Just Off Regal Princess Apr 9-16th

[markgray]

First time Princess cruise. This family of 4 had only been on one other cruise (Carnival) 4 years ago.

We had a great time!  Athens, Santorini, Kotor, Messina, Naples (we did Capri).  All on our own, no planned tours/excursions since I did not want money wrapped up with possible Covid issues.

Good:  Excellent workers and organization. Free antigen Covid test on embarkation (only added 45 minutes to the start)  and then again on day before disembark.  Cabin steward brought us swabs and we did it in middle of hallway that last sea day.  Late that evening a certificate showed up in cabin.  Presented that at Barcelona airport check-in heading back to USA.  All went well testing-wise at both ends.
Food is decent, but definitely not “amazing”.  Spent much of our time down in Piazza and heavily utilized the coffee drinks and breakfast items there. 
Worker said we had 2600 passengers vs 3800 capacity.  
Masking:  People were a bit sloppy with it. Blue signs everywhere say “recommended”.  Maybe 1/2 masked in general through the week.  In a few specific spots a sign would say “Mask Required” and 1/3 of folks STILL didn’t bother.  I’m talking theater and tenders.  Either enforce it or get rid of “required” signs. But I heard almost no coughing all week = good. Workers were not looking forward to dry-docking in a week.  One told me it’s a real zoo for two weeks.  
We were surprised at dining room attire.  We prefer casual and didn’t bring any fancy clothes, but tried to look our best while in MDR (2 of 7 days) with a sort of business casual look.  But you see baseball caps, T-shirts, etc…

In general we think we would come back to Princess and sure wouldn’t do Carnival again. We are in our 50s, that might explain it.  

Edited April 16, 2022 by markgray
Added info

[HappyInVan]

35 minutes ago, markgray said:

Free antigen Covid test on embarkation (only added 45 minutes to the start)  and then again on day before disembark... 

 

IMO, that helped a lot to keep the pax safe! 

[markgray]

1 hour ago, markgray said:

First time Princess cruise. This family of 4 had only been on one other cruise (Carnival) 4 years ago.

We had a great time!  Athens, Santorini, Kotor, Messina, Naples (we did Capri).  All on our own, no planned tours/excursions since I did not want money wrapped up with possible Covid issues.

Good:  Excellent workers and organization. Free antigen Covid test on embarkation (only added 45 minutes to the start)  and then again on day before disembark.  Cabin steward brought us swabs and we did it in middle of hallway that last sea day.  Late that evening a certificate showed up in cabin.  Presented that at Barcelona airport check-in heading back to USA.  All went well testing-wise at both ends.
Food is decent, but definitely not “amazing”.  Spent much of our time down in Piazza and heavily utilized the coffee drinks and breakfast items there. 
Worker said we had 2600 passengers vs 3800 capacity.  
Masking:  People were a bit sloppy with it. Blue signs everywhere say “recommended”.  Maybe 1/2 masked in general through the week.  In a few specific spots a sign would say “Mask Required” and 1/3 of folks STILL didn’t bother.  I’m talking theater and tenders.  Either enforce it or get rid of “required” signs. But I heard almost no coughing all week = good. Workers were not looking forward to dry-docking in a week.  One told me it’s a real zoo for two weeks.  
We were surprised at dining room attire.  We prefer casual and didn’t bring any fancy clothes, but tried to look our best while in MDR (2 of 7 days) with a sort of business casual look.  But you see baseball caps, T-shirts, etc…

In general we think we would come back to Princess and sure wouldn’t do Carnival again. We are in our 50s, that might explain it.  

Forgot to add, internet was just about unusable all week.  Only worked reasonably well this morning when many had left the ship on disembarkation morning.  At no point could we have done any sort of video, streaming, etc…. Even basic functions like checking in for flight didn’t work.  Same with Medallion app, extremely slow or not useful

[Married15]

How were the shows? Worth going to? Was it easy to get to Capri on your own? We are planning to to that next month. So no covid that you are aware of on the ship?  We used to do Carnival when our 3 girls went with us, more for kids to do on that line. Now that it is just my husband and myself, we prefer Princess. 

