3 day Regal Cruise

[cruzemaven]

Just off the ship. We were a group of 40 friends and have been on the Inaugurals of both the Allure and the Reflection as well as regular sailings on Crystal, Regent, RCCL, Oceania and Celebrity. We have sailed frequently on The Celebrity Reflection and Silhouette. This was our first Princess Cruise. In a nutshell...common areas are beautiful. The bar areas are lovely and service was very good. Deluxe Balcony cabin size was fine. Bathroom is the size of a thimble. Food in dining room is just okay. We boarded quickly and we were told that we would be allowed to call at 12:00pm from our cabin to book specialty dining reservations. When we called at 12, we were told there was only a 9:30 or 10:00 available each night at either restaurant. The reservationist told us that due to the Inaugural celebration there were many VIP's on board and resevations were filled. We called again and were finally able to get an 8:30 on the third night for 4 people. We tried each day to get into the Crown Grill or Sabbatini's on the other nights but that was not possible. It was also difficult to get tables in the MDR with anytime timing so we all went to the buffet for dinner on the second night...not good. The service in Sabbatini's on the third night was exceptionally slow. Our poor waitor had no busboy to help him and he was working very hard. The food was nicely presented and was good. We left dinner at 10:30 without having time for dessert or coffee because we wanted to see the production show in the Princess Theater. The shows were beautifully produced but weak in content. Disembarkation went extremely well. All in all, we would not choose to sail on a Princess Cruise again. We found The Regal Princess balcony cabin bathrooms to be uncomfortably small and the inability to book the specialty restaurants in advance on Princess Cruises is a major disadvantage to all of us. When cruising our preference is to dine in the alternative restaurants rather than the main dining room as much as possible to which The Silhouette and The Reflection are much better suited.

[paul929207]

Thanks for your comments

[Pia1913]

Just off the ship. We were a group of 40 friends and have been on the Inaugurals of both the Allure and the Reflection as well as regular sailings on Crystal, Regent, RCCL, Oceania and Celebrity. We have sailed frequently on The Celebrity Reflection and Silhouette. This was our first Princess Cruise. In a nutshell...common areas are beautiful. The bar areas are lovely and service was very good. Deluxe Balcony cabin size was fine. Bathroom is the size of a thimble. Food in dining room is just okay. We boarded quickly and we were told that we would be allowed to call at 12:00pm from our cabin to book specialty dining reservations. When we called at 12, we were told there was only a 9:30 or 10:00 available each night at either restaurant. The reservationist told us that due to the Inaugural celebration there were many VIP's on board and resevations were filled. We called again and were finally able to get an 8:30 on the third night for 4 people. We tried each day to get into the Crown Grill or Sabbatini's on the other nights but that was not possible. It was also difficult to get tables in the MDR with anytime timing so we all went to the buffet for dinner on the second night...not good. The service in Sabbatini's on the third night was exceptionally slow. Our poor waitor had no busboy to help him and he was working very hard. The food was nicely presented and was good. We left dinner at 10:30 without having time for dessert or coffee because we wanted to see the production show in the Princess Theater. The shows were beautifully produced but weak in content. Disembarkation went extremely well. All in all, we would not choose to sail on a Princess Cruise again. We found The Regal Princess balcony cabin bathrooms to be uncomfortably small and the inability to book the specialty restaurants in advance on Princess Cruises is a major disadvantage to all of us. When cruising our preference is to dine in the alternative restaurants rather than the main dining room as much as possible to which The Silhouette and The Reflection are much better suited.

 

 

You expected too much and now are disappointed. You booked a special cruise; a three day inaugural with many many celebrities aboard. Amazingly, we have friends on board (they stayed on for this next one) and raved about how entertaining and different the three days were. These friends have over 500 days on Princess so I think they know the difference.

 

Enjoy Celebrity. Also amazing is that Celebrity is one of the lines I don't care for. I even choose Carnival over Celebrity.

[RickEk]

Yes, the inability to book a specialty restaurant would not be a problem on a regular cruise...

[caribill]

Thanks for your honest report and opinions.

[Host CJSKIDS]

We were on the sailing and are still on to the 7 night. It was a bit different because of all the celebrities and VIPS. Last night there was a private event for all the cruise line CEO's and cast of the love boat at vines.

