TV Channels on Regal Princess

[Therese S.]

We are big sports fans and didn't realize when we booked our cruise last fall that the Olympic games would be on during our 10 day Alaska cruise. We leave Aug 14, return the 24th. Was curious if the Regal Princess has any sports channels on the cabin TV. Would possibly like to catch a few hours each day on the 5 sea days. Also what size TV is it and does the Regal have refrigerators in each room.

 

Thanks, Therese

[GloriaF]

TV was about 19", and yes there are refrig in room.

 

Sorry, we aren't sports fans, (altho we do watch the Olympics) so can't say if there was a sports channel. If I had to guess, I'd say no. There was the bridgecam with music; the ship channel with speed, weather & sea conditions, and announcements; and the movie channel for movies that were shown the previous day in the theatre. I think there may have been another channel playing movies, too.

[jsiegel]

There is a CNN channel, which is semi-live I believe, but all the other "TV" channels are pre-recorded (such as sit-coms and stuff) I don't remember a sports channel. I think CNN was the only one that came in rather current. I think it's done by satellite. You probably wont' be able to watch the Olympics but you will be able to see clips of highlights.

 

Refrigerator in room didn't have a freezer, but it was pretty good sized. Two wine glasses are also provided in the room as well as ice bucket, filled twice a day. We used the refrigerator to stash some of the chocolate croissants, served every other day in the buffet for breakfast. Pretty darn good. You can also ask for other fruit besides what's listed on the fruit order sheet. We got grapes and nectarines in addition to the regular stuff.

 

Enjoy your cruise, Jackie

[mii]

Most of the princess ships that I have been on had ESPN. Of course you might get taped delay not live since it is in Greece. As I understand during Super Bowl time I heard that they had that on in one of the sports bar. I do not remember the name of the ship.I think ESPN will at least keep up with daily happenings.

 

Marilyn

[SharkieRools]

When in range you will get ESPN, however the Olympics (iin the USA anyways) are being televised by NBC so I doubt that will help much except for highlights. NBC will show some events on other networks of theirs - CNBC is also available on the ship, but I dunno if any events will be shown on there.

[Therese S.]

Thank you for the responses. Hopefully ESPN will be on the TV, if not, I'll just have to have my son record my favorite sports and pretend it's live action. I can't wait till we sail, less than 2 weeks away. I have been looking for Regal Princess reviews on the CC reviews site, not that many out there. Did you enjoy your time on the Regal Princess?

 

 

Therese

[jsiegel]

Thank you for the responses. Hopefully ESPN will be on the TV, if not, I'll just have to have my son record my favorite sports and pretend it's live action. I can't wait till we sail, less than 2 weeks away. I have been looking for Regal Princess reviews on the CC reviews site, not that many out there. Did you enjoy your time on the Regal Princess?

 

 

Therese

I enjoyed the Regal more than I expected. My prior cruise was on a 148 passenger ship. No lines, no crowds, great service, etc. I anticipated absolutely hating the Regal with over 10 times as many people on board. I'm pretty active so I was able to avoid the lines and crowds by always taking the stairs (usually long waits to get into the elevators) Only real issue was the three hours after picking up a number that it took for everyone to go ashore that wanted ashore in Sitka. I ate breakfast and dinner usually in the buffet and managed to time it right to avoid lines there too, except one time where it was hard to find a table. I had a lot of fun at the line dancing classes. People taking the free crafts classes also seemed to have a good time. The margarita demonstration was good because everyone got to sample. There was a lot to do. In fact, there were many movies playing on the TV that I'd been wanting to see but didn't get to see because I was so busy. Some of the sea days got to be a little too long for me. Went to see a movie in the movie theater. Nice comfortable seats, but get there early as it was one of the few things to do at that time so was quite popular.

 

I found the bed really hard, though read here afterwards that you can request a foam topper.

 

Staff was very competent and friendly. Pursors desk personnel was quite nice.

 

If you have any more specific questions, ask away. My cruise had the same itinerary as yours.

 

Jackie

[Therese S.]

I enjoyed the Regal more than I expected. My prior cruise was on a 148 passenger ship. No lines, no crowds, great service, etc. I anticipated absolutely hating the Regal with over 10 times as many people on board. I'm pretty active so I was able to avoid the lines and crowds by always taking the stairs (usually long waits to get into the elevators) Only real issue was the three hours after picking up a number that it took for everyone to go ashore that wanted ashore in Sitka. I ate breakfast and dinner usually in the buffet and managed to time it right to avoid lines there too, except one time where it was hard to find a table. I had a lot of fun at the line dancing classes. People taking the free crafts classes also seemed to have a good time. The margarita demonstration was good because everyone got to sample. There was a lot to do. In fact, there were many movies playing on the TV that I'd been wanting to see but didn't get to see because I was so busy. Some of the sea days got to be a little too long for me. Went to see a movie in the movie theater. Nice comfortable seats, but get there early as it was one of the few things to do at that time so was quite popular.

