Regal Princess - Spring Break - What to reasonably expect?

[LMaxwell]

Considering a 7 day Caribbean cruise over spring break this year. We are in our 40's with elementary school aged kids. Pretty much *not* interested in Royal Caribbean, Carnival, or NCL.  Over 2022 we have taken 1 Disney Cruise, 1 Celebrity Cruise, and 2 HAL Cruises. Now considering going on Princess. How busy do these ships get in spring break season? I am not looking for go karts, water slides, or laser tag. As long as there are nice sized pools and a good kids club the kids are content. For us, we need more entertainment than HAL. Disney is obnoxiously priced and not all that great honestly, and Celebrity was a great cruise - a bit pricey, but we felt we got what we paid for.  The main competitor for the trip is actually a Celebrity ship. What is entertainment like on Princess?  Any daily papers from a caribbean season on this ship? 

 

1. Regal Princess; Princess Cays, St Thomas, St Kitts.  3 full sea days. (No status, new to Princess)

2. Celebrity Reflection; Nassau, St Thomas, St Maarten, 3 full sea days. We are Elite on Celebrity

3. MSC Seascape; Ocean Cay Marine Reserve, Nassau (short day, almost like a sea day), San Juan, Puerto Plata, 2 full sea days. top level at MSC but that was pre-covid unsure if it has expired or still good?

 

I'm mainly trying to select between 1 and 2  with MSC kind of a distant 3rd because it's priced right up there and I consider it more mass market than premium.

 

What are some highlights of Regal Princess? Has anyone sailed on spring break? Is there relatively few kids, or is it mobbed w 500+?(trying to avoid that). 

[Wishing on a star]

First, I would consider which ports seem the best to you all.  Ports seem limited on this Regal itinerary. 

 

Just from what I have seen, Ocean Cay is more beautiful than Princess Cays.  But, as you said, MSC would be a third choice on many levels.

 

Aso

 

And, which dates.  Would this include the Easter timeframe?

Princess usually will have fewer kids, except for times like Holidays and Spring Break.

And, with a one-week itinerary, there will be plenty of kids.

But, I don't think 'mobbed' would be the word.

 

Princess used to limit the number of kids onboard, with a cap based on ship capacity, kids club capacities, etc.    I have heard of people with children having a problem finding availability with kids over a busy Holiday cruise.  But they are marketing heavily to families with kids now.  More cabins with 3 and 4 occupancy seem to be being held back for those sailing as family/friends.

 

Entertainment on Princess might be a little different than you have had before.

The Princess theater will have actual Production shows.  I believe that the shows on the Regal right now are what many Princess cruisers would now call 'dated'.  But, you haven't seen them.  They do seem to be geared for an older audience.

 

There will be other singers/bands/entertainers onboard.  And, of course at least one comedian.

 

The main Piazza on the Regal is also an entertainment hub in the evenings.  There will be the ships band, other musical entertainment, and the Crooner's piano/martini bar.   Crooner's will alternate with the entertainment scheduled on the main level of the Piazza. 

 

For the kids, the pool will be the center pools on the main pool deck with the huge MUTS screen, always going, always something playing.  I have never seen any of the pool games type of stuff, but they do seem to have some of this kind of thing.   Once noticed a 'sexy legs' contest that in the end was all men, acting silly and strutting their stuff.  (acting like chippendales or pole dancers....)  

 

The forward Retreat Pool is adult only.   And, I am not sure if or how many kids are usually at the small  AFT pool, as we do not usually cruise during the busy family times. 

 

I understand that food will not be as good as Celebrity, especially the specialty restaurants.  But, I am sure you all would be happy and well fed!  Afredos Pizzaria and Italian over the main Piazza, is included and is great.  Soft Serve ice cream and burgers and dogs and tacos, and quick serve pizza  (which is good, but not Alfredo's) are always there.  Huge buffet.  Plenty of choices there.  And, the Gelato in the main Piazza.

 

The coffee and specialty coffee drinks at the coffee bar should be great.  (one iffy review lately for some reason?) And the foods and snacks and desserts there at the International Cafe are good too!

 

Hope this first quick run-down might be helpful !

 

 

Edited December 19, 2022 by Wishing on a star

[Itchy&Scratchy]

43 minutes ago, LMaxwell said:

How busy do these ships get in spring break season?

very. 

 

43 minutes ago, LMaxwell said:

Has anyone sailed on spring break?

yes, lots of kids if your kids are interested in company, but nowhere near RCI's levels.

