LIVE FROM Royal Princess Alaska September 17-24

[ceilidh1]

Just now, partybarbie said:

Thank you for the excellent "Live From". Did you ever get a chance to check out Crooner's? I was wondering how the new piano man was. 

 

I actually didn’t get there. I stuck mainly to Live bar as the bartenders took such great care of me

[sonomaphil]

54 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

The last night onboard always feels sad. Everyone is trying to make the most of the time left but you can sense the mood has changed. DS commented “I can’t believe we have to wait three whole months until our next cruise”… I reminded him that most folks only do this once a year - he looked horrified 

For many people a cruise to Alaska is the trip of a lifetime.  

[dickinson]

Thanks for the wonderful "Live from".  I enjoyed being along for your cruise.  ☺️

[MustangGT]

Thanks for the fabulous Live!!  Safe travels home!

[Hogladyrider]

@ceilidh1...great review..you did awesome with the 3 kiddos as well you are a real pro.

 

Hope to see you back over on The Tribe!

[cdngrl]

Ceilidh1, thank you for the ‘live from’. I followed along devouring the information as I board the Royal on Tuesday. You definitely whetted my appetite- literally! Thank you for the ship, food and menu photos and your commentary. I loved it!
 

mrssandyhook, I’ll see you on board and I’ll be following your posts. Three more days for me! Bon voyage!

[Outerdog]

.

Edited September 24, 2022 by Outerdog

[Outerdog]

.

Edited September 24, 2022 by Outerdog

[Princessfan20]

5 hours ago, dickinson said:

Thanks for the wonderful "Live from".  I enjoyed being along for your cruise.  ☺️

 

Agree.  It was well done and informative.

[CruzeQueen2]

11 hours ago, ceilidh1 said:

I actually didn’t get there. I stuck mainly to Live bar as the bartenders took such great care of me

 The new guy, Colin Salter, was very good, as far as I could tell. Lots of people were around, dancing, happy, and he played many of the usual favourite last night. Sweet Caroline! Lots of Canadians on board. Party people!

[CruzeQueen2]

9 hours ago, cdngrl said:

Ceilidh1, thank you for the ‘live from’. I followed along devouring the information as I board the Royal on Tuesday. You definitely whetted my appetite- literally! Thank you for the ship, food and menu photos and your commentary. I loved it!
 

mrssandyhook, I’ll see you on board and I’ll be following your posts. Three more days for me! Bon voyage!

Enjoy! The staff are great. Food services have improved since May, but medallion app and even the tv use is inconsistent in what you can do with the app. Don't let it spoil your time. Go to the venues live, talk to staff live, you won't regret it!

[CruzeQueen2]

On 9/23/2022 at 4:51 PM, sonomaphil said:

Trying real hard to find the Rose under the "White & Rose" section of the Plus package. 

Alfredos did not disappoint. I was able to drink very decent wines on this sailing. I'm not ultra picky, but I do rely on the recommendations of the staff for what is available, and I know what I like.. I was blessed to get to know several staff members in various bars- Crooners, Bellinis, Vines, Crown Grill/ Wheelhouse and Good spirits- even the servers at Alfredos. They all looked after my requests and wine needs with grace and care. FYI- this was my second sailing on Royal this year. 19 days sailing so far.

I drink reds mostly, some whites as well. I savored the upper level wines- Jordan, Siverado and Caymus.All fantastic! I also attended the specialty wine tasting and came to enjoy the Red Shoulder Shafer Chardonnay. For the wine aficionados here, please don't judge me!I know what I like.

The staff look after me well. I have only positives to tell you. I have much gratitude for the crew in every department. Every single one. From Captain Draper to those guys who assist with the wheelchairs. They are memorable and they remember me, whenever I return. Doesn't really get much better than that. Oh. Maybe the luncheon for most traveled guests. That was also a highlight and delight.

Edited September 25, 2022 by CruzeQueen2
typos

[CruzeQueen2]

3 minutes ago, CruzeQueen2 said:

Alfredos did not disappoint. I was able to drink very decent wines on this sailing. I'm not ultrapicky, but I do rely on the recommendations of the staff for what is available, and I know what I like.. I was blessed to get to know several staff members in various bars- Crooners, Bellinis, Vines, Crown Grill/ Wheelhouse and Good spirits- even the servers at Alfredos. They all looked after my requests and wine needs with grace and care. FYI- this was my second sailing on Royal this year. 19 days sailing so far.

