Regal 9-10-16 Transatlantic -- uppers and downers

[jasbo49]

Hello all. We're just back from the Regal transatlantic, Sept. 10 through 24 from Copenhagen to NYC. It was our ninth Princess cruise, but first on a Royal-class ship.

 

I'm not going to try to review every element of the cruise, just mention some high and low spots. My wife and I (both mid-60s) don't do trivia, bingo, art auctions, Zumba, spa treatments, specialty dining, etc. So if that's what you're here for, you might want to give up now.

 

And just in case I forget to mention it later, yes, it was a great cruise and a wonderful itinerary: Copenhagen, two stops in Norway, Glasgow, Belfast, Cork, Boston, NYC.

 

HIGH POINTS

 

Entertainment: We thought the cast of the production shows was probably the best we've seen in our 16 cruises. The singers were particularly talented. We liked most of the stage shows, especially Bravo. I loved the Randy Heddon Quartet. I guess it's oldies, but to me it was just great music.

 

Cruise director and staff: Martyn Moss was one of the rare cruise directors who actually made a difference. He closed the Princess Theater shows with a 5-10 minute comedy bit instead of just the usual stuff about how the night is young and we should all go to the casino or piano bar. Also, the CD's deputy, Corey, was the best Princess Pop Choir director I've had. Kept if fun while still trying to get it right.

 

Lectures: There was a fair number of port lectures and enrichment lectures. Not all the enrichment offerings were right up our alley, but hey, you've got to have choices.

 

ATD: Anytime Dining wasn't the nightmare I keep reading about. We had shorter waits on this cruise than we've generally had on other Princess ships. Whenever we went at a peak time, we'd agree to share a table and we were seated immediately. Other times we'd get a table for two and get seated quickly. The only problems came when we were at a table for 6 or 8 and the process dragged on.

 

Beds: The bed in our mini suite was as good as they come. My wife thought I might find it a bit firm, but I slept great most of the time.

 

Coffee: The coffee in both the MDR and the Horizon Court was fresh-brewed and a marked improvement over the concentrate stuff on the smaller ships.

 

LOW POINTS

 

Creeeeak, craaack: Our cabin, A527, was the noisiest we've ever had. On a few nights at sea, particularly the first couple after leaving Ireland for the crossing, we could barely sleep. The creaking and groaning of the walls and cabinetry as the ship's structure adjusted to pressures of the sea was so loud we didn't hear a knock at the door. It just blended in with all the other cracks and pops.

 

Cranky cruisers: While we met lots of nice people and had some memorable conversations, we also came across more grumpy and pushy passengers than usual. I wonder if this comes with the territory on longer cruises with more "entitled" types.

 

Baristas: The coffee bar staff seemed to take a dim view of anyone with a old-style brown coffee card. The first morning a woman who ordered after me was told she couldn't use her card as a new one (for fresh-brewed), even though there was no writing on the back from a previous cruise and there were no punches punched. She said she got it on her last cruise in exchange for the elite minibar, but they weren't going to give her full use of it.

 

Buffet: After seeing all the praise for the Royal-Regal Horizon Courts, I guess I was a little disappointed. We didn't see more variety than we've seen on other Princess ships, and in some cases, couldn't find things we usually do. My wife likes salads (waldorf or chicken curry or potato salad) and found very few. At other buffets in the afternoon, they had sandwich fixings. I could make myself a turkey or tuna sandwich. Not here. We also had trouble getting servers' attention for drinks a few times.

 

Towels: I can't believe I'm about to complain about towels, but here goes. Many of the towels in our mini suite bathroom were just cheesy and threadbare. I thought I'd died and gone to Motel 6.

 

But again, it was a great itinerary (loved Ireland especially) and a great cruise. Despite some criticisms here, we still think Princess delivers a pretty reliable cruise for a fair price.

 

Jim

[JimmyVWine]

Thanks for your report.

