Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Ho Ho Ho live Regal Princess

ibfern

By ibfern,
in Princess Cruises

 Share

Recommended Posts

ibfern

ibfern

Posted
  • Author
Posted

12/24/2016

 

Dominica

 

Good Morning and Happy Holidays

 

We had a fun day yesterday on our own on the lovely island of Dominica, which was the first Caribbean Island to become a "green" island. There is a vibration here that is lovely and much different from the other islands we have visited on this s trip, and I really like it here.

 

We took our time getting off the ship, first playing trivia and then disembarking to find a big covered market right across from the ship. Prices were a bit inflated here, as I later discovered, so be mindful of this when you get here.

 

We took a $2 ship shuttle to downtown Roseau, it took about 10 minutes to get there. The weather was hot with some dark clouds on the horizon. The shuttle is a great way to get around and all the drivers around down town honored the $2 price so we were free to walk as we wanted and wonder the colorful streets, filled with ruins and lovely colored homes and buildings, and a vast array of beautiful flower filled balconies and landscaping. The shuttle drop off/pick up was conveniently located at the beginning of an open market where the prices were better and the vendors were very open to bargaining!

 

The open market was filled with gorgeous hand woven baskets, trivets, and more hand made items. Of course the regular magnets and shot glasses, and typical island clothing were also available at very reasonable prices. I loved the fact that everybody called me "mama" which charmed me so, and melted my heart which made it more difficult to bargain! LOL this was going to be the most difficult problem I encountered as I travel these islands, they are filled with poverty which is heartbreaking and I feel crappy even trying to make deals.

 

As we worked our way through the open market, wending our way through the streets, I found some awesome small covered baskets which I bought in quantity for gifting the folks on the ship who work so hard to make my vacation wonderful. We also found nice hand made magnets, flashlights, and even beautiful hand carved wood art. We enjoyed this market, and headed for the farmers market when it started to rain. At that point, I wished I had bought some rain ponchos-- don't forget to bring these items whenever you come to these islands as it always rains a little on and off, and when it rains it really pours! Of course I cannot find these anywhere and plan to buy some on the ship at the next opportunity.

 

We spy a supermarket (loosely defined) and go inside to buy some essentials like candy and ginger snaps. 😀 The market is quite crowded, filled with people shopping for the fixings for Christmas dinner I imagine. We find some colorfully named homemade pastries such as "Shamie's Sex In the Pan" dessert, which looks like it sounds and we must photograph it of course! As we check out I notice they are handing out free calendars which I take for my room, and it is a lovely reminder of Dominica.

 

By now it is raining pretty hard and we decide to head back to the ship. I am glad I got some great pictures before the rain which I will post on my Facebook page as soon as I can. Anyway we are offered an air conditioned Van ride for the same $2 pp and take it back to the ship. Of course we stop at the market across from the ship, and I find a large handmade basket which I buy for a very reasonable price of $30 and I love it. Not sure how I will get it home but I will figure that out later, I cannot seem to let go of it so I know I must have it! Back on the ship, we head to Horizon Court buffet and have some yummy ice cold lemonade, and spy a beautiful rainbow which eventually becomes a double rainbow! It's just beautiful.

 

As far as I am concerned, this is the nicest Island we have visited, and it is my second time here so I feel strongly about this. In the past we used a tour guide named Levi Bumpling, and took a strenuous excursion to a gorge where we swam up to a lovely waterfall, the names escape me now but I can give specifics when I return home next year. We also hiked up a river to natural hot springs where we sat and soaked, stopped for local drinks, and snorkeled Champagne beach. This was 6-7 years ago, but I highly recommend doing one of all of these excursions, as well as going on your own through the town. Either way, you will totally enjoy this place!

 

We play the afternoon trivia and this adorable 11 year old boy named Noah asks to join our team and we are thrilled to have this young well mannered kid. He is all that I would want Asa teacher and parent and I cannot wait to meet them and tell them what an incredible child Noah is. This ship is filled with well mannered kids, I have not seen one problematic child at all here and there are many kids on the ship. It makes me so happy to say this, for I have encountered lots of poorly behaved kids on past cruises.

