Royal Christmas cruise Dec 20th-30th

[G&T Cruisers]

We have been on several holiday cruises and we had been on the Regal so we knew what to expect from this cruise and we were not disappointed. The food, crew, and the ship were great.

Dec 19th: We flew into Fort Lauderdale the day before and stayed at the Hilton Marina[hotel was O.K. but we don’t plan to stay there again. Way over-priced for what you get] and walked around the area. We went to the beach to watch sail away from shore.

Dec 20th: We took the hotel shuttle to the terminal. It was a madhouse with 8 ships in port and road construction, but thankfully we were the first drop off and were quickly on board. We had C104 which is a balcony cabin right up front which we really enjoyed. We had early seating for dinner 5:30 pm.

Dec 21st: Princess Cays- We rented a clam shell and spent the morning and early afternoon on the beach and then headed back to the ship for lunch at Alfredo's which was delicious.

Dec 22nd: Day at Sea- was spent wandering the ship, checking out the buffet, and going to Princess Live.

Dec 23rd: St.Maarten- we have visited several times so we just walked around and checked out the board walk and the shops then back to the ship for lunch and dinner.

Dec 24th: Dominica- we had a river tubing and scenic drive excursion booked, The river tubing was a lot of fun but the scenic drive part left a lot to be desired. The driver drove like he was in the Indy 500 around tight curves. Passengers were motion sick and one threw up on me. The driver did not seem to care.

Dec 25th: Grenada- we had a spice and scenic drive excursion booked which was really great and informative. It was well run and learning how the spices are grown and harvested was fantastic. Now when I see spiced in the grocery store, I will have a deeper appreciation of how they got there. This port was a short day, only 7 hours. We wished we could have stayed longer.

Dec 26th: Bonaire- we had a glass bottom kayak and snorkeling tour booked which was a lot of fun. The guys who ran it were professional and full of energy. I am able to speak Dutch so it was a highlight for me to communicate with the locals that day. Afterwards we walked the town and did a bit of shopping.

Dec 27th: Curacao: we had a island tour booked where we saw the caves a museum and a liqueur distillery. It was interesting. A highlight was seeing wild flamingos in the salt flats.

Dec28th-29th: Days at Sea- we went to a couple of shows and watched a movie under the stars then had dinner at Crown Grill. It was fantastic and worth the 25 dollar/person charge.

Dec 30th: Disembarkment- we chose to use a new service Princess provides where they take your bags and print out your boarding passes and you don't see your bags again until you get to your home airport. Well worth the 20 dollars.

Overall we had a great time on the Royal. The lack of a mid staircase didn't bother us, but we did miss the promenade deck. The service in the dining room was good to very good and the food was excellent. Cruise director Lisa Ball did a great job. She had a presentation in Princess Live about how the crew live onboard a Princess ship. We found it very well done and informative.

We have booked another holiday cruise a B2B on the Caribbean Princess.

[trystran72]

Thank you for sharing! Sounds like a great cruise!! :)

 

I agree, that EZ Check for luggage is WELL worth the money.

[Techie]

We're you flying in and out of Winnipeg? If yes, what airline did you use that allowed you to do EZ check? Definitely interested for our cruise in April....

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for your comments.

We don't care about the stair case either.

Never really thought about it while onboard.

[Mom33]

Thanks for your review. We never missed the stairs either, but we did enjoy the Promenade deck padded loungers to relax, read and watch the sea.:)

[G&T Cruisers]

Hi Techie: We flew out of Fargo ND with Delta and this new service from Princess is called EZ check,I think that you have to be on a cruise for 10 days or longer for this service.

I hope this was helpful.

[Happy2cruise]

Hi Techie: We flew out of Fargo ND with Delta and this new service from Princess is called EZ check,I think that you have to be on a cruise for 10 days or longer for this service.

I hope this was helpful.

We have used it on several 7 day cruises:)

Edited January 18, 2016 by Happy2cruise

[Techie]

Hi Techie: We flew out of Fargo ND with Delta and this new service from Princess is called EZ check,I think that you have to be on a cruise for 10 days or longer for this service.

I hope this was helpful.

 

Very helpful. Thanks for the info :)

[riclop]

Thanks for your review.

[jem77bfp]

Thanks for the review!

[arctickitty]

Thanks for posting your review