2007 Med Booked on the "New" Royal

[susancruzs]

Well, I did it! Bit the bullet and booked B2B's in the Med for 2007 on the Royal Princess! 5/20 Barcelona to Athens and 6/1 Athens to Rome! I had 2 open bookings so I don't have big bucks tied up in deposits.

 

Very pricey to go single so I did the share routine and I'll just see what happens. I didn't book it thinking I'd be by myself, I'm assuming they'll find someone. This way if they don't, I'll be surprised!

 

I've cruised before with people I didn't know well, that maybe I met or talked to once on a group cruise and it always worked out fine. A few things to work out but no big problems.

 

I even got a cabin number, same one for both cruises, inside, of course, but on deck 7 not the bottom deck, which is where I usually end up! :-)

 

I just think it will be great cruising on a small ship rather than a mega one in the Med. Last year on the Sea Princess, the tendering process got a little annoying and the Sea isn't as big as Grand class.

 

Now let that long countdown begin! Susie

[Hello-Kitty]

congrats! how exciting. My family and i are looking for 2007 for the med, i need that long countdown so i can save up the money!!!

Your going on the new royal, what other ship is she like in comparison???i usually like the bigger ships

[juliejoe]

Hi Susie,

 

How exciting for you! Someday we'd like to try the Royal. We've been on the Regal 3 times and enjoyed her - but then we just plain like to cruise on anything!

 

We will be doing Copenhagen to Rome - 15 days on the Star Princess in Sept. '07. It's a unique itinerary. We met 3 couples last Sept. on our Greek Isles cruise and had such fun, we wanted to cruise together again so it will be our "reunion cruise".

 

I'm sure you will do fine with a cabin mate! Better to have a little inconvenience and get to cruise more often!

 

Julie

[emilee]

We are thinking about the Royal as well. What kind of pricing did they give you and do all of the rooms have balconies? Thanks!

[SeaGams]

Hi Susie,

We just booked the 6-01-07 Holy Land cruise on Royal Princess this morning. It looks like an absolutely unbelievable itinerary. My TA said that it was not easy dealing with Princess in making this booking because they have little information out yet about this ship. However he found the Swain Hellenic web site to show deck plans and virtual tours for their Minerva II, which will soon be Royal Princess. Of course I don't know how much of the ship will actually be changed by Princess, but I thought I would share what little we have at this time.

 

swanhellenic.com/

[Pam in CA]

Hi Susie,

We just booked the 6-01-07 Holy Land cruise on Royal Princess this morning. It looks like an absolutely unbelievable itinerary. My TA said that it was not easy dealing with Princess in making this booking because they have little information out yet about this ship. However he found the Swain Hellenic web site to show deck plans and virtual tours for their Minerva II, which will soon be Royal Princess. Of course I don't know how much of the ship will actually be changed by Princess, but I thought I would share what little we have at this time.

 

swanhellenic.com/

I'm booked in the new Royal Princess for the Holy Land cruise on 11/4/07. It's my understanding that the ship will be refurbished to be similar to the current Pacific Princess. That's what the Princess Future Cruise rep said when booking our cabin on the Royal.

[SeaGams]

I'm booked in the new Royal Princess for the Holy Land cruise on 11/4/07. It's my understanding that the ship will be refurbished to be similar to the current Pacific Princess. That's what the Princess Future Cruise rep said when booking our cabin on the Royal.

 

 

Pam,:)

 

The only difference may be on deck 8. Pacific Princess has mostly suites on deck 8, Minerva II has standard balcony cabins. The only reason I'm aware of this difference is because we were looking to book a cabin on this deck, and the info given to my TA did not jive with the deck plan for Pacific Princess, but did for Minerva II. We'll just have to wait and see exactly what changes will be made. In any case, I still am very excited about this itinerary and seeing places I never thought I would see. We've been to Athens, Kusadasi, Sorrento and Rome. But the Greek isles, Israel and Egypt will be a dream come true. I hope Princess puts together some awesome shore excursions.:D:D

[Suzy Q]

We have booked the new Royal for Aug 2007. Both our TA and Princess told me there would be no mini suites on this ship. PH, owner's and then balconies. We booked a balcony. Would have loved a mini. We have had it twice on the Tahitian. TA said only about two weeks time from when it leaves Swan Hellenic and comes to Princess. Not long enough for remodeling deck eight. Different info welcome.

SQ

[susancruzs]

Great to know someone else is on this sailing already, too! I am so excited about this itinerary! Having more ports in Turkey, Egypt and Israel is so great!

 

Actually I remember what JulieJoe said last year about their cruise and what things were their favorites, influenced me a little also Princess having a small ship was the big deciding factor! I looked at the Minerva plans and Pacific Princess plans to tell my agent I wanted an inside on Deck 7 and was pleased to get it! When you look at pictures of the Pacific Princess on Virtual Tours, they really left alot that made the "R" ships special. Minerva looks the same way (she was R8, the newest) so I don't look for major changes, not in 2 weeks.

 

In two weeks, they'll probably get the signage changed, add a casino, do a paint job and not much else will change really. They went through the same with Sea Princessin 2005 having 2 weeks to change her from Adonia to Sea.

 

I'm not going to say what I am paying for this cruise. First I priced it as a single which was over the top, of course. I asked my agent to price it as a share and got what I think is a good price. Cruises for 2007 are up, no doubt about it.

 

Let the countdown begin! Susie

 

P.S. Juliejoe, great to see you post. I switched over to Earthlink and in the process lost some email addresses. I was going to let you know I was doing the med next year! Great that you are going to be cruising with couples you met, sounds like fun!

[Pam in CA]

The pricing for the smaller ships is generally higher than on the large ships and you will have a greater per-diem cost. Plus, with the exotic ports, it's likely that there'll be higher port charges. I think it's worth it to go to new and interesting places.

 

One thing to keep in the back of your mind so that you're not disappointed if it happens is that if there is any kind of U.S. State Dept. warning, the itinerary could change. That happened to us in May 2001 -- we were scheduled to go on a very similar itinerary and the Israeli ports were cancelled, substituting two days in Istanbul. We did the overnight in Cairo and while very expensive, it was VERY worthwhile to be able to stay in a hotel on the Nile, see the Sphinx at night, and visit the Cairo Museum the next day. I highly recommend doing the overnight if it's offered.

[SeaGams]

Suzy Q- I got the same info you did. No mini suites on Royal's deck 8, only grand and master suites and then standard balcony cabins. I too was hoping for a mini suite.

 

Susie- A roll call has been started for the 6-01-07 sailing. See, there are others planning as far in advance as us!!

 

Pam- Thanks for the heads up about possible US State Dept. warnings. I would need to reconsider this cruise if certain ports on this itinerary had to be eliminated.

[susancruzs]

Thanks for the tip, Pam! I had in the back of my mind that things could change. I haven't been to the Med so an itinerary change would not be a big deal, certainly enough places, islands to go if say Israel or Egypt are off limits.

 

I'm flexible that way, I remember a cruise where we missed two places in Hawaii years ago, they didn't do a thing for us and no one said a word! Now it would be cause for major discussion!!!

 

I'm going to check out the roll call, too! 13 months out isn't "that" early! I booked last years Sea Princess cruise around 16 months out.