Gotta book soon, though, they have a limit on how many kids of a certain age they accept. In 2016 we couldn't join our friends on Regal, because Princess no longer took any kids aged 4-8 onboard. So, we went on Caribbean Princess, and while the ship itself was underwhelming, we got to discover ABC island itinerary, which is magical.

 

43 minutes ago, LMaxwell said:

What are some highlights of Regal Princess?

a great kid's club if your kids are into it. Soft serve ice cream. Hot tubs and pools. A Piazza party for kids. We loved it!

Our now 11 yo does not do kid's club, so he just tags along to everything. And this year we got him a soda and mocktails package and it was a definite hit! He loves cruising even more now. 🙂 He always has.

 

43 minutes ago, LMaxwell said:

top level at MSC but that was pre-covid unsure if it has expired or still good?

you can check in your profile online. We never got to go because of covid in 2020, but they extended my status from 2019 to the end of 2023. I hear MSC is not premium if you are not buying YC, but we are going to try it out on 2023 Thanksgiving school break - the price was right - $2,300 for the 3 of us in a regular balcony with drinks and wifi included.

 

43 minutes ago, LMaxwell said:

What is entertainment like on Princess? 

up until this year it was just standard old and tired stuff, but since you've never seen it - it's not bad. It's not RCI, but not too bad. This year we tried Enchanted Princess and they had all new entertainment, which in our eyes (mid-40s with an 11 yo child) it was quite a step up from "older people entertainment".

 

Edited December 19, 2022 by Itchy&Scratchy

[Itchy&Scratchy]

2 minutes ago, Wishing on a star said:

Hope this first quick run-down might be helpful !

I found it funny how we posted almost identical opinions at the same time. 🙂

[Wishing on a star]

Great minds think alike!!!

 

[Daniel A]

Several years ago, DW & I booked a Caribbean cruise on Regal not realizing it was smack dab in the middle of Spring Break season.  We were very concerned about the quality of that cruise.  However, once aboard, we didn't see much difference compared to our previous Regal sailings.  When we had a port call at Grand Turk there was already a Carnival ship there.  That was the only fly in the ointment, the college kids from the Carnival ship were out of control in Grand Turk, and we returned very quickly to the Regal for a nice, quiet respite.  YMMV.

Edited December 19, 2022 by Daniel A

[skynight]

I think you are referring to a March 19, 2023 sailing.

Spring Break. You do not normally find college spring breakers on a 7 day Princess cruise. Too expensive and it isn't their go to line. Families tend to sail during Easter break, not mid March. 

There should be an active youth center on board which will have nice activities on sea days. See below for information. The Regal has one pool for youth, the main Lido pool. The Retreat Pool is for adults. There is also a dipping pool aft, Terrace Pool, that has a smoking area. Not certain if youth are permitted in this dipping pool.

Princess has family entertainment which include production shows, family friendly comics, singers & musicians. There is also live musical entertainment in the lounges in the evening. 

Princess Cays is a nice beach area, but by no means the best of all cruises lines. The beach to the left (north) as you exit the tender is the better of the two. There are plenty of lounge chairs, but if you want one in the shade plan to get to the tender ticket location, usually a DR, early. Bring water shoes. The entrance to the ocean is full of weathered coral rocks, a little rough on the feet. St Thomas is a big shopping destination and there are beaches and tours. St. Kitts is similar. There is lots of information on line about these ports.

Here is some information about the youth center. One thing to note. Princess normally will not allow cross overs from one age group to another.

https://www.princess.com/news/backgrounders_and_fact_sheets/factsheet/Royal-Princess-Youth-and-Teen-Centers.html

https://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/Onboard_Experience/Youth_Guidelines_Registration.pdf

There are lots of selections for casual food. Suggest you may wish to try Alfredo's for lunch or dinner. It is no charge. Nice individual pizzas and other menu items. Alfredo's, mid ship deck 6 as well as the grill and pizza by the Lido pool are open from around 11am until mid to late evening every day. The buffet is open from around 6am until late evening each day. It never closes during that time. The International Cafe on deck 5 is open 24/7 or almost 24/7. It may be closed at some point during the overnight. You can also order food and beverages on your phone, from your cabin TV or from one of the screens around the ship. It will be delivered to you. The waiters find your location by your medallion. You can also locate others in your family using the medallion location program. Here is the Princess dining guide. You can see what is available on the Regal Princess.

