KKB

It is above Vista Lounge (Allegro dining room is below that on deck 6) I heard a band rehearsing there one afternoon--not disturbing in any way tho. But the latest thing held there is the occasional comedian. They do 630, 830 & 1030 shows. Maybe every few days? Likely we weren't in the room at that late (well, early for us) to hear anything those nights.

I’m from Nebraska. We were surprised how GOOD the steaks were!!

I emailed them & they got back to me in a few hours & I can send them the info thru the email. Awesome!

Final thoughts Absolutely LOVED this cruise!! AMAZING crew, lovely ship, FABULOUS food. Loved the itinerary. LOVED our 1st TA & longest cruise to date. I'm ready to go again!🥰 If there are any questions about the ship, TAs, UK cruises, I will certainly try to answer!

ACTIVITY ADDITIONS OK forgot to share...we were chosen to do Marriage Match game the 2nd leg. We were the middle wed couple (actually this was a cruise for our 30 yr anniversary!) It was a HOOT--we had so much fun! And we WON (well, tied for 1st with the newlyweds--unusual, seems those oldyweds always win!) We were celebrities after that--people enjoyed us & that's all we can ask. Even had a guy at the airport comment, lol. Also--don't miss the "Mystery" trivia the last night. I REALLY miss Hollywood Hiccups, not sure why they got rid of that. But the Mystery trivia "show" is as funny. (the trivia is pointless, the show is just a hoot) Another shout out the AMAZING Activities Crew on this ship!! (I kept telling DH that our DD should meet Matt...😉)

