Interactive Review of Regal Princess June 25 - July 6 2016

[Zooguy]

I'm following and enjoying your posts.

[Pokopo]

Hello everybody! Unlike Copenhagen, Oslo does not have much special food to offer, but there is a restaurant next to the cruise terminal that serves gigantic portions of seafood. After eating breakfast, we left the ship and took a nice walk around Oslo. Sadly, we arrived in Oslo on a Sunday, and so almost nothing was open at all. You should check for that when booking a cruise.

 

Also, you can see the Nobel Peace Centre and go in it for free, but the Royal Castle (house) requires you to pre-book tickets on TicketMaster. In addition, near the sea, there is a small museum that has a pretty neat little neighborhood to check out, and also has a glass elevator tube that goes up 54 meters. The cost is around $3 US if you want to go.

 

Anyways, although we walked around the city, you can also go in a hop on hop off bus or take one of those little “sightseeing trains” around the city. Something that definitely needs to be visited is the famous Oslo Opera House that does have a train station right next to it if you want to take the train. Built in 2008 and having a capacity of 1969, the Opera House is for sure one of the main places to check out in the city.

 

One cool site of attraction is a Viking ship museum. It is not yet complete, and is set for completion in 2020, but you can enjoy a preshow. The last place I suggest are the Sculpture Gardens. Filled with over 200 sculptures, this is another place that you can go to. Since it was our first time there, we did not go to the gardens, but I suggest for people going to Oslo for the first time is to just amble through the city. One thing to keep note of is that most shore excursions are not that special and you can simply walk or bus to most of the destinations. I would recommend only booking excursions in places like St. Petersburg or Warnemunde. The last thing to remember is that if you do decide to explore the city by yourself, be prepared to be walking around 10 kilometers or more if you want to see the majority of the sites and attractions.

Anyways, I will be excited for the Meet&Greet and looking forward to see what Regal Princess and the Baltics can offer!

 

Take care and cruise away!

 

-Pokopo

[Pokopo]

Hello everybody! Here we are on the first sea day of our vacation, and the first thing we did after waking up was… finding out it was already 12:30 PM! I guess all that walking and not sleeping took a heavy toll. After eating lunch, we headed over to the Atrium (which is 50% on Regal Princess than other Princess ships) where a Acrobatics and Comedy show was preformed by “2 TRUX”, before watching a dance competition that ended up in a burst of “wows” and cheering crowds.

 

In the end, we went to the amazing “Crab Shack” after watching some TV and walking around for a while. Although the Crab Shack is not bad, compared to the one that we had in Alaska, it was the worse one. Now, don’t think this the wrong way, the Crab Shack was absolutely delicious, with its deep fried jumbo shrimp, and delectable King Crab and Snow Crab legs (along with the odd sausage), but the Crab Shack in Alaska was in a whole different level. One tip about the Crab Shack is that you always want to add some butter to your food. When you add that buttery taste to the fresh seafood taste of the crab, shrimp, oyster, and scallops, you get a savory, heavenly, delightful, and exquisite meal. Definitely recommend dining there. In our case, it was open on Sea days only.

 

Anyways, I don’t have much to say about sea days other than, enjoy yourself. Don’t rush anything, and escape completely (heard of “escape completely” before?). Will be posting more soon!

 

Take care and cruise away!

 

-Pokopo

[caribill]

One cool site of attraction is a Viking ship museum. It is not yet complete, and is set for completion in 2020, but you can enjoy a preshow.

 

Are they renovating the museum?

 

It was complete in 1975 when I first visited it and I have been back to it several times, the most recent in 2009.

 

I agree that the Vigeland sculptures at Frogner Part are another must see.

 

Also the Edvard Munch museum is a great place to visit.

Edited July 4, 2016 by caribill

[Pokopo]

Are they renovating the museum?

 

It was complete in 1975 when I first visited it and I have been back to it several times, the most recent in 2009.

 

I agree that the Vigeland sculptures at Frogner Part are another must see.

 

Also the Edvard Munch museum is a great place to visit.

 

Hi! No, I do not believe they are renovating the museum. The one that I am talking about is this viking ship like building in the sea, not the actual Viking ship museum. I wasn't really sure what I should have called it, so I just called it "viking ship museum" which by chance was the name of a different museum.

