Help choosing floor on Regal

Hello,

Looking to book a balcony on the Regal and would love some advice on which floor. We've always booked the Caribe for the larger, covered balconies, but

can't figure out if it's the same on Regal.

Thanks so much!

Hubby and I always chose Caribe for the same reason, but to my knowledge that is not the same on Regal. We're cruising on her in April and I went ahead and chose the Caribe deck anyway because we like being mid ship.

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The tiered balcony design of the Grand class ships is no more on the Regal or Royal. With very few exceptions, balconies on each deck are the same small size at about 36 square feet. Gone are the larger half covered Caribe deck balconies and the fully uncovered Dolphin deck mini suite balconies. There are larger balconies on the cabins in the mid ships bump out area under the Sea Walk and the SeaView Bar but many of the balconies are exposed to view from the walkways in those areas above.

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I've heard and seen reports that noise from above can be heard in cabins on Marina deck. This is not surprising as cabins just below Lido deck experience noise on many ships. We have sailed on Marina deck on the Royal and Regal and experienced no noise from decks above.

Lew

The tiered balcony design of the Grand class ships is no more on the Regal or Royal. With very few exceptions, balconies on each deck are the same small size at about 36 square feet. Gone are the larger half covered Caribe deck balconies and the fully uncovered Dolphin deck mini suite balconies. There are larger balconies on the cabins in the mid ships bump out area under the Sea Walk and the SeaView Bar but many of the balconies are exposed to view from the walkways in those areas above.

 

 

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The above is complete accurate. However, on the "plus" side, the issue of people being able to see onto your balcony (or even into your cabin) from the SeaView Bar or the Sea Walk diminishes the farther away you get from the Lido deck; that is, the lower you go in the ship. Also, this "peek-a-boo" issue is significantly less on the Port side, beneath the SeaView Bar than on the Starboard side, beneath the Sea Walk. The reason for this is that the majority of the ability to see onto people's balconies and into their cabins (on the upper decks) comes from the fact that there is a large open gap between the side of the ship and the actual Sea Walk on the Port side; but this gap is "filled" (if you will) by the actual SeaView Bar itself on the Starboard side.

So, all of that having been said, we have scouted cabins on both the Royal and Regal, and find those on either side of the "point" on the the "bump outs" amidships (if you look at the deck plans you will understand this reference) to be nice sized - not as large as the Caribe deck balconies on the Grand Class, but decent sized and significantly larger than the standard balconies found on about 90%+ of the cabins on the ship. And, from about Caribe Deck down there really isn't an issue with people from the Sea Walks being able to see onto balconies and certainly not into cabins.

We were in E429 on the Regal a couple of weeks ago and, while the cabin was smallish, the balcony was quite nice sized. We have booked D409 for our next cruise on the Royal and find that balcony also to be nice sized, accompanied by a larger "Deluxe Balcony" cabin.

Finally, although a number of the balconies no the stern of the Royal and Regal are much larger - some configured much like the Caribe deck balconies on the Grand Class ships - because of the ongoing issues with soot and diesel fumes affecting those balconies, I would recommend steering clear. Some people have reported fewer soot issues on the Regal, but some do still report issues on both ships. We had a HUGE aft balcony on the Royal a year ago, but it was rendered completely unusable due to soot and fumes.

I hope that helps.

What 5:00_Somewhere post is true.

There is less visibility from the SeaView Bar and the issue is less the lower down you go. We would definitely consider cabins in that area on Dolphin or Emerald deck. There is the issue of no midship public stairway above the Promenade deck :(

I am also still leery about the aft cabins although the Caribe like balconies on the cabins on Baja and Dolphin decks would be heavenly, if usable.

