Regal Princess Review - Galveston sailing 11/12/23 - 11/19/23

[fun_one]

We recently sailed the Regal Princess out of Galveston 11/12/23 - 11/19/23 and I wanted to share my review with you.

General

We are a couple in our 60’s who live in Galveston and cruise a lot.  We booked this cruise directly through a Travel Consulting Company that we signed up with last year and got a really good price compared to booking directly with Princess.  We booked a mini-suite and were very happy with the cabin and location.  We chose a room on the Mariner Deck (15) which gave us easy access to coffee (Deck 16) in the morning.  We prepaid our tips and booked the Princess Plus package that includes drinks, tips and internet.  It also included some fitness classes and extra desserts but we didn’t take advantage of either of those. We knew we would want to upgrade to the Premium Drink package once on board and had some OBC that we planned to use for that. 

 

Embarkation and Debarkation

Embarkation was a total mess.  We had an 11:00AM boarding time but when we got dropped off at the pier, the line was insanely long.  Since we are Platinum and had booked a suite, we tried to find someone who could tell us if there was an expedited line only to be told that our “green line” status would only help us once we were inside the terminal.  We had ordered our Medallion lanyards and received them ahead of time so figured we would save some time there.  We weaved through the line outside, only to find that once inside, you had to weave at least 10 more times before you got to show an agent your passports.  And only after that did they separate out the people with “green line” status from the others.  The total time to board was almost an hour and a half.

The debarkation process was extremely challenging as well.  We chose to walk off with our bags so planned to leave around 9:00AM since we live in Galveston and were just having a friend pick us up.   The line to leave the ship weaved completely up through the exit ramps and the captain came on to say the waits were “longer than usual”.  Once we could see the baggage area, the line was even longer.  We heard many really upset people complaining that they were going to miss their flights.  Once we got closer to the customs area, we could see the problem was that they then divided us into 12 lines only to have only 6 Custom agents so at the end, they had to merge all the lines together.  The people that were in back of us in the main line made it through customs at least 20 minutes ahead of us just because of the speed of this incredibly inefficient process.

 

Once on Board

When we finally got on board, we went immediately to get our drink package upgraded from Plus to Premium.  It was only $20 pp/per day and we felt it was worth it because we like to drink Brut champagne instead of Prosecco. The Premium package also gives you unlimited specialty restaurants and we wanted to go to the Steak House so that worked out well.  The first sommelier we ran into was Thana and it was his very first sailing!  Unfortunately, he was unsure how to handle the upgrade so he called another sommelier, Stefan (from Serbia), who walked him through the process.  Then Stefan asked us about our dinner plans and when we told him how difficult it had to make reservations, he told us to meet him in the Allegro dining room at 7:00PM and he would take care of us.  Well, we can’t say enough about Stefan because not only did he seat us at a wonderful table in a very quiet section of the dining room, he served us excellent wines and took care of anything else we needed on the cruise.  Stefan really was one of a kind and I can’t say enough to commend his knowledge and kindness to us.  Kudos to him!

 

Food

Overall, the food was very fresh and good.  We thought the selections on the menu were good and never had trouble finding something we liked.  My husband and I are not big eaters but do enjoy good food.  We do not care much for the buffet area on the ship and preferred to eat in the MDR, Alfredo’s (pizza) or the International Café and had good meals in all places.  Since our room was on deck 15, my husband would run up one level to get coffee in the morning and then we’d head out for a mimosa and a bite to eat.  We never did room service.  We did eat at the buffet in Horizon Court one day for lunch and found it very easy to get a drink which has not always been the case.  I would like to recognize Hanmant who was very nice.

We had dinner at 7:00PM every night at a table for 2 in the Allegro dining room.   Alex and Blessing were our servers and they were excellent.  We were in a smaller part of the dining room where there were other people sitting at tables nearby that we spoke with every night.  That was fun and interesting.  The bread on the ship is amazing and they really do have a great fettuccini alfredo and onion soup every night as an option.  We ate at Chops one night and really enjoyed it.

 

Bar Service

There are many bars on the Regal Princess but we spent most of our time at Grand Spirits (in the atrium), Vines (Valerian and Christina) and at Bellini’s (shoutout to Melvin and Sebastian) which has a great selection of champagne along with other drinks.  The service in both of these bars was top notch.  We also want to recognize Jackson who is the manager in Alfredos and Good Spirits and Francis who managed at Vines and Good Spirits.  The servers everywhere were super attentive and would often get you a drink before you even asked for it.  We had friends who recently sailed who said they spent time at The Wheelhouse and Crooners but we did not spend time in either of those bars.  We liked the Atrium because there was always something going on there whether it be music or some game and it was very entertaining overall.