 

Take care and cruise away!

 

-Pokopo

[Pokopo]

Hello everyone! Germany, the cheapest place I have ever been to, is as amazing as ever! Heading off the dock, we sauntered through the streets, buying $1 ice cream, $3 danish hotdogs, and delicious fish and chips from a boat restaurant. Aside from walking around and eating food, we didn’t do much. However, we did climb up a 31 meter high tower, and walk along the beach. There's a surprise at the end of the beach if you keep on walking.

 

Following our little 10km walk, we headed back to the ship, ate lunch, rested for a while, and then headed back off the ship to visit Rostock. Some useful information to know is that the train to Rostock leaves every 15 minutes until midnight, and the tickets are 4.9 Euros for adults and 3.9 for children. That ticket can let you go on basically all public transportation for the whole day as long as you are in Rostock or heading to and fro.

 

Would I recommend going to Warnemunde and Rostock instead of Berlin? Yes! Although Berlin is the capital city of Germany, it's a little too much for 5-6 hours. Plus, you have to take a total of 6 hours of train, which leaves you 2-3 hours on the ship when you get back. With only six hours, touring Berlin would be very rushed, and also costs 40 Euros per person for a round trip voyage. If you went to Warnemunde, you could relax, enjoy the views and Germany’s extremely cheap everything, being able to head back whenever you wished.

 

Aside from all that, I think Germany was a wonderful place that deserves to be ventured and explored. Will be posting more soon!:D

 

Take care and cruise away!

 

-Pokopo

[beccani]

Hi everyone! I'm Pokopo, and I will be starting an interactive review of Regal Princess June 25 - July 6. Basically, everyone can join in and ask questions or post their own opinion.

 

Currently, it is June the 15th, so I will be going in ten days. Sadly, I wil not be buying internet onboard for quite obvious reasons, but I will do a "day-to-day" kind of review after the cruise is over. Anyway, the cruise will be on Regal Princess, and we will be going to Scandinavia and Russia(I think thats what its called) for a 12 day cruise. We will be flying from Toronto to Reykjavik on IcelandAir, then from Reykjavik (Boy thats a hard to spell name) to Copenhagen on IcelandAir as well. This will be our 10th cruise in total, and 3rd with Princess. The three of us - my father, mother, and I are very excited to be going on a European cruise as it will have been our first one.

 

We have booked one shore excursion, since we felt that there was no need to waste money on bus drives when instead you could be buying drinks and all:D.

 

Since this is my first time posting on cruise critic, I would love some tips and constructive criticism (but just criticism is okay too). Also, I do not really know about the whole "roll call" thing, so if I could get a few tips on that it would be very much appreciated.

 

Otherwise, I'll be posting more in the near future. Take care and cruise away!

 

Don't know whether we met but we were on the same cruise as you. It was fabulous. Princess did an outstanding job in all areas. Love it!!!! Met some fabulous new friends from Australia and California and my daughter and I had the best time ever.

[Pokopo]

Hello everyone! Today was a boring day. I’ll give you a brief summary before I type the next day’s review:

 

Slept until 12 PM

Wandered around the ship

Ate lunch

Wandered some more

Watched TV

Watched a “Chocolate Journey’s” show in the Princess Live! Theatre. Basically, two chefs teach Corey, our Deputy Cruise Director how to make different chocolate desserts.

Ate dinner

Watched movies

Went to watch a Movie under the Stars and wearing 7 layers of blankets while the people right next to us were swimming in the pool.

Back to Sleeping…Zzzz…Zzzz

 

As you can see, we didn’t do much. Anyways, I’ll be posting a much more interesting information filled review on Tallinn, Estonia right after this one. If there is anything you would like to know about Sea days on the Regal, or just anything about cruising in general, feel free to comment!

 

Take care and cruise away!

 

-Pokopo

[Pokopo]

Hello everybody! Estonia. Estonia? What’s Estonia? Before this cruise, I had no idea Estonia even existed (no offense to all Estonians). Tallinn, the capital of Estonia was a beautiful place, with remarkable buildings and the home of Skype!

