24639

I am one of those that makes my daily walk around the promenade deck an important part of my cruise experience. I love the wildlife sightings, the fresh air and the occasional pleasant greeting from fellow passengers to help set the tone for my day and I look forward to this. The upper walking deck is not an option because I burn so easily. (On some ships it's kind of stinky from the exhaust , too, depending on the location.) To the folks who flippantly suggest the gym or treadmill, it just isn't that easy for me in particular. I'm not sure how the gym ceiling is on the Royal, but in all the other ships my head hits the ceiling when I use the treadmill and elliptical. So, no, some of us aren't kidding. The promenade deck really is the only option for my daily walk. We all have things that are important to us and I'm glad that I'm not the only one who feels this way. I would not book a cruise on the Royal or Regal unless it was a port intensive itinerary in places I am just dying to go.

Last time, I found it on the back of the Patter under the restaurant openings schedule. I had to look for it.

That's what I thought was so strange because it wasn't on there like usual.

There were a number of things that were just off about this sailing. Not really bad, just different.

I've taken many 3 & 4 day cruises & I felt this one they just sort of gave up on. The regular Princess events were not there, ie afternoon tea, pub lunch, alternative comedy show in a smaller venue. I found the buffet to be quite underwhelming also.

Superbowl did not make it any better. I have never seen disembarkation as bad as it was. And so many kids under 10! Possibly could have been because the price of this went way down so a different element is sailing.

Afternoon tea was served it just was not listed anywhere. I had to call the dine line to confirm it was being held. Annoyed me a bit that it wasn't in the Patter because I missed it one day.

Thanks for posting. It's nice to read a review that is not filled with dramatic exaggerations.(Those reviews and the responses make for good entertainment, however)

I was on this sailing, as well. It really was not a true representation of the Princess brand even for a short cruise. I noticed differences in the demographic and quality. The younger party crowd did make for some excellent people watching! I nicknamed the two stoners in the balcony below me Dumb and Dumber because they were just so hilarious. Choking on their vape on the balcony in direct view of the bridge was priceless.

The buffet was just not what I am used to on Princess. The quality was definitely sub par. I stuck to the dining room and IC for breakfast.

I went purely for the Super Bowl and I think a lot of other people did, too; so many that they had to open up a third venue for viewing.

Interesting comments on your Steward. I felt we had the best Stewardess in the last few years. She was there, but not in our face. Give me ice, clean towels and my pillow chocolate and I am happy. We are very low maintenance and I let them know they can relax a little with us. Another observation I made note of was that the carts in the hallways disappeared in a timely manner and were not left lingering like I have seen on some sailings. I really thought they should have held them back a little longer on the last day for the first walk off people to get their luggage down the hall, but it was a minor inconvenience and I know they have a whirlwind ahead of them to prep for the next passengers.

With that said and my own observations aside, I hope you give Princess another try on a longer voyage. It really does make a difference.

In addition to those mentioned:

The Peanuts Movie and Trainwreck

It is NOT the Green Line from Long Beach.

It is the Blue Line>Red Line>Hollywood/Vine

The Green Line originates near LAX and goes to Norwalk.

Just off of the Ruby to Hawaii last weekend. I checked the patters and the only time that movies were shown in an inside venue on that cruise was on port days. They were either in the Explorer's Lounge or the Princess Theater.

That's interesting and somewhat disappointing if they have discontinued that. When we were on the Grand to Hawaii last year there was a movie in the Princess theater every day. I look forward to that as I don't normally take the time to go to the movies at home.

Aloha Kakou,

I just thought I'd put in my $0.02 here on the Salty Dog. Many of you know that Leialoha and I have been on the Ruby for the last few Hawaiian cruises, and one of the highlights for us has been the addition of the Salty Dog. We tried it on the first post-dry dock cruise and just last cruise went twice.

 

I think that you actually get a good value for $19...as the portions look small, but are actually quite generous. The Ernesto Burger is crazy tasty...with some really unusual flavoring. The dips that come with the various dishes are really great, and found the variety of dishes pretty good. My personal favorites are the short rib poutine and the lobster mac and cheese.

 

The atmosphere in the Wheelhouse is quite nice, as the current duo that plays for the dining is a wonderful mix of latin and ballroom styles, performed on nylon string guitar with a very smooth groove to it. Points to the programming...it makes for a relaxing and enjoyable experience.

 

We have been with Princess now for almost 11 years, and I have to say, to me, this has been my favorite addition as far as specialty restaurants go. The service was top notch, and they have some unusual beverages to pair things with.

 

I know this might be for everyone, but personally speaking, I think this is well worth checking out.

 

Aloha No,

Tiki Dave

(of Elua)

http://www.facebook.com/eluamusic

http://www.facebook.com/tikidavemusic

Up until your input I would have totally passed on this venue. But, once I read Poutine I am in. Thanks Dave!

We so enjoyed you guys on the Grand last year over Christmas. Safe travels.

I am curious about this as well. I see it on the deck plans, but have never used the Thermal Suite. What do you get for the added fee? I am mostly interested in the tile lounger.

24639, as far as I can tell from a quick look at the guide, here's what's playing on the stateroom TV:

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Aloha

The Longest Ride

The Spongebob Movie

Despicable Me 2

Home

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

I, too, am enjoying the Patters as we board in a couple of weeks.

