It was well cooked, and a delightful consistency, and I have to agree with other posters that it really made me feel pampered to have the waiter bring the choices of toppings. Having the milk heated was also a smart move--the oatmeal stays warm. A poached egg was a nice pump of protein afterwards. MDR bagel & lox is one of my husband's favorite foods on Princess, which he indulged in along with his fried eggs. At breakfast I started doing more compromising and less sharing.

 

We went out exploring, looking for nooks and crannies. We walked through the Crown Grill, picked up a new puzzle page from the library, and found some small outside decks we hadn't noticed previously. Apparently the puzzle delivery was late this day as the puzzle delivery guy got totally mobbed when he brought them into the library. Outside, we looked at the clouds and guessed their heights and looks at the waves and guessed the height of the swells. Based on the captain's announcements later in the day, we were accurate on the waves. We found the parents in the piazza but deserted them for the gym. My husband is a treadmill man, but I tried out an elliptical, a rowing machine, and a hand cycle before I discovered the video game bicycle. I did a two mile ride through a miniature world full of giant cats. I enjoyed having the ability to smash into other cyclists and make them disappear. We worked on a number of anaerobic machines before later meeting the parents in the piazza again, where we entertained other passengers with mundane descriptions of our everyday life, which appeared outlandish and exciting to them. We went to the theater extremely early and plopped into front row seats in anticipation of The Huber Marionettes. When we got a pre-cruise email I had wondered why a voyage catering to old people would have a puppet show, so I had googled the name of the act. What I found quickly convinced me that Huber was the real deal and very much worth seeing. All four of us were glad that I turned out to be right.

 

We went to the MDR after and had what we felt like was a mediocre dinner. I have seen other comments about waiters doing hard sells, and this was one of two nights we experienced it. In both cases, it seemed like very young waiters who were doing the correct movements of serving but either didn't "get" it or didn't care. We were repeatedly pressed to sign up for wine tastings.

 

Fruit Cocktails

Strawberry Smoothie

Walnut Ravioli

a Caribbean entree that was underwhelming enough I didn't write down its name

 

The fruit and smoothie were delicious. I made the mistake of ordering the smoothie again for dessert, and it was different and no longer good. After we left, we tried again for dessert and got a strawberry cheesecake from the IC. This was the same mistake of trying the same item twice: it was different and not as good. We considered this a Princess cruising lesson: don't eat the same dish again expecting the same thing. When we went up to the jogging deck, the wind was blowing 40mph and gusting 50-60. This is common weather at home, and we were enjoying it when a strong gust hit Carrie and blew the glasses right off her face and flung them across the deck. We were very lucky to catch them. This was enough to convince us that we should not be outside in such weather. We visited the parents and talked about the election.

[bcnvcanada]

Can't wait to hear more. Good review.

[san diego sue]

Did you experience any entertainment, game shows, interactive TV movies, dance? What did you do in the evenings? Just curious.

Am enjoying your review.

Edited July 8, 2016 by san diego sue

[arctickitty]

Did you experience any entertainment, game shows, interactive TV movies, dance? What did you do in the evenings? Just curious.

Am enjoying your review.

 

We went to the Huber Marrionettes evening show two nights and one production show (Colors of the World). Many evenings we were doing laundry. We listened to Alegria String Quartet in the Piazza every other day or so for a little while, usually when we found the parents down there. We sat on the parents' balcony while they were out doing things. Over time, we watched the recorded port lectures. We read our books. We watched one movie on the in-room on-demand system: the karaoke version of Frozen. We did laundry, which had to be worked on just about every day. And we walked & played games on the sports deck (it was always empty at night unless the crew was playing soccer). I got 20,000+ steps most days. Neither of us can sit still for very long and we are not accustomed to night life. We are such fuddy duddies that we were surprised our first time cruising there were enough things we found we liked to do, even though our interests seem very different from the majority of other passengers. In contrast to our experiences, the parents went to every single evening show, went to the casino almost daily, and chose the buffet as often as we would let them--yet they never went to the gym, sports deck, library, etc. We had two very different sets of experiences but each enjoyed ourselves immensely.

 

Thanks for asking. Other questions are welcome.

[arctickitty]

Can't wait to hear more. Good review.

 

Thank you. I will try to resume this evening.

[san diego sue]

Thanks for answering. What we love about cruising is we can always find things to do. We are all different so nice the ships have activities for all our tastes.Keep the review coming enjoying it.

