Galveston -- Easy boarding Regal today Jan 21, 2024

[TheMichael]

5 minutes ago, Paula_MacFan said:

 

We ate at Gaido's the night before our cruise and it was amazing! I don't think I'd consider staying at the hotel though. It's been there a long time much like the restaurant 😊 We stayed a few blocks away on the Seawall at the Holiday Inn Express. Also had a balcony gulf view room and it was very nice. No complaints.

 

We also had dinner at Gaido's (the restaurant) that night and it was indeed fantastic! The hotel would actually be kinda perfect if it were better maintained.

[eclue]

2 hours ago, Paula_MacFan said:

 

We've been very happy before on the Regal and it's OK now, but the bed on the Island was heavenly and this one is sagging badly and the pillows are flat. We are in a premium deluxe true aft balcony cabin. I may try to post some pictures later.

Princess offers two different choices of pillows - you can always exchange the ones you have for the fuller ones. WE usually sail in an aft rear facing cabin and have never had a problem.....good luck on your cruise. I can't wait to go again next month!

 

[Paula_MacFan]

We had a wonderful meal tonight in the Crown Grill for my husband's birthday. We both had the surf and turf and it was delicious. This was our first time trying the Nolan Ryan beef products now offered on the Regal. Our last experience in the CG was on the Island a few months ago and this was better. Our filets on the Island were bigger but tonight's were better.  Absolutely melt in your mouth. Our neighbor diners commented that our meals looked so good they were coming back later in the week to order what we had.

 

The service was excellent and we didn't receive a bill for the 18% charge as we had prepaid prior to the change.

[oregonian123]

Glad you are having a good time. 

[2and2]

1 hour ago, Paula_MacFan said:

We had a wonderful meal tonight in the Crown Grill for my husband's birthday. We both had the surf and turf and it was delicious. This was our first time trying the Nolan Ryan beef products now offered on the Regal. Our last experience in the CG was on the Island a few months ago and this was better. Our filets on the Island were bigger but tonight's were better.  Absolutely melt in your mouth. Our neighbor diners commented that our meals looked so good they were coming back later in the week to order what we had.

 

The service was excellent and we didn't receive a bill for the 18% charge as we had prepaid prior to the change.

Nice to hear. We hope to go to crown grill a couple of times.  Is the surf and turf an up charge?.

[Paula_MacFan]

28 minutes ago, 2and2 said:

Nice to hear. We hope to go to crown grill a couple of times.  Is the surf and turf an up charge?.

 

Yes, it's $10 extra. The lobster is huge though 😊

[Paula_MacFan]

4 hours ago, eclue said:

Princess offers two different choices of pillows - you can always exchange the ones you have for the fuller ones. WE usually sail in an aft rear facing cabin and have never had a problem.....good luck on your cruise. I can't wait to go again next month!

 

 

I took your advice and asked our steward for better/fluffier/non feather/whatever pillows. After a deer in the headlights response to 'see what he could find' I'm happy to report we now have 2 additional flat pillows 😄 It's fine and we will survive.

[TheMichael]

4 hours ago, Paula_MacFan said:

We had a wonderful meal tonight in the Crown Grill for my husband's birthday. We both had the surf and turf and it was delicious. This was our first time trying the Nolan Ryan beef products now offered on the Regal. Our last experience in the CG was on the Island a few months ago and this was better. Our filets on the Island were bigger but tonight's were better.  Absolutely melt in your mouth. Our neighbor diners commented that our meals looked so good they were coming back later in the week to order what we had.

 

Didn't get to go to the Crown Grill last week, and it looks like the Nolan Ryan beef is only available from Galveston sailings, so I missed my chance to try it for the foreseeable future. (They're definitely trying to appeal to Texans for that port in a way they don't try to "hook" the locals at others I've been to.)

[nini]

6 hours ago, eclue said:

Princess offers two different choices of pillows - you can always exchange the ones you have for the fuller ones. WE usually sail in an aft rear facing cabin and have never had a problem.....good luck on your cruise. I can't wait to go again next month!