CanadianBurger, if you have a moment could you post the movies that are being shown in the staterooms? TIA

What do you do if you are arriving by air that day and have a shuttle service reserved to take you to the port? Go as scheduled and wait outside? Hang at airport?

If you are early you can drop your bags with the porters and walk over to the Battleship Iowa which shares the parking lot. It's a fabulous way to kill some time. I believe there is some sort of price reduction for cruise ship passengers.

Can I just say how refreshing it is that everyone has taken the OP's post at face value and no one has attempted to blame him or her for things going wrong.

I was thinking the exact same thing. Thank you for posting this.

I have not nor has my son ever been asked to show ID when reboarding the ship except for one time when a man tried to illegally board the ship. We got there just in time to see him being led down the gang plank in handcuffs. You key card is 99% of the time all you will need.

I always get passport cards for both of us to use as a primary form of Identification because it does not list a home address. It paid off for me in that particular situation as the passport books were in the safe on board.

Before you call, remember you need two FCC to book a cabin for two people. One in each persons name. Check the names. If you have one in each persons name, that's probably what you want.

I have been able to book a cabin with only one fcc for two people. The other person just does not get any obc.

There was one on the Grand in January. One of our dining companions used it and did not mention anything about it being removed.

He will be fine. After my son grew 7 inches last year I could not justify buying another tuxedo for our Hawaii cruise with three formal nights. I bought two tuxedo vests in different colors with matching bow ties, a pair of dress pants and one tuxedo shirt. He looked better than most of the men in the mdr.

I got a call yesterday about a Crown Princess sailing that I had booked being cancelled due to redeployment. I received a follow up email that stated I would receive my deposit back and that if I would be given extra obc towards another sailing that was noted in the email. I found this interesting as another thread dealt with a cancelled itinerary and was offered nothing in the way of compensation. I would not have expected it as it is so far out. Nice of them to offer, however.

Bruin Steve

Thanks so much for the mini history lesson. I do work on occasion for the Luther Burbank company and had always assumed he was the namesake of the town. I love names and their stories.

Pronunciation of said names is always a challenge to me in my line of work.

Another pronunciation oddity in San Pedro is Cabrillo. As in the beach, the street and the museum. It is pronounced brillo, like the Brillo pad. Head north into Old Torrance and Cabrillo Avenue is pronounced Cabreeyo.

Here is a link to a nice article about places to eat in "Pedro", as we call it. (Prounounced PEEdro)

http://www.latimes.com/food/dailydish/la-dd-7-great-places-for-food-lovers-in-san-pedro-20150204-story.html#page=1

Breakfast at the Pacific Diner is fabulous, as is The Omelette and Waffle Shop.

If you want to grab a couple of sandwiches for the road or a picnic try the Busy Bee on 24th and Walker.

Never experienced or seen a pat down in San Pedro. I will be sure to ask my friends who work at the Princess terminal.

With that said, I really don't understand the big deal about a pat down, x-ray or full body scan. I have flown in and out of Israel several times, I flew out of Munich during the tragedy at the 1972 Olympics and a couple of trips to London happened around IRA bomb threats. Is the security thorough? Yes. Is it invasive? A bit. I feel the security at the ports SHOULD be better. If our security had been as tight as it is in Israel all along then 9/11 probably wouldn't have happened. Personally, I would rather get a little extra pat down and lessen my chances of going down in flames or ending up the next Leon Klinghoffer.

It looks(to me)on the pictures that the ceiling is a bit higher in the fitness center on this ship. Is that the case? I cannot use the elliptical machines on most of the other ships because I bump my head on the ceiling. Thanks for posting such nice pictures.

Here is a list of the regular recently released movies that were shown on Mutts and in the Princess Theater during our 15day Hawaii voyage just prior to the Mexican Riviera voyage:

Non-Stop, Godzilla, The Fault in our Stars, Guardians of the Galaxy, Get on Up, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, The Maze Runner, Million Dollar Arm, The Giver, The Hundred Foot Journey, Edge of Tomorrow, Saving Mr. Banks

Because we were cruising over Christmas there were a lot of Christmas themed movies, as well.

I was just on the recent Grand Hawaii cruise and as an Elite, I got 250 free minutes and could (and did) purchase another 250 on the first day for $75. This I almost came to regret because the internet was slower than I have ever known it - even by cruise ship standards, even by Grand Princess standards (this was my 6th cruise on her) even by Hawaii and trans-Pacific itineraries standards (I've done both before, several times, on the Sapphire). Loading each page, even ones with little content, was painfully slow and many times failed because the connection dropped out altogether. I know to try and log in at unpopular times when there may be fewer people sharing the bandwidth but it still didn't help.

I like to be able to keep in touch with things at home while I'm travelling but I gave up on this cruise because the terrible connection was just too frustrating. Fortunately, the TV signal was OK so I could watch the BBC news to follow world events.

I was just on the most recent sailing on the Grand and this was my experience as well. I was able to connect once out of five attempts and then the connection was lost within five minutes. I gave up at that point and never bothered again. Thank goodness for the free minutes or I would have asked for the charges to be reversed.