LIVE: Regal Princess, Eastern Caribbean, Feb. 18-25, 2018

[geoherb]

We enjoyed a nice evening. We missed the movie quote trivia but went to the 7:00 show of the singer (Teacake) in the theater. She gave a completely new show--mostly Motown classics with a few disco era songs mixed in. She did not sing any Whitney but did do one Aretha classic--"Chain of Fools."

 

I dislike open seating, but we lucked out and got a good table beside the Chef's Table in the dining room. They were doing the Chef's Table tonight and had the lighted curtain drawn. We saw them bring in the main course covered by domes. I'm not sure what it was. We later saw them bring in the dessert--some sort of fancy chocolate one with a chocolate lace around it about 9 inches tall. We talked to a couple who were waiting for a bottle of wine. They had some of the gourmandices to go. They said this Chef's Table had surpassed some of the previous ones they had done on other ships. We did not get into specifics about the menu tonight.

 

Our dinner was very good. I had the seafood skewer and the surf and turf main courses as planned. This time, they gave me both main courses. I guess it's less work for them in the galley to go with the way they're already plating a course rather than making changes. Both were excellent. Everyone said their food was very good. The others at our table had various main courses, including duck, corvino, pork belly, and pad Thai. Two men ordered the rhubarb napoleon. They said it was very good. I had a fruit plate since I had eaten a chocolate crème from the International Café in the afternoon.

 

We watched sailaway from Outriggers. Lexi made an announcement around 6:30 that they were moving the outdoor island party inside. The irony is that the weather cleared by sailaway. Seeing the lights of the island as we sailed away was great.

 

We missed seeing the singers and dancers' performance at the party in the piazza. By the time we got down there, they were gone. But the party continued with Atomic and the cruise director's staff leading the dancing on the Plaza Deck.

[RotaryMike]

Have you been by the sanctuary at all?, i'm trying to figure out if it is elevator accessible. We've been on a few ships that the sanctuary was up a flight of stairs from the pool . 16 more days til sailing! thanx for all the info and updates. Mike in CT

[geoherb]

Have you been by the sanctuary at all?, i'm trying to figure out if it is elevator accessible. We've been on a few ships that the sanctuary was up a flight of stairs from the pool . 16 more days til sailing! thanx for all the info and updates. Mike in CT

The Sanctuary is accessible from the forward elevators. It's in front of the Retreat Pool.

[geoherb]

We saw a man eating the most amazing breakfast. He was apparently a regular, because the waiters were bringing his order to him right after he sat down. He had one plate of papaya, another plate of sliced mango and strawberries, two plates of poached eggs, four slices of toast, and a huge plate of smoked salmon. The salmon was the equivalent of five or six regular orders. I was expecting others to join him, but he was eating it all by himself. DH said the muffin man also brought him several pastries.

 

I thought service at breakfast was not up to Princess standards. Our waiter set aside our silverware after the first course for us to use again. Somehow DH's fork was removed with his plates, so he had to wait for another one. We ate with two nice couples.

 

We started watching Victoria and Abdul on the television. It's nice that they have the option of seeing the films that were on MUTS on the TVs, but I don't see why they couldn't have them available the whole cruise. I guess we're lucky that the one we wanted to see was one of the first ones shown. They're repeating it this afternoon in the theater. There's another movie playing in the Vista Lounge.

 

We played morning trivia but did not do very well--just 11 out of 20 points. The winning team had 15. The husband of the couple with whom we've been playing was off the ship, so it was just the wife, the Canadian guy, and us on our team.

[elainemasey61]

Enjoying your report. We sail March 4th[emoji3]

 

 

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[geoherb]

The rest of our day was relaxing. We watched the end of Victoria and Abdul after the 60-second game. This time our task was to put a deck of cards in order. Sam failed when he tried it. I did too, but I came really close and received a participation prize--another wine stopper. The other games involved catch a ping-pong ball in a paper cup, stacking on another one, then continuing with one ball per cup until you had a stack of 10 cups. It was too difficult for anyone to do, but the ones who tried also got participation prizes. The last challenge was getting a balloon across the atrium without using hands and guiding it into a large paper bag. The one woman who tried it kept using her hands. But the assistant cruise director still gave her a prize as well.