 

First off, we left the ship and immediately went onto the hot air balloon that went up approximately 120 meters into the air. The view from up there is beautiful, and you don’t even feel like your in a hot air balloon, but more like your in an apartment building’s balcony. The entire area is webbed so that you cannot fall out, but phones and cameras can, so make sure to not stick your phone/camera out because the balloon sometimes shakes abruptly, and if that happens, well, just please make sure to not stick your phone out. The middle of the walkway is empty, so you can only walk around the edges of the platform, but for anyone that is kind of afraid of heights, don’t worry, you won’t feel like your going to fall. I guess if you are very scared of heights (my father can’t even go up two meters on a rock climbing wall), then do not go, but if you are only scared, and not very scared, then you should be fine. Tickets are $10 per person if you are with a cruise, and I highly recommend going. It’s around 13 minutes from start to finish and you stay for around 5-6 minutes at the very top, allowing you to take pictures.

 

Okay, enough talk about the balloon. From the balloon, we walked to different places, but the most important one is the city center square. Tallinn is the best preserved medieval city in the whole world, so you obviously want to see all of their amazing towers and castles. From the balloon, you just want to walk towards the big church/cathedral fortress shape called the Stout Margaret Tower (I think), and then you will enter the “Old City”, from where you can walk around, buy some “Saku” – locally brewed beer – or tour the different museums and cathedrals, especially the City Hall, sitting right in the middle of the city square. Some amazing sites to visit are the Holy Ghost Church, Toompea Hill, Toomkirk (St. Mary’s), and the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, along with the Kiek in de Kok Tower. The tickets for the Kiek in de Kok are 10 dollars per person (Approx) and it is a Unesco World Heritage Site.

 

We had lunch at a restaurant inside the city square (not sure what it was called). Compared to Canada, the prices may have been a little on the expensive side, but since it is where many tourists go to, I guess that is expected. We ordered an Estonian sausage dish for around 15 Euros and another cream of mushroom soup for 10. Personally, I think the sausages were okay, but the soup was absolutely delicious.

 

From our perspective, there is no need to book an excursion for Tallinn. Almost everything is within walking distance, and you have lots of time to visit each area. Some facts about Estonia are that it has a population of around 1.5 million people, and the local cuisine consists of Sult (Jellied veal), Heeringas hapukoorega (Herring with sour cream, and the chocolate substitute called Kamatahvel, created when cocoa was scarce. Finally, it officially became a country in 1991, after leaving the Soviet Union.

 

Will be posting more soon! If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to comment down below!

 

Take care and cruise away!

 

-Pokopo

[kaycee17]

Thank you for your review about the balloon in Tallin. I hadn't come across that attraction in my research. I'm adding it to our list of things to do in Tallin!

[Pokopo]

Hello everybody! St. Petersburg was quite an interesting place, with castles, gardens, and Cathedrals everywhere. You might be wondering what I mean by “three million exhibits”, but the answer is quite obvious. St. Petersburg has over three million exhibits in one of its museums, actually beating the Louvre in France. If you were to look at each exhibit for one minute, and you stayed from when the museum opened to when it closed, going every single day, it would take you 11 years to finish looking at all the exhibits (according to Princess) Anyway, since I’m talking about museums, lets go to the first and probably most important museum, the State Hermitage.

 

Starting the day off with a quick breakfast, we left for our shore excursion, Hermitage Tour and On Your Own. Basically, for around $100, you get a tour of the Hermitage Museum (no AC) for around 2-3 hours. The cruise terminal requires your to show them your passports, so make sure to bring them. The excursion is around 8:30 AM, and you are allowed access into the Hermitage one hour before it opens, allowing you to admire the painting and exhibits on your guided tour with just your tour group for a while. I think the most important and best exhibit in there is the gold peacock clock. I’m not going to tell what it does, but all I can say that it is fascinating. Absolutely Sensational (who says that a lot on the Regal Princess? Anyone?)! Then you get to walk around in the city on your own for around 3 hours before heading back onto the bus and to the cruise terminal. The bus drops you off at a souvenir shop (at least ours did), and from there we went to the spectacular Summer Gardens, the burial site of Alexander the Second, and some other gardens. All in all, I think it was a pretty good overall tour of St. Petersburg. Inside the cruise terminal, there is a little café that offers free wifi, but remember, if you get on the ship, there is no way you will get back into St. Petersburg without a visa, and the wifi is blocked if you are on the wrong side of the cruise terminal. Meaning, no free wifi without a visa after you get back on the ship, unlike many different cruise terminals that offer free wifi.