[JimmyVWine]

Thanks for the report. My first post-pause cruise will be this exact itinerary in October. Glad you enjoyed it. 

[NoWhiners]

2 hours ago, markgray said:

Forgot to add, internet was just about unusable all week.  Only worked reasonably well this morning when many had left the ship on disembarkation morning.  At no point could we have done any sort of video, streaming, etc…. Even basic functions like checking in for flight didn’t work.  Same with Medallion app, extremely slow or not useful

 

Did anyone official offer any explanations for this? It seems pretty strange that post-covid the previously working-well internet is not usable. Not doubting your experience, just curious.

[Ken the cruiser]

2 hours ago, markgray said:

Forgot to add, internet was just about unusable all week.  Only worked reasonably well this morning when many had left the ship on disembarkation morning.  At no point could we have done any sort of video, streaming, etc…. Even basic functions like checking in for flight didn’t work.  Same with Medallion app, extremely slow or not useful

With regards to the internet service, did you ever do a speed test? But more importantly were you able to at least send and receive email? Also, were you able to access the cruise critic forums? I know asking about accessing the CC forums sounds a little strange, but it’s a multi-tiered website which needs a little bandwidth, at least around 2 mbps or higher based on my experiences on other cruises this year.

[Carnevale]

Do all sailings in Europe require COVID testing at embarkation and, if so, is Princess offering it free at the pier for all its European sailings?

[wowzz]

3 hours ago, Carnevale said:

Do all sailings in Europe require COVID testing at embarkation and, if so, is Princess offering it free at the pier for all its European sailings?

Yes, testing is required. $60pp at the pier in the UK, free elsewhere.

[patrickmoran]

15 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

With regards to the internet service, did you ever do a speed test? But more importantly were you able to at least send and receive email? Also, were you able to access the cruise critic forums? I know asking about accessing the CC forums sounds a little strange, but it’s a multi-tiered website which needs a little bandwidth, at least around 2 mbps or higher based on my experiences on other cruises this year.

On the Regal now. Can access email and send email. I can access CC forums ok. 

Edited April 17, 2022 by patrickmoran

[lynn2002]

Hi, do they have guest speakers on the Regal?

 

Do you know what work will be done on the ship during the dry dock?

 

When I cruised last summer the casino tables were limited to four people so to have a free chair space inbetween players.  Are they still doing that?

[patrickmoran]

There is at least one guest speaker who did a port presentation this morning. There is an enrichment presentation this afternoon but no speaker listed so I don’t know if it’s live or recorded. 
I don’t know what work will be done after this cruise. 
They will fill all of the seats at the tables if there are players interested. 

[JandJ Cruisers]

What percentage of men would you say were wearing a Tux on Formal nights?

What times were the live shows ?  And did the theatre get full.?

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

5 hours ago, patrickmoran said:

On the Regal now. Can access email and send email. I can access CC forums ok. 

Thanks! That's what I wanted to hear.

[CruzerDeb]

Thank you for your review! Sailing on the Regal at the end of June and I can’t wait!!

[markgray]

14 hours ago, Married15 said:

How were the shows? Worth going to? Was it easy to get to Capri on your own? We are planning to to that next month. So no covid that you are aware of on the ship?  We used to do Carnival when our 3 girls went with us, more for kids to do on that line. Now that it is just my husband and myself, we prefer Princess. 

We didn't go to any shows, and the last night's orchestra performances were suddenly cancelled a couple hours ahead of time.  Other than my wife running into a husband that mentioned his wife was in quarantine, no sign of COVID on ship.  Deck 8 (I think) had the starboard side closed off and that must have been quarantine area.  Capri was a bit easier than I expected.  Walk across Naples port parking lot (ignore taxi drivers), and ticket sales/dock right there on left. It's a bit confusing since there are maybe 4 lines for tickets; several ticket companies all sell the same fast boat tickets.  Seems hectic, but it's more organized than it appears at first glance. Once in Capri, it seemed easy enough to get around with bus and taxi, as long as you are willing to spend some $$$ here and there.  We were more than happy to spend E25 to get from Anacapri back to port.  Plus what a taxi ride down winding scenic roads in an open car!

