Christmas cruise on the Regal Princess

[Travrat]

I am a Princess Platinum member back from the Dec 21- Dec 28 Christmas cruise on the Regal Princess.

Anyone want an unbiased and honest review of my trip??

I will begin by saying that the ship is BEAUTIFUL!!

The review will be mostly favorable but I will be honest and not sugarcoat the BAD!

[janetz]

I do! Spill it. I was on the Royal in Oct and the ship was beautiful.

Edited January 3, 2015 by janetz

[Travrat]

Embarkation in Ft. Lauderdale went very fast-granted I was on the Platinum line- regular line was long and have no idea how that went.

Got on the ship at 12:15 and dropped our carry-ons in our mid-ship mini-suite.

Cabin was great size and we had an angled x-lge balcony.

Went to make specialty restaurant reservations first as we were travelling with 4 others and needed tables for 6. Thought since it was a holiday week that was a priority to reserve before the restaurants booked up.

Went to Crown Grill first and reserved 1st and last night and then off to Sabatini to book 4th night. No problem-all reserved but Maitre D at Sabatini-UH OH!!

Very first BAD!!

[sunsetbeachgal]

Is that it for the bad?

[janetz]

Is that it for the bad?

 

I doubt it. ;) Very "first" bad

Edited January 3, 2015 by janetz

[rdsqrl]

. . . Went to Crown Grill first and reserved 1st and last night and then off to Sabatini to book 4th night. No problem-all reserved but Maitre D at Sabatini-UH OH!!

Very first BAD!!

"UH OH" isn't tantalizingly vague. Was he rude? Inefficient? Threatening? Was he your arch-enemy from recess in grade school? Your ex-husband? Your ex-wife? Was he unkempt? Dirty? Not George Clooney handsome? Not George Clooney at all?

[Travrat]

All good guesses but here is why he was bad.

I prefer to have a nice lunch in the dining room on embarkation day so I asked Marco which dining room was open for embarkation lunch and he said "NO dining room is open, only Horizon Buffet and Alfredos".

I did not believe him and found the Concerto Dining room open where I proceeded to have a lovely lunch of Shrimp and Avacado and a perfectly cooked piece of salmon with veggies and roasted potatoes! Now I don't know if Princess tells employees to FLAT OUT LIE to their guests or if this guy did it on his own but either way it left a "bad taste" ! He also had an attitude but more about that later.

[Travrat]

After lunch we walked around the ship which really is beautiful!

Went to the required Muster Drill where you need to bring your life jacket but do not go outside on deck. Went back to our room and met our cabin steward for the first time-he arrived at our door with 2 glasses of champagne and went to our friend's cabin for sailaway. The mini-suite cabin was nice size with plenty of storage space. I liked the open closet and decent sized bathroom.

Bathroom amenities were 1 soap and shampoo and shower gel in dispensers. No body lotion, no Q-tips or cotton balls, no shower cap-just sayin'.

Had a good martini at Crooners before dinner at Crown Grill. Service at Crown Grill was good. The food wasn't bad but the filet mignon was not good steakhouse quality. The beet and goat cheese salad was poorly presented-almost No goat cheese or beets- but the onion soup was tasty. My friend's scallop appetizer was good and those that had the shrimp soup liked it as well. All sides were good-especially the mushrooms. Is it worth the upcharge- yes-I think so but don't expect it to be Ruth Chris or Mortons.

[calikid50]

Looking forward to reading more!

[JimmyVWine]

All good guesses but here is why he was bad.

I prefer to have a nice lunch in the dining room on embarkation day so I asked Marco which dining room was open for embarkation lunch and he said "NO dining room is open, only Horizon Buffet and Alfredos".

I did not believe him and found the Concerto Dining room open where I proceeded to have a lovely lunch of Shrimp and Avacado and a perfectly cooked piece of salmon with veggies and roasted potatoes! Now I don't know if Princess tells employees to FLAT OUT LIE to their guests or if this guy did it on his own but either way it left a "bad taste" ! He also had an attitude but more about that later.

