Regal Princess 17 Day Mediterranean/Aegean Grand Adventure Review

[cruisequeen4ever]

Wow, oh wow was this trip amazing! I will post in sections, so stay tuned.

 

My husband and I took this trip to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary. We are 32 years old, no kids but have a dog, and love to cruise. DH is Platinum, and I'm Elite with Princess. My dad gave me the cruising addiction at the ripe old age of 8!

 

We chose this cruise because I wanted to sail on the brand new ship, big ships won't be allowed in Venice after this year, this was one of my dream cruises, the itinerary hit all of our top picks, and this was a good time to go, since we don't have children yet.

 

 

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[cruisequeen4ever]

Stateroom:

We originally booked an Inside Guarantee to save money and chose an IA, since the only upgrade from there would be to a Balcony (obstructed or higher). The focus on this trip was on shore excursions, not balcony time. I obsessively checked for upgrades and price drops, though because a balcony would have been the icing on the cake. I counted inventory daily, too. Approximately a month before departure, I began hoping for an upsell as I started to lose hope of an upgrade. I checked my email at lunchtime one day but nothing. The next day (Saturday), I opened my Inbox to find the desired Upsell offer!! I was shaking with excitement! I had just won bingo the week before, and I had said I wanted to use my winnings for a balcony upgrade. Here was my chance!! The problem was that the email had arrived an hour after I had checked my email the day before, the upsell offer had expired, and Princess was closed for the weekend. :-( I was so disheartened! I called the dedicated phone number given in the email and left a message for the upsell fairy with all info. Then the waiting and hoping game began. Monday morning the minute her scheduled hours started, I called but no answer. I did the same thing the next day to no avail. I knew I wasn't supposed to leave a second message, but she didn't say not to call again. I finally called Princess to inquire. The rep said she wished she could help, but only the upsell fairy can handle those. She did assure me that we would get a call back, and it can definitely take a few days. That put my mind at ease, and the waiting continued. The next morning, I got the anticipated call, and bingo, we got or upsell!!!! From IA to BD we went! I was once again shaking with excitement; my balcony dream had come true!

 

I treasured every moment on that balcony...waking up to the unparalleled views of the Mediterranean, the Venice sail in, coffee on the balcony, and relaxing to the sounds of the sea. Yes, the balcony was considerably smaller than any we have had. No, it was not a deal breaker to me. DH really missed the grand class Caribe balconies and the foot rests. I am glad we went with Starboard because of the Venice sail in. About half the ports we had a view of the sea and half a view of land. Being aft was convenient to access Horizon Court, Vista Lounge, and Princess Live. The bed was cushy and new. The TV was full of entertaining options and easy to view from the bed. The closet and desk area were the same as on other ships. We used the generic card trick I learned on here to keep the lights on without using the key card. The shower was fantastic with a larger size, the handheld shower head, and shaving footrest. Not once did the shower curtain try to attack me! The bathroom is smaller, though, and there wasn't enough room for DH and I to be in there at the same time. The sink looked modern and cool being rectangular, BUT it was poorly designed with the faucet being in the corner. It causes your hands to bump up against the edges of the sink constantly while washing. The toilet paper being under the counter was another oft mentioned design flaw. We had a few issues in the 17 days; the bathroom light stopped working, the TV went black for a while one morning, the refrigerator stopped being cold for a few hours, the toilet stopped flushing once, and one of the overhead lights would randomly go on and off (this last issue started after a thunder/lightning storm). All issues were resolved efficiently. I loved the modern decor, location, and features and would not hesitate to book the same stateroom again!

 

 

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[Carolyn R]

Can't wait to hear all about it!

[CamCruiser]

Looking forward to your review. We board in about three weeks.

[croftybubbles]

Thanks for taking the time to post, looking forward to hearing more.

