Rare Jetswdo Posted April 13, 2014 #1 Share Posted April 13, 2014 (edited) First a little background about us: We a in our late 50's, early 60's. This trip is from that perspective-- DH is still teaching, one more year to go. I retired from teaching a few years ago. For those of you old enough to remember the old Don Knotts movie, Mr. Limpett, that would aptly describe DH love of all things fish. Many of our vacations involve serious snorkeling activity. So while we have been to most of the Caribean islands from cruise ships, all we really see of them is the ocean--as we are on the various snorkel boats. I mention the above because as teachers our vacation time is limited to the typical school year vacations. Otherwise we would have avoided cruises during spring break sailings unless we would be traveling with younger family--but "fish time" overides everything. Now that being said: years ago for Spring Break snorkel time, we just flew into Key West, rented a car and snorkeled our way through the Florida Keys--I have since decided that it would be alot easier to do this from a cruise where at least it is a more relaxing way, at least for me, to get dh snorkeling activity in---The Royal Princess timing worked out the best for us, so hence we will be on the ship tomorrow. Here now starts our vacation review: We headed for LAX after DH taught all day on Friday. (We live in Los Angeles, CA area) We ate dinner at our favorite LAX area restaurant , Dinahs. We then drove the 5 minute ride to LAX Hilton, where we are having our car parked for the week. Our luggage and us then used the convenient shuttle for the 5 minute ride to the Jetblue terminal. We are enrolled in the trusted traveler program. So going through security was a breeze. Naturally our late evening flight was delayed an hour and a half. Smooth flight- DH was able to sleep on the plane-- not me. We arrived around 7:00 am, (4:00 am, CA time) Our flight was packed. After picking up our luggage we then used Ft. Lauderdale Transfer company to get us to hotel. I did this instead of a taxi because we admittedly are pack rats- No matter what the trip is, we just can't manage to travel light. Van very comfortably accomodated us and our luggage. I am using this company as well to get us from hotel to ship and then from ship to airport. We arrived at Alhambra Beach Hotel around 8:00 am. We choose this small retro hotel, on Tripadvisor advise. We just needed a easy overnight stay where we can check in early in the am. We also wanted to have one day actually on the beach--so this hotel fit our needs nicely. (Ill be submitting review of hotel on Tripadvisor) The first thing we did after dropping off our luggage in the room: We walked to the Westin Starbucks, a three minute walk along the beach to pick up a couple of breakfast sandwiches to suppliment light breakfast supplied at our little hotel. We sat next to the cute pool area eating our breakfast at umbrella table. Then pulled out from our luggage the lightweight rolling duffel to walk along the beach to the CVS at Beach Place. We purchased water, decaffinated Diet Coke and Sprite Zero, a yogurt, which easily fit into duffel. There is a Sonic and Subway right there. We purchased our lunch and dinner items to be eaten picnic style at hotel. Our room has a small refridgerator and microwave. So now we headed back to our room at Alhambra. Unfortunate for us, the beach was very windy, so we didn't bother to spend a few hours as planned for the day- there. A pity, as our hotel supplied the chaise loungers and umbrella and towels. But at least we enjoyed a pleasant albeit short walk by the beach. We spent the afternoon, taking a long nap and just relaxing in our room. We purchased just enough items to eat our lunch and dinner at room. We just would have been too tired to enjoy dinner at the Cassablana Cafe next to hotel. Had we had one more day to relax in Ft. Lauderdale, we would have made use of the many pleasant restaurants in the area, and spent more time on the beach-(DH refuses to play hooky from school, he is that dedicated) but it would have been better for us if we did have 1 more night, pre cruise-- oh well. The plan tomorrow, Sunday, is to eat breakafast by pool area in the am, supplemented with breakfast sandwiches purchased at Starbucks day before and reheated in room microwave. We will have our luggage next to us as we wait to get picked up by Ft. Lauderdale Transfer Company. The plan is to be well rested so we can enjoy the cruise from the first day. Remember we are dealing with the three hour time difference. Depending on internet connection, I will try to review daily or every couple of days our experiences aboard the ship. That's it for Saturday. Sincerely, Anita Edited April 13, 2014 by Jetswdo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slc22 Posted April 13, 2014 #2 Share Posted April 13, 2014 Bon Voyage, Anita. Have a great cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canadarocks Posted April 13, 2014 #3 Share Posted April 13, 2014 Anita, thank you so much and I look forward to reading your review. If I could ask a small favor please? Could you please break up your posts into paragraphs? That will make it so much easier for us to read. Thank you and have a wonderful cruise!! