Review 05-31 Royal (Long)

[Suzy Q]

REVIEW ROYAL PRINCESS 05-31-04

 

Flew into London on Friday the 28th staying at the LeMeridien Piccadilly. Hotel is in a great location and breakfast was included. Private tour guide. One day London, one day Stonehenge & Bath, last day Hampton Court and then to the ship. Tour guide--Lontour1@aol.com -- Harry Norman.

 

Ship: Were upgraded to a mini suite L331 so I’ll address stateroom remarks to that. Bathroom had a musty/mildewy smell. Brought Lysol scented spray, used it on the shower area and that helped. Bathroom is large and, I think, all cabins have a tub. Tons of counter space. Pipes in the bathtub rattle and one night the water was mid calf level—not draining. Reported it to room steward and it was remedied the next day. Safe in the closet is microscopic. If you travel with valuable jewelry, get a safe deposit box at purser’s desk. Refrigerator is decent size. TV is in the corner and seems oddly too close to the floor. Not a problem for us as we seldom were in the cabin. Night tables are just that—tables. No shelf or drawers. Cabin has two chairs, settee (twin bed) and feeling of space—302 sq ft??. Balcony is large enough for table, two chairs, padded lounge and small side table. No plastic mailboxes outside cabin door as with newer ships so mail is slid under the door.

 

Ship is looking a little worn. Balcony railings and wood surfaces in general need sanding and refinishing. However, it is clean and neat. Lots of vibrations in the Horizon Lounge upon sail away. (thrusters?) But it subsided soon after. Didn’t notice vibrations in dining room as some have reported. Although it rained at night, we were blessed with very good weather. On June 4, we were awakened at 7AM by the Captain who said the power was back on(!) We’d had a 45 minute power outage and the ship had stopped. Never was explained. We enjoyed the size of this ship.

 

We had late seating at table #3. Both DH and I thought the food excellent. I eat vegetarian. Many times these entrees lack imagination and flavor but not this time. Every meal was great and DH said each meat/seafood entree he tried was excellent too. Service was equally good from Reynaldo and Allan. Service in the Lido Café was also excellent but food was more what you’d expect at a buffet. There is a Sterling Steakhouse that, from what I could tell, is set up at one end of the Lido Café at night. Didn’t eat there. No PC dining on this ship. Much has been written about the coffee. We found the “cream†the problem, not the coffee. It’s milk, not cream. If you’re used to cream, half & half, or non-dairy creamer, milk just doesn’t do it and that is what they serve.

 

There are only three computer terminals on the Riviera deck near the library and limited hours of access. $7.50 for 15 minutes. There are three laptops available near the Purser’s desk 24 hours a day. If you are a Platinum member, service is free. I believe they limit time per day, however. Look for cyber cafes in port. Ship’s systems depend on satellite so may have a signal or not.

 

Entertainment--we only saw a couple of the shows, as we were too tired to attend. One poster asked about Alan and Alana. Ours was their last cruise for two months and then they return to the Royal until she goes to P&O. I would rate the entertainment average.

 

Purser’s desk—Irving is the most helpful person there. Seek him out.

 

Ports/Tours—Bilbao—Had a private tour arranged and we drove to San Sebastian, Azpetia, back to Bilbao to see the Guggenheim, then back to ship. Bilbao is a large city with tons of traffic. Tour –clientes@autoseladio.com

 

LeVerdon—Had private tour, drove through wine country to St. Emillion, toured underground monuments, had lunch at outdoor cafe, shopped (wine shops & souvenirs), back to Bordeaux for a brief stop and back to ship. Tour — (Alain) dionysos.bordeaux@free.fr

 

 

Greenock—Private tour to Edinburgh. Loved the Castle and walked the Royal Mile which is shops and pubs, just outside the exit. Found an antique store too. Friendly people. Edinburgh is about 1 hour and 20 min from Greenock. Tour —glencoaches@yahoo.com

 

Dublin—Took ship’s shuttle to Kildare Street—4$ pp each way. Walked to Trinity College and saw the Book of Kells and The Long Room. Don’t miss this. Later did hop on hop off bus 12.50 euros pp, 19 stops. Tried to see Dublin Castle—paid admission, got in and was told most of the Castle was closed for something or other but here’s a film to watch. (Have seen better on the Travel channel) Make sure if you try to do this that the whole Castle is available. We saw only the chapel.

