Regal vs. Allure

[looneyric]

Hello. We (wife and I) don't know what to do and wondering if some can help us decide. We recently booked Allure for January 2015, eastern caribbean, central park balcony. We previously sailed on Oasis, same room category and we loved it. We especially love the entertainment and the specialty restaurants.

 

My wife was looking the Regal Princess last night and loved the looks of it. In fact, we put a courtesy hold on a mini suite on lido deck. So we have a few days to decide whether to change from Allure to Regal. Looking for those that sailed Royal Princess and Oasis/Allure to draw some conclusions? Lots of negative comments on Royal Princess are worrisome.

 

1. Will we be bored on Regal? Looks like shows pale in comparison to Allure but I may be wrong as we have never sailed Princess. Are the shows in both the theater and the Piazza entertaining?

2. Are the specialty restaurants just as good as Allure? We loved 150 Central Park, Chops, and Chef's table. Sabatini's, Crown Grill, chef's table and wine maker's dinner look nice on Regal too so looking to draw comparison. Also, Alfredo's looks like a real winner to me for a casual dinner!

3. I'm nervous about not being able to prebook any of the specialty restaurants. Will we run into problems getting reservations if we book right away once on ship?

 

We're not adverse to trying new things and would like a relaxing cruise, but bottom line is we don't want to be bored either. Thanks again in advance!

Rick

[chrysalis]

Do you realize that no one has sailed on the Regal yet?:)

[Colo Cruiser]

The 2 ships are like night/day.

 

Good points here too.....

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2023948

Edited April 14, 2014 by Colo Cruiser

[looneyric]

Do you realize that no one has sailed on the Regal yet?:)

 

Yes, as stated looking for those on sister ship. Should be similar, correct?

 

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Forums mobile app

[-Lew-]

 

Yes, as stated looking for those on sister ship. Should be similar, correct?

Yes, you're correct...

 

Lew

[skynight]

Hello.

 

3. I'm nervous about not being able to prebook any of the specialty restaurants. Will we run into problems getting reservations if we book right away once on ship?

 

Rick

Regarding #3, don't worry. Just call the dine line once on board, or just inquire at one of the dining rooms. Attached is a dining guide. Since the Regal has not yet sailed, look at information regarding the Royal. Remember, the Allure has over 5,000 passengers while the Regal will have 3,600. The Regal also has various free walk in places for dining, including The International Cafe, Alfredo's, Prego Pizza, Trident Grill, Pastry Shop, Horizon Ct. and Bistro

 

You will not find the surf rides, rock walls on Princess, if that is what you mean by being bored. Princess always has lots of shows and entertainment all over their ships.

 

There are some negative comments about the construction/layout (for example no center staircase) on the Royal, but overall there are way more positives.

Dining Guide - Princess 1213.pdf

[PescadoAmarillo]

The Allure and any Princess ship is day and night different. We did the Allure last November just 7 nights after leaving the Royal. I listed some thoughts here that might help you decide:

 

http://pescadoamarillo.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-allure-of-seas-good-and-not-so-good.html

 

If you look at the blog beginning October 29, 2013, you can read about our Royal Princess cruise. Here are some summary thoughts:

 

http://pescadoamarillo.blogspot.com/2013/11/some-final-thoughts-on-royal-princess.html

 

http://pescadoamarillo.blogspot.com/2013/10/thoughts-on-royal-princess-part-2.html

 

http://pescadoamarillo.blogspot.com/2013/10/early-thoughts-on-royal-princess.html

Edited April 14, 2014 by PescadoAmarillo

[looneyric]

Thanks everyone for the replies! Lots of homework to do over the next couple days.

[Bruin Steve]

Hello. We (wife and I) don't know what to do and wondering if some can help us decide. We recently booked Allure for January 2015, eastern caribbean, central park balcony. We previously sailed on Oasis, same room category and we loved it. We especially love the entertainment and the specialty restaurants.

 

My wife was looking the Regal Princess last night and loved the looks of it. In fact, we put a courtesy hold on a mini suite on lido deck. So we have a few days to decide whether to change from Allure to Regal. Looking for those that sailed Royal Princess and Oasis/Allure to draw some conclusions? Lots of negative comments on Royal Princess are worrisome.

 

1. Will we be bored on Regal? Looks like shows pale in comparison to Allure but I may be wrong as we have never sailed Princess. Are the shows in both the theater and the Piazza entertaining?

2. Are the specialty restaurants just as good as Allure? We loved 150 Central Park, Chops, and Chef's table. Sabatini's, Crown Grill, chef's table and wine maker's dinner look nice on Regal too so looking to draw comparison. Also, Alfredo's looks like a real winner to me for a casual dinner!

3. I'm nervous about not being able to prebook any of the specialty restaurants. Will we run into problems getting reservations if we book right away once on ship?

 

We're not adverse to trying new things and would like a relaxing cruise, but bottom line is we don't want to be bored either. Thanks again in advance!

Rick

 

Rick,

I guess the BIG question is ...Have you cruised on any ships OTHER than the Oasis?

Reason is this: Just about every other mass-market cruise line ship is more similar to every other EXCEPT the Oasis/Allure. Those are sort of in a category all to themselves.

Most ships, whether they be Princess, Celebrity, HAL, Carnival, RCCL other than Oasis/Allure or others, all operate on similar principles--You don't make a lot of reservations or scheduling...You have dinner most nights in a main dining room--either traditional or anytime seating...You have one main show each night (usually two times depending on your dinner seating time)--always in the main showroom. Other entertainment and activities are scheduled on a daily basis and you check your printed schedule and figure out what you want to do and just show up. Smaller older ships generally have a couple of specialty restaurants with newer, larger ships having maybe a couple more. Most lines do allow pre-reserving these, but, generally, you can do it once onboard.