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Jetswdo Posted April 13, 2014 Author #4 Share Posted April 13, 2014 Hi, I definately will write the review aboard ship in paragraphs. Forgive my rambling on in introduction- Accept for a few hours nap, I need a good night's sleep--it was just "a stream on conciousness" to get review started. Anita Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jagmanss1 Posted April 13, 2014 #5 Share Posted April 13, 2014 Anita, thank you so much and I look forward to reading your review. If I could ask a small favor please? Could you please break up your posts into paragraphs? That will make it so much easier for us to read. Thank you and have a wonderful cruise!! :) Yes please do, As I didn't even bother reading it .... tooo cluttered.... Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grammyluvs Posted April 13, 2014 #6 Share Posted April 13, 2014 Thanks for the review. I enjoyed reading it....Have a wonderful cruise and thanks for spending your time and internet minutes to keep us informed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canadarocks Posted April 13, 2014 #7 Share Posted April 13, 2014 Hi, I definately will write the review aboard ship in paragraphs. Forgive my rambling on in introduction- Accept for a few hours nap, I need a good night's sleep--it was just "a stream on conciousness" to get review started. Anita Thanks so much Anita. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A1A Posted April 13, 2014 #8 Share Posted April 13, 2014 Anita, Have a blast on your cruise and I look forward to seeing a live from from someone else's perspective! We just got off the ship this morning a had a great week. If you could do me a favor? I seemed to have misplaced about $40 in the casino, if you find it let me know! :D Cheers! Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Jetswdo Posted April 15, 2014 Author #9 Share Posted April 15, 2014 First Ken, you comment about "misplacing" $40 in the casino made me laugh! We were picked up by Fort Lauderdale Transfer Co, at 9:00-- Arrived at Royal 20 minutes later. We w ere meeting someone for Bon Voyage Experience so had a very short wait-- We were on deck at around 10:30. Here is the fun part: After reading about the difficulty with getting into the Sanctuary, I ran like a maniac to get there to try my luck. It turned out only 2 people that were back to backers reserved the sanctuary for this week. I was the first person to arrive and had my choice of loungers. The price is $30.00 per person per day if reserved for the week. My husband went to Enclave to get 2 passes for us as well. The elevators are crazy on this ship as people reported. I would be on one going down, then it would suddenly go back up. Sometimes, it would skip the floor that was pressed! For the first night we ate in Symphony Dining Room. We had the prime rib, which was unus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmwnc1959 Posted April 15, 2014 #10 Share Posted April 15, 2014 Yeah! Congrats on getting into the Sanctuary!!! Looking forward to your impressions of Royal Princess. Hope you have a relaxing week. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruzisme Posted April 15, 2014 #11 Share Posted April 15, 2014 Would love to read the intro but too hard to read Much better with the paragraphs Looking forward to reading more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbitoh_777 Posted April 15, 2014 #12 Share Posted April 15, 2014 . . Yes please do, As I didn't even bother reading it .... tooo cluttered.... Thank you . Here it is just for you to chomp on, fill your boots. Wouldn't want you to miss out on a thing! ;) First a little background about us: We a in our late 50's, early 60's. This trip is from that perspective-- DH is still teaching, one more year to go. I retired from teaching a few years ago. For those of you old enough to remember the old Don Knotts movie, Mr. Limpett, that would aptly describe DH love of all things fish. Many of our vacations involve serious snorkelling activity. So while we have been to most of the Caribbean islands from cruise ships, all we really see of them is the ocean -- as we are on the various snorkel boats. I mention the above because as teachers our vacation time is limited to the typical school year vacations. Otherwise we would have avoided cruises during spring break sailings unless we would be traveling with younger family -- but "fish time" overrides everything. Now that being said: years ago for Spring Break snorkel time, we just flew into Key West, rented a car and snorkelled our way through the Florida Keys. I have since decided that it would be a lot easier to do this from a cruise where at least it is a more relaxing way at least for me, to get dh's snorkelling activity in. The Royal Princess timing worked out the best for us, so hence we will be on the ship tomorrow. Here now starts our vacation review: We headed for LAX after DH taught all day on