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Just off Regal Princess - Feb 10-25 back-to-back....review or questions

shamrockace

By shamrockace,
in Princess Cruises

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shamrockace

shamrockace

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This is our third time on this ship, which is one of our favorites.

 

Embarkment - We are elite members. We arrived at about 10:30 and was on the ship within 20 minutes. We dropped off our luggage in our room and headed back up to Alfredo's for a lunch. It was a great place to eat lunch and people watch as others got on board. We split a pepperoni pizza and salad. Our checked baggage was delivered to our room within an hour of embarkment. We were completely unpacked, met our room steward Miriam and had purchased coke plus cards all before noon. Great start.

 

Dining - We did the early seating in Allegra and had the best wait staff we've ever had. Mark and his assistant Gerard were wonderful, quick & friendly. We ate at a table for 2. The table next to ours had a very difficult and demanding couple the second week and the staff handled it with grace and smiles. I had never heard such ridiculous demands before, yet the staff met them all. The section supervisor, Sergie, was always checking to be sure things were running smoothly and talking to the various tables. He wasn't afraid to jump in and help remove a dirty dish or offer suggestions. I liked how he supported his staff. He was also very helpful with the difficult couple. Food was reasonably good and always served quickly and at the right temperature. I do miss the fettuccine Parmesan bowl they used to have as it was my favorite. Hubby missed the iron steak that used to be on the "always available" menu. The desserts were heavy on nuts, which I am allergic to. The prime rib night, they need to cut the serving size of the meat in half as it's a waste of food. We do wish they'd offer lemonaid in the MDR. We only ate at the buffet for breakfast & we mainly eat oatmeal only. When we did eat lunch, it was usually at the grill or pizza. The fries were some of the best.

 

Entertainment - The production shows on this ship are the best. Of the four lead vocalists, three are very powerful and all four are good. The black chick can wail! I love to hear her sing. Fiera & Bravo are my favorites, but all were good. They had two comedians, each performed two nights. Carlos Oscar was the best. I had tears coming out from laughing so much. The other one was good too, just not as fresh & I've seen him before. I do miss when they used to have a production show and a comedian in different venues on the same nights. We didn't even go in the Vista Lounge the whole 14 days. What a waste. This was our first back-to-back and the second week, we did have some evenings with nothing to do other than watch movies in our room. If they still had two shows an evening, we would have had options. We did LOVE the demand tv options. They had both movies and tv shows. If the movie showed on MUTS one night, it would be offered on demand in your room the next night. I do miss the warm cookies and milk cart for MUTS. They do need more entertainment during the late mornings/early afternoon, especially if it rains that day.

 

Pool area - we mostly hung out at the Fountain pool area. The first week there were very few kids, but that changed the second week. There was a couple who used the plunge pool for their babies in swim diapers, so we mostly avoided that pool area. They do need to do a better job with the chair hogs who put their towels down first thing in the morning, and then disappear for hours on end. I removed some myself after no one would show up after a couple of hours and I saw others looking for an empty chair. We never use the pool in the sanctuary and I'm not even sure we are allowed without joining the sanctuary. The rules are very unclear.

 

Our cabin was interior D-427 and everything was fine and clean. We did have issues with neighboring rooms slamming doors in the early hours and late at night. It really doesn't take an effort to close your door quietly, especially when your neighbors have the "do not disturb" signs out.

 

Ports - We have done the island ports on numerous occasions with the exception of Jamaica. We scheduled a shore excursion thru the cruise ship (on board credit) for the Dunns Falls, Bob sled, Chair lift. It was a nice day. I didn't walk up the falls myself because while I did wear my bathing suit and water shoes, I didn't bring a change of clothes and I didn't want to sit in wet clothes the rest of the trip. I kind of regret not doing it now. The bob sled was a blast and the chair lift took about 20 minutes and was very relaxing. Anyone afraid of heights would hate it though, as it was very slow. Other ports, we just got off for an hour or so and shopped, than got back on the ship to relax when the ship was not as busy.

 

shopping on ship- I did go to the shopping seminar. It used to be only an hour, but now it's two which is too long. I bought a few things on board, but not much. Shopping in port - same stores at every stop.

 

We didn't use the fitness center but did take the stairs a lot and lost weight on the cruise for doing that. Elevators were always busy during the usual times and some people can be very rude. I ended up helping a couple on a scooter because even though they had been waiting, rude people would fill the elevator before he could get in. I blocked the door and said, "he's been waiting a long time and this elevator is for him". lol

 

Public areas - everything was very clean and the ship still looks great. Staff was always friendly and helpful.

 

Casino - I played a little blackjack and walked away with about $44 to the good so I was happy. Dealers were friendly. Some of the people playing looked like they never seen sunshine the whole cruise, but lived in the casino instead. Sad.

 

Disembarkment - very easy and quick as we did the walk off. By the time we got down to the Vista lounge, they were already telling us we didn't have to wait, just get off.

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shamrockace

shamrockace

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The medallion was on a limited basis only and we were not one of them. They did give us each $100 on board credit because we weren't chosen. We were able to get on facebook or facebook messenger without purchasing internet minutes. They also had big screens thru-out the ship where you could play games or see the schedule for a particular day. Those that had the medallion seemed positive about it.

 

The second formal night was the night we were in Grand Caymen. We had 4 formal nights on the back-to-back, two per week.

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geoherb "Live from...." Rare

geoherb

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Thanks for posting your review. We were on the second week of your b2b cruises. As Elites, you had unlimited internet minutes. The Retreat Pool is free. It's outside of the Sanctuary. It was great during the days the ship was rocking. I love it when the pool is like a wave pool.

 

We had good waiters for our late seating in Allegro. We had a table for eight, but two of our tablemates only showed up the first night. Unfortunately our head waiter was not that good. DH avoids eating nuts and seeds. It's not an allergy, though, and the head waiter asked about special dietary requests the first night but never followed up.

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Host CJSKIDS "Live from...." Rare

Host CJSKIDS

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Did they have the Happy Hour at Crooners? :cocktail:

 

It was on there this week and is off this week. I have friends on the sailing on their 2nd leg of their b2b and it is indeed gone.

The bartenders told them it was being phased out and that has been confirmed by Princess via email to various members on here.

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Wishing on a star

Wishing on a star

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Thanks for the review!!!

I also would, eventually, remove those towels and worthless .99 paperbacks/flipflops/etc when it seems obvious that this was a chairhog who might or might return. Hate that!

 

 

Yes, the Retreat (adult) pool and the Sanctuary are two separate things/areas.

The Sanctuary is exclusive, and is, I think, $40.00 per day per seat.

Those nice cabanas that, unfortunately, almost surround the Retreat pool, are also available to rent.

 

We REALLY want at least one day, preferable sea-day, in the Sanctuary.

And maybe a Retreat Cabana as back-up or additional days....

But, I am concerned that even if we run up there immediately upon an a.m. boarding (Platinum) we will find out that there are no good times/chairs left. I think there will be B2B cruisers on our Caribbean Cruise. They seem to have priority.

Edited by Wishing on a star
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