LIVE: Royal Princess, Dec. 10-20, 2017, 10-Day Caribbean

[sunsetbeachgal]

Loving your blog. That audience participation Hollywood game show sounds great! Enjoy!

 

 

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[geoherb]

We enjoyed another relaxing breakfast at Sabatini’s. One of the things I like is the small muffins and pastries they serve there compared to the larger ones in the main dining room. I don’t feel guilty trying two different ones. Today I had a chocolate croissant and a bran muffin. The fruit plate, which I always order, is very nice, with cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelon, strawberries, blueberries, kiwi, orange, and pineapple. I could order any of them individually, as we lady with whom we ate breakfast yesterday did.

 

A smaller Royal Caribbean ship is docked next to ours. It’s the Jewel of the Seas. They’re playing loud steel drum music somewhere—either on shore or on the Jewel. At least we’ll sail away so that my afternoon nap won’t be disturbed by it.

 

We’re planning on playing trivia at 10:30 then going ashore. We won’t wander far, staying within view of the ship except when it’s blocked by a building. Tomorrow is our one shore excursion, snorkeling in Bonaire near Klein Bonaire. We may catch a cab to Mambo Beach in Curacao.

 

We enjoyed about an hour and a half walking around the port. Once past the shopping mall at the pier, things are pretty depressing—broken and nonexistent sidewalks, raw sewage running in the drains, crazy drivers, etc. We went to a little flea market type area and bought three bags of nutmeg for $5. In the pier shops, they were selling the same size bags for $6 each. We also bought a couple of jars of local jelly (nutmeg and guava) and a bottle of hot sauce in a grocery store a few blocks from the pier. The total was less than $8. They accepted American currency but gave change in local currency. I ended up giving the coins I received to a woman running a stall in the mall. I used to bring home the foreign coins for our neighbors’ children, but they’re getting too old to find it interesting anymore. The same things would have added up to nearly $20 in the nicer shops. I also enjoy seeing grocery stores in foreign countries. One of the big treats down here, apparently, is Virginia ham for the holidays. They had a huge stack of them in the grocery store.

 

Lunch was our first meal in the Horizon Bistro. It’s bigger than the revitalized version on the Caribbean Princess we enjoyed in August. It was also very crowded due to a lot of folks getting back around the same time. I had hoped they would open the Concerto Dining Room due to our early departure, but they did not.

 

The ship left about on schedule. We saw a few people sauntering down the pier 10 minutes after the supposed all-aboard time. They must have been on a late-arriving excursion. The Royal Caribbean ship’s departure must be much later. That ship is still docked 45 minutes after our departure.

[geoherb]

The back-to-backers won afternoon trivia with another perfect score. The closest team to them had 17. We had 15. One of our teammates had gone over to the second place team. He told us one of the b2b team members had a 2-inch thick notebook of trivia questions and answers from all the cruises she had been on. I guess it pays in fabulous ship prizes to go to extremes.

 

We picked out the photo included with our Ultimate Balcony Dinner at the photo desk. It’s nice to have one photo from the cruise. I’m hoping some of the ones our waiter took of us turned out better than the official photographer’s. At our age, though, we’re past being too conceited about our looks—not that either of us ever were. We then played the slots a tiny bit. Neither of us hit a big jackpot. We cashed out down a dollar. The good thing is that gave us tens, fives, and ones for spending on shore tomorrow. I probably would have bought more in the grocery store in Grenada if I had not been worried about getting too much change in local currency.

 

The Captains Circle party is tonight for us. We received the early time. It feels strange not to have it on a formal night. Our second formal night will be our full day at sea on the way back from Curacao. We have tomorrow in Bonaire, Sunday in Curacao, then two full days at sea. The Captains Circle hostess said we could switch to the later party if the early invitation did not suit us. I think it’s fine to get it over with. Now that neither one of us is drinking much alcohol, we don’t need to score glasses of wine to take with us to dinner. We’ll try to get seats in the theater at the 6:15 show after the party.

