helenb

There was a separate area for suites in the embarkation lounge. There was also one for elites and platinum. These areas were allowed to board before general boarding.

There is definitely something weird going on between Princess and the officials in Kirkwall. That's about all you can say for sure.

Anytime. Generally, boarding starts about 11 am or so. There are no assigned boarding times, but suites, elite/platinum board first. Otherwise, FCFS.

Belfast was replaced months ago due to ‘congestion at the port’. Not sure why Princess was the one bumped, but that was the explanation.

We are disembarking tomorrow from the June 8 Regal Princess British Isles sailing. Just a few notes on issues that have been discussed here on the forums (for future British Isles cruisers). - Diet Soda. On the first day, there was only fountain diet soda. Then on the second day they had cans of Diet Coke. 3 or 4 days into the cruise they had cans of Coke Zero and the Diet Coke was gone. They have had Coke Zero ever since. - Premium Desserts. The ‘gelato’ is actually ice cream. It is similar to the ice cream in the dining room, although there are more flavors. You do NOT have to get the actual ‘premium desserts’. You can order whatever ice cream +toppings you want from the menu. - Ports. We actually were able to make all of our ports! In Kirkwall, we docked, and didn’t have to tender. It was really nice just walking off. Our private tour guide suggested that someone at the port had a beef with Princess, and that’s why they often had to tender, which caused issues docking/anchoring. There was also something weird going on at Skara Brae. They were officially ‘sold out’, and Princess even had to cancel multiple tours going there (which really screwed over the people booked on those tours). Yet when we got to Skara Brae on our private tour, even though the signs said it was sold out, it was quite empty. They easily could have scheduled in a couple more tour busses, at least. Again, the implication was that Princess pissed off someone in the tourist office and this is why it happened. It doesn’t make sense to me, but I’m just telling you what I saw. As for Le Havre, we were able to dock with no issues, despite the strike. Of course, there was no ‘official’ action today. I took a Bee Bus tour to Honfleur and found it easy and worthwhile. The X99 bus in Edinburgh/South Queensferry is awesome, but there are long lines to return. Portland was a replacement port (we were originally scheduled to go to Belfast) and we didn’t know what we wanted to do. The free shuttle bus to Portland Castle was helpful, and the castle + D-Day Museum made for a fun day. Weather. The weather has been frigid, but everyone came prepared. The Brits are sunbathing on the deck; everyone else is in winter coats, sweaters and hoodies. Bring that heavy clothing and a good rain jacket.

We boarded Regal Princess today (June 8 ) and went to lunch in the dining room. While we were there, a few waiters were pushing around big carts of canned cocktails, and trying to ‘sell’ them to people (they were included in the Plus package). It felt a little weird… why were they trying to push canned margaritas, canned G&Ts, canned daiquiris, etc.? it made me wonder… perhaps with so many people getting drink packages, the bars are getting overwhelmed and they are trying to push the cans as an easier option for the bartenders? Has anyone else seen these trays of canned cocktails?

Yes, but (it used to be that) Princess gives a $50 OBC every 5 cruises after that, beginning with 20 cruise credits. Apparently this is no more.

Ah, I may have been confusing threads. I think there are menus in this one.

Aw man.... It makes sense though. It's not like I will stop sailing Princess because of that.

When I made platinum, I got a letter from the loyalty rep toward the end of the cruise telling me that this cruise pushed me into the new tier. I was then invited to use the platinum/elite disembarkation lounge on the last day. All other platinum perks began for my next sailing. Princess is still wonderful, though! I am not Elite, and the cruise I am embarking this weekend will be my 20th cruise credit with them. I'm wondering if they still give a $50 OBC for this... I guess I'll find out!

I think there were some earlier in the thread.

It depends. We are teetotalers, and also elite. So for me, the math is: gratuities - $16 wifi - $12.50 soda drink plan - $17.25 (after gratuity) Total - $45.75 For $40, I'd be all in. But $60 seems not to be worth it. We don't get much out of the other benefits I have not listed.

I'm actually getting excited about the possibility of the Zebrugges stop... almost hoping they cancel Le Havre on our cruise (June 8).

Wow, that looks amazing! I love a good Churrascaria! How lucky that you get this opportunity!

Thank you (and everyone else who has responded)! I had been looking at those links as well. Right now it says that Regal will dock in Cork and Star Legend will dock at Ringaskiddy on June 11. Hopefully, that holds firm, but I'll pay attention onboard and ask the shore excursion people as well.

For those of you on the cruise, when did you learn that the Cork port was Ringsakiddy? Our cruise just says 'Cork' on the itinerary (on Princess' site) and we have a private tour booked. If we will actually dock at Ringsakiddy then I need to let them know where to pick us up!

This thread makes me nostalgic for the Love Boat show from the 70s, where people would just walk onboard, bring their friends/family, and then there would be an announcement warning the non-cruisers to disembark because sailing would be underway soon. I'm pretty sure there were episodes where someone came onboard, disembarked, then made it back before ship departure. Heck, I even remember episodes where someone disembarked at the end of the cruise, then returned to the ship while the disembarkation process was still going on (usually to meet up with their new romance). How times have changed!

They did when we were onboard Regal in late December (New Year's cruise).

I'll definitely have a warm coat and gloves... 50s F is way too cold for me! And 60s F are definitely chilly enough for sweaters, so I'll even be wearing a sweater during the 'warmest' part of the day. More power to you if you can hang out in swimwear (and not in the hot tub) in that weather! You are hardier than I.

LOL, Cloudyrain! The June weather in the UK is like our winter weather in California. We'll be some of those people in winter coats when we embark on the June 8 cruise!

It's not just the Plus package. These canned sodas are also available with the Soda package and the Non-Alcoholic package.

The soda package is a steal compared to the nonalcoholic package. The mocktails are good (we didn't try the smoothies). The only reason to go to the full non-alcoholic package is if you really need coffee included.

I don't drink at all, and my husband drinks 1-2 alcoholic drinks a day on vacation. We get the soda package as well. My husband will bring 1-2 bottles of wine onboard to have a glass before dinner (or carry it to the dining room to have with dinner). But he keeps the small bottles of alcohol from the Elite minibar. Then he will order a virgin mocktail (which is included with the soda package) and add in alcohol from the mini bottles. So other than the soda package, we never need to purchase drinks onboard. I agree with others that being Elite makes it obvious that Plus isn't for us. Between me not drinking alcohol and the discounted wifi, Plus just doesn't work out without some kind of TA promotion. The laundry is really nice. Every 3-4 days I send out our socks, underwear, t-shirts, etc. It's nice to have clean things rather than a growing pile of stinky clothes! It also helps me pack less on a longer trip. For example, we are going around the British Isles on Regal next month and will be away for nearly 3 weeks. But I'm only packing 1 week's worth of underwear/socks/etc. because we'll be able to get things laundered. The tender priority is helpful too. We have a lot of tender ports on this same British Isles cruise, and when planning our time ashore, I know that we'll be able to get ashore relatively quickly.

I was wondering about that too... but reading carefully, looks like it was a P&O cruise. One thing I love about Princess is that they're really good at entertainment. There are always a lot of different activities and entertainers and shows. We quite enjoy sea days, although I do understand the 'stir crazy' feeling of wanting to get off after a week or so.

You can get there early and the people at the YC tent will take care of you. YC are the first people on board, once boarding begins.