 

 

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[Woobstr112G]

I am looking forward to reading the rest of your review.....:):):)

 

Bob

Edited June 20, 2014 by Woobstr112G

[cruisequeen4ever]

Service:

If I could sum up the service we received in one word, it would be "welcomed". Everywhere we went, we were warmly welcomed. Each morning, we received cheerful "good mornings". Upon boarding at the end of a port day, we would be greeted with a cold towel and a "welcome home". Smiles were everywhere. You could tell that this crew knew they were hand picked for the debut of the Regal and were honored to represent her. Coffee and orange juice were offered and delivered promptly upon setting your food on a table in Horizon Court/Bistro/Pastry Shop. We requested a private table for 2 from Thomas, the Head Waiter in the Symphony Dining Room. He gave us exactly what we requested and honored our request to keep that table the rest of the cruise. He was professional and ran a smooth operation in that dining room. This was the first time we were not made to feel guilty for wanting a table for 2. We loved our waitstaff Adi and Magally. They are both professional, knowledgable, and friendly. I'm sure Magally will be promoted to Waitress in no time, and Adi would make a great Head Waiter. The Cruise Director, Ron Goodman, was wonderful. Deputy Dan is hilarious and will soon make a fantastic Cruise Director on the Sea Princess! All cruise staff was energetic and nonstop going. Amanda, the Captain's Circle rep, was competent and helpful. The Captain, Ed Perrin, was delightful! We had a full conversation with him at the Platinum/Elite Captain's Cocktail Party receiving line because he's just so friendly, and he shook everyone's hand. He gave great announcements full of information, and you could clearly understand him. Our steward was always eager to help. DJ Pedro played fun music by the pool and in Club 6. The band Evolution was hard at work playing by the pool, in the Piazza, and other places throughout the afternoon and evening. Master Chef for the fleet, Alfredo Marzi, was on for the 7 days segment, which was a tremendous treat! He did the culinary demonstration, was very friendly, and ensured the dining operations went smoothly throughout the ship.

 

All of the above wonderful service continued the full 17 days, but some issues arose during the 10 day segment. It seemed like newbies had been brought on at that point, and they did not represent Princess well. Perhaps it was a training issue, I don't know.

 

Examples-

1) One night only (this was the only negative during the 7 day segment), we had to sit at a different table in the dining room because our servers were needed elsewhere. Our waiter was horrible and slow, and though Italian night is normally my favorite, everything was off, including my fav Fettucini Alfredo. I don't know what happened, but if we hadn't been able to go back to our regular wait staff, we probably wouldn't have returned to the dining room.

2) We ordered a coconut margarita from a bar server at the pool. He said they could mix piña colada mix with tequila, and we said that was fine. He returned after a few minutes to say the bartender said that wasn't possible. We were surprised but said ok to a regular margarita then. He left, and DH decided we would just order virgin Piña Coladas and tequila shots and make the drinks ourselves, so he went to the bar to change the order. The bar server told him no! He was shocked. DH asked to cancel the order, and the bar server said that wasn't possible. Again shocked!

3) We were often encouraged to buy a bottle of wine rather than a glass with the convenience of having it brought out anytime for drinking later. DH finally decided to do that, so he received his bar slip at the end of Crown Grill to present next time he wanted the wine. The next day at Alfredo's, he asked for his bottle. The waiter told him it wasn't possible to get it! DH explained that he ordered it after repeatedly being told he could have it any time. The waiter said he would go call to see if he could get it. He did and came back to say it was locked for the afternoon. What?! He then suggested we order another bottle or a glass!! We later asked someone if this was correct and were told that a supervisor could have gotten us our wine!

4) We ordered specialty margaritas the bar supervisor had recommended on the Wake Show only to have a pool bar server tell us we could only get them from Outrigger. He then begrudgingly told us he could walk all the way back there to get them for us. Thanks for the guilt trip!

5) A bartender didn't even know how much liquor to put in a shot!

6) I heard the bar supervisor have to tell bar servers repeatedly to check on the upper decks because pax weren't getting served. I gave up waiting and walked to the bar.

7) I ordered a large drink one time. A pax came up and ordered the regular size of the same drink after me, so the bartender made them both at the same time. That's totally fine, but what happened next was not. He gave me a regular size drink; I reminded him that I ordered a large. Instead of pouring me more and making more for the person after me, he poured that person's drink and just gave me what remained, which was about 3/4 of the large size.

8) Elite laundry was taking usually 3 days. When I inquired, I was told that Elites don't necessarily get next day service, and I said that should clearly be stated then to Elites. It was my understanding that we are to get next day service.

9) DH's new shirt was heavily faded, which can not be fixed. His shorts came back with untreated food stains. His jeans were not returned; instead he got women's capris. I complained; his shorts were re-washed and his jeans quickly found.

