Review-Part 1 - Regal Jan 4-11, OV Midship Deluxe Balcony

[New York Nana]

*WARNING* This is LONG!

Embarkation: We arrived approximately 11:00 to Terminal 2 and dropped off our bags and went to park in the Northport garage there.

 

The line for general boarding was not extremely long, but we had Preferred boarding and walked right in. I did see that they had the table set up to declare any wine brought on board.

 

We were notified when we checked in that cabins would not be available until 1:00 pm. Our cabin steward later told us that all the balconies had been steamed cleaned.

 

Apparently many people were there earlier than us because the Platinum waiting area was full and they walked us back to the customs area where B2B passengers usually wait to reboard the ship.

 

We later found out at the Captain Circle’s party that there were approximately 800+ Blue, 600+ Platinum and about 180 Elite on board. It was mentioned several times during the cruise that they were full with approximately 3,800 pax on board. I have to say that with the exception of the first afternoon, none of the venues seemed overcrowded to us. One caveat would be the Princess Theater for the evening shows – if you waited until right before the shows, you would have difficulty finding seating. That shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone.

 

Boarding: It was close to 11:45 when we were given the word to board. We went directly to the Concerto Dining Room on Deck 6 and waited in the hallway till they opened the doors at noon for lunch. There was not a very long line and the DR filled up, but didn’t seem full. I imagine the majority went to the Horizon’s buffet.

 

They offered a very nice menu. I was going to get the steak medallions, until I heard someone at another table say that Prime rib was on the menu for dinner. I changed my order to an entree sized spinach and ricotta stuffed ravioli. EXCELLENT. I really am glad I got it. DH ordered the grilled salmon and butternut squash. Another great dish. For dessert I got the orange soufflé and DH got the trifle.

 

After lunch, we walked around a bit and since it was close to 1:00, we decided to head up to the cabin to unload our carry-ons. Just as we headed to the elevators, the announcement came over that cabins were open and there was a mad rush to the mid deck elevators. It became very crowded very quickly, so, we walked up one deck and headed to the forward elevators. Still busy, but since we were on Deck 7, we decided to just take the stairs to Deck 8.

 

I will say that I heard several people make an issue of no mid ship stairs. I found the forward stairs to NOT be as forward as on the Grand class ships. If you look at the deck plans, you can see they are set back more so than the Ruby or Caribbean (our other experience on that sized ship).

 

Obstructed view/mid ship/ Deluxe Balcony Cabin E408

I would definitely take this cabin again! While the loss of an outlet on the wall with the bed and love seat was inconvenient, it wasn't a deal breaker. If for nothing more, the size of the balcony! We have never had a Caribe deck balcony on the other ships, but this one on the Regal (and Royal) certainly was large enough! While it is advertised as 'obstructed', there is NO obstruction from the balcony.

 

The decor itself is very simple and updated.

 

The bathroom - The shower is definitely bigger; on the other hand, the bathroom itself is smaller. The rectangular shaped sink (in my opinion) is a waste of counter space. Not sure why such a large sink is needed. The closet area outside the bathroom seems a bit smaller, but not significantly so. The safe has a shelf, but I don’t recall it being much larger than the other ships.

The hand held shower head and the little shelf make are very 'user friendly’. Same style shower curtains, but I attach a magnet clip on the bottom and it pretty much keeps it from adhering itself to me! The angled entrance to the bath from the closet area also makes it feel tighter than the other ships. Still, very functional.

 

The new flat screen TV takes a minute to figure out, but once I did, it stopped working! I called Pax Svcs and a maintenance worker was there within 5 minutes. He said they have a lot of issues with the TV’s and they have to reset them. We also had an issue of having a picture but no sound. Another pax mentioned that you need to shut it off and restart it and select “English” – after I did that, we never had another problem with it. The “Live TV” stations (ESPN, ESPN2, BBC, Fox, CNBC, MSNBC) mostly worked. Sometimes one or the other said unavailable (maybe the satellite connection?) I really enjoyed the option of watching movies and TV shows. The Wake show was available as well as shows filmed live in the Princess Live Theater (Marriage Match, Yes/No, etc).

