Regal 2/21 - 2/29, random thoughts

[caribbean2000]

Just back and unpacked (funny how that's so much easier than packing!). I wanted to jot a few things down while the cruise was fresh in my mind. This will not be an extensive review and certainly others may disagree. Fair enough! Anyway.....

 

This was our 16th with Princess - love having the "black card" finally! It came in handy for priority boarding, priority tender embarkation, trading out the mini bar for two coffee cards, small discount on purchases. Between a booking promo, kickback for deposit placed on previous cruise, etc. our on board credits covered all but $15 of what we spent for various things, drinks, gratuities, etc. Very nice indeed.

 

We had an obstructed view balcony, Emerald 314, which was just fine. Had to look over a tender but no big deal. We sailed on the Royal last year and yes the balcony is small but we expected that. Plus being only one deck up and a short walk to the bow stairs put us about 3 minutes from the Princess Theater, which was very nice.

 

Our room steward was efficient and prompt with the few requests we had (extra towels, top sheet for the bed, robes) and always friendly. Overall the entire staff continues to be cheerful and helpful, no grumpy staff as we sometimes have encountered in the International Cafe on other ships. The smiles and overall professional attitudes on display are the main reason we continue to cruise with Princess (two other cruises on RCI - good, would go back; one on Carnival - ugh - never again).

 

Cruise director Martin (??) was great, very funny and entertaining. Asst. cruise director Simone was WONDERFUL. She was with us on the Royal last year and her crazy, fun personality was constantly on full display. OK, I have a crush on her. What can I say??!

 

The weather was great throughout the cruise, which is a huge plus of course. We were cruising with friends who were "cruise virgins" and they had the fantastic overall experience we hoped they would. They are officially converted and we are already making plans for next year! It was soooo much fun watching them discover what cruising is all about.

 

Perfect weather on Princess Cay, still love that place. I did my usual long walk down the island for some shore fishing (light tackle, artificial lures, all catch and release) and did well while the others hung out at the Princess area. Got back for the end of lunch, did a bit of snorkeling (fair, at best, but expected). Looooong line for tenders at the end of the day but that too was expected.

 

Tried to sit up by the Retreat Pool on the first sea day but it was just too windy so ended up but the stern "pool" if you can call it that. More like a big hot tub that isn't hot! I did end up at the Retreat Pool on the sea day after St. Martin but be advised that if it's not too windy up there all chairs will be occupied or saved by 8 a.m. But the Chair Hog factor was less in evidence on sea days than what I've seen on most other cruises, for whatever reason.

 

Which brings up another positive: maybe I was just lucky, but I didn't encounter any rudeness throughout the cruise. How refreshing!!! I do have to hand it to the staff at the passenger services desk however. Their patience with a couple irate passengers we had the misfortune of standing next to was quite amazing to see.

 

Commodore Guiseppe Romano was in charge of the ship and more than any other ship captain I've ever seen, he seemed to everywhere engaging passengers in conversation. Very nice! Unfortunately, in both directions we had to stop briefly at Grand Turk to off load sick passengers. Note to self: ALWAYS buy trip insurance. I can't imagine the cost of these unscheduled stops, both for the cruise line and the poor passengers involved. But kudos to Princess for handling it well and keeping the other passengers informed of what was going on.

 

OK, those are the positives. Now the semi-negatives. Here's where I might get in trouble. Oh well. Overall the food in the main dining room was ..... good, but rarely great. We tried two of the three Curtis Stone meals and both were mediocre at best. We had anytime dining and regardless of arriving at 5:30 up to 7:30 always had to wait (even with reservations), even though the dining room was usually less than half filled. One evening we waited for close to an hour and didn't care if we were given a table for four, six or eight. Surely some of that could be attributed to reservations in place, but many tables remained empty for the duration of our meals. Also as has been noted many times the wait staff is definitely over worked - too many tables to serve - compared to year's past. I think the overall quality of the food has gone down in terms of selection, imagination and freshness. Others may have a different opinion and I respect that.

 

I am a professional musician and the overall quality and variety of music on board has also diminished. A DJ for sail-away? The Princess orchestra was very good and the band Rhapsody who played every evening in the Piazza sure tried to please everyone but they were much stronger on some types of music that others. "A" for effort however. The other band whose name I have forgotten were weak, at best. The solo pianist in the Piazza was good, as was the string quartet.

