On Regal right now...

[h-sar]

Agree with the Grenada tours. Why they allow busses on those one lane roads? We too we one step ahead. Took 20 minutes to drive out of the falls area, as a bus was backing down the mountain. We have met many teachers from Canada who fled the cold.

 

That's exactly what we said, mrbucky. It was pretty nerve wracking in the little minivan we were in. Can't imagine how those big buses were able to maneuver on those very narrow roads. Told DH it reminded me of the Amalfi coast with the hairpin turns, the steep climbs, and the deep drop off on the one side :D. Would not recommend an island tour at Grenada for anyone who easily gets motion sickness in a vehicle.

 

Something else to note about Grenada. There were people wanting tips everywhere along our island tour. Ladies at all of our stops dressed in native garb with fruit baskets on their heads wanting a tip for a picture with them. One of the other ladies in our van had shown interest in a man cutting up coconuts to sell as drinks and the next thing she knew, he poked his head into our open van window and handed it to her. She felt obligated to pay him even though she had not asked for one. At the falls, there were young men who were jumping into the water from high above and then asking for tips. A man with a monkey trying to get us to interact with the monkey. Dude, I will PAY you to keep your monkey away from me!:o An older walking minstrel :) with a guitar attached himself to my husband as we walked down to the falls, making up a song about him being a famous cricket player(no racial profiling here, hahahahahaha!) and me being his Indian queen. Poor DH, who doesn't usually get suckered into this kind of thing, felt the only way to have the fellow leave his side was to give him some money. We're pretty easy going about this kind of thing...everyone's got to make a living and these people are going to more effort than the ones back home who stand at busy intersections with their hands out. But be aware if this is the type of thing that bothers you.

 

 

PS: my husband HATES cricket :D:D. Says it was the most boring game ever invented. He's more a soccer (go, Barca !) and a hockey kinda guy (go, Oilers!).

[azbirdmom]

I know what you mean about the Love Boat theme. We have sailed with Ed Perrin and he loved to play it but so does Tim Stringer who was our captain on the Regal's December 10th sailing. He went on vacation at the end of our cruise but he was terrific!

[YEG Cruizr 68]

I'm loving your posts, H-Sar. As a fellow Edmontonian who will be boarding Regal in early February for the first time on a Royal class ship, I've been following your posts all week. Question- did you have any opportunity to use the Sanctuary? I was wondering if it gets really windy up there on sea days? We've been up there on the Caribbean Princess, but found it windy and noisy from the flapping panels when the ship was moving.

[goldie099]

I'm loving your posts, H-Sar. As a fellow Edmontonian who will be boarding Regal in early February for the first time on a Royal class ship, I've been following your posts all week. Question- did you have any opportunity to use the Sanctuary? I was wondering if it gets really windy up there on sea days? We've been up there on the Caribbean Princess, but found it windy and noisy from the flapping panels when the ship was moving.

 

I was on the Regal Dec 17-28, and we were up there for 2/3 sea days, and yes, it was incredibly windy. The attendants moved our chairs forward so it wasn't blowing our stuff all around, but it was quite loud with the wind.

[h-sar]

Thanks, Goldie. Never having been a Sanctuary guest, I was going to go on a reconnaissance mission tomorrow. Much better for YEG to get the info from someone who’s got some real experience.

[mrbucky]

Well said!! I ditto your thoughts!! Quick question....have you seen any “happy hours” on the Regal?? Or buy one drink, get one free?

 

As h-sar probably is not in the bars as much as us, let me jump in. 3:00 p.m. And 10:00 p.m. Listed in patters daily. Buy one, get the second one for $1.00.

[Mayo21]

As h-sar probably is not in the bars as much as us, let me jump in. 3:00 p.m. And 10:00 p.m. Listed in patters daily. Buy one, get the second one for $1.00.

 

 

 

Oh my ....perfect!! Thanks . I’m sure they say which venues or is it all? Much appreciated!

