2013 Christmas Cruise on Royal Princess - A Photo Review!

[LittleMissMagic]

I have always wondered about this.............are the multi-story dining rooms louder than the Princess dining rooms?? I realize you had a tough table for this cruise with that family that was seated near you. So maybe the Royal isn't a good comparison. Maybe comparing the RCL dining room to the Island Princess one would be better?

 

I thought the dining room on the Island Princess was really stuffy. The dropped ceilings annoyed me because who puts dropped ceilings in a dining room???

 

The Royal does a much better job with making the dining room feel larger and more open with the use of light and color. The chef's table is especially spectacular. I didn't take a photo of it, but if you look at David's back-to-back from December 1-15, he has many photos of the dining room.

[LittleMissMagic]

We didn't play the wake-up-early-and-get-a-pool-chair game today, so we were stuck in the smoking section! Yuck.

 

It actually wasn't that bad, and it was pretty quiet in the beginning. But it was so hot! Rachel and I went to watch the Mr. Sexy Legs competition to take a little break from the sun... (but we were still outside... we put shirts on)

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

The competition was hosted by Fabio on the entertainment staff. I would like to take a moment to commend the entertainment staff on the Royal this week. They were fabulous! They were really good at making things entertaining. They're all energetic and funny and great at their jobs.

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

The Mr. Sexy Legs competition is entertaining in a somewhat disturbing way. I feel like you have to be really drunk to enter this competition.

 

Now, my dad had been complaining earlier about a guy smoking weed. I rolled my eyes because there was a guy who was obviously smoking hookah (it was like strawberry flavored, too, so you could smell it), so I thought he was talking about him. However, it was later confirmed that there was indeed a man smoking weed, and after we got back from the Sexy Legs competition, he was high as a kite. He had finished an entire bucket of beers by himself, and he would offer others a doobie. One man took him up on it, and he told him how he flew here from Costa Rica and bought the weed in Miami for the trip.

 

I knew everything about this man because he talked very loud and told everyone he encountered his life story. He owns a fishing company in Costa Rica. He also owns a yacht. He agreed to come on this cruise because his daughters who are in college (one at NYU) asked him to, and he wanted to spend time with them. They make all As in school, but they sleep until 1 or 2 in the afternoon on vacation, so he really only sees them at dinner. He didn't know where they were or what they were doing.

 

Later, he started getting rowdy and yelling, "The mountains are blue!" And singing songs loudly. And loudly offering people marijuana. I'm really surprised that he didn't get in trouble, so blatantly smoking weed on the pool deck.

[LittleMissMagic]

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

The balcony below me. Funny story - the person in these staterooms actually wrote a review on CC.

[LittleMissMagic]

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

For a late lunch, we decided to check out Alfredo's. It was Rachel's idea. I had honestly forgotten about this restaurant.

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

This pizza was seriously good. Princess, you can have your chosen superlative of "best pizza at sea."

[chamima]

We didn't play the wake-up-early-and-get-a-pool-chair game today, so we were stuck in the smoking section! Yuck.

 

It actually wasn't that bad, and it was pretty quiet in the beginning. But it was so hot! Rachel and I went to watch the Mr. Sexy Legs competition to take a little break from the sun... (but we were still outside... we put shirts on)

 

 

The competition was hosted by Fabio on the entertainment staff. I would like to take a moment to commend the entertainment staff on the Royal this week. They were fabulous! They were really good at making things entertaining. They're all energetic and funny and great at their jobs.

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

 

The Mr. Sexy Legs competition is entertaining in a somewhat disturbing way. I feel like you have to be really drunk to enter this competition.deck.

 

Victoria

I think the guy in green is wearing underwear. :confused::confused::confused:

I'm pretty disappointed that Princess has stooped down to Mr. Sexy Legs competitions. I've never noticed that before. :(

[LittleMissMagic]

Victoria

I think the guy in green is wearing underwear. :confused::confused::confused:

I'm pretty disappointed that Princess has stooped down to Mr. Sexy Legs competitions. I've never noticed that before. :(

 

He definitely is. They told the men to show as much leg as possible, and this guy took off his swim trunks! I'm not sure the competition was all too family-friendly....

