Some Regal Reflections

[Guest arowe6]

Brad and I got back on the 14th from the last Caribbean cruise of the season on the Regal before she made her way across the Atlantic for the Summer. We booked super last minute and literally did ZERO planning. In fact, we were packing up until midnight the night before we left (I’m a virgo and a planner… this is out of the norm for me!) I’ve been struggling to put into words what I want to write. So instead of overthinking this, I’m just going to brain dump…

 

This cruise marked many “firsts” for us…

 

• Our first time in a mini suite
• Our first time staying mid ship
• Our first time never attending a show
• Our first time going to Churchill’s to have a cigar
• Our first time being the first passengers to get off the first tender at Princess Cays
• The first time I’ve accepted a job promotion in the middle of the Caribbean Sea
• The first time writing a resignation letter in the middle of the Caribbean Sea
• The first time someone stopped me as I was walking to the pool to say he recognized me from CC and loved my reviews
• The first time winning in the casino
• The first time actually coming home with cash to put back in the bank
• The first time catching Norovirus 

 

I guess I’ll start with all the good things. The martini glass is always half full, right? 

 

• The staff - We saw so many wonderful and familiar faces. Jovee and Panji and Emil in Crooners. Dewa in Bellinis. JoJo our cabin steward. Rinaldi in the piazza. Gabriel in the Crown Grill. Trevor, Dirk and Scott. And of course, our all-star #1 MVP, Josy. We’ve known him for years and he truly is one of a kind. This cruise he was working in the casino and Churchill’s so we made a point to see him almost every night. I talked to him on FB before the cruise and told him Brad was turning 40 on the cruise. On the night of Brad’s birthday, Josy found us and presented Brad with a very expensive bottle of wine as a gift. He said, and I quote… “Mr. Bradley, this is for you because you’ve also been so nice and respectful to me.” Like I said, one of a kind! 
• The Crown Grill - Happy to say the service was quick and the food (specifically meat temps) was all correct. They seem to have gotten their act together since our December cruise. Unfortunately the portion of the sides seems to have shrunk again. See the photo below. We received a bowl of 16 fries to split. Fosina and Lachazar aren’t on the ship anymore but Head Waiter Nelson and our waiter Gabriel from Mexico were great. 
• Alfredos - Much better service this cruise compared to last. Alfredos is everything Sabatinis should be (but isn’t). Given the changes with Princess, I strongly feel it’s only a matter of time before Jan decides to start charging a small nominal fee to eat here (and we would gladly pay it over Sabatinis).
• Our cabin - It was our first time in a mini suite. We booked a balcony guarantee at a ridiculous low price. And then received an upsell offer for $150pp for a mini. Decided to try it. Minus the joke of a balcony, it was nice. I’m a firm believer that the key to a happy relationship is separate bathrooms. While this wasn’t exactly that, the extra space certainly helped keep the peace. Would I pay full price to stay in a mini? Hell to the no. Would I take an upsell? Yep.
• The adults only areas - Blessed be the Retreat Pool during Spring Break cruises. A handful of families with small kids tried to sit out there and I saw the deck attendants asking them to relocate. Not all heroes wear capes! 
• MedallionNet - Princess is about 3 years behind the times when it comes to technology. But, having FAST and UNLIMITED internet is a godsend in an increasingly connected world. Listening to my Spotify playlists in the middle of the Caribbean is a perk I’m not sure I could live without at this point. Hoping the powers that be change the Platinum/Elite internet perk to be a bit more generous. It was an act of god to get connected (Serge was zero help). But once I got on, I never got disconnected.
• Disembarkation - Our disembarkation time was 7:50. We decided to get off the ship at 7:25. We were off, with our luggage, through customs and back at Park n Fly by 8:00am. That is pretty much a record. Also, I was driving this trip and my lead foot means we got back home to Tampa in record time too. Without any speeding tickets… Jesus take the wheel!! 