 

 

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[Mayo21]

That's exactly what we said, mrbucky. It was pretty nerve wracking in the little minivan we were in. Can't imagine how those big buses were able to maneuver on those very narrow roads. Told DH it reminded me of the Amalfi coast with the hairpin turns, the steep climbs, and the deep drop off on the one side :D. Would not recommend an island tour at Grenada for anyone who easily gets motion sickness in a vehicle.

 

Something else to note about Grenada. There were people wanting tips everywhere along our island tour. Ladies at all of our stops dressed in native garb with fruit baskets on their heads wanting a tip for a picture with them. One of the other ladies in our van had shown interest in a man cutting up coconuts to sell as drinks and the next thing she knew, he poked his head into our open van window and handed it to her. She felt obligated to pay him even though she had not asked for one. At the falls, there were young men who were jumping into the water from high above and then asking for tips. A man with a monkey trying to get us to interact with the monkey. Dude, I will PAY you to keep your monkey away from me!:o An older walking minstrel :) with a guitar attached himself to my husband as we walked down to the falls, making up a song about him being a famous cricket player(no racial profiling here, hahahahahaha!) and me being his Indian queen. Poor DH, who doesn't usually get suckered into this kind of thing, felt the only way to have the fellow leave his side was to give him some money. We're pretty easy going about this kind of thing...everyone's got to make a living and these people are going to more effort than the ones back home who stand at busy intersections with their hands out. But be aware if this is the type of thing that bothers you.

 

 

PS: my husband HATES cricket :D:D. Says it was the most boring game ever invented. He's more a soccer (go, Barca !) and a hockey kinda guy (go, Oilers!).

 

Im loving all that you write... im a history buff like you.....12 trips to Europe (one for 2 months), so your Rincon comment made me laugh....we’re doing a Southern Caribbean 12 day cruuse a year from now, so I’m taking lots of notes.... thanks for this wonderful blog!!:*

[lstone19]

Oh my ....perfect!! Thanks . I’m sure they say which venues or is it all? Much appreciated!

 

Unless things have changed (unlikely), the afternoon happy hour will be in Crooners and the late evening one in Club 6.

[YEG Cruizr 68]

I was on the Regal Dec 17-28, and we were up there for 2/3 sea days, and yes, it was incredibly windy. The attendants moved our chairs forward so it wasn't blowing our stuff all around, but it was quite loud with the wind.

 

 

Thanks for the reply, Goldie. Appreciate the feedback about the wind.

[h-sar]

Thanks, mrbucky and Istone19 :) Info is as per today’s Patter, so no changes in venue.

Today is the first of back to back sea days. Woohoo! Watching Grease on MUTS as I type this :) I loved all the ports, but found that 5 in a row were a little tiring. Looking forward to two days of sun and food. I’ve been parked in my lounger by the pool since 8:00 this morning. DH was out at 6:00, as is typical for him, for a workout and breakfast. He tends to shower in the fitness area facilities. FYI: the showers in there are much bigger than the ones in the cabins. He has also been going to the Enclave immediately after breakfast as it is usually pretty empty. This allows him to do a full rotation of all of the amenities without running into guests napping on the ‘waterbeds’ or thermal loungers. He does still go to the Enclave before supper in the evenings, for a shorter period of time. There is no question that he is absolute getting his money’s worth. Definitely a winner of a Christmas present! DH expanded his business last year and, since May, has worked 10 hrs a day, without a single day off. Yikes. He needed this holiday more than any of us.

Curacao yesterday was my favourite stop of the trip. Incredibly clean, colourful, friendly people, and so much to see/do within walking distance. DF decided to have a later day and walk around the city while we went off to Mambo Beach. As the four of us walked over the floating Emma bridge, we heard a whistle. At that point all the locals started sprinting off the bridge like crazy and the tourists continued ambling. When in Rome, do as the....so, we sprinted, too! By the time we got to the end, there was about a foot gap between the bridge and the platform on the city side. We were lucky to be able to watch the bridge open up and swing all the way to the side, to let water traffic through. A few tourists were stuck on the bridge as it slowly floated away. Pretty cool to be able to watch this.

