Just returned from the Regal Princess

[NAB]

It is slightly dressier. We were turned away 2x for dinner on Princess . Once dh had on shorts and it was formal night. We were surprised because he looked very nice with Oxford and I had on a dress but is what it is. We went to the buffet. Another night we got turned away because teen had flip flops on. That was a regular night. He also looked nice. Showered, golf shirt, but I am glad they hold the line!
We are also on Princess in Alaska in May! But we are on discovery. Have a great trip.

You have a great trip too . I saw you post somewhere and saw you were going in May too. Wondered if we were on the same ship.

This will be our first trip away from DCL so should be interesting.

 

[CarolynFH]

Thanks for your report. We sail from Galveston too, and I'm considering Princess for our next one, so this is helpful. DH and I are more into finding comfortable spots to sit and read, maybe people watch, so the lack of organized activities probably wouldn't bother us. OTOH, poor food would!

 

[dcassetta]

Thanks for your report. We sail from Galveston too, and I'm considering Princess for our next one, so this is helpful. DH and I are more into finding comfortable spots to sit and read, maybe people watch, so the lack of organized activities probably wouldn't bother us. OTOH, poor food would!

They did have a little library that was quiet and there are a number of small lounge areas both indoors and outdoors. The atrium area is nice during the day, but too noisy at night.

 

[ronandannette]

You have a great trip too . I saw you post somewhere and saw you were going in May too. Wondered if we were on the same ship.

This will be our first trip away from DCL so should be interesting.

Are you taking kids/teens along? Princess isn't a line I would recommend for those age groups.

 

[NAB]

Are you taking kids/teens along? Princess isn't a line I would recommend for those age groups.

This time it’s just the 2 of us. My husband booked this one. I’m not one for change either so just trying to figure out the lay of land somewhat…lol

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

Are you taking kids/teens along? Princess isn't a line I would recommend for those age groups.

We have two teens and they love the teen club on Princess, but it is true I think if forced to choose between teen clubs they prefer DCL. As young kids however they preferred the CArnival kids club to dcl. I know shocker. Dh joked great now we are stuck going on Carnival lol.

 

[ronandannette]

We have two teens and they love the teen club on Princess, but it is true I think if forced to choose between teen clubs they prefer DCL. As young kids however they preferred the CArnival kids club to dcl. I know shocker. Dh joked great now we are stuck going on Carnival lol.

When our DS was that age, we sailed quite a few different lines and the kid's clubs on all of them were very good. But when it comes to other features that youngsters like (water parks and various other activities and entertainment), Carnival would be miles ahead of Princess.

This time it’s just the 2 of us. My husband booked this one. I’m not one for change either so just trying to figure out the lay of land somewhat…lol

If the two of you just need to relax together in lovely surroundings, Princess may be just the right thing for you. This is why our friends love it, but we personally like to be a little more "on the go". I hope you have a lovely time.

 

[auntlynne]

This time it’s just the 2 of us. My husband booked this one. I’m not one for change either so just trying to figure out the lay of land somewhat…lol

I like to watch some videos before cruising new ships (even before picking one).

My takeaway from the first video suggested on YouTube - from last fall in Alaska - was that it looks like so many Princess ships (I have done 5, none of them a new class like you are on). The indoor pool has a retractable roof and steps (not just a ladder). There is an outdoor pool, too.

There is an observation lounge at the front of the ship with picture windows and seating - always a plus in Alaska.

Daily crossword puzzle page in the Library.

We enjoyed having the option for a buffet at dinner in past cruises. Many people rave over the International Cafe in the Piazza (Atrium), open 24/7 with a variety of light snacks, sandwiches, pastries that change throughout the day.

We appreciated afternoon tea in the MDR (we were in AK and wore our excursion clothes to this 3 pm event. It’s not Fairmont hotel level, but it was fun having gloved waiters serve us scones, clotted cream and jam with some finger foods - and tea. They used to serve Lipton, but you could request the tea box for something different. This is included and may be served daily. I saw a write-up of a Royal Tea with a charge of ~$10.