Friday. (We live in Los Angeles, CA area) We ate dinner at our favorite LAX area restaurant, Dinahs. We then drove the 5 minute ride to LAX Hilton, where we are having our car parked for the week. Our luggage and us then used the convenient shuttle for the 5 minute ride to the Jetblue terminal. We are enrolled in the trusted traveller program. So going through security was a breeze. Naturally our late evening flight was delayed an hour and a half. Smooth flight - DH was able to sleep on the plane -- not me. We arrived around 7:00 am, (4:00 am, CA time) Our flight was packed. After picking up our luggage we then used Ft. Lauderdale Transfer company to get us to hotel. I did this instead of a taxi because we admittedly are pack rats - No matter what the trip is, we just can't manage to travel light. Van very comfortably accommodated us and our luggage. I am using this company as well to get us from hotel to ship and then from ship to airport. We arrived at Alhambra Beach Hotel around 8:00 am. We choose this small retro hotel, on Tripadvisor advise. We just needed a easy overnight stay where we can check in early in the am. We also wanted to have one day actually on the beach -- so this hotel fit our needs nicely. (Ill be submitting review of hotel on Tripadvisor) The first thing we did after dropping off our luggage in the room: We walked to the Westin Starbucks, a three minute walk along the beach to pick up a couple of breakfast sandwiches to supplement light breakfast supplied at our little hotel. We sat next to the cute pool area eating our breakfast at umbrella table. Then pulled out from our luggage the lightweight rolling duffel to walk along the beach to the CVS at Beach Place. We purchased water, decaffeinated Diet Coke and Sprite Zero, a yogurt, which easily fit into duffel. There is a Sonic and Subway right there. We purchased our lunch and dinner items to be eaten picnic style at hotel. Our room has a small refrigerator and microwave. So now we headed back to our room at Alhambra. Unfortunate for us, the beach was very windy, so we didn't bother to spend a few hours as planned for the day there. A pity, as our hotel supplied the chaise loungers and umbrella and towels, but at least we enjoyed a pleasant albeit short walk by the beach. We spent the afternoon taking a long nap and just relaxing in our room. We purchased just enough items to eat our lunch and dinner at room. We just would have been too tired to enjoy dinner at the Casablanca Café next to hotel. Had we had one more day to relax in Ft. Lauderdale, we would have made use of the many pleasant restaurants in the area and spent more time on the beach - (DH refuses to play hooky from school, he is that dedicated) but it would have been better for us if we did have 1 more night, pre cruise -- oh well. The plan tomorrow, Sunday, is to eat breakfast by pool area in the am, supplemented with breakfast sandwiches purchased at Starbucks day before and reheated in room microwave. We will have our luggage next to us as we wait to get picked up by Ft. Lauderdale Transfer Company. The plan is to be well rested so we can enjoy the cruise from the first day. Remember we are dealing with the three hour time difference. Depending on internet connection, I will try to review daily or every couple of days our experiences aboard the ship. That's it for Saturday. Sincerely, Anita :cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistyann Posted April 16, 2014 #13 Share Posted April 16, 2014 Thanks for the "live"....we'll be on the Royal this Sunday :D can't wait!!! Hope you have a great cruise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenie082756 Posted April 16, 2014 #14 Share Posted April 16, 2014 (edited) Rabittoh 777 you are too funny! What a hoot! :eek: I myself had no trouble reading it at all Anita! ;) Thanks so much and I will be following as well! Enjoy your cruise!!!:D Edited April 16, 2014 by greenie082756 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Jetswdo Posted April 17, 2014 Author #15 Share Posted April 17, 2014 of the word "unusually" was trying to say prime rib was unusually tasty. I will continue with embarkation review later tonight if hopefully internet is working better. Today is St. Maarten--- got to go now to Crown Grille for 6:00 reservation, it will all be in my report. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A1A Posted April 17, 2014 #16 Share Posted April 17, 2014 Anita, Read report that you were in St. Thomas until 9:30 last night, did you arrive late? Was this attributed to anything in particular? Also read that you lost power twice today, any info on that would be appreciated! Hope you are having a great time! :D Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Jetswdo Posted April 18, 2014 Author #17 Share Posted April 18, 2014 Dinner was surprisingly good in MDR- Muster drill went smoothly- We met cruise critic group briefly right after for informal meet and greet- After dinner we went to Princess theater to watch the show- went at 8:30-- We found the seats perfectly comfortable, but weird as no drink holders at seats like on other ships. re