Regal Princess 2023/12/27 - 2024/01/07. Finished my cruise and I have thoughts

[starvenger]

I've read @bethfelk's live blog and it was excellent. I'm not trying to replicate that here. Just wanted to put some of my general feelings in about the cruise. But first, some disclaimers:

- This is my second Princess cruise. The first was, ironically, a 10 (or was it 11?) night Panama Canal NYE cruise on... Regal Princess (the old one) back in 06/07. We loved that cruise, and it was part of our impetus for trying Princess again.

- There were 14 of us: my parents, my wife and kids, my brother's family, and my other brother's family. 

- We're Hong Kong-Canadian, so you may have spotted us on the ship.

- I have primarily cruised on Royal. So I do come in with a bit of a biased perspective, and there will be some comparisons. That is inevitable.

- With that said, I'm of the belief that a cruise has to be some level of awful to be a bad cruise. So I'm not worried about enjoying myself.

- At the end of the day, the questions I ask myself are: Did I enjoy the cruise more than a Royal cruise? Would I cruise Princess again? And finally, is this the right cruise line for me?

 

Flight to Houston

- We booked flights from YYZ to IAH through EZ Air, because that gave us the best options, price wise. This is the only Princess-related thing about the flights.

- The flights were on United. Bias alert - I am a former Continental Airlines employee. I am saddened by how things have devolved since the merger.

- The fun started back in the summer where we found out that our 10am departure changed to a 6am one, and stayed that way.

- United's gates, for some reason, are way down in the old Terminal 2. If you're old enough to remember that Toronto Pearson had a T2, you'll understand how weird that is.

- But aside from having to wake up at Early O'Clock, no issues getting to Houston.

- We rented a car and stayed in the Galleria area. We did not go straight to Galveston because we have relatives in Sugarland and met them for dinner.

 

Embarkation Day

- We used a van/bus from Galveston Shuttle & Limo to get everyone down. Zero problems, and Manny was a great driver.

- The Galveston terminal was a hot mess. Some of you experienced with the port probably knew the deal, but for newbies to the terminal, there was basically no real direction for what to do with your luggage, where to line up, where someone with walking issues (my dad) could sit or get expedited service.

- I did not think to time how long it took to get checked in and on board, but we arrived at the terminal around 10:30, and by the time we got on our rooms were ready.

- I do have to compare this to Royal, which really tries to slot you in to fixed windows, and gets you through everything in well under 30 minutes.

- My wife noted that her recent cruise on P&O out of Southampton was also well under 30 min.

- My conclusion - I think there are a lot of limitations with how the terminal is set up (we seemed to walk up and down the halls a lot), but also, there seems to be a lot of inefficiency with the staff and how everything is placed. Maybe do the security check first, then run through the check in process after?

 

The App

- Hoo boy.

- At first we had the old App. Then the app invited us to download the new App.

- Both Apps are hot garbage tossed into a dumpster fire. My employer is a SaaS-based business, and we would be embarrassed by these apps. They are good for finding out your schedules, and what's on the menu. That's it.

- I won't even talk about how there was a limited chat feature on the old app but none on the new one.

- Even the cruise staff couldn't figure out how the new app worked for some features.

- Princess Dev team - it's ok to not roll out a product if it's nowhere close to ready.

 

The Ship

- Honestly, it's a lovely ship. I like that the three major performance venues are on the same level. It's not that hard to find my way around the ship.

- I like the centrum, and how they've tried to make that a hub of activity. One of the things I didn't like about DCL Fantasy was that they had a nice centrum, but it was just sort of... there, with occasional musicians that honestly blocked up the area leading to one of the MDR. But on Regal, they made me feel like I wanted to be in this area if you weren't outside.

- Glass floor was lame. Not exactly the CN Tower's glass floor.

- I went through the adults only area to look. It was nice, but I typically spend zero minutes in there, so I can't really say if it was better or worse than other adults only areas.

- Nice placement of the gym and running track. Gym was a bit tight but I was only using it to burn calories on the elliptical so it did the job for me.

- Kids thought the Teen Club area was nice, but never really went out of their way to go there.

- Would I have liked some more bells and whistles? Yes, but I knew that there weren't any of those "kid-friendly" thrills going in. 

 

The Entertainment

- This was a mixed bag. 

