Live From the Royal in the W Caribbean- November 24, 18- To Blog or Not to Blog...

[TracieABD]

On 11/25/2018 at 3:39 PM, cruisequeen4ever said:

Always do a live blog; we treasure your blogs!!

Yep. I just can’t seem to step away from the keyboard...

Thank you!

[TracieABD]

23 hours ago, Astro Flyer said:

Buon Viaggio Tracie-Lynn & Jon! 🛳

 

We’re eagerly awaiting the Royal’s West Coast arrival in the Spring.  It’s taken nearly 6 years to have a Royal-class ship on the WC and we have 3 cruises booked on the Royal.

 

I’ve read posts stating that during the ship’s early December weeklong shipyard maintenance they’ll add the luxury beds.  Maybe you’ll be lucky & already have a new mattress. 🤞🤞

Frank!

Our bed is so comfy- I don’t really mind if they swap or not!

 

You will love this girl when she makes her way westward!

[TracieABD]

15 hours ago, mthomp5 said:

Thank you for doing the Live From!  I’m getting amped about our cruise on the Royal in a little over 150 days.  Yeah...I know...it’s a while away.  So I’ll enjoy reading your live report in preparation for our cruise.

 

Have a wonderful cruise!

It will fly by and be here before you know it!

Thank you!

[TracieABD]

2 hours ago, c-boy said:

Jon wear a tux or suit?

Suit. And people have been pretty dressed up. Lots of tuxes on this spin... more so than Europe this summer, even.

[TracieABD]

2 hours ago, CRLess said:

Hi "Cuz"....glad to see you are back at sea!  Check your email....

Got it! 😉 I so appreciate you! Have Brenda give you a big hug from me!

[TracieABD]

2 hours ago, Heyref said:

Thanks for the updates.

7:45 dining time???  Yikes - not impressed by that......

What time is the Show in the Princess Theatre?

Most nights the shows are at 8 pm and 10 pm. So the timeline works. The 10 pm shows are not crowded at all...

[TracieABD]

2 hours ago, aliciam said:

Thanks so much for sharing your trip with us! We will be sailing on Royal in two weeks and there is very little current information (that I can find anyway with the new search feature) on Royal. Hope the rest of your trip is amazing.

Happy to answer specific questions! I bet you are excited! I know I would be...

[TracieABD]

1 hour ago, greenie082756 said:

Thanks so much for doing you live from the Royal! I so enjoy it when you do this. Shhh! Don't tell the boss I'm on CC! 

 

We will be on the Royal next September and it will be a first for us on this class from Princess. So of course, I will be reading every single word you have to relay to us.

Shhhhhhhh.... It is our little secret!

 

I think you will love her! 

[c-boy]

9 minutes ago, TracieABD said:

Suit. And people have been pretty dressed up. Lots of tuxes on this spin... more so than Europe this summer, even.

[Cruise2End]

Thanks Tracie for the Traditional MDR times - that’s good to know.

[Teachingmomx2]

My parents are on the ship with you! Wave hi to them for me.... Lol as if you could pick them out of 4,000 other people. ;).    I'm enjoying reading your updates!

Edited November 27, 2018 by Teachingmomx2

[Host CJSKIDS]

5 hours ago, TracieABD said:

Thank you, Carolyn...

Someday, we will get it together to venture outward together!

 

 

That we will, along with Chris and Brenda!  

 

Hate to ask you to do anything on your live from but if you can ask one of the bartenders what the well/house vodka is, I would be grateful.  I have a really good friend who asked me today and I have no clue as I usually drink grey goose.

Edited November 27, 2018 by Host CJSKIDS

[karabear15]

6 hours ago, TracieABD said:

You must be so excited! I love the days before the cruise!

Super excited of course!  We are thinking about doing the Sanctuary for our sea days as well...what were you referring to with the loud/quiet side?  We'll be sure to stay away from the massage cabanas, don't need to listen to a TV I can't see, nor want to when I'm relaxing at sea.

 

[TracieABD]

November 26, 2018

Sailing, Sailing...

