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Not so Live on the Regal Princess - 09/11 to 09/23

IECalCruiser

By IECalCruiser,
in Princess Cruises

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Colo Cruiser

Colo Cruiser

Posted
Posted
Tuesday, 09/09

 

Sorry to bore you with more pre-cruise stuff. In the afternoon walked from one end of La Rambla to the other and bought an FC Barcelona cap for me. DW also saw some stores she wanted to spend more time in tomorrow :eek: We then stopped at the market, tasted some wine (and bought some for our cabin :) ) and picked up a couple of empanadas and an almond pastry. It was then back to the hotel for a quick nap before our evening tour.

 

We had some great Paella at one of the sidewalk cafes.

Great people watching. :eek:

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DLSHS_Mom

DLSHS_Mom

Posted
Posted

TSA precheck is done by the airline. For my family I am the lucky one with the TSA precheck while everyone else waits in the regular security line. In other words - I am the lady walking through security with two computer bags, all the guys stuff etc....while they carry nothing.

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ar1950

ar1950

Posted
Posted
TSA precheck is done by the airline. For my family I am the lucky one with the TSA precheck while everyone else waits in the regular security line. In other words - I am the lady walking through security with two computer bags, all the guys stuff etc....while they carry nothing.

 

Actually it is the TSA that grants the Pre-Check.

 

"If the TSA determines a passenger is eligible for expedited screening through the TSA PreCheck security lanes, the text "TSA PRE" will appear in the upper left corner of their boarding pass or security document."

 

And, yes, it is a nice feeling to skip the taking off shoes, removing computers, etc. That is why we paid the "extortion fee" of $85.00 for the three year Pre-Check pass so that we have it on all of our flights. :cool:

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lovevacadays

lovevacadays

Posted
Posted
Tuesday, 09/09

 

Sorry to bore you with more pre-cruise stuff. In the afternoon walked from one end of La Rambla to the other and bought an FC Barcelona cap for me. DW also saw some stores she wanted to spend more time in tomorrow :eek: We then stopped at the market, tasted some wine (and bought some for our cabin :) ) and picked up a couple of empanadas and an almond pastry. It was then back to the hotel for a quick nap before our evening tour.

 

We had booked the Gotico Tapas Tour with the Barcelona Taste and met our guide, Catherine (an ex pat from Wales) and two other couples at 7:00pm. The tour was better than expected. We stopped at four locations and had food and wine or other beverages at each. It is good that we had a light lunch because we were more than full of very good food by 10:00pm :) :)

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

 

Sounds like such a lovely day. Thank you for posting.

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Sunviking

Sunviking

Posted
Posted
Actually it is the TSA that grants the Pre-Check.

 

"If the TSA determines a passenger is eligible for expedited screening through the TSA PreCheck security lanes, the text "TSA PRE" will appear in the upper left corner of their boarding pass or security document."

 

And, yes, it is a nice feeling to skip the taking off shoes, removing computers, etc. That is why we paid the "extortion fee" of $85.00 for the three year Pre-Check pass so that we have it on all of our flights. :cool:

 

FWIW, TSA pre-check is only available for pax on about 10 US airlines and AirCanada. If you are flying on any international airlines (like BA or Virgin Atlantic) it won't do you any good to enroll. On the other hand, the GOES Global Entry program works for any airlines returning to the US. We have belonged to it for the last year and it is well worth the cost. If you have an AMEX platinum, there is no cost. :)

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Sunviking

Sunviking

Posted
Posted
Where do you find the info on Amex Platinum, I am looking on the website but don't see it.

 

If you go to the page for AMEX platinum that shows benefits, you should see a listing for the Global Entry benefit. For each eligible card you can receive a credit for the fee for GOES. We applied, were approved and paid after which we got a statement credit for the fee. Between that, no foreign transaction fees and a nice shipboard credit for every cruise we take and pay for with the card we think it's worth having.

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Colo Cruiser

Colo Cruiser

Posted
Posted
If you go to the page for AMEX platinum that shows benefits, you should see a listing for the Global Entry benefit. For each eligible card you can receive a credit for the fee for GOES. We applied, were approved and paid after which we got a statement credit for the fee. Between that, no foreign transaction fees and a nice shipboard credit for every cruise we take and pay for with the card we think it's worth having.

 

Thanks I will look again.

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chamima

chamima

Posted
Posted (edited)
If you go to the page for AMEX platinum that shows benefits, you should see a listing for the Global Entry benefit. For each eligible card you can receive a credit for the fee for GOES. We applied, were approved and paid after which we got a statement credit for the fee. Between that, no foreign transaction fees and a nice shipboard credit for every cruise we take and pay for with the card we think it's worth having.

 

Doesn't the $100 fee (pp) get subtracted from the $200 credit you get every year towards in-flight expenses? (we usually use that $200 for baggage fees, etc.)

Edited by chamima
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chamima

chamima

Posted
Posted
No, it does not. They are two distinct benefits.

 

Thanks.

Do you both have platinum cards? So far just my husband has one. Since Delta changed the "club" benefit to just the card holder we were thinking of getting one for me also but haven't done so yet. Between the two benefits it might be worth the extra charge.

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Sunviking

Sunviking

Posted
Posted
Thanks.

