Live from the Regal - July 2-23 - Med Cruise - R/T Barcelona

[Ken the cruiser]

Then it was time for our self guided tour which included a ride on one of the Santorini tenders, a walk up the stairs, some time for vista view picture taking, then a tram ride back down the hill followed by a tender ride back to the ship. Cost: $6 per person (for the tram ride). The memory of “walking the stairs”, priceless! 😁

 

The blue dot represents where the ship was actually anchored.

 

 

The tender ride over was windy, but pretty calm as the bay is somewhat protected.

 

 

 

 

Then came the walk up the stairs, which included 588 steps and occasionally bonding with the donkeys along the way!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then it was time to rest and take some well deserved vista viewpoint photos.

 

 

 

 

Thank goodness they took $$$, but we had a few euros just in case, for the tram ride back down the hill, as we really had no desire to do any more bonding with the donkeys if we had to walk back down the steps!

 

 

 

 

 

Then finally our return ride back to the ship, with one or two gusts hitting us broadside up top!

 

Off in the distance is an Azamara ship also tendering passengers ashore. But in the foreground you may notice a little different shade of blue water. That was the first of 2 wind gusts around 30-40 knots that hit us broadside. It definitely cooled us off! 😂

 

 

 

Then finally back in our cabin with a beautiful view of the volcano from our balcony!

 

 

Edited July 17, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

Here’s a better picture on Santorini in the sunshine. 
 

Edited July 17, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[Adventures ahead]

5 hours ago, Esprit said:

According to our CD there are 3,360 passengers on this cruise.

It fascinates me how the ships vibe changes from one week to the next.

Carries 3560 guests (Princess website). Disappointed that they no longer appear to be sailing with lower numbers (yes, I know they need to recoup losses).  

I called Princess again yesterday about our Southampton cruise in three weeks and was told, once again, they capped capacity for our sailing at 75%. Wondering if either that's accurate, or if it's because the Enchanted is sailing from the UK.

You must be noticing a difference with lines and elevators, attendance at shows.

Edited July 17, 2022 by Adventures ahead

[Ken the cruiser]

5 hours ago, Esprit said:

According to our CD there are 3,360 passengers on this cruise.

It fascinates me how the ships vibe changes from one week to the next.

I’m always curious about how many passengers weren’t able to make it to the ship on their scheduled embarkation day, especially since cruising started back up.
 

So I checked with Guest Services the day before we arrived in Athens, and found there were 3,220 passengers on the Rome to Athens leg, and there were 3,339 booked on the Athens to Barcelona (which we’re now currently on). I just checked again with GS while anchored in Santorini, and there are 3,261. So for one reason or another, to include testing positive on a C19 test, 78 passengers didn’t board in Athens (according to Guest Services).

[Ken the cruiser]

18 minutes ago, Adventures ahead said:

You must be noticing a difference with lines and elevators, attendance at shows.

Not really, especially if you dine early and go to the early 8 pm show in the main theater.  Now, if you dine at 7 pm or later and then opt to go to the late show at 10 pm, then it does seem to get a bit more crowded, especially if there is a popular production show scheduled.

[Ken the cruiser]

3 hours ago, Adventures ahead said:

Carries 3560 guests (Princess website). Disappointed that they no longer appear to be sailing with lower numbers (yes, I know they need to recoup losses).  

I called Princess again yesterday about our Southampton cruise in three weeks and was told, once again, they capped capacity for our sailing at 75%. Wondering if either that's accurate, or if it's because the Enchanted is sailing from the UK.

You must be noticing a difference with lines and elevators, attendance at shows.

 

2 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

I’m always curious about how many passengers weren’t able to make it to the ship on their scheduled embarkation day, especially since cruising started back up.
 

So I checked with Guest Services the day before we arrived in Athens, and found there were 3,220 passengers on the Rome to Athens leg, and there were 3,339 booked on the Athens to Barcelona (which we’re now currently on). I just checked again with GS while anchored in Santorini, and there are 3,261. So for one reason or another, to include testing positive on a C19 test, 78 passengers didn’t board in Athens (according to Guest Services).

Just to follow up on this discussion. I went down again to ask GS how many passengers were either the third or fourth passenger on this cruise. He went and checked and came back with “roughly 400”.
 

I then checked to see how many cabins on decks 8 and 9 were in a quarantined area. On deck 8 port side all cabins forward of E402 (45 cabins) are sealed off. On deck 9 port side, all cabins forward of D702 (98 cabins) are sealed off. That equates to 143 cabins or the potential for 286 passengers at double occupancy.