 

Hi Friends-

 

It was a relatively short visit to Grand Cayman today. All aboard was at 3:15 with a 4 pm scheduled sail-away. At 4:05- we sailed away... as we were enjoying scones and tea in the Sanctuary... P.S. If you are in the Sanctuary at sail-away... be mindful holding a beverage and the ship’s horn. Just sayin’.

 

We returned to the room to get ready for our dinner at the Crown Grill. I really wondered if we were up to it. Still hitting the “food wall”. Eating has become a bit of an Olympic sport these days. By the time 5:30 rolled around, we both felt that we could indulge in our 16th meal of the day. 

 

As promised, our reservation had been changed by Dennis, the Head Waiter of the Symphony Dining Room. We had a lovely table for two where we could enjoy the piano in the Wheelhouse Bar. I had the French onion soup, Grill salad and filet- prepared very rare Pittsburgh-style. Jon had a similar selection. The steak? Nailed it! It was one of the best prepared hunk of red meat (no, really- the meat was red) that I have ever enjoyed. Service was amazing. We had a special visit from Marius, the Head Waiter of the Concerto Dining Room. He is a friend of my “cousin”. It was so nice that he stopped by to say hello.

 

After dinner, we headed to the Captain’s Circle Party. I believe it was for Elites. Here is the breakdown of the stats (for those of you who like that sort of thing...)

-Blue- 1081

-Gold- 665

-Ruby- 321

-Platinum- 808

-Elite- 449

-Most Traveled Guest- 2503 (from what I hear- she is the PCL MTG- for the whole company)

-Cut-off for MTG Luncheon- 457 days (... not even close)

-Children under 18- 73 (there were more than 600 last week)

Pat, the Captain’s Circle Hostess, was so gracious to sit with me earlier and share the numbers. She even teased Jon a little bit. 😉

 

Geek alert! Geek alert! Geek alert!

We hoofed it to the Princess Theater for the show Encore. It was pretty good. The guest soprano was talented. She sang arias from Carmen, La Traviata, and the Queen of the Night solo from Mozart’s Magic Flute. She almost completely nailed the coloratura- which is actually one of the more difficult vocal accomplishments. For those of you who love the opera, you get it. For those of you who don’t— now you know what a total weirdo I really am.

 

Once the show was finished, we tried to sit in the Atrium to share a pot of tea. However, the chair hogs were out in force- and the music was so loud- we gave it up. Jon headed to the casino- and I trotted up to the cabin. And that is where I am right now. Blogging. To you. My friends.

 

Tomorrow is Costa Maya... we port sometime around noon...

 

Sleep well and thank you for following along!

Tracie-Lynn 🙂

 

 

 

[TracieABD]

1 hour ago, Teachingmomx2 said:

My parents are on the ship with you! Wave hi to them for me.... Lol as if you could pick them out of 4,000 other people. ;).    I'm enjoying reading your updates!

I may just randomly wave to all the parents on board! Thank you!

 

[CRLess]

13 hours ago, TracieABD said:

We had a special visit from Marius, the Head Waiter of the Concerto Dining Room. He is a friend of my “cousin”. It was so nice that he stopped by to say hello.

 

Marius is one of the best Head Waiters we have encountered...very friendly and attentive.  He knows his wines very well also.  I'm glad you got to meet him and don't be afraid to reach out to him if you hit any snags while on board.

[aliciam]

22 hours ago, TracieABD said:

Happy to answer specific questions! I bet you are excited! I know I would be...

 

Hope you are enjoying Costa Maya today!

 

I am very excited! Have you heard anyone talking details about the upcoming wet dock? I'm hoping everything goes as scheduled and we are able to embark on time (or maybe even have our cabins ready early)🤗

[idahospud]

Tracie, thanks for doing a live from. I'm on the ship as well and have been blogging from our viewpoint but it's always interesting to what others are experiencing. And to see it through new cruisers eyes is awesome! 

