Royal Princess Transantlantic report. The novel :)

[gr82cu2]

I’m writing this as we are on our transatlantic cruise. Once we get to land and have wifi I will attempt to upload it to Cruise Critic. I will try to answer any questions as I have time but be prepared for a wait and also remember by the time you read this I will no longer be on board Royal Princess. This is my first trip to Europe and I will not be on the computer very often.

 

PRE-TRIP

 

Six or so months were spent planning this trip. Our TA is being followed by 2 nights in Copenhagen, 5 nights in Paris, 4 nights in Florence, a 10 night Mediterranean cruise with Celebrity and finally, 5 nights in Rome. This makes a total of 6 weeks away; by far our longest trip. We have had to book flights, cruises, hotels, apartments, shore excursions and tours in advance of our trip and keep a written record of absolutely everything. I know of no one who could remember every detail of an upcoming trip with so many things going on. We flew to Fort Lauderdale a day ahead of boarding Royal Princess, rented a car and picked up some supplies.

 

ROYAL PRINCESS

 

Royal Princess was employing a staggered boarding process for our cruise. Luckily we happened to be in the first group. Our assigned boarding time was from 12:30 - 1:00. We checked out of our hotel at 11:00, headed to the rental car (Dollar) return and they promptly shuttled us to the port. At that time there wasn’t a huge line up of vehicles going to the ship and we got there in pretty short order. The line to get into the terminal wasn’t too long and quickly we were inside and waiting in line to begin the checkin process. After about 10-15 minutes they opened up the checkin in desks and we were onboard by right after noon. Our luggage arrived at our room within 30 minutes!!!

 

The Piazza! What can I say that hasn’t been said? This ship is stunningly beautiful. The piazza is decorated in golds, creams, crystal, warm wood tones and it is HUGE! We so prefer this arrangement to the long, mall like promenade on the larger Royal Caribbean ships. There is something going on in the piazza at almost all times. They have dance classes, exercise classes, and entertainment. There are a lot of seats spread around all 3 levels of the piazza and plenty of rails to stand against to watch if you don’t secure a seat. Also in the central piazza area are Alfredo’s Pizzeria, International Cafe’, Gelato’s and many bars.

 

Off of the central piazza area you will find the shops, the passenger service desk, the internet cafe’, etc. so they aren’t taking up any space in the central piazza area, which is nice.

 

A lot has been said about the lack of mid ship stairs. We haven’t found it to be too much of a problem aside from times when many passengers are all moving at the same time such as embarkation, muster, port days, etc. Our stateroom is located on Riviera deck a little forward of the mid ship elevators. At busier times we just walk to the forward or aft elevators depending on where on the ship we are trying to go. For us, it hasn’t been a big deal at all. And honestly, walking a little to burn off some calories isn’t a bad thing. I can understand though how it could be a problem for some with mobility issues. They don’t have the option of taking stairs due to their disability and those elevators are by far the busiest of them all, typically.

 

Not having a full promenade is kind of a bummer, I have to say. However, it is not a deal breaker for us.

 

We haven’t spent much time at all on the pool deck (deck 16). The weather just hasn’t been conducive to hanging out up there. We have experienced partly to mostly cloudy weather with temps in the 50’s-60’s. Not bad but not exactly pool weather. From what we’ve seen, Movies Under The Stars has not been well attended, probably because it gets pretty chilly up there at night and also possibly because once the movies are shown up there you can watch them on the TV in your room. Speaking of the room TV system, it is simply AWESOME!!! The interactive TV’s are fantastic. You can watch the shows you want, pause them and then resume watching later, right where you left off. I especially love that you can catch the shows that are recorded in Princess Live. It is a smaller venue and not always easy to get a seat in. With the interactive TV’s it’s not like being there but at least you don’t completely miss out.

 

We’ve yet to catch the water show on the pool deck. They do it between 6 & 7 pm which makes no sense to me. People are getting ready for, going to or are at dinner during those hours. I have seen it a couple times in the patter for a later time but we’ve just never made it up there late at night.