 

I found the bed really hard, though read here afterwards that you can request a foam topper.

 

Staff was very competent and friendly. Pursors desk personnel was quite nice.

 

If you have any more specific questions, ask away. My cruise had the same itinerary as yours.

 

Jackie

Hi Jackie,

 

So it sounds like you went to Haines, did you stay 12 hours? What did you do? I've read from these boards that you can see the town in about 20 minutes, and not a lot to do. We have booked through Chilkat Fast Ferry, a package deal of the ferry ride to Skagway to ride the White Pass train, but I've been concerned about making the time back to get our ship. Did you take the ferry over to Skagway? Are there any attractions that are a must see in Haines? This is our first trip to Alaska, so we want to squeeze in as much as we can. Thanks for the review of the Regal Princess, looking forward to the margarita classes.

 

Thanks, Therese

[jsiegel]

Therese, we didn't do much in Haines, pretty boring town. We walked around the downtown and the fort, did a self-guided walking tour of the fort area (about 20 minutes), could have done a self-guided walking tour of downtown too, but didn't notice I had it a copy of it until the next day. I'm a librarian so I went to the library, it was a brand new building, so I chatted with the librarian there. That's how I spent my day. Didn't speak to anyone who had taken the ferry to Skagway, so don't know if it's doable. Yes, we were there 12 hours, but you probably won't be able to leave the ship til about 8:30-9 a.m. and must be back onboard by 7:30 p.m. Skagway is a much nicer town than Haines, though still small. It has some nice art galleries. Most people who weren't on Princess shore excursions complained about how unexciting Haines was. It does have snow capped mountains all around it, so is a little pretty.

[pwd18]

Hi, I was on the june 25 Regal trip which went to Haines. As stated the town is small and very walkable. We took the float trip to bald eagle preserve. Saw lots of eagles, float was enjoyble and water was calm, no white water and we had to get out and push at times. River is really wide and not deep, so guide had to find the deeper water. We missed at times, but was fun trip and it took up a good portion of the day. The guide was fun and gave a good tour. Hope that helps and have a great trip.

[kathylynnt]

Hi Therese-

I just read your post and it didn't even dawn on me that we'd be sailing during the Olympics. Bummer :( We also booked the Chilkat Fast Ferry/Train Ride. The lady didn't seem to think that it would be a problem getting back in time. She said that we would go back over on the 5:00PM ferry. We have an email with the confirmation #, but didn't pay. Did you guys prepay?

I just visited another thread that had a great link to see some pictures of the Regal. Go to parnami.tripod.com and then go down to the bottom and click on the Regal. Good commentary and great pictures.

Talk to you soon.

Kathy

[Therese S.]

Hi Kathy,

 

Looks like we're taking the same ferry to Skagway. We did'nt pay either, received a confirmation number by e-mail. My concern was they have certain guaranteed sailings each day, and the ferry leaving Skagway at 6:00 is a guaranteed sailing. I was just nervous if there were'nt enough folks who needed to take the 5:00 pm ferry back to Haines, they might have us wait til 6:00pm for a full load. I tend to worry about things I probably don't need to. Are you also leaving Haines at 11:00 am to sail to Skagway? I've read that people really enjoy the ride, and have even seen whales. I'm hoping that one of the TV stations will be show tapes of the Olympics.

 

See you on the regal, Therese

[kathylynnt]

Therese-

I talked to Joyce, the manager, when I booked our excursion. She said that there would be a 5:00 ferry that day. However, if there is a problem, we'll know even before we get off the ship (like the ship leaving earlier or the weather being bad.) I'm going to give her a call next week before we leave and talk with her about payment and ferry times, etc. We're on the 11:00 am ferry over to Skagway, also.

What cabin are you in? We're in E171.

Is summer school over yet? 3 weeks sounds great. That'll just about pay for your trip! :)

Kathy

[Therese S.]

Kathy, We have an inside cabin on Baja deck. I really wanted to spring the extra cash for a balcony, but decided to hold off and save it for a cruise to Hawaii in 2006.

 

What city do you live in? We live in Sacramento, Ca. Thankfully, our travel agency is providing charter buses for the ride to SF, so we don't have to worry about parking. Isn't cruise critic great!! I stumbled upon it a few months ago, and now can't stay away. First place I go to when I get to work. I have learned so much interesting information about cruising. Have you been on previous cruises? I've been on two previous small cruises to Baja in 2001 and 2002.

 

Therese S.

[kathylynnt]

Therese-

Send me an email-kathyt829@aol.com. We can get our plans to meet together. Sheila said something about getting together at Characters Bar right after the muster drill.

Kathy

[Therese S.]

Hi Kathy, We're getting close to sail day. The Regal had some great views of San Francisco today as it was docked. Nice that the camera has been fixed. I will e-mail you with my room number. So where do you live? I'm starting to get all our clothes together and also started a pile of other things, such as alarm clock, wine, soda, water, wipes.

 

Therese S.