Not My Favorite Princess Cruise

[Ereggae]

We flew into Fort Lauderdale independently and were greeted at the airport by a wonderful Princess representative who arranged our transportation to our pre-cruise designated hotel, the B-Ocean. This process went smoothly. Despite the renovations in progress at the hotel, we had a pleasant stay as we went with an open mind and no high expectations. On embarkation day, however, the transfer from the hotel to the cruise ship terminal was a tad chaotic as there were four ships and the hotel staff did not organize the bags accordingly but once we got on the bus and were on our way it was fine as thankfully the bus driver knew a short cut to bypass the horrible traffic jam ahead.

 

Check in was well organized and went smoothly. Please note, however, if it is too late to change your credit card online and you wish to make the change when checking in, please let the attendant know that they should do it for both persons as we ended up with two bills. We had a nice lunch at Alfredo's. The main dining rooms closed at 1:00 p.m. and we didn't want to go to the buffet.

 

We finally made it to our rooms and, almost immediately, our bags arrived. The room and balcony were quite small for a deluxe balcony. The bathroom had a very bad smell but I don't know what our cabin attendant did but the smell was gone and did not come back for the entire week. I was disappointed in the quality of the towels which were discolored and felt like sandpaper and I hesitated using them but had no choice. They definitely do not use fabric softener. The shower gel and shampoo/conditioner was very poor quality. If you are particular about these items, please bring your own.

 

We were also disappointed with the internet. Much too slow, so if you have to purchase it, don't waste your money. The same goes for the ports. The only port where we had decent WiFi was Grand Cayman. The other places advertise that they have free WiFi but force you to purchase something. Once you make the purchase you realize that it is extremely slow and absolutely useless. Call your carrier before you leave as some now have international data plans that may not be too expensive.

 

The selection of food was quite good and we had no problems. We were assigned to the Allegro dining room but did not like the atmosphere or staff there and there was a vibration directly under us. On the second night we switched to anytime dining in the Symphony and ate there every night. The staff there was very attentive and courteous. We went to Sabatini's one night and enjoyed our meal and service there as well.

 

Shopping on board was also disappointing. Did not find one thing to purchase.

 

Disembarkation was perfectly organized and we got off exactly at our designated time and our bags were neatly arranged together. We love Fort Lauderdale for keeping this traditional color-coded system. Miami is a nightmare with the carousel as it can take hours to get your bags. We passed on the transfers to the airport and grabbed a taxi outside. Much quicker than waiting for a bus to be loaded and the cost was minimal.

 

We booked a shore excursion to a Private Island in Roatan that is a wildlife sanctuary and we were very disappointed. To be there for five hours with absolutely nothing to do was not my idea of fun. We asked the lady in charge there if we could return earlier and she accommodated us. We found out we were not the only ones disappointed. The boat ride was quite rough, especially on the return. We went to the Shore Excursion desk to complain and the attendant was quite rude.

 

This was my 24th cruise and my 7th on Princess and overall I give this cruise a rating of 7 out of 10.

[spyro1952]

We flew into Fort Lauderdale independently and were greeted at the airport by a wonderful Princess representative who arranged our transportation to our pre-cruise designated hotel, the B-Ocean. This process went smoothly. Despite the renovations in progress at the hotel, we had a pleasant stay as we went with an open mind and no high expectations. On embarkation day, however, the transfer from the hotel to the cruise ship terminal was a tad chaotic as there were four ships and the hotel staff did not organize the bags accordingly but once we got on the bus and were on our way it was fine as thankfully the bus driver knew a short cut to bypass the horrible traffic jam ahead.

 

Check in was well organized and went smoothly. Please note, however, if it is too late to change your credit card online and you wish to make the change when checking in, please let the attendant know that they should do it for both persons as we ended up with two bills. We had a nice lunch at Alfredo's. The main dining rooms closed at 1:00 p.m. and we didn't want to go to the buffet.

 

We finally made it to our rooms and, almost immediately, our bags arrived. The room and balcony were quite small for a deluxe balcony. The bathroom had a very bad smell but I don't know what our cabin attendant did but the smell was gone and did not come back for the entire week. I was disappointed in the quality of the towels which were discolored and felt like sandpaper and I hesitated using them but had no choice. They definitely do not use fabric softener. The shower gel and shampoo/conditioner was very poor quality. If you are particular about these items, please bring your own.

 

We were also disappointed with the internet. Much too slow, so if you have to purchase it, don't waste your money. The same goes for the ports. The only port where we had decent WiFi was Grand Cayman. The other places advertise that they have free WiFi but force you to purchase something. Once you make the purchase you realize that it is extremely slow and absolutely useless. Call your carrier before you leave as some now have international data plans that may not be too expensive.

