Regal Princess Review 12/11-12/18

[lovevacadays]

We had a fabulous cruise! We booked 18 months ago during the Beverage Package included special. I’m Michelle and have done 19 cruises with this being my 12th Princess cruise. Sharing my cabin was my niece. This was her 3rd cruise, all with Princess. We were in cabin D424 –extended balcony. In cabin D428 extended balcony right next door were my cousin and her partner. They are well-traveled. This was their first cruise. Down the hall in cabin D410 deluxe cabin with an extended balcony was my brother and his wife. This was their first cruise. I can’t say how much we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. It was such fun for me watching my brother, sister in-law, and cousin have so much fun on their first cruise experience. And, we loved those extended balconies. I would highly recommend cabin D424.

 

Pre-cruise, Embarkation, and Sail Away: My brother, sister in-law and niece drove to Fort Lauderdale, my cousin and her partner flew in from Colorado and I flew in from California. We arrived a day early. It was really storming when we arrived. Very strong winds and some rain. However, we did not let that dampen our spirits one bit. We knew we had many days of sunshine and good times ahead. We stayed at the Marriott Beach Place Towers in two Villas. My brother, SIL, and niece in one and my cousins and me in the other. The rooms were fantastic! Very large with a huge whirlpool bath tub. We decided to do the intracoastal view since we would be looking at the ocean for many days. We had balconies that were really nice. Our timing was good as the night we were there was the boat Christmas parade. We were on floors 16 and 19 and the boats came right down the waterway in front of us. Add a bottle of wine and it was a fun evening. Even with the winds it wasn’t cold. Temperature about mid 70’s.

 

My niece drove my brother, SIL and me to the terminal at about 10:30. There was already a lot of people in the regular line but not many in the preferred line. My brother uses a cane and a wheelchair if he is in pain. They were on board by 11:45 as they went on first with the handicapped group. My niece and I flew through the platinum line which was well organized. We were seated in the Platinum seating area. We were there for about 10-15 minutes and happened to look up and see our cousins in the regular line and they had not been seated yet in any group number. We were waving at them when a nice Princess employee noticed us waving at them. She asked if they were traveling with us. When we said yes she said “what does it hurt to add two more to the Platinum area” and let them come sit with us. Within minutes we were boarding the ship. I think it was around 12:15 but not sure. We dropped our carry ons and found my brother and went up to Alfredo’s. It was already full and no one had ordered yet so we headed up to the buffet. Believe it or not it was really quiet up there so we got our food in no time and got seated, ordered our first alcoholic beverage and so the cruise began. Embarkation was a breeze.

 

We did the muster drill and then headed up to the Lido deck for sail away. It was a bit windy but no rain and it wasn’t cold. There were clouds in the sky with some sun here and there. Princess decided to do the party down in the Piazza. Since it wasn’t bad at all up on the deck and we wanted to watch the two ships leaving before us sail out we stayed up on deck. There were many others with the same idea. We had a great sail away. It was actually quite fun with the stormy looking skies. We watched the Caribbean Princess leave first and then a Holland America ship. It was great fun. They we heard the horns blast on the Regal and the Love Boat theme start to play. We got such a great laugh from it. Fun, fun. We got the pleasure of hearing the Love Boat theme song every time we left a port and quite often during the cruise prior to the captain coming on the loud speaker with an announcement. Seems the Captain has an affinity for playing the Love Boat theme. There were people out in front of their homes waving at us and even someone with a bullhorn talking to us. We loved it. After we got to the open seas we went inside to start our evening.

 

More to come. I’m doing this while unpacking and doing laundry…….

[lovevacadays]

Oops!!!! Sorry. I'm having computer issues and didn't think my original thread posted. This is a duplicate so I'll continue adding to my review on my original thread.:):):)

[Kenosha Cruiser]

Looking forward to more of your review on the Regal Princess. We went on a cruise this past May (Alaska Crown Princess) with two of my sisters and their husbands. It was their first cruise and we loved seeing how exciting it was for them. They are now hooked and I'm sure your brother, SIL and cousin will be hooked too. You picked a beautiful ship in the Regal for everyone to enjoy.

 

Cheers - Ken & Darlene

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[caribbeanboy]

I loved the food on the Regal.