 

 

I think we need to form an "Aft" happy club. 😁

[beshears]

Hello, I just happened to see that you are starting a review, and I hope to be following along. Did I see you are from Kansas? Where about? The 8 of us are to do the Regal (first time) on the 25th of February. I had just read recently that it was chilly there in Galveston as well, but I'm sure it is NOT as bad as here in Missouri (I call it MISERY 😞 ), as we still have at least 1 or 2" of snow on the ground, and still quite a bit of ICE 😞 on our long driveway. I was glad someone had mentioned about the pillows, as I had just read that you could ask for another type of pillow as well. I am going to think POSITIVE about our trip that everything will be fine, and if there is a kink in the road, will just go with the flow. 🙂

[Paula_MacFan]

8 hours ago, beshears said:

Hello, I just happened to see that you are starting a review, and I hope to be following along. Did I see you are from Kansas? Where about? The 8 of us are to do the Regal (first time) on the 25th of February. I had just read recently that it was chilly there in Galveston as well, but I'm sure it is NOT as bad as here in Missouri (I call it MISERY 😞 ), as we still have at least 1 or 2" of snow on the ground, and still quite a bit of ICE 😞 on our long driveway. I was glad someone had mentioned about the pillows, as I had just read that you could ask for another type of pillow as well. I am going to think POSITIVE about our trip that everything will be fine, and if there is a kink in the road, will just go with the flow. 🙂

 

We are from Salina and first sailed from Galveston on Princess in 2004 on the Grand. We've been hooked ever since and have done many Caribbean trips from Galveston, Houston 2x, and Ft Lauderdale over the years. We've also done Alaska from Seattle, New England from NYC, and most recently a 12 night European from Southampton. Next we have a 14 night Alaska cruise tour and then Panama Canal. So we obviously like Princess.

 

I've said on this forum the Regal was our favorite ship and we are having a good time. Just pointing out a few disappointments doesn't mean we're totally unhappy, just keeping it real.

 

We usually drive to Galveston as it's comparable travel time for us vs flying logistics. 

 

We always get an aft room if it's available. We love the quiet location and spending time on the balcony.

 

Yes the weather was colder than normal in Galveston but still nicer than home. We've had 3 weeks of sub zero temps, snow, and ice. We usually sail this week every year for husband's birthday and to escape the cold. Today's forecast looks better with 70s. The next 3 port days look to be in the 80s, so yay 😀 

 

If you have other questions I'm happy to try and answer. We typically don't do the MDR much nor attend production shows. Last night we enjoyed the comedian and several music acts. There is also a acrobat couple who have done shows in the piazza with feats of strength and juggling.

[Paula_MacFan]

Here's the daily buffet themes.

[Paula_MacFan]

It is noon and we're having lunch in Alfredo's. Every table is full and there is a line waiting. 

 

Last night the Crown Grill was packed as well.

[Paula_MacFan]

The weather has vastly improved from when we left Galveston and the pool decks are crowded. Seas are a bit calmer but still heard some folks seeking Dramamine. Pretty windy but the temp is around 80 so it feels pretty good after leaving snow and cold at home 🙂

 

Even the comedian joked last night about cruising from Galveston in the cold. 

 

[TheMichael]

3 hours ago, Paula_MacFan said:

The weather has vastly improved from when we left Galveston and the pool decks are crowded. Seas are a bit calmer but still heard some folks seeking Dramamine.

 

Having recently been on a late-season Alaska cruise that did not use the Inside Passage, the motion barely registered with me coming back to Galveston, so much so that when someone asked in the bathroom, "you enjoying the rockin' and rollin'?" I thought he meant music.

[2and2]

4 hours ago, Paula_MacFan said:

The weather has vastly improved from when we left Galveston and the pool decks are crowded. Seas are a bit calmer but still heard some folks seeking Dramamine. Pretty windy but the temp is around 80 so it feels pretty good after leaving snow and cold at home 🙂

 

Even the comedian joked last night about cruising from Galveston in the cold. 

 

80 degrees and sunny sounds pretty good .

[Paula_MacFan]

Here's a pretty shot of the full moon from our aft balcony. Smooth sailing now 🙂

 

[Paula_MacFan]

The captain just announced we have a medical emergency and are diverting to Cozumel to disembark a critically ill passenger. He said we should resume our scheduled itinerary after the passenger is taken ashore for treatment.