There was a tourist booth right by the bridge and we got some directions to the local bus depot, about 10 min away. We walked next to the water, passing the fruit and vegetable markets. At the bus depot, we were told that the next bus to Mambo, 6A (these are very large buses similar to our own) would be coming in 30 min, but that the smaller minivans that were continually pulling up would be going there as well. We saw one immediately that said Mambo on the windshield and were quickly on our way. Ten min and $2 per person later, we were at Mambo. The driver didn’t stop anywhere else. Regular taxis are only about $5 per person one way and we would have taken one had we had to wait more than a few min.

Mambo, while a man made beach and very busy, turned out to be a great day. There was a $3.50 per person entry fee and the loungers were 3.50 each as well. With that, though, we got a small glass of free pop or water at the nearest bar behind us. We chose the area in front of the Aloha Bar hut. The loungers were really comfy with thick padding. This section had palapas (which I think were also at a cost), but there was enough shade that we didn’t need one. Other sections had sunbeds or regular umbrellas for rent as well. There’s a shopping plaza behind the beach and many restaurants and bars. The washroom facilities were excellent. Definitely nothing like our day at Trunk Bay, which was a little bit of isolated heaven on earth, but the water at Mambo was gorgeous and it was nice to have all of the facilities close by. There appears to be fairly decent Wi-Fi from all of the bars that are on the beach. There was a crepes and arepas place just behind us. I had wanted to try an arepa for quite some time, and took this opportunity. It was only $4.50 for the chicken chipotle one. It was a pretty decent size and really quite good. They were pretty busy, so I placed my order and returned about 15 min later. I imagine it would be gluten-free as the flat bread seems to be made out of corn maize, but not sure if it’s been mixed with any other flour. Absolutely loved the flatbread.

 

We left the beach, grabbing a $20 cab back to the town centre, and spent some time taking in the sights. We had to take the free ferry back as the bridge was open for marine traffic. The ferry is just to the right of the bridge if looking at the water. Note of warning...Give yourself plenty of time to get back to the other side in case the bridge is unavailable. It took us a good half hour after we got in line for the ferry to get to the other side as we had to wait for it to return and then loading everyone on and disembarking took a while. Maybe someone knows of a quicker way to get to the ship side if the bridge is unavailable? Would love to return to Curacao for a longer holiday.

[rwilk1129]

Did you put down a future deposit while onboard? I heard there is a promo going on where you get double usual amt obc. Do you have to book a particular date or can you just do as before and decide which cruise later. Thanks if you can find out and report. Have enjoyed your posts.

[h-sar]

Unfortunately, rwilk, that promo is only good for certain dates which do not go over the holiday season, the only time I can really cruise. I was just looking at the paper that had the dates on it earlier this afternoon and threw it out. Will grab another copy and let you know what the months are.

[h-sar]

1. Movies that have been shown on MUTS (as of Fri pm). Don’t have selection for the final day (Sat) as yet.
   

The Dark Tower

Going in Style

Princess Bride

Wonder Woman

Pirates of the C. Dead Men Don’t Tell Tales

Battles of the Sexes

King Arthur

Grease

Valerian

1. Board and card games have been in Wheelhouse Bar 9:00-3:30, except today for some reason in Allegro MDR. I also see many families playing cards or games poolside at the tables and wicker chairs. There are 12 tables in total (6 on either side of pool) that can seat 8 people each. Of course, there are many smaller ones as well. On deck 7, just outside Princess Live, there are some tall fan chairs and sofas where families also have been playing. There is seating for about 5 in a couple of those locations. Some also play in Horizon court during off peak times (eg. it’s really dead between 2:00-4:30 or after the supper rush.) Lots of seating and some very large tables. People seem to have been respectful about not playing/reading at tables during the eating rushes.
   

 

1. I’ve made a concerted effort to spend as little time inside as possible. And when I am inside, to try to be where I can see the sky and the water. I’ll be going home on Sunday with another 2 and 1/2 months of winter to get through and want to take in every moment of this weather while I can. Hence, I don’t end up attending karaoke, trivia, etc. For the same reason, I don’t eat breakfast or lunch in the MDR. Want to be in the open areas as much as possible.
   
