Royal Princess Live**

[seabourndt]

here iam again after waking late 9 30am missed breakfast in dining room, its too early had bfast in theb buffet which was ok. had a walkl round deck, shopping quite ggood selection including a model of ship, very large. had nice lunch in d room with americans had mixed grill a bit slow service 90mins for lunch. then to singles part waste of time, 4 people! took 3 hours for steward to do my cabin, not good enough. nice afternoon tea in dining room. am getting dressed up for cocktail party with the captain/commordopre shoul;d be inmtersting. still nothing fromm others on my cruise but they are psting so mighjt getr a call,.

talkl tomorrow. internet verty slow used up 60 mins in 2 days. wtg for my 24free internet acess!!

dave

[GloriaF]

You mentioned in your first post that you had plenty to complain about, but the only thing you mentioned was price. Are there more complaints? Try to relax and go with the flow. It seems to be a fabulous itinerary!

 

Tell us a little about yourself so that we know how to interpret your opinions as they would relate to us. I see you are traveling solo from London; what age range, etc? I hope you truly enjoy the cruise.

[Pia1913]

here iam again after waking late 9 30am missed breakfast in dining room, its too early had bfast in theb buffet which was ok. had a walkl round deck, shopping quite ggood selection including a model of ship, very large. had nice lunch in d room with americans had mixed grill a bit slow service 90mins for lunch. then to singles part waste of time, 4 people! took 3 hours for steward to do my cabin, not good enough. nice afternoon tea in dining room. am getting dressed up for cocktail party with the captain/commordopre shoul;d be inmtersting. still nothing fromm others on my cruise but they are psting so mighjt getr a call,.

talkl tomorrow. internet verty slow used up 60 mins in 2 days. wtg for my 24free internet acess!!

dave

 

Good Morning Dave (morning here anyway)

 

Nice hearing from you albeit short and sweet. Don't you just want to growl at that slow internet? I know you're not in a suite, so why would you get 24 free internet? I'm thinking that it might be because they gave it to the passengers on the inaugural.

 

Have fun; hope you meet your CC group.

 

Pia

[JotWorld]

Waiting to hear from you all about the Royal--and hope you can send us a great number of pictures--I shall be on the TP starting the 16 th for 10 days--I'll spend my internet minutes in following your thread--we'll be out of touch for a few days--leaving Friday LAX for Papette and then glying to Bora Bora for 4 nights then back to Papette to board the TP

Nancy:D

 

Hi Nancy, That's going to be a Great TP Cruise,:) you'll be on board with Flash;) My Best Bill

 

here iam again after waking late 9 30am missed breakfast in dining room, its too early had bfast in theb buffet which was ok. had a walkl round deck, shopping quite ggood selection including a model of ship, very large. had nice lunch in d room with americans had mixed grill a bit slow service 90mins for lunch. then to singles part waste of time, 4 people! took 3 hours for steward to do my cabin, not good enough. nice afternoon tea in dining room. am getting dressed up for cocktail party with the captain/commordopre shoul;d be inmtersting. still nothing fromm others on my cruise but they are psting so mighjt getr a call,.

talkl tomorrow. internet verty slow used up 60 mins in 2 days. wtg for my 24free internet acess!!

dave

 

Dave Thank you, Keep the reports coming, please, I'll be on there for a 22 Day Russia to Montreal, 8/25/08.:D

Jot Bill (Live on you Sister Ship the Pacific Princess in Pago Pago!):eek:

[annmarz]

I am also booked on the Royal for the Venice to Rome cruise departing June 25. A previous poster said they were on the "Florence to Rome" cruise leaving on June 23. I sincerely hope this is a typo!

 

I appreciate the live reports very much. I am glad to hear the cabin has a fridge because a brochure says the Royal didn't have them - they must have been added recently?

 

Has the new Dining Enhancement been instituted on the Royal yet? Would love to hear about the food and entertainment onboard.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[seabourndt]

today we arrived in istanbul, its a l;ovely day not what the weather said rain at all! went on shuttle bus to the bazaar got a few things. paid 10$ return for the shuttle as the ship docks in the old part of town. i spent 2 days in pireaus before the cruise stayed at lillia hotel 50 euros per night.

i spoke to the reception about the no sofa and all she said wass because mine was a connecting cabin thats why i have an asrmchair. i hate it and will not be going on princess again!! the prices for a single,no sofa, confusion waiting for the return shuttle. my travel agent has a lot to answer for!!! nothing from any otheer ccers i have tried but the 2 in j grade have moved to goodness knows where. we will be leaving istanbul soon and hope to have a proper sailaway this time unlike the silent sailaway in athens. am doing the steakhouse tonight and will report back soon. i made a gross mistake with free internet acess it was just to say it was 24hours open!! what a con!! i spent 55$ for 100minutes and i have only done 3 post and havbe used 80 mins!!! not sure if i can afford to do many more.

talk soon

dave

[GloriaF]

You are sending very negative vibes ~ perhaps that is why the other ccers have disappeared. Surely there is something that has happened on your trip that was positive. Why does it matter if you have an armchair or a sofa, since you are only one person anyway and can only sit in one place at a time. You need to lighten up and go with the flow and ENJOY YOURSELF!!