Do you both have platinum cards? So far just my husband has one. Since Delta changed the "club" benefit to just the card holder we were thinking of getting one for me also but haven't done so yet. Between the two benefits it might be worth the extra charge.

 

Yes, we both have one.

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IECalCruiser

IECalCruiser

Posted
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Posted

This is a busy itinerary, more so than the Baltics we did last year. I haven’t had time to update what we have done on the cruise. I have scanned the Patters so you can see what is happening each day on board and will post PDF files. I have also started a list of first impressions of the Regal.

 

As a bit of background, we have sailed on the Panamax ships, the Coral and Island, all of the various flavors of the Grand class ships including the Grand (before and after Skywalkerectomey) Golden (before and after her major drydock in 2009) and Star, the Sapphire (before and after her major drydock) and the Emerald. I will basically be comparing the Regal with the various flavors of the Grand class.

 

The Cabin:

 

  • Yes, the toilet paper is in an awkward locations but it still works. Get over it everyone.
  • The larger shower is very nice as long as you are not a fan of “friendly” shower curtains and DW really likes the lower ledge in the back.
  • Because of the larger shower and sink, space has been taken away from the closet area and the shelf is narrower. The shorter shelf reduces what you can store in those shelves.
  • We have a deluxe balcony which includes a loveseat. That is a nice addition, but eliminates some shelving in that area. The changes significantly reduce the amount of storage space in the Panamax and Grand class ships, but we still have enough space for our stuff, just in somewhat different locations than we typically use.
  • The mattress was very comfortable last night. We both have issues with back pain and we had no issues with the mattress.
  • We really like the new On Demand programming. It is not just movies and TV shows and I will miss it next month on the Crown.

The Balcony:

  • Can’t comment on the balcony size (or is that lack of balcony size?) because we specifically booked E109, one of the front cabins with an oversized balcony. Ours is 9’ wide by an average of 11.5’ deep :eek:
  • It does have a metal rather than glass railing but we found that gave us much more privacy when in port today.
  • This is the first time with the new balcony furniture and it is NOT an improvement over the old. We might try using some of the pillows from our sofa tomorrow to see how that works.
  • I realized that the SeaView Bar has the same see through floor as the SeaWalk and there are the same issues on both sides. I looked down (for research purposes only) to see which balconies were visible. I could see into the balconies as far down as Caribe deck and I could see into the balconies on both sides of the bump out. I also looked down from the railing aft on the Horizon Terrace and the entire balconies of the aft D4 and S2 cabins on Marina deck were clearly visible and at least half of the Riviera deck balconies were also visible. There could be real or perceived privacy issues with many of those balconies.

The Elevators and Stairs:

 

  • I was well aware that there was no center staircase for passengers but last night I went to the center to get down from Emerald deck to Plaza deck. That was the only time though as I am a fast learner.
  • I chose a balcony forward partly because there was a stairway there and there should be less elevator traffic. I have issues with my hip and need to avoid stars as much as possible. I still haven’t figured out elevator controls. On as many as a half dozen times, even though the buttons on both sides were pushed in the right direction, the next elevator skipped out floor.
  • People have complained that the elevators are smaller but if anything, the forward and aft elevators appear to be larger than on the Grand class. I will confirm when we are on the Crown next month.

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johnmik1

johnmik1

Posted
Posted
Actually it is the TSA that grants the Pre-Check.

 

"If the TSA determines a passenger is eligible for expedited screening through the TSA PreCheck security lanes, the text "TSA PRE" will appear in the upper left corner of their boarding pass or security document."

 

And, yes, it is a nice feeling to skip the taking off shoes, removing computers, etc. That is why we paid the "extortion fee" of $85.00 for the three year Pre-Check pass so that we have it on all of our flights. :cool:

 

We were interviewed this week and accepted in the Global entry program that gives you 5 years for $100 and includes the TSA Precheck.Why spend $85 for 3 years when you can get 2 programs for slightly more $'s and 2 extra years?

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Astro Flyer

Astro Flyer

Posted
Posted
We were interviewed this week and accepted in the Global entry program that gives you 5 years for $100 and includes the TSA Precheck.Why spend $85 for 3 years when you can get 2 programs for slightly more $'s and 2 extra years?

 

How long between application & interview to complete your process?

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ar1950

ar1950

Posted
Posted
We were interviewed this week and accepted in the Global entry program that gives you 5 years for $100 and includes the TSA Precheck.Why spend $85 for 3 years when you can get 2 programs for slightly more $'s and 2 extra years?

 

Probably because we didn't know about it.

 

BTW, I still consider it extortion.........:cool:

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azdmelani

azdmelani

Posted
Posted
Sunday, 09/07

 

We will be boarding the Regal Princess on Thursday but our "cruise" is starting today as we drop off our car at the Hilton in LAX and get ready for an early departure to BCN tomorrow. We started the trip with no traffic delays on the 91 or the 105. That was followed up with a pleasant surprise as we were upgraded to a suite with lounge access :) We got there in time to get a bite to eat and some dessert. We will stop there again tomorrow morning for a quick bite before taking the shuttle to the airport. The Grand Med is a very port intensive cruise so I won't be very live. We will also be doing a CA coastal on the Crown in a month. I will be making some comparisons between the two ship classes on the next cruise.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app

 

Disembarked on Thursday, hope you are having an amazing trip!!

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