 

Finally I must compliment the cruise staff for presenting to us a Sherlock Holmes inspired music trivia which is not only entertaining but also a nice challenge. I love the challenging trivia games, and this game is quite engaging. You can tell that everybody is really enjoying it, there is standing room only in Princess live.

 

OK we have already pulled up to Grenada and I am late getting started as usual, there are really not enough hours in the day to do all the things I want to do which should be my biggest. Implying on this cruise. The only thing that I can complain about is the very slow dinner service, and the creepy head waiter that argues with us no matter what we say. I asked for a large plate of steamed veggies and keep getting oil/butter soaked veggies and when I ask Floran about this he argues and I hate that so much that I want to leave this dining room badly. The last thing I want to do is argue about my self imposed food preferences and restrictions, but this bugs the crap out of all of us. We are usually the first ones in at 5:30, order only a salad and a main course, and still can't get out in less than 2 hours! What can I do here, any ideas are welcomed.

 

Hope everybody is having a wonderful holiday, wishing you all the best,

Amelia

Link to comment
Share on other sites
caribill

caribill

Posted
Posted
The only thing that I can complain about is the very slow dinner service, and the creepy head waiter that argues with us no matter what we say. I asked for a large plate of steamed veggies and keep getting oil/butter soaked veggies and when I ask Floran about this he argues and I hate that so much that I want to leave this dining room badly. The last thing I want to do is argue about my self imposed food preferences and restrictions, but this bugs the crap out of all of us. We are usually the first ones in at 5:30, order only a salad and a main course, and still can't get out in less than 2 hours! What can I do here, any ideas are welcomed.

 

 

When we want to get out faster we tell our waitstaff what time we want to be finished and they have always done their best to have us ready to leave by that time. One time when we wanted to be out in 75 minutes, we were finished in less than an hour.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ibfern

ibfern

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah from the Regal Princess!

 

The ship is quite festive and there is much holiday cheer onboard, what a lovely way to spend the holiday this year. Our friends got some bad news about their beloved cat, say a prayer for our Kittie friend Moses please.

 

Thanks for all the hot tips about getting out of the dining room, we have tried to ask to be out in an hour and a half, order only a salad and main course, and our waitress still said no, we would not get out by then--no promises were her exact words!

 

Last night dinner was terrible. The pork belly with cracklings had no cracklings, was bland and looked unappealing. It was sent back by our very disappointed friends. My jerk chicken was rubbery and awful with no discernable jerk sauce on it. I took a bite and left the rest. We don't know what to do, and are considering leaving our table and going for anytime dining.

 

Other than that, we are having a nice time. I'll write more about Gernada, yesterday's port later today. It's a sea day and formal night tonight.

 

Hoping all have the best holiday ever,

Amelia

Link to comment
Share on other sites
TracieABD "Live from...." Rare

TracieABD

Posted
Posted

Thank you for taking the time to write a live from. I know how much work it is.

 

It may be time to see the Maitre'd and ask to have your dining room changed. If that doesn't work, see the Captain's Circle host/ess. Finally, as for a meeting with the Hotel Manager.

 

Dining is such a big part of cruising... I had that your experience is so troublesome.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ibfern

ibfern

Posted
  • Author
Posted

12/25/16

 

Happy Holidays from the Caribbean

 

Today was a lovely day, everybody decked out in their fanciest Holiday clothing and lots of Santa's helpers. Also many folks celebrating Chanukah, although most of the bustling activities in the Piazza were Xmas themed. Even I had to make cookies, decorated with yummy gooey frosting and lots of sprinkles, a calorie bomb that was just what my inner child needed! Hehehehe...