- Let's first acknowledge that the crew performing on stage worked hard. I am truly in awe of the number of shows they had to learn and perform over the course of the cruise.

- With that said, none of the shows were super memorable. I think that part of the problem was the structure. On the Disney cruise they had jukebox musicals with some razor thin connective tissue to link the set pieces together. On the Regal, they didn't even bother with that - they just sing and dance. At the end of the day, I don't think either approach works.

- The comedians were honestly not that great. You could sort of tell that they weren't going as edgy as they might otherwise have done. 

- The featured music in the Centrum and other places were good though. They didn't really do singalong music but they all brought different vibes with them.

- The entertainment staff were fantastic. Ali and her team were really warm and friendly no matter what game or trivia they were hosting. And I was really impressed with Ali's singing voice on the last night.

- One thing I couldn't figure out was why the bingo lady was cosplaying as a Daphne/Velma mashup and a pirate at various times. Guess I should have played bingo to figure that out.

 

The (non-MDR) Food

- Can't talk about a cruise without talking about the food, right?

- We basically at breakfast and lunch at the buffet

- I liked the breakfast spread. A bit curious to have steamed veggies at breakfast but I can't complain - I went in on that every day.

- Coffee. It was better than Royal, and certainly better than that poor excuse for coffee on DCL. But no pink sweetener packets, which is my go-to.

- Congee. It wasn't the best congee I've ever had, but it certainly hit the spot for me. 

- Bangers and Italian sausages > German sausages

- Liked that they had made-to-order omelets and fried eggs. I think bennys as well? (I don't eat them, so wasn't sure).

- Lunch had a lot of variety. Loved that they had a lot of things you could put into a salad.

- Dinner buffet was pretty sad though. They promoted an "international market" concept but realistically I think the international options were better at lunch.

- Prego pizza was really good for cruise ship pizza. I enjoyed it.

- The burger station was good too. I had a burger once - for science - and it was a tasty burger.

 

The (MDR) Food

- This was hit or miss.

- General talk - I would love to sit and observe how a cruise ship kitchen expedites food. It just feels like something that could be more efficient, but I don't have all the data to say that for sure.

- Anyway, anytime there was a beef tenderloin or filet, it was really good. I think these cuts work really well with sous vide, so I guess that's not a surprise.

- Thumbs down to pork, duck and striploin steaks. Pork and duck dishes came out dry. Meanwhile the striploin cuts were very inconsistent at our tables. Some of us got thin, minute steak cuts, while others clearly got a thicker cut.

- Fish entrees were well received at our tables.

- Random: The crab and corn chowder had surimi instead of crab.

- Veg was pretty meh. Sometimes after dinner I'd go to the buffet to get salad or steamed veg.

- Asian dishes, outside of the potstickers, were bad. They were almost Jamie-Oliver-cooking-Asian-food bad.

- Desserts (which were the big hit back in 2006) were mostly a miss for us. We ended up skipping that course about half the time.

 

The Cruise Staff

- I have nothing bad to say about the staff. They were very friendly, and you could tell that they are a hardworking bunch. And they would certainly engage you in conversation if time allowed for them.

 

The Casino

- I went in there a couple of times.

- Most of the games were not to my liking (still learning craps, shuffle master decks, triple-zero roulette)

- Ended up playing "Fun" 21 (basically Spanish 21 with no Ks instead of no 10s).

- At the end of the cruise, I was up a whopping $20 off of a $250 total buy-in. 

 

The Conclusion

- Did I enjoy the cruise more than a Royal cruise? No, but it was a perfectly fine cruise, apart from the rain in Montego Bay and losing out on Grand Cayman.

- Would I cruise Princess again? Yes. Apart from the Apps nothing about this cruise was offensively bad. And fixing that is minor in the grand scheme of things.

- Is this the right cruise line for me? I don't think it is. I think there's a lot to like, but I do like having more bells and whistles and Princess is not about that. I'd take Princess again, but it's not going to be my first choice.

Edited January 8 by starvenger

[cruiserj12]

Thank you for this well written and thoughtful review. I agree, no line is perfect and since COVID, most have struggled to return to their former glory. I think and hope  in time, they will.

[starvenger]

8 minutes ago, cruiserj12 said:

Thank you for this well written and thoughtful review. I agree, no line is perfect and since COVID, most have struggled to return to their former glory. I think and hope  in time, they will.

I tend to think so too. 

