Paula_MacFan

They are right next to each other but people might want to know for parking reasons, especially if they have mobility issues. We parked across the street in a covered garage and had no problems walking from a different terminal than we left from originally. But we also do self disembark and can handle our luggage with no issues.

We were on Regal last month and sailed from terminal 25. While most of the time it's 28, you might double check just in case 🙂 I see at least one upcoming instance where she's back at 25 again before the season's done. https://www.portofgalveston.com/DocumentCenter/View/3308/2024-Monthly-UPDATED-192024

Maybe depends on the itinerary? I've had a 2026 Panama Canal cruise booked since mid-December.

Does the IGA grocery have a deli counter or pre-made sandwiches? I couldn't tell from their FB page or website. The last time we rented a Jeep in Skagway they provided a boxed lunch, but for our upcoming trip it doesn't appear this is an option. We'll be looking for picnic options as well.

If I'm reading the facts correctly the cruise leaves in about 5 weeks, and he doesn't have flights booked yet for an international trip? Maybe I'm misinterpreting 🙂

Is this what you're talking about? If so it looks to be a new program so you may not get many answers. https://www.princess.com/en-us/news/news-releases/2023/05/princess-cruises-debuts-first-ever-summer-colonial-heritage-voyages-featuring-yorktown-va-plus-new-departures-from-boston-as-part-of-expanded-2024-canada-new-england-season

I agree with all your statements. We use a mixture of Princess, independent, and DIY depending on port. In Europe we had several 12 - 14 hour port days with excursions miles from port. We chose Princess for those due to logistics and had wonderful trips. None of them were 'packed' as frequently stated, the buses were new and modern, and most were about half full, with excellent guides. To your first point, for our upcoming Alaska cruisetour most Princess excursions are within $19 of the vendor price, but also include transportation which I figure is worth the small difference. Couple that with being able to easily cancel and automatic refunds if we miss port seems like a no-brainer. We were on the Regal 3 weeks ago and missed Costa Maya due to wind. We received our refund check in the mail within 2 weeks of getting home.

How long is the show?

I took the comment to refer to National Express Coach since they referenced the ticket price of $15 and getting a cab to pier. Maybe I misinterpreted.

We stayed in a hotel within walking distance of Victoria Coach Station but decided to use International Friends instead of the Princess transfer. International Friends picked us up from the hotel lobby right on time, we did a nice stop at Stonehenge, and were delivered to the ship mid-afternoon. They offer several types of transfers and we highly recommend their services. Very easy to book online and they provided service exactly as described. The bus was very modern and nice as well. Side note we did use Victoria Coach Station as a meeting point for an independent London tour a few days prior to our cruise, and we found it clean and easy to navigate. I'd read some questionable reviews but we found it satisfactory.

I do the same every day to check for pricing. If you are logged in and see something better you can immediately book it. If you're only doing a quote you run the risk that the new flight will be gone by the time you log in. After you're logged in click 'manage your flights', and then 'change flights' and you can search the options. Nothing will change your existing flight reservations until you've selected new flights and confirmed it. It will ask you a couple times if you want to cancel the old flights and confirm the new one.

We've been on Regal 3x now and she's still ok, we were just surprised how much we enjoyed the Island more in comparison. Seems like people complain about the Island a lot here so our expectations were low, but concerns were unfounded. I'm glad that others are chiming in with positive comments too.

Interesting perspective although we both agree we'd sail again with the right itinerary. We were on Regal 3 weeks ago and found ourselves comparing her to Island which was our last cruise prior. We found the Regal more 'tired' than the Island in general condition, and our bed on Island was excellent compared to the sagging one on Regal. Our cabin in general on Island was in better condition than Regal, which had several things that needed attention. Other things we like better about the Island: Explorers with great live music vs the uncomfortable Princes Live venue with marginal entertainment choices. Full sized Wheelhouse with dedicated musician space vs the smaller one cobbled onto the Crown Grill on Regal with limited musician space up against the walkway. Also lines of people waiting to enter CG blocking the Wheelhouse bar. Lovely nightly music in Crooners on Island vs absolutely no events there all week on Regal. Overall the Regal seemed very crowded compared to Island. Our next 2 cruises are back on Grand class (Sapphire & Caribbean) so we are looking forward to those and are taking a break from Royal class.