10) The Passenger Services rep for Elites/Suites laughed at me when I asked for tipping envelopes for bonus tips and "You Made the Difference" cards!

11) At the Champagne Waterfall, a server brought DH and I champagne, and another server came by and grabbed the glass right out of her hand to take to someone else just as she was handing it to me! I was

gobsmacked! The server then changed his mind about taking it and handed it to me.

12) At Crown Grill, my husband's steak wasn't cooked the way he requested, so the waiter went to have it re-made, agreeing that it wasn't made to the correct specifications. He came back, though, and said the chef said it was made properly! What?! This is the specialty steakhouse, and the chef is back-talking the pax?! My husband politely ate the steak, despite it not being how he ordered.

13) We found 2 "you know what" hairs on our toilet when we first entered the stateroom bathroom! That's what you might expect to find in a 1-2 star motel, not Princess! It's even more unacceptable knowing that the ship is only a few weeks old, and the stateroom has only had a few occupants!

 

To conclude, the experienced crew were fabulous and exemplified Princess' creed of making your wishes come true. The newbies seemed to like the word no or not possible or let's make the pax feel guilty so we don't have to go above and beyond. This was very disappointing, and my husband (who is not at all a complainer) became more and more disgruntled and concerned that the cruise experience on Princess is deteriorating. Having started the cruise with several staff reminding us of how much Princess strives to please and to not hesitate to ask for anything, this was a sad way to end the cruise.

 

 

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[cruisequeen4ever]

Passengers:

There was a fun mix of people from all over the world on both segments. Everyone was nice, for the most part. Only negative experience we had was the group on our shore excursion to Lake Bracciano/wine tasting. I need to sit at the front of the bus due to motion sickness, and on every excursion, people honored the known etiquette of returning to the same seat upon re-boarding the bus, except this excursion. Our seats were taken, the people were not apologetic at all, others had taken other people's seats, too, and I was stuck car sick the rest of the excursion. At the wine tasting, several people blatantly cut in front of me in line. Some were totally nice, but some were rude and inconsiderate, I guess a slice of life.

 

Hygiene:

I'm a 1st Grade Teacher; I teach basic hygiene of covering your mouth when you cough and sneeze, wash your hands after using the bathroom, etc. Tons of pax on this cruise would just walk down the hall coughing, coughing, coughing, not covering their mouths at all. On the tour buses, people would cough into the air. In the lounges, they'd cough into the air. These were nasty, productive, wet coughs, too! It's no wonder that a respiratory bug started to spread like wildfire toward the end of the 7 day segment. It intensified on the 10 day segment. Please cover your mouth, people!!

 

I was horrified to see crew touching their noses with their hands or coughing into their hands and then not washing their hands before serving pax!

 

Public bathrooms in Europe are way worse than ones in the U.S. I encountered ones without toilet seats, some without toilet paper, no seat covers ever, some with no door locks, and many without soap! Come prepared with plenty of hand sanitizer and toilet paper! Many did not, and this is probably another reason sickness was spread.

 

 

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[cruisequeen4ever]

Ship:

Shiny and new! Beautiful! Modern decor! Inside, the Regal is my new favorite ship, surpassing the Sapphire (a tough feat!). Outside, I still prefer the aesthetics of the grand class ships.

 

Seaview walkway was so fun! The first time it was trippy, but I liked it so much I went out of my way to walk on it daily.

 

Princess Theater had plenty of seating. Seats felt the same as on other ships. I did miss having a drink tray.

 

I felt like I was on a scavenger hunt to find bathrooms. While eating at Sabatini's, I exited to find a bathroom. None around, so I walked to the Lotus Spa to ask where the nearest one was. Instead of letting me use theirs, she directed me to walk upstairs to deck 6 and across on the other side I would find a bathroom. Really?! Here I am dressed nicely for dinner at a specialty restaurant and I have to trek upstairs and across to use the bathroom. Anyway, I get to deck 6, and I don't see a bathroom anywhere!! I walk back and forth, nothing. I see a door marked with a handicapped bathroom sign. Finally I opened that door, and it's like a secret passageway that then leads you to the regular bathrooms!

 

There are hardly any trash cans. Gone are the ones by the elevators. We finally found one by the pool after a week.

