Not so Live on the Regal Princess - 09/11 to 09/23

[IECalCruiser]

Sunday, 09/07

 

We will be boarding the Regal Princess on Thursday but our "cruise" is starting today as we drop off our car at the Hilton in LAX and get ready for an early departure to BCN tomorrow. We started the trip with no traffic delays on the 91 or the 105. That was followed up with a pleasant surprise as we were upgraded to a suite with lounge access :) We got there in time to get a bite to eat and some dessert. We will stop there again tomorrow morning for a quick bite before taking the shuttle to the airport. The Grand Med is a very port intensive cruise so I won't be very live. We will also be doing a CA coastal on the Crown in a month. I will be making some comparisons between the two ship classes on the next cruise.

 

 

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[Colo Cruiser]

Sunday, 09/07

 

We will be boarding the Regal Princess on Thursday but our "cruise" is starting today as we drop off our car at the Hilton in LAX and get ready for an early departure to BCN tomorrow. We started the trip with no traffic delays on the 91 or the 105. That was followed up with a pleasant surprise as we were upgraded to a suite with lounge access :) We got there in time to get a bite to eat and some dessert. We will stop there again tomorrow morning for a quick bite before taking the shuttle to the airport. The Grand Med is a very port intensive cruise so I won't be very live. We will also be doing a CA coastal on the Crown in a month. I will be making some comparisons between the two ship classes on the next cruise.

 

 

Have a safe trip and Bon Voyage. Looking forward to your reports. :)

[IECalCruiser]

Have a safe trip and Bon Voyage. Looking forward to your reports. :)

I will post when I have time.

 

 

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[IECalCruiser]

Monday 09/08

 

Our good "cruise" continues. After a quick bite in the lounge we caught a shuttle to the American terminal. Baggage check lines were long so we checked our bags with a skycap and went upstairs to go through security. Hadn't noticed but we were assigned TSA Pre-Check. Skipped the long security line and were through with our shoes on and our computers in our bags - score :) We have an hour to relax before boarding.

 

 

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[Working 2 Cruise]

Bob voyage!

[sashas_mom]

Monday 09/08

 

Our good "cruise" continues. After a quick bite in the lounge we caught a shuttle to the American terminal. Baggage check lines were long so we checked our bags with a skycap and went upstairs to go through security. Hadn't noticed but we were assigned TSA Pre-Check. Skipped the long security line and were through with our shoes on and our computers in our bags - score :) We have an hour to relax before boarding.

 

 

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Did you apply for the TSA per check? How does one get that without a security check?

[abisha]

Bon Voyage!

[SOLIVITA LADY]

Have a great time. Looking forward to your live when you have time to post.

 

Jackie

 

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[IECalCruiser]

Did you apply for the TSA per check? How does one get that without a security check?

We did not apply. Don't know why we get it but it was nice :)

 

 

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[IECalCruiser]

Monday, 09/08

 

MIA transfer was smooth. Our gate for BCN was two away from our arrival gate and one gate past that we found a restaurant with a Cuban sandwich and a nice glass of Rioja :)

 

 

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[Loonbeam]

Some people are randomly selected as well for Pre-Check, or you can get Global Entry, etc.

 

Did you apply for the TSA per check? How does one get that without a security check?

[ar1950]

We did not apply. Don't know why we get it but it was nice :)

 

 

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It is an introductory program that TSA is doing as they roll out the Pre-Check program to various locals. After getting randomly selected on about half of the flights that we were on over the last year we decided to bite the bullet and pay the $85.00 each to enroll for the next 3 years. It kind of feels like extortion (probably because it is) but it is nice to not have to take off shoes, take computers out, etc. and we get through security so much faster. :cool:

[6pack]

Very nice upgrade! I've never been that lucky :-( Enjoy your cruise and I look forward in seeing your ship comparison.

[anthonyy7]

Looking forward to your live reports!

[PathfinderEss]

Have a great cruise, looking forward to your reports.

[Astro Flyer]

Have a great cruise Brian...Buon Viaggio! :D

[IECalCruiser]

Tuesday, 09/09

 

Thanks for the well wishes!

 

Well, no miracle upgrade fairy visited to upgrade us to business class on the flight from MIA to BCN and we spent the nine hour flight in steerage. Glad we ate at MIA because it amazes me how bad airline food tastes. The good news is that I didn't use my Knee Defender, there was no international incident and we made it to Barcelona :)

 

The better news is that both of our bags also made it to BCN. With this being a warm weather cruise, we managed to get everything in two checked bags (no charge for the first bag on international flights :) ), one carry on, DW's large purse and my small Rick Steve's daypack. We even packed a little extra in case the Elite laundry turnaround is three days like it was for Amelia recently on the Royal :eek:

 

We have checked in to our hotel and are about to go explore La Ramblas.

 

 

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[TorontoTL]

Have a wonderful cruise, I'm looking forward to your reports from the Regal. :D

[Coolmama_1]

I am looking forward to your daily reports! We board the Regal in November for the 3day and 7 day cruises:D

[Grego]

I am looking forward to your daily reports! We board the Regal in November for the 3day and 7 day cruises:D

 

....and we are in between taking the maiden transatlantic voyage starting in Venice and 17 days later arriving at Port Everglades. Looking forward to hearing the reviews posted here.

[Seago2]

Looking forward to your live reports!

 

 

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[HRPro]

Looking forward to your report--we sail the Regal in November. Enjoy Barcelona--it's one of my favorite cities and would love to go back for a longer visit.

[cruisetrail]

Anticipation of the cruise is a sweet time.

Have a great cruise!

[Mom33]

Bon Voyage! :D

[IECalCruiser]

Tuesday, 09/09

 

Sorry to bore you with more pre-cruise stuff. In the afternoon walked from one end of La Rambla to the other and bought an FC Barcelona cap for me. DW also saw some stores she wanted to spend more time in tomorrow :eek: We then stopped at the market, tasted some wine (and bought some for our cabin :) ) and picked up a couple of empanadas and an almond pastry. It was then back to the hotel for a quick nap before our evening tour.

 

We had booked the Gotico Tapas Tour with the Barcelona Taste and met our guide, Catherine (an ex pat from Wales) and two other couples at 7:00pm. The tour was better than expected. We stopped at four locations and had food and wine or other beverages at each. It is good that we had a light lunch because we were more than full of very good food by 10:00pm :) :)

 

 

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