Review and Travel Journal of Our Regal Cruise to England/Guernsey/Ireland/Scotland and Wales-A Crowning Achievement

[mskaufman]

We were on last week.  Some degree of rain 11 of 12 days.  Outdoor temp never above 70 deg F. Inside was "cool"

[smokey01]

15 hours ago, mskaufman said:

We were on last week.  Some degree of rain 11 of 12 days.  Outdoor temp never above 70 deg F. Inside was "cool"

We are having a very wet summer. I think it is caused by the heat wave in mainland Europe affecting our normal weather system.

[CanuckCurlers]

On 8/14/2023 at 10:57 AM, JimmyVWine said:

Sorry for getting back to you late.  If you haven't already found it, here is my Athens to Barcelona Journal.  I was using a Canon T3i for this trip with slightly upgraded lenses.  For some trips I rent one or more "L" Series lenses, but did not for this trip.

 

 

Thanks for catching up. I did look under your heading but they didn't go back that far, or at least I didn't know how to make them go back that far. I enjoyed that cruise review just as much as this one. We are doing the Rome to Barcelona and have 3 nights at the end there. We did stop there on another cruise and did see the LSF. I wish I had known about your accommodations earlier, they sounded divine as we are traveling with friends and will just be in a hotel. Your pictures have taken me back to Barcelona and make me even more excited to get to the Greek Islands and Kotor. I think you have convinced me I still want to take my camera. I too love taking pictures of balconies, doorways, roof tops, ruins and sneak a few of the everyday people at work wherever we go.  Where are you going next as I may have to put it on my bucket list?  

[JimmyVWine]

12 minutes ago, CanuckCurlers said:

Where are you going next as I may have to put it on my bucket list?  

I am hoping to do something in Scandinavia, leaving out of Southampton again so that S does not have to fly too far to join us.  But it won't be until 2025 at the earliest. 

 

14 minutes ago, CanuckCurlers said:

I too love taking pictures of balconies, doorways, roof tops, ruins and sneak a few of the everyday people at work wherever we go.

While I didn't include them in my Journal, I have entire "albums" of photos of doorways, flower boxes, cats and iron railings all taken in Greece and Kotor. Enjoy your travels!

[jrblach]

thank you so much for your fantastic awesome detailed review. we are doing 25 day transatlantic Sept 29 which includes all of your ports. the patters and info were invaluable. 

[HondaGirl05]

I am honestly not sure how I stumbled across your thread - but SO glad I did. As we do a similar itinerary this summer I found all of your information very helpful. Thank you for your time!

[JimmyVWine]

4 hours ago, HondaGirl05 said:

I am honestly not sure how I stumbled across your thread - but SO glad I did. As we do a similar itinerary this summer I found all of your information very helpful. Thank you for your time!

I am so glad that you found it useful, almost a year later. But I suppose that is one of the great things about taking a cruise in the Jurassic area.  Not much changes over the course of a million or so years!  I hope you enjoy your upcoming cruise!

[KKB]

17 hours ago, JimmyVWine said:

I am so glad that you found it useful, almost a year later. But I suppose that is one of the great things about taking a cruise in the Jurassic area.  Not much changes over the course of a million or so years!  I hope you enjoy your upcoming cruise!

Just stumbled upon this...we are on the Regal in 4 weeks--TA & UK for 28 days.

I did UK last May, hitting Cobh/Cork & Greenock (both favs); we do Portland this trip but sadly won't hit Guernsey or Wales which look wonderful. Another time.

Love hearing about your travels w/ your daughter. We have 3 children so we DID travel w/o them (expense!) but also with them--and they love cruising as much as we do. DD25 & I did Med last August--off to read your Med TR!

Agree w/ you about food & experience--easy to pleas but difficult to impress is a great mantra.

Suffice it to say that our Daniel Boulud Chef's Table meal on the Celebrity Beyond in April was the best meal we have had, anywhere. (strangely, Los Lobos on NCL Prima in January is top 5--DH chose it & I was whining--Mexican over seafood or steaks??--yet everything was FANTASTIC. Goes to show--you never know)

Thanks for this great TR!

[rowingmachine]

Phew! I'm somewhat breathless after reading all that.  For most of the script I thought you were writing in real time and marvelled.

Even so I still marvel.  You have done me such a service.  All my questions have Been answered at least tangentially.

We are due to cruise in November, 14 days on Sky first time Princess and have gone through all the sums. Finished up with mini suite and Premier package. Came at the same price as Plus so no contest!

Found the sums hypnotically fascinating.  I think we may drink (alcohol ) a little more than than you, but the clincher  for us are the bottles of water . We can easily get through 10 a day equals £40 per day. Silly prices, but DW irrationally will not drink ship's tap water Would have a struggle to hit 15 alcoholic drinks a day each, though we do drink too much.

Hope to do Regal next year round UK. and shall reread your excellent description and advice.

 

[JimmyVWine]

1 hour ago, rowingmachine said:

Phew! I'm somewhat breathless after reading all that.  For most of the script I thought you were writing in real time and marvelled.

That would be something, wouldn't it!  No.  At the end of each day (or before the heavier drinking starts at dinner) I jot down notes and observations for the day, enough to spark my memory about what I want to write about when the time comes.  Plus, 95% of my photos are taken in RAW with a DSLR so I can't process them until I get home.

 

The financial aspect of my review is a bit outdated since they changed what you get (or don't get) with Plus as compared to Premier.  In this thread I did the comparison to show how we did better with Plus, paying the upcharge for better wines.  But with the new(ish) changes, I re-ran the math for our next cruise in September and concluded that the same strategy would have us very close to even with Premier, and given the number of Sea Days we have and the number of times that we might want to dine in Casual Venues that are limited to 2 per cruise with Plus, but unlimited with Premier, it is highly likely that we will do better with Premier, so that is what I booked.  And I don't factor in the cost of water as we are like you and have no problem with the ship's tap or what is available in the World Market self-serve area.  I hope you get to take that Regal cruise next year.  It's wonderful.