 

The selection of food was quite good and we had no problems. We were assigned to the Allegro dining room but did not like the atmosphere or staff there and there was a vibration directly under us. On the second night we switched to anytime dining in the Symphony and ate there every night. The staff there was very attentive and courteous. We went to Sabatini's one night and enjoyed our meal and service there as well.

 

Shopping on board was also disappointing. Did not find one thing to purchase.

 

Disembarkation was perfectly organized and we got off exactly at our designated time and our bags were neatly arranged together. We love Fort Lauderdale for keeping this traditional color-coded system. Miami is a nightmare with the carousel as it can take hours to get your bags. We passed on the transfers to the airport and grabbed a taxi outside. Much quicker than waiting for a bus to be loaded and the cost was minimal.

 

We booked a shore excursion to a Private Island in Roatan that is a wildlife sanctuary and we were very disappointed. To be there for five hours with absolutely nothing to do was not my idea of fun. We asked the lady in charge there if we could return earlier and she accommodated us. We found out we were not the only ones disappointed. The boat ride was quite rough, especially on the return. We went to the Shore Excursion desk to complain and the attendant was quite rude.

 

This was my 24th cruise and my 7th on Princess and overall I give this cruise a rating of 7 out of 10.

 

Thanks for your review. What ship were you on?

[Colo Cruiser]

Why was the DR closed at 1pm?

The hours are from Noon-1:30p.

 

Smell in the bathroom is usually the shower curtain. We like to have it changed asap by Stewart.

 

Thanks for the comments, and sorry for the shortcomings.

Much of which could have been found here on CC. ;)

 

Regal??

Edited January 10, 2016 by Colo Cruiser

[Ereggae]

We went to the dining room and the lady at the door turned us away. Once we told the steward she took care of the smell. My other cruises on Princess were excellent but some things just didn't feel right with this one.

[Working 2 Cruise]

We went to the dining room and the lady at the door turned us away. Once we told the steward she took care of the smell. My other cruises on Princess were excellent but some things just didn't feel right with this one.

 

Again, what SHIP? That's essential!

[Ereggae]

So sorry the Regal Princess

[Dietemann]

We went to the dining room and the lady at the door turned us away. My other cruises on Princess were excellent but some things just didn't feel right with this one.

We were on the Coral for New Year's and the same thing happened to us in the DR, turned away at lunch and told it was for B2B passengers only. We happened to be in a Suite and I pushed it, so we were allowed in. Must be a new policy, even though the lunch was posted in the Patter, from 12:00 to 1:30.

[Cruisin' Chick]

I'm puzzled by the issue of the credit card. We have always handed over the card we attend to use (sometimes it's not the same card that I put in the cruise personalizer as often I input in my card...and that's the not card we use for our account) and we say it's for the three of us.

 

We've only gotten the Internet package on our last cruise, knowing that we won't have guaranteed or even faster-than-dial-up Internet. Basically I just check my email and maybe do a little checking of social media as did my daughter. We've used Internet cafes on the previous one or two cruises but there's usually a rate to pay or a coffee to pay. The exception was the Apple store in Honolulu (we weren't doing any buying or other security-needing type of computering either on board or in port). And not expecting high speed wifi or signals.

 

But at least it seems it was mostly good for you.

[Ereggae]

We had 150 free minutes which was used up in no time as we couldn't connect. It just spins for a long time and wastes the minutes. The last day we got 15 minutes for $8.99, enough to load our boarding passes.

[baronessk]

I was disappointed in the quality of the towels which were discolored and felt like sandpaper and I hesitated using them but had no choice.

 

IMHO...another plus / reason for selecting a MS that no one ever seems to mention when doing the comparison WE had GREAT towels on Regal over Christmas.

[Colo Cruiser]

I was disappointed in the quality of the towels which were discolored and felt like sandpaper and I hesitated using them but had no choice.

 

IMHO...another plus / reason for selecting a MS that no one ever seems to mention when doing the comparison WE had GREAT towels on Regal over Christmas.

 

 

I am seeing this alot more now. Stained/ripped...... Not acceptable! :(

[cruiseintoheaven]

Wow - we've had two great cruises on the Regal - sorry your experience was not positive but appreciate your opinions and views [emoji4]

[Ereggae]

Absolutely, if you make the decision to use white towels then you should launder them properly. I must say though that the bedding was spotless.

[Loonbeam]

I remember from the UST on the Royal they mentioned they had new laundry systems as compared to the rest of the fleet that were more eco friendly. Wonder if that is contributing to the towels degrading quicker than expected.

[riclop]

Thanks for your thoughts.

[stag]

We noticed Regal's towels are not as white as other ships. I am sure they either reduced the bleach, or used no bleach. In order to support a good environment for our children and their children, we don't mind the discolor towels. Cheers.