[goofy559]

The back-to-backers won afternoon trivia with another perfect score. The closest team to them had 17. We had 15. One of our teammates had gone over to the second place team. He told us one of the b2b team members had a 2-inch thick notebook of trivia questions and answers from all the cruises she had been on. I guess it pays in fabulous ship prizes to go to extremes.

.

 

I've been on cruises with people like that - it is so annoying! And quite frankly, shouldn't be allowed - how is that different than googling??? I play trivia for the challenge (and the cheap ship prizes!!) what is to be gained by playing and winning by looking answers up in a book??? SMH

[geoherb]

The Captains Circle party was well attended. The captain did not make it to our session. The Captains Circle hostess announced the numbers: 666 first-time Princess cruisers, 554 Gold, 431 Ruby, 1,091 Platinum, and 578 Elite. The top three most-traveled passengers had 1,511 days (160 cruise credits), 1,676 days (162 cruise credits), and 1,741 days.

 

The cruise director announced that Encore is debuting on the Royal this cruise. The future cruise consultant talked about the debut of the Sky Princess in 2019. She also said something about double on-board credit for certain cruises booked on board.

 

There were plenty of seats for the 6:15 show. DH enjoyed John Bressler’s show more than I did. We went to dinner after the show and sat beside a couple with whom we had breakfast yesterday at Sabatini’s. I played a music trivia with them after dinner. We scored 37 out of 40 points, coming in third behind the back-to-backers (39/40) and another team (38/40).

 

The Royal arrives in Bonaire at noon tomorrow. Our snorkeling excursion isn’t until 3:30.

[geoherb]

I've been on cruises with people like that - it is so annoying! And quite frankly, shouldn't be allowed - how is that different than googling??? I play trivia for the challenge (and the cheap ship prizes!!) what is to be gained by playing and winning by looking answers up in a book???

I don’t think they’re using the book during the contest. She’s just keeping a running list of the questions and answers and studying them.

[geoherb]

Last night’s special off-menu items for the Club Class were a grilled shrimp entrée and crepes suzette for dessert. I had the shrimp. They were very good. I ordered a side of steamed broccoli since there wasn’t a vegetable served with the shrimp, just a rice pilaf. Our tablemate mentioned that she did not realize she could order extra vegetables like that. The Chocolate Journey last night was a coconut one with not much chocolate. It was good.

 

This morning the televisions reset with the welcome safety video having to play before we could watch anything else. Seems like the system isn’t timed right to coincide with our 10-day cruise schedule.

 

Today is the day we’ll use up the remainder of our on-board credit. We had the shareholder credit, future cruise credit, and loyalty credit. We have not purchased much alcohol and nothing yet from the shops. The daily gratuity ($15.50 for being in a suite) has used up most of it. I prepaid for the Ultimate Balcony Dinner and our excursion today. We got another two batches of laundry back. Mine would have been $22.50. We’ll send out one more batch tonight to take us to the end of the cruise. I haven’t found out from any Elites not in suites how long their laundry is taking to come back.

[karriec]

Thank you so much for the wonderful blog. We are getting on the Royal on Wednesday and your updates have me even more excited :)

[geoherb]

I finally spoke to some nonsuite Elites about laundry. They said it’s taking three or four days to come back. What they sent in by nine on Monday morning came back Thursday night, but what some sent out by nine on Tuesday did not come back last night.

 

The back-to-backers won the morning trivia with 20 out of 21 points. There were three teams tied for second place with 18 points.

 

We’re sailing into Bonaire early. It may take an hour, though, to get the clearance for folks to go ashore. We can see the mountains of salt from our front window and the tall cross on top of a hill from our balcony. Those are sights we saw on our island tour last December on our Caribbean Princess cruise to the ABCs. I’m looking forward to our afternoon snorkeling excursion off the coast of Klein Bonaire. The couple we ate dinner beside last night are doing a beach break excursion. The couple with whom we’ve been playing most of the trivias are taking glass bottom kayaks. They’ll also get beach time and some snorkeling from the beach.