We only went to the pool bar a few times and the service was very good there as well.

One issue I will mention is that for some reason, Princess thinks that it is a “Galveston” thing that you can’t honor the drink package until you hit the international line.  We know for a fact that this is not true as we have sailed RCCL and NCL and neither of those lines have that rule.  The bartender told us that everyone with the drink package was given a $25 credit toward drinks once you board however, we boarded at 12:00PM and we didn’t set sail until close to 4:00PM so it was at least 6:00PM until the drink package would kick in. $25 is certainly not going to cover that time. It is just not right since you are paying for the package and if you are on the ship for 6+ hours, you should be able to get free drinks.  The cruise line has convinced all the crew that it is a Galveston thing when we know it is not.  We are well aware of the limited drink menu until we are in International waters but nothing about limiting the drink package.

 

Room

We had a mini-suite on Deck 15 and had excellent service by our room steward, Sarah May Taay.  The room was always tidy and clean and she brought us ice every day.  There was plenty of storage space since they moved the TVs to the walls.  The only negative thing about the suite was that there was a tub/shower combination and the tub was somewhat difficult to get in.

 

Entertainment

The entertainment was good and we saw something most nights.  There were 2 comedians – we thought 1 was funny but not the other.  The best shows were the small ones in the “Princess Live” theater which is a smaller venue.  We enjoyed hearing live music in the Piazza a lot.

 

Excursions

We are not big fans of excursions and didn’t plan any but we did get off in Cozumel because we like a restaurant there called Las Palmeras (in the center of town).  Other-wise we stayed on the ship and enjoyed the fact that most people did get off the ship.  We did note that the lines to get off the ship seemed to be longer than most people expected so it cut their time in port.

 

Overall

The cruise director, Allie (from New Jersey) was excellent as was the assistant cruise director.   We liked and watched the Wake Up show to give us an informed start on the day.  They were both totally enjoyable and full of energy.  We met Allie and she was super friendly and obviously loves her job.  We made a point to attend the session where she answered questions from the guests as well as the session where the people that work on the bridge talked about the ship and fielded questions.

The ship itself looks really good and was in excellent shape.  We love the size and layout so were very comfortable on it. It was pretty easy to figure the layout after a day or two and the theater spaces and dining rooms never seemed very crowded.

 

Medallion application

This was our third cruise with the Medallion application and I have to say it is much improved.  We love the way your room unlocks when you get near it and the fact that the crew know who you are without asking you for anything.  We were cruising alone so did not have a need to find our friends so I am not sure if that part of the app has improved since our last cruise (when it didn’t work very well).

 

Internet

The internet was okay but not great.  I did feel that it was better than our last Princess cruise so hope it will keep improving. 

[beg3yrs]

Great review, thanks so much. The warnings regarding embarkation and disembarkation are appreciated. You've got lots of useful information in there.

 

Just wanted to ask about the Premium package and unlimited specialty dining. Did you really mean the casual dining venues like Alfredo's? AFAIK, the Premium package gives you unlimited casual dining but nothing with the specialty restaurants. Suite guests, IIRC, do get their first night onboard free in a specialty restaurant and that's often honored other nights as on the first night the specialty restaurants are all booked.

[RNCheryl]

Thanks for your review.  We sailed with Allie this summer, and, unfortunately, cannot echo your response.  We saw her twice on excursions, and despite smiling and waving to her, no response.  Hope our experience was in the minority.

[JGmf]

Thanks for the review!

[Cajuntraveler]

Thank you for writing this review.  DH and I were on this cruise with you and enjoyed everything but the embarkation and debarkation process.  We cruised on the Ruby Princess this past April out of Galveston and had no problems. We live within driving distance of the port and are excited that Princess is now in Galveston.  I fear that if the port problem continues, Princess will not fill their ships and will stop serving Galveston. Several on our roll call who flew to HOU/IAH are saying "never again". Can you recommend local port authorities or tourist associations that I can write to about this problem?

Is this problem only occurring at terminal 28? if so, any idea why?

[memoak]

1 hour ago, beg3yrs said:

Great review, thanks so much. The warnings regarding embarkation and disembarkation are appreciated. You've got lots of useful information in there.