[Host CJSKIDS]

Thanks for taking the time to give us your thoughts on your sailing. I really enjoyed the well balanced review. 

[starvenger]

41 minutes ago, Host CJSKIDS said:

Thanks for taking the time to give us your thoughts on your sailing. I really enjoyed the well balanced review. 

Thank you, I'm glad you liked it!

Edited January 9 by starvenger
change wording

[nini]

Thanks for your review. I would not let boarding the ship be a determining factor. Each port/ terminal is different and out of the control of the cruise line ( I think). We have had pretty crummy boarding experiences with the 3 cruise lines that we have boarded.

[starvenger]

15 minutes ago, nini said:

Thanks for your review. I would not let boarding the ship be a determining factor. Each port/ terminal is different and out of the control of the cruise line ( I think). We have had pretty crummy boarding experiences with the 3 cruise lines that we have boarded.

First impressions are key. And yes, there are some things that are out of the cruise line's control (bag collection, security) and some things that are (the check-in, getting your card/medallion). But to a first time cruiser, all of it - justly or unjustly - would be blamed on the cruise line. For us, we were of course a bit grumpy and hangry, but we know the deal and sucked it up because there is a cruise (and food) at the end of the gangway.

 

But as I mentioned, it felt like there were inefficiencies that Princess and the port could address to make the onboarding easier for both the cruisers and the staff. For example, the security checkpoint naturally creates a bottleneck. Why not place that first and create some breathing room for the staff responsible for doing the final check-ins and handing out medallions?

[1412p0oi]

Thank you for the detailed yet concise review. It hit all the points for a prospective cruiser without being overly judgmental (like many of the super negative reviews posted in this forum recently).

 

As an East Asian with similar expectations from what I can read off your post, I think I'll enjoy myself in the MDR with my go-to food (salmon) and skip all the Asian foods that seem too westernized (or Panda Express style). And the duck too. It's clear it's not peking roast duck style lol.

Edited January 9 by 1412p0oi

[Rick&Jeannie]

5 hours ago, starvenger said:

- One thing I couldn't figure out was why the bingo lady was cosplaying as a Daphne/Velma mashup and a pirate at various times. 

Great review...you obviously spent some time putting it together!

 

FYI - The "Bingo Lady" is a character that is played on EVERY Princess ship called "Fortuna Luck".  It's pretty cheesy most of the time.  I've seen the pirate outfit one time...can't offer up a reason as to what it's for!

[MacMadame]

5 hours ago, starvenger said:

- The Galveston terminal was a hot mess.

That seems to be a consistent complaint I've been reading. Not just Princess, either. Not sure what is up with that.

 

5 hours ago, starvenger said:

The App

- Both Apps are hot garbage tossed into a dumpster fire. My employer is a SaaS-based business, and we would be embarrassed by these apps.

Word. Working with the apps pre-cruise has me wanting to fly down to FL and show them how to do it. 🤣 I hope it's not even more frustrating when we are actually on the ship.

 

5 hours ago, starvenger said:

- Is this the right cruise line for me? I don't think it is. I think there's a lot to like, but I do like having more bells and whistles and Princess is not about that. I'd take Princess again, but it's not going to be my first choice.

I think the newer ships have more of that stuff. The new Sun Princess seems to be pretty blinged out with go-carts and water slides and all that. I'm not into that so I don't know the details. But having enormous ships with a mini-amusement park on the top deck seems to be a trend with all the cruise lines. It makes me feel old. LOL

[charliedalrymple]

6 hours ago, starvenger said:

I do like having more bells and whistles and Princess is not about that.

 

Thanks for a well-written and objective review.  My favourite part is that the first comment for the App is "hoo-boy!"  😂

 

The "bells and whistles" comment interests me and I'd like to know what you mean.  I consider Princess quite bell-and-whistley, and we were actually saying after our 2023 Christmas cruise we would like a more subdued ship without the non-stop action of Princess.  Which cruise lines do you think have even more bells and whistles?

[starvenger]

Keep in mind that the majority of my cruises have been on Royal Caribbean, where ice on the floor is a feature, not a bug. But they also have Cirque-lite water shows. And they have that stupid purple tube, etc. on their big ships.

 

In a couple of ports, we saw some NCL ships with a ropes course and a racetrack, and the staff made a reception line for returning passengers. That seemed like fun as well.

