Regal to Hawaii

[Nymue]

WE are looking at Cruises to Hawaii for July 07 and I saw that Regal is sailing a 17 night out of LA. However I thought the Regal was leaving the Princess Fleet, anyone have any info?

 

Anne

[Tom O.]

The Regal is leaving, but not quite yet. I think the Hawaii itineraries are the Regal's Swan Song.

[T&J]

The Regal's last cruise under the Princess banner will be August 31st 2007 for 31 days from LAX-SYD. She is infact doing Hawaii crusies next summer instead of the Island Princess....personally I would do it on the Island anyday over the Regal.

 

Tony

:cool: :eek: :cool:

[Nymue]

We sailed the Regal to Alaska last year and she is a charming ship, however I agree, I would rather sail on the Island for that lenght to Hawaii instead. For now we'll keep looking. We had planned on NCL but still keep our options open.

 

Anne

[Bucky3]

Was so glad to see RTs to Hawaii during SUMMER. BUT, very dissappointed that they are not using the Island Princess for these trips.

[GloriaF]

We did a RT to Hawaii on the Regal - then the next year the Island took over - but the Regal was a wonderful experience and I am glad that we had the opportunity to sail her. She is one of the most sea-worthy ships in the Princess fleet. She was a grand old lady - the rooms are larger, but balconies are limited and more expensive than on the newer ships. I would sail her again if the itinerary was right.

[Bob-A-Loo]

Hi Gloria & Bob - still hope you will join us on the Regal to Hawaii next summer. It would be fun to have a reunion. LOVE the Regal - we all met Gloria & Bob 2 years ago R/T LA to Hawaii - can't wait to do it again. She's a great ship!

[barbarah33]

In 2002 I took the Regal for 14 days on the Australia/New Zealand cruise and had a amazing time. She isn't full of all the modern amenities some of the newer ships have but I thought she was great and for two weeks she was a wonderful home. My only complaint is that they won't let you take pizza out of the pizzeria on that ship - so you can't bring it to a deck chair or anything. You also can't get it by the slice: they make you order the whole pie. But it that's your only complaint in two weeks I think you're doing just fine. I have done the larger Princess ships and can say I would take the Regal again in a heartbeat if she was on an itinerary I was interested in. :p

[Tom O.]

Was so glad to see RTs to Hawaii during SUMMER. BUT, very dissappointed that they are not using the Island Princess for these trips.

 

The Island only does this trip in the winter. The Island spends its summer going to Alaska.

I believe these new Regal trips are a case of Princess testing the waters for Hawaii summer trips. I think they are thinking that the Alaska summer schedule is reaching the saturation point, and are looking for other itineraries for their expanding fleet.

The Island will return to its winter Hawaii schedule after the Alaska season.

[lois1112]

I have done both the Regal (2004) and the Island (2005) to Hawaii. I would do either one again. Both have advantages!

I love the "ship feel" of the regal (I am sailing on her to the Panama canal in April of 07) but liked the splash pool and special "hiding" places on the Island. If you love PC dinning there is none on the Regal.

[Pam in CA]

I've done both the Regal and Island to Hawaii and, IMHO, the Regal is the better ship for this itinerary. The reason is that the cabins are larger, the bathrooms are larger with a full-sized tub, but most important, the interior lounges are much better laid-out for daytime activities. The Bengal and Adagio lounges on the Regal are more flexible than the Wheelhouse, Universal Lounge and Explorer's Lounge on the Island. Plus, the Regal has all open aft decks where you can always find a lounger either in the sun or shade.

 

Our Regal cruise to Hawaii was better than our Island cruise.

[GloriaF]

I'd like to reply to the pizza comment - Regal has a true, sit-down, order-off-the-menu dedicated space with tables and waiters for the Pizzaria. It is true that you cannot get it "to go" but it is some of the best pizza and calzones you will find on a ship.

 

The Regal Pizzaria is like a free specialty restaurant in that it is open for lunch until late night with red-checked table cloths and candles are lit at night as well.

