Question for recent travelers on the Regal

[kstrittm]

I will be traveling on the Regal in February.  I’ve cruised on her previously, but not for several years.  I understand she received a refurb in May, 2022.  What state is she in?  Is she starting to look her age?  Thanks in advance…

[JimmyVWine]

It's honestly difficult to assess whether the ship is starting to look her age when 10 of the other 14 ships in the fleet are older than Regal.  She is still viewed as a "newer" ship and presents that way.  We were on Regal in October, 2022 and again in May, 2023 and we couldn't find a single thing wrong with her.  A vessel made of metal that spends 100% of its time in a salt water environment is always going to exhibit signs of that reality.  We call that "character" as long as it does not devolve to the point of disrepair.  We saw character, not disrepair.  I'd get on that ship again tomorrow if I could. 

[kywildcatfanone]

We were on earlier this year and other than some carpet and varnish, she was fine.  That ship isn't that old.

[So_Tweetie]

Cruised on Regal last month - it's in great shape! My only complaint is that many of my favorite shows were hosted in Princess Live and the venue is awful (IMO). The cruise director even apologized on one of the morning shows and said that corporate has dictated that shows have to be held there for some reason. 

[SCX22]

Compared to the Grand class ships, the Regal Princess is in great shape.  

[Paula_MacFan]

7 minutes ago, So_Tweetie said:

Cruised on Regal last month - it's in great shape! My only complaint is that many of my favorite shows were hosted in Princess Live and the venue is awful (IMO). The cruise director even apologized on one of the morning shows and said that corporate has dictated that shows have to be held there for some reason. 

Agreed!  We love the Regal and have a cruise booked for next month.  We've been on that ship for other Caribbean and New England cruises as well.  My one pet peeve is the Princess Live venue -- it's a waste of space IMO and I miss not having Explorers.  That is one of our favorite venues on other ships and Regal doesn't have it.  Now it sounds like they are taking away the Club 6 area as well for more casino space.  

 

Oh well, a day at sea is better than a day at work 🙂  We still consider the Regal to be a 'newer' ship as well.  Our last cruise was on the Island in September - October, and we found her to be in good shape too albeit an older, smaller vessel. 

[Cajuntraveler]

We were on the Regal last month and other than a few rust spots on our balcony, she is in great shape.    The room furniture is somewhat dated, but in good shape.  Our mini suite bed was very comfortable.  We enjoyed our cruise so much we booked another cruise on her for next month.

[SargassoPirate]

Bring ear plugs if you want to spend any time in or around the Piazza and not suffer hearing loss.

[MissP22]

On 12/8/2023 at 8:58 AM, SargassoPirate said:

Bring ear plugs if you want to spend any time in or around the Piazza and not suffer hearing loss.

That's pretty much the same for all the Royal class ships.

[Camberley]

We felt she was in great shape recently, if a bit dated in places,  

[cattolica]

1 hour ago, Camberley said:

We felt she was in great shape recently, if a bit dated in places,  

Okay……it’s time for me to ask……..

What do you mean when you say “a bit dated in places”?

The Regal Princess is only about 9 years old.  That’s fairly young for a cruise ship.  

 

We have been on about 50 cruises over a period of 30 years (35 cruises on Princess) and I have never seen anything that I would refer to as “dated”.   
 

Thanks

[Camberley]

33 minutes ago, cattolica said:

Okay……it’s time for me to ask……..

What do you mean when you say “a bit dated in places”?

The Regal Princess is only about 9 years old.  That’s fairly young for a cruise ship.  

 

We have been on about 50 cruises over a period of 30 years (35 cruises on Princess) and I have never seen anything that I would refer to as “dated”.   
 

Thanks

You see, it’s a personal opinion isn’t it?

 

We felt a lot of the furniture in our cabin and in some of the venues looked…well, dated/a touch old fashioned. Maybe that is one of the many styles they aimed for. Not tatty or run down at all, but not “modern” - which stood out only a bit only because of some of the attempts at modern-type styles elsewhere on board. But this was not an issue in the slightest as there is so much about the ship and the experience to love.

Edited December 10, 2023 by Camberley

[2and2]

2 hours ago, cattolica said:

Okay……it’s time for me to ask……..

What do you mean when you say “a bit dated in places”?

The Regal Princess is only about 9 years old.  That’s fairly young for a cruise ship.  

 

We have been on about 50 cruises over a period of 30 years (35 cruises on Princess) and I have never seen anything that I would refer to as “dated”.   
 

Thanks

I think elegant can get confused with dated sometimes.  Most new homes and several brand new ships have the popular " shades of gray and white look".   Do you like the atrium of your ship to look more elegant with dark wood and marble, or more like a motel lobby or mall. Both are nice.

[SCX22]

2 hours ago, cattolica said:

We have been on about 50 cruises over a period of 30 years (35 cruises on Princess) and I have never seen anything that I would refer to as “dated”.   

