Semi-live UK and Ireland cruise on Regal - the no-frills version (September-October 2024)

[MyriamS]

Dublin is cancelled 

 

Have you ever tried sleeping in a rollercoaster? That's what we felt last night in our cabin right at the front of the ship. Therefore we were disappointed but not surprised when the captain announced the waves were too high and the winds too strong to tender into Dublin.

 

I didn't have much appetite for breakfast but I did try the egg Benedict from the buffet. Surprisingly the yolk was good perfectly but the Hollandaise didn't taste right.

It was a bright sunny day and the blue sky seemed to taunt us as we couldn't go into Dublin. We made the best of it by going to the hot tubs on deck and even made it to the pool for a bracing swim. They were playing Dirty Dancing on the big screen and I ended up watching it in its entirety. It has surprisingly serious themes for a film known mostly for its ending dance.

 

We went to the MDR as they were serving the sea day lunch menu. We shared the Monte Cristo sandwich and the fried chicken and waffles. While the latter was good, the Monte Cristo was limp and tasteless so I would advise skipping it.

For desserts we went on deck to try the complementary soft serve, it was pretty standard in taste. I prefer the vanilla over the chocolate. 

Btw we had to cross the buffet to get to Swirls and it was packed. We couldn't find anywhere to sit (it was between 12 and 13). So if you want a quiet lunch on a sea day, definitely go to the MDR instead.

 

After that we went to the Life at Sea talk by the entertainment director. It was a really great talk about what it's like to work on a cruise ship (hours, ranks, salaries etc) and he also took many questions from the audience. We also did trivia.

 

For dinner we went to the MDR again. It was Italian night. I had the mushroom arancini as a starter (a bit dry) and my partner had the seafood salad. Our waiter also insisted we try the pasta arrabiata.

For mains, we shared the shrimps and scallops on a bed of polenta and the butter chicken (not very Italian, I know, but neither is chicken parmesan 🙂). Both were nice, the butter chicken was better than the one we had in Salisbury. 

 

For desserts we shared the gianduja souffle and amaretto crème brûlée. There were good but I didn't really feel the amaretto in the creme.

After dinner we saw the stand up comedian (which was better than the previous one) then headed to the production show "Born to Dance". We were 25 min early but the theatre was already pretty packed and eventually became completely full! So if you want to be sure to get a good spot, be very early.

 

The show focused on the lives on dancers and the famous choreographers who made history on Broadway. There were video testimonials on former dancers alternating with the Princess dancers renacting scenes from famous musicals such as West Side Story, Chicago, Hairspray etc. I love Broadway shows so I thought it pretty interesting and the cast was very talented. I'll try to catch the other production shows.

[MyriamS]

We have some Irish luck in Belfast

 

The ship rocked much less than night and we successfully docked in Belfast in the morning. 

 

We booked an organised tour with Belfast City Sightseeing. Their shore excursion to Giant's Causeway was 30£ a head versus 200$ for the Princess Excursion so the choice was quick.

 

After a quick breakfast in the buffet and picking up some lunch snacks from International Cafe, we disembarked and easily found the right coach.

 

We left on time at 8:30am. Our driver was Rob and the guide was Gavin, both from Belfast. Gavin was very knowledgeable and friendly and gave us a short history of Ireland as we drove about 1h15 to our first photo stop in front of Dunlunce Castle.

The next stop was a public toilet as the one in Giant's Causeway had huge lines, then the Causeway itself. Gavin recommended going there with the steeper red route for better views then returning through the flat blue route, which is what we did. We had great view of the Causeway and even some good weather (it started raining at the end).

For lunch we stopped in a restaurant called Harry's in Cushendall. I can't comment on the quality of the food as we decided to head to Cushendall beach instead to eat our snacks. We had glorious weather for Ireland.

After that we drove along the Antrim Coast, stopping briefly in Carrickfergus castle, before returning to Belfast. We stopped to see a peace wall and saw the gates still separating the Catholic and Protestant communities of Belfast (they close at night). The city is still bearing deep wounds, even over a quarter of century after The Troubles. We also drove through the city centre and Titanic quarter before returning to the ship at around 5pm, well before all aboard time.

 

Since we were both hungry, I cancelled my 7pm reservation in the Allegro dining room and we went to the walk-up dining room, Concerto. There was no queue and we were seated immediately.

 

For starters we shared the chicken croquette and potted shrimp. The croquette was a bit dry but the shrimps were smothered in garlic butter. I liked that!

For mains, we shared the beef pot roast and fish and chips. The pot roast was excellent, very tender and served on a bed of mash. The battered fish was nice and crispy too. In general I really like how Princess cooks its meat and fish, it's always been on point so far.

For desserts nothing in the MDR appealed so we decided to go to the buffet where the leaflet we got in the beginning of the cruise promised a chocolate fountain. Unfortunately there was none to be found, so we grabbed enough chocolate cake to feed an army.

