Nervous about bad reviews!

[ratbin]

We (myself, two brothers and spouses) are taking Mom on the Regal Princess for her 90th birthday in Sept. I have been reading reviews on Cruise Critic and am increasingly unsettled by the complaints. We are on the British Isles cruise which is pretty port intensive so maybe if we hate the ship it's not TOO big a deal. But I was assuming that Princess was a step up from other mass market lines. 

My husband, my mother and I have cruised on Crystal and Cunard. My brothers have been on Carnival (didn't love it) and one brother has been on RC. 

I know reviews are subjective and often have more to do with the reviewer than the subject. Help convince me that this is going to be great! 

[Abercrombie2019]

3 minutes ago, ratbin said:

We (myself, two brothers and spouses) are taking Mom on the Regal Princess for her 90th birthday in Sept. I have been reading reviews on Cruise Critic and am increasingly unsettled by the complaints. We are on the British Isles cruise which is pretty port intensive so maybe if we hate the ship it's not TOO big a deal. But I was assuming that Princess was a step up from other mass market lines. 

My husband, my mother and I have cruised on Crystal and Cunard. My brothers have been on Carnival (didn't love it) and one brother has been on RC. 

I know reviews are subjective and often have more to do with the reviewer than the subject. Help convince me that this is going to be great! 

Regal Princess has become our favorite ship.  We did the British Isles cruise in July of 2023.  We have been on Coral, Ruby, Golden, Discovery, Enchanted & Regal.  The Regal, Discovery and Enchanted are all Royal Class ships.  Discovery and Enchanted are newer than Regal, but Regal has a better layout (for us).  We like where Crooners was.  We also liked the Retreat Pool area.  The retreat pool is deeper than the retreat pool on Discovery and Enchanted, and it isn't surrounded by staterooms.  We loved the itinerary and we loved the ship.  

[wallyj]

Food is subjective, as far as the ship, there should be quite a few YouTube videos of ship tours that are recent. Also depends on your cruising style and what type of ship activities you might enjoy.

Edited June 18 by wallyj

[reedprincess]

Well, let's see.

Approximately 3600, give or take, passengers on Regal, every cruise..

 

Maybe, maybe, 1 or 2 negative reviews per sailing, if that. .that leaves 3598 per sailing that had a good enough time that they didn't go online to complain - or such a good time they couldn't be bothered to write it up as they had such a good time

 

 

Honestly - Cruise CRITIC is just that, critics..

I don't pay much attention to reviewz, unless there's multiple ones, in a short time (from same sailing or two in a row with a lot of reviews) and if those reviews mention common themes - cold food or something.

And even then - Princess gets hundreds/thousands of surveys at the end of each sailing and makes  changes..

 

Best advice, stop reading the reviews. They're so skewed by how very few people even do so that they are no way representative of the actual experience - particularly not for your sailing...

 

Regal is in top form, great staff, too notch Hotel Manager.

 

If you encounter any actual problems while aboard, address them there and then, and give Princess a chance to make things right..

 

Have a fab time, the BI cruises are amazing, Regal is our favorite Princess ship - enjoy!!

 

[voljeep]

it may help if you could give the forum readers some clarification about your statement(s) about

what you are expecting and different from which lines

 

a step up

 

other mass market lines

[Spudd]

I've been on both Crystal and Princess (and specifically on the Regal). Princess is obviously not as good as Crystal, but it's also not as expensive! I really enjoy the Princess experience, and the Regal is a nice ship. Just don't go in with Crystal level expectations, lol.

[Jadn13]

Sailed on the Regal last year with a British Isles itinerary and loved it! 
Very port intensive so show up rested 😬

[voljeep]

23 minutes ago, ratbin said:

We (myself, two brothers and spouses) are taking Mom on the Regal Princess for her 90th birthday in Sept. I have been reading reviews on Cruise Critic and am increasingly unsettled by the complaints. We are on the British Isles cruise which is pretty port intensive so maybe if we hate the ship it's not TOO big a deal. But I was assuming that Princess was a step up from other mass market lines. 

My husband, my mother and I have cruised on Crystal and Cunard. My brothers have been on Carnival (didn't love it) and one brother has been on RC. 

I know reviews are subjective and often have more to do with the reviewer than the subject. Help convince me that this is going to be great! 

a lot of your experience(s) may depend on when you can get off the ship for excursions in the ports - Princess excursions v free-style v status v no-status

 

Regal has a lot of passengers who will want to get off the ship as soon as they can in ports

[ratbin]

Not expecting Princess to be Crystal! However, all the reviews were beginning to scare me. I'm sure we will be fine. The reviews I checked were specifically about the BI cruise from last fall. There was a lot about inferior quality food and a good bit of general whining. I'm pretty good at separating real info from nonsense and there was a good bit of nonsense.

Any tips for first time Princess cruisers? 

[akaCruiser]

It comes down to what you are looking for when you are cruising. For me any cruise is going to be a good cruise. My family and I have done almost all of the popular lines sailing out of North America, except for Celebrity, Virgin, and MSC.

 

In general, if you are looking for more formal then Cunard or classic try HAL. Princess and Celebrity are more premier, where as RCCL and NCL will have more things to do and bigger ships. Lastly, if you want to party or on a budget then Carnival. For the Kids (or Adults who are kids at heart) then Disney is awesome.

 

As for my family, we like being on RCCL, but these days their prices in comparison to Princess is more than I like to spend. Princess for us is a good blend of cruising with good atmosphere, service and food. Also, their itineraries matches where we want cruise, so for now I'll taking more Princess cruises for the next couple of years.    