https://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/food-and-dining/dining-options.pdf

 

[Buckeye10640]

16 hours ago, LMaxwell said:

Considering a 7 day Caribbean cruise over spring break this year. We are in our 40's with elementary school aged kids. Pretty much *not* interested in Royal Caribbean, Carnival, or NCL.  Over 2022 we have taken 1 Disney Cruise, 1 Celebrity Cruise, and 2 HAL Cruises. Now considering going on Princess. How busy do these ships get in spring break season? I am not looking for go karts, water slides, or laser tag. As long as there are nice sized pools and a good kids club the kids are content. For us, we need more entertainment than HAL. Disney is obnoxiously priced and not all that great honestly, and Celebrity was a great cruise - a bit pricey, but we felt we got what we paid for.  The main competitor for the trip is actually a Celebrity ship. What is entertainment like on Princess?  Any daily papers from a caribbean season on this ship? 

 

1. Regal Princess; Princess Cays, St Thomas, St Kitts.  3 full sea days. (No status, new to Princess)

2. Celebrity Reflection; Nassau, St Thomas, St Maarten, 3 full sea days. We are Elite on Celebrity

3. MSC Seascape; Ocean Cay Marine Reserve, Nassau (short day, almost like a sea day), San Juan, Puerto Plata, 2 full sea days. top level at MSC but that was pre-covid unsure if it has expired or still good?

 

I'm mainly trying to select between 1 and 2  with MSC kind of a distant 3rd because it's priced right up there and I consider it more mass market than premium.

 

What are some highlights of Regal Princess? Has anyone sailed on spring break? Is there relatively few kids, or is it mobbed w 500+?(trying to avoid that). 

My twenty-five year old daughter and I were on  5 day Regal cruise (Mon-Sat) this year in early March. I got such a good last minute price I overlooked my rule of not traveling during Spring Break. There were few children (ie under18 or so) but we did have some college age spring- breakers. They tended to congregate at the Lido pool and I saw some interesting things like one who appeared to be passed out in a lounge chair outside Crown Grill! We stuck to the retreat area or upper decks or our balcony and were really not bothered by them.  If your thing is to sit in a chair next to the Lido pool and use hot tubs might think twice. 

 

At disembarkation we got stuck in FLL for 2 days due to flight cancellations. Lots of spring breakers in FLL!

 

Regal is a nice ship. 

 

Edited December 19, 2022 by Buckeye10640

[Rick&Jeannie]

I would avoid a Carnival itinerary at spring break like the PLAGUE!

[PescadoAmarillo]

We were on the Emerald Princess during Spring Break in 2015 when the ship was doing shorter cruises out of Fort Lauderdale. Oh my, that was entertaining, both on and off the ship. We used ear plugs at night when they rolled into bed about 4am and made sure we weren’t too quiet when we were up and about at 7am. 
 

My husband didn’t seem to mind at all. 😉

[sttopmh]

We also were on a cruise with a lot of college kids from Florida schools. Had no idea that college students could afford a cruise, especially Princess. However, spring break for colleges can be at different dates than spring (or Easter) break for school children. So, it's hard to tell when the college students would be on a particular cruise.

I'd say avoid the shorter cruises.

[LMaxwell]

12 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

I would avoid a Carnival itinerary at spring break like the PLAGUE!

I avoid Carnival non-spring break itineraries also.  A Long cruise to unique places on one of their newest/biggest ships I'd consider, but they cost more than Princess, Celebrity, Royal...so I'm in no rush back to Carnival for now. Did have a great cruise to Bermuda w them; no rowdy activity 

[LMaxwell]

9 hours ago, sttopmh said:

We also were on a cruise with a lot of college kids from Florida schools. Had no idea that college students could afford a cruise, especially Princess. However, spring break for colleges can be at different dates than spring (or Easter) break for school children. So, it's hard to tell when the college students would be on a particular cruise.

I'd say avoid the shorter cruises.

This is a younger kids school break. It's in 3rd week of March so no holidays and doesn't seem to coincide with any college spring break dates yet that I have found.  https://www.ststravel.com/college-spring-break-dates

 

7 day is about the shortest Princess seems to offer. I wouldn't mind if they had a 3, 4, or 5 day to try them out, but those seem to be rare oddballs when repositioning, if at all. 

[Rick&Jeannie]

8 hours ago, LMaxwell said:

 

7 day is about the shortest Princess seems to offer. I wouldn't mind if they had a 3, 4, or 5 day to try them out, but those seem to be rare oddballs when repositioning, if at all. 

