Just back from Regal, Feb 12 -19

[Twinsfan5]

Just back from the Regal Princess, cruised Feb 12 – 19.Thought I would share some of my miscellaneous thoughts and opinions as Ienjoyed reading everyone’s posts about the ship leading up to my cruise. Thiswas a great cruise overall (of course I’ve never had a bad one).

 

Some background: I cruised with my sisters and there were 4of us total. We had side-by-side mini-suites on the Marina deck, mid-aft area.We previously sailed on the Crown Princess (2014), Celebrity Eclipse (2012),NCL Pearl (2007 and 2010).

 

Embarkation: we flew in the night before and stayed at theEmbassy Suites in Fort Lauderdale. We had a boarding time of 2:30, but wechecked out of the hotel a little before 11:00 and went straight to theport. We dropped our luggage witha porter and got were in line at about 11:10. We got through the check inprocess and were sitting and waiting to board by 11:35. We sat for about 10:00minutes and then our group was called. We were on the ship before noon. Someonedid try to direct us up to the buffet directly, but we headed into the piazzaarea instead.

 

We wanted to have lunch at Alfredos, but the secret is out!By noon it was already full. The host was directing people to either the buffetor to the open dining room (sorry, I’m not sure which one was open that day).We really wanted to eat at Alfredos so he suggested we wait at Bellinis nextdoor and he would come and get us when a table for 4 opened up. We had abellini while we waited about 15 minutes for a table. Lunch was delicious and itwas a great way to start the cruise.

 

Rooms: As I mentioned we had side-by-side mini suites on theMarina deck. The cabin itself is nice. Very roomy with plenty of storage space.The beds were comfortable. Our room steward was Richard and he greeted us andbrought us each a glass of sparking wine. We did not see him much during theweek, but he did a good job keeping the room made up so no complaints.

 

Balconies: Yes, they are small. I knew they would be becauseI had read so much about them but it is still disappointing when you see them.The mini-suite balcony on the Crown felt more spacious. We always bookadjoining cabins so we can have the balcony divider open and have one longbalcony to share. In this case, the balcony divider folded back and blockedpart of the door of the other cabin. It made it very hard to move from onebalcony to the next, and my sisters had to go in and out of their doorcarefully as it was partially blocked. If I ever figure out how to postpictures on this site I will, as I took a couple showing how it blocked thedoor. Nevertheless I love having a balcony, even if it is a small one!

 

Because of our location on the Marina deck, there was quitean overhang above the balcony. I thought this would bother me, but it reallydidn’t. I noticed also on this class of ship that when you look straight downto the water you really see the lifeboats. I don’t remember that from theCrown, I think they were tucked under a bit more. Just an observation.

 

Our cabins were located under the Horizon Court/HorizonBistro area. I heard some scraping noises once or twice, and the occasionalrattling noise from slight vibration, but nothing too bad. A light sleepermight be more bothered by these noises but I still slept pretty good everynight. We are also early risers, usually up around 5:30 or 6:00, so if yousleep in later you may hear more noises from above as people start going to thebuffet for breakfast.

 

AIBP: We all purchased the all-inclusive package and I’mpretty sure we got our money’s worth. We did not get off the ship in PrincessCays or in Jamaica, so in a sense we had 4 “at sea” days. I liked havingeverything paid for upfront.

 

I was actually impressed at how much was available under the$10 limit. Very few things seemed to be over. We really enjoyed Vines and Ithought they had a very nice selection of wines by the glass. I just countedand there were 28 different wines available by the glass on the Vines menu thatfall under the AIBP. There were also a couple of wine flights that were under$10 too.

 

My favorite cocktail to have in the evening was a Bennett.It’s basically a gimlet with a dash of bitters. I liked that I could get aHendrick’s Martini covered under the package. Nice Bloody Mary selection backat the Outrigger bar. Plenty of tropical drinks available too. I had to try“The Isaac” because, after all, this is the Love Boat!

 

Crowds: Where were they? I was worried that having so manypeople on the ship it would feel very crowded but it never did to me. In fact,it felt much less crowded than the Crown. However, I was talking with a man atthe next table during dinner one night and I mentioned how uncrowded the shipseemed and wondered where all the people were. He laughed and said they allmust have been in front of him because he saw nothing but crowds!

