2013 Christmas Cruise on Royal Princess - A Photo Review!

[LittleMissMagic]

After sail away, we went to the Allegro Dining Room in hopes of changing our Anytime Dining to the 8:15 PM sitting.

 

12.22.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Like I said earlier, I didn't do much research or preparation for this cruise. I was just too darn busy. So if I had, I might've learned that the Royal Princess dedicates two of its dining rooms to Anytime Dining and only the Allegro dining room to traditional seatings. One of the reasons we chose Royal Princess over the Norwegian Epic is because we wanted a "traditional" cruise for Christmas with assigned dining, as opposed to freestyle cruising.. However, I think with the Royal Princess, Princess is trying to make a transition to Anytime Dining and a more "freestyle" approach. While I did enjoy our freestyle cruise, I also like having the same wait staff each night and getting to really make a connection with them, especially at Christmas time.

 

12.22.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Princess does post the dining dress code at the front door, but as we learned from the group of people beside us, they don't really enforce it. To our shock, we were seeing lots of ball caps and shorts at dinner.

[LittleMissMagic]

I remember your previous reviews and I am so excited to see that you did one for the Royal!! You and your sister are BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!

 

I love the way you write and your pictures are awesome. I can't wait to read the rest. :D:D

 

Welcome, and thank you so much for your kind words!

[LittleMissMagic]

Our request for 8:15 PM dining was successful, and we went back to our rooms to get ready for dinner.

 

12.22.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

12.22.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

12.22.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

They put a sticker with our new dining information on Dad's card, but not on anyone else's.

 

12.22.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

12.22.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

We were seated in a smaller room in the Allegro dining room containing two booths for four on each side (could be configured into four tables for two) and one large round table for 8 in the center). Of these tables, the large round and two of the booths were occupied by a large party which consisted of several families. They communicated with one another in Spanish, though most of the adults all spoke a little bit of English to communicate with the waiter. They were also Jewish and were eating Kosher. I have been seated by a family eating Kosher before on a Christmas cruise, so I've observed that scenario before. I mention those two things only because they are important in later situations. The problem.... was their children! They ranged in ages from toddler to teenager, and they were the loudest, rowdiest bunch, and they would climb on top of the table and chairs and chase one another around the large round table like they were running laps in a gym. While it was annoying that we struggled to hear our waitress because of their volume (she apologized to us over and over about the noise), safety was my top concern. It's not safe for a toddler to run around a dining room because not only could he fall and hurt himself, but waiters are carrying big trays of hot food above their head, so their vision is limited. If they tripped over a toddler, they could spill the food and not only make a mess, but possibly burn the child, themselves, or other guests. And the teenage boy annoyed me because he wore the rattiest baseball cap to dinner every night. Eww.

[Cruzin-K]

You and I get annoyed by the same things, I see. I too, like a more traditional type of cruise most of the time, and out of control kids really irk me. :D

 

I can't wait to see all the different outfits you and your sister brought to wear to dinner - I've enjoyed that in your previous threads. I hope you got all new dresses for the cruise :cool:

 

Congratulations on your new camera. I had planned to get a new one for my birthday in April, but a really good sale at B&H Photo last week convinced me that I must have it NOW :o So, my new Canon 70D and 18-135mm lens will be accompanying me on my Jewel/Allure B2B in a couple weeks. I can't decide if I want to get a lens just for wide angle shots though. I hate changing lenses 'cause I'm always afraid of dust getting in the camera :o

[sunsetbeachgal]

Love the photos...hope you take some time out tonight to watch the Clemson football game!

[LittleMissMagic]

You and I get annoyed by the same things, I see. I too, like a more traditional type of cruise most of the time, and out of control kids really irk me. :D

 

I can't wait to see all the different outfits you and your sister brought to wear to dinner - I've enjoyed that in your previous threads. I hope you got all new dresses for the cruise :cool:

 

Congratulations on your new camera. I had planned to get a new one for my birthday in April, but a really good sale at B&H Photo last week convinced me that I must have it NOW :o So, my new Canon 70D and 18-135mm lens will be accompanying me on my Jewel/Allure B2B in a couple weeks. I can't decide if I want to get a lens just for wide angle shots though. I hate changing lenses 'cause I'm always afraid of dust getting in the camera :o

 

Haha, you might see a few outfit repeats! I like to think that my cruise dinner wardrobe lasts a long time because almost nobody on the cruise knows that we've worn those dresses before.... but I can't forget about my review readers! :D Rachel made sure to have all new smart casual outfits since she was rewearing two of her formal dresses.

 

And congratulations on your new camera! Changing lenses is definitely a bit annoying, but I knew that I wanted that ultra wide angle lens because I really enjoyed my 10-30mm lens for my J1. I didn't think that I would really need a longer focal length zoom lens, but now I'm deciding otherwise.... I think that will be my next purchase! I'm afraid I am susceptible to becoming a gear junkie! :o

[funinthesun86]

Thanks for the great photos! I am so excited for our Royal cruise at the end of the month!!

[LittleMissMagic]

Love the photos...hope you take some time out tonight to watch the Clemson football game!

 

Oh, of course I will! It was kind of painful to be in Florida earlier this week and not get to go to the Orange Bowl... but it just didn't make sense to drive from Disney World further south to Miami. Besides, I had a terrible experience at the last Orange Bowl that Clemson played in.... Train for halftime!? Are you kidding me? :D (kidding... the last Orange Bowl definitely falls under the category of things to never mention to Victoria.... ever!)

