Embarkation on the Regal Princess today?

[Mary Ann 2]

Anyone that can report what embarkation on the Regal in Galveston was like today? What time did you get there? Did the line go all the way back to the other terminal this week?  How long did it take to get on the ship? Did you leave on time at 3pm? There have been really long lines since it got to Galveston, and I am just hoping that they worked on improving that this week as we board soon. 

[atakkat]

I too am interested..

[redtop101]

12 minutes ago, atakkat said:

I too am interested..

I think anyone who is boarding the Regal Princess in the next few weeks would also be interested in getting some feedback. 

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, Mary Ann 2 said:

Anyone that can report what embarkation on the Regal in Galveston was like today? What time did you get there? Did the line go all the way back to the other terminal this week?  How long did it take to get on the ship? Did you leave on time at 3pm? There have been really long lines since it got to Galveston, and I am just hoping that they worked on improving that this week as we board soon. 

Did you see this lengthy "Live From" thread which is most often on Page 1 of this forum since it is getting a lot of posts.  I have not read it, but I would expect the OP mentioned the check-in and boarding process (Nov 12).  You could try posting a question to him and he will probably respond. 

 

(I would think anything out of ordinary that may happen can affect check-in and boarding process, so be aware of that).

 

 

 

Here's one for Nov 19:

 

 

Edited November 27, 2023 by Steelers36
Added another Live From link

[Mary Ann 2]

5 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Did you see this lengthy "Live From" thread which is most often on Page 1 of this forum since it is getting a lot of posts.  I have not read it, but I would expect the OP mentioned the check-in and boarding process (Nov 12).  You could try posting a question to him and he will probably respond. 

 

(I would think anything out of ordinary that may happen can affect check-in and boarding process, so be aware of that)

Yes, I saw both of those and read them. That's why I am asking as both reported long lines and waits to board. When we went out of Galveston in March this year, there was nothing like what is currently being reported. I would like to think it would be sorted out, but hasn't been since returning. It is supposed to be raining the coming week, so I'm wondering what it was like this week and how to possibly prepare for that situation with rain.

Edited November 27, 2023 by Mary Ann 2

[Steelers36]

2 minutes ago, Mary Ann 2 said:

Yes, I saw both of those and read them. That's why I am asking as both reported long lines and waits to board. When we went out of Galveston in March this year, there was nothing like what is currently being reported. I would like to think it would be sorted out, but hasn't been since returning. It is supposed to be raining the coming week, so I'm wondering what it was like this week and how to possibly prepare for that situation with rain.

From my memory, ships weren't sailing as full back then.  Also, this past week would not be a good indicator of this coming week or early Dec since it was Thanksgiving holiday.  

[Mary Ann 2]

Just now, Steelers36 said:

From my memory, ships weren't sailing as full back then.  Also, this past week would not be a good indicator of this coming week or early Dec since it was Thanksgiving holiday.  

It was pretty full in March. I agree that last week would have been much fuller, but the week before was a puzzle why it took so long. I think it also may be the difference between passenger size of the Ruby in March and now the Regal which I believe holds more passengers, but Galveston has big ships sail out regularly on RCC and CCL so they should know how to handle it. Just rumor, but there are rumors of port versus Princess personnel at odds.

[TxTeach79]

8 minutes ago, Mary Ann 2 said:

Yes, I saw both of those and read them. That's why I am asking as both reported long lines and waits to board. When we went out of Galveston in March this year, there was nothing like what is currently being reported. I would like to think it would be sorted out, but hasn't been since returning. It is supposed to be raining the coming week, so I'm wondering what it was like this week and how to possibly prepare for that situation with rain.

for what it’s worth I talked to people onboard who said they never had any issues on Ruby out of Galveston. Debarkation today was fine once we were off the ship, but they’re not using the facial recognition now. Reason why is subject to rumors, who knows? Embarkation was about an hour line outside (arrived around 11:30), but smooth and walked right on once inside. I went blow by blow in the LIVE, but that’s the gist of it. Sure, there were some annoyances with it, but I wouldn’t hesitate to sail Princess out of Galveston again over that. Cheers!

[Mary Ann 2]

3 minutes ago, TxTeach79 said:

for what it’s worth I talked to people onboard who said they never had any issues on Ruby out of Galveston. Debarkation today was fine once we were off the ship, but they’re not using the facial recognition now. Reason why is subject to rumors, who knows? Embarkation was about an hour line outside (arrived around 11:30), but smooth and walked right on once inside. I went blow by blow in the LIVE, but that’s the gist of it. Sure, there were some annoyances with it, but I wouldn’t hesitate to sail Princess out of Galveston again over that. Cheers!

