LIVE from the Royal Princess 4/6/14-4/13/14

[caribill]

Amazing how some complained about the small stuff such as the lack of a central staircase, elevators, promenade deck and even sunrises!

 

What were the complaints about sunrises?

 

 

It seemed that the elevator situation is around the smaller size of the cars but there seemed to be more of them.

 

I think the number of elevators is the same as on the Grand class ships.

Edited April 14, 2014 by caribill

[Elainemh]

Ken, Thank you for taking the time to post a daily review. It was a pleasure to

meet you and Carol at the sailaway party. I am going to miss your pictures of

the islands and especially your drink of the day. It was a great cruise and maybe our paths will cross again in the future.

Elaine

[A1A]

What were the complaints about sunrises?

I think he may have been illustrating that people complain about anything on a cruise!

 

I think the number of elevators is the same as on the Grand class ships.

 

There was much discussion about this on the ship. The Royal holds 520 more passengers than say the Ruby, yet there are the same number of elevators and fewer stairs. It was noticeable that the elevators were not "smart elevators" opening at each floor to take on passengers when completely full. Stopping at floors with no passengers to get on when empty. I think Princess can nip this problem with better programing of the elevator system, This was not a trip buster, but this was an issue at times.

 

Ken, Thank you for taking the time to post a daily review. It was a pleasure to meet you and Carol at the sailaway party. I am going to miss your pictures of the islands and especially your drink of the day. It was a great cruise and maybe our paths will cross again in the future.

Elaine

 

Thanks Elaine! Hope to sail with you all again!

[jagmanss1]

There was much discussion about this on the ship. The Royal holds 520 more passengers than say the Ruby, yet there are the same number of elevators and fewer stairs. It was noticeable that the elevators were not "smart elevators" opening at each floor to take on passengers when completely full. Stopping at floors with no passengers to get on when empty. I think Princess can nip this problem with better programing of the elevator system, This was not a trip buster, but this was an issue at times. Thanks Elaine! Hope to sail with you all again!

 

 

Hmmm! I didn't know there were smart elevators yet.... Mostly the reason elevators stopping at floors with no passengers to get on when empty to me would mean someone pushed the button and when it didn't arrive in 10 sec they left.... Same with taking on passengers when full.... Can they make elevators smart to skip floors when full?

[A1A]

Yes smart elevators do exist and have for years. This technology that utilizes artificial intelligence and learns behaviors of various groups of people or travelers. Many elevators systems also use sensor and weight technology to determine that an elevator is at capacity and eliminates senseless stops where no additional passengers could board.

 

The grouping of four elevators on the Royal Princess as found in the forward and aft portion of the ship operated independently in groups of two. Therefore if you press the button between elevator A & B you have not called on elevators C & D, so most folks walk over and press the button between the C & D elevators thus calling two separate systems to come pick them up. When elevator A or B picks the passenger up, elevator C & D still are on the way and are not cancelled.

 

Smart elevator technology when applied correctly could save passenger time and money. Microsoft has developed some of the best technology in this area and several large corporations use this technology.

 

Didn't ruin my trip, we had a blast! Plenty of people on the other hand became very animated over this issue. :D

 

Ken

[DrivesLikeMario]

Thanks for saying hello to PigGirl for me and thanks so much for an informative review. It sounds like you all had a lot of fun! Welcome home. :)

[fishin' musician]

Thanks for the live review Ken, DW were on this sailing as well and we were apparently neighbors. Our stateroom was L114, we were in the second balcony from the front, which meant it was the first one on the left after the "interesting" incline in the hallway.

 

I share many of your sentiments and plan to do a review when time permits.

 

Regarding the elevators; one thing that led to some comments was that there were two separate circuits for each of the two sets of 4 elevators, one for the two on the right and one for the two on the left. When the passenger pushes the button for the two left elevators, the two on the right do not light up, so the passenger goes and pushes the two on the right and now all are lit. The passengers boards the first one that arrives, meanwhile the other remains lit and the elevator stops but there is no one to board. Definitely a bug to be worked out. The elevators were also quite small with capacities of 18 and 13, with half that amount being quite full.

[caribill]

Our stateroom was L114' date=' we were in the second balcony from the front.[/quote']

 

How was the view from this "obstructed balcony" cabin?

Edited April 15, 2014 by caribill

[dsawyer]

Thanks for the live review Ken' date=' DW were on this sailing as well and we were apparently neighbors. Our stateroom was L114, we were in the second balcony from the front, which meant it was the first one on the left after the "interesting" incline in the hallway.

 

 

 

I share many of your sentiments and plan to do a review when time permits.

