Thoughts on the Regal Princess

We're thinking about booking a Scandinavian itinerary on the Regal Princess this summer, but I've heard mixed reviews about the ship. What are your thoughts and experiences on the Regal Princess?

We're thinking about booking a Scandinavian itinerary on the Regal Princess this summer, but I've heard mixed reviews about the ship. What are your thoughts and experiences on the Regal Princess?

I have been on the Royal Princess, sister to the Regal, in the Baltic, Transatlantic and in the Caribbean. Despite a few issues with the ship, the most talked about being the lack of a center passenger staircase and the lack of a 360 degree promenade, we had wonderful cruises. I would book it again.

I loved Regal. It's probably my favorite ship in the fleet. Very beautiful. Tons to do. Excellent food. Really great IMO. I would say if you plan to sit on the balcony and take in the sights of the fjords etc. the balconies are extremely small in most categories. I mean you have to sit sideways on the deck chairs facing each other instead of the sea. So that is a major deal breaker if you want to dine out there or sit out there. It didn't bother me in the Caribbean, but might in Alaska or the Fjords.

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We just finished a western Caribbean itinerary and loved the ship. There were issues with elevator waiting on embarkation but that was alleviated by finding the stairs.

Service was excellent.....I wouldn't hesitate to go on this ship again!

Don't think twice...it is a great ship. Been on the Royal once, Regal twice, and looking forward to going on again.

We're thinking about booking a Scandinavian itinerary on the Regal Princess this summer, but I've heard mixed reviews about the ship. What are your thoughts and experiences on the Regal Princess?

Is there something you've read that is particularly worrisome?

Is there something you've read that is particularly worrisome?

I think I read someone complaining about not enough deck space, and someone else about the buffet layout. Reading all these positive comments, though, I am much less concerned!

Good to see positive comments. I am counting down the days. Any cruise is a good cruise

I think I read someone complaining about not enough deck space, and someone else about the buffet layout. Reading all these positive comments, though, I am much less concerned!

I don't see how you could say not enough deck space, LOL!! The ship is huge and there is no shortage of places to go/sit/lounge/eat/watch movies/do nothing!

We liked sitting underneath the jogging track on the port or starboard side and near the MUTS screen where you could find both sun and shade as hubby is a lobster and I love the sun. If you want to sit by the edge of one of the pools, of course there are chair hogs but this is not a concern for us!

The Horizon Court Bistro and Buffet areas are big and they take some getting used to. But....you can always find a seat and someone is right there to offer you a beverage, almost before you even sit down.

The Bistro is smaller and includes items for a "quicker lunch". The HC is larger and I believe there are 3 different "lanes" of food. You would think that they are just a repeat of each other but while some items are in every "lane" there are also differences. The bread/rolls are usually in the same spot, the Asian inspired food is usually only in one of the lanes and salad is usually in the same spot. We found seating first, got a beverage, and then got our food after doing a walk around! We loved Sabatini's, the Crown Grill and Alfredos and we did the MDR a few times too. One serious "con" is the elevators on embarkation day...just avoid them! If you have a Global Entry card, disembarkation is a breeze although if you are doing a European itinerary this may be different.

The washer/dryers on every floor are very nice. We had a mini suite with 2 TVs and the movie/program selection was terrific. We got addicted to late night new movies including the Revenant, and several other new releases. When a new movie is shown on the MUTS screen, it is then shown on your TV the next day.

I will let you know! Our group of 15 depart on May 1-12th on the Regal for Scandinavia & Russia.

Glad to see the comments regarding the space on the ship. We were on the Norwegian Epic in March in the Med and the weather was cool, therefore most people were inside most of the time. The public rooms on the ship seemed to have been designed with the anticipation that a certain percentage of individuals on board would be outside at all times as every venue was over crowded. We're far from anti-social, but it got to be too much. We are on the Regal in November and very much looking forward to it.

Glad to see the comments regarding the space on the ship. We were on the Norwegian Epic in March in the Med and the weather was cool, therefore most people were inside most of the time. The public rooms on the ship seemed to have been designed with the anticipation that a certain percentage of individuals on board would be outside at all times as every venue was over crowded. We're far from anti-social, but it got to be too much. We are on the Regal in November and very much looking forward to it.

We had the same problem with the Regal in April/May 2015. The weather was bad most of the Baltic cruise and everyone was inside. The ship was planned with the expectation that some people would be outside. The area around the Piazza was always packed and there were loud activities all day, beginning with Zumba at 9:00. I heard people with a cabin on the Emerald Deck complaining that they heard the Piazza noise in their cabin. We love Princess but don't know if I would book the Regal again.

We're thinking about booking a Scandinavian itinerary on the Regal Princess this summer, but I've heard mixed reviews about the ship. What are your thoughts and experiences on the Regal Princess?

By far the best class of ship on Princess.

We're thinking about booking a Scandinavian itinerary on the Regal Princess this summer, but I've heard mixed reviews about the ship. What are your thoughts and experiences on the Regal Princess?

We had the Scandinavia/Regal cruise on Regal in May 2015. We enjoyed both the itinerary and the ship features. We love the expanded public area layout of Regal and Royal.

We're thinking about booking a Scandinavian itinerary on the Regal Princess this summer, but I've heard mixed reviews about the ship. What are your thoughts and experiences on the Regal Princess?