 

I finally saw the women again who took the garden tour in Martinique. They were disappointed in the gardens. They decided to stay close to the ship in Grenada, not going past the little shops in the mall.

[Todd320]

I finally spoke to some nonsuite Elites about laundry. They said it’s taking three or four days to come back. What they sent in by nine on Monday morning came back Thursday night, but what some sent out by nine on Tuesday did not come back last night.

.

 

Interesting because on the cruise before you we had a few more Elites and laundry (non Suite) was always back by dinner time the next day. Now on the Regal last month it was another story, the dreaded three days to get it back.

[1emerald1]

Question on Martinique, I will be on the Royal for the 3/30/18 Southern Caribbean cruise and was thinking of doing the walking tour. We are only there for the afternoon, so from your posts it sounds like it takes awhile to get off the ship and get there, and do you think it would be too hot to even do a 1.5 hour walking tour? Thanks so much.

[vickie_bernie]

wow it is not normal for the laundry to take that long for elites, unless you are on a transatlantic or something.

 

We were on the Royal twice this year and if we had the laundry in before 9:30 we got it the next day in the evening usually, occasionally the next morning.

 

on our trip in Sept there were a lot of elites too. But you do have to have it in before 9:30. Often we just put out in the evening and we usually get it the next evening or the morning after. A day or day and a half is usual.

 

Have a great dayin Bonaire. Love following along.

[Todd320]

wow it is not normal for the laundry to take that long for elites, unless you are on a transatlantic or something.

 

We were on the Royal twice this year and if we had the laundry in before 9:30 we got it the next day in the evening usually, occasionally the next morning.

 

.

I think a good room steward can help facilitate the laundry service. On last weeks Royal cruise (700 Elites) I would send a bag in the morning and then a bag in the evening before dinner and they both would be back the next evening.

[vickie_bernie]

I think a good room steward can help facilitate the laundry service. On last weeks Royal cruise (700 Elites) I would send a bag in the morning and then a bag in the evening before dinner and they both would be back the next evening.

 

Very true

 

I see you are with us in jan and feb on the royal.

 

Lets compare how long it takes then. ;p

 

See u on board

[metairiegal]

Thanks for your live reports. I am enjoying reading them, especially since we will be boarding the Royal on the 20th!

 

We were once on a Princess cruise where the BTB people were winning all the trivia contests. Why in the world doesn't Princess ask different questions from one cruise to the next?! Surely, there are a lot of trivia questions out there!

 

Sorry to hear about the shuttle situation in Martinique. We were there in June, on a Disney cruise, but we docked on the "good" side of the fort where we could just hop off and walk around town. Unfortunately, there really isn't much in town to see (and, a shortage of public restrooms). If we dock where tickets and shuttles are needed, we may just stay on the ship.

 

Looking forward to reading more of your report.

[richsea]

I've been on cruises with people like that - it is so annoying! And quite frankly, shouldn't be allowed - how is that different than googling??? I play trivia for the challenge (and the cheap ship prizes!!) what is to be gained by playing and winning by looking answers up in a book??? SMH

Totally agree. We’ve done b2b and always make sure the moderator knows. Usually they will thank us and mix up the questions. We play to meet new friends and have fun, notfor a pen or key chain!

[Todd320]

Very true

 

I see you are with us in jan and feb on the royal.

 

Lets compare how long it takes then. ;p

 

See u on board

 

Looking forward to it! :)

[floridalover5623]

Thanks for your live reports. I am enjoying reading them, especially since we will be boarding the Royal on the 20th!

 

We were once on a Princess cruise where the BTB people were winning all the trivia contests. Why in the world doesn't Princess ask different questions from one cruise to the next?! Surely, there are a lot of trivia questions out there!

 

Sorry to hear about the shuttle situation in Martinique. We were there in June, on a Disney cruise, but we docked on the "good" side of the fort where we could just hop off and walk around town. Unfortunately, there really isn't much in town to see (and, a shortage of public restrooms). If we dock where tickets and shuttles are needed, we may just stay on the ship.