 

Some places to make note of are the Hermitage museum, the Peter and Paul museum, the Church of the Savior on the Spilled Blood(the site of Alexander the Second's assassination), the Vene river(the widest river in Europe), the Summer Gardens, ISSAC cathedral and the city square, just to name a few. On top of one palace, there is actually 100kg of pure gold.

 

Wandering around St. Petersburg, I was amazed that the architecture of the city and canal system was well designed, being built hundreds of years ago on a marshy swampland. Only took them a few hundreds years to build it from ground up. One gross fact is that they actually used hundreds of thousands of dead bodies from slave workers who had died as the foundation for the city, along with hundreds of thousands of slaves to build the city. Another fact was that during several different wars, the Hermitage Museum was only hit by two bombs, barely damaging the museum, and not damaging any art as all of it was evacuated two months before the bombs dropped.

 

Anyways, I highly recommend touring St. Petersburg and maybe even staying there on a separate vacation/overnight since there is so much to see. The most important fact to remember is that without a shore excursion or a visa, you cannot leave the ship. A good shore excursion company to go with is SPB. You can go on their website and look a reviews, tours, and even search your cruise so that it shows up all available shore excursions for your specific cruise. I heard that they will arrange you visas and they have a package for the 11 day Baltic cruise on the Regal where you have a shore excursion at every stop, for a total of $750 (includes an overnight excursion in St. Petersburg). Also, if SPB does not bring you back in time, they will bring you to the next port and have a compensation of some sort.

 

So, I hope you enjoyed reading my review/summary of St. Petersburg! If there is anything you would like to know or say about St. Petersburg or my reviews, please just reply to the posts. I will try to reply to those as soon as I can! Also, happy Canada Day!

 

Take care and cruise away!

 

-Pokopo

[Pokopo]

Hello Everybody! Sorry for not posting in a couple of days. I was out camping, so I was unable to post anything. I’m just going to skip the second day of St. Petersburg since we never left the ship and it was basically a sea day.

 

Anyways, starting in Helsinki’s West Harbour (LMA), we took the tram to the Central Railway station, where the stunning statues and fresh and tasty fruits overwhelmed us. From there, we walked to Toolonlahti Bay (small lake) and proceeded to the famous “Temppeliaukio Rock Church”while viewing the Music Centre and National Museum of Finland.

 

Sadly, upon arrival of the Rock Church, we came upon a sign stating “Opens for Public at 11:30” since it was a Sunday so they were having their morning service. I’m not sure whether it opens at 11:30 AM every day, but one tip is to try and avoid the big crowds of people (Unless you are in a shore excursion). So sad…

 

Later on, we took the tram to the Market Square, where you can buy t-shirts for $10, but the food is rather pricey and small (8.99 for around 6 squid rings and a small handful of muikku fish (small fried fish). Also around the Market Square, you can visit the famous Senate Square, Cathedral, and City hall just to name a few.

 

We were going to visit the Suomenlinna Sea Fortress, but due to a lack of time, we were forced to leave the area in order to revisit the Rock Church that we were supposed to have already visited, and also over to Sibelius Park, where a cool looking monument stands right in the middle. Running to the tram, we barely made it back to the ship through all the rain and people.

 

In the end, we went to Sabatini’s for dinner, and although the food was great, it was not worth the money.

 

Anyways, one tip to know is that if you are docked close enough to the cruise terminal, you can actually access the cruise terminal wifi from your balcony, although it made vary based on where you are and where your cruise is.

 

Helsinki had the best map we had ever used. With detailed labels, recommended places to tour, fun facts, no ads, #HelsinkiSecret live like a local, “Useful Information”, a glossary for translations, and even where you can take selfies, this map was definitely the best one there is. I will be uploading several images of the map when I post the full list of photos and videos of our cruise at the end of the review.

 

I will be posting the last few days soon!

 

Take care and cruise away!