I drink reds mostly, some whites as well. I savored the upper level wines- Jordan, Siverado and Caymus.All fantastic! I also attended the specialty wine tasting and came to enjoy the Red Shoulder Shafer Chardonnay. For the wine aficionados here, please don't judge me!I know what I like. The staff look after me well. I have only positives to tell you. I have much gratitude for the crew in every department. Every single one. From Captain Draper to those guys who assist with the wheelchairs. They are memorable and they remember me, whenever I return. Doesn't really get much better than that. Oh. Maybe the luncheon for most traveled guests. That was also a highlight and delight.

I drank Whispering Angel. Was fine for me in the afternoons.

[ceilidh1]

Over the next few days I will do a bit of a recap/final thoughts/what did I miss summary. In the meantime, disembarkation was super smooth and easy. We had Gold 1 tags, with a meeting time of 9am. At 8am, we vacated the room and went to International Cafe for donuts and coffee. At 8:40am we made our way up to the Platinum/Elite lounge on deck 6 and sat in there for around 7 minutes before our tag colour was called. We walked off and had no need to do anything with CBSA or passports, since that had all been taken care of ahead of time in Victoria (even though we didn't get off in Victoria). The terminal itself was a bit of a zoo as there were three ships in and lots of people, but we made a beeline for the street exit and walked with a purpose...lol. We were in the house by 9:20am.

[CruzeQueen2]

8 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

Over the next few days I will do a bit of a recap/final thoughts/what did I miss summary. In the meantime, disembarkation was super smooth and easy. We had Gold 1 tags, with a meeting time of 9am. At 8am, we vacated the room and went to International Cafe for donuts and coffee. At 8:40am we made our way up to the Platinum/Elite lounge on deck 6 and sat in there for around 7 minutes before our tag colour was called. We walked off and had no need to do anything with CBSA or passports, since that had all been taken care of ahead of time in Victoria (even though we didn't get off in Victoria). The terminal itself was a bit of a zoo as there were three ships in and lots of people, but we made a beeline for the street exit and walked with a purpose...lol. We were in the house by 9:20am.

I was picked up by a family member. Was directed to P1. There was a dedicated area there with lots of space and benches. After my sister showed up, we loaded and exited without any surprises. No charges for parking, as it was a pick up! Easy. Perfect ending to a great cruise. Home before 10.00 am!

Edited September 25, 2022 by CruzeQueen2
Adding details

[HaveDogWillTravel]

On 9/17/2022 at 5:56 PM, ceilidh1 said:

This is a $16 glass of wine. Tiny pour.

Thanks for the picture of the wine glass. This what I call the joker glass as it has the rolled lip. I’ll be sure to pack my own “real” wine glass that doesn’t have that lip for my Royal sailing Tuesday.  That lip really adversely effects the taste of the wine.  

[ceilidh1]

1 hour ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

Thanks for the picture of the wine glass. This what I call the joker glass as it has the rolled lip. I’ll be sure to pack my own “real” wine glass that doesn’t have that lip for my Royal sailing Tuesday.  That lip really adversely effects the taste of the wine.  

The glass was way too small for my liking - literally, two mouthfuls and you need to order another! I'm not a wine drinker so no idea if the type/size of glass is dependent on the wine inside it but I do know that I don't want to have to be ordering another drink every few minutes. Lol

[XBGuy]

14 hours ago, CruzeQueen2 said:

 

I drink red [wine]s mostly, some whites as well. I savored the upper level wines- Jordan, Silverado and Caymus.All fantastic! I also attended the specialty wine tasting and came to enjoy the Red Shoulder Shafer Chardonnay. For the wine aficionados here, please don't judge me!I know what I like.

 

 

 

You might consider me to be a wine snob, but I really try to not do so.  I cannot understand why people try to make wine appreciation so difficult.  There are so many mythologies regarding the enjoyment of wine.  I'll give you one:  The wine that you are enjoying should be paired with the perfect food,  Rubbish.  Drink the wine you like to drink with the food you like to eat.  It is, actually, that easy.

 

All the wines you mentioned are very good.  I, particularly, like Shafer Red Shoulder Chardonnay.

[CruzeQueen2]

12 minutes ago, XBGuy said:

 

You might consider me to be a wine snob, but I really try to not do so.  I cannot understand why people try to make wine appreciation so difficult.  There are so many mythologies regarding the enjoyment of wine.  I'll give you one:  The wine that you are enjoying should be paired with the perfect food,  Rubbish.  Drink the wine you like to drink with the food you like to eat.  It is, actually, that easy.

 

All the wines you mentioned are very good.  I, particularly, like Shafer Red Shoulder Chardonnay.

