Royal Princess in Cabo San Lucas Part II

Hello from our second day in Cabo San Lucas!

Today wasn't actually a full day as the last tender was at noon. We had tenders running through the night, but there was a lot of confusion about exactly how often they were running. Crew were under the impression if anyone (passengers included) were off the ship at 2am they wouldn't be able to get back until morning. Yet we also heard they were running every half hour every night. So who knows?We did hear them ever so often throughout the night, and boy was it a loud-loud-loud crowd coming back onboard. More than a few obviously had a great day (and night and morning) filled with some tasty libations.

Ship tenders, AKA orange party boats

The Patter did tell us the frequency of tenders/water shuttles would increase again at 7 am and by the looks of it, they were right on. We had five ship tenders and another three local tenders waiting just a bit before 7. 

For us, today was another stay-on-the-ship cruise with great morning and daytime views.

Such a beautiful sunrise

Not a shabby breakfast view, either

Before we left Cabo, I saw something in the water. This picture was taken almost straight down over the top of it from our cabin on deck 12. I saw it from several angles and although from this angle it looks like a dolphin it definitely was not a dolphin.

I want to mention a few things about this ship I haven't gotten around to yet.

• I've said this before, but the Royal Princess has the friendliest crew onboard. And they want things to be right. For example, last night I grabbed a steak off the buffet for dinner. Once I cut into it, I thought I heard a moo. (Or maybe it was the wild crowd onshore in Cabo?) Just kidding, but the meat was raw. Like cold raw.

I got up from the table to go get a new one and someone stopped me and asked me if I needed anything. I explained about the steak issue. But I didn't have to take care of it myself - someone else went and got me a new one. Replaced it with a nice, hot, juicy steak. Oh so yummy!

• The inconsistencies of service from cabin stewards across the Princess fleet continues, but this time it has swung wildly towards the good side. We have a great cabin steward who keeps our ice bucket full, prioritizes our cabin to be cleaned right away, and keeps things clean. Next cruise we are heading down the hallway but I'm not sure if we'll have the same guy or not so I may see another swing yet the other way. Or maybe not.
• I turned in my free Elite minutes for the MedallionNet unlimited package. The WiFi here in Mexico is definitely an improvement over what we saw during our five weeks on this ship in Alaska.
• Since this was a short cruise there was no Captain's Circle Party so we got the free drink coupons like we did last week on the Golden Princess. 
• We went to the Good Spirits at Sea thingy tonight. It happens in the Piazza bar on deck 5 during certain times of the evening. It is described as, "the place where every drink is an experience and every drink tells a story. Indulge as our unique cocktails and the craftsmanship of our mixologist immerse you into the extraordinary culture of your chosen destination." Well, I'm not exactly sure what that is supposed to mean but I can tell you what we saw. A special menu is available only during those set hours. 
   

A bartender wears a headset and talks to the crowd while a camera films the drinks he makes. But only the drinks on the special menu.

If there are no people ordering the special drinks you either get to watch a blank screen or snippets of the Good Spirits TV show. That's it. That's all. We didn't see (and hear about) more than a couple drinks before we decided to give up.

Last sea day tomorrow. 

You can find the Patters from this voyage here.

Royal Princess in Cabo San Lucas, Part I

Hello from a not stormy Cabo San Lucas.

The only photo of Cabo you'll get from us is one taken from the Royal Princess. While the ship is here for an overnighter, there is no way we'll be joining the tender ticket line. What craziness. Despite information posted in the Patter, discussed on the Wake Show, and shown on the portals around the ship, people didn't get it.

We had a few different things going on. 

*We had new passengers who have never sailed before who had no clue we weren't docking. They thought they could just walk off the ship. Didn't have a clue what a water shuttle (the new term for a tender) was. 

*We had other passengers who understood there were water shuttles being used but thought they could just go get on one.

*Experienced passengers thought they should just go to the dining room and get a ticket when they were ready to go ashore.

*Very experienced passengers thought they could just show their Elite cards and get on the next shuttle.

But this ship started handing out tender tickets at 10am for our 1 pm arrival. Much, much earlier than you'll find on the other ships. And Elite passengers went to an entirely different place for their numbered tickets.

It was quite the mess. We were down in International Cafe during the arrival time and watched swarms of guests who had not followed any of the instructions given. It was great people watching for sure, but the poor cruise staff!