 

SMOKING

 

I’m not wanting a debate on smoking, please! We are former smokers and have not forgotten what it was like. We still empathize and sympathize, so this information is for the smokers out there. Until it is banned, made illegal or Princess’ policy changes from what it is now, smoking is allowed on the deck 7 aft promenade, starboard side. There are some super comfy padded teak chairs out there but no ashtrays. Your only choice to smoke is to stand because the ash receptacles are mounted to the ship’s outer wall. Also, I had read that they had a smoking section on deck 16 behind the Horizon court but they must have moved it because it is no longer there. They do have a nice area set up on deck 17 aft. It’s a fairly large area with tables and chairs and is covered over where the tables are. They always have ice water, hot tea and coffee up there with an attendant watching after everyone. On the uncovered section of the deck there are plenty of lounge chairs and the small square tables, like at the pool. You can also grab an ashtray and relax in one of those chairs. Also, smoking is allowed in the casino with the exception of a few nights. For the non or ex smokers, on smoking allowed nights, it can get pretty smokey in the casino. Even being an ex smoker it has really bothered me and we had to leave a few times. It would be nice if they could find a way to ventilate it better. I thought I had read that cigar smoking was not allowed anywhere on the ship with the exception of Churchill’s but there have been cigar smokers out on deck 7 aft and up on 17 aft. Maybe they are just letting it go unless someone complains?

 

OUR STATEROOM R410

 

We love aft facing balcony rooms and try to snag one whenever we can. We did score D728 for this cruise. And then I started to do my research on Cruise Critic. Eventually after a few months, all the chatter about soot on the aft balconies scared me away. I just wasn’t willing to take the chance on not being able to enjoy our balcony. Because the aft balconies carry a premium (almost $500 per person when we booked!) we were able to move to a mini suite (R410) for a little less money. It doesn’t appear on this cruise that soot has been a problem back there. We haven’t seen any soot on the aft of the ship on either deck 16 or 17. Also, we participated in a cabin crawl and were in C729, an S2 owner’s suite and there was no soot back there. Incidentally, the day of our cabin crawl they brought out all new furniture for the suites back there. Evidently, someone in an owner’s suite threw a gigantic fit because the teak furniture and pads were so nasty from all the soot in the past. What they brought is very nice, indeed. The chairs, loungers and tables all have a silver, painted frame. The chairs and loungers have thick pads and the tables are glass topped. It looked like furniture from the Sanctuary to me but with different colored pads.

 

So, back to R410, our mini suite. We are located just a little forward of the mid ship elevators on the port side. We are the first cabin forward on the hump, 2 decks below the walkway for the sea view bar. I would book this cabin again in a heartbeat and actually would feel disappointed if I couldn’t get it again. Privacy is not an issue at all. Having said that, on the starboard side, in the same location, you would be totally exposed to anyone walking on the sea walk. But, being here on the port side, someone would have to be a very determined snoop to sneak a peek, LOL. We can see people walking above up there but I don’t think anyone pauses long enough to be looking down here and with this cabin, if they do, they can only see the front portion of the balcony near the rail. The balcony is the 2nd largest of the mini suites (category MA). It is sort of pie shaped with plenty of room to use the foot stools and stretch out. The standard balcony size is not big enough to use the foot stools. It’s sort of a mystery why they have even provided them on those balconies. Another advantage is with the deck swinging way out 2 floors above, it shields us somewhat from rain, what little we have had.

 

The mini suite has a very large sofa that is actually quite comfortable. The desk/vanity area is very big (probably 6 feet long) with plenty of room and also contains the refrigerator. There are 2 US power outlets and one european. There are 3 drawers of a nice size and 3 small shelves on the side of the desk/vanity. For additional privacy in the living area you can pull curtains all the way across to close off that end of the room if you want to. Also, in the living area, beside the sofa bed was another night table and a large coffee table in front of the couch. The coffee table is a huge obstacle in the room. We moved the extra night table into the closet and swung the coffee table around into the space where the night table had been. It works out much better that way plus it has given us drawer space in the closet. When we want to use the coffee table we just move it back in front of the couch.

 

The bed is VERY firm! The first few nights we didn’t think it was too bad but as the nights have worn on we are waking with more aches and pains. This morning my back hurt so bad I could barely stand it. We asked Emmanuel if he could soften it up some way so he went and got an extra pad and put on it. We’ll see how things feel tomorrow morning.

 

The bathroom is adequate with a full tub/shower and a decent sink counter. There are 3 shelves in the corner by the mirror. The TP holder has not been an issue for us. It’s just about parallel with your hips when sitting on the pot :) There is a long shelf under the counter area in the bathroom.