 

The afternoon trivia was held in Princess Live again. It's not a great venue for trivia. I'm not sure why they could not have used the Vista Lounge. I did not see anything scheduled for there. We ended up with 17 out of 20. Three teams tied with 19 out of 20. One team came really close to the tie-breaker answer and won the bottle stoppers.

 

Sailaway from St. Maarten was beautiful. We did not hear any names called or see anyone running to make it to the ship. We're relaxing with a glass of wine in our cabin before a movie quote trivia game then dinner. Tonight's menu is a disappointing one--not many options. I can't remember what it's called, but it's the one with a sorbet course before the main course.

[Clownfish Cruiser]

when we drive from SC we always use the cruise port terminal. Very safe and covered. Traffic should not be a problem on I-95. We have stayed near the Villages several times and travel was easy.

Should be about 6 hours for you. Enjoy your cruise.

 

Thanks so much for the information!

 

We were in Vero Beach, which was about 2 hours from the port. Sunday morning traffic was not too bad this time. We left a little after 9:00 and parked at 10:55. The distance from Jacksonville to Port Everglades is about 330 miles--5 hours.

Thanks, geo. I've enjoyed following this thread. By the way, my husband is also a CPA!

[geoherb]

The menu was the Chef's Dinner. It included the goat cheese soufflé, artichoke soup, snapper ceviche, and salad with shallot vinaigrette for the first courses. The main courses included a stuffed trout, diver scallops with crispy pork belly, beef and sweet potato skewer, and a vegetarian gnocchi.

 

They had another Chef's Table tonight behind the lighted curtain. I'm glad our tablemates got to see the production. The people attending the Chef's Table were already seated, once again, before we got to the dining room.

 

We enjoyed the "Sweet Soul Music" production show. The singers and dancers are really good. Tomorrow night will be "Bravo," with the cast plus a guest soprano. We saw the show on the Caribbean Princess in August but will go back

 

There was a letter in our cabin mailbox this evening letting us know we made the cut for the Ultimate Ship's Tour. I guess three people dropped out. It's going to be Saturday morning. I'm glad I did not spend all of my OBC yet. I'll end up with a little bit of refundable credit after the charge for the tour.

 

My last laundry order came back this evening. I sent it out twice and received it back both times the next evening. DH sent his out once and received it back in two days (but in the morning, not the evening).

 

I played the '80s trivia with the Canadian guy, a mother and son, and two guys from the afternoon gathering. We tied another team with a perfect score. Both teams received bottles of champagne. The other team gave us theirs. I'm chilling the bottles in our fridge to take to tomorrow's gathering at Outriggers.

 

We haven't been going to the Platinum, Elite, and suite event since the first couple of nights. There is not one tomorrow night due to the Captain's Circle party. We may try to go on the last night. We ate lunch with a couple of women we met the first night there. They said it has not been very well attended the past couple of nights. I guess the late stay in St. Thomas affected attendance. I also noticed that the BOGO happy hour in the afternoon wasn't as crowded this afternoon. I was just passing through.

[Grego]

Thanks for all the updates. We are looking forward to being on the Regal again Sunday for one week and then in December for the 10-day New Year's Eve voyage. Glad you enjoyed your time aboard the Regal Princess.

[geoherb]

I'm not sure why Princess bothers to ask what we want for our disembarkation preference. I turned the form in before the deadline yet did not receive the self-disembarkation requested. I noticed down our hallway that everyone had the same color assignment we did: Orange 3. It was easy to change by visiting passenger services, but something that was a waste of my time and theirs.

 

I played the slots a little bit before lunch. I'm a big winner: up 2 cents. I stopped at that point. The machines now read the cruise cards and Ocean Medallions without having to be inserted and left in the machines.

 

Lunch in the dining room was enjoyable. I had an appetizer size portion of the ravioli and the fish dish. I did not stay for dessert, leaving without it to go play the champagne ring toss. We played the true or myth trivia afterwards. We were close but no prize again.

[sexyaznboy]

Enjoying your blogging! I am bummed that there is not a wet or dry sauna you cannot use without a fee. The older ships had these, but nowadays its nickel and diming. I like going there after working out.

