A wonderful Regal review

[Cruiser1862]

We went on a 7 day Caribbean cruise on the Regal the week of Nov 11-18.  It was FANTASTIC!  This was our 6th Princess cruise, first time on the Regal.  Starting with embarkation.  We walked right up at 11am and into our room.  By 11:30 we were unpacked (we brought our bags up ourselves).  We were in an obstructed room (E516) and yes, the balcony was obstructed.  For those of you that want to see a picture of the room I'll upload it.  The balcony was very small compared to all of our othere sailings that were not obstructed, plus the obstruction was kind of right in your way.  But, it still was nice to open the door and hear the water and just sit ocassionally out there.  My husband gets up a bit before me  and he would sit out there until I was up.  Bed and pillow were very comfy and I found the bathroom had plenty of room for a cruise and the shower pressure was more than adequate and hot.  Our wonderful TA left us a case of water and one day sent chocolate covered strawberries to our room (plus a goodie package before we left).  We did get a good deal on the obstructed room (included gratuities and Sabatinis one night) and was less than whenever I checked prices without these extras.  

 

We found the buffet to have anything and everything you could possibly want to eat.  I have to admit that we're not foodies so we're not the best to review food.  We went to Sabatinis one night (start with the dessert...that Norman Love chocolate concoction is truly the best dessert I have ever had).  We all (4 of us) found the main dish way too salty for our tastes, but the salad and pasta dish was excellent.  And they really took their time.  We ate in the dining room twice and both nights had a fish dish and I got a side of the fettucine as well (how can you not on the Princess?!?)   Enjoyed my meals and again the desserts were outstanding.  We ate in Alfredos and their pizza was really excellent.  We went to afternoon tea a few times.  Love that.  We also had a nibble at the International Cafe a few times.  All in all found food to be quite good.  We get the coffee card and I loved my afternoon treats!

 

The entertainment was outstanding.  Loved every show.  Plenty of room in the theater.  One night we got there 30 minutes early and relaxed while waiting.  Other nights maybe 15 minutes prior and found seats easily.  We went to the 8pm shows.  Ashlee Amber was amazing.  She did a Whitney Houston show.  The 2 main performance shows were so enjoyable as was the ventriloquist.  We loved listening to AJ Clarke at Crooners in the evenings.  I think we saw him 4 times.  He performed different venues (Rat Pack, Broadway, Elton John & Billy Joel and took requests).  Very entertaining.  We thought the band was lively and loved their upbeat music.  We also went to a variety of programs that we enjoyed on sea days.  One was with the cruise director on life at sea.  Learned a lot.  Went to a decorating class with the art curator.  Did zumba, line dancing and generally just enjoyed ourselves.  

 

Princess Cays was nice.  I said I wasn't a foodie and I admit I didn't even go near the lunch (it's bar-b-q).  We ate a good breakfast and when we got back to ship went to afternoon tea.  St Thomas and St Martaan were nice as well.  St Martaan is really being built back up.  But, we were approached by one local to come rent chairs from them and when we said "no thanks" (as we just walked the beach, shopped a bit, went and had a drink) he got very nasty and said that we weren't helping his island get rebuilt.  Was surprised by his attitude.  Everyone else was very friendly.

 

Wifi was a mess.  Seriously.  I get 120 free minutes and 2 times they wiped out my minutes and there was no one in the internet cafe to help me.  It's truly a "work in progress".  

 

Disembarkation was ok, very quick, but the staff needs to be a little more forceful to those rude passengers that think it's ok to line up their luggage, block the aisles, and then no one else can get through when they're called.  Minor blip

 

But, Princess has to work on the lounge chair situation where people put towels out early in morning and hardly come back.  RC scans your room card.  If you don't return towels it's $25 each towel.  It would stop the hoggers who never return leaving people like us that just want to sit out for an hour or so out of luck.  Again, it's just selfish people.  They're no different when they cruise.

 

All in all this was our best cruise to date.  We already are planning our next cruise (to Europe).  If anyone is thinking of cruising to the Caribbean, you will have a great time on the Regal!

Happy Sailing!

 

 

[skynight]

Thanks for the review. I don't agree with you regarding the deposit for towels. What I think is that Princess just needs to build ships that have more pool and lounging area. With Royal Class ships they reduced the pool and lounge chairs and at the same time increased the no. of passengers.

Edited November 24, 2018 by skynight

[WisCruiser2]

Thanks for the review -- we're doing this itinerary on the Regal in February. We were on the Royal 4 years ago, so have some idea of what to expect with Regal. Looking forward to Alfredo's and Ocean Terrace again! We're short people, so the balcony isn't too cramped for us, but we do miss those Caribe balconies on the Grand/Crown class.