[arctickitty]

Wednesday, April 27th

 

Today's accomplishments: room service, Princess Live, Swirls, Mah Jong, production show, special occasion chocolate cake

 

We slept in today. I should clarify that "sleep in" for us means we woke up shortly before 8am when room service delivered coffee, prune juice, hot water, melon, and a banana. The hallways on the Royal are so long and we were so far in the front that we found it time consuming to get around even though we are avid walkers, so my husband really go into having room service magically appear in the morning. We were amused that the banana was served on its own plate with a lid. Just in case, perhaps.

 

We then called Room Service to order the rest of our breakfast. We requested Croque Monsiuer sandwiches, two green salads and "chocolate cake with chantilly cream" but alas they did not have chocolate cake available in the morning. We watched port lectures meanwhile.

 

We walked downstairs and scouted out the lunch and dinner menus, got ginger tea, and met up with the parents at Princess Live for "Behind the Strings" in which Phillip Huber showed his marrionettes and told more of his story and explained more of what goes into building his shows. My husband and I went to Alfredos:

 

Salads

Eggplant stuffed with angel hair

Calzone

Apple pie (they didn't call it pie but I forget what they called it)

 

We observed the parents playing penny slots for a while and then went up top to walk around. It was sunny again so the sun worshipers had re-established their dominion. We shared part of one twist of vanilla soft serve. We thought it was better than what we'd previously had on the Sapphire but still not in league with their ice cream. We picked up some fruit for our fruit bowl and worked on laundry. We played mahjong on the parents' balcony and then went to the gym. I rode the "video game bicycle" through a park.

 

When I read other trip reports on here, I always wondered how people would remember the names of all of their waiters. Perhaps they write their names down in their notebooks? That's how I kept track of our meals...I wrote notes after ordering. I thought I might try to keep track of the staffs' names, too, but didn't remember very often. But this evening we had an experience in the dining room that illustrated to me why someone would remember a waiter's name (when one goes to Anytime and has different waiters every single meal). This was because we had dinner with Jose from Portugal and Jose from Portugal was one of the friendliest and most professional waiters we have ever had. He truly was an expert. Shortly after being seated in his section, my husband and I quickly agreed that tonight was the night to turn in our special occasion card, although we did make Jose promise not to sing. Dinner:

 

Hawaiian Fruit Cocktail with Macadamia Nuts

Granny Smith Cider Brandy Soup

Braised Oxtail Wagon Wheel Pasta

Seafood Skewers

Vegetable Pad Thai

 

The fruit & cold soup were lovely as usual. It had been a goal to try cold soup and we got hooked--and ordered it every chance we got. The pasta & skewer were OK and the Pad Thai was pretty good. We asked for vanilla ice cream with our special occasion chocolate cake. We had a lot of built up anticipating for said cake from CC comments, but it was just an average cake. Jose from Portugal did not sing--he only whispered. We went to the theater with the parents for Colors of the World. The parents had picked seats right in the exact middle of the theater so we were solidly stuck. Otherwise we would have got up and left shortly into. That it was not our thing is an understatement. There was one strong singer, but the others were often off-key and the overall mish-mash of cultures largely made no sense. The parents resoundingly disagreed with us.

[pris993]

Enjoying your review, we have book the Royal for the reverse cruise, Barcelona to Ft Lauderdale in October 2017... a ways off, fun to read your experience.

 

We hae done several TAs - usual in the spring like you. Always enjoyed them.

[arctickitty]

Thursday, April 28th

 

Today's accomplishments: continental breakfast buffet, donuts, pastry shop, crepes, and formal night dinner.

 

We were both wide awake at 4am so we got up and went out walking. By 5:15am, we were exploring the continental breakfast buffet:

 

bagel & lox

paprika home fries

banana

tomatoes

croissant sandwich with mortadella, lettuce, tomato, pickles & fresh salsa

quiche

frittata

melon salad

 

We also had iced coffee. We made a lot of cold tea and coffee in our room, making excellent usage of the mini fridge. When we had extra coffee & cream from room service we blended it together in a leftover to-go cup from the IC and chilled it until the next morning. Yum! Same thing with tea. The guys at the IC, Princess Live Cafe, and Pastry Shop all quickly learned to spot The Crazy Tea Lady from a mile away, and they piled me up with extra Mighty Leaf tea bags. The water from our tap was hot enough to brew herbal tea right in the room. I often left it in the fridge to become iced tea.