[geoherb]

I also miss having a sauna. I haven't made it up to the gym on this cruise. Another bad thing is that on the Regal, Royal, and I assume the Majestic, even suite passengers don't have free access to the Enclave, where the saunas, steam rooms, and other amenities are.

 

We watched an afternoon movie in our cabin then played trivia again with part of our team--just the Canadian and us. It was the Jeopardized trivia--five categories with five questions each worth from $100 to $500. We missed two questions, bet it all, and won. Our closest competitors also missed two questions, but they missed two $500 ones, whereas we missed a $300 and a $500 one. We got to choose our prizes from a water bottle, wine stopper, and drawstring bag. We chose the bags.

 

The champagne from the night before wasn't too bad when split eight ways at the Outrigger gathering. The woman from our winning team joined us but the son did not. (She says "hi" to her husband back in Boca following this thread. And for clarification, I'm a guy.) We left there to get dressed. I walked through the Horizon Court and saw they were serving beef Wellington as the featured item for the formal night buffet. They also had a huge bowl of shrimp, mussels, and the one of the appetizers from the main dining room menu--a seafood tian with caviar.

 

We got dressed for formal night and stood in line for the Captain's Circle party. The line when we joined it was back almost all the way to Princess Live. But it moved quickly once they opened the doors. We sat with two of our tablemates and a single woman traveling alone. The waiters were fairly efficient in the beginning. One of our tablemates ordered a double vodka on the rocks and got it in a few minutes. A gentleman further down our row ordered three drinks of some kind and got them.

 

The Captain's Circle hostess only reported on the number of Platinum and Elite passengers, 874 and 479, respectively. The third place couple had 725 days. The second place had 1,016. The most traveled had just 1,027 days. That's the lowest number I can remember from all our cruises.

 

We went to see "Bravo" after dinner. There were plenty of seats at the 10:00 performance. I played TV theme show trivia with our late night team: the Canadian, the mother and son, and a guy from Colorado. We placed second with 16 out of 20. The winners had 17.

 

We're up early for our Ultimate Ship's Tour. I ordered room service last night. It came right at 6:59. (I had requested delivery between 7:00 and 7:30.) It was good. I wrote in bran muffins and received them. We also received a pot of coffee even though I did not request it. I guess they think everyone needs coffee. I gave up caffeine and don't drink it. The breakfast sandwiches were nice and hot.

[geoherb]

We enjoyed the Ultimate Ship's Tour. There were 11 of us passengers in our group. Apparently another group was 30 minutes ahead of us. We started in the medical center with the doctor. It's interesting, but DH has been in the medical center before. Next was the theater with the production manager followed by back stage with the cast manager. We had the first of our group photos taken on the stage. It was set up for the cooking demonstration later in the morning.

 

We then walked to the galley, where one of the sous chefs met us with passion fruit cocktails and chocolates. It was interesting stopping at the different stations and watching demonstrations of how they prepared the food. The most fascinating machine to me was one that forms the rolls from a larger piece of dough. We followed our visit to the galley by going to the stores to see where they process some of the food and store it. The hotel inventory manager led that portion. It was interesting seeing them prepare the vegetables and meat down there. They had another neat piece of equipment there that portioned the hamburger patties.

 

Next up were the photo lab and print shop. The assistant photo lab manager explained the processing of the photos. One of the press operators explained about the printing. We went to the engine control room next, where the chief engineer explained some of the technical aspects of the ship, from the engines and propellers to the water treatment and waste handling.

 

We went to the laundry next. The senior laundry manager showed us around there. We saw the way they launder the sheets and towels, the dryers, automatic folding machine for sheets, and the way they process pressing clothes. The last demos were on staff uniforms.

 

The forward mooring deck was next. A staff captain showed us around the anchors and mooring ropes. Two of the mooring ropes broke and four were damaged in St. Maarten. The swells were pretty big as we were tied up to the dock that day. (It was also rocky yesterday on our day at sea and the night after we left St. Maarten.)

 

The final stop was the bridge. We were met with champagne and nonalcoholic beverages and the leftover chocolates. (I'm not sure if they were the ones left from our stop in the galley or else ones left after the first tour group. I think it would have been nice to have had them replenished.) The captain came and talked and answered questions. After he left, a third captain explained more the technical details. The tour lasted a little bit longer the three hours. DH said it was the best. I enjoyed it. I'm glad we had OBC to use to pay for it. We're waiting for the various things included in the tour to be delivered to our cabin.