 

Cobh—pronounced “Coveâ€â€”had private tour to Blarney Castle, Woolen Mills (shopping and eating), Kinsale and Cork. Ladies, do NOT use the restrooms at the Castle. Use the ones across the street at the Woolen Mills. Walk to the top of the Castle to kiss the Blarney Stone is spiral rock slippery-when-wet climb. Had lunch in Kinsale, a little seaside touristy town. This was June 7, a Bank Holiday so many shops in each stop were closed. Tour —http://www.butlers-buses.com/

 

Falmouth—took ship’s tour to Land’s End. Had to tender in. Had to wait 45 min in the bus for late passengers as earlier time of tour had been announced in Patter due to tendering (not the time on the tickets). Driving through Cornwall is beautiful. Land’s End is breathtaking. Saw St. Michael’s Mount. Had “cream teaâ€, which is not tea but biscuits (scones), jam and clotted cream. About a million calories. Although the day was cloudy and cool it was incredibly stuffy on the bus as there was no AC and the windows are non operational. 47 people stuffed in a tin can basically.

 

LeHavre—Took ship’s tour “Paris On Your Ownâ€. Never been to Paris but this tour offered the best opportunity to see a little of everything. Tour simply provides transportation into and return from Paris. Others went to the Louvre, Versailles, etc. Over 3 hour ride into Paris. Dropped off at about 10:20AM and told to be back by 2PM so less than 4 hours. Princess tour guide sent us in the wrong direction but we were finally able to find a hop on hop off bus. Incredibly expensive at 25 euros pp but linked to several other lines and was good for 24 hours so not too bad if we’d had more time. It was unseasonably HOT in Paris that day (98). Paris is amazingly beautiful. The buildings and history there! The down side—it’s full of cranky Parisians. Rude sums it up. Were able to at least see the outside of everything we hoped to see. Paris is a huge city, way too big for less than 4 hours visit. The ride back to the ship was a nightmare as the AC on the bus was broken. 86 in the bus. We were in the front seat. Can’t imagine what the people in the upper glassed-in level were feeling. Were delayed 20 minutes at a rest stop (in the 86 degree bus) as our tour guide continually miscounted the passengers mistakenly thinking someone was missing. Complained to the excursion manager and was given partial credit. Some passengers took the train into Paris and this was supposed to shave time off the trip. Six passengers (not on ship’s tour) were late in returning to the ship and we waited for them. Not sure how this was communicated to the ship…port agent? They pulled up in a taxi at 6:25 and we sailed at 6:45 instead of 6 as scheduled.

 

Rotterdam—There is a large terminal area immediately across from the ship. A jet way-like apparatus telescopes out from the terminal to the ship allowing protection from the elements and it was drizzling. A free city-provided shuttle into the shopping area is just outside the terminal. Spent about 3 hrs walking around but were exhausted from the LeHavre stop and went back to the ship. People were very friendly in Rotterdam.

 

Zeebrugge—Had a private guide arranged, as we wanted to visit my Mom’s birth village 20 min outside Bruges. After that visit, we drove to Bruges. Bruges is a beautiful old city. 50k people in the old part of town and 150k in the entire surrounding area. Something like 6 million visitors a year. There are canal rides, city tours, shops, and cafes. Streets and sidewalks are narrow and crammed with fellow tourists. Bought lace and chocolates. Had Belgian waffles and DH had a Belgian beer. Tour -- brugsetaxiservice@brugge.com

 

Miscellaneous thoughts—use ATMs for local monies and locate cyber cafes. There is virtually no AC in the UK or Europe. Very port intensive itinerary with only two sea days. Very few kids onboard. Passengers 50+. Am not listing the rates for the private tours, as each is dependent on number of passengers and destination desired. Several required deposit in advance. Two took our personal checks as deposit. One required a wire transfer. Driver in Bilbao spoke little/no English. Not a difficulty for us as I had researched the area thoroughly but one couple was disappointed with this. Our Greenock driver had never been to Edinburgh Castle but, obviously, spoke English. We were satisfied with each privately arranged tour, but, to make a clear distinction, not every driver is a “guideâ€. Every private tour cost less than the ship’s. Sorry, I don’t know how to link the addresses but, if they don’t work, email me and I can do it that way. And, I know this is looooong.