 

I admit we tend not to do the things on ship that draw themost crowds so that may account for some of it. We don’t go to the productionshows, and although we did Anytime Dining, we only ate in a main dining roomfor dinner twice. I remember on the Crown we were never able to find chairs forMUTS because people staked them out so early. This time on the Regal therealways seemed to be chairs available when we looked. Vines was larger than theone on the Crown too. We had a hard time getting a table in there last cruiseand this time there were always open tables when we wanted them. Same for theatrium piazza area. I never had to wait in line for the International Café. Atmost there might be one or two people there ahead of me. The times it felt mostcrowded was muster, of course, and the buffet if you tried to walk through atpeak breakfast or lunch times.

 

Spa/Enclave: We decided to book the Enclave for the week.They had a special running with a reduced rate if two people booked. I think itwas normally $150 per person and if two people booked it was $125 per person. Ithought I would use it a lot but I only ended up going there twice! It wasreally nice, with a wonderful large whirlpool, steam and sauna rooms, and coolmisting showers. There were only a couple of other people in it when we werethere. I thought I would go there a lot but somehow the days just flew by and Iguess I was busy doing other things.

 

Dining: We had Anytime Dining, but we only used it twice.The day we were in Cozumel we were not scheduled to sail until 10:00 pm.Because so many people stayed off the ship, all three dining rooms were openfor Anytime Dining. We decided to go to the Allegro because that would be ouronly opportunity to see that one since it is normally traditional. We went at8:00 and got a nice table for four at the back, had a friendly wait staff and agood meal…however…we kept hearing pounding and thumping noise throughout thewhole meal. Nobody could figure out what it was until the waiter came over andexplained that there was a Zumba class going on right above us! So strange. Ihope that was a one-off and didn’t happen every night. Otherwise I would feelvery bad for the folks who had traditional late seating in that section.

 

The only other night we dined in the dining room was thelast night. We went to Symphony around 6:00 and there were around 6-7 peoplewaiting. We waited a couple of minutes and then someone came and led us all theway back to the Allegro dining room again. I guess when it is busy, and thereare openings in the Traditional dining room because people choose to dineelsewhere, they will move some Anytime diners into the Traditional dining room.

 

We dined at the Crown Grill one night and it was very disappointing.I was really looking forward to it because we had such a great experience onour last cruise. The location of the Crown on the Regal made it very open andit was very noisy. Our waiter seemed in a hurry to turn the table and was notfriendly at all. The food was fine, my steak tasted good. But it was just notan enjoyable evening, especially when you are paying more for it.

 

We also dined at Sabatini’s for the first time and it was awonderful experience. We had a great waiter, Julia, who took the time to goover the menu and explain things, and talk about the special they had thatnight. The location was quiet and elegant, the food was very good. It made merealize what a difference a good wait staff can make.

 

Food overall: I thought the food was good and comparable toour experience on the Crown. I am a big fan of the International Café. We wentdown every morning, between 5:30 and 6:00 to get tea, coffee, and donuts tohave on the balcony. I liked the panini sandwiches they had in the afternoonstoo. And delicious chicken salad! A minor nitpick...no chocolate donuts! I kept waiting for them to show up but they never did. They had many other good sweets, but I was really craving that chocolate donut. ;)

 

Pizza by the pool is a good snack. I wanted to try theTrident Grill, but I never seemed to be hungry at the right time. Alfredos wasgreat! I loved the pastas. I had one of the pizzas there too and it was verygood. We ate there twice and I would have liked to have gone again but wheredoes the time go??

 

The ship itself: I really enjoyed this cruise, and there areso many positives, but there were things I didn’t like as much too. None ofthese are new…I didn’t like how small the balconies were. I really missedhaving a true promenade deck where you would walk all the way around the shipoutside. That is a big one for me, I understand that is not a big deal to manyothers. I missed having any sort of deck outside at the front of the ship. Ingeneral, I like the design of the Crown better for these reasons. I wish Icould blend everything I liked about the Regal with everything good about theGrand Class ships! I liked the bigger piazza area on the Regal. I liked thatbecause the ship was bigger it did not feel as crowded. And it is a beautifulship. I would sail her again but I would choose a different type of cabin.Perhaps an aft-facing deluxe balcony instead of a mini-suite.

