My Princess Ruby Cruise review (10/14/17) and comparison to Celebrity Equinox (5/17)

This is my personal review and comparison to the X cruise that we took in May on the Equinox.

Embarkation/Debarkation: We were shocked as to how quick we got on the Ruby! We arrived at about 11:00 AM (were told to be there at 1:30 PM) and were literally on within 10 minutes! Debarkation was just as fast and efficient on the Ruby.

X was terrible since they could not locate 2 passengers to get off of the ship! Because of that, it took longer than usual.

Hands down, the Ruby wins!

Staff: I don’t know how else to say this, but workers on the Ruby rarely smiled. Most seemed tired or not happy to be there. May (from Japan) in one of the bars was AWESOME! Her peers definitely need to work with her. Also, our cabin steward Darios was great and loved to chat (briefly). Also, we heard things that we’ve never heard before on any of our cruises. One worker in the International Café said to my friend ‘You’re rude’ when my friend KINDLY let him know that he was next (and not the person after him). We were SHOCKED and have never heard this before. In the dining room, time and time again we kept hearing ‘we can’t do that’ or ‘I’ll come back to you’, without them coming back or remembering what we said or requested. When we did have a question for someone on the ship, they didn’t seem like they wanted to help.

X was the TOTAL opposite! We never heard a no, everyone was always smiling and ready to assist. We felt wanted and pampered from ALL of the staff.

Hands down, X wins!!!!!

Food: Food is very subjective, so this is my opinion only. We’re not foodies, but tend to enjoy good food while on a cruise. The menu was ‘boring’. Some of the foods were bland and just ok. Wait staff would tell us to wait when we had a request and would never follow up. We had a large group with 5 different tables. We were free to sit at any table. One of the waitresses was INCREDIBLE! She was fast, polite and accurate! Whoever sat at her tables were fed at least 15 minutes before the other tables. Everyone rushed to sit at her tables, lol! We were all in the same area and could not figure out why she was so efficient and quick compared to the other waiter. My timing is not exaggerated. We’d be finishing dinner while our friends at other table(s) were just getting their entrée….

Food by the pools was very good! Pizza and burgers, etc. International Café was our nightly place to eat, since the pizza place closed early! Who would close a pizza place early!?! The Cuban sandwiches were very good as were some of the pastries.

Buffet food was ok, simple as that. Same ole thing. Got crowded too. Service was fair. Nothing popped, just ok……

On X, the food was very good.. I wouldn’t say great, but very good. Wait staff was attentive but I wouldn’t say fast. Food by pools was very good. Pizza place open very late! Great pizza and pasta. Buffet was very good and very efficient, easy to navigate. Never seemed overcrowded. Service was good.

For food, X wins hands down. For Service in dining room, X wins! Our waitress on the Ruby should work for X!

Activities: I expected so much more from the Ruby. The pool area was BORING! The band rarely played. The pool DJ was not that great! Volleyball was fun though! Everything seemed to die down by 10ish.. The night club was the only real happening place after hours. We/our kids usually shut it down. We karaoke’d and had a blast.

On X, I felt that there was more to do, even though I was expecting a ‘dead’ ship! Seemed to close down later. More options, livelier. This really surprised my wife and I being that we expected an older crowd and less activity. Music and band by pool was good. Things were happening throughout the ship.

Again, X wins!

Fellow passengers: We noted that many of the passengers were a little older than us (60+). There’s nothing wrong with that, but we were expecting a younger crowd, being that it was Princess.

Comparing to X, I think that the crowd might have been a little younger than on the Ruby, which again surprised me. I enjoy associating with people of all ages, so don’t slam me for my comments.

Overall, X wins again!

Ship/Cabin: We knew going in that the Ruby is an older ship. She has held up though. Ship is in really good shape, however the colors and the ‘feel’ are not up to date. Seems outdated. Sort of easy to navigate. I think that if the staff was nicer and smiling, it would’ve made the ship feel nicer (if you know what I mean)….. We had an aft cabin, D735. Cabin seemed a bit tight but balcony was awesome!

Equinox was very nice, up to date. I can’t really say much more, but great ship! I can’t compare the cabins to the Ruby because it’s equivalent to a mini suite. Our friends did stay in a mini suite and it was very comparable to X

In regards to the ship, X wins!

