Review of Royal Princess 11/30/17 to 12/10/17 with lots of photographs

[Cuizer2]

Great photos. Thanks.

 

[Cuizer2]

Thanks for the review

 

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Forums mobile app

 

[Cuizer2]

Cuizer2, you are a talented writer with a good sense of dry humor. Ever write professionally? Thank you for making this thread so enjoyable.

 

[Steelers36]

Cuizer2. Hi. I am a little puzzled. You indicated that you are Platinum with Princess. That means to me you have quite a bit of experience. Yet, much of your early posts and writing make you sound like a newbie. Had you just not been to the east coast on Princess before? Your photographs are excellent and I just checked out some of them. Certainly an early riser, but it is way to get photos with hardly anyone around.

[grapau27]

Cuizer2. Hi. I am a little puzzled. You indicated that you are Platinum with Princess. That means to me you have quite a bit of experience. Yet, much of your early posts and writing make you sound like a newbie. Had you just not been to the east coast on Princess before? Your photographs are excellent and I just checked out some of them. Certainly an early riser, but it is way to get photos with hardly anyone around.

Platinum is fairly low tier on Princess,we are elite Princess loyalty members.

[Woobstr112G]

Just came across your review. Thanks for taking the time to post all of your great pictures.....:):):)

 

Bob

[Steelers36]

Platinum is fairly low tier on Princess,we are elite Princess loyalty members.

 

Thanks for making Platinums feel valuable. Working on Elite, but I figure when I get there it won't be so hot as it seems almost everyone else is there. The OP seemed to have a lot more experience than some posts indicated is all. NBD. Enjoy your eliteness.

[grapau27]

Thanks for making Platinums feel valuable. Working on Elite, but I figure when I get there it won't be so hot as it seems almost everyone else is there. The OP seemed to have a lot more experience than some posts indicated is all. NBD. Enjoy your eliteness.

Sorry didn't mean any offense everyone is important.

Yours Sincerely Graham

[Cuizer2]

Cuizer2. Hi. I am a little puzzled. You indicated that you are Platinum with Princess. That means to me you have quite a bit of experience. Yet, much of your early posts and writing make you sound like a newbie. Had you just not been to the east coast on Princess before? Your photographs are excellent and I just checked out some of them. Certainly an early riser, but it is way to get photos with hardly anyone around.

 

1) 2010 - Caribbean Princess to the Eastern Caribbean out of New York - 9 nights

2) 2013 - Sapphire Princess coastal California out of Los Angeles - 7 nights

3) 2016 - Crown Princess to Ensenada out of Los Angeles - 4 nights

4) 2017 - Royal Princess to eastern and southern Caribbean out of Ft. Lauderdale - 10 nights

[Cuizer2]

Just came across your review. Thanks for taking the time to post all of your great pictures.....:):):)

 

Bob

 

Hope Holli is feeling better. We will miss you and Holli on the Alaska cruise.

[CPASam]

Thank you for an excellent review. DH and I were on the Royal, Dec 10-20th. We opted for an upsale to a suite just under the bridge on the Aloha Deck. This was our first suite experience and it was sweet! We had two rooms with a sitting room with our balcony off of it. The bridge overhang provided us some protection from the sun. Fortunately most of our times at port we were facing the port and not the sea. I considered that lucky for us. We also had a huge window at the front end of our cabin with slanted walls. We enjoyed the extra space in our suite and the forward view from our window. We told our cabin steward never to pull our curtain closed to that window. He closed it the first night and we had problems pulling it back open. This was basically the same view as the bridge cam. I enjoyed getting up early and watching us sail into each port. Instead of Princess Cays, we docked at Amber Cove in the Dominican Republic. This was a very pleasant surprise. The swimming pool at the dock was huge and they were playing 80's disco music which brought back pleasant memories for me but I'm sure was not pleasing for all. I stayed in the pool (and on a lounge chari) the entire time we were at port and DH explored around Amber Cove. Getting back to the Suite Life with Geoherb and CPASam: we also enjoyed the Club Class dining. We usually dine at the late seating with a huge table of people. Club Class dining is basically dining for two. During breakfast at Sabatini's our first morning at sea, we met another family of 3 + one of the daughter's friends. They invited us to eat with them for 3 diners in Club Class dining. We also had an ultimate balcony diner to celebrate DH's birthday during the cruise. We experienced the balcony diner as we sailing away from Martinique at sunset. We'll probably never enjoy the suite life again but it was nice! We had an inside cabin for our British Isles Cruise on Princess on the Caribbean Princess in August. Also, our Cruise Director, Matt O, joined the ship for the December 10th cruise on the Royal! He has an excellent personality, is very personal, and added to our excellent cruise experience. He was an Asst Cruise Director on the Caribbean Princess in August. Again, thanks for your excellent, detailed review. Loved the pictures too!

