A Coronation and Live From 12 Day British Isles on the Regal

[ricka47]

On 5/12/2023 at 3:19 PM, Steelers0854 said:

Day 5 Dublin, Ireland (7am-7pm)

 

 

DW got a salad tonight and a chicken breast with veggies, she was so sad to see the chicken removed from the favorites menu. She said it looked boring but she very much enjoyed her chicken.

 

 

 

I got the corn and crab chowder and the pork chop. The soup was good. The pork was delicious but a tad bit over cooked.

 

 

 

The real highlight of the evening was the dessert for DW. Kuddos to head waiter Michael in the Allegro. He asked the chef for a strawberry shortcake. And boy did they deliver!  This is the Princess we know and love!  DW was happy to report it was delicious!  And they didn’t even need to clean her plate when she was done with it.

 

 

we also realized that they have a Vegan menu each day. This does change every day so I’ll start posting these going forward as well. Here is tomorrows. 
 

My wife is vegetarian and we will be on this cruise in July. Do you know if they have a daily vegetarian menu as well as the vegan one?

Edited May 14, 2023 by ricka47

[Steelers0854]

11 minutes ago, ricka47 said:

My wife is vegetarian and we will be on this cruise in July. Do you know if they have a daily vegetarian menu as well as the vegan one?

Only the vegan one. But if you look at the main dining menus I post the vegetarian dishes are marked with like a plant leaf/basket shape. 

[Steelers0854]

Day 7 Glasgow, Scotland (7am-6pm)

 

It’s a drizzley cold day today. We decided to head into Glasgow for a bit. The rain isn’t supposed to be anything more than a drizzle and we atleast wanted to see the city. At 9am we walked right off the ship. We turned left out of the port and it was a 10ish minute walk. If you have mobility issues I would give yourself atleast 20 minutes or more. There are some uneven roads and some inclines you need to walk up.

 

Pro Tip: buy your tickets in advance. When we got there there was 1 ticket machine and the office was closed and about 100 people wanting to buy tickets. It was very easy to do and the same price. If you buy in advance I think you can even save some additional money. https://www.scotrail.co.uk/train-times/greenock-central-to-glasgow-central

 

It was an easy and very scenic 40 minute ride into town. They also have Wi-Fi on the train.

 

Glasgow has some amazing architecture and I enjoyed walking around here more than Dublin or Belfast. We walked around for a couple of hours and got drizzled on for just a few minutes. Otherwise it was cool and cloudy.

 

 

 

 

[ricka47]

Just now, Steelers0854 said:

Only the vegan one. But if you look at the main dining menus I post the vegetarian dishes are marked with like a plant leaf/basket shape. 

Great - thanks! She eats seafood as well (making her a pescatarian). So, we'll be fine.

[tml1230]

Steelers0854, we disembarked Monday just as you were joining the Regal. Very much enjoying your report!

After  the transatlantic crossing, and 8 days around the UK, we REALLY didn't want to leave the Regal....So I am reliving the incredible cruise through your words and pictures. To  us, the outstanding crew members really made a wonderful cruise pure perfection!  

Not for nuthin, but after significant study I found the almond croissants in the IC on the Regal to be almost as good as the one I enjoyed in a Paris boulangerie earlier this week!

 

Thanks again for taking the time to share your story and Safe Travels!

[Steelers0854]

Day 7 Glasgow, Scotland (7am-6pm)

 

 

 

it really ended up being a beautiful day after starting cloudy and drizzling. 
 

 

DW ordered from the vegan menu today and went with a salad with the vegan dressing, which is her new favorite, and the Quinoa  burger. The burger itself was disappointing, there was no tofu steak and the quinoa just fell apart when you bit into it. It had a good flavor vomit it became a quinoa dish. Also the bun they used is not as good as the gluten free bread, it was much denser and way more dry. But she said the sweet potato fries were delicious.

 

 

I got the hot smoked salmon, the shrimp and spinach dip and the Choucroute. The appetizers were very good, I was hesitant with the dip and I can say it tasted way better than it looked lol. The Choucroute was delicious. That smoked pork was probably the best thing I’ve had on board. It was so flavorful!

