Regal Princess recent experience (Oct 20-27)

[Lynzchat]

I wanted to share our experience because I get such just great advice from others on this site.  This is just a summary but I hope it helps.

 

Highlights of our recent experience on the Regal Princess:

 

• Arrived early to the port and we checked in and boarded by 11:00AM.   We were having lunch at the Horizon by 11:30AM.  
• Both of our rooms were medallion rooms(received a medallion and a cruise card). Medallions are only used for room access.  You still need card for everything else.
• Traditional Dining was great for us.  We went every night and our servers were excellent.  Food choices included a variety of items and we always asked our server what was being served the next night.  This allowed us to plan our next day’s dinner.
• For breakfast and lunch, we ate at the Interntional Cafe or Horizons Buffet.  Both options were great.  We never had any problems with food availability. Seating was a challenge at Horizons during peak times but we ALWAYS found a seat.
• Room service was quick.  We ordered apps and snacks.  Delivery time was less than 20 minutes.
• The outdoor grill had lines during sea days but it went quickly.  Same is true of coffee bar on deck 5.
• We love watching in room movies and there were tons of new movies.
• We were in a mini-suite and the beds, couch, and amenities were fine.  The captain informed us that new beds were designed for their ships. Those new beds will be ‘rolled-out’ to all ships in the next few years.
• We signed up for the Winemaker’s Dinner that included a full meal(starter, soup, filet and dessert, along with the wine/champagne pairings($40). We met some amazing fellow cruisers during this dinner.  The room is cozy and very nice.
• We are Platinum and visited the lounge for the appetizers and discounted cocktails.  It was not crowded when we went(around 5ish).
• My husband is a soda drinker and got the soda package.  He brought his jumbo plastic glass and the bartenders and servers always filled it so he wouldn’t have to keep coming back for another soda.
• The wheelchair disembarkation process is SLOW.  One of us needs wheelchair services and getting off the ship was delayed by at least 1 hour.  My advice is to chose an earlier time or if you are not in a rush, then chose the latest time and enjoy breakfast somewhere.

 

Summary- we had a nice experience on the Regal. The staff is always friendly(except we did find that the coffee bar staff were hit or miss). Food options were great. The ports were good and we were bummed that they cancelled Saint John.  

 

Please let me know if you have any questions.  I’ll try to post photos if I can figure it out. 

[Lynzchat]

A few photos: room and medallion

[Lynzchat]

Main dining room food.

[Lynzchat]

Ordered a few things from the Ocean Seafood bar.  The CAL Roll was not on the menu but I asked them to make it.  It was $9 and was real crab.  The other items were complimentary.  We ordered 2 glasses of Cab Sav.

[Lynzchat]

Winemaker’s Dinner($40)

[Hlitner]

The upsell stuff in the MDR is something very new.  We just got off the Regal (earlier in the month) after the cruise over from Copenhagen and they did not have those upsell options.  Personally, we are so underwhelmed by the quality in the Crown Grill that we no longer bother to eat at that venue.  If they start selling Crown Grill quality stuff in the MDR  we will not be impressed unless they upgrade the quality of the meat.   We are going back on the Regal this week and are curious if these upsell items will be a reality.  IMHO, upsells in the MDR start a bad trend.   There are some resort hotels with included diining that have all kinds of upsell items in their dining rooms.  One can see a future where the regular MDR menu will be hamburgers and hot dogs, and one will have to pay extra for everything else.  Ooops.  I guess they already have burgers on the MDR menu :(.

 

Hank

[Lynzchat]

1 minute ago, Hlitner said:

The upsell stuff in the MDR is something very new.  We just got off the Regal (earlier in the month) after the cruise over from Copenhagen and they did not have those upsell options.  Personally, we are so underwhelmed by the quality in the Crown Grill that we no longer bother to eat at that venue.  If they start selling Crown Grill quality stuff in the MDR  we will not be impressed unless they upgrade the quality of the meat.   We are going back on the Regal this week and are curious if these upsell items will be a reality.  IMHO, upsells in the MDR start a bad trend.   There are some resort hotels with included diining that have all kinds of upsell items in their dining rooms.  One can see a future where the regular MDR menu will be hamburgers and hot dogs, and one will have to pay extra for everything else.  Ooops.  I guess they already have burgers on the MDR menu :(.

 

Hank

I agree with you regarding the Crown. We were on the Royal in the Mediterranean and the Crown quality was lacking, both food and service.  Last year, we were on the Regal, and again ate at the Crown and the meat quality was not the same as 5-8 years ago.  We did not order any of the up charge in the MDR. IMHO, I actually thought the meat quality was better in the Horizons versus the MDR, BUT because we were with my disabled parents, we needed to be in the MDR for a nice relaxing meal.