[Cuizer2]

Thank you for an excellent review. DH and I were on the Royal, Dec 10-20th. We opted for an upsale to a suite just under the bridge on the Aloha Deck. This was our first suite experience and it was sweet! We had two rooms with a sitting room with our balcony off of it. The bridge overhang provided us some protection from the sun. Fortunately most of our times at port we were facing the port and not the sea. I considered that lucky for us. We also had a huge window at the front end of our cabin with slanted walls. We enjoyed the extra space in our suite and the forward view from our window. We told our cabin steward never to pull our curtain closed to that window. He closed it the first night and we had problems pulling it back open. This was basically the same view as the bridge cam. I enjoyed getting up early and watching us sail into each port. Instead of Princess Cays, we docked at Amber Cove in the Dominican Republic. This was a very pleasant surprise. The swimming pool at the dock was huge and they were playing 80's disco music which brought back pleasant memories for me but I'm sure was not pleasing for all. I stayed in the pool (and on a lounge chari) the entire time we were at port and DH explored around Amber Cove. Getting back to the Suite Life with Geoherb and CPASam: we also enjoyed the Club Class dining. We usually dine at the late seating with a huge table of people. Club Class dining is basically dining for two. During breakfast at Sabatini's our first morning at sea, we met another family of 3 + one of the daughter's friends. They invited us to eat with them for 3 diners in Club Class dining. We also had an ultimate balcony diner to celebrate DH's birthday during the cruise. We experienced the balcony diner as we sailing away from Martinique at sunset. We'll probably never enjoy the suite life again but it was nice! We had an inside cabin for our British Isles Cruise on Princess on the Caribbean Princess in August. Also, our Cruise Director, Matt O, joined the ship for the December 10th cruise on the Royal! He has an excellent personality, is very personal, and added to our excellent cruise experience. He was an Asst Cruise Director on the Caribbean Princess in August. Again, thanks for your excellent, detailed review. Loved the pictures too!

 

Wow! An upgrade to a suite is sweet! While I have been in suites on other lines, I have not been in a suite on Princess (yet).

 

And also wow! Thank you for the very nice reply.

[Cuizer2]

Platinum is fairly low tier on Princess,we are elite Princess loyalty members.

 

Sorry didn't mean any offense everyone is important.

Yours Sincerely Graham

 

I did not take any offense to your post. Even though Platinum is the second highest level for Princess, it is too easy to get to. All you need is six points, which I got in only three cruises because I travel solo (usually). Even Elite is too easy to get to. If it were me, I would change the levels as follows:

 

Gold - currently during cruises two and three - I would make it during cruises two to five.

Ruby - current during cruises four and five - I would make it during cruises six to ten.

Platinum - currently during cruises six to fifteen - I would make it during cruises eleven to 25.

Elite - currently during sixteen or more cruises - I would make it during 26 or more cruises.

[grapau27]

I did not take any offense to your post. Even though Platinum is the second highest level for Princess, it is too easy to get to. All you need is six points, which I got in only three cruises because I travel solo (usually). Even Elite is too easy to get to. If it were me, I would change the levels as follows:

 

Gold - currently during cruises two and three - I would make it during cruises two to five.

Ruby - current during cruises four and five - I would make it during cruises six to ten.

Platinum - currently during cruises six to fifteen - I would make it during cruises eleven to 25.

Elite - currently during sixteen or more cruises - I would make it during 26 or more cruises.

Your a good sport plus i agree with you on how the tiers should be tiered.

[Steelers36]

Your a good sport plus i agree with you on how the tiers should be tiered.

 

I didn't take any real offense either. I just wanted to poke you over the Platinum comment. I agree that it is a rather low hurdle to get over if you are going to be an avid cruiser. That said, we don't have any status with any other lines.

[Jimbo]

I think I might have missed it somewhere, what category Cabin did the OP booked. Believe I saw pictures of it on the opening page.

 

What deck, cabin was it?

 

 

Jimbo:)

[Cuizer2]

I think I might have missed it somewhere, what category Cabin did the OP booked. Believe I saw pictures of it on the opening page.

 

What deck, cabin was it?

 

Jimbo:)

 

Some of the cabin photos and the link to all the cabin photos is in post # 2. The second photo in the link is ...

 

 

Caribe deck, forward section, starboard side, cabin # 215. It is a BE balcony.

[jennybenny]

Thanks for the detailed review and the many photos. I enjoyed it all.

[Cuizer2]

Thanks for the detailed review and the many photos. I enjoyed it all.

 

[weedpindle]

Platinum is fairly low tier on Princess,we are elite Princess loyalty members.

 

We were on this cruise also, now on the Regal, and feel the Regal is a much better experience, food, crew, everything.

