G was back shortly, quite excited about his purchases. There were only two Royal Princess Maiden Crossing tshirts left- one size small and one XL, and, because he was second in line, he got the XL. The first in line took the small. He also picked up an Istanbul tshirt in a most unusual (for him) salmon color. He won't trust his race tshirts to the ship's laundry, but that Istanbul tshirt will see a lot of washer action.
Now that we knew what was available (or, more accurately, what was not available) in the garage sale, we went to the logo store to buy G a Royal Princess polo shirt. Sadly, it doesn't say Inaugural Season, but it is a nice looking polo. They did have a polo that said Inaugural Season but the embroidery was the same bright red color as the shirt and it was basically unreadable. We also saw some nice looking travel coffee mugs (because the boxes of them that we have at home aren't enough) with Royal Princess Inaugural Season on them, and purchased not one, but two of them. We're taking bets...who thinks I'll lose mine before I get home?
From there we went to the Princess Theater to watch the usual end-of-cruise culinary demonstration conducted by none other than the commadatore of the entire Princess fleet (the executive executive chef) Alfredo Marzi. The sit down pizza restaurant on board is named for him, and it was quite an occasion to be able to see him do the presentation instead of the usual executive chef. We were hoping to be able to see the galley afterwards, but he ran long and we had a wine tasting at 11am. I was so proud of our waiter April from the Philippines...she presented one of the wines and that's the first time I've ever seen a woman present at the wine tasting. Go April!!
By then, it was time for lunch, and, although we had several choices (Concerto Dining Room, Alfredo's Pizza, the International Cafe (IC), poolside venues the Trident Grill and Prego Pizzeria, and room service, we chose the Horizon Court Buffet and Bistro. We learned a lot from sitting with Steve and Marcia at the MTP luncheon two days ago...I walked every area of the buffet and bistro before deciding what to choose. I simply can't believe the variety of food that is offered! I chose shrimp, mussels and fish, and a truffle being hand rolled in the Pastry Shop. We took our food out to the aft terrace and enjoyed the peace and the view of the wake. It's a favorite place on the ship.
After we were done, we continued to relax there and were joined by a couple from London who gave us an earful about the service issues they've been having. I've heard rumblings, and have seen a couple of minor incidents myself, but we've been quite lucky. These folks had experienced some significant service fails, and it's too bad, because it's their first Princess cruise. I do hope people take the time to complete the post-cruise surveys that are emailed out!
We walked through both the main and Retreat (adults only) pool areas, and I know where I'll be hanging out. I simply can't stand the constant blare of the big screen (MUTS) as it plays videos and concerts. The noise does bleed into the Retreat Pool area a bit, but that is still my preference. For all of those people who wondered how the only two pool areas would fare on sea days in the Caribbean...well, they're crowded. We did see space in a couple of hot tubs (G's concern), but the pools themselves were fairly densely packed. Oh well. It is what it is. Someone else might say they're not crowded, but I think they're certainly being well used.
I'm in the cabin to cool off (there really is a shortage of shade on the open decks), start my blog posts and organize a bit in preparation for packing tonight. Yes, we're leaving the Royal Princess after just one five-night cruise. We had booked three cruises: the October 29th Inaugural Caribbean cruise, and the November 3rd and 10th 7-night Caribbean cruises on the Royal Princess. Sadly, we recently found out that the Chumley Bears group, 600 men strong, was going to be on starting tomorrow. Now, we're the most liberal people around, and I'd consider my life well lived if the Westboro Baptist Church saw cause to protest at my funeral, but we do not take cruises with groups of any kind. 13 years ago we were on an NCL cruise to Alaska with a large insurance group (G could tell you- as he's never forgotten it- that they were from Pilot Insurance) and that made us swear off another NCL cruise and any cruise with a large group on board. That this particular group is used to holding court at the Terrace Pool on the Grand Class ships, and the Royal Princess doesn't have a pool area to spare led us to, for the first time ever, cancel a cruise after final payment and use the Cancel For Any Reason coverage with our Princess Vacation Protection to cover our cancellation charges. Our claim was quickly handled, and our future cruise credits are already applied to an upcoming cruise. So, in the end, we're sorry to be leaving the Royal Princess so soon, but are happy with the alternative arrangements we've made.
Stay tuned to see just what those arrangements are!
Photo 1: cappuccino in the IC
Photo 2: Commodatore Alfredo Marzi's culinary demonstration in the Princess Theater
Photo 3: I didn't know that they had a cut out in the top of their chef's hat!
Photos 4 and 5: a sea day at the main pool
Photo 6: the Retreat Pool this afternoon...my choice!