Semi-live UK and Ireland cruise on Regal - the no-frills version (September-October 2024)

[MyriamS]

Welcome to this new (semi-)live cruise report! 

 

This review might be a bit different than most because I feel that most Princess cruisers on this board either purchase the Plus/Premier package, have elite perks and/or perks coming from their cabin category.

 

We don't have any of that. 🙂

 

We've never cruised on Princess before so obviously have no loyalty status. As we drink very little and don't need WiFi, the packages don't make sense for us. And we like inside cabins, not only are they cheaper but the darkness is also better for our sleep. Even with zero frills, this is the most expensive cruise we've ever bought so far, so the driving question of this live will be: is the basic Princess experience worth the fare?

 

I'll be fair to Princess, this is the cruise to the UK and Ireland which are not cheap places to visit. A land-based holiday would have costed a pretty penny in accomodation, food and transportation costs, plus the hassle of taking the bus/train/ferry everywhere (I cannot drive and my partner dislikes it, especially on the left). So the great convenience offered by cruising will be taken into account as well as the costs. 

 

Pre cruise Day 1-2: Flight to London and Harry Potter Studio Tours 

 

Our journey started three days before embarkation, which was also the first day of Oktoberfest (= the perfect day to leave behind the circus happening right next to our flat). I was apprehensive as our last flight from Munich to London was an utter disaster that almost resulted in us missing our entire cruise! 

 

See my P&O live if you're interested in that particular catastrophe but, to my relief, it went very smoothly. We only had the customary half an hour flight delay but it didn't matter as we had given ourselves plenty of wiggle room to catch our bus.

 

Good thing we did too, as the bus operator we took (RailAir) was not departing from the Central Bus Station (unlike National Express, megabus etc ) but from outside Terminal 2. It took us 20 min and some help from Google Maps to figure that out and find the discreet signs to the right spot.

 

The bus brought us to our Airbnb in Leavesden. We decided to stay there to be close to the Harry Potter Studio Tour for the following morning.

 

Now if this your first (or even second or third) visit to London, there are many things more worth seeing and doing than the Studio Tour. However, I used to visit London every other week when I lived in Cambridge, so I've done all the classic stuff. I even did the Harry Potter Studio Tour once already, but my boyfriend hadn't and was interested. I didn't mind doing it again with him, especially when I saw they do a themed afternoon tea now.

 

If you read my other review, you know afternoon teas are my weakness and one of the only way to lure me into spending more. That and German-style spas/thermal baths. 🙂

 

I won't go on too long about the Studio Tour, as I don't think it will be of much interest to this audience but I did find it improved compared to my first visit years ago. It gives great insight into all of the hard work that goes into movie magic, from concept arts to set design, props, costumes and makeup. We spent about 4h there then had the afternoon tea. It looked quite cute but was a bit too sweet for my liking (and I have a big sweet tooth). 

 

 

After the Tour our initial plan was to go straight to Salisbury but when we checked several weeks in advance, we found that, due to engineering works that Sunday, there were no direct trains from London to Salisbury. We didn't fancy two extra changes so decided to stay in the Travelodge at Clapham Junction and take the direct train to Salisbury Monday morning instead.

 

Since we had a big afternoon tea/lunch, we went for light "Mexican" bites for dinner at Cheeky Chicos. I know, crazy to order Mexican food in Europe, but it was pretty tasty, both the authentic parts (the tender juicy beef in the quesadillas) and the not so authentic parts (putting fried chicken and truffle mac and cheese in a taco). 

 

 

Tomorrow we are heading to Stonehenge, which many people do before or after their UK cruise, so the next post will probably be more relevant to most of you. 

 

[arizonaperson]

Looking forward to hearing about your standard fare  & about your experience on The Regal. I guess you will wait to use “ free” wi fi in ports to post the semi live.

[MyriamS]

10 minutes ago, arizonaperson said:

Looking forward to hearing about your standard fare  & about your experience on The Regal. I guess you will wait to use “ free” wi fi in ports to post the semi live.

I haven't found much free WiFi in European ports but we can use our German data plan at no extra charge in the UK.

[High C's]

Looking forward to hearing about your experiences on this cruise.

[dronnygirl]

Really looking forward to reading about your journey as we are planning a similar cruise next year.  Any tips would be appreciated

[EDVM96]

17 hours ago, MyriamS said:

the not so authentic parts (putting fried chicken and truffle mac and cheese in a taco).  

