Back from Regal Princess - review and some thoughts

[Leo37]

They had two rooms available to book in advance. I can't recall which two. I'm sorry if you've had issues with reservations. All I can say is that everything seemed smoothly handled on board, and with all three rooms open sure they can accommodate / help.

[2BACRUISER]

As a fellow brit interested in your flight arrangements did you DIY or use princess air? Thanks in advance 😊

[Leo37]

1 hour ago, 2BACRUISER said:

As a fellow brit interested in your flight arrangements did you DIY or use princess air? Thanks in advance 😊

We did it DIY and travelled with Vueling.

 

Originally we booked with BA, buy they messed us around with cancellations, reschedulings etc. So switched to Vueling as they could fly us direct from London to Rome and back direct from Barcelona.

[wowzz]

2 hours ago, 2BACRUISER said:

As a fellow brit interested in your flight arrangements did you DIY or use princess air? Thanks in advance 😊

We did a similar cruise on Regal (Bcn to Athens) and booked our own flights with BA. 

There is an interesting thread on another media site about a number of passengers who used Princess air,flying to Athens.  They were booked on easyjet,  the flight arrived late,  and the  ship left without them. Some managed to make their own arrangements to catch the ship up, the rest paid to fly back to the UK. 

Can't see any benefit in booking flights with Princess for straight forward European flights.  And of course, never fly in on the day your ship departs ! 

Edited September 27, 2022 by wowzz

[CruisinCouple2010]

Thank you for your review. We don't board the Regal until January but appreciate your positives and negatives.

[Esprit]

2 hours ago, 2BACRUISER said:

As a fellow brit interested in your flight arrangements did you DIY or use princess air? Thanks in advance 😊

We did the two week Regal cruise in July and booked the flights with Princess Air. Flew BA from Heathrow to Rome the same day as embarkation and flew back from Barcelona. We would use Princess Air again for European cruises and were not concerned in the slightest about flying out on the same day as boarding the ship.

[wowzz]

7 minutes ago, Esprit said:

We did the two week Regal cruise in July and booked the flights with Princess Air. Flew BA from Heathrow to Rome the same day as embarkation and flew back from Barcelona. We would use Princess Air again for European cruises and were not concerned in the slightest about flying out on the same day as boarding the ship.

Out of interest, did you get better prices compared to buying the flights yourself ?

 

[Leo37]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

We did a similar cruise on Regal (Bcn to Athens) and booked our own flights with BA. 

There is an interesting thread on another media site about a number of passengers who used Princess air,flying to Athens.  They were booked on easyjet,  the flight arrived late,  and the  ship left without them. Some managed to make their own arrangements to catch the ship up, the rest paid to fly back to the UK. 

Can't see any benefit in booking flights with Princess for straight forward European flights.  And of course, never fly in on the day your ship departs ! 

What a shame for those people! I agree and would always plan to travel the day before.

[caribill]

4 hours ago, wowzz said:

 

There is an interesting thread on another media site about a number of passengers who used Princess air,flying to Athens.  They were booked on easyjet,  the flight arrived late,  and the  ship left without them. Some managed to make their own arrangements to catch the ship up, the rest paid to fly back to the UK. 

 

 

Those people using Princess EZAir selected Easyjet as the airline to use and selected which flight to take. The same problem would have happened if they had booked Easyjet directly.

 

Based on some other posts here, BA flights were also offered by EZAir, but these people did not choose to select one of them.

[Leo37]

I've never really looked closely at EZAir. What type of guarantees do they make about getting you to the ship? Is like an official excursion where it waits for you in result of a delay?

[wowzz]

10 minutes ago, Leo37 said:

I've never really looked closely at EZAir. What type of guarantees do they make about getting you to the ship? Is like an official excursion where it waits for you in result of a delay?

In the case I cited, the port authority would not allow the ship to wait. There is no guarantee at all.

To be fair,  even if you you book an official excursion, the ship can still leave without you if the tour is delayed, depending on weather, tides, port orders etc.  

[wowzz]

5 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Those people using Princess EZAir selected Easyjet as the airline to use and selected which flight to take. The same problem would have happened if they had booked Easyjet directly.

 

Based on some other posts here, BA flights were also offered by EZAir, but these people did not choose to select one of them.

So, why bother booking EZair ? 

The cost savings would be negligible,  and there was no support  for the passengers that were delayed.

I understand why EZair is used by those needing a one way TA trip, but why use EZair to book a budget European flight ?

In the same way, would an  American use EZair to book a JetBlue flight from Boston to Fort Lauderdale? 

Edited September 27, 2022 by wowzz

[caribill]

39 minutes ago, wowzz said:

So, why bother booking EZair ? 

The cost savings would be negligible,  and there was no support  for the passengers that were delayed.

I understand why EZair is used by those needing a one way TA trip, but why use EZair to book a budget European flight ?

In the same way, would an  American use EZair to book a JetBlue flight from Boston to Fort Lauderdale? 

 

With EZAir, you can change or cancel the reservation up to 45 days before the cruise/flight with no chnage fees and a refund if cancelled, at least we can do this in the USA. If booking directly with the airline, unless fly at the highest rates, the funds would be non-refundable or there would be change fees.

 

Now why Princess did not help the passengers whose EZAir booked flight did not make it to the port city on time is a different question. Princess should have helped then join the ship at the next port at no cost to these passengers. The post above about this did not say what happened if the passengers tried to contact Princess.

[wowzz]

9 minutes ago, caribill said:

Now why Princess did not help the passengers whose EZAir booked flight did not make it to the port city on time is a different question

Without re-opening an old thread,  the issue was that the UK passengers arrived in Athens on a late Saturday afternoon, on a budget flight.