[AlibearNS]

We went to the dining room and the lady at the door turned us away.

 

We love embarkation day lunch, and this happened to us in October on the Star Princess. We arrived at around 12.40pm (as soon as we could after boarding), and were told the dining room was already full and we should go to the buffet. A crowd started forming, people were complaining as the place was pretty much empty with just a few tables in use. Eventually they opened up a few more tables and let some of us in. It really wasn't busy at all, they had no problem coping with extra tables.

It's not a great start to a cruise when you're made to feel unwelcome. it's as if they really don't want passengers to turn up to this lunch - so why offer it?

[easyboy]

We love embarkation day lunch, and this happened to us in October on the Star Princess. We arrived at around 12.40pm (as soon as we could after boarding), and were told the dining room was already full and we should go to the buffet. A crowd started forming, people were complaining as the place was pretty much empty with just a few tables in use. Eventually they opened up a few more tables and let some of us in. It really wasn't busy at all, they had no problem coping with extra tables.

It's not a great start to a cruise when you're made to feel unwelcome. it's as if they really don't want passengers to turn up to this lunch - so why offer it?

 

I noticed that too.

Most waitstaff at the DR are assigned at HC during lunchtime.

I guess they have to recall at least some waitstaff to open up additional tables.

[Wavelet]

We flew into Fort Lauderdale independently and were greeted at the airport by a wonderful Princess representative who arranged our transportation to our pre-cruise designated hotel, the B-Ocean. This process went smoothly. Despite the renovations in progress at the hotel, we had a pleasant stay as we went with an open mind and no high expectations. On embarkation day, however, the transfer from the hotel to the cruise ship terminal was a tad chaotic as there were four ships and the hotel staff did not organize the bags accordingly but once we got on the bus and were on our way it was fine as thankfully the bus driver knew a short cut to bypass the horrible traffic jam ahead.

 

Check in was well organized and went smoothly. Please note, however, if it is too late to change your credit card online and you wish to make the change when checking in, please let the attendant know that they should do it for both persons as we ended up with two bills. We had a nice lunch at Alfredo's. The main dining rooms closed at 1:00 p.m. and we didn't want to go to the buffet.

 

We finally made it to our rooms and, almost immediately, our bags arrived. The room and balcony were quite small for a deluxe balcony. The bathroom had a very bad smell but I don't know what our cabin attendant did but the smell was gone and did not come back for the entire week. I was disappointed in the quality of the towels which were discolored and felt like sandpaper and I hesitated using them but had no choice. They definitely do not use fabric softener. The shower gel and shampoo/conditioner was very poor quality. If you are particular about these items, please bring your own.

 

We were also disappointed with the internet. Much too slow, so if you have to purchase it, don't waste your money. The same goes for the ports. The only port where we had decent WiFi was Grand Cayman. The other places advertise that they have free WiFi but force you to purchase something. Once you make the purchase you realize that it is extremely slow and absolutely useless. Call your carrier before you leave as some now have international data plans that may not be too expensive.

 

The selection of food was quite good and we had no problems. We were assigned to the Allegro dining room but did not like the atmosphere or staff there and there was a vibration directly under us. On the second night we switched to anytime dining in the Symphony and ate there every night. The staff there was very attentive and courteous. We went to Sabatini's one night and enjoyed our meal and service there as well.

 

Shopping on board was also disappointing. Did not find one thing to purchase.

 

Disembarkation was perfectly organized and we got off exactly at our designated time and our bags were neatly arranged together. We love Fort Lauderdale for keeping this traditional color-coded system. Miami is a nightmare with the carousel as it can take hours to get your bags. We passed on the transfers to the airport and grabbed a taxi outside. Much quicker than waiting for a bus to be loaded and the cost was minimal.

 

We booked a shore excursion to a Private Island in Roatan that is a wildlife sanctuary and we were very disappointed. To be there for five hours with absolutely nothing to do was not my idea of fun. We asked the lady in charge there if we could return earlier and she accommodated us. We found out we were not the only ones disappointed. The boat ride was quite rough, especially on the return. We went to the Shore Excursion desk to complain and the attendant was quite rude.

 

This was my 24th cruise and my 7th on Princess and overall I give this cruise a rating of 7 out of 10.

 

I don't know what dates you sailed, but we were on the Regal 12/27 to 1/3 and had a great time. We stayed at Embassy Suites and it was also chaotic, but this was post Christmas so we expected this. We were in our cabin by 2 PM. Not bad considering all the people on this ship. The cruise itself was very good. The staff - from cabin steward to Horizon Court waiters -were great. I even commented to my husband that all the staff were smiling, friendly and courteous. We had originally booked a ship tour in Roatan, but considered the limited time in the port and the fact that it was New Year's Eve, and cancelled the tour. We were glad we did. The internet wasn't great but we found it better than on other ships. The Princess at Sea app was helpful.We did an EZ checkout for disembarkation (Princess gets your airline boarding passes and luggage the day before you disembark. You didn't see your luggage til you arrive at your home terminal) so we had no real need for the last minute Internet.