Specialty Dining: We only visited the Crown Grill. Food was good. Porterhouse was a very generous cut and mashed potatoes were the bomb! Service was blah, no emotions/feelings from the staff. Felt like they were just going thru the motions! Come on guys, SMILE!!!!!! We also had the English lunch at the Wheelhouse. Our party of 3 was seated next to the service entrance. After being seated, we were blatantly ignored! People next to us were ordering drinks, while we just sat and sat. This is not an exaggeration! We finally got up and left. As we headed out, an officer asked how it was. I explained to him that NO ONE ever stopped by our table and that we were leaving! He apologized and asked us to please stay. We told him no kindly and that we’d be going somewhere else. He insisted that we stay. We gave in and he seated us in a ‘VIP’ area. He deeply apologized and wanted to know where we were seated so that he could talk to his staff. He had a waiter take our order. Within FIVE minutes, we received our food! Others in the same section were looking at us wondering how/why we got our food so fast. While we ate, he spoke to his staff. A few came over to apologize. We felt bad because we didn’t want anyone to get in trouble. He said that he needed to know so that this does not happen again.

On X, we visited 3 specialty dining’s. The food was very good, but again, it was the SERVICE that made the difference! We were treated special and treated like it was a special night on the town. We didn’t get that feeling at all on the Ruby! It felt like we were intruding on their evening!

X wins, without a doubt!

Final Comments: I went with a group of 30, friends and family. I can honestly say that they made our trip! If it was just my wife and I, I think I would’ve either jumped off the ship or flew home from Puerto Vallarta! It really was that boring and DEAD! Being that we’ve been on many cruises, I kept my comments to myself so that I could get an honest opinion from others. From the ones that rarely cruised, they said that it was slightly boring. They said that the food was ok and that the ship was ok. They too noticed the crew and how they seemed ‘not interested’. For those that have cruise several times, a few said that the food ‘sucked’ and that the ship was boring and that there was nothing to do! All agreed that if it wasn’t for our group, that this cruise would’ve been a failure! The kids, aged 19 – 24 enjoyed the company of one another. They too said that it was BORING! My two boy, who have cruised about 7 or 8 times said that it was boring and that the food was terrible! For those 60 and older, they said that they had a great time and would’ve loved to do a B2B! So there you go, lol! Again, I kept my comments to myself and wanted to know what everyone thought.

We have another Princess cruised booked and we are now seriously considering if we should cancel. It’s on a newer ship, the Royal, so we have hopes that maybe it will be better. I really think that X spoiled us and set the notch/bar high. I’m trying to be open minded and fair, but honestly think that X is what we’re looking for. Also, just to show you how Princess left a bad taste in our mouth, we’re actually considering cruising on the Carnival Horizon in Sept. of 2018! I never thought that we would go back to CCL, however I think that this might even be a step up from the Ruby! Please don’t hate or slam, this is my sincere review. I had HIGH expectations for the Ruby and came back feeling like a total downer! The funny thing is that the only ones to really have a smile were the Princess employees that worked at debarkation! Even those that were sending us off were robotic, my friend told them, ‘Smile! Say bye or say something, sheesh’!!! So that basically summarizes our cruise!

Feel free to ask questions..

This is my personal review and comparison to the X cruise that we took in May on the Equinox.

 

Embarkation/Debarkation: We were shocked as to how quick we got on the Ruby! We arrived at about 11:00 AM (were told to be there at 1:30 PM) and were literally on within 10 minutes! Debarkation was just as fast and efficient on the Ruby.

 

X was terrible since they could not locate 2 passengers to get off of the ship! Because of that, it took longer than usual.

 

Hands down, the Ruby wins!

 

Staff: I don’t know how else to say this, but workers on the Ruby rarely smiled. Most seemed tired or not happy to be there. May (from Japan) in one of the bars was AWESOME! Her peers definitely need to work with her. Also, our cabin steward Darios was great and loved to chat (briefly). Also, we heard things that we’ve never heard before on any of our cruises. One worker in the International Café said to my friend ‘You’re rude’ when my friend KINDLY let him know that he was next (and not the person after him). We were SHOCKED and have never heard this before. In the dining room, time and time again we kept hearing ‘we can’t do that’ or ‘I’ll come back to you’, without them coming back or remembering what we said or requested. When we did have a question for someone on the ship, they didn’t seem like they wanted to help.

