The Regal and Royal go head to head in June!

[cruisequeen4ever]

An 18 day cruise to the Baltic and AK?? What, you’ve never seen that itin?? 

😆

 

My hubby and I just returned last night from a fabulous, whirlwind-of-touring 11day Regal Princess Baltic adventure. Tomorrow, I will head out on the Royal Princess with my mother-in-law for a Southbound 7 day Alaska Cruise. Though I have sailed on both ships before, it’ll be interesting to compare the 2 within such a short timeframe. 

 

These cruises are vastly different in that the Baltic was our anniversary cruise to a part of Europe we had never explored before, and our primary focus was on touring the ports. On the other hand, we live in AK and have done the AK cruise 6 times already; my mother-in-law and I simply want to use the upcoming week to relax, play bingo and slots, enjoy the ship, and have lots of amazing food.

 

The first cruise was with my go go go DH who likes to have us off the ship the first minute the gangway opens and with whom I averaged 7 miles of walking and 19 flights of stairs a day. The second cruise will be with my mother-in-law who has limited mobility and will likely not get off the ship. I must take those stairs and walk walk walk on this cruise, though, so my stomach won’t turn into a giant iceberg in AK! 😆

 

Obviously, there will be some differences because one was an 11 day cruise, and one is a 7 day, but both are colder weather cruises and have a similar number of sea days. 

 

It’ll be interesting to compare entertainment, buffet variety, promos onboard, costs, and the general state of the ships. I am especially interested in comparing the MedallionNet as the Regal’s speed was very over-promoted and under-performing! (I do understand that the region may impact the speed)

 

Come along if you want to see how similar and different the Regal and Royal currently are! 

[cruisequeen4ever]

Pre-Cruise:

 

Our medallions arrived promptly for both cruises and correctly reflected our loyalty level.

 

I was able to order the old UKP/USM for the Regal cruise, but the Royal only has the new, more expensive option, now, so sadly I won’t have unlimited virgin drinks this cruise. Sigh 

[milolii]

Looking forward to your comparison. 

[Steelers36]

We were on your Regal Baltic cruise.  I would say it's a cooler weather cruise - but perhaps ours was among the last as full summer arrives.  Anyway, we were blessed with fantastic weather every port.  Beautiful sunny days when the forecast ahead of time was not all that great.  I wore shorts in St Pete's and Tallinn.  

 

The internet was fast when functioning well, but there are challenges when in the far north with the satellites.  I hear it may be similar for parts of AK trips?

[cruisequeen4ever]

6 hours ago, steelers36 said:

We were on your Regal Baltic cruise.  I would say it's a cooler weather cruise - but perhaps ours was among the last as full summer arrives.  Anyway, we were blessed with fantastic weather every port.  Beautiful sunny days when the forecast ahead of time was not all that great.  I wore shorts in St Pete's and Tallinn.  

 

The internet was fast when functioning well, but there are challenges when in the far north with the satellites.  I hear it may be similar for parts of AK trips?

Our weather was so unusual and amazing on that cruise! I wore sundresses, and my husband wore shorts most days. Our internet never did get fast, unfortunately. We were using our free Elite minutes, and part of me wonders if those using free minutes don’t get the bandwidth that those using the unlimited get. 

[gizmodog]

How were the bed on the Regal?

[cruisequeen4ever]

First observations:

 

The Royal has gotten rid of the Elite/Suite vs. regular line delineation at Pax Services! 😱 They have one measly sign to the side indicating the side of Elite/Suite, but it doesn’t mean anything when everyone’s standing crowding the whole area. It’s totally unclear now where to stand without appearing like you’re cutting. Then the agent didn’t know who to help next because everyone was just kind of spread out. I was skipped over a few times. Then she told me they always help Elites first, despite me being skipped by her and her colleague. They really need to bring back the roped off lines. 

 

The Royal did not have part of Horizon Court open for lunch, at least when we were there. 🤨 The Regal always had the full buffet open. 

 

We had Medallion glitches on the Regal where we couldn’t get in our stateroom with the Medallion for a while. Pax Services was inundated with people having the same issue. I’m pleased to report we got right in on the Royal. 

