Live from the Royal Princess, January 28- February 7: The Move-Over Boomerang Cruise

[dhdoug]

Does anyone know if there is a certain number to call onboard the Regal to book the Sanctuary? I know that you have to go there but I thought I saw you have to call first

Thanks

Doug

[jlf1]

More Friday, January 30, 2015

 

Another item of interest: We do not drink, so we asked on day 1 to swap out the mini bar for 2 coffee cards. We went to lunch, and there were two coffee cards/ and the swap-out receipt on the desk, and the mini-bar was still intact. So I called room service to thank them for the coffee cards and to remind them to take the mini-bar. I left the cards attached to the back of the receipt. We came back later and the mini-bar was gone. The curious part of this was the attached 2 more coffee cards on the front of the receipt. So now we have 4 cards and a receipt. Thank you, Princess, for keeping me well caffeinated! We have debated a bit about whether or not to return the extra 2 cards, but they had to have known that we already had two, because they attached them to the receipt.

:) :)

 

Don't you get 2 coffee cards for each mini-bar swap? If so and you are elite in a full suite my understanding is that you get 2 mini-bar setups......so 4 coffee cards?

 

Or is it only one card per setup?

[TracieABD]

Glad you are reenergized, enjoy! :D

 

What time was your M&G?

 

11 to 12 at Club 6

[TracieABD]

Does anyone know if there is a certain number to call onboard the Regal to book the Sanctuary? I know that you have to go there but I thought I saw you have to call first

Thanks

Doug

 

138 on the Royal. Not sure about the Regal.

[Colo Cruiser]

11 to 12 at Club 6

 

Thanks...

Thats good and the reason why you had so many officers.

They have Senior Mgt meetings and other duties in the early afternoon.

Have been told that 11:00 am is much better for them to attend. ;):)

[TracieABD]

Don't you get 2 coffee cards for each mini-bar swap? If so and you are elite in a full suite my understanding is that you get 2 mini-bar setups......so 4 coffee cards?

 

Or is it only one card per setup?

 

Not Elite, but I am sure having fun working on it!:)

[TracieABD]

Friday, January 30, 2015

 

But wait! There's more!

 

Royal Tea-- It is formal night. My mom and I have opted out of dressing up and going to the MDR, so we had the Royal Tea. The premise behind this event is a tea tasting with some pretty yummy goodies. We sampled a black tea, a green tea, and a white tea. We then had the choice of our own tea. I selected a Madagascar Vanilla mixed with a Rooibos (love me some bush tea). My mom had the ginger twist. Our hostess brought a tower of goodies that included scones and finger sandwiches (egg salad, chicken salad, cucumber/ cream cheese, salmon). We had a bowl of berries and cream and finished with a really interesting (and pointy) dessert- not quite sure what it was, but it was pointy. I wish I had a picture of the pointy dessert. I believe the tea was $10 per person. Well worth it.

 

There is an interesting group of passengers on the ship. There are some extremely nice people, and then there are some- well, my grandma used to call them- stinkers. There was the lady in the Sanctuary that tied up not one, but two stewards for most of the morning. She need her lounger changed. She need a reserved seat in the palapa-thing (not a cabana, but the gazebo with the wicker furniture that anyone who is in the Sanctuary can enjoy). She needed special beverages. I became a bit comical, as the stewards kept trying to slink away, and she would call out for them. The poor stewards looked so crest-fallen each time they were summoned.

 

Then there is the man who threatened to sue my mother, because she accidentally bumped into them. There is the woman on the crowded elevator, when asked to push a specific button, snapped, "Do I look like a doorman?"

 

But my favorite of all- the woman who came out the the elevator with her entire mini-bar on a tray. She was fuming and ranting on and on about how she wanted it out of her room. She was taking the mini-bar to the "purser's desk". (I am still not quite sure what they were going to do with it--- party at Passenger Services, maybe?) I erroneously volunteered that it could be swapped out for 2 coffee cards (or 4 in our case), and she snapped back, "Princess coffee is too strong!". I almost had to follow her to see how it worked out at the Passenger Service Desk. I refrained, so the story ends here.

 

We are currently hiding in our stateroom as we may be the most underdressed people on the ship. I have to say, I have seen a lot, I mean A LOT of tuxes. It is nice to see everyone so dressed up. We are going to sit this dance out, though. Tea was a gracious plenty.

 

I may sneak out to try to find one of the chocolate pops. I may not. I may just watch fun movies and call it a day.

 

Thanks for sailing along!