 

Just wanted to ask about the Premium package and unlimited specialty dining. Did you really mean the casual dining venues like Alfredo's? AFAIK, the Premium package gives you unlimited casual dining but nothing with the specialty restaurants. Suite guests, IIRC, do get their first night onboard free in a specialty restaurant and that's often honored other nights as on the first night the specialty restaurants are all booked.

This cruiser did not sail in a full suite they were in a mini suite so no specialty dinner on first night. We have never had a problem getting our included first night in a specialty. They never book all the tables on that night ahead of time even if the app does not show availability 

[wallyj]

4 hours ago, beg3yrs said:

Great review, thanks so much. The warnings regarding embarkation and disembarkation are appreciated. You've got lots of useful information in there.

 

Just wanted to ask about the Premium package and unlimited specialty dining. Did you really mean the casual dining venues like Alfredo's? AFAIK, the Premium package gives you unlimited casual dining but nothing with the specialty restaurants. 

With the Premier Pkg, you get 2 Specialty Dining credits no matter the length of the sailing. Unlimited Casual dining is part of the Premier pkg.

 

[wallyj]

@fun_one, Thank you for taking the time to post your review.

 

Please clarify, you say you prepaid your tips but got the plus package which includes tips and then upgraded on board to Premier? This makes it sound like to paid tips twice?

 

AFAIK, this ship does not have a dining area called ‘Chops’. You may have Royal Caribbean on your mind as that is the name of the Steakhouse on that Cruiseline.

[memoak]

26 minutes ago, wallyj said:

@fun_one, Thank you for taking the time to post your review.

 

Please clarify, you say you prepaid your tips but got the plus package which includes tips and then upgraded on board to Premier? This makes it sound like to paid tips twice?

 

AFAIK, this ship does not have a dining area called ‘Chops’. You may have Royal Caribbean on your mind as that is the name of the Steakhouse on that Cruiseline.

They are also on Marina deck not Mariner and it is Good Spirits no Grand Spirits. Are we sure the are on a Princess ship ?  LOL

[KKB]

6 hours ago, fun_one said:

.

Bar Service

 

One issue I will mention is that for some reason, Princess thinks that it is a “Galveston” thing that you can’t honor the drink package until you hit the international line.  We know for a fact that this is not true as we have sailed RCCL and NCL and neither of those lines have that rule.  The bartender told us that everyone with the drink package was given a $25 credit toward drinks once you board however, we boarded at 12:00PM and we didn’t set sail until close to 4:00PM so it was at least 6:00PM until the drink package would kick in. $25 is certainly not going to cover that time. It is just not right since you are paying for the package and if you are on the ship for 6+ hours, you should be able to get free drinks.  The cruise line has convinced all the crew that it is a Galveston thing when we know it is not.  We are well aware of the limited drink menu until we are in International waters but nothing about limiting the drink package.

 

A cruise line has the option to pay a fee (fairly substantial I'm sure) to allow customers to use their drink packages while in TX waters. 

CCL (who owns Princess, along with Holland & Costa) choose not to pay this. 
Clearly it is cheaper for them to toss everyone w/ a drink package a $25 credit than to pay the fee. 

So RCCL & NCL have chosen to pay the fee, which is why there is a difference.

[KKB]

4 hours ago, Cajuntraveler said:

Thank you for writing this review.  DH and I were on this cruise with you and enjoyed everything but the embarkation and debarkation process.  We cruised on the Ruby Princess this past April out of Galveston and had no problems. We live within driving distance of the port and are excited that Princess is now in Galveston.  I fear that if the port problem continues, Princess will not fill their ships and will stop serving Galveston. Several on our roll call who flew to HOU/IAH are saying "never again". Can you recommend local port authorities or tourist associations that I can write to about this problem?

Is this problem only occurring at terminal 28? if so, any idea why?

I flew into HOU in March with no issues & have connected there before--why are they saying "never again"?

[Cajuntraveler]

1 hour ago, KKB said:

I flew into HOU in March with no issues & have connected there before--why are they saying "never again"?

The embarkation and debarkation was complete chaos.  We arrived around 10:45 and there were long lines of people waiting outside with no handicapped or priority lines.  When the terminal finally opened it took a while to get everyone processed.

On our return, it took us over an hour from leaving the ship to exiting the terminal. Rather than using the DIY face recognition, everyone had to be seen by one of the 6 agents processing over 3,000 passengers.  Nowhere for elderly passengers to sit and no global entry or priority lines.  I've never experienced such a disorganized departure or arrival. CC commentors report the same problems on the previous cruise.

