LIVE from the Royal Princess - 30 days, Barcelona to Ft. Lauderdale - 9/27 - 10/27

[lovevacadays]

Wishing you all a wonderful crossing.:)

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Bon Voyage to one and all for your Atlantic Crossing.

May you have smooth seas, fair winds

and the sun streaming down onto the open decks,

..all the way ...:):):)

 

[kruisey]

Interesting question! BUT REMEMBER, you CANNOT use the lifts during a drill, fire or otherwise!! My latest technique is to 1st, find out where my muster station is located. 2nd, find out where the closest bar TO the muster station is located. 3rd, about a half hour BEFORE the drill takes place, I go to the designated bar, WITH life vest in hand, and get a nice glass of wine. About the time I finish the wine, the drill begins, and I take a leisurely walk to the muster station. 4th and most importantly! After the muster drill, I return to the designated PMB (Pre-Muster Bar) and have another glass of wine before taking the LIFTS back to my room to drop off the life vest! This has worked well for me for my past two cruises. I'm slow....it took me a while + a hip slowly going south on me, to figure this one out! ;)

Lets hope you can find your way to the drill and afterwards to your cabin after your time at the bar.Maybe a good idea to take non beverage pertaker along with you for guidance if you know what I mean...:D;)

[dmwnc1959]

Bon Voyage to one and all for your Atlantic Crossing.

May you have smooth seas, fair winds

and the sun streaming down onto the open decks,

..all the way ...:):):)

 

 

Hi David,

 

I also got a bridge cam grab of their sunset yesterday, but won't be able to do that again as she gets closer to Fort Lauderdale since I'll be asleep. It's all back on you again for on the screen grabs...

 

 

[dchip]

Hope your crossing is simply fantastic!!! So excited that you are bringing the Royal to FLL. We will be there and waiting for you. :D

 

Cheers, Denise

[bronxgirl25]

We are wishing you all a safe, relaxing, fun crossing and look forward to seeing quite a few of you on your return!!

[ibfern]

October 19, 2013

Funchal, Madeira

 

We had an incredible day in Madeira, one of the most beautiful natural places I have ever been to. It is a lush, sub tropical climate in the Atlantic just west of northern Africa. We docked in Funchal, the capital of the island, and went on a "Dee tour" which was fantastic. After going on 4 different tours with Dee, this was probably our favorite, and it was definitely one of the best values ever at $45 per person.

 

We got on a very roomy bus, with plenty of empty seats to spread out onto, and our first stop was to the second highest sea cliff in the world. We had been here before but now they built a glass walkway and we were able to see down to the ocean and the many terraces that cover this island. After lingering for a half hour, including some shopping for trinkets, we continued on to the lovely town of Cabo Girao where we walked the cobbled streets and visited a lovely church and town square. We found some water, Pepsi, and some delicious banana hard candies which I shared with the folks on tour with us.

 

At Riberia Brava we turned inland and made our was up into the mountains, close to 5,000 feet above sea level where we were deep in the clouds and fog. Although it started to drizzle, we stopped a some lovely lookouts, and drove on some hair raising, cliff hugging roads that were fantastic and just a little scary! The flora of this island is magnificent, we saw wild Hydranga, wild Lillies, roses, and even poinsettia trees. Wow!

 

At the top of the mountains we headed across the top, learning much about the flora and fauna of this beautiful place by our knowledgable guide Tino. We stopped at several lookouts, each one more beautiful that the other, including a place called Fanal where we could see the coast and scenery of the northwest side of the Island. We continued on to the seaside town of Porto Moniz.

 

Porto Moniz is dramatic, with its cliffs and ocean views, and this is where we stopped for lunch. The shopping here is just typical touristy things, nothing of interest to me. We grab a bite in a nondescript restaurant- pizza and a salad-- and then Ken walks down to the sea walks while I check out the stores and information booth. Since we only have an hour to accomplish lunch and sightseeing, we are limited. It's starts to rain, although we started out this morning in clear warm weather, this is how I recall it on our several prior visits. I make a big mistake not taking rain gear, happily I don't care about my hair getting wet!

 

We bump into several friends from the ship who are on other tours, but not too many. Most of the places we visit are quite uncrowned and we have the towns to ourselves. The roads we follow are hair raising, usually there is a cliff on one side of the bus and Ken is usually on that side, challenging his fear of heights! Of course! Our driver is very cautious and he slowly ascends and descends the mountains and all but one bus we encounter is going safely slow and not passing. We are all glad we are not in the fast pass bus, it's crazy to drive like that here!

As we leave Porto Moniz, we follow a coastal route, hugging the sides and seeing amazing ocean and cliff views. We pass through may tunnels, and occasionally spy the old road which looks like it would be a fantastic walking or biking route but our guide says it is closed due to rock slides.