 

We finished just in time for lunch in the dining room. We sat with a couple with whom we've eaten before and another couple who had also eaten with them before. I had the fish taco, which was tasty.

 

I changed my credit card on file. Fortunately our OBC covered most of our expenses. According to the representative at the passenger services desk, it would normally have been too late to change it but still possible since our account balance was so low even after the charges for the tour. I wanted to take advantage of the American Express offer and dropped off our form at the future cruise consultant's desk.

 

I joined the Canadian, the Boca mother, and a couple of honeymooners from Seattle in the Disney trivia. We missed three questions. The winning teams claim to have missed just one each according to their scores. I find it questionable since one claimed to have missed two previously. There were enough bonus points floating around that it would be easy to add things up incorrectly.

[geoherb]

And the ironic thing is that I played with the Boca mother and son later today and won because the host was inconsistent in how he said to score the points. The mother said one of the other teams shot us the evil eye.

 

Our last dinner was enjoyable. We took a bottle of champagne that we had won to share with our tablemates. The other four folks are staying on for next week's cruise. They said they're going to miss us. We also gave them bottle stoppers from our winnings.

 

Tonight's menu is my least favorite one. I don't care for pasta with clam sauce, meatloaf, their New York strip steak, or turkey. They don't seem to be upscale menu items. I ended up ordering the Curtis Stone seafood stew. It was pretty good--nothing spectacular. I got a lot of mussels, just a few clams, and a small piece of sea bass. One of the assistant cruise directors said to get ready for a surprise. But it was just the assistant waiters parading around the dining room with baked Alaskas while "Hot, Hot, Hot" played in the background.

 

The comedian (Troy Thirdgill) did another funny show. It's now time to pack up a bit more before going to bed. We get our lost hour back tonight, so at least it won't seem like we're getting up as early.

 

Overall we've had a great time on the Regal. There have been very few problems. We met some great folks.

[Host CJSKIDS]

Glad you had such a great cruise. Fun to follow along with you. Safe travels home tomorrow.

[geoherb]

Thanks for following along. We're finishing up our packing now then about to go to breakfast in the dining room. We have a little more than an hour before our walkoff group. It was a great cruise. I've saved all the Patters for anyone who has questions about activities. I left a bottle of champagne outside our tablemates' cabin--the couple who got engaged on this cruise. I also left them a few soft drinks and a bottle of water.

 

We're staying in Fort Lauderdale this morning to visit a friend from a previous cruise. Then we'll head back toward North Carolina. My goal is to make it about half way.

[sunsetbeachgal]

Enjoyed following along, safe trip back!

 

 

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[jakey2004]

Loving the review!!

[KellyOKelly]

Great thread!!! Thank you! We get on next weekend ( from CA)!

 

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[jgd3rdbcfd]

I have really enjoyed your 'history'. My wife and I join her next Sunday. Six more days and a wake-up.

[lor74]

Safe travels Geo

 

 

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[lindy sails]

Thank you Geo for taking us along! Have a fun day in Ft Lauderdale with your friend.

 

 

 

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[KellyOKelly]

Thank you Geo for taking us along! Have a fun day in Ft Lauderdale with your friend.

 

 

 

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By the way, any fun (and inexpensive) suggestions for Fort Lauderdale? We'll be three families traveling with teens. 14 of us all together and none of us have ever been there.

 

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[Clownfish Cruiser]

I enjoyed following along and am glad you had a great cruise! Will be on the Regal, hopefully sailing away, 2 weeks from today!

[geoherb]

By the way, any fun (and inexpensive) suggestions for Fort Lauderdale? We'll be three families traveling with teens. 14 of us all together and none of us have ever been there.

Where are you staying in Fort Lauderdale? We have usually stayed at the hotels along 17th Street. When we've been there for more than one night, we have taken the water taxi around. When we rented a car in December, we drove out to the Everglades for an airboat ride. That was fun. But with 14 of you, both of these options would add up quickly. You may be better off just enjoying the sunshine and water at your hotel's pool.