2. Some of my favourite outdoor spots are: deck 16 pool side in the shade; deck 7 promenade seating toward both the forward and aft sections on either side of ship (always quiet and a great place to see the water, especially in the evenings); seating at very back of ship outside, behind buffet.
   
3. Nine days in brings us the first bad weather of the cruise. We started heading into cloudy weather this morning, but it was still warm enough to be on the outer decks. The rain started about 2:30, driving many inside. I stayed ensconced in my lounge chair, under an overhang that was keeping me dry. May be raining, but it’s still warm :)
   
4. Went for afternoon tea in Concerto. A few days ago, I went with DH and we were put at a table by ourselves which was disappointing. Tea time is always a nice opportunity to meet new people. This time, I was alone and was seated with a young fellow from Sweden, and two couples from Texas who were meeting for the first time. All of us were different age groups and it was really quite nice to hear what everyone had been up to in the ports. The tea, scones, and sandwiches were lovely and I had to refrain from over indulging as tonight is the second and last formal night. I think the rain brought more people in for tea than usual and I noticed that the servers, who usually come to the table every couple of minutes, would be absent for some time, trying to get to everyone. No one does afternoon tea like Princess. I truly miss it when I’m on another line. Speaking of which, we’ve done 5 on Regal, 5 on Grand class ships, 1 on HA, 1 and last!!! on Carnival, 2 on Oasis. Now, only have a desire to sail on Regal (or newest Royal class builds) and Oasis class or newer on RCL. My first ever cruise in 2006 was on Golden Princess. Spoiled me for all other lines as Princess set the bar high.
   
5. I’ll give a little product plug here. My kids both brought their S’well water bottles from home. They fill them up half ice, half water when we go to ports. Yesterday was very hot in Curacao and we were at the beach and in the city for about 6 hrs. When we walked back to the ship, what little was left of their water was still ice cold and still had little pieces of ice in it! Have to get myself one. Probably any bottle of a similar material will do the same job. I was really impressed.
   
6. My sister’s husband is a Harley (of several varieties) owner and we always pick him up tshirts on our travels. He’s already been to St. Thomas, so we thought we’d try at another port. No luck at the next 3 ports and then we practically ran into a shop in Curacao yesterday, so that was a relief. It’s about 12 min from the ship, at the shopping plaza in Rif Fort on the way to the city centre. Does it bother anyone else that there’s a shopping/bar/restaurant complex located inside a UNESCO world heritage site?! Something just so wrong about that.
   
7. After tea, came back to the room and am now sitting on the balcony while it rains very lightly. The overhang above us has kept our chairs dry and I’m not getting raindrops on me. Not hot anymore (about 5:30 pm), but I’m still comfortable in a sleeveless maxi dress.
   

[dblane]

Thank you for your wonderful review.

[Mingus]

No luck at the next 3 ports and then we practically ran into a shop in Curacao yesterday, so that was a relief. It’s about 12 min from the ship, at the shopping plaza in Rif Fort on the way to the city centre. Does it bother anyone else that there’s a shopping/bar/restaurant complex located inside a UNESCO world heritage site?! Something just so wrong about that.

We were also there last month and thought it was very strange to strip the fort to a few walls and put in shops and restaurants......very wrong.

[h-sar]

Saturday sea day and final day...

The weather today is even chillier than yesterday. Looks like we’re being forced to be acclimated to the weather waiting for us back home :)

Lots of long sleeves and hoodies out this morning. Very overcast and a bit of a chilly wind. I think my first drink of the day in the afternoon won’t be a Diet Coke, but rather a hot tea!

 

1. The remaining MUTS features today will be a Cirque show which is currently on (it’s 9:30), Guardians of the Galaxy, and the new Spider-Man.
   
2. There was a small chocolate buffet in Horizon this morning. Chocolate fountain with strawberries, pineapple, etc, chocolate waffles and pancakes, variety of chocolate glazed cookies, chocolate pastries, puddings, chocolate, etc. Strawberries rarely seem to make an appearance in the buffet and, this morning, they’re being replenished quickly. I took advantage and had a small bowl. Had a few with the chocolate from the fountain and the chocolate is of a pretty good quality.
   