 

It happens far too often across the entire fleet of ships to believe that the misinformation is the result of ignorance. Someone is telling them to lie. And I agree that it leaves a bad taste. In fact, this is my single biggest criticism of PCL. When your business is service, why would you want to start off a cruise by setting up an adversarial relationship between you and your customers by lying to them on such a trivial matter that can be so easily found out? If they don't want people to eat lunch in the MDR, don't offer it. But don't lie to your customers.

[Travrat]

Well said JimmyVWine!

Day 2 was a sea day for me. The ship went to Princess Cays which is very nice but I felt like chilling at the pool. First we had breakfast at Horizon Court. I am not a huge fan of buffets but I can never get up early enough to make it to the dining room for breakfast- 7:00 to 9:00. The layout was somewhat confusing to me with Horizon Bistro and 2 Horizon Courts. There certainly is a huge selection of foods. Found the made to order omelette line and had a great omelette. Lots of fresh fruit- no berries though. Smoked salmon station, breakfast meats, good hash brown cakes, waffles, pancakes, tons of pastries, cereals etc. Servers come around with coffee and juice- orange juice NOT fresh in case anyone was wondering. All in all very good. Never felt like you had to fight for a table as plenty of clean seating was always available.

Scored some good chairs at the adult only Retreat Pool. The pool area is pretty and bar service was available and unobtrusive- always appreciated!

I felt like Princess had stolen the staff from Holland America-that's a good thing. Did a snack/lunch at the Mexican area of Horizon Court. Good guacamole, salsa, cilantro and chips with a cold shrimp and bay scallop salad-which was like a ceviche. Everyday they had this whole Mexican taco bar setup with beans, meat, Mexican chicken, cheese and all the fixins'.

The actual salad bar portion of the lunch was somewhat boring each day but there was so much food offered it was overwhelming!

Next off to Happy Hour held each day at Crooners from 3:00-4:00 for 2-4-1 on anything. Grabbed a wine and off to afternoon trivia. Princess had more trivia through the day than any other cruise line I have ever been on-maybe 4xs/day! They also have the main shows available at least 2 if not 3 times/day which is great! It gives you the flexibility to dine at any time and see the show too- a HUGE PLUS for Princess over other cruise lines who cater only to those on Traditional fixed dining times!

Dinner was Italian night. Had a lovely table for 2 next to the round wine enclosed area in the back of the dining room reserved for the Winemaker Dinner. The Winemaker Dinner in reality does NOT exist. If you are interested in doing it you tell the Maitre D and if there are enough people interested in doing it they will let you know and it will be scheduled-WHAT???

Yes- it is up to them and you have to then schedule around it if it's going to happen-Don't think so! Also, it is at 7:00 only if it's going to be at all-BAD!!

Surely they should have a better plan such as pre-cruise scheduling maybe?

Back to Italian night. I still think it's cute that the waitstaff dresses up in red and white striped shirts for Italian night-a throw back to old time cruising for me. Was going to order the Mahi but my waiter urged against it so I had the Eggplant Parm appetizer- which was light-no breading but tasty, a salad with good balsamic vinaigrette and the pasta arrabiatta that was being made fresh by someone in the back of the dining room. All good.

[ar1950]

It happens far too often across the entire fleet of ships to believe that the misinformation is the result of ignorance. Someone is telling them to lie. And I agree that it leaves a bad taste. In fact, this is my single biggest criticism of PCL. When your business is service, why would you want to start off a cruise by setting up an adversarial relationship between you and your customers by lying to them on such a trivial matter that can be so easily found out? If they don't want people to eat lunch in the MDR, don't offer it. But don't lie to your customers.

 

Always interesting to hear about that experience especially when the open-for-lunch MDR is listed on the back of the embarkation day Patter. My only guess is that they don't want too many people showing up in the MDR and if you are asking about it you will not know any different. So they just point you to the Buffet.

[Travrat]

After dinner we checked out Kareoke in Princess Live-always fun.

