November 2015 Princess Cruise/Palazzo Offer

[Mauretania]

Back in the fall of 2014, I received a comped cruise offer from the Palazzo in Las Vegas.
I was able to go and pick up the certificate (along with a heavy, canvas Princess Cruises logo bag which I left behind) that fall
and booked a 10-night cruise, for November 2015 on the ROYAL PRINCESS. The offer was good for any time throughout 2015.

Though the offer included an ocean view cabin, I upgraded for $250 per person to a category M6 (Premium Mini Suite) as it had
an unusual, large balcony at the front of the ship.

The itinerary included port stops in Aruba, Bonaire, Dominica, Grenada, St. Thomas and the standard beach stop at their out-island.

The ROYAL PRINCESS is one of Princess Cruises' largest ships, along with her sister REGAL PRINCESS and built in 2013.
She carries 3,560 passengers. You may compare that to Royal Caribbean's OASIS or ALLURE which carry 5400 passengers or
NCL's ESCAPE which carries 4,248 passengers. The only other "large" ship I've sailed in was the QUEEN MARY 2 which is larger
but only carries 2,620 passengers.

The ROYAL PRINCESS felt very crowded, all the time. I was glad we had a large, comfortable cabin to escape the crowds.
Princess Cruises is a pretty mainstream cruise line, meaning average rooms, food offerings etc...Plenty of choices for entertainment,
music, shows and even a "Sound of Music" film sing-a-long in the main theater.


There were a few unexpected surprises.

We rarely go to the shows but there was a fantastic tribute show to Edith Piaf. The band and singer were from Argentina
and the singer did such a great job, that I made a point to thank her, later on in the cruise.

I won a couple of hand pays in the casino!

Our cabin steward was fantastic and from Goa, India. Any steward we've had from Goa has been great (once on a P&O Cruise and once on a Carnival cruise).
They train them well.

The meals in the main dining room were okay. In other words, pretty much what we expected. They still offer first and second seatings
along with an "Anytime Dining" option which we picked. The Anytime Dining worked just fine and we also ate in the two "pay" restaurants
twice, each (one the steak house and the other Italian). The Italian was the better of the two in our opinion.

I'll continue this later, along with some photo's.

[Mauretania]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160114/f8a4804d1805e0529f663c778db7af8e.jpgThe Offer.


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[Nhcris]

Thanks Monica! That was an amazing itinerary! Looking forward to details and pictures.

[Mauretania]

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The Premium Mini Suite Forward


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[Mauretania]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160114/00dc32821bb81c8df556c977c8100a7d.jpgMy hisband working on the balcony before leaving from Fort Lauderdale.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160114/a55fd06c59d21dbd89a929f715138c83.jpgHe didn't like the wine list on board. We took a taxi over to Total Wine" amd brought back a case to last the cruise.


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[Marilyn]

Room looks roomy and comfortable.

[Nhcris]

Love the balcony!

[Mauretania]

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First casino wins Nov 21 and Nov22


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[SoCalRob]

Loving the pictures so far Monica. :) that room looks mighty comfy.

[Mauretania]

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The steak restaurant



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[Mauretania]

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The other show we saw - Big Band Music from the '40's. We love that stuff.


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[Mauretania]

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The Renaissance Hotel Aruba - they have a boat launch in the lobby to take you to their private island.
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The hotel is attached to a fab mall and I bought a little something....



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[michelelovesvegas]

This looks great so far! Good on the hand pays. Not sure if I could go for 10 nights but I would like to try!! Waiting for more.

[Mauretania]

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A new crossbody handbag
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[Mauretania]

The second day of the cruise, we were in our cabin relaxing when there was a knock at the door.
I opened the door and there were three ladies standing there and one said "We're here to see your cabin".
I noticed they were wearing "Cruise Critic" name tags. I said "Um, no, you have the wrong room" and
they said "No, you're on the list, we want to see your room!" I asked "What list?" They said "The Cabin Crawl"
I was getting annoyed at this point, and said "No, I'm not on any list, and not part of your Cruise thing, sorry."
Geesh! Sorry, all you Cruise Critic folks.
Now if they had said they were "Jokers" I would have said "Well that's a horse of a different color! Come on In!"

[Mauretania]

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Bonaire - another cruise ship in port. The Spanish cruise line Pullmantur and this ship is the MONARCH (ex RCCL's MONARCH OF THE SEAS 1989)


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[Mauretania]

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The main atrium lobby of our ship. I liked these chairs.
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Atrium
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Ceiling detail.


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[Mauretania]

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Boots would appreciate this! Our cabin steward would arrange the furniture in the evenings along the curtains so no light cracks would get in. I had done it myself the first night and he picked up on it.