 

We went back up a level and walked around some more. We were fascinated with a machine that was automatically washing the railings. We followed that thing around for a long time. We did a full 7 loops on the jogging track, the first time we had made it through all 7 in one go. We agree with other posters that the jogging track is too short. We preferred walking loop-de-loops through the Lido or sun decks.

 

I went to Sunrise Stretch. Although it is always good to stretch, it didn't seem worth the scheduling hassle for this 20 minute session with a rather bored instructor. Meanwhile my husband changed for a hot tub dip, since it was after 8am, but couldn't find one open. We still hadn't learned our lesson to find a tub/pool first and then change.

 

We picked up a cappuccino from the Pastry Shop and wandered with it until we found ourselves in the IC, where we got a beignet to go with it. After the first few days we tended to get our hot drinks from the Pastry Shop or the Princess Live cafe since those venues didn't have lines and the IC often did. The parents quickly mastered the art of receiving bar service in the piazza but we never did. Anyway, the beignet was our favorite doughnut of the whole cruise. It was a lighter dough than all the others and was just perfect with the fresh dusting of powdered sugar.

 

Next we walked all through deck 8 and looked at the photographs. I had heard about the hallway photos from other CC commenters and we wound up spending a little time most days looking at the photos in one or more hallways. It was fun to try to guess where the photos were taken. The Passenger Services desk had a long document delivered to us that listed the photographers' names and the regions of the photos. While it would be nice to have the exact location on a cheat sheet, it still helped to make sure we were in the right ballpark. We noticed that Venice seemed to be the location with the most photographs.

 

I went to Zumba and my husband went to the gym. This meant that it was now 9am. Afterwards we took a nap. My husband ironed our clothes for formal night. He is the designated ironer in our family. He is so neat and tidy! He folds clothes perfectly, too! I just stuff them anywhere. Wow, we must have napped for a long time because then next I went to Gelato's off the Piazza and ordered a crepe with Nutella and banana slices. We ate it in the parents' room and then all four of us got dressed up for formal night:

 

Prosciutto with Ricotta Flan

Fruit Kebabs with Vanilla-Honey Yogurt Dipping Sauce

Tropical Cold Fruit Soup (aka Smoothie)

Homemade Gnoochi in Mushroom Sauce

Cheese Plate

Norman Love Chocolate & Caramel Tart

Jamaican Coffee Ice Cream

 

The gnoochi was excellent; the sauce was deep and complex with a variety of mushroom flavors. The ice cream was tasty, as always.

 

We 2 went to the Vista Lounge for the second Huber Marionettes performance. We did not go super early, so we had mediocre seats. We didn't enjoy it as much. Either it was the seats or it was repeating an activity, but it just didn't have the same magic as it did the first time. (To be clear, it was different marionettes doing different tricks, but the same style of music & routines). We thought the best part was when Phillip Huber stepped out of his character and the process of choreographing the acrobat. We went walking and then back to our room, where my husband read while I watched Princess-produced videos about the ship.

[arctickitty]

Friday, April 29th

 

Today's accomplishments: scone from buffet, afternoon snack buffet, board game, dinner buffet, Trident Grill, Gelato's, cava, and mimosa

 

We were woken at 7am by room service who brought coffee and hot water. We went walking around the windy upper decks before descending to the MDR for breakfast. We each got each of the two specials:

 

Melon with Lemon Ricotta

Eggs Florentine

 

We became experts at declining pastries and jam from the pastry guy and the jam lady.

 

After breakfast we worked on laundry. I noticed an empty spot in the internet cafe and nabbed it. For one of my jobs, memos can appear online at any time and they have to be read and signed off on by the last day of every month. If this is not done, one gets suspended, no second chances. So the internet was necessary. I was clever, and signed off on all of the memos in 8 minutes. I wrote down the titles of the memos so that I could pull them back up when I got home. And actually read them. I then resumed helping with the laundry.

 

I decided that I had explored all of the Mighty Leaf tea options inside and outside and hot and cold and room temperature and every which way and in between and that I was ready to use a punch from my punch card to get a loose leaf tea. I ordered the Ti Kuan Yin, a variety of oolong tea. It was a very good oolong, but the pot was stuffed too full of leaves. Oolong leaves need a lot of space to unfurl in the water in order to develop their flavors. (Listen to me...but it's true). We took the pot to the MDR for lunch, where they kept me nicely refilled with water.

