Sailing Royal Princess 1 June 2024: what questions can I answer?

[_rusty_shackleford]

Probably won't do a full blown review this time, but would be happy to answer questions as I can about the cruise or the ship (Vancouver -> Whittier -> Vancouver).

 

The last time we were on the Royal God forgot to save the Queen so hopefully we don't have a repeat of that experience.

[Nelsj099]

I will be joining you for the Whittier to Vancouver and continuing on to Whittier.  I am just wondering if all is good on board.  I see that Royal was late into Vancouver on Saturday, and is now going to be late into Ketchikan?  Do you know what is causing the delay?  

 

See you soon! 

[_rusty_shackleford]

Hello! I'm not sure of the exact reason for departing Vancouver late, but they were still loading luggage and provisions well after the 6pm departure time. Apparently they ran out of several things on the previous leg like bottled water, so maybe that was the reason.

 

They weren't late per se into Vancouver- the tidal schedule meant they had to arrive later in the morning than we have in the past, but we watched her come in and she was on time arriving yesterday.

 

The captain announced this afternoon that we would be departing Ketchikan one hour earlier than normal (2pm vs 3pm) but did not say why beyond weather conditions. It looks like the wind will pick up in the afternoon, so perhaps that with visibility concerns is why. They did not tell us we would be getting in late, so we're still assuming a 7am arrival time.

Edited June 3 by _rusty_shackleford

[eyesofgr]

We got off that ship the day you got on.I hope they were late leaving due to extra sanitizing. There were so many people sick on that cruise, including my entire party. It was a walking Petrie dish. Someone threw up in the buffet restaurant and they cleaned it up and then it was business as usual.No announcement was made. Was never a follow up with the passenger. Never saw any extra cleaning or sanitizing. Everyone was coughing. Good Luck to you all!

[Rajona]

Not sure if cabin category matters, but are there electrical outlets near or behind the bed? My husband uses a c-pap machine. We are in a mini suite if that makes a difference. Thanks in advance. Happy travels!

[_rusty_shackleford]

5 hours ago, Rajona said:

Not sure if cabin category matters, but are there electrical outlets near or behind the bed? My husband uses a c-pap machine. We are in a mini suite if that makes a difference. Thanks in advance. Happy travels!

Yes, but it's not a traditional 110V American outlet. It powers the lamps. I've read in the past that Princess will provide an extension cord along with distilled water but we do not use CPAPs so I'd double check that before you go.

[_rusty_shackleford]

19 hours ago, eyesofgr said:

We got off that ship the day you got on.I hope they were late leaving due to extra sanitizing. There were so many people sick on that cruise, including my entire party. It was a walking Petrie dish. Someone threw up in the buffet restaurant and they cleaned it up and then it was business as usual.No announcement was made. Was never a follow up with the passenger. Never saw any extra cleaning or sanitizing. Everyone was coughing. Good Luck to you all!

So far so good. I've seen a few crew in high contact positions like the casino wearing masks but otherwise standard protocols. Have not seen or heard of any outbreaks.

[BigWaveDave87]

22 minutes ago, _rusty_shackleford said:

Yes, but it's not a traditional 110V American outlet. It powers the lamps. I've read in the past that Princess will provide an extension cord along with distilled water but we do not use CPAPs so I'd double check that before you go.

This is the outlet that is under the bed. And yes Princess will provide an extension cord. Only issue with this is it will run across the floor. Princess will duct tape it down on the carpet so that it is not a tripping hazard but it's ugly to look at.

I myself use the outlet under the bed with an adapter. 

 

Here is a link about this subject on Discovery the younger sister ship.

 

Happy Trails 🥃

 

 

Edited June 4 by BigWaveDave87

[dreaminofcruisin]

If you have the time to post the daily Event Listings, I would love to see them as we are going on her in July.

If not, no worries.

[mattR]

If you happen to be an early riser, can you see what time they let people start self-disembarking in Whittier.

[debrajean]

If you happen to see bar servers IGuste and or Joseph in Crooners Bar, tell them Deb and Gayle from (March New Zealand/Australia Cruise) say hello!  Crooners has the best bar staff! Thanks

 

enjoy your cruise!

[mattR]

If possible can you ask at the excursion desk what is the earliest Princess bus departing time for Anchorage on your Whittier day. 

[_rusty_shackleford]

On 6/3/2024 at 6:24 PM, mattR said:

If you happen to be an early riser, can you see what time they let people start self-disembarking in Whittier.

 

 

On 6/5/2024 at 11:53 PM, mattR said:

If possible can you ask at the excursion desk what is the earliest Princess bus departing time for Anchorage on your Whittier day. 

 

Very sorry for the delay. I just checked with guest services, and they told me approximately 6:30am for first debark and first bus to the airport leaves about 6:45am. This will of course depend on how fast the ship is cleared. I’m not sure if they start that process first thing in the morning or if they do when we arrive around 00:00 Friday/Saturday.

[_rusty_shackleford]

On 6/2/2024 at 6:49 PM, Nelsj099 said:

I will be joining you for the Whittier to Vancouver and continuing on to Whittier.  I am just wondering if all is good on board.  I see that Royal was late into Vancouver on Saturday, and is now going to be late into Ketchikan?  Do you know what is causing the delay?  

 

See you soon! 

All is still good. I’ve seen a couple of crew wearing masks, including one bartender who told us she has a slight cough and was doing so out of an abundance of caution. Have not seen anyone physically sick nor heard any rumors. Weather has been very typical SE Alaska so far but today on our way to College Fjord is a very nice partly sunny day. Light rain just about every day, but not all day and definitely not any washouts. Juneau actually had a clap of thunder and at least one lightning bolt I saw on Wednesday which is not common at all.