 

X was the TOTAL opposite! We never heard a no, everyone was always smiling and ready to assist. We felt wanted and pampered from ALL of the staff.

 

Hands down, X wins!!!!!

 

Food: Food is very subjective, so this is my opinion only. We’re not foodies, but tend to enjoy good food while on a cruise. The menu was ‘boring’. Some of the foods were bland and just ok. Wait staff would tell us to wait when we had a request and would never follow up. We had a large group with 5 different tables. We were free to sit at any table. One of the waitresses was INCREDIBLE! She was fast, polite and accurate! Whoever sat at her tables were fed at least 15 minutes before the other tables. Everyone rushed to sit at her tables, lol! We were all in the same area and could not figure out why she was so efficient and quick compared to the other waiter. My timing is not exaggerated. We’d be finishing dinner while our friends at other table(s) were just getting their entrée….

Food by the pools was very good! Pizza and burgers, etc. International Café was our nightly place to eat, since the pizza place closed early! Who would close a pizza place early!?! The Cuban sandwiches were very good as were some of the pastries.

Buffet food was ok, simple as that. Same ole thing. Got crowded too. Service was fair. Nothing popped, just ok……

 

On X, the food was very good.. I wouldn’t say great, but very good. Wait staff was attentive but I wouldn’t say fast. Food by pools was very good. Pizza place open very late! Great pizza and pasta. Buffet was very good and very efficient, easy to navigate. Never seemed overcrowded. Service was good.

 

For food, X wins hands down. For Service in dining room, X wins! Our waitress on the Ruby should work for X!

 

Activities: I expected so much more from the Ruby. The pool area was BORING! The band rarely played. The pool DJ was not that great! Volleyball was fun though! Everything seemed to die down by 10ish.. The night club was the only real happening place after hours. We/our kids usually shut it down. We karaoke’d and had a blast.

 

On X, I felt that there was more to do, even though I was expecting a ‘dead’ ship! Seemed to close down later. More options, livelier. This really surprised my wife and I being that we expected an older crowd and less activity. Music and band by pool was good. Things were happening throughout the ship.

 

Again, X wins!

 

Fellow passengers: We noted that many of the passengers were a little older than us (60+). There’s nothing wrong with that, but we were expecting a younger crowd, being that it was Princess.

 

Comparing to X, I think that the crowd might have been a little younger than on the Ruby, which again surprised me. I enjoy associating with people of all ages, so don’t slam me for my comments.

 

Overall, X wins again!

 

Ship/Cabin: We knew going in that the Ruby is an older ship. She has held up though. Ship is in really good shape, however the colors and the ‘feel’ are not up to date. Seems outdated. Sort of easy to navigate. I think that if the staff was nicer and smiling, it would’ve made the ship feel nicer (if you know what I mean)….. We had an aft cabin, D735. Cabin seemed a bit tight but balcony was awesome!

 

Equinox was very nice, up to date. I can’t really say much more, but great ship! I can’t compare the cabins to the Ruby because it’s equivalent to a mini suite. Our friends did stay in a mini suite and it was very comparable to X

 

In regards to the ship, X wins!

 

Specialty Dining: We only visited the Crown Grill. Food was good. Porterhouse was a very generous cut and mashed potatoes were the bomb! Service was blah, no emotions/feelings from the staff. Felt like they were just going thru the motions! Come on guys, SMILE!!!!!! We also had the English lunch at the Wheelhouse. Our party of 3 was seated next to the service entrance. After being seated, we were blatantly ignored! People next to us were ordering drinks, while we just sat and sat. This is not an exaggeration! We finally got up and left. As we headed out, an officer asked how it was. I explained to him that NO ONE ever stopped by our table and that we were leaving! He apologized and asked us to please stay. We told him no kindly and that we’d be going somewhere else. He insisted that we stay. We gave in and he seated us in a ‘VIP’ area. He deeply apologized and wanted to know where we were seated so that he could talk to his staff. He had a waiter take our order. Within FIVE minutes, we received our food! Others in the same section were looking at us wondering how/why we got our food so fast. While we ate, he spoke to his staff. A few came over to apologize. We felt bad because we didn’t want anyone to get in trouble. He said that he needed to know so that this does not happen again.

