Just off the Regal Princess 3/15 - 3/22

[Paticakes]

Let me start by saying that the ship is beautiful. The decor is an understated elegance. I found it very easy to get around. The dining rooms were midship so it never seemed like a walk to dine. Just about anywhere you go you can hear some type of music. I felt like I was on a Cruise...not a floating hotel. Never seemed to wait for an elevator. I was a little surprised about the comments of no stairs midship when there are staircases in the center Atrium.

The shows were excellent. We did Spectacular and Fiera. Both were well done and worth going to. The Unexpected Boys were fun to watch and did great with the songs of The Four Seasons. Comedian was good and entertaining.

Service was good in all areas. Cabin steward was good but no towel animals. Not sure if that's Princess but would have liked one. (Just my opinion). Cruise Director and staff were all lots of fun. Game shows and trivia abound!

The food.....loved Alfedos and the International Cafe and also the Trident Grill. All a nice alternative for lunch instead of the buffet. Grilled pineapple and chicken sandwich and Greek salad at the Cafe was my favorite.

We had anytime dining and ate at 7:30 most nights. Very little wait. We liked Concerto better than Symphony because it seemed the service was better. Maybe just an off night in the Symphony but kept us in the Concerto. My only negative is the menu selections. I was not impressed with the choices throughout the 7 days. There was usually several Caribbean dishes that didn't appeal to us. Didn't see steak on the menu till the last night. What we had was good but would have liked some more choices.

Very easy disembarkation. Ship to parking garage 30 minutes. Fastest we have ever made it. All in all a wonderful cruise.

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for your comments.

There are no central passenger stairs above deck 7, crew only unless its for an emergency.

Have had maybe 3 towel animals in all our Princess cruises. Did you ask for any?

We really enjoyed the new menus and choices.

Edited March 22, 2015 by Colo Cruiser

[caribill]

Thanks for your report.

 

Towel animals are not a thing Princess does, but you do get the chocolates on the pillow each evening.

 

Princess regards it as a plus that they have now included regional dishes on the dining room menus. Not everyone likes Caribbean area foods.

[Pam in CA]

Thanks for your review. I had my first towel animal on a Princess cruise last month on the Grand after almost 400 days sailing on Princess. I've had really bad experiences on RCCL where the steward went through my drawers to take out personal items to put on the towel animals so I'm not a big fan of them. Felt violated.

 

There's steak on the Always Available side of the menu. If you wanted steak other than that, all you had to do was ask the night before. Very easy.

[jovisoul]

Thanks for your review! Will be on the Regal in December! We have been on 6 Princess cruises and have never had a towel animal. :(

[jagsfan]

I'd much rather have chocolate than a towel animal. We always feel bad moving them because they start falling apart. Hate destroying Stewart's work of art.

[OCruisers]

Thanks! Certainly sounds like it was a very good cruise for you! :D

LuLu

[Oxo]

Talking to the Cabin Stewart - 'it does take a lot of time to make one for each cabin. Then many guests just destroy them when they remove them from the bed.'

Personally, I think the Cabin Stewart has more than enough to do since they have increased the number of cabins each one is responsible for.

[Mom33]

Thanks for the review. Happy to hear you had a good cruise. :D

[Happy2cruise]

Talking to the Cabin Stewart - 'it does take a lot of time to make one for each cabin. Then many guests just destroy them when they remove them from the bed.'

Personally, I think the Cabin Stewart has more than enough to do since they have increased the number of cabins each one is responsible for.

Totally agree with you!

[Paticakes]

No big deal on the towel animal. Just surprised. Chocolates were a nice touch. Great cruise with perfect weather. Driving home in the rain. Back to the real world.

[lcpagejr]

Thanks for your review...We set sail on the Regal 3/29. Very excited especially since there seems to be an abundance of positive reviews on the Regal for the past month or so!!!

 

Interesting....We also cruise Carnival frequently and on our 1/3 cruise on the Breeze we had towel animals and chocolates nightly>>> But I agree on the towel animals...once moved they never are the same!!