 

More later,

Tracie-Lynn :) :)

[Colo Cruiser]

[luvabeach]

Loving it......so glad you are feeling better...you are an amazing writer...thank you so much and please keep the posts coming!!

 

 

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[sunsetbeachgal]

The larger flat screen TV's and on demand movies and TV programs are one of the many things we love on the Royal and Regal! And there are some very recently released movies.

Edited January 30, 2015 by sunsetbeachgal

[lovevacadays]

Your cruise sounds wonderful. I love reading your thread. 😊😊😊

 

 

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[momfon50]

Prayers for. a safe and fun cruise!

 

 

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[Woobstr112G]

Sounds like you're having a great cruise.....:):):)

 

Bob

[rdsqrl]

Certainly glad you weren't actually getting sick. I'm really enjoying your cruise -- and I didn't even have to shell out for a suite! We (well, me) are expecting lots of food porn, so get busy with that camera, missy!

 

P.S. Wouldn't "Siberian Rain" be snow?

[Kruznut]

After finally getting there please continue to have a great time Tracie

[dmwnc1959]

Royal Princess on the Aruba webcam, docked next to the old cruise ship 'Boheme' (1968-1985) which sailed out of Miami 'way back when' for Commodore Cruise Line (she's now called 'Freewinds').

 

Image courtesy of http://portarubawebcam.com

 

:D

Edited January 31, 2015 by dmwnc1959

[Woobstr112G]

Royal Princess on the Aruba webcam, docked next to the old cruise ship 'Boheme' (1968-1985) which sailed out of Miami 'way back when' for Commodore Cruise Line (she's now called 'Freewinds').

 

Image courtesy of http://portarubawebcam.com

 

:D

 

Dave;

 

Thanks for sharing this cool picture. I can see my balcony.....:D:D:D

 

Bob

[buchananglasgow]

oh my, there seems to be some real nastys on board. I love people watching, what fun , hoping there are not too many of those in November when we are on her. Loving sailing with you (reading your updates ) , enjoy the rest of your trip.

[dmwnc1959]

Dave;

 

Thanks for sharing this cool picture. I can see my balcony.....:D:D:D

 

Bob

 

 

Did you cringe, or was there a nostalgic smile? ;)

 

 

 

oh my, there seems to be some real nastys on board. I love people watching, what fun , hoping there are not too many of those in November when we are on her. Loving sailing with you (reading your updates ) , enjoy the rest of your trip.

 

 

I was on her for two weeks in Dec. 2013, and there were plenty of 'nasties' on then as well. Just be prepared to ignore them, or as I eventually ended up doing, firing back with a smart-alecky answer every time they complained about something that was relatively insignificant or petty. It usually shuts them down pretty quick.

 

:D

Edited February 1, 2015 by dmwnc1959

[Toady]

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

 

One more "go to sleep"...

 

Einstein said (though there is a great deal of evidence that this quote may be mis-attributed), and I paraphrase liberally, that the operational definition of insanity is to repeat the same mistake and expect different results.

 

Thus begins the tale of my latest cruise.

 

This is actually the third in a series of un-sailed cruises with my mother. The first was a 12 day Mediterranean on the NCL Spirit. We were to fly to Barcelona on Halloween night to board the ship on November 2, 2013. While on my way home from work, my mother fell on her hip in her garage. I rushed to her house to do a quick assessment. I asked her to stand and she could not. Her solution was to take some a little medicine and press onward. I refused to go until we could get an x-ray. I drove to our local Urgent Care, explained the urgency of our situation (... yea, a flight that departed in 5 hours) and asked them to x-ray my mom's hip. All the while, she kept insisting, "I can go. I can make it. This is no big deal". The verdict? A fractured hip requiring surgical intervention. So, no cruise for us. We did, however, get to spend Halloween night in a very large and crowded emergency room (did I mention it was a full moon AND a Friday night????) Oh! the horror!

 

Score: Tracie= 0 Vacation Gremlins= 1

 

Our next cruise was to commence on January 13, 2015 on the Sapphire Princess. We booked this cruise almost a year ago. The itinerary was Singapore to Jakarta/ Bali/ Komodo/ Lombok to Singapore. We were to leave Charlotte on Friday night, January 9. Truth be told, I was really worried about my mom on a 23 hour flight to Singapore. Now, I have to say, she is a real trouper and had all sorts of pharmaceutical solutions to survive the trip, but I was still really worried. On the Thursday night before we were to leave, our TA called and shared with us what I shall refer to as the "mother of all move-over offers". I discussed with my mom, and we decided to take the deal. While I was a bit disappointed, I also was equally relieved.