 

Baristas: The coffee bar staff seemed to take a dim view of anyone with a old-style brown coffee card. The first morning a woman who ordered after me was told she couldn't use her card as a new one (for fresh-brewed), even though there was no writing on the back from a previous cruise and there were no punches punched. She said she got it on her last cruise in exchange for the elite minibar, but they weren't going to give her full use of it.

 

So I guess if the old brown "Cafe Selects" card won't work, I had better leave my "King of Cups" and "Ace of Latte" cards at home!? :D

[lstone19]

We're doing this next year after doing a Baltic on Regal three months ago. Glad to know Corey is still there as Deputy CD - hope he's still there when we sail on Regal 10/22.

 

Question on passports: having read to many stories about the importance of getting Schengen exit stamps (due to know joint database between the Schengen countries), were passports stamped leaving Copenhagen or whichever was your last Schengen port (Bergen?)? Or did you get U.K. entry stamps arriving Glasgow? I know Schengen stamps are normally not given on cruises but on the other hand, it's the traveler's responsibility to prove they left the Schengen area in a timely manner.

 

 

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[lstone19]

Ouch on my spelling errors ... to should be too, know should be no.

 

 

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[jasbo49]

Question on passports: having read to many stories about the importance of getting Schengen exit stamps (due to know joint database between the Schengen countries), were passports stamped leaving Copenhagen or whichever was your last Schengen port (Bergen?)? Or did you get U.K. entry stamps arriving Glasgow? I know Schengen stamps are normally not given on cruises but on the other hand, it's the traveler's responsibility to prove they left the Schengen area in a timely manner.

 

I'm afraid I have to plead ignorant to most of this. I can say only that we had our passports stamped for Glasgow and Cobh.

 

Jim

[lstone19]

Thanks.

 

 

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[TravelingEA]

Thanks for your report.

 

 

 

So I guess if the old brown "Cafe Selects" card won't work, I had better leave my "King of Cups" and "Ace of Latte" cards at home!? :D

 

Those should still be good for punches. I used my my Ace of Latte card on the last cruise. The barista had to go find someone to see if it was a valid card, since she had not seen one before.

[Astro Flyer]

Thanks for sharing your experiences & I also thought that Martyn Moss was funny. We've considered this itinerary but only the 2 ports in Norway would be new...did you enjoy those ports?

[shredie]

Thanks for the review. We'll be doing this cruise next year, so it's good to know all I can. Were the seas rough at any time?

[luvs2beachit]

Thanks for writing your review. We will be on the Regal in a few weeks so enjoyed hearing about your experiences.

[jasbo49]

... We've considered this itinerary but only the 2 ports in Norway would be new...did you enjoy those ports?

 

We did, but with one caution. We visited Kristiansand on a Sunday, and that was a real planning blunder. There were only about three stores open, and the somewhat-famous Fish Market was not among them. For those who didn't have a planned excursion, it was kind of a silly stop. Bergen, however, was a great get-off-and-wander port.

 

I believe next year, this cruise skips Kristiansand and adds Aarhus, Denmark. Might be fun. Next year, they also add Newport between Boston and NYC. That's a good idea, because we basically idled to waste a sea day between Boston and New York.

 

Jim

[jasbo49]

Thanks for the review. We'll be doing this cruise next year, so it's good to know all I can. Were the seas rough at any time?

 

It really didn't seem that rough, which made it hard for me to understand why the cabin made so many creaking noises.

 

If you're going next year, I hope you're able to spend at least a little time in Copenhagen. We spent two nights, but would like to have had three or four. It's a fun city if you like water. It's everywhere. But a real expensive city too. It's easy to spend $40 on a just OK meal or $300-plus for a hotel room the size of a cruise cabin.

 

Jim

Edited September 29, 2016 by jasbo49

[toothmaker]

I'll join in here. We are booked for next years Transatlantic, Sept. 9-23. The scheduled ports are: Copenhagen, Aarhus, Kristiansand, Glasgow, Belfast, Cobh, Sea days, Boston and Newport, before ending in New York City. Only 345 days to go!!