 

On X, we visited 3 specialty dining’s. The food was very good, but again, it was the SERVICE that made the difference! We were treated special and treated like it was a special night on the town. We didn’t get that feeling at all on the Ruby! It felt like we were intruding on their evening!

 

X wins, without a doubt!

 

Final Comments: I went with a group of 30, friends and family. I can honestly say that they made our trip! If it was just my wife and I, I think I would’ve either jumped off the ship or flew home from Puerto Vallarta! It really was that boring and DEAD! Being that we’ve been on many cruises, I kept my comments to myself so that I could get an honest opinion from others. From the ones that rarely cruised, they said that it was slightly boring. They said that the food was ok and that the ship was ok. They too noticed the crew and how they seemed ‘not interested’. For those that have cruise several times, a few said that the food ‘sucked’ and that the ship was boring and that there was nothing to do! All agreed that if it wasn’t for our group, that this cruise would’ve been a failure! The kids, aged 19 – 24 enjoyed the company of one another. They too said that it was BORING! My two boy, who have cruised about 7 or 8 times said that it was boring and that the food was terrible! For those 60 and older, they said that they had a great time and would’ve loved to do a B2B! So there you go, lol! Again, I kept my comments to myself and wanted to know what everyone thought.

 

We have another Princess cruised booked and we are now seriously considering if we should cancel. It’s on a newer ship, the Royal, so we have hopes that maybe it will be better. I really think that X spoiled us and set the notch/bar high. I’m trying to be open minded and fair, but honestly think that X is what we’re looking for. Also, just to show you how Princess left a bad taste in our mouth, we’re actually considering cruising on the Carnival Horizon in Sept. of 2018! I never thought that we would go back to CCL, however I think that this might even be a step up from the Ruby! Please don’t hate or slam, this is my sincere review. I had HIGH expectations for the Ruby and came back feeling like a total downer! The funny thing is that the only ones to really have a smile were the Princess employees that worked at debarkation! Even those that were sending us off were robotic, my friend told them, ‘Smile! Say bye or say something, sheesh’!!! So that basically summarizes our cruise!

 

Feel free to ask questions..

Glad you enjoyed the Equinox.

Bon voyage

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We are frequent Princess cruisers, 17 total and 4 with X, but jut got off the Equinox and the atmosphere at night was much more lively on Equinox than it’s been on Princess the last couple years. We used to enjoy more lively cruises on Princess, and weirdly, even though Equinox didn’t have as much entertainment going on at night compared to Princess, it had a better party vibe than Princess. We feel that the music choices on Princess have become stagnant, with not enough variation. For example, last cruise the guitarist pianist and steel drum guy all played the same exact repertoire of [emoji445], whether in the showroom, loung3 act, piano bar, same old same old. But on X they played techno or 70s, 80s, 60s, and it was a lot of fun We always have great experiences on Princess with their crew and have found them to be much friendlier as a whole compared to the crew on last week’s Equinox, where many of them seemed rather sullen, Especially the bartenders, but we knew they were overworked so we overlooked it. We also had lackluster service on the last Princess cruise at the steakhouse, now that you mention it.

Guess all cruiselines are overworking their employees these days.

Glad you still had a fun cruise on Princess.

I will say, we love the Regal Royal much more than any other ship. There is always plenty going on, it their nightclub is a pitiful afterthought, unlike the fabulous lounge on X whatever it is called. Sky Lounge? That is what Princess needs

Thank you for the review. Made me smile!

 

Glad you enjoyed the Equinox.

 

Bon voyage

 

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You're welcome, lol!

We are frequent Princess cruisers, 17 total and 4 with X, but jut got off the Equinox and the atmosphere at night was much more lively on Equinox than it’s been on Princess the last couple years. We used to enjoy more lively cruises on Princess, and weirdly, even though Equinox didn’t have as much entertainment going on at night compared to Princess, it had a better party vibe than Princess. We feel that the music choices on Princess have become stagnant, with not enough variation. For example, last cruise the guitarist pianist and steel drum guy all played the same exact repertoire of [emoji445], whether in the showroom, loung3 act, piano bar, same old same old. But on X they played techno or 70s, 80s, 60s, and it was a lot of fun We always have great experiences on Princess with their crew and have found them to be much friendlier as a whole compared to the crew on last week’s Equinox, where many of them seemed rather sullen, Especially the bartenders, but we knew they were overworked so we overlooked it. We also had lackluster service on the last Princess cruise at the steakhouse, now that you mention it.