 

Debarkation: This was really slick! We had a 11:15 flightscheduled and decided we would do the walk-off. We submitted our paperwork andwere given “Group B” which was to meet in the Concerto Dining Room at 6:30 am.We went down promptly at 6:30 and before we could even sit down, they werecalling our boarding group. We walked off and were through customs by 6:40.Wow.

 

A couple of notes: once you exited the ship into theterminal, they were strict about only letting you take the escalator down ifyou could show that you had one had free to hold the handrail. Otherwise youhad to wait for an elevator. We all had a free hand. All four of us had signedup for the Mobile Passport App as we thought it would save time going throughCustoms. There was confusion about this with the folks working in the terminal.One of the workers told us we still needed to fill out a paper form so we did.The next person said no, we didn’t need a paper form. The next person said wedid. The last person said we didn’t…but the Mobile Passport line wasn’t staffedthat day so we did. Good grief. There was no line though, so even with theconfusion we were through in no time.

 

Ok, I’ll wrap it up now. Sorry for going on for so long butonce I got started it was hard to stop! It was a great cruise. I haven’tcruised a lot, but so far Princess is winning in terms of overall cruiseexperience.

[Selion]

Wow! Thank you for the detailed review and recount of your experience on the Regal. We are sailing on the Regal in 20 days! We'll be in an aft-facing cabin. Will let you know how the balcony is.

[cruiseboar_1872]

Thanks for the post. We are sailing on the Regal this coming December and are looking forward to it! We ate at the Crown on the CB last December so this time we are going to try Sabatinis, glad to hear you had a good experience there. We booked one of the of the obstructed balconies that actually are unobstructed. Thanks to this site I was able to find a non-obstructed balcony for an obstructed price. A balcony is a really treat, so nice waking up in the morning and looking out and seeing somewhere new! :)

 

I hope they have the Mobile Passport App figured out by then, although I must say, doing the walk off last December we cleared customs in record time and were at FLL at 8:00am for our 12:00pm flight!! Wasn't expecting that.

 

Our cruise is also one of the medallion cruises so that should be an experience, hopefully most of the bugs are worked out by then, but if not, I'm pretty patient so no stress, its a vacation.:cool:

[plan09]

Thank you for the great and balanced report.

Agree with your observation about the difference the staff makes for the dining experience.

 

 

 

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[PacaCruiser]

I was in the middle of writing my own thread and saw yours. We were on the same cruise for our first ever. I'd agree with much of what you said. Thanks for your thoughts, here are a few of my own.

 

We also found the Crown Grill disappointing. We went there our first night and other than the salt menu we found the steaks in the dining room to be better prepared than the Crown. Nothing against the Crown, the food was good (the lobster cake was amazing), but had we paid for it we would have felt a little cheated. (We were in a suite, so we used our embarkation speciality dining there).

 

Speaking of the suite, we thought the room was very nice, but if we had not had a double-wide balcony (which it sounds like you may have as well with connecting rooms) I think I would have found it very cramped. Which would have been unfortunate because I spent many hours reading there.

 

I didn't find the ship crowded for the most part. Except the public areas to me were extremely crowded (the pool deck, etc) during sea days. MUTS was great fun and not overly crowded for the late shows. But I got very tired of people "holding chairs" during the sunny times or for the first MUTS showing with towels and then using the chair for about 45 minutes all day.

 

We thought the food was good overall, except for deserts. With a few notable exceptions (lava cake, creme brule), most deserts were very bland. My wife, who generally hates crusts on pies remarked more than once that you know its bad when the pie crust is more flavorful than the pie itself.

 

We also felt like the entertainment options on the ship were limited, particularly for the slightly younger crowd (which were few and far between on our sailing). After 8 or 9 there wasn't much going on except for the Casino (which we killed a fair amount of time in), one or two shows and the MUTS. Not necessarily a bad thing, but just something to consider if you're looking at the Regal.

