LIVE - Royal Princess Sep 23 (2 Day Coastal...and more)

[ceilidh1]

19 minutes ago, rj59 said:

I'll be joining you, taking the Amtrak bus from Bellingham. Another cheap option for getting to Seattle is Flixbus, which can be quite cheap, depending on day and demand. I used to live in Seattle, so I know I can take the 24/33 bus from the train station to the Magnolia bridge and walk from there (Professor Cruise has a good guide to getting to the piers on her brilliant web page, full of drinks and dining menus also). I might also see if I can find an electric app bike, which is even funner and quicker, going along the waterfront a park to get to the pier entrance, since I only have a backpack. I thought my entertainment email showed Duvall as cruise director, who leads an amazing Love Boat deck party---he dresses up as Isaac from the tv show. Unfortunately, the weather calls for rain and wind. The big question I have is where the ship will go on the sea day, since it doesn't take that long to get from Seattle to Vancouver. Because of tides and its height that make it a close call for Royal-class ships under the Lion's Gate bridge, it's not scheduled to arrive until 9 am, so we should get morning bicyclists waving from the bridge. I also had an inside, but got my Elite upgrade to a balcony. Solo tip--if you do lots of these short trips as a solo, you get to Elite level quickly, since they give double cruise credits for a solo.  Also, if you want even better deals for solos, look at HAL going to San Diego, which I'm doing on Sept 27 and twice in October, one as low as $220 for a solo for 4 nights on Koningsdam. I've done dozens of them, and they're usually full of Canadians, some who stay on to do a Mexico cruise. Because the final day is in San Diego, the final sea day also tends to be nicer than on Princess, which end in SF or LA. They also have a retractable roof on their pool decks, so it's easier to deal with bad Pacific weather in October or April. 

Don't even get me started on "upgrades"....I have been elite on Princess for a LONG time. Since achieving elite status, I no longer receive ANY deals/promos and I certainly didn't get any kind of upgrade for this sailing. Princess seems to think they have "got me" so no longer need to try. I will admit that was the case in the past. No longer. I have zero loyalty now.

[ceilidh1]

44 minutes ago, milogurd said:

The Official Beer of All Canadian Hosers! Take off-eh... The Great White North.

 

 

Eh?

 

[talkorpi]

Whoops. I started my own live for this sailing without seeing this one. I’m going to have my thread deleted as there is no point in having two lives for the same short cruise. 

[talkorpi]

I will also be on this sailing. Was going to start my own live but good to see someone else is already starting a thread. I will be on the three-night sailing. You might be wondering - why the heck is someone flying all the way from Central Texas and back for a three night cruise? The answer - I found this trip for an unbelievably cheap price back in June and I really couldn’t pass it up. I wasn’t planning on cruising again until 2024 as I am a young working professional with the budget for MAYBE one cruise a year, but I’m doing this entire trip for a total bargain and the flight ended up costing more than the entire cruise. Coupled with how busy work has been lately and this will be a much needed break. 

 

I’m also using it as an experiment of sorts. It will be my first time flying to a port as opposed to driving, my first time ever going to Canada, and it will also be my first SOLO trip! I couldn’t find anyone who would be able to join me this time, so I reluctantly took the plunge and decided to go solo. I am honestly very nervous, but I’m hoping my fears get alleviated a bit once onboard. 
 

I am kind of terrified to be solo for this trip but also a little excited. I think a big plus of this trip is the weather - it’s supposed to be cold and rainy every day of the cruise, but here in Texas, it’s been 100°+ nearly every day since late May (and still forecast like that through the end of September) with very little rain. So even if I get wet walking around, I’ll take it!

 

Sitting in the airport right now waiting for my 5:30 AM flight. Yeehaw. So ready to get up north and cool off.

 

Looking forward to this much needed break!

[CruzeQueen2]

7 minutes ago, talkorpi said:

 

I will also be on this sailing. Was going to start my own live but good to see someone else is already starting a thread. I will be on the three-night sailing. You might be wondering - why the heck is someone flying all the way from Central Texas and back for a three night cruise? The answer - I found this trip for an unbelievably cheap price back in June and I really couldn’t pass it up. I wasn’t planning on cruising again until 2024 as I am a young working professional with the budget for MAYBE one cruise a year, but I’m doing this entire trip for a total bargain and the flight ended up costing more than the entire cruise. Coupled with how busy work has been lately and this will be a much needed break. 

 

I’m also using it as an experiment of sorts. It will be my first time flying to a port as opposed to driving, my first time ever going to Canada, and it will also be my first SOLO trip! I couldn’t find anyone who would be able to join me this time, so I reluctantly took the plunge and decided to go solo. I am honestly very nervous, but I’m hoping my fears get alleviated a bit once onboard. 
 

I am kind of terrified to be solo for this trip but also a little excited. I think a big plus of this trip is the weather - it’s supposed to be cold and rainy every day of the cruise, but here in Texas, it’s been 100°+ nearly every day since late May (and still forecast like that through the end of September) with very little rain. So even if I get wet walking around, I’ll take it!

