Live from Regal - 02/24 - Just easy reading, no photos

[vettprincess]

9 hours ago, CruisingIsBest said:

Crown Grill.... it was decent, but the steaks were nothing really special. We got the mussel pot as apps and they are quite different from the mussel pot we remembered... it's more of a meal now, with sausage and lots of veggies. The mussels themselves were tiny and the sauce was not as memorable as it used to be... the bread is now on the side, and it's really good... with garlic inside. Overall, it was good and the bread made it better... but we got this without the upcharge. I would not get this as your primary entree! It's just not worth $29, period. If you go, ask for a table further back towards the windows... at 8pm we still had the piano playing in the background, which was fine... quite nice... then it moved to a singer which just gets annoying during dinner and conversation. The entertainment should not be right outside the restaurant... when you have to start talking loudly to overcome that, it kind of ruins the nice dinner. We were sitting directly net to that section so if you're further back, it's probably not as much of an issue, if any at all.

 

As for the steaks, I got the porterhouse and it was very overcooked... no color at all. Round 2... better. The cuts of meat are still nothing great... so much fat it sat off to the side in a plie. The steak is certainly big enough so even with the fat, you still have plenty of meat. The meat itself was decent, but honestly, it's not up to what you would find in any true upscale steakhouse... just OK, and on the salty side. The asparagus was quite good, and perfectly cooked. The baked potatoes were pretty standard, and small. Sorry, but I just cannot see going here multiple nights. Save your $$. Go once, experience it, and move on. The best part of it was the service... which was outstanding.

They had the balloon drop in the piazza tonight... you'd think they were dropping cash! Sorry, but NCL wins in the excitement category... their glow parties and big deck events make this pretty boring in comparison... I think the few kids onboard had the most fun popping all the balloons, lol. 

I'll leave you with a gorgeous sunset as we continue to sail west. Tomorrow night we'll be headed east again, so no more of these from my forward facing view!

HI:

My daughter on the Harmony now is watching you sail long to get into Cozumel.Sending me photos of Regal.

Too exciting for me to see while waiting for another snow storm today. They are tired of the BIG BOAT and want to go back on Princess for many reasons. Beautiful sunset thank you for sharing your trip. Bye for now.

[CruisingIsBest]

10 hours ago, Snelling said:

Saw this while browsing the Princess forum and figured I'd make an account.  

 

We are on the same cruise (first cruise ever) and it's been a great experience.  Agree with the Princess Cays, kind of boring.  Falmouth was interesting to check out but it can get sketchy in a hurry out in town.  Loved the Caymans yesterday and would like to go back and vacation there.

 

It's funny you mention the demographic because my wife and I said the same thing.  I feel like I'm constantly dodging walkers and trying to slip past people moving slower than molasses.  Getting off the tenders today was an exercise in patience with them bouncing up and down at the docks and ship.  Many of the mobile challenged created a bottleneck on our boat.

 

Looks like I'll have to try the capital grill, we have just been going with the standard dinners so far with Horizon for breakfast and lunch. 

 

Truth!! LOL  If dogging walkers, and scooters was an olympic sport, I'd medal. I mean I get you can't move at light speed like I do, but they strategically position themselves to take up as much of the aisle space as possible making it impossible to pass... you have to "plan" out your move in those small areas where it's a bit wider or when no one is coming the opposite direction. 

 

I think you meant Crown Grill! 🙂 Yes, check it out. What is your opinion of your MDR dinners?

 

 

[CruisingIsBest]

23 minutes ago, vettprincess said:

Oh dear-has not been that bad on our other Princess cruises. Holland is known for the senior crowd. Daughter says about the Harmony-6430 passengers-a few thousand kids-do not have the exact number. As usual parents not watching kids and they saw a baby go into the garbage in the park cafe. Took out an apple, examined it. Put it back then took out again and was going to eat it. Finally parents noticed and pulled the kid away from the garbage. 

 

Wow! a "few thousand" kids??? 🤦‍♂️  I guess parents realize... not Princess. There's literally only about 20 or 30 or so onboard here... that might be a high estimate too! I see quite a few roaming  around on Vista too.  In the garbage? ... lol... well, the little ones will get into anything! Too many "parents" that should not be parenting! 6430 total? Geez. No thank you! This must be a relaxing oasis compared to that circus! I feel for your daughter! 😱 Vista and Dream are supposed to leave at 5pm... so we'll see if Regal toots the horns as they go!