SQ

[ajl111]

Thanks for the info Suzy Q. I'll be on the Royal in 6 weeks (different itinerary) and now have an idea of what to expect.

 

Angela

NCL Norway 1982; Sitmar Fairsea 1983; Costa Carla C 1984; Sitmar Fairwind 1985; Carnival Mardi Gras 1985; Sitmar Fairsea 1986; Sitmar Fairsky 1987; NCL Skyward 1990; NCL Sunward 1990; Carnival Ecstasy 1993; RCL Nordic Empress 1994; Regal Princess 1994; Star Princess 1995; Golden Princess 2002; Celebrity Infinity 2003; Regal Princess March 6, 2004; Royal Princess July 30, 2004; Caribbean Princess October 16, 2004

[Quacker]

Hi SQ - Great review: I copied it even though we were there. We thought that all the tours you booked were GREAT. I know that it took alot of work and we were very thankful. Hope to be on another cruise with you someday. We really had a nice group. I will e-mail you. The Quackers - Don and Lee

 

 

 

 

[CruisingMorMor]

HI Susie Q: Thanks for the info about the Royal. I've been a little worried about the Royal Ships conditions as we are spoiled by all the other Princess ships we've been on. We are going on Royal on 9-04-4. Knowing Princess, I expect "very Clean". Anyone with more advice f what to expect on Royal, please email me: MorMorFreeman@aol.com

 

CruisingMorMor

[jandm]

Hi Suzy - Thanks for the review. I'm about to begin packing and am trying to cut down as much as possible. Do you have any hints as to the attire on board. What type of outfits were generally worn on smart casual evenings? How formal were the formal evenings? Was the ship usually cool enough to require long sleeves or a light jacket? I will be most appreciative of any suggestions you might offer. Thanks.

[Suzy Q]

jandm--the casual evenings were , in fact, casual. I brought one pair of dressy black slacks and rotated tops, strappy sandals. Worked for me. Formal night was less formal than I expected. Some tuxes for the guys but DH brought dark suit and was fine. Women wore very dressy outfits but not in the extreme, i.e. tons of sequins, etc. Temperature was pretty OK with me, but I'm never cold. Left our balcony door open even in the Irish Sea weather. It was great. Our first trip to Europe so I made an effort to underpack (room for souvenirs).

MorMor-- should have mentioned, I have never been on a cruise with friendly staff and crew. For what it's worth, it seemed genuine too. I'll take polite happy campers over gleaming chrome. Enjoy.

[shortland]

Thanks Suzy Q. I'll be sure to remember the Blarney Castle "bathroom" tip. Is the LeMeridien Picadilly close to public transportation in London? Did you hear any feedback from any folks who may have taken Princess' Paris and Seine River Cruise?

[sandij]

HI, we did the royal on the May 19th sailing and did the Paris Seine river cruise. It was nice although it had rained earlier and the ship which is a very large glass enclosed barge had wet windows and it was hard to take pictures. The lunch was very French ( which we enjoyed after having lunch at a castle in Germany and being served chicken) and very good with both white and red wine being served. The ship was as I said large and very full. It was loud since all the guest were talking and eating while a French woman narrated and alternately sang French songs. she was entertaining but with all the talking going on it was too loud. It also got very warm inside the glass even though it was not a hot day. It was worth it though and Paris was lovely.

[Suzy Q]

MorMor--I meant "friendlier" not "friendly" Duh. And Yes, LeMeridien is right next to Piccadilly. Cabs, buses, everything. The streets in London are fascinating...they have "look right" and Look left" painted on the pavement to alert pedestrians which way the traffic is coming at intersections.