3. Dinner yesterday was very good it was formal night. Two in our party had the surf and turf and deemed it delicious. Turkey was also on the menu, but none of us had that. I had the Corvina fish with the mild curry paprika sauce. The sauce was very delicate and nicely prepared. I do not eat seafood other than white fish. Princess always does a terrific job with their fish selections and there is usually a whitefish of some sort on the dinner menu. I take advantage of all of the fish offerings at dinner as I do not eat enough of it at home - the rest of the family only really enjoys fish in fish tacos and I can’t be bothered to make all the sauces that really liven up the fish. I also find the fish entrees in the MDR are a lot less filling than many of the other entrees. By dinner, I’ve enjoyed so much food from all the venues over the course of the day, that a lighter meal is better. The only fish entree I didn’t enjoy was the Red Snapper - way too fishy, tough, and thick. Our waiter kindly offered to bring me another entree and said he wasn’t surprised that I didn’t care for it.
   
4. Between the everyday desert menu and the changing one, there is more than enough to please everyone. My fallback is always the NY cheesecake from the everyday menu or the changing ice cream flavours should I not want one of the featured desserts. The ice cream in the MDR is very good. The toffee one is exceptional and I also enjoy the pistachio. We had thought that, yesterday on formal night, they might have the Norman Love pistachio domed dessert as it hasn’t appeared yet. The waitstaff was equally surprised that it wasn’t on the menu and said it probably won’t appear tonight as its baked Alaska night.
   
5. DF and I attended the cooking demo (which is actually a bit of a comedy show!) at 10:00 am in Princess Theatre with executive chef Florin from Romania and Maître’d Frederico from Spain who has been with Princess for 27 years. Apparently, between the two of them, half of the crew (about 600) work in their depts in one capacity or another - related to food or food service. They did a demo of Caesar salad, linguine with vegetables and freshly made pesto, shrimp diavolo, and Black Forest cake which was more comedy than cake demo! The Theatre was about half full - many more people than when we went last year, as many passengers were trying tot get out of the drizzling rain and chill that has taken hold since yesterday. It’s still about 23 C, though. The demo took about 45 minutes and then there is a galley tour which we skipped as we have seen it before. You get taken to a small portion of a really clean and thoroughly empty kitchen. No flurry of activity which would be great to see. It is interesting seeing all the huge appliances, though. At the end, they have the Princess cookbook for sale. I believe these demos take place on the last sea day, but you should check your Patter. I had more laugh out loud moments here then I did during the comedy show a few nights ago! I highly recommend it at least once and it’s actually very worthwhile if you enjoy Italian cooking.
   
6. At lunch, the breakfast chocolate section was turned into a larger chocolate lunch dessert display - huge tiramisu, Black Forest, other massive cakes. A beautiful display of artistry from the pastry chefs. I am always in awe of what they are able to accomplish. Many of the pastry cooks and the head pastry chef (who came in to do the Black Forest part of the demo) will be seen wandering around, keeping an eye on things at this event. If you see them, stop and compliment their work. They are always happy to get the feedback.
   
7. It’s 1:30 at the moment and there are very few people on the open decks. A few are in the hot tubs and some of us are at the covered tables at the sides of the Lido deck. Will be heading to the room to start packing shortly :(
   
8. The kids’ cabin (due to the way it was priced) was given a gift credit by our TA for specialty dining for two people. It showed up on our cruise personalizer at home. I had assumed that when we went to Sabatini’s two nights ago, that their portion would have the credit applied to it. However, they were charged for the dinner and the TA credit wasn’t visible on my online folio. (I had already paid in advance for Crown Grill when I booked online last month). I went down to passenger services yesterday and, because she was able to see the credit on her computer, she applied it to the account and it showed up on our folio, so all is good. Today, however, the kids got a call to confirm their reservation at the Crab Shack for dinner for two tonight, which we hadn’t booked. So, it looks like the gift from the TA was applied to a dinner for them for tonight. Usually, you receive a card in your room notifying you of this on the first day, but they had not received one. We cancelled tonight’s reservation as it would end up costing money since the TA gift had already been applied to Sabatini’s and none of us enjoy seafood to that extent. Just something to be mindful of if you receive a gift like this. From past experiences, with such gifts, it seems like no one asks you which restaurant you want and Princess just goes ahead and books you. It is up to you to make any changes you may want. I will also let our TA know of our restaurant preferences in case we receive a credit from her like this in the future.
   