Edited March 1, 2019 by CruisingIsBest

[CruisingIsBest]

This may be the perfect example of what I mean by very subdued... went on deck for the big "Hot Latin Nights" sail away deck party. Where is everyone??? This event has always been hopping, with passengers everywhere... especially if it's a nice evening as it is tonight... uhhhh... pretty dead!

 

 

So I've been praising the HC, but tonight was not too great. Now this may have been a bit of a lesser spread given we didn't sail until 930p, and they only had half of the HC open... but just lots of repeated, uninspired options that didn't even looks very appealing. Deserts were lousy too. Down night for the HC.

 

Not much else to say about today... the above photo pretty much describes the atmosphere of the ship tonight!  Tomorrow night, the final night, I expect it to be quiet... everyone in that "vacation is over" mode, but this has been the "feel" of the ship, and that's the best way I can show you vs. me just saying it. 

 

[4cats4me]

3 hours ago, CruisingIsBest said:

This may be the perfect example of what I mean by very subdued... went on deck for the big "Hot Latin Nights" sail away deck party. Where is everyone??? This event has always been hopping, with passengers everywhere... especially if it's a nice evening as it is tonight... uhhhh... pretty dead!

 

 

So I've been praising the HC, but tonight was not too great. Now this may have been a bit of a lesser spread given we didn't sail until 930p, and they only had half of the HC open... but just lots of repeated, uninspired options that didn't even looks very appealing. Deserts were lousy too. Down night for the HC.

 

Not much else to say about today... the above photo pretty much describes the atmosphere of the ship tonight!  Tomorrow night, the final night, I expect it to be quiet... everyone in that "vacation is over" mode, but this has been the "feel" of the ship, and that's the best way I can show you vs. me just saying it. 

 

Maybe more people will show up after the showroom lets out.  I blew up your photo and the clock indicated 9:45. Does the show let out at 10:00? 

Weve seen this party rockin’ and we’ve also seen it as depicted.  I think it feels sparse due to the extremely wide deck, unlike on the Star or Grand where everyine’s Tripping over one another.   

I recall this deck party being packed to the gills though back in mid March of 2015, 

but it was still spring break. 

 

 

[Vic The Parrot]

4 hours ago, CruisingIsBest said:

Yeah, I'm seeing the weather in CT not exactly warm and toasty either. Looks like some snow tomorrow, but at least it's getting out of the way before my flight back on Monday. 

 Update on the forecast ...

 

Now they're sayin 3-5 in for Sun nite/ Mon Morning.  😱

[CruisingIsBest]

6 hours ago, 4cats4me said:

Maybe more people will show up after the showroom lets out.  I blew up your photo and the clock indicated 9:45. Does the show let out at 10:00? 

Weve seen this party rockin’ and we’ve also seen it as depicted.  I think it feels sparse due to the extremely wide deck, unlike on the Star or Grand where everyine’s Tripping over one another.   

I recall this deck party being packed to the gills though back in mid March of 2015, 

but it was still spring break. 

 

 

 

There were no other shows. The deck party "was" the main event of the night. I went back out around 10:20-ish to get a slice of pizza since I didn't have too much at the HC earlier. Was about the same. Sorry, not buying the 'wide deck' for this... I just don't think the pax on this cruise are interested in it. I haven't been on the grand class ships in many years... only Royal and Regal, and I've never seen the deck party this quiet. Previously, people would line the railings on the deck above, and you can see that's pretty sparse too.  Even many of the senior seniors were out there having a great time and tearing it up in the past. Not tonight.

For the Pizza lovers, Prego's was great again... crispy crust, perfect cook, and the right amount of cheese and sauce. All the pies looked delish. 

[CruisingIsBest]

7 hours ago, Vic The Parrot said:

 Update on the forecast ...

 

Now they're sayin 3-5 in for Sun nite/ Mon Morning.  😱

 

March going out with a roar. I hope that crap slows down because I am flying through MSP the 12th and back the 15th!

[vettprincess]

1 hour ago, CruisingIsBest said:

 

March going out with a roar. I hope that crap slows down because I am flying through MSP the 12th and back the 15th!

