Bon Voyage Dave (DMWNC1959)!!!

[chr3000]

I would like some recommendations on touring St. Martin. Wha is the best way to see the dutch and french parts? On the new year cruise.

 

 

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(Hi Dave had a great time with you last week and I am enjoying your second week,

Chris)

 

The best way to see St. Maarten is with a Bernard Tour

http://www.bernardstours.com/

 

We booked it separate from the ship excursions. It is a good value and a great tour. We had Bernard himself but he does have other drivers.

Trip Adviser has him rated at a 4.5

 

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g147346-d1840452-Reviews-Bernard_s_Tours-St_Maarten_St_Martin.html

[cruisin with the kiddies]

Hi Retiring Cajun

 

We have booked a private tour with Bernards in St Martin/St Maarten

 

Here is his email address bernard1332002@yahoo.com

 

Cheers Danni

[nasa1974]

I would like some recommendations on touring St. Martin. Wha is the best way to see the dutch and french parts? On the new year cruise.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

We also had a tour with Bernard's (there were 10 of us). Our driver was very professional and informative. A couple of us wanted to stop at the Hard Rock Café. Because of traffic restrictions our driver had to park 2 blocks away. He then walked us to the HRC and back. He was an excellent tour guide and our itinerary was flexible since we had him for the whole day.

 

Marty

[Woobstr112G]

Oh, and we have out Meet and Greet tomorrow at 10am in Club 6.

 

Should be fun!!!

 

Will post more tomorrow, MDR menus, etc.

 

Ciao for now...

 

:D:D:D

 

Dave;

 

That Wine Makers table looked great. Hope you have a great meet and greet.....:):):)

 

Bob

[dchip]

Dave;

 

That Wine Makers table looked great. Hope you have a great meet and greet.....:):):)

 

Bob

 

Bob, I believe that was Sabatinis. The Wine Dinner is held in either the Symphony or Concerto MDR in an alcove with all the wine bottles.

 

Cheers, Denise.

[dmwnc1959]

Last night in the atrium during the music and dancing a passenger apparently suffered from a fatal heart attack. A Code Alpha was called and the medical team were there in just minutes. They use the 'paddles' to try revive him, but despite all efforts did not survive. One of our Cruise Critic members remembered him from Embarkation Day. Our prayers go out to the family.

 

There was also a reported medical emergency involving a tender at Princess Cays. No details on what happened.

 

The seas last night were not bad at all, and I actually slept in until 9am. I grabbed a quick bite, and actually found the Omelet Station, which is at the very back end of Horizon Court. They take your order, you are given a paper with your 'number', and once it's done your table waiter goes for you to retrieve the goodies.

 

As for our Meet and Greet today, it was very well attended, and we had the honor of Captain Dino Sagani, Maitre d' Fabio Marcotti, Deputy Cruise Director Ryan Adams, and the Manager for Guest Relations on Royal Princess, Mr. Joy Nagvekar, all in attendance. It was a lot of fun!

 

Afterwards, ten of us had the Pub Lunch and everyone got the Fish and Chips. Yum! I had the same apple cider beer as last week. Double yum.

 

I did get some pictures of the offerings in 'Churchills' if anyone is interested.

 

Later this afternoon I plan on hitting the Ocean Terrace Seafood bar again, then the Trident Grill BBQ for dinner.

 

Tonight's big production show is Colors of the World, which I missed last week, and will try and catch the early show. Tomorrow is St. Thomas and I want to be awake for the arrival into Havensight. I did sign up for a tour just to be able to get off the ship after 10 days and stretch my legs a bit.

 

The Disembarkation Questionnaire showed up in everyone's door box, but since I'm doing a post-cruise tour I borrowed one to provide a picture here.

 

I'll be back later...

 

Tonight's MDR

 

 

 

 

Edited December 10, 2013 by dmwnc1959

[dmwnc1959]

 

 

[dmwnc1959]

 

 

 

[dmwnc1959]

[sunsetbeachgal]

Everything looks good...except the cigars! :confused:

 

So sad about the medical emergencies..

 

Enjoy St. Thomas and glad you are getting off to sightsee.

Edited December 10, 2013 by sunsetbeachgal

[TorontoTL]

Good to hear that you're still enjoying yourself Dave. Thanks for all the great updates. I'm really sorry to hear about the medical emergencies and the death, that is just horrible.

[Retiring cajun]

We are up for a meet & greet on Royal New Year.

 

 

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[Retiring cajun]

Thanks so much for info on Bernard tours in St. Martin. Reassuring to book with a company that CC friends have recently used.

 

 

 

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[gracie65]

Hello Dave,

First I got to thank you for all of this thread it is simply amazingly informative.

 

I was thorn not long ago between 3 ships for my birthday cruise January 15th.

 

I even posted about what ship I should select between Carnival Glory,NCL Epic and the royal Princes. Of course I got all the pro and cons of each ship but was always sceptical about the Royal with its bad threads here going around.

 

Someone on my thread actually told me about this one and because of your positive outlook on this ship I am able to say that I know now that I have made the correct decision in selecting this ship for my cruise Departing January 12th.

 

One à gain thank you for all the picture and hepl.

 

Bye

Ses y'a

Eric

 

glad to hear you are enjoying his thread!!

[Working 2 Cruise]

May I add my many thanks for yet an absolutely fabulous thread? Sorry to be so late to the party!

 

Fabulous photos and live from... Dave, thank you so very much for taking so much time from your cruising time to report on the beautiful Royal.

 

I hope you have a wonderful time!

[dmwnc1959]

A quick correction for our Wine Makers Table... the evening we are confirmed for our reservation is for tomorrow night, which is the evening we leave St. Thomas.