 

The closet is opposite the bathroom and open with a shelf above. The shelving inside the closet is behind doors and the safe is also inside the cabinet. We are traveling for 6 weeks (4 after getting off this cruise once we get to Copenhagen) and have more than enough space for all our stuff to be put away neatly.

 

I have to mention our room steward, Emmanuel from the Philippines. He is the BEST ever and if you get lucky enough to have him as your steward you will be very happy. He greets us several times a day with a huge smile and is always pleasant. He has a cute sense of humor too.

 

DINING

 

We have anytime dining and have not made a reservation yet. I think the longest we have waited for a table was maybe 10 minutes. We have been going to dinner most nights between 6:30 and 7:00. We have asked for a table for 2 and we have also shared, depending on how much time we wanted to take for dinner. The larger tables take longer, obviously.

 

The food in the main dining room has been quite good, especially the fish dishes. The balsamic vinaigrette is out of this world, good. I’ve fallen in love with this salad dressing. As always, my favorite appetizer is the fettucini alfredo in a parmesan basket. On the appetizer portion you have to specifically request the parmesan basket though. This is the stuff dreams are made of. I’m not allowing myself to have it every night :( We have also dined in Alfredo’s 3 times and love it. We had lunch there on embarkation day and hardly anyone was there. Try the veal pasta pockets, you won’t regret it, trust me. The pizza is also excellent. I’ve had both the traditional meat antipasti as well as the vegetarian and both are excellent.

 

We have had breakfast in the Horizon court only twice so far. I’m not a big breakfast eater so hubby is known to go down to the dining room before I’m up and it works for us. The breakfast we had in the buffet was fine with lots of choices from continental breakfast type items to hot breakfast items. If you go up there from the mid ship elevators you first enter the bistro. If you want hot breakfast items you need to continue to walk towards the aft. That’s where the hot items are. All of the continental breakfast items are in the Bistro. We have only had lunch in the buffet one day and there were lots of choices, much better than at dinner. I was jonesing for a taco salad and found all the needed ingredients to build a very tasty one. We have had lunch in the dining room a few times and it was quite good. The burgers in there are thick, juicy and flavorful.

 

We aren’t doing formal nights on this cruise. We just couldn’t allow the space to pack formal wear. On the 1st formal night we went to the buffet. We were totally underwhelmed with the choices and have not been back for dinner. Honestly, it was pathetic. The Horizon Bistro and Horizon Buffet are very large but we’ve yet to see more than 1/2 of the stations open. So, what’s the point? We have had no trouble finding a place to sit though. There are lots of tables and chairs.

 

On 2 nights we were feeling lazy and went up to the grill by the pool on deck 16 and enjoyed wings, burgers, dogs and pizza.....not all on the same night :) Speaking of the area up there, in between the grill and the pizza place is a bar (sorry forget the name) but one of the bartenders is actually American. His name is Tyler. We asked him how he ended up here, haha! He said there are only 2 Americans fleet wide and they both know someone higher up who got them on. He said it’s the best decision he ever made. He loves it and gets to travel all around.

 

We have only had lunch in the International Cafe one time. It was ok. I had a cuban sandwich and some shrimp salad. Nothing to complain about, just nothing too special in my opinion.

 

We have had the pub lunch with fish and chips on two days, so far. It was good. We attempted another time but the line was so long we went to Alfredo’s instead. There never seems to be a big demand there. I think some people must think it is an extra charge.

 

We have called room service for coffee almost every morning. Every day they say it will be around 30 minutes but we’ve never waited more than 10 and most days it is more like 5 minutes. On the one port day we’ve had so far we put out the hanging card on our door the night before and requested delivery between 6:30 & 7:00. It arrived promptly at 7 and thank goodness because our alarm was set to wake us at 6 pm, not 6 am.

 

THE STAFF

 

Everyone we have come into contact with, with one exception, has been so cheerful and friendly. They are all so pleasant and full of smiles. I don’t get the impression they are being abused and overworked. They all seem to genuinely enjoy their jobs.

 

The one exception was the girl who answered the phone for reservations at the Crown Grille. I called down off and on all day one day to make a reservation and no one answered. Finally, at 5:15 she answered and informed me that we had to call to reserve before 5 pm. I informed her that this was the first time they had answered the phone ALL day! She hung up on me! I phoned back and she answered again, not hanging up on me this time. I requested a table for 2, on any sea day (we have 11 on this cruise) between 6 & 7:30 pm. Without a second’s hesitation she informed me in a very snotty manner that there were no tables available on any night of the cruise before 8:30. This was on the 3rd day of our 15 night journey. Incidentally, we had lunch with a group today and got into a conversation about this and another couple said she had also been very rude to them, face to face! So, she said they just walked in there one night at 7:30 and the place was deserted and they were immediately seated. We aren’t going to bother to go at all now. My attitude towards that specialty restaurant is not in a good place and besides, the dining room food has been really good!