 

Wow, that sounds weird. 😄

 

 

[MyriamS]

3 hours ago, EDVM96 said:

Wow, that sounds weird. 😄

 

 

To be fair, it was quite tasty!

[MyriamS]

Pre-cruise day 3: we "soak up the atmosphere" in Stonehenge 

 

Our good travel luck finally ran out as our train to Salisbury and the two subsequent ones were cancelled due to heavy rains flooding the tracks. We ended up taking the train right before us (it was delayed by over an hour). The train was very quiet when it finally came so we had no problem finding a seat.

 

We knew the food options in Stonehenge would be overpriced so bought ourselves a solid brunch: one sausage roll from ubiquitous chain bakery Greggs and one from local bakery stand Slices next to Clapham Junction.

 

 

As you can see, there is a big difference in size but in price as well! The bakery roll was 3.5£ and the Greggs roll was 1.25£. I thought both were good products with good value: the bakery roll has flaky pastry, is loaded with good quality meat, and is big enough to be your lunch with a salad and/or fruit. The Greggs roll obviously uses lower quality ingredients, especially for the pastry, but the meat filling was surprisingly good. For 1.25£ you can't reasonably expect more! I had never actually tried Greggs before despite living in the UK because I assumed it was bad, but I was definitely in the wrong there.

 

We arrived in Salisbury 45 min late, at around 10.30. We booked an hotel called the Caboose and they told us we could store our luggage for free before check-in at the station pub, Hettie Bells (if you're not an hotel guest, they can also store your bags all day for a small fee). After that, we just had to cross the road back to the station to catch the 11am bus to Stonehenge.

 

If you are not on an organised tour, don't drive and do not want to pay for a taxi, the Stonehenge bus might be your only option to get there. It runs hourly from the Salisbury train station and is pretty pricey: the bus plus entrance to Stonehenge, Old Sarum and Salisbury cathedral cost us 47.5£pp. The big advantage though is you don't need to purchase timed-entry tickets for all those individual sights, it's just one ticket. You can buy it online and redeem your voucher on the bus or buy directly on the bus. 

 

The Stonehenge bus includes a pre-recorded commentary about Salisbury's history which was pretty interesting. Unfortunately it was raining cats and dogs so we couldn't see anything that was pointed to us outside of the window.

 

Whether you arrive by car or bus, you will be dropped at the visitor centre, which is actually quite far from the stones. There is a complimentary shuttle bus, but the line was huge so we thought it would be ok to walk. Big mistake. The walk was 30 min at a brisk pace (there were no signs that gave distance/time estimate) which would have been ok except it was pouring rain and windy. So don't walk between the visitor centre and the stones if you're not sure you're up for it.

 

It kept raining all through our visit to Stonehenge, which made it wet and miserable. The stones are impressive but you don't really know what you're looking at without the audioguide. So I would really advise everyone to install the free audioguide app by English Heritage and download the track they wish to listen to ahead of their visit. Then just listen the audioguide while slowly walking around the stones, as we did.

 

 

The line for the shuttle bus back was short so we caught that and were back at the visitor centre in about 5 min. It's very big so I thought it would be like a museum but it only has one small exhibit. The café and gift shop are huge by comparison. If you're short on time, don't hesitate to skip the exhibit at the visitor centre as the stones plus audioguide are more interesting.

 

Our bus ticket also included Old Sarum but we decided to skip it since the weather was so poor.

 

By the time we made it back to Salisbury it was about 2:30pm and we were very hungry, having had nothing since the 9am sausage rolls. To continue on the theme of "classic British chain restaurants I've never been to" we stopped in Nandos and shared some medium spice chicken thighs and kombucha (they had no hot drinks despite the miserable weather!).

 

 

The chicken tasted good but nothing really special, so I don't really see the huge appeal Nandos has in the UK.

 

We then visited the Salisbury cathedral, which I would recommend. It is beautiful and home to the best preserved copy of Magna Carta. 

 

 

We walked back to Hettie Bells to get our bags back. The check-in for our hotel also happened at the pub. A kind lady handed us a welcome package including two huge cookies and walked us two doors down to the Caboose. Great service and very cute rooms, would definitely recommend it if you're staying overnight in Salisbury.

