patrickmoran

1 hour ago, Sam.Seattle said:

This year we are trying the Royal B2B and look forward to comparing the two.  The Royal is also departing from Vancouver which we prefer so we can enjoy the inside passage.  A little concerned the tides and size of the Royal may limit the Inside Passage Experience.  We were just notified yesterday that out Aug 3 sailing date is now departing early due to tides.  

We were on the Royal from 6th to 13th. We had a great cruise. Be aware that the ship sails on the west side of Vancouver Island. I believe this is the ship's regular route. According to the Navigator's info in the Patter, it will rejoin the Inside Passage late on the afternoon of the 1st sea day.

We had a slightly  hazy sky in Skagway right after the 4th. No odor. Nothing like last year in the Tetons and Yellowstone. Our weather for most of the cruise was cloudy and some drizzle. 

Over 100 fires in the Artic this year -very unusual

Formal nights were 1st sea day and Glacier Bay. Crab legs were only available in the MDR.

I saw on the Port of Calls boards that Carnival is cancelling all Antigua stops. Is Princess following this?

We were on the Royal July 6th - 13th (northbound). The ship sailed on the west side of Vancouver Island.

We had a great cruise. Check out my review.

I believe its regular course is to go west of Vancouver Island. I say this because in every Patter is a section by the Navigator about the expected course. In the 1st one, the navigator lays out the course west of VI. These are printed well ahead of time. The N states later in the afternoon of the 1st sea day the Royal will "rejoin the Inside Passage."

We were on the Royal 2 weeks ago and I did not notice any smoke smell. Even in the casino or Club 6 it was hardly noticeable. 

Will your September cruise be inside of the final payment date for the cruise later this year? If not, book the cruise onboard. You get the benefits. If you want a particular cabin, book now, pay the deposit and cancel after you book with the FCC.

1 hour ago, milolii said:

Thanks for the review.  Did you  say you got the crab shack In the Dinning room?  I read somewhere it was in the Horizon Court.    Maybe I am mistaken. Glad you had a good time.  

One night the MDR served crab legs as one of the entree choices. The next night we did Crab Shack which was in the Horizon Court.

A comment I meant to add.

The Royal doesn't have an outside wrap around promenade deck nor Skywalkers. Public viewing areas are limited to the upper decks.  When we were cruising Glacier Bay and College Fjord, at least the forward sections of the outside promenade deck were closed! I don't know why but was surprised.

13 hours ago, Colo Cruiser said:

Why not ask for more mussels?

I thought about it but I had gotten a side of the fettuccine alfredo and had plenty to eat. First time the serving was so skimpy though.

13 hours ago, geoherb said:

 Did you go to the Captain's Circle party? On my cruises, 80 percent of the passengers were first-time cruisers. 

We did not go. It was the 2nd formal night and we did not bring dress up clothes.

My wife and I cruised on the Royal to celebrate our 45th anniversary and 20 years of cruising. (Our 1st cruise, to celebrate our 25th, was a Princess Alaskan cruisetour.) Inside Passage.  This was our 5th time cruising the I had looked at Alaskan cruises earlier in the year but the prices were ridiculously high.  In late May saw a post on CC about P's prices dropping.  Sure enough prices had dramatically dropped.  We booked a balcony guarantee for under $500 pp with my casino discount.  We got upgraded to a deluxe balcony cabin when the cabin was assigned, D144. Turned out to be a good location, ,ainly because portside and forward.  I don't know about other ships but on the Royal for the best and longest glacier views in Glacier Bay and College Fjord you want portside cabins and preferably forward of the hump/  The captain did not seem to give equal viewing time to the starboard cabins.

I booked our airline flights through EZ Air. Airfare from Ft Lauderdale was more than the cruise fare, $630 pp.  We left on the 5th and flew to Vancouver. We stayed at the Quality Inn Airport South. Good hotel with an airport shuttle. There is a London Drug store 2 blocks away and a liquor store another block. I picked up wine and soda Saturday morning.  We took the hotel shuttle back to the airport and took the SkyTrain to the Waterfront Station for $13+ CAN. Came out the station, turned right, walked 2 blocks uphill and turned right into Canada Place plaza.  Walked down the sidewalk to the cruise terminal (well marked), dropped off 1 bag and headed to the ship.  Getting on around 1pm was easy just go from line to line.