 

After checking out our cabin, I wanted to check to see if we got our table for 2 for the 1st seating traditional. We went to the Symphony DR (deck 5) to meet with the Maître’d. There were quite of few people there already.

The young lady at the door asked what our request was and I asked to confirm our seating. She looked it up and said we had NO requests! And were to be seated at a table for TEN! This is the 2nd time my request did not show up! I booked this cruise the DAY it went on sale and never changed our request, so I don't understand how it doesn't get to the ship! We had to get a number to wait to speak with Silvio. A number of people were there looking to change from Anytime to Traditional.

After waiting about 30 minutes, we were called. We were able to get the 2top, located between 2 tables set for 4 with one seat on the banquet and one on a chair. We enjoyed our location and chatting with our neighbors. Our server, Phillip and his assistant, Michael were very attentive and we enjoyed each evenings’ dinner with them.

 

Our luggage had arrived to our cabin before we had even gotten there, so we went back to unpack and then headed to Muster (F), Concerto DR. Yes, you do bring your lifejackets. We got there 15 minutes early and took seats. It got very crowded as people began to arrive. I couldn't see if anyone was standing. The mid-ship stairwells were opened up for pre and post muster. They are much narrower than I recall on the CB and there was a long line as people made their way up them. In hindsight, I think it would be worth just going somewhere to sit and wait a while before heading upstairs to drop off your life vests.

[luvseaside]

Very informative so far. We are leaving in two weeks on the Regal & staying in E409, so I appreciate the pics of the room! Looking forward to more of your review!

[New York Nana]

DINING- We had Traditional 1st seating (5:45) in the ALLEGRO MDR (located on Deck 6 aft) (as opposed to “EARLY” traditional at 5:30 in the Concerto DR-this DR was then opened up to ANYTIME at 7:30).

 

The most direct way to the ALLEGRO DR is by going to the AFT elevators or stairs. The Allegro and the Concerto DR's are both on Deck 6 with a kitchen between them. We saw many people get off at the Allegro and thought they could walk from there to the Concerto. Nope - no can do.

 

We also witnessed MANY MANY people 'underdressed' for the MDR. Shorts, jeans, ball caps. I did not see them being turned away (and on the day of Princess Cay, there were even MORE 'too' casual dress!)

I guess the Princess crew want to reduce any conflicts (“the customer is always right”), but it doesn't help my argument with DH when he wanted to wear his golf shorts! His opinion is “if you don’t enforce the rules, then don’t make them”.

 

I also was standing behind one couple and overheard them telling another couple that since they are "Anytime Dining" that they could go to ANY dining room at ANY time! Uh - no - no you can't.

The head waiters politely (with a smile) advised them what their other choices were. Their 'huffing' indicated to me that they were not happy! Oh well. If only more people would actually READ the Patters!

 

Food is subjective, however my prime rib was cooked to perfection. My husband's Kingklip fish (Caribbean style) was fine except the bottom was burned. Both Phillip and the head waiter, Silivu, were VERY apologetic and eager to provide a better dish. DH declined – he just wanted to point it out to them.

All our subsequent dinners were without flaw. The NORMAN LOVE desserts were available 2 or 3 times throughout the week and were almost too pretty to want to eat!

The first night seemed to take much longer to be served, but we were not in any hurry. The rest of the evenings, everything seemed to move along well.

 

CROWN GRILL - We made reservations on the DINE line the first afternoon for a 6:00 pm seating the evening of St Maarten. I understood from our dining room neighbors that when they tried to make reservations for that same evening, there were limited seatings available much later (after 9?)

DH had 2 lobster tails and I asked for (and received) both the filet mignon and lobster tails! There was a Norman Love dessert available on the menu as well.

