Regal Princess - Docking in the Carib.

[UandMe4Ever]

Good day cruisers,

 

I'm sure I may have seen this somewhere on the boards, but can't find it. We will be on the Regal 10-24-15 Repo from NY to FL...Our ports are St. Thomas, Antigua/Barbuda and Aruba. We were wondering if anyone who has very recently sailed on the Regal, if there is a better side for a cabin? We are presently in a BD Cabin Port Side on the Baja Deck. Should we change cabins and what views would we see from port or starboard side?

 

Not related, and please, no flaming. Exactly where is smoking permitted outdoors?(and indoors, other than the Casino). Maybe part of a bar or cigar room? DH needs to know so he's not running around the ship (He ain't no youngster LOL). Thank you kindly

 

Lastly, for a regular cabin, what is the exact daily gratutity that goes on the sea pass card.

 

Thank you so much in advance for you help.

 

Safe sails to you always.

[Steelers36]

Good day cruisers,

 

I'm sure I may have seen this somewhere on the boards, but can't find it. We will be on the Regal 10-24-15 Repo from NY to FL...Our ports are St. Thomas, Antigua/Barbuda and Aruba. We were wondering if anyone who has very recently sailed on the Regal, if there is a better side for a cabin? We are presently in a BD Cabin Port Side on the Baja Deck. Should we change cabins and what views would we see from port or starboard side?

 

It depends on whether you want to look out on the shore/dock area or out into the harbor. Plus, you cannot count 100% whether they might dock flipped around in St Thomas (but I think they generally go bow in). In that case, Port is harbor side and Starboard is dockside and Havensight (Regal generally docks as West Indian Dock, but you could also end up in Crown Bay and then the sides are reversed to what I mentioned). At Crown Bay, the ships dock Aft in and Bow out, facing into the harbor. I imagine it's the same if Regal docks there - but you can't count on everything the same 100%.

I'm pretty sure I recall Port side facing island in Aruba and Starboard to the sea. If you are off the ship most of the day in a port, does it really matter? For sailaway, best view would be from an open deck. Generally you are going to be facing one day southbound from FLL and the opposite way heading back north.

 

Not related, and please, no flaming. Exactly where is smoking permitted outdoors?(and indoors, other than the Casino). Maybe part of a bar or cigar room? DH needs to know so he's not running around the ship (He ain't no youngster LOL). Thank you kindly

A few tables on Lido Port side. Part of the Promenade - Starboard side, Aft. Yes there is a cigar room. And someone needs to clarify if part of the area near Aft small pool is also allowed. IDK why they picked Promenade Starboard side when the general convention on Princess has been some open deck area on Port Side. We always eat on Starboard side when using the buffet and sitting outdoors. Never an issue for us. (We'res totally non-smokers, but I have to know where they are to avoid the area. ;-)

 

 

Lastly, for a regular cabin, what is the exact daily gratuity that goes on the sea pass card.

It's been $11.50 - CruiseAnswerBook has all that. And on Princess, it's a cruise card.

 

Thank you so much in advance for you help.

 

Safe sails to you always.

 

Answers above in red.

Edited July 21, 2015 by steelers36

[UandMe4Ever]

Thank you very much for your quick reply. Sounds like we'll stick to our Portside cabin...I'm sure it will be fine. Thanks for all the other answers as well. You are most kind.

Safe sails always.

P

[Steelers36]

Thank you very much for your quick reply. Sounds like we'll stick to our Portside cabin...I'm sure it will be fine. Thanks for all the other answers as well. You are most kind.

Safe sails always.

P

 

Oh... here's another tip. Princess ships all have Bridge Webcams. Go to Princess website, lookup Ships and you will find the link .. or just Google Princess Bridge cams.

 

If you watch "your ship" or similar ship on same ports, you will see the view forward from the Bridge and have a sense on the orientation and whether it is consistent from cruise to cruise.

[UandMe4Ever]

DH will do.thanks again

[Happy2cruise]

Our experience has been that views depend on how the ship is docked. Sometimes a captain will back in instead of going straight in.

[UandMe4Ever]

Thanks again ~ So, after all is said and done, do you think to see the "dock area" and the "town" in the distance (great for sunset pix), we should take a chance and stick to our portside cabin? So many questions, I sorry :-)

P

[skynight]

 

Lastly, for a regular cabin, what is the exact daily gratutity that goes on the sea pass card.

 

 

Thank you so much in advance for you help.

 

Safe sails to you always.

$11.50/pp/day ($115.00pp for a 10 day cruise) or if you are in a mini suite or a full suite the charge is $12.00/pp/day ($120pp for a 10 day cruise).

[Steelers36]

Thanks again ~ So, after all is said and done, do you think to see the "dock area" and the "town" in the distance (great for sunset pix), we should take a chance and stick to our portside cabin? So many questions, I sorry :-)

P

 

Do you want the sun in the picture or just the low light? For example you will be on western side of Aruba so sunset is generally out at sea. Angles depend on season of year. In St Thomas you are on south side of island... it gets complicated. Best to go topside and use open deck railing if not happywith perspective from balcony.

[pablo222]

If you watch "your ship" or similar ship on same ports, you will see the view forward from the Bridge and have a sense on the orientation and whether it is consistent from cruise to cruise.

 

But, the repo is a one-time itinerary. The ship doesn't

do the same ports the week before -- or maybe ever

before.

[Steelers36]

But, the repo is a one-time itinerary. The ship doesn't

do the same ports the week before -- or maybe ever

before.

 

Not to be argumentative, but I did mention "similar ship". If this is so important to the OP, I was just suggesting they can get a peek at the various ports using the Princess Webcams. Doesn't matter if it's a Repo or other cruise - a port call is a port call and these are not "one of a kind" calls in the Caribbean. Princess is at these islands all the time.

[pablo222]

Not to be argumentative, but I did mention "similar ship". If this is so important to the OP, I was just suggesting they can get a peek at the various ports using the Princess Webcams. Doesn't matter if it's a Repo or other cruise - a port call is a port call and these are not "one of a kind" calls in the Caribbean. Princess is at these islands all the time.

 

There are no princess ships sailing in the carribbean now.

The poster's repo is one of the first caribbean cruises of the

season. There are few (or probably no) opportunities to check

a princess web cam for antigua prior to the poster's cruise.

[Steelers36]

There are no princess ships sailing in the carribbean now.

The poster's repo is one of the first caribbean cruises of the

season. There are few (or probably no) opportunities to check

a princess web cam for antigua prior to the poster's cruise.

 

Sorry, yes I suppose you are correct. And not likely any YouTube to help.

[Colo Cruiser]

For operational reasons the ship could dock either side.

[MaryTiller]

We are also booked for the 10-24-15 Regal cruise from Brooklyn. It is less than 13 weeks before we go. When we cruise we always book a port side cabin. Just a habit we got into. In this case we are mid-ship, port side Baja and that puts us under the Sea View Bar. That was the better choice because I was afraid if we were beneath the Sea Walk, folks could look into our cabin. No matter however as we got the cabin we wanted.

We are remaining on board and will to our first B2B. Just another way to stretch out our vacation. See you on board!