We were one of the first to board Thursday and all that was left at the crown grill was 6 or 10:30 pm the first night. We were also very lucky and got the sanctuAry. That was booked solid by the cast and VIPS.

 

The crew all seems a bit stressed but it was so very understandable. I personally still loved every moment. I heard a lot of people complaining and many did not know that the cruise was such a big deal with so many VIPs so I can understand their disappointment.

 

 

You just had to go with the flow and all was okay.

[tvguy72]

About 2/3 of this weeks sailing is a huge TA consortium. When we found out about this we canceled, the TA and VIP's will interfere with us common folks. Good luck this week.

 

There will be VIP's from not only CCL owned lines, but from NCL, RCI, Disney on board.😱

[Pam in CA]

Yes, the inability to book a specialty restaurant would not be a problem on a regular cruise...

So true. Under normal (non-christening VIPs and guests) circumstances, there's absolutely no need to pre-book a specialty restaurant. So often, they're begging people to dine, sometimes placing someone just outside to try to sell the restaurant.

 

Maybe they'd get more people to dine in the restaurants if you could pre-book. That would give people the impression that it is busy. Kind of like parking cars in front of a land restaurant to look busy. :)

[luvabeach]

Thanks so much for review. I am going on my third Princess cruise in February...the Royal, and am nervous about the reviews of ship in particular cabin size and bathrooms. We love Celebrity and hope Princess surprises us and is a great alternative.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[shredie]

You had trouble booking a restaurant for a party of 40? :rolleyes:

[Pia1913]

I can attest that there was a problem; my friend told me. As Elites though, and in the most traveled catagory, they were comped a Crown Grill meal and even though there were no reservations, a kind word to the "door guy" gave them entry at a good time and of course a meal they enjoyed.

Edited November 9, 2014 by Pia1913

[birdiebill]

We also just finished the three day cruise on the Regal. We had anytime dining and had no trouble getting seated. In fact there were empty tables every night in the Symphony MDR. We wondered why? But we always went before six o'clock and were willing to share a table.

 

Part of the problem may have been the size of the group; forty people eating together in the MDR just is not going to work.

 

Since this was only a three night sailing, it is not surprising that the specialty restaurants filled quickly? On a seven night or longer cruise it is easier to get a reservation in a specialty restaurant than in a short er one. That along with the celebrities on board resulted in the problem.

Edited November 10, 2014 by birdiebill

[lfk60]

We also just came off the 3day cruise.

 

Very true that all but very late time slots for dinner were gone by the time we boarded due to VIPs and TAs already on from christening. Oh well!

 

As a result we had the BEST dinner in any ship's buffet..ever. Huge lobster tails, prime rib, shrimp cocktail and many more wonderful items! It appeared that Princess knew its 'regular' passengers were overtaken by the VIPs, etc., and tried to compensate. Nice job!

 

Definitely a different vibe, but it was such fun to meet the Love Boat cast and share stories. Staff was excellent, so friendly and accommodating, even under less then stellar circumstances....now if I could only say the same about some of my fellow passengers! ;)

Edited November 10, 2014 by lfk60

[cruzemaven]

We also just finished the three day cruise on the Regal. We had anytime dining and had no trouble getting seated. In fact there were empty tables every night in the Symphony MDR. We wondered why? But we always went before six o'clock and were willing to share a table.

 

Part of the problem may have been the size of the group; forty people eating together in the MDR just is not going to work.

 

Since this was only a three night sailing, it is not surprising that the specialty restaurants filled quickly? On a seven night or longer cruise it is easier to get a reservation in a specialty restaurant than in a short er one. That along with the celebrities on board resulted in the problem.

 

Forty people did not want to dine together. We were all in small groups of 4, 6, 8, etc. All of our small groups tried to get into different venues and everyone was having problems. The anytime dining was a nightmare for some of my friends who tried to get a time anywhere between 7:00 to 8:30. One group of 4 was told when they called in the morning that all reservations were taken and they would have to show up and see what time they could be seated. When they showed up at 7:30 they were told it would be at least an hour wait. Some of our friends who couldn't get a table in the MDR at a time between 7- 8:30 decided that the buffet was the easiest way to go...but they weren't happy. One group of ten found that the only option for their size group was to book the gourmet dinner...very pricey...but they loved it and they were able to dine together! It just was a very difficult dining situation for many people...and the food in the MDR isn't very good. As I said before, we have been with a large group of friends on other Inaugural cruises and never experienced the dining problems that this inaugural cruise had. The Allure has many more passengers than The Regal and that Inaugural was a pleasure.