UK portion of the cruise Southampton (turnaround day) Take the free shuttle; we took a cab (10E, no big deal, but not necessary) Friend & I had booked massages at You Massage in Southampton for less than half the price on the ship. It was brilliant! 15 min walk from the bus drop off. Guys hit some local pubs. (Portland)Weymouth, England I wasn't excited about this port, but ended up loving it! Lovely sea resort town; this is the very beginning of the season. Still busy! LOTS of shopping to be had--we did a bit. Wandered all over. Had very good fish & chips at The Swan Friend & I decided to get our nails done for 30E--again, less than half the ship prices. Guys headed back to the ship & DH deserves husband of the year as he packed & moved all our stuff from deck 8 aft to deck 15 FAR forward...Yep, I owe him! (sea day) Cobh, Ireland Decided not to go to Cork since the next 2 days were busy. LOVE Cobh--small little town with fun pubs, lovely church. 2 nice historical museums On the way back to the ship decided to have lunch at Jacob's Ladder on a whim. Boy were we glad we did! EXCEPTIONAL seafood chowder! Seated out on the patio--could see our cabin (remember, below the bridge) from our seat. Love that u port RIGHT in Cobh--maybe 1000 feet to town! Did some laundry when we got back on board--port days are the easiest days to do laundry. Dublin, Ireland (tender) A bit of an ordeal to get there with a tender & train but we got on the 1st tender Did a circuit on the HOHO bus--guide was very entertaining! Had Irish Guinness stew at OSheas. We then went to the Irish Rock N Roll Hall of Fame. OMG--U2 has been my fav band since the early 80s, so I was in HEAVEN, as was friend's husband who is also a music buff (LOTS of music trivia played in 28 days!) Fantastic guide--this is still a working studio as well as a college. SO very cool. We then walked/ran back to the train station. Walked up as the train we wanted pulled up. We weren't cutting it close overall--we build in time--but it was about as close as we would have liked it!! Greenock/Glasgow, Scotland We bought bus tickets at the port. Easy 30 min bus ride to town. Wandered around. LOTS of shopping here. Stopped at a pub as nothing open for lunch at 11 (YEP the pub was tho!) Went to chain Brewdog for lunch (saw it on a vlog). Quite good & bought a bottle of Lonewolf MX lime gin that they distill--so smooth I could drink it straight! Food was more typical US sports bar fare. (maybe we were craving it a bit) Luckily we headed back plenty early--bus was a normal bus, so lots of stops along the way. Took 90 min this time!!! Next time I think we will just take the train (price was comparable) All aboard was 530 with a 6PM departure. About 540 they called 3 names (you know what that means if you have cruised before!) 10 min later called again. Oh, no... 555 we have DOCK RUNNERS! Um, I would NEVER EVER cut it that close...but considering our bus in took 30 min & bus back took 90...I can see how it would happen! (SEA DAY) Kerwick/Shetland Islands, Scotland This was a change to our itinerary right before we boarded. I was sad--originally it had been Kirkwall/Orkney Islands--and I LOVED both of these! We researched excursions, things to do in Kerwick & there wasn't much...PLUS it was Sunday so u knew a lot would be closed. With 2 big days coming up, DH & I decided to stay onboard & do laundry & relax. Our friends did the walk around the island--said there wasn't much there but it was a nice long walk. Invergordon/Inverness, Scotland Last year I did the invergordon-bustours.com & liked it so well I thought we should do it again. (u pretty much need a tour here...not much to Invergordon) We did the tour that does Beauly (lovely little town; has a great little gift shop I love), Loch Ness (photo op), Inverness (about 2 hours free time) & Cawder Castle (unique in that this castle is actually lived in about half the year). Our guide was good but not great like the gal we had last year. I nodded off most of the way back to the port! In Inverness we chose a new restaurant that serves Scottish fare. Well, they had just opened 2 weeks ago & had a huge weekend. Needless to say they were out of almost everything! Finally got a couple burgers, chicken sandwich & spaghetti & meatballs. It was all solid, but we were hoping for more true Scottish fare. They were so aplogetic--I'd like to try them again in the future. (reviews were already good online!) Queensfery/Edinburgh, Scotland (tender) I missed this port last year due to tender issues...AND missed Edinburg again 🥲this year...BUT for good reason. DH is a AVID golfer (4 leagues; golfs 5-6 days/wk) & St. Andrews is MECCA to him. We had booked the Princess excursion right away...but at 2.5 hours long, it didn't feel anywhere near long enough. Luckily thru the Roll Call here we connected with a couple looking to book a driver & van to St. Andrews for the DAY. WHOOPEE! Just 6 of us--about $200pp I think it was thru Get Your Guide) Stopped at the Outlander castle for a photo op then Falkland (sleey town) to wander, shop a tiny bit & take photos. THEN ON TO MECCA. I'll be honest--it was almost as cool for me. Wandered, shopped. Then guys hit the museum, so friend & I went up Niblick, a bistro with sweeping course views. We had a WONDERFUL lunch--excellent quality!! We then stopped at another course not far...less protected part of the coast--VERY VERY windy. The guys coming off the course said, "The wind won today" Luckily we again built in extra time...he drove us thru several lovely seaside villages, but then TRAFFIC. Several places was VERY VERY slow. But we made it back with about 45 min. to spare before the last tender (sea day) Le Havre Welp, we opted out of this port in October to pack...friends we were sailing with on that cruise said we didn't miss much. So we weren't real excited to go in...again, being it is the LAST day before embarkation & packing must be done, I loose some interest. That being said, we felt like we SHOULD go ashore this time. Well the universe had other plans. Twisted my knee coming down the stairs. I knew lots of walking would be a BAD idea...opted to ICE off & on all day instead. Our friends had fun--but more because they created their own fun. UK is my FAV destination so far. I missed Belfast...and would love to come back for Liverpool. We may even just come for a couple weeks so DH can golf to his hearts content

