Regal 3/27 to 4/3 thoughts

[arb18]

Quick review it was a good cruise. Was in E425. No problems with the room and the balcony but our steward wasn't the most on top of it he could have been, even with a $20 to start the trip.

 

No midship stairs does suck. It is just a pain when you are on deck 8 middle and you only need to go to 7 and all the elevators are full.

 

AIBP does not contain gelato anymore. Pool cabana are nice. Ultimate balcony dinner is so worth it!

[ar1950]

...............

AIBP does not contain gelato anymore. .............

 

Thanks for the thoughts. The coffee card covers the gelato (although, by our calculations, paying for the gelato is more cost effective than using the coffee card punch. That same punch buys a more costly specialty coffee.). YMMV

Edited April 4, 2016 by ar1950

[Clarea]

Thanks for the feedback.

[easyboy]

Thanks for your review.

[Keith1010]

Thanks for your report.

Keith

[KirkNC]

Thanks for your report.

[arb18]

No problem. Any questions just ask!

[pablo222]

No midship stairs does suck. It is just a pain when you are on deck 8 middle and you only need to go to 7 and all the elevators are full.

 

I noticed that people going only one or two decks often

apologized to the people in the elevator about not using

the stairs (as there are none).

 

I know I would have used the stairs rather the endure some

of the elevator waits.

 

I read on cruise critic alot that the stairs are going to be made

available to passengers. I noticed that in addition to the stairs,

each landing would have to be upgraded to 'passenger space'.

 

They had the same situation on Grand, when it entered service

in 1997.

 

Also, first time for me -- VAT on drinks purchased in Princess Cays.

 

Coffee Cards received in trade for elite liquor setup were

marked with ship and voyage number.

[welikepalms]

Thanks for sharing your report.

Happy Cruising

[jasbo49]

No problems with the room and the balcony but our steward wasn't the most on top of it he could have been, even with a $20 to start the trip.

 

I'm curious where your steward was lacking. We see so many people raving about their stewards that it makes me wonder when someone isn't just thrilled.

 

Jim

[arb18]

I'm curious where your steward was lacking. We see so many people raving about their stewards that it makes me wonder when someone isn't just thrilled.

 

Jim

 

I've never had anyone lack in that area until this cruise. Old eyelashes on the floor, asking 3 days in a row for robes, asking for 2 patters a day and getting 1 most days, not so clean etc. Again not horrible but not normal service especially with tipping an extra amount the first day.

[keithm]

I've never had anyone lack in that area until this cruise. Old eyelashes on the floor, asking 3 days in a row for robes, asking for 2 patters a day and getting 1 most days, not so clean etc. Again not horrible but not normal service especially with tipping an extra amount the first day.

The food was decent(Celebrity Eclipse much better we found)the staff on board was perhaps the best we ever saw anywhere. That would probably have us book Princess again. Just as nice as could be!

[geocruiser]

I've never had anyone lack in that area until this cruise. Old eyelashes on the floor, asking 3 days in a row for robes, asking for 2 patters a day and getting 1 most days, not so clean etc. Again not horrible but not normal service especially with tipping an extra amount the first day.

 

Just a question, Do you think tipping on the first day may have caused the lack of service? I am just wondering if the cabin attendant thought the pre-tip was a bribe for service. Could he/she been insulted by it? Maybe it meant something different in their culture? This is just a thought and not meant in any way to insult you for doing it.

When I first started reading CC, I read about pr tipping. I did do it once years ago and got the same result as you did.

[arb18]

Just a question, Do you think tipping on the first day may have caused the lack of service? I am just wondering if the cabin attendant thought the pre-tip was a bribe for service. Could he/she been insulted by it? Maybe it meant something different in their culture? This is just a thought and not meant in any way to insult you for doing it.

When I first started reading CC, I read about pr tipping. I did do it once years ago and got the same result as you did.

 

Nope. I have done it on every cruise I've been on.

[socaljo]

 

Coffee Cards received in trade for elite liquor setup were

marked with ship and voyage number.

Yes, all are marked now, but PUNCHES can be used on future voyages, if you can keep track of it! :p Regular coffee can only be had on voyage where purchased. We used up ours, but I'd planned on sticking it inside a passport, sure to be found next cruise! PS another hint for warm weather days, any hot latte/drink can be made blended (frappaccino style)! My new fave is Double Chocolate Mocha Madness, blended! Great by the pool! :cool:

[spearmint]

We were back-to-back with this cruise and the previous week. This was our first time on Princess --- after a recommendation from my sister regarding Regal --- and it won't be our last.

