¡Live! Regal 12 Night UK Cruise (6/25-7/7)

[KarmaCruisers]

Getting the party started a little early.

We’re just about done packing two giant suitcases haha.

This will be my wife’s first time across the pond, but my second (went to open a new office in Leeds&London in early 2019).

This is our 5th Princess cruise (Platinum here we come!) First time on the Regal, but our other four were all Royal class ships. (We love ‘em!)

We booked EZAir because it was $1000 cheaper than booking direct with Virgin.

We’re flying SFO<>LHR on a DreamLiner (Boeing 787-9), in “Premium”. We are flying out tomorrow, Friday, at 5pm PST, and will land on Saturday at 11am GBT. (10 hour flight)
We’re staying a night in London, at Club Quarters Covent Garden; in the front and back of the cruise, to get a little bit of London exploring in.

We’ve got our “No International Transaction Fee” credit cards added to our ApplePay, our Leap Cards (Ireland train passes), and some extra Pounds/Euros (as tips). Just finished buying a pair of Orange Holiday Zen eSim’s.
Our loose plan for London visit sites is…

Big Ben, Parliament, London Eye, Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, Kings Cross (platform 9.75) and HOPEFULLY the Crown Jewels.

We’re using National Express (Bus) to get between London and Southampton.

As far as excursions..

- Guernsey on our own. (No plans)

- Blarney Stone visit via PaddyWagon Tours

- Dublin on our own (Guiness, Jameson, St Patrick’s)

- Liverpool on our own. (No plans)

- Giants Causeway + Titanic Exhibit via Finn McCool’s Tours

- Scotland Adventure Day Trip via BusyBus Tours

- Loch Ness cruise via Princess

- Royal Mile Walking Tour via Princess

- Paris Easy Day Trip via Princess

 

I’ll be posting live updates as we go, so follow along!

[Stacycee]

I can't wait to see your posts!  Especially interested in the Paris trip via Princess as we are doing that in Sept.  Enjoy!

[KarmaCruisers]

2 minutes ago, Stacycee said:

I can't wait to see your posts!  Especially interested in the Paris trip via Princess as we are doing that in Sept.  Enjoy!

If you watch any YT, it’s the same one Tony and Don just did, haha.

[Justpackingmybags]

When you arrive in St Peterport, Guernsey, go to the bus station. You can buy a £10 day pass there and use it to ride the 91 or 92 bus. These go right round the island: one goes clockwise, the other anti.  They run frequently, so you can get off and have a wander where the fancy takes you. Some of the lanes have little honesty boxes on them where you can buy some local produce to nibble!

in St Peterport, Mora is a lovely restaurant down by the harbour.  
Have a safe and fantastic trip!

[snoozecrooze]

Just sending you all the good vibes as you fly across the pond and embark on your cruise! I love this itinerary and love seeing others try it out too (was very giddy to see ParoDeeJay, Tony, and Don all get on as well). Have lots of fun!

[nini]

We did the British Isles in May 2022. We loved it!!! We just flew on Virgin Atlantic from Seattle to LHR for a Norway and Iceland cruise and we were very impressed with Virgin and would fly that again.

Have great time!

[Justpackingmybags]

I noticed you were hoping to see the Crown Jewels. For that you need to pay to visit the Tower of London. It’s BUSY! But it’s such a historic place to visit, dating back to the 11th century. You could spend a fair bit of your limited time in there. The London Eye, Houses of Parliament, Big Ben and Westminster Abbey are located very close to each other. You could then maybe combine that with a boat ride along the Thames and end up at Tower Bridge/ Tower of London. Having said all that, even if you don’t see what was on your original itinerary, you’ll have a great time & find something different at every turn. 

[KarmaCruisers]

1 hour ago, Justpackingmybags said:

When you arrive in St Peterport, Guernsey, go to the bus station. You can buy a £10 day pass there and use it to ride the 91 or 92 bus. These go right round the island: one goes clockwise, the other anti.  They run frequently, so you can get off and have a wander where the fancy takes you. Some of the lanes have little honesty boxes on them where you can buy some local produce to nibble!

in St Peterport, Mora is a lovely restaurant down by the harbour.  
Have a safe and fantastic trip!

Thanks for the tip! We’ll definitely give it a go

[KarmaCruisers]

39 minutes ago, snoozecrooze said:

Just sending you all the good vibes as you fly across the pond and embark on your cruise! I love this itinerary and love seeing others try it out too (was very giddy to see ParoDeeJay, Tony, and Don all get on as well). Have lots of fun!