The peanut butter chocolate layer cake was the best by the way.

 

After dessert we headed to the theatre for the Beatles tribute act, Just John and Paul. We went 30 min early and found the theatre pretty packed again. I really recommend going to see them, they were very talented but also hilarious. They got everyone on their feet for the final dance which considering the demographics of this cruise is quite impressive.

 

We stayed in the theatre afterwards to see the enrichment talk with former Beatles drummer Pete Best. It was a very interesting and well attended about the early career of the Beatles. 

 

That's all for today, tomorrow is Liverpool!

[Arizona Wildcat]

Hope the weather forecast is wrong for Liverpool. Cardiff as I write this has 30mph winds gusting to 45mph with light rain.  Tomorrow winds forecast about 20mph with morning rain here.  Similar for Liverpool with a yellow rain warning there.

PS - great pictures and recap. We board in 7 days.

Edited yesterday at 11:52 AM by Arizona Wildcat

[MyriamS]

2 hours ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Hope the weather forecast is wrong for Liverpool. Cardiff as I write this has 30mph winds gusting to 45mph with light rain.  Tomorrow winds forecast about 20mph with morning rain here.  Similar for Liverpool with a yellow rain warning there.

PS - great pictures and recap. We board in 7 days.

In Liverpool right now and it's actually pretty good weather! Quite windy but no rain and even a little sun on deck.

Maybe we will miss the rain.

[Arizona Wildcat]

1 hour ago, MyriamS said:

In Liverpool right now and it's actually pretty good weather! Quite windy but no rain and even a little sun on deck.

Maybe we will miss the rain.

Hope so.  Visibility here a few hundred yards.  About 52F with real feel in low 40s.  UK weather radar sadly showsthe storm about to reach Liverpool.   Likely rough seas tonight.

Hope to meet some of you on board on the 6th.  Black baseball cap, full white beard and a moose for sail-away.

Need 1 trivia player?  Let me know.

[MyriamS]

17 hours ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Hope so.  Visibility here a few hundred yards.  About 52F with real feel in low 40s.  UK weather radar sadly showsthe storm about to reach Liverpool.   Likely rough seas tonight.

Hope to meet some of you on board on the 6th.  Black baseball cap, full white beard and a moose for sail-away.

Need 1 trivia player?  Let me know.

We're getting off on the 6th but about half the ship is staying on to Galveston so you'll have good company. 🙂

 

Let's continue on with Liverpool!

 

I had a bad headache that morning but I still went out to see Liverpool. It's a very convenient as one can walk straight off the ship.

 

We visited the famous Matthew Street where the Cavern Club is located. We also passed through the city centre and stopped in the free World Museum. They have a pretty good Egyptian exhibit.

 

We then walked back towards the ship, saw the Royal Albert Docks and visited the Maritime Museum. The exhibit about modern cruising is pretty laudatory. We then found it had been financed by amongst others Royal Carribbean, Windstard and Fred Olsen.

It was done for after four hours of walking so we returned to the ship. We started a round of laundry then went top deck for pizza. I mixed lemonade and iced tea for the traditional cruise ship drink.

The pizza was pretty good. Hot and fresh, in the New York style. We also got chicken tacos and a chili cheese hot dog and these were disappointing. While the hot dog at least as a decent sausage, the tacos were dry and cold. 

We will stick with the pizza for deck snacks! 

 

We got our laundry back then had to scour four different decks to find a free dryer. Most rooms had a broken dryer so it's no surprise they're in high demand. We decided to do laundry on a port day so it would be less busy but it still wasn't enough. 

 

For dinner, we went to the MDR and shared the French onion soup and shrimp and spinach dip. I wasn't really convinced by the latter as it wasn't really a dip, more a thin layer of spinach and shrimp. The onion soup was good but quite sweet.

Then we shared the pork vindaloo and New York strip steak. Both meat were sadly tough and the curry didn't have enough sauce. The fries were also limp and cold (the ones from the pool grill are much better). It was the first time I was really disappointed with the mains in the MDR.

Finally we both had my favourite British pudding, sticky toffee pudding, and I compensated for my disappointment with the mains by ordering an extra dessert, the Princess Love Boat Dream (always available) which is a raspberry and chocolate mousse. While the sticky toffee pudding was a lot better than on P&O, it still didn't hit the mark. The cake was more like a muffin than a pudding and it came without vanilla ice cream. 

After dinner, we saw the comedian in the Vista Lounge then went to the Theatre to see an illusionist. It was again jammed pack with people and the organisers almost scolded us for it. "Don't save seats, it's against policy", "The 9.30pm show is not full!" Well then don't schedule it so late if it's not popular. It's like Princess doesn't know its own audience. 🙂

 

I haven't mentioned it so far but 90% of people on this cruise are over 65. It's not a problem per se, but we do feel pretty out of place sometimes. The illusionist did manage to find one of the rare children in the audience for one of his tricks. The magician was quite good, it was a very high energy show.