I'm with you. I try things. The wine guys here are awesome and helpful. The lip on the glass - well, oh well. The attention that they heap on me, allows me to enjoy the wines that are available and I appreciate their attention. I usually receive my wine orders in the lovely tall, thin glasses.

Thank you, @XBGuy! I like how you corrected my wine choice name. It was a new one to me, and I didn't have the list in front of me. At least I got all of the words- just not in the right order. Cheers!

[gerig]

20 hours ago, CruzeQueen2 said:

I drank Whispering Angel. Was fine for me in the afternoons.

I did too and all the bars I went to had Whispering Angel

[ceilidh1]

Recap and Thoughts...

Was this cruise perfect? No. Did it have a few issues/glitches/frustrations? Yes. Did I have a blast? ABSOLUTELY!

 

The following posts will be my thoughts and opinions on what was done well, what could have been improved on, and my conclusions on the sailing. These are my thoughts/opinions only and I totally appreciate that what might be frustrating for me might not even be on the radar of someone else, and vice versa. That being said, I always welcome thoughts and opinions of others (especially when they differ to mine) as I feel like it often puts things into perspective and what might feel like a big deal at the time, is actually pretty insignificant in the grand scheme of things. So don't hold back - I promise not to get offended or take it personally!

 

CABIN: We were in a mini suite on Lido deck at the very front of the ship (L221). While I'm not at all picky about room location, I do tend to sail aft more than anywhere else simply due to the proximity of the kid clubs. I chose this room specifically to try out forward and Lido (neither of which I have tried previously). First thing to mention is that, while this is a connecting room, we had no one in the adjoining room so I can't accurately report on whether this would be an issue or not. Since the room was in a hallway forward of the forward elevators, the only reason to come that way would be to get to your room. This meant very little foot traffic and it was SO quiet - possibly the quietest hallway I have ever stayed in. I loved the proximity to the outside deck pizza, ice cream, and burgers (and bar) and this was great to run out and grab a snack. I also loved that the elevator ALWAYS seemed to be on deck 16 and it was a quick trip down to 5 for the International Cafe. I pretty much avoided the buffet this cruise because it just always felt crowded with the small sections they had open, but the room was also very convenient for the buffet. What I disliked about it was having to walk through the buffet to get aft to the kid's club - I love the handwashing stations but then always felt obliged to stop and wash my hands even though I was only passing through. Lol. I'm not sure if the lack of outlets is unique to a mini on Royal (I am almost positive that the balconies we stayed in on this ship had the USB in the lamps) but this was a real issue for us - with four of us, each with two devices and only two outlets it was a constant plugging and unplugging dance. I also didn't like that there was no outlet near the bed so I couldn't have my phone charging on the nightstand - if I woke in the night I had no clue what time it was as my phone was all the way over on the desk. Despite being so far forward, I felt very little movement on the one day that we had choppy seas.  I would definitely stay in this area again and would give the cabin a solid 8/10 (really only lost points for the lack of outlets and USB sockets)

[ceilidh1]

Premiere Upgrade: Was the upgrade from Plus to Premiere worth it? That is a tough question since there are several factors to consider for my case. Firstly, I was fortunate to get an experienced rep who was able to upgrade just my package and not that of DD (only because she was a minor - this is not possible if guests 1 and 2 are both adults). After doing all the math, I saved just over $100 by removing the Plus package from DD, adding the Premiere package for me, and then separately pre-paying grats and buying the coffee/soda package for DD. Since this was only a 7 day sailing, the additional cost for me to upgrade was $175. I thought this was reasonable as I would have had to upgrade the wifi to 4 devices anyways, we planned on going to Crown Grill anyways, and I REALLY wanted to get photos. I wasn't expecting much from either the upgraded drinks or the Princess Prizes (and my expectations in those areas were met...lol)

 

I mentioned several times that most of the more expensive cocktails were not available as the high end alcohol was not available for them. I asked at several bars and received the same answer at all of them. I did get some great bartenders who were very creative and substituted with other high end alcohol, not to mention my favourite guy at Princess Live who would literally top up my margarita with Tequila and Grand Marnier each time I took a sip! I did have a few glasses of the more expensive wine at dinner a few times but, honestly, I probably wouldn't have known the difference between a $12 glass of wine and a $16 glass of wine so that piece is likely wasted on me! Had I purchased the upgraded package for the drinks alone (which I feel many will do) I would have been pretty annoyed. As it was, I got my fill of drinks and my bartenders took great care of me (and yes, I did end up tipping above and beyond...)