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[Penguin]

Great pics. Thanks for sharing.

[michelelovesvegas]

The second day of the cruise, we were in our cabin relaxing when there was a knock at the door.
I opened the door and there were three ladies standing there and one said "We're here to see your cabin".
I noticed they were wearing "Cruise Critic" name tags. I said "Um, no, you have the wrong room" and
they said "No, you're on the list, we want to see your room!" I asked "What list?" They said "The Cabin Crawl"
I was getting annoyed at this point, and said "No, I'm not on any list, and not part of your Cruise thing, sorry."
Geesh! Sorry, all you Cruise Critic folks.
Now if they had said they were "Jokers" I would have said "Well that's a horse of a different color! Come on In!"


I would have had my husband splayed out on the bed in his birthday suit."Critic this bitches"…. Oh, I must be watching too much Orange is the New Black...

[Mauretania]

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Nov 25th Grenada
We hired a taxi to visit two hotels on the island. The Spice Island Beach Resort and Laluna Hotel.
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Thomson Cruises (UK cruise line) THOMSON CELEBRATION(ex NOORDAM 1984)



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[Nhcris]

Loving this report! Your pictures are great. She looks like a lovely ship!

Nice bag, too :positive:

HHH about the Cruise Critic Cabin Crawl!

[Mauretania]

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Nov 26 Thanksgiving Day and a lovely wine from our stash for dinner.
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Casino wins!



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[Mauretania]

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That was it for my T-Giving wins.



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[Mauretania]

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I lust after this ship. Holland America Line's PRINSENDAM (ex ROYAL VIKING SUN flagship 1988) She sails long itineraries to far flung places. Here she is in St Thomas. Her first stop before sailing to South America.
Nov 27


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[Mauretania]

The Casino was quite nice. One side was smoking and the other side (where the bar was located)non-smoking. Some nights it was completely smoke-free. This was also a Casino VIP cruise so the casino was crowded ALL the time with various promotions specifically for that group. The constant LOUD PA announcements were annoying. We had a rather high roller BJ player on board that drew a crowd every night (he liked the attention too). His name was "Mr. Howard" and that's what everyone called him included us ha ha! My husband played at his table often, during the cruise. There was little video poker and they were all progressives (only at the .25 denomination but at ten credits). Well, some of you know I'm a video poker progressive addict and I did chase them a few times during the cruise.

[Mauretania]

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Nov 27th Casino wins!


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[Mauretania]

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Nov 28 Sea Day hung out in the room watchin football



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[Mauretania]

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[Mauretania]

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Nov 29 and my last win of the trip. I did receive my W-2 in the mail from Carnival but they combined the two hand pays. Princess Cruises did try to entice me to book again, while on board, with a letter offering a discount and free play. The casino sent canapes to our room, half way through the cruise. No, I probably wouldn't return. I prefer the smaller ships. I didn't care for the piano lounge guy which is why I ended up in the casino much more than usual! I guess that turned out to be a good thing!



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[michelelovesvegas]

Chasing proved to be good this time! Nice wins.

[Laurie]

Nice room! Aruba is on my list to visit some day! Thanks for the report and pictures :)


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[Mauretania]

I would have had my husband splayed out on the bed in his birthday suit."Critic this bitches"…. Oh, I must be watching too much Orange is the New Black...

Ha Ha Michele!

[Nhcris]

Awesome hits Monica! And it sort of goes to show that pay table isn't everything when it comes to vp. A hot machine at 6/5 beats the hell out of a cold one at 9/6!

Thanks so much for this report :)

[Mauretania]

It was my first time visiting Aruba and it was my favorite of the islands visited on this cruise. Heck, for the duty free shopping alone. They had high end designer shops which they
don't have in St. Thomas. I hadn't been to St. Thomas since 1999 and it seemed like they had better shopping back then. Now it was mainly jewelry shops.

[seemoreroyals]

Enjoyed following along Monica. What an amazing run of luck on the VP machines. Like Nhcris said a hot 6/5 machine beats the hell out of a cold 9/6 machine. You either played a hell of a lot of VP or got way more than your fair share of premium hands. The extra $250 you spent was worth it for the nice spacious balcony room and that was a funny story about the Cruise Critic group wanting to do a cabin crawl inside your room.

[seemoreroyals]

It was my first time visiting Aruba and it was my favorite of the islands visited on this cruise. Heck, for the duty free shopping alone. They had high end designer shops which they
don't have in St. Thomas. I hadn't been to St. Thomas since 1999 and it seemed like they had better shopping back then. Now it was mainly jewelry shops.

St. Thomas was way higher than we remembered when we visited there a couple of years ago. We also visited St. Thomas a long time ago as well and used to think they had great prices. This past trip we found more bang for our buck at St. Maarten. Never been to Aruba. We will have to check it out some time.

