EastBay Cruisers

2 minutes ago, Thrak said:

We find it to be simple. When we are booked for TD we eat at our assigned time in the TD dining room. If we can't make it we try to let our table mates or our waiters know and then we eat in the buffet, grab a burger, or something of that sort. It has never even occurred to us to crash ATD when we are booked for TD. When we are booked for ATD we sometimes eat in MDR and sometimes don't it doesn't affect others one way or the other. If we have ATD and want to eat during a peak time we can either get a pager and go have a drink or eat elsewhere. We belong to the camp that feels folks who booked TD should not be allowed to crash ATD. If you booked TD and then found out upon boarding that your time had been moved, without your consent or knowledge, to some crazy early time you should be allowed to speak with the head waiter and change to ATD for the duration of the cruise but one shouldn't be allowed to just jump back and forth between the two. It just seems rude to me.

As always, I agree with Thrak.  Right on, IMO. -- EBC

When you book the cruise,  you can choose EITHER Traditional Dining or Anytime Dining -- but not both.  Princess does not allow a guest to choose both, because they need to know how to allocate the tables in the MDR's.   Some tables are Anytime Dining, and some tables are Traditional Dining.

However, in the buffet, the tables are not allocated between Anytime and Traditional.  Anyone can dine in the buffet at his or her whim.

So, if you are hungry, there are many dining options from which to choose -- and Princess will gladly serve as much food as you can eat. However --  a guest that booked for Traditional Dining cannot suddenly decide to take a table away from a guest booked for Anytime Dining.

We just got off the Regal last week, with Maitre D'  Neville Saldanha,  and he and his Head Waiters were checking every cruise card.  We are Anytime Dining, and guests in line near us with Traditional Dining noted on their cruise cards were politely and courteously referred to other dining options.  It is the only way to avoid long waits for Anytime Dining. -- EBC

5 hours ago, Daniel A said:

 

Eastbay-

I think you may have missed the point. 

 

If TD diners who cannot make their pre-reserved accommodations is causing the problem, why must they only be referred to the buffet?  Do the anytime dining PAX who prefer to eat in the MDR occupy an elevated position that no one else may eat in their MDR?  Why is the buffet the other option?  Where do the rules say TD diners are allowed to eat at the buffet and take away my dinner table because they are not allowed to eat in the exclusive ATD MDR?

 

My basic point is that we are all in the same 'boat'.  Can't we all get along?

Daniel,

Princess allocates a table for each guest.  to either Anytime Dining or Traditional Dining. That's because it takes about 90 minutes for the waiters to serve a 3 course dinner.  ( more or less).   Each party of diners takes up a table for about 90 minutes.

In the buffet,  there's no 3 course dinner to cook and serve.  So the tables turn over much faster.  As soon as people get up and leave,  a crew member cleans the table for the next guests.  It's strictly first-come-first-served. So, there's no equivalence between the buffet and the MDR.

If a guest assigned to Traditional Dining chooses not to attend at the time he/she signed up for, then he can go to a dining venue where the tables are not allocated.  There a lots of options:

1. Horizon Court.  ( Now, you don't like this, so let's look at other options).

2.  Dine in port.  This would be perfect for the poster who signed up for late TD because they wanted to stay in port as long as possible, but did not want to attend the late seating in TD  ( even though they booked the cruise a year in advance).

3.  Dine at Alfredo's - rarely any waiting and delicious food.

4. Free Room Service.  They are fast, no need to dress up or even put on shoes, and if they have time, they'll bring an entree from the MDR.

5. Too hungry to wait for late seating at TD?   Have a salad at International Cafe while you're waiting, or have wine and tapas at Vines.

6. Go up to Lido deck and get a burger from Trident Grill.

7. Order the Ultimate Balcony Dinner -- delicious, and you can choose the times.

8.  Use specialty dining - Crown Grill, Crab Shack, Sabatini's etc.  Rarely are those all filled up at one time.

The TD guests make a mistake in thinking that they can "jump over" the Anytime guests for whom space has already been allocated.  If I'm signed up for A.D.,  and a T.D. diner shows up to "jump over" me just because they are hungry, then I'm not a happy camper.  I'm following the rules as agreed upon, and I think it is fair that the T.D. guests should do the same. That's just common sense and courtesy.  -- EBC

3 hours ago, Daniel A said:

 

DW and I always select ATD when booking our cruises.  We take most of our meals in the buffet and we did a MDR once.  We don't add to your wait lines.  Why does everybody here think it's ok to send the TD people to get in my queue and take away my table in the buffet?  That's not right either.  It's not like people who use their ATD to eat in a MDR are special and paid more for their meals than those of us who prefer to eat in the buffet.  As long as we're making up onerous rules, nobody who eats in a MDR either TD or ATD should be allowed to eat a burger or get pizza at poolside.  That will reduce my wait in line for those items. 

