Anyone just back yet from the Royal?

[sprinkles]

Hi All,

 

We are leaving next week and have a nice CC group put together. I'm sure we would all love to hear from you, especially regarding the following ports:

 

Casablanca

Gibralter

Barcelona

Cannes

Livorno

Rome

 

Thanks all, hope you had a nice crossing.

 

Tammy

 

Four more days and I'm off to Rome!

[katisdale]

The way I figure it they should have gotten off yesterday. Today the bridge cam shows her in dry dock in Genoa. I also would love to hear their impressions.

[samscruiser]

Well I certainly would like to hear from you upon your return. We're doing the same itenerary in Sept, so you're experiences will be very helpful.

Hope we can finally get as successful "roll call" thread going as you have had. One other cruiser and myself have been trying for months, but no replies. What was your secret?

 

94 Fantasy - Bahamas

95 Fantasy - Bahamas

02 Inspiration - West Carrib

03 Sensation - Exotic West Carrib

04 Royal Princess - European Explorer

[sandij]

We're going on May 19th and I haven't had any luck getting anything started either. But it's been fun reading all the comments from the Rome group. Have a great time and let us know how it went.

[sprinkles]

Don't feel bad, it was just two of us for a couple of months. Then around March ours kicked in. Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes not. My friend just left for the Tahitian Princess and she could find NOBODY ELSE, but the sailings right before and after hers had huge threads.

 

OK, those of you just off the Royal, I'm hoping to hear something before we leave Monday.

 

Tammy

[ajl111]

sprinkles -- Please let us know upon your return what you did in those ports. I'll be going to them on the July 30 cruise. I now don't feel so bad that nobody is responding to my roll call!

 

Angela

NCL Norway 1982; Sitmar Fairsea 1983; Costa Carla C 1984; Sitmar Fairwind 1985; Carnival Mardi Gras 1985; Sitmar Fairsea 1986; Sitmar Fairsky 1987; NCL Skyward 1990; NCL Sunward 1990; Carnival Ecstasy 1993; RCL Nordic Empress 1994; Regal Princess 1994; Star Princess 1995; Golden Princess 2002; Celebrity Infinity 2003; Regal Princess March 6, 2004; Royal Princess July 30, 2004; Caribbean Princess October 16, 2004

[stingraynz]

Hi Sprinkles

 

Just got back two days ago and now I'm back at work. The crossing and trip was fabulous. Thanks for your kind words. I plan to write a full review in the next couple of weeks. But here are some tidbits before you go on your cruise.

 

Weather: Couldn't have been better sunny weather with sometimes a light breeze.

 

Ship: Beautiful, cozy and elegant. Being refurbished now. While we were waiting for our ride at the pier I noticed she was getting new chairs delivered for the lounges, new railings on the balconies and the crew said new carpets.

There was vibrations in the dining room from the engines but nothing to worry about.

 

There are some excellent waiters to note: Roberto, Cesar, Jose and Salvadore. Although all seemed very good. Our cabin steward Rudy was wonderful as well. Amy in the boutiques was also one to note as very nice.

 

Here is some port information.

 

APRIL 21TH CASABLANCA MOROCCO 8AM TO 9PM

MERRAKECH

-Took the Princess Tour to ‘MERRAKECH’ $115

-8am – 8pm

Excellent tour and well worth it. Merrakech was so beautiful and magical. Certainly a place I woulod like to return to. It was a bit of a drive but rather interesting. Our guide spoke a lot about Morocco.

 

We visited the Palace had a nice lunch in a local restaurant. Went to the souk and was incredible and lots to buy. However, they did seem to spend a lot more time in the shops they wanted you to shop in moved through the market very quickly. Stay with the group or tell someone if you stop to buy something. We were lost for a few minutes and it was terrifying because it is a maze of alleyways and paths. We saw snake charmers and stopped for photos at the mosque.

 

APRIL 22TH GIBRALTAR 12PM TO 6PM

-easy to do on own, but go to the cable cars to the rock first, in order to beat the ships’ tours otherwise be standing in long line.

-go down the road and pass all the shops, it seems the cable cars are at the end

 

OPtion 1: You can Take the cable car up to the top of "The Rock" and walk down - go into St. Michael's Cave on the way down, also you'll see the apes etc. - can detour over to see the Siege Tunnels. It's a beautiful walk on a clear day, and you can't get lost - you can always see the town below you, and the roads up on The Rock are fairly well signed.

