Regal 11/24 Cruise

[californiagirl]

Did our e-Med home Covid tests this morning and we are at the airport waiting to board our flight.  Because we live in potential snow country we are going to Ft Lauderdale 2 days ahead.  We are SO ready and excited to cruise.  I have really appreciated all the live threads and I’ll try to post while onboard.  
 

FYI we had a little bit of trouble with the e-Med app this morning.  We are fairly tech savvy and the problem was not on our end.  My husband could not log in with his android smart phone.  The app would not accept his info.  He switched to my iPhone and had no trouble.  Then when it was my turn I logged out of his account and logged into mine.  Everything seems fine until the proctor came online.  My name did not match the account.  We disconnected an I went through the process all over again and the same thing happened.  This time the proctor let me know that my husband’s account was coming up on his end.  He also told me the glitch was on his end but he couldn’t do anything about it.  Fortunately I had a second iPhone.  Using the new iPhone there was no problem.  Maybe plan more time between tests.  When I was having trouble I was really glad I had a back up test scheduled at Walgreens a couple of hours later. 

[Happy2cruise]

Looking forward to your posts and thanks for taking the time to do it.  We are embarking on 12/13 for b2b2b can't wait, it's been far too long!

[erber]

We are on the Regal right now. Our cruise has only around 730 passengers on board.  Service has been incredible. This is our first cruise in almost 2 years and we are loving every minute of it. 

Edited November 22, 2021 by erber

[Loritd]

I will be following this thread purposefully as we are on the December 4th sailing.  I will have a few, a couple, or maybe even a lot of questions. Safe travels. 

[Hlitner]

We wish you a great trip and bon voyage.  You have already handled the first major hurdle which is to deal with all the various hurdles as they occur.  Welcome to travel life in the COVID world :).

 

Hank

[Guardsy]

4 hours ago, erber said:

We are on the Regal right now. Our cruise has only around 730 passengers on board.  Service has been incredible. This is our first cruise in almost 2 years and we are loving every minute of it. 

If you get 15 minutes, could you visit the Lotus Spa and let me know how warm the special pool / waterfall is?  Trying to decide if I want to prepurchase a week pass.

[californiagirl]

Thank you for all the well wishes.  We made it to Ft Lauderdale.  We checked into the Renaissance and we were upgraded to a suite!  Our trip is off to a great start. 

[erber]

11 hours ago, Guardsy said:

If you get 15 minutes, could you visit the Lotus Spa and let me know how warm the special pool / waterfall is?  Trying to decide if I want to prepurchase a week pass.

I asked at the spa and they had no idea the temperature and said "it's warmish". They said I could  go back to the pool feel the water, so I did. It seemed fairly hot to me. I would say definitely hotter than "warmish" . Sorry that's the best I could do. 

[californiagirl]

We woke up to a gorgeous day today.  We can see what I think is the Grand (?)  out our window.

Edited November 23, 2021 by californiagirl

[erber]

Last sea day for us before we disembark and turn the ship over to you! Overcast but fairly calm seas as we head to Port Everglades. Hope you all have a wonderful cruise! 

[californiagirl]

We’re just about to leave to board the ship.  We are going to try to board early.  I’ll post how it goes.  We have three cruises listed on the medallion app and this morning when I went to enter our final health screening this cruise disappeared…poof gone!  Fortunately it still showed on my husband’s phone so he completed them.  

[californiagirl]

We are in the concerto dining room waiting for our food.  Sooo we cannot use the medallion app because they cannot restore our booking on the ship.  They have to contact the shore IT dept and they are the ONLY ones who can fix the problem.  They PROMISED to have it working by tonight.  To take the sting out of the glitch they gave us complementary dinner in Crown Grill any night.  We chose tomorrow night.  They said this has happened to a few passengers each cruise.  We won!! 😂

 

On a positive note our room is fantastic!  The balcony is enormous!  We are forward facing on the Lido deck.  We’ve heard there are 1200 people on this sailing.  