The cruise went well.  We only had 1 sunny day when we were in Skagway.  Otherwise cool and cloudy.  Glacier Bay and College Fjord were cold and windy.  The views were very good. It had been 11 years since last being on an Alaskan cruise. Lots more ships in the ports but never seemed over whelming crowded. In Ketchican and Skagway we walked around. I visited the Totem Heritage Center and Tongass museum in K. I liked the totem museum better. Both are small and inexpensive. In Juneau, we booked Juneau Tours and Whale Watching's 9:30 am whale watching tour.  That went well; not crowded and saw whales. I walked to the Alaska State Museum and went through it.  I enjoyed it and gave a good overview of A's history.

The ship goes on the west side of Vancouver Island. We ate in the MDR twice: 1st night and crab leg night (Juneau for us). We had ATD.  The Alaskan flare to the menus was nice since this was our 4th P cruise within a year. (Menus are getting stale.) The crab legs in the MDR were very good and served with drawn butter if requested. Nice size serving. The last night I ate in the MDR to get the mussels (stingy portion but enough) and the apple pie.  We did Crab Shack the night after crab legs in the MDR. The legs are bigger and were very good. Otherwise we ate in the Horizon Court. 

I did not go to any shows or enrichment lectures so can't comment on them. Medallion is OK though no Disney experience. I'm not sure why they don't put all of the features in one app rather than 3 plus Ocean Concierge, which is the same as princess@sea. Some features didn't work but the door always open so .... The drink app gave each of us 1 free drink so check it out. The drink order feature doesn't work in the MDR. 

We took the P shuttle to the Anchorage airport and picked up a rental car.  We drove to Portage Glacier and too the cruise to view the glacier ($34 pp w/coupon). We got a close view. We then drove to Seward and checked into Marina Motel (1 star). We had dinner at Exit Glacier Salmon Bake (4 stars). Anne had crab legs and I had salmon. Sunday we checked out, went to church, checked out Seward, had lunch at The Highliner (very good). We drove up to Exit Glacier and I did the short hike to the view point. Unfortunately, the rain was picking up and skipped the Alaskan Wild Life Conservation Center. Maybe another trip.  We drove to Anchorage, hit a couple of shops and headed to the airport.  We had a red eye home. Obviously arrived home safely.

We had a good cruise and glad we made the trip. Let me know if you have any questions.

Yes, you can get the deposit refunded. Or else you can have it applied to the balance. I've done it both ways.

Like you I change cruises alot. I have to be careful of nonrefundable deposits which are occurring more often with Princess.

You can book the cruise now. After you have the FCC, you can rebook the cruise using the FCC and will get the OBC associated with the FCC.  Essentially what happens is the old booking is cancelled and a new one is created using the FCC. Generally, you can keep the cabin booked if important to you.  However, the price and perks of the original booking will disappear.  You would have to pay the price for the cruise and only get the perks available at the time of the booking using the FCC.

I have a cruise in November that I have a better price and perks than I can get now that I have a FCC.  It's not worth it to rebook.

Not the Coral or southbound but this is what you can expect. The Fleet's menus are pretty standardized. 

Crown has the new bedding. I found it comfortable; my wife thought it was too soft.

How many ships were in Juneau with the Royal?

I recently booked a guaranteed balcony cabin on the Royal for July NB Alaskan cruise. I booked through my Princess Vacation Planner (PVP) under a sale. She put me in for an upgrade.  With a casino rate, we paid $466 pp + fees,  Friday we got our cabin assignment, a deluxe balcony cabin! Nice upgrade.

What would be rough estimate of taxi fare from V airport to pier? Thanks

Are there any particularly good viewing spots on the decks? With no wrap around promenade deck and no gym in the front, where's the best viewing?

Thanks

Got a guaranteed balcony on Royal for July 6th NB for under $500 pp with casino discount! We'll be celebrating our 45th wedding anniversary and 20th year anniversary of cruising with Princess. Our 1st cruise was a cruisetour 20 years ago!

I've been watching prices for awhile and they were crazy high! I had given up until I saw this thread and checked again.

Airfare is not bad: $625 pp

We will be on the Emerald in February. The ship now has Planks. We enjoyed Planks on the CB last year but too much food.  Anyone ever been able to share (just pay for 1)? The other person might get a soup or salad from the buffet.

No

Did they add a dessert section outside of the old Horizon Court footprint? We were on the  Star in January and it had this addition.