 

The not so good things… My martini glass now needs a refill 

 

• That stupid @$$ medallion - I love technology. Love love LOVE technology. I’m a millennial. You know… I’m super lazy, have no goals and aspirations, live at home with my parents, hate chain restaurants and fabric softener and shopping malls. All those fun talking points. But besides that, us young people love technology that works. Emphasis on “...THAT WORKS.” The Medallion didn’t. It was a glorified key card. I couldn’t order anything from the app because the medallion didn’t recognize my location. Brad couldn’t find me because the medallion didn’t recognize my location. My medallion didn’t open the cabin door with the stupid thing in my pocket. I had to take it out AND tap it on the screen for it to register. Does this technology have potential? Absolutely. Is it 100% operational yet? Certainly not for me… 
• Vines Wine Bar - Ohhhhh a new wine list. Very exciting. But once again, their inventory was low or nonexistent. 5 wines we tried to order they were out of. A white I ordered the first night was out of stock the second night through the end of the cruise. My suggestion, only have a “wine” bar if you’re going to have the wine to serve. But what do I know? I’m a stupid millennial who hugs trees for a living! 
• New drink menus - They killed a TON of martinis on the Crooners menu. And the new drink menus were more focused on super sweet fruit juice type drinks with rum. I suppose this is subjective, but sweet sugary drinks aren’t up my alley most days.
• Bar service - Once again the only thing slower than tortoise giving birth is the speed of the Princess bartenders. We ascertained from observations that Princess is more concerned with overstaffing with bar servers to get and serve drinks, and less concerned with properly staffing the actual bartenders to make those drinks. At one point (on a port day, not sea day) we waited 30 minutes for a drink at the Retreat Bar. Unacceptable in my book, but at this point we're used to the speeds.
• Norovirus - Brad “caught” it. I didn’t. Certainly no fault of Princess, but it wasn’t fun for him. In our 13+ years together, I’ve never heard the kind of sounds he was making in the bathroom hahahahah. But there is no better way to slim down after vacation than a good ole fashion stomach bug! 

 

Overall, I’d say this was an ok cruise. Nothing awful. Nothing spectacular (with the exception of sweet Josy). Maybe we are getting too comfortable with Princess and need to try another line. Or maybe that familiarity is a good thing? I don’t really know anymore, but this was the first cruise where we were both excited to get off the ship and get home. Looking forward to it actually!

 

Any questions, feel free to ask! A link to all my photos can be found here —> https://flic.kr/s/aHsmzW8Lvn

 

A few of my favorite photos can be found below.

 

Thanks!

Andrew 🙂

Edited April 20, 2019 by arowe6

[Guest arowe6]

Pre cruise

 

 

 

 

 

Day 1 - Embarkation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 2 - Princess Cays

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 3 - Sea Day + Formal night

 

 

Day 4 - Jamaica

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 5 - Grand Cayman + Formal night

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 6 - Cozumel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 7 - Sea Day 

 

 

 

 

Day 8 - Disembarkation

 

Edited April 20, 2019 by arowe6

[oskidunker]

Great pictures

[Host CJSKIDS]

As always, love your thoughts/review on your cruises Andrew!  So sorry to hear that Brad got sick, what a terrible way to end the cruise.  

 

Love, love, love the pictures especially the one with you two in your tuxes.  

 

Congratulations on the new job my friend, so happy for you!

[4cats4me]

I love your reviews, Andrew! 

So sorry about the noro thing.   

I am thankful we were on the Royal P out of San Pedro this year, otherwise we most definitely would have been on the Regal on your sailing. Although I am sorry we’ve never met, I am glad I didn’t get noro cooties. 

I must say, we had party animals on our Royal Cruise, And i just have never experienced that when sailing from Florida.  You and your honey look so handsome in your tuxes.

 

i am very irritated about  Crooner’s new menu. It is hideous and they've removed the key lime martinis that I love so much.   Oh well, to make up for it we just imbibed with our free Skyy vodka cocktails inroom.  

 

Glad you enjoyed your mini suite. 

 

Congrats on your promotion.  

[Host CJSKIDS]

No, not the key lime martinis!!!

 

I don't do sweet drinks but those were one of my favorites to have every now and again.  UGH!

[voljeep]

what about the "Dunes" in Crooners - is it still there?

 

and wonder where the Regal is now - maybe someone can post the webcam pic from the Princess website that ...

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the review Andrew!  😎

Excellent as always.  

So sorry NORO made an appearance.   🤮

[tompeter]

Thanks for reporting Andrew!

[voljeep]

3 hours ago, arowe6 said:

Norovirus - Brad “caught” it.

that is a very serious situation ... not just a stomach bug ...

 

was he quarantined to your cabin ? a complete scrub down of the entire ship ? was CDC involved ?

[XBGuy]

Thanks for your report.

