Jilliebean28

We used to be huge CG fans but after our last 2 cruises with very disappointing meals there we have given up on CG. The steaks were not of a higher quality and the waiter could not have been more disinterested in what he was doing.

Sabatini's, on the other hand, started off iffy for us but we now love it!  The food has  been consistently good to excellent and the service is wonderful!

On 8/18/2023 at 3:39 PM, LACruiser88 said:

This past November, we were on the Regal's Med/TA.  The crossing occurred during the first week of December.  We had perfect warm weather for all 6 sea days to Ft Lauderdale.  We spent the whole time in the Sanctuary!

We were also on this cruise and the weather was perfect for the crossing.  Like LACruiser88, we spent all 6 days in Sanctuary and it was wonderful!

43 minutes ago, LACruiser88 said:

The time has arrived to start thinking about going home, so sad.  😥

 

 

 

Always a sad day!  Thanks so much for sharing your journey with all of us!  I look forward to following your "live from" on your future cruises!

4 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

UH OH!!!  This is what we have outside our neighbors door this morning!  😬

 

I remember that all too well from our November cruise!  Except I was moved to an isolation cabin on a different deck.

On 8/22/2022 at 7:56 PM, Culinarycruiseguy said:

The twice baked goat cheese soufflé has always been my favorite (I've managed to have it up to 4 times on a cruise, even on nights it is not on the menu).  I also love their breads, French Onion Soup, and a number of their pastries in the International Cafe.

You're making me hungry!  

On 6/25/2023 at 2:55 PM, Wishing on a star said:

Love the retreat pool and Sanctuary on Regal.

IMHO, they have ruined this area on the newer ships by closing this area in with cabins on each side.    This seems like it would make this area, anywhere near the pool, to be smaller and more crowded.

 

I completely agree with you!  We loved the Retreat pool and Sanctuary on the Regal but really disliked the retreat pool on the Enchanted.  Felt much too closed in for our liking.

We have purchased the Enclave for our whole cruise multiple times in the past.  While we enjoyed it we found we were not using it enough to justify the cost.  So we will not be purchasing it going forward.

On 6/25/2023 at 9:12 PM, phroggie said:

A few days ago I booked a cruise for July, 2024. I specifically selected the choose-yer-own-cabin option (because cabin on our last cruise was awesome). In spite of this the booking became a Guaranteed Booking. Yuk.

 

Is selected your own cabin not an option anymore? Am I booking too early? Did I catch the website on a glitchy day?

 

And the live chat was no help. 

Same happened to me for a October 2025 cruise!  Only option was a guarantee which is not something I am willing to take a chance on!

We always book Sanctuary but really think that Sanctuary on the Royal class ships are so much better than Sanctuary on the Grand class ships.  The crew seemed to be so much more attentive and friendly on the Royal class and we liked the layout much more.

I always start my cruise off with a Dirty Banana.  After that it's quite boring....Tanqueray and tonic with lots of lime.

Hi all....we are US based and will will be flying to Sydney and the cruising from Sydney to New Zealand.  Post cruise we will be touring on our own around the North Island for a week.  We have cruise insurance thru Holland but are looking for insurance recommendations for what we should be doing for the land portion.  This is something we have not done before so any help is most appreciated!

Jill

On 2/5/2023 at 10:15 PM, DogLover said:

I nor my hubby are LOTR fans but in 2017 on our Sydney - Auckland cruise, we had a wonderful private guide and our tour included the WETA workshop in Wellington, NZ. It was incredible and highly recommended. 

 

 

This sounds wonderful!  Would you mind sharing the tour and guide info for me?  My daughter is a special effects makeup artist in LA and I think she would love to do this.  TIA!

Jill

We immediately split up....one goes to Sanctuary to book loungers for the trip while the other goes to make reservations for dinners at Sabatini's and CG.

Then we head to the cabin and drop off carryons then to Alfredo's for lunch.

After lunch we head to the cabin and hope that our luggage has arrived so we can get unpacked and organized.

Then we head to the Retreat bar for our first vacation cocktail!

4 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

The disembarkation was a breeze!  We had a meet time of 7:50 in the Wheelhouse.  They called our Pink 2 tags at 7:45 and by 8:00 we were curbside.

 

We are almost home!

 

Thank you all for following along! Until the next time (July 6th, Emerald Princess, 16 day Hawaii). 

 

 

 

 

🍷

Thanks so much for taking us all along through your Live report!  I'll definitely be following along for your next one!

Our first (and only) PVP was great for the first year.  He has since ghosted us.  We know he is still working in that roll but after multiple phone calls and emails to him have gone unreturned we will move on to a traditional travel agent.  