 

Looking forward to reading more of your report.

I got the distinct impression that Princess made people use the shuttle, which is only a short walk. Not that I would mind using it but if I had to que up for tickets I'd rather stay on the ship.

[geoherb]

We ate a light lunch in the International Café before heading on shore for a little shopping. It’s hot. We saw the woman who was our tour guide last year and spoke to her. It was a great tour of the island for half the price of the Princess excursion that doesn’t go to as many places.

 

DH came back and had a nap. I set a wakeup call on our phone while I enjoyed reading on the balcony. It woke him up. We lathered up in plenty of sunscreen and met our excursion group on the pier. There were 20 of us. The boat we went on is called the Sea Cow. It was a good snorkeling excursion. We stopped off the coast of Klein Bonaire for a drift snorkel for about 40 minutes. We broke into two groups of 10 with a guide each. The guide would tell us about various things and then free dive down to point them out. We saw lots of different fish species, corals, sponges, and other aquatic life.

 

After the first snorkeling stop, we got back on the Sea Cow to go around the corner of the island for a second. DH decided one stop was enough for him. I went back in the water. It was nice that we were in a group instead of snorkeling off on our own like we’ve done on some other snorkeling excursions. I felt safer this way doing it without DH. Three other passengers stayed on the boat during the snorkeling stop. DH and they enjoyed the rum punch while we were in the water. The second stop was the best. There were more fish, and they swam closer to us. At the first stop, I felt like we were floating above and looking down at everything. We even saw a fleeting glimpse of a green sea turtle.

 

The rum punch poured freely after the second stop on the way back to the pier. Another good thing about this excursion was that the boat was able to pull up at the pier right beside the Royal Princess.

 

We enjoyed the Royal Princess singers and dancers at a Motown show before dinner. It’s still strange to me that they’re not doing more shows. Tonight’s entertainment after our day in Curacao will be a guy doing a Nat King Cole tribute show in the theater and a comedian in the Vista Lounge. I think we may go see the comedian.

 

Last night’s featured items in the Club Class dining were a pasta putanesca and a sea bass entrée. I tried the sea bass. It was good, but maybe not as good as our tablemates’ trout from the regular Italian night menu. They were raving about it.

 

After dinner, I walked through the deck party. The dancers performed a number on the fountain stage then had the passengers up there dancing as with them. I did not stay very long—just talked with a couple we had met at the LGBT gathering and our trivia teammates.

[geoherb]

Question on Martinique, I will be on the Royal for the 3/30/18 Southern Caribbean cruise and was thinking of doing the walking tour. We are only there for the afternoon, so from your posts it sounds like it takes awhile to get off the ship and get there, and do you think it would be too hot to even do a 1.5 hour walking tour? Thanks so much.

It depends on where the ship docks. The cruise before ours docked closer to town and people could just walk off the ship. It’s only because we were at the far dock that they had the free shuttle buses to town that they forced people to use because it was not a safe place to walk apparently.

 

 

wow it is not normal for the laundry to take that long for elites, unless you are on a transatlantic or something.

I know. We are used to getting it back the next day or within two days at the latest. Fortunately, we are not affected this cruise since I took the upsell to a suite.

 

 

We were once on a Princess cruise where the BTB people were winning all the trivia contests. Why in the world doesn't Princess ask different questions from one cruise to the next?! Surely, there are a lot of trivia questions out there!

I think it’s laziness on the part of the cruise director’s staff. You’re right. There are a lot of trivia questions out there. But they pick 20 questions and make a PowerPoint presentation and then use it over and over again. I’d remember the answers to the questions we missed next week. Even three or four months from now I’d remember some of them (especially if I made a point of writing them down in a notebook). Jeopardy has 61 new questions each episode. It should not be that hard for a crew member to come up with 20 new questions. There are plenty of questions they could ask about the ports from the info sheets the passengers get, questions about the ship, questions about other places around the world, etc. A World Almanac would be a good resource along with some recent magazines for celebrity and world event questions.