 

For dinner, we went to the contemporary Indian restaurant Anokaa. Great mango lassi, delicious onion bhaji and lamb curry but the butter chicken tasted strange and way too sweet. It was more like a chicken tikka masala (which I know to avoid ordering) than a butter chicken.

 

 

That's all for today, it is still raining cats and dogs, never stopped all day, so I hope we won't get more floodings. Tomorrow is embarkation day in Southampton.

 

[EDVM96]

I took the Princess debark tour to Stonehenge last year with transfer to LHR. We were one of the first buses that morning, so no standing in line on the shuttle. We had plenty of time there, and Princess dropped us off on the minute at Heathrow. Good game.

This is a semi-live, so I think you will board tomorrow? I'm sure you will totally love the British isle circle.

 

[MyriamS]

4 hours ago, EDVM96 said:

I took the Princess debark tour to Stonehenge last year with transfer to LHR. We were one of the first buses that morning, so no standing in line on the shuttle. We had plenty of time there, and Princess dropped us off on the minute at Heathrow. Good game.

This is a semi-live, so I think you will board tomorrow? I'm sure you will totally love the British isle circle.

 

I'm glad you had a good experience on the Princess excursion. We usually book one or two of cruise line excursions, but the prices were so high (like 200$pp day) that we didn't this time.

 

It's a semi-live because I don't have WiFi on sea days, everything else is synced up. Today is embarkation day so I'll post before we sail away. 🙂

[insidecabin]

Salisbury is quite a good pre cruise option, easy access from London then onto Southampton.

 

Our stay earlier this year before our Regal cruise  we enjoyed,

Tinga  Mexican themed nice meal and atmosphere.

Rai D'Or Thai. Very good

 

Looking forward to the rest of the review. we are considering low budget Princess cruises for port intensive, no offers and to detox from excess and internet.

 

Hope embarkation goes well, we were on before 11am in May.

 

 

[MyriamS]

2 hours ago, insidecabin said:

Salisbury is quite a good pre cruise option, easy access from London then onto Southampton.

 

Our stay earlier this year before our Regal cruise  we enjoyed,

Tinga  Mexican themed nice meal and atmosphere.

Rai D'Or Thai. Very good

 

Looking forward to the rest of the review. we are considering low budget Princess cruises for port intensive, no offers and to detox from excess and internet.

 

Hope embarkation goes well, we were on before 11am in May.

 

 

We wanted to go to Tinga but it's closed Mondays! 

 

I forgot to mention it in the title (and I don't know if anyone else can edit it in as this point) but this live is for the cruise starting from today (24th September 2024) to 6th October, the last before Regal repositions to Galveston for the winter.

[LACruiser88]

2 hours ago, MyriamS said:

forgot to mention it in the title (and I don't know if anyone else can edit it in as this point) but this live is for the cruise starting from today (24th September 2024) to 6th October, the last before Regal repositions to Galveston for the winter

You can ask the Moderators to edit your title by clicking on the 3 dots next to the post number and click on Report.

[MyriamS]

Embarkation day: Princess knocks it out of the park 

 

Our hotel had given us 20£pp breakfast voucher to spend in Hettie Bells. We got a pot of tea, ham and cheese toasties, a pain au chocolat and a slice of caramel chocolate cake. The toasties were huge so we should really have ordered one to share. 🙂 I was really impressed by the pain au chocolat which was really fresh and bakery quality. The cake was good too but would have been way better as dessert than breakfast, I still ate it of course.

 

 

After the huge breakfast, I was feeling the need to move around and it wasn't raining, so we walked for an hour around the water meadows and cathedral. We then grabbed our bags, checked out and crossed the street to Salisbury station. The tracks must have been waterproof because the train to Southampton was on time and practically empty. 

 

We arrived around 10.45 and started the 25 min walk to Mayflower Terminal. It would be a very easy walk if not for several pedestrian crossing across busy roads with no lights or any way to stop traffic. Dangerous and disgraceful.

 

The embarkation process for Princess is something I was quite curious about because our previous cruise was also from Southampton, on P&O, and their embarkation process was pretty bad. On P&O you get assigned an embarkation time that you cannot change. You are not allowed to go inside the terminal before that time. There is no seating available at any time during the embarkation process. You move from a giant queue outside to a giant queue inside, which is made slower by the fact that they don't give precise check-in instructions (they had to reprint our boarding passes because they never specified they had to be printed one-sided).