 

The production shows were good to very good. As has been noted, due to the smaller size of the Princess Theater compared to other class Princess ships you'd better arrive at least a half hour early if you hope to get a decent seat - or any seat at all. The comedian/magician was very good.

 

Various audience participation games held in the Princess Live were lots of fun, due in no small part to being hosted by Simone. Get to those early too if you want a seat. A question/answer session with some of the show dancers and singers was fascinating.

 

That's all I can think of for now. Time to do some laundry! We still love Princess and will be back.

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for your thoughts. :)

 

 

Martyn Moss-CD

[Keith1010]

Enjoyed your comments.

 

Keith

[firecrewcapt]

The dining room/food sounds about the same as Royal, we sailed last Sept. for 15 days and only ate dinner twice in the MDR. Main complaint was the steak was over cooked and like boot leather. I have to agree the choice and freshness has diminished recently.

Crown Grill and "theme" nights in the buffet were really good.

I have to say you're right about getting to the theater early, our experience people were lined up 45-60 mins. prior to the show.

We'll be on the Regal in Apr.'17., can't hardly wait.

[cb at sea]

Everything on cruises has been diminished in the last couple of years...too bad.

 

I appreciated that you separated your paragraphs...made it MUCH easier to read!

[kendon]

We'll be on the Regal next week! We have been on the Royal and Regal so know what to expect. We've done the BVE twice as well. Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

[lovevacadays]

Thank you for your review. Sounds like a good cruise v

[caribbean2000]

Thanks everyone, I didn't mean to sound like I was whining, it was a great cruise! I think that for cruising to remain the amazing value that it is certain corners have to be cut, and more will be cut in the future - or we will be paying for more things we once took for granted.

 

A couple others thoughts (now that the laundry is in!). We have stayed on both St. Thomas and St. Martin a couple of times each so we pretty much know what we like to do on those islands. While we LOVE St. John, stayed there too a couple times and gone over many times from cruises, if it's windy it is probably not worth the effort or expense on the day you go to St. Thomas. Windy weather means murky water and even big waves at places like Trunk Bay and Cinnamon. We love snorkeling and a really good choice on St. Thomas is Secret Harbour resort. It is a very pretty place, nice beach protected from the wind, excellent snorkeling and very few cruisers go there. No charge to enter; beach chair and umbrella rentals available. Great beach bar/restaurant too. We went there again on this trip and had a fantastic day.

 

A good option for St. Martin is Pinel Island. It takes a bit of effort to get there (taxi over to Cul du Sac, short ferry ride to the island) but it is serene and beautiful with two excellent if pricey beach bar/restaurants. They take US dollars but if you have Euros you will do slightly better. Orient Beach is fun but we're kind of in the been there/done that mode about Orient.

 

As on the Royal, the buffet on the Regal is excellent, much better selection and lay-out than on the other Princess ships.

 

Oh yeah - in Vines there are a number of special wine tasting events that are not advertised. We did the one featuring three premium red wines matched with the absolute best chocolates I've ever had. They also do one with a cheese pairing. You have to sign up at the bar and they are limited to six people per tasting, costs $20 pp and is so worth it! A wine steward hosts it and explains the wines. Sign up right away if you want to do it.

 

Also, while you can get fancy coffee drinks and freshly brewed coffee at the International of course you can also get them in the desert area up in the Horizon Court and also at the bar outside the Princess Live studio. So if the line is long at the International or you want a special coffee with breakfast at the Horizon Court there is that option. You pay for them of course.

 

Kendon - I am jealous! Wish we were getting back on board the cruise you'll be on going to the same ports!

 

cb at sea - Although my typos might not indicate it, I spent quite a few years as a magazine editor so I agree with you leaving space between paragraphs - ha!

 

Gene

[Mom33]

Thanks for the review. Glad to hear you and your friends enjoyed the cruise.:)

[Loyal PSU fan]

We were on Regal 2/7 and really enjoyed our WC cruise, in spite of less than perfect weather. You have very similar findings from our cruise. We used traditional dining and also noted a number of empty tables in our 6pm sitting, so our servers seemed more than able to handle things. We had no issues with our meals and really enjoyed them. But we agree that there are concerns with many of the new every day items. In the past these were safe go-to items for finicky eaters in our group. Many of the new entries though do not seem to have broad appeal.

