Regal semi-live 1/31 - 2/6/2016

[satxdiver]

We arrived at the terminal just before 11 AM to a long line waiting to enter the terminal. They were allowing preferred to enter while holding the rest. The line went quick and we were through the security check, checked in and in the waiting lounge by 11:30. We were carrying 4 bottles of wine aboard so we were sent to the wine table. At the table we were asked if we had 2 bottles. When we started to pull our bottles out, we were told not to take them out and to go to checkin. We were prepared to pay for our 2 extra bottles but they seemed to not care. Soon we were allowed on the ship. We were standing on the ship by 11:45. Problem was we were told rooms would not be available until 1 PM. First we went to the Lido deck. On the elevator we asked the crew member which MDR was open for lunch. We got the usual lie that none were open. In truth the Concerto MDR, deck 6 mid, was open from noon to 1:30 PM. I bought a soda sticker for $4.50 + tip/day. They are still selling them at least on this ship. About 12:30 we returned to deck 6 and had a really nice lunch at Alfredo’s which was not crowded. Most pax went to the HC, Trident Grill or Prego Pizzeria on the Lido deck.

 

After a 15 minute hold at 2:30ish to room service we were able to get them to exchange the alcohol and soft drinks in our cabin for the kind we like. They came about a half hour later with what we asked for. Another 20 minute hold to Dining Reservations for reservations at Sabatini’s. If you want room service or dining reservations be prepared to being put on hold for a long time.

 

Safety briefing was at 3:15 and we set sail at 4 PM being the second ship to leave the port. There were a total of 7 ships in port today. Dinner was in the Concerto MDR (ATD). When we arrived at 7:15 PM there already was a line. They did not open the MDR until 7:45. There were long lines for ATC at both MDR. Hopefully the lines will abate later in the week. Tonight was the opening show which we skipped. Happy hour today was 11 PM to midnight in Club 6 – BOGO $1.

 

Tomorrow we will be at Princess Caye.

 

Captain – Edward Perrin – UK

CD – Martyn Moss

[arctickitty]

Thanks for posting & taking us along w. Have a great trip!

[trystran72]

Have a great trip!!

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the update, hope you enjoy your cruise!

[tkbk]

Thank you for posting! We get in regal this weekend! Take good care of her for us!

[satxdiver]

Day 2 – Monday

Today we were at Princess Cays. Tendering started at 9 AM and took about 2 hours to get all the pax ashore that wanted to go. After that pax could just walk to the tender and board. We have been here many times and not being beach people we were not going to go to shore. That is when we found out they had “food trucks” on the south end of the beach. We found out that the “food trucks” were quite small (think NYC food stands) and had food prepared on the ship and kept semi-warm. I tried the “mahi mahi taco” and my partner tried the jerk chicken. Both were pretty much awful. After some time at the bar drinking a Bahamian brew and listening to a reggae band we returned to the ship for lunch and an afternoon of fun. Tonight was the marriage show in Princess Live that was recorded for playback on the cabin TVs. It was a forgettable experience. The comedian/magician was really good and played to a SRO crowd in the Vista Lounge.

 

Tomorrow we have our first sea day and formal night.

[Northender]

Thanks for your review. Looking forward to more.:):)

[red919]

Thank you for the review...how wonderful about the wine. Looking forward to your next post!:)

[satxdiver]

Day 3 – At Sea

We were told to set our clocks 1 hour ahead early this morning.

 

Today was a beautiful sunny warm sea day. We started the day with breakfast delivered to the cabin at the time we requested. After a quick 40 minute or so visit to the treadmills, it was time for the M&G in Club 6 with the CD and an assistant joining us talking and taking questions. This was the first time I remember a cruise staff being at a Princess M&G. It may be the last since several CC members gave him a hard time for things that are not in his control. We went up on the Lido deck a little after 12 PM and most of the loungers were already taken mostly by lonely towels so we went the adult retreat only to find all the loungers claimed about half also by lonely towels. The chair hogs are alive and well. This was our first formal night so we went to Sabatini’s where the lobster was really good. About 8 PM we went to the Wheelhouse Bar to listen to music by the Heatbreakers who were not very good. We did notice a sizeable line to get into the adjacent CG. It was a very popular place. Later tonight was the 50th anniversary balloon drop with the usual smallish crowd. The band Rhapsody was performing and they were very good. We found out tonight that the Crooners piano player was from Siberia. She has a very strong accent but her singing is in almost perfect English and she is a very good piano player attracting a crowd.