 

The part about the insufficient inventory in Vines is disappointing to hear.  The new wine list has been out for several months.  I would think that by now they should have a handle on supply needs.  Of course, I've been wrong, before.

 

I am also a bit disappointed to hear that the portions of the sides in Crown Grill are being reduced.  Mrs. XBGuy always orders the garlic fries as her appetizer.  I get to share, and she continues eating them with her entree--and I get to continue to share.  We may have to place two orders.

 

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by the comment to the effect that Alfredo's is what Sabatini's should be.  Can you fill me in a bit more on that?

 

Aren't tortoises egg layers?

[JimmyVWine]

5 minutes ago, XBGuy said:

The part about the insufficient inventory in Vines is disappointing to hear.

 

Do they change over any portion of the wine list when they cross over to Europe? Maybe they run some of their New World inventory dry to make room for bottles that might be more appealing to the European palate?  Just a thought.  

[XBGuy]

10 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

 

Do they change over any portion of the wine list when they cross over to Europe? Maybe they run some of their New World inventory dry to make room for bottles that might be more appealing to the European palate?  Just a thought.  

 

And I agree that your thought is reasonable.

[Guest arowe6]

1 hour ago, voljeep said:

that is a very serious situation ... not just a stomach bug ...

 

was he quarantined to your cabin ? a complete scrub down of the entire ship ? was CDC involved ?

It happened the last day. Yes he was quarantined. 

 

Yes they delayed boarding for the TA so they could sanitize the ship. 

 

According to captain, it was less than 1 percent of the passengers affected. And I think he said CDC is only involved in cases over 10 percent. So no (that I’m aware of). 

 

Andrew 🙂

[Guest arowe6]

1 hour ago, XBGuy said:

Thanks for your report.

 

The part about the insufficient inventory in Vines is disappointing to hear.  The new wine list has been out for several months.  I would think that by now they should have a handle on supply needs.  Of course, I've been wrong, before.

 

I am also a bit disappointed to hear that the portions of the sides in Crown Grill are being reduced.  Mrs. XBGuy always orders the garlic fries as her appetizer.  I get to share, and she continues eating them with her entree--and I get to continue to share.  We may have to place two orders.

 

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by the comment to the effect that Alfredo's is what Sabatini's should be.  Can you fill me in a bit more on that?

 

Aren't tortoises egg layers?

I didn’t research the anatomy of a tortoise before making the joke...

 

Love the food at Alfredo’s. Classic Italian cuisine. Just missing meatballs and chicken parm. Always been disappointed with the food (and service) at Sabatinis. We wish Sabatinis would be more like Alfredo’s. Classic Italian food (think red sauce). We’d eat there every night if it were! 

 

Andrew 🙂

[Guest arowe6]

59 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

 

Do they change over any portion of the wine list when they cross over to Europe? Maybe they run some of their New World inventory dry to make room for bottles that might be more appealing to the European palate?  Just a thought.  

I wondered this as well. If so there are going to be a lot of disappointed passengers on the TA crossing. Can’t imagine what the inventory is like now after what it was on the cruise before. 

 

Andrew 🙂

[Guest arowe6]

2 hours ago, 4cats4me said:

I love your reviews, Andrew! 

So sorry about the noro thing.   

I am thankful we were on the Royal P out of San Pedro this year, otherwise we most definitely would have been on the Regal on your sailing. Although I am sorry we’ve never met, I am glad I didn’t get noro cooties. 

I must say, we had party animals on our Royal Cruise, And i just have never experienced that when sailing from Florida.  You and your honey look so handsome in your tuxes.

 

i am very irritated about  Crooner’s new menu. It is hideous and they've removed the key lime martinis that I love so much.   Oh well, to make up for it we just imbibed with our free Skyy vodka cocktails inroom.  

 

Glad you enjoyed your mini suite. 

 

Congrats on your promotion.  

Thank you my friend. And thank you for all the nice comments on my reviews all these years 

 

Andrew 🙂

[Guest arowe6]

2 hours ago, Host CJSKIDS said:

As always, love your thoughts/review on your cruises Andrew!  So sorry to hear that Brad got sick, what a terrible way to end the cruise.  

 

Love, love, love the pictures especially the one with you two in your tuxes.  

 

Congratulations on the new job my friend, so happy for you!

Ps I told Jovee that Carolyn says hello. She smiled and asked how I knew you. I said “We share mutual friends.” 

