margeg

We have been upgraded to a Penthouse suite (feel like we have won the lottery). I understand we are entitled to specialty restaurant the first evening as a guest of Princess.

My question is how will this work. Do I need to make reservations as I do other evenings. Or just show up? Thanks for your help.

Yes, you do need to make a reservation. Don't forget breakfast at Sabatinis!

That's a very nice perk. You can just Show Up every morning if you want to. You will need your cruise card to identify you as a suite guest. :)

I was asked to keep people informed so here it is. NO CHANGE. 25 days out and still no assignment. Might be because we are doing a B2B, but I would have thought they would deal with those before each individual cruise since finding a cabin for both weeks may be harder. Really no big deal, but it would be nice to know. Has anybody cruising close to Nov 6th and 13th on the Regal been assigned cabins yet? Thanks!

We and others on the regal oct 22 are still waiting.:confused:

Just get there before 1:30 pm. Just go there sometime they tell you they're closed and they're not.

Tony

We will!

Thanks from another Tony

Another vote for Alfredo's, the veal ravioli in cream sauce is excellent

 

 

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We went to alfredos on the Royal last year. Yes it is excellent. The Ravi's sound great and I will try them when we go.😊😊🍝🍝🍕🍷🍷

Usually midship on Fiesta deck 6, the Concerto DR. It will be listed on the back page of your Patter.

 

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Thanks for info re concerto.

I know about the buffet, etc, but not which main dining room.

Marge :(:)

Would like to know which restaurant besides Alfredo offers lunch embarkation day on the Regal Princess.

Thanks,

Marge

Hello CC friends,

 

A few years ago I received an email from Princess saying a photo I submitted has been printed and hung in one of the stateroom hallways on the Regal Princess. I remember they were doing some kind of a contest thingy where you could submit a photo. Where do I find such photo on the ship? Is there any kind of an easy search, or do I have to call Princess and receive 10 different answers with 10 different calls?

 

Thanks,

-Andrew :)

I had one hung on the Royal. By some miracle it was in the hallway near our cabin! Otherwise I have no idea how we would have found it.. they do a very nice job of framing and displaying. They also showed them on the movies under the stars screen.

Marge

Zumba sounds like something for the fitness center to me.

:rolleyes:

Our cabin was always ready when we checked in on all our princess cruises including the Royal. This will be our first regal, so we will see!

Exactly, we have not booked on either ship, the tiny balcony and the lack of a promenade deck, we enjoy both those things, so for now it is a deal breaker for us. We are cruising on the other Princess ships as long as we can find itinerary that we want, or we will look as other cruise lines, and we have been Princess people for quite awhile. Everyone can make their own choice. Cruise happy anyway.

 

Cori

The itinerary is a problem because the only ships going to the Carib are the regal and Royal. That's where you enjoy your balcony. There are only a couple of cruises on the crown or CB. But not the dates we want.

We booked our first suite on the royal last November to the Carib. It was a lovely penthouse. The balcony was the length of two regular size cabins, and it was so narrow you had to sit sideways and climb over the furniture and each other.

Marge

It depends on your itinerary and when you choose to eat. Too if you will join others at any size open table, it will be better for you. There are busy times, usually 6:30-7:30. Can be later if there are lots of Europeans who tend to eat later.

We avoid anytime on Princess because they allow traditional diners to switch back and forth, so they can add to lines when they don't want to hurry to dinner at 6 or wait till their assigned late seating. In the meantime their traditional tables sits empty.

 

After a couple days you'll figure out when the best time to go is.;)

I didn't know traditional were allowed to change. This is ridiculous, defeats the whole purpose.

Princess said that there is 24hr room service. Then I read that there is an additional charge for using it ($45.00 for breakfast).

 

Can so some please explain this for us? This is our first trip and my Mom and I keep coming up with questions. We have found several answers on here, and we both thank you all so much for all of your assistance.

The only room service breakfast available on princess is the continental. no cooked stuff. No charge for this. I think the only cabins that get full breakfast for room service is the full suite. Unless you get the ultimate breakfast as others have described which you have to pay for.

The continental is very nice. juice coffee tea cereal rolls buns etc.

I think the room service menu is in the cabin. no charge.

marge

We received our luggage tags with the room assignment in the mail a week before we sailed. We booked a BF guarantee and were upgraded to a BA. We were very happy :)

Boy, You must be really special! I don't remember the last time they sent the tags out!. :)

We are debating a 7 day on the Regal (Amber Cove, St. Kitts, St. Thomas...never been to Amber Cove & it's been 17 yrs since we have visited St. Kitts) versus a 7 day on the Caribbean Princess (Costa Maya, Roatan, Belize, Cozumel...only been to Cozumel). We're Platimum, but have not been on either of these ships - we have liked the grand class ships.