 

Back to the staff........I’ve never been one to really care who the cruise director is but on this cruise we have Sam Hawker-Thomas. She is absolutely wonderful and cute as a button. The deputy CD’s name is Toby, I believe. Also, very fun.

 

All of our waiters, anywhere on the ship, have been very pleasant and accommodating.

 

The captain is Dino Sagani. I love his accent and enjoy his daily updates at noon every day.

 

The Hotel General Manager is Martin Bristow. We’ve not had any interaction with him.

 

CRUISE CRITIC MEET & GREET AND OTHER GROUP ACTIVITIES

 

We had a huge and very lively roll call for this cruise. If you’ve never participated in a roll call I encourage you to do so. We now have a lot of wonderful new friends and familiar faces on board. On our 1st sea day we had a very well attended (over 200 of us) at our meet and greet. As our numbers kept growing, Princess had to keep planning it for different venues to accommodate our size. We finally ended up on the Horizon Terrace. They blocked it off for us for 1 hour and set it up with a microphone and speaker. The captain came and talked for a few minutes which was really neat. He said we shouldn’t be called Cruise Critics but Cruise Enthusiasts. I agree! It was just a lot of fun to put faces to the screen names of people we had been chatting with for months prior.

 

On the next day Princess was kind enough to have a luncheon for us in the Allegro dining room. We had it all to ourselves and it was very nice. I’m sure it was the same menu as in Concerto but we appreciated them letting us have our own space.

 

On the 4th day we did a cabin crawl and poker run. We hosted our cabin plus there were 6 others. This event was also well attended. We had so many wanting to do it that the organizers had to break them up into 3 groups and send them on different routes so that there didn’t end up being 80 people all together wanting to see each cabin, one by one. It worked out great. Once everyone had come through, we hosts all gathered at the S2 suite and then we all went out together to see each other’s cabins. It was fun to see the different categories of cabins.

 

The biggest was the S2 suite, an owner’s suite. Personally, if I had paid what that cabin cost I would have been extremely disappointed. This is just my opinion but for that price it’s seriously lacking space. The bathroom is really nice and big. But the living space isn’t any bigger than what we have in our mini suite and the bedroom is tiny too. I just don’t see where they can justify the cost. But, to each his/her own and hey, if ya got the dough to spend more power to ya!

 

This also reinforced to me that we could never cruise in an inside room. Claustrophobia anyone? There are people who are perfectly content in an inside and that’s great. We just aren’t among them.

 

We also saw what is considered an obstructed balcony cabin. The obstruction only comes into play if the extra bed is pulled down out of the ceiling. This is not an issue if you don’t have anyone using that bed. The lesson here is, do your homework concerning obstructed balconies. You could get a great deal and have no obstruction at all.

 

We saw a handicap balcony room too. It is very roomy with lots of floor space, obviously. The gal who is in that room with her mother really hated the bathroom though and I can see why. There is no place to put your bath stuff in there. There are no shelves and the sink counter is really small; barely bigger than the sink itself. There was a wheel chair ramp out to the balcony but how you could ever fit a wheel chair out there is totally beyond the capabilities of my imagination.

 

ENTERTAINMENT

 

We aren’t the types to feel compelled to see and do everything on a ship. We don’t run from venue to venue to get a seat and we don’t usually play trivia or anything like that. The daytime offerings for us are pretty weak but that’s ok because we’re happy to just relax.

 

We did go see the comedian, Al Katz, and he was super funny. The Princess Theatre was packed to the gills on that night at 8:30. We arrived 25 minutes early and I swear we got the last 2 seats together. It was standing room only. On another day he was in the Vista Lounge with a different show but we didn’t go.

 

We also saw the magician/illusionist. His last name was Cats. He was average at best. David Copperfield has no need to fear that competition. We have been to Princess Live for “Where in the World” which was fun. We divided into teams of 2 to 6 for that one.

 

Today we went to “Hollywould You” in Princess Live and it was a good time. Sam was there for that one.

