Review-Part 1 - Regal Jan 4-11, OV Midship Deluxe Balcony

[bntacruising]

Thank you for answering questions we had about E408. We now have fewer doubts about the choice we have made.

[Chesie]

I thought it was Mighty Leaf brand. The Regal actually has a loose tea leaf 'cabinet' which I never saw anyone around, so I am unsure how you got to select your choice. Something to check out this October when we are back on her!

 

 

Yes, Mighty Leaf. My DH got hooked on the mint green tea and I ended up on amazon getting 3 boxes!

[Chesie]

Thank you for the review. We were on the 1/25 sailing and had a great time!

[Maraprince]

DINING- We had Traditional 1st seating (5:45) in the ALLEGRO MDR (located on Deck 6 aft) (as opposed to “EARLY” traditional at 5:30 in the Concerto DR-this DR was then opened up to ANYTIME at 7:30).

 

The most direct way to the ALLEGRO DR is by going to the AFT elevators or stairs. The Allegro and the Concerto DR's are both on Deck 6 with a kitchen between them. We saw many people get off at the Allegro and thought they could walk from there to the Concerto. Nope - no can do.

 

We also witnessed MANY MANY people 'underdressed' for the MDR. Shorts, jeans, ball caps. I did not see them being turned away (and on the day of Princess Cay, there were even MORE 'too' casual dress!)

I guess the Princess crew want to reduce any conflicts (“the customer is always right”), but it doesn't help my argument with DH when he wanted to wear his golf shorts! His opinion is “if you don’t enforce the rules, then don’t make them”.

 

I also was standing behind one couple and overheard them telling another couple that since they are "Anytime Dining" that they could go to ANY dining room at ANY time! Uh - no - no you can't.

The head waiters politely (with a smile) advised them what their other choices were. Their 'huffing' indicated to me that they were not happy! Oh well. If only more people would actually READ the Patters!

 

Food is subjective, however my prime rib was cooked to perfection. My husband's Kingklip fish (Caribbean style) was fine except the bottom was burned. Both Phillip and the head waiter, Silivu, were VERY apologetic and eager to provide a better dish. DH declined – he just wanted to point it out to them.

All our subsequent dinners were without flaw. The NORMAN LOVE desserts were available 2 or 3 times throughout the week and were almost too pretty to want to eat!

The first night seemed to take much longer to be served, but we were not in any hurry. The rest of the evenings, everything seemed to move along well.

 

CROWN GRILL - We made reservations on the DINE line the first afternoon for a 6:00 pm seating the evening of St Maarten. I understood from our dining room neighbors that when they tried to make reservations for that same evening, there were limited seatings available much later (after 9?)

DH had 2 lobster tails and I asked for (and received) both the filet mignon and lobster tails! There was a Norman Love dessert available on the menu as well.

 

ALFREDO’S- we really enjoyed Alfredo’s. The pizzas are ‘individual sized’ about 12” – big enough for 4 larger slices. Salads were good as well.

GELATOS- We used a coffee card. One punch was 3 scoops which we split between us (2 scoops for DH, 1 scoop for me). Otherwise, I believe it was $3.50 for the same sized serving.

 

INTERNATIONAL CAFÉ – We had lunch there a couple times. The sandwiches and salads were ample enough, and we couldn’t get enough chocolate chip cookies!

 

HORIZON COURT/BISTRO/PASTRY SHOP – we stopped there each morning for breakfast after using the Fitness Center. I had a freshly made omelet each morning, fresh fruit and a pastry (or 2- to offset the exercise I just did!). The lay out is a great improvement over the older ships. We never had an issue finding a table between 7:30-8:30 each morning. The tables and sitting areas on the aft area of the deck were very nice.

 

ENTERTAINMENT:

The CD, Ron Goodman, is quite the performer himself! His Wake show, evening entertainment introductions and hosting various games shows in the Princess Live Theater had us in stitches! His assistant, Ryan Adams, is a RIOT! Actually, the entire staff were really energetic and motivated. They all appear to really enjoy their job.

Ron is leaving the Regal on 1/25 and after vacation, will be joining the Sapphire Princess after its dry-dock and deployment to Asia. Ryan will be staying on the Regal until June and will be with it for the TA to Copenhagen.

 

There were so many choices of things to do, it was hard to choose some days! The evening shows: Fiera, The Beatlemaniacs, Steve White, (the comedian who had the entire theater crying with laughter!), Spectacular, Ye Olde Pub Night, certainly offered great entertainment. We never got up to see a MUTS movie during the evening, but during the day, I could tell the screen was heads above the screen on the CB we watched in November.

I did watch "Gone Girl" on the TV in our cabin and saw there were several of the MUTS movies available as well.

 

Retreat Pool/Sanctuary-OK, so the Sanctuary was sold out for the entire cruise the first day. It appears you can ‘pre-book’ that first day even for whole or half day reservations. We were just curious and didn’t intend to rent.

