Regal Princess a few questions???

[Alan2504]

Hi,

 

I wonder if some members of the boards could provide me with a bit of background on the Regal Princess?

(looking at San Juan to Acapulco Dec 27th 2006)

 

The mini-suites are directly below the pool deck, do they tend to suffer from noise from above?

 

From the deck plan the balconies don't look very deep, any idea how deep? can two or more sit out on them?

 

I appreciate that the ship is smaller and older than others in the fleet, any recent cruisers able to comment on the up keep of this elder member of the Princess fleet?

 

Any "must dos" on the San Juan to Acapulco itinerary? What sort of celebrations take place on board on Hogmanay...oooops New Years Eve??

 

 

Many thanks

 

 

Alan

[GloriaF]

We were on the Regal in April, 2004 for 15 days LA to Hawaii - she was well-kept and lovely. The furnishings are not as glitzy as the newer mega ships, with understated elegance and lots of wood and brass. We truly enjoyed our time onboard.

 

Regal has only one dining room (traditional) with two seatings, but has a few other dining choices included in the fare:

* a sit-down Pizzaria open during the afternoon into late evening

* the Bistro - actually a part of the buffet but with waitstaff, menus and table

linens, etc.

* and of course the buffet

 

Regal also has only one showlounge with two showings nightly to accomodate both dinner seatings, as well as other bars and lounges.

 

The cabins are very large. We had an ocean view stateroom (B297) and had plenty of room and many more drawers than we could use. Sorry, I cannot answer any questions regarding minis and balconies. The Regal has fewer balcony cabins than the newer ships and they are more expensive - that is why we opted for the OV cabin.

 

Baja deck has an open deck both forward and aft that is good for viewing without a crowd.

[aclay]

Sorry to Hijack your thread for a moment Alan but we are looking into a Regal Cruise - Lima to San Juan in March 2007. A big big concern is that the gym/ fitness facilities are not very good, i.e. small and way down on a low floor with no windows? We go to the gym every day and having an inside cabin gives an extra incentive- watch the sailaway from the running machine/ whale spotting e.t.c.

So, does anyone have experience of the Regal gym- is it ok compared to say the Grand, Sun or Royal class? Also is it big enough to accomodate the amount of passengers on board. (Star Princess last week was heaving every single day)

thanks

Alex

[GloriaF]

We saw the gym on the Regal but didn't visit it - as you said it is (or at least was) on a lower floor with no windows and wasn't very inviting.

 

What we did for exercise was walk the track on the upper deck - crossing the Pacific the winds were quite strong and it was a bit of a workout.

 

Also climbed the center stairs, about ten stories down and back.

 

Our cruise to Hawaii was full of older people on walkers and using canes, so I doubt the gym was ever crowded.

 

I did hear that they had done some reorganizing of spaces on the Regal, so the gym may have been moved. The casino was in the dome on top in April, 2004, but I heard that it had been moved to a spot that would catch more walk-thru traffic. Therefore, the gym may have been moved to the dome which would be a lovely place for it. Does anyone know?

[Alan2504]

GloriaF

 

Thanks for the information !

 

So there isn't a speciality restaurant ? I was thinking that might have been a nice option for New Years Eve...but no problem.

 

Like your description of it not being too "glitzy"...our last Princess cruise was on the Golden ...so sounds like the Regal will be a pleasant change!

 

Thanks again!

 

Alan

[Pam in CA]

I love the Regal Princess. There is a lot of lounge space for the number of passengers onboard. I loved the fact that there aren't cabins in the back of the ship so that there is quite a bit of open deck, half-covered, half-uncovered on every deck going down to, I believe, deck 8. That means that there were plenty of loungers and room for people to hang out and relax.

 

As Gloria said, the cabins are larger on the Regal than on other ships and all of the cabins have tub-sized showers. (Yay!) There is TONS of storage space -- much, much more than we just had in a balcony cabin on the Sapphire Princess.

 

In the buffet, there is an omelet station with a chef every day for breakfast. He'll make you eggs in a pan right in front of you any way you want them: over-easy, scrambled, omelet, etc. At lunch, there was another chef in the buffet who custom-made a different pasta every day, prepared individually. LOTS of garlic. De-lish.

[SharkieRools]

I did hear that they had done some reorganizing of spaces on the Regal, so the gym may have been moved. The casino was in the dome on top in April, 2004, but I heard that it had been moved to a spot that would catch more walk-thru traffic. Therefore, the gym may have been moved to the dome which would be a lovely place for it. Does anyone know?

 

The Casino is still up in the dome and the gym/spa still on the Holiday deck. The only recent moves I can think of are:

 

Game Room moved up to the dome, this room then became the Scholarship@Sea computer room.