Though not our favorite ship for Princess (I loved the Golden). We thought it was a very nice ship. Missed some things like walking completely around on deck 7 but Lots of outside space they have a track up top. Found all sound systems inside very loud (the theater was hard on my husbands ears). We were on the repo last Oct. and had nice weather so can't add about to crowded inside during bad weather days (yet) . The buffet was different and somebody gave me a hint get your cold foods first or the hot items will not be hot by the time you get to a seat. I loved looking at all the foods in a different type of venue set up. We only grabbed a snack here as my husband isn't a fan of buffets.

Be sure to try the Ocean Bar if you like seafood (with a fee) and Alfredo's was nice when we boarded. We went back once during the 10 day trip. Like the pizza on deck better, but most folk's love this place (no charge). The IC is always great for me anyway.

The crew were as always wonderful. We had 8 Officers at the M & G. They answers several questions.

We will be on the first trip of the Baltic season in a few days so will see more than we did our first time on this ship. We pick a ship by where & when we want to travel so like others have said there are no bad cruises.

Wish I knew what time they will starting boarding on May 1st. though. Like I said lots of open areas to sit out in the sun or shade, if our cabin isn't ready until later in the day.

Just a few high points from being on this ship.

I sailed the Regal for a Canada New England cruise. I wouldn't sail on this size ship again. Too big, long lines, smokey casino and the balcony was microscopic. I will continue to sail with Princess but not on these newer super sized ships.

We have sailed on both the Regal and the Royal and loved them both. The ships are beautiful with lots to do all the time.

We thought the buffets on these ships are the best of any ship we have sailed.

Yes, the balconies are small, but if all you want to do is sit and watch the scenery they are perfectly adequate. You can sit facing the rail (DH is 6'6" and had no issue).

We found the entertainment very good. Service was good. Food was good.

No complaints, and we would sail either ship again with no hesitation.

This is what my balcony looked like. I didn't even attempt to sit with the chair facing out since there would have been no room for my legs. The chairs are even set up sideways because the back of the chair would hit the glass balcony door if you moved it perpendicular to the railing. I sat out there a couple times sideways and it didn't bother me because it was a Caribbean cruise but I would not like this in Alaska or if I had plans to take in the scenery.

DW and I love the Regal for all the reasons other posters have mentioned. If your room is not ready when you board or there are long lines for the elevators, head to Alfredos on Deck 6 and enjoy a leisurely Italian lunch. By the time you are done, room will be ready and lines will be shorter.

Rebecca- appreciate the picture, that is a small balcony!

Rebecca- appreciate the picture, that is a small balcony!

They could be called French Balconies. As I said earlier they are microscopic. I had a deluxe balcony which was anything but deluxe. Forget having a meal out there. What was Princess thinking?

We're thinking about booking a Scandinavian itinerary on the Regal Princess this summer, but I've heard mixed reviews about the ship. What are your thoughts and experiences on the Regal Princess?

Honestly, I would choose the Pacific Princess in Scandinavia over the Regal. I would love to take the cruise in June over the summer solstice. I think a small ship in that location would be preferable to a large one.

A friend of mine sailed the Regal last April and loved her! We were on the Royal in February, a very similar ship, and couldn't have been happier with her. The balcony is a little small, but I never found it to be an issue. The Horizon Court/Bistro layout is so much better than on the CB, and the food was so good, that we eat most of our meals here. Loads of activities, plenty of quiet spaces outside to sit and read or relax, and we did have a rainy day, and the inside never felt packed, and our ship was full. We loved her so much we booked the Regal in January 2017.

I would never let some negative reviews stop me from booking a ship. Everyone likes or dislikes different things, and some people just like to complain. Have a wonderful cruise!

I think my primary concern regarding a ship of this size would be the impact of 3600 passengers on a small port. Would anyone with experience care to comment on this? Love to hear your thoughts!

We did the Baltic itinerary on the Royal which is a sister ship to the Regal. We had no choice of ship as we were locked in to very specific dates and the Royal itinerary was the only one that fit our dates.

It was a wonderful cruise, BUT if I were to choose a ship for the Baltic itinerary I would go for a smaller ship. The main reason for this would be Stockholm. Because of the size of the ship we docked quite a long ways out of town and had to take a bus into Stockholm. I had read reviews of sailing in through the Swedish archipelago and how amazingly beautiful that was. We missed that experience because the ship was too large to sail through the archipelago.

The only port where I truly felt the large number of passengers was in St. Petersburg when everyone was trying to get off the ship as early and as quickly as possible and the Russian government was definitely running the show as far as how many passengers would be allowed to leave the ship at a time. We had worries about missing our tour group as they were letting Princess tour groups off first and we were stuck in a huge mass of passengers who were not being allowed to disembark. At one time Russian immigration told the ship to hold up on allowing passengers to leave the ship until such time as they could "catch up" with those who were waiting to be processed.

The midship elevators are a problem but we learned that early on and just headed to aft or forward when we needed an elevator. Yes, the balconies are miniscule but there was enough room for two chairs and a very small table and that was really all that we needed.

The ship is lovely and if you book this trip I am sure you will have a wonderful time. If I had the option for this itinerary though I would choose a smaller ship.