 

Princess' approach to embarkation is basically the opposite as P&O as there are no embarkation time. You can arrive any time you like, with Elite and suite guests getting priority boarding of course. This is obviously much nicer for guests, but I wonder if it's not more efficient as well. I know it seems counterintuitive but, if people come when they want, you can funnel them into a single queue. The P&O employees were clearly struggling to organise everyone into boarding groups because, unlike what is often said in this forum, expecting everyone to precisely respect a boarding time they never chose is ridiculous (would you board a mere 45 min before the ship is due to sail? I wouldn't, no matter what P&O says!)

 

For our Princess cruise the boarding window was 11am-3pm, so we rocked up at Mayflower Terminal at about 11.15. No luggage besides our backpacks so we went straight in and joined the Blue Lane line. The line to the check-in desk moved quickly. They need either your cabin number or boarding pass, then your passport. The lady took a minute to check our details then brought us our medallions. Another swiftly moving queue for security and we were on board in just about 30 min, versus 2h for P&O, with no loyalty status. Well done Princess.

 

We headed straight for our muster station at the Theatre, which was listed in the app but the route wasn't clear so we got lost a bit. We finally found it, got our Medallions scanned then sat in the empty theatre to watch the video.

 

It was noon then so we went to lunch in the MDR. They gave us this useful leaflet at check-in with the lunch dining venues, but not their opening times. We thought noon would be safe though. Btw Reserve dining is in Concerto, we got lost again and ended up there before we found the Allegro dining room. It was very quiet. 

 

 

For starters we shared the avocado and shrimp and spinach raviolis. These were bland and desperately in need of more filling. The avocado and shrimp only had a paper thin slice of avocado and the shrimps were pureed not whole but at least it was tasty. 

 

 

For mains we shared the broiled salmon and beef tenderloin. The beef was so tender you could cut it with a butter knife. The salmon was nicely grilled and served with a beurre blanc sauce. Two very good mains. 

 

 

For dessert we shared the orange soufflé to cap off the traditional embarkation luncheon according to this forum's members. We planned to share one but they brought us two. 🙂 It was warm and tasty and had not the best custard but still real custard (the P&O custard was rice gloop).

 

 

There was supposed to be an announcement about the cabins being ready but 1pm came and went and no announcement. So we just left the MDR and went to check it out. Our cabin was indeed ready. It is at the very front of the ship and was the only cabin we could get that wasn't a guarantee. It's a spacious cabin with an unusual shape. There is a big walk-in closet and a decent size bathroom for a cruise ship cabin. 

 

There was a copy of the Patter with a great itinerary overview and an additional leaflet with the buffet themes which was very helpful! We'll be there on chocolate fountain day!

 

 

We quickly unpacked and greeted our room steward before going to explore the ship. They had a Princess Plus sales pitch which we did attend for the free glass of bubbly. The cruise director was pretty funny and made it interesting.

 

We're about to sail away from Southampton so I'll post about the rest of embarkation day and the first sea day in two days while in Cork.

 

[phabric]

Following along.  Enjoy reviews with pictures.

[Host Kat]

Ta daaa! Thread title has been edited per OP's request.

[peanutter]

Thank you so much for taking time to do this for us.  We are taking the Regal around the U.K. next July and your insights and experiences are most helpful.

[EDVM96]

21 hours ago, MyriamS said:

I'll post about the rest of embarkation day and the first sea day in two days while in Cork.

Oh, it looks like you will dock in Ringaskiddy, the industrial port south of Cobh. The MSC Virtuosa has the city pier in Cobh tomorrow.

[MyriamS]

19 hours ago, EDVM96 said:

Oh, it looks like you will dock in Ringaskiddy, the industrial port south of Cobh. The MSC Virtuosa has the city pier in Cobh tomorrow.

Yes, we can see the Virtuosa right now from the buffet window. 🙂

Thanks to the Roll Calls/previous Live threads, we knew this would happen but some passengers were in for a nasty surprise when they found out with less than 48h notice. 