Guess all cruiselines are overworking their employees these days.

 

Glad you still had a fun cruise on Princess.

I will say, we love the Regal Royal much more than any other ship. There is always plenty going on, it their nightclub is a pitiful afterthought, unlike the fabulous lounge on X whatever it is called. Sky Lounge? That is what Princess needs

It's great to hear from someone that's been on the Equinox and the Royal! Your comments really make us want to reconsider cancelling our Riyal cruise! I think it really has a lot to do with the staff and entertainment... If those two are upbeat, how can you have a boring cruise?!!

Enjoyed reading your review/comparison.

Keith

Thanks for this. I've enjoyed reading. I was on the Ruby in April, the Equinox in August and the Reflection in September. I enjoyed all of them.

I was with my sister on the Equinox and it was her first cruise, so she has nothing to compare it with, but she loved it.

My husband was on the Reflection with me, and he thought the service and food on Celebrity were better, but we were in a Sky Suite and so this might be an apples and oranges comparison.

The balcony rooms are better on Celebrity, and closer to a mini suite on Princess. The one thing in the room that Princess wins hands down is the storage space. On the Equinox (balcony room) I really missed the closet.

The other that is better, for us, on Princess is the dance floors. Princess has actual floors, whereas Celebrity has the Sky Lounge and the atrium. I suspect if you want to dance to current music and don't mind the volume, the lounge on Celebrity is probably better than Skywalkers on Princess, but if you're a ballroom dancer, Princess wins hands down.

The other thing I miss on Celebrity is the wraparound Promenade deck.

Thank you so much for your comparisons.

Wouldn't be interested in your comparison when yiunsail on the Royal. Thanks.

I am surprised you did not mention this. I've cruised a lot on Celebrity-15+ and Princess-5x. 90 % of Celebrity were on S class ships, all Princess cruises were on Grand Class ships. I like Princess but one things I always felt was the crowds. For example, if we did not get down to the theater for the evening entertainment 20-30 minutes before the show we either did get a seat or the wife would be at one end of the theater and I be at the other. I can arrive at theater on a Celebrity ship a few minutes before curtain and have no problem finding 2 seats together. The other thing I like, because I have watch sun exposure with my melanoma, are the Celebrity solariums.

We were on the Ruby in Nov/Dec 2012 and your comments match our experience to a tee!

2013 on the Reflection, and 2014 & 15 the Equinox.

Thank you for your thoughtful and detailed comparison. I am going on my first Celebrity cruise soon. I have friends that love Princess, so I was thinking about trying them next. I guess I will decide after my Equinox cruise. After my cruise on the Equinox I am going to try the Horizon with my grandkids in 2019.

Oops, sorry. Meant to type "Would" enjoy your comparison to a Royal ship.

You're welcome Keith1010 and portofrome

abbydancer you are SOOOO right about the closet/storage space! Princess seemed to have much more room! Hope you

enjoy your upcoming cruises!

Banjo, we only did a show or two and didn't have a problem finding seating on the Ruby. On X, we did have trouble finding seats.... So I guess it all depends on the cruise and who likes to go to shows..... We did run into a few crowds on Ruby, but mostly in the buffet... Other areas seemed to be ok.

wallie5446, glad someone agrees.. I also posted this on Princess. I was expecting a lot of bashing but really haven't been bashed a lot... There are more concerns for those that have upcoming Ruby cruises. They're hoping that things get fixed. Someone on the same cruise agreed with my comments, someone else had a completely different cruise experience... so there go.

JaniceB, let us know what they think of X and Princess!

vickykay, thanks! At first, I was like, 'what the heck'!!! lol!!!

