Regal Princess advice please!

[sgtjeff]

We are looking at sailing on the Regal Princess for the 15 day Panamal Canal. We would like to have any information from past guests about this ship and good cabins to pick. We want a balcony cabin.

 

I am also curious about the scholarship at sea program...is this extra or included in the price?

 

Thanks so much!

[GloriaF]

she has her followers and I'm sure you will hear from them.

 

I have sailed Regal only once, 15 days to Hawaii, and we loved it. She is smaller with only 1600 passengers and there is a much more intimate feeling aboard among the passengers and crew.

 

Since she is smaller, she has only one dining room (traditional) which is large, but there are a couple of alternative options included in the cruise fare for dining although they are not considered alternative (fee based) dining rooms as on other ships. One is the Pizzaria which is inside and a sit-down/order off the menu type situation; and the other is that later in the evening the buffet is turned into a restaurant with table linens, menu and waitstaff.

 

The cabins are much larger than on the newer ships. We had an oceanview and found that we had more drawers than we needed. One drawback is that there are less balconies than on the newer ships, thus the balconies are more money.

 

The decor is rich old-world style and reminds me of what I would imagine a true old-fashioned ocean liner would be like.

[SharkieRools]

Ask and ye shall receive :)

 

Look here for our review, pictures, patters, etc. from our last cruise aboard Regal Princess in late July/early August of this year:

 

Alaska Cruise 2005

[Pam in CA]

Here's another fan of the Regal. You'll find her public space much more spacious and useable than on the larger ships with several great lounges mid-ships with evening entertainment in addition to the shows.

 

The cabins, in general, are a bit more spacious than on the larger ships and the bathrooms are also larger. The shower is in a tub-sized enclosure -- no claustrophobia or shower curtains sticking to wet skin. :)

 

The aft sections of all of the passenger decks are also open to all passengers, i.e., they are not enclosed and sold as aft cabins, so that there is a LOT of open or covered aft deck space to relax, find a chair or lounger, and view the scenery. You almost don't need a balcony, there's so much usable deck space.

[calikak]

I also love the Regal--I got engaged on the Regal in 2001, so it holds a special place in my heart! I would recommend a cabin near the aft hot tubs. It's wonderful to be able to pop out there at night and watch the wake in the moonlight. We had an oceanview cabin back there and never felt the need for a balcony. One thing I especially liked about the Regal was the table-side preparation of certain dishes. They did a pasta dish tableside that was fantastic, and the table captain explained to us exactly what he was cooking and how he was cooking it, so DH could come home and try to recreate what we'd had onboard. I'm not sure if they're still doing this these days, but it was definitely one of the highlights of our cruise and something I miss on the bigger, less personal ships.

[jnc411]

Hi, we did the Regal 15 day Panama trip last March (2005) GREAT CRUISE. We did not have a balcony just an outside on Caribe deck portside near the aft, great location. My one suggestion is if you do book the cruise and you want Main seating Do It Right Away, there was a waitlist for main seating you wouldn't believe, the line went out the door and down the hall and embarkation day with people trying to get into main seating, we were waitlisted and we booked fairly early. No such luck, it was full. We had second seating and it was ok, we prefer main seating , but we just made adjustments and didn't let it bother us. This ship as a previous poster stated does not have personal choice dining, just traditional with a couple options such as the Pizza place and they close off part of the buffet area and you can dine there as well , we did it one evening and it was not good, not enough staff to wait on you , it took forever. Other than that no complaints about the food. One other minor thing ,if you have been on other Princess ships you need to know that the pool area is different than most, there is no shallow end of the pools, and no stairs to step down into pools , only ladders to climb in and out of pool. But ther is a nice swim up bar area,And nice hot tubs in the pool area and aft also.And the ship has a great theater.The gym is small but well equipt on a lower deck and the spa right across from the gym I think it is deck 5 , not sure. The scholarship at sea program on this cruise has a lot of choices, but yes there is a fee, there will be an introductory talk early in the cruise to explain the different coarses and when they are held. And be sure to visit the theater for the movies, a great option on Sea days. Hope you enjoy your cruise. the Canal is very interesting if you have never done it, this was our 2nd time. Just great.

Cori

[dchip]

We did 18 days last year on the Regal from SF to NYC. It was the best cruise ever. Because the ship is so much smaller you meet people and keep seeing them through out the cruise.

 

We had a balcony cabin on the Aloha deck A188. It was aft and we were just steps from the deck with the hot tubs. The Horizon Court was directly above us and made for a quick trip for a cup of coffee in the morning before breakfast.

 

Even with the wonderful decks available, we did enjoy our balcony but be aware they are SMALL. Had to turn the chair sideways to put your legs straight :) But we love keeping our door open at night and it was great to view some incredible lightning storms we had on the way. Also saw a shark when we were across from the Channel Islands off the coast of California.

 

The Regal is a great ship. We decided to sail the Coral on our next cruise for a different experience.

 

Enjoy, Denise