[JimmyVWine]

Thanks for the report. But as others have said, don't judge Princess from this one-off cruise. As one other poster noted, there was lobster at the buffet, and as you have noted (and Pia confirmed), Specialty Dining was pretty much off limits to the common folk. Neither of these features is common to a typical cruise. That said, if you prefer specialty fee-based dining to the MDRs, I would have to agree that Princess offers far less than other cruise lines. Though, if I recall correctly, some of the other lines charge upwards of $50 per person. I have more or less settled down to eating at Specialty Dining Rooms around 40% of the time and prefer the $25 per person price tag even if the meals are not 4-star.

[geoherb]

With the circumstances of the 3-day cruise, I don't think it's a fair test of the whole cruise line. But that said, I hope the OP has a great time on future cruises on other lines. I remember the time we ate lunch with a husband, wife and friend on the Golden Princess a dozen years ago. To them, nothing compared favorably on Princess with their Carnival cruises.

[sandyh422]

Forty people did not want to dine together. We were all in small groups of 4, 6, 8, etc. All of our small groups tried to get into different venues and everyone was having problems. The anytime dining was a nightmare for some of my friends who tried to get a time anywhere between 7:00 to 8:30. One group of 4 was told when they called in the morning that all reservations were taken and they would have to show up and see what time they could be seated. When they showed up at 7:30 they were told it would be at least an hour wait. Some of our friends who couldn't get a table in the MDR at a time between 7- 8:30 decided that the buffet was the easiest way to go...but they weren't happy. One group of ten found that the only option for their size group was to book the gourmet dinner...very pricey...but they loved it and they were able to dine together! It just was a very difficult dining situation for many people...and the food in the MDR isn't very good. As I said before, we have been with a large group of friends on other Inaugural cruises and never experienced the dining problems that this inaugural cruise had. The Allure has many more passengers than The Regal and that Inaugural was a pleasure.

 

We tried to book a speciality restaurant as soon as we boarded the ship and were told that all 3nights were completely booked. The maitre d put us on a cancellation list but never contacted us. This was extremely disappointing as we brought friends to whom we had bragged on how good the specialty restaurants were.

Bottom line for us - we will not sail on Princess again but instead will stay with the Oasis and Allure of the Seas where we can book specialty restaurants in advance and be guaranteed a place. Also, their entertainment is the best with headliner shows that were outstanding.

 

Enjoyed Charo's show and the Love Boat Q&A. However, we did not enjoy Fiera as it seemed to be only contemporary music rather than some representative music form the 50's, 60's, 70's, etc. The 2nd show had more of a variety of music but still not totally to our liking.

 

Flame me if you like but this is my opinion.

We are going back to RCL where we can make reservations for dining and shows and where entertainment is more professional.

[HUNKY]

As Princess plays catch up with technology I expect that their offerings will be better executed from the start. To meet customer demand Princess will have to have a pre cruise reservation system in place. In addition, full payment in advance for excursions and specialty dining will improve cash flow and purchase forecasting.

 

These changes may be uncomfortable for long term Princess guests, but they are inevitable - IMHO.

 

Gosh, I didn't get a smartphone until 2012!

[Pia1913]

An update: sort of. Our friends are still on the ship and there are now 900 travel agents aboard. And because of this, they got a great upsell from an inside to a premier balcony for $59/pp. Yes, dining is again full in specialty restaurants. But they have a res at the Crown Grill for tonight. :D

[JimmyVWine]

As Princess plays catch up with technology I expect that their offerings will be better executed from the start. To meet customer demand Princess will have to have a pre cruise reservation system in place. In addition, full payment in advance for excursions and specialty dining will improve cash flow and purchase forecasting.

 

These changes may be uncomfortable for long term Princess guests, but they are inevitable - IMHO.

 

I'm not so sure I agree with this. (At least as far as the Specialty Dining is concerned.) The problem with pre-booking is you get a whole bunch of people who get all jazzed up about the cruise they just booked (14 months in advance) and they go hog wild booking all sorts of extras that they think they might enjoy. But who can really be sure where one will be, or where one wants to eat so far in advance. So what happens is the reservation book gets filled with people who might dine in the Specialty restaurants and take the spaces away from the people who actually want to dine there as the day approaches. So you wind up with a massive cancellation rate (if the people are courteous enough to call to cancel) and a waiting list scenario that can be more frustrating than having no reservations at all. It also increases the manpower on the restaurant's end to manage the wait list.