We sailed on the Island for 12 nights in Sept/Oct 2023 and we had a great cruise. Our mini suite was comfortable, the overall ship condition was good (fresh paint, furnishings in good repair), and we had plenty to eat. We went to both Sabatini's and Crown Grill and they were very good. We did miss the International Cafe but we managed to survive 🙂 The Island tends to do unique itineraries and segments of the world cruises, so if you want to go to those places then the Island is the ship. I wouldn't hesitate to sail on the Island again if the itinerary was right.

Good to know! We disembarked Regal 1/28 but haven't gotten ours yet. Our refund was due to missed port so we had cancelled excursions and port fees.

Ha! That was back in the early 2000's when Princess allowed you to bring on a 'reasonable amount' of beer and wine. A luggage tag worked on probably 3 or 4 cruises from Galveston and then they changed the policy. We still had a decent bar bill so it wasn't like we didn't purchase any onboard as well 🙂 We typically just put the carry on beer in our fridge for balcony consumption. Now we just get the Plus package. Although on our Island cruise last fall they ran out of our preferred beer on day 2 of a 12 day cruise. That was a fail by Princess.

We were on the Regal the week of Jan 21 - 28 and the same thing happened to us. From reports it's happened quite a few times. Our port was replaced with Belize which IMO was even worse that Coxen Hole. Belize is a tender port with no easy beach access contrary to Mahogany Bay. To make it worse we missed Costa Maya too due to high winds. So we only got 2 ports, and only 1 was on the original itinerary (Cozumel). There have been a few threads with upset people about this 'port congestion' excuse, wondering the same as you -- how does this happen when the schedules are published months in advance.

Same here. Sometimes I think people don't factor in potential time differences from their origination point and length of daylight too. We don't worry about mealtime reservations but rather eat when hungry wherever it's convenient. If it's a beautiful evening we will stay in port and/or enjoy the scenery from our balcony. Sitting inside in a MDR or game show is not how we want to spend precious daylight hours in Alaska. Different strokes for different folks.

That happened to us 2 weeks ago in Galveston. Opened up our 2 12-packs of diet Pepsi, took out every can, put them back in the box, and re-taped it up. We had the plus package so no reason to smuggle anything on, we just prefer Pepsi to Coke. Speaking of back in the day, when we first started cruising we could put a luggage tag on a case of beer and have it delivered to our cabin 🙂

I like your attitude and feel the same way! We did a round trip Alaska from Seattle 10 years ago and now we are doing a southbound 15 night cruisetour on Sapphire at the end of May/first week of June. When people ask about ship entertainment etc in Alaska I sort of cringe, because for us the entertainment and whole focus is Alaska. I couldn't care less about the spa, worrying about dining room reservations, etc. I want to soak up as much scenery, wildlife, and Alaska experience as possible. You're right, this is unlike any other cruise 🙂

Thanks for reporting your experience. For us it wasn't the music, it was the games and other activities. There was one member of the cruise staff in particular that seemed to have the mic turned up to 11 and then screamed into it. I really think it depends on the activity and who is involved. I would welcome Frank Sinatra-type music during a meal, especially at a reasonable level! 🙂

We booked it on Princess several months ago for $299. It's now wait listed only for $409 😮

No worries! I didn't take your comments as contradictory at all 🙂 I just wanted to share that info with others as it had never happened to us before either and we've sailed from Galveston many times since 2004.

Yes, we got it as part of the Plus package 2 weeks ago.

We did a whale watch last January from Maui and it was spectacular. We have another whale watch booked for Juneau in June and joked maybe we'll see some of the same whales 🙂