They actually do have shorter cruises than 7 days but most seem to be along the west coast.

[enyliram]

taking 2 school age kids from florida on regal princess  march 19 2023. age 17 and age 15.  they have been on regal before and are happy with the ship.

[Buckeye10640]

6 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

They actually do have shorter cruises than 7 days but most seem to be along the west coast.

Regal was doing  5 day out of FLL this past spring. 

[bulldog on water]

term "spring Break" is not the same for every state, or colleges.

every state has different vacation periods as do colleges. the answers you recieve will need to be dependent on the actual week you are talking about.

in New England and some midwest states, public schools (not college) we have vacation in mid february, not during easter .

we also have a week in april (Marathon week)

so you need to define our week and then get answers from people who cruised during that week.

hope this helps

[AZjohn]

On 12/18/2022 at 3:35 PM, LMaxwell said:

What are some highlights of Regal Princess? Has anyone sailed on spring break? Is there relatively few kids, or is it mobbed w 500+?(trying to avoid that). 

 

 

 

 

(Just a little early morning humor 🙂 )

[Coral]

On 12/20/2022 at 12:00 AM, LMaxwell said:

This is a younger kids school break. It's in 3rd week of March so no holidays and doesn't seem to coincide with any college spring break dates yet that I have found.  https://www.ststravel.com/college-spring-break-dates

 

7 day is about the shortest Princess seems to offer. I wouldn't mind if they had a 3, 4, or 5 day to try them out, but those seem to be rare oddballs when repositioning, if at all. 

There definitely is a ton of collegiate spring breaks the 3rd week in March (as someone who works at a University).

 

Though - I have never had problems on Princess with collegiate spring breaks. It is tweens who are allowed to go unsupervised through out the ship. I am not opposed to kids on ships - as long as their parents are keeping tabs on them and they are not allowed to just be reckless.

[cruisegal40]

As bulldog on water stated, we don't call our vacation week as "spring break" That term up here in the NE is used for colleges in our area.  They are during the month of March.   We are taking "vacation" the week prior to ours school "vacation" as it's a week prior to the Boston Marathon. Hoping it may be bit quieter.  Keeping fingers crossed.

[memoak]

We have a 15 day cruise during spring break from Lauderdale. Not concerned about kids on a long cruise but it sure played havoc with hotel prices

[Buckeye10640]

3 hours ago, memoak said:

We have a 15 day cruise during spring break from Lauderdale. Not concerned about kids on a long cruise but it sure played havoc with hotel prices

We got stranded in FLL for 2 days early March this year after our cruise,  when our flight home was cancelled. Lots of spring beakers and last minute hotel prices -wow!

[Daniel A]

On 12/18/2022 at 6:35 PM, LMaxwell said:

Considering a 7 day Caribbean cruise over spring break this year. We are in our 40's with elementary school aged kids. Pretty much *not* interested in Royal Caribbean, Carnival, or NCL.  Over 2022 we have taken 1 Disney Cruise, 1 Celebrity Cruise, and 2 HAL Cruises. Now considering going on Princess. How busy do these ships get in spring break season? I am not looking for go karts, water slides, or laser tag. As long as there are nice sized pools and a good kids club the kids are content. For us, we need more entertainment than HAL. Disney is obnoxiously priced and not all that great honestly, and Celebrity was a great cruise - a bit pricey, but we felt we got what we paid for.  The main competitor for the trip is actually a Celebrity ship. What is entertainment like on Princess?  Any daily papers from a caribbean season on this ship? 

 

1. Regal Princess; Princess Cays, St Thomas, St Kitts.  3 full sea days. (No status, new to Princess)

2. Celebrity Reflection; Nassau, St Thomas, St Maarten, 3 full sea days. We are Elite on Celebrity

3. MSC Seascape; Ocean Cay Marine Reserve, Nassau (short day, almost like a sea day), San Juan, Puerto Plata, 2 full sea days. top level at MSC but that was pre-covid unsure if it has expired or still good?

 

I'm mainly trying to select between 1 and 2  with MSC kind of a distant 3rd because it's priced right up there and I consider it more mass market than premium.

 

What are some highlights of Regal Princess? Has anyone sailed on spring break? Is there relatively few kids, or is it mobbed w 500+?(trying to avoid that). 

I'm wondering how you made out over Spring Break?