Live from Regal Princess May 15 British Isles cruise

[Pirateskigirl]

Good Morning.  This is our last sea day on the Regal has we sail towards Portland, England. Last formal night.

Here is the Patter. 

[Pirateskigirl]

Today turned into a special day. We were invited on a tour of the bridge. We met the Captain who explained what we were seeing happening on the bridge and we were told not to touch any buttons especially the red one. We got a group picture and he excused himself. 
The first officer took over and explained how each station worked and showed us the radar, charts and the joy stick for driving the ship. He explained the watches and the duties of the members on the bridge. It truly is the best view on the ship. We were cruising towards the Strait of Dover, so we saw several sea windmill farms, oil platforms and tanker ships. It was a bit foggy & rainy but you still had visibility. We got our pictures taken in the Captain’s chair. We could take still pictures but no videos on the bridge. It was a very cool experience. 
 

You’ll be happy to know the guests did defeat the crew in the final guest challenge trivia Jenga to win overall for the trip.  
 

The weather started clearing up after 5pm and it was rather pleasant on deck with a lovely sunset. 
Tomorrow is Portland, England our last full day of the cruise 😞

A couple from the bridge visit including the famous Princess Love Boat horn. 
Examples of the Portland excursion offerings and tonight’s menu. It was steak and lobster night. 

[nini]

Congrats on your tour! How can one manage to do that..... inquiring minds and all 😁

[Pirateskigirl]

We’ve had some quality entertainment on this cruise.  
Pianist Jowita in Crooners & Wheelhouse Bar

Oliver Holland in the Wheelhouse

Starlight Strings in Piazza

Vanilla Duo in Piazza

Vista Lounge featured comedians Mike Sealy & Phil Walker

Production shows: Bravo, World of Dance and Fiera.

Just to name a few. 

[Pirateskigirl]

5 minutes ago, nini said:

Congrats on your tour! How can one manage to do that..... inquiring minds and all 😁

My friend being a Princess elite high roller got us the surprise invitation the night before the tour. I was a lucky participant. 

[nini]

2 hours ago, Pirateskigirl said:

My friend being a Princess elite high roller got us the surprise invitation the night before the tour. I was a lucky participant. 

Excellent!

[EDVM96]

4 hours ago, Pirateskigirl said:

So cool, I thought it isn't allowed to take pictures while invited to the bridge.

Nice to see the bridge from the Regal. 😊

Edited May 26 by EDVM96

[Pirateskigirl]

Good Morning from Portland, UK

Looks like a nice day.

[Pirateskigirl]

Here is today’s Patter

 

[Mstack76]

Thank you so much for all your insight into this cruise. We were supposed to be onboard, but a medical issue prevented us from going. We have rescheduled for the end of September.🤞Lots of good ideas! Thanks again!

[insidecabin]

On 5/23/2024 at 7:06 PM, Loritd said:

What is it with the Le Harve port?  We have had that stop on three cruises, only made it once. They must strike all the time. 

The French love a strike, MSC use Le Havre over the winter and it gets missed a lot.

[insidecabin]

At South Queensferry the X99 ticket is an all day that includes the trams

(With the HOHO £30.)

 

https://www.lothianbuses.com/cruiselink-x99/

 

Roundtrip Tickets
Adult Roundtrip: £12.00 (Network Day ticket valid on Lothian, Lothian Country Buses, East Coast Buses, and Edinburgh Tram)
Child (5-15yrs) Roundtrip: £6.00 return (Network Day ticket valid on  Lothian, Lothian Country Buses, East Coast Buses, and Edinburgh Tram)

[stbr]

On 5/22/2024 at 10:02 AM, catgirl411 said:

Wow, now I really feel lucky that we were on the previous sailing. The excursion to the Canadian WW2 sites was one of our highlights.

I am hoping to do something similar in 2025.

 

Did you book a tour privately or through the cruise line?

[catgirl411]

1 minute ago, stbr said:

I am hoping to do something similar in 2025.

 

Did you book a tour privately or through the cruise line?

Through Princess.

[cr8tiv1]

I may have missed a post on this, I apologize.  But just reading more about casinos being no smoking on cruises based out of Southampton/UK.  Does this apply to Princess (Royal or any other ship) doing partial year cruises?  I can only wish for this.

 

Thank you for taking us all along on your cruise.

[Pirateskigirl]

2 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

I may have missed a post on this, I apologize.  But just reading more about casinos being no smoking on cruises based out of Southampton/UK.  Does this apply to Princess (Royal or any other ship) doing partial year cruises?  I can only wish for this.

 

Thank you for taking us all along on your cruise.

Only noticed some smoking in the casino one night when I was donating money and it was only in one small section.  On this ship the double down bar has slots in it Deck 6 just off the casino floor.  It is also where theTexas Hold em table is located. 

[Pirateskigirl]

Last day of the cruise.  We elected to do the Stonehenge tour.  Overall, we’ve been pretty lucky with the weather on this cruise. Partly cloudy and windy at Stonehenge. The set up was a bit different than my last visit 25 years ago. You have the option from the parking lot to walk up (25 minutes) or wait for the shuttle. We did the 7 minute shuttle. It’s an amazing place especially when it’s your first time.  You have to walk a specific path around the stones.  They have all these signs for wacky pictures you can take with Stonehenge. The exhibit of the housing that the people who built lived in was neat. The new to me larger visitors center/cafe/gift shop and playground was definitely well used. It’s a bank holiday weekend with nice weather, so folks are enjoying it.