Great review, thanks. We have actually been thinking of trying the Ruby since it sails out of San Pedro. But maybe we will look for something else now. Like you we like some action in the evenings. I just hate a boring cruise and would rather stay home (or hit the Gaslamp in SD). We tried a 7 day Mexico on NCL a couple of years ago and were a bit disappointed with that one. The staff were fine but the food was dreadful, but actually the nightlife was pretty good. I might consider them again but only if I got the specialty meal package. I hear the new Bliss will be doing a few cruises from San Pedro so we may look into that one.

Great review, thanks. We have actually been thinking of trying the Ruby since it sails out of San Pedro. But maybe we will look for something else now. Like you we like some action in the evenings. I just hate a boring cruise and would rather stay home (or hit the Gaslamp in SD). We tried a 7 day Mexico on NCL a couple of years ago and were a bit disappointed with that one. The staff were fine but the food was dreadful, but actually the nightlife was pretty good. I might consider them again but only if I got the specialty meal package. I hear the new Bliss will be doing a few cruises from San Pedro so we may look into that one.

You're welcome... I'm not trying to get people to stay away from the Ruby.. more of a heads up as to what to expect...

Didn't know about the Bliss! Something to consider..

Thanks for your review! We have to sail together on X again! ;) I did find I enjoyed the Royal and the Regal better, and I rocked both nightclubs. :)

Thanks for your thoughts. We got off of the Equinox October 16 and had a very good cruise. We share the same thoughts. We have never been on Princess, but have been on HAL several times. Equinox definitely had a nice, lively atmosphere, yet, quiet areas when wanted.

I got off Celebrity Silhouette in September, and I couldn't believe the overall wonderful service and friendliness on the ship using just the regular venues. Other than the masses and kind of chaos in the main buffet at breakfast, I don't think it could be beat!

It just goes to show, we can all have different experiences from cruise to cruise and ship to ship! I have had nothing but fabulous Princess cruises, and my one and only X cruise was the one of “no” and mediocre food. I agree that Celebrity is a bit livelier, though.

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We revisited Celebrity in September cruising on the Equinox after saying we would never try Celebrity again as we found the Solstice (for that particular cruise), the ship of the dead. We loved the Equinox! After 16 cruises, that particular cruise has become our favorite to date.

"X was the TOTAL opposite! We never heard a no, everyone was always smiling and ready to assist. We felt wanted and pampered from ALL of the staff."

You are so right about X staff - they are consistently great! We took a behind-the-scenes tour and I saw a sign on every door in the staff main corridor leading out to the guest areas that said "Beyond this door you are on stage! Engage with guests! Speak English! Smile and Greet! (Good...morning, afternoon, or evening! How was your day?) I think it's a big part of how they are rated for raises and advancement. I also felt that the officers were always out and about and greeting guests on X, which I appreciated.

OP, I want to comment on your post...since I am an 'elite' Princess pax.

I also have found that the last few cruises we have taken with PCL that the food for sure has gone way down hill. Also, the entertainment on PCL. That being said...we still will look for cruises with PCL because of our status with them and want to enjoy the perks. However, that has not stopped us from cruising with other lines. In fact, this upcoming 15 days Panama cruise will be with X and we are really looking forward in cruising (2nd time) with X again....mainly because the food was so wonderful on our other cruise. We are hoping it will be just as good this time around.

Thanks for your very nice review....and happy cruising with whatever line you decide to cruise with from now on.

We did our first Princess Cruise last year for a British Isles cruise. Food was sub par and breakfast at the buffet always had cold food. We said “never again” but thought maybe we were comparing current Princess to our latest Celebrity experience which was 2years prior. Just got off the Silhouette and after the very first day, we confirmed to each other that there was no comparison-Celebrity was the clear winner. We won’t sail Princess again.

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We did our first Princess Cruise last year for a British Isles cruise. Food was sub par and breakfast at the buffet always had cold food. We said “never again” but thought maybe we were comparing current Princess to our latest Celebrity experience which was 2years prior. Just got off the Silhouette and after the very first day, we confirmed to each other that there was no comparison-Celebrity was the clear winner. We won’t sail Princess again.

 

 

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Which Princess ship did you take? I'm used to Celebrity Solstice class ships, and tried the Princess Ruby a few years ago. I was so disappointed and thought I wouldn't travel with Princess again. However, I decided to try to give Princess Regal a chance, and I'm trying that out next year. I've heard the buffet is amazing and closer to the Celebrity S-class experience.