Flying through MSP! Staying? 6 more inches yesterday. I am near the airport so can give you updates through this roll call about the REAL weather. Last day for you and my daughter so enjoy the sun and seas and tropical drinks. Time for this senior to go outside again and shovel AGAIN. 20-30 below tonight and tomorrow. The kids will have a rude shock when they get off the plane later Sunday night.

[CruisingIsBest]

8 minutes ago, vettprincess said:

Flying through MSP! Staying? 6 more inches yesterday. I am near the airport so can give you updates through this roll call about the REAL weather. Last day for you and my daughter so enjoy the sun and seas and tropical drinks. Time for this senior to go outside again and shovel AGAIN. 20-30 below tonight and tomorrow. The kids will have a rude shock when they get off the plane later Sunday night.

 

You've probably got bigger arms than I do!!  💪 30 below? Ugh. Shock for them for sure... but like all of us that live in the north, we know what we're headed back to. lol  We've been talking so much about snow, I replied to you with "MSP" instead of to VIc who's closer to me, in NJ. We're supposed to get snow in the northeast Sunday night into Monday... right now it's not looking terribly bad, and it will be over in the morning so by the time I get home late, the airport should be OK coming from Atlanta. (I Hope!). We've been pretty lucky this year with little snow... March can be a tough month and the temps right now, even though we're not 30 below like you, appear to remain cold enough for snow through all of next week.

 

But on the 12th I'm headed to San Diego, so just my connection through MSP both ways.  They do a pretty good job at the MSP airport.. they're used to the snow! So as long as it's nothing major, I should be OK.

Edited March 2, 2019 by CruisingIsBest

[CruisingIsBest]

Well, another example of this crazy group... this was posted in the Facebook Elite forum by another passenger on this cruise...

Well today was a first for me. We are on the Regal right now. There was a food fight in the Lido buffet at noon today! I am talking a plate of food smashed in another mans face!! People grabbing their children and running! All over raw oysters and shrimp. This is day 6 of a 7 day cruise. They can’t be that hungry!! It was scary!

 

Bizarre! 

[c-boy]

29 minutes ago, CruisingIsBest said:

Well, another example of this crazy group... this was posted in the Facebook Elite forum by another passenger on this cruise...

Well today was a first for me. We are on the Regal right now. There was a food fight in the Lido buffet at noon today! I am talking a plate of food smashed in another mans face!! People grabbing their children and running! All over raw oysters and shrimp. This is day 6 of a 7 day cruise. They can’t be that hungry!! It was scary!

 

Bizarre! 

you have got to be kidding me 

[CruisingIsBest]

Just now, c-boy said:

you have got to be kidding me 

 

Can't make this stuff up!! The children are better behaved than the adults! LOL

[vettprincess]

2 minutes ago, c-boy said:

you have got to be kidding me 

Really surprising.Would love to see a photo of the incident. Too early to be a drunken fight. Cruising is a microcosm of society.

Chuckling to myself about this.

[Vic The Parrot]

Um, now they're predicting 5-8"...         

Don't wear your flip-flops on the flight home.  

[CruisingIsBest]

50 minutes ago, Vic The Parrot said:

Um, now they're predicting 5-8"...         

Don't wear your flip-flops on the flight home.  

 

Ugh... wonderful. 😫 I'll have to get a friend to at least plow the driveway so the Uber can get in and out. Looks like it will at least be done by 8am so things should be cleaned up by the time I land after 11p Monday night.

[4cats4me]

12 hours ago, CruisingIsBest said:

 

There were no other shows. The deck party "was" the main event of the night. I went back out around 10:20-ish to get a slice of pizza since I didn't have too much at the HC earlier. Was about the same. Sorry, not buying the 'wide deck' for this... I just don't think the pax on this cruise are interested in it. I haven't been on the grand class ships in many years... only Royal and Regal, and I've never seen the deck party this quiet. Previously, people would line the railings on the deck above, and you can see that's pretty sparse too.  Even many of the senior seniors were out there having a great time and tearing it up in the past. Not tonight.

For the Pizza lovers, Prego's was great again... crispy crust, perfect cook, and the right amount of cheese and sauce. All the pies looked delish. 

 

Oh, wow, that is a big bummer! Quite depressing, in fact. We had a dull crowd on our March 2017 Regal Cruise, now that I think about it.