Ports: 12/28 days (Weather on TA was actually quite lovely--60s & sunny most days--BUT we did have some rough days on the 1st 7 sea days that had us putting on patches or taking dramamine) Port goals: Photo ops, local food & drink, culture & history 1st leg: Azores, Lisbon, Bilbao, Cherbourg (this was awesome as we had a sea day or 2 between each one) Azores: Ponta Delgada, San Miguel island, Portugal We booked a driver for 6 hours for $300 total via Tripadvisor. MUCH cheaper than any Princess excursion & MUCH better! (closest comparable Princess excursion we could find was $120pp for 3.75 hours) Our driver, Deogo, was SO great (especially since I had horrible car sickness---bumpy roads then windy roads did not work for me...🤮) We drove around edge of the volcano of Sete Cidades, had lunch in the town there (well, they did...) and he took us to a pineapple "farm"--much smaller than the Nebraska farms I've seen! Honestly we wouldn't have chose to go there but OMG, BEST PINEAPPLE EVER--fresh, in pastel de natas, drinks. Even with my tummy off, that pineapple was superb!! Weather was warm & tropical. Lisbon: We hired a Tuk Tuk driver after we had wandered a bit. We got very lucky & got a superb one. This was a great way to see the city. I think waiting a while got us a slightly better deal. (150E for 2 hours for 4) He took us all over, for great photo ops (friend's husband is Creative Director at an ad agency & avid photographer), and told us all about the area. Just wonderful! We asked him to recommend a restaurant & he did not steer us wrong! Fax Frio was where he dropped us--we had all the tapas & then each couple shared a dish--cod for DH & I; friends tried the steak HOLY COW (pun intended)--as Nebraskans this may be blasphemy, but it was the best steak we have ever had!!! (we were always sharing bites the whole cruise) Also had a Bolinha de Bacalhau (potato cod fritter--yum!) & pastel de nata (no better than one I had in Lisbon airport; one with pineapple the day before ROCKED) Weather was a top 10 day--70s & sunny Bilbao, Spain: Walked to the Guggeheim (I think Princess charged like $75 for this...it's a mile from the bus station where they drop you off from the port from your free shuttle). It POURED. (seriously--my underwear was soaked thru!!) DH & I skipped the museum (friends went in) & grabbed a drink at the nearby cafe & sat outside & watched people--we LOVE to do this. We then headed back & stopped at La Catedral across from the stadium for lunch. Had delicious tortas & Amstel Radler (my Summer Shandy loving husband was particularly in heaven). Really only bad weather day the whole trip so no complaints. Cherbourg, France: Booked Overlord Tour to Normandy beaches $185pp, bus for 8. We had a FANTASTIC guide & 2 other awesome couples in the van. Seriously could not have asked for a better group. We went to Omaha Beach (PRETTY COLD standing on the beach listening to the history), American Cemetary, then the town of Sainte-Mère-Église for lunch & shopping--we had traditional pork or ham in a brandy sauce & took home the pastries--DELICIOUS! SUPER pleased with all the independent tours we booked--we MUCH prefer small group excursions where we can control where we go & how long to a certain extent.

COMMERCIAL INTERRUPTION I have to tell you a funny story about our travel companions. We are lucky to have found a few couples we love to cruise with--similar interests, and we just laugh & laugh when together. 28 days together & we still want to cruise again! Anyway, our friend were deck 11 aft & the wife said that they were taking stairs EVERYWHERE. Her husband whined a bit but went along with it. But he would stop & ask people waiting at the elevator if they had the "elevator pass" included in their package. He would whine that his wife wouldn't let him buy the elevator pass & how lucky they were to have it! We would be cracking up as these people would look at him like he was nuts!! Needless to say we DID "buy" the elevator pass (and so they when the husband tweaked his knee about halfway thru leg 2)...the wife lost 2 pounds while I did not (but still consider it a win that I didn't gain!!!!) Those stairs work! (so my advice--DON'T get the elevator pass!!😆)

