Infinity or Regal Princess

[seagoingJLW]

We are considering going through the Panama Canal again in December of 2005. Both the Regal Princess and the Infinity sail from San Diego to Ft. Lauderdale.

 

Which would you recommend as the superior experience in the following categories?

 

1. Food

2. Entertainment

3. Activities

4. Lectures

5. Shore Excursions

6. Cinema Offerings (both in cabin and in the cinema.)

 

Joan

[cruisersdm]

My husband and I were on the Regal Princess about 7 years ago and we just got off the cruise on the Infinity from Vancouver to Honolulu. Both ships are wonderful. The Celebrity's service is a tad better than the Princess. The dining room's food is better on the Infinity, but the buffets for lunch and breakfast are better on the Regal. The pizza is better on the Regal. Entertainment is more "Broadway" like on the Princess and the activities on the Princess are geared for a younger crowd. They let their hair down a little more on the Princess, although the "Martini Bar" on the Infinity is great! The Regal had a "Bar" pool which was really fun. You could go into the pool and sit on a bar stool and have a drink. My husband and I really liked that and miss that on the other ships. I don't know anything about shore excursions on the Panama Canal itinerary. The lectures on the Infinity when we were going to Hawaii were wonderful, don't know anything about lectures on the Princess.

 

The cruise on the Infinity was our seventh cruise. The Regal Princess was my favorite cruise. In the dining room, we sometimes had dinner alone and some evenings they had some of the ship's officers at our table. We throughly enjoyed everything about that cruise. The intinerary was the Eastern Caribbean. The Infinity was wonderful also, but the Regal was special.

 

It would be a toss up on which ship I would choose. Also, we were on the Regal about 7 yrs. ago, so don't know her condition now. The Infinity is a beautiful ship. You can't go wrong with either one. Have a great time.

[Host Anne]

I agree with Seagoing. We've sailed Crown Princess (sister to Regal) and Summit & Millennium (sisters to Infinity).

 

Crown (about 8 years ago) remains one of our all time favorite cruises. Everything was great. We, too, miss the bar stools in the pool on other ships. I'm surprised that none of the new ships have them. Crown was our first longer cruise (10-day) and we really got to know passengers and crew very well. It made for lasting memories. Kipling's (a lounge outside the dining room) is still one of our favorite spots (don't know what they call it on Regal).

 

We've been on Summit and Millie several times in the past couple of years. They are also among our favorite ships (Brilliance of the Seas is our other). M-class ships are beautiful and we just thoroughly enjoy the atmosphere on Celebrity ships. Summit and Millie are probably prettier ships but they are newer.

 

We book our own shore excursions so they don't play into our ship selection any longer. We book on ship, itinerary and cruise line. Between Celebrity and Princess, we'd sail either. Lately, we've been choosing the better deal. I'm guessing Regal is likely the better deal.

 

Have a great time whatever you decide.

[Catnip]

Crown & Regal Princess are my all-time favorite ships!

[cruisepest]

We went on the Regal this June and it was great. Have been on the Regal multiple times and belive it or not she is better now than when she was new. The Regal is due for an overhaul in November of this year. Service on all of Princess has to us gone a little downhill lately. The one draw back that the Regal has is there is only one forward out door viewing area, people filll in the area early and tend not to move. The other thing is that you have to know where to get to the deck, it is forward on Baja Deck and is not marked.

[BCHappyGal]

We were on the Regal Princess in Feb of 2003 and loved her (but then we love being on any cruise ship!!) and on the Infinity in May 2004 (for a short cruise). Both are great ships however following are my comments

 

Staterooms on the Regal are larger and better laid out than on the Infinity IMO

 

Food - excellent on both but maybe a tad better on Infinity in the dinning room - Buffet on Infinity was smaller and offered a more limited.

 

Diningroom on infinity had more large windows than Regal which I liked as you could enjoy your dinner without missing out on the scenery that you were sailing past.

Buffet area on Infinity had the most comfortable chairs of any buffet dining area from any of my 14 cruises.

 

Entertainment - was great on both

 

Cleanliness - great on both

 

Infinity being the newer ship had more frills than did Regal Princess - one very notable one is the 2nd computer lab where you can actually download your digital picturres from your camera and at the end of the cruise burn a CD of pictures for $15. Infinity also offers computer courses which I plan to take on my upcoming cruise in January.

 

Either ship will be wonderful.

[tbelian]

I can only reference my Inifinity experience, have not cruised other lines.

 

I can say that our Infinity trip was excellent. We thought everything (activities, food, ship layout, stateroom) was top notch. I would not hesitate to travel on Infinity again.

 

 

Enjoy your cruise.