Will keep fingers crossed for our April cruise on the Royal.  Usually we have a pretty fun crowd for the Mexican Riviera itinerary.  (I hope?) 

 

Thanks for your great live from this week. It’s been very enjoyable to read. 😀

[4cats4me]

4 hours ago, CruisingIsBest said:

Well, another example of this crazy group... this was posted in the Facebook Elite forum by another passenger on this cruise...

Well today was a first for me. We are on the Regal right now. There was a food fight in the Lido buffet at noon today! I am talking a plate of food smashed in another mans face!! People grabbing their children and running! All over raw oysters and shrimp. This is day 6 of a 7 day cruise. They can’t be that hungry!! It was scary!

 

Bizarre! 

 

What the? I’m going over to that forum right now! LOL

[Vic The Parrot]

5 hours ago, CruisingIsBest said:

Well, another example of this crazy group... this was posted in the Facebook Elite forum by another passenger on this cruise...

Well today was a first for me. We are on the Regal right now. There was a food fight in the Lido buffet at noon today! I am talking a plate of food smashed in another mans face!! People grabbing their children and running! All over raw oysters and shrimp. This is day 6 of a 7 day cruise. They can’t be that hungry!! It was scary!

 

Bizarre! 

Holy cannoli!                             

 

That's really messed up!    

I have yet to see a brawl on a ship, especially over something ordinary like food.   

[CruisingIsBest]

Haha, to the photos above. I wish I would have seen the event... might have been the most exciting thing to happen on this cruise!!! LOL

 

So, disembarkation was pretty smooth. My steward let me hang in the cabin a bit later... I did walk-off on my own so I just grabbed the elevator down to 6, and walked off. Line was pretty long at customs, but it moved quickly.

 

To sum it all up... it was an enjoyable cruise. Those things that Princess cannot do anything about I won't add to the below... Weather, which was perfect, was wonderful. Passengers? Just luck of the draw and not a good draw. Not really the fault of Princess, but it's what they attract, especially this time of year I guess.

 

GOOD:

• Medallions and Internet worked great. The internet speed is terrific. The only places it didn't work as well were once you got out on deck in some areas. I saw a few people struggling with their medallions not opening their cabins... or maybe his worked and hers didn't. Mine worked great all week, and the lock was already unlocked before I pushed on the handle.
• Prego Pizza - really good like it used to be.
• HC was for the most part good. I think it has dropped off in overall quality, and don't count on anything you've seen in other reviews as being there on your cruise. The big pot of lobster and seafood I saw on a recent Regal review was nowhere to be found this time. The large cake/dessert spread someone said was there for only an hour or two around noon (same day as the food fight melee), but I never saw it. If they only put it out for such a short amount of time, don't even bother! Deserts, with a few exceptions, were nothing special. Many of the same things, with perhaps some flavor variations... mostly the "bang for the buck" items. The regular cheesecake for example never appeared in the HC. Breakfasts are the best, and they literally have everything you could want. Overall, the HC on Princess is still the best buffets on the seas.
• Movies on-demand are all free, If you missed it on MUTS or want to see a recent movie, you can do it any time.
• Elite benefits. The free bar setup, free laundry (which took about two full days on this cruise), and other benefits are still the best.
• Enclave was great. The four "special" showers are all losing their luster. One barely worked at all, and there's no more different scent in each shower. The loungers for the most part were heated, although on any given day, they may not be as warm as the were the day prior. I never saw more than 4 or 5 other guests in there, and many times, it was only myself or one other. First time it's been that peaceful in there, which was nice.
• Crew... always working hard and doing their best. Some weren't overly friendly, sort of just doing what they had to do, but nothing to complain about.
• Won some $$ in the casino!

AVERAGE:

• Cabin. I LOVE the front facing balconies, L101 and L102. Cabin was fine...quiet, and my steward was good. The carpet had multiple stains they couldn't get out, and the showers are still terrible... the shower head mechanism was worn out and kept tilting over so the water would point down, away from you. Pressure was just OK. Those dreaded curtains need to go. The bed is was pretty firm... a bit too much so for my liking and they are long overdue to be replaced with those new mattresses they've been talking about for several years now. Storage space is more than ample.
• Crown Grill. Steaks were not cooked properly the first round and the cuts of meat (Porterhouse) were very average in quality... nothing "special" by any stretch. The mussel pot was good, and the bread served with that was very good. The server we had was excellent. Is it worth $58 for a couple? That depends. If you have OBC to burn... definitely. If you have no problem spending the extra $58, then again, sure, do it! If you have a limited budget, or you need to limit your expenditures, then perhaps not... save your money. 