[_rusty_shackleford]

On 6/4/2024 at 2:41 AM, debrajean said:

If you happen to see bar servers IGuste and or Joseph in Crooners Bar, tell them Deb and Gayle from (March New Zealand/Australia Cruise) say hello!  Crooners has the best bar staff! Thanks

 

enjoy your cruise!

I have not seen them so far but we also have not spent much time in Crooners. I will keep an eye out and deliver the message if I see them though!

[_rusty_shackleford]

A couple of other general notes and observations:

 

-Starlink has been nothing short of excellent. Enough bandwidth to stream Netflix/other apps. Occasional spotty ~10 second lags/buffers but very strong service in places where other satellite has struggled in the past like Skagway and Glacier Bay. I'd be happy to provide up/down/latency numbers if anyone is interested in more detail.

 

-This may surprise a lot of you (tongue, meet cheek) but the app has shortcomings onboard that aren't apparent on land. It does not display opening or closing times of bars or restaurants, and does not display any menus beyond the main dining room and specialty restaurants. I'd highly recommend taking a picture of the Patter every day for reference or bringing it with you. It's a minor inconvenience but would be a major quality of life improvement.

 

[memoak]

37 minutes ago, _rusty_shackleford said:

A couple of other general notes and observations:

 

-Starlink has been nothing short of excellent. Enough bandwidth to stream Netflix/other apps. Occasional spotty ~10 second lags/buffers but very strong service in places where other satellite has struggled in the past like Skagway and Glacier Bay. I'd be happy to provide up/down/latency numbers if anyone is interested in more detail.

 

-This may surprise a lot of you (tongue, meet cheek) but the app has shortcomings onboard that aren't apparent on land. It does not display opening or closing times of bars or restaurants, and does not display any menus beyond the main dining room and specialty restaurants. I'd highly recommend taking a picture of the Patter every day for reference or bringing it with you. It's a minor inconvenience but would be a major quality of life improvement.

 

Yeah but restaurant hours don’t really change you can keep the first days patter in the cabin if you need to refresh

[JamieLogical]

46 minutes ago, _rusty_shackleford said:

-This may surprise a lot of you (tongue, meet cheek) but the app has shortcomings onboard that aren't apparent on land. It does not display opening or closing times of bars or restaurants, and does not display any menus beyond the main dining room and specialty restaurants. I'd highly recommend taking a picture of the Patter every day for reference or bringing it with you. It's a minor inconvenience but would be a major quality of life improvement.

 

 

I cannot fathom why they can't put opening/closing times in the app. On my recent Enchanted sailing, I found the exact same issue, so also took photos of the Patter every morning. If you have to take photos every morning, why even bother having the activities in the app?

[_rusty_shackleford]

1 hour ago, memoak said:

Yeah but restaurant hours don’t really change you can keep the first days patter in the cabin if you need to refresh

I understand what you're saying. I just think it's far more convenient to have electronically, especially if your party splits up for the day. Yes of course you could ask for more Patters, but then again you also used to have to walk past the dining room to see what that night's dinner menu would be before the miracle of technology made the entire voyage's menu available to plan around.

Edited June 7 by _rusty_shackleford

[KarmaCruisers]

2 hours ago, _rusty_shackleford said:

A couple of other general notes and observations:

 

-Starlink has been nothing short of excellent. Enough bandwidth to stream Netflix/other apps. Occasional spotty ~10 second lags/buffers but very strong service in places where other satellite has struggled in the past like Skagway and Glacier Bay. I'd be happy to provide up/down/latency numbers if anyone is interested in more detail.

 

-This may surprise a lot of you (tongue, meet cheek) but the app has shortcomings onboard that aren't apparent on land. It does not display opening or closing times of bars or restaurants, and does not display any menus beyond the main dining room and specialty restaurants. I'd highly recommend taking a picture of the Patter every day for reference or bringing it with you. It's a minor inconvenience but would be a major quality of life improvement.

 

I would be interested in actual numbers (download speed and latency)

[memoak]

33 minutes ago, _rusty_shackleford said:

I understand what you're saying. I just think it's far more convenient to have electronically, especially if your party splits up for the day. Yes of course you could ask for more Patters, but then again you also used to have to walk past the dining room to see what that night's dinner menu would be before the miracle of technology made the entire voyage's menu available to plan around.

Your app should show dining hours when you click on the menu area

[_rusty_shackleford]

Just now, memoak said:

Your app should show dining hours when you click on the menu area

They do for the main restaurants/specialty dining. I was referring to lack of hours availability for things like sushi, Alfredo's, Lido restaurants, etc.

[_rusty_shackleford]

3 minutes ago, KarmaCruisers said:

I would be interested in actual numbers (download speed and latency)

One test, but I'd guess this is pretty consistent with my experience all cruise.

 

4.95 Mbps down, 1.73 Mbps up, 118ms ping, 88ms jitter. I have not tried a VPN connection to see if it works/speeds because I didn't bring any work technology with me.

[KarmaCruisers]

5Mbps download probably wouldn’t be good for an actual “work” vpn.

that makes me sad..recently on carnival celebration it was banging 100Mbps Down! I was HOPING princess would have finally got their act together..

looks like it’s going to be TOUGH to work on the ship at the end of this month (discovery to Alaska)

[JamieLogical]

1 hour ago, memoak said:

Yeah but restaurant hours don’t really change you can keep the first days patter in the cabin if you need to refresh

 

Bar hours, casino hours, shop hours, excursion desk hours, casual restaurant hours (sea days vs. port days), future cruise hours, pool hours.... all of those things can be different day-to-day.