9. Making the reservation and prepaying for Crown Grill was so much easier than in previous years where we had to run there upon boarding, trying to get the time we wanted. Will write later about Sabatini’s experience. Yup, they messed with my Burrata salad :(
   

[zahav1]

A big thank you to you and your great on board reviews. We'll be on the Regal in March and your information is extremely helpful, it will our first Royal class cruise and our 14 & 15th one.

[voljeep]

Hope you see this now, or later...

 

How is the Ocean Medallion process going? - What all can you do with the Medallion other than opening your cabin door and paying for some purchases?

 

Online casino gambling?

Order drinks - here and now, there and then?

 

Anything????:cool:

[cruisequeen4ever]

Uh oh; what did they do to the precious Burrata?? That’s my fav!

 

 

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[mrpayroll]

Enjoyed reading your entire review. Will be on Regal on the 21st of January. Looking forward to it. :)

[Wrldviewer]

You have calmed my nerves with your wonderful review of the Regal. I just booked her for a week in February but was nervous about the size of the ship - it is larger than any of our previous cruises. It doesn’t seem that the high passenger count caused delays in service or over-crowded activities. I do not like vacations where you have to stress about getting to dinner or activities extremely early, the hurry up and wait mindset!

 

 

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[h-sar]

1. Checked out the ocean medallion situation. Spoke to one of the tech guys who says it is only available in a 110 cabins on regal so far. They picked a particular Muster Station set of cabins to test it out on. I went to a few of the shops and they all had the ***** tab on their counters and said it was working. Those in ***** cabins also have a room card they can use if the medallion does not work. Also went into the casino and all of the machines have ocean medallion tabs on them. Spoke to one of the hostesses and she said that pretty much everything in the casino is accessible with the use of the *****, including machines and tables.
   
2. Sabatini’s was two nights ago. Let me preface by saying that Italian food, from all of the various regions, is my absolute favourite cuisine. In fact, I’m taking a group of our students to Italy at March break and this will be my fifth trip to Italy. Would love to spend a couple of months there when I retire. Went to Sabatini‘s for the first time last year and had such a wonderful experience that we decided it would be something we would do at least once on every cruise. And after this most recent experience at Sabatini’s, have to sadly say we may not be back again. Please know that I’m not commenting on the execution of the dishes. The chefs did a wonderful job; however, the new menu was just not to our taste buds.
   
3. We all absolutely love Italian, and I’m not talking necessarily about North American style Italian, but authentic Italian. I had the chicken scaloppine which is supposed to be seared, but looked and tasted poached and had that rubbery texture that poached chicken can often have. The rosemary sauce was absolutely delicious. I have never been a particular fan of wedge salad and my salad was a little bit reminiscent of a wedge salad. The escarole was quite bitter. The vinaigrette was quite tasty, however. DD had the fondue soup and quite enjoyed it. The kids had the breaded veal as their main entree and said it was good, but were not blown away by it.
   
4. The one thing I had been looking forward to since last year’s cruise was the burrata appetizer. Previously, the burrata came with slices of tomato, basil, and drops of olive oil and vinaigrette. This is exactly how I like my burrata accompanied. The new menu has the burrata accompanied by a few hazelnuts, droplets of pesto, a couple of leaves of basil, but no tomatoes. There are about 4 very tiny pieces of golden beets which Were absolutely delicious, almost like candy; however not what I would want paired with my burrata. I believe there were about 5-6 fava beans as well. I wish I had asked them to just bring me out some slices of tomato as that is all I really needed. We already had olive oil and balsamic on the table that I could have dribbled on top and I would’ve been a happy camper. I’m not saying that the burrata appetizer tasted bad - it was just not what I was prepared for. Maybe I’m not as adventurous as I like to think! I had been looking forward to this appetizer for almost a year. The burrata cheese itself, though, was still one of the creamiest and most delicious ones I have ever had.
   