 

Cold Melon Soup

Smoked Salmon Mousse in a Tomato Cup with Bay Shrimp

Fettuccine with Zucchini, Garlic & Olive Oil

Penne with Broccoli, Tomato & Ham in Tomato Sauce

Malaga Ice Cream (rum raisin)

Cantaloupe Frozen Yogurt

 

The cold melon soup was refreshing, light, and well-balanced--one of the best of many delightful cold soups on this trip. The cantaloupe frozen yogurt tasted like Tutti-Frutti to me and was a wrong-sort of pink color. We got a double espresso from the IC on the way out.

 

We found a Scrabble set in the library and played it on an outdoor deck with the help of the Scrabble dictionary, then returned both to the library. At 3:30 we checked out the Afternoon Tea Buffet aka the Afternoon Snack Buffet (different signs had different names) and got a scone from said buffet. It was dry and hard. I tried the 4pm Zumba class but I couldn't take the sun/heat so partway through I joined my husband in the gym. I used a bike, the hand cycle, and a stair stepper.

 

We shared a bottle of Cava with the parents, sipped first solo and then mixed into mimosas. (We saved orange juice from morning room service for this purpose). We were also the enterprising children as we had previously ordered 4 wineglasses from room service. It was amusing, of course, that we were drinking Spanish wine we had purchased in Alaska, flown in our luggage to Florida, and were then drinking on a ship that was at this point close to a Portuguese island. That bottle had one heckuva carbon footprint. But it served as a nice prelude to our buffet dinner. This is one time my husband and I did not share our food. This is because I wanted a hamburger, and he does not get close to such things. I got a salad and some fixings first from the buffet and then ordered it plain from the Trident Grill. I dressed it up with gorgonzola, lettuce, tomato, onions, & pickles. My husband had a salad that he described as "15 different items with balsamic dressing," vegetable struedel, cod, scallops, broccoli, potsticker, and espresso cake that he said was "far inferior to ice cream." We shared a plate of what we call tapas (wait we DID share...) cheeses, artichokes, figs, dried papaya, walnuts, hazelnuts, and grapes. My burger was awesome. It was not too thick, not too thin, not too cooked, not raw at all, still juciy, quite flavorful, and well-dressed with the gorgonzola and veggies. It helped that the ship made bun was decent. A burger is a very occasional treat for me, and this was a burger that was definitely worth eating. Of all the things to eat on the ship, I only made space in my eating calendar for a burger because of all of the positive comments I had seen right here on CC. We got some more grapes and tried a peanut butter cookie that wasn't our type. We walked around and around as we do, and sat and listened to the Alegria String Quartet with the parents. We got the "Irish Sundae" from Gelato's (vanilla ice cream with Irish cream and whipped cream) which costs 2 punches and was interesting. At this point we knew that we could get ice cream from the MDR for free, but preferred to use a punch (or two) in order to be able to stay in the piazza with the parents. The sundae thus necessitated more walking before reading time and bed time.

[arctickitty]

Saturday, April 30th

 

At last! Our first port!

 

We woke up at 6:30am to a juice delivery. We went to the buffet, which was busy but manageable and we got a nice seaside table in the back. We had toast & lox, English sausage, paprika potatoes, fried egg, cucumber, tomato, hashbrowns, mixed fruit, bok choy, fish & coffee. We got a piece of banana bread and a small waffle from the Pastry Shop on our way out. Both were very good. We went down to the piazza and briefly visited with the parents. We then stood in line for a very long time. It was announced that there was a problem with a gangway. Then the captain came on and announced that due to high winds in Cadiz, our second port for two days hence was being swapped with Lisbon. We were thrilled by the prospect of visiting the Portuguese mainland!

 

Once off the ship, we walked into the center of town and pretty easily found the market. We were immediately impressed--fresh flowers, fresh produce, lots of passionfruit, and a fish room with HUGE tuna, limpets, sardines, and much more. We visited some food shops and bought many items from our list of local specialties, including poncha, aguardente, ginja, pan de miel. We got some other items including fennel candy, avocado spread, an apple, and dried fruit. The passionfruit vendors were a bit aggressive but we rolled with it and sampled more varieties of passionfruit than we knew existed.

