Live From the Royal 2/25 with B2B through 3/12

[Cruise Raider]

I went by the watch store and there were 4 cases of the Tissolt watches.  They have 29 differ t styles.  There are two expensive watches that run $1700 and the rest are in the $400-$500 price ranges.  

[HaveDogWillTravel]

Full sailings are when Club Class really pays off. We got straight in to CC for lunch today, had the chicken Korma with 7 different toppings yum, yum, yum. 
 

I was able to prebook my free embarkation day specialty dining in Crown for 6:20. But when I went to the concierge to try and get a 4 top I could not do so unless I moved to 5:30 or 8 pm. Crown was packed. I finally ordered the Chilean sea bass that my dear friend @CruiseRaiderhas been extolling the virtues of for years. And omg it was every bit as good as I was expecting. Even exceeded my expectations.  
 

I do take food pics so here you go. 
 

I have photos of the complete new MDR wine menu. I’ll post soon. 

[tutumomickey]

57 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

so, we paid $50 for the plus package and it would be $10 a day pp to upgrade to the new plus package or $30 a day pp  to upgrade to the premier package.  

I think they were asking if 15$ drinks are covered or if you are charged for anything over 12$

[Plato123]

5 hours ago, memoak said:

Coffee drinks are covered under both the plus and premier packages. If you want to trade out your booze it could be dot wine, soft drinks or water. But wait they are all covered also. Do you 

not drink alcohol ?  If not what is the purpose in getting plus or premier ?

It is after 5 PM so, yes, I drink wine and am having a glass of a very nice little Greek wine (Avarino) at the moment, but in our suite I would rather have a bottle of wine instead of a unknown mix of mini bottles of spirits. I can order my scotch or G&T as part of my package anyways and anytime so why do they bother? Thanks for the coffee confirmation.

[HaveDogWillTravel]

Newly printed MDR wine menu. 
if someone would be so kind as to reference this live from to the earlier thread about the package changes that would be appreciated.  It’s just easiest for me to post here. 

[HaveDogWillTravel]

Last night in Crown my cabin mate and I ordered the grgich hills merlot and the Belle Glos Pinot (both excellent).  Each cost $19 and we have plus ($50 version)   We should have been charged $4 plus tip. But we were not. I asked the server and he showed me his hand held thingy they tap you in with.  It clearly showed we had plus and clearly said all wines up $20 were included. 
 

Obviously a glitch that will get sorted out very soon.  If you look at the bottom of the Vines menu I posted yesterday you will see it says Plus is up to $12 and Premier is up to $18. I showed Ali and he said oops a typo. These are brand new menus just printed and rolled out yesterday. 
 

Bottom line is if you have plus, regardless of what you paid for it, you get drinks up to $15.  For a short time only it seems we are getting more expensive wines included by a glitch in the system. I’ll be sure to tell guest services on debarkation day. Lol 

 

And in my experiences so far the plus White & Rose wines that are included (meaning $15 or less) are not to my liking. Everyone can look at the photos I’ve posted and decide for themselves. We all have different palettes. No right or wrong 
 

 

Edited February 26, 2023 by HaveDogWillTravel

[memoak]

31 minutes ago, Plato123 said:

It is after 5 PM so, yes, I drink wine and am having a glass of a very nice little Greek wine (Avarino) at the moment, but in our suite I would rather have a bottle of wine instead of a unknown mix of mini bottles of spirits. I can order my scotch or G&T as part of my package anyways and anytime so why do they bother? Thanks for the coffee confirmation.

You can change out for 1 bottle of wine but it won’t be the highest quality 

[KarmaCruisers]

HUGE favor to ask..

on the drink menu; it showed “Blantons Bourbon”..can you see if that’s ANYWHERE on the ship?! Last sailing we saw the same thing on the menu..but NONE of the bartenders had any idea what Blantons was..(it’s bottle is VERY distinct..looks like a hand grenade with a race horse on the bottle topper)

thanks!

[Happiest when cruising]

5 hours ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

Newly printed MDR wine menu. 
if someone would be so kind as to reference this live from to the earlier thread about the package changes that would be appreciated.  It’s just easiest for me to post here. 

Yikes… I’m just glad I don’t enjoy wine, at all. 
I had no idea it was so expensive.  

[Caribensun]

CruiseRaider, thanks for doing this.  Looking forward to sailing with you again in a few days.  Take good care of the ship.  

[CruisnDeb]

15 hours ago, KarmaCruisers said:

HUGE favor to ask..

on the drink menu; it showed “Blantons Bourbon”..can you see if that’s ANYWHERE on the ship?! Last sailing we saw the same thing on the menu..but NONE of the bartenders had any idea what Blantons was..(it’s bottle is VERY distinct..looks like a hand grenade with a race horse on the bottle topper)

thanks!

I would be shocked if they have Blantons in stock....it's difficult to find here in KY where it's made lol.

[HaveDogWillTravel]

Last nights dinner menus. I only have good pictures of the lamb. All the other entrees were half eaten by the time I took pics. 

Also please don’t quote posts with these multiple photos as it takes forever to load the thread on ship’s wifi. 

Edited February 27, 2023 by HaveDogWillTravel

[RNRcruisers]

Ooh looks like the old menu! Lovely!

