TxTeach79's LIVE Regal return to Princess Solo Thanksgiving - 11/19/23

[TxTeach79]

Well well well, it looks like it's about that time!! We're four work days out from my first Princess cruise since Ruby to Alaska about 7 years ago, the Regal out of Galveston. It'll be my first Royal class ship.....

 

 

A little background for those of you who haven't come across my stuff before - In my modern Cruise Critic era, I'm far and away most frequently a Carnival cruiser. They were my first (Celebration '88), I honestly enjoy the heck out of the product and they treat me well. I get decent casino comps (I'll play a lot, but incredibly low stakes. I'm a public school teacher, for goodness sakes), and I've gotten to do some pretty great cruises and see some amazing places with the offers I've been fortunate enough to get since the shutdown. I'm Diamond over there, Platinum But Rusty (#PBR) here with Princess, and a smattering of cruises with Royal, NCL, HAL, Costa, and a few lines that don't exist anymore. 

 

@HelloItsMeB is my better half, and as some of you know we do some cruises together and I do others solo; she has a real grown up job, and our vacation time doesn't always sync up. Luckily for me, we both really enjoy solo travel, even if we miss each other coming with. In fact, as I type this, she's in Patagonia on a two week tour through Chile and Argentina I couldn't possibly have joined her on, lest my kids don't get complete their Great Cities of Europe project. She likes to chime in on my LIVES, and she makes them better, but I'm skeptical on this one since she gets back to Dallas (where we live) the day before Regal arrives back in Galveston.

 

I debated how all in to go on this one since the incomparable @Saint Greg is on the same cruise the week before me (right now, in fact! You should be reading his Live if you're not already!) and I'll probably post and do a lot of the same stuff he is (no way I get all those in cabin perks though) and I'll probably compare a lot to 2023 Carnival like he is... but I pretty quickly decided that I love doing these things, and I REALLY enjoy going back and reading through them later on down the road and getting to relive my vacations, so away we go! My apologies in advance for being immediately redundant!

 

How I booked this one, well, I don't know. I didn't choose to stop sailing Princess, I just got on a Carnival kick and after the shutdown started seeing a clear path to Diamond, which is something i wanted to do. Then, out of the blue one day a few months ago, I get an email casino offer from Princess for $25 plus taxes and fees for a balcony on this sailing. All I can think of is Ocean Players Club shares info between the lines, but I never get offers from HAL or Costa or any of the others, and I didn't gamble more than a few minutes on my last Princess cruise (it was a different time), so I'm thinking that has to be it. Anyway, I lucked into it, and away we go!

 

 

[avonlady6390]

My first cruise was the carnival celebration as well late 80's I didn't cruise again until the 2000's carnival at first but after a cruise with princess I have not gone back to carnival I live in Florida so can drive to port everglades.  Have a wonderful cruise you should like the regal I've been on het a few times.

[TxTeach79]

In case you're new and curious about what we're in for, here's some older stuff.... This one isn't the most recent but it's probably my favorite, if not for the luggage fiasco alone...

 

 

Our most recent run out of Galveston, complete with Bobby Ewing jokes in post one...

 

 

Cruising out of NOLA on Spring Break, what could go wrong?? (Not much, apparently!)

 

 

Mardi Gras NYE '23... a cruise we had so much fun on, we decided to make it a yearly tradition. Celebration NYE '24 and Magic NYE '25 are already booked! This one has plenty of Southwest Meltdown fun, impromptu road trips, and two days at Disney if that's your bag....

 

 

I doubled down on MG with a solo Thanksgiving...

 

 

This wasn't live, but it was a great cruise to Alaska!

 

 

There's a few others, but those are mostly post cruise photo dumps and not really reviews so much. Vista, Horizon, and Sensation (!!!). There was a Breeze 4 day in there immediately after the restart, but that was before I caught the LIVE bug. 

 

 

 

 

[mkcurran]

Between you and Greg, y'all got me looking at Princess. Just don't know if I can do long pants every night for dinner.

[TxTeach79]

11 minutes ago, mkcurran said:

Between you and Greg, y'all got me looking at Princess. Just don't know if I can do long pants every night for dinner.

I completely get that; but when I’m solo I’m a big buffet or other casual option guy. I think on the Dream this summer I may have eaten dinner in the MDR once in 8 nights? So I am definitely gonna take the under on pants every night. Maybe more pants than usual, but in my book, the less pants the better!

[TxTeach79]

19 minutes ago, avonlady6390 said:

My first cruise was the carnival celebration as well late 80's I didn't cruise again until the 2000's carnival at first but after a cruise with princess I have not gone back to carnival I live in Florida so can drive to port everglades.  Have a wonderful cruise you should like the regal I've been on het a few times.