[Colo Cruiser]

16 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

The upsell stuff in the MDR is something very new.  We just got off the Regal (earlier in the month) after the cruise over from Copenhagen and they did not have those upsell options.  Personally, we are so underwhelmed by the quality in the Crown Grill that we no longer bother to eat at that venue.  If they start selling Crown Grill quality stuff in the MDR  we will not be impressed unless they upgrade the quality of the meat.   We are going back on the Regal this week and are curious if these upsell items will be a reality.  IMHO, upsells in the MDR start a bad trend.   There are some resort hotels with included diining that have all kinds of upsell items in their dining rooms.  One can see a future where the regular MDR menu will be hamburgers and hot dogs, and one will have to pay extra for everything else.  Ooops.  I guess they already have burgers on the MDR menu :(.

 

Hank

As I posted in another thread the extra cost steak etc menu items in the DR might be new on the Regal but we saw this concept in March 2017 on the Ruby. I thought they had discontinued it because we had not seen it since. 

[Host CJSKIDS]

Thanks for the review.  Sounds like you had a nice cruise. I'm looking forward to being back on the Regal in january.

[Colo Cruiser]

Great review and photos.

[riclop]

Thanks for the report.

[geoherb]

Thanks for your review. Loved the photos. We haven't tried a wine dinner yet. Perhaps that's our next special occasion dinner.

[nini]

We really enjoyed the Regal on our East Coast cruise (September 22). It is now our favorite ship! Our October 12 experience on the Celebrity Reflection was underwhelming.

And, yes, the International Cafe coffee people are always grumpy regardless of which Princess shop you are on. But, the coffee is WAYYYYYYYYYYY better than that in the coffee bar on the Reflection.

[Grammyluvs]

How do you sign up for the Winemaker’s dinner?

[Pickels]

Great review and great photos;  can't wait until our Princess adventure, thank you!

[toothmaker]

To sign up for the Winemakers dinner call the dine line from your stateroom as soon as you board or go to one of the main dining rooms and talk to the maitre' di .  They will be able to put your request for the dinner into the pool of requests.  You will be contacted later by phone or a note to your stateroom if you are one of the lucky ones.

[Happy2cruise]

14 hours ago, nini said:

 

And, yes, the International Cafe coffee people are always grumpy regardless of which Princess shop you are on. But, the coffee is WAYYYYYYYYYYY better than that in the coffee bar on the Reflection.

Based on our experience on many sailings, we have always found the IC staff to be very friendly.  Granted one or two may have had a grumpy personality but I would not lump all the IC staff in that category. 

[Mom33]

Thanks for the review. We usually cruise Regal in December but family matters will keep us home this year. 😕

Next year we will try the Sky.😊

[Lynzchat]

On 10/29/2018 at 1:11 PM, Grammyluvs said:

How do you sign up for the Winemaker’s dinner?

Our MDR server happen to mention the dinner. Then he brought someone over to tell us about it.  It’s not as popular as the Chef Table but it’s just as nice and at a fraction of the cost. They held 2-3 that week. It cost $40 a person and our 12 person room did not fill.

[Grammyluvs]

Thanks for the reply. Sounds great

[Grammyluvs]

On 10/29/2018 at 1:02 PM, toothmaker said:

To sign up for the Winemakers dinner call the dine line from your stateroom as soon as you board or go to one of the main dining rooms and talk to the maitre' di .  They will be able to put your request for the dinner into the pool of requests.  You will be contacted later by phone or a note to your stateroom if you are one of the lucky ones.

thanks

[UAL_FlyGal]

Thanks SO much for taking the time to post such a marvelous review w/ pics, Lynzchat.  We set sail on Regal tomorrow outta Brooklyn!! 

[rkacruiser]

I appreciate reading the OP's review and viewing the photos.  My interest in the Winemaker's Dinner rather surprises me because these special dinners now offer more food and wine than I can comfortably consume.  The menu that the OP kindly posted makes me think that this is a dinner that I might be able to comfortably enjoy.

 

Having photos of a mini-suite was most appreciated as well since that is what I will have.

[Lynzchat]

2 hours ago, UAL_FlyGal said:

Thanks SO much for taking the time to post such a marvelous review w/ pics, Lynzchat.  We set sail on Regal tomorrow outta Brooklyn!! 

Have fun! Are you on the last New England or the route to the Caribbran?

[Lynzchat]

1 hour ago, rkacruiser said:

I appreciate reading the OP's review and viewing the photos.  My interest in the Winemaker's Dinner rather surprises me because these special dinners now offer more food and wine than I can comfortably consume.  The menu that the OP kindly posted makes me think that this is a dinner that I might be able to comfortably enjoy.

 

Having photos of a mini-suite was most appreciated as well since that is what I will have.

Yes! I was able to handle this amount of food. In fact, I was not a fan of the tuna so they made me another non fish option.