[ContemporaryTraveler]

Victoria

I think the guy in green is wearing underwear. :confused::confused::confused:

I'm pretty disappointed that Princess has stooped down to Mr. Sexy Legs competitions. I've never noticed that before. :(

 

I remember some version of this competition back on the Tahitian Princess in 2006. An older Scottish man in a speedo will forever be burned into my brain.

[LittleMissMagic]

We were getting really sick of the dining room and had tried to get a reservation for Sabatini's or Crown Grill but were placed on waiting lists. We should have made those reservations earlier in the cruise, but didn't realize that was going to be something we'd want to do. Now we know!

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Our dining room situation became even more awkward tonight. Tonight, there was some Jewish ceremony going on. I tried to Google it with no luck, so maybe someone knowledgeable can fill me in!

 

They needed it to be quiet and were constantly "Shhhh" "Shhhhh" one another. It was the quietest that room ever was. The wait staff provided them with all of the things they needed. Part of the ritual involved them passing around a glass of wine and everybody drinking out of it, children included. I know this is a bratty insignificant complaint here, but with all of the carding and age harassment I go through just to get a drink and they're allowing children to drink in the dining room!

 

They also all had to wash their hands at one point. The wait staff had provided them with a little cart which had a bowl and pitchers of water, and they all washed their hands in the bowl of water by pouring the pitcher over their hands right there in the dining room.

 

I'm just not sure how I feel about this. I think it's great that Princess is accommodating of things like this. That's wonderful. But we were the ONLY other family in the little room with these people (the other non-related table beside us didn't show that evening). Couldn't they have given these people their own private room? Did it have to take place in the dining room during dinner? Could they have maybe moved us out of that room with them? Because the entire time, I was fascinated that I had this interesting show to watch, but I was also really uncomfortable because I felt like I didn't belong there and couldn't talk. The wait staff knew that this was going to happen because they had all of the things there for them when we arrived.

[LittleMissMagic]

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

At least I had escargot to eat during this period of silence.

 

My entree was lobster, and I forgot to photograph it.

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Rachel's dessert.

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

12.27.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

My dessert!

 

That night, we did what the people beside us did the night before and told them that we needed to be out of the dining room by 9:15. And apparently a deadline is all they need. Because this is the fastest we were ever served. We didn't have to wait 10-15 minutes between courses like we had been. It was wonderful.... and what our dining experience should have been like all along!

[tjwa]

I remember some version of this competition back on the Tahitian Princess in 2006. An older Scottish man in a speedo will forever be burned into my brain.

 

Shogun?;)

 

Apology to Victoria for digressing from an excellent thread.

Edited January 6, 2014 by tjwa

[The Big Booper]

I assume you know that Lobster was the perfect complementary dish you could have had that night. Only thing better would have been bacon wrapped shrimp.:D

 

Oh vey!

[chamima]

W

 

 

Our dining room situation became even more awkward tonight. Tonight, there was some Jewish ceremony going on. I tried to Google it with no luck, so maybe someone knowledgeable can fill me in!

 

They needed it to be quiet and were constantly "Shhhh" "Shhhhh" one another. It was the quietest that room ever was. The wait staff provided them with all of the things they needed. Part of the ritual involved them passing around a glass of wine and everybody drinking out of it, children included. I know this is a bratty insignificant complaint here, but with all of the carding and age harassment I go through just to get a drink and they're allowing children to drink in the dining room!

 

They also all had to wash their hands at one point. The wait staff had provided them with a little cart which had a bowl and pitchers of water, and they all washed their hands in the bowl of water by pouring the pitcher over their hands right there in the dining room.

