Thoughts on the Regal Princess

[Woobstr112G]

I looked a the online video tours, and am thinking about a Canada NE cruise in October. The only two design flaws appear to be small balconies in midship area ,and a real lack of foresight in not having a retractable dome over at least one pool area. The Celebrity Soltice Class was smart enough to continue a domed , although not retractable one, from the Millenium Class ships. I would suggest to Princess that they replace, the canopy covers with a true dome over the rear pools. That would be a game changer.

 

And how.....:D:D:D

 

Bob

[Alicomp]

EVERY ship is built/planned with the expectation that some people will be outside.

 

Of course. You took what I said out of context. My point was that when the weather is bad and everyone is inside the Regal, the piazza is very crowded and very noisy. We had terrible weather on most of a 28 day transAtlantic/Baltic cruise spring of 2015 and found that there was no place to sit quietly and read, other than in our cabin. We met a lot of people who complained about the noise and the crowds. We love Princess, but had a bad cruise on the Regal, because of the lack of indoor space when everyone is indoors. That is just my opinion. The Regal is not my favorite ship.

[AndySandy]

We were on the Regal 1st May 2016,overall found the cruise enjoyable.Confusing at first to get bearings,mid ship stairway ends deck 7 & theirs nothing on starboard side of deck 7.Passenger services were shocking & found the hospitality not to be that great compared to smaller ship Coral princess,service was impeccable.

Mostly dined in concerto as really enjoyed being waited on & very relaxing,compared to the rushed atmosphere of horizon court.Philippians are best at service.

Port lectures were shocking as long as you didn't mind hearing about shopping for handbags & shoe's.

Cruise director Martyn Moss was very good value.

Prefer explorer's lounge compared to princess live.

Food quality was a fraction better than Coral,room steward excellent.

Since the assistant cruise entertainers were so good on the Coral I found the personnel on Regal disappointing especially the Australian lady hosting karaoke.

Shore excursion we used SPB & found them to be exceptional.Done Princess excursion in Estonia,no good,group to large & needed headset.

Would I cruise princess again differently yes.Not so keen on Regal or Royal though & prefer to study the deck plans.

Edited June 5, 2016 by AndySandy

[dreadnot]

We were on the Regal 1st May 2016,overall found the cruise enjoyable.Confusing at first to get bearings,mid ship stairway ends deck 7 & theirs nothing on starboard side of deck 7.Passenger services were shocking & found the hospitality not to be that great compared to smaller ship Coral princess,service was impeccable.

Mostly dined in concerto as really enjoyed being waited on & very relaxing,compared to the rushed atmosphere of horizon court.Philippians are best at service.

Port lectures were shocking as long as you didn't mind hearing about shopping for handbags & shoe's.

Cruise director Martyn Moss was very good value.

Prefer explorer's lounge compared to princess live.

Food quality was a fraction better than Coral,room steward excellent.

Since the assistant cruise entertainers were so good on the Coral I found the personnel on Regal disappointing especially the Australian lady hosting karaoke.

Shore excursion we used SPB & found them to be exceptional.Done Princess excursion in Estonia,no good,group to large & needed headset.

Would I cruise princess again differently yes.Not so keen on Regal or Royal though & prefer to study the deck plans.

That has been my experience with larger ships . I really liked the Crown and it was more than large enough. Will try the Regal on a 5 day Canada. Next up may go back to Celebrity for a Soltice class . Of note is that their next series of ships will actually be smaller .Maybe a cruise line is listening to their customers and going against the huge ship trend

[susancruzs]

Always interesting to read different takes on the same cruise! I was onboard 4/17-5/12thoroughly enjoyed the Regal Princess! I was concerned over all the negative things I read but once onboard, all was well. The personnel I dealt with were very personable, efficient, seemed genuinely happy. I have been on some cruises over my 33+ years of cruising, 6 different cruise lines, where the happy faces seemed quite forced and phony.

 

Being familiar with Princess, looking at the deck plans, no center stairs above deck 7 not an issue at all and I use stairs over elevators most of the time. My cabin was beyond the forward stairwell. There were a few times I walked all the way aft to use those stairs but I look at it as exercise, being an avid walker.

 

I found the food in the dining room to be as good as my 25 day cruise on the Emerald Princess. It was an area I read complaints and did not have a bad meal. I was at a large table (10), and no one had any problems, all were seasoned cruisers.