cabin: Bed is perfectly comfortable, and I am very picky with that. toilet paper holder is a few inches further back than it should be, but I would never have really paid attention to that had there not be a fuss about it on this board. Balcony is small, but good enough for two people-- If I was going to spend a lot of time on it, then would have preferred a bigger one. Will next talk about Princess Cays--day 2. In regard to Ken's question- apparently there was a small power failure while we were in St. Thomas- Just found out about it --I'll try to talk about Princess Cays tomorrow during second sea day when I have more time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrzebird Posted April 18, 2014 #18 Share Posted April 18, 2014 I did read your first post, with no trouble. I am seriously considering the alHambra for my 2 day post cruise in November, as it is exactly where I want to stay, and the Westin is too expensive for a solo traveler, IMHO. My aunt lived right down the street from there, in a condo, and I spent a lot of time in the area until 1987 and I want to do a little walk down memory lane. The early check in and close proximity to lots of food, plus the price, also appeal to me. I know you'll be doing a review on another site for that but was wondering if you would recommend it or if there are any issues I should consider. Maureen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Jetswdo Posted April 18, 2014 Author #19 Share Posted April 18, 2014 For this day, my DH booked the snorkel boat for the am. We also splurged for the adult sanctuary cabanas. We were on the island around 9:30. Luckily the weather was very nice for today. We just went to the buffet for breakfast. Very good selections-- but if you want decent eggs, get omelet freshly made, or hard boiled- the ready made scrambled eggs are horrible. Anyway, back to Princess Cays. I did have a problem there at adult sanctuary. There were only a couple of people "working" in that area. No one was guarding the entrance. As I am relaxing on an umbrella lounger by my cabana, a family of 10 persons including 3 children get walked to the cabana next to me. The other people in cabanas stood up staring, I pulled the worker over and said, "you need to take that family out of here. This is the adult sanctuary, where we paid a fortune for adults only. The worker says," I don't know anything about policy, as I work food service." Well I went berserk and demanded that he get the supervisor and walk that family out of the area. He refused, but said he would talk to his boss. Now 20 minutes later, he did not, and I said that I will demand my money back and report him. Finally he comes back with his boss, who also looked confused, and he said he is manager of food service, not shore excursions which handles cabanas. Finally an hour later, a shore excursions manager shows up and takes the family out and assigns them a cabana in the family area. He also says he has no idea how they were assigned in adult area- I then said, I was angry regarding 3 things: 1. There are supposed to be a maximum of 6 persons anyway. w. No children are allowed in adult sanctuary, hence the name. Thirdly, why was there no one guarding the area anyway? I was furious. That evening, I received a card and chocolate covered strawberries and $50 OBC for having my day ruined with this aggravation. I should mention that when I was having a casual conversation with one person who works for Princess and told what happened, he said that the workers are poorly trained by management and have to learn on the job what Princess policy actually is with things. I find this unacceptable. Moving on: This trip is strictly for my dh to have as much snorkel time as possible-- he said the snorkel boat was pretty decent--- Entertainment: Tonight was the Beatlemaniacs-- We have seen three Beatles tribute bands- this one was pretty good. I should mention this was the first night of Passover. We decided to attend the Passover Seder for dinner. Princess no longer has clergy on board. Many of the attendees were upset, as travel agents were not informed of the change, and during the bookings for this cruise, it did state that there are clergy on board and for important holidays. Anyway a few passengers pitched in to lead ceremony- Princess tried to be accommodating, but much of the food wasn't done correctly. I'll explain that later, if any one has any questions regarding this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Jetswdo Posted April 18, 2014 Author #20 Share Posted April 18, 2014 This is how we spent our day: We got up early to do our laundry. We then ate breakfast at buffet, then tried to use Enclave. The water in the therapy pool was boiling hot, and basically not usable. The steam rooms, saunas, showers are very nice. I had a very good hot stone massage at Lotus Spa. I told them at the desk that we may want to cancel the Enclave, if the next time we go in the pool is unusable. They said they will talk to their technician. (I spoke with a few other passengers who felt the same way) I will be using the Enclave today (second sea