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Hi Cindy.

 

We were in E732 in September 2013 on a cruise from Vancouver to Alaska. Door slamming noises were not an issue for us since very few people are not aware of this huge almost private aft balcony. No furniture is permitted on the balcony. People that do use it use it mainly for picture taking and don't tend to stay around very long. Then again, we had some cool/cold, misty days so this may have also been a reason for the infrequent use. Only issues we had were on a couple of occasions, one or two cabin stewards used the area to make cell phone calls in front of our cabin window. We contacted the desk about it and the problem went away. Once in a while you may have someone trying to peer through the window but keeping the sheer curtain closed was adequate for us. Over all, I would not mind being in this cabin again.

 

Here are some pictures for E732 and the balcony outside.

Thanks for the great pictures! It sounds like these cabins definitely are worth considering....

Thanks everyone for the great responses. Does anyone know if there are loungers on the Baja deck? From the pictures I have seen, it does appear there are some loungers there, but I am not sure.

We have had inside cabins near the aft of the ship and have never been bothered by slamming doors and I think my main concern is how busy the aft deck is on days when not going through the canal. During the canal transit I am sure we will be out and about on the ship but I am wondering if there are many passengers there during the other parts of the cruise.

It actually sounds like it is a win/win situation with either cabin. Just being on the cruise is going to be wonderful!!

Thanks again to everyone who replied!

We are booked on the Coral Princess for a partial canal transit next March. I am thinking of changing our cabin from a balcony to an aft facing oceanview. Does anyone have experience with the E732, 733 or Baja 728 or 731 cabins? It appears there is a deck outside of the cabins, but I would not think it would used very much except for the canal transit itself?

Any thoughts/comments? Too may choices!! Can't wait for our cruise!

Cindy

Can someone tell me their experiences taking this tour and not getting Captain Bob? At first they told me that they can't guarantee getting Captain Bob until the morning of and then they told me he is already booked for the day when I said I didn't really want to book unless they can guarantee him. In a way, I feel lied to. I REALLY want to take this tour because his reviews are amazing...but are they still amazing even without Bob himself? They said they don't use a dive boat or the larger slower boat unless you have a large party. I guess I just need to know $110 a person is worth it and that I should go with this tour vs Robinson Speed Boat Tours.

We had Capt. Matt and he was amazing!!! Capt. Bob oversees all the boats/captains and you should not have any concerns at all. We had hoped to have Capt. Bob as my husband has back problems and I was concerned if the boat ride would be too rough for him, so I requested Capt. Bob when we booked, which was almost one year in advance. Capt. Bob contacted me and said my husband would be fine in the boat and he would make sure he was comfortable but he could not promise we would be on his boat. As it turned out, we had a perfect day with Capt. Matt - we did everything which was promised and had plenty of time at each stop. Matt was a great guide, very watchful over everyone when snorkeling and lots of fun.

You shouldn't have any concerns about not "getting" Capt. Bob. You will have a great day and this was one of the best excursions we have ever done! Go and enjoy!!

We used a business card in the light slot and never had any problems at all. When we would leave the cabin, we would remove the card and slide in along the side corner of the slot just to hold the card in place and it worked fine.

Thank you all for your replies. We are keeping our fingers crossed and will constantly monitor the prices. In the past we have always had price drops on previous cruises on Princess and although I know nothing can be promised, we are hoping we will see some reductions.

In the meantime, we have a great cabin booked and have signed up for the cruise critic price watch but will check out cruise fish!

Thank you all!

We are booked on the Coral Princess for the partial transit of the Panama Canal on March 10, 2015. The pricing seems high at this time, but I am hoping the price will drop perhaps this summer or fall? Has anyone who has booked a Panama Canal partial transit cruise noticed price drops during the summer or fall?

Looking forward to the cruise but hopefully some price drops would make a great cruise even better!

Thanks for any info!!

We just off the Royal Princess on March 9 and almost had to be dragged off the ship! It did not disappoint us at all and we were eager to see the new changes. Having cruised with Princess many times, we felt confident the ship would not disappoint - and it did not! The crew was outstanding! The food was great (we thought)...Horizon Court, Crown Grill, Alfredos...of course the International Café and the gelatos were out of this world (the turtle sundae was incredible).

We never had problems with the elevators and did not really notice the center staircase was not there - just walk a little further and no issues. The balcony was great - again no issues. We were in a deluxe balcony on Emerald loved it.

Would sail her again in a heartbeat!!!! Go and have a wonderful time and don't worry about some negative reviews. Every crew member we saw always had a smile and they were all so entertaining, pleasant and all around fun. Don't miss the pub night as that was a lot of fun. So much to see and do!

Love the Royal!!