I had wondered when you arrived as I didn't see if when I read your LIVE, but may have missed it. The week before the line went all the way to the other terminal. I'm guessing if it only took you an hour, it wasn't that long?

Edited November 27, 2023 by Mary Ann 2

[Steelers36]

2 minutes ago, Mary Ann 2 said:

It was pretty full in March. I agree that last week would have been much fuller, but the week before was a puzzle why it took so long. I think it also may be the difference between passenger size of the Ruby in March and now the Regal which I believe holds more passengers, but Galveston has big ships sail out regularly on RCC and CCL so they should know how to handle it. Just rumor, but there are rumors of port versus Princess personnel at odds.

I would ignore all that and either show up early or late to avoid lines.  I am always at the port before 10am waiting for doors to open and among the first to board the ship.  Others choose to show up at 12:30, 1:00pm and waltz through and onto the ship.  This seems pretty universal from reading many posts covering various ports.

[TxTeach79]

1 minute ago, Mary Ann 2 said:

I had wondered when you arrived as I didn't see if when I ready your LIVE, but may have missed it. The week before the line went all the way to the other terminal. I'm guessing if it only took you an hour, it wasn't that long?

yeah, it was definitely in front of the other terminal when I got to the back. I really hope/assume that didn’t happen today, because Carnival Dream was there today. It was empty last Saturday. 
 

it moved relatively fast, but we were so far back that part still took an hour. 

[Mary Ann 2]

1 minute ago, Steelers36 said:

I would ignore all that and either show up early or late to avoid lines.  I am always at the port before 10am waiting for doors to open and among the first to board the ship.  Others choose to show up at 12:30, 1:00pm and waltz through and onto the ship.  This seems pretty universal from reading many posts covering various ports.

We are also usually early and waiting for the doors to open. Someone said last week I believe that when they were allowed to go inside, they had to wait for the x-ray people for like 30 minutes to stop talking and open up!!

[TxTeach79]

2 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

I would ignore all that and either show up early or late to avoid lines.  I am always at the port before 10am waiting for doors to open and among the first to board the ship.  Others choose to show up at 12:30, 1:00pm and waltz through and onto the ship.  This seems pretty universal from reading many posts covering various ports.

I agree with this; I didn’t do the early thing because I’d heard about long delays to get cleared the week before, so I just grabbed an Uber at checkout time around 11 at my hotel. It was a beautiful day with perfect weather, so I didn’t mind being outside. 

[Mary Ann 2]

1 minute ago, TxTeach79 said:

yeah, it was definitely in front of the other terminal when I got to the back. I really hope/assume that didn’t happen today, because Carnival Dream was there today. It was empty last Saturday. 
 

it moved relatively fast, but we were so far back that part still took an hour. 

A Carnival ship will be there this coming week also, so yeh, what then? And if it's raining??

[Steelers36]

3 minutes ago, Mary Ann 2 said:

We are also usually early and waiting for the doors to open. Someone said last week I believe that when they were allowed to go inside, they had to wait for the x-ray people for like 30 minutes to stop talking and open up!!

SMH.  My oh my.  Not good.  I have no experience with that port, BTW.

[Mary Ann 2]

Guess everyone's busy having fun? No one aboard to reply??

[texasparalegal]

I had heard that at first the difficulty might have been because there were fraudulent passports being used and they had actual live customs individuals there and not the facial recognition being used.  Now that they are a few weeks into cruising, I'm hoping they are going to start using the facial recognition and things will be smoother but I'm hoping someone on this week's cruise will post a report.

[eclue]

53 minutes ago, texasparalegal said:

I had heard that at first the difficulty might have been because there were fraudulent passports being used and they had actual live customs individuals there and not the facial recognition being used.  Now that they are a few weeks into cruising, I'm hoping they are going to start using the facial recognition and things will be smoother but I'm hoping someone on this week's cruise will post a report.

That does not make sense as we disembarked on Nov 5th from the Regal and the facial recognition was working just fine...took us minutes to get off. We will be embarking again on Dec 3rd so will find out more.

 

[redtop101]

2 hours ago, eclue said:

That does not make sense as we disembarked on Nov 5th from the Regal and the facial recognition was working just fine...took us minutes to get off. We will be embarking again on Dec 3rd so will find out more.

