Live From Regal Princess - March 12-19 (Princess Cays/Puerto Rico/DominicanRepublic/Turks and Caicos)

[mdgary]

Boarding the Regal Princess this afternoon and will provide updates and answer any questions that I can throughout the cruise. First time on Regal and really looking forward to it.

[Visaman666]

I was on the Regal in January, you will enjoy it, the cafeteria buffet is massive.

[beachme]

Hi mdgary,

 

We will be sailing on the Regal in about a month. If you could post current Movies Under the Stars and theatre shows that would be great. Have a fantastic voyage!

[Jersey42]

Would you mind posting a picture of the senior officer's (see sample from the Emerald below).  It is normally in the Piazza, typically on deck 6.   Either post it here or on this sticky thread.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2724695-princess-senior-ship-staff-inc-cruise-directors-entertainment-directors/

 

[cruisegal40]

Thank you for this. Will be on her for the second time in April and have not seen much about Regal. So looking forward to this. Enjoy!

[kilili]

@mdgarycan you check whether they are allowing people who bought the Plus Package when it was 40 or 50 to order drinks up to 15 without charging the difference (from 12).

 

Looking forward to your review.

[kitiara]

Thank you, we will be on the Regal next week!
 

Would love to know your thoughts on the musical entertainement on the ship. My app shows music with Gold Strings Duo, Project 5, Christian Bispo and Steelpan Player Tyrone. 

[LImom]

Bon Voyage! If you have time can you post pictures of the new dinner menus. Hope you have a great cruise!

 

[Jaymuxman]

2 hours ago, kilili said:

@mdgarycan you check whether they are allowing people who bought the Plus Package when it was 40 or 50 to order drinks up to 15 without charging the difference (from 12).

 

Looking forward to your review.

I hope not as we were originally told we would be stuck with the $12 so we upgraded to the "new" plus.

 

[cruisingaussies]

2 hours ago, kilili said:

@mdgarycan you check whether they are allowing people who bought the Plus Package when it was 40 or 50 to order drinks up to 15 without charging the difference (from 12).

 

Looking forward to your review.

We also would love an answer to this question!

Have a great cruise mdgary.

[Lady Arwen]

Enjoy your cruise!  We haven’t sailed on Regal since pre-Covid times and very anxious to hear your take on things new and the same.  We sail on Regal in September and would so appreciate your review of the MDR and anywhere else you happen to dine.  Thanks so much……Bon Voyage!

[mdgary]

Just a very quick update and will try and give first impressions and try to answer some questions tomorrow. We drove to the port and arrived around 12:45 this afternoon. Dropped our bags off with the baggage handlers and then went in search of a parking spot in the garage. The garage was pretty full but didn’t have too much trouble finding a spot. We gathered our carry on items and proceeded to the terminal. Basically no wait at all and we were walking onboard within a few minutes and proceeded directly to our cabin to drop off the carry ones. The only issue we have been having is with connecting to the internet. Woks sometimes and then drops out. Hopefully connection issues will resolve tomorrow and I will try and give some updates and answer some questions.

[mdgary]

On 3/12/2023 at 9:35 AM, Jersey42 said:

Would you mind posting a picture of the senior officer's (see sample from the Emerald below).  It is normally in the Piazza, typically on deck 6.   Either post it here or on this sticky thread.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2724695-princess-senior-ship-staff-inc-cruise-directors-entertainment-directors/

 

 

[mdgary]

Here are the ships officers

[mdgary]

Day 2 of our cruise brought some bad news as due to swells/tides we would not be able to stop at Princess Cays. Could not hear the Captain very well when he made the announcement but did hear something about swells for the shuttle boats. Not really a big deal for us as we had been several times prior and planned to stay on onboard. Had dinner last night in the Allegro dining room and we were somewhat underwhelmed. We had 6:00 reservations and seated right away but service was a bit slow. My wife had the seafood stew and I opted for the additional charge filet mignon. Both meals were good but not up to the usual Princess standards. The medallion app is good but for drink orders it seems to be kind of hit or miss. For those asking about the price limits on the plus package it does appear that it covers drinks up to $15 regardless of when your purchased it. We payed for our plus package before the recent change and to test it out went to the medallion app to order a $16 drink and it covers $15:and a dollar whatever would be added to your account. Attached (hopefully) is last nights dinner menu. Also one other brief item. It’s been a few years since we cruised with Princess but what the hell happened to the Loveboat Dream?