 

ALFREDO’S- we really enjoyed Alfredo’s. The pizzas are ‘individual sized’ about 12” – big enough for 4 larger slices. Salads were good as well.

GELATOS- We used a coffee card. One punch was 3 scoops which we split between us (2 scoops for DH, 1 scoop for me). Otherwise, I believe it was $3.50 for the same sized serving.

 

INTERNATIONAL CAFÉ – We had lunch there a couple times. The sandwiches and salads were ample enough, and we couldn’t get enough chocolate chip cookies!

 

HORIZON COURT/BISTRO/PASTRY SHOP – we stopped there each morning for breakfast after using the Fitness Center. I had a freshly made omelet each morning, fresh fruit and a pastry (or 2- to offset the exercise I just did!). The lay out is a great improvement over the older ships. We never had an issue finding a table between 7:30-8:30 each morning. The tables and sitting areas on the aft area of the deck were very nice.

 

ENTERTAINMENT:

The CD, Ron Goodman, is quite the performer himself! His Wake show, evening entertainment introductions and hosting various games shows in the Princess Live Theater had us in stitches! His assistant, Ryan Adams, is a RIOT! Actually, the entire staff were really energetic and motivated. They all appear to really enjoy their job.

Ron is leaving the Regal on 1/25 and after vacation, will be joining the Sapphire Princess after its dry-dock and deployment to Asia. Ryan will be staying on the Regal until June and will be with it for the TA to Copenhagen.

 

There were so many choices of things to do, it was hard to choose some days! The evening shows: Fiera, The Beatlemaniacs, Steve White, (the comedian who had the entire theater crying with laughter!), Spectacular, Ye Olde Pub Night, certainly offered great entertainment. We never got up to see a MUTS movie during the evening, but during the day, I could tell the screen was heads above the screen on the CB we watched in November.

I did watch "Gone Girl" on the TV in our cabin and saw there were several of the MUTS movies available as well.

 

Retreat Pool/Sanctuary-OK, so the Sanctuary was sold out for the entire cruise the first day. It appears you can ‘pre-book’ that first day even for whole or half day reservations. We were just curious and didn’t intend to rent.

The Retreat pool area was very nice. We stayed there on Princess Cay day and there was a selection of lounge chairs. There is VERY limited ‘shade’ in that area at high noon. Lounge chairs located under the canvas allow relief from direct sun, but it is still filtered sun.

As the afternoon went on, the lounge chairs filled up. We did not ever go up there on sea days – we preferred to sit on our balcony. (I only wish that they had the foot stools on the balcony – I believe you get them only for the mini-suites).

 

ITINERARY – This was only our 2nd Caribbean cruise and the 1st time to St Thomas/St Maarten. We took the ‘circle the island’ type tours booked through Princess. Nothing spectacular and it satisfied our wish to get a view of the islands. We are already booked for the same itinerary next January, so it gave us an idea of what else we would like to do (or NOT!) The views were gorgeous! The shopping is all invasive! Something for everyone and then some!

 

Miscellaneous observations:

I liked the Princess@Sea option on my iPhone and iPad. It was easy to check our account frequently throughout the day and any charges usually made it on pretty quickly. We still went to Pax Svcs to print out a sheet each morning only because it offered a little more detail.

 

I also liked being able to check the events for the day when I didn’t have the Patter with me. I don’t know if the messenger option worked – DH has an old flip phone – so I had no one to message! (ha!)

 

Went to Princess Live Theater a couple times (the last day was opened for a live audience for the Wake Show). The theater itself is ‘cozy’; the seats are cushioned, but not as comfortable as the ones in the main theater. It was fun to watch the production of the shows.

 

Princess Theater-the seats feel ‘closer’ than those on the CB, and the middle staircase is narrower coming down from Deck 7. It seems brighter in color. People who had been on the Royal P. were happy to see that they put in aisles on outsides of the rows.