 

Sitting in the airport right now waiting for my 5:30 AM flight. Yeehaw. So ready to get up north and cool off.

 

Looking forward to this much needed break!

Bon voyage! Solo on the Royal will be fine. I would do that in a heartbeat, if I wasn't on the Majestic next week.  My first solo sailing was in August on Crown and I loved it. Once you board, do whatever you want to do! Enjoy the break from work.

[ceilidh1]

Wake up!!! It’s cruise day! Actually, it was REALLY hard to drag myself out of bed this morning and I’m still on auto pilot. The beers last night didn’t help..,

 

Short 5 minute walk to the bus stop and we are en route to the train!

[princess76021]

I can't believe I'm late again!!  I'll get my drink being it's cruise day, then catch up on pages 1-3!!

Have a great cruise!  And thanks for inviting us!

Hugs from Texas!!

[ceilidh1]

Uneventful 10 minute bus ride and we are here at Amtrak!

[Coral]

52 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

Wake up!!! It’s cruise day! Actually, it was REALLY hard to drag myself out of bed this morning and I’m still on auto pilot. The beers last night didn’t help..,

 

Short 5 minute walk to the bus stop and we are en route to the train!

 

I am so envious you live in downtown Vancouver!!!

[Hogladyrider]

@talkorpi...you will do fine cruising as a solo.  I started doing that back in the 90's!

 

See if you can meet up with @ceilidh1 she is also cruising solo and you two will have a blast!

[princess76021]

7 hours ago, talkorpi said:

Whoops. I started my own live for this sailing without seeing this one. I’m going to have my thread deleted as there is no point in having two lives for the same short cruise. 

why not? It's always good to get several view points! You may be doing something that they aren't and visa versa.  Looking forward to your review too!

 

Please! From some one who hasn't cruised in a while

Hugs from Texas

[ceilidh1]

The train was COLD and wifi didn’t work but we made it!

[ChangeOrder]

Princess does it again. No waiting upstairs - walked right in the ship. Mojito #1 already in progress. 

[1emerald1]

9 hours ago, talkorpi said:

 

I will also be on this sailing. Was going to start my own live but good to see someone else is already starting a thread. I will be on the three-night sailing. You might be wondering - why the heck is someone flying all the way from Central Texas and back for a three night cruise? The answer - I found this trip for an unbelievably cheap price back in June and I really couldn’t pass it up. I wasn’t planning on cruising again until 2024 as I am a young working professional with the budget for MAYBE one cruise a year, but I’m doing this entire trip for a total bargain and the flight ended up costing more than the entire cruise. Coupled with how busy work has been lately and this will be a much needed break. 

 

I’m also using it as an experiment of sorts. It will be my first time flying to a port as opposed to driving, my first time ever going to Canada, and it will also be my first SOLO trip! I couldn’t find anyone who would be able to join me this time, so I reluctantly took the plunge and decided to go solo. I am honestly very nervous, but I’m hoping my fears get alleviated a bit once onboard. 
 

I am kind of terrified to be solo for this trip but also a little excited. I think a big plus of this trip is the weather - it’s supposed to be cold and rainy every day of the cruise, but here in Texas, it’s been 100°+ nearly every day since late May (and still forecast like that through the end of September) with very little rain. So even if I get wet walking around, I’ll take it!

 

Sitting in the airport right now waiting for my 5:30 AM flight. Yeehaw. So ready to get up north and cool off.

 

Looking forward to this much needed break!

I too shared your concerns, until I took the first solo cruise!  Had a blast, no turning back now!

[ceilidh1]

Cab to the ship was $35 flat rate. We let a guy come with us as he was in a group of 4 and the cabs only took 3…

 

There was a line for blue lane (likely as everyone was Canadian) but it moved fast and we went straight onboard. Currently sitting at Alfredo’s- which has 4 tables occupied!

[talkorpi]

Was on the ship by 10:45. Amazing!

 

Had a huge hiccup though… I tried to buy the princess plus package onboard. The agent told me to go to the bar. I bought it at the bar and checked my folio… and they sold me the BEVERAGE package only. Which is more than all of PPlus. Had to get it sorted out at guest services but I think we are in the clear now…

[talkorpi]

This is already a cruise full of crazy coincidences.  It is only my second Princess cruise and when they made the first announcement I realized that the CD for this sailing is the exact same one as my first cruise in April on the Ruby. 
 

And then, to get even CRAZIER, I ran into some friends I met from that cruise on the promenade!! I am from Central Texas and they are from the Bay Area and we just casually ran in to each other on a pacific coastal from Seattle. What are the odds?!?

 

maybe I should go gambling with all this crazy luck…

[ceilidh1]

[ceilidh1]

Medallion accessory with premiere package 

[ceilidh1]

Alfredo’s was outstanding! We shared the vegetarian pizza and each had the veal pasta!

[voljeep]

the veal pasta is my always go to - just enough for a lunch.

[ceilidh1]

Inside room on riviera aft 

[ceilidh1]

[ceilidh1]

Cheers!

[HeyJut]

Count me in on your cruise. Have a great time.