 

So many comments have been made about the new ship design and missing features from other Princess ships, but after sailing Regal, I think you really have to treat these ships as a different aspect to cruising with Princess, and factor that into your cruise selection. We missed the promenade deck strolls we would do, and the narrow passage of the Regal promenade behind the tenders really is not conducive to walking, combined with the significant wind you experience at the areas where the walkway juts out from the ship. The aft pool of Regal is also pretty much a smoking zone and this was a turnoff to our using the pool.

 

The upper deck seems to have some high wind zones though, particularly the Retreat Pool and the area near the Sea Walk. Seems the window barriers in these areas are not sufficient to provide a good wind block. The Sea Walk area was a real wind tunnel, and this didn't seem to be the case on the bar side.

 

We really enjoyed the new flat screens in the room, and the ability to watch on demand movies that included MUTS movies after they had been on the big screen.

 

We also used the Messenger App, and while it was helpful for checking accounts and activity schedules, it really needs to alert you when you receive a message to be useful. Unless you constantly check for messages, it isn't very useful to communicate with fellow passengers. If they fix this then it will really help you if you are traveling with other passengers and trying to stay coordinated.

 

On our cruise we were unable to tender to Grand Cayman, and the Commodore apologized profusely for making the decision, but I commend him for making the decision, considering the conditions of the day and other cruise decisions that were made around that time on other lines.

[GUT2407]

Thanks for your thoughts

[Musky Ike]

We were unable to tender into Grand Cayman earlier this month also. However, I understand that plans are in the works for a cruise pier there. So sometime in the future, weather might be not as much of an issue.

Edited February 29, 2016 by Musky Ike

[Woobstr112G]

Thanks for taking the time to post your review.....:):):)

 

Bob

[Clarea]

Thanks for sharing.

[caribill]

The production shows were good to very good. As has been noted, due to the smaller size of the Princess Theater compared to other class Princess ships you'd better arrive at least a half hour early if you hope to get a decent seat - or any seat at all.

 

Princess says the Princess Theater on the Royal/Regal is the largest in the fleet, so I am surprised to see you say it is smaller.

 

Now since there are more passengers on the Royal/Regal, even with a larger theater the size may not be big enough.

[jdior89]

Loved reading your review. I was on the same boat and it was my first cruise with Princess. I really loved the boat! I was looking to see if anyone knew if the passengers that were taken off the boat are okay. Anyone know?

 

I thought the food in the Horizon Court was much better than the dining room food. I also ate at Sabatini's which was great.

 

Simone was hysterical! I thought Martyn, the cruise director was funny, but he was basically invisible other than before and after the shows. Maybe that's common on all Princess boats, but on RCI, I have also seen the cruise director making himself visible and interacting with guests. Martyn did go to the "after-party" on the deck one night, but sat in the corner only talking to other Regal staff. I found this a bit odd.

 

Not to be taken as a complaint, just an observation. I loved everything about the Princess Regal!! I think Princess is my new favorite cruise line!

[trystran72]

Sounds like you had a great time! Thanks for the tips for St. Thomas & St. John those sound great! And how fun your friends are now bitten by the cruise bug. :) I'm taking a first timer this summer to Alaska and I'm excited to be a part of that.

[Dawniepoo]

 

 

Also, while you can get fancy coffee drinks and freshly brewed coffee at the International of course you can also get them in the desert area up in the Horizon Court and also at the bar outside the Princess Live studio. So if the line is long at the International or you want a special coffee with breakfast at the Horizon Court there is that option. You pay for them of course.

 

 

 

Gene

 

This is a great tip. I used to go to the Princess Live area to get my coffee drinks. There was never a huge crowd.

[Linerguy]

Thanks for sharing! We love the REGAL despite her few shortcomings. The positives certainly outweigh the negatives.

 

The MDR debacle is something Princess really needs to address. Having people wait while the dining room is half full is ridiculous. ATD should be just that.....you walk up anytime you want and, if there's a table, you get it. End of story. This malarkey of being able to make reservations ahead of time seems unfair to those who picked ATD for it's flexibility. People who want to eat at a certain time should pick traditional dining. Doesn't seem right to let people have it both ways.

[Rebels82]

I was on the Regal this same week (2/21 - 2/28). Not only did they have trouble with the ATD wait times but several of the times we were seated and the table didn't have silverware, plates, etc. We only had about 2 nights when the table was completely ready and the server came within 5 mins.

[tartan cruiser]

We were on the 1/31/2016 Regal sailing and had to detour to Grand Turk on our way back for someone to leave the ship for medical care. I wonder how often this happens? It sounds like frequently. Note to self, always buy insurance.