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

[kml246]

6 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Our waiters are Charles and Luis. However, for the first two nights in the back section of CC Dining, there were only 4 other tables with people at when we left at 7 pm.

 

Is this Luis by any chance?

 

 

[Steelers36]

9 hours ago, dreaminofcruisin said:

 

I was curious what was "normal"....?

According to Wiki:

Capacity	3,560 passengers
Crew	1,346

 

..so seems right in line...whether or not that's adequate....

 

My bad.  I agree your numbers from Princess.com.  I was thinking there should be more crew for that many passengers, but I guess not.   ETA:  Nice to see the ship is pretty much staffed up.

Edited July 4, 2022 by Steelers36

[Steelers36]

7 hours ago, jasbo49 said:

We're boarding Oct. 15 for just the 11 days from Barcelona to Rome. And yes, I joined the roll call a few days ago. We've already hopped onto one tour, in Naples, but are open to others. Is there a way to PM here?

 

Jim

No, but I will post something on the RC to you tonight.  (And you will be able to contact me).

 

Edited July 4, 2022 by Steelers36

[Steelers36]

6 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

When we saw 6 pm in the Patter on the first day, we went down to the CC Dining section and they confirmed they actually open at 5:30 pm. It’s probably the same in the MDR. Someone probably just messed up. 

But I still wonder what is happening to all the folks who booked 5:00pm and 5:20pm reservations in DMW?

 

ETA:  Above is meant as rhetorical.  I always thought 5pm was much too early to begin dinner, especially with port days.

Edited July 4, 2022 by Steelers36

[Steelers36]

4 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Here you go! Still getting over jet lag! 😂

 

 

Nice clear photo.  So, what I heard a while ago was Nicola was coming to Regal as DRO by now.  I just hope he might still be there in October.  Don't chase after him, but if he does pass by your table, if you don't mind... ask him how long his tour is for this time.  We have had him 2X in most recent cruises and will be thrilled to have him again as I am quite confident he will set us up for TD as expected.

Edited July 4, 2022 by Steelers36

[LACruiser88]

6 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Here you go! Still getting over jet lag! 😂

 

Thank you so much!  I hope you get lots of sleep!

[caribill]

On 7/1/2022 at 9:56 AM, Ken the cruiser said:

For instance, Carnival offers passengers a cheap social media package Wi-Fi option in addition to their full-power internet packages. If you need video calls or streaming services, you'll need to pay more.

 

Does Princess offer different internet service packages? I don't remember seeing any options to upgrade the Princess Plus "bundled" internet service on our upcoming Regal cruise.

 

 

 

Yes, CCL offers three levels of service at three price levels, two of which for sure are at higher cost that Princess' one price for all. And, if I remember correctly, CCL decides which sites are  limited to the streaming package and some of those really are not streaming sites.

 

On the ships where MedallionNet really works as advertised, streaming works well for everyone and is at a bargain price compared to other cruise lines.

[caribill]

Please let us know if they offer the Pub lunch on your cruise.

 

Thanks

[wowzz]

Regarding tours in Gibraltar,  there  is  really no need to book the over priced Princess tours.  

There are numerous taxis and minibuses available at the port,  who offer the same excursions, at a far better price. 

[Esprit]

Hi Ken

Was the British F1 race shown on TV somewhere yesterday? The Austrian Grand Prix is this Sunday and would be keen to watch it somewhere on board!

[Ken the cruiser]

8 hours ago, kml246 said:

 

Is this Luis by any chance?

 

 

Yes

[Ken the cruiser]

We have arrived in Gibraltar! My understanding was that we were supposed to dock around 7 am. But since we didn’t wake up until 11 am, I’ll have to assume the Patter was correct. We even slept through the ship drill with the folks up on the bridge coming over the loud speaker. Luckily we woke up when we did. We have an excursion at 12:30! 😂

 

[Ken the cruiser]

3 hours ago, wowzz said:

Regarding tours in Gibraltar,  there  is  really no need to book the over priced Princess tours.  