 

Scholarship@Sea computer room later relocated to the back of the Princess Theatre.

 

Old Game Room/Scholarship@Sea computer room now houses the Internet Cafe and the Captain's Circle office.

[Pam in CA]

I thought they'd also moved or changed the Pizza area. No? I'm now going to have to go to the deck plans to see the differences. :) OK... just checked and the deck plans on the Princess website haven't changed: the Dome is still the Casino. Looks like they need to update the deck plans.

[SharkieRools]

The casino is still in the dome, the card room moved to a corner of the dome that formerly housed some underused tables and chairs.

 

The pizzeria is still in the same place too. Most of the chages that were reported as coming in the furture did not happen, presumably because they were planning to move the ship to Ocean Village. When that idea was scrapped I was hopeful that they would once again consider the changes, but it again looks like it won't happen as they plan to transfer her to P&O Australia.

[Pam in CA]

The Dome is such a mis-used area. The outer part of it is a cocktail lounge with spectacular views. We went there a couple of times and we couldn't believe that they closed the shutters at 7PM, even though it was broad daylight out. Maybe the sun was low enough to get into the casino players eyes. Who knows. But what a waste of space. It could be a great lounge and used like the Horizon Lounge on the Royal Princess, i.e., for activities during the day and coctails and entertainment in the evening.

[SharkieRools]

I think the official reason close the shades because the glare from the lights is bothersome to the bridge, although if the sun is still out that seems a bit odd!

 

I always thought they should turn the dome into the disco, kind of like the Viking Crown lounges on Royal Carribean ships. During the day it could be used as a quiet observation area and/or other activities. Where the disco is now seems more logical for the casino to be as there is more foot traffic there.

[aclay]

Thanks for the gym info everyone ;-)) Maybe I can ask someone who has recently been on board as well..

cheers

[PrincessCruisesLover]

I was on the Regal in June 2004 for the Alaska cruise round trip from San Francisco. I LOVED the Regal. This was my first cruise so I had nothing to compare it to. Since then I've been on the Diamond and the Sapphire. The biggest difference is the "small ship" feel you get on the Regal. It's very cozy, but not crowded. A great thing, as was mentioned before, is the rooms are bigger then the newer ships. My favorite place was the pizzeria. It's wonderful. People complain that you can't carry out pizza, but it's nice to just sit in the restaurant and relax for a while and have fresh, hot pizza. They also have daily pasta dishes there. Mmmmm, so good.

 

Sorry, I don't have any suggestions for where you're cruising to, because I've never been there. Have a great time on the Regal!

[Kapuna]

We were on the Regal last month in a minisuite . We liked the cabin but did get noise from above , especially from the entertainment and late night party on deck . Try to get a minisuite more toward the forward end to minimize the noise problem .

 

In general I felt the ship was average , neither very good or very bad . I do like the fact that the pools are fresh water .

[SharkieRools]

Alaska Cruise 2005

 

Our last cruise aboard Regal Princess, including review, pictures, patters, etc.

[aclay]

Thanks for the gym info everyone ;-)) Maybe I can ask someone who has recently been on board as well..

cheers

[CindyinSeattle]

We were on the Regal Princess 9/26/05-10/6/05 Mexican Riviera cruise. We had an outside cabin on deck 7 aft - the spa/gym was farther back, the gym is small but adequate, as is the spa. The food in the restaurants is all the same, except for the specialty restaurant which is on deck 5 mid-ship. We didn't try it as we're not escargot fans, and nothing particuarly interested us in that menu. The pizzeria is fantastic and a great place to have a drink, too. Bring a couple of dollars to tip your waitress, as they do a fantastic job, and will be greatly appreciative! Other than that, the food was just so-so (but we are spoiled elite captain's club Celebrity members, so it's hard to compare other cruise lines!)

 

Here's a secret most people don't know! Go to deck 10 starboard side and walk all the way forward, turn left and then turn right - go through those two doors, and you have a great view from the front of the ship, something you are unable to do up top (due to the dome). Most people don't know about this, and usually you will have the whole area to yourself. What a great view when departing or arriving in port. I think people from the dock thought we were ultra rich to have the entire front balcony to ourselves!:rolleyes:

[SharkieRools]

What specialty restaurant? Deck 5 (Plaza Deck) houses the Purser's Office and the patisserie coffee bar, Deck 7 (Promenade Deck) has no cabins on it and if you go all the way back on that deck you run into the Palm Court Restaurant (the only restaurant on board, unless you count the Bistro and Pizzeria, which serve different food.) The Spa/Gym is the only thing on Deck 2, Holiday Deck.

[sacway]

Alan, thx for your questions, you will be getting on when we get off, and we have the same questions about the Regal minis.