 

Now that we have that settled, what are we going to do about those inconsiderate people who go willy nilly from one swimming pool to another?

Daniel,

If you select Anytime Dining when booking, then you are not the problem. Guests who are assigned Anytime Dining are not the problem.  

Guests who are assigned Traditional Dining, then "jump over" unexpectedly to A.D. create the problem. That's what the conversation is about.

Pink wrote:

We always like to dine early.  So, we always book our cruises a good year or so out.  That way Traditional Early Dining is always available.  When it comes to  cruises, where there will be a lot of late departures from ports (we like to say good bye to each port), then we will look at the itinerary closely, and usually book Traditional Late Seating (8 or 8:30) and then jump over to anytime dining around 7:30 pm should we wish to eat a little earlier, in the case that it is raining or inclement weather.   Always book table for two and always get a table for two as well.   Have always had luck in this regard. 

We just got off the Regal last week, and each night, the Head Waiters checked the status of each diner coming in to Anytime Dining.  They did not allow pax assigned to Traditional Dining to take up space during Anytime Dining.  

If you book a cruise a year ahead of time so that you can have TD, then you suddenly decide that you will jump in front of Anytime Dining passengers, then you're taking a table away from the Anytime Dining passengers.  If you decide that your TD doesn't work for you on a port day, then you go to Horizon Court, Alfredos, Sabatinis, Crab Shack, Crown Grill, International Cafe, or use free room service.  Endless options for you on a late port day.  But you DON'T suddenly decide to "jump over" ( after you looked at the itinerary a year in advance)   and take advantage of others.  That's what causes the problem. -- EBC 

So, to re-cap, especially for new Princess cruisers:

 The Ocean Medallion is the small disc which replace the cruise cards.  Right now, they are used to unlock the cabin doors and make some purchases. As more technology is installed, they will be used for other purposes later on.

For Ocean Medallion cabins, there is a touch screen outside the cabin door, and when you hold the Ocean Medallion up to the screen, the cabin door unlocks.

Medallion.net is the name of the internet service on board the Regal and some other Princess ships.Medallion.net internet service is available for everyone.   As of last week, internet service was free to Platinum and Elite Captain's Circle awards level guests.

For other guests, there was a charge of $59.00 for unlimited service for the week.  Hope this is helpful, especially for new cruisers to Princess.  -- EBC

3 hours ago, Colo Cruiser said:

Are they issuing medallions at all?

Keith --  On the Regal, there are about 10-20 cabins on each deck that are equipped for Ocean Medallion. Our friends were in Baja 303, which was an Ocean Medallion cabin, as well as the cabins surrounding them.  The Ocean Medallion cabins are usually in the forward or mid-forward part of the Regal.

If you have an Ocean Medallion cabin, then you will receive your Medallion at check-in. Princess should have let you know in advance if your cabin is outfitted for the Medallion.

Regal's internet service is called Medallion.net,  which can be confusing, because it sounds as if only Ocean Medallion cabins can have that service.  Actually,  every cabin on the ship has access to Medallion.net , the internet service.

As a Platinum guest,  you should have free internet service from Medallion.net .  Our Platinum friends had free internet last week.  I don't think that Regal will change that in the two weeks before your sailing.

Have a great cruise, and let us know all about it !   --  EBC

On 10/5/2018 at 3:05 PM, Thrak said:

Have you ever had a neighboring cabin leave the outside balcony light on all the time? Does it annoy you? We have sailed in balcony cabins where the people next door just left the outside balcony light on for the entire cruise. I don't even know if they were aware that it could be turned off as the switches are usually pretty much hidden behind the curtain.

 

Am I the only one annoyed by this? I would love it if the stewards were required to make sure this light was turned off when they make up the cabin in the morning. It might well alleviate the problem as cabin occupants would have to find the switch in order to turn the light on and then at least one would know they were aware there actually is a switch and the light isn't just always on "automagically". I seriously think some folks don't know the thing can be turned off.