As many have said before, a cruise experience is subjective and everyone's experience is personal. Our experience was very good and I felt it was one of our better cruises.

[geoherb]

Thanks for posting your review. I'm glad the food was good. That's the one area I tend to notice when things aren't what they should be.

 

How about the entertainment on the ship? Did you enjoy the shows?

[Ereggae]

Shows were okay not fantastic.

[Mom33]

On our Regal cruise, the first two weeks of December, we enjoyed the entertainment. We thought there was quite a variety, something to please everyone. We were able to use our IPad with out any difficulty even though it was not as fast as home. We actually didn't use all our minutes this time.

 

Sorry to hear that your experience was poor.

[TravelingEA]

"Shopping on board was also disappointing. Did not find one thing to purchase."

 

 

 

 

We usually do not buy anything on the ship - it is mostly vastly overpriced items. I would not be disappointed if I did not find one thing to purchase.

[TFM70]

We flew into Fort Lauderdale independently and were greeted at the airport by a wonderful Princess representative who arranged our transportation to our pre-cruise designated hotel, the B-Ocean. This process went smoothly. Despite the renovations in progress at the hotel, we had a pleasant stay as we went with an open mind and no high expectations. On embarkation day, however, the transfer from the hotel to the cruise ship terminal was a tad chaotic as there were four ships and the hotel staff did not organize the bags accordingly but once we got on the bus and were on our way it was fine as thankfully the bus driver knew a short cut to bypass the horrible traffic jam ahead.

 

Check in was well organized and went smoothly. Please note, however, if it is too late to change your credit card online and you wish to make the change when checking in, please let the attendant know that they should do it for both persons as we ended up with two bills. We had a nice lunch at Alfredo's. The main dining rooms closed at 1:00 p.m. and we didn't want to go to the buffet.

 

We finally made it to our rooms and, almost immediately, our bags arrived. The room and balcony were quite small for a deluxe balcony. The bathroom had a very bad smell but I don't know what our cabin attendant did but the smell was gone and did not come back for the entire week. I was disappointed in the quality of the towels which were discolored and felt like sandpaper and I hesitated using them but had no choice. They definitely do not use fabric softener. The shower gel and shampoo/conditioner was very poor quality. If you are particular about these items, please bring your own.

 

We were also disappointed with the internet. Much too slow, so if you have to purchase it, don't waste your money. The same goes for the ports. The only port where we had decent WiFi was Grand Cayman. The other places advertise that they have free WiFi but force you to purchase something. Once you make the purchase you realize that it is extremely slow and absolutely useless. Call your carrier before you leave as some now have international data plans that may not be too expensive.

 

The selection of food was quite good and we had no problems. We were assigned to the Allegro dining room but did not like the atmosphere or staff there and there was a vibration directly under us. On the second night we switched to anytime dining in the Symphony and ate there every night. The staff there was very attentive and courteous. We went to Sabatini's one night and enjoyed our meal and service there as well.

 

Shopping on board was also disappointing. Did not find one thing to purchase.

 

Disembarkation was perfectly organized and we got off exactly at our designated time and our bags were neatly arranged together. We love Fort Lauderdale for keeping this traditional color-coded system. Miami is a nightmare with the carousel as it can take hours to get your bags. We passed on the transfers to the airport and grabbed a taxi outside. Much quicker than waiting for a bus to be loaded and the cost was minimal.

 

We booked a shore excursion to a Private Island in Roatan that is a wildlife sanctuary and we were very disappointed. To be there for five hours with absolutely nothing to do was not my idea of fun. We asked the lady in charge there if we could return earlier and she accommodated us. We found out we were not the only ones disappointed. The boat ride was quite rough, especially on the return. We went to the Shore Excursion desk to complain and the attendant was quite rude.

 

This was my 24th cruise and my 7th on Princess and overall I give this cruise a rating of 7 out of 10.

 

You didn't see any wildlife?

[Steelers36]

We were on the Regal for 12 nights (a B2B) in November. We were in two different cabins. I cannot really argue with OP's experience, but wonder if there is some exaggeration on the towels.

 

Towels are changed out so often that it seems to defy odds to constantly get stiff and stained towels.

 

I recall our towels were always clean. I will admit some were not as fluffy time to time, but with changeouts by Stewart all the time, it's not like we were stuck with a bad one.

 

(I even try handing towels up and they still get replaced most of the time. I don't mind using a towel at least for a full day, but man they just keep giving new ones).