[KKB]

21 minutes ago, Cajuntraveler said:

The embarkation and debarkation was complete chaos.  We arrived around 10:45 and there were long lines of people waiting outside with no handicapped or priority lines.  When the terminal finally opened it took a while to get everyone processed.

On our return, it took us over an hour from leaving the ship to exiting the terminal. Rather than using the DIY face recognition, everyone had to be seen by one of the 6 agents processing over 3,000 passengers.  Nowhere for elderly passengers to sit and no global entry or priority lines.  I've never experienced such a disorganized departure or arrival. CC commentors report the same problems on the previous cruise.

No, it was mentioned that HOU/IAH people said "never again"--I guess i thought they were referring to the airports not the port.

 

Sailed Ruby in March...arrived 1045 & was onboard before 11--easiest embarkation ANYWHERE.

 

We sail the NCL Prima from Galveston next month so I guess we can compare then!

[2and2]

9 hours ago, memoak said:

This cruiser did not sail in a full suite they were in a mini suite so no specialty dinner on first night. We have never had a problem getting our included first night in a specialty. They never book all the tables on that night ahead of time even if the app does not show availability 

   Not sure if you can answer this question. When booking the cruise, we were told that we would get a complimentary additional specialty dinning on the first night of the cruise to go along with our two specialty dinning with the premier package.  We were able to reserve nights for the two specialty dinning with the package using the app. But the complimentary first night is no where to be found on the app, or any document and when we try to reserve the restaurant and time we want on the app for the first night,  it charges full price, so I do not finish purchase. I have searched, and some say they select the restaurant and time and inform you at your room some way. Do you or anyone else have any experience or tips about how the complimentary first night specialty dinning works.

[Paula_MacFan]

I have so many questions about this review but I gave up trying to quote each one.  Mariner deck, Grand Spirits, assigned boarding time, suite perks for mini suites, mentioning the TA, double paying gratuities, Chops dining, etc......

 

Maybe I'll just go get some Thanksgiving leftovers and forget about it 🙂 

 

 

[memoak]

1 hour ago, 2and2 said:

   Not sure if you can answer this question. When booking the cruise, we were told that we would get a complimentary additional specialty dinning on the first night of the cruise to go along with our two specialty dinning with the premier package.  We were able to reserve nights for the two specialty dinning with the package using the app. But the complimentary first night is no where to be found on the app, or any document and when we try to reserve the restaurant and time we want on the app for the first night,  it charges full price, so I do not finish purchase. I have searched, and some say they select the restaurant and time and inform you at your room some way. Do you or anyone else have any experience or tips about how the complimentary first night specialty dinning works.

Don’t worry about the complimentary dinner on embarkation night you can call the dine line the you get on board. They leave tables empty for the full suite passengers 

[LACruiser88]

4 hours ago, Paula_MacFan said:

I have so many questions about this review but I gave up trying to quote each one.  Mariner deck, Grand Spirits, assigned boarding time, suite perks for mini suites, mentioning the TA, double paying gratuities, Chops dining, etc......

 

Maybe I'll just go get some Thanksgiving leftovers and forget about it 🙂 

 

 

Ditto!

[fun_one]

23 hours ago, beg3yrs said:

Great review, thanks so much. The warnings regarding embarkation and disembarkation are appreciated. You've got lots of useful information in there.

 

Just wanted to ask about the Premium package and unlimited specialty dining. Did you really mean the casual dining venues like Alfredo's? AFAIK, the Premium package gives you unlimited casual dining but nothing with the specialty restaurants. Suite guests, IIRC, do get their first night onboard free in a specialty restaurant and that's often honored other nights as on the first night the specialty restaurants are all booked.

I believe the Premium package gives you 2 specialty dining venues but we only did 1 so I am not sure.  Alfredo's seemed to be included and is considered "casual" dining venue and we ate there twice as it was very good.  Totally recommend it on embarkation day.  Not sure what the "suite" guest gives you since we had the Premium package anyway.  Totally worth it for the champagne in general.

[hmorrow]

@CajuntravelerThanks for your review. You're not the only one advising of the chaos while boarding(unfortunately)

We also have a mini suite on 15 and are concerned about the noise from from the bistro, above. We're in m516. Can you comment on that?