 

Thanks for posting the loyalty levels and numbers. I didn't go to the Captain's Circle party and I have been too lazy to head to the Captain's Circle desk to find out. If the most traveled cut off is correct I should be seeing an invitation soon.

 

You get soaked today? We were drenched.

[MarcsSharon]

Really enjoy reading of your travels, thank you so much for your efforts. We are sailing on the Royal on Dec 15th and you are getting me excited for my turn :)

[chamima]

So happy I found another blog from you!

Can't wait to read the rest

[Guest arowe6]

Love this “Live From” thread. Thanks for sharing, Tracie. Looking forward to following along for the rest of your cruise. 

 

-Andrew 🙂

[CI66774]

Thanks for chronicling your journey. Glad you're having a good time!

[TracieABD]

November 27, 2018

Costa Maya/ Mahahual, Mexico

 

Hi friends!

 

It is the end of another successful day on a cruise. Today was Costa Maya. I have been to this port several times- and while I do not love the port area, I do love the thing I do in Mahahual. 

 

We were not scheduled to arrive until noon, so there was little reason to jump out of bed. We woke up around nine and knocked around the cabin a bit. Jon retrieved the delicious caffeinated beverages from the IC, along with a couple of a pastries. 

 

We heard a rumor that we would be porting early, so we were packed and ready to disembark by 11. We had already been in port over 30 min at that point. True to word, we were off the ship at 11:21. 

 

Here is the reason I do not love the port area... It was built exclusively for the cruise industry. While there is a pool, bars, many shops- nothing feels authentic to me. Also, they have structured the layout in such a way that you have to walk through the entire maze of ticky tacky shops in order to get out of the port. Ugh. HINT: If you walk all the way through the shops on the “back wall” of the port area- you can exit out of the back of the shop and this will get you closer to the parking gate area.

 

We finally wended our way through and found the teeny tiny exit. We walked out of port and hailed a taxi. Taxis have increased in price quite significantly. It used to cost me between 2 and 4 USD to go that mile and a half- now it is a set $8 to ride into Mahahual. That is per car, up to four people- not per person...

 

We made a reservation at Tropicante, a small beach resort in Mahahual. It is owned by Steve Uhl, an ex-pat from Texas. There is no cost for the chairs. There is plenty of shade. You pay for the drinks and for food- if you want it. You can also have a massage al fresco for $30 for the hour. We availed ourselves of all of it- plus a pretty good sized tip for Oscar- our host. It was still a bargain. 

 

We stayed for about 3 hours- until the skies turned dark gray and headed back to the ship. Just as we walked up the gangway- the skies opened up. Perfect timing. I threw in a load of laundry and we got cleaned up for the evening. As an aside, the Elite laundry has been super fast- a 24 to 36 hour turn-around... but there are things I just want to wash on cold water and dry on delicate... The laundry room was empty- Christmas miracle.

 

We decided to go visit the Symphony Dining Room. We were seated at a lovely table for 2 by the window. Tonight was Italian night and I was starving... melon and prosciutto, salad, soup, and a beef dish for me... with a side of penne Arribiatta. Jon had similar starters and a chicken dish. It was all great... We decided to split a Volcano for dessert. How fun is that?

 

We hustled it to the comedian show in the Princess Theater. Ed Regine had great timing and presence, but the jokes felt stale. Jon has actually done some stand up-and he was not a fan. Overall, it was a fine way to spend about 40 minutes- and the price was right.

 

We played cards and watch the dancers in the Piazza for a few hours and then made our nightly donation in the casino. Ugh... I give up. I am not getting anywhere— Jon has had some luck, but not me.

 

We packed our stuff for our big day in Belize tomorrow-and now I have to go to sleep.

 

Thank you for hanging in there!

Tracie-Lynn 🙂

[geoherb]

I'm enjoying your posts--and following the adventures of our other Princess in Europe. You're missing a cold snap in Charlotte. Wednesday's high is supposed to be in the mid 40s. It's supposed to warm up by Friday.

[idahospud]

We were at Tropicante, too. But we weren't smart enough to leave early and got flooded out.