 

So if the capacity of the Regal is 3,560 guests (double occupancy), if you subtract 686 (400 + 286) from that figure you get 2,874 or roughly 81% full (double capacity).

 

If nothing else folks now know which cabins are in the quarantine area. 😁

[Jazzbo]

@Ken the cruiser,

 I’m enjoying this live review so much! We don’t cruise nearly as much as you do, and we’ve been die hard Celebrity cruisers since our first Alaskan cruise on the Mercury. Some of the Celebrity-Princess comparisons on the Celebrity board piqued my interest, so I decided to take a look at the Princess board and was thrilled to see a live report from you! I think I’ll start looking at Princess in addition to Celebrity. We are pretty much limited to 2 weeks maximum as I’m still working and we have 2 dogs, but your long cruises sound wonderful!

[Esprit]

Glad Ken you did the walk up. It’s an experience not to be missed! Best to wear old comfortable shoes as you are walking in a lot of donkey “left behinds”😂

588 steps to the top with areas to sideline the donkeys as that heard up the trail 🥴

Santorini is one of our “ must go” ports on a Mediterranean cruise.

As for the cable car ride down they have modernised the gondolas. Much more like the ones we use when skiing in the Alps.

[Ken the cruiser]

And away we go

47 minutes ago, Jazzbo said:

@Ken the cruiser,

 I’m enjoying this live review so much! We don’t cruise nearly as much as you do, and we’ve been die hard Celebrity cruisers since our first Alaskan cruise on the Mercury. Some of the Celebrity-Princess comparisons on the Celebrity board piqued my interest, so I decided to take a look at the Princess board and was thrilled to see a live report from you! I think I’ll start looking at Princess in addition to Celebrity. We are pretty much limited to 2 weeks maximum as I’m still working and we have 2 dogs, but your long cruises sound wonderful!

Thanks! We enjoy both cruise lines a lot, but the itinerary is key. We’re even looking at NCL, but only if it’s a super cool cruise like cruising down the east coast of Africa on the Jade or going to Longyearbyen on the Star. But, by default, we have tons of fun and the food is quite tasty on both Celebrity and Princess. But, I will say this about that. We usually don’t gain any weight on a Princess cruise, as their portions are smaller, whereas on Celebrity I’ll gain a few pounds! 😂
 

[Ken the cruiser]

And we’re off! Tomorrow is a sea day. Yay!!

 

[Adventures ahead]

6 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Not really, especially if you dine early and go to the early 8 pm show in the main theater.  Now, if you dine at 7 pm or later and then opt to go to the late show at 10 pm, then it does seem to get a bit more crowded, especially if there is a popular production show scheduled.

This would be us. : )

[Adventures ahead]

4 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

 

Just to follow up on this discussion. I went down again to ask GS how many passengers were either the third or fourth passenger on this cruise. He went and checked and came back with “roughly 400”.
 

I then checked to see how many cabins on decks 8 and 9 were in a quarantined area. On deck 8 port side all cabins forward of E402 (45 cabins) are sealed off. On deck 9 port side, all cabins forward of D702 (98 cabins) are sealed off. That equates to 143 cabins or the potential for 286 passengers at double occupancy.

 

So if the capacity of the Regal is 3,560 guests (double occupancy), if you subtract 686 (400 + 286) from that figure you get 2,874 or roughly 81% full (double capacity).

 

If nothing else folks now know which cabins are in the quarantine area. 😁

Interesting. Thanks for doing the math, lol!

[Ken the cruiser]

Tonight after dinner we went to see a high impact show in the main theater by singer Cece Teneal
 

 

Followed by the Yes/No Game Show in Princess Live

 

 

 

 

BTW tonight I asked our CD, Dan France, when his contract ends, and he said Sep 19. This is his first contract with Princess. Prior to this, he was with Celebrity and has been working on cruise ships for about 10 years. As I said earlier, he’s one of the best CDs we’ve had the pleasure of being entertained by on any of our cruises!

[Ken the cruiser]

Day 16 - July 17 - Sea day

 

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

On 7/16/2022 at 7:54 PM, NoWhiners said:

Hi Ken

 

I've been following your posts and pix, thanks for the news. I was wondering how the internet is onboard (I think you might have posted the speeds a while back but I can't remember)? It seems Ok if you are able to post updates and pix to CC. Do you think Princess has resolved their internet connection issues?

 

Thanks.

In contrast to last night about this time, as it’s currently 10:32 pm, the internet speeds are acceptable where last night they were pretty much unusable.