 

Ken got me a gift! I was shocked, this being the 3rd gift I ever got from him in 25 years, and I was so touched! He even got me a misspelled Chanukah card in honor of my forever struggle with spelling! Then Ken got a gift, um let's just say he walked around with a giant smile on his face all day! ;)

 

The day just zipped by, there was Christmas singing all day long, beautiful children filled with good cheer and happy faces, and of course Santa was giving out gifts to all the kids, not a bad one in the whole bunch! We have a lot of delightful teen on board that are adorable, what alien has taken over their bodies? I am so impressed with all these youngsters!

 

We have an 11 year old on our trivia team, his name is Noah. This is one hell of a great kid, we all adore him very much. We met his day yesterday, he also joined our team for one time and we all see where Noah got his charm and smarts. Happy times everywhere but the dining room.

 

Many people are complaining about the dining room, we are not alone. We ate at Alfredo's last night and enjoyed it a lot. I've never had such bad food on a ship, I think the good crew left the ship to spend the holidays with their families and this crew is the bottom of the barrel newbies. Even the dancers do not dance as a unifies group, I can tell they are new on the ship, new to each other, and it shows. Not that it is a bad thing for them, I totally understand how long it takes for a new group of dancers to bond as a whole. But it is noticeable to me and others. This was an expensive cruise, so I really expected more. I am disappointed.

 

I must comment one of the CD staff named Natalie, she has been spectacular and we all just love her so much. Ditto for Sarah and Nando...

 

I am writing a day late, btw, and we are just pulling into Aruba, so it time to get going. Hope everybody had a wonderful holiday. With kind wishes for much love and abundance,

Amelia

Link to comment
Share on other sites
kruisey

kruisey

Posted
Posted (edited)
12/25/16

 

Happy Holidays from the Caribbean

 

Today was a lovely day, everybody decked out in their fanciest Holiday clothing and lots of Santa's helpers. Also many folks celebrating Chanukah, although most of the bustling activities in the Piazza were Xmas themed. Even I had to make cookies, decorated with yummy gooey frosting and lots of sprinkles, a calorie bomb that was just what my inner child needed! Hehehehe...

 

Ken got me a gift! I was shocked, this being the 3rd gift I ever got from him in 25 years, and I was so touched! He even got me a misspelled Chanukah card in honor of my forever struggle with spelling! Then Ken got a gift, um let's just say he walked around with a giant smile on his face all day! ;)

 

The day just zipped by, there was Christmas singing all day long, beautiful children filled with good cheer and happy faces, and of course Santa was giving out gifts to all the kids, not a bad one in the whole bunch! We have a lot of delightful teen on board that are adorable, what alien has taken over their bodies? I am so impressed with all these youngsters!

 

We have an 11 year old on our trivia team, his name is Noah. This is one hell of a great kid, we all adore him very much. We met his day yesterday, he also joined our team for one time and we all see where Noah got his charm and smarts. Happy times everywhere but the dining room.

 

Many people are complaining about the dining room, we are not alone. We ate at Alfredo's last night and enjoyed it a lot. I've never had such bad food on a ship, I think the good crew left the ship to spend the holidays with their families and this crew is the bottom of the barrel newbies. Even the dancers do not dance as a unifies group, I can tell they are new on the ship, new to each other, and it shows. Not that it is a bad thing for them, I totally understand how long it takes for a new group of dancers to bond as a whole. But it is noticeable to me and others. This was an expensive cruise, so I really expected more. I am disappointed.

 

I must comment one of the CD staff named Natalie, she has been spectacular and we all just love her so much. Ditto for Sarah and Nando...

 

I am writing a day late, btw, and we are just pulling into Aruba, so it time to get going. Hope everybody had a wonderful holiday. With kind wishes for much love and abundance,

Amelia

Amelia regarding the food.This happened to me several cruises ago all 8 folks on my table moaned about the bad food.I had an interview with 'Food &Beverage Manager' on board.Mentioned I had seen all this great food being loaded on board and why did they not cook it properly others on board had this same opinion..It did change and for the rest of the trip had no complaints it was a 30 day cruise..:)

Edited by kruisey
Link to comment
Share on other sites
big al

big al

Posted
Posted
12/25/16

 

Happy Holidays from the Caribbean

 

Today was a lovely day, everybody decked out in their fanciest Holiday clothing and lots of Santa's helpers. Also many folks celebrating Chanukah, although most of the bustling activities in the Piazza were Xmas themed. Even I had to make cookies, decorated with yummy gooey frosting and lots of sprinkles, a calorie bomb that was just what my inner child needed! Hehehehe...