 

 

 

 

Dessert for me tonight was the carrot cake and sticky toffee pudding. Both unfortunately were disappointing. The carrot cake only tasted sweet with just a hint of spice, not the moist delicious cake I was hoping for. And there was nothing sticky about my pudding, it had an ok flavor but again missed the mark.

 

 

dessert for DW was the strawberry shortcake she loved from the other night (her request) and the passion fruit sorbet. 

 

 

here is the vegan menu for tomorrow. 
 

We sat and listened to the orchestra in the piazza before calling it an evening.

 

Here are the patters for tomorrow. It will be our first sea day and boy do we need the break!

 

 

[Steelers0854]

Day 8 At Sea …….Phew!

 

a cold and beautiful start to the day!

 

 

we slept in this morning and skipped breakfast. We sat in the piazza and enjoyed some of the entertainment before heading to the Q&A with the captain. He is truly a funny and caring individual. So warm and personable. He loves to chat as well and his evening announcements are a highlight for us. It was interesting to learn more about him and his career. Some of the questions folks were asking were really good.

 

Did you know the Regal Princess has a second bridge?  Makes sense but it’s in case the main bridge is unusable.

 

He was also really excited about the Sun Princess coming with its LNG system. We looked at the deck plans and it looks like a remarkable ship. We are going to have to book a cruise on her!

 

We headed to the buffet for lunch. DW grabbed a salad and chicken kabobs which she said were delicious.

 

Today was pub lunch with all manner of fried pastries and dishes abound. The fish and chips were delicious as was the pork pastie. I’m also a sucker for Indian food and the butter chicken was spot on as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ICBMK]

Does anyone have info regarding the HO/HO bus for Dublin?

If the bus begins right at dun laoghaire, the port of call, will it have a special pick up place to bring us back , since the HO/HO buses usually on do a loop around Dublin?

[nini]

10 minutes ago, ICBMK said:

Does anyone have info regarding the HO/HO bus for Dublin?

If the bus begins right at dun laoghaire, the port of call, will it have a special pick up place to bring us back , since the HO/HO buses usually on do a loop around Dublin?

 

There are no HOHO buses when you get off of the tender boat. We took the tender to the dock and purchased train tickets into town. Many passengers did this. There are HOHO buses once you get into town. We got off of the train close to Trinity College and walked there. It really was not far at all from the train stop. The train was very pleasant and we met a local who filled us in on the details for our stops.

[Y21]

On 5/14/2023 at 7:16 AM, Steelers0854 said:

Pro Tip: buy your tickets in advance.

I appreciate all the useful information you are providing here. Very helpful.

To purchase train tickets online, I have to pick a specific time. 

Would you say getting off the ship as soon as it docks is possible/not a problem?

[FraudBroad]

6 minutes ago, Y21 said:

I appreciate all the useful information you are providing here. Very helpful.

To purchase train tickets online, I have to pick a specific time. 

Would you say getting off the ship as soon as it docks is possible/not a problem?

It shouldn’t be a problem getting them at the train station. It’s €5 each way from the port into Dublin. They have several automated machines, so it should be quick. The train runs every 15 minutes. 

[nini]

18 minutes ago, Y21 said:

I appreciate all the useful information you are providing here. Very helpful.

To purchase train tickets online, I have to pick a specific time. 

Would you say getting off the ship as soon as it docks is possible/not a problem?

It was super easy buying them at the station. There are staff there to help; very friendly! You never know how the tendering process will go.

[Steelers0854]

2 hours ago, Y21 said:

I appreciate all the useful information you are providing here. Very helpful.

To purchase train tickets online, I have to pick a specific time. 

Would you say getting off the ship as soon as it docks is possible/not a problem?

If you have cell service or internet on the ship I would just buy them before walking over, or if you want just do it on the walk over. If you have the app downloaded (and you MUST have the app, sorry forgot to mention this) it takes just a minute to make the purchase and you can do so when you want. That said I didn’t see what it looked like right when we docked but we had no issue making the 9:30 train. 

[Steelers0854]

1 hour ago, nini said:

It was super easy buying them at the station. There are staff there to help; very friendly! You never know how the tendering process will go.

I think you’re referring to a different port. I believe their question was regarding my post about the train to Glasgow and that port is not a tender port. And when we went to the train the station office was closed and they had a single machine selling tickets for 100+ people. 