 

Vista Lounge-Only was in there twice for the Ye Olde Pub Night and Captain Circle Party. The ‘barrel’ seats are awkward to navigate and the entire seating area feel crunched together.

Club 6 – never went to it.

 

FITNESS CENTER-feels ‘closer’ than the CB and narrower in design. Never had a problem getting a treadmill. DH would use the unoccupied aerobics room to do his stretches and floor exercises. He never mentioned having an issue with using hand weights or weight machines, so I assume they were available. We were there around 7:00 each morning.

 

DISEMBARKATION – We selected ‘independent arrangements’ and chose 8:30. When we received our luggage tags, we were assigned 8:25. That morning, we went to Horizon Court for our final breakfast – at 6:00 am- it was deserted! We took our time eating and then headed back to our cabin to gather our carry-ons.

We chose to go to the Platinum/Elite/Suite Disembarkation Lounge located at the Vista Lounge where they had beverages and pastries available.

Things were moving quite quickly and we were called at 7:55! We had to go to the mid-ship and down to Deck 6 to disembark and were off the ship, found our luggage, through Customs and in our car driving on I595 by 8:35!

 

FINAL THOUGHTS – I am looking forward to being on the Regal again this October for the New England/Canadian cruise! We really enjoyed the ship and the staff. With only a couple of very minor issues, we found her to be thoroughly enjoyable!

 

I have the Patters if anyone is interested. I will be scanning them into my computer in the next day or so.

 

Please excuse my detailed review. I always enjoy reading others and appreciate their details as it gives me more information.

 

I can’t figure out how to insert full photos, but am able to get the thumbnails loaded!

[New York Nana]

Very informative so far. We are leaving in two weeks on the Regal & staying in E409, so I appreciate the pics of the room! Looking forward to more of your review!

Glad I could help! I am sure you will really enjoy your cabin! Just keep in mind that if you are interested in taking the stairs down a deck or 2, the forward stairwell is closer than the aft. This ship is definitely longer! We never found a very long wait for the mid-ship elevators, however.

[Kmkub]

Great review! Thank you. We get to see for ourselves in two days! :D

[TorontoTL]

Thanks for the nice review.:)

[AmberTeka]

We will be in E409 in a few weeks. Your review was much enjoyed. One thing I noticed as I did many dummy bookings trying to get an inside for my daughter, her husband and my four year old grandchild, was that most of the cabins around us had not been sold. I had checked Renmar's wonderful site, and he said no obstruction except a little when looking aft. We are over Facets, which is a high end jewelry shop, and other than cries of delight or surprise, I didn't see any noise issue.

 

Were you bothered by noise? And I know the way to Walgreen's where I can buy ear plugs.

Was the sitting area below those balconies loud?

 

And noise does not bother us ordinarily. But once we were booked above a large hot tub. When they were in the hot tub.....so were we. When we were on our balcony.........so were they. Not ideal. Thanks again for the helpful review.

 

We did finally get an inside for three. Thank you Princess. I was not going to book anything but an inside with my grandchild in that cabin. And I know millions of children have sailed in balconies, and they are all alive. It is just a phobia for me.

Edited January 16, 2015 by AmberTeka

[Mom33]

Thanks for your review. I'm glad you had an enjoyable cruise.:D

We too are considering a fall cruise of New England and Canada.:)

[azdmelani]

Glad I could help! I am sure you will really enjoy your cabin! Just keep in mind that if you are interested in taking the stairs down a deck or 2, the forward stairwell is closer than the aft. This ship is definitely longer! We never found a very long wait for the mid-ship elevators, however.

 

Thanks so much for your review. I loved the ship this summer and cant wait to be back in two days!

[lovevacadays]

Thank you for your review. I'm hoping to sail the Regal on the same itinerary.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[srpilo]

Thanks for sharing

 

 

 

Srpilo

[New York Nana]

We will be in E409 in a few weeks. Your review was much enjoyed. One thing I noticed as I did many dummy bookings trying to get an inside for my daughter, her husband and my four year old grandchild, was that most of the cabins around us had not been sold. I had checked Renmar's wonderful site, and he said no obstruction except a little when looking aft. We are over Facets, which is a high end jewelry shop, and other than cries of delight or surprise, I didn't see any noise issue.