 

Ken got me a gift! I was shocked, this being the 3rd gift I ever got from him in 25 years, and I was so touched! He even got me a misspelled Chanukah card in honor of my forever struggle with spelling! Then Ken got a gift, um let's just say he walked around with a giant smile on his face all day! ;)

 

The day just zipped by, there was Christmas singing all day long, beautiful children filled with good cheer and happy faces, and of course Santa was giving out gifts to all the kids, not a bad one in the whole bunch! We have a lot of delightful teen on board that are adorable, what alien has taken over their bodies? I am so impressed with all these youngsters!

 

We have an 11 year old on our trivia team, his name is Noah. This is one hell of a great kid, we all adore him very much. We met his day yesterday, he also joined our team for one time and we all see where Noah got his charm and smarts. Happy times everywhere but the dining room.

 

Many people are complaining about the dining room, we are not alone. We ate at Alfredo's last night and enjoyed it a lot. I've never had such bad food on a ship, I think the good crew left the ship to spend the holidays with their families and this crew is the bottom of the barrel newbies. Even the dancers do not dance as a unifies group, I can tell they are new on the ship, new to each other, and it shows. Not that it is a bad thing for them, I totally understand how long it takes for a new group of dancers to bond as a whole. But it is noticeable to me and others. This was an expensive cruise, so I really expected more. I am disappointed.

 

I must comment one of the CD staff named Natalie, she has been spectacular and we all just love her so much. Ditto for Sarah and Nando...

 

I am writing a day late, btw, and we are just pulling into Aruba, so it time to get going. Hope everybody had a wonderful holiday. With kind wishes for much love and abundance,

Amelia

 

Sorry to hear about the food..this is why I tell people that MDR food is 80% mediocre & 20% decent in my 34 cruises..we go on the Regal in 2 weeks ( 1/8), and I don't expect much..we will dine in the Crown Grill once & maybe Sabatinis for lobster, and hope the other 5 nights get better...we may even try the Horizon Court if the menus don't appeal to us...I hope the rest of the cruise gets better...

 

Big Al

Link to comment
Share on other sites
lovevacadays

lovevacadays

Posted
Posted

So sorry to hear about the food and entertainment. We got off the Regal on the 18th and loved the entertainment. Thought the vocalists and dancers were wonderful. Had good food as well and excellent service.

 

I wonder if holiday cruise cause more pressure for the staff and crew and therefore things can go a bit awry!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
kjets

kjets

Posted
Posted

I am so sorry that your dining experience is not up to standard and I would be letting the Maitre D know what is happening, with no emotion just very nicely and to the point.

 

How is Moses? Had him in my prayers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ibfern

ibfern

Posted
  • Author
Posted

12/26/16

Aruba

 

Good morning, yesterday we visited Aruba and the weather was perfect, not too hot with a gentle breeze. This was my 5th visit to Aruba and having seen the island many times, we decided to walk around and shop! It was time, I had been restraining myself from the jewelry shop on board and needed some retail therapy. 😜

 

We were docked farthest from the exit and ended up walking a lot, and after eating upstairs in the Buffet I needed to walk it all off anyway. We walked up the main drag then found several markets open, on the street just behind the main drag, the one that parallels it. On the way I collected all this free crap--cloth bags, fake jewelry, that charm bracelet and charm that I've thrown away so many times I can't tell you and yet, I got them again! Honestly, I can't give them away to kids I know! Maybe I'll find a kid who will like them on the ship.