[Paula_MacFan]

The captain announced at 7:30 that our planned stop in Costa Maya has been cancelled due to high winds at the dock. The two other ships scheduled to dock there today have also cancelled.

[Paula_MacFan]

They just delivered these letters. So after Mahogany Bay was swapped for Belize tomorrow and today was cancelled at Costa Maya the best we can do for our original itinerary is Cozumel Friday. We stopped at Cozumel last night for the ill passenger and it's too bad we couldn't have stayed there for today. 

 

Oh well, a day at sea is better than a day at work. 

[KKB]

20 minutes ago, Paula_MacFan said:

They just delivered these letters. So after Mahogany Bay was swapped for Belize tomorrow and today was cancelled at Costa Maya the best we can do for our original itinerary is Cozumel Friday. We stopped at Cozumel last night for the ill passenger and it's too bad we couldn't have stayed there for today. 

 

Oh well, a day at sea is better than a day at work. 

 

 

On 1/21/2024 at 8:05 PM, Paula_MacFan said:

Our Travel Summary said boarding started at noon, but as we got closer to sailing the app boarding pass said check in started at 10:30.

 

Sail away was probably our coldest ever. Usually we would be out exploring the ship and enjoying sail away from our aft balcony; however, it was only 41 degrees so everyone was inside. Even for Galveston this was pretty chilly. It's supposed to be in the 80s at ports so hopefully we'll make up for it.

 

We let the porters take our large suitcases and we carried on our smaller bags. Lots of people were carrying on bags and suitcases. 

Sailed out of Galveston on NCL Prima the 12th. (PERFECT timing w/ the arctic blast & storms)

Quite cool & day 2 slightly warmer but not swimsuit weather. 

Sea day on Day 7 was slightly warmer but little sun.

Sailed out of Galveston last March & warm the whole time.
Not sure I'll do Galveston in winter anymore.

 

Mahogany Bay is Princess' stop in Belize I thought.

 

 

[Paula_MacFan]

1 hour ago, KKB said:

Mahogany Bay is Princess' stop in Belize I thought.

 

MB is in Roatan. We were supposed to stop there originally but were bumped by the much larger Carnival Jubilee a few weeks ago and Princess replaced that port day with Belize for tomorrow. We'll see if we actually make that port since it's a tender and winds have been high. 

 

At least the temps are good with mid 80s today. The pool decks are jam packed.

 

Our comedian was supposed to disembark at Coata Maya today and another one join us there. They had to re-print the Patter for today since everything changed and the comedy shows scheduled for tonight can't happen now. 

 

We enjoyed the illusionist last night. It was a good show.

 

 

 

[satxdiver]

We were on the Ruby last March from Galveston and we missed MB and Costa Maya due to high winds.  So all we had left was Cozumel almost making a cruise to nowhere.  The captain managed to arrange out arrival in Coz the evening before at ~5 pm making it an overnight port and gave us our port fees and an OBC to make it up for our abbreviated cruise.  You are most correct in that a day on the ship is way better than a day at work!

[TheMichael]

 

23 hours ago, Paula_MacFan said:

We enjoyed the illusionist last night. It was a good show.

 

If it's the same one as our cruise, I thought his close-up show in Princess Live was even better.

[beshears]

I'm enjoying reading your review, along with pictures, and hope to continue along for the rest of your trip. I'm still trying to get all the information on the Regal I can for the 8 of us, who plan to cruise in February. So you are from Salina, Kansas, my grandparents lived in Ottawa, Kansas. We live in K.C. (Gladstone), Missouri not far from the airport, which comes in handy at times. I was sorry to read that quite a bit of your itinerary had been changed because of the weather conditions, but I understand the captains report, as he wants to keep his people safe. My son and wife (they are going with the rest of us) did some searching a few months go in Roatan, Honduras. I'm hoping we will be able to do that, as he was talking with someone who is to take the 8 of us around, where ever we want to go for a reasonable price for the whole day. I knew I had been to Mahogany Bay which is nice, but when he told me of "other" things that he wanted me and others to see, I was all for it. My friend who will be in the room with me, this is her FIRST cruise, so she is getting excited, and I hope she is not disappointed, but knowing her, she will be happy with anything as long as we are all together. 🙂