There are also ten partially obstructed balconies (metal railing rather than blue glass) with varying sized Caribe style balconies. The largest E109/E110 have a balcony over 100 square feet. We were in E109 on the Regal. A bit of a walk to the forward elevator/stair bank. Only drawback for us was the messed up programming of the forward elevators. It is hard to explain but nothing like on the Grand class ships. We wasted much more time waiting for an elevator than on our recent cruise on the Grand using the same forward elevators :(

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I have E110 booked for our Regal cruise in January. This is a deluxe "obstructed" balcony because it has the metal from the ship vs glass at the bottom. Thanks to the diagonal nature of the front of the ship, the balcony will be quite large. Plus it is in the front of the ship near the stairs.

Wow, such great information. I really appreciate all the time and effort everyone put in to help me with my decision.

Thanks so much!

One other word of advice.On a ship, they are called decks, not floors.....

What 5:00_Somewhere post is true.

 

There is less visibility from the SeaView Bar and the issue is less the lower down you go. We would definitely consider cabins in that area on Dolphin or Emerald deck. There is the issue of no midship public stairway above the Promenade deck :(

 

*snip*

Oh yes, I meant to mention the midships staircase. I was concerned about this but, to be honest, it ended up not being as big a deal for us as I had expected. We discovered that the forward staircase is only about 20ish cabins forward from the midship cabins (depending on exactly where your cabin is located), and it was a much quicker and easier trek than I had expected for our morning jaunts down to the International Cafe. We realized that the forward stairwell is positioned much further aft from the bow of the ship than the aft stairwell is forward relative to the stern (if that makes sense), making the forward stairwell actually relatively close to the midship cabins.

Also, in the mornings, the midships elevator bank was actually fairly responsive and easy to catch. Later in the day and in the evenings it did get very slow and wonky - all the elevators are very slow and wonky due to the lack of "programming" or coordination between elevator banks mentioned - but that's a topic for another post. ;) In any event, if you are mobile and like using stairs as we do, we actually found the forward staircases to be very manageable and really relatively convenient from our midships cabin.

Wow, such great information. I really appreciate all the time and effort everyone put in to help me with my decision.

 

Thanks so much!

You're very welcome. Always happy to help. Though there are features we prefer on the Grand Class ships, the Regal and Royal are also beautiful ships with some wonderful features. If you are fortunate enough to find a cabin with one of the few larger balconies, I think you'll enjoy yourself greatly. We certainly did. Happy sailing. :D

Hello,

 

Looking to book a balcony on the Regal and would love some advice on which floor. We've always booked the Caribe for the larger, covered balconies, but

can't figure out if it's the same on Regal.

 

Thanks so much!

Hi - First basic rule is have cabins above you, cabins below you, and if possible, cabins across from you. Apparently the cleaning carts can be noisy going over the metal thresholds of the fire doors in the corridors, but if you've sailed before, you probably already know all that.

We were in B409 on the Royal last year and in B410 on the Regal this year - mini-suite with the extended balcony. Both staterooms were down far enough and far enough forward that there were no sightline problems from the SeaWalk or the bar unless you hung over the balcony railing.

There are Deluxe balconies on Dolphin that have the extended balconies also.

I think E412 is sold as an obstructed Deluxe balcony, but there was no obstruction and it had a roomier balcony. This stateroom is just above the mid-ship Promenade area where I think that smoking is allowed on one side (starboard???).

Have a great cruise.

This stateroom is just above the mid-ship Promenade area where I think that smoking is allowed on one side (starboard???).

 

Have a great cruise.

This is a good point: smoking is permitted on part of the (abbreviated) Promenade decks on the Royal and Regal, but only on the aft portions (either Port or Starboard, but not both). Smoking is not permitted on the midships portions of the Promenade.

Regal Princess

We were upgraded for free from BZ obstructed balcony to DC unobstructed duluxe balcony. Any ideas how good an upgrade that might be?

Regal Princess

 

We were upgraded for free from BZ obstructed balcony to DC unobstructed duluxe balcony. Any ideas how good an upgrade that might be?

E211 is going to be above the Princess Theater (about 1/3 down the length of the theater from the front, and on the starboard side edge). Not sure how much noise you'll hear from there during rehearsals and evening shows.

These are pictures of Royal Princess, however the cabin locations are going to be identical. I can see E211 balcony in this picture; bottom row, third full balcony cabin from the left...