 

Tomorrow we will be in St Thomas Havensight (WICO) pier. There will be 5 ships in port with us.

[hllwdcruiser]

Thank you for doing your semi live.

 

After our first experience with the barbecue on Princess Cays we were never inclined to partake in it again, choosing instead to eat onboard. I was going to try the food "carts" since they were new (and I was hopeful) but after reading your impressions I think I may give them a pass.

 

I am happy to see you are experiencing good weather. It's been so unusually rainy and overcast for this time of year here in SoFL and it seems like a lot of cruisers in the Caribbean have been experiencing the same thing. That Darn El Nino!

 

I, like so many others on this board, truly wish that the Princess "Powers that Be" would do something about the chair hogs. I completely understand that they are between the proverbial rock and hard place but when the same people hog the same chairs everyday it is so unfair to the majority of vacationers onboard.

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review!

[lor74]

enjoy the rest of your cruise! How I miss the Regal :(

[ellie1145]

We also experienced the chair hogs on our January cruise. One of the problems is that towels do not have to be returned so people are happy to walk off and leave them.

 

My son was verbally abused by a couple of people when he dared to move a towel which appeared to have been abandoned. They even bashed him with another lounger deliberately. How was he supposed to know they were eventually returning? There were acres of abandoned towels, and no way of knowing if their owners were ever coming back or whether they had gone for good.

 

This really DOES need sorting as its very unfair. There was nothing in the daily patter asking people not to reserve chairs.

Edited February 3, 2016 by ellie1145

[tampacruiser]

here is my rule. If I am in the pool area for at 30 minutes and I do not see anyone using that chair that has a towel on it I will then proceed to remove the towel and claim the chair. If there are other personal belongings there (books, shoes, etc. ) I will assume they are in the area and leave those alone. The reason there are chair hogs is because no one has the nerve to confront them and from what I have found you rarely have to confront anyone because many times the towel is there because the person who put it there was lazy and has just left it there and are no longer even in the pool area. Last year on Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas the staff made it a point to make rounds every 30 minutes or so to gather towels sitting on chairs. If Princess doesn't do this then I will take the matter into my own hands.

[cbreit]

Totally agree about the food on Princess Cays - AWFUL...

[spyro1952]

here is my rule. If I am in the pool area for at 30 minutes and I do not see anyone using that chair that has a towel on it I will then proceed to remove the towel and claim the chair. If there are other personal belongings there (books, shoes, etc. ) I will assume they are in the area and leave those alone. The reason there are chair hogs is because no one has the nerve to confront them and from what I have found you rarely have to confront anyone because many times the towel is there because the person who put it there was lazy and has just left it there and are no longer even in the pool area. Last year on Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas the staff made it a point to make rounds every 30 minutes or so to gather towels sitting on chairs. If Princess doesn't do this then I will take the matter into my own hands.

 

Thanks for posting this. Finally another person on this earth with some guts!! I do the same thing and if the towels are there longer than 30 mins and someone comes strolling back an hour or two later, I pay absolutely no attention to them. If they start getting in my face, I call security.

[satxdiver]

We arrived in St Thomas on time and was the third ship to dock at the WICO pier. The Emerald Princess and Disney Fantasy was already tied up. We were able to leave the ship at 9 AM as scheduled but we were the furthest from the shops and taxi. We took a taxi downtown for $4/each as we have been here many times before. There is a Budget car rental right near where the ship was located which we have used twice before. We made prior reservations both times which turned out a good move. Since we were back in the USA, we were able to turn on our cell phones. After buying the DGD some souvenirs and a few local beers, we returned to the ship a little after 1 PM. There were quite a few on the ship at that time.