[Colo Cruiser]

Wow that went downhill fast!! :eek:

[Pam in CA]

Dave, your TA should have alerted you that connecting cabins on the Royal do not have a sofa but a chair so the door can open. The deck plans are posted and it's clear that your cabin is connection so this shouldn't have been a surprise. This isn't a Princess problem but rather your TA should have been more helpful.

[GloriaF]

I suppose I owe Dave an apology. That was very out of character for me ~ I was hoping that a little "tough love" would enable him to stand back, take inventory of his attitude, and perhaps enjoy himself for the remainder of the cruise. It is a shame not to enjoy a cruise!!

[Seal]

Don't feel badly for stating what you feel--I'm hoping that Dave--even if he isn't thrilled with his circumstances can make light of them and even make them humorous.

 

I'm sure your apology will be accepted--I'm sure if you could have you would have pulled that post back--like we can do aol to aol--but normally what is gone is gone.

 

Nancy:D

[jonikal]

Well, I can't say that Dave's sad diatribe has done much to get me in the mood for our 20 May cruise on the Royal:mad: ......I think his attitude was pretty negative before he even boarded the ship when he was unduly (IMHO) upset about the naming ceremony not being in Santorini as scheduled. I hope he manages to enjoy his cruise, despite, it seems, all the negatives.

[GloriaF]

Thanks, I appreciate the two of you speaking up.

 

Happy Cruising, Dave!!

[EmpressofPurple]

Dear Dave - so sorry you are having a bad time. I know I got very frustrated with slow internet, confusing pricing systems, etc. I'm also an active and social CC member and can't stand it when my fellow cruisers are the non-social type... when I'm fortunate enough to be on a cruise with other lively people, I stay in touch with them for a long time -- our thread from last year's RC Mariner cruise is still going strong! And I'm still in touch with friends from my past two Princess cruises as well, plus one family we met on a Disney cruise nearly two years ago.

 

I hope you can rise above the annoyances to enjoy... Istanbul, OMG!!! I've never traveled to that part of the world, and have long wanted to. So glad you are enjoying nice weather, at least! I hope you can save a few pennies to keep posting about your adventures -- other CCers on board, join in on the "LIVE" board to help out! We vicarious cruisers really love these boards.

 

BTW one way I saved internet time and money on my recent CB cruise was to write up my posts offline, then log on as quickly as I could and post them... of course, I did have my laptop with me, so I could compose lengthy posts anywhere I felt like lugging it, or whenever I was relaxing in my cabin. Doesn't give you a lot of time to keep up with reading other posts, but at least it lets us enjoy your events!

 

(Oooh, I see while I was composing this missive a few other CCers have hopped in with a judgmental post or two about your "negative attitude" -- and then realized that perhaps they were being unsympathetic and wished they could take back their harsh words. I trust you will take it all in stride; certainly we all have days where the annoyances outweight the delights... I know the cruise where my daughter LOST ALL HER SHOES was a real downer for her, despite the delightful cruise itself.)

 

Anyway HAVE A GREAT TIME. Please post about the menus and onboard activities; I always like to hear about the ship as well as the ports.

 

All the best,

[Princess Chatterer]

I'm with him on his frustration about the Internet. If he paid for Internet when it is free then he should go to the passenger services desk and demand a refund. If Internet is running extremely slow then he should do the same.

 

I think he should post his take exactly as he sees it.

 

I'm especially interested on whether the Royal is having the same Internet problems as the Emerald.

[spongerob]

W0kie...do you think this internet thing might have something to do with poor satellite communication? The only reason I ask is that I use a SkyCaddie (GPS) to play golf and for the last few weeks I've really had problems getting signal, or losing signal. Is there any way to find out if there is more than usual EM interference in the heavens?