 

Were you bothered by noise? And I know the way to Walgreen's where I can buy ear plugs.

Was the sitting area below those balconies loud?

 

And noise does not bother us ordinarily. But once we were booked above a large hot tub. When they were in the hot tub.....so were we. When we were on our balcony.........so were they. Not ideal. Thanks again for the helpful review.

 

We did finally get an inside for three. Thank you Princess. I was not going to book anything but an inside with my grandchild in that cabin. And I know millions of children have sailed in balconies, and they are all alive. It is just a phobia for me.

After I booked the cabin on the port side, I started to have second thoughts because Crooners is directly below. I knew that smoking was permitted on the starboard side, but I wasn't sure exactly where, so I stuck with E408. We found out that the smoking area is at the aft side of the stabbord side - not mid-ship.

The music at Crooners started late most evenings (10-11 pm), just about the time we would be heading to bed. We NEVER heard a thing!

The most I heard from the sitting area outside of Crooners was during the daytime hours and only if people were directly below - but even then, it wasn't 'clear' or loud. When sitting on our balcony at night, I would see people strolling in the area, but never heard any voices.

I can't imagine there being any noise on the stabbord side at night!

Have a wonderful trip with your family and granddaughter!

[deb54knight]

After I booked the cabin on the port side, I started to have second thoughts because Crooners is directly below. I knew that smoking was permitted on the starboard side, but I wasn't sure exactly where, so I stuck with E408. We found out that the smoking area is at the aft side of the stabbord side - not mid-ship.

The music at Crooners started late most evenings (10-11 pm), just about the time we would be heading to bed. We NEVER heard a thing!

The most I heard from the sitting area outside of Crooners was during the daytime hours and only if people were directly below - but even then, it wasn't 'clear' or loud. When sitting on our balcony at night, I would see people strolling in the area, but never heard any voices.

I can't imagine there being any noise on the stabbord side at night!

Have a wonderful trip with your family and granddaughter!

 

We are glad to hear that noise from Crooners wasn't a problem. We are booked on the Royal in E412 (same deck plans as the Regal) for 21 days in April and had wondered if there might be a noise issue. We board the Regal on 1/25 in E411 and had assumed that Facets wouldn't be a problem. Thanks for sharing.

[tbonecopper]

Love your review, thanks so much! Very detailed and informative.

 

I am curious, however. Did you say you can use the coffee card at the gelato stand? I didn't see mention of that. Could you share how that worked? Did it require more punches for a scoop, or another configuration? Given the cost of gelato, it could be worth it for 2 people to purchase 1 coffee card....

[esquire20]

Thank You for a great review, we are booked for the Regal 2/21/15 sailing and cannot wait.

[New York Nana]

Love your review, thanks so much! Very detailed and informative.

 

I am curious, however. Did you say you can use the coffee card at the gelato stand? I didn't see mention of that. Could you share how that worked? Did it require more punches for a scoop, or another configuration? Given the cost of gelato, it could be worth it for 2 people to purchase 1 coffee card....

Yes, you can use the coffee card for Gelato's. One punch gets you 3 scoops in whatever configuration you want. We always got 2 scoops for DH and 1 for me. I had purchased this card on the Island Princess in June and used it onboard then for the brewed coffee and specialty teas (unlimited). I can now use the card on other ships for the Gelato or lattes, which use 'punches'.

I am sure i will get my monies worth with our upcoming October cruise back on the Regal!

[FritzG]

Do you remember what brand the specialty tea is? Is is still Revolution tea?

Thanks.

[New York Nana]

Do you remember what brand the specialty tea is? Is is still Revolution tea?

Thanks.