[SKCruiser007]

1 hour ago, ratbin said:

Not expecting Princess to be Crystal! However, all the reviews were beginning to scare me. I'm sure we will be fine. The reviews I checked were specifically about the BI cruise from last fall. There was a lot about inferior quality food and a good bit of general whining. I'm pretty good at separating real info from nonsense and there was a good bit of nonsense.

Any tips for first time Princess cruisers? 

 

Enjoy your cruise, especially the things that make Princess unique...a great value in their Princess Plus packages, the ability to do laundry on your cruise that is likely more than seven-days, the International Cafe and the Piazza. Princess is a lovely line on which to sail, not perfect, and not Crystal, but it is comfortable and a good value.

[patrickmoran]

You will be disappointed in the level of service on P, especially in the dining room. Post-covid, staffing cutbacks have left the wait staff over-extended. Getting drink refills is difficult. The food will be OK but your experiences, especially if they are pre-covid, are going to be better than P's ever were.

[dog]

Regal was just fine. Crew works very hard. Short staff issues. Variety of food- extra charges for some. Read FAQ on website.  I loved the Br Isles 2 cruises on Princess.

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, ratbin said:

Any tips for first time Princess cruisers? 

The first tip that comes to mind is to suggest that you plan your ship activities for the following day the prior evening after you receive the Patter in your cabin that lists the various upcoming scheduled events. We enjoy going to the early theater show, arriving at least 20-30 minutes early to get a good seat, as well as go to some of the game and comedy shows conducted at various times in the evening around the ship. Without a plan you might miss some very funny entertainment you would have enjoyed going to. They also offer lectures on sea days which are also very entertaining.

 

BTW there are usually 4-5 assistants on the Cruise Director's entertainment staff whose sole purpose is to make you laugh and have a great time. They are one of the many reasons we enjoy cruising with Princess, regardless of the itinerary.

[Spudd]

3 hours ago, ratbin said:

Not expecting Princess to be Crystal! However, all the reviews were beginning to scare me. I'm sure we will be fine. The reviews I checked were specifically about the BI cruise from last fall. There was a lot about inferior quality food and a good bit of general whining. I'm pretty good at separating real info from nonsense and there was a good bit of nonsense.

Any tips for first time Princess cruisers? 

Ordering food and drinks with the app is great but it's also hit or miss. Sometimes the things you order never arrive. It was the Regal where we just gave up on using the app because things were never showing up.

 

Doing laundry costs around $7 if you don't have your own detergent. You can charge it to your room. 

[mskaufman]

We were on Regal last summer.  If there were big negatives, I don't remember them.

[Papa Yoda]

Tip:  Have lunch on embarkation day in main dining room (vs. buffet or whatever) 12 - 1:30 usually in midship deck 6 dining room (Concerto).  Don't let them tell you that only the buffet is open.  Grand Marnier Soufflé for dessert!  Great way to start the cruise.

 

[Thrak]

@ratbin What are the specific concerns you have? Can you state what is being said that causes you to be wary of sailing on Regal Princess?

[memoak]

1 hour ago, Papa Yoda said:

Tip:  Have lunch on embarkation day in main dining room (vs. buffet or whatever) 12 - 1:30 usually in midship deck 6 dining room (Concerto).  Don't let them tell you that only the buffet is open.  Grand Marnier Soufflé for dessert!  Great way to start the cruise.

 

No. Eat lunch on shore and come into the terminals after 1:00. No lines, no waits , no problems 

[CU64]

7 hours ago, ratbin said:

Not expecting Princess to be Crystal! However, all the reviews were beginning to scare me. I'm sure we will be fine. The reviews I checked were specifically about the BI cruise from last fall. There was a lot about inferior quality food and a good bit of general whining. I'm pretty good at separating real info from nonsense and there was a good bit of nonsense.

Any tips for first time Princess cruisers? 

Why would you take your 90 yr old Mother on a port intensive cruise?

is she planning to get off with you all on a few days? On the days you are in port, she is alone on the ship, which might be fine with her as she has Family around for dinner.

[PR-Texas]

1 hour ago, CU64 said:

Why would you take your 90 yr old Mother on a port intensive cruise?

is she planning to get off with you all on a few days? On the days you are in port, she is alone on the ship, which might be fine with her as she has Family around for dinner.

It really depends on the 90 year old and what activities are planned for the port. Some 90 year olds are more active than some 60 year olds.  Some excursions you get off the ship and get on a bus for sightseeing without very much walking and only getting on and off the bus several times. I'm sure @ratbin has considered all the options before taking mom on the cruise.   Since they're from the US this may be the best way to see the British Isles.

Edited June 19 by PR-Texas

[MsSoCalCruiser]

2 hours ago, memoak said:

No. Eat lunch on shore and come into the terminals after 1:00. No lines, no waits , no problems 

Embarkation lunch in the MDR is our favorite way to start our cruise. We find it relaxing and tasty too. 

[memoak]

21 minutes ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

Embarkation lunch in the MDR is our favorite way to start our cruise. We find it relaxing and tasty too. 

Too darn long to wait in line to board like being in Disneyland 

[MsSoCalCruiser]

28 minutes ago, memoak said:

Too darn long to wait in line to board like being in Disneyland 

I must be lucky because I have never had a day like Disneyland.

[ratbin]

13 hours ago, PR-Texas said:

It really depends on the 90 year old and what activities are planned for the port. Some 90 year olds are more active than some 60 year olds.  Some excursions you get off the ship and get on a bus for sightseeing without very much walking and only getting on and off the bus several times. I'm sure @ratbin has considered all the options before taking mom on the cruise.   Since they're from the US this may be the best way to see the British Isles.

Since my Mom picked the cruise, it seemed like a good idea! She can get around just fine. She is on a bowling league and walks and hangs laundry. Her OLDER sister golfs, does yoga, etc. We are a healthy long lived family.