Here we are at 3:40 in the afternoon and the ship is on water shuttle group number 92. Yikes. (Update: At 3:50 tickets were no longer needed. So that makes it close to three hours to get everyone who wanted to go ashore outta here.) Yep, we're skipping it to watch the view from our balcony instead. Not sure if we'll make it out tomorrow, but I'm guessing not.

You can find the Patters from this voyage here.

Royal Princess Cabo Cruise Sea Day

We had a smooth ride last night. We were so tired ours eyes were closed not long after dark but not before I saw the Coral Princess alongside us. We've been following her (or she's been following us) since we saw her in Vancouver when we were on the Golden.

She looked much cooler in person than the picture shows.

The night was great for sleeping, and boy we love these new Princess beds. They make us realize we need a new bed at home. But if we had a great bed like this at home I imagine we wouldn't appreciate the ship one as much! We do like this cabin, too. Although again, two TVs and only one TV controller. And (surprise!) I don't get to touch it.

Another thing we like? These new sandwiches at the International Cafe. While I loved my Cuban sandwich, my hubby really, really loved his Italian Brick sandwich. Just look at all that meat! Add in the toasted bread, red peppers, pesto sauce, and cheese? Oh, yum.

We've also noticed the menu continuing to change at the buffet. Many of the signs refer to it as the World Fresh Marketplace. We knew it was coming but it's interesting to see how things have changed in just two weeks.

This morning the buffet had their chocolate breakfast. So. Much. Chocolate.

And the weather? Well, we're making our way to Cabo San Lucas where they are under a tropical storm warning, thanks to TS Narda.

We haven't heard a word about any diversions yet, and based on the weather right now it's surprising there is a storm not far from us.

We're definitely not in Alaska anymore.

Tonight is formal night and even though we have dressy clothes, we'll be heading to the buffet. It's Ramen Station night and hubby can't miss that one.

You can find the Patters from this voyage here.

Maybe see you in Cabo San Lucas tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

Royal Princess 5 Day Cabo Cruise

Hello from sunny San Pedro, California.

Here we go with another somewhat quickie cruise, a 5 day with an overnight in Cabo San Lucas. It'll be interesting to see how this quickie compares to the 3 day we just left on the Golden. One thing I already have noticed is the passenger makeup seems to be a bit more on the wilder side on this cruise. Okay, maybe a lot wilder.

Embarkation was not fun. Again, we already had our Medallions and were directed to a very long line to check in. Can we use the Priority line? Nope. It has to be the long Medallion line. Not all of the Medallion check in stations were open so that may have had something to do with the backup.

Next time I'm not going to bring my Medallion and go to the Priority Line instead. It has to be quicker than what we went through today. And the seating areas, particularly in the priority boarding area (where we couldn't even find a seat) were nuts. We sat outside the priority area watching folks with all colors of Medallions crowding the area. And when they did finally open the boarding doors? Oh. My. Gosh. I don't want to experience that again, either.

After much standing around in and out of lines and a bit of sitting, we did get onboard the ship and headed straight to the buffet. 

They handed these out today.

There was a wedding out back on the Horizon Terrace so we had to confine ourselves to one section of the Terrace. No worries as one of the gals we met last time was stationed there. We heard all about the last cruise to Alaska and the one before when the ship had the oil spill in Vancouver. Sounds like the two weeks we were gone from the ship were pretty eventful. The crew is so ready for warm Mexico. 

We again wound up in a mini suite for this cruise as it was another one of the Princess price mistake ones. It's a bummer they don't honor the prices shown on their website, but when they make it up by giving us a mini for an inside price it makes it better.

The cabin is kind of similar to last week's on the Golden, but not quite. I'll get more photos up of this cabin later this week. One thing we did notice is something outside our balcony when we look up.

That's the Seawalk, and yep, people can see us. I think if we tuck close to the door we might be hidden. We'll try it out tomorrow.

Tonight's sunset as seen from our cabin. 

You can find the Patters from this voyage here.

A sea day is up tomorrow.

Golden Princess Mini Suite Cabin

Interested in knowing what a mini suite cabin looks like on a Princess cruise ship? I've got your photos right here. These specific pictures are from the Golden Princess, cabin D326.

If you want to know anything else about cruise ship cabins or have any questions about cruising or Princess Cruises, just ask.