 

[memoak]

That is a great menu. There are at least 2 apps and 3 mdd as ins I would have to choose from. Sailing in 18 days through the canal on the Emerald and looking forward to it 

[Cruise Raider]

16 hours ago, KarmaCruisers said:

HUGE favor to ask..

on the drink menu; it showed “Blantons Bourbon”..can you see if that’s ANYWHERE on the ship?! Last sailing we saw the same thing on the menu..but NONE of the bartenders had any idea what Blantons was..(it’s bottle is VERY distinct..looks like a hand grenade with a race horse on the bottle topper)

thanks!

there is absolutely no Blantons onboard, neither in the bars or in the shops.  This was confirmed by the bar supervisor yesterday.  He said they gave up on trying to get it as it was just never available.  

Edited February 27, 2023 by Cruise Raider

[KarmaCruisers]

4 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

there is absolutely no Blantons onboard, neither in the bars or in the shops.  This was confirmed by the bar supervisor yesterday.  He said they gave up on trying to get it as it was just never available.  

Huge thanks! I won’t get my hopes up then..here in california that stuff is like $60-$70 a bottle 

[Cruise Raider]

Just now, KarmaCruisers said:

Huge thanks! I won’t get my hopes up then..here in california that stuff is like $60-$70 a bottle 

Last year, we were able to buy several bottles of it in the shops onboard, so I know what you mean.  It came to about $60 a bottle when we purchased it but if you can find it for under $100, I’d still say that was a great deal.  Trouble is finding it … what an extremely great marketing campaign they have with limiting the supply and the horses all having a separate letter. We e looked in many of the ports for it as well … it’s just nowhere to be found.  

[Cruise Raider]

So, another fun day at sea yesterday.  Contrary to the weather forecast, we are blessed with full sunshine today in San Diego after a night of very calm sea.  
 

Although it was formal night last night, we just hit the buffet … it was surprisingly good.  They had plenty of selection (no Bavarian night so far) and lots of Asian themed dishes.  The place was absolutely barren, too.  
we heard the comedian was excellent but we were just too tired to stay up last night.  
 

The dining room lines are consistently way down the hallway.  We’ve only made it there for the embarkation lunch and haven’t gone back since.  I am doing a B2B so maybe on the next sailing we will go more often.  We were certainly spoiled on those low capacity sailings.  I knew it was just a matter of time to get them filled to capacity.  
Yet, the only place I have really noticed crowds was for the dining room.  The pools may get more crowded now the weather is getting better.  Nobody was out there yesterday, though.  
 

we also went to the future cruise office and booked for the fall.  It’s so nice they have three people working there now.  The wait times are so much better.  
 

 

 

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

Last nights dinner menus. I only have good pictures of the lamb. All the other entrees were half eaten by the time I took pics. 

Also please don’t quote posts with these multiple photos as it takes forever to load the thread on ship’s wifi. 

Nice photos.  The lamb does look very overdone though - not even pink ,

[partybarbie]

Thank you to all of the live posters. I know how challenging it can be. Has anyone been to Crooner’s? Would love to know who the current piano man is? 

[MsSoCalCruiser]

I also want to thank all the live posters.  Talk about great advertising for Princess… Every time I read your posts, I check cruises prices.  😊😊😊

[SuzieQ521]

Thank you for all this!

 

That's too bad about the MDR being so crowded...is that even with reservations? And only at dinner time?

 

We were hoping to dine there often for our May Alaska cruise (we are a group of 9 and I know it's highly doubtful we will sit together at all).

 

Glad that we at least have Alfredo's and the Grill (in addition to the Buffet).

[Redwing55]

1 hour ago, SuzieQ521 said:

Thank you for all this!

 

That's too bad about the MDR being so crowded...is that even with reservations? And only at dinner time?

 

We were hoping to dine there often for our May Alaska cruise (we are a group of 9 and I know it's highly doubtful we will sit together at all).

 

Glad that we at least have Alfredo's and the Grill (in addition to the Buffet).

We just got off the Royal (Hawaii) and rarely found things crowded.  Granted, I heard passenger count was like 2900.  Still, things moved smoothly.  And we had weather that closed off the Lido and Sun deck off and on so that limited public spaces too.  Interesting comments on this "live" thread.  

[HaveDogWillTravel]

@wowzzmy friend said the lamb was excellent and he ate every last bite. 
 

@partybarbie Funch is in the house!!!!

 

In no particular order

Heres tonight’s menu, patters, juice bar and its price list, Lailen serving up Scooby Doo shots at Bellinis , officer board, Alfredo’s menu & our pizzas, Bellinis specialty menu and a photo of the red plus wines they have at the moment. Plus wines can and will change from day to day and sailing to sailing so keep that in mind. There’s a reason they do not list the vintage or winery.
 

 

Also find photos of the brand new printed bar menus. Lailen at Bellinis said this is what all the bars are now using. 

Edited February 27, 2023 by HaveDogWillTravel

[SuzieQ521]

Thank you for all that! 

 

That pizza looks amazing...hard to tell, are they personal size or bigger?

 

Is that the Juice bar that's included with the Plus Package?

 

Thanks!