 

Option 2 Taxi tour:

We planned to do the above but when we had six people with us we decided to do the taxi tour of the rock that many people said don't bother with. It was $30usd or 25 euros. It was about $5 more than you would spend anyway with the entrance to the cave and the cable car etc. and there was hardly any walking. The driver who was a native Gibraltarian drove us to all the sites and explained the facts and history. You go see the apes, cave, siege museum and then drops to off at the beginning of Main street so you can walk from one end to the other. Seemed to be lots of duty free shopping on electronics, gems and liquor. As usual the prices increased the closer to the end where the ships were. It was very beautiful and quaint. It reminded me a bit of Hamilton Bermuda. There is also a Safeway grocery store where you could stock up on water, wine and provisions.

 

APRIL 24TH BARCELONA SPAIN 8AM TO 5PM

 

Things to see; we can use cabs or the ‘Turistic’ hop on/off bus (two lines ‘red’ and ‘blue’)

-La Rambla

-Gaudi Cathedral la Sagrada Famillia

-Park Guell

We got off the ship right away and took a cab to the Sagrada Famillia cathedral. The cathedral and Parc Guell get very busy later in the day.

The cathedral was one of my favorite places, not the usual church visit. It is still all under contruction take the time to go inside. We even went to the top of the spires. There is an elevator for an extra 2 euros. The elevator was fine but I somehow was talked into going down the stairs and they were very scary as I am afraid of winding stairs and heights so if you are the same take the elevator back down as well.

 

We mostly rode the turistic bus around. We caught the red line on the corner in front of the church and bought the tickets on board. They were about 21 euros. The cab from the ship to the Gaudi Cathedral was 15 euros. everybody liked Barcelona it was a very popular stop and certainly a place that would be nice to stay in. We didn't get a chance to walk down La Rambla but many did. I was absolutely packed. It seemed like a far walk from the ship's berth to anywhere so we cabbed it.

 

APRIL 25TH CANNES FRANCE 9AM TO 7PM

 

We booked a tour with Alain from dream tours

E-mail Address: infos@dream-tours.com

Phone number is 00 336 11 35 92 92

 

Picked up on the dock right away at 9am by Fredrick.

 

We had to tender into Cannes

 

ITINERARY OUTLINE: Approx 8 hrs. For lunch we ate in a cafe in Monaco.

 

I e-mailed Alain months before and told him what I was interested in and he came up with a plan that we could have stuck to changed the day was up to us.

 

I was fairly interested in seeing Monaco and the F1 track etc so Fredrick focused on showing us a lot of Monaco and Monte Carlo. He was born in Cannes and we saw a bit of Cannes as we were heading down the coast. We went through all the costal townson the way; Juan Lespins, Nice, Villefranche, Antibes, Beaulieu sur mer.

 

Got out and every so often to take pictures etc. When we got to Monaco we went

 

Walking 1) The Old town with the Prince Palace Square, the Cathedral

 

Walking2) Monte-Carlo and the famous Casino, the Golden Square,

the very nice Hotel de Paris

 

3) City tour, formule1 race circuit, beach area

and did some shopping then had lunch.

 

In the afternoon we went up to the medieval towns of Eze and St Paul de Vence and had free time and looked around there. Got back to the ship in time although Fredrick still wanted to show us more, but unfortunately it was time to get to the tenders.

 

 

 

APRIL 26TH LIVORNO ITALY 7AM TO 7PM

 

Took a prearranged tour with driverinrome.com the tour was the 'Exclusive Florence and Pisa tour'. We just did it myself and my sister, so there was only two of us in the van but the van could accomodate a lot more. The van was brand new I think we were the first ones to use it. I would think that six people would be the most I would have because everyone could have a window seat.

 

Pepe was at the dock right away when we got off the ship.

 

We went right away to Pisa. We had 9:30 reservations to climb the tower. It wasn't busy yet and a very beautiful site. But nothing could prepare for the day ahead in Florence.

 

It was a MOnday so we knew none of the Meseums would be opened. That was OK because you couldn't do both the outdoor sights and museums there just wouldn't be enough time. So we figure we would do all the driving around and go back some other time to do the museums. Had they been open I would have seen David for sure.

 

We saw a lot. We drove to the hill where you get that exquisite vantage point of Florence. The Santa Croce Church and square, we had free time there. We went to the Duomo and free time there to have lunch in a cafe just around the side of the church. We lokked around inside the church and the Bapistry as well as the museum to see the Unfinished "pieta" of Michealangelo and get a good idea of the history of the church. My sister climbed the 464 steps to the very top of the Duomo. I thought she was crazy, but she enjoyed it.

 

We drove around to see where the different museums are as well as some squares. We then had some more free time to walk around the square where the replica of David is and the Ponte Vecchio and all the shops around there. There is good shopping for leather and gold.