 

They have had a beautiful string quartet play many times in the piazza. Those ladies are seriously good. They play classical music and are very talented.

 

A few times when we have passed by there has been a crooner in there singing but he’s not our style so we keep moving on.

 

GRIPES

 

I don’t have many gripes but what I do have are courtesy of the Passenger Services desk. When we originally booked back last September, Princess was running a 3 for free promotion. We were to receive a category upgrade if we booked a balcony cabin, a pair of specialty dinners and $100 each in shore excursion credits. Since we booked the highest category balcony cabin we received no upgrade. I knew we wouldn’t and so wasn’t disappointed. I did, however, look forward to the specialty dining and shore excursion credits. When we boarded, I found our 3 for free certificates and guess what? Apparently when I switched rooms they also switched promotions on me even though at the time I called to switch I verified with the Princess representative that we would keep our original incentives. Now, we were getting a bottle of wine (up to a $28 value), a framed 8x10 portrait and the shore excursion credits. So, I went down to passenger services and talked to Sarah from England. I explained the situation and she seemed to think it could all be sorted out but said she would have to contact Princess headquarters in California for a final determination and with the time difference we wouldn’t know anything until the following day or possibly the next. Well, she never got back to me so I had to go back down and wait in line, again. Sarah was not on duty so the gentleman I talked to promised to have her contact me as soon as she came on duty at 7pm. She called and said HQ made the “final” decision that we got what we qualified for. Huh? When I booked I qualified for the other one. I was not a happy camper. But whatever, it is what it is and I immediately made the decision to not let it get me down. 1st world problems, ya know? Things could be a whole lot worse! Incidentally, this all led to the call to make a reservation at the Crown Grill and the rude girl I dealt with there. End result, no specialty dinner, this cruise.

 

Then today after returning from our private excursion to Normandy from LeHavre I decided to get our excursion tickets out of the safe for our excursion tomorrow in Rotterdam. Problem was, I couldn’t find the tickets anywhere. I know I put them in the safe. We searched every nook and cranny, every drawer, ever folder in the room and no luck. So, I called passenger services (shore excursion desk closed as usual) to ask if our tickets could be reprinted. The gal who answered proceeded to tell me we are in LeHavre tomorrow from 7am - 7pm. Ummm, wrong! We were there today and what does my request have to do with any of that? So, she tells me shore excursions is closed (duh!) and that I need to come down to passenger services in the morning before we arrive in Rotterdam to ask them to contact shore excursions to have our tickets reprinted. Only the way she explained it was not nearly that clear and concise. I had to ask her several times whether she meant for me to go to passenger services or shore excursions and what time did this need to happen. The whole conversation was very confusing to me. And frustrating! Anyway, good news because after I hung up I checked the safe again for about the 5th time and there the envelope was, standing up against the side wall of the safe where it was nearly invisible. Hassle avoided!

 

THIS AND THAT....SOME RANDOM THOUGHTS

 

In a conversation with Tyler, the American bartender, he told us the average age on this cruise is 70 and we definitely believe it. We are 55 and 61 and feeling mighty young this trip, haha! He also said there are only 45 people under the age of 25 which we believe also to be factual. We’ve seen exactly 4 children so far and were told 2 of them are the kids of a crew member. The wife and kids evidently are staying on our deck because we’ve seen them several times in the hall on our deck.

 

Despite this being a ship full of older folks we’ve seen relatively few walkers, wheel chairs, scooters, etc. I have to say though, that some of them seem so crippled up I have to wonder what they will do when we finally get to Europe. There is no way some of them can go on tours, I wouldn’t think. I just find it interesting and curious. I guess they must just like to cruise and that’s cool too.

 

For years we have wanted to do a transatlantic cruise but couldn’t take the time from work to do it. Now, in retirement, time is not an issue. I was a little leery of so many sea days in a row (7 in the beginning, 1 port day, 3 sea days, 3 port days, 1 sea day) but I have to say it has been very enjoyable, relaxing and pleasant. Not boring at all.

 

The weather and the sea has been much calmer and moderate than we thought it would be. We’ve been in much rougher seas in the Caribbean and off the east coast of the U.S. Today was probably the worst weather day we’ve had. This morning it was partly sunny for awhile but then it got really overcast and sort of foggy with a drizzle in the air. It is pretty chilly but not unbearably so. Today is Tuesday and we’ll arrive in Southampton on Thursday so we’ve made it most of the way with very little in the way of bad weather. On 2 days the sea was choppy a bit but not really a problem. Royal Princess is keeping things nice and calm on board.

