Grand Mediterranean iVoyage on Royal Princess

Stay tuned for a live iVoyage via Princess Cruises. Aug 3 – Aug 10, 2013

See what happens when East meets West during a 7-day cruise holiday calling on Istanbul, Mykonos, Naples, Rome (Civitavecchia), Livorno, Toulon, and Barcelona.

Getting ready to meet and greet Royal Princess

My bags are just about packed and I depart tomorrow to help Royal Princess celebrate her maiden season. I have reported the buzz chronicling her construction and christening, now it’s my turn to see what all the buzz is about. Here are some of the things I am looking forward to on the ship:

The Sanctuary: Adults-only hideaway with personal Serenity Stewards.
Lotus Spa: I can’t resist getting a spa treatment on the ships. The new “Enclave” will certainly capture my attention.
The Piazza: my favorite place to hang on a Princess Cruises’ ship, especially at the International Cafe for some coffee and a and panini.
Movies Under the Stars: This I have to see: the screen is twice the size of our other ships at 600 square feet.

Must trys

I wrote about my Top 5 Royal Princess Innovations in March after attending the Princess Cruises press conference at the Cruise Shipping Miami show, I am so excited to experience them first hand:

Top 5 enhancements and innovations on Royal Princess

Princess goes mobile: Princess@Sea is a brand-new mobile-friendly intranet site that will enable passengers to access daily updates about entertainment, onboard specials, weather and port news, as well as review their onboard folio from their personal mobile or tablet devices.
Princess Live! Royal Princess will have a new television studio. The idea behind this innovation is to feature programming throughout the day from 8 am until midnight. Cruise guests can look forward to live talk shows, demonstrations, and performances. So, the daily Wake Show now has some competition.
Can you say gelato? Besides a very tasty soft-serve, ice cream lovers will find a gelateria onboard Royal Princess. For a nomian fee, cruise passengers can select from a menu of eight delicious flavors prepared by the ship’s pastry chef, plus more than 20 toppings and sauces, and specialty items such as sundaes, waffle cones and sweet crepes.
Sabatini’s Bites and Flights: Royal Princess is purpose-built to share outlets. For example designers made sure that great wine was available next to good eats. The line’s signature Sabatini’s Italian restaurant will be located right next to Vines on deck 5. The wine bar will now offer Sabatini’s Bites to accompany its popular wine flights. Passengers can sample small bites of such dishes as Tuscan Brochettes, Beef Carpaccio and Lamb Chop Lollipops.
Super Tuscan Wines: Sabatini’s will offer more than 20 Tuscan wines. Ranging from recognizable Super Tuscans such as Masseto, Solaia or Tignanello to some lesser known vintages such as Castello del Terricio ‘Cappuanino’ or Il Bruciato Bolgheri, these wines will be featured by the bottle and in a new Sabatini’s Super Tuscan Wine Tasting event, where passengers can enjoy the rare opportunity to sample the wines accompanied by delicious small plates from the Italian restaurant.

Other must see destinations I will seek out:

Bellini’s – the new Italian-inspired cocktail bar, cantilevered over the Piazza on Deck 6.
The SeaWalk: there is something exciting about walkway on a glass paned cantilevered path that is 15 decks high.
The Pastry Shop – a “light” snack is always a must after a day in port.
Alfredo’s Pizzeria for a slice of hand-tossed Neapolitan-style pizza.
Ocean Terrace seafood bar.