 

So, your thoughts & advice are welcome...which would you do? Have you done either itinerary? Pluses/minuses, pros or cons?

We have been on the Caribbean Princess three times when it was "newer". I read some stuff recently that it is run down. The regal also does a 7 day to the western caribb, which we will probably book. If you are familiar with the Royal, it is the sister ship to the Regal, which is the new one. I love Cozumel. I guess it is a personal preference if you prefer the east to the west. Based on your post, it looks like the eastern only has 3 ports, western 4. Of the ones you listed, I like the western ones best.

They are all great!

marge

Thank you, Marge, for your review. We were in R614- a penthouse suite right across from the Concierge Lounge. We loved that area, but the balcony was narrow. We have also been in a corner aft suite on the Aloha deck which was larger with a larger balcony. Both were wonderful.

 

Glad you are home and feeling better!

Thank you, Sorry we did not meet. We were on the other side in 609

marge

I know its late. We got home to New Jersey from the Auto train on Dec 2, which is another story. After that we both got sick and am just now starting to feel halfway normal.

Embarkation - Very fast after a long line outside that moved quickly.

Disembarkation - Also very good. We were scheduled to leave at 9 am

and left exactly at 9. Right out to customs where there was a Disney like line that also moved pretty fast.

Cabin, OMG! This is the first time we had a suite. This was our 11th princess cruise in balconies or minis, so decided to bite the bullet and go for it.

If you have the opportunity I would highly recommend it. We had a penthouse suite on Riviera, 14th deck. It was the size of two cabins side by side. One side was the living area, the other was the bedroom. I ll try to load the pictures after I get them out of the camera.

The bathroom was amazing.

Two large sink areas divided by a door. The smaller area contained the toilet. There was a huge tub, much bigger than the mini suite one. The shower was fantastic, very large with hand held up and down showers with glass doors.

Our cabin was just opposite the concierge lounge. I have heard people say it was worthless but we really enjoyed having it. There was a large coffee machine with coffees I did not even know . Tea, Orange juice Cranberry juice, all kinds of pastries and sandwiches. A nice place to sit if you wanted to.

William, the man in charge there, was very helpful with reservations, etc.

We would get the orange juice at night to use with our pills in the a.m. We also used the juices to make drinks with the vodka and gin we had in our mini bar. Also 2 bottles of champagne if you wanted mimosas.

You could enter it from both sides of the ship where the penthouse suites were located. I don't know how it would work for the forward and aft suites. too far.

Ports- We chose this itinerary because there were 2 ports we had not been to, Bonaire and Grenada. We just shopped in St.Thomas & Aruba.

If you don't do any kind of water sports, skip Bonaire. Grenada was okay for a bus tour. Just bought some spices.

I cant understand why the tour guides can not speak legible English. I asked the nice gentlemen in Grenada what his first language was, and when he said English I had all to do not to laugh. Dominica was the prettiest island with high mountains and rain forests.

We stayed on the ship for Princess Cay and really enjoyed the pool area most of the day. We had our choice of places to sit near the pool. The new movies under the stars screen was really something. It was bigger and the picture was spectacular. You could see great even in the sunshine and the audio was good too. We did see a football game there.

Food, We ate in most of the restaurants. Buffet one night, one breakfast, and we liked the bistro area with its sandwiches and the pastry section as always was the best.

Since we had the SUITE, we ate in Sabatini s most mornings which was wonderful. room service early two mornings service great.

ANYTIME DINING, Never had problems before but first night was terrible, long line, had to wait with buzzer and the hostess I thought was quite rude.

After that we made reservations each night which I feel defeats the purpose but worked well for us. no problem with phoning the dining line.

The food in the dining rooms was good, lots to choose from.

We like table for 2 because we don't want to spend 2 hours eating.

CROWN GRILL, first night out free with suite. My meal of lobster was fine, my husbands lamb chops were so grizzly they were practically inedible. The waiter seemed not to care much. Maybe he thought what do you want for

free, I don't know.

ALFREDOS, was best of all. We ate there one night, had appetizers and split a pizza. Everything was excellent.

SHOWS, Princess theater in the regular spot on the ship was larger than the older ships. Wider but no balcony. What I did not like were the 10 or so first rows that had seats so far on the side that you could hardly see the stage.We got stuck there once, never again. Mostly we went 1/2 hr before because we like to sit in the back row. People saving seats as usually waving their hands around and those sitting on the aisle were annoyed when anyone needed to pass them.