 

Edit....now that we’ve been in Ponta Delgada, Southampton and LeHavre. Ponta Delgada was a washout in the morning. Very rainy, foggy and just yuck. Finally, in the afternoon, the sun came out and the day was (mostly) saved. It’s too bad because it really is a beautiful place. For a great tour there contact Lisa Ringelberg at Ringlisa7@hotmail.com. She doesn’t have a website but gave 6 of us a fantastic tour of the island and she has a couple of neighbors who are fantastic cooks. They provided us with a huge and very tasty “farm lunch” with endless wine. What a treat! 55€ for the tour and 15€ for the lunch = a perfect day.

 

Southampton was absolutely pouring rain in the morning so the plan for our private tour was somewhat altered but it turned out to be a nice day nonetheless. If you ever go there and want a personalized and/or flexible tour, contact Steve Perry with New Forest Platinum Tours. He was great! His rate is 50 british pounds per person for the first 4 hours and 20 per person for each additional hour. Well worth it!

 

Today we arrived in LeHavre. Early it was very windy, cold and overcast. I thought I was going to freeze to death standing up on the cliffs at Normandy. Eventually the sun came out and while it stayed very windy it felt a little better. The feeling at the American Cemetery was overwhelmingly sad and I couldn’t help but think of my dad who would have been so honored to have been able to visit there. He was a very proud WWII veteran. We toured with 6 others through Normandy Sightseeing Tours. The rate was 97.50€ per person and we were gone about 9 hours in all. It was an almost 90 minute drive from the port to the beaches on Normandy. Our guide was Phillipe and he was really great. He knows his stuff!

 

Happy cruising everyone! I hope I haven’t bored you to death but I wanted to share some of my thoughts and observations. I’ve been helped tremendously by reading the experiences of others here on Cruise Critic.

[seashells08]

Thank you for sharing, I enjoyed your views of the Royal, enjoy the rest of your vacation. Eileen

[ssawjo]

Thank you very much for your review, I really enjoyed it. Have a great time in Europe and be safe.

[Colo Cruiser]

Great review! Thanks.

[TorontoTL]

Wonderful review, thanks for sharing it with us.

[dmwnc1959]

Love your review! Thank you for taking the time to write out so much wonderful detail. I also had Sam as our CD and Captain Dino Sagani for my 14-nt B2B and they are both incredible people.

 

Completely agree with what you said here regarding the elevators: "I can understand though how it could be a problem for some with mobility issues. They don’t have the option of taking stairs due to their disability and those elevators are by far the busiest of them all, typically." Many have mentioned seeing those in scooters waiting long periods for an elevator. I always took it upon myself to make sure they were 'first on' in a crowd, and that seems to make others quite mad.

 

I also got to see an H/C accessible mini-suite and took pictures if anyone is interested.

 

As for me I'm an 'inside cabin' type of guy. Going to book me one again for Regal Princess too. ;)

 

Glad you have such a wonderful time on Royal Princess!

 

:D

[Steph27]

Enjoyed reading your review! It wasn't too long at all. I admire the way you dealt with the issues you encountered on the ship. I would not have coped as well! Looking forward to reading the rest of your review and the post cruise stays. Hope the weather was better for the remainder of the trip.

[caribill]

We also saw what is considered an obstructed balcony cabin. The obstruction only comes into play if the extra bed is pulled down out of the ceiling. This is not an issue if you don’t have anyone using that bed. The lesson here is, do your homework concerning obstructed balconies. You could get a great deal and have no obstruction at all.

 

Was this one of the Emerald deck balcony cabins?

 

If so, the obstruction is supposed to be a life boat blocking part of the view, not anything inside the cabin itself.

[caribill]

In a conversation with Tyler, the American bartender, he told us the average age on this cruise is 70 and we definitely believe it.

 

For years we have wanted to do a transatlantic cruise but couldn’t take the time from work to do it. Now, in retirement, time is not an issue.

 

And that is why the average age on the TA is 70.

[Loonbeam]

For trips, I have lost the ability to survive without tripit (tripit.com). You forward confirmation emails etc from an authorized address and it puts everything in your itinerary. The free version will be fine for most cruisers, and there are apps for iPhone and Android that store the info on your phone once synced so that you can pull it up any time.

