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

[fun_one]

27 minutes ago, hmorrow said:

@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?

 

We have never been on 15 before and even though we heard a little noise from the crew rearranging the chairs above us but it was not bad and/or disruptive to us at all.  I have read complaints from other passengers but we did not experience much of that so I totally recommend being on that deck as it was really convenient.  Would definitely do it again. 

[hmorrow]

14 minutes ago, Cajuntraveler said:

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.

I didn't, and wouldn't have picked it. It's a group booking, at a great rate, with a guarantee, which I never usually do for this reason!. I've tried to get it changed, to no avail.  (sad face)

[Paula_MacFan]

21 minutes ago, fun_one said:

  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.

I was referring to this comment:  Since we are Platinum and had booked a suite.....

 

And this:  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. 

 

In my industry when you capitalize something it refers to a name, so I read it as the name of your TA. 

[Shippy]

16 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 did not realize that HOU is basically a Southwest Airlines airport.

We flew American. Only 2 checkin desks for them & only one of them open.  I asked about getting an earlier flight from DFW, our connection, because we had a 4 hour layover. She said I would have to take that up at DFW. I told her that was not a good idea since my luggage would be tagged for the other flight. She just held her ground & said to take it up there.The lady was a total snot but we were stuck with her even though we had first class tickets.

 I was a bit confused ( I am OLD) when we got to the gentleman who checks your passport before security.

I asked where tsa precheck was. He was a total snot & said to just proceed...they all get you through. Of course we wound up in a wrong lane.

Looked like only one desk for DELTA also. We do not care for Southwest and after our Experience with American there......

Unable to get a through flight from San Francisco.

We though going out of Galveston would be quicker than flying yo Florida but when you ad the time from the airport to Galveston, I think it is actually longer.

Unfortunately not much that we like goes out of the west coast.

[memoak]

1 hour ago, fun_one said:

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.

Full suite perks include mini bar setup (2 if you are also elite), free one day laundry, reserve class dining, suites only breakfast location, free specialty dining on embarkation day etc

[KKB]

3 hours ago, fun_one said:

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.

Nope the week before

[bethfelk]

Thanks for the review! Sounds like you had an overall positive experience and makes me excited for our Regal NYE sailing. I am hoping that the port issues will have smoothed out by then. But realistically I know they may not and mentally preparing myself that we just have to make it through one unpleasant morning in order to have 11 days of fun

[partybarbie]

We had the same issues with embarkation in Galveston almost twenty years ago. It sounds like it’s still not fixed. Thanks for the review. It just confirms why we wouldn’t sail from Galveston again.

[SLB cruiser]

Is this the first cruise since Regal repositioned? If so, that may be the issue. We sailed Ruby out of Galveston last February and had no problem with embarkation or debarkation. Very fast and smooth. 

[Lineaway]

Great review, I do have a question about deck 15.  We just booked on Wed. for a cruise next Oct.  When I look closer at the deckplan I noticed that the center lifts go to level 16 but it looks like the stairs stop on 15.  I picked a cabin in the center of the ship so I could use the stairs to get to the pool deck and Horizon court.  I looked at multi deckplans showing deck 15 and they all seem to use a copy and paste off the Princess site.  Do you remember if there were stairs going up to deck 16 from the Scenic lift lobby? Its not clear if thats just a misprint.  One picture showed a peek a boo shot of the stairs but only the edge going down not up.  Hoping you could remember.

[Cajuntraveler]

17 minutes ago, Lineaway said:

Do you remember if there were stairs going up to deck 16 from the Scenic lift lobby? Its not clear if thats just a misprint.  One picture showed a peek a boo shot of the stairs but only the edge going down not up.  Hoping you could remember.

We just got off the Regal last Sunday.  There are stairs, mid ship, going to deck 16.  They are directly in back of the mid ship elevators.

[Lineaway]

Thanks, I really like the ease of just walking up one level of stairs instead of waiting for the elevator.  I would have moved cabins if there were no stairs.  We are right off that lobby area.  

[satxdiver]

We were on the Ruby last April from Galveston.  The boarding went well as we were on the ship before noon.  The debarking also went smoothly with two lines in the terminal one for passports and one for b/c.  The passport line went quick since they were using facial recognition.  We were off the ship and in our car in about 40 minutes headed out.  Sounds like the Regal is a chinese fire drill.  

[hllwdcruiser]

On 11/24/2023 at 10:55 AM, Paula_MacFan said:

I was referring to this comment:  Since we are Platinum and had booked a suite.....

 

And this:  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. 

 

In my industry when you capitalize something it refers to a name, so I read it as the name of your TA. 

What I don't understand is why you are being so snarky to someone who is just trying to write a review. I've only sailed on RCCL twice but I understood what she was trying to say.
Because of so many changes and cutbacks, many people are trying new lines, including Princess regulars who I have seen posting on other boards.
The OP made a few errors. A little kindness goes a long way.

[Paula_MacFan]

2 minutes ago, hllwdcruiser said:

What I don't understand is why you are being so snarky to someone who is just trying to write a review. I've only sailed on RCCL twice but I understood what she was trying to say.
Because of so many changes and cutbacks, many people are trying new lines, including Princess regulars who I have seen posting on other boards.
The OP made a few errors. A little kindness goes a long way.

Asking questions about a review is not being snarky.  Questioning the factual accuracy of a review is not snarky.  People come here to research and get information for their own travels.  Passing along incorrect information is not helpful to anyone.  I've been a member here for 20 years and I don't need you to lecture me on 'kindness'.  But thanks and have a nice day 🙂 

[Paula_MacFan]

21 hours ago, partybarbie said:

We had the same issues with embarkation in Galveston almost twenty years ago. It sounds like it’s still not fixed. Thanks for the review. It just confirms why we wouldn’t sail from Galveston again.

We have sailed from Galveston many times since 2005 on both Princess and RCI and have never experienced the problems recently reported.  We have a Regal cruise booked for January 2024 so I hope they get the issues ironed out soon.  

[hllwdcruiser]

7 minutes ago, Paula_MacFan said:

Asking questions about a review is not being snarky.  Questioning the factual accuracy of a review is not snarky.  People come here to research and get information for their own travels.  Passing along incorrect information is not helpful to anyone.  I've been a member here for 20 years and I don't need you to lecture me on 'kindness'.  But thanks and have a nice day 🙂 

A lot of people on here pointed out the errors. It wasn't that you pointed them out, it was the way you did it. Perhaps you don't realize how you came across. As my dd says, things can be misconstrued in "textlation".
It's all good. 

Edited November 26, 2023 by hllwdcruiser