 

[fun_one]

21 hours ago, Cajuntraveler said:

Thank you for writing this review.  DH and I were on this cruise with you and enjoyed everything but the embarkation and debarkation process.  We cruised on the Ruby Princess this past April out of Galveston and had no problems. We live within driving distance of the port and are excited that Princess is now in Galveston.  I fear that if the port problem continues, Princess will not fill their ships and will stop serving Galveston. Several on our roll call who flew to HOU/IAH are saying "never again". Can you recommend local port authorities or tourist associations that I can write to about this problem?

Is this problem only occurring at terminal 28? if so, any idea why?

I have written a letter to the Galveston Daily News in hopes that they will publish it to address the issues with the embarkation and debarkation process.  We also sailed the Ruby last April (funny we may have been on the same sailing as you!) and had no issues either so am unsure what the issues were this past sailing.  I don't know exactly who you should write to but I suggest any and all of anyone you think. I plan to also find some other avenues to see if our voice will be heard!  Thank you!

[fun_one]

19 hours ago, wallyj said:

@fun_one, Thank you for taking the time to post your review.

 

Please clarify, you say you prepaid your tips but got the plus package which includes tips and then upgraded on board to Premier? This makes it sound like to paid tips twice?

 

AFAIK, this ship does not have a dining area called ‘Chops’. You may have Royal Caribbean on your mind as that is the name of the Steakhouse on that Cruiseline.

The tips are included in the Plus and Premium packages on Princess. If I said we prepaid tips, I was thinking about a different cruise - sorry! And same for if I said Chops I meant Steakhouse - again, my bad.

 

19 hours ago, memoak said:

They are also on Marina deck not Mariner and it is Good Spirits no Grand Spirits. Are we sure the are on a Princess ship ?  LOL

Sorry, thanks for catching that.  Of course it was GOOD SPIRITS and it was just a typo on my part.

[Cajuntraveler]

7 minutes ago, hmorrow said:

We're in m516. Can you comment on that?

We were in a reserve mini on deck 11, so I don't have any experience with the cabins on deck 15.  It appears that your cabin is directly below the bistro.  I would be concerned about noise. The Bistro was very busy on the few times that we visited that area.  If it's not too late, perhaps select a different cabin.

[fun_one]

15 hours ago, KKB said:

No, it was mentioned that HOU/IAH people said "never again"--I guess i thought they were referring to the airports not the port.

 

Sailed Ruby in March...arrived 1045 & was onboard before 11--easiest embarkation ANYWHERE.

 

We sail the NCL Prima from Galveston next month so I guess we can compare then!

We are on the Prima 1/19/24 sailing - is that when you are sailing that ship?  I don't want to jinx us but last time we did the Prima out of Galveston, we had no issues on sail-away.

[fun_one]

12 hours ago, 2and2 said:

   Not sure if you can answer this question. When booking the cruise, we were told that we would get a complimentary additional specialty dinning on the first night of the cruise to go along with our two specialty dinning with the premier package.  We were able to reserve nights for the two specialty dinning with the package using the app. But the complimentary first night is no where to be found on the app, or any document and when we try to reserve the restaurant and time we want on the app for the first night,  it charges full price, so I do not finish purchase. I have searched, and some say they select the restaurant and time and inform you at your room some way. Do you or anyone else have any experience or tips about how the complimentary first night specialty dinning works.

I can't answer that question but am sure you can get that resolved quickly once you board.  The Specialty venues were not as full as they make it seem when you try to book ahead.  In fact, we had not booked the Steakhouse ahead of time and were able to get a reservation for 7:30 once we got on board even though the app only showed times like 9:00 pm.

[fun_one]

11 hours ago, Paula_MacFan said:

I have so many questions about this review but I gave up trying to quote each one.  Mariner deck, Grand Spirits, assigned boarding time, suite perks for mini suites, mentioning the TA, double paying gratuities, Chops dining, etc......

 

Maybe I'll just go get some Thanksgiving leftovers and forget about it 🙂 

 

 

I am so sorry you are confused by my review and couldn't figure out that I made a few mistakes in the review with typos and confusion with RCCL venues but thought anyone could read through it.  Yes, it was the Marina deck, Good Spirits and yes the gratuities are prepaid with both Plus and the Platinum package (so in essence, they were pre-paid).  We did have a boarding time of 11:00 am so that part is correct even though it didn't seem to matter once we got to the port.  I am not aware of any perks for mini-suites so that part is correct.  Not sure what you comment about "the TA" is all about so can't respond to that.  Sorry to have confused you.