We booked almost a year in advance with Capt. Bob for our visit to St. Martin. We have been to St. Martin many times and wanted something different and after reading all the wonderful reviews, we decided to go for it. The day was one of the best ever!! My husband has back problems so we were slightly concerned with how we would handle the "waves" but Capt Bob assured us he could sit or stand by the Captain, which made the entire day a great one for him.

Matt was our captain and was fantastic! There were 3 boats the day we were out (March 13) and the weather was perfect and we had such a great time. Although I do not snorkel, it was fun to stay on the boat and watch everyone enjoy seeing the different fish - and turtles! If you wanted, you could also just get in the water to swim around. Our visit to Pinel Island was awesome - could have stayed there all day!! Lunch at a café at Grand Case was absolutely delicious - my husband and I both had Mahi Mahi and it was cooked to perfection and the portions were more than generous.

Matt got us to Maho Beach in time to see some of the "big boys" landing and we have been on the beach before to see these planes land, but it is an entirely different perspective from the water and it was great. Matt pointed out several of the huge homes along the way as well.

A great day and definitely 5 stars to Captain Bob and his entire crew! We were back at the dock with plenty of time to walk back to the ship and spend some time shopping before we had to board the Royal Princess. The next time we are in St. Martin, we would most definitely contact Capt. Bob again! Absolutely fantastic day!!

We also use one which has the flat metal hooks and use it on the bathroom door - the pockets face the dressing area. We have never had a problem with the bathroom door closing.

We would be lost without this as it is a good location to keep cords, lotions, all kinds of little things that normally lay around and get lost. Use it on every cruise!

Hi Bob,

 

I wondered if I might ask you a question about the aft balcony cabins on Royal where u have been on the ship.

 

We just booked the Royal a couple of days ago and sail March 30th. I selected an aft cabin because my DH and I like the peace and quiet back there. However, I am reading all these terrible stories about the soot and I am very concerned. We booked E726 (deluxe balcony), which is the very last aft cabin on port side. Will we experience the soot and engine smells in this location? I have placed a call to our TA (she hasn't called back yet) and sent her an email also (not responded to this either). She is in the office as I called to verify this.

 

After what I have been reading I am looking to see what other cabins are still available. We booked a balcony specifically so that we can sit out during the day and enjoy our cruise.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Mary

We just returned from the Royal on 3/9 and were in Cabin E715. Although it is not all the way aft, I believe there would only be about 5 cabins between our cabin and the last one and we zero problems with soot on the balcony. I think most of the soot issues are for the aft facing cabins on certain decks. As far as noise from the Vista Lounge - we never heard a thing. Our cabin was a great location and we loved it. Wish we were back the Royal now - would sail her again in a heartbeat.

We had a great time and can't think of anything major that was negative. The only time we had to wait for elevators was during peak times, and even then it was not long at all but we would use the stairs as much as possible to walk off all the gelato, which was fantastic. Fell in love with the turtle sundaes - yum!!

Go with a great attitude, relax and enjoy the cruise! The crew is incredibly friendly and I can honestly say we were always greeted with a smile and a "hello" everywhere we went - fantastic! Love, love, love the Royal!

We were on the Royal March 2 - 9 and absolutely loved the ship - no complaints at all other than we had to leave! We have sailed on many Princess ships and love them all and the Royal has some new features, which are great as well as some old favorites. We never had a problem with the elevators and the "lack" of central stairs was not an issue at all for us.

Loved Horizon Court and the Pastry Shop - always had something for everyone and never had trouble finding a place to sit. We loved it so much we never went to the dining room but did go to the Crown Grill twice and it was wonderful!

The crew is one of the best we have ever seen - always energetic and friendly. Loved the Vista Lounge as the seating makes it easy for everyone to see the stage. Ye Olde Pub night was hysterical.

Go and enjoy everything the Royal has to offer! We would sail the Royal again in a heartbeat!!

We were also on the same sailing and have to agree with both NeurosurgeryNP and Penguin1 about the ship and staff. Everywhere we went, the crew was beyond incredible! My father was sailing with us and he is in a wheelchair and I cannot say how helpful the staff was at all times. Not only where they helpful, but compassionate, kind and patient! So impressive.

We were with a group of 8 family/friends and although we did not eat in the dining room some of our friends did and said it was very good. We ate at the Horizon Buffet, Crown Grill and Allegros and can only say great things about each one. The International Café was outstanding as always!!

We traded our mini-bar for 2 specialty coffee cards and they worked out great - and we had many gelato treats - yum!!!

We did not do any ship's tours but went to Water Island on St. Thomas and relaxed at Honeymoon Beach - gorgeous. On St. Martin we spent the day with Captain Bob and it was a perfect day! he had 3 boats going out that day and our captain was Matt - very entertaining, energetic and fun.