 

Now, if Princess were to allow pre-bookings say a week in advance, that would increase the possibility that people would only make reservations that they intend to use. Still, there is a "I have to beat everyone else" mentality that takes over, and if the reservation system opens up one week in advance at midnight Pacific time, you will have hundreds of people staying up all night hitting "refresh" over and over trying to secure those precious reservations. It is just human nature. In a way, the Reservation 1.0 system that requires people to call once they are on the ship does a lot to alleviate that "rush to the goal" mentality that pre-booking creates. Of course, sometimes technology is a new toy that one cannot help but show off. So perhaps you are right. But when it comes to filling tables (and saving people from their own irrational behavior), the current system may in fact be the best one.

[TLC535]

We were also on this sailing and had a wonderful time...we felt like the "celebrities" onboard added an exciting dynamic to a cruise line that we already enjoy...was it a little disappointing that we couldn't get into Crown Grill :confused: sure, but didn't negatively impact our cruise experience & felt with all the VIP & celeb's onboard was a pretty good reason for it & had no problem understanding that... we have never had an issue getting in on any of our past sailings.

 

We ate in the MDR for dinner twice and had no issues with the food quality, service or getting in, though we prefer to dine around 6-6:30.

 

...personally I think it is pretty ridiculous to rate/judge any cruise line based on an experience of a inaugural/celebration type cruise as this was, but that is JMHO ;)

 

The entertainment on this sailing was very enjoyable for us, but, I must agree with the comment about it...I believe RCL is ahead of all lines in this aspect ;)

 

Happy cruising to all on whichever line suits you :D

[timetravler]

Six of us were on the Royal for that ships first Caribbean cruise which was a 5 day'er. We could not get a reservation in the Crown grill because it was booked. However while on Princess Cays we ran into Alfredo Farsi whom we had meet and talked to extensively at the Chefs table on the TA cruise right before this one. We asked if there was any way he could get us a table in the Crown Grill. Low and behold later that day all six of us had a table there. Now that is what I call service. BTW, for those that do not know who Alfredo Farsi is, he is the head executive chef of Princess cruise lines is whom the pizza restaurant Afredo's was named after him.

[Pia1913]

Six of us were on the Royal for that ships first Caribbean cruise which was a 5 day'er. We could not get a reservation in the Crown grill because it was booked. However while on Princess Cays we ran into Alfredo Farsi whom we had meet and talked to extensively at the Chefs table on the TA cruise right before this one. We asked if there was any way he could get us a table in the Crown Grill. Low and behold later that day all six of us had a table there. Now that is what I call service. BTW, for those that do not know who Alfredo Farsi is, he is the head executive chef of Princess cruise lines is whom the pizza restaurant Afredo's was named after him.

 

I believe his name is Alfredo Marzi (not Farsi)

Edited November 10, 2014 by Pia1913

[waltd]

I believe his name is Alfredo Marzi

 

Master Chef Alfredo Marzi | Onboard Cruise Food & Dining | Princess Cruises . Yep Pia that is who he is. :)

[azdmelani]

We tried to book a speciality restaurant as soon as we boarded the ship and were told that all 3nights were completely booked. The maitre d put us on a cancellation list but never contacted us. This was extremely disappointing as we brought friends to whom we had bragged on how good the specialty restaurants were.

Bottom line for us - we will not sail on Princess again but instead will stay with the Oasis and Allure of the Seas where we can book specialty restaurants in advance and be guaranteed a place. Also, their entertainment is the best with headliner shows that were outstanding.

 

Enjoyed Charo's show and the Love Boat Q&A. However, we did not enjoy Fiera as it seemed to be only contemporary music rather than some representative music form the 50's, 60's, 70's, etc. The 2nd show had more of a variety of music but still not totally to our liking.

 

Flame me if you like but this is my opinion.

We are going back to RCL where we can make reservations for dining and shows and where entertainment is more professional.

 

To each their own, but Fiera was the best original show I've ever seen on a cruise. It's suprising to hear a a complaint about Princess being too contemporary. :O)

 

Enjoy your RCCL sailings