 

Aslo, the Regal has a true Bistro in part of the buffet in the evenings that is as good as the dining room. Table linens, waiters, no buffet line but order from a menu food. I can't recall if you make your own salad or not - possibly. The time we cruised Regal, the Captain and his wife ate there late-night on a regular basis.

 

P.S. Hi Bobbi! ;)

[Nymue]

When we sailed the Regal to Alaska last summer that was one of our favorite places for dinner!!!! It's really was a lovely evening!!!

 

Anne :)

 

Aslo, the Regal has a true Bistro in part of the buffet in the evenings that is as good as the dining room. Table linens, waiters, no buffet line but order from a menu food. I can't recall if you make your own salad or not - possibly. The time we cruised Regal, the Captain and his wife ate there late-night on a regular basis.

[SharkieRools]

We did the Hawaii roundtrip on the Regal back in 2003 - I think you'll have a wonderful time if you choose to take this cruise.

 

Here is a link to our review, Patters and pictures from the cruise:

 

Hawaii Cruise 2003

[Druke I]

Regal Princess is a fine sea-keeping ship, and rides better than the Island/Coral in heavy seas.

 

Island/Coral rudder design, although subsequently dampened after delivery and acceptance, does cause some "waddle" while under way at service speed; and some people find this motion disconcerting.

[GloriaF]

I can't think of a better ship to cross the Pacific in than the Regal - we did have some rocking and rolling on the seas to and from.

[cruzzers]

Since most of you here have sailed the RT to Hawaii, could you please tell me when is the best time to sail back and forth from Calif. to Hawaii? Which time of year is the best weather and seas? I would personally hate to spend alot of time at sea to have it rain or be cold most of the transit. We have never been to Hawaii so really have no idea when the best time to visit would be.

Thanks for any information you might be able to offer on this.

[Elequieu]

Since most of you here have sailed the RT to Hawaii, could you please tell me when is the best time to sail back and forth from Calif. to Hawaii? Which time of year is the best weather and seas?

 

We went on the first Island tour to Hawaii which was the last week of Sept. We thot the weather perfect; still warm in LA on leaving and not bad on the return. Seas were very smooth; but of course that can change any time.

[Pam in CA]

It all depends on the weather but having been on this cruise 2x, given a choice, I'd go with the late-April, early-May cruise. When we were on the Regal a couple of years ago, we took the last Hawaii cruise before the ship went to Alaska. The two cruises before us both missed ports due to weather. We didn't and had wonderful weather and sunny crossings. This year, we were on the March 22nd cruise and the weather was cold and rainy most of the way. When we got to Hawaii, it was very rainy with one sunny day, Maui, that turned violent in the afternoon. We should have bypassed the port. It was cool with some rain on the return to LA. I understand that the cruise that just returned, the last before Alaska, was sunny and nice with no ports missed.

 

So, given my limited comparative experience, I would go the last cruise before Alaska. :)

[Nymue]

It seems most of you have made this trip before either on the Regal or Island, what is the Summer weather like in Hawwaii? How about the weather on the sea days?

 

Thanks,

Anne

[Bucky3]

We did Vancouver to Hawaii on Legend of the Seas followed a week later by Radiance of the Seas from Honolulu to Ensenada in Sept-Oct of 2003.

 

We did back/back cruises on Carnival Spirit from Vancouver to Honolulu and on to Ensenada in Sept-Oct of 2005.

 

We LOVED all of these cruises on all of those ships. Weather was just about perfect on all of them.

 

We have been hoping that one of the cruiselines would try doing summer RT's to Hawaii so that we could take our grandchildren along. They are all mid teens now and love cruising. I'm just not sure that the Regal would be a good ship for those many days at sea for them. We have cruised on Regal several years ago and liked it then.

 

We loved the weather on those fall cruises, and I would think summer would be equally as good, maybe better (warmer) sailing. I am thankful that Princess has chosen to "test the waters" so to speak for summer RT's to Hawaii. I would think they could fill a ship with just California people like us who love being able to DRIVE to and from the port. We love Princess.