 

I'm just not sure how I feel about this. I think it's great that Princess is accommodating of things like this. That's wonderful. But we were the ONLY other family in the little room with these people (the other non-related table beside us didn't show that evening). Couldn't they have given these people their own private room? Did it have to take place in the dining room during dinner? Could they have maybe moved us out of that room with them? Because the entire time, I was fascinated that I had this interesting show to watch, but I was also really uncomfortable because I felt like I didn't belong there and couldn't talk. The wait staff knew that this was going to happen because they had all of the things there for them when we arrived.

 

This must have been on a Friday evening.

What you describe is a typical Sabbath meal for an observant family. (Google Shabbat )

We do this in our home every week but on a ship it strikes me as a little intrusive to do in the dining room.

I have a feeling this must have been a wealthy, entitled family.

Every Princess ship has a small room set aside with everything one would need for a Sabbath service every Friday evening without intruding on other peoples' meals.

And , yes, some people give the kids a sip of wine, it's part of the service (as is the hand washing) but grape juice for kids works , also. You said this family was Spanish speaking - I think other countries have very different feelings about small amounts of wine for children.

Hope this clarifies it for you.

Edited January 6, 2014 by chamima

[ContemporaryTraveler]

Our dining room situation became even more awkward tonight. Tonight, there was some Jewish ceremony going on. I tried to Google it with no luck, so maybe someone knowledgeable can fill me in!

 

I believe it may be the Shabbat dinner, but I could be wrong since my knowledge of Jewish ceremonies is pretty slim.

[The Big Booper]

A Sephardic family. I guess that Princess didn't have a separate room for them so put them in a small dining room with just two other tables to minimize the disruption.

Edited January 6, 2014 by The Big Booper

[LittleMissMagic]

This must have been on a Friday evening.

What you describe is a typical Sabbath meal for an observant family. (Google Shabbat )

We do this in our home every week but on a ship it strikes me as a little intrusive to do in the dining room.

I have a feeling this must have been a wealthy, entitled family.

Every Princess ship has a small room set aside with everything one would need for a Sabbath service every Friday evening without intruding on other peoples' meals.

And , yes, some people give the kids a sip of wine, it's part of the service (as is the hand washing) but grape juice for kids works , also. You said this family was Spanish speaking - I think other countries have very different feelings about small amounts of wine for children.

Hope this clarifies it for you.

 

Yes, thank you guys! I knew that there would be CCers who could fill me in.

 

I'm not really bitter about the wine... it was a joke, really.

 

We were thinking that maybe the table we were seated at was supposed to be empty. We were originally waitlisted for the 8:15 dining time and assigned Anytime, so maybe when we requested the change, they either didn't notice that they had put us in the room that they had set aside for this family or maybe they just wanted to make us happy with the 8:15 time.

 

I actually kind of wished that we had stuck with the Anytime. While I did enjoy our wait staff, the room we were seated in was rather miserable, and dinner always took forever. On a typical night, we'd wait ten to fifteen minutes between courses. This is the slowest that dining has ever been for us. The last time we had slow service (Carnival Dream), we learned that the kitchen was really far away from the dining room and that it took a while for them to transport the food to and from. However, on the night that we gave them a deadline, everything went quickly and smoothly. Maybe they thought we liked waiting a long time between courses?

 

If I sail on the Royal again, I think I will definitely choose Anytime, and I would also like to eat at either (or both) Sabatini's or Crown Grill. We just weren't very educated going in - usually, I'm the researcher, but I was so busy that I didn't have much time.

[sunsetbeachgal]

I'm still chuckling about the photo with guy in the green underwear..definitely not a G rated event!!

Edited January 7, 2014 by sunsetbeachgal

[RoLoHa]

Even though I would probably never sail Princess again I am totaling enjoying your review and great pictures!

[carib]

Little Miss Magician, your pictures have constantly improved. I looked at some of your earlier reviews and this is the best. I don't think it's just the camera. You have gotten better. And yes, a nice fast lens with a wide constant aperture does make a difference.