The Retreat pool area was very nice. We stayed there on Princess Cay day and there was a selection of lounge chairs. There is VERY limited ‘shade’ in that area at high noon. Lounge chairs located under the canvas allow relief from direct sun, but it is still filtered sun.

As the afternoon went on, the lounge chairs filled up. We did not ever go up there on sea days – we preferred to sit on our balcony. (I only wish that they had the foot stools on the balcony – I believe you get them only for the mini-suites).

 

ITINERARY – This was only our 2nd Caribbean cruise and the 1st time to St Thomas/St Maarten. We took the ‘circle the island’ type tours booked through Princess. Nothing spectacular and it satisfied our wish to get a view of the islands. We are already booked for the same itinerary next January, so it gave us an idea of what else we would like to do (or NOT!) The views were gorgeous! The shopping is all invasive! Something for everyone and then some!

 

Miscellaneous observations:

I liked the Princess@Sea option on my iPhone and iPad. It was easy to check our account frequently throughout the day and any charges usually made it on pretty quickly. We still went to Pax Svcs to print out a sheet each morning only because it offered a little more detail.

 

I also liked being able to check the events for the day when I didn’t have the Patter with me. I don’t know if the messenger option worked – DH has an old flip phone – so I had no one to message! (ha!)

 

Went to Princess Live Theater a couple times (the last day was opened for a live audience for the Wake Show). The theater itself is ‘cozy’; the seats are cushioned, but not as comfortable as the ones in the main theater. It was fun to watch the production of the shows.

 

Princess Theater-the seats feel ‘closer’ than those on the CB, and the middle staircase is narrower coming down from Deck 7. It seems brighter in color. People who had been on the Royal P. were happy to see that they put in aisles on outsides of the rows.

 

Vista Lounge-Only was in there twice for the Ye Olde Pub Night and Captain Circle Party. The ‘barrel’ seats are awkward to navigate and the entire seating area feel crunched together.

Club 6 – never went to it.

 

FITNESS CENTER-feels ‘closer’ than the CB and narrower in design. Never had a problem getting a treadmill. DH would use the unoccupied aerobics room to do his stretches and floor exercises. He never mentioned having an issue with using hand weights or weight machines, so I assume they were available. We were there around 7:00 each morning.

 

DISEMBARKATION – We selected ‘independent arrangements’ and chose 8:30. When we received our luggage tags, we were assigned 8:25. That morning, we went to Horizon Court for our final breakfast – at 6:00 am- it was deserted! We took our time eating and then headed back to our cabin to gather our carry-ons.

We chose to go to the Platinum/Elite/Suite Disembarkation Lounge located at the Vista Lounge where they had beverages and pastries available.

Things were moving quite quickly and we were called at 7:55! We had to go to the mid-ship and down to Deck 6 to disembark and were off the ship, found our luggage, through Customs and in our car driving on I595 by 8:35!

 

FINAL THOUGHTS – I am looking forward to being on the Regal again this October for the New England/Canadian cruise! We really enjoyed the ship and the staff. With only a couple of very minor issues, we found her to be thoroughly enjoyable!

 

I have the Patters if anyone is interested. I will be scanning them into my computer in the next day or so.

 

Please excuse my detailed review. I always enjoy reading others and appreciate their details as it gives me more information.

 

I can’t figure out how to insert full photos, but am able to get the thumbnails loaded!

 

 

We are hoping to do one of the Oct. sailings to Canada & NE if the pricing comes down a bit. We are looking for a cabin for 3 with all beds on the floor. Being Platinum isn't helping! We are all retired and money is a little tight. Our TA found that decks 6-14 all seems to be around the same price.

 

Are the balconies covered or are they like the ones on the Crown and Caribe Princess?

 

Were there any special things since this is Princess's 50th Anniversary year?

 

MARAPRINCE

[New York Nana]

We are hoping to do one of the Oct. sailings to Canada & NE if the pricing comes down a bit. We are looking for a cabin for 3 with all beds on the floor. Being Platinum isn't helping! We are all retired and money is a little tight. Our TA found that decks 6-14 all seems to be around the same price.

 

Are the balconies covered or are they like the ones on the Crown and Caribe Princess?

 

Were there any special things since this is Princess's 50th Anniversary year?

 

MARAPRINCE

If you are looking for 3 beds on the floor, than I believe your only options would be a deluxe balcony (with a love seat sized pull out bed) or a mini-suite.

We had a midship deluxe balcony on deck 8/E408 (the lowest deck of cabins on the Regal). It was considered 'obstructed view', but as I noted earlier, there was no obstruction. The balcony was larger than the deluxe cabins forward and aft of the ship. The balcony was fully covered, and judging by looking at the other balconies, they all appear fully covered. There isn't the 'stepped' style of balconies like on the Caribbean P.