[markgray]

13 hours ago, NoWhiners said:

 

Did anyone official offer any explanations for this? It seems pretty strange that post-covid the previously working-well internet is not usable. Not doubting your experience, just curious.

The last evening the guy running the Internet Cafe was really nice, but mentioned to coworker "his head felt like a nuke went off inside".  Woman beside me had paid $300 for internet for the week and had just been refunded.  Apparently he was refunding left and right considering how bad it was.  He didn't have any good explanation, but I didn't get the impression he was hiding any info.  Maybe some satellites were offline for some reason?  It was bad enough for at least those last two days that I couldn't get onto AA website to check-in and change seats IN THE CAFE.

Edited April 17, 2022 by markgray

[markgray]

1 hour ago, JandJ Cruisers said:

What percentage of men would you say were wearing a Tux on Formal nights?

What times were the live shows ?  And did the theatre get full.?

 

 

Maybe 20% men wearing tuxes either walking through or sitting in Piazza area.  We didn't go to MDR on those two nights.

[markgray]

13 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

With regards to the internet service, did you ever do a speed test? But more importantly were you able to at least send and receive email? Also, were you able to access the cruise critic forums? I know asking about accessing the CC forums sounds a little strange, but it’s a multi-tiered website which needs a little bandwidth, at least around 2 mbps or higher based on my experiences on other cruises this year.

I didn't try CC forums (sorry!), but email was usable at times.  Mainly tried looking at websites with weather information, I'm a meteorologist.  Strange, I know...

[markgray]

5 hours ago, lynn2002 said:

Hi, do they have guest speakers on the Regal?

 

Do you know what work will be done on the ship during the dry dock?

 

When I cruised last summer the casino tables were limited to four people so to have a free chair space inbetween players.  Are they still doing that?

Yes, a Spanish gentleman named Julio (forget last name) talked about each port ahead of time in theater.  A woman gave a presentation about Irish potato famine one afternoon.  

Don't know about dry dock work.  Casino tables didn't seem to be blocked off

[NoWhiners]

18 minutes ago, markgray said:

The last evening the guy running the Internet Cafe was really nice, but mentioned to coworker "his head felt like a nuke went off inside".  Woman beside me had paid $300 for internet for the week and had just been refunded.  Apparently he was refunding left and right considering how bad it was.  He didn't have any good explanation, but I didn't get the impression he was hiding any info.  Maybe some satellites were offline for some reason?  It was bad enough for at least those last two days that I couldn't get onto AA website to check-in and change seats IN THE CAFE.

 

Thanks, this is very helpful. I hope that by the time we cruise (late October and November) all these internet issues will be resolved. We rely on email to stay in touch with our house/dog-sitter. Only once a day at most but definitely for emergencies, so spotty service would be OK. Otherwise, I guess I will be wasting time in ports checking emails 😉

 

I guess it's a satellite issue if you can't even get it to work using their computers. Does seem odd though--maybe the satellites are recovering from covid???

[Steelers36]

2 hours ago, markgray said:

Deck 8 (I think) had the starboard side closed off and that must have been quarantine area. 

OH, OH.  New red zone.  This is where our cabin is for October, so I hope things change for better.  Who knows where they might stick us?

[S&DMOM]

Free antigen Covid test on embarkation (only added 45 minutes to the start)  and then again on day before disembark.  Cabin steward brought us swabs and we did it in middle of hallway that last sea day.  Late that evening a certificate showed up in cabin.  Presented that at Barcelona airport check-in heading back to USA.  All went well testing-wise at both ends.
 

This is great news!  I was worried about testing to return to the USA.  Will they continue to offer free antigen testing for returning passengers on the Regal?  We are planning to go in June.