 

Embarkation day (continued)

 

We went to the sail away party on the lido deck and I realised I was mistaken earlier, it wasn't the cruise director but one of his assistants (there are four or five). The cruise director Jayson is hyper energetic and extroverted, which must be a job requirement. The entertainment team did a dance show then led the bravest passengers to dance with them. It was lucky the weather wasn't like yesterday.

 

As we sailed away, we passed the MSC Virtuosa and waved at people on their balconies. Also the horn didn't just blare upon departure, it played some melody that I didn't recognise. Does anyone know what it is? 

 

We passed through the pool decks (beautiful pools including the adult only retreat), sports deck (with the most perfunctory mini golf I've ever seen) then returned through the buffet. Free drinks included are water, coffee, a decent tea selection, iced tea and lemonade.

 

We went to the main dining room for dinner and had the salmon gravlax (very good) and the piroshky (tasty but a bit greasy). 

 

 

Unfortunately my partner started feeling queasy due to motion sickness so we had to skip the rest of dinner. He returned to rest in the cabin and I went to the buffet and got him some clear chicken broth that was still pretty tasty. The Yorkshire pudding in the photo was for me.

 

 

It was British dinner that night so they had bangers and mash, steak and kidney pie, trifle... as well as a lot of other non British foods including a fresh pasta and waffle station. It was a good amount of choice but I didn't have much appetite with my sick partner so I just had a light dinner and left. 

 

I spent the evening in the cabin with my partner so can't comment on the entertainment that night but hopefully he will feel better tomorrow.

[defbref]

The melody played by the ships horn is the love boat theme from the TV series, it was filmed on Princess cruises ships.
 

 

[EDVM96]

1 hour ago, MyriamS said:

We went to the main dining room for dinner and had the salmon gravlax (very good) and the piroshky (tasty but a bit greasy). 

 

 

 

Hm, this was last year's version of the Sailaway Dinner Piroshky on the Regal Princess:

With a lot more chive and sour cream. It was really nice.

 

[MyriamS]

4 hours ago, EDVM96 said:

 

Hm, this was last year's version of the Sailaway Dinner Piroshky on the Regal Princess:

With a lot more chive and sour cream. It was really nice.

 

Yours look much better! They really skimped on the cream for mine.

 

Let's continue with the first sea day and a trivia win!

 

My partner decided to sleep in that morning so I went alone to the MDR breakfast. I opted to share a table with some friendly folks from Texas (hi, if you're on CC!). Unfortunately while the company was good, the breakfast was disappointing. Worst poached eggs I've ever had on any cruise.

 

 

The bacon and pancakes (not pictured) were pretty good but those poached eggs were so dry and overcooked. P&O wins on that one. 

 

After breakfast, we went to Princess Live for general trivial, where we didn't do too badly. One thing I noticed is that, despite not getting the Internet package, I'm still receiving emails. I can't send any, of course, but it's still bizarre that they go through at all!

 

We spent a good long while in the hot tubs around the Retreat pool (adult only area). Because the weather was cold and windy, both were completely empty! The only person who talked to us was an employee who checked we were 18+ and apologised profusely for bothering us. No problem, he was just doing his job. We hardly saw any children on this sailing btw.

 

After showering and changing we went to the enrichment talk by a former butler to the royal family, which was pretty entertaining, though the MC didn't ask obvious questions like what do you study to become a royal butler or why did you quit.

 

To continue with the English classics, we had the (very popular) Princess afternoon tea afterwards. It was a hit and a miss, the scones were very good and served warm. We liked the cakes as well. However they cheapened out on the jam/jelly, whipped cream (not clotted) and the finger sandwiches (not depicted here, but my partner tried them for me).

 

 

We took a break in our cabins and then went to trivia. The theme was countries around the world and whether Princess visits them. We actually won that one! Well it was a tie and I won at rock paper scissors. 🙂

 

The winning prize was a 200$ voucher for Effy and about twenty pendants of four different types. I don't actually like jewellery, so I gave the voucher to the couple who tied with us. We kept half a dozen of pendants as a souvenirs and for families and friends, then I went around the atrium and handed the rest out to other ladies. Better they go to people who appreciate them!

 

We had a good sitting spot in the atrium to watch the champagne waterfall. The captain made a speech, introducing all the senior officers, before starting the waterfall. The guests then took turn pouring out more champagne. 