5. The rosemary olive oil bread that was brought out at the beginning was absolutely wonderful, as was the prosciutto. I ordered the buckwheat pappardalle pasta with beef cheek and wish I had gone with something else. My daughter felt the same. Neither one of us enjoyed the taste of the pasta or the meat. We had absolutely loved the short rib pasta on the old menu.
   
6. For dessert, I had the Norman Love Rocher chocolate dessert.This is served in a huge fishbowl type glass. It is absolutely incredible to look at. A work of art. There are so many wonderful elements to this dish. However, that is also its downfall. Too many things going on. It had bits of spongy chocolate cake, chocolate mousse, a large Rocher type egg with frozen ice cream, pralines, hazelnuts and more chocolate. My daughter had the tiramisu. She is a huge tiramisu connoisseur and has eaten it all over Italy. She deemed it one of the best ones she has ever had. It is an exquisite creation and does not visibly resemble tiramisu as one would normally expect it to look. DF had the gluten free Zabaglione Marsala with berries and said it was very, very good, very rich. The 4th dessert was vanilla panna cotta. One could also order the four desserts as a chef’s sampler plate and I believe each one is then served in a small shot glass.
   
7. They are very strict in Sabatini’s and Crown Grill about paying extra for an extra entree.The new decor of Sabatini’s did not really excite me. I liked the old world charm of the restaurant as it previously was. This new style seems very generic ship MDR style. I imagine they want to keep a generic look in case they ever have to change it from an Italian venue to something else. Once again, please note that I am absolutely not commenting on the technique of the chef. Everything was beautifully put together, but some of the dishes almost went toward more of a French fusion style. Please do not think that I was looking for heaps of pasta on a plate smothered in a sauce of some sort. That is not how I like my Italian. But this was just a little too different from the previous menu. It disappoints me greatly that none of us have the desire to go back.
   
8. Do not let my words prevent you from trying it out if you have not yet done so. Taste is a very subjective thing. Given the very few people we saw in Sabatini‘s every time we walked by, I have doubts that it will be around in the long term. In fact, the two pasta appies and the vegetarian antipasto I’ve enjoyed in the free Alfredo’s this trip were more enjoyable to me than my dinner in Sabatini’s.
   

Edited January 6, 2018 by h-sar

[Host CJSKIDS]

They did completely change the Burrata salad but while I'm a huge fan of the old version, I am a huge fan of the new version as well.

 

I had them do the pasta just with olive oil and garlic and it was amazing.

 

I also had the chicken as did our friends cruising with us. Our chicken was so rubbery and came out cold that all 3 of us got completely turned off by it and sent it back. I agree, it wasn't seared at all and I also said it looked poached.

Edited January 6, 2018 by Host CJSKIDS

[h-sar]

You have calmed my nerves with your wonderful review of the Regal. I just booked her for a week in February but was nervous about the size of the ship - it is larger than any of our previous cruises. It doesn’t seem that the high passenger count caused delays in service or over-crowded activities. I do not like vacations where you have to stress about getting to dinner or activities extremely early, the hurry up and wait mindset!

 

 

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The only time you will notice the crowds are before and after muster and initially when you embark if you head straight to the buffet. You can avoid the latter by dropping your bags in your rooms (Princess cabins are usually ready earlier than most other cruise lines) and heading straight to Alfredo's or the MDR for a quiet, civilized lunch.

 

I would encourage anyone who has not sailed on Princess to go out for the sailaway party, even if you have your own balcony. There is nothing better than sailing out of Port Everglades, watching guests/entertainment crew/Princess dancers dancing away on the pool deck as the Love Boat horn gets blown. A good vantage point is on deck 17 on the side with the condos so that you can see the entertainment below as well as all the people waving from their homes and condos.

Edited January 6, 2018 by h-sar