Shows were 3 production numbers, good singing and dance stuff.

Two shows comedian who played a guitar, okay. Singers like Jersey Guys was the very best show. Sang sixties. One English Pub style show put on by the staff was lots of fun. (not in theater), One comedian in Vista lounge (I liked Vista lounge) And another musical show with songs by a composer I cant remember. We enjoyed them all.

THE SHIP - Yes the promenade was a mess. It was divided up so much I cant even explain it. The elevators were sooooo bad. I don't think it was so much because of the missing stairs because the end elevators were also bad. They kept passing you up and stopping on floors where no one was there.

The ship was pretty but I have liked other ones more. The piazza was just larger. Lots of entertainment there was nice to see once in a while. There was always something to do, game shows, lectures, the voice, all kinds of activities. I did like princess live, they had a lot of stuff there.

I almost forgot the balcony. Yes it was very narrow. Ours was long and narrow because of the suite. The furniture was very comfortable, two adjustable lounge chairs , 2 small tables and a round middle one. It was okay for us. We each sat on our end facing each other.

That's all I can remember for now, I know its l o n g !!!

Oh, and I heard that our meet and greet was the best. I am sorry I missed it but too early for me that day.

Thanks to cruise critics helping me to plan the cruise with all their knowledge.

marge

Dinner in the mdr doesn't have to take a long time although that doesn't bother us at all.

 

On our Royal TA this past September a couple at a table near ours was out of the dining room in 30 minutes every single night. When they got to the table their appetizer/salad was already at the table; entrees and desserts followed quickly after that. We had barely placed our orders and eaten our first roll by the time they were done eating and leaving. The problem was that it really threw the wait staff off their normal schedule. Our poor server had to do a lot of things that her assistant should have been doing because he was running to the kitchen to serve them.

I don't understand what you mean by throwing the wait staff off schedule?

Are you talking about anytime dining? If you are at a table for two in anytime dining your table would have individual service. Your time eating should not have to affect any diners at another table. Am I missing something???

marge

We sailed on the Emerald in a mini on Dolphin about 4 years ago. It is one of my favorite princess ships.

Its true the balcony is not covered but not a problem for us.

We mostly always take the mini. IMHO it is much nicer than the regular balcony cabin. Lots more room, and a nice couch instead of that small chair.

As said above, bathroom with tub/shower, lots of storage. Large closet.

It was near Christmas, and there were gorgeous decorated trees all over the ship.

Have a great time.

marge

Happy to oblige. You are not the first, nor will be the last, person looking for something more official than a glossy sales brochure--but that is all that Princess deems necessary for you to be sufficiently informed.

Well I ll be darned! This is my 12th policy and I never thought about a number.

I just looked and sure enough there was the number on page 5!

Thanks for the info.

marge:)

I have been to many dinners (not on cruises) that have been served what we call "family style". It is okay. They just place large platters of food on the table and you take what you like.

One restaurant called Carmines, a chain which has a restaurant in Atlantic City, NJ. only serves this way.

I guess this would be the same thing as what they are calling Share. Nothing especially unique in my opinion.

Its okay for a party I guess, but I don't think you would get as much choice as at a regular restaurant.

marge

Enjoy your full suite Marge.....:):):)

 

Bob

Thank you very much, Bob!:)

We have always stayed in a suite and I answered all we wanted was for Princess to restore the complimentary internet and Lotus Spa Eucalyptus products that they have taken away from us.

 

Mike:)

We still have some eucalyptus stuff from past cruises! lol! :)

We have been on a dozen princess cruises in balconies and minis. We are booked for our very first full suite. We are old enough that this could very well be our last cruise, and believe me, I will enjoy each and every perk we can get.

We definitely are paying for it!!!!!!

marge

thanks for the pics. Wish I was there!!!

marge

I say book ahead. You can always cancel, and as previously stated you are not charged till the day of the cruise.

Whenever I did not book ahead I was sorry You have to wait in a long line, and half the time your tour is booked up or you can not get the time you want. You are trying to hurry up because there are people waiting, and you might not be happy with what you pick.

If the tour is booked when you board, it is booked, whether you are in a suite or not.

And its fun booking ahead too!

marge

Check out the latest Princess Cruises news from Cruise Critic:

 

Princess Cruises to Launch 'Style at Sea with TLC' Program, Expand Enrichment

This looks like fun! I love fashion shows like project runway.

Good advertising for their stores too.

marge