[usavvy2]

Suzy Q ? re -

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> One day London, one day Stonehenge & Bath, last day Hampton Court and then to the ship. Tour guide--Lontour1@aol.com -- Harry Norman. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

what transportation did you use from apt to London proper and then from London to Stonehenge & Bath as well as Hampton Court? What did you do in Hampton Court? I assume ship sailed from Southampton? How did you get there from Hampton Court? any transportation tips appreciated; we're on the Royal in September

 

not taking vacations but collecting experiences - usavvy2

 

Royal Princess 9/04/04 - "Europe or Bust!" 

[Quacker]

I'm going to tack on my little review to Suzy Q's. We booked our cruise Guarantee and ended up with a large handicap room on Baja Deck which was really nice because the regular rooms on the Royal are small. We enjoyed the food and our waiter was great. Our table was 8 and a real fun group. My wife likes this size ship but the Royal is showing it's age. The staff was very friendly but we did know many of them as were on the Royal for 31 days in 2003.

Bilbao: Same tour as Suzy Q - was excellent.

Le Verdon: Again on the private tour. Was fantastic to see St. Emillon that wasn't offered by Princess.

Greencock: Princess Tour to Inveraray Castle and Lock Lomond. Well done and enjoyable. Very good lunch and a visit to Luss a pretty small village on the shore of Lock Lomond.

Dublin: Princess tour to Dublin/Glendalough Ruins. Worked out well as was on a Sunday so the traffic was light so we were able to spend time at Trinity College instead of just a drive-by.

Cork: Private tour again.

Le Havre: Did the Paris Highlights. Long bus ride but got to spend time at Cathedral of Notre Dame with lots of drive-bys of major sights. Spent some time at the Eiffel Tower but not enought time to go up. Had a excellent lunch at a local restaurant. (Some of our table mates were on a different tour and had lunch at the Eiffel Tower and said the food was poor.

Rotterdam: Did the Amsterdam in a nutshell. We had been to the Netherlands but hadn't done Amsterdam and the canal boat. Luch was good (steak). Better if the ship docks in Amsterdam as lots of wasted time getting there from Rotterdam.

Zeebrugge: Did Bruges and Ghent. Heard these were two interesting towns and didn't want to do a two hour bus ride to Brussels. We were happy with our choice as really enjoyed both.

So much for my "little" review. Don

 

 

 

 

[samscruiser]

What toiletries (shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, etc) are provided on Royal. Is there also a hair dryer provided? Any other similar type items provided.

Trying to convince DW to pack down, and this info would be helpful.

 

94 Fantasy - Bahamas

95 Fantasy - Bahamas

02 Inspiration - West Carrib

03 Sensation - Exotic West Carrib

04 Royal Princess - European Explorer

[Suzy Q]

usavvy2--Heathrow to hotel we used justairports.com 28 pounds for an "estate" car. They have a smaller car but we had 3 large and 3 smaller pieces of luggage. Info re size of car/luggage ratio is on their website. All transportation around London was with our tour guide, Harry Norman. He also took us out to Southampton after we visited Hampton Court. Hampton Court is Henry VIII's estate and was fabulous. It was a Bank Holiday that Monday and there were people in period costumes all around doing period activities. Great.

 

Our mini suite had shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, cotton balls, emery boards. Not sure if that is unique to the mini's. What I do is get small sample packets of shampoo & conditioner from the beauty supply store and bring those as the ship's stuff is too harsh for me (color treated hair, ahem). We've always had at least shampoo, conditioner and lotion provided.

[jandm]

Suzy - Thanks for the information about attire. I am rethinking my packing. I'm definitely taking less and making room for souvenirs. Our room is near the laundry and I'll plan on visiting between tours. Thanks again. You have been very helpful.

[CruisingMorMor]

TO USAVVY2: REGARDING TOURS OUT OF LONDON.

Go to Victoria Station in London, it is real close to everything or have your hotel contact them for you. They have fabulous tours of everywhere you mentioned. We did them 2 years ago and I WANT TO DO THEM AGAIN.The tour buses were fabulously clean etc. etc. You can call Victoria Station about tours if you want to have them send you some info.

We too are doing the Royal on Sept. 4. Arriving early to get adjusted. We're going out to S.H. on the 3rd. I hear there are monkeys in Gibralter! That sounds interesting!! Hope we can meet sometime!