 

We loved the ports, except for Montego Bay. Not a single person had a good thing to say about it. Even the staff had nothing good to say about it.

 

Overall great cruise, and we learned a lot should we cruise again.

[Selion]

We loved the ports, except for Montego Bay. Not a single person had a good thing to say about it. Even the staff had nothing good to say about it.

 

Would you mind sharing more about Montego Bay? I was just going through the excursion options again tonight. For now we are signed on for the Tea at Good Hope Estate excursion based on reviews from 2014. Hope that won't turn into a waste of time & $$$.

[hllwdcruiser]

Thank you for your detailed trip report, as someone else mentioned, it is very fair and balanced. We sailed the Regal a year ago in February and agree with many of your sentiments. Our first Princess experience was on the Ruby when she was relatively new and she is still one of my favorite ships although she was surpassed by the Coral in Alaska (with Richard Joseph, CD - the BEST!!)

Our experience at the Crown Grill on the Regal was also ho-hum. Although we had a great wait staff the food just didn't bowl us over. We are sailing the Regal again at the end of this coming March and for the first time since we started sailing with Princess we might skip eating at a specialty restaurant.

We also didn't have a great steward last year, he always seemed overworked, overwhelmed and never smiled. I actually felt sorry for him and wondered if Princess is loading too many cabins on these men and women to a point that the work load may be becoming unmanageable.

The good definitely outweighed the bad. The ship is beautiful and the buffet is simply amazing. I love the fact that all the coffee is fresh brewed and not syrup. We also really liked Ocean Terrace - a venue we rarely see written about on these boards.

Like you, I wish there could be a combination of the two ships - with a full promenade and larger balconies - hopefully one day!

[Go-Bucks!]

Thanks for the info! I'll be on the Regal in 9 months and am excited to see what the new ship is like. :)

[Nashna]

Thank you for that great review. We are also sailing on the Regal in late March so I am devouring every bit of info that is posted on her. Your comments on the Crown Grill are helpful as we had decided to skip that one. We also intend to head right to the Allegro for lunch as soon as we board. If not available, we will go to the main dining room as embarkation day at the buffet is not a great way to start a cruise.

 

 

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[easyboy]

Thank you for sharing your experience. I also think that the Crown Grill is not ideally located, having to pass by the bar before the entrance. Unlike your waiter, we were in luck with ours at CG as the service was similar to yours in Sabatini's.

 

 

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[Candycrusher]

We were on the Regal several weeks ago. Since we were in a full suite, we got to go to a specialty restaurant the first night for free. We choose The Crown Grill....it was Fabulous. We are foodies and love to dine. It was seriously wonderful. I had the best Chilean sea bass and DH had a bone in rib eye. Both were outstanding, as were the other courses. I highly recommend it. We also ate at Sabatini's. Excellent. We also did another night there for a taste of Tuscan with wine pairings ...again excellent.

 

 

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[Crown Cruiser]

Could you tell me who the maitre'd is currently on the Regal?

 

Thanks.

[Timbles]

We were on the Regal 29 January to 12 February, and dined in the Crown Grill once each week. The first week was delightful, great service and wonderful food. The second visit the food was only so-so (how do you screw up a baked potato?) But the service was the worst ever in any dining room on any of our 26 Princess cruises. Our group of six was stuck in a corner, at first we thought it would be delightfully secluded. What it ended up instead was that we were pretty much ignored. No water glass filling unless asked. When the main course showed up with five of us ordering baked potato's, there was no butter on the table so we also asked for that. A dish was brought out with three pats in it. I had to chuckle to myself about the 'butter thread' here on CC, but we were never able to get anyone's attention for any more butter, nor water after that. We sat for 25 minutes with our main course complete, utensils crossed on our plates. No one came to clear them, offer coffee or desert. My husband and I finally excused ourselves from our cruise-mates and went to the hostess to ask to pay. The waiter came running up in a hurry then! The waiter then tried to charge all six meals to my husbands card. Why would he think that? We were obviously three couples. The whole thing was just odd and uncomfortable, but as I said it was a complete 180* difference from week one, which was perfect in every way.

[Candycrusher]

It is really interesting how a cruise or an aspect of a cruise can change from week to week.

