Back from Royal - Rome to London any questions?

[sprinkles]

Hi All,

 

I just typed a semi-review under the roll call section on the Royal Princess 9/4/-4 London to Rome thread (they are doing the same itinerary in reverse).

 

We went to:

Rome

Livorno

Cannes

Barcelona

Gibralter

Casablanca

Cadiz

Lisbon

Vigo

 

We chose to disembark in LeHavre and spent the night in Paris then took the Eurostar to London.

 

Just got back last night, but if I can answer any questions for anyone for any of these places please feel free to ask. I just didn't want to write a full review since the Royal is leaving plus our itinerary was rather different.

 

Tammy

[DrivesLikeMario]

Hi Tammy! Can you tell me how you got from LeHavre to Paris? We're doing the West. European Capitals next summer and were planning to take the long Princess tour on a bus to Paris, but if there's a better, quicker way to get there, I'd be interested. Thanks!

 

--------------------------

'05 Golden Princess, West. European Capitals

'04 2 wk. land cruise to WA

'04 Monarch of the Seas

'04 Coral Princess

'03 Monarch of the Seas

'02 Adventure of the Seas

'02 Ecstasy

'01 Radiance of the Seas

'01 Grand Princess

'01 Viking Serenade

'00 Grand Princess

'99 Viking Serenade

'98 Elation

[sprinkles]

Hi Lady Jag,

 

We just took a taxi from the ship to the train station - about 6 euros including tip. The train was 75 euros for both of us one way first class (second class was about 12 Euros apiece cheaper). We only waited about 20 minutes for our train, which took us to St. Lazare train station. By the way, we stayed at the Concorde St. Lazare, direct access from the train station. Gorgeous hotel and breakfast was plentifull. A little pricey, but for one night we said ok. We were in our hotel room by 10:00am. I think they had trains every hour until noon.

 

Tammy

[sprinkles]

Oh, I just realized you were taking a day trip to Paris. They was a foursome on our train that was planning on going back to the ship. I know they were planning on taking the 3:00pm train back to LeHavre. Their round-trip tickets on first class were 75 euros apiece, guess around 50 euros for second class.

 

Also, the hop-on hop-off buses ran right near St. LaZare train station, it would be very easy to take the train and find the hop on hop off bus near the train station.

 

Tammy

[meyerhaus]

Welcome back, Tammy! I am SO jealous. If there was one itinerary that I would want to travel, it would be the Rome/London one.

 

Did you happen to save your patters and/or menus. I would LOVE to add them to my site!

 

JON

 

MAKE SURE YOU GO TO MY NEW PATTERS AND MENUS SITE:

www.geocities.com/pattersandmenus

 

Golden Princess 7/11/04

Big Red Boat-1993 (Amy)

Celebrity Zenith-1993 (Jon)

 

 

[anflecky]

Question for you: Just what is the "Aloha Room" on the Aloha Deck? We're booked in A202 across from that room and I can't get info on just what goes on in that public room.Thanks.

[Kwaj girl]

Hi, sprinkles!

We just booked a minisuite on the Royal on a South America cruise for Jan '05. Can you tell us a little about the ship itself, e.g. public areas, dining services, wine packages, etc? We've sailed the Regal twice recently on "exotics" itineraries and the old Sky back in '95 thru the Panama canal. Any comparisons to be made would be appreciated!

 

Kwaj girl

 

[DrivesLikeMario]

sprinkles - Thanks for the info.!

 

--------------------------

'05 Golden Princess, West. European Capitals

'04 2 wk. land cruise to WA

'04 Monarch of the Seas

'04 Coral Princess

'03 Monarch of the Seas

'02 Adventure of the Seas

'02 Ecstasy

'01 Radiance of the Seas

'01 Grand Princess

'01 Viking Serenade

'00 Grand Princess

'99 Viking Serenade

'98 Elation

[Suzy Q]

sprinkles

I posted a question of my own ealier...would like to hear your impression of how well the refurbishment looks. Also, did they add terminals for computer use? How many are there? Any other info would be appreciated.

[sprinkles]

Hi all,

 

OK, Anflecky, sorry, I have no idea what the Aloha room is.

 

Kwajgirl and Suzy Q - I think most of the refurbishment was exterior (scraping the barnacles off etc.). For the most part the ship was very clean, the carpets looked new in most places or were just very well cleaned. We LOVED our stateroom, one of the most comfortable we've ever had. I think the bedspreads and drapes were new (the lace inside curtain was definately old though). Everything was in great shape in our cabin, except for the bathtub looked a little dingy. My only complaint in the cabin was the tiny little old safe (with an old style key). We knew about this from my parents and ran to the purser right away to get a safe deposit box for my jewelry (they had heard about thefts on their cruise right before us).

 

Really the only thing I noticed looking worn on the ship was the cushiony kinda chairs in the lounges and showroom. Dinning services? Well, the food in the main dining room was always very good. We didn't care for the Lido and tried to stay away from there, but maybe we were just really turned off by all the sick people on the ship coughing and sneezing everywhere. We did not try the Sterling Steakhouse and did not hear any reviews about it. Ordered from room service several times with no problems (a nice snack is their club sandwhich with a side of avocados).

 

Sorry, didn't partake in the wine much, although alot of people bought cheap wine in Italy then just paid the $10 fee to have in the dining room.

 

I used the internet cafe frequently. There are three regular terminals on deck three. Service was down a few times. I found that there was usually not a line if I went to it as soon as getting back onboard. There are also three laptops by the Purser's desk, but I could not figure out how to use them. They definately hold you to the fifteen minutes, as there is almost always at least one person waiting. If you are Platinum, they have you sign a receipt but take it off your bill at the end.

 

The public areas are nice, just about EVERYTHING is on deck three and it is very easy to get around. We were generally just too tired to do much at night anyway.

 

Tammy

[Suzy Q]

Thanks Tammy. We sail 05-31!! Did you have a mini suite? We have a balcony. A little concerned about the configuration of the cabin, but can do nothing about it so will make the best of it. I usually keep a journal when cruising and will write a review if any one is interested.

[Kwaj girl]

Suzy Q- would love to read your review when you return! Enjoy your cruise!

 

Kwaj girl

 

[sprinkles]

Sorry Suzy, we just had a regular cabin. I saw the balcony cabins and they were exactly the same except they had the balcony. The ones I saw the people all had their beds split. Have a great time.

 

Tammy