 

Yes, Thrak, I agree.  If people are out on their balcony and are using the light, that is one thing. But some people do not even realize it is on, and the switch is hidden behind the curtains. So, it's fine to ask the steward to switch it off.

Like everything else on a ship, the balconies are very close together, with only a narrow partition between them. Last week on the Regal,  we had next-door neighbors who spent a lot of time on their balcony, shouting back and forth with people on an adjoining balcony.  They would start shouting back and forth as soon as it got light in the morning ( about 6:45).  Then, Hurricane Michael came north from the Carolinas, and the wind came up to more than 50 knots.  The Captain took a detour to try to get out of the wind and the waves, but the wind was still so fierce, that it kept the neighbors inside, so it was a lot quieter on the balcony ( and in our cabin).

I think that other passengers don't realize how close together everyone is. It's like living in little studio apartments in a big apartment building. --  EBC

On the Regal, the time for the production shows is 8:00 and 10:00 PM.

In our experience, it took the waiters in the MDR about 100 minutes to serve a three-course dinner. If you wanted to skip dessert, you could probably leave the MDR earlier. 

On the Regal, the Symphony Dining Room has Anytime Dining from 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM. 

The Concerto Dining Room has Anytime Dining from 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM. 

So, if you make a reservation for Anytime Dining at 7:15 PM,  you would be in the Symphony Dining Room, and you would be finished with dinner at app.  8:45 PM.   Then, you would go from there to the Princess Theatre for the 10:00 PM show.  -- EBC

2 minutes ago, Colo Cruiser said:

Thanks, so they just logged on like normal and it showed up as free?

Yes --- at least, that is how they explained it to us.  🙂 But hopefully, you will receive info from Princess before you board, which will verify how the free internet works for Platinum level guests. -- EBC

16 minutes ago, Colo Cruiser said:

Thanks. Thats what I was wondering. We had it free on the CB last month. I don't want to buy it if it will be free once onboard.

Did they have any special way of first signing up? I know if you buy it there is a voucher number in the cabin that you input during the first sign on.

Correct ! -- If you buy it, there is a voucher number in the cabin that you input during the first sign on.

As our Platinum friends remember it, they just went to their Settings, found Medallion Net, then created a log-in. Each Platinum passenger is allowed to be on line with one device at a time.  So,  for example, if you want to switch from your phone to your laptop, you first log out of the phone, then log in using the laptop.  -- EBC

We took a small portable fan on board the Regal last week, and there were no problems. -- EBC

Shows and entertainment last week on the Regal were:

A.J. Clarke on the piano in Crooners  -- very talented and fun to listen to

Scott Wyler - Comedian

Bands in the Piazza were:  Excite and Orphea -- great for dancing

They had a rock n' roll dance party in the Piazza where they played oldies from the 50's and 60's - lots of passengers up on the floor doing old dances like The Twist, etc.

Production Shows:

Born to Dance

Fiero

Bravo

Sweet Soul Music

Hope this is helpful -- Enjoy your cruise on the Regal -- she's beautiful. 😍 EBC

1 hour ago, Colo Cruiser said:

Did you by chance partake in any internet packages?

If do how was it?

HI --  We got off the Regal 5 days ago. We sailed with friends who are Platinum, and they received free internet for the week. 

Otherwise, there is one internet package, which costs $59.00 per week for unlimited internet.  It worked very well, except for one day when the internet cafe told us that the servers were down.  Otherwise,  the internet service was very fast. -- EBC

We just got off the Regal last Saturday, Oct. 13.  On Baja deck, our friends with whom we cruised, had a Medallion cabin,  Baja 303. A little fewer than 20 cabins surrounding them were also Medallion cabins. 

The mailboxes had been removed, and there was a touch screen outside the cabin door. When you approach the touch screen with the Medallion, the door unlocks.

Platinum and Elite Captain's Circle members on this cruise were provided with free internet for the week.  We're not that high up in Captain's Circle, so we paid $59.00 for unlimited internet for the week.  That was the only offer available.

The internet service seemed to be very fast,  the same as our cable modem provides at home. ( I did not measure the exact speed).  It was off and on temporarily for a couple days, but most of the time it was on and working well.  It was not necessary to leave the cabin door open in order to receive an internet connection.