 

We stop at Ribeira da Janela for a beautiful view of the sea and coast, and the many terraces filled with flowers and unusual trees including the African Fire tree. This is an amazing spot to snap photos, Ken and I grab several selfies and our friend Meredith snaps a great picture of us with the amazing scenery behind us.

 

As we continue on we spot many Levadas which are old irrigation systems coupled with paths that skirt the ditches and take you through (what I imagine) is incredible natural areas and vistas. Many people come to Madeira just to walk these Levadas, there are miles and miles of them all over the island. Be sure to wear non slip shoes, a charged cellphone, water, and a raincoat if you want to walk one, I know there is a Levada close to Funchal and doable while in port, and will probably try it next time we are here.

 

Our final stop is Sao Vincente, an old seaside town with lots of history and beautiful scenery. We see the chapel in the rocks, in fact there are lots of homes and shops built into the rocks on the coastal side of Sao Vincente. We stop at the oldest part of the town which is slightly inland. We walk into the old town on cobbled stones which are very slippery since they are wet. We visit an old Church and a striking Cemetery filled with unbelievable flowers and beauty, definitely an ooh and ah kind of place! We find a tree filled with noticeable spikes but nobody knows the name of the tree. I will try to research later after I get off thIs ship and have unlimited Internet use!

 

We make it back to the ship with plenty of time for last minute shopping, and VAT refunding since this is our last port of the cruise. Sadly, we board the Royal Princess and know our days will now be filled with relaxation and trivia!

 

As we leave the port, our ship horn plays the love boat theme song twice. This is one of my favorite things about this ship, I love hearing it and have been at many ports, and at different times. I can't remember who but somebody told me they have been tuning the horns because they we very out if tune. I am glad they got them tuned, it's very cool to hear.

[Pia1913]

Good Sunday morning all, on this the first of our seven upcoming sea days. There is a possibility we may hit some wiggly weather tomorrow; Captain warned us about it. He also said he will make every effort to avoid it, should it be present. I love this guy. No surprises.

Our evening last night was spent in HC; more than three hours. So much socializing. So much fun. Since all of us had at one time or another seen the mentalist, nobody was keen on a repeat performance. Same with the male singer.

　

We moved our clocks back an hour last night, but I still went to the gym in the dark this morning. Sunrise did not start to rear its head until a few minutes ago; about 7:40. The Patter tells us it will be a busy day, if you want to keep busy. Some morning offerings are:

1. Lecture; Migration; A Strategy for Survival Part 1: Birds

2. MUTS - Some Like It Hot

3. 3 hour “up to 75% off sale”

4. 6 different ways to part with $$$ with various “classes” by the spa and the jewelry store.

5. Bingo

Afternoon brings us a lecture, Renaissance Man, another lecture, The Only Way to Cross, Part II, movie “”Before Midnight” in the theater, The Devil Wears Prada on MUTS and the art auction and more bingo of course.

Tonight there’s another run on male singers; our entire entertainment choice. One in the theater doing a tribute to Nat King Cole (we never cared much for the real one),and another in Vista doing Songs from the Movies. MUTS will show “Now you See Me” which we’ve already seen. So for us, tonight will be “cabin night.” Not really a bad choice. :D

Two days ago during one trivia session in Club 6, deputy Dan said they intended to move it to Vista because of having more than 200 people in an area not suited for this. Well today's Patter has two trivias and yes, both are in Club 6. :confused:

Bye for now.

[DDDDale]

I thought I'd mention something that evidently other "live" posters haven't experienced. When we boarded, our balcony had only one chair. It took many days and three visits to Passenger Services but I finally got our second chair. Our steward said that she knew of 4 cabins that are missing one chair each and the guy who finally delivered the chair said that there were more but he wouldn't give a number. He indicated that more would eventually be ordered but he didn't think the problem would be resolved in Fort Lauderdale on the 27th and for some reason couldn't be resolved in Europe. I asked the obvious questions but he wouldn't or couldn't answer them (but was very nice about it). I got the impression that the Royal was shorted from the get go. So, apparently there is a slight shortage of balcony chairs so it may be something that you future Royal cruisers may be confronted with. I have no idea from where they got my second chair but there may be a new activity listed in the Patter; musical balcony chairs.

 

Dale

[Woobstr112G]

Good morning from the Royal Princess (0822 hours local time). Just finishing up breakfast In Sabatini's. Breakfast here continues to shine with both the food & service being first rate. Not too much on tap for today. When I finish up my last cup of coffee, I'll grab my camera and get some public area pictures for my Flickr page. After that I'll get Holli something for breakfast then it's off to the gym. After the gym, I'll probably work on organizing my pictures for a couple of hours.

 

Yesterday we fell victim to the TV issue. Our TV was down the whole day. I was told it was a ship wide issue that was being addressed. The TV subsequently came on soon after we sailed from Madeira.