The price varies $100-$200 pp when i checked the Princess website.

There may be price reductions coming soon, however I always book early to get the cabin I want. I will call Princess if the price goes down to get the difference in fares.

Yes, they are doing all kinds of special shows and activities to celebrate their 50th.

If I were you, I would check out the Princess website to see if the cabin you'd be interested in is available, then call your TA and ask her to book it. You can change it later if you wish, but at least you would have your first choice.

[Maraprince]

If you are looking for 3 beds on the floor, than I believe your only options would be a deluxe balcony (with a love seat sized pull out bed) or a mini-suite.

We had a midship deluxe balcony on deck 8/E408 (the lowest deck of cabins on the Regal). It was considered 'obstructed view', but as I noted earlier, there was no obstruction. The balcony was larger than the deluxe cabins forward and aft of the ship. The balcony was fully covered, and judging by looking at the other balconies, they all appear fully covered. There isn't the 'stepped' style of balconies like on the Caribbean P.

The price varies $100-$200 pp when i checked the Princess website.

There may be price reductions coming soon, however I always book early to get the cabin I want. I will call Princess if the price goes down to get the difference in fares.

Yes, they are doing all kinds of special shows and activities to celebrate their 50th.

If I were you, I would check out the Princess website to see if the cabin you'd be interested in is available, then call your TA and ask her to book it. You can change it later if you wish, but at least you would have your first choice.

 

 

Did your cabin have room for a 3rd person? Had obstructed view cabins before and it really wasn't a major problem.

 

MARAPRINCE

[candide333]

We too had the same issue of not receiving our requested table for two. We booked early, requested a table for two and confirmed the request at least 5 times by our TA and myself before sailing. Unfortunately, we ended up assigned to a table for eight. After standing in line for about an hour at dinner for the Maitre'd on the Golden Princess, I was told there was no request and I missed the first night's' dinner. Being assigned to the wrong table has occurred on our last four sailings.

 

I know there is no guarantee for a specific request, but the correct request should be noted. Hopefully, the Golden no longer makes you wait until dinner to change seating. Most of the other ships have a time in the afternoon to see the Maitre'd.

 

Thanks for your review. We are sailing on the Royal in April and I am hopeful we will be placed at a table for two.

Edited February 20, 2015 by candide333

[New York Nana]

Did your cabin have room for a 3rd person? Had obstructed view cabins before and it really wasn't a major problem.

 

MARAPRINCE

Yes, our cabin had room for a 3rd person. It was a mid-ship, obstructed view (Deck 8/Emerald) DELUXE balcony. It has a love seat sized sofa bed.

Likewise, a mini-suite offers a sofa sized sofa bed permitting a 3rd person.

If you look at the deck plans of the ship on the Princess website, you can select the # of pax you are looking for. It will highlight the cabins that have beds for 2, 3 or 4 pax.

[New York Nana]

We too had the same issue of not receiving our requested table for two. We booked early, requested a table for two and confirmed the request at least 5 times by our TA and myself before sailing. Unfortunately, we ended up assigned to a table for eight. After standing in line for about an hour at dinner for the Maitre'd on the Golden Princess, I was told there was no request and I missed the first night's' dinner. Being assigned to the wrong table has occurred on our last four sailings.

 

I know there is no guarantee for a specific request, but the correct request should be noted. Hopefully, the Golden no longer makes you wait until dinner to change seating. Most of the other ships have a time in the afternoon to see the Maitre'd.

 

Thanks for your review. We are sailing on the Royal in April and I am hopeful we will be placed at a table for two.

 

Yes, I don't understand how/why our dining request was never recorded (although they DID have us in TD 1st seating?!)

It appears now we will have to make that trip to see the Maitrey 'd during embarkation rather than enjoying the ship!

Enjoy your trip! I wish we were back on her right now!

[Maraprince]

Yes, our cabin had room for a 3rd person. It was a mid-ship, obstructed view (Deck 8/Emerald) DELUXE balcony. It has a love seat sized sofa bed.

Likewise, a mini-suite offers a sofa sized sofa bed permitting a 3rd person.

If you look at the deck plans of the ship on the Princess website, you can select the # of pax you are looking for. It will highlight the cabins that have beds for 2, 3 or 4 pax.

 

 

Thanks for the info. Not sure if we will be 2 or 3 as yet. Since we will be going to Canada in late October doubtful we will be spending a lot of time on our balcony anyway.

 

MARAPRINCE

Edited February 24, 2015 by Maraprince

[Mackenzie1]

Thank you very much for your review. I'll be on the Emerald deck on the Regal Princess in the same area this fall, and I've really enjoyed seeing your pictures of what the cabins are like, reading the information about traditional dining venues, and reading all of the other information that you have provided about the Regal Princess.

Edited March 21, 2015 by Mackenzie1