 

 

 

Regarding the elevators; one thing that led to some comments was that there were two separate circuits for each of the two sets of 4 elevators, one for the two on the right and one for the two on the left. When the passenger pushes the button for the two left elevators, the two on the right do not light up, so the passenger goes and pushes the two on the right and now all are lit. The passengers boards the first one that arrives, meanwhile the other remains lit and the elevator stops but there is no one to board. Definitely a bug to be worked out. The elevators were also quite small with capacities of 18 and 13, with half that amount being quite full.[/quote']

 

 

You hit the nail on the head with the elevator programming. Almost everyone pushes every button to increase their chances of getting the next elevator and when one finally gets an elevator it's stop and go because the elevator stops at every deck because buttons are still pushed. Does take a little patience.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[cw2go]

For those that recommended that I try the Crab Margarita, on the way to the casino I finally did try it today and was not disappointed. I really thought I would be getting a Margarita with some crab in it; boy was I wrong but was I in for a treat!

 

 

Count me in as curious??? ;)

 

What exactly is this? Any possibility of a picture?

 

Thank You,

Patty

[fishin' musician]

How was the view from this "obstructed balcony" cabin?

 

The view was fine. I believe the 2 most forward side balconies early on were to have metal panels rather than glass. This seems to be indicated on the early drawings. These seem like all the other side balconies and the only thing that might be considered an obstruction is the wing of the bridge. I personally believe the "obstruction" was replaced during the construction phase when glass replaced the metal panels. Having said that, I found the balconies exceedingly tiny, it was simply not very comfortable for two people to be out there and thus it was used sparingly.

[Mom33]

For those that recommended that I try the Crab Margarita, on the way to the casino I finally did try it today and was not disappointed. I really thought I would be getting a Margarita with some crab in it; boy was I wrong but was I in for a treat!

 

 

Count me in as curious??? ;)

 

What exactly is this? Any possibility of a picture?

 

Thank You,

Patty

 

Here you go:

[waverley7]

Hi Ken!

 

Awesome job on the live from!!!

 

I missed the comedian in the theatre and my mom told me he was funny and I thought he played again but I didn't know where. I guess when we were talking I should have mentioned it and then you would have let me know to find him the next night. The 4 of us didn't make it to even one show!! lol

 

(But we had a great time!) :D

 

So nice meeting you and Carol!!!!

 

Janice

[cw2go]

Here you go:

 

 

Thank you! Now it's on the list for my Regal sailing...Feb 8th can't get here soon enough :p

[A1A]

For those that recommended that I try the Crab Margarita, on the way to the casino I finally did try it today and was not disappointed. I really thought I would be getting a Margarita with some crab in it; boy was I wrong but was I in for a treat!

 

 

Count me in as curious??? ;)

 

What exactly is this? Any possibility of a picture?

 

Thank You,

Patty

 

Patty,

This was mine last week! All crab over a small bed of shredded lettuce with minced onion tomato, green pepper and jalapeno pepper. Topped with a shot of what I thought was tequila.

Ken

 

[cw2go]

Patty,

This was mine last week! All crab over a small bed of shredded lettuce with minced onion tomato, green pepper and jalapeno pepper. Topped with a shot of what I thought was tequila.

Ken

 

 

 

Looks fantastic and fun! Going to make this happen on my first Princess sailing:)

[A1A]

Hi Ken!

 

Awesome job on the live from!!!

 

I missed the comedian in the theatre and my mom told me he was funny and I thought he played again but I didn't know where. I guess when we were talking I should have mentioned it and then you would have let me know to find him the next night. The 4 of us didn't make it to even one show!! lol

 

(But we had a great time!) :D

 

So nice meeting you and Carol!!!!

 

Janice

 

Thanks Janice!

We had a great time, nice to meet you all and hope we cross paths again some day on another cruise! I know you all had a blast, we did too!

Cheers!

Ken

[A1A]

A first for me on Princess, upon leaving the ship and arriving at the luggage pick up I was able to find all my bags except one. The agents were really nice and assisted me looking to see if the bag had been misplaced with another color. After 40 minutes we decided to call it a day. The Princess rep filled out a lost/damaged luggage form and said that they would be in touch.

 

Well, just about 3/4 of the way home or about 40 miles from Ft. Lauderdale, I received a call form the Princess agent. He indicated that another passenger had inadvertently picked up my well marked bag by mistake. He had noticed only after he returned home some hour away from the port. He was driving my bag back to the port and picking his bag that he had left behind. the agent asked if I could come get my bag but due to family responsibilities I could not drive an hour back and forth again and put another 150 miles behind me today.

 

I was given a number for the claims person in Port Everglades and was assured that my bag could be FedEx'd to me tomorrow. I am sure that this kind of thing happens occasionally and as long as I get my bag back in tact, I will be happy. Stay tuned for the outcome.

 

Cheers!

Ken

 

Just a follow up, I called Princess claims Monday morning, suit case arrived today via Fedex. I must say that Princess handled this situation wonderfully and I am pleased with their dock agents and their staff in the claims department in Ft. Lauderdale!

Ken