...and a full length shot for general purposes... ;)

Hope this helps...

:D

E211 is going to be above the Princess Theater (about 1/3 down the length of the theater from the front, and on the starboard side edge). Not sure how much noise you'll hear from there during rehearsals and evening shows.

 

These are pictures of Royal Princess, however the cabin locations are going to be identical. I can see E211 balcony in this picture; bottom row, third full balcony cabin from the left...

 

 

Hope this helps...

 

:D

Wonderful! Thanks much. :o

On our last cruise we pretty much closed down the nightclub so evening noise shows or rehearsals shouldn't be an issue regardless. :) Hoping the lifeboats there don't obstruct the view from the balcony...

The above is complete accurate. However, on the "plus" side, the issue of people being able to see onto your balcony (or even into your cabin) from the SeaView Bar or the Sea Walk diminishes the farther away you get from the Lido deck; that is, the lower you go in the ship. Also, this "peek-a-boo" issue is significantly less on the Port side, beneath the SeaView Bar than on the Starboard side, beneath the Sea Walk. The reason for this is that the majority of the ability to see onto people's balconies and into their cabins (on the upper decks) comes from the fact that there is a large open gap between the side of the ship and the actual Sea Walk on the Port side; but this gap is "filled" (if you will) by the actual SeaView Bar itself on the Starboard side.

 

So, all of that having been said, we have scouted cabins on both the Royal and Regal, and find those on either side of the "point" on the the "bump outs" amidships (if you look at the deck plans you will understand this reference) to be nice sized - not as large as the Caribe deck balconies on the Grand Class, but decent sized and significantly larger than the standard balconies found on about 90%+ of the cabins on the ship. And, from about Caribe Deck down there really isn't an issue with people from the Sea Walks being able to see onto balconies and certainly not into cabins.

 

We were in E429 on the Regal a couple of weeks ago and, while the cabin was smallish, the balcony was quite nice sized. We have booked D409 for our next cruise on the Royal and find that balcony also to be nice sized, accompanied by a larger "Deluxe Balcony" cabin.

 

Finally, although a number of the balconies no the stern of the Royal and Regal are much larger - some configured much like the Caribe deck balconies on the Grand Class ships - because of the ongoing issues with soot and diesel fumes affecting those balconies, I would recommend steering clear. Some people have reported fewer soot issues on the Regal, but some do still report issues on both ships. We had a HUGE aft balcony on the Royal a year ago, but it was rendered completely unusable due to soot and fumes.

 

I hope that helps.

Hello 5:00 :)

Could you please confirm for us if there is an obstruction looking out from E 433? We've chosen this cabin for the larger balcony and since you've stayed right beside it we'd really appreciate your feedback! Thanks very much!

Hello 5:00 :)

Could you please confirm for us if there is an obstruction looking out from E 433? We've chosen this cabin for the larger balcony and since you've stayed right beside it we'd really appreciate your feedback! Thanks very much!

Happily. In fact, on our last cruise a friend was in E433 (we opened the divider between the balconies). There is actually NO obstruction directly in front of E433, even though it's listed as an "obstructed view".

There is a small life boat (not a full-sized tender boat) a couple of cabins astern of E433, and a number of full-sized tender boats aft of it. But, there is no obstruction directly in front of your cabin.

If you look directly down, you will be looking onto the little mid-ships promenade deck.

And, you are correct: your balcony will be a good deal larger than the standard balconies on the sides of the Regal (or Royal).

Hope that helps.

Enjoy your cruise.

We just got back from the Royal, L221. Could not have had a better cabin. Very quiet, great location, right out o n deck, right at the elevators. Yes the balcony was small, but we had the door open and could sit on the sofa to hear and see the ocean.

Happily. In fact, on our last cruise a friend was in E433 (we opened the divider between the balconies). There is actually NO obstruction directly in front of E433, even though it's listed as an "obstructed view".