 

We then started walking uphill. Our goal was a hike that started from the top of the cable car. So we walked up to the top of the cable car. Yes, we know that most people would just ride the cable car. We walked. On the way we saw many homes and residential neighborhoods, the toboggan ride area (nearly got run over several times!) and lots of gardens. We found our hoped-for lunch spot, the Quinta do Monte where we had a wonderful light lunch in their garden:

 

Mint tea from their garden

Tomato soup from their garden

Pao de caco with garlic butter (the island's local style of bread)

Tarte folhada de requeijao (a cheese cake like pastry with fruit topping)

 

We rounded the corner, passed the top of the cable car, and in a matter of minutes went from the development of Monte to being deep in fragrant woods that reminded us of Hawaii. At this point, we realized we had to shorten our hike due to time constraints, but we had a fantastic time. It smelled so clean and fresh and sometimes sweet. A lot of the downward hiking was incredibly steep with some tricky footing and a little sliding. We walked in/along some levadas (irrigation) and there were many areas with sheer drops on both sides. We walked for a couple hours, going quickly as we could because we were worried about the time. Madeira was magical, but we had to rush a bit. The trail dumped us out on a side road and we found our way to a main road where we spotted a gas station. I though we might find a taxi there, and sure enough, we easily hailed one to zip us back to the port. We had a little bit of time and got some island-bottled sodas from the snack shop & my husband used the free-with-purchase internet.

 

We chatted with the parents back onboard and then went straight to the MDR for dinner:

 

Vegetable Sushi

Plantains with Guacamole

Cold Coconut Soup

Salad

Fettuccine Alfredo

Spaghetti Carbonara

English Toffee Ice Cream

Fruit

 

The sushi was refreshing. The coconut soup was delicious & relaxing. The pastas were good & the alfredo had a nice tang.

 

We watched the ship sailway from the parents' balcony. We enjoyed seeing the runway up on stilts! We helped the parents book a tour for Lisbon.

 

We both agreed Madeira is worth a return visit. We could stay a week or more. There is much to explore between the hiking and the unique island food.

[arctickitty]

Sunday, May 1st

 

This would be our final sea day before a flurry of ports. This was the only day I didn't manage to keep up with my journal, so this will be the shortest post and the easiest to read. I did Zumba. I went to a port lecture on Lisbon and took lots of notes (the only one I attended live...the others I watched on in-room on-demand). We did lots of walking as usual. We were quite beat from the long uphill climb and the fast descent. We ate all three meals in the MDR but the only one I remembered to write down was dinner (it was the third and final formal night):

 

Escargot

Cold Soup (I was so enamored of my first experience with escargot that I forgot to note what flavor)

Beef Wellington

Pasta Stuffed with Pumpkin in Cream Sauce

 

I have to say I have to thank fellow posters here on CC for teaching me that there are different types of foods served on formal nights. This was the first time I had escargot or Beef Wellington, and I very much enjoyed them both, sinful as they were. The vegetarian option was amazing as well, and better than many desserts.

 

...to be continued...come along as we visit Lisbon, Gibraltar, Malaga, Cartagena, Palma de Mallorca, Barcelona, & Madrid...

Edited July 9, 2016 by arctickitty

[h3rjp]

I'm really enjoying the level of detail! And I don't know why but the reference to the "Jam lady" has given me the giggles.

[MTdreaming]

We are considering this cruise, so this review is wonderful. Thank you for taking the time to give such detail. My concern was that there would be too many sea days.. we are older and won't be doing zumba etc.. but do love the various trivia games that Princess usually has. Sounds like traveling with another couple might be best...again loving this review.

[dickinson]

Enjoying your review. We are booked for next April to do the TA so looking forward to your port visits.

[emmak8]

Thank you for sharing. I enjoyed your detailed review!

[arctickitty]

Sounds like traveling with another couple might be best...again loving this review.

 

We felt that traveling with the in-laws/parents added so many layers to the trip that made it more fun, exciting, special etc than traveling as a couple. In particular, we felt that the tables for 4 in the MDR were better than the tables for 2 in that there was more space around them (and we were often seated at a 6 top). When my husband and I went to the MDR without the parents and sat at a 2 top, either we had to listen to our neighbors who were invariably complaining, or our neighbors thought it was so novel that they were seated next to young people, that they peppered us with questions.

 

That said, this same trip would not have worked as well with my own parents. It worked with my in-laws because they are easy-going and are the types that are made happy by seeing their offspring happy, so they would generally go along with what we wanted to do as long as it was withing their means and abilities. Likewise, we tried to plan group things that would work for all of us. But they were comfortable with us spending couple time. We could just picture my own folks following us around much more closely, and wanting to spend every single minute together. So my advice would be to choose your sailing partners carefully!

[arctickitty]

I'm really enjoying the level of detail! And I don't know why but the reference to the "Jam lady" has given me the giggles.

 

The MDR had the same jam lady the whole trip and she was so enthusiastic about jam she was a hoot. She was also the cream lady during afternoon tea. It was amusing to watch guests who didn't understand English so well try to understand why she was trying to serve them jam or cream when they didn't have any toast or scones (as she explained daily, "maybe you will have some later!")