[marne-c]

California Girl:  First, many thanks for your reports on your experience on the Regal.  My wife and I will be boarding her in January; your news is interesting, and sobering.

 

Second, my sympathy for your exceptionally disruptive experiences with the Medallion app, per your other thread.  This clearly is a significant distraction from your vacation.

 

Now, a question:  Per this CDC report (scroll down to find the Regal Princess)  the Regal now has 'Yellow' status.  If I read the CDC site correctly, this means that >0.1% of pax have tested positive for COVID-19 [that would be at least 4 pax, given the Regal's pax count of 3600]  OR at least one crew member has tested positive.  

 

Have you heard anything about this on board?  Have you noticed any during-cruise requirements for testing of pax?  (Likely yes for folks who have had contact with the positive-tested people, but probably not for the general population.)

 

TIA for your response.

 

--Marne

Edited November 25, 2021 by marne-c

[geocruiser]

I read you link.  It could also mean 

• state or local health department notified CDC of passenger COVID-19 cases occurring within 5 days of disembarkation.
• So, there is a chance that the infected person/persons in not on the ship now?

[californiagirl]

Marne-c we have heard nothing about Covid cases.  While indoor nearly everyone is masked unless actively eating.  
 

A few observations:

-We are absolutely loving the low passenger number.  It feels eery to have some areas so empty.  At the retreat pool this morning at 11:30 only 1/3 of the lounge chairs were in use.  There were ample sun or shade lounges available.  The dining rooms and Horizon court had lots of open tables at peak breakfast time.  
-There are plenty of staff to serve the food in Horizon Court.  Also plenty to get drinks.

-I love that someone is observing that everyone uses the new sinks and washes their hands with soap and water prior to entering the Horizon Court area.

-The cabins on either side of us are empty.  Only half the cabins near us are in use.
-As I mentioned before we are in a forward facing deluxe balcony cabin.  It is incredibly quiet in this area of the ship.  The cabin is directly below the most forward part of the Sanctuary.  I was worried about wind while we were under way.  Today there is absolutely no wind on our balcony.  Even standing next to the railing.  We are not moving really fast but we are moving.  Half the balcony is covered and half is exposed.  Without neighbors is is totally and completely private. 
-The food is better than I expected.  Some areas of the Horizon Court are not being used but there still are plenty of choices.  
-The staff are so enjoyable to be around.  Every staff member we passed this morning said good morning and Happy Thanksgiving.

-Our fellow passengers are enjoyable to be around.  I think everyone…staff and passengers are genuinely happy and grateful to be cruising again. 
-It was lightly raining when we woke up but that cleared away mid-morning and now we have a gorgeous sunny sky.
 

I’ll try to post some pictures later today.  Off to lunch.

[Guardsy]

On 11/23/2021 at 5:52 AM, erber said:

I asked at the spa and they had no idea the temperature and said "it's warmish". They said I could  go back to the pool feel the water, so I did. It seemed fairly hot to me. I would say definitely hotter than "warmish" . Sorry that's the best I could do. 

Thank you!

[brisalta]

On 11/23/2021 at 5:52 AM, erber said:

I asked at the spa and they had no idea the temperature and said "it's warmish". They said I could  go back to the pool feel the water, so I did. It seemed fairly hot to me. I would say definitely hotter than "warmish" . Sorry that's the best I could do. 

 

Now that is irresponsible of them to not know the temperature. I am surprised the environmental officer has not had then measure and post the spa temperature daily.

Yes there is actually an environmental officer on board and their duties amongst others is to insure that systems work properly in a safe and healthy fashion.

[erber]

I thought it was pretty crazy. The water temperature felt pretty much like a hot tub would feel. I would agree with you that they should be required to measure the temperature daily. 