 

Cumulative Score: Tracie= 0 Vacation Gremlins= 2 (though, I was not quite as disappointed about this one)

 

Which leads me to my present circumstances: We are scheduled to board the Royal Princess tomorrow, January 28. We booked this cruise on the same day we took the move-over offer, as we just needed a little hope. Because I had to take so much time off work with my mom and the hip situation, we opted to do the really, really, really stupid thing... fly in the morning of the cruise. On most days, this would probably not be problematic; Charlotte to Fort Lauderdale is pretty darn routine, right???? Nope. Not for us. Now we have SNOWPOCALYPSE*** SNOWMAGEDDON*** A veritable SNOW-TASTROPHE!

 

The good news? Our flight is still on. Nothing at Charlotte-Douglas has been canceled- so we may actually make it to Florida... (provided no one falls, the weather behaves, the airlines cooperate).

 

I guess I am posting this here, as I am trying to change my negative cruising mojo. So I would appreciate a collective outpouring of crossed-fingers, lucky rabbit's feet (was that really a lucky rabbit????), four leaf clovers, and any other superstitious voodoo you feel like committing to turning our cruising fortune around.

 

In turn, I will post a "live from". I will attempt to make it somewhat interesting. Also, I promise to answer any questions you might have. I would love to insert pictures, but I just can't seem to get it figured out. I am hoping for a little assistance on ship.

 

Thank you to anyone who had enough time (or no chores) and made it to the end of this diatribe. I will post more tomorrow!

Tracie-Lynn:):)

 

Hi Tracie, it is now Jan.31 so hopefully you arrived safely! I am interested in hearing about your "move over" offer.

We were to fly last night (Jan.30) to Buenos Aires, but on Jan. 27 we were given a move over offer from Princess. We accepted it, but I was none too happy at the time. I was excited about going to South America, and suddenly we weren't going! I had excursions planned, private transfer etc. We ended up switching to an Australian cruise in September on which we had only a deposit paid and an inside cabin booked. Now we have a mini suite. The difference in the cost of the air fare was covered too. Now I'm excited about that, but I did want to see penguins.

[4boysnana]

Thank you for an excellent review. I am looking forward to the rest of your adventures. Enjoy every minute and stay away from the crabby few. Don't you wish all the grouchy ones could be bunched away together. They would have so much fun with each other.

I am looking forward to sailing on the Royal next year and I loved your comments on the Tea party! Keep them coming.

 

Thanks for your hard work and excellent entertaining review

 

Susan

[TracieABD]

Saturday, January 31, 2015

 

Aruba!

 

I think I will start this morning by finishing Friday night. As stated earlier, Friday night was formal night. Lots of tuxes, lots of sparkly dresses, a couple of dress kilts, suits... you get the idea. And then there was me, in a smock top and cream coloured jeans and flip flops. There are a couple of Mennonite women on board, and they were dressed simply, but appropriately. You know, a long dress... My favorite cruisers were the family dressed as pirates. I kid you not. There was a father, mother, (maybe) a son and daughter dressed in full-on pirate gear. And not Party City costume pirate gear, but Pirates of the Caribbean movie-type pirate gear. This was quality stuff. I just wonder if this is what pirate formal garb? And how much of a luggage allowance you have to utilize to haul this get up? Arrrrrrggggggggggg.

 

In spite of being really not formally attired, I did manage to snag a Norman Love chocolate pop. It was a truffle on a stick. I could not finish mine, and neither could others, as evidenced by the many half eaten pops on the used champagne discard tray. It was good, but just too big.

 

I also have to confess, I am really a 10 year old at heart. I like grilled cheese sammiches, I have seen Frozen and Despicable Me no less than 10,000 times each, and I still yearn to spend time at any Disney venue. No matter how hard I try, I just cannot always keep my cynical black-only-wearing New Yorker in active status. With all of that said, I happened to be on Deck 16 during the fountain show. I loved it. It was charming and fun. And yes, above all, I am a pragmatist, and I realize what a waste of space this is, but it was a wonderful little show. Yes, the could increase the pool size by at least 33%, but the fountain show was so stinkin' cute. I mean 5 year-old girl in a pink sparkly dress singing on You Tube cute. Don't flame me.