[Kruznut]

And that would be the bummer for me, driving in the rain back to the real world. Glad you had a wonderful cruise !

[kendon]

One week to go!!!

 

Thanks for your review.

[lindy sails]

Great review! Thanks for your comments. I will also be on the 3/29 sailing!

[Mackenzie1]

I can see the Princess (Accounting) Bean Counters now: "Cabin Stewards, instead of cleaning 20 cabins, you will now be cleaning 25 cabins." Cabin Stewards: "How can we possibly clean 25 cabins and still make the towel animals?" Princess Bean Counters: "You know those towel animals? They're gone." Princess cabin stewards, "Our passengers won't like not having the cute towel animals in their cabins." Bean Counters, "Leave them chocolates, they're cheaper than what we have to pay you to make those towel animals."

Edited March 23, 2015 by Mackenzie1

[lcpagejr]

I can see the Princess (Accounting) Bean Counters now: "Cabin Stewards, instead of cleaning 20 cabins, you will now be cleaning 25 cabins." Cabin Stewards: "How can we possibly clean 25 cabins and still make the towel animals?" Princess Bean Counters: "You know those towel animals? They're gone." Princess cabin stewards, "Our passengers won't like not having the cute towel animals in their cabins." Bean Counters, "Leave them chocolates, they're cheaper than what we have to pay you to make those towel animals."

 

Are you sure about that...LOL Based on pay rate ...chocolates may be giving them a run for their money LOL

[Carvinal]

we are on the same ship with you from NY

[AmberTeka]

We are also just back today. I am finally unpacked, and just sat down a minute to check e-mail and stuff, and of course I wondered to this board.

 

I will write a review later, mainly about our Obs. Balcony Deluxe E 409, which may be the favorite balcony we have ever had. And we have sailed in everything from a suite to a cove balcony. ( as well as some insides, ocean views....whatever we could afford at the time)

I loved the balcony. It was wide. It was long. It was mid center. It looked down on the Promenade Deck, but you only saw feet , sometimes, and never heard any sounds.

 

And your opinion of the food in the MDR. Totally agree. I know the subject of food is very subjective. I am not a food snob. I eat things other than burgers and fries. When I taught school, I actually enjoyed the cafeteria food. Usually, as sometimes they had off days.

 

But night after night.....there was nothing on that evening menu I could eat. It seemed everything was Caribbean, highly spiced, with a lot of black beans, red beans, and rice. Lots and lots of pork. I am from Alabama. I can fry pork chops and glaze hams as well as anyone. One of my favorite meals is dried Lima beans, corn bread and onions.

I like pinto beans, great northern beans, about 100 different kinds of peas.....but good grief. Night after night?

 

My husband ordered the grilled fish every night and he was happy with that. I ordered the trout crusted with almonds on embarkation day and that was good. After that...........one night I ordered tomato soup. Well, it was Caribbean Tomato soup. The next day I was up in Calypso Bay buying tums. The first time since I quit smoking 32 years ago. I woke up thinking I was having a heart attack. The last night we dined there, my husband had a bowl of soup and a salad. I remember the Main Dining Room on the Crown. Caribbean Princess. Star. as wonderful. SOMETHING has changed. And it was hard to get just a salad. Some type of lettuce. Few tomatoes. etc. Again, it seemed that the salad had ingredients I had never heard of, and that someone was wildly running around in the galley with a hot pepper sauce bottle.

 

Buffet. Breakfast was wonderful. Eggs anyway you wanted them. Bacon was crisp and plenty of it. Fruit was in several stations. The grits were cooked just right. The waffles were freshly made.

The Pizza at Prego was still very good. Alfredo's was great. And not crowded when we went. I had salad and pizza. My husband had soup. Very good. The pizza was outstanding. If I had to do it over again, I would have eaten dinner there often.

The hamburgers at the pool grill were very good, I thought. Dinner in the Harvest Buffet.....ribs were good.Salad fixings were good. it is so big, and you have to go to so many places, and I know that sounds like whine, whine, but I just got to where I would head to the taco station and fix crispy tacos. Which were very good. Chocolate chip cookies at the International Cafe ............still the best. Ditto the Peanut butter cookies.