 

There are a few nice clothing stores here that I really like, I bought a cotton dress and a soft long sleeve top for the cold evenings in the air conditioning. I found the Cumin cheese I love so much, I had hoped to find some slices of it but did not, so I bought a whole wheel at a great price of about $8, along with some yummy black licorice candies, and cookies for Kenny who proclaimed he would not eat them. Later that night he gobbled up the whole pack.

 

There are a slew of open markets all around the port, we browsed through them but didn't buy a thing as there was nothing hand made and just the regular stuff like magnets and tee shirts. I have many Aruba magnets.

 

Just FYI, there are many taxi/drivers around the port area and they are easy to find and easy on the pocketbook, averaging about $45 an hour for up to 6 or 8 people depending on how much you are willing to squeeze in. There is a lot to see in Aruba, if you haven't been you will enjoy this island. There are many cultural sights here, Butterfly gardens, Churches and a very cool Temple, caves, and of course beaches and resorts with fantastic snorkeling and diving. It is an easy island to do on your own.

 

I forgot to tell you about our late morning trivia game. We showed up for the 9 am game and waited over a half hour the CD's team to show up. A perfect opportunity to get to know our fellow trivia players, I didn't mind one bit and nobody else was mad either, there are no mean people playing trivia this cruise and we are thankful not to hear incessant complaining and arguing. As it turned out, there was a mistake on the patter like schedule the team uses and that falls under the "**** happens" category for me. This team is quite good, the kids are mostly sweet and kind with one exception; a girl from Mexico who seems to have a chip on her shoulder and is a stickler about stupid things such as moving your head while playing the yes/no game (giving warnings to young participants which discourages them from playing). She is not my favorite person because she got one of the nicest staff member in trouble when we mentioned to her that we got shorted a few prizes in a past game which was no big deal. We made the error of asking her for the 2 prizes because we wanted to give them to our 11 year old team mate. She went to the CD and got this girl in trouble. By my standards this is poor teamwork/sportsmanship and quite unnecessary, and we were upset that our comments got this lovely girl in trouble. Lesson learned.

 

Finally, one of our friends is getting the sniffles/cough.and went through a whole box of Kleenex as we walked around Aruba. As if on cue, Ken wanted to go to bed early and miss a slew of games last night, indicating to me that he is coming down with a cold as well--my man can be such a baby when he gets sick. We are heading back to Ft Lauderdale now and have a few sea days to deal with this before our next cruise as we are on B2B cruises and the next cruise has many ports we have not visited.

 

Can anybody recommend excursions/things to do on the following g islands:

 

St. Maarten

St. Lucia

Barbados

St. Kitts, at. Kitts, and Nevis

Grand Turks, Turks, and Caicos

 

Thanks for any info you may have here. Happy holidays from the Sea,

Amelia

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ibfern

ibfern

Posted
  • Author
Posted
So sorry to hear about the food and entertainment. We got off the Regal on the 18th and loved the entertainment. Thought the vocalists and dancers were wonderful. Had good food as well and excellent service.

 

I wonder if holiday cruise cause more pressure for the staff and crew and therefore things can go a bit awry!

 

Sorry to hear about the food..this is why I tell people that MDR food is 80% mediocre & 20% decent in my 34 cruises..we go on the Regal in 2 weeks ( 1/8), and I don't expect much..we will dine in the Crown Grill once & maybe Sabatinis for lobster, and hope the other 5 nights get better...we may even try the Horizon Court if the menus don't appeal to us...I hope the rest of the cruise gets better...

 

Big Al

 

We have given up on the dining room for now. Our server was part of the problem and we noted that she seemed inflexible in her routine, preferring to serve her whole group at the same time rather than serving those of us who showed up earlier and even asked to get out by 6:45. The food prep is another story, not sure about this but our theory is that the head chef is a newbie, not Italion, missing his family, or just plain lousy at cooking for large groups of holiday cruisers. Your guess Issa good as mine!