 

Something to think about for your next 6 week run.

 

 

This makes a total of 6 weeks away; by far our longest trip. We have had to book flights, cruises, hotels, apartments, shore excursions and tours in advance of our trip and keep a written record of absolutely everything. I know of no one who could remember every detail of an upcoming trip with so many things going on.

[Ethel5]

Thank you so much for your enjoyable trip report.:)

[ibfern]

Was this one of the Emerald deck balcony cabins?

 

If so, the obstruction is supposed to be a life boat blocking part of the view, not anything inside the cabin itself.

 

The view is only blocked if you look down from outside on the balcony, the life boat is actually below the floor level. Looking straight out there is no obstruction from what I saw.

 

Wise choice not taking a rear facing balcony. Thanks for the informative review and enjoy your cruise.

[sunsetbeachgal]

Love the review...and congrats on hubbys retirement!

[Woobstr112G]

Outstanding review. Thanks for taking the time to post it.....:):):)

 

Bob

[Okiguy]

Thanks for your great review. We are planning a trip on Royal or Regal soon. As for the "mobility issues", you have to go to YouTube and watch George Carlin's piece on "Euphemisms"...hilarious.

[lovevacadays]

Thank you. It was fun reading your thoughts.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Mom33]

Thanks for your informative review. :D

Glad you had a good time.

[baldercash]

A wonderful review and I am sure you will have a brilliant cruise.

I look forward to following your posts. Please post often.

Cheers

Edited May 14, 2014 by baldercash

[whiterose]

I can feel your pain about the hard beds. We're just back from the Ruby TA and our beds were like sleeping on the floor and so narrow I thought I might roll right off. After 4 horrible nights our steward put 3 foam pads on each bed and that solved the problem. Before that he tried using comforters as extra padding but that did not work. Usually I sleep very well on a cruise that these beds were torture.

 

Hope you get yours sorted out. Really enjoyed reading your review.

[Grammyluvs]

Really enjoying your review. Thanks so much for taking the time to post. Enjoy the rest of your vacation. It sounds like a dream trip.

[gr82cu2]

Was this one of the Emerald deck balcony cabins?

 

If so, the obstruction is supposed to be a life boat blocking part of the view, not anything inside the cabin itself.

 

I honestly don't remember what deck it was on. There was no life boat blocking the view though. I'm sure of that. She was upgraded at the last minute (cruise not sold out for the first 15 nights) and was thrilled with what she was assigned.

[gr82cu2]

And that is why the average age on the TA is 70.

 

haha! True! We're just used to being the "old folks" on the ship, LOL!

[gr82cu2]

For trips, I have lost the ability to survive without tripit (tripit.com). You forward confirmation emails etc from an authorized address and it puts everything in your itinerary. The free version will be fine for most cruisers, and there are apps for iPhone and Android that store the info on your phone once synced so that you can pull it up any time.

 

Something to think about for your next 6 week run.

 

Good to know, thank you! That would have relieved me of a ton of paperwork.

[sashas_mom]

Quote: "We also saw what is considered an obstructed balcony cabin. The obstruction only comes into play if the extra bed is pulled down out of the ceiling. This is not an issue if you don’t have anyone using that bed. The lesson here is, do your homework concerning obstructed balconies. You could get a great deal and have no obstruction at all."

 

Do you recall where the good obstructed balcony cabins you saw were and if the beds were flat in the ceiling or protruded when not in use?...sorry I now see someone else asked the same question. With so many CC members having sailed the Royal by now, I would hope they would share their obstructed view cabin experiences with some pictures :)

 

Thanks.

Edited May 15, 2014 by sasha'smom

[Colo Cruiser]

Quote: "We also saw what is considered an obstructed balcony cabin. The obstruction only comes into play if the extra bed is pulled down out of the ceiling. This is not an issue if you don’t have anyone using that bed. The lesson here is' date=' do your homework concerning obstructed balconies. You could get a great deal and have no obstruction at all."

 

Do you recall where the good obstructed balcony cabins you saw were and if the beds were flat in the ceiling or protruded when not in use?...sorry I now see someone else asked the same question. With so many CC members having sailed the Royal by now, I would hope they would share their obstructed view cabin experiences with some pictures :)

 

Thanks.[/quote']

 

Courtesy of CruiseWookiee.........

 

Feb Royal cruise.....