[msmoger]

We did, but with one caution. We visited Kristiansand on a Sunday, and that was a real planning blunder. There were only about three stores open, and the somewhat-famous Fish Market was not among them. For those who didn't have a planned excursion, it was kind of a silly stop. Bergen, however, was a great get-off-and-wander port.

 

I believe next year, this cruise skips Kristiansand and adds Aarhus, Denmark. Might be fun. Next year, they also add Newport between Boston and NYC. That's a good idea, because we basically idled to waste a sea day between Boston and New York.

 

Jim

 

Yes and no. ;) We're on next year's TA. What port(s) did you visit that is (are) not on our itinerary, other than Aarhus?

 

Sat, 09/09/17 Copenhagen, Denmark

Sun, 09/10/17 Aarhus, Denmark

Mon, 09/11/17 Kristiansand, Norway

Tue, 09/12/17 At Sea

Wed, 09/13/17 Glasgow (greenock), Scotland

Thu, 09/14/17 Belfast, Northern Ireland

Fri, 09/15/17 Cork, Ireland (cobh - For Blarney Castle)

Sat, 09/16/17 At Sea

Sun, 09/17/17 At Sea

Mon, 09/18/17 At Sea

Tue, 09/19/17 At Sea

Wed, 09/20/17 At Sea

Thu, 09/21/17 Boston, Massachusetts

Fri, 09/22/17 Newport, Rhode Island

Sat, 09/23/17 New York City (Manhattan Or Brooklyn), New York

 

Thanks for the review.

[lstone19]

This year's had Bergen instead of Aarhus. That change gives us Kristiansand on Monday while this year they had it on Sunday.

 

 

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[jasbo49]

I'll join in here. We are booked for next years Transatlantic, Sept. 9-23. The scheduled ports are: Copenhagen, Aarhus, Kristiansand, Glasgow, Belfast, Cobh, Sea days, Boston and Newport, before ending in New York City. Only 345 days to go!!

 

Yes and no. ;) We're on next year's TA. What port(s) did you visit that is (are) not on our itinerary, other than Aarhus?

 

 

My mistake. I was going from memory and thought it was Kristiansand that would be dropped next year when it's actually Bergen. Bergen is the only port on this year's itinerary that's not on next year's.

 

I see Kristiansand is a Monday next year, so that's good. It's actually a quaint little town that might be fun any day but Sunday. I see Sunday is Aarhus. I think that's Denmark's second-largest city, so it's probably not so shut down on a Sunday.

 

Jim

[Astro Flyer]

We did, but with one caution. We visited Kristiansand on a Sunday, and that was a real planning blunder. There were only about three stores open, and the somewhat-famous Fish Market was not among them. For those who didn't have a planned excursion, it was kind of a silly stop. Bergen, however, was a great get-off-and-wander port.

 

I believe next year, this cruise skips Kristiansand and adds Aarhus, Denmark. Might be fun. Next year, they also add Newport between Boston and NYC. That's a good idea, because we basically idled to waste a sea day between Boston and New York.

 

Jim

 

I'll join in here. We are booked for next years Transatlantic, Sept. 9-23. The scheduled ports are: Copenhagen, Aarhus, Kristiansand, Glasgow, Belfast, Cobh, Sea days, Boston and Newport, before ending in New York City. Only 345 days to go!!

Thanks...we're considering that cruise (Aarhus & Kristiansand are new for us) or the Royal's Spanish Passage cruise (October 2017) with all new ports except for Barcelona.

 

The Spanish Passage is via the Canary Islands which would be a new route for us & possibly smoother than a North Atlantic crossing. Our Regal crossing (April 2015) had to be rerouted from via Halifax to via the Azores to Cobh because of a North Atlantic storm.

[Micahs Grandad]

Thanks for the review. We'll be doing this cruise next year, so it's good to know all I can. Were the seas rough at any time?

 

Seas were very calm. Capt did have us sail a more southern course to avoid a storm.

 

Did have a couple of days with a lot of fog in the middle of the day.

 

Could not have asked for better weather in Sept.

