First Mediterranean Cruise - Royal Princess July 2

[Justprettynpink]

I am an experienced Caribbean cruiser who completed her first but not last cruise across the pond.

 

I would like to share what I learned on this cruise....

 

First I would like to share about the TA I used. I just usually pay attention to the amount of OBC that comes from a TA in order to decide who to book the cruise with. I was told that $100 would come from them. I booked the cruise with $600 OBC from princess but they only listed $500. I just thought it was a typo since I saw the correct amount in my personalizer. On the cruise their OBC was not there. I contacted them and was told that their OBC was in conjunction with Princess :eek:. They reduced the amount shown on their invoice from the cruise line and said $100 was from them!!! That was a new one for me. There was no benefit with booking with them. I would have gotten same amount of OBC and better service booking directly with Princess. Do not book with an agency that charges a cancellation fee and that will keep you away from this place. (thank you for listing to my rant) Lesson learned!

 

Euros:

 

Got them from the ATMs and it worked great. Got an account from Capital One that had no transaction fees and no ATM fees (1000 daily max withdrawal). Use the ATMs in Italy vs Greece. No ATM fees in Italy and in Greece I saw a 5€ fee on the screen. There is a bank ATM at FCO on the left right after the baggage claim so we had Euros before we left the airport. (Got this great info from Cruise Critic boards)

 

Roll Calls:

 

Be sure to find your roll call. We were able to share port transfer and awesome excursions with others. You get to meet great folks (because they are all on Cruise Critic) and it saves you money.

 

 

Embarkment:

 

We got there at our usual 1130ish time and was very surprised not to see the long lines like in Ft. Lauderdale. The ship was empty since most of the ship were doing B2B and they were all off doing excursions. It was great. Princess gave us a paper that said the cabins would not be ready until 1300 but when we got on board, the staff in the elevator asked what deck our cabin was on :D

 

Regal vs Royal:

 

 

The only difference I could tell was the glass around Princess Live

 

 

Butter on the table: (because inquiring minds want to know)

 

 

In a Allegro (late seating), yes Virginia there is butter on the table.

 

Crown Grill - waiter served the butter

 

 

Shopping Host vs Port Guide:

 

 

In the Caribbean, I do not go to the port talks because I feel that they are just commercials. I do not care were the the Effy and Diamonds International stores are located. (This is just me, if you enjoy them great :) )

 

Well I did not realize that there is a difference between the Caribbean Shopping Host and the Mediterranean Port Guide until half way though the cruise.

 

The port guide tells you about the history and the sites to see in the port. I wish they had this for all their sailings. It is very nice to get that information if you are going into the port on your own.

 

Meet & Greet

 

We had a great turn out for our slow roll call. The Captain, CD Ron Goodman, and two officers came and mingled with us. It was fun to just visit with each other.

 

 

 

Chef's Table

 

We did this for the first time. Chef David McDonald is the only Michelin Star Chef in the Princess fleet and one of two chefs on the sea. It was great to do and the food was very yummy. It will probably not be a must do thing on every cruise.

 

Spa

 

Booked pre-cruise online for a cheaper price but then used a coupon to get a little more off. I got a massage without a sales pitch (yay) but DH made up for that....as he came back with products after his massage.

 

 

Casino

 

Not crowded and tight machines. Did not spend my usual time in there. (There goes the casino rate)

 

 

Food

 

We are not picky eaters. If we do not like something, there is more food.

 

We had surf & turf three days in a row (Crown Grill, Chef's table, dining room).

 

 

 

Cruise over all

 

All of the ports were great! This cruise was such a port intensive cruise that I missed being able to enjoy the beautiful Royal Princess. I would call this cruise the Tour of Olives and Hot Ruins. I tried the olives in every port.(yummy) I love history but those ruins are HOT. Use the restroom as soon as you get there because you will not see another one for 1.5 - 2 hours later. Bring lots of water!! Did I say those places were hot??

 

 

I will post pictures and patters after I recover to the correct time zone :-)

 

Please ask any questions!!!

[lolane1]

Thank you for your review. I found information on the port guides most useful. Yes, I too, have done to many Caribbean cruises and avoid them like the plague. But I now will attend them on my upcoming Med. Cruise. Thanks.

[Esprit]

A very good succinct review. Thank you.

 

We'll be on Royal for 2 weeks later this month and was wondering if Perry Grant will be performing in Crooners still?

[-Lew-]

Thank you for your report. We sailed on the Royal June 18-25 and had a wonderful time.

 

Don't paint all TAs with the same brush as there are some really good ones who provide a lot a value.

 

[Clarea]

Appreciate the feedback.

[-Lew-]

 

Appreciate the feedback.

Bob...

 

Have read many of your posts over on the Royal Caribbean board and have learned a lot about the cruise line from you...thank you!

 

When are you going to book a Princess cruise?

 

[Justprettynpink]

 

Don't paint all TAs with the same brush as there are some really good ones who provide a lot a value.

 

 

I know there are...I just made the mistake of picking the one I did. Since we can not name names here...I just covered it by saying if they charge a cancellation fee don't use them. :-)

[Clarea]

Bob...

 

Have read many of your posts over on the Royal Caribbean board and have learned a lot about the cruise line from you...thank you!

 

When are you going to book a Princess cruise?

 

We will probably book Princess sometime in the next 18 months. We have some friends who are long time Princess cruisers and will wait for their lead.

 

Thanks for the kind words.:)

[hbrote]

Thanks for your review I enjoyed the synopsis. We are doing our first Princess this September trying to find out all I can about the Royal.

 

I have also had the same type of problems with a TA and now do my own booking's. Princess makes this very easy and the customer service is excellent

 

Thank You again.

[lovevacadays]

Thank you for your review.

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[rgo6185]

Hi will you be posting the patters anytime soon?

[Justprettynpink]

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[Lucky TGO]

Thank you very good review!! :)

Tony

[easyboy]

Thanks for sharing

[Justprettynpink]

Hi will you be posting the patters anytime soon?

 

Sorry I took so long...

[rgo6185]

Thanks! We start our cruise on the Royal August 27th. It's nice to have an idea on what we have to look forward to and the patters help with that.

[sailor1362]

We too had port Lecturer Julio Delgado on our Greek Island cruise on the Ruby in 2013, it was very interesting. If you cannot attend live, it is repeted on one of the TV channels. Don't miss it!