 

 

It was taking forever to fill all the glasses so we eventually left for our MDR reservation. It's technically a formal night but you can dress however you like and there is no lobster. For starters we shared the seared duck breast and lump crab cake. Both were quite tasty though the crab cake tasted more like a fish croquette.

 

 

For main we both had the tenderloin and it was as good as the day before. They do cook it to order: I got rare, my partner got medium rare (pictured here) and the lady to my right got it well-done.

 

 

For desserts we shared the chocolate and citrus bar and the lychee and rose mousse (always available). Both were good but I liked the lychee one better because it had a stronger lychee flavour.

 

After dinner, we saw the comedian in the Vista Lounge (decent). There was a vocalist in the theatre but it's not our cup of tea.

 

[Senga]

51 minutes ago, MyriamS said:

It was a hit and a miss, the scones were very good and served warm. We liked the cakes as well. However they cheapened out on the jam/jelly, whipped cream (not clotted)

We found it very strange that they served clotted cream with the buffet afternoon tea but not in the MDR.

[MyriamS]

Cork and no casino 

 

Thanks to CC we knew we were going to dock in Ringaskiddy and not in Cobh. However many other passengers were taken by surprise. It was only announced on embarkation day, with this letter in our cabin: 

 

As you can see, though complementary transport is offered to both Cork and Cobh, the Cobh ferry doesn't leave until 9.30am, which is too late for some people who booked independent tours. They made an announcement on the first sea day that there would be a special shuttle to Cobh at 7.45am, exclusively for those people with early tours. 

 

We chose to take the bus to Cork instead, which is pretty much mandatory if you don't have an excursion as you are not allowed to leave the ship on foot. 

 

First we decided to go for breakfast at the buffet. I was impressed at the choice, must better selection that the MDR. I got a cheese and spinach omelet to order and a selection of savouries (leek and ricotta quiche, pizza muffin, bacon, hash brown, biscuit), as well as fruit and pastries to share with my partner. Overall impressed with the taste and choice of foods compared to RCI for example.

 

After breakfast we picked up our bus tickets (you do need to be ready to go) then waited in the piazza. It took about 30 min for our group number to be called, then it was around 25min drive to the Cork City Hall.

 

We walked around the city and saw the English market, Fort Elizabeth (which has a small free museum and some nice views of the city), the cathedral and the university. You can skip the city museum as it is out of the way and not very interesting. 

 

We didn't have to wait at all for the bus back to the ship. Unfortunately I had to call my bank as soon as we returned because they blocked my credit card out of the blue. After a long talk in German it turned out the pre-authorization from Regal Princess was so suspicious my card was blocked for all online transactions going forward and a new one immediately shipped home to Munich. Despite my assurances that the charge from Regal was no fraudulent, they could not or did not want to reverse this. 

 

I went to guest service and they were super relaxed about it, saying the pre-authorization wasn't strictly necessarily and we just couldn't use the casino. We don't gamble so we don't care. Could be a real bummer for some people though.

 

After all this stress we shared a BLT burger and fries from the poolside grill. Unfortunately the burger was very dry: it didn't come with cheese by default and I forgot to ask them to add any. The fries were nice and crispy. 

We did travellers trivia before dinner and teamed up with the couple from Texas who tied with us last time, but we didn't win again. It was a tough one!

 

We then went to the MDR for dinner. I had the very tasty shellfish bisque while my partner had both the chicken tikka and the prawn cocktails. The prawns were big and juicy but the chicken was unfortunately dry, though flavourful.

For mains we shared the grilled heritage steak and Irish lamb stew. The latter was surprisingly good: it came in a clear broth which might not be authentic but the lamb was super tender. 

For desserts we shared the lemon meringue cheesecake and frozen praline torte. Both were good! We also had a table with a great view of a ship from everyone's favourite cruise line.

It's weird to see the MSC logo stamped on cargo containers.

 

 

No production show tonight, they changed the schedule at the last minute and put another vocalist so we didn't go to the theatre.

[Ranchi]

Re: the cathedral. Many moons ago we cruised into Cobh and took a tour which passed that cathedral. I mentioned to the guide that’ it could almost be France’ She replied ‘that’s because it is a French cathedral’. Apparently they used to hold competitions for Cathedral design (cue idea for new C4 reality show!) and this one came second. The design was then hawked around and eventually someone in Ireland invested in it. 

Edited Friday at 08:15 AM by Ranchi