Regal Princess October 14 to 21, 2017 New England/Canada

[Pmorton3360]

Since we missed Bar Harbour, we sailed into St. John around 9:00. Watched the mooring at night. Surprised how few people it took. 3 guys and a truck. Interesting to watch.

In Boston I had no lobster. Ate at Cheers after Fenway tour. Walked from there to harbour and took a water taxi. Tiring day.

I had never been to any of these ports. Found Canadian ports most interesting. Though being from Michigan, have often enjoyed their friendliness. Find your photos as amazing as ever. Pam

 

 

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[Bimmer09]

I so appreciated your Silhoutte review! It was your great pictures and Gentleman's journal that has me booked on her over Christmas!

Thanks so much for the great posts and pictures, I have appreciated every one of them!

Gabrielle

 

Gabrielle, you won't be sorry to have booked the Silly! I'm glad you saw enough in my review to take the plunge. She's "fair dinkum" as my Australian friends might say. Such an innovative cruise ship design and I expect the Edge to be similarly revolutionary.

Have dinner in Murano! In Qsine! At Lawn Club Grill!!!

So glad you are following along on this one!

Norris

[macsford]

Norris, I enjoy your reviews and am doubly pleased to find another as just back from Silhouette 3 days ago and I'm sure that enjoying this will be the next best thing to another cruise !

Looking forward to catching up and to your pictures.

Sandra.

[Bimmer09]

Norris, I enjoyed your video of docking at Boston! We were there a few years ago, but docked at 8 am and didn't watch our docking (probably eating breakfast :D). So now I know what it looked like. I loved being so close to Logan Airport as I love watching planes land/take off. We were there on a very hot Sept. day (90+) so I spent the afternoon on a shady deck where I could sit in a hot tub and watch the planes land and take off. As we left, I snapped a photo of a plane descending over where we had just been--I'm sure it wasn't as "close" as the photo implies. ;)

 

Barb, I try to see every ship docking and am especially impressed when a Captain backs into the berth as we did in Boston.

In early photos you can see a plane take off over the ship's future path but the control tower has them use another runway at 90 degrees as we pass that runway as the ship is so tall.

Norris, in Michigan today

[Bimmer09]

Before we go ashore in Boston I'll give you a break from the outdoors shots...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm not a gambler and don't even play one on TV but I am happy for those that enjoy a wager and the excitement of a casino. Formal Nights are non-smoking.

[Bimmer09]

There's a hole in the roof....my possessions are causing me suspicion but there's no proof ...

The casino on deck 6 has a hole in the roof so that those at the shops can look down and be enticed.

 

I think Fishin'Bob pays out in seafood as I heard one man say he won "50 clams" on it.

 



Casino Bar



 

 

Stairway to Heaven



 

 



 

 

Next up-Boston Harbor tour, then later- dinner in Sabatini's

[Cruising_Bill]

Crowded house

 

 

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[BarbinMich]

. . .The casino on deck 6 has a hole in the roof so that those at the shops can look down and be enticed. . . .

 

The small size of the casino on the Royal/Regal really surprised me. The slots are in a very confined area and the gaming tables are very close to each other--both different from the older ships. I thought Princess wanted pax to spend a lot of time gambling, but it's a set-up that isn't conducive to that. :')

[josumello]

Stairway to Heaven

Led Zeppelin

 

 

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[Bimmer09]

The small size of the casino on the Royal/Regal really surprised me. The slots are in a very confined area and the gaming tables are very close to each other--both different from the older ships. I thought Princess wanted pax to spend a lot of time gambling, but it's a set-up that isn't conducive to that. :')

 

Barb, I was also surprised that it wasn't jumbo-sized and that, coupled with the amount of time it was closed with long port stays, meant that when open the room was filled and very lively. The one sea day must have been a lucrative one!

Norris

[Bimmer09]

We mustered in Vista Lounge all the way aft and then were led to Midships and downstairs to exit on deck 6.

 

No, not a Royal Caribbean photo where costumed characters roam. Fun for the kids and there were 34 of them on this sailing. I think the bear is called Stanley after Princess' founder Mr MacDonald.

We get seated on the bus and drive through the streets near the harbor for about 15 minutes and come to our tour boat as we are doing the harbor first. We pass a small casual restaurant where we are told the "best lobster rolls in Boston" are supposed to be found. We should have stopped.

Off the bus and straight onto our tour boat. Our not-filled bus has the whole 3 decks to ourselves. Whoopie! Carol goes inside where there is a bar and snacks, comfy seats and big windows while I climb to deck 3 for uninterrupted views but lots of wind when we get moving.

The high for today would be 61 degrees

 

 

 

 

Let's see this beautiful city skyline!

 

 



 

 



 

 



 

There was an excellent and non-stop narration telling us what we were seeing and the history etc but I was preoccupied with 3 cameras and can't pass on that information to you. If you are there for the history don't burden yourself with chores. Did you know that the Boston Tea Party was in Boston? I never made the connection. I was thinking it was like an Afternoon tea on Princess but was way off the mark.

Edited November 8, 2017 by Bimmer09
spelling

[Bimmer09]

We are going to do a loop of the harbor and see most of the downtown skyline on the way back. Now we are out near the airport.

 

 

 

 

 



 

I remember this blue boat is an Expedition ship doing deep sea Oceanographic work

She is called the Sea Hunter and on the dock is a white submersible craft

 

 

A ship whose name figures in many Limericks

[Bimmer09]

 

 



 

 



 

 



 

 

Something interesting coming up



 

It's the Cassin Young, the last U.S warship to be struck by a kamikaze pilot in World War II. The plane went into the ship as far as the engine room but didn't sink her!