 

I caved on getting the new Classic Soda Package (formerly known as the USM, which was formerly known as the UKP). I’m not happy with the new price, but I love my mocktails. The new tumbler is cute. 

 

The crew have all been warm and friendly! 

 

I was thrilled to see Ron Goldman is still the ED on here! He’s the best best best!! Unfortunately boring Lexi is the CD. 

 

My mother-in-law is treating me to Oceanview pedicures tomorrow! 

 

The cruise is off to a fantastic start, and we haven’t even sailed away yet! 

[cruisequeen4ever]

1 hour ago, gizmodog said:

How were the bed on the Regal?

The beds on the Regal and Royal are both fabulously comfortable, so fluffy and cushy!

[cruisequeen4ever]

Bingo has higher payouts on the Royal, likely because of the significantly higher turnout than on the Regal. The new Fortuna Luck persona was a novelty the first session but is kinda annoying after you experience it once. 

 

All kinds of sea day activities happening today, all the same as the Regal, except for one of our favs, the horse races!  So excited the Royal is doing them! 

 

The Alaska cruise demographic is a lot younger, and it feels like everyone is out and about participating in activities. In other words, crowd is the name of this game! 

 

Both ships have discontinued the Treasure Hunt, which I was really disappointed about, butttttt I’m now OK with it because the various departments now do giveaways throughout the cruise instead. 

[mthomp5]

Fun comparison!  Looking forward to reading!

[cruisequeen4ever]

The Internet has been equally slow on both ships. The Royal has had an odd glitch where you’ll use a certain number of minutes, and then it’ll say you used a different number. My mother-in-law’s minutes have jumped all over the place. 

 

The Royal continues to have part of Horizon Court closed each port lunch. I haven’t encountered that in the past.

 

I was disappointed we didn’t have any comedians on the Regal and am pleased to say the Royal had AJ, a hilarious comedian last night. 

 

We have had awesome room stewards on both ships. The bar service has been consistent. 

 

[Belle2416]

Thank you for sharing!   Have been on the Regal and loved it!   

[AF-1]

Thanks for the ongoing review.  I have not sailed either ship; so this will be nice having you compare the two

[cruisequeen4ever]

I need to qualify my opinion of Lexi, the cruise director. There’s nothing wrong with her; she’s fine and chooses fun activities. She just lacks personality when she hosts events. She’s glamorous and professional; I just wish she put more spirit out there. I saw her break free with her thoroughly entertaining commentary at the Do You Wanna Dance event! I wish she was like that all the time. 

 

Do You Wanna Dance was soooo fun and funny! I’ve been trying to go each cruise and keep missing it, so I’m glad I finally made it. 

 

The Royal is so cold inside, and I’m an Alaskan who would usually be toasty warm on AK cruises due to how warm they’d keep the inside of the ship. 

 

I can’t remember if I mentioned it, but they had Horse Races on the sea day, which is one of our fave activities onboard! It was wildly popular, to the point that they had to cut off bets, there was such a long line. The Regal sadly didn’t offer it.

 

I’m really missing my daily shrimp from the Regal! I even had shrimp every day on the Royal last year in the British Isles, so I’m wondering if it’s maybe a Europe thing to have it nightly in Horizon Court. Ohhhh was it delicious...sautéed, wok’d, fried, chili peppered, etc, sooooo yummy!! 

 

Puppies in the Piazza was so cute!! Princess really does that well. People lined up to play with a puppy that was on a dog bed. The pups were spread out so multiple groups could go at once. There was a reallllllllly long line, so line up early if you wanna do this! 

 

Italian night was perfecto! 

 

Let’s talk Swirls, one of my fave venues. It’s always tasty, but it’s crazy how widely it varies in creaminess. One day it’s perfect, and the next day it’s icy. I don’t know why it’s not consistently creamy. I’ve experienced this across the fleet. 

 

I’m super excited about the Marriage Match Game Show tonight! It’s always a highlight for me, and I was very disappointed they didn’t have it on our Baltic cruise! 