[Steelers0854]

2 hours ago, ICBMK said:

Does anyone have info regarding the HO/HO bus for Dublin?

If the bus begins right at dun laoghaire, the port of call, will it have a special pick up place to bring us back , since the HO/HO buses usually on do a loop around Dublin?

They have a bus that takes you into town, it’s £17 and I believe it’s round trip but don’t quote me on this. But the other poster was right no HO/HO at the port itself. 

[kilili]

2 hours ago, ICBMK said:

Does anyone have info regarding the HO/HO bus for Dublin?

If the bus begins right at dun laoghaire, the port of call, will it have a special pick up place to bring us back , since the HO/HO buses usually on do a loop around Dublin?

The HOHO does not go to port, but they sell a return train ticket along with the HOHO bus.  You can purchase in advance, or buy at the train station.  

 

https://dodublin.ie/city-sightseeing-tours/cruise-ship-dun-laoghaire

[Steelers0854]

Day 8 At Sea
 

We lounged around the ship and relaxed.

 

I found out there are 264 elites and 555 platinums on this cruise. They said on the transatlantic they just did there were over 900 elites and 1,200 platinums.

 

 

For Dinner tonight DW got the edamame and mushrooms, soba noodles and vegetable curry from the vegan menu. She said the mushroom dish was excellent and very flavorful. The soba noodles weee way too salty and that’s all you could taste. The vegetable curry was good as well.

 

 

 

 

Tonight I went with the calamari, chile relleno, and the ribs. The calamari was good and perfectly cooked. The Chile relleno was also very good and the sauce them at came with it was perfectly acidic. The ribs were the best tasting dish of the 3 but the ribs were pretty tough.

 

 

 

 

We skipped out on dessert tonight.

 

Vegan menu for tomorrow. 
 

 

love the fact that they brought in a bag piper. He was excellent! 
 

[Steelers0854]

Patter for tomorrow. 
 

[ICBMK]

19 minutes ago, Steelers0854 said:

They have a bus that takes you into town, it’s £17 and I believe it’s round trip but don’t quote me on this. But the other poster was right no HO/HO at the port itself. 

Now I’m really confused….when I called NCL asking about their excursion, it clearly states the HOHO begins in the port.  Perhaps the more accurate fact is a transport brings passengers into Dublin and then they get on an official HOHO.  Either way, I find it frustrating to not be able to get better details from the folks that I am paying.  Thanks for your input.

[nini]

2 hours ago, ICBMK said:

Now I’m really confused….when I called NCL asking about their excursion, it clearly states the HOHO begins in the port.  Perhaps the more accurate fact is a transport brings passengers into Dublin and then they get on an official HOHO.  Either way, I find it frustrating to not be able to get better details from the folks that I am paying.  Thanks for your input.

 

Maybe NCL gets to dock in Dublin and not Dun Laoghaire. Princess does not.  We were there last May and I do remember that Dublin HOHO buses are in Dublin and not Dun Laoghaire which is a 20 minute train ride from the port.

[Ellipooh]

Enjoying your trip very much. Giants Causeway was probably my favorite excursion ever. 
 

Quick question: On the NCL board, folks currently on their British Isles cruise are reporting that no alcohol is being served on board any time the ship is in a UK port +12 nautical miles and regardless of pre-purchased beverage packages. Do you see any evidence of a similar situation on your cruise?

[nini]

12 minutes ago, Ellipooh said:

Enjoying your trip very much. Giants Causeway was probably my favorite excursion ever. 
 

Quick question: On the NCL board, folks currently on their British Isles cruise are reporting that no alcohol is being served on board any time the ship is in a UK port +12 nautical miles and regardless of pre-purchased beverage packages. Do you see any evidence of a similar situation on your cruise?

That truly was not true for us on our British Isles cruise in May 2022.

[Steelers0854]

Side note: in case anyone is wondering I was having issues with my medallion not working well when scanning to get on and off. Looks like the battery was going bad. Guest services easily replaced it with an identical one with no issue. It has our loyalty color and all the same info on it. 

[G&Gcruisers]

Is “Pub Lunch” in the buffet on sea day and not in a Dining Room?

[Steelers0854]

38 minutes ago, G&Gcruisers said:

Is “Pub Lunch” in the buffet on sea day and not in a Dining Room?

Correct. Atleast for us.