 

Princess Prizes became a little addictive - I got a kick of going to the room and seeing a screen pop up either telling me I had an entry into the draw or a "Better luck next time". I did get an instant prize of $25 OBC, which was nice. I was very much looking forward to the end of cruise draw as I expected it to be some big, glamourous affair. This wasn't the case at all - the winners had all been pre-drawn and the names were just read off a card. You didn't even need to be present to collect the prize. The big prize of $5000 was a big cheque with the winner's name taped on and that was it. No fanfare, no excitement. It also very much sounded as if anyone opening their door was entered into the draw - I'm sure that's not the case, but it also felt like those that were there and won something seemed very clueless about how/why they had won. It felt a little strange (but it was the morning after I had been at the bar until 3:30am so maybe I was still a little intoxicated).

 

Photo Package was the sole reason I upgraded and I definitely made use of it. We ended up with 72 digital photos and 3 prints. I wish they still did the photos at ports, but at least we got the embarkation one and some of the cheesy backdrop ones. The kids even got a recreation of Titanic! Ha Ha. Had this been a longer sailing, I likely wouldn't upgrade just for the photos as then the package becomes very expensive, but for 7 nights or less it would be worth it to me for this aspect alone.

 

Would I upgrade again? Yes, on a 7 night or less sailing. Any more than 7 nights and I feel like the package loses value. If Princess were smart, they would introduce an incremental aspect - longer voyages get more dining, for instance. I also think that, if they want this package to succeed, they need to make sure that what is offered in the package is available on the ship. I understand everywhere is having supply issues but, if that is the case, then don't advertise what you don't have. I found it very hard to find pricing or availability of any specific brands of alcohol - Princess doesn't have a menu that lists this, only the menu of cocktails, etc. I love Pina Colada but dislike Bacardi so requested Zacapa - nope. Closest equivalent was Kraken. Everything drink related seemed like hard work, to the point where I gave up and just stuck to the listed cocktails (which is probably what they want you to do).

[ceilidh1]

Food: Obviously, this area is always subjective. I'm neither a gourmet foodie, nor a picky eater and felt the food we had on the ship was pretty good. Definitely nothing that wowed me, but nothing that was inedible. Food used to be outstanding on Princess - I don't find that the case now, but that is not unique to this ship/sailing. Most memorable meal was Crown Grill - steak was cooked perfectly and very tender and tasty. The sides, however, were a let down - mushrooms were cold and soggy, creamed spinach was most definitely not "creamed" and asparagus was overcooked. I was also disappointed to find that the dessert selection no longer included the "trio" sampler but the new desserts were good. I disliked that the cold soups in the dining room (my favourites) are no longer served in glasses, but in bowls. While they still tasted the same, the presentation just didn't work. Also, what did they do to my go-to dessert - the Love Boat Dream? That bright red outer shell is just a no for me! Alfredos did not disappoint - the pizzas and veal agnolotti are to die for. Kids also had several slices of pizza at the outside pizza place and reported favourably. We only went to the buffet two or three times and had trouble finding anything that appealing - no made to order crepes at breakfast, very small dessert selection in the pastry shop, and the tiny flower pot sized grab n go options were tough to juggle when carrying a plate and cutlery. Overall, I would give the food a 7/10 (with most of that 7 being Alfredos, which was the true winner in the food department).

[ceilidh1]

I forgot to mention the International Cafe in the food section above. I'm so sad that they no longer offer the chicken salad sandwich, but only have the chicken salad as a stand alone flower pot. That was always my go to snack. They did, however, have my favourite chocolate mousse. The donuts at breakfast were delicious and we often made our way there after failing to find anything at the buffet. It's great that it is open 24/7 as, coming from the bar late at night, it was the only place to get a snack!

[jwattle]

23 hours ago, XBGuy said:

 

You might consider me to be a wine snob, but I really try to not do so.  I cannot understand why people try to make wine appreciation so difficult.  There are so many mythologies regarding the enjoyment of wine.  I'll give you one:  The wine that you are enjoying should be paired with the perfect food,  Rubbish.  Drink the wine you like to drink with the food you like to eat.  It is, actually, that easy.

 

All the wines you mentioned are very good.  I, particularly, like Shafer Red Shoulder Chardonnay.

We enjoy your philosopy on wine too @XBGuy, but at the Winemaker Dinner, we were given a wonderful lesson:

"In caveman times, you drank red wines with the animals that chased you and white wines with the animals that you chased; then it was red wines with red meat and white wines with white meat; 

now it's red wine with dark clothes, white wine with light clothes and champagne with no clothes"😂🥂