 

Seemed like the easiest explanation... 

[Coral]

13 minutes ago, arowe6 said:

I didn’t research the anatomy of a tortoise before making the joke...

 

Love the food at Alfredo’s. Classic Italian cuisine. Just missing meatballs and chicken parm. Always been disappointed with the food (and service) at Sabatinis. We wish Sabatinis would be more like Alfredo’s. Classic Italian food (think red sauce). We’d eat there every night if it were! 

 

Andrew 🙂

When Royal Princess first came out, "Jan" did try to charge extra for the restaurant. It didn't last long as people rebelled.

 

I am one who never was thrilled with Sabatini's menu and I love Italian.

 

Congrats on promotion.

Edited April 20, 2019 by Coral

[Guest arowe6]

7 minutes ago, Coral said:

When Royal Princess first came out, "Jan" did try to charge extra for the restaurant. It didn't last long as people rebelled.

 

I am one who never was thrilled with Sabatini's menu and I love Italian.

 

Congrats on promotion.

Really??? Hahahahahaha I didn’t know that. 

 

Glad I wasn’t too far off with my thinking with the upcharge then....

[4cats4me]

9 minutes ago, arowe6 said:

Really??? Hahahahahaha I didn’t know that. 

 

Glad I wasn’t too far off with my thinking with the upcharge then....

Once upon a time, like 6 years ago, the bean counters thought $10 pp was a nice dollar amount  for eating at Alfredo’s, but it would have included a “free” glass of wine, even for those who didn’t imbibe, like children.  There was a mutiny over it and they rescinded it before it even began.  LOL one day it was like, “yay, yay, our Regal Princess Cruise is almost here.  We can’t wait,” and after the proposed charge in Alfredo's was announced, it was all, “$crew you, Princess, we will NEVER sail on your ships ever again,” and then Alfredo’s was a free venue once again.   

 

The End. 

Edited April 20, 2019 by 4cats4me

[XBGuy]

24 minutes ago, arowe6 said:

I didn’t research the anatomy of a tortoise before making the joke...

 

Love the food at Alfredo’s. Classic Italian cuisine. Just missing meatballs and chicken parm. Always been disappointed with the food (and service) at Sabatinis. We wish Sabatinis would be more like Alfredo’s. Classic Italian food (think red sauce). We’d eat there every night if it were! 

 

Andrew 🙂

 

Thank you for coming back to me, Andrew.

 

We have a cruise booked on the Royal Princess in September.  I am, very much, looking forward to checking out Alfredo's.

 

I have to say, though, I am also very fine with the menu at Sabatini's--both the old one and the current "Tratorria" version.  With the exception of SHARE, I have found service in the Princess specialty restaurants to be inconsistent.  I point to management as the problem.  In the best rooms the headwaiter is always engaged--he is greeting customers as they walk up, he is chatting with diners, he is helping his staff, he is thanking diners when they leave.  If I do not see the headwaiter on the floor, very much, then the service is, typically, unimpressive.  Staff are not stupid.  If the headwaiter doesn't care, they don't care.

[rdsqrl]

Loved your photos, and congratulations on your promotion! 

 

How was The Silent Patient?  I keep debating whether to check it out of the library; it keeps popping up on my Kindle feed as recommended. . .

[AAAAmerican]

Thank You.

 

The HotMan (Hotel Manger) is the one responsible!~

[Guest arowe6]

On 4/20/2019 at 7:42 PM, XBGuy said:

 

Thank you for coming back to me, Andrew.

 

We have a cruise booked on the Royal Princess in September.  I am, very much, looking forward to checking out Alfredo's.

 

I have to say, though, I am also very fine with the menu at Sabatini's--both the old one and the current "Tratorria" version.  With the exception of SHARE, I have found service in the Princess specialty restaurants to be inconsistent.  I point to management as the problem.  In the best rooms the headwaiter is always engaged--he is greeting customers as they walk up, he is chatting with diners, he is helping his staff, he is thanking diners when they leave.  If I do not see the headwaiter on the floor, very much, then the service is, typically, unimpressive.  Staff are not stupid.  If the headwaiter doesn't care, they don't care.

Different strokes for different folks. Many MANY people on these boards love Sabatinis for what it is. We just aren't one of them. Enjoy your cruise!! 🙂

Edited April 22, 2019 by arowe6