 

This was my 1st Baltic cruise, not my first transatlantic. Traveling alone, I decided to use Princess tours for a few places. The tours were good. I was especially pleased with the walking and subway tour in Russia. It was awesome. The tour in Stockholm was good, as we were 1st in line at the Vasa museum, later when we were leaving very crowded.

 

I'm looking at the Royal transatlantic for 2017! :) I've always been a fan of smaller ships, traveling alone, not wanting to get lost in a crowd but that did not matter on the Regal. Many times I ran into the same people in the IC, buffet area, etc., it was fine.

Edited June 6, 2016 by susancruzs

[Gwendy]

Always interesting to read different takes on the same cruise! I was onboard 4/17-5/12thoroughly enjoyed the Regal Princess! I was concerned over all the negative things I read but once onboard, all was well. The personnel I dealt with were very personable, efficient, seemed genuinely happy. I have been on some cruises over my 33+ years of cruising, 6 different cruise lines, where the happy faces seemed quite forced and phony.

 

Being familiar with Princess, looking at the deck plans, no center stairs above deck 7 not an issue at all and I use stairs over elevators most of the time. My cabin was beyond the forward stairwell. There were a few times I walked all the way aft to use those stairs but I look at it as exercise, being an avid walker.

 

I found the food in the dining room to be as good as my 25 day cruise on the Emerald Princess. It was an area I read complaints and did not have a bad meal. I was at a large table (10), and no one had any problems, all were seasoned cruisers.

 

This was my 1st Baltic cruise, not my first transatlantic. Traveling alone, I decided to use Princess tours for a few places. The tours were good. I was especially pleased with the walking and subway tour in Russia. It was awesome. The tour in Stockholm was good, as we were 1st in line at the Vasa museum, later when we were leaving very crowded.

 

I'm looking at the Royal transatlantic for 2017! :) I've always been a fan of smaller ships, traveling alone, not wanting to get lost in a crowd but that did not matter on the Regal. Many times I ran into the same people in the IC, buffet area, etc., it was fine.

Good to hear positives. We are also doing Princess tours in Stockholm, Vasa museum, so good to hear about first in line. We are also signed up for subway tour in St Petersburg and are really looking forward to it.

[keithm]

I think my primary concern regarding a ship of this size would be the impact of 3600 passengers on a small port. Would anyone with experience care to comment on this? Love to hear your thoughts!

Out of 3600 pax, how many do you think actually leave the ship? We did some short shore excursions & came back to find the ship still fairly full(probably over 1500 still on board)

[keithm]

Likes: Gorgeous interior, Piazza lovely area to lounge around. Love the sanctuary. Worth the $. Food is good(not as good as Celebrity Eclipse, but still good)Martin, the CD, was easily the best CD of any cruise we've ever been on. Very approachable & hysterically funny. The staff..Simply some of the friendliest we've seen. Good storage(better than the Eclipse)Excursions were pretty good overall & very well priced.

Dislikes: Horrible towels in bathrooms(very small & rough)Bathrooms overall were the big let down. Shower head was movable/detachable, which was nice, but water pressure not that great. Very small theater for size of ship, no place to put drinks down! No front of ship bar/lounge(most other lines have one)Big back ups at elevators(not enough stairways!)Dining rooms really kind of boring- No "wow" factor. Smoky casino, Some of the trashiest pax we've ever met, mixed with some of the classiest pax we've ever met!

Would we cruise again? Yes quite possible, however we are back on the Eclipse next Jan.22

Edited June 6, 2016 by keithm
grammar

[Galavanting Grandma]

This is what my balcony looked like. I didn't even attempt to sit with the chair facing out since there would have been no room for my legs. The chairs are even set up sideways because the back of the chair would hit the glass balcony door if you moved it perpendicular to the railing. I sat out there a couple times sideways and it didn't bother me because it was a Caribbean cruise but I would not like this in Alaska or if I had plans to take in the scenery.

 

Wow!:o

What was your room number? We have an angled balcony & it supposedly is larger than most, but now I'm wondering if we'll even have room to eat out there!

[floridalover5623]

Wow!:o

What was your room number? We have an angled balcony & it supposedly is larger than most, but now I'm wondering if we'll even have room to eat out there!

The angled, front and the rear facing balconies are at least tolerable- the others definitely are all terrible especially if you plan to have dinner out there.

[GloriaF]

We spent ten days over Christmas 2016 on Regal and loved her. The balconies are small, but the two of us managed to have full breakfast delivered by room service on the balcony every day -- it takes a little creativity, but we took the round table from the cabin out next t the balcony little table and managed quite satisfactorily. And we thought the buffet layout was much improved over other older Princess ships. Scores a 10 with us!