[geoherb]

It rained hard during the night. DH said he heard it against our front window. I can see pools of water on Curacao. Somehow a man’s swimsuit blew onto our balcony during the night. I can’t imagine how since our balcony isn’t directly below any others. The Royal is docked so that we’re facing the port today. It’s a great view of the tall bridge, the pontoon bridge, and all the quaint buildings. We also have a good view of the large infinity pool at the resort between us and town.

 

We ate breakfast at Sabatini’s. I tried the B.E.L.T. sandwich—bacon, egg, lettuce, and tomato. It was a nice change of pace. We’ll stay on board until after the morning trivia, then walk around town a bit. I decided against going to the beach. There was a little one at Bonaire yesterday just to the right of the pier. The family with whom we ate dinner last night said they snorkeled there yesterday. They brought along their own equipment. We also saw several crew members enjoying the water there. It’s too bad that there are not more beaches close to the piers in the ports. I’d enjoy swimming in the ocean for 45 minutes or so, but I don’t want to stay on the beach and get too much sun. So it’s not worth taking a cab for a short beach visit.

[Todd320]

Fortunately, we are not affected this cruise since I took the upsell to a suite.

 

What is your opinion of the upsell to a suite? We keep turning them down but someday?

[metairiegal]

I'm sorry, that made me laugh about the swim suit showing up on your balcony. How in the world?! Gotta shake your head at that one! :D

[geoherb]

There turned out to be a beach in town where a new hotel is going to be built. It’s right past the government buildings on the water after the pontoon bridge. But we did not have our swimsuits with us and did not want to go back for them. We saw a couple swimming there with Princess towels.

 

The shopping area next to the pier has expanded a lot since our first cruise to Curacao several years ago. It’s nice how they’ve built the shops into the walls of the old fort, preserving them by doing so. We bought a few souvenirs as gifts on the island but nothing major. We walked around the town a bit and headed back. We managed to be on the pontoon bridge when it opened for a tugboat to go through. That was fun. There were lots of holiday decorations throughout the town. I thought it was weird seeing snowmen decorations for Christmas in such a tropical location.

 

We came back to the ship and ate lunch at Alfredo’s. I like the vegetarian antipasto and the agnolotti a lot. We did not have time for dessert there—I had to get to the champagne ring toss. I was first in line and won a bottle my first toss. We took the champagne to celebrate sailaway at the Outrigger Bar with a couple we met earlier on the cruise. DH went five or six times and did not win. We’ll try again if they have the event on our two sea days heading back. The captain announced that tonight and tomorrow may be rough.

 

The unheard of happened at the morning trivia—the back-to-backers lost. They came back, though, and got a perfect score again at the afternoon trivia.

 

We’re planning on eating dinner early tonight to catch both the comedian and the Nat King Cole tribute show.

[geoherb]

What is your opinion of the upsell to a suite? We keep turning them down but someday?

I’m glad we took the upsell. It’s been fun. If we can get a suite for this amount per person per day again, I’d take it. But I doubt we’ll get that kind of offer ever again. I told DH we’ll have to book an inside for our next cruise to keep us humble.

 

When we first had a balcony cabin in 2001, DH said he could never sail again in a regular outside cabin. So I booked us an inside cabin to teach him it’s better to go on a cruise than not. On that cruise, we saved more than enough money to pay for our tips, flights, and shore excursions. The amount we spent for the upsell would have covered the same—but I counted this as a great birthday present to myself as well as our 29th anniversary celebration and early Christmas. We won’t do more than token presents to each other then.

 

 

I'm sorry, that made me laugh about the swim suit showing up on your balcony. How in the world?! Gotta shake your head at that one!

It turned out the swimsuit was our neighbor’s. I guess he put it on top of the partition between our balconies and then blew off to where it landed in the middle of ours. DH let him know we had given it to our cabin steward.