 

CruisingMorMor

[dosi]

Cruising Mormor--Talar du svenske? Jag kan talar liten svenske. Min far var sod i Finland och min mormor och morfar var sod i Sverige.

 

doris

 

"I travel a lot; I hate having my life disrupted by routine"--Caskie Stinnett

 

Elation 10/20/02

Paradise 9/21/03

Pride of Aloha 6/07/04

Star Princess 10/24/04

[sue d. miller]

Wow!! Whatever you said, Doris, I am impressed!!

 

Sue

7 days on Star Princess 10/24

 

GROWING OLD IS MANDATORY..... GROWING UP IS OPTIONAL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[pg.]

Gosh Suzy , I was enjoying your review till you said Paris was full of rude Parisans. How American of you. You made that judgement on your whole 3 1/2 hours visit. How American of you.You didn't even support that statement which condemed the entire population of a major city.

 

How can I accept anything you say at face value when you can make a snap judgement like that based on "all " your experience in a city.

 

I am not from Paris, I am Canadain, and I have visited Paris many times and found many warm and wonderful people there, of course the rules of ettique are different there, they do not understand the way some Americans and Canadains come into a shop and just look at the wares with out calling out "bonjour madame/monsieur" they expect to be greeted, and they will of course greet you back. Oddly enough they also find it odd that many tourists( from North Amercia) complain if they don't speak english, even though they may in fact speak serveral other languages( often Spanish, Italian or German)They do have tourist from those countries also to converse with.

 

Anyways I just found your commentw quite shocking, what on earth could have happened in 3 1/2 hours to make you say such a thing.?

[Suzy Q]

pg--Ouch! A four paragraph rant on how unfair I was? And how "American"? "Shocking"? Jeez, I called them rude not axe murderers. For the sake of brevity, I did not ennumerate each of the countless LESS THAN POLITE encounters. Nor will I here. I'm done.

[pg.]

Suzy I took great offence at your post because you POP into a country, YOU SPENT LESS than 4 hours there, AND then YOU pronuonce the city "filled with cranky Parisans, rude about sums it up" and you have NO back up for your judgemental statement!My goodness, I KNOW all Amercians aren't like you, so I won't pronoucne the boards here "filled with rude judgemental Americans.

 

Here , to give you an idea of how I percieved your comment.

Lets change the city,

 

New York( San Fransisco) ( Atlanta) ( Houston) (Salt Lake City) (Miami) is amazingly beautiful. The buildings and the history there! The down side --it's full of cranky (New Yorkers)( San Franciscans)(Atlantans) ETC.Rude sums it up.

 

So would that be a fair assesment of New York? Atlanta, Sand Fran, I mean after a 31/2 hour visit.

Hey, suzy, do you think the fact that it was 98 degrees might have had anything to do with it?Many people are cranky in that heat, perhaps you weren't ? Or perhaps you were?

 

Of course not, it' just the French right, they are just rude to poor Amercian tourists.

[merela]

Suzy....I've asked this questions in several threads, but I haven't gotten any answers yet. Maybe you can help me.

 

How did you get from your hotel in Picadilly to the Southampton Port? Did you take a bus or train? How much was your taxi fare from the bus/train terminal to port terminal.

 

Any information you have about the transfer between Heathrow airport to the Southampton port would be great.

 

TIA.

 

 

Jennifer

[packerpatriot]

Suzy,

THANK YOU SO MUCH for the information about the cream situation on board. One of my personal pet peeves how people switch out milk for cream etc... I'll be sure to bring some along now. Could you also say what movies were shown?

Cristin

[Suzy Q]

Sorry...didn't realize this thread was still active. Jennifer, I'm no help on the bus/train situation. Our London guide drove us to Southampton after we visited Hampton Court in the AM.

 

Cristin, Movies--Love Actually,Plots With a View,Big Fish, Calendar Girls, Something's Gotta Give,Lord of the Rings 3, Mona Lisa Smile, Intolerable Cruelty, Casablanca, Master & Commander, Welcome to Mooseport, From Here to Eternity