 

The Royal’s crew is wonderfully Princess in their service! 🌟

Edited June 19, 2019 by cruisequeen4ever

[cruisequeen4ever]

Crown Grill was flawless! Our waiter was awesome at ensuring I’d be done in time for the Captain’s Circle Party. 

 

The Platinum/Elite Captain’s Circle Party was fun as always. The Most Traveled Passengers on this cruise all had way more days than the winners on our Baltic cruise. Typically Europe cruises have a lot more repeat passengers. 

 

The Marriage Match Game Show was hilarious, and the balloon drop party was super fun. Excite is one of the best Princess bands. 

 

DJ Anthony did a good job playing to the crowd at Club 6.

 

Ketchikan is gorgeous, warm, and sunny today! 

 

Tonight is the special Alaska menu in the dining room that includes Alaskan crab legs! My mother-in-law is excited! 

 

Though the internet continues to inch along, the new Ocean Now App does function well. We’ve been able to easily order drinks and have them delivered wherever we are. On the Regal, I received my drink, but the poor guy couldn’t find me at first because the app showed me on the opposite side of the ship. My hubby had the same issue on the Regal with me appearing on the opposite side from where I actually was. 

[cruisequeen4ever]

It was a fabulous week aboard the Royal! The crew was one of the warmest crews I’ve experienced the last few years! I was telling my hubby today about how talented the comedian, party band, jazz band, string quartet, and vocalist were, and then I reminded myself, “it’s Ron Goodman; of course it’s all gonna be top quality!” He’s truly the best. 

 

I had an amazing cruise aboard the Regal to the Baltic and an awesome cruise aboard the Royal to Alaska! Both had some areas in which to improve, but Princess continues to be absolutely tops in my book. If you’re going on either cruise, you’re in for a spectacular cruise experience! 

 

Already missing that wake view...

[MissP22]

On 6/20/2019 at 5:55 PM, cruisequeen4ever said:

Though the internet continues to inch along, the new Ocean Now App does function well. We’ve been able to easily order drinks and have them delivered wherever we are. On the Regal, I received my drink, but the poor guy couldn’t find me at first because the app showed me on the opposite side of the ship. My hubby had the same issue on the Regal with me appearing on the opposite side from where I actually was. 

How do they actually locate you among the crowd of people? 

[AF-1]

MissP22,  when you set up your ocean ready app for the medallion you take a picture of yourself;  the bartenders have ipads and your picture is shown on the ipad.  Same way security knows who your are when you get on and off the ship.  When you leave the ship your medallion is scanned and you picture pops up on the ipads

[MissP22]

12 minutes ago, AF-1 said:

MissP22,  when you set up your ocean ready app for the medallion you take a picture of yourself;  the bartenders have ipads and your picture is shown on the ipad.  Same way security knows who your are when you get on and off the ship.  When you leave the ship your medallion is scanned and you picture pops up on the ipads

I knew about the photo but I though they might have something that actually zero's in on the medallion more accurately. 

On our last medallion trip they used a photo that they had taken from a previous cruise.

[cruisequeen4ever]

6 hours ago, MissP22 said:

How do they actually locate you among the crowd of people? 

Every crew member now carries a phone, and every station now has a tablet. On the screen, any pax in close proximity have their photo displayed on the screen. The photo is the one you pick for your fun, onboard display photo, not your security one. The crew can then greet you by name. Sometimes it wouldn’t work properly, and they’d still need to ask for your room #, but most of the time they’d know who you are. It was pretty cool.

Edited June 23, 2019 by cruisequeen4ever

[cruisequeen4ever]

Another observation I made...On the Regal, the new phones the crew carry did become an issue. I often saw them on their phones, appearing to be in their own world. This of course never used to happen and does impact customer service. I don’t know what they have access to on there, but it became a common occurrence. 

 

On the Royal however, I never saw any crew misusing their new phones.

 

I found that very interesting. I don’t know if the Regal crew have more access on their phones, if the Royal crew doesn’t realize all they can do on there, if it’s a difference in management, or some other reason. It was a very noticeable difference, though.