[riclop]

Thanks for the report.

[arctickitty]

Monday, May 2

 

Today's accomplishments: Portuguese coffee, bakery

 

One of the reasons we were so excited about the weather-based schedule change was that we'd have a second shot at getting a taste of Portugal. Although we had little information on Lisbon beyond what Princess provided, we cobbled together enough along with some of the general travel skills we've picked up along the way. We are big fans of Rick Steves' materials and I didn't initially understand why he harped about travel skills so often, but as we have traveled, we have seen what a difference they make. One thing we did know, was that Julio Delgado, the port lecturer, had given some general directions to an "area where all the locals drink their coffee." I was sold. We had read an article about Portuguese coffee prior to visiting Madeira and had hoped to sample some but there had been too much else to do, so it hadn't happened.

 

We got up at 5:30am and were on the parents' balcony by 6am, enjoying a wonderful view of Lisbon as we slowly approached. We saw many features that Julio the port lecturer had said we would see, including passing under the bridge designed by the same architect as the Golden Gate Bridge and the Monument to Discovery. At 6:30, room service delivered coffee to the parents' room (we put their room# on our door tag, clever children that we are) and we had mueslix with milk and bacon-egg-cheese muffin sandwiches. The muselix that comes from room service is more like granola and is very different from the muesli served in the IC. Maybe that's why it has an x in its name.

 

At 6:50 we went downstairs and were off the ship around 7:15am. We walked a few blocks along the waterfront to the first square with an equestrian statue (such were Julio's directions...). Lisbon was still sleeping and hardly anyone was out yet. We passes through the Arch du Augustus and window-shopped down the avenue looking at pastries, clothes, shoes, cute things, wine, sausages, and much more. We wandered around side streets and staircases, one of which had wall-mounted photographs of their elders. We adored the tiled walls, streets, and sidewalks. We were starting to explore the Alfama, the old Arab quarter, when I decided it was time for Second Breakfast, and that the best place for Second Breakfast was the neighborhood before that. So we retraced our steps and went to the bakery that had the best-looking pastries of all those we had admired. We went in and stood at the counter in between all the locals (Lisbon had since woken up) and ordered a bica, a Portuguese espresso. It was intense and tasty but not bitter. My husband and I are both extremely shy, and even more so when trying to speak another language, but my husband has always said that when it comes to food, if I want something bad enough, I will speak the language. I also ordered some pastries for us, a roll with chorizo, egg & cheese and a sweet nut flaky pastry. This was our first time being brave enough to have a coffee standing up at the main counter and we enjoyed the hubbub and seeing the interactions between the staff, locals, and visitors.

 

We wound our way back up to the Alfama and climbed up to the castle. The line to get in was brief and there were beautiful views of the city. We climbed up and down lots of stone staircases, all leading to different view points. There was a beautiful strutting peacock near the cafe. We spent a good amount of time in the museum of artifacts. One notable object we saw was a round rock on a string called a "peso" or "weights."

 

We went back to the Baixa to take our window shopping to the next level. On a side street we bought a folksy tablecloth from a lingerie shop. We went in several wine shops, were the very old ports are covered in ancient dust one is requested not to touch; these bottles cost 600 and 800 euros. The most expensive Port we saw was over 80 years old and cost 1300 euros. The most expensive wine we saw cost 3000 euros. We visited a very nice crafts shop with ceramics from both the southern and northern regions of the country. We got another tablecloth. We coveted the ceramics, but couldn't imagine how we could get one home. We returned to the same bakery for a Pasteis de Nata, the city's special pastry, and it was my husband's favorite pastry of the trip up to this point. We stopped in the Lisbon information center on our way back to the ship and found a pillow with Portuguese tile patterns on it; we may not be able to bring home ceramics, but we can bring home the spirit and flavor. We walked back to the ship and stood in a very long line.

 

We went to Alfredo's as soon as we got on. We approached each port with an openness to trying local food, and a list of things to look for, but often didn't get around to scouting out anywhere to eat. One only has so much time to do so many things in port! We'd been on our feet nonstop and were hungry. Linner consisted of:

 

Minestrone soup

Marinated vegetables

Salads

Vegetarian Pizza

Pizza Romana

 

My husband got apple crumble from the buffet. We tried to spend some time with the parents but the music from the sailaway party was too loud for our tastes/ears. We rounded out our day with the requisite laundry.