 

We shared a taxi with a couple from the Emerald. They told us the Emerald had lost two engines coming to St Thomas and for several hours were without propulsion while they worked on the engines. Their next port was Grand Turk but they were not sure the ship would be able to stop there as it may need the additional time to get back to FLL. Hopefully they were able to repair the problem while in St Thomas.

 

After a nice lunch in the HC we were sitting outside near the main pool enjoying the warm weather. The weather has been great with warm sunny days and nice warm evenings. We heard an announcement that there was a medical emergency on deck 17 summoning the EMT. We could see where it was as it was overlooking the pool area. A pax was down on the floor. The brought up a board to load the patient and take them down to medical. I do not know whether it was a male or female or what happened. One thing security did do was usher everyone away from the area including the decks above. They hung beach towels over the railings blocking the view. When they removed the patient, the person was covered in beach towels to prevent onlookers. On all the cruises before they had called code Alpha Alpha but this time they just announced that there was a medical emergency and responders were needed. New policy on Princess?

 

We have ATD so we called earlier in the day for reservations in the MDR. The best they could offer was 8:15 so we declined. We decided to frequent the HC for dinner as the main menu in the MDR was not very exciting and we did not want to wait in line. It was Brazilian night in the HC which worked out good for us. One thing about the Regal and her sister the Royal is the enlarged piazza where they have entertainment most of the time. After dinner we listened to a string quartet that were really good before the band Rhapsody and the 50’s music in the piazza. Tonight’s theater performance was Fiera, a stage production. One of the remaining nights we need to go to the theater as we have not done so as yet. This was followed by the female piano player in Crooners who again is really good. On retiring to the room we found our laundry waiting for us that had been sent out the day before. We had taken three days to drive to the port arriving on Saturday since we will be staying in Florida for 8 more days after we leave the ship. Next day service is really nice.

 

St Maarten is the next port tomorrow which is not far from St Thomas. The ship was going 9 knots to the next port. From Princess Cays to St Thomas the ship was moving at 20 knots so the ride to St Maarten was rather gentle. We will have 5 ships in port with us tomorrow.

[satxdiver]

Day 5 – St Maarten

We arrived in St Maarten, were tied up and pax were getting off the ship by shortly after 7 AM. We had room service bring our breakfast again and they were very punctual delivering it at 7:30 like we requested. After breakfast we went ashore and used the water taxi ($7/each) to get to Phillipsburg. It was 8:30 AM and the shops were not open yet so we walked around until 9 AM when a lot of the shops opened. We did manage to pick up 2 items, one being a pair of flip flops that I had forgotten. We returned to the ship via the water taxi at 11 AM. When we arrived at the pier near the ships, there was a huge line waiting for the water taxi. We were unlucky in that the gargantuan of the seas shared out pier. The second pier had Carnival Glory, Carnival Breeze, Celebrity Eclipse and Costa Magica making for a very crowded port area. After departing the water taxi and walking to the ship the first rainstorm hit.

 

After a lunch in the HC, we had signed up for a beach break that left the pier at 1:05 PM. There were about 60 or so pax on the “tour”. They loaded us in two tour busses and took us to Wakiki beach at the end of the Orient beach. They had rows and rows of loungers and had sold the tour to all the ships in port. They marked off areas with a small sign. Since we were in the second bus, we had loungers in row 6 with two rows behind us. We were not able to see the water due to the many loungers in front of us. With all the different cruise ship pax being there, it was a sea of humanity and very crowded. While we were there we had three short rain storms strike. Since we were in swimwear, it was not a problem but the towels got wet. The advertised changing room and showers were a joke, quite crowded and extremely rustic. I would not recommend this tour to anyone. Luckily we were only there for two hours.

 

We were back at the port at 4:30 PM as promised for a 5:30 sail away. When we were walking to the ship we had to make room on the pier for an ambulance leaving our shared pier. Regal was the first to leave and they were looking for 2 pax. At St Thomas they were looking for 4 pax. We left on time so I don’t know if they made the ship. There was another ambulance sitting on the pier with lights on when we left. The gargantuan of the seas must have had a medical emergency. The band Rhapsody from Barbados played on the lido deck for sail away. Many pax were on the top of the gargantuan listening to our music. The ship did play the Love Boat theme horn before we left.