Portland was lovely and not Normandy but they have an excellent D-Day Museum and several sites that played a roll on D-Day 80 years ago. I wouldn’t mind returning to explore the dinosaur fossil sites and other places.

It was Prime Rib in the Dining Room tonight. Sorry no menu pictures, I forgot. 

Back to the USA tomorrow.  Thanks for following along. 

[nini]

6 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

I may have missed a post on this, I apologize.  But just reading more about casinos being no smoking on cruises based out of Southampton/UK.  Does this apply to Princess (Royal or any other ship) doing partial year cruises?  I can only wish for this.

 

Thank you for taking us all along on your cruise.

I only wish that they are non smoking out of Southampton!

[jenjens1023]

On 5/19/2024 at 8:53 PM, ECUnited said:

We are doing the 12 day in June. What are everyone’s opinions on how many Euros would be advisable to have? I figure most places take CC but for smaller incidentals I would expect them to prefer cash. 
 

Thanks in advance!

We didn't use any euros. Our Irish purchases were put on CC. We only used pounds for crew tips and a private tour.

[Pirateskigirl]

On 5/19/2024 at 3:53 PM, ECUnited said:

We are doing the 12 day in June. What are everyone’s opinions on how many Euros would be advisable to have? I figure most places take CC but for smaller incidentals I would expect them to prefer cash. 
 

Thanks in advance!

Credit cards are accepted all most everywhere.  Personally, I like to have local currency in my pocket for little things like a coffee, tour guide tips, etc.. Roughly, 50 each currency. Since, we lost two stops on this cruise, I had more left over Euros & Pounds than normal. I used some of that for crew tips and purchases at Heathrow. 

[KKB]

On 5/22/2024 at 7:57 AM, Pirateskigirl said:

We were told at 12n today that we are no more longer stopping in Le Harve, France due to a workers strike at the port.  😒 They have substituted a stop at the Isle of Portland to replace it.  Everyone is very disappointed in this change.  I would not want to be working the guest services desk today.  I think 25% we’re getting off a Le Harve to fly out of Paris.  

I can see the frustration for those disembarking in LeHavre.

Many may also have had Dday tours.

But honestly, I think Weymouth (Portland port) is nicer than LeHavre...

On 5/23/2024 at 1:33 AM, Pirateskigirl said:

Well….We were informed at 7am today by the Captain that our call on the Orkneys was canceled due to high winds (35-40mph) on the dock.  Needless to say, we are very disappointed.  We will be having a foggy sea day hearing the mournful sound of the ship’s fog horn.  

 

Interesting.

We had Orkney cancelled about 3 weeks before our April 18 Regal UK cruise. They claimed they weren't going to be going there anymore.

Our substitute stop wasn't impressive. (Kerwick) I had loved Orkney/Kirkwall the year before & was anxious to go back.

[nini]

1 hour ago, KKB said:

I can see the frustration for those disembarking in LeHavre.

Many may also have had Dday tours.

But honestly, I think Weymouth (Portland port) is nicer than LeHavre...

Interesting.

We had Orkney cancelled about 3 weeks before our April 18 Regal UK cruise. They claimed they weren't going to be going there anymore.

Our substitute stop wasn't impressive. (Kerwick) I had loved Orkney/Kirkwall the year before & was anxious to go back.

 

Oh no! I also love Orkney/Kirkwall. Maybe they will get complaints and think about it!

[jenjens1023]

My husband was disappointed by the cancellation of the D-Day tour. But he found a wonderful little D-Day museum in Portland. Very hands-on and showed how proud Portland was of their role in the invasion.

 

I was disappointed in the loss of Orkney for a selfish reason. There's a fabric store I wanted to go to. I was going to buy fabric to make a British Isles cruise quilt. But after packing to come home I realized I wouldn'tt have had room!

[Trish Traveler]

On 5/26/2024 at 4:49 PM, Pirateskigirl said:

Last day of the cruise.  We elected to do the Stonehenge tour.  Overall, we’ve been pretty lucky with the weather on this cruise. Partly cloudy and windy at Stonehenge. The set up was a bit different than my last visit 25 years ago. You have the option from the parking lot to walk up (25 minutes) or wait for the shuttle. We did the 7 minute shuttle. It’s an amazing place especially when it’s your first time.  You have to walk a specific path around the stones.  They have all these signs for wacky pictures you can take with Stonehenge. The exhibit of the housing that the people who built lived in was neat. The new to me larger visitors center/cafe/gift shop and playground was definitely well used. It’s a bank holiday weekend with nice weather, so folks are enjoying it.

Portland was lovely and not Normandy but they have an excellent D-Day Museum and several sites that played a roll on D-Day 80 years ago. I wouldn’t mind returning to explore the dinosaur fossil sites and other places.

It was Prime Rib in the Dining Room tonight. Sorry no menu pictures, I forgot. 

Back to the USA tomorrow.  Thanks for following along. 

Thank you for taking the time to post.  Very helpful info and beautiful photos. Sorry the itinerary had changes.  I'm going in fall, so I will have to be ready for the possibility of changes.

[Trish Traveler]

On 5/29/2024 at 1:48 PM, nini said:

 

Oh no! I also love Orkney/Kirkwall. Maybe they will get complaints and think about it!

I'm going in the fall, so I'm hopeful we will still have Orkney.  It's still showing on Princess and cruisemapper port schedules.  But that's a while away so anything can happen.