Live diary from the Regal Princess - Jan 14-28, 2018

[caribill]

 

The Regal holds more passengers, but I am sure the theatre is smaller. The theaters on the Royal, Regal and Majestic are the largest in the fleet. But maybe not large enough for the increased number of passengers on those ships.

 

 

There used to be 3 show times, now there are only two, and the shows are only 45 minutes long. Princess used to have shows that lasted almost an hour and scheduled them twice an evening. Because demand was greater than two seatings could hold, they tried scheduling (for production shows) a third performance the following evening. Then they reduced performances to about 35 minutes and scheduled them three times in one evening. Then they kept them at 35 minutes and reduced the showings to two times an evening. To summarize, they went from two 60 minute long shows that the theater capacity could not satisfy the demand for to two 35 minute long shows that the theater capacity can not satisfy the demand for.

Also, there used to be a second entertainment show (comedians, singers, etc.) in a second venue at the same times there were shows in the Princess Theater. For the most part, these alternate entertainment shows have disappeared.

 

 

It makes me think of a Simpsons episode where they are at their version of Disney, and there is a venue where it is always New Year's Eve. Marge says to a waiter " it must be great celebrating the new year over n over" to which he responds "please kill me!"

 

 

You need to see the Simpson's episode when they went on a cruise. Best part in my opinion is when the CD, halfway through the cruise, sang a song "It's all downhill from here."

 

 

See above in red

[lor74]

Thanks for the info Caribill. Maybe I am thinking of older Celebrity with the 3 show times

 

Geoherb...we have always felt exactly like that..."Princess feels like home" are the exact words we use ourselves. We are suburbanites, and I think we need to get out more [emoji12]

 

 

 

 

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[floridalover5623]

I see they didn't post a photo of the most traveled couple of this trip. Do you recall the approximate number of days they had?

[daydreamer16]

I think it was over 1500 days!

[lor74]

Sry don't have that info. They didn't tell me how much meat I ate either....but we all know it was too much!!! I hate travel days [emoji22]

 

 

 

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[accio_7]

Thank you for the review, OP! Have a safe flight home :)

[prairiesailor]

lor74: It has been interesting following you on both cruises. I read with interest your summary of the cruises & how you found Princess. Have you forwarded your thoughts on to the President of Princess. I am really not sure how much info from the surveys done at the end of a cruise gets to the person at the top. I had sent an email to Jan Schwartz last week about the good service we had received from a rep on the phone when I called regarding *****. I heard back from someone in her office within a few hours. The only way you might see an improvement is for everyone to send her emails with the good points & bad points of their cruise. It would also be interesting to see how service was before Princess was sold. Thanks for the review. Alfred

 

 

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[pilot]

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[KatnAndyB]

Thanks for your posts. Since this will be our first cruise on Princess and second ever, I have looked forward to your daily updates and patters. You are right, as new cruisers your review is less relevant but interesting to read a seasoned perspective. I can’t say that I really understand the brand loyalty that cruisers have. The perks don’t really seem significant to me. I look forward to many cruises but am excited to try a variety of ships, lines and ports. Perhaps I will change my mind once I have a couple more cruises under my belt.

[lor74]

Welcome to Princess...I am sure you will have a great cruise...may all of your days be sunny! In terms of loyalty, besides actually liking the cruise experience, Princess has a great loyalty program. It only takes 15 cruises of any duration to get to Elite, and these perks include: free internet which is now unlimited, free dry cleaning, free mini bar setup, priority, 10% off in shops. All of these perks have a real dollar value.....a big [emoji1303] to Princess for not killing the program as it seems there are reductions everywhere else.

 

While I stand by everything I said, every line has their pros & cons. I know that I will continue to sail with Princess. I just need something different for my next cruise before I start missing what I had....

 

 

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[dickinson]

The free internet which is now unlimited is, as I understand it, only on the Regal while they are figuring out the *****. It is NOT on the other ships. Platinum and Elite get a set amount of internet based on length of cruise.

[Woobstr112G]

Sry don't have that info. They didn't tell me how much meat I ate either....but we all know it was too much!!! I hate travel days [emoji22]

 

 

 

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Safe travels home and thanks again for taking us along with n your voyage.....:):):)

 

Bob

[lor74]

Oh yeah....we had done self walk off, and basically just headed for the door whenever we were ready...9ish....straight into the terminal from our cabin. The Uber to the airport was $11.71. I think the Princess transfer would have been $12pp

 

 

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[tawlaw1526]

Thank you so much for the wonderful review and your honest opinion. I know this took a lot of time throughout your entire cruise and to keep up while you weren’t feeling well. THANK YOU!!!! Safe travels home!

[shirazcruiser]

Thanks for a great review. We haven't sailed on Princess in 5 years and have an upcoming B2B soon. We've done B2B on both RCCL and Celebrity, but not on Princess. Does Princess offer anything special on B2B days?

[floridalover5623]

The free internet which is now unlimited is, as I understand it, only on the Regal while they are figuring out the *****. It is NOT on the other ships. Platinum and Elite get a set amount of internet based on length of cruise.

That's the way I've understood the unlimited internet on the Regal only.

[cruzingnut]

I just found this thread today and read it with great interest as we are going on a B2B starting 2/11. One thing that you didn't mention was the Elite (+ Platinum) Lounge in the afternoon in Club 6. Oh, I hope that they haven't done away with that as we really enjoy it! (We are Platinum and will become Elite on our last day).

 

Thanks for your live review; it was quite interesting to "read along" as you were on the cruise, even if I did do it on your last day.

 

Linda R.

[lor74]

Yes, the Elite lounge is still a thing with a free food item of the day and drink specials....we never made it there...

 

 

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[lor74]

Thanks for a great review. We haven't sailed on Princess in 5 years and have an upcoming B2B soon. We've done B2B on both RCCL and Celebrity, but not on Princess. Does Princess offer anything special on B2B days?

 

 

 

Nothing special for b2b...it is just a turn around day, where it all starts over again. You don't need to muster on the second week

 

 

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[moresun]

Thank you for all your time and effort, enjoyed traveling along with you. We sail on the Regal Thursday 2/4 :p

[zigpar]

Thank you for all your time and effort, enjoyed traveling along with you. We sail on the Regal Thursday 2/4 :p

 

 

 

Omg we are with you. Just need to get through the week!

 

 

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[moresun]

CAN'T WAIT! !!!:cool:

[geoherb]

Does Princess offer anything special on B2B days?

You can purchase an excursion to do something in Fort Lauderdale. These excursions include dropping off some passengers at the airport before taking you back to the ship.

 

We enjoyed an airboat ride in the Everglades before our cruise last month. We had rented a car and booked it independently. But it's something I'd recommend doing to people who have not done it before.

[CPASam]

Lor, Thank you so much for your commentary! Geoherb and I are looking forward to sailing on the Regal in a few weeks! CPASam

[caribill]

Thanks for the info Caribill. Maybe I am thinking of older Celebrity with the 3 show times

 

 

The only time I remember Princess having an hour long production show three times in one evening was the production of "On the Bayou" on the Island Princess before they eliminated the lounge they had it in.