[zeus]

Monica, thank you for sharing your cruise with us! I loved all of the pics, and especially those of the different ships. Congrats on your beautiful hits you had too! I have never been on a cruise of that length before, but I think I could handle ten days straight without cooking. Oh wait, I do that now. [emoji2] But I would take the pampering. Sounds like you two had a great time.

[Mauretania]

Monica, thank you for sharing your cruise with us! I loved all of the pics, and especially those of the different ships. Congrats on your beautiful hits you had too! I have never been on a cruise of that length before, but I think I could handle ten days straight without cooking. Oh wait, I do that now. [emoji2] But I would take the pampering. Sounds like you two had a great time.

Thanks for reading Zeus! I love longer cruises. The longest I've done (and have the time for) was fourteen days in the Mediterranean.

[ReelEmIn]

Loved all the pics! You sure had some great hits there. Thanks for sharing! I might try my luck at vp this weekend with cris.

[Evoni]

Monica, what a lovely cruise and congrats on the handpays!

[treyster]

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Nov 28 Sea Day hung out in the room watchin football



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That was a great game on your TV!

Loved yoor report and all the pics

[dvandentop]

loved the report and the pictures. wow those cruise critic peeps sounded really annoying i mean WTF really i am sure someone has posted pics of your style room before on their site.

[Gypsy]

Loved reading your tr! Congratulations on the good luck in the casino!! I haven't sailed Princess since Carnival took over but I used to love the tea served daily, do they still do that? I'm so excited for my cruise while you all are in KC!

[Mauretania]

Loved all the pics! You sure had some great hits there. Thanks for sharing! I might try my luck at vp this weekend with cris.

Thanks! Good luck this weekend and Chris definitely knows video poker!

[Mauretania]

Monica, what a lovely cruise and congrats on the handpays!

Thanks Diana! BTW. your avatar always makes me smile.

[Mauretania]

That was a great game on your TV!

Loved yoor report and all the pics

Thanks treyster! Some of the games were also shown on the big screen out on deck during the day and evenings but way too hot outside for me.

[Mauretania]

loved the report and the pictures. wow those cruise critic peeps sounded really annoying i mean WTF really i am sure someone has posted pics of your style room before on their site.
dvandentop Thank you. I know, and the cabins are more alike than not on cruise ships these days.

[Mauretania]

Loved reading your tr! Congratulations on the good luck in the casino!! I haven't sailed Princess since Carnival took over but I used to love the tea served daily, do they still do that? I'm so excited for my cruise while you all are in KC!

Thanks, Gypsy. I know, and it's hard to be lucky in a cruise ship casino ha ha! They do still serve tea daily and also a fancier one with a fee attached.

[foamy]

What a nice trip and you killed it on vp.

[Gypsy]

Thanks, Gypsy. I know, and it's hard to be lucky in a cruise ship casino ha ha! They do still serve tea daily and also a fancier one with a fee attached.

We would go every day, even coming back from port, wet with coverups and kids in tow. I'm sure many were appalled.

[sassycat]

I loved your trip report. Great pictures!
What a nice room too - like a hotel room and well worth the upgrade!

[goldengreeke]

What a nice report Monica, and a whole bunch of nice pictures! Congrats on your hand pays and wins!

Aruba is Sharon and my favorite island also and they have a ton of fun casinos there along with the beautiful white sand beaches!

Thanks for sharing your cruise with us! :)

[Mauretania]

I loved your trip report. Great pictures!
What a nice room too - like a hotel room and well worth the upgrade!

Thanks, so much sassycat. Yes, definitely worth the upgrade for ten days. I'm looking forward to seeing you and James soon in KC!!

[Mauretania]

What a nice report Monica, and a whole bunch of nice pictures! Congrats on your hand pays and wins!

Aruba is Sharon and my favorite island also and they have a ton of fun casinos there along with the beautiful white sand beaches!

Thanks for sharing your cruise with us! :)

Thanks GG! I can see why you and Sharon like Aruba so much - lovely place.

[Mauretania]

What a nice trip and you killed it on vp.

Thanks foamy. I did manage to bring home one of the hand pays which I've been saving for KC haha

[DK528]

Great report Mauretania! Makes me jealous/sad that I can't do a cruise (would get too seasick). Looks like you had a great time.



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[Mauretania]

Great report Mauretania! Makes me jealous/sad that I can't do a cruise (would get too seasick). Looks like you had a great time.



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Thanks! There are ways to avoid seasickness these days. I've heard some are better than others. It is a fun way to travel!