Thank you so much for bringing us all along with you on this cruise!  This "Live" report has been wonderful!

Jill

On 3/30/2023 at 3:50 PM, LACruiser88 said:

Uh oh, look at what we saw on our way back to our cabin from the luncheon!

 

 

Brings back terrible memories of my time in COVID jail last fall on the Med/TA cruise we were on with you!  Except my door also had a sign saying "RED ZONE DO NOT ENTER 

AUTHORIZED TEAMMATES ONLY" 

2 hours ago, jinpasco said:

We have been trying to add a card and keep getting " invalid number ". We tried on the app, on a laptop and on the desktop. Our TA tried. She even called Princess and they said it " must be the credit card company's fault". At this point may just leave it and let them do it at embarkation. Any idea on what we are doing wrong ? 

We had the same problem last week.  We called our credit card company and all was good on that end.  Eventually we had to add one card for my husband and a different one for me.  We are both now in the green lane. When we get on the ship we will have them switch me over to mu husbands card (as we have always used that card in the past).

On 3/16/2023 at 12:29 PM, LACruiser88 said:

In our experience, the service in  Sabatini's has always been way above the service we have received at the CG.  We also prefer the menu at Sabatini's.

Couldn't agree with you more!  We used to love CG but the last several times we have been there we felt both the service and food had gone downhill.  We have always loved Sabatinis!

On 3/10/2023 at 1:44 PM, Woobstr112G said:

Well I'll be spending the last two days of my cruise in the cabin. Darn luck.....

 

Bob

So sorry to hear that this was how you spent your last few days onboard.  Hope you are feeling bettr!

We stayed in the Sky Suite on Enchanted in March and did not notice any sound from pool area or MUTS.  It was wonderful!

On 12/9/2022 at 11:18 AM, DCThunder said:

I walked off Regal a week ago today feeling fine.  Sunday morning, I wasn't feeling so great any more so did a test Sunday afternoon and got the dreaded Double Lines.  Toughed it out on Monday and Tuesday, but finally went to an urgent care center on Wednesday. I had the body aches, serious fatigue (but difficulty sleeping), loss of appetite, and heavy cough, but only a mild fever.  The NP at urgent care wrote me a RX for Paxlovid and benzonatate which I've been taking faithfully. Today is the first day that I feel like I'm going to get over this WuFlu.

 

This was my seventh and last cruise of 2022.  While vaxxed and boosted, I seldom wore a mask, but did try to observe the social distancing recommendation as well as hand sanitizing.  For 2023 cruises, I doubt I'll do much different.

I was on the same cruise as you DCThunder and I got COVID a week and a half after boarding.  I was sent to COVID jail for 6 days (until I tested negative).  I was lucky in that my symptoms were no worse than a bad cold. 

20 hours ago, odyssyus said:

Meaning they have been selling the balcony dinner for this cruise but are not fulfilling the requests and are refunding the cost.  When I asked why, they recited the standard covid response. 

 

They then offered me room service from the MDR menu in lieu of the purchased balcony dinner.

 

Not a good look at all.

 

Not implying there is covid on board.  My apologies if it sounded that way.

Oh there is most certainly Covid onboard.  I was released from Covid jail on Sunday after 6 days in isolation.  

On 11/20/2022 at 4:12 PM, memoak said:

You should have been able to see the menus on your tv

Thanks and yes I realized that but on my TV I was unable to scroll to see the menu and they it still showed me as being in my original cabin not in my Covid cabin.  It was a disaster all around!  

I wish my Covid experience on the Regal was as positive as the OP’s.  I am currently on the Regal doing the Med and TA.  On November 12th I started with a sore throat.  Tested myself and DH and we were both negative.  Felt good until November 15th when I woke up with a horrible headache and cold symptoms.  Self tested as did DH - I was positive and he was negative.  Called medical and they came up and tested both us with the same results.

I was moved from our mini suite to a balcony cabin on the Emerald deck within an hour.  I was escorted to my cabin and told to order food from room service and call housekeeping for towels.  That was the extent of information I received.  There was not even a bottle of water in the room.  In the 6 days I was there (I tested negative and was released this morning) I was contacted once by medical after two days and was told they would call the next day to check on me (that never happened).  If I tried to order from the Medallion app it thought I was in my old cabin so that didn’t work; calling room service could take almost an hour; no menus at all for lunch and only got menus for breakfast and dinner after asking for them.  Had to ask how to get rid of my garbage.  

I would think that there should have been some kind of written instructions left in the cabins telling me what to expect.  I must say that two crew members in room service (Jesse and Mary) were the two bright spots in my days.

Princess should do better.