 

[NoWhiners]

34 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

In contrast to last night about this time, as it’s currently 10:32 pm, the internet speeds are acceptable where last night they were pretty much unusable.

 

 Hmm, I guess people are tired after a fun day of activities?? Unlike last night, when they all stayed up to use the Internet? 😁

[RV Queen]

Ken, Thanks for posting the Princess Patter. Noticed the MDR times for dinner were  6-9. How can that be since our Dine My Way is 5:20 every night? (Sept sailing same ship)

Your thoughts please. 

[Mary loves to travel]

4 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

.... the food is quite tasty on both Celebrity and Princess. But, I will say this about that. We usually don’t gain any weight on a Princess cruise, as their portions are smaller, whereas on Celebrity I’ll gain a few pounds! 

We appreciate the smaller portions on Princess -- we like to have a couple of starters and a main; smaller portions lets us do that without wasting or waisting  😄

 

[dstella]

3 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Tonight after dinner we went to see a high impact show in the main theater by singer Cece Teneal
 

 

Followed by the Yes/No Game Show in Princess Live

 

 

 

 

BTW tonight I asked our CD, Dan France, when his contract ends, and he said Sep 19. This is his first contract with Princess. Prior to this, he was with Celebrity and has been working on cruise ships for about 10 years. As I said earlier, he’s one of the best CDs we’ve had the pleasure of being entertained by on any of our cruises!

I loved Dan!  We were on this itinerary 6/5-7/2.  I didn't have much positive comments about the entertainment in general.  However, Dan would the the one thing I could say.  Thanks for this review.  It's spot on!.

 

[Steelers36]

7 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

And we’re off! Tomorrow is a sea day. Yay!!

 

 

I will be interested to read what's up in Kotor the following day.  We have no plans other than do some walking around on our own.

[Steelers36]

4 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

BTW tonight I asked our CD, Dan France, when his contract ends, and he said Sep 19. This is his first contract with Princess. Prior to this, he was with Celebrity and has been working on cruise ships for about 10 years. As I said earlier, he’s one of the best CDs we’ve had the pleasure of being entertained by on any of our cruises!

Thanks for this.  Now I know we will have someone different in October.  Could be Aaron Hawkins returns.

[Steelers36]

3 hours ago, RV Queen said:

Ken, Thanks for posting the Princess Patter. Noticed the MDR times for dinner were  6-9. How can that be since our Dine My Way is 5:20 every night? (Sept sailing same ship)

Your thoughts please. 

I have commented on this back near the beginning of this thread.  A lot of folks are either in for a surprise or have to be accommodated otherwise.  I do think a lot of port departures are not very compatible with a 5:00pm dinner time.  I have booked us in for 6:00pm all nights come October and know there is some flexibility because a table booked at 6:00pm cannot be used from 5:00pm onwards since it would not be free in time.  Perhaps they found most people weren't showing up early on these Med itineraries.  

 

Also, I think I read that they actually open at least one DR by 5:30pm.  I am sure Ken will remind us.

 

[PacnGoNow]

15 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

I have commented on this back near the beginning of this thread.  A lot of folks are either in for a surprise or have to be accommodated otherwise.  I do think a lot of port departures are not very compatible with a 5:00pm dinner time.  I have booked us in for 6:00pm all nights come October and know there is some flexibility because a table booked at 6:00pm cannot be used from 5:00pm onwards since it would not be free in time.  Perhaps they found most people weren't showing up early on these Med itineraries.  

 

Also, I think I read that they actually open at least one DR by 5:30pm.  I am sure Ken will remind us.

 

Hmmm…

That’s going to be interesting.  We have a 5pm every night.  

[Alanr204]

18 hours ago, Esprit said:

Hi there,

Xcite play mostly 70’s and 80’s classic disco numbers with a few current hits.

Lionel Richie, Michael Jackson and the Up town funk song got people on the floor last night.

Hard to judge how loud the music is. We could hold a conversation without shouting at each other.

Fingers crossed we get on the floor more this week.

Glad to hear they’ve moved them to the Vista Lounge. On our cruise in June they had them playing in the piazza and it was way too loud for that venue. 

[JimmyVWine]

2 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

I will be interested to read what's up in Kotor the following day.  We have no plans other than do some walking around on our own.

I know that you like small, private yours. If you are interested I can give you the name of the guide we hired in 2017. I haven’t researched to see if he is still doing tours, but he was great and we had an awesome day both in Perast and Kotor.  If that is if interest, I can move this over to your roll call so as not to hijack this thread.