 

We are long time Celebrity cruisers (20), including Century, Millennium, Summit Constellation, Solstice, Eclipse and Silhouette, with a few on Royal Caribbean (3) including Allure of the Seas.

 

The M-class ships were our favourite until Regal. She is the loveliest ship we have been on, as far as the interior public spaces are concerned (with the exception of the theatre). The sparkling Piazza's (three decks high) surrounding bars, lunch venues, shops etc. are well designed, with a fairly large dance area (no more dancing in the tiny area at the bottom of a staircase with the band in the elevator well, and a small seating/bar area for patrons as on S-class). The Specialty Restaurants and bars are also nicely done. The overall atmosphere is more warm wood , (like the M-class) and elegant lighting and muted colour tones, rather than cool, and plastic (like the S-class).

 

The exception is the theatre. The decor is just OK (not in keeping with the rest of the elegant decor), but reminds me of airplane seats crowded together. Both the C-and M-class theatres have banquettes with the small tables for drinks and are my favourite style. S-class has theatre seating with a pitiful cup holder per seat which I did not particularly like. But, Regal seats are lower-backed, closer together with no cup holders. Some shows were totally packed. The only time I was as impressed with singers, dancers and shows was once on Millennium which was the only Celebrity ship which employed this group from Britain...Q-day?...But the group from Regal is up there with those Brits.

 

All personnel that we met or who looked after us personally, were great and they have that in common with all our other cruises. The waiters etc. in the cafe area were even more friendly than on other cafes on other ships, I would say, and that is saying something.

 

The cabin was a little smaller than the other ships, (there was no love seat but there was an extra chair, which needed to be moved out of the way to get out to the balcony or to sit at the vanity table) and the balcony was definitely smaller. The bathroom is smaller than most others, and I was surprised that the small shower still used a curtain (I got used to the curved glass doors on the S-class and RCCL ships, I guess).

 

I found that the food was better than that on Celebrity both in choice and in quality. Celebrity's choices on the menu were unappealing for the most part as they have been for many of our last cruises however I survive nicely on the everyday menu. (We began cruising on Celebrity when they used the Michel Roux menus which were fabulous, but since then, from the Jaques van Staaden menus to (no ones?) present menus the choices and executions have severely declined) Finally, on Silhouette, November past, the everyday chicken breast was a pitiful excuse for a piece of meat and the everyday sirloin looked like a boiled NY cut without a shred of taste. So the stage was set to follow my sister's recommendation about Regal. Some of he choices were more to my liking but still I used the everyday menu a lot. My wife, who is not as fussy as I found an improvement as well. When she began using the everyday menu on Celebrity last November, I knew that it wasn't just I who found a change for the worse. (Interestingly, my sister took Constellation for the first time, while we were cruising, and found the food just fine.)

 

Before we cruised, I perused these boards, read write-ups and asked lots of questions, so I was not unprepared when I boarded. (It is for this reason that I decided to write of our experience on board; to thank people who helped me and hopefully to help someone else.) One of the write-ups mentioned Alfredo's and their veal/ricotta filled ravioli in a cream sauce topped with shredded cheese and baked. So we went there for lunch after we boarded. Oh, my. Was that guy ever right! I went back several times for the same thing. There were lots of nice things on the menu, but (unlike my wife) none appealed to fussy me; but the "Angolotti..." was superb. Another recommendation from these boards was the everyday Fettucine Alfredo in the main dining rooms. It came in an edible basket made from slices of Parmegiano cheese and could be had as an appetizer or as a larger version as a main course, with grilled chicken breast or salmon. That was absolutely wonderful, and was my go-to meal if the daily menu did not appeal. As ususal, I had the warm soups, especially cream-style and they were good. I discovered two items from the main menu that I would recommend. One was a white fish, (barra-mundi?) in a leek and mustard sauce. Wonderful. The other was an appetizer. It is a twice-baked goat cheese souffle in a garlic saboyan sauce. I missed it on week one, but found it on week two and won't ever overlook it again. It is fabulous. One of those mildly flavoured concoctions that gets better with every bite. (Celebrity has one on their specialty menu with a tomato coulis, and while good, has nothing on this one.)

 

This was our first try at anytime dining and I am still not sure. First, we did not know that second seating is at 8:00 (rather then Celebrity's 8:30), and we had decided that, as we like having the same wait staff each night, we would pick a 7:30 time and ask for the same fellows each night for a table for two. On the first night, our waiter and assistant were just super, so we reserved every day and were able to get them. Finally, we were able to get them at our time for the second week without phoning daily to reserve; we kept having to call, the first week.