I thought it was Mighty Leaf brand. The Regal actually has a loose tea leaf 'cabinet' which I never saw anyone around, so I am unsure how you got to select your choice. Something to check out this October when we are back on her!

[CruiseCacher]

We had Traditional 1st seating (5:45) in the ALLEGRO MDR (located on Deck 6 aft) (as opposed to “EARLY” traditional at 5:30 in the Concerto DR-this DR was then opened up to ANYTIME at 7:30).

 

On our cruise in October, we’re booked for “Traditional Dining” at 5:30, with the other times being 6:00 and 8:15. The two early seatings seemed odd, but I assumed that they were simply for the convenience of both the guests (those who like “really early” at 5:30 and those who like “traditional early” at 6:00) and the staff (with a staggered workload). I still expected that both early seatings would be in the same dining room.

 

It may not be an issue for us, because our travelling companions prefer “Anytime Dining”, so we will likely be changing our choice. Nevertheless, I’m curious if there’s a significant difference between the three dining rooms (that is, “Allegro” and “Concerto” on deck 6, and “Symphony” on deck 5)?

 

I am looking forward to being on the Regal again this October for the New England/Canadian cruise!

 

We’re also booked for that itinerary on the October 10th sailing. Maybe we’ll be cruisemates? If so, please join our Roll Call and we can converse there.

 

We really enjoyed the ship and the staff. With only a couple of very minor issues, we found her to be thoroughly enjoyable!

We were a bit worried about the larger size of the Regal Princess, so it’s reassuring to hear your favourable experience.

 

Thanks for your cruise review, Bob

[mistyann]

DINING- We had Traditional 1st seating (5:45) in the ALLEGRO MDR (located on Deck 6 aft) (as opposed to “EARLY” traditional at 5:30 in the Concerto DR-this DR was then opened up to ANYTIME at 7:30).

 

The most direct way to the ALLEGRO DR is by going to the AFT elevators or stairs. The Allegro and the Concerto DR's are both on Deck 6 with a kitchen between them. We saw many people get off at the Allegro and thought they could walk from there to the Concerto. Nope - no can do.

 

We also witnessed MANY MANY people 'underdressed' for the MDR. Shorts, jeans, ball caps. I did not see them being turned away (and on the day of Princess Cay, there were even MORE 'too' casual dress!)

I guess the Princess crew want to reduce any conflicts (“the customer is always right”), but it doesn't help my argument with DH when he wanted to wear his golf shorts! His opinion is “if you don’t enforce the rules, then don’t make them”.

 

I also was standing behind one couple and overheard them telling another couple that since they are "Anytime Dining" that they could go to ANY dining room at ANY time! Uh - no - no you can't.

The head waiters politely (with a smile) advised them what their other choices were. Their 'huffing' indicated to me that they were not happy! Oh well. If only more people would actually READ the Patters!

 

Food is subjective, however my prime rib was cooked to perfection. My husband's Kingklip fish (Caribbean style) was fine except the bottom was burned. Both Phillip and the head waiter, Silivu, were VERY apologetic and eager to provide a better dish. DH declined – he just wanted to point it out to them.

All our subsequent dinners were without flaw. The NORMAN LOVE desserts were available 2 or 3 times throughout the week and were almost too pretty to want to eat!

The first night seemed to take much longer to be served, but we were not in any hurry. The rest of the evenings, everything seemed to move along well.

 

CROWN GRILL - We made reservations on the DINE line the first afternoon for a 6:00 pm seating the evening of St Maarten. I understood from our dining room neighbors that when they tried to make reservations for that same evening, there were limited seatings available much later (after 9?)

DH had 2 lobster tails and I asked for (and received) both the filet mignon and lobster tails! There was a Norman Love dessert available on the menu as well.

 

ALFREDO’S- we really enjoyed Alfredo’s. The pizzas are ‘individual sized’ about 12” – big enough for 4 larger slices. Salads were good as well.