 

APRIL 27TH CIVITAVECCHIA (ROME) ITALY

 

Again we booked a tour with driverinrome.com

Full day tour of Rome from Civitavecchia.

 

Aldo picked us up after we said goodbye to Royal Princess and disembarked. We drove to Rome and saw a lot. We went right away to the Vatican Museum to see the Sistine chapel. After that we went to a great little place with Also to get a bite to eat. We then went to St Peters Square where the Pope addresses the masses. We went inside st Peter's Basilica. Absolutely incredible, the largest church in the world.

 

We continued and saw the treasures of ancient Rome and all the other fountains and sights. The day had too much to mention now. I will write a full review but I'll have to get my notes out. The tours are described on their website www.driverinrome.com. It is a family run business and I couldn't say enough of their hospitality and their professionalism and knowledge and love of their city. We stay at their Bed & Breakfast and had a lovely end to a fantastic trip of a lifetime. The next day they drove us to the airport as well. There are some places we must return to and Italy is definitely one of them. We can't wait to visit Rome and see all these people again that we met through driverinrome.com.

 

Fax: (+39) 06-61532259

E-mail Address: info@driverinrome.com or shuttleservice@tiscalinet.it

 

Hope this helps with some of your questions. Have a great trip.

 

I forgot to mention, our CC group met a couple of times and had Sunday brunch together on one of the sea days. We met a lot of great new friends and I'm sure you will too.

 

Nancy

 

CHANDRIS/MV Victoria S.Caribbean Dec 1984

EPIROTIKI/The Oceanos S.Caribbean Dec 1986

NCL/ The Dreamward W.Caribbean Dec 1997

PRINCESS/Regal Princess Panama Canal Jan 1999

NCL/Norwegian Crown Bermuda Oct 1999

PRINCESS/Pacific Princess Bermuda Sep 2000

RENAISSANCE/R IV Tahiti&FR Polynesia Mar 2001

NCL/Norwegian Dream South America Feb 2002

PRINCESS/Pacific Princess Bermuda Sep 2002

PRINCESS/Sun Princess Mex Riviera Dec 2002

RCCL/Radiance Of The Seas S.Caribbean Mar 2003

CELEBRITY/Constellation Northern Europe Jun 2003

PRINCESS/Dawn Princess S.Caribbean Dec 2003

PRINCESS/Royal Princess SA/Africa/Med Apr 2004

PRINCESS/Sapphire Princess ASIA Mar 2005

[sprinkles]

NANCY,

 

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. I'm sure everyone in my CC group will appreciate reading your notes for us.

 

By the way, how was the weather in Rome? Our forecast for all of next week is 55 (or so) with showers?

 

Tammy

[katisdale]

Nancy, I want to add my thanks also! We are so excited. We leave Sunday for a few extra days in Rome. Kathy

[denfarwell]

Thanks, Nancy, for such valuable information. People like you help make others' cruises better.

Dennette

[FredS]

Stingraynz, thanks for the review. We are planning on doing the Manaus to Rome trip next year so I am interested in all the info possible as we plan the trip. Could you give an idea of the approx. price of the tours you took? Was it high for just the two of you in the van? I will look forward to your more detailed review of the trip.

[annmarz]

So glad to read these posts! I too am booked on the July 30 sailing with my mom and son. Very excited! We just love the Royal. To those just returned, could you describe the evening entertainment?

[usavvy2]

stingraynz (aka Nancy) - thanks so much for the info. We're planning on a trip on the Royal in September so this will be very helpful. We'll look for your post on the review, too.

 

Samscruiser - are you on the Sept. 4 sailing too? Didn't see an email address in your profile so couldn't reply personally. I'm interested in finding others on the 9/4/04 sailing.

 

not taking vacations but collecting experiences - usavvy2

 

Royal Princess 9/04/04 - "Europe or Bust!" 

[sprinkles]

Anyone else just back from the Royal yet. Any last minute suggestions? We're off in the morning! Thanks.

 

Tammy

[ajl111]

Thank you so much Nancy for the awesome summary. It will help immensely!

 

Annmarz -- Looks like we'll be on the same cruise. Glad to see someone else will be onboard.

 

Angela

NCL Norway 1982; Sitmar Fairsea 1983; Costa Carla C 1984; Sitmar Fairwind 1985; Carnival Mardi Gras 1985; Sitmar Fairsea 1986; Sitmar Fairsky 1987; NCL Skyward 1990; NCL Sunward 1990; Carnival Ecstasy 1993; RCL Nordic Empress 1994; Regal Princess 1994; Star Princess 1995; Golden Princess 2002; Celebrity Infinity 2003; Regal Princess March 6, 2004; Royal Princess July 30, 2004; Caribbean Princess October 16, 2004