 

 

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[riclop]

Thanks for your thoughts.

[Ngraham54]

Just back from the Regal Princess, cruised Feb 12 – 19.Thought I would share some of my miscellaneous thoughts and opinions as Ienjoyed reading everyone’s posts about the ship leading up to my cruise. Thiswas a great cruise overall (of course I’ve never had a bad one).

 

Some background: I cruised with my sisters and there were 4of us total. We had side-by-side mini-suites on the Marina deck, mid-aft area.We previously sailed on the Crown Princess (2014), Celebrity Eclipse (2012),NCL Pearl (2007 and 2010).

 

Embarkation: we flew in the night before and stayed at theEmbassy Suites in Fort Lauderdale. We had a boarding time of 2:30, but wechecked out of the hotel a little before 11:00 and went straight to theport. We dropped our luggage witha porter and got were in line at about 11:10. We got through the check inprocess and were sitting and waiting to board by 11:35. We sat for about 10:00minutes and then our group was called. We were on the ship before noon. Someonedid try to direct us up to the buffet directly, but we headed into the piazzaarea instead.

 

We wanted to have lunch at Alfredos, but the secret is out!By noon it was already full. The host was directing people to either the buffetor to the open dining room (sorry, I’m not sure which one was open that day).We really wanted to eat at Alfredos so he suggested we wait at Bellinis nextdoor and he would come and get us when a table for 4 opened up. We had abellini while we waited about 15 minutes for a table. Lunch was delicious and itwas a great way to start the cruise.

 

Rooms: As I mentioned we had side-by-side mini suites on theMarina deck. The cabin itself is nice. Very roomy with plenty of storage space.The beds were comfortable. Our room steward was Richard and he greeted us andbrought us each a glass of sparking wine. We did not see him much during theweek, but he did a good job keeping the room made up so no complaints.

 

Balconies: Yes, they are small. I knew they would be becauseI had read so much about them but it is still disappointing when you see them.The mini-suite balcony on the Crown felt more spacious. We always bookadjoining cabins so we can have the balcony divider open and have one longbalcony to share. In this case, the balcony divider folded back and blockedpart of the door of the other cabin. It made it very hard to move from onebalcony to the next, and my sisters had to go in and out of their doorcarefully as it was partially blocked. If I ever figure out how to postpictures on this site I will, as I took a couple showing how it blocked thedoor. Nevertheless I love having a balcony, even if it is a small one!

 

Because of our location on the Marina deck, there was quitean overhang above the balcony. I thought this would bother me, but it reallydidn’t. I noticed also on this class of ship that when you look straight downto the water you really see the lifeboats. I don’t remember that from theCrown, I think they were tucked under a bit more. Just an observation.

 

Our cabins were located under the Horizon Court/HorizonBistro area. I heard some scraping noises once or twice, and the occasionalrattling noise from slight vibration, but nothing too bad. A light sleepermight be more bothered by these noises but I still slept pretty good everynight. We are also early risers, usually up around 5:30 or 6:00, so if yousleep in later you may hear more noises from above as people start going to thebuffet for breakfast.

 

AIBP: We all purchased the all-inclusive package and I’mpretty sure we got our money’s worth. We did not get off the ship in PrincessCays or in Jamaica, so in a sense we had 4 “at sea” days. I liked havingeverything paid for upfront.

 

I was actually impressed at how much was available under the$10 limit. Very few things seemed to be over. We really enjoyed Vines and Ithought they had a very nice selection of wines by the glass. I just countedand there were 28 different wines available by the glass on the Vines menu thatfall under the AIBP. There were also a couple of wine flights that were under$10 too.

 

My favorite cocktail to have in the evening was a Bennett.It’s basically a gimlet with a dash of bitters. I liked that I could get aHendrick’s Martini covered under the package. Nice Bloody Mary selection backat the Outrigger bar. Plenty of tropical drinks available too. I had to try“The Isaac” because, after all, this is the Love Boat!

 

Crowds: Where were they? I was worried that having so manypeople on the ship it would feel very crowded but it never did to me. In fact,it felt much less crowded than the Crown. However, I was talking with a man atthe next table during dinner one night and I mentioned how uncrowded the shipseemed and wondered where all the people were. He laughed and said they allmust have been in front of him because he saw nothing but crowds!