[voljeep]

Platinum is fairly low tier on Princess,we are elite Princess loyalty members.

 

Platinum is certainly better than the Medallion Loyalty level we were before we became Platinum.

 

and Platinum is a wide range of cruises and learning experiences - 6 thru 15...:cool:

[AF-1]

Sunday, December 3 - St. Thomas

 

I woke up around 5:00am and went to the seventh deck around 5:30am to finish photographing the public areas of the ship. I finished around 6:15am and thought about trying to catch the sunrise. However, there were two problems with this. First, the ship was heading right at the sun. That is not normally an issue, except this ship has no forward observation deck.

 

In fact, it is ironic that this ship has no ocean view cabins (it has inside cabins, balcony cabins, and suites, but no ocean view staterooms), because unless you are on you balcony, or deck sixteen or seventeen, you are not going to see the ocean. There is no view of the ocean on the public decks (decks five, six, and seven) except for the public spaces aft of the aft elevator shafts (which are mostly restaurants). Because the Promenade deck (deck seven) is where the lifeboats are stationed, and because the lifeboats are safety equipment, much of the Promenade deck is off limits to the passengers.

 

 

The second problem is that there are clouds over the horizon and none overhead, which is the exact opposite of what is needed for a good sunrise photo. So I took a couple of photographs, but they are nothing to write home about.

 

After breakfast I headed back to the cabin to work on this and rest up a bit. Then I went to visit downtown St. Thomas. Prior to the hurricanes my plan was to visit Sapphire Beach. However, now my plan is to visit the town and go up to Paradise Point (if it is operating). So I will catch up with you later.

 

 

Well, Saint Thomas is about eighty percent back to normal. However, that does not include Paradise Point. I went downtown and bought some things for some friends, then headed back to the ship and went swimming. After swimming I had lunch, then showered, and watched some football and worked on this. I should mention that I have been showering with the temperature set as low as possible, not because I like cold showers (I don’t) but because the cold is warm enough for a shower in the tropics. It is warmer than room temperature (and a lot warmer than my room temperature).

 

While I was shopping there was a big downpour, so I am glad I was not at Sapphire Beach or I might have gotten wet - yikes! I’m sure I will return to Saint Thomas sometime in the future since all the one week Eastern Caribbean cruises stop at Saint Thomas and/or Sint Maarten.

 

 

 

We received our debarkation forms today. This will be the first time I am doing self-assist. Because I didn’t want to take any chances, I chose a 10:45am flight out of Fort Lauderdale. However, I am hoping to catch an earlier flight, so I am going to self-assist and hope for the best.

 

So until it is time for dinner I am going to sort photographs. I will catch up with you after dinner.

 

Next to our table is a table clearly set up for something special. Today it was being used as the Chef s table. From what I could tell, the people are served things that don’t look anything like food. As for myself, I had a pasta appetizer and the surf and turf main course. Now here is where having the same waiters every night works out well. Realizing that the steaks are small, our waiter asked me if I would like two steaks with my surf and turf dinner. Of course I said yes. I had my usual double chocolate ice cream. It is cold and yummy. I’ll order something different for dessert when I see something I really want.

 

Otherwise, I did a lot or walking today, developed a blister, discovered I don’t have even the most basic of first aid kits (like some Band-Aids - duct tape to the rescue, at least I have duct tape), and I don’t get along with heat or humidity (and both are here in large quantities), so it is off to bed for me. The bed has one blanket, which is keeping me more than warm. We are currently one hour ahead of East Coast time, so I watched a little of Sunday Night Football before falling asleep.

 

Link to all The Sanctuary photographs ... https://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-4StpNW

 

Link to the few St. Thomas photographs I took ... https://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-26XtNB

 

If you want to see the larger photographs, just click on the photograph. Click on the left and right arrows to move through the album. Click on the white "X" in the upper right corner to return to the smaller photographs. The two arrows to the left of the white "X" will take you to full screen. The Esc key will bring you back. You can add comments to the photographs if you want (the comment section is at the bottom.

Hi thanks for this review and thanks for all the great pics. What is picture 4 of 8 in the Sanctuary?

Edited February 3, 2018 by AF-1

[AF-1]

I can make it from Vanderberg AFB to Port Canaveral in 30 to 75 minutes, however, neither the Space Shuttle nor the SR-71 is flying at the moment. :(

I think the SR-71 flew out of Beale AFB in northern California

[Cuizer2]

Hi thanks for this review and thanks for all the great pics. What is picture 4 of 8 in the Sanctuary?

 

Photo 4 is a zoomed in photo 3. It just shows more detail of what is on the inside.

[Cuizer2]

I think the SR-71 flew out of Beale AFB in northern California

 

The space shuttle is faster. :)