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Reviiew of Regal Princess to Alaska part 1

Deb in Cali

By Deb in Cali,
in Princess Cruises

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Deb in Cali

Deb in Cali

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Disembarkation went fairly smooth. About the only real problem is the lack of parking outside of Pier 35. Triple parked vans, trucks, shuttles, bus, taxis and passenger cars created quite a scene. The SF police tried to create some semblence of order, but didn't even come close to succeeding. There were several time were we had to wait for pictures or immigration paperwork, but our experience was that the lines moved as fast as a slow walk. It took us a little more than an hour from the time we step out of our shuttle until we stepped on to the ship.

 

We found our room, did a quick run down of where everything was and headed off to lunch at the buffet. Both buffets lines were open and very busy. Everytime we entered the buffet line we were required to use hand purifier. We were also required to use it everytime we enteried the ship. I only heard of one person getting sick during the whole cruise. There were several incidents of seasicknes, but only one that could have been a virus type of illness.

 

After lunch we explored the ship for a short time. We did the manditory life boat station muster. Sara Michelle was our Muster Drill coordinator. She did a great job of expaining the muster stations. You could tell that she was frustrated with several stubborn people that weren't listening and doing exactly when she had just told them not to do. All throughout her explaination as if on cue someone go against her requests. Some of those passengers belonged in a comedy routine somewhere.

 

When we returned to our cabin almost all of our luggage was there. At that point I was motivated to start getting the room squared away. My DH was relaxing. After a short time I realized that it was after 4 and the terminal was missing from our view. We had set sail and were missing the party upstairs. Grabbing the camera we headed up to Deck 12.

 

After grabbing a fruity adult beverage, I was ready to party. The crowds were thick as we sailed past Alcatraz. It was then that I remembered that I was suppose to meet our fellow CC's on the secret deck on level 10. My DH wasn't happy with me when we went on a wild goose chase trying to find this secret deck. We finally gave up and went back up to Deck 12 so that we wouldn't miss go under the Golden Gate.

 

I was hoping that the captain would blast the horn under the Golden Gate but he didn't cooperate. There were several dozen people and lots of cars up on the bridge doing their best to give us an appropriate send off. After we rounded the point it got even windier and we felt a few waves. Most people were happy to go below deck at that point, but some of us diehards stayed up there for a while.

 

We retuned to our room to finish unpacking and get ready for dinner. We had a window table with 4 other women, so my DH was the man of the table. After dinner we went to the opening show in the Intenational Show lounge. The first show is basically a taste of all their future shows.

 

The next morning we decided to have breakfast in the main dining room. We were seated with a stuffy group that already knew each other. The wait staff wasn't exactly scoring a 10 on their performance, but I don't think that anyone could please that group under any circumstances. We were so grateful that they weren't our permanate dinning partners.

 

That day we took a few classes and explored the ship a bit more. We finally met up with a few of our fellow CCers and decided to meet for lunch the next day. They did show us how to get to the secret forward deck on level 10. You have to go all the way forward on the starboard side. I was trying to reach it from the port side. They said that that is the place to be when leaving SF.

 

The second night was one of our formal nights. Everyone was dressed up and many had their pictures taken. The food in the main dinning room was great. Our servers were good, but we didn't really bond with them like some did.

 

Life at sea was fabulous. We ate, walked around, slept, ate, watched movies, went to classes, ate, met with CC friends, ate, and when to shows.

 

Everyone was a buzz about the medical emergency from the night before. Apparently someone was doing some serious bleeding and they requested blood donors about 9 PM on Wednesday night. Very early on Thursday morning they evacuated a part of the ship so that they could do a medaerovac to a Canadian Coast Guard helicopter. The ship had to slow down and had to alter its course to go inland for the pick-up. This delay was fairly significant, in that we missed about two hours worth of port time in Sitka. We later heard that the man that was doing a GI bled was doing well.

 

In Sitka we decided to go to the Raptor Center on our own. Using a map it was fairly easy to find. The hike was slightly up hill for most of the way. Then it got moderately steep once you get on their dirt driveway. We had a tour of their rehabilation area with 3 eagles in it I didn't get a chance to see their hospital area, but we did do hiking trail and ourdoor compounds. Altho tendering in took some time away from us with our shortened port time, it was a fun experience in itself.

 

On our way back to decided to use the trail instead of following the street. That was a great choice, as we ended up at the Sheldon Jackson museum. We also were able to get numerous pictures of eagles along with a great walk through a pretty forrest. We were short on time so we skipped the museum:mad: , but did take several pics of the totem poles.

 

We did a short shopping excursion and headed back to the ship. There were several inlands in the harbor that had beautiful homes and lots of eagles in the trees.

 

Next stop Juneau.

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Deb in Cali

Deb in Cali

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Thanks to all for sharing. I will try to finish the rest tomorrow.

 

Dotty I just have a great memory. I did bring a book to journal the trip but didn't take the time to write anything.

I can tell you in detail several trip experiences from years ago. We drove across the U.S in 2001 .........:eek:

 

Deb

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mrdawson

mrdawson

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We had Sara Michelle as well for the lifeboat drill, I think it was in the Adagio lounge and Sara DOES get irritated quickly if you don your jacket prior to her directions...:eek: but it was funny watching all the idiots:D do it anyway!!

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cflutist

cflutist

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We'll be going in May 2006. I'd be interested to hear how the Regal compares to the Star or the Coral. I know she is an older ship, but was the only one sailing RT out of San Francisco so we could avoid air travel if possible.

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Murphey

Murphey

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Thanks for the hint about the secret deck on 10...should be a great place to watch while coming in an dout of Acapulco....the second most gorgeous port in the world!!! (Not necessarily for the city but for arrivals and departures!!)

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nanlaur

nanlaur

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Thanks for the hint about the secret deck on 10...should be a great place to watch while coming in an dout of Acapulco....the second most gorgeous port in the world!!! (Not necessarily for the city but for arrivals and departures!!)

 

We've got that one noted. We are only about 8 doors down from the "secret" door :D

 

Laurie

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nanlaur

nanlaur

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OOPS! Sorry for the duplicate, it looked like the first one didn't post :(

 

Thanks for the hint about the secret deck on 10...should be a great place to watch while coming in an dout of Acapulco....the second most gorgeous port in the world!!! (Not necessarily for the city but for arrivals and departures!!)

 

We've got that one noted. Our cabin is about 8 doors down from the "secret" door :D

 

Laurie

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SharkieRools

SharkieRools

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Go all the way forward on the Baja deck on the Starboard side. It'll look like you're entering a crew area but you're not (there are a few crew cabins up there) After a few turns you'll make it to the door to the secret deck!

 

I have a picture of it on Webshots, unfortuately I can't find the exact page right now since my work firewall is blocking Webshots for the time being :(

 

It's either in the first or second album:

 

Sharkierools Hawaii Cruise 2003 Album

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