Mini review Regal Princess Dec.18 to 29th

[steelhead1]

Just back from this awesome holiday cruise on the Regal. Ship is beautiful! It never felt crowded in any area of the ship. Embarkation and debarkation were a breeze. We tried the EZ check luggage and felt it was worth it to not have to handle our luggage till final destination. We spent sea days at the retreat pool. Very quiet and relaxing area. Took advantage of the 3 to 4pm happy hour in Crooners. We also enjoyed Princess Live. We had an aft balcony on the Aloha deck near the stairs. We did not find the lack of a central staircase to be a problem for us. Our only real complaint would be that we love the aft pools, but on the Regal it is a designated smoking area and thus we could not enjoy it. If you have any questions, I will try to answer them.

[kywildcatfanone]

We were on this cruise as well. Found the embarkation process a complete nightmare arriving at 10:30am. Very disappointed in how that was setup, and had not encountered any real issues with previous cruises.

 

However, everything else was spectacular. Weather was wonderful, the food was good, and our room steward was exceptional. All in all, one of our favorite cruises except for the embarkation process. Some of the ports were just excursion ports IMO, but that was OK.

 

This was our first cruise as elite, and enjoyed the free laundry service, and traded in our mini bar for 2 coffee cards.

[easyboy]

Thank you for your feedback

 

 

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[TracieABD]

Thank you for your review!

It is funny how embarkation was great for one party, and not so much for the other...

It may be an issue of timing.

[umuva]

We debarked on the 18th and customs was backed up. You can't get on if everyone is not off. Princess says boarding will start around noon. So if you arrive at 10:30, you will wait.

 

 

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[Clarea]

Thanks for your report.

[ILCruzr]

We debarked on the 18th and customs was backed up. You can't get on if everyone is not off. Princess says boarding will start around noon. So if you arrive at 10:30, you will wait.

 

 

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Yup...we also debarked on the 18th and it was a nightmare going on and off the ship. I have sailed Carnival and Royal and had never experienced the amount of waiting I had to do for princess. They need to streamline their embarkation and debarkation process a bit better with the 3600 passengers on board.

[umuva]

Customs had only a skeleton crew as there were about 8 ships in port. Also, if you want to cut back on govt employees, you will have to wait in line longer.

 

 

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[TracieABD]

Customs had only a skeleton crew as there were about 8 ships in port. Also, if you want to cut back on govt employees, you will have to wait in line longer.

 

 

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That is a mess.

 

Global Entry has helped us to negotiate some of this SNAFU.

[lovevacadays]

Thanks for your mini review. Sorry to hear some had embarkation and disembarkation issues.

[Vacation Nut]

We got on the Regal on Dec 18, arriving at 12:20. There was a line, but it kept moving. I had two bottles of wine, which they checked, but that was quick. We were on the ship by 12:50. What surprised us this year, was that there were no speciality restaurants or other extras set up trying to encourage passengers to sign up. It was very low key other than one or two staff pointing the way to elevators. Our mini suite on Aloha was very nice, our first time in a mini suite.

Disembarking on Dec 29 was a breeze. We were the 7:35 am group, there was a short line for immigration, if I had had my global entry completed there would have been no line. We got a taxi straight away and were through security at FLL by 8:20.

[steelhead1]

Thank you for your review!

It is funny how embarkation was great for one party, and not so much for the other...

It may be an issue of timing.

 

I agree maybe it is timing. We arrived at the port at 12:00 and were on the ship by 12:20. On debarkation we were through customs and on our way to airport in 15 minutes. We are platinum so priority boarding and debarkation helps greatly.

[kywildcatfanone]

I would agree timing is a huge issue. Usually when we get to the port there are only a few people there, but we were about 30 minutes later because it took forever to get a cab. I'm guessing that 30 minutes cost us the frustration of the lines for sure.

And if there were issues with disembarkation from the previous cruise, that might account for the lack of help from the staff. Some of them were downright rude to people. I had not experienced that at all.

 

Disembarkation was easy for us, we were in the 7am walk off group, and were at the airport and thru security by 7:45. I wish I had booked the 8:45am flight I originally looked at, but chose a 10:45 flight instead. Oh well, only got us home about 2 hours later, and I didn't have to worry about disembarkation issues.

With disembarkation starting around 6:20am most of the time now, earlier flights are in play.

[AmbroseT]

I had two bottles of wine, which they checked, but that was quick.

 

Is there a limit to the number bottles of wine we're allowed to bring onboard?

[caribill]

Is there a limit to the number bottles of wine we're allowed to bring onboard?

 

No limit.

 

The first bottle per adult will have no charge when you board. If you take it to a dining room, there will be a $15 corkage fee.

 

Any additional bottles will need to have a $15 corkage fee for each bottle paid before you board (can be put on your onboard account). They will be stamped or labeled to indicate the corkage fee was paid so you will not be charged again if you bring the bottle to a dining room.

[lovevacadays]

Yup...we also debarked on the 18th and it was a nightmare going on and off the ship. I have sailed Carnival and Royal and had never experienced the amount of waiting I had to do for princess. They need to streamline their embarkation and debarkation process a bit better with the 3600 passengers on board.

 

We were on the December 11-18 cruise. I guess we were really lucky. Embarkation was a breeze. We also did early morning walk off and it was a breeze. I think it might be a matter of timing.