 

we've cruised San Juan to Acapulco before (on X) and there are several stops that are big favs -- Aruba, Huatulco, and the day of the transit (not actually a stop but it does take all day to transit), plus we like both San Juan and Acapulco. The Ports of Call boards are helpful, and we also use other travel guides, and we'll look to these for the ports we've never been to before.

 

We liked the cabin but did get noise from above , especially from the entertainment and late night party on deck . Try to get a minisuite more toward the forward end to minimize the noise problem .

Kapuna, what was your cabin #? I'm looking at the deck maps and for the cruise we are interested in the most forward mini that appears to be available right now is A137 just forward of the stairs.

 

aclay, we are also gym rats, and love topside gyms but will accept one like this if the buffet comes with omelet and pasta stations, there's great service, we have a great room, and a desirable itinerary. does anyone have pix of the gym space?

[jnc411]

Hi , we were on the Regal this March for 15 days through the canal, and it is a lovely older ship but very well maintained. We did use the gym a few times , but as you said , it is on the Holiday deck, no windows , just not the same as some of the newer ships, the equipment is good but the space is small. We didn't find it as condusive to working out as we would have with a great view :), any excuse to get out of doing the treadmill :). We had an outside cabin and that was pretty roomy, larger than most.

As mentioned earlier , there is just traditional dining, and we were not able to get first seating so we had to wait until second seating , which is not something we usually would do, so we missed the personal choice option, we tried the alternate dining in the set aside Horizon court space and the service was awful and the food , not so good, so we didn't do that again. But we were satisfied with the food and service in the dining room , just a little late for us. The Regal has a wonderful movie theater which we used a few times, but we were a bit dissappointed in the pools, both in the same area , none are enclosed and it is ladder entrance and exit only, we were ok with that but some others couldn't manage the ladders so they didn't use the pools. There is the swim up bar, where a person could stand or sit that has steps into and out of it, that might be an option. But the newer ships have pools that are really nice , the Regals is ok but thats it. The crew and service was great, the entertainment we really enjoyed, spent a little time up in the casinio and card room, but have to agree that space is under utalized. Would I sail on the Regal again , it depends on the itenirary. Don't get me wrong we enjoyed the cruise , had a great time, but I wanted to give you an honest opinion. Oh and the area in front of the ship that is suppose to be secret, there was a line of about 75 to 100 people there before dawn the day we went through the canal, not too secret :) Hope this helps

Cori

[GloriaF]

That "secret" area in the front of the ship on deck 10 is the same area that I mentioned in one of my early posts referring to it as the forward deck on Baja, which is exactly what and where it is. And it is not secret, but can be less crowded than some of the above decks.

 

I don't have a clue what or where the "specialty restaurant" is. If this exists, it is new since 2004.

 

The pools are older style with the swim up bar. We did not use the pools because of the cool weather in crossing the Pacific, and once we were in the Hawaiin islands there was just too much to do in port, then the evening festivities.

 

I am sorry to hear that the casino was not moved, I agree that the dome is a great space and a real shame that it is not used as a viewing lounge during the day and a lounge at night.

[SissyG]

Do any of you recent cruisers on the Regal know if they have the Ultimate Balcony Dinner? We would love to have that option when we go on the B2B FLL to Manaus to FLL trip in April. Sissy

[sacway]

two come to mind, for those without private balconies.

First, the deck with the lifeboats -- lower to the action, and shaded from the sun (you'll see wicked sunburns at dinner night of transit, it's just so interesting people stay in the sun too long)

Second, the back of the ship, all decks -- everybody runs to the front, so the back, which are fundamentally the same views, is generally uncrowded, especially for the second set of locks.

[virgenia]

aclay,

 

The gym in the Regal is in the "basement" and is quite small. My husband remembers 4 treadmills, 4 bikes, a rowing machine and 3 or 4 other Nautilus type machines. It was important to sign up for the bikes and treadmills if you wanted a particular time, and they were usually very well used and busy. There is a separate room right opposite that they use for the aerobics, stretching, etc classes that was pretty well underused. Seems like they should convert it to additional gym machines. No windows anywhere.

[aclay]

aclay,

 

The gym in the Regal is in the "basement" and is quite small. My husband remembers 4 treadmills, 4 bikes, a rowing machine and 3 or 4 other Nautilus type machines. It was important to sign up for the bikes and treadmills if you wanted a particular time, and they were usually very well used and busy. There is a separate room right opposite that they use for the aerobics, stretching, etc classes that was pretty well underused. Seems like they should convert it to additional gym machines. No windows anywhere.

Thanks Virgenia- just the type of info I was looking for and very important for us to know before booking... Sounds sad, but DW and I may actually have to avoid the Regal as the gym is a two hour daily routine of our cruise- and we don't want to be spending it in a crowded, windowless basement.. oh no!!