 

-Pokopo

[FritzG]

Do you remember who the Princess port guide/ lecturer was? If so, was the guide helpful with port info? The one we had on the Royal last fall wasn't very helpful at all.

Edited July 18, 2016 by FritzG

[caber]

Enjoying the review. Can you tell me how you paid for the tram in Helsinki?

Did they take credit cards? We are only planning to take euros and Danish Krone, and dollars of course.

[plan09]

Thanks pokopo!

[TheCruisingBrewers]

Loving the review! Thanks for writing!

[Pokopo]

Enjoying the review. Can you tell me how you paid for the tram in Helsinki?

Did they take credit cards? We are only planning to take euros and Danish Krone, and dollars of course.

 

Yes, they do indeed take credit cards. Do you know which dock your ship will be at, because if it is at the South Harbour there is no need for a tram. We only had to take a tram since we were at the far west side of Helsinki.

 

If you are going to be at the dock that we were at, you just walk around 500 metres through construction towards the tram station, and then you will see a little machine where you can buy a day pass (all public transportation) for $8. Then, head over to the station and take line 9 until you get to the central railway station.

 

You should only need credit cards, euros, Danish Krones and dollars for the cruise. Many cities accept credit cards, and some even American dollars.

 

Take care and cruise away!

 

-Pokopo

[Pokopo]

Do you remember who the Princess port guide/ lecturer was? If so, was the guide helpful with port info? The one we had on the Royal last fall wasn't very helpful at all.

 

I'm not quite sure you mean by Princess Port Guide/lecturer. Do you mean the Shore excursion people?

Edited July 19, 2016 by Pokopo

[FritzG]

I'm not quite sure you mean by Princess Port Guide/lecturer. Do you mean the Shore excursion people?

 

No, I mean the person who gives the lectures in the theatre before arriving at the ports. Then the lectures are aired on the tv. They give the history of the port, talk about the highlights of the city, and offer practical information. On a port intensive cruise with few sea days like this one sometimes the lectures are only on tv. Depending on the lecturer they offer good practical advice. There used to be an older gentleman (Joe??) who gave great advice and was very knowledgeable about European ports.

Edited July 19, 2016 by FritzG

[decamp303]

In the end, we went to Sabatini’s for dinner, and although the food was great, it was not worth the money.

 

This is certainly a matter of opinion. We were on the Regal last month and found Sabatini's to be excellent. We ate there twice, once off the regular menu and once for the "Super Tuscan" dinner ($60/pp).

 

While the Super Tuscan was definitely too expensive for what we got, the regular specialty dinner ($29/pp) was well worth the price. The food, the service, the ambiance all done very well. Especially considering how much we did not enjoy the main dining room.

[Pokopo]

No, I mean the person who gives the lectures in the theatre before arriving at the ports. Then the lectures are aired on the tv. They give the history of the port, talk about the highlights of the city, and offer practical information. On a port intensive cruise with few sea days like this one sometimes the lectures are only on tv. Depending on the lecturer they offer good practical advice. There used to be an older gentleman (Joe??) who gave great advice and was very knowledgeable about European ports.

 

Ahh. I see what you mean now. The one we had on the Regal was absolutely fabulous. There were in-depth guides of every port that you could rewatch any time on the tv. They even had interviews with professionals and locals to give you more information. Personally, I think the port guides that they give you with the Princess Patter is good enough for what we did (walk around alot). As for the person, I think it was multiple people that did it so I'm not quite sure. The lectures are more like voice overs with pictures and details about the port on your screen, so I don't think we ever saw the person aside from the interviewers. Hope that answered your question!

 

Take care and cruise away!

 

-Pokopo

[FritzG]

Yes, thank you. A good port lecturer can add a lot to the trip.

[Pokopo]

Hello everyone! This will be my last review of the cruise (unless you want some more information/questions). I will be going camping tomorrow, and when I come back I’ll make a video compilation of our cruise, which includes most of the dinner + Sabatini + Crab Shack food.

 

Anyways, starting in Nynashamn’s dock, we got off the cruise at around 9 AM, heading off to the Tourist Information building. The dock in Nynashamn is actually completely floating, since it is more of a temporary dock. I think our ship was docked there because it was too big for Stockholm. From the TI building, we bought 3 city passes for around 35 Euros. After looking at a few souvenirs, we headed off the dock and followed a blue line all the way to the Nynashamn bus station. I remember that we took photos of the pricing, so that will be included in the compilation.

