Dreamscaper

Will do. We probably won't know anything further for another month or so now. We can't change back to balcony class without paying the additional cost right now.

Just for reference in case anyone was wondering, the stateroom we were assigned was R702 - literally ten cabins from the very rear of the ship - I can't imagine any way that would be considered comparable. My sister in law was correctly assigned her balcony right mid-ship by the panoramic lifts

Yes, sorry I meant I would post in a separate reply in this thread. Posted now :)

We did book mid level, mid ship. We did not get that when the assigned us to pretty close to the back of the ship.

Ok, all they could do for us is assure us we're top of the waiting list in August for the mid level, mid ship balcony we booked for. They cannot give us a guaranteed stateroom number right now (well they could, but they'd charge us an extra $800 to do so!!!), but they assure us we will have the balcony we signed up for. We cannot change from the mini-suite "booking" back to a balcony right now without paying an upcharge. She could not tell me why this is, or else I didn't understand her fully. But she said they're sending us an email and we will be able to change it back at our original price point later. I'm not fully confident on this, it doesn't make sense. She was difficult to understand. No explanation on why my sister in law was assigned an actual stateroom in the correct location and we were assigned to the AFT and cannot have a stateroom assigned to us mid ship like sister in law was. Just the way it is I guess. But upshot is that we are assured to get our proper category, but not until August. I might have to contact them again if I can't get back to our originally agreed upon booking price before final payment becomes due at the end of July.

Yes, definitely a BA category noted.

I believe the deposit is non-refundable. Unfortunately I can't access my Princess account right now (I'm getting an error) to be certain, but I'm almost positive. Agreed, the agent put in the mini suite and didn't cancel it when they got the denial of the comp from guest services. I definitely have it on our booking confirmation that we have a guaranteed balcony, mid level and mid ship. It says they don't guarantee which level, but it does say we will be mid level. I got my call back from Princess, will update the final "resolution" in a separate post.

Oh, and we have to pay for this in full at the end of July, before they *might* get us moved into that guaranteed mid ship balcony in August.

Our booking with Princess states Guaranteed Balcony - Deck Group Middle, Ship Zone Midship. A few days ago I noticed we were assigned a cabin way in the AFT. I called Princess, they tell me that all the current mid ship balconies are waitlisted by others wanting the same category. We can be placed on that waitlist. I said I want a guarantee, as stated in our booking that we accepted in good faith and placed our deposit based on that guarantee. TWO HOURS (literally, no exaggeration) on the phone with Princess trying to get this resolved yesterday. At one point I say ok, if there are no guaranteed staterooms in our "guaranteed" location, what can you do for us? I see mini-suites available mid ship, what can you do there. At one point the rep says that he thinks he can get the difference in price comped. I know this sounds too good to be true, but hey, he said it. In fact, he *did* say it could be comped. I'm pleased. It's been a long, stressful time on the phone, but they came out with a solution that made all the pain worth it. Then he puts on on hold for the gazillionth time. Comes back. Guest services says no. They're not even offering a price break to upgrade, or free OBC, or anything at all to compensate us for our waisted time and stress. Best he can do is say we'll be "on the top" of the waitlist for the mid-ship balconies in August. Now, I see that he has moved us into the previously discussed mini-suite. And billed us for the upgrade (around $1,100 extra). We never agreed to move and pay for this. If comped, yes. For $1,100, no! I spoke to our "cruise vacation planner" this morning. He can't help, says to call client services. I have a call back placed with them, but I suspect this will be the same level of people who couldn't help me yesterday. Waiting to hear from them now, but I am SO frustrated. I want to love Princess (this will be our first cruise with them, having sailed Norwegian previously), but this is putting me into frustrated tears and hubby is already saying "never again". Waiting for the call back, but my faith is beyond zero at this point. Any advice? Thanks for letting me vent.

Ok, Whispering Angel is on my "must try" list now with all these recommendations!

I think you just answered a question I had about electricity in the cabins when no one is in them. We've been to resorts where you cannot charge your devices when no one is in the room. If I'm reading correctly Princess does not do this and you can charge devices in the cabin while you're away. Good to know!

Made with ice cream? *perks up*

Good question! I planned to order just *one* of these things for the laughs and photo, not cause I wanted to eat it... but if the little liquor bottles are unopened, that might be fun. I'm kind of assuming that they open them though before sticking them in, but it would be fun if someone knew first hand :)

Travel safe! Looking forward to your from-sea reports!

Oh, so happy to get to follow another Regal vlog! We will be sailing on our first Princess cruise - aboard the Regal - when it returns to the Caribbean at the end of October, so I'm stoked to read more about this ship (especially from another new-to-Princess cruiser)!

There are a couple of live reports from people who are just finishing up a cruise on this ship. I've found them extremely helpful giving me a taste of what to expect on the Regal (even though my sailing will be Caribbean), as I've never sailed Princess before. Very happy to see the positive votes above as well!

Don't forget Plus vs Non-Plus! Honestly, I could see myself ordering one just to see exactly how bad it is, IF there wasn't something already on the desert menu that tempted me, or if I just wasn't hungry for desert that night. I kind of need to experience this infamy for myself now. I'll probably order one of those premium desert monstrosities as well, just for the experience, laughs and a photo to laugh about with my friends/family back home. And if I'm really itching for a good deserts, it looks like there's lots of other opportunities to pick something up after leaving the dining room.

thankfully I've seen many much tastier looking deserts on the menus I've seen posted to date! This doesn't tempt me in the slightest.

I had to look up "affagota" and I really really hope this is an option! Is the gelato at the coffee area so this could happen... bonus with a bar nearby to add a shot of baileys or kahula!

Thank you so much for your detailed reports on this cruise! I'm booked for a 12 day sailing on the Regal at the end of October, and while it's a much different itinerary (Caribbean), I'm hoping I'm correct in guessing that the onboard experiences are similar. I like knowing what I can (reasonably) expect, and as this will be my first cruise with Princess (having done two with Norwegian in the past few years), I'm thrilled to read anything to do with our ship!