( We were on the Emerald last year, and it was necessary to either leave the cabin door open or take our laptop/ phone down to decks 5, 6, or 7 in order to get a connection. That was the advice given to us by the crew members in the internet cafe). 

Looks like a 1300 man group took over Voyager of the Seas and brought their own entertainment to create a "bachelor party" type atmosphere. RCI is now issuing refunds to passengers who were unaware that this was going to happen and who claim that their cruise was disrupted. Apparently the men in the bachelor party were filming some of the passengers' children without their consent.

Was anyone here on this particular cruise?

________________________________________________________________________

This article is from "Newsweek" October 2, 2018:

A dream cruise turned into a nightmare for passengers after their ship was overrun with more than a thousand men from a tobacco company who held wild parties featuring women dressed as Playboy bunnies. The cruise on the Voyager of the Seas, operated by Royal Caribbean International, was inundated with 1,300 workers from the Indian gutka company Kamla Pasand, who came onboard for a conference just before the boat left its Sydney dock last month. Passengers described how the men proceeded to run amok, taking over the pool decks, bars and buffets.

They were also said to have brought burlesque dancers onboard, who starred in parties on deck. The men would also harass other passengers and film young girls on their mobile phones, passengers said. “It was almost like a huge bucks [bachelor] party, a bucks night for 1,200 people,” Sydney passenger Cassandra Riini told the Australian Nine Network's A Current Affair. “Their doors would be open and you would walk past and be like what am I going to be looking at when I walk past this door? It is hard to forget after seeing all the flashbacks of these men around all the time, 24 hours a day, like we could not escape,” she added.

Families were forced to take refuge inside as the scantily clad women danced on the decks. The workers brought “crates and crates” of their own food onto the ship, which underwent extensive refurbishments in 2014. Even bingo, a popular pasttime on cruises, was canceled due to a lack of interest from the passengers, who were more interested in the cabaret. Riini's husband, Daniel, was similarly dismayed by his experience. “Even on the trivia nights they didn't have enough numbers there so we just ended up with the staff member making our own game,” he told the network. “If ignorance and arrogance was part of the ticket to get on board the ship then I think they did a good job, Royal Caribbean International, by getting these people on.” Christine Weyling, from the state of New South Wales, said Royal Caribbean should have told passengers such a large group would be onboard. “It was crazy…little Playboy bunny outfits, you know this is a family boat. I think that they should have notified us that there was a big group that had been booked and had booked the pool deck out…everyone on that ship should have been notified.”

Royal Caribbean International issued full refunds to passengers, news.com.au reported. Royal Caribbean Australia did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a statement to A Current Affair, the cruise company said an investigation was under way. Royal Caribbean said: “We operate with the safety of our guests and crew as our highest priority, and are currently looking into all guest feedback regarding this incident to ensure it does not happen again.”

I use photobucket, but I assume shutterfly will be the same. On the right you will see different formats you can share. I copy and paste the "IMG string in the body of my post" See pic below. Cruise Critic requires the "IMG"

Hope this helps!

Thanks so much ! I appreciate this important information. Thanks again for the great photos. -- EBC

Canada

You are welcome, it was a gorgeous day out. I took these photos from Pier 39 and yes there was a tug on the Portside aft and bow that joined it once it passed us.

I love photos of Princess ships !!!

I have some photos of ships that I stored on Shutterfly. But, I don't know how to post them on Cruise Critic. Could you give me some simple directions to post my photos on Cruise Critic??

Everyone posts lovely photos, and I can't figure it out. Would greatly appreciate some help. ;p. Sorry to threadjack. But your photos are really cool. -- EBC

Seattle

Thanks for these gorgeous photos ! Did you take them from Crissy Field and East Beach on Mason St.?

Was there a tugboat escort ? I didn't see a tug, so maybe they brought a pilot on board before they sailed underneath the bridge.

Thanks again, from EBC :D

Thanks very much for your detailed review ! Glad to hear that you mostly liked the food. Sounds like a fun vacation ! - EBC

Some of you may know that my husband of 30 years passed away in July... This cruise is for my son and I... We will be doing the Ashes to Sea program...

Many condolences to you and your family on your husband's passing. I'm glad that on a cruise as significant as this one, that you received such a great upsell offer.--- EBC

:DThanks very much for your very helpful, detailed information. We really appreciate your time in answering these questions. - EBC