 

Tonight is the Love Boat Disco Party with Rhapsody on the lido deck followed by “the after party” on the Night Sky Lounge (deck 17 adult retreat). The disco party is the replacement for the white party and is fairly good. The after party was mainly crew but they did have the nightly BOGO $1 promotion.

 

Tomorrow we will be at sea and is our last formal night. The platinum/elite party is tomorrow night.

[riclop]

Thanks for doing the review.

[Gilbo]

Thank you very much. I will be sailing on her on 2016-03-20.

[trystran72]

I see the Regal is stopped at Turks & Caicos tonight. Passenger emergency perhaps? Hope all is well...

 

Enjoy your sea day!

[satxdiver]

Friday Medical Emergency

Around 3 PM this afternoon the captain announced that the ship was running at full speed, 22 knots, to Grand Turk to drop off a pax with a medical emergency which would be flown to Miami on a medical flight. At the time he said that it would not impact our arrival in PE.

 

Thursday night at the deck party on the lido deck I noticed several crewmen with radios suddenly leave the party in a very large hurry. I wonder if that is when the medical emergency first arose. Since it was near 11 PM, I would imagine they decided not to announce it over the ship intercom.

 

We arrived in Grand Turk just before 10 PM which was 90 minutes later than the captain had forecast. We dropped off the pax with the medical emergency who emerged the ship and got into the waiting ambulance on their own. Tomorrow we will find out if this well cause the Regal to return to PE late. I imagine we will hear something tomorrow.

[satxdiver]

We had another great day at sea as we headed back to Port Everglades. We had breakfast in the room again delivered by room service thanks to the hang tag we put out last night. After breakfast we hung out in the lido deck first (yes the chair hogs were very present) and then later the piazza area. The pub lunch was offered in the CG/Wheelhouse and was crowded when we passed by. We had lunch in the MDR and was very good. At 3PM was the veterans get together in the Wheelhouse bar hosted by the CD staff with bottles of cheap bubbly – it was free!

Tonight was the elite/platinum captain’s party. The vista lounge was not full. They announced that 400 elite and 800 platinum were aboard this cruise. The longest sailing pax was 1657 days, second was 1246 days and third was 687 days. I think we have a long way to go! None of the three top cruisers came to the party. The captain and several senior officers had a reception line when we entered. The captain did say that he spent 10 years on cargo ships before coming to princess 21 years ago. A patter said that the captain was the first captain of the Royal before becoming taking command of the Regal being the first on this ship.

 

Dinner in the MDR was the usual escargot and lobster tail. I think they offered something else as well but I am not sure!

 

Tomorrow (Saturday) we will be at sea returning to FLL.

 

Tonight was the comedian Steve Smith who did two performances in the Vista Lounge. His second show rated R was at 11:15 PM and was really good.

Edited February 6, 2016 by satxdiver

[Marlster]

here is my rule. If I am in the pool area for at 30 minutes and I do not see anyone using that chair that has a towel on it I will then proceed to remove the towel and claim the chair. If there are other personal belongings there (books, shoes, etc. ) I will assume they are in the area and leave those alone. The reason there are chair hogs is because no one has the nerve to confront them and from what I have found you rarely have to confront anyone because many times the towel is there because the person who put it there was lazy and has just left it there and are no longer even in the pool area. Last year on Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas the staff made it a point to make rounds every 30 minutes or so to gather towels sitting on chairs. If Princess doesn't do this then I will take the matter into my own hands.

 

Yipee good for you. I have done the same thing, as you say it is really not fair to other people, I like to lie around the pool but I do run into the buffet for a quick lunch and get back to the lounge as quick as I can.

Marlster

[mrsgoggins]

We were on the Regal the week before the OP and the towels-saving-chairs behaviour was a big irritant. It is a pity that they seem reluctant to address this as I noted on a different thread about the same ship.

 

We had a great cruise and loved the Regal - apart from the seat-hogging business and the smoking in the casino.

[Keith1010]

Enjoying your posts.

 

Keith