GELATOS- We used a coffee card. One punch was 3 scoops which we split between us (2 scoops for DH, 1 scoop for me). Otherwise, I believe it was $3.50 for the same sized serving.

 

INTERNATIONAL CAFÉ – We had lunch there a couple times. The sandwiches and salads were ample enough, and we couldn’t get enough chocolate chip cookies!

 

HORIZON COURT/BISTRO/PASTRY SHOP – we stopped there each morning for breakfast after using the Fitness Center. I had a freshly made omelet each morning, fresh fruit and a pastry (or 2- to offset the exercise I just did!). The lay out is a great improvement over the older ships. We never had an issue finding a table between 7:30-8:30 each morning. The tables and sitting areas on the aft area of the deck were very nice.

 

ENTERTAINMENT:

The CD, Ron Goodman, is quite the performer himself! His Wake show, evening entertainment introductions and hosting various games shows in the Princess Live Theater had us in stitches! His assistant, Ryan Adams, is a RIOT! Actually, the entire staff were really energetic and motivated. They all appear to really enjoy their job.

Ron is leaving the Regal on 1/25 and after vacation, will be joining the Sapphire Princess after its dry-dock and deployment to Asia. Ryan will be staying on the Regal until June and will be with it for the TA to Copenhagen.

 

There were so many choices of things to do, it was hard to choose some days! The evening shows: Fiera, The Beatlemaniacs, Steve White, (the comedian who had the entire theater crying with laughter!), Spectacular, Ye Olde Pub Night, certainly offered great entertainment. We never got up to see a MUTS movie during the evening, but during the day, I could tell the screen was heads above the screen on the CB we watched in November.

I did watch "Gone Girl" on the TV in our cabin and saw there were several of the MUTS movies available as well.

 

Retreat Pool/Sanctuary-OK, so the Sanctuary was sold out for the entire cruise the first day. It appears you can ‘pre-book’ that first day even for whole or half day reservations. We were just curious and didn’t intend to rent.

The Retreat pool area was very nice. We stayed there on Princess Cay day and there was a selection of lounge chairs. There is VERY limited ‘shade’ in that area at high noon. Lounge chairs located under the canvas allow relief from direct sun, but it is still filtered sun.

As the afternoon went on, the lounge chairs filled up. We did not ever go up there on sea days – we preferred to sit on our balcony. (I only wish that they had the foot stools on the balcony – I believe you get them only for the mini-suites).

 

ITINERARY – This was only our 2nd Caribbean cruise and the 1st time to St Thomas/St Maarten. We took the ‘circle the island’ type tours booked through Princess. Nothing spectacular and it satisfied our wish to get a view of the islands. We are already booked for the same itinerary next January, so it gave us an idea of what else we would like to do (or NOT!) The views were gorgeous! The shopping is all invasive! Something for everyone and then some!

 

Miscellaneous observations:

I liked the Princess@Sea option on my iPhone and iPad. It was easy to check our account frequently throughout the day and any charges usually made it on pretty quickly. We still went to Pax Svcs to print out a sheet each morning only because it offered a little more detail.

 

I also liked being able to check the events for the day when I didn’t have the Patter with me. I don’t know if the messenger option worked – DH has an old flip phone – so I had no one to message! (ha!)

 

Went to Princess Live Theater a couple times (the last day was opened for a live audience for the Wake Show). The theater itself is ‘cozy’; the seats are cushioned, but not as comfortable as the ones in the main theater. It was fun to watch the production of the shows.

 

Princess Theater-the seats feel ‘closer’ than those on the CB, and the middle staircase is narrower coming down from Deck 7. It seems brighter in color. People who had been on the Royal P. were happy to see that they put in aisles on outsides of the rows.

 

Vista Lounge-Only was in there twice for the Ye Olde Pub Night and Captain Circle Party. The ‘barrel’ seats are awkward to navigate and the entire seating area feel crunched together.

Club 6 – never went to it.