 

Most of the shows were after dinner shows, designed around the traditional seating times, and we used the second seating time of 10-10:15 to make plans. There were a few offerings, such as the liar's club for example, which were at 9:15 only and thus precluded second seating people. We were able to see the show as we went to the dining room a bit earlier than our reservation, and found that our waiter was free, so ate earlier in order to make the show(s). This gives anytime dining an edge over traditional, I guess. My wife likes the anytime quite well.

 

We did not know that these two cruises coincided with Spring Break weeks, so there were 600-800 kids on board. Since we did not spend time at the pool area on these cruises, the kids were not really evident.

Except.

At night.

In the dance area Piazza.

We were often treated ---- especially but not limited to Formal Nights --- after 10:00 or 11:00 p.m.to kids from 2 (or less) to 7 years old "performing" while Mums, Daddums, Gramps and/or Granny watched adoringly from offside. When the slightly older kids saw how much some of the oldies chuckled over the babies whirling around in their new playground, they just had to get involved, (showing off) especially when adults were up to dance, running in and around us, as if we were traffic cones in race setting. And when some relatives saw how "cute" the little ones were, they sent their own offspring to get some of the acclaim as well. (This is not to say this activity belongs to Princess; it happens often in late night settings if one is unfortunate enough to book at a holiday time.) OK. That's my bitch for this time... it did not ruin the cruise for us.

 

We missed the perks that we have garnered over the years with Celebrity, such as free internet, clothes washing and dry cleaning, and I know that these have kept us loyal to the brand until what the brand was offering became so much less than it used to be. The washing machines on Princess were and an OK feature that we used once per cruise.

 

We look forward to sailing Royal or Regal Princess again; which is not to say that we won't do RCCL or Celebrity again either, but we now find that we have an alternative, attractive option.

 

Bill

[easyboy]

We were back-to-back with this cruise and the previous week. This was our first time on Princess --- after a recommendation from my sister regarding Regal --- and it won't be our last.

 

Before we cruised, I perused these boards, read write-ups and asked lots of questions, so I was not unprepared when I boarded. (It is for this reason that I decided to write of our experience on board; to thank people who helped me and hopefully to help someone else.) One of the write-ups mentioned Alfredo's and their veal/ricotta filled ravioli in a cream sauce topped with shredded cheese and baked. So we went there for lunch after we boarded. Oh, my. Was that guy ever right! I went back several times for the same thing. There were lots of nice things on the menu, but (unlike my wife) none appealed to fussy me; but the "Angolotti..." was superb. Another recommendation from these boards was the everyday Fettucine Alfredo in the main dining rooms. It came in an edible basket made from slices of Parmegiano cheese and could be had as an appetizer or as a larger version as a main course, with grilled chicken breast or salmon. That was absolutely wonderful, and was my go-to meal if the daily menu did not appeal. As ususal, I had the warm soups, especially cream-style and they were good. I discovered two items from the main menu that I would recommend. One was a white fish, (barra-mundi?) in a leek and mustard sauce. Wonderful. The other was an appetizer. It is a twice-baked goat cheese souffle in a garlic saboyan sauce. I missed it on week one, but found it on week two and won't ever overlook it again. It is fabulous. One of those mildly flavoured concoctions that gets better with every bite. (Celebrity has one on their specialty menu with a tomato coulis, and while good, has nothing on this one.)

 

Bill

Thank you for sharing your experience, especially on dining.

We loved the barramundi fish too. The waiter said it came from Australia. Not sure if it was accurate.

[blueseas4me2]

We were on the same cruise. Our room steward was...tired? I suspect he was overwhelmed and wondered how many rooms he is responsible for. We gave him a few 'days off" where we simply asked for new towels and refused any service. He seemed to really appreciate that. It was his last cruise and after 8 months he was set to head home for a 3 month break.

 

I can't imagine doing their job. I worked in hotel housekeeping for 3 months when I was much younger. It was hard work. I'd never want to do it again.

 

I'm not suggesting that we shouldn't expect good service and a clean room. I just try to weigh it all out and be as fair as I can. I would be aggravated if I had to wait 3 days for a robe.

[riclop]

Quick review it was a good cruise. Was in E425. No problems with the room and the balcony but our steward wasn't the most on top of it he could have been, even with a $20 to start the trip.

 

No midship stairs does suck. It is just a pain when you are on deck 8 middle and you only need to go to 7 and all the elevators are full.

 

AIBP does not contain gelato anymore. Pool cabana are nice. Ultimate balcony dinner is so worth it!

 

Thanks for your thoughts.