 

I admit we tend not to do the things on ship that draw themost crowds so that may account for some of it. We don’t go to the productionshows, and although we did Anytime Dining, we only ate in a main dining roomfor dinner twice. I remember on the Crown we were never able to find chairs forMUTS because people staked them out so early. This time on the Regal therealways seemed to be chairs available when we looked. Vines was larger than theone on the Crown too. We had a hard time getting a table in there last cruiseand this time there were always open tables when we wanted them. Same for theatrium piazza area. I never had to wait in line for the International Café. Atmost there might be one or two people there ahead of me. The times it felt mostcrowded was muster, of course, and the buffet if you tried to walk through atpeak breakfast or lunch times.

 

Spa/Enclave: We decided to book the Enclave for the week.They had a special running with a reduced rate if two people booked. I think itwas normally $150 per person and if two people booked it was $125 per person. Ithought I would use it a lot but I only ended up going there twice! It wasreally nice, with a wonderful large whirlpool, steam and sauna rooms, and coolmisting showers. There were only a couple of other people in it when we werethere. I thought I would go there a lot but somehow the days just flew by and Iguess I was busy doing other things.

 

Dining: We had Anytime Dining, but we only used it twice.The day we were in Cozumel we were not scheduled to sail until 10:00 pm.Because so many people stayed off the ship, all three dining rooms were openfor Anytime Dining. We decided to go to the Allegro because that would be ouronly opportunity to see that one since it is normally traditional. We went at8:00 and got a nice table for four at the back, had a friendly wait staff and agood meal…however…we kept hearing pounding and thumping noise throughout thewhole meal. Nobody could figure out what it was until the waiter came over andexplained that there was a Zumba class going on right above us! So strange. Ihope that was a one-off and didn’t happen every night. Otherwise I would feelvery bad for the folks who had traditional late seating in that section.

 

The only other night we dined in the dining room was thelast night. We went to Symphony around 6:00 and there were around 6-7 peoplewaiting. We waited a couple of minutes and then someone came and led us all theway back to the Allegro dining room again. I guess when it is busy, and thereare openings in the Traditional dining room because people choose to dineelsewhere, they will move some Anytime diners into the Traditional dining room.

 

We dined at the Crown Grill one night and it was very disappointing.I was really looking forward to it because we had such a great experience onour last cruise. The location of the Crown on the Regal made it very open andit was very noisy. Our waiter seemed in a hurry to turn the table and was notfriendly at all. The food was fine, my steak tasted good. But it was just notan enjoyable evening, especially when you are paying more for it.

 

We also dined at Sabatini’s for the first time and it was awonderful experience. We had a great waiter, Julia, who took the time to goover the menu and explain things, and talk about the special they had thatnight. The location was quiet and elegant, the food was very good. It made merealize what a difference a good wait staff can make.

 

Food overall: I thought the food was good and comparable toour experience on the Crown. I am a big fan of the International Café. We wentdown every morning, between 5:30 and 6:00 to get tea, coffee, and donuts tohave on the balcony. I liked the panini sandwiches they had in the afternoonstoo. And delicious chicken salad! A minor nitpick...no chocolate donuts! I kept waiting for them to show up but they never did. They had many other good sweets, but I was really craving that chocolate donut. ;)

 

Pizza by the pool is a good snack. I wanted to try theTrident Grill, but I never seemed to be hungry at the right time. Alfredos wasgreat! I loved the pastas. I had one of the pizzas there too and it was verygood. We ate there twice and I would have liked to have gone again but wheredoes the time go??

 

The ship itself: I really enjoyed this cruise, and there areso many positives, but there were things I didn’t like as much too. None ofthese are new…I didn’t like how small the balconies were. I really missedhaving a true promenade deck where you would walk all the way around the shipoutside. That is a big one for me, I understand that is not a big deal to manyothers. I missed having any sort of deck outside at the front of the ship. Ingeneral, I like the design of the Crown better for these reasons. I wish Icould blend everything I liked about the Regal with everything good about theGrand Class ships! I liked the bigger piazza area on the Regal. I liked thatbecause the ship was bigger it did not feel as crowded. And it is a beautifulship. I would sail her again but I would choose a different type of cabin.Perhaps an aft-facing deluxe balcony instead of a mini-suite.