 

Before we sailed, I was puzzled when I read reviews of the Regal. Some were so good. Some were lukewarm. Some were not good at all.

I understand that now. Outside of the MDR being very poor, and again, food is subjective. Others probably loved it, I am just saying how I felt about it. I missed the old menu very much.

We had a great cruise. The people were totally nice. Our cabin steward was again the best in the world. The Activities staff did a lot of live TV and not so much live trivia..; I saw all three shows however and loved them. They were all very good..

 

The Regal Princess.............was not the same experience I had on the Crown Princess twice..The Star Princess or the Caribbean Princess. The Princess Magic just was not there. And again. That is also subjective. It just felt that way to me.

And again..........My family was aboard with us and everyone had a good time. And I did not gain a pound. I just weighed. Every cloud has a silver lining.

[Colo Cruiser]

Wow, sorry to hear you did not like the new menus. I had the same on the Emerald last month and I really liked all the new items, especially the Roti wraps.

Glad the rest of the cruise was good.

[AmberTeka]

No big deal on the towel animal. Just surprised. Chocolates were a nice touch. Great cruise with perfect weather. Driving home in the rain. Back to the real world.

 

For the record....steak was served exactly one night. And it was covered in sauce, which to me was greasy. I could not eat it.

 

When people make comments about one thing or another that they had concerns about on Princess, they are not personally insulting the cruise line or other posters on the board.

 

they are just expressing an opinion. I cannot believe that only two of us felt the same way about the new menu.

 

Inclusion of local foods is good. Everyone is down with diversity and immersion in other cultures, etc. But I don't see how eating red beans or black beans and rice , highly spiced, or pork, which many people avoid eating helps the cause. I am a bean and pea eater from way back. I love the Caribbean. I spend money when we go there which helps the economy. I respect the people and their lovely islands.

 

 

One night I ordered the chicken fingers from the Children's menu. they were quite good. I thought about ordering the spaghetti the next night, but was too embarrassed.

 

I hope this post is nice, and people can express an opinion without getting flamed. If Princess reads these boards, perhaps there is a middle ground. More green salads. More of the old soups...the cold soups....the vegetable one. ( not the current pepper pot)....more of the old fresh fruit starters..loved those.

And if you can order off the menu every night or the night before...............if you can not find anything to eat.on the regular menu, .......you are on the wrong cruise line. And if you are a very nice person, friendly and such, polite, well mannered...and Princess loses you....that is not a win win for Princess.

[dmwnc1959]

The Regal Princess.............was not the same experience I had on the Crown Princess twice..The Star Princess or the Caribbean Princess. The Princess Magic just was not there. And again. That is also subjective. It just felt that way to me.

 

 

Thank you for coming back and sharing some of the highlights and the not-so-good things.

 

Sorry to be "thick as a brick", but as for the comment highlighted above; was that in reference to the whole cruise, the ship itself, or your experiences in the MDR.

 

:confused:

[PescadoAmarillo]

We loved the regional Caribbean cuisine menu items, but I can understand they might not be everyone's cup of tea. By the time we encountered them this winter, we'd been cruising for a while and DH kept saying, "This is like what we eat at home" (beans and rice predominant) and he was right and we were ready for a taste of home by then. And we were ready for a change from the Princess menu items we've seen for years.

 

I am sorry you didn't get to experience (based on other Regal reports) the Festivals of the World parties and activities. Did you at least get the Love Boat Disco Deck party?

[lcpagejr]

I too am looking forward to these changes... I cruise both Carnival and Princess and until this past January...we had taken a 5year cruise break. When we cruised carnival Breeze...it was almost the same menus I remembered going back to our last cruise 5 years ago...only change was they had an always every day choice which was pretty much standard fare. I was hoping Princess changed up their menus and sounds like they have... It will be nice to try some different dishes.

[caribill]

Thanks for your review. I had my first towel animal on a Princess cruise last month on the Grand after almost 400 days sailing on Princess.

 

Interestingly, Princess often gives towel animal classes on board, so you can then go back to your cabin and make your own.