We're also hoping that the Ophea Quartet will still be on in February. We really enjoyed listening to them on the Coral in June.

As far as chair hogs go, what we do is if there is just a towel on the loungers, with nothing else to indicate someone would be in the pool or just getting something to eat, we go ahead and use them. IF someone comes and says that's "their" towel and chair, we politely give it back to them. Hasn't happened very often!

[hllwdcruiser]

Thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed review. I'm glad you had such a great experience on the Regal and I definitely agree with you about the chair hogs. I get so irritated when searching for a lounger and not being able to find one when there are so many that are unoccupied but "reserved" with towels, books and empty bags. I'm not sure how charging for unreturned towels would deter the chair hogs though. What would stop them from getting a towel at sunrise, placing it on a chair all day and then returning it at sundown to avoid the $25 charge? 

[Host CJSKIDS]

Thanks for the review, glad you had such a great cruise.  Love the Regal!

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the review.

I got off when you got on.

I had the unlimited internet so it did not matter when that the internet went down several times a day for hours.

I know it's really frustrating.

 

As far as charging a deposit for towels that won't work.

People will put anything and everything on the chair to save.

If I need a chair after they don't show up for hours their crap goes on the deck.

 

[minniegidget]

Thanks for this review I will be doing the same cruise in 2 weeks. Did you go in the water in st Thomas or st Martin? If so what was the water temp? Glad you had a great trip.

[Cruiser1862]

1 hour ago, minniegidget said:

Thanks for this review I will be doing the same cruise in 2 weeks. Did you go in the water in st Thomas or st Martin? If so what was the water temp? Glad you had a great trip.

Water temp was very nice. Weather was beautiful for our entire trip. Enjoy your cruise!

[Cruiser1862]

I know that the charging of towels isn’t the answer. I think it’s just so frustrating. Not sure what the answer is, but would be nice if people could be more respectful. 

[jasbo49]

1 hour ago, Cruiser1862 said:

I know that the charging of towels isn’t the answer. I think it’s just so frustrating. Not sure what the answer is, but would be nice if people could be more respectful. 

One answer is for people to bring it up a lot on the post-cruise survey. I'm pretty sure Princess pays attention to those, because several crew members have said a mention there could affect their future assignments.

 

I haven't been a pool person for a while (first the general crowd when I wasn't accustomed to it, then the dermatologist's advice), but if I were into pools, it would drive me nuts to have people stake out, then rarely use, lounges.

 

Jim

[c-boy]

well I find this review to be a refreshing change...  A+++++

[HleeCruiser]

When were the Traditional Dining times?  Also what time were the shows in the Princess Theater.

 

Thank you for your review.  We will be on Regal for the second time in Jan 2019. 

 

How is the Medalion program working.  Are all the cabins included now?

 

 

[Guest arowe6]

Great review. Thanks for sharing. We board in 7 days. Can’t wait!

 

-Andrew 🙂

[Colo Cruiser]

1 hour ago, arowe6 said:

Great review. Thanks for sharing. We board in 7 days. Can’t wait!

 

-Andrew 🙂

Lucky Duck!!   😎

[Cruiser1862]

12 hours ago, HleeCruiser said:

When were the Traditional Dining times?  Also what time were the shows in the Princess Theater.

 

Thank you for your review.  We will be on Regal for the second time in Jan 2019. 

 

How is the Medalion program working.  Are all the cabins included now?

 

 

I had anytime dining so I'm not positive about the traditional dining times, but I believe they were changed and start earlier now (5:00).  The shows are at 8 and 10pm in the Princess Theater.  The Medallion program was only working in small amount of rooms, but there were people onboard working on them.  From what I heard they are trying to work as fast as they can to get it up and running.  Hopefully all will be Medallion ready by your sailing.

[HleeCruiser]

52 minutes ago, Cruiser1862 said:

I had anytime dining so I'm not positive about the traditional dining times, but I believe they were changed and start earlier now (5:00).  The shows are at 8 and 10pm in the Princess Theater.  The Medallion program was only working in small amount of rooms, but there were people onboard working on them.  From what I heard they are trying to work as fast as they can to get it up and running.  Hopefully all will be Medallion ready by your sailing.

 

 

Thank you for the info.

[Gracie115]

We were on the cruise before and couldn't agree more about what a great ship the Regal is.  We found the staff to be among the best we've encountered on any cruise line. 

 

Also agree about the theatre, we never arrived more than 20 minutes ahead of time and always had good seats to choose from....

 

It was a wonderful cruise for us too, wish we were still on her!!!!

[Guest arowe6]

8 hours ago, Colo Cruiser said:

Lucky Duck!!   😎

Come withhhhh usssss!!!