[Galavanting Grandma]

The angled, front and the rear facing balconies are at least tolerable- the others definitely are all terrible especially if you plan to have dinner out there.

 

Thank you!

[Ladybuggers]

I think I read someone complaining about not enough deck space, and someone else about the buffet layout. Reading all these positive comments, though, I am much less concerned!

 

I was on the Regal last May. I would have to agree about the Buffet layout. It was confusing, I never knew which way to go. Items that should of been near each other were not. I ended up eating mostly in the MDR. I thought it was great over all. The itinerary is very busy if you are going to do excursions at each port.

[floridalover5623]

I was on the Regal last May. I would have to agree about the Buffet layout. It was confusing, I never knew which way to go. Items that should of been near each other were not. I ended up eating mostly in the MDR. I thought it was great over all. The itinerary is very busy if you are going to do excursions at each port.

It's all those good choices that must confuse you. Better stay with the 4 main courses in the DR. ;)

[cbreit]

Agree with the size of the balcony, way too small! But the buffet is to die for, especially if you are a fussy eater like me! We had an aft balcony, E727. If you don't like cigarette smoke, avoid that room! Smoking is allowed just below.

[Selion]

Agree with the size of the balcony, way too small! But the buffet is to die for, especially if you are a fussy eater like me! We had an aft balcony, E727. If you don't like cigarette smoke, avoid that room! Smoking is allowed just below.

Go up one deck. We were in an aft room on Dolphin deck. Never detected a hint of smoke.

[floridalover5623]

Go up one deck. We were in an aft room on Dolphin deck. Never detected a hint of smoke.

A lot depends on which direction the wind is blowing. No use in taking any chances & having a trip ruined by smoke on the balcony.

[Jeter02]

It's my most absolute favorite ship!!! I've sailed on her 12 times already. I've also been on the Regal for the Baltic sailings, which is phenomenal. Highly recommend!!!!

[JoRoy218]

We've just been on the Regal once, last October New England cruise. We enjoyed it all and yes, were disappointed with the smaller balcony. It IS a beautiful ship and some areas were very crowded, particularly the Piazza. Lots of "chair hogs" there too! The promenade deck was not our favorite either. Bottom line is that we love cruising on any ship and we've found our likes and dislikes but none of them would deter us from booking on any Princess ship again. (But I have to say, the Caribe deck on the Emerald was the perfect balcony!)

[cruzsnooze]

We're thinking about booking a Scandinavian itinerary on the Regal Princess this summer, but I've heard mixed reviews about the ship. What are your thoughts and experiences on the Regal Princess?

I didn't like it. Too big, too noisy, not enough seats in the theatre, buffet so big you can't find your way back to what you wanted if you took the time to look at everything before deciding and the seating is very far from whatever you want. It's not what I call a vacation. The balcony should be called a french balcony because it's a joke.

[floridalover5623]

I didn't like it. Too big, too noisy, not enough seats in the theatre, buffet so big you can't find your way back to what you wanted if you took the time to look at everything before deciding and the seating is very far from whatever you want. It's not what I call a vacation. The balcony should be called a french balcony because it's a joke.

Oh yea. I lost my wife at the buffet line one time & didn't find her till bed time. :D;p

[cruzsnooze]

Oh yea. I lost my wife at the buffet line one time & didn't find her till bed time. :D;p

Was that a good thing or bad?;)

[floridalover5623]

Was that a good thing or bad?;)

I don't know what I'll do when the Medallions are around. Maybe I'll have to wrap it in some aluminum foil. ;p

Sorry Dear, I guess the system just doesn't work the way they said it would. ;)

[cruzsnooze]

i don't know what i'll do when the medallions are around. Maybe i'll have to wrap it in some aluminum foil. ;p

sorry dear, i guess the system just doesn't work the way they said it would. ;)

 

rotflmao

[umuva]

Have been on the Regal ten times including three transatlantic. Love the ship. Buffet is only confusing if you have no sense of direction. Spread out and you are are not on top of each other. You are not squashed in bumping into each other as you are in older ships. So many choices, esp Mongolian Buffet. Deserts have own area. Sport areas are so much bigger whether you want to play pickle ball, e.g., or putt on a green. Track up top has various stations to exercise at. Interactive tv choices are excellent. Pause a movie and come back later to continue. Walk the cabin corridors and see great photos taken by passengers.

 

 

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