 

Not much else to report for now. I'll check back later to see if anyone has any questions.....:):):)

 

Bob

[cruisingpeople]

First off, Thank You to all who have been posting during your cruise.

One question since I don't recall seeing it before. Are they having the Chefs Table every night or is it on a staggered schedule? If someone could inquire, it would be appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance,

Joe

[Woobstr112G]

First off, Thank You to all who have been posting during your cruise.

One question since I don't recall seeing it before. Are they having the Chefs Table every night or is it on a staggered schedule? If someone could inquire, it would be appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance,

Joe

 

Joe;

 

Before we sailed, I had heard they were going to do them every night. Not actually sure if this has been the case. The day before yesterday, I saw Chef Marzi in Sabatini's. I heard him telling another passenger there were going to be 7 on this voyage.....

 

Bob

[cruisingpeople]

Thank you, Bob

Enjoy the rest of your cruise

[sminfiddle]

I have a strange, trivial question but it's on topic and can best be answered here...

 

What lines of the Love Boat Theme does the horn play, exactly?

 

Verse? "Love... exciting and new..."

 

Or the well-known chorus? "The Loooove Boat... soon will be making another run..."

 

If it's been put on YouTube I would loooove to hear it for myself!

 

Thanks, in advance!

 

Rick

 

 

~sent using Cruise Critic app~

[sunsetbeachgal]

I have a strange, trivial question but it's on topic and can best be answered here...

 

What lines of the Love Boat Theme does the horn play, exactly?

 

Verse? "Love... exciting and new..."

 

Or the well-known chorus? "The Loooove Boat... soon will be making another run..."

 

If it's been put on YouTube I would loooove to hear it for myself!

 

Thanks, in advance!

 

 

 

Rick

 

Answer:

 

 

"Love, exciting and new.

Come aboard, we're expecting you"

Edited October 20, 2013 by sunsetbeachgal

[ibfern]

I have a strange, trivial question but it's on topic and can best be answered here...

 

What lines of the Love Boat Theme does the horn play, exactly?

 

Verse? "Love... exciting and new..."

 

Or the well-known chorus? "The Loooove Boat... soon will be making another run..."

 

If it's been put on YouTube I would loooove to hear it for myself!

 

Thanks, in advance!

 

Rick

 

 

~sent using Cruise Critic app~

 

They play the chorus, it's very cool!

[Shogun]

Hi All

 

Wish they played an extra two lines as it is a bit short

 

Yours Shogun

 

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Forums mobile app

[CruisinChris]

Roni, it has been reported here on CC many times that the crew staircase is opened up for the muster drill and thus in case of emergencies.

 

SHOGUN I have one question for you how did you guys get to and from the life boat drill when there is no stairs in the middle of the ship.

 

The non-public stairs are ALWAYS open for drill and in the case of emergency. Sometimes they are the closest exit from your stateroom. It's a decent habit to walk both directions from your stateroom and investigate exit possibilities from both directions in case of emergency. In the case of the Royal, there is a non-public staircase mid-ship.

Edited October 20, 2013 by Cruisin'Chris

[Kenswing]

Royal's horn..

[sminfiddle]

What lines of the Love Boat Theme does the horn play, exactly?

 

Verse? "Love... exciting and new..."

 

Or the well-known chorus? "The Loooove Boat... soon will be making another run..."

 

If it's been put on YouTube I would loooove to hear it for myself!

 

OK, found it... it is exciting and new! ;)

 

 

 

~sent using Cruise Critic app~

[Minoushka]

I too was supposed to be on this cruise but family matters prevented me from doing so .to alla safe and pleasant journey .....calm seas and sunny days

Sorry to hear about plumbing and other such problems ...hope all works out

Bon Voyage

 

Michele

[H20 Lover]

Hope you all enjoy your day.. love reading your posts. :)

[Pia1913]

Dropping by with nothing to report. All we did today was play trivia three times and have lunch in Alfredo's. Happy to report we have no TV issues. Everything works well. Perhaps I shouldn't have said this out loud. ;)

[CruisinContessa]

Dropping by with nothing to report. All we did today was play trivia three times and have lunch in Alfredo's. Happy to report we have no TV issues. Everything works well. Perhaps I shouldn't have said this out loud. ;)

Knock on wood! Thank you, Pia, for all your posts. I enjoy traveling virtually with you and your shipmates. Safe travels!

[jonikal]

Dropping by with nothing to report. All we did today was play trivia three times and have lunch in Alfredo's. Happy to report we have no TV issues. Everything works well. Perhaps I shouldn't have said this out loud. ;)

 

Don't waste time dealing with PSD folks or the Circle hostess - both a waste of time! If you have a tv problem call housekeeping and a tech will appear pronto.

Speaking from experience!