 

FITNESS CENTER-feels ‘closer’ than the CB and narrower in design. Never had a problem getting a treadmill. DH would use the unoccupied aerobics room to do his stretches and floor exercises. He never mentioned having an issue with using hand weights or weight machines, so I assume they were available. We were there around 7:00 each morning.

 

DISEMBARKATION – We selected ‘independent arrangements’ and chose 8:30. When we received our luggage tags, we were assigned 8:25. That morning, we went to Horizon Court for our final breakfast – at 6:00 am- it was deserted! We took our time eating and then headed back to our cabin to gather our carry-ons.

We chose to go to the Platinum/Elite/Suite Disembarkation Lounge located at the Vista Lounge where they had beverages and pastries available.

Things were moving quite quickly and we were called at 7:55! We had to go to the mid-ship and down to Deck 6 to disembark and were off the ship, found our luggage, through Customs and in our car driving on I595 by 8:35!

 

FINAL THOUGHTS – I am looking forward to being on the Regal again this October for the New England/Canadian cruise! We really enjoyed the ship and the staff. With only a couple of very minor issues, we found her to be thoroughly enjoyable!

 

I have the Patters if anyone is interested. I will be scanning them into my computer in the next day or so.

 

Please excuse my detailed review. I always enjoy reading others and appreciate their details as it gives me more information.

 

I can’t figure out how to insert full photos, but am able to get the thumbnails loaded!

 

Thank you soooo much for the detailed review!! We'll be on the Regal this April and would LOVE to see your Patters :D I'm very detail minded and wanted to see a more recent Patters! Thanks again and glad you had a great cruise!

[New York Nana]

Thank you soooo much for the detailed review!! We'll be on the Regal this April and would LOVE to see your Patters :D I'm very detail minded and wanted to see a more recent Patters! Thanks again and glad you had a great cruise!

Thank you. I try to think of the questions people have had about the Regal in past posts and incorporate them into my review.

If you would like the Patters, just email me at beh614@gmail.com and put "Patters" in the subject. I have half of them scanned and should be finished by the weekend.

I know you won't be disappointed with the Regal!

[sunsetbeachgal]

hi Nana,

 

Nice review! We were on the sailing just after yours, and we were also in A deluxe obstructed balcony cabin E322 on the port side. Nice, cabin, but on the last two days of the cruise (the sea days) the balcony was so sunny and hot it was basically not usable in the afternoon until the sun went down. Think I may prefer a starboard balcony next time, but then you get the sun heading south. What a problem to have, too much sun! ;)

[New York Nana]

hi Nana,

 

Nice review! We were on the sailing just after yours, and we were also in A deluxe obstructed balcony cabin E322 on the port side. Nice, cabin, but on the last two days of the cruise (the sea days) the balcony was so sunny and hot it was basically not usable in the afternoon until the sun went down. Think I may prefer a starboard balcony next time, but then you get the sun heading south. What a problem to have, too much sun! ;)

Wish I had that problem right now! Ha! You're right about the afternoon sun, though. But I was close to our ice bucket and various available beverages! With the 2 sea days on the return trip, I am considering switching our cabin to starboard next year.

[Colo Cruiser]

Great review, thanks. :)

[Amster12345]

We also witnessed MANY MANY people 'underdressed' for the MDR. Shorts, jeans, ball caps. I did not see them being turned away (and on the day of Princess Cay, there were even MORE 'too' casual dress!)

I guess the Princess crew want to reduce any conflicts (“the customer is always right”), but it doesn't help my argument with DH when he wanted to wear his golf shorts! His opinion is “if you don’t enforce the rules, then don’t make them”.

 

Interesting. I was on the same cruise. My son and I went to Anytime Dining the first night. He was in shorts as usual. So was the man in line in front of us. We were both told that shorts were okay the first night, but would not be allowed in the MDR after that. So after the afternoon at Princess Cay we went up to Horizon Court for dinner.