I lived in Broward (Pompano Beach, Wilton Manors, Weston) for a few years in the early aughts. That’s when I first got on board with Princess too! 
 

(ironically, I was working for NCL in Miami at the time 🤷🏻‍♂️)

[SenatorsFan]

I'm here for this. Have a great cruise! 🍻

[lennythenose]

This is gonna be fun!!

[Jamman54]

We're along for the ride as well! 😁

[snoozecrooze]

Never apologize for the redundancy! The more, the merrier (info, tips, feedback, photos galore). Welcome back and hope you have a fun time!

[MeganGC1983]

Present! 

[TxTeach79]

Four more days. Two with lengthy after school

meetings/events. The last with a pep rally. Give me strength…. It’s close, but not close ENOUGH…

 

[Riles34]

Hell ya! LFG!

[JandPB]

Here for it. 

[TxTeach79]

I've got the Plus package for the first time. The last time I sailed Princess, there was no such thing. I feel pretty good about understanding the ins and outs for the most part, but we'll see. I doubt I use the desserts or fitness classes (lol), but it's good to know they're there. It feels like a really really good value including gratuities and internet for about the same price per day as CHEERS! on Carnival.

[Sadebud]

Here for the time being...we set sail on the Enchanted Princess on Thanksgiving Day in Rome for the TA back to Port Everglades.  What I don't read now, I will finish when I get back!! Bon Voyage!

[edspec]

Looking forward to this one.  My favorite thing about Plus was the ability to order wine and specialty coffee for room delivery.  Granted, you can always order to the room but with other cruise lines you'd be charged for the drinks even if you have a full package.   Love that it's an inclusion on Princess.

[PG_traveller]

Looking forward to this as I am taking this cruise as a solo in February. 

[TxTeach79]

24 minutes ago, Sadebud said:

Here for the time being...we set sail on the Enchanted Princess on Thanksgiving Day in Rome for the TA back to Port Everglades.  What I don't read now, I will finish when I get back!! Bon Voyage!

 

That sounds fantastic!! A TA is definitely in my near bucket list future. May be a solo one, as @HelloItsMeB has an aversion to too many sea days, but I live for 'em. 

[TxTeach79]

24 minutes ago, edspec said:

Looking forward to this one.  My favorite thing about Plus was the ability to order wine and specialty coffee for room delivery.  Granted, you can always order to the room but with other cruise lines you'd be charged for the drinks even if you have a full package.   Love that it's an inclusion on Princess.

 

That's nice for sure. Having a balcony this time (I usually just get an interior when I'm solo and even often when I'm not) I definitely plan on enjoying drinks on my balcony. I bought a few bottles of bourbon from Princess, $17 per 375mL, and I'm bringing some mixers with me. But ordering bar drinks is great!

[KKB]

12 hours ago, mkcurran said:

Between you and Greg, y'all got me looking at Princess. Just don't know if I can do long pants every night for dinner.

Don't tell anybody...but our friends wore shorts to dinner on the Caribbean Princess last summer....DH said if they can, SO CAN I (he still looks pretty sharp in his golf shorts & polo)

[KKB]

46 minutes ago, TxTeach79 said:

I've got the Plus package for the first time. The last time I sailed Princess, there was no such thing. I feel pretty good about understanding the ins and outs for the most part, but we'll see. I doubt I use the desserts or fitness classes (lol), but it's good to know they're there. It feels like a really really good value including gratuities and internet for about the same price per day as CHEERS! on Carnival.

Actually $10/day CHEAPER. 

Just got a "free" cruise offer on Carnival...by the time I added drinks, tips & wifi, both NCL & Princess give that "free" cruise a comparable offer.

When I'm solo, I don't add the drink package. But w/ DH, I've done the math--it's worth it!

[KKB]

11 minutes ago, TxTeach79 said:

 

That sounds fantastic!! A TA is definitely in my near bucket list future. May be a solo one, as @HelloItsMeB has an aversion to too many sea days, but I live for 'em. 

Regal Princess April 4 TA--be there or be square!😄

[TxTeach79]

11 minutes ago, KKB said:

Regal Princess April 4 TA--be there or be square!😄

 

Darn kids.... it's tough finding a summer TA! I'm eyeballing a Carnival Valor  BCN-MSY sailing in summer '25 already cause they're so rare. 

[KKB]

1 minute ago, TxTeach79 said:

 

Darn kids.... it's tough finding a summer TA! I'm eyeballing a Carnival Valor  BCN-MSY sailing in summer '25 already cause they're so rare. 

Ah...I do miss my students...but I LOVE retirement!!!