 

However this is not impacting our cruise too much, we are all on diets and trying to keep reasonable control of what we are eating so in a sense this problem is supporting our diets! Other than the food, we are having a wonderful time. Thanks for all the comments.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ibfern

ibfern

Posted
  • Author
Posted
I am so sorry that your dining experience is not up to standard and I would be letting the Maitre D know what is happening, with no emotion just very nicely and to the point.

 

How is Moses? Had him in my prayers.

 

Thanks for the prayers Tracey, they are working well. Moses has improved vastly and Pat and Chris are much relieved. The cat is 21 years old and they rescued him from certain death when he was 10, so he has had a good life and is greatly loved by his human mommy and daddy! Fingers crossed that he will continue to improve and continue to live a happy life.

 

You are the best honey and we all are sending you much love,

Amelia, Ken, Pat, and Chris

Link to comment
Share on other sites
lovevacadays

lovevacadays

Posted
Posted
We have given up on the dining room for now. Our server was part of the problem and we noted that she seemed inflexible in her routine, preferring to serve her whole group at the same time rather than serving those of us who showed up earlier and even asked to get out by 6:45. The food prep is another story, not sure about this but our theory is that the head chef is a newbie, not Italion, missing his family, or just plain lousy at cooking for large groups of holiday cruisers. Your guess Issa good as mine!

 

However this is not impacting our cruise too much, we are all on diets and trying to keep reasonable control of what we are eating so in a sense this problem is supporting our diets! Other than the food, we are having a wonderful time. Thanks for all the comments.

 

 

Happy to read your cruise is going so well. I've always enjoyed reading your posts. BTW I didn't mean to write an ! I meant a ? Realize the tone changes depending on punctuation. I do believe you just never know about food on a cruise. Too many variables. :)

 

We were just in St Maarten. We loved it there. We did a private tour through Joyce Prince tours. One of the stops we chose was Sarafina's Bakery in Marigold. Very casual place. The pastries were so yummy. We tried several. One of the favorites was a croissant like almond pastry with chocolate filling. Could be one of the best pastries I've ever had.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
azbirdmom Great Review Rare

azbirdmom

Posted
Posted

Enjoying your "almost" live from. We were on the Regal last month and thought the dining room food was average. We really love the buffet though, especially the theme nights.

 

In St. Maarten we took one of the best tours we've ever taken through Amigo tours http://www.stmaartenamigotours.com/#!/st-maarten-highlights.html .

It was $42 per person and took us all over the island including a stop at Maho Beach to watch the jumbo jets land. What an experience.

 

Hope you enjoy the rest of your cruise!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ibfern

ibfern

Posted
  • Author
Posted

12/30/2016

 

Dear friends,

 

I've been felled by a dreadful flu, spend more of the day today in the ship hospital with all sorts of breathing devices and IV meds. I spend the last two days in my room sleeping and missed saying goodby to my little friend and team mate Noah and his parents!

 

I think the worst of it has passed, with all the meds I've taken, and hope that I do make it out to look the St's (Maartan and More) and hope I get to see them all as I've never been to any of them!

 

Ok gotta go, am shaky and making lots of mistakes. Many blessings to all of you,

Amelia

Link to comment
Share on other sites
TracieABD "Live from...." Rare

TracieABD

Posted
Posted
12/30/2016

 

Dear friends,

 

I've been felled by a dreadful flu, spend more of the day today in the ship hospital with all sorts of breathing devices and IV meds. I spend the last two days in my room sleeping and missed saying goodby to my little friend and team mate Noah and his parents!

 

I think the worst of it has passed, with all the meds I've taken, and hope that I do make it out to look the St's (Maartan and More) and hope I get to see them all as I've never been to any of them!

 

Ok gotta go, am shaky and making lots of mistakes. Many blessings to all of you,

Amelia

Oh Amelia-

I am so sorry to hear that you are very ill. I do hope you are over the worst of it so you can enjoy what is left of your time aboard.

 

I will keep you in my thoughts.

Tracie-Lynn

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...