[californiagirl]

When I was in the Retreat pool there was a man taking the pool and hot tub temperature.  His shirt said “deck crew”.  If I see him again I will ask and report back here.These pictures don’t do justice to the size of our balcony.  That was the Caribbean Princess straight ahead.  When I was in the Retreat pool this morning there was a man taking the temperature of the pool and the hot tub.  His shirt said “deck crew”.  If I see him again I will ask about the temperature in the spa pool/waterfall.

[californiagirl]

We are in Costa Maya today.  The day started off rainy but now there are scattered clouds and sunshine.  The people seem happy to have the cruise ships back.  We are here with the Disney Wonder and the Norwegian Breakaway.  Nothing is crowded as I’m sure the other ships are at reduced capacity as well.  In the port shopping area I saw a port security man tell a cruiser to put their mask on.  He said it in a way that left no room for argument.  
 

I did the “fish pedicure” for the first time in the port area.  It felt like I was immersing my feet and legs in carbonated water.  The nibbling fish felt like small bubbles rubbing against my skin.  The fish did a pretty good job too. 

 

There was no seaweed on the shore in Mahaual at least near the shops and restaurants that we could see.  The shuttle was not running today.  Golf carts or taxis (or walking) were the transportation choices from the port to town.
 

Thanksgiving dinner in the dining room last night was much better than I expected.  The roasted turkey was so good.  We saw the show Bravo last night.  It also was much better than I expected.  We both really enjoyed it.

 

 

[eagletwo]

We are on the Regal and spent the afternoon at The Retreat Pool area.  The hot tub temps were very warm, not sure of the actual temps but if I had to guess, 99-102 degrees. Wife does not like it too hot. Temps seemed just right. Pool water was a little chilly. 

[californiagirl]

Great day in Cozumel.  We are here next to Carnival Valor with Disney Wonder and a Ponant ship at the old pier/dock.  With the decrease in all ships capacities Cozumel does not seem crowded.  (That is the theme of this cruise).  
 

Gorgeous day on the island.  Temperature in the 80s with passing clouds.  We got off and went into town to get small gifts for our grandkids.  We were going to go to Palancar Beach but we both love football.  Worked out in the pool then sat on the balcony and watched Michigan beat Ohio St 👏👏 via streaming on Hulu. 
 

Before going to sleep last night I looked at cruise prices online.  Holy Cow!  I can’t believe how cheap the prices are for upcoming cruises.  On my February cruise the price is $325 less than my healthcare worker discount.  Unfortunately I made final payment last Sunday.  I spoke with the future cruise person this morning to see if she could do anything.  I was willing to lose the $100 deposit and still be money ahead.  However she said the penalty would be $250 making it only a $75 difference.  I thanked her and told her it wasn’t worth $75 to cancel I still got a good price.  I was getting up to leave when she said wait a minute.  She said she could do nothing about the future cruise but she could give me the $75 in onboard credit on this cruise!  
 

If we still lived close to a port I would book another cruise for January.  We have several land trips planned between now and April and with the additional travel days needed to get to and from the cruise the timing doesn’t work.  

[KLM3164]

On 11/26/2021 at 2:57 PM, californiagirl said:

 

I did the “fish pedicure” for the first time in the port area.  It felt like I was immersing my feet and legs in carbonated water.  The nibbling fish felt like small bubbles rubbing against my skin.  The fish did a pretty good job too.

Where did you get the fish pedicure and how much was it? My BFF and I would like to do this in Costa Maya. TIA

[patrickmoran]

We are in E407. The whole port side of Emerald deck is blocked for the Civic ward. I've no idea if anyone is in any of the cabins. 

Sitting in the Pizza now. It's deserted. There is no vibe that the ships had pre-Covid.  The music in the lounges and the Piazza is weak compared to pre-Covid. 

One dining room is shut down (Deck 5).

 

[californiagirl]

The fish pedicure was $20+tip for 20 minutes.  It was right in the port area in Costa Maya.