[Colo Cruiser]

Hi Victoria!

 

Another fantastic review. Thanks for taking the time once again.

I enjoy them so much. :)

 

Hope your time in Italy awhile back was excellent.

[carib]

You are very good with a camera. I am enjoying your review.

[LittleMissMagic]

I've never really photographed food before, but I gave it an ambitious start on this sailing. I forgot a lot of courses and brought heavy doses of embarrassment to Rachel (Who was she trying to impress - ratty ballcap boy?). Also, note that I am very inexperienced with the exterior flash. This was a learning experience!

 

12.22.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Egg rolls as an appetizer

 

And I guess I was too hungry and devoured my entree before photographing it... or maybe I was just frazzled by the lady at the table next to me (not related to the large party of obnoxious people) who looked at me photographing my appetizer and said, "Oh, that's a girl thing. Girls always photograph their food." No, it's not! It's a nerdy travel blogger thing! Am I really more normal than I think??

 

So here's dessert!

 

12.22.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

If you can't win, fight back! Rachel found it hilarious to take a bite of the food I was photographing - whether it was hers or mine.

 

12.22.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

[LittleMissMagic]

You are very good with a camera. I am enjoying your review.

 

Thank you! Also, your review of the Royal Princess is one which convinced me to book it!

[LittleMissMagic]

12.22.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Rachel had worried earlier, remembering that she didn't pack a tote bag for the beach... then she remembered that Princess gives you totes to use! And they came through! My parents only got one tote bag... I guess because they're married? But Rachel and I got two (on both Princess cruises).

 

12.22.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

[Loonbeam]

Look at the Sigma 18-250. It's a great short to medium range lens... My current travel arsenal consists of the Sigma 18-250, the f1.8 18-35 and depending on how much I want to carry and where I am going, the Sigma 50-500... But I would say the 18-250 is on my camera 90 percent of the time.

 

 

You and I get annoyed by the same things, I see. I too, like a more traditional type of cruise most of the time, and out of control kids really irk me. :D

 

I can't wait to see all the different outfits you and your sister brought to wear to dinner - I've enjoyed that in your previous threads. I hope you got all new dresses for the cruise :cool:

 

Congratulations on your new camera. I had planned to get a new one for my birthday in April, but a really good sale at B&H Photo last week convinced me that I must have it NOW :o So, my new Canon 70D and 18-135mm lens will be accompanying me on my Jewel/Allure B2B in a couple weeks. I can't decide if I want to get a lens just for wide angle shots though. I hate changing lenses 'cause I'm always afraid of dust getting in the camera :o

[Kenosha Cruiser]

Great review and pictures so far. You have an amazing talent for putting this review together. If you ever got into the travel / tourism field, I'm sure you would be very sucessful at it. Good luck in the future after graduation. We were on the Royal Princess the week of Nov. 3rd and loved it. Looking forward to more of your review.

 

Cheers - Ken & Darlene

[3DBeach]

Loving your review so far!! Can't wait to read/see more :)

[gnatz007]

Wait... Wait... Bring her back! I want to see more pictures! Clemson needs to hurry and win so we can have more pictures!

[lynwar]

Thanks so much. I'm enjoying your review and photos very much. Between you and the 2 Daves and a few others, we who have cruised, will be wishing for a reunion very soon.

 

It's always nice to read reviews from different perspectives. We were on the Nov. 17 voyage.

 

Halftime is almost over at the Orange Bowl.

 

I will be looking forward to your upcoming entries.

 

Lynne

[Cruzin-K]

 

Tamron 17-50mm lens,

 

 

 

 

12.22.13 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

 

 

Camera nerd question. Which Tamron 17-50mm lens do you have? Apparently, there are two

 

Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II VC LD Aspherical (IF) Lens

 

and

 

Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II LD Aspherical [iF] Autofocus Lens

 

I'm asking, because I really like the dessert picture above, and noticed that the aperture on the pic was f/2.8. None of the three lenses I own open that wide, and I'm starting to feel like I really "need" one to get those blurred out backgrounds :o

 

I now have the lens that I got two cameras ago which is a basic Canon 18-55mm; plus a Tamron 18-200mm, good all around but I wanted something higher quality; which is why I got my Canon 18-135mm when I got the new camera. I found I wasn't zooming out to 200mm anyway, ever. So I figured less zoom, higher quality would work for me for everything. However, now, I want more lenses. More more more. :eek: :D

 

My new setup feels so much heavier than my old combo (Canon T1i plus the Tamron lens) even though the difference is only 10oz (I weighed them on my postal scale). I was looking at the two Tamron 17-50 lenses and one of them weighs even MORE than the lens I'm using. I'm going to need a cart to haul this stuff around :(

Edited January 4, 2014 by Cruzin-K

[riclop]

Loving your review so far.

[perfect match]

I'm really enjoying your review. Looking forward to reading more. Thanks for taking the time to post your pics.

[CI66774]

Great review. Love your photos. You're a really good photographer!

[fielddreamer]

We got off the day you got on so we are interested in your trip compaired to ours !

[pkt1976]

I've enjoyed your previous reviews and will probably go on the Royal this year. Can't wait to see more!

[Beach_gal]

But I think what everyone watching learned from this entertainment is that children these days watch way too much MTV!!!

 

Hilarious!! Loving your review and am too subscribed!