 

Please keep us all posted, as we seem to be getting some conflicting information. Maybe the rumours of fake passports and withdrawal of the face recognition technology happened just after your cruise. The last 2 live cruise reports from the Regal have reported some pretty serious delays at both embarkation and disembarkation. 

[TxNight]

I'm on the Regal now.  Nov 26th sail date. Embarkation issues were the same as TxTeach reported.   We arrived at 12(came a little bit later hoping to avoid crowd some). The line went back and forth under a covering so if it rained there was protection.  We were on ship at 1pm. Left port sometime after 3:30. I wasn't watching the clock so don't know exact time. 

 

I plan to do a review after the trip.  I might answer some questions during but everyone should read St Greg and TxTeach reports.  I learned so much from them. 

 

However,  initial thoughts.

1. Where's my horn blast?  I was so disappointed not to hear the Love Boat theme on departure. I was so looking forward to hearing it after reading previous live reports. I was on my balcony the whole time watching us pass the carnival and RC ship.

 

2. Internet went down on first day shortly after departure.   It was up again Monday morning. 

 

3. I went to get a drink at bar.  I have plus package.  Advised that it would cost cuz in Texas waters. I asked about the $25 credit that was mentioned in a live report. Bartender said they don't do that.  Internet was out so I couldn't check.  Ended up just getting a coke for now.  On Monday when I was able to check account.  I did have a $25 credit and a return of some Galveston port fees(maybe for no horn). Plus a charge for the soda. I though the tax was for only alcohol not for sodas also.   I have the credit so a non issue for me.  

[Mary Ann 2]

18 hours ago, TxNight said:

I'm on the Regal now.  Nov 26th sail date. Embarkation issues were the same as TxTeach reported.   We arrived at 12(came a little bit later hoping to avoid crowd some). The line went back and forth under a covering so if it rained there was protection.  We were on ship at 1pm. Left port sometime after 3:30. I wasn't watching the clock so don't know exact time. 

Glad to hear at least the line wasn't all the way to the other terminal as our cruise will have a Carnival ship at that terminal. I also was interested in hearing if anyone had tried later, so you answered that! I still can't figure out why it is taking them so long for embarkation. Out of 33 cruises, we have never had really long lines like reported lately in Galveston. 

[iramack]

On 11/27/2023 at 6:40 PM, eclue said:

That does not make sense as we disembarked on Nov 5th from the Regal and the facial recognition was working just fine...took us minutes to get off. We will be embarking again on Dec 3rd so will find out more.

 

I am embarking on the 3rd as well. Should be an interesting cruise with Randy on board.  Hoping for a smooth embarkation!

 

See you there............

[helenb]

19 hours ago, TxNight said:

I'm on the Regal now.  Nov 26th sail date. Embarkation issues were the same as TxTeach reported.   We arrived at 12(came a little bit later hoping to avoid crowd some). The line went back and forth under a covering so if it rained there was protection.  We were on ship at 1pm. Left port sometime after 3:30. I wasn't watching the clock so don't know exact time. 

 

I plan to do a review after the trip.  I might answer some questions during but everyone should read St Greg and TxTeach reports.  I learned so much from them. 

 

However,  initial thoughts.

1. Where's my horn blast?  I was so disappointed not to hear the Love Boat theme on departure. I was so looking forward to hearing it after reading previous live reports. I was on my balcony the whole time watching us pass the carnival and RC ship.

 

2. Internet went down on first day shortly after departure.   It was up again Monday morning. 

 

3. I went to get a drink at bar.  I have plus package.  Advised that it would cost cuz in Texas waters. I asked about the $25 credit that was mentioned in a live report. Bartender said they don't do that.  Internet was out so I couldn't check.  Ended up just getting a coke for now.  On Monday when I was able to check account.  I did have a $25 credit and a return of some Galveston port fees(maybe for no horn). Plus a charge for the soda. I though the tax was for only alcohol not for sodas also.   I have the credit so a non issue for me.  

Thank you so much for this information! It is very helpful.

[Mary Ann 2]

We boarded today and stepped on the ship at 10:44!! We dropped off luggage about 9:45. In line around 10 and were on the outer side next to the first two queues. No waiting anywhere once they let us inside before 10:30. Great embarkation!!

[Paula_MacFan]

1 hour ago, Mary Ann 2 said:

We boarded today and stepped on the ship at 10:44!! We dropped off luggage about 9:45. In line around 10 and were on the outer side next to the first two queues. No waiting anywhere once they let us inside before 10:30. Great embarkation!!

That's great news!  Thanks for the up to date report 🙂  We board next month so I'm glad to hear things have improved from prior reports.