[Wishing on a star]

Looks like a lot of turnover on that executive board.

Captain is longer Paulo, and looks like a new/different Executive Chef.

That might explain the recent bad food review. 

Dining back in Jan seemed pretty good! (except for lack of edible steak!)

[mdgary]

On 3/12/2023 at 1:22 PM, LImom said:

Bon Voyage! If you have time can you post pictures of the new dinner menus. Hope you have a great cruise!

 

Here are the menus for the week. They might be out of order but the cruise days are,on each picture.

[cruisingaussies]

7 hours ago, mdgary said:

 For those asking about the price limits on the plus package it does appear that it covers drinks up to $15 regardless of when your purchased it. We payed for our plus package before the recent change and to test it out went to the medallion app to order a $16 drink and it covers $15:and a dollar whatever would be added to your account. 

Thanks so much for answering this question, there are a lot of 'theories' and differing experiences on a couple of other threads.

Have a great day.

[LImom]

@mdgary Thank you for posting the menus. Hope you are enjoying your cruise.

[mdgary]

Woke up around 7:00 here on day 3 to a surprise. Woke up and looked out the balcony door and noticed that the ship was stopped. Went out on the balcony to look around and all I can see is a small sliver of land. It wasn’t long before an announcement was made on the passageway speakers (couldn’t hear it though and didn’t feel like wandering into the passageway) but came to find out there was a medical emergency and the Captain pulled the ship in to Grand Turk to get medical assistance for the passenger. Hopefully the individual will be ok. We wound up pulling back out of port around 9:30 to continue our sea day toward San Juan. After breakfast in the Horizon Court we went to our nice morning spot to lounge in the sun on The Sun Deck back by the Terrace pool. It gets a little crowded as the day goes on but hasn’t been to overcrowded so far. Last night we caught the production show Showtime with the Uptown Boys. As usual you need to get to the theater about 30 minutes early as it gets full quick. We both enjoyed the show and the 3 singers were all pretty good. Will finally get to check out Anthony Michael in Crooners piano bar tonight. First formal night tonight but we are staying casual and just doing Horizon court or Alfredos for dinner tonight.

[tml1230]

thanks and enjoying your report! we did the transatlantic from Rome to FLL last fall on the Regal and enjoyed it so much we booked it back to Rome next month... GREAT ship and crew!

safe travels!

 

[LunaSeaRetreat]

19 hours ago, mdgary said:

Woke up around 7:00 here on day 3 to a surprise. Woke up and looked out the balcony door and noticed that the ship was stopped. Went out on the balcony to look around and all I can see is a small sliver of land. It wasn’t long before an announcement was made on the passageway speakers (couldn’t hear it though and didn’t feel like wandering into the passageway) but came to find out there was a medical emergency and the Captain pulled the ship in to Grand Turk to get medical assistance for the passenger. Hopefully the individual will be ok. We wound up pulling back out of port around 9:30 to continue our sea day toward San Juan. After breakfast in the Horizon Court we went to our nice morning spot to lounge in the sun on The Sun Deck back by the Terrace pool. It gets a little crowded as the day goes on but hasn’t been to overcrowded so far. Last night we caught the production show Showtime with the Uptown Boys. As usual you need to get to the theater about 30 minutes early as it gets full quick. We both enjoyed the show and the 3 singers were all pretty good. Will finally get to check out Anthony Michael in Crooners piano bar tonight. First formal night tonight but we are staying casual and just doing Horizon court or Alfredos for dinner tonight.

Thanks so much for your report. We will be on the TA in April.  Glad you are having a good cruise.

Cynthia

[kitiara]

22 hours ago, mdgary said:

Will finally get to check out Anthony Michael in Crooners piano bar tonight. 

 

Did you like Anthony Michael in Crooners?  

[mdgary]

2 hours ago, kitiara said:

 

Did you like Anthony Michael in Crooners?  

He was ok. There was a loud group sitting a couple of tables over and made it kind of hard to hear him good. Will go back for another try

[just G]

I have not cruised with Princess in many many years. Can you explain the “extra charge” please?