There were no Princess personnel at the airport, and no one in the US answered their calls. They were left to their own devices. 

EZair might well be a good option if you want to change your flights at short notice (but why would you? That is what travel insurance is for ) but there is no additional support.  You are basically on your own.

So really, for Europeans with travel insurance,  EZair is a waste of time.

 

[GonzoWCS]

Great Review.

 

Cheers

[Esprit]

20 hours ago, wowzz said:

Out of interest, did you get better prices compared to buying the flights yourself ?

 

I didn't bother checking as it would mean booking a hotel room the for the night before. I was relying on the Princess promise to get us to the ship if the EZair flight was delayed. 

The next port was Naples so a 24 hour delay would not have caused a drama.

I also like the fact that a Princess Rep' greets you at the airport and the coach transfer is stress free.

If embarkation had been in Barcelona then i would have checked alternative flights as there are loads of hotels and the city is worth an overnight stay, but not Civitavecchia. 

[wowzz]

2 hours ago, Esprit said:

. I was relying on the Princess promise to get us to the ship if the EZair flight was delayed. 

Actually they promise nothing. The exact wording is that they will "work with" the airline to find seats to enable you to catch up the ship at some point. A big difference. 

If there are no seats available,  Princess are powerless, as the passengers in Athens found out.

[winncruiser]

Hi there,

 

thank you for your wonderful review.  Did you spend any time in Club 6? 

[Leo37]

1 hour ago, winncruiser said:

Hi there,

 

thank you for your wonderful review.  Did you spend any time in Club 6? 

We spent some time during the day, as they hosted a few quizzes and other activities. We didn't hang there at night, when I know it's normally home to the DJ. I think it also showed some live sport one night, an NFL match maybe. Helpful?

[dave_k58]

THanks for a great, informative, positive review.  We are on the Regal TA on Nov 17.  How was your deluxe balcony? What deck was it on? We usually do mini-suites. 

 

[Leo37]

6 hours ago, dave_k58 said:

THanks for a great, informative, positive review.  We are on the Regal TA on Nov 17.  How was your deluxe balcony? What deck was it on? We usually do mini-suites. 

 

Thanks. We were on Dolphin. The room itself was very typically Princess.

 

We've always had regular balconies before, and think the only real difference is a small but comfy sofa and coffee table and a slightly larger room to accommodate it. Slightly changes the layout near the balcony door. We booked the cruise while COVID was still more of a thing, and we thought we might want some more private space.

 

I think we'd go back to a regular balcony next time for a warm / sunny cruise. We used the sofa a bit, but preferred being on balcony or out and about on the ship. Maybe for cold weather cruise, we might think about it.

 

But stateroom steward great, and small grumbles about shower curtain and charging sockets aside, all very good.

 

Enjoy your transatlantic!

[debi56]

Leo, thanks for your review it was spot on!  We have been on the regal a few times, and agree with pretty much everything you said.  We love crown grill, tried  Sabatini's not for us.  We also do anytime dinning works for us.  Plus agree about entertainment,  could use some new shows.  Like you said if you want to wear masks, go for it (we dropped our masks on our March cruise got covid our fault, it is part of our lives now, need to be caution not scared to live).

 also just enjoy the time, your cruise make the best of it.  We board in four weeks for a trip of a life time also doing the transatlantic.   

Also enjoy a honest  balanced report.  😀

[Leo37]

3 hours ago, debi56 said:

Leo, thanks for your review it was spot on!  We have been on the regal a few times, and agree with pretty much everything you said.  We love crown grill, tried  Sabatini's not for us.  We also do anytime dinning works for us.  Plus agree about entertainment,  could use some new shows.  Like you said if you want to wear masks, go for it (we dropped our masks on our March cruise got covid our fault, it is part of our lives now, need to be caution not scared to live).

 also just enjoy the time, your cruise make the best of it.  We board in four weeks for a trip of a life time also doing the transatlantic.   

Also enjoy a honest  balanced report.  😀

 

Thanks Debi. Appreciate the kind words. Enjoy your transatlantic, on the bucket list to do someday.

[SiliconCruiser]

On 9/26/2022 at 6:24 PM, DallasGuy75219 said:

The cooks (chefs may be giving most of them too much credit) are primarily Indian (not bring racist, it's just a fact) and are always cooking dishes from places they've never been, except perhaps as a crew member working on a ship.

 

For example, I saw Louisiana White Bean Salad on the Regal this summer. I'm originally from Louisiana and there ain't nobody there that eats white beans in a salad.

Yes, you being presumptuous.  The fact of the matter is that you'll find the menus to be the same across all of the Princess ships.  It has nothing to do with the national origin of the line cooks that prepare the dishes, which are done under the direction of the executive chef (you'll find his/her picture on the board with the other staff officers) and the Food and Beverage Director (formerly Maitre d).  After a few cruises, you can even determine the number of the cruise day depending on the offerings on the menu.

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, SiliconCruiser said:

Yes, you being presumptuous.  The fact of the matter is that you'll find the menus to be the same across all of the Princess ships.  It has nothing to do with the national origin of the line cooks that prepare the dishes, which are done under the direction of the executive chef (you'll find his/her picture on the board with the other staff officers) and the Food and Beverage Director (formerly Maitre d).  After a few cruises, you can even determine the number of the cruise day depending on the offerings on the menu.

Correct - someone at HQ decided what a British sausage roll looked like. The chefs on board cooked the sausage roll as per the brief. 

The fact that the end result looked like something made by a five year old,  and didn't contain sausage, was not their fault. 

I was wrong in my earlier post to blame the onboard chefs - the onus lies directly with the on shore catering team.