[declansgigi]

Loved the TR Mauretania. Great VP hits, I just can't stick with it long enough to hit anyrhing good. We have a cruise booked in May for 7 nights, can't wait. Would love to to do an extended one some day when time and $ permit. Thank you for sharing your wonderful trip.

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[Stephiede11]

Thanks for sharing your trip with us. Glad you took some of their money and enjoyed your time.

[hytail]

M your husband sounds like a great guy - jumping ship to grab the wine I want to drink sounds exactly how I would do it! Haha

Thanks for the enlightening TR and pictures.


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[Mauretania]

Loved the TR Mauretania. Great VP hits, I just can't stick with it long enough to hit anyrhing good. We have a cruise booked in May for 7 nights, can't wait. Would love to to do an extended one some day when time and $ permit. Thank you for sharing your wonderful trip.

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declansgigi, thank you. Yes, video poker is certainly a game of patience but it's an addiction for me too haha!
I look forward to hearing about your cruise in May! I hope you come back and give us a report.

[Mauretania]

Thanks for sharing your trip with us. Glad you took some of their money and enjoyed your time.

Stephiede11, it's tough to leave a cruise ship a winner. I just got VERY lucky!
I look forward to seeing you again, in KC.

[Mauretania]

M your husband sounds like a great guy - jumping ship to grab the wine I want to drink sounds exactly how I would do it! Haha

Thanks for the enlightening TR and pictures.


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hytail, HaHa! I think he's a great guy too.

[seemoreroyals]

hytail, HaHa! I think he's a great guy too.

How were you able to get the wine on board and drink it? With NCL, which is who we have been cruising with most recently, they won't let you bring any wine on board and if they do they make you pay an unreasonable corkage fee. We usually get the UBP anyway but would prefer the ability to bring some of DW's favorite wines on board to smuggle with us for dinner.

[Mauretania]

How were you able to get the wine on board and drink it? With NCL, which is who we have been cruising with most recently, they won't let you bring any wine on board and if they do they make you pay an unreasonable corkage fee. We usually get the UBP anyway but would prefer the ability to bring some of DW's favorite wines on board to smuggle with us for dinner.
seemoreroyals, Princess Cruises allows one bottle of wine per passenger, without a corkage fee. Passengers are allowed to bring as many bottles of wine as they like but you must pay the corkage fee.
Brian carried the box and checked it in at the "Corkage Fee" desk and they stamped the bottles except for the two. We kept the box in a closet in the cabin. When we took a bottle to dinner, the
waiter saw the stamp on the bottle and did not charge again, for the corkage fee. The wines we chose were very good and even with the corkage fee, we saved money instead of paying more for a mediocre wine off their wine list. Princess does not allow passengers to bring on any other type of liquor or I would definitely have brought a bottle Dubonnet (an aperitif is considered liquor).

We've done this in Europe too on other cruise lines as some of those ports have excellent wine shops.

[hytail]

M is it two bottles per trip or per port?

Thinking two bottles each port would be easily satisfying.
seemoreroyals


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[Mauretania]

M is it two bottles per trip or per port?

Thinking two bottles each port would be easily satisfying.
seemoreroyals


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hytail, it is two bottles per trip without corkage fee.

[seemoreroyals]

hytail, it is two bottles per trip without corkage fee.

DW informed me our corkage fee on NCL was $20 per bottle. Is that what all the cruise lines charge? On NCL if we purchased alcohol from any of the ports, we weren't able to take it to the room. On a few occasions we saw people in front of us getting back on the ship try to sneak alcohol back on board to take to their rooms but the x-ray machines on NCL are pretty good. They took it somewhere and stored it for them. Don't know if there is any way to get access to it. I am thinking they may let you have a bottle from your stash if you are willing to pay the $20 corkage fee but not sure.

[Mauretania]

DW informed me our corkage fee on NCL was $20 per bottle. Is that what all the cruise lines charge? On NCL if we purchased alcohol from any of the ports, we weren't able to take it to the room. On a few occasions we saw people in front of us getting back on the ship try to sneak alcohol back on board to take to their rooms but the x-ray machines on NCL are pretty good. They took it somewhere and stored it for them. Don't know if there is any way to get access to it. I am thinking they may let you have a bottle from your stash if you are willing to pay the $20 corkage fee but not sure.

Each cruise line charges different amounts for corkage fees. I know we've paid $7.00 on Crystal and this past Princess cruise it was $15.00.

In port we've bought Grand Marnier duty free, which is brought to your cabin the last night of the cruise. We bought it in St. Thomas this time, as it was cheaper than here and on the ship.

Most cruise lines don't allow you to bring liquor on board to consume in your cabin. However, some do such as Crystal Cruises. We bought a bottle of Port in Portugal to have in the cabin during a cruise.