Food This is where the Regal shined--BEST MDR food we have had on Princess & arguably ANY ship! Breakfast Nearly always International Cafe. I LOVE this venue & miss it on other lines for a grab & go breakfast or late night snack. DH & our friends didn't try the almond croissant until the next to last day & were mad they had waited so long! Lunch Burger...Pizza...buffet..Alfredos (another advantage of booking as 2 legs--we had 4 meals we could use here, for sushi or Vines--just a charcuterie board there). All solid. Dinner We had Michael John & Dharma on day 2 & KNEW they were our guys & we reserved a table in their section for each evening at 5. (we like to eat early to catch all those evening activities...and to give that meal time to digest!). We were lucky to have a round table for 6 for only the 4 of us for the next 27 days. These 2 guys were the BEST & the food was SO SO great! Our friends are both foodies & love to cook & they were impressed as well. There were VERY few misses over 28 days. Most everything was well balanced & just delicious! The 1st 16 days we all remarked menu items we wanted to try on the 2nd leg--only to find the 2nd leg was a whole new menu!!!! WOW! Seriously--we rarely tried the everyday menu as the choices were so great everyday. I think there was ONE night in 28 days where the menu didn't hit us; we had also had a large lunch in port that day, so we opted for burger or buffet. The closest things we had to "misses" came the very last elegant night (so next to last night). I had ordered escargot the 1st leg & gotten the classic (and my FAV) in an escargot dish swimming in lovely garlic butter. YUM. Ordered it again that last elegant night & it came out in a puff pastry "dish"--HUH? That actually would have worked with a garlic butter sauce. NOPE. It felt like they had used the French onion broth with the escargots. It was OK, but NOT quite right... (DON'T MESS WITH CLASSICS). That same night ordered surf & turf (lobster tail & filet). 1st leg tail was served plain with the offering of melted butter. Perfect. This time it came out with bernaise sauce ON it. I like bernaise, but this was a miss for me. Luckily the perfect filet made up for it. Funniest thing on the menu is Lychee, Raspberry & Rose Mousse. (everyday) When we ordered it, Michael brought another dessert as he said we would like it better. We all tried the Lychee dessert (which is very PINK)...and well all had the same response. It tastes PINK. Would have been the perfect dessert for a Barbie movie!!! DH & I often skipped dessert as we aren't big sweets people...but we did indulge some. I completely expected to have gained 5-10 lbs. We ate & drank what we wanted. Came home--NOT A POUND!! WOO HOO! I attribute it to walking--10K+ EASY on sea days & 15-20K on port days. OH--room service. Ordered a few time & 15 min max. And it was GOOD--especially the burger our friends ordered!

Casino We tried to talk the casino manager into more poker tournaments but he said "corporate" said no. Funny, on more than one other Princess ship, we HAVE been able to do more when we asked. It COULD be a new policy, but there seemed to be a bit of micromanaging on the Regal, so I think THAT is it. (WHY wouldn't you do this? Empty the machine makes you ZERO. They claimed they needed it open for cash games. Not ONCE was there a cash game during the day, and they were rare in the evenings our 2nd leg. Many of us preferred tournament & would have played more had they had them. Lost revenue, foolish) We did play video poker a few nights. DH hit a royal flush & I his a couple smaller jackpots one night. So needless to say, between our OBC & wins, we didn't spend any extra on the cruise--took home most of our wins (rest went to extra crew tips) as well as the cash we came with!) I liked that there is a non-smoking side (Club 6) tho sometimes we couldn't get a video poker machine on that side. We would then go over to the smoking side. One night it bothered me, but typically it wasn't too bad (unlike the Discovery which was so bad I wore a mask while in the casino!!) More great servers--Michael (bartener) & Valarian (server) in main casino & Jun (bartender) & Fernando (server) in Club 6--where DJ Gabby played GREAT music at night. I'm a sucker for great music when I'm at a video poker machine...

Activities We like to be BUSY. If we aren't doing a ship activity, we are playing cards. Our mornings started with the 10AM poker tournament. Our party of 4 did pretty well--I think one (or occasionally more) of us cashed almost every tournament (paid 3/10 places). Afternoons were usually spent walking, playing cards or napping. Evenings we usually played the trivia games & attended the Game Shows in Live. Yep my LEAST fav venue with all my fav activities!! LUCKILY the activities staff was AMAZING!! CD Ali, Matt, Jed, Joy, Kimbeleigh, Gabby & Jacinta (she was only there 1st leg...didn't realize she was leaving). Just LOVED LOVED LOVED them!! Great assortment of musical acts all over the ship. Our favs were party band Static & guitarist Jan Jan. Comedians were typical cruise--hit & miss. Most were OK. Seymour & Alfred were HILARIOUS--a very unique show. Our friend attended a few theatre shows; we did not. We don't care for hypnotists or magicians. Main shows themes are Opera, Broadway & dance--not DH's thing. These are the "new" shows & a definite improvement from the high school level productions we saw 2 years ago. (but Born to be Wild was better theming, imo). I look forward to more updated shows in the future--with RCCL/NCL Broadway shows or Celebrity's more contemporary numbers (particularly those on Eclass), this is one area Princess is a step below the competition, imo. Pickleball court was CONSTANTLY busy. DH had hoped to learn to play, but these people seemed to have their crews, and they were COMPETATIVE.