Later on, after a fairly long walk through the rays of the burning sun, we ended up at the small bus station. Apparently, all of the trains were cancelled from Nynashamn to Farsta Strand, but it should be fixed in a few months. We took bus 35X for around 45 minutes to Farsta Strand, where we could switch back onto the train and arrive in Stockholm. The bus from Nynashamn runs every 15 minutes if you happen to go when the trains are still cancelled.

 

Upon arrival in Stockholm, we ventured through the city, trying desperately to find the famous “Ice Bar”, before stumbling upon a local that spoke English, we showed us where the Ice Bar was. Basically, the Ice Bar is actually in a hotel called “IceHotel” with a small sign stating “Ice Bar” on the side of the hotel. It opens at around 11:15, but unless you are with a shore excursion try to go later as shore excursion groups take a while before they finish and you can go in.

 

For $25, you get to touch and see the Ice Bar, which is a room encased in ice with cups made of ice, ice sculptures, ice engraving, and even ice letters; and then you will receive an alcoholic drink of your choice (or for kids some juice). I would say it was well worth the money, as long as you can stand being inside a room that is kept at -7 degrees Celsius all year round. They do give you a jacket and some gloves to wear inside the freezing cold room.

 

The moment we left and reentered the bright sunshine, our feet and fingers slowly began to feel normal again. We then visited the City Hall, with golden statues at the top, and two other very important areas, Gamla Stan and the Vasa museum.

 

Inside Gamla Stan, or “Old Town”, you see the narrow streets filled with shops and bakeries, and eventually make your way to the Nobel Prize Museum. Although we didn't go inside the museum, we did go to a nearby café called Chokladkoppen. Their caramel cake is absolutely delicious if you want to try some.

 

Behind the Nobel Prize Museum is the Royal Palace. I do not recommend going to this place as much because I think you can only buy weekly passes, and the museums do not have much to offer, aside from probably the Crown Jewels.

 

From there, we walked to the ferry station (next to the hop on hop off ferry station) and then made our way to the Vasa museum. Inside, you will find a 300 foot wooden ship that was salvaged from after wreaking on its maiden voyage. I would rather let you just see the museum than tell you about it (there is too much inside the museum to sum up in a few words), but I do definitely recommend visiting the museum.

 

Finally, we took a few trams, trains, and buses until we finally arrived in Nynashamn again, making it back on the ship with 15 minutes to spare.

 

Thank you all for taking the time to read my review of the cruise. If there is anything else you would like to know or ask about, feel free to just post it down below. I will try to reply to posts as soon as I get back from my camping trip.

 

Thank you!

 

Take care and cruise away!

 

-Pokopo

[Pokopo]

This is certainly a matter of opinion. We were on the Regal last month and found Sabatini's to be excellent. We ate there twice, once off the regular menu and once for the "Super Tuscan" dinner ($60/pp).

 

While the Super Tuscan was definitely too expensive for what we got, the regular specialty dinner ($29/pp) was well worth the price. The food, the service, the ambiance all done very well. Especially considering how much we did not enjoy the main dining room.

 

I do have to agree with what you said. The staff were all very friendly, especially our waiter, who was happy and excited when we ordered and when she delivered the food. I guess one reason we did not enjoy the food that much was because we do not normally eat Italian style food, and another was because the lobster was undercooked.

 

However, I do understand what you're saying, and I can't really argue against it. I think the food we had was too "stuffing" so that may have been another reason for us too not like it that much. The main reason we did not "like" the food is probably because the last time we went to Alaska and had the Crab Shack, which was absolutely delicious and didn't have as much flour/wheat products that aren't as worth as food like lobster and shrimp.. What I'm trying to say is that the Crab Shack time raised our expectations for what we should be getting.

 

Take care and cruise away!

 

-Pokopo

[bcwl]

Thanks for the information. Just want to know last day the ship arrive Copenhagen at 5am, what the earliest time they allow passengers to depart？

Thanks

Wen

 

 

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