[JotWorld]

The Internet Live on the Pacific Princess & Others: My Report

The internet on here for the past 17 Days has really surprised me, we have only been down completely one night & early AM & the other day for several hours, & we have been (and are) in the Middle of Nowhere Down Under. Currently at Sea between Pago Pago & Rarotonga.:eek: Only two or three freeze ups that I have been aware of on these Seven (7) Machines in 17 Days, as apposed to our 17 Day T/A on the Golden Last year Nov/Dec Rome to New Orleans when 15 Machines out of (28) would Freeze up in a couple of hours, Day after Day.:eek: (It was an "Internet" Cruise form He _ _:( ) We also had similar problems on our 20 Days on the Coral Oct/Nov last year, but not quite as bad) (Also the Head of all computers on Princess Ships is on the Golden so, Go figure;) ) "That's My story & I'm sticking to it!"

My Best!

Jot Bill:)

(Live on the Beautiful Pacific Princess)

[lindaann]

Hi Everyone,

 

We are going on the June 1st cruise but we have very good friends on the Royal right now so I am pasting their relevant email comments to us so far. They seem impressed!

 

 

Hi guys

you are going to LOVE this ship....it is great...so pretty..lots of dark wood...very classy and a nice crew....tomorrow is our first stop..today is at sea..you can't even feel like you are moving....I'm taking lots of pictures to show you the ship.

Be well

 

.....first night on the cruise...we just pulled out of Athens....the embarkation was perfect..the ship is very nice..very classy..not as glitzy as the other Princess ships...so far very good....the rooms have outlets for American and European...I haven't seen the laundry yet,,but I wll let you know...the currency on board is US dollars, so I would guess the machines too but I will check....I think you will really like it...it has a really nice feel and the staff seem really good..I'[ll keep in touch....Internet is very slow !

 

So far their only complaint is the speed of the internet. They are experienced Princess cruisers so I will let you know if I get any more messages.

 

Linda

[MercedMike]

I'm with him on his frustration about the Internet. If he paid for Internet when it is free then he should go to the passenger services desk and demand a refund. If Internet is running extremely slow then he should do the same.

 

I think he should post his take exactly as he sees it.

 

I'm especially interested on whether the Royal is having the same Internet problems as the Emerald.

 

Sounds to me as if the internet on Royal is typical of pretty much every ship we have ever been on. I can't think of one that ever had reliable, fast internet.

 

We get spoiled ashore with DSL. Tain't like that on any ship I know.

 

And he clarified the point about "free" internet as that was a mistaken interpretation.

 

I do wish we would hear some more about this ship. An armchair and slow internet don't seem big enough to be the problems that are putting him off.

[JPO]

On previous cruises I have always prepared by shutting off various mailing lists and moving old mail to sep box so my web mail reader would have as little work to do as possible. I would never try to read something like Cruise Critic as my time on board is precious and slow internet is a fact of life on a cruise.

 

* Another topic ... hopefully good news: my son-in-law just got off phone with US Passport office ... supposedly they have finaly finished processing his application and will mail it out tomorrow via overnight mail. The application was submitted expedited April 20 (we just decided on the cruise on the 18th).

[kidznp]

Dave,

 

Go find my friend Allan (he and LaDonna are entertainers on the ship--Allan Mayes Duo--very good, of course I am prejudiced) and as a fellow Englishman he will commiserate with you about the slow internet, confusion, cabin, etc. Must explain why I haven't heard from them yet...

 

They were very excited about getting this ship and will be on board until end of August.

 

Tell them that Sherri and Jim said hi and that we miss them!!

[spongerob]

Has any ship on its inaugural cruise not suffered some problems? I think many here would advise that service and operations on board might be a little erratic until the ship has been sailing for a few months - whether it is a new ship or just under new management.

[GloriaF]

I agree with Rob - I think we have to expect a few issues with inaugural voyages.

 

And the internet is always slow on all the Princess ships I've been on, too. I guess with the new policy change and being limited to free minutes, slow internet is more noticeable. {Often when something is free I'm willing to put up with a lot that I wouldn't be happy about if I were paying.}

 

I hope the situation and/or your outlook has improved and you are having a great time, Dave.

[taxatty]

Has any ship on its inaugural cruise not suffered some problems? I think many here would advise that service and operations on board might be a little erratic until the ship has been sailing for a few months - whether it is a new ship or just under new management.

Take a look at the Azamara board (and a great CC article with lots of pics) for a good example of this. Celebrity bought 2 of the sister ships to Royal/Tahitian/Pacific and tried to do a total refurbishment in too short of a time before the first sailing of one of them (which Princess didn't apparently do with the Royal--just putting the casino back in, new bedding, and other relatively minor stuff)--and it has been problematic.

Les

[Marooned]

Just wondering if you heard any more from your friends on the Royal. Hoping to hear something a bit more positive than Dave's experience. We are booked on the 7/19 sailing and anxious to hear more good things from someone on board.

Please share.