Thanks! Yeah I thought it was funny they were doing this exact cruise a couple weeks before us (we’ve had this cruise booked since last summer)

[KarmaCruisers]

36 minutes ago, nini said:

We did the British Isles in May 2022. We loved it!!! We just flew on Virgin Atlantic from Seattle to LHR for a Norway and Iceland cruise and we were very impressed with Virgin and would fly that again.

Have great time!

Nice! That’s good to hear; this is our first time on Virgin (and almost first time in anything other than cheapo economy; flew to Hawaii a few years ago in first on Hawaiian Airlines, on a sweetheart of an upgrade deal; then one other time we flew SFO->CLT in domestic first, same type of cheap upgrade offered)

[KarmaCruisers]

19 minutes ago, Justpackingmybags said:

I noticed you were hoping to see the Crown Jewels. For that you need to pay to visit the Tower of London. It’s BUSY! But it’s such a historic place to visit, dating back to the 11th century. You could spend a fair bit of your limited time in there. The London Eye, Houses of Parliament, Big Ben and Westminster Abbey are located very close to each other. You could then maybe combine that with a boat ride along the Thames and end up at Tower Bridge/ Tower of London. Having said all that, even if you don’t see what was on your original itinerary, you’ll have a great time & find something different at every turn. 

Ahh that’s not a bad idea..since all those things are close, we could do them, then ride up the river to the Tower Of London, to see the Crown Jewels.

[Fortunate 2 travel]

Have a wonderful time on the beautiful Regal Princess.  Did you receive your Medallions?

[KarmaCruisers]

50 minutes ago, Fortunate 2 travel said:

Have a wonderful time on the beautiful Regal Princess.  Did you receive your Medallions?

Thanks!

nah; they didn’t bother to ship them..we just pick them up at the terminal (last few cruises have been like this)

[rocklinmom]

Following! And would love to hear your impression of Virgin Atlantic on the SFO to LHR route. 

[Lady Arwen]

Following here, too!  Our turn in September, so looking forward to your report.  Thank you for taking us along on your UK adventure!

[KarmaCruisers]

2 hours ago, rocklinmom said:

Following! And would love to hear your impression of Virgin Atlantic on the SFO to LHR route. 

Yup, will definitely post about it..knock on wood it’s good 🙂

[KarmaCruisers]

1 hour ago, Lady Arwen said:

Following here, too!  Our turn in September, so looking forward to your report.  Thank you for taking us along on your UK adventure!

My pleasure 🙂

[JG&Lcruisingnewbies]

12 hours ago, KarmaCruisers said:

Loch Ness cruise via Princess

I hope Nessie shows up for you. She never has when I’ve been up there though. I’ve been quite a few times to see family

 

I think Nessie is shy ☺️ 😜 

[Fortunate 2 travel]

Would love to hear about your embarkation experience.

[kttraveler]

Thanks for posting as you go. I will be doing this cruise in July and doing many of the stops on my own like you. I am really looking forward to your reports.

[KarmaCruisers]

Just got parked at Anza Parking; waiting for airport shuttle..traffic from Central Valley wasn’t too bad; a tidy 2 hours.

We were going to use ParkSFO; but they wanted like $250 for 16 days; and Anza was only $150. (And we usually park here anyway)

[captain_hug99]

We are getting on the Regal the day you get off! I hope you have a great trip!

[tgsul09]

Has anyone done the Cruisetour in Ireland before the cruise?

[ckrcjr]

18 hours ago, KarmaCruisers said:

Ahh that’s not a bad idea..since all those things are close, we could do them, then ride up the river to the Tower Of London, to see the Crown Jewels.

We were on the 6/1 British Isles cruise and it was amazing!  We spent 3 days in London prior to embarkation and also hoped to see the Crown Jewels.  When we got to the Tower of London, we were told the Crown Jewels had not yet been returned after the recent coronation - disappointing but it was still amazing to see everything else.  Hopefully by the time you arrive, they will be back!!  You will love the cruise and the crew on the Regal is incredible.  Have a wonderful time!!

 

[mrmarklin]

Buckingham palace, London eye and Tower are heavily trafficked. Tickets are usually booked way in advance, and not always available. We have already booked ours for a month from now and not all time slots or days were available. Good Luck!