Day 3- Day at Sea

Room service coffee-delivered ON TIME!

Went up to Retreat pool-luckily our friends got there early and scored chairs. Definately on a sea day you need to go early to this pool to get a chair. Sanctuary was all sold out on this cruise so if this is a priority for you book it as soon as you board. No one was in the cabanas at the Retreat pool-it is a waste of good space! This was a holiday cruise so on any given voyage this info may not be true.

Walked on Deck 17 for exercise-VERY WINDY- they have a walking and running track. Chilled at pool- had GREAT hot dog with sauerkraut for lunch at Trident Grill- Highly recommend.

Called dining reservations this AM to reserve same table we had last night since it was such a lovely location- Table 126 in the Concerto @ 8:30. No problem.

Arrived at dining room on time only to be told that this table was unavailable-WHAT??BAD!!

If you can't honor a reservation the don't tell me I can make one. Seems they turned my 2 top to a 4 top to accommodate others. Well we can seat you here-in the corner- next to other people-well OK-not happy but sat there. Turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Had a SUPER waiter from Serbia!

First formal night and they had the 50 year Princess menu.

Well- I liked it. Had the Duck pate with Mushroom cappu

cino for app.

The duck was gross but the soup was superb-You should order 2 soups!

Yummy salad and the turbot was excellent as was my husband's steak. Asked for extra onion potato tart-loved! The Norman Love Rasberry chocolate dessert was to die for!!

Waiter came over with complimentary Lemoncello from the Maitre D for the table reservation issue- Way to go for handling a potentially BAD situation!

Not sure but I think this was the Beatlemaniac Show night. The show was enjoyable and then they performed again in the Atrium at 11:15 - the crowd

was dancing away!

My friend HATED everything about this dinner- food is very subjective

[sunsetbeachgal]

And the embarkation day lunch always seems to be at the hard to find dining room, maybe so others won't see it going on? And always very few people.

 

When we board the Regal I think we will have lunch at Alfredo's. This is what we did on the Royal in the Med...before the masses discovered Alfredo's!

[searoses]

Hi....leaving on the regal next sunday.....did your find the retreat pool cold? Have seen that complaint a couple of times.....I plan to spend a lot of time there and hope it's comfortable....not new to cruising but new to princess.....thanks for taking the time to do a review...

[Cruisin' Chick]

Never heard of a "winemaker dinner." Is this something new?

 

I hope the lack of lotion is not a new thing. Even though I prefer hand cream instead of lotion, it's still nice to have that option. About the other toiletries you've mention, I think those are part of the elite or (full) suite package. We had some complimentary elite level amenities for our last cruise and I remember seeing items in our bathroom that we've never had before.

[Travrat]

I did not go in the pool but my husband said the water in the retreat pool was a little on the cold side-probably since there aren't any kids peeing in it

[Travrat]

Wine Makers dinner is not new but exclusive to Royal and Regal.

Day 4- St. Thomas

Made my own arrangements for a sailboat Charter to St. John with Captain Max

Best day ever- take a taxi to Red Hook and board the beautiful sailboat LOU for a full day snorkel and lunch to the National underwater park and fish garden.Dinner at Sabatini-UH OH again!

[Travrat]

I see a ton of people reading this but not to many people commenting.

Shall I continue??

[sunsetbeachgal]

Yes, am reading and enjoying! Please continue!

[avd79]

Yes, please continue. We will board her in March and all information welcome!

Edited January 4, 2015 by avd79

[eandj]

We'll be boarding next weekend. Love reading reviews, especially hints and experiences for a new ship.

Edited January 4, 2015 by eandj

[ar1950]

I see a ton of people reading this but not to many people commenting.

Shall I continue??

 

Please do continue. Not posting so as not to interrupt the flow. Thanks.:cool:

[sochon75]

Yes please!

 

 

 

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[bluehorizonlover123]

Yes I was also on this cruise. Just wondering why you didn't come to the cruise critic party?

 

 

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