 

But, as you may have noticed, Oasis/Allure are much different. RCCL pretty much set out to blow everyone away with a much different experience. Accommodating so many passengers with such a variety of entertainment (water show, ice show, comedy club, Broadway Musicals), rather than have just one show nightly, they do multiple shows in each venue and, therefore, need to schedule everyone--hence the pre-reservation system and complicated scheduling. They are actually extremely well thought out, using the varying show times to control and manage crowds and movement around the ship. We had almost 6,000 passengers onboard when we were on Allure in January (remember, that occupancy number on most ships is based on "double occupancy, not true full occupancy with 3rd and 4th berths filled--the Regal will no doubt sail with far more than the stated 3,600 on most cruises) and, most of the time, you would hardly notice there were many people on at all...I have felt far more crowded on ships holding half that number. Part of it, of course, is sheer size...The Regal will be 141,000 gross tons, the Oasis/Allure are 225,000 gross tons...So, Allure carries approximately 1.5 times the number of passengers, but has 1.6 times the space...MORE space per passenger...

 

Obviously having not yet sailed the new Regal, I assume it will be a very nice ship and cruising experience...but far more of a traditional cruise than the Allure/Oasis...All of the typical cruise ship amenities, just sized larger for the larger number of passengers...but not all of those very different and distinct features one finds on Allure/Oasis--Water shows, Ice Shows, Broadway shows, Ice Skating, Rock Climbing, Carousel, Surfing/Body Boarding, Zip Lining, etc.

 

Will you be bored? Probably not. There should be plenty to keep you entertained and occupied. Will you have the variety? No...that would be hard to duplicate.

[Woobstr112G]

Rick,

I guess the BIG question is ...Have you cruised on any ships OTHER than the Oasis?

Reason is this: Just about every other mass-market cruise line ship is more similar to every other EXCEPT the Oasis/Allure. Those are sort of in a category all to themselves.

Most ships, whether they be Princess, Celebrity, HAL, Carnival, RCCL other than Oasis/Allure or others, all operate on similar principles--You don't make a lot of reservations or scheduling...You have dinner most nights in a main dining room--either traditional or anytime seating...You have one main show each night (usually two times depending on your dinner seating time)--always in the main showroom. Other entertainment and activities are scheduled on a daily basis and you check your printed schedule and figure out what you want to do and just show up. Smaller older ships generally have a couple of specialty restaurants with newer, larger ships having maybe a couple more. Most lines do allow pre-reserving these, but, generally, you can do it once onboard.

 

But, as you may have noticed, Oasis/Allure are much different. RCCL pretty much set out to blow everyone away with a much different experience. Accommodating so many passengers with such a variety of entertainment (water show, ice show, comedy club, Broadway Musicals), rather than have just one show nightly, they do multiple shows in each venue and, therefore, need to schedule everyone--hence the pre-reservation system and complicated scheduling. They are actually extremely well thought out, using the varying show times to control and manage crowds and movement around the ship. We had almost 6,000 passengers onboard when we were on Allure in January (remember, that occupancy number on most ships is based on "double occupancy, not true full occupancy with 3rd and 4th berths filled--the Regal will no doubt sail with far more than the stated 3,600 on most cruises) and, most of the time, you would hardly notice there were many people on at all...I have felt far more crowded on ships holding half that number. Part of it, of course, is sheer size...The Regal will be 141,000 gross tons, the Oasis/Allure are 225,000 gross tons...So, Allure carries approximately 1.5 times the number of passengers, but has 1.6 times the space...MORE space per passenger...

 

Obviously having not yet sailed the new Regal, I assume it will be a very nice ship and cruising experience...but far more of a traditional cruise than the Allure/Oasis...All of the typical cruise ship amenities, just sized larger for the larger number of passengers...but not all of those very different and distinct features one finds on Allure/Oasis--Water shows, Ice Shows, Broadway shows, Ice Skating, Rock Climbing, Carousel, Surfing/Body Boarding, Zip Lining, etc.

 

Will you be bored? Probably not. There should be plenty to keep you entertained and occupied. Will you have the variety? No...that would be hard to duplicate.

 

Well stated sir.....:):):)

 

Bob

[Pam in CA]

Princess has a different philosophy than RCL when it comes to dining and entertainment. In general, the big production shows are better on RCL but Princess has more variety with a number of options at any given time during the evening. Instead of the very large entertainment areas and dining room, Princess has smaller lounges, bars, etc. and a larger theater for entertainment and several 1-story dining rooms that are divided into sections so they are more of a good/fine restaurant feel. No singing waiters.

 

On Princess, Muster is indoors and out of the elements. And, when you check in and board, your cabin will be ready and you can go to it.

 

As said, I wouldn't worry about specialty restaurant reservations. The main dining room food is good to excellent and there are quite a few (free) dining alternatives so there isn't as much demand for specialty dining. The Royal/Regal buffet is huge and amazing, open for full meals from early morning until after 11pm. We ate dinner in the Horizon Court on the Royal every night, had our wine kept up there, and enjoyed the food which included most of the dining room menu items. The Princess buffets all have tableside beverage service whenever it's open from juice and coffee in the morning to tea or coffee after dinner, not to mention drinks, wine, soda, etc.

[dorisis]

I have done B2Bs on both ships and in my mind i would choose Allure over Royal and day. there is really no comparison. princess does NOT do large ships nearly as well as RCI.