NOT SO GOOD:

• Can't really cannot categorize anything as "poor". Alfredo's Pizza was disappointing and probably just a one-off, as others have said it was good. I didn't make it back for a 2nd try, so I can only speak to that one visit.
• Ok, now I'm really nit-picking here, and this is really just an observation, not a complaint. Aside from the few blasts passing the condos in FLL, and once in Amber Cove, and we didn't hear the horns sound ever again. I remember them blasting the Princess jingle at noon, right before the bridge announcements, and of course, departing every port... and multiple times too. It's fun hearing them with everyone on the other ships cheering. Captain? Bridge Officer? Broken?  Who knows. 🤔

To summarize, the Princess product is what it is., which is fine... you don't want to come on a Princess cruise and get a a different product, rIght? I do wish they'd change things up a bit though. If I compared a Patter from a year ago with the ones on this cruise, aside from the different movies and some different names, most of it would be a carbon copy. Thankfully, the weather was great and people weren't stuck inside. I'm looking forward to my 2nd NCL cruise in October. If you prefer the more laid back, slow pace, then Princess remains a solid choice. I'd much rather be on a boring cruise than shoveling snow in Connecticut!! That said, I enjoyed the cruise. It was relaxing, and although the "vibe" onboard was pretty dull overall, I really have nothing negative to say. 7 Days was perfect for me and I wouldn't want to be on a B2B, at least not on Regal. Princess delivered on my expectations, and with that, I'm going home happy. Cheers!
 

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for taking the time out of your cruise to do this live!  

[jtjosh02]

On 2/26/2019 at 4:58 PM, Host CJSKIDS said:

Really enjoying your live from.  

 

If you are ever at Crooners, can you please tell Jovie that Carolyn says hello!

 

Jovie was very excited when we showed her this tonight!!! She said hello!

[Host CJSKIDS]

36 minutes ago, jtjosh02 said:

 

Jovie was very excited when we showed her this tonight!!! She said hello!

 

 

thank you!!!! 

 

This is a fantastic picture!  Thanks for making it so much fun!!!

 

Edited March 6, 2019 by Host CJSKIDS

[Host CJSKIDS]

Thank you for doing a live from. It was fun to follow along. 

[loge23]

Good job, OP!

We were on the same cruise and I can concur with most of your report.

We did have the pizza in Alfredo's on Day 6 and happy to say it was very good. I did not try the deck pizza this time out.

We ate in the CG on night - the service was painfully slow but the veal chops were excellent. One adjacent table had significant service issues and the Maitre 'D had several conferences with the guests which culminated with a complimentary, unopened, bottle of wine being presented to them. When they left, they did not take the wine with them - yikes.

Agree about the crowd - and it was a crowd. We were among the unlucky ringside patrons for the seafood bout in the HC. Not sure what provoked this, but I think a woman cut in to the line for the oysters. So we're all waiting for oysters and a platter of them go flying - nice. This was followed by an irate nitwit making threats to another guy (whom I think may have sent the oyster platter flying, but I didn't actually see that). Mothers were invoked - real ones, not the obscenities.

We never go on 7-day cruises, but we had visitors from the UK with us and wanted to get in a little Caribbean. I'll never go on a 7 day again and I think the demographics were different for that reason.

Shower curtains - ugh. We had to request a new one immediately upon boarding, such was the odor from mildew. Seems like an easy thing to fix, but it never gets done.

For comparison sake, we recently returned from an extended run on a Viking Ocean cruise where we loved the excellent cuisine, but longed for something - anything - to do in the evenings. On that account, the food on the Regal was perfectly acceptable if not quite on the standard of Viking, but we did appreciate the musically offerings onboard the Regal, particularly hearing live jazz played in the Wheelhouse. Demographically, well if you think the consist was a bit past prime on the Regal you would've thought you were on a nursing home cruise on Viking. But, at least they don't fight over the oysters.