 

I also went to see the Colours of the World show in the Princess Theater. The set design was wonderful. They projected different background on to a huge screen and on the platform stage. It was worth the canned singing to watch the set. Though, I am always baffled by the people who come into a show 20 minutes late and enter the row with the most people to cross, hefting their very portly bodies in the chair directly next to mine, and elbowing my arm off the shared arm-rest. True story. No words.

 

After that, we ordered the Norman Love Chocolate Raspberry mousse dessert in the room. It was lovely and delicious. I know that some have not like the Norman Love offerings, but so far, they are pretty darn yummy in my book.

 

I know that I am behind the power curve in posting. I promise to work on catching up this afternoon.

 

Thanks for sailing along!

 

More later,

Tracie-Lynn :) :)

[TracieABD]

Saturday, January 31, 2015

 

I woke up pretty early or maybe I just did not sleep a whole bunch the night before. I decided to go for a walk. I ascended to Deck 18 and began walking the track. For the most part, and probably because it was 5:30 am, it was just me and the deck cleaner guy. I am truly appreciative at how clean they keep this ship. The deck cleaner guy washed the basketball court and running track. Then he worked very hard to squeegee it dry. It was really windy up there. I like to think that all of that wind resistance builds core muscle. I could not jog, though. It was just too windy. I walked just shy of 6 miles and headed down to eat breakfast at Sabatini's. I was a bit early and planned to write in the Atrium, but ran in to Vicki (of Vicki and Bernie fame) and spent a long time chatting with her. It was wonderful to hear of her adventures. I also ran into Lydia, an adorable friend from our South American Star cruise. Lots of people recognize Vicki from her blog and YouTube channel, so it is a bit like sitting with a rock star. She is such an amazingly chill person. What a fun way to pass an hour.

 

I finally made it to breakfast. After, I disembarked in Aruba. At Vicki's suggestion, I took the "city bus" to Eagle Beach. It costs $4 for a round-trip card. (a taxi to Eagle Beach rumoured to be $13 each way, so SCORE!)

 

I found the Hotel Amsterdam, and was able to rent a palapa and a chair (and the guy threw in a towel) for $15 for the day. This also included free wifi, but I did not bring a device, sos I did not utilize this feature. The beach is lovely right across from the Amsterdam, very white and powdery. The water was a bit cold, but once you braved your way in, it was great. I am not sure if you remember, but I am very, very sun-sensitive, so I cannot stay out long, even with the strongest SPF. My swim suit has "knees and elbows". I know it must look strange, but it is the only way I can spend any time in the strong sun of the Caribbean. I am over the vanity thing, and now I just cover up.

 

After a few hours in the sun (well, under the palapa), I jumped on the city bus back to the port. I feel there is very little to do around the port, unless I missed something. Of course there is the requisite Diamonds International...

 

Once on the ship, I ate a little salad at the IC and headed up for a nap. My mom and I decided (against all better judgement) to eat at the Horizon Court for German Bierfest Night. We lived in Germany for four years, and while this was passable German food, it was not really great. The first round of spaetzel was excellent, the second round-- slimy. I ate very little.

 

My mom and I headed (slowly) to the Princess Theater to see These Guys. They are featured entertainers that are only on the ship for two nights. They were extremely entertaining, and most definitely worth dealing with the crowd. They are a quartet that either perform with a band or acapella. Last night is was with the band. Tonight, it is with out. I will report back after I see them again, because they are worth seeing twice.

 

I headed to the room to watch The Judge. I really like the fact that Princess has first run and near first run movies. The movie was great, and at the risk of sounding redundant, I really like the new system of TV. In the middle of the movie, I had to forage for food (oh! woe is me--- where will I every find food on a cruise ship????). I paused the movie, grabbed a couple of slices of pizza upstairs and returned to the cabin. Win! Except for- I tried to sneak upstairs for said pizza in my jammies (that would be the lucky pajamas mentioned in the first post). Of course, I ran into people I know, who wanted to chat. I am thinking that maybe my jammies don't look like jammies, so no one will really notice that I am in pajamas standing in the middle of the Horizon Court at 9 pm. And I stand and chat, thinking I am getting away with it, until my friend, Janet, says to her husband, "Aren't Tracie's pajamas so cute?" Busted.

 

I finally head to bed and slept a good deal of the night. In my lucky jammies. That all the ship has seen.

 

Thanks for traveling along!

 

More later-

Tracie-Lynn :) :)

[dmwnc1959]

Really love reading your daily reports...your writing style cracks me up and always brings a smile to my face.

 

:D

[Mom33]

Thanks for my morning chuckle..:D You are an enjoyable read in the morning.