 

Regal Princess had none of that. That didn't mean that there was nothing to do. But sometimes you just want to go down a waterslide, you know?

 

So to paraphrase a famous redhead, I guess I like gizmos and gadgets aplenty. (But not at DCL prices.)

[memoak]

Just now, starvenger said:

Keep in mind that the majority of my cruises have been on Royal Caribbean, where ice on the floor is a feature, not a bug. But they also have Cirque-lite water shows. And they have that stupid purple tube, etc. on their big ships.

 

In a couple of ports, we saw some NCL ships with a ropes course and a racetrack, and the staff made a reception line for returning passengers. That seemed like fun as well.

 

Regal Princess had none of that. That didn't mean that there was nothing to do. But sometimes you just want to go down a waterslide, you know?

 

So to paraphrase a famous redhead, I guess I like gizmos and gadgets aplenty. (But not at DCL prices.)

If you want a kids ship go elsewhere. We love Princess because there are no waterslides or rock walls etc. It keeps the children away and I prefer to cruise with adults

[starvenger]

6 minutes ago, memoak said:

We love Princess because there are no waterslides or rock walls etc. 

This is a perfectly valid opinion. And if you reread my review you'll understand that I still enjoyed myself despite the lack of waterslides and rock walls, and have no regrets about going on the cruise. But my family and I do value some of the things Princess doesn't have. 

 

13 minutes ago, memoak said:

It keeps the children away and I prefer to cruise with adults

I don't think the lack of waterslides and rock walls will keep children off of a ship but sure.

[starvenger]

2 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

Great review...you obviously spent some time putting it together!

I was compiling my thoughts on the flight home. But I did want to sit on it for a day before posting, to see if I had any changes in opinion etc.

 

1 hour ago, MacMadame said:

That seems to be a consistent complaint I've been reading. Not just Princess, either. Not sure what is up with that.

I was trying to figure that out. And maybe the answer is as simple as "Port of Galveston is not ready to handle this volume on the regular". I really don't know. But if Florida ports can make things go smoothly, surely Galveston can as well in due time.

[nini]

IMHO- if we want to vacation in an amusement park, we go to the real deal. I understand what the OP is saying,  however, I grew up close to Disneyland and know what a theme park experience should truly be. 

Princess has excellent programs for kids and also has fantastic activities for them on Alaska cruises.

Edited January 9 by nini

[phabric]

What transportation did you use to get back to the airport?

[starvenger]

33 minutes ago, phabric said:

What transportation did you use to get back to the airport?

We walked off with our bags, took a Lyft to La Marque and got a rental. Went to Space Center Houston and stopped at a restaurant for some pho.

 

My brother simply took a Lyft direct to Space Center Houston and to the airport. The time to Johnson and to IAH were about the same for us (after taking the car rental pickup/return into account). I haven't checked the costs yet, but he didn't walk off like we did and got surge priced.

 

The major issue here was ordering the Lyft (note: Uber's prices were double that of Lyft). In hindsight, I should have pre-ordered the Lyft. At the end of the day, we probably waited 10-15 minutes for a car. But overall, disembarkation (debarkation?) was uneventful and pretty much like every other one I've done on a cruise ship, except faster, because we took our bags with us.

 

Note: I did not mention this, but we only had carry-on bags with us. Which seems nuts for an 11 night cruise. Maybe nuttier when you consider that we also did this for a 2-week trip to France last August.

 

Last note: If you do rent a car to go back to IAH, use Waze. There was some sort of accident on I-45 (as a former Houston resident, I am shocked. Shocked) and Waze rerouted us off the freeway and onto the Loop, and back to the airport, no problems.

Edited January 9 by starvenger

[luvseaside]

1 hour ago, starvenger said:

We walked off with our bags, took a Lyft to La Marque and got a rental. Went to Space Center Houston and stopped at a restaurant for some pho.

 

My brother simply took a Lyft direct to Space Center Houston and to the airport. The time to Johnson and to IAH were about the same for us (after taking the car rental pickup/return into account). I haven't checked the costs yet, but he didn't walk off like we did and got surge priced.

 

The major issue here was ordering the Lyft (note: Uber's prices were double that of Lyft). In hindsight, I should have pre-ordered the Lyft. At the end of the day, we probably waited 10-15 minutes for a car. But overall, disembarkation (debarkation?) was uneventful and pretty much like every other one I've done on a cruise ship, except faster, because we took our bags with us.