 

12 minutes ago, 2and2 said:

I think elegant can get confused with dated sometimes.  Most new homes and several brand new ships have the popular " shades of gray and white look".   Do you like the atrium of your ship to look more elegant with dark wood and marble, or more like a motel lobby or mall. Both are nice.

 

Compared to Celebrity ships, Princess ships feel dated.  The Princess decor on their current ships don't age well.  Murals, dark woods, and carpets with intricate designs don't look contemporary.  Thus, Princess' decision to change the decor of the Sphere Class ships altogether.

 

It's like saying European palaces are elegant, but they are definitely dated.

 

This opinion comes from the eyes of 35 year old.

[SargassoPirate]

6 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

 

 

Compared to Celebrity ships, Princess ships feel dated.  The Princess decor on their current ships don't age well.  Murals, dark woods, and carpets with intricate designs don't look contemporary.  Thus, Princess' decision to change the decor of the Sphere Class ships altogether.

 

It's like saying European palaces are elegant, but they are definitely dated.

 

This opinion comes from the eyes of 35 year old.

Our last cruise with Celebrityvwas on the Solstice and we found the decor modern, but the feeling conveyed is like you are sailing in an Ikea store - modern but uncomfortable and cold.

 

Of course, there are always those who find a classic ship decor such as on the QM2 dated, when others see it as elegant.

 

There's a berth for every taste.

[MissP22]

1 hour ago, SCX22 said:

Compared to Celebrity ships, Princess ships feel dated

Especially their dining rooms. Dark, low ceilings. Even the newer Royal class ships are the same way. 

I still can't complain about their DR food.

[2and2]

On 12/10/2023 at 3:31 PM, SCX22 said:

 

 

Compared to Celebrity ships, Princess ships feel dated.  The Princess decor on their current ships don't age well.  Murals, dark woods, and carpets with intricate designs don't look contemporary.  Thus, Princess' decision to change the decor of the Sphere Class ships altogether.

 

It's like saying European palaces are elegant, but they are definitely dated.

 

This opinion comes from the eyes of 35 year old.

     The Celebrity Edge class ships have that "shades of gray and white" updated look . It definitely gives a brighter and more open feeling.  The Regal has that elegant look.  What era you grew up in will determine what look you prefer. I like both.

     

[hmorrow]

On 12/11/2023 at 5:33 PM, 2and2 said:

     The Celebrity Edge class ships have that "shades of gray and white" updated look . It definitely gives a brighter and more open feeling.  The Regal has that elegant look.  What era you grew up in will determine what look you prefer. I like both.

     

I like elegance...Will be happy to sail on her, in February!

[beshears]

I'm glad to read the input from the different ones here that have been posting, as the Regal ship for the 8 of us in February, I think will be fine. We're not concerned about the furniture (how new/old), but as long as it does its purpose.

[eclue]

We are just off the Regal on Dec 10th and returning again on the 27th....The Regal is in great shape. The food was excellent, service also excellent. The beds and pillows are fantastic....Honestly, I can offer no complaints and we cruise a lot.

[Yehootu]

The only complaint we had was half of the welds on the sofa were broken and had been repaired once before. Hope they replaced it. Room steward did a bush fix and used zip ties to secure it. A little rust here and there, a elevator down now and then, nothing major in 26 days aboard.

[Cajuntraveler]

23 hours ago, eclue said:

We are just off the Regal on Dec 10th and returning again on the 27th.

Don't mean to hijack this thread, but we will be on the Regal in 4 weeks and are hoping that the embarkation and debarkation in Galveston has improved.  We were on the Nov. 12th to 19th cruise and it was complete chaos.  Did you encounter any problems returning on 12/10? 

[eclue]

18 hours ago, Cajuntraveler said:

Don't mean to hijack this thread, but we will be on the Regal in 4 weeks and are hoping that the embarkation and debarkation in Galveston has improved.  We were on the Nov. 12th to 19th cruise and it was complete chaos.  Did you encounter any problems returning on 12/10? 

We did the express walk off - we were off at 7:15 am - no problems at all. I asked the customs agent about facial recognition and he told me it was not available for this cruise line in this port, but we walkd out and were on the road in 10 minutes.

[eclue]

I will add another note. We disembarked from the Regal on Nov 5th on its relocation trip from FLL and they had the facial recognition at that time. I have no idea what happened to make the change.

 

[redtop101]

12 minutes ago, eclue said:

I will add another note. We disembarked from the Regal on Nov 5th on its relocation trip from FLL and they had the facial recognition at that time. I have no idea what happened to make the change.

 

Yes, something doesn’t quite add up here. I read a “rumour” here a few weeks ago that someone had a fake passport and tried to bypass the face recognition technology, but it does seem that folks on all the cruises in December have reported that it’s not being used, and causing lengthy delays, especially with boarding.