[Onelung]

There's a hole in the roof....my possessions are causing me suspicion but there's no proof ...

 

Don't dream its over ...Crowded House

[SuiteTraveler]

"Did you know that the Boston Tea Party was in Boston? I never made the connection. I was thinking it was like an Afternoon tea on Princess but was way off the mark."

 

Very funny!

On this day my husband and I made our way to North Station and took the 28 minute train ride to Salem, Mass. The train arrives in the historic district which is about 1.5 miles square - easily walkable. I chose to forego the typical Witch museums which my husband would have hated in favor of walking around Salem's historic district and enjoying a tour of The House of Seven Gables - including the opportunity to climb the secret staircase hidden in the fireplace! All in all it was an awesome day and the train ride each way was fun! Highly recommended!

[Waynetor]

Enjoying your review very much. Brings back great memories. When we did the Montreal to New York itinerary over 10 years ago we were on the previous Regal Princess - great ship with around 1,600 passengers and included a swim up bar.

 

We will be on the current Regal for 3 weeks in Jan. Your review helps a lot with preparing for life onboard.

[traci_money]

love the review ... especially all the boat pics ... the gray and foggy are perfect - adds to the industrialness

[Bimmer09]

Enjoying your review very much. Brings back great memories. When we did the Montreal to New York itinerary over 10 years ago we were on the previous Regal Princess - great ship with around 1,600 passengers and included a swim up bar.

 

We will be on the current Regal for 3 weeks in Jan. Your review helps a lot with preparing for life onboard.

 

Swim up bar? That's an idea I had for this Regal! Too late now to fix the things I see wrong with her but one can still have a good cruise which is what we had and you will have.

I will have this finished before January as I have to be in Ft. Lauderdale on Jan 11 to sail on the Crown.

Nice to see you in one of my reviews!

Norris

[Bimmer09]

love the review ... especially all the boat pics ... the gray and foggy are perfect - adds to the industrialness

 

Tracy, welcome. Boat pics? Yes I take a few as I am a ship/boat/vessel nerd from age 4 or so when my dad took me to visit his cargo ship. I would sail with him several times after that until I was 14 I think. I love industrial ports where there are big container ships and tankers and dredgers and tugs and cranes, lots of cranes. Belfast was my intro to all of that in the late 1950s and 60's in the days before containers. Who remembers cargo nets? Or coal being loaded by lifting up a railway wagon and dumping the contents into a hold, where sooty-faced men waited at the bottom with shovels to fill the corners? Who remembers steamships? I do as my dad's first captaincy was on one and I would climb down to the boiler room in the extreme heat and watch the stokers shovel coal like robots into the furnaces to heat the boilers. Fantastic!

I am from the land of the birth of the Industrial Revolution but like the USA heavy Industry has had it's day there. Shipbuilding and steel works. Gone. I drive over a very high bridge in South Chicago twice a week and see the Gary Steelworks, still in business, and I can't take photos of the clouds of vapor rising over the lake or the giant iron and steel structures that are needed for the process. It's an Industrial calendar cover-page if ever there was one. But the steel isn't in the demand it once was as it can be found cheaper elsewhere. I am all for "buy American" but so much is Made in China by choice as US businesses found that they can profit from it being made there. The quality is crap though....so you have to buy a new one much sooner than you thought.

We have a 20plus year old Food processor made in Japan- works beautifully. I drive a 14 year old BMW made in Germany and it drives as it did back in 2003. Not a rattle or a squeak and a paint finish that fools those who try to guess its age.

I am glad you have tuned into one of my reviews. That you are enjoying it is icing on the cake.

Norris

[Bimmer09]

Norris, I enjoy your reviews and am doubly pleased to find another as just back from Silhouette 3 days ago and I'm sure that enjoying this will be the next best thing to another cruise !

Looking forward to catching up and to your pictures.

Sandra.

 

Sandra, thanks for tuning in!

Wasn't the Silhouette a great ship?

We are booked on her for Norway on September first 2018 and I hope nothing prevents us from making that trip.

More pictures coming up!

Norris

[perfect match]

Norris, I'm late to this party, but I do have a note! It is from the Captain of the MS Koningsdam, stating that I have been at sea and thus unable to give your seafaring journal the attention it deserves. Now that we have returned home and completed the obligatory cat petting, I am here to check in. I will begin reading in earnest soon. I can't wait to hear about your and Carol's experiences aboard the Regal! :D

[Bimmer09]

The USS Constitution has been and still is in dry dock getting a rinse and a blow-dry

 

 

 

 

The Boston Garden



 

We were both wishing we could get off the boat and see the Garden as we are both keen gardeners

[Bimmer09]

Norris, I'm late to this party, but I do have a note! It is from the Captain of the MS Koningsdam, stating that I have been at sea and thus unable to give your seafaring journal the attention it deserves. Now that we have returned home and completed the obligatory cat petting, I am here to check in. I will begin reading in earnest soon. I can't wait to hear about your and Carol's experiences aboard the Regal! :D

 

Nancy, welcome aboard and you have good reason to be late. I hope the Koningsdam was a great experience!

Norris

[Tedferg]

Norris see this Guiness article in today's New York Times.

 

https://paidpost.nytimes.com/guinness/great-times-in-beer-history.html?tbs_nyt=2017-nov-nytnative_hpmod&cpv_dsm_id=188666616

[pa247]

The small size of the casino on the Royal/Regal really surprised me. The slots are in a very confined area and the gaming tables are very close to each other--both different from the older ships. I thought Princess wanted pax to spend a lot of time gambling, but it's a set-up that isn't conducive to that. :')

 

 

 

Do you happen to know if the casino has live Texas hold 'em instead of the virtual kind?

 

 

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