[Micahs Grandad]

We were on the same cruise (should have mentioned that in previous post).

 

Thought the CD and deputy were outstanding. Really enjoyed the stargazing the last night as done by Corey.

 

Only our third Princess cruise but thought Horizon Court had plenty of choices. We thought it was a much better buffet than Carnival with whom we are Diamond.

 

Bravo was best show we have seen at sea. Others we thought not as good.

 

Shows were very good. Excellent pianist, violinist, saxaphone shows. Just wish they would play more and talk less. Told us much more about their lives than we really cared to know.

 

Thought barristas were kind of cranky not much in the way of smiles at all. Rest of crew very friendly.

 

Really enjoyed the lectures both ports and one on history.

[msmoger]

My mistake. I was going from memory and thought it was Kristiansand that would be dropped next year when it's actually Bergen. Bergen is the only port on this year's itinerary that's not on next year's.

 

I see Kristiansand is a Monday next year, so that's good. It's actually a quaint little town that might be fun any day but Sunday. I see Sunday is Aarhus. I think that's Denmark's second-largest city, so it's probably not so shut down on a Sunday.

 

Jim

 

We were in Bergen earlier this month as part of our Pacific Princess cruise. We were also there a few years back on our Norwegian Fjords Cruise. Actually I'm glad we're going to Aarhus. This will be a new port for us.

[Hlitner]

We are very sympathetic to the "creaky" cabin situation as it drives us crazy on some ships. It is usually luck of the draw as one cabin can by noisy, and next door they do not hear a thing. Regarding the coffee cards, it sounds like the staff simply enforced the policy and terms of the card. The free unlimited brewed coffee privilege only extends to the specific cruise upon which you purchase the card. Sometimes the staff will let that issue slide...and other times they are stringent.

 

We have our own coffee/tea issue. DW is a tea drinker and cannot see any justification for paying for tea at the IC when she can get her Earl Grey (or English Breakfast) tea at the Lido. So I always buy a coffee card and enjoy my unlimited good coffee and various expresso drinks. DW simply carries some tea bags (often taken from the Lido) so will just ask for a cup of hot water at the IC. So far, Princess does not charge for hot water (shhhhh).

 

As to Princess towels, we do agree with the OP. We have cruised on 14 cruise lines and Princess towels are among the worst products we have seen on any ship...including some budget lines. When we are on Celebrity or HAL (both direct competitors to Princess) we get very nice towels (in Aqua Class on Celebrity they are actually thick, plush and large). On Princess we thought the towels were about Day's Inn quality.

 

Hank

Edited September 29, 2016 by Hlitner

[Mackenzie1]

Thanks for your report.

 

 

 

So I guess if the old brown "Cafe Selects" card won't work, I had better leave my "King of Cups" and "Ace of Latte" cards at home!? :D

 

A fellow passenger in front of me at the International Cafe on the recent Caribbean Princess Transatlantic also had a blank brown coffee card from a previous cruise, and was able to use it. She told the barrista that she was elite, and had turned in her elite minibar set up for the coffee cards, which she had not used. The barrista accepted it. Maybe the barrista on the Regal Princess didn't know any better.

 

I'm wondering if the creaky cabin noises were caused by rough seas. We had really rough seas one night sailing towards Iceland, and the same thing happened to our cabins.

Edited September 29, 2016 by Mackenzie1

[easyboy]

Thanks for the review. Glad you enjoyed your cruise, well most of it!

Eager to watch Bravo next week!

[Laurab23]

Thanks for your report.

 

 

 

So I guess if the old brown "Cafe Selects" card won't work, I had better leave my "King of Cups" and "Ace of Latte" cards at home!? :D

 

I have the "Ace of Latte" and "Queen of Steam"

 

Laura

[FritzG]

Thanks for your report.

 

 

 

So I guess if the old brown "Cafe Selects" card won't work, I had better leave my "King of Cups" and "Ace of Latte" cards at home!? :D

 

They can still be used for specialty coffees, teas, and regular brewed coffee, but the card will be punched for each one.