 

Crown Grill, Sabatini's, and Alfredo's are lovely as always. I actually thought the music form Wheelhouse went nicely with dinner at Crown Grill.

 

Vista Lounge was nice, but as noted on the Royal, it's difficult to sit in the club chairs unless you move them. Thankfully there was usually plenty of booth seating.

 

Princess Live was cool, not as comfy for sitting as Explorer's,

Vista, and Club Fusion, though. Acoustics are good but that results in it being overly loud sometimes.

 

The Piazza was spectacular! The styling was gorgeous, seats cushy, and more seating available.

 

Club 6 was decent, but if you didn't get a seat close to the dance floor, you were pretty disconnected from the hub of music and activity due to the room being long and narrow.

 

The casino was full of fun slot machines. Roulette was cool. Smoking is limited to one small side, so it's not at all an issue for non-smokers.

 

The boutiques are all on deck 7, which was convenient for shopping. There was a good selection of items at the gift shop.

 

Horizon Court/Bistro/Pastry Shop were awesome!! The first day it's a little irritating wandering all over to get your food, but then you learn where everything is, and you get in a routine. The Bistro high tables were fun.

 

Aft decks have the comfy whicker furniture and cushions and make for a relaxing area.

 

The outdoor seating for eating was modern and comfy. I liked the sanctuary style seating area outside Bistro by the pool.

 

There is a pool for every demographic. The aft pool is appreciated but odd. It looks so cool, but then unless you wanna dip your toes in and sit on the edge, you basically just have a hot tub sized space. There's a lot of wasted space for just dipping your toes in all of the pools. We preferred the Retreat pool because it's a full size pool and no kids. The Retreat cabanas were popular, and the wall seemed to help with the wind. One afternoon, we found lots of toilet paper in the main mid-ship pool!!!!!!! Yuck!!!!! There is still way more wind in the Retreat area. It's crazy because you're melting away mid-ship and then it's like 10 degrees cooler in the Retreat area from the wind. It was easy to get a lounger during the 7 day segment but hard on the 10 day because there were 500

more people. I didn't see many chair hoggers, at least. The 30 min. Patter warning seemed to be working.

 

The Sports deck was cool, BUT whoever decided to put the ping pong tables unprotected from the wind up there was not thinking! We tried playing one day when the ship was going at a slow speed, and there was no way to keep the ball in play. We only played in port after that.

 

Swirls had it's cute little nook. Prego and Trident were just like they are on other ships.

 

Promenade deck was cool. You have an open area mid ship and an open area side aft. Inbetween, there's a gated area for crew that is sometimes open for passenger use to connect the 2 deck areas. The side aft area has the nice loungers and was a popular place. The wake view is gorgeous from there!

 

The ship is very stable and glides smoothly through the water.

 

DH was annoyed by the horn playing the Love Boat theme song, but I thought it was cute. :-) I liked the regular horn blasts, too.

 

 

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[cruisequeen4ever]

Dining:

Loved the Taqueria!! Hope they put that on the rest of the ships!

The fruit loaded in Italian ports was the best.

Fried Eggs are in the Court area in one section; they go fast.

Waffles are in the Pastry Shop and are as delicious as always.

European whipped cream does taste different from American.

Bacon was nice and crispy.

Their lemon danishes are still the best!

The fries (Pomme Frittes) at Trident were the best of any cruise. They get them from France.

The cheeseburgers were good but usually were made in advance and just reheated on the grill, making them tougher.

DH actually liked Prego pizza more than Alfredo's this time.

Alfredo's was good as always and back to being free. Enjoyed the Eggplant Parmesan addition but missed getting the Greek salad from the Intl. Cafe to accompany the pizza. Don't know why they would start charging for it when it's never full even when free of charge.

Sabatini's was good but not as wow as in the past.

Crown Grill's Chilean Sea Bass was the single best entree I have ever had in my life, and I've had it in 5 star restaurants. The steaks were good but not exceptional. The Crown Dependence dessert sampler was fun and tasty.

Pub lunch was better than any I've had on other ships.

Dining room food was very good in most cases. Exception was Landfall New York steak having a thick vein all the way through and being very chewy. We had some menus We hadn't had on other cruises, slight variations. I prefer the ones on other cruises, but these were still good. Wished they had offered chateaubriand and shrimp diavolo.