day) if pool still can't be used in there, then I want some money returned to our account, as the therapy pool was the main reason that we booked the Enclave in the first place. So we shall find out. We enjoyed the sanctuary for the short time that we used it on first sea day. There is very little shade on this ship as compared to other ships, both on Princess and other lines. Even the sanctuary required constant maneuvering to avoid direct sunlight, unless sitting on the rattan furniture in the middle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Jetswdo Posted April 18, 2014 Author #21 Share Posted April 18, 2014 Most of the sanctuary had very little wind. The retreat pool area on sea days is very windy. The people sitting in the cabanas there did not look to happy. Lunch: We like making our own salads for lunch, so we did the Buffet as well-- The International Café has ready made salads as well, and small sandwiches that looked very nice as well. We ate lightly because we were eating at Sabatinis that night. We enjoyed our meal, but probably wouldn't use this venue again. Truthfully, we are more buffet types or casual eatery etc. We skipped the show: David Cats, magician- as both dh and I find magic acts boring-- yes we are a bit jaded. Someone asked about Alhambra hotel-- which I will review on Tripadvisor. I will say that it met our needs just fine- the price was right, and not much more to say about it on this board. Yes it is near the Westin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caribill Posted April 18, 2014 #22 Share Posted April 18, 2014 I should mention this was the first night of Passover. We decided to attend the Passover Seder for dinner. Princess no longer has clergy on board. Many of the attendees were upset, as travel agents were not informed of the change, and during the bookings for this cruise, it did state that there are clergy on board and for important holidays. Anyway a few passengers pitched in to lead ceremony- Princess tried to be accommodating, but much of the food wasn't done correctly. I'll explain that later, if any one has any questions regarding this. That was one of the benefits of having a Rabbi. He made sure that the food was prepared properly. What was the problem(s) with the food not being done correctly? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Jetswdo Posted April 19, 2014 Author #23 Share Posted April 19, 2014 Wine said: not for Passover use. Hagadahs (pages mixed up- (zeroxed copies) Matza ball soup was Miso soup with 4 tiny hard mazah balls in it. Potato latkas (chef mixed up Hanukah with Passover) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Jetswdo Posted April 19, 2014 Author #24 Share Posted April 19, 2014 Weather was lovely. We did High Pockets Sail and Snorkel. Dinner that night was just hamburger and fries as we had too much sun--stayed in room and watched a few movies. For St. Maartin, we did Capt. Alan Snorkel--It was ok but I wouldn't do that one again as we were completely drenched on the boat---no cover- We had dinner at the Crown Grille- Had surf and turf. It was very good. Today, we just relaxed in Sanctuary-- Dinner in MDR- I'll add other comments after I am home- my computer package almost used up! Anita Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Jetswdo Posted April 20, 2014 Author #25 Share Posted April 20, 2014 Right now we are waiting at FLL for our JetBlue flight to LAX--- re: Sanctuary on ship--- 3 times when we went to use it, there were people on our lounges that had snuck in !! The manager of it, who is very nice kept offering us free wine and was apologetic. He said it gets very busy in there and the "workers" should have checked. Well we felt like fools, as we paid a fortune to get into it in the first place, yet others were able to sneak in for free. Needless to say, I did not tip anyone in there. re: Enclave-- The water in therapy pool was impossibly hot, at least for me. I spoke to Lotus Spa and at first they were only going to give us one day credit. I was furious, then went to passenger services and said what happened. I told them, I would have been fine if it was pro-rated for the one day that we tried it out, and the rest of the money towards a treatment in the spa. Finally the Lotus Spa people agreed to this. I found Passenger Services did a great job with really trying to please passengers. re: Food-- I was very surprised how good the food really is on this ship. The last time I was on Princess, 6 years ago on the Sapphire, the food was so bad on our sailing, that I lost 5 pounds! This time, I'm sure I gained the usual 5-8 pounds that is usual for me on a cruise. I honestly felt that the food on Royal was just about as good as on Celebrity Reflection (last June cruise)-- re: Crowds-- This was a mostly full sailing. The ship did feel crowded- like Las Vegas hotel- I do think Celebrity Reflection handles the crowds better, based on my experience. re: Shows- I do enjoy most of Princess shows. Generally much better than Celebrity- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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