The ship. We have sailed the Discovery which is very similar; though Princess ships in general have a similar footprint which makes getting your bearings quickly pretty simple. Our fav bar was Princess Live (a venue that I HATE the design of--BRING BACK EXPLORERS!) The bar area is nothing special but this is where we found some of the BEST bartenders & servers (tho many elsewhere came close!) Julie & Neal behind the bar & servers Trevit & Flor made sure we were ALWAYS taken care of. (Now, Julie suddenly disappeared the 2nd cruise; I would see her very occasionally there for an hour or so afternoons or evenings & she said she had been moved. WHY WHY WHY?? She made the BEST coffee & was LOVELY. Trust me, I let Princess know; with over 1K BTB passengers, this seems like an odd time to move someone--PARTICULARLY when no one else seemed to have been moved!🤬🤷‍♀️) We loved Wheelhouse (Nova & Ciao!!) but it was nearly impossible to find a table for 4. Crooners was our backup. We like the venue. Dahnrie & Jun (bartenders) plus servers Pedro & Sharmaine were great. But if those servers were not there, or more covering the side of the bar where we weren't sitting, service could be a bit spotty. BUT we could usually find a table for 4 (perhaps that is why?) Vista lounge is not used as well as it could be IMO. I have seen trivia (MUCH MUCH better venue for trivia than Live!), karaoke & bands here on other ships. Nope. None of these. Not once. Bingo, Platinum/Elite lounge, recorded ballroom music, movies & comedians. And not all of those everyday. Piazza is the replacement for deck parties (especially cooler weather cruises as this). LOTS of activities & musicians here, pretty much all the time. Never even made it up to Retreat, tho our friends often used the hot tub.

Precruise/Embarkation Flew SWA to FLL. Stayed at Riverside Hotel for the 1st time. REALLY liked this area--way different from where we usually stay (south Las Olas Ave or Hilton Marina). Our friends had been there a couple days & met us down there. We ate at Cuba Libre--really good! Definitely recommend. Scheduled Lyft for 945AM embarkation day. $18 BE sure to check both Uber & Lyft when doing this---Uber wanted $35! We got in line, which started to move about 1030. We NEVER sat down (now we are Platinum so got to go in the shorter line). Were in the buffet by 11AM! BRILLIANT!

Booking We booked this as 2 legs (16+12) to take advantage of Shareholder's OBC for both cruises. Not sure that extra $100 was worth moving... I booked via an online TA we have used before. I sometimes book direct, sometimes with a couple online TAs during their big sales. Particularly on longer cruises this can be very advantageous. (I do compare prices direct before booking) We secured $900 extra OBC by booking with them! That plus the $600 OBC Princess casino offer & $350 Shareholder OBC, we had a nice chunk of change to fund our gambling! (oh, and weekly laundry!) We originally booked interiors (which we are fine with) but I was able to upgrade the 1st leg from INT to OBS BALC by calling our TA after prices dropped. We still bid on upgrades & for about $300 more for each leg, we were upgraded to obstructed deluxe balcony rooms. MUCH less than we would have paid had we booked them originally. 1st room was E715--LOVED this location. It is deck 8 aft so easy walk to deck 7 & all the fun. Plus we had Allegro dining deck 6 aft, so also an easy walk. Plus aft elevators much less busy than MID or FWD. 2nd leg we moved just down the hall to E521. UNFORTUNATELY when we got back to the room for bed on turnaround day, there was a LOUD mechanical hum. I put in my earplugs & thought no big deal. But in the AM while getting ready, it began to trigger a migraine. I thought, oh, boy, I need OUT of here. Could even hear the humming in the hall...and could tell when I walked out of the area where one could hear it. And I realized the RELIEF I felt when I did. We knew I couldn't stay in this room. So headed to Guest services & they said they weren't sure if they had any deluxe balconies open. I didn't care if it was an interior (and I had seen some with no names)--no way I could stay in that room. Well, Fernando was great. By the time we came back onboard from Portland, they had a room--M102, OBST DLX BALC FWD deck 15. WAY forward--we were directly under the bridge!! HUGE balcony. Was a trek to this room, but did not care one bit!