The shows we went to were great - loved the comedian and the new Vista Lounge. Very easy to see no matter where you sit.

All in all, we loved the Royal Princess and would sail her again in a heartbeat! We had a balcony cabin - Emerald 715. Our parents had one of the angled balconies on Emerald - 410 and our friends had Emerald 409. Neither of them had problems with people "watching" from the sky walk - really does not seem to be an issue.

Wish we were back on the Royal!!!

We will be in Ft. Lauderdale next week for a work meeting and staying at the Marriott in Pompano Beach. We will be renting a car while there, however, we are returning the car on Friday and staying 2 nights at the Riverside Hotel before leaving on a cruise on Sunday. Our car is rented from Firefly (2150 NE 7th Ave. Dania Beach) and I would love to have suggestions on the best way to get from the car rental to the Riverside.

I am thinking a taxi would be our best option, but am wondering at what the cost would be. If anyone is familiar with these locations and has suggestions on the best transportation options, I am eager to hear!

We are so excited to be staying at the Marriott in Pompano as well as the Riverside - heard both are great hotels!

Thank you for any info you can give me!

We are currently booked on the Royal Princess on the Caribe deck, 737, but are thinking of changing to the Emerald Deck as the price would save us quite a bit. I know this cabin is above the theater but I don't think that would be an issue since we would not be in the cabin during show times. Has anyone stayed in one of these cabins, or around that area?

We are looking forward to sailing on the Royal in March! Thanks so much for any info you can give us!

We received $56 per person credit towards cruisetour balance.

We cancelled our NHT about a month ago, and had no problem at all. I do not think Princess directly refunds the money (because it has not yet been paid) but the price was deducted from the total cruise balance. We have 6 in the group and 4 cancelled the tour completely and purchased their tickets directly from the park and the other 2 passengers upgraded their tour.

No one had a problem at all - very easy. I would check with your TA again and ask if perhaps the price has been deducted from your total balance.

Good luck!

We were in B212 on Coral (identical twin sister) and liked the location. Normally we prefer aft, but the inside passage is so calm you will feel very little motion. I think the only time we felt movement was near Vancover.

 

It's an easy trip up to the Horizon Court. We liked hanging out in the aft covered pool. It was warm and at 3:30 the cookie lady would come around with a cart full of warm cookies! Bring an insulated mug with you, hot chocolate/coffee tastes really good when its cold out and the ships cups don't keep it warm for very long. :)

Thank you for the info - that is great to hear. Because this cabin is now classified as a BZ category and there are only a few on the ship, I was concerned but now I won't have to be. We also prefer the aft but thought we would book an oceanview for Alaska due to the cost, however, this category of balconies opened up to be the same as the oceanview so we thought we would switch.

I forgot the Horizon Court is forward on the Island/Coral so that will be a huge plus. Did you hear any noise from the Princess Theater since I understand that is a deck below.

Cookies and hot choc. sound wonderful!!!

Has anyone been in this cabin and if so - were you pleased? We were able to get a great price for an Alaskan cruise and felt since it was a balcony, we have nothing to lose. It appears as though it may be the first balcony after a few oceanview cabins all the way forward? Any info/pictures will be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks?

We just returned from the Caribbean Princess cruise and booked with Levi for March 8. We did the Roseau Valley Tour (wet tour) and I cannot say enough great things about Levi! He was outstanding and our group of 12 had a fantastic time. Levi is so personable and truly loves his island and it shows. We had gorgeous weather and one of the best days ever! The Titou Gorge swim was incredible - he made sure everyone was comfortable and safe. We also went to the hot springs at Trafalgar Falls and soaked in the springs. Levi does his best to make sure you arrive before any of the large groups do as well.

Highly recommend Levi and Bumpiingtours. You will love it!

We have tried to contact Levi Baron at his e-mail and Bumpiing Tours through the website e-mail. We have tried 4 different times w/out any response. Any suggestions? Thank you

Not sure if this will help or not but the info below is from his website and maybe it will help. I emailed him today and had a response within a few hours. Looking forward to a great tour with him!!

December 6th 2011

Any who are trying to get t us using the email on the Trip Advisor site, this is not our email address and emails to this address does not come to us. Please use the contact form on our site, if you do not get a response within 48 hours, this means your email did not reach us, please try a direct email to either of the addresses below. levibaron@bumpiingtours.com or penny@cwdom.dm .

We have done the PCC luau as well as Paradise Cove. The PCC is much larger and we preferred Paradise Cove - which we just did two weeks ago. Paradise Cove is located in a fantastic location and the food is delicious. The show is great and all the seats are good. Lots of activities beforehand.

We have never been to Germaine's but would recommend Paradise Cove - have a great time wherever you go!