 

For those Crooners fans from previous cruises, Neal has also departed the ship now and replaced by a gentleman named Jojo.

 

Nat the dance instructor will be on Royal Princess until March. He's quite the character.

 

In St. Martin we dock at the same cruise ship terminal as all the other ships near Philipsburg.

 

The food in the Horizon Court continues to be quite good, but not so hot that by time you get back to your table it's still hot, but definitely eatable.

 

For all those from the 12/1 Roll Call, I'm missing you guys a lot. The fun times at the Crab Shack, Ocean Terrace Seafood Bar, Trivia, and Pub Lunch were a blast!

 

I blame Kristin (macusr) for the Brownie Blast with Nutella ice cream. OMG!

 

The ship has been cruising all day into a very strong head wind, and the Retreat was literally unusable.

 

Found a wonderfully secluded spot on port side aft Promenade Deck 'porch' near the Vista Lounge, all the way back at the stern. It was empty save for the padded loungers and me. I fell asleep for an hour. It was amazing.

 

Formal night and champagne waterfall in the atrium. Everyone looks amazing. Another day, another Bellini. Yum....

 

 

 

 

 

[dmwnc1959]

 

 

 

 

 

[dmwnc1959]

Waiting for the show to begin...

 

[#1winelover]

What a great idea ! Raising a glass of Cline cashmere to Sir Dave ! AND to the #1 winelover who deigned to schlepp a likeness of Sir Dave onboard when he sailed the Royal ! Pretty special, Larry, and so clever !

Well, I'm sure you can remember the posts leading up to the Maiden Voyage, and how many of us kinda promised that David would be with us in spirit, and that we'd raise a glass in a toast to him. Well, I just tried to take that a tiny step further and actually "bring David with me" and then we ALL had a visual to raise our glasses to, especially at the M&G! I had really hoped that they would show that video that was made at the M&G on the MUTS screen after David got onboard! That would have been awesome! However, it was not to be, so the next best thing was to have a copy waiting for him when he got onboard! Mission accomplished! :D

 

Oh, Cline makes some pretty nice juice if I do say so myself!! Good choice! ;)

[#1winelover]

Good to hear that you're still enjoying yourself Dave. Thanks for all the great updates. I'm really sorry to hear about the medical emergencies and the death, that is just horrible.

Yes, a terrible tragedy! But as I think about it, what better place could you select to "go" than on a beautiful cruise ship, on God's wonderful ocean, under His great sky? It would take the coroner at least 3 weeks to wipe the smile off of my face if that were me! :) May eternal rest be granted to him, Oh Lord, and may he rest in peace!

[Mom33]

Thanks for the tip about the secluded aft loungers you found! :) That sundae looks sinful :p

[#1winelover]

A quick correction for our Wine Makers Table... the evening we are confirmed for our reservation is for tomorrow night, which is the evening we leave St. Thomas.

 

For those Crooners fans from previous cruises, Neal has also departed the ship now and replaced by a gentleman named Jojo.

 

Nat the dance instructor will be on Royal Princess until March. He's quite the character.

 

In St. Martin we dock at the same cruise ship terminal as all the other ships near Philipsburg.

 

The food in the Horizon Court continues to be quite good, but not so hot that by time you get back to your table it's still hot, but definitely eatable.

 

For all those from the 12/1 Roll Call, I'm missing you guys a lot. The fun times at the Crab Shack, Ocean Terrace Seafood Bar, Trivia, and Pub Lunch were a blast!

 

I blame Kristin (macusr) for the Brownie Blast with Nutella ice cream. OMG!

 

The ship has been cruising all day into a very strong head wind, and the Retreat was literally unusable.

 

Found a wonderfully secluded spot on port side aft Promenade Deck 'porch' near the Vista Lounge, all the way back at the stern. It was empty save for the padded loungers and me. I fell asleep for an hour. It was amazing.

 

Formal night and champagne waterfall in the atrium. Everyone looks amazing. Another day, another Bellini. Yum....

 

[/url]

 

 

 

Glad to hear that Neal is going home to spend some holiday time with his family/friends. He is one terrific person and I hope I will sail with him again.

Talk about having friends in HIGH PLACES!! God is now sending rainbows to David while he sails the Caribbean! Whatta guy! (both of them).

[Freq Traveler]

Dave, SO VERY GLAD you are having such a great time. Fine dining, lots of snacks, drinks and naps!!! Good for you and SO WELL deserved! Enjoy the rest of your trip...each and every minute. It is cold as all "get out" back up here in KY and WV. :)

 

Your KY neighbor!

Robbin

[nasa1974]

 

As for our Meet and Greet today, it was very well attended, and we had the honor of Captain Dino Sagani, Maitre d' Fabio Marcotti, Deputy Cruise Director Ryan Adams, and the Manager for Guest Relations on Royal Princess, Mr. Joy Nagvekar, all in attendance. It was a lot of fun!

 

 

I'm jealous. We had two large M&G groups for our B2B cruises and I even sent out invites for our second cruise. Nobody from the crew showed up for either one of our M&G's

 

Marty

[lynwar]

Thank you so much for your updates and photos. The ones from the veranda/promenade today were especially spectacular. Seriously, they and many others, should be submitted to photography sites or contests. They make me want to be back on the ship so much. We were in A603 and you even sent me a photo with an arrow pointing out where our cabin was located before we cruised. It was also nice to see your picture with the crew member.

 

Have fun in St. Thomas. I always enjoyed the Havensight pier, but hubby got tired of going through the shops after several stops. It's fun to pull in first and then see other ships follow. Sometimes, one is there first and you get to wave hello to them as the ship docks.

 

Take care. I'm so enjoying your commentary.

Lynne