I WISH I was the person who could do a live TR...I've tried. I just get SO busy on a cruise, I never get to it! Yep, even a 28 day cruise! OK...this is my 13th Princess cruise & 42nd cruise in 20 years. Sailed with DH & a couple from home we have cruised with before. Originally just booked the UK (I sailed it solo last year & fell in love); but then we saw the TA & decided that is preferable to a long eastbound flight. It was to ease DH into the idea of longer flights (longest he had done was 6 hrs SF to HI)...then we booked a Europe cruise for last October & he had to fly his longest flights both ways, lol! I learned last summer that bulkhead is the way to go for my 6'2" DH...he said, that is a pretty good way to go! DH also wasn't sure about 7 sea days (most he had done was 5 days to HI). Needless to say, he thought 3 intense port days in a row was more difficult! I will break things down by category more than by date. Let me just say there was VERY little to complain about & PLENTY to rave about!

Just got off the Regal last Friday after 28 days. Our 1st room steward explicitly told us no door decorations. We moved for the 2nd leg (twice actually, due to very loud mechanical hum in 1st room of 2nd leg). Neither of those stewards said anything. THAT BEING SAID--I saw plenty of door decorations.

Sailed Caribbean, Discovery, Sapphire & Ruby 2022-23. Food always good. Just got off 28 days on the Regal & food was FANTASTIC. Sailed with 2 foodies & they agree. Arguably the best MDR food we have had on ANY line we have sailed. So perhaps reply earlier that says they are stepping up their game is true! (Buffet was solid if a bit repetative)

OK trying to do this now... I have submitted but it has been loading on the VV site for 10 min... Trying again...I hit "upload file" & it shows text of the Screenshot below the Upload File button. Cannot see the actual screenshot. Still loading & loading. Tips?

Sailing our 1st VV in July. Got an upgrade offer & it says "Select beverages on us" Can anyone tell me when, where & what beverages this includes? Is this at all bars, all hours (or certain bars/certain hours? DH mainly drinks beer & frozen drinks...would we still need a bar tab? It says it also includes Richard's Rooftop. We really enjoyed something similar (Retreat) on Celebrity (tho not the price--and we got a "deal"!) Is this open late, or does it close early? Thanks! Very excited to try VV!!

We were offered a free casino cruise this summer & I am wondering the casino game offerings. We are not slot players. TX Hold Em poker is our preferred game, followed by Video poker. We will play table games; we particularly like those of the poker variety. Can anyone speak to the availability of such games on this particular ship? Thanks!

Yep, that is Dunes. Just got off the Regal & had MANY of these at Crooners!

I have ordered omelets in the MDR, requesting what I want on Princess. THAT BEING SAID--we sure found out that Princess seems to have site-based management. Let's just say many things were handled differently on the Island in Oct than the Regal last month. Didn't make or break our cruise, but we sensed serious micro-managing on the Regal. International Cafe has always had cookies on our cruises--do ask, they may have them behind the counter. Good to know about your room service cookies; our friends ordered a burger from the app & it was AMAZING.

I cannot speak to the Enchanted, but we find Princess beds to be the most comfortable at sea. Now, it depends on your preferences, of course. We find RCCL & Celebrity beds to be bricks. MSC was far too soft on both my sailings. (felt as if it needed to be replaced)

Sorry to hear this! Alfred & Seymour were on the TA leg of the Regal last month & we thought they were hilarious--some of the best comedians we have seen at see. They are a unique show to be sure.

Very similar to our experience on the Regal last month for our TA out of FLL. Looks like a great trip so far! (I made some specific notes to your Day 1 report w/in the Quote)