 

Debarkation: This was really slick! We had a 11:15 flightscheduled and decided we would do the walk-off. We submitted our paperwork andwere given “Group B” which was to meet in the Concerto Dining Room at 6:30 am.We went down promptly at 6:30 and before we could even sit down, they werecalling our boarding group. We walked off and were through customs by 6:40.Wow.

 

A couple of notes: once you exited the ship into theterminal, they were strict about only letting you take the escalator down ifyou could show that you had one had free to hold the handrail. Otherwise youhad to wait for an elevator. We all had a free hand. All four of us had signedup for the Mobile Passport App as we thought it would save time going throughCustoms. There was confusion about this with the folks working in the terminal.One of the workers told us we still needed to fill out a paper form so we did.The next person said no, we didn’t need a paper form. The next person said wedid. The last person said we didn’t…but the Mobile Passport line wasn’t staffedthat day so we did. Good grief. There was no line though, so even with theconfusion we were through in no time.

 

Ok, I’ll wrap it up now. Sorry for going on for so long butonce I got started it was hard to stop! It was a great cruise. I haven’tcruised a lot, but so far Princess is winning in terms of overall cruiseexperience.

Thanks for the detailed review. We sail in less than three weeks. Looking forward to that blue Caribbean water and sun!

[muggo11]

Thanks. We were on the Regal last August and boarding her again on March 19th. We also seem to avoid crowds by doing things other people don't and finding quiet places. We are going to try to do things we DIDN'T do in August. The buffet is amazing--think we will go more than once. We loved the comedians and the production shows Fiera and Bravo are top-notch.

I love Crown Grill and hope we get a good waiter. And Chef's Table never disappoints.

 

 

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[ssaleenie]

Thank you for taking the time to post such a thorough review. We're sailing next January and are very much looking forward to it. Good to know about the Crown Grill, but also disappointing as that is one of our favorite specialty restaurants.

[san diego sue]

What hasn't been posted on this thread regarding the Regal is something we haven''t seen on any Princess ship.

We were on January 29-Feb12th (two weeks).

On the last sea day on both weeks the following was done:

In the morning in Horizon ct. there was a Chocolate extraviganza. Everything Chocolate.

Donuts, cereals, french toast, pastries, chocolate fountain where you can dip strawberries and other fruits.

Every breakfast item was also offered containing chocolate.

For lunch a huge Seafood buffet.Lots of shell fish. And for dessert, a massive display of cakes , very fancy ones.

All this in addition to the regular buffet foods.

Really a special event.

[Guest arowe6]

Thanks for sharing. Sounds like a great cruise. My "go to" drink in Crooners most nights was a Hendricks Martini. I asked for a cucumber for the drink as well. Delicious!

 

-Andrew :)

[Candycrusher]

My favorite drink was at Club 6....the Chairman Of The Board!

 

 

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[PrincessNancy]

What hasn't been posted on this thread regarding the Regal is something we haven''t seen on any Princess ship.

We were on January 29-Feb12th (two weeks).

On the last sea day on both weeks the following was done:

In the morning in Horizon ct. there was a Chocolate extraviganza. Everything Chocolate.

Donuts, cereals, french toast, pastries, chocolate fountain where you can dip strawberries and other fruits.

Every breakfast item was also offered containing chocolate.

For lunch a huge Seafood buffet.Lots of shell fish. And for dessert, a massive display of cakes , very fancy ones.

All this in addition to the regular buffet foods.

Really a special event.

Thanks for this excellent tip--we will definitely check it out!

[easyboy]

Every breakfast item was also offered containing chocolate.

For lunch a huge Seafood buffet.Lots of shell fish. And for dessert, a massive display of cakes , very fancy ones.

All this in addition to the regular buffet foods.

Really a special event.

That lunch has also been my favorite. I had my first taste of deep fried oyster there.

[Lucky TGO]

Thanks for sharing.

Tony

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for your review.