Usually love the vanilla bean lattes, but these were pretty flavorless.

Drinks were great.

It was convenient having treats outside Princess Live.

Swirls ice cream was creamy and yummy.

Gelato was good.

DH had seen the ad for the Crab Shack outside HC and wanted to take me the last night but didn't realize it's only available certain nights. They shouldn't advertise it on days it's not available.

During MUTS, they brought popcorn, pizza, cookies, and milk around. Unfortunately, they didn't get to us until the movie was almost over, so we didn't get anything.

Never saw anyone eating at Ocean Terrace. DH wanted to but never had a chance.

 

 

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[lovevacadays]

Wow! I am loving your review. You have posted some things others have not posted whether they sailed the Royal or Regal.

 

I am hoping to sail the Regal either December 2015 or January 2016. You have made me feel like I definitely have to do this.:):):)

[cruisequeen4ever]

Wow! I am loving your review. You have posted some things others have not posted whether they sailed the Royal or Regal.

 

I am hoping to sail the Regal either December 2015 or January 2016. You have made me feel like I definitely have to do this.:):):)

 

Thank you! I hope you can sail her! I wish I had a reason to book another cruise on her right now!

 

 

 

 

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[MojoJones]

Hi cruisequeen4ever,

 

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts on the Regal. We're on her in August.

 

I have a quick question - can you tell me what time your muster drills were? We're trying to plan a sailaway meet & greet since Princess wants to do it in the middle of a port day.

 

Thanks,

Kris

[Woobstr112G]

I am very much enjoying reading your impressions on the ship.....:):):)

 

Bob

[cruisequeen4ever]

Hi cruisequeen4ever,

 

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts on the Regal. We're on her in August.

 

I have a quick question - can you tell me what time your muster drills were? We're trying to plan a sailaway meet & greet since Princess wants to do it in the middle of a port day.

 

Thanks,

Kris

 

We sailed out of Venice at 11:00 PM, and our muster drill was around 9:45 PM, I think. When we sailed out of Barcelona, I think it was around 5:45 PM. I don't have my Patters by me right now to tell you for sure, but those are the times I recall.

 

 

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[cruisequeen4ever]

Thank you, everyone! :-)

 

 

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[Lanwood]

Thanks for sharing your experience cruisequeen4ever.

Great read.

[caribill]

 

I felt like I was on a scavenger hunt to find bathrooms. While eating at Sabatini's, I exited to find a bathroom. None around, so I walked to the Lotus Spa to ask where the nearest one was. Instead of letting me use theirs, she directed me to walk upstairs to deck 6 and across on the other side I would find a bathroom.

 

Closest rest rooms to Sabatini's are just past the IC in the Piazza near the entrance to the Symphony dining room.

Edited June 21, 2014 by caribill

[Geoffa30]

Hi. Loving your review. Hope there are more instalments to come... Makes me more excited for when we board on August 30th. Ten weeks today.

 

You mentioned a Taqueria. Whereabouts was this please?

[NeptuneSeas]

Who was the Maître D' please?

Thanx for the great posts.

[travellovers2]

We booked the Regal for New Year's Eve 2014. We did it mainly for the ship since we've been to the ports 5 or more times. I am looking forward to the ship. We sail on the Royal next May which is the sister ship. Looking forward to it. :D

[bcnvcanada]

Loving your review. What a great way to spend a 10th anniversary.

Hopefuly you will share your port experiences also.

[Grego]

Nice review and very detailed. Looking forward to being on her for the maiden transatlantic voyage in October.

[cruisequeen4ever]

Closest rest rooms to Sabatini's are just past the IC in the Piazza near the entrance to the Symphony dining room.

 

Yes, I later discovered that, but unfortunately that wasn't the answer the lady gave me.

 

 

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[cruisequeen4ever]

Hi. Loving your review. Hope there are more instalments to come... Makes me more excited for when we board on August 30th. Ten weeks today.

 

You mentioned a Taqueria. Whereabouts was this please?

 

The Taqueria is located in Horizon Bistro on the left side (when entering from the mid-ship pool area. It's available every day for lunch. They always had carnitas, and then they'd alternate beef, steak, and chicken fajitas as well as always having the standard ground beef. Fresh guacamole, chips, lettuce, cheese, tomato, salsa, and sour cream were all available.

 

 

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