 

There is a small life boat (not a full-sized tender boat) a couple of cabins astern of E433, and a number of full-sized tender boats aft of it. But, there is no obstruction directly in front of your cabin.

 

If you look directly down, you will be looking onto the little mid-ships promenade deck.

 

And, you are correct: your balcony will be a good deal larger than the standard balconies on the sides of the Regal (or Royal).

 

Hope that helps.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

Thank you very much! Princess warned us about an obstruction and it was difficult to tell from the deck plans so you've just made our day! Thanks again for taking time to share this info with us! Cheers!

You're very welcome. Always happy to help. :D

One additional note that may be helpful: we did not experience any issues at all with noise either from deck 7 below our cabins or from the Promenade Deck outside our balconies.

I know you did not ask about this, but others have.

I also wanted to clarify because you may hear people complaining about I a slight noise issue with the cabins in this location on the other side of the ship, but that is because Crooners is directly below them. However, there is nothing really below your cabin except hallway and an up-scale shop (with very quiet patrons). And (sadly, really), we rarely saw people using the Promenade deck, and virtually never heard any noise from it (one night during sail away from St. Maarten, there was a small group whooping it up for about 10 minutes).

Also, no smoking is permitted on this portion of the Promenade Deck (another question that has been asked about these cabins.)

Enjoy your cruise!

Some people have reported fewer soot issues on the Regal, but some do still report issues on both ships. We had a HUGE aft balcony on the Royal a year ago, but it was rendered completely unusable due to soot and fumes.

Uh oh, now I'm nervous! We were thrilled to book the aft on the Regal on our upcoming 1/18/15 cruise.

5:00 Somewhere.....we just booked the Regal for Mar 29 sailing and without our typical cabin research were assigned D607....would you happen to remember anything about this area? I am thinking looking straight down, we would be looking onto a life boat...not sure that really goes away the higher you go right? Any knowledge you may have will be wonderful! Thanks so much!!!

You're very welcome. Always happy to help. :D

 

One additional note that may be helpful: we did not experience any issues at all with noise either from deck 7 below our cabins or from the Promenade Deck outside our balconies.

 

I know you did not ask about this, but others have.

 

I also wanted to clarify because you may hear people complaining about I a slight noise issue with the cabins in this location on the other side of the ship, but that is because Crooners is directly below them. However, there is nothing really below your cabin except hallway and an up-scale shop (with very quiet patrons). And (sadly, really), we rarely saw people using the Promenade deck, and virtually never heard any noise from it (one night during sail away from St. Maarten, there was a small group whooping it up for about 10 minutes).

 

Also, no smoking is permitted on this portion of the Promenade Deck (another question that has been asked about these cabins.)

 

Enjoy your cruise!

Thanks again 5:00 :)

We really appreciate this info! Wishing you all the best! Cheers!

Some people have reported fewer soot issues on the Regal, but some do still report issues on both ships. We had a HUGE aft balcony on the Royal a year ago, but it was rendered completely unusable due to soot and fumes.

 

Uh oh, now I'm nervous! We were thrilled to book the aft on the Regal on our upcoming 1/18/15 cruise.

Please let us know if soot is an issue and what deck you will be on. We have an aft cabin booked of the holidays.

5:00 Somewhere.....we just booked the Regal for Mar 29 sailing and without our typical cabin research were assigned D607....would you happen to remember anything about this area? I am thinking looking straight down, we would be looking onto a life boat...not sure that really goes away the higher you go right? Any knowledge you may have will be wonderful! Thanks so much!!!

You are correct: you will definitely be looking down on a tender/lifeboat from your balcony. What I can't tell you for certain, unfortunately, is whether you will have any obstruction directly in front of your balcony. I do not believe this to be the case, and I believe even the lifeboat davits do not extend above Dolphin Emerald Deck 8, but that might be the only concern. I tried looking at some pictures online - which do seem to confirm this - but, unfortunately, I'm travelling at the moment with limited internet connection and pictures are very slow to load. If you do a google search for images of the ship, though, you should be able to get a more clear idea.

Hope that helps, and enjoy your cruise.