There are numerous taxis and minibuses available at the port,  who offer the same excursions, at a far better price. 

Do they take OBC? 😂

[Ken the cruiser]

2 hours ago, Esprit said:

Hi Ken

Was the British F1 race shown on TV somewhere yesterday? The Austrian Grand Prix is this Sunday and would be keen to watch it somewhere on board!

Sorry. No idea as we haven’t looked at a TV once since boarding the ship. 

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Do they take OBC? 😂

Fair point !

I guess it depends on how much obc you have .

Regardless, I'd rather be in a taxi than on a coach with 40 others.

[kml246]

2 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Yes

 

We love him! Please tell him Nan & Kevin send their best wishes to him and that we will be on board Regal Sept 24. How is his baby doing? You can show him this photo, please. Enjoy your cruise!

 

Kevin

 

 

 

[vjmatty]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

Fair point !

I guess it depends on how much obc you have .

Regardless, I'd rather be in a taxi than on a coach with 40 others.

Same here, but with OBC being harder to spend with Plus fares I will occasionally book a ship’s tour. Usually when I see something I like in the excursion list but can’t find a private tour or DIY method to replicate it. Very rare though. 

[Ken the cruiser]

Today, while getting a quick bite up at the buffet, we saw our first glimpse of the Rock of Gibraltar. As one might imagine, it wasn’t what we were expecting. 
 

 

 

But then it was time to go on our PCL Best of Gibraltar excursion which we had a great time on!! First, we stopped at a place where we could see Africa and to see where the salt goes from the desalination plant which produces all of the fresh water for Gibraltar. 
 

 

 

Then it was onto St Michael’s Cave which is actually inside the Rock. We also found out there are 34 miles of interconnecting tunnels inside the Rock. 

 

 

The angel of St Michaels

 

 

Were we also got to see the Apes there which are not native to the region, but somehow were brought to Morocco many years ago. 

 

 

 

 

Then our last stop back down the Rock was where they feed the 255 Apes, which also of course had plenty of pigeons to share in eating the corn that was put out for them. 

 

 

 

Then on the way back to the ship we had to stop to let a plane land on the Gibraltar airport runway, or tried to. The winds were so strong they got waved off at the last second. 
 

 

Then once we started heading back, we finally got a glimpse of a more recognizable view of the Tock of Gibraltar. 
 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

And we’re off!! Next stop Marseille, France. 
 

[Ken the cruiser]

As we were leaving Gibraltar, I noticed there is another side. Who knew! On the left side, most of the buildings you’re seeing are on reclaimed land from the sea. From what our tour guide told us, there is only one small patch on that side left to build on. Now they’re focusing on building on the right side. I wonder what Gibraltar will look like in another 20 years? 🤔

 

[Steelers36]

7 hours ago, wowzz said:

Fair point !

I guess it depends on how much obc you have .

Regardless, I'd rather be in a taxi than on a coach with 40 others.

And there are other ways to spend or get the OBC.

[Ken the cruiser]

18 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Nice clear photo.  So, what I heard a while ago was Nicola was coming to Regal as DRO by now.  I just hope he might still be there in October.  Don't chase after him, but if he does pass by your table, if you don't mind... ask him how long his tour is for this time.  We have had him 2X in most recent cruises and will be thrilled to have him again as I am quite confident he will set us up for TD as expected.

I asked him and his current contract ends Aug 29 and he’ll be back on the Regal 2 months later on Oct 29. 

[Ken the cruiser]

Tonight after another tasty dinner, we went to watch a tribute to Phil Collins in the theater 

 

followed by the Majority Rules Game Show in the Princess Live mini-theater. 

 

Edited July 4, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[LACruiser88]

50 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

I asked him and his current contract ends Aug 29 and he’ll be back on the Regal 2 months later on Oct 29. 

Nicola is one of our favorites!  He'll be coming back as we board!  Yeah!!!  🙂

[Ken the cruiser]

1 minute ago, LACruiser88 said:

Nicola is one of our favorites!  He'll be coming back as we board!  Yeah!!!  🙂

He definitely is super friendly!!