 

I have 2 single focal length lenses that I resort to when the light is less than optimum, one is a f1.4 and the other f1.8. They are also quite useful when I want to blur out a background.

 

(I know your screen name is littlemissmagic and that you are, but you are also a little magician)

 

Thanks for the tour Victouria. :)

[vickie_bernie]

Victoria

I think the guy in green is wearing underwear. :confused::confused::confused:

I'm pretty disappointed that Princess has stooped down to Mr. Sexy Legs competitions. I've never noticed that before. :(

 

Hi Karen, Bernie was also looking at the post about the guy in the underwear and the Sexy Legs and he said "when did Princess start doing this". I too don't recall this happening.

 

Hope you are both well.

 

Victoria, loving your review and your photos.

 

Vickie

[LogansNini]

Your pictures are making me want to invest in a better camera!

 

As for the illusionist David Cats, I ran across him in the International Cafe one day and asked him if he was going to be on for Week 2 of my B2B and he said 'No', that they were getting off the ship that next week but would be back. When I told him that I was sorry that I had not seen his shows during that week the look on his face was priceless, as if to say 'How could you possibly miss my shows'? Other than the opening number of his act, maybe it was a good thing I skipped it?

 

Dave,

 

I saw David Cats and believe me, you didn't miss a thing. I didn't care for the comedian, either, but I heard the one on the Dec 8th cruise was much better.

[Kenosha Cruiser]

Still enjoying your photo review! Have to give you a lot of credit for getting up at 5:00 AM to take those still pictures - beautiful is the word. Were boarding the Crown Princess this Saturday, your review is making me anxious.

 

Cheers - Ken & Darlene

[Cruzin-K]

I love that feature on Flickr!

 

I read Bryan Peterson's Understanding Exposure, and after trying manual mode, I've never gone back. I do shoot in RAW so that I can tweak things later. I keep my ISO low whenever possible. When I'm shooting outside, no matter how sunny, I put my WB in cloudy (but since it's RAW, I can change it later). And sometimes I intentionally underexpose things because it's a lot easier to bring up the exposure than recover blown highlights (though you don't have to worry about that so much in RAW). I post-process in Adobe Lightroom. Now I'm trying to get the hang of that exterior flash!

 

:eek:

 

I have that book. I've never read it. I think I got it sometime around 2006 when I took an online photography class.

 

I'm going to go start reading now

 

:o:o:o

[chamima]

Hi Karen, Bernie was also looking at the post about the guy in the underwear and the Sexy Legs and he said "when did Princess start doing this". I too don't recall this happening.

 

Hope you are both well.

 

Victoria, loving your review and your photos.

 

Vickie

 

Hi Vickie

Hope you guys are well also.

How long are you on dry land?

We leave in a month - it's -15 (F) here right now. :eek:

 

Sorry for hijacking your thread Victoria

[vickie_bernie]

Hi Vickie

Hope you guys are well also.

How long are you on dry land?

We leave in a month - it's -15 (F) here right now. :eek:

 

Sorry for hijacking your thread Victoria

 

We have sadly been on dry land since Sept. :cool: when we did a back to back Canada New England. We head out on the Crown in Feb for the 49 day south america cruise. enjoy your cruise.

 

and sorry Victoria, now we anticipate your next post.

 

Vickie

[Hulagirl]

Hi Karen, Bernie was also looking at the post about the guy in the underwear and the Sexy Legs and he said "when did Princess start doing this". I too don't recall this happening.

 

Hope you are both well.

 

Victoria, loving your review and your photos.

 

Vickie

 

First I want to say how much I'm enjoying the pictures and review. These are truly some of the best pictures of the ship that have been posted.

 

The Mr. Sexy Legs contests have been going on for years! They may have changed up the names to these contests like Mr. Grand Princess Legs, etc., but this is absolutely nothing new. It does bring out some interesting characters for this.