 

 

Thanks for this info.  We've been discussing what to do since our flight doesn't leave HOU until late afternoon.  We discussed taking Princess transfer (ugh) to HOU, then rent a car from there for 3+ hours but renting the car in La Marque sounds so much easier and gives us more options.  We also typically use Uber but considering downloading Lyft app now.  Glad to know it worked for you.

[mnkauf]

We went on the same cruise from 12/17-12/27.  I would give the cruise the following scores:

 

Embarkation - 7 out of 10 - We had our medallion mailed and this helped speed up the process.

 

Accessibility - 6 out of 10 - We had a rolling walker and you could not get bye the carts in the hall.  You either moved them or waited for staff to move them or collapse the walker (this was not great).  We had a handicap-accessible room which meant the walker would fit through the door.  I heard from many who did not have this benefit and it was a major pain for them. 

 

Food - 7 out of 10.  We ate in the dining room whenever possible to avoid the crowds in the buffet. However, the few times we ate in the buffet it was not as crowded as expected.  A few great meals and many above average.  

 

Activities - 7 out of 10 We enjoyed all the evening activities except one singer.  The daytime activities were great in the beginning but faded at the end.  The seats in Princess Live were bad - no padding.

 

Sanctuary - 9 out of 10 - I would have reserved more days if the weather was better ($40 per 4 hour session)

 

Leaving the ship - 4 out of 10 - This was not well organized - no information on when your group was to leave.  

 

[sunsetme]

thanks for the reviews, going net week

[starvenger]

2 hours ago, mnkauf said:

Accessibility - 6 out of 10 - We had a rolling walker and you could not get bye the carts in the hall.  You either moved them or waited for staff to move them or collapse the walker (this was not great).  We had a handicap-accessible room which meant the walker would fit through the door.  I heard from many who did not have this benefit and it was a major pain for them. 

Yeah I had to help people with that type of walker navigate around the carts in the hall a couple of times. It's really tight and honestly there's not much you can do. I feel for you.

 

2 hours ago, mnkauf said:

Activities - 7 out of 10 We enjoyed all the evening activities except one singer.  The daytime activities were great in the beginning but faded at the end.  The seats in Princess Live were bad - no padding.

I'm curious as to which singer you didn't enjoy. I am curious about the activities fading at the end since Christmas was at the tail end of your cruise. IIRC activities were a bit more subdued on New Year's Day for us. So maybe it was a holiday thing?

 

I didn't have an issue with the seats in Princess Live, but given the walker situation, it could be that I was sitting much higher up from where you might sit.

 

2 hours ago, mnkauf said:

Food - 7 out of 10.  We ate in the dining room whenever possible to avoid the crowds in the buffet. However, the few times we ate in the buffet it was not as crowded as expected.  A few great meals and many above average. 

One positive about the buffet was that it never truly felt packed to me. I'm not really sure why - it's not as if it wasn't busy. Maybe it's due to the setup in Horizons?

[phabric]

3 hours ago, mnkauf said:

 

 

Accessibility - 6 out of 10 - We had a rolling walker and you could not get bye the carts in the hall.  You either moved them or waited for staff to move them or collapse the walker (this was not great).  We had a handicap-accessible room which meant the walker would fit through the door.  I heard from many who did not have this benefit and it was a major pain for them. .  

 

 

Next time, try picking a cabin close to the elevator that is what I do now.

[Oceansaway17]

thanks for the long review.  I disagree on sausage.  I like those Bangers.

 

looking forward to my cruise on Regal in 2025 around UK.   Hoping the ship is better than the Grand.

[cruisinsince75]

On 1/9/2024 at 9:45 AM, mnkauf said:

 

Accessibility - 6 out of 10 - We had a rolling walker and you could not get bye the carts in the hall.  You either moved them or waited for staff to move them or collapse the walker (this was not great).  We had a handicap-accessible room which meant the walker would fit through the door.  I heard from many who did not have this benefit and it was a major pain for them. 

 

 

This is worrisome for us.  My wife and I have mobility scooters.  Fortunately, we are in an accessible mini-suite right be the elevators and the scooters are only 21" wide.  However, our friends are in a suite that is aft on the Riviera deck, so it may be challenging to get to their room for a visit.