 

[starvenger]

Thanks for the review! I was on this ship myself over New Year's (link to review in my sig), and man, what a difference a few months make.

Their app. Similar to DCL, although not quite as intuitive

Sounds like the app improved since I was on board. Was the chat feature any good? Because it was pretty much a mess on the old app, and non-existent on the new app beta they let us use.

The daily schedule on sea days. Many of the activities involved the shops or the spa and most of the cruise staff that hosted events like trivia did not seem to enjoy their jobs.

This is really interesting as my cruise was the last one for the previous cruise director (Allie) and her group was absolutely fantastic. She seemed to give them leeway to create their own activities and trivia and I think it showed with their enthusiasm. I guess the new cruise director isn't as easygoing?

The Princess Live lounge and main theatre. The Live lounge was small, the seats were not comfortable and most of them were unmoveable. Some events that should have been in the larger Vista lounge were held here, which meant if you did not get there very early (like 30 minutes) you were out of luck. The main theatre was poorly designed and a number of seats had poor views.

Agree with this. The Live Lounge is actually very nice but it is too small for some of the game shows they run. Thing is, if they run it in the Vista lounge, you'll lose some of the intimacy and vibrancy that the Live Lounge gives you, as I think the Vista lounge is too large for the things they run in there (like the comedians).

The main theatre has very poor sightlines when you're on the sides at floor level. Sitting closer to the back was a better way to go. Not that the shows were good or anything. Competently produced and presented, but like a starter salad, quickly consumed and forgotten about.

I don't think I ever observed anyone else washing their hands before going into the buffet area. So gross. Did not eat there due to this.

We were definitely longing for the Royal "washy washy" guy at the buffet. So many people don't even do the bare minimum of using the hand sanitizer. Which we used in between getting food and eating. Inconvenient, sure, but better than not doing it.

The Piazza after 5pm. They had music every night and the musicians were good, but this area was all glass and metal, so all the sound echoed and was very loud. As a result, it was uncomfortable in the evening.

I honestly liked this. If you were looking for a lively spot in the evenings, you knew to go to the Piazza. Unless the guitarist was there - you can only get so lively when it's a guy with an acoustic guitar and a percussion block.

The lack of adult spaces outside of the pool area. None of the bars or lounges were adult-only at any time. This meant that all the karaoke was groups of teens signing off key Taylor Swift, and evening activities often included teens climbing over others to be with their friends. I did get the impression that there were large groups of kids from the same high schools. This probably contributed to the behavior issues. There was one event where a group was very rude to the cruise staff host, but there wasn;t much she could do about it.

This has to be a Spring Break thing. More kids = more chaos?

Being on a cruise is better than not being on a cruise, but I would not choose to sail Princess again.

I felt somewhat similar. Princess isn't bad by any means, but it's never going to be my first choice of cruise line to sail.

 

[dcassetta]

Thanks for the review! I was on this ship myself over New Year's (link to review in my sig), and man, what a difference a few months make.


Sounds like the app improved since I was on board. Was the chat feature any good? Because it was pretty much a mess on the old app, and non-existent on the new app beta they let us use.

I did not try the chat function. One of the things I really liked was how it would give you directions from where you were to where you were trying to go.

This is really interesting as my cruise was the last one for the previous cruise director (Allie) and her group was absolutely fantastic. She seemed to give them leeway to create their own activities and trivia and I think it showed with their enthusiasm. I guess the new cruise director isn't as easygoing?

The cruise director was Micca and the ACD was Jed. I guess I just didn't care for their style. I did not find any of the cruise staff to be enthusiastic. The art auction team on the other hand...

Agree with this. The Live Lounge is actually very nice but it is too small for some of the game shows they run. Thing is, if they run it in the Vista lounge, you'll lose some of the intimacy and vibrancy that the Live Lounge gives you, as I think the Vista lounge is too large for the things they run in there (like the comedians).

I see what you mean about size. Although the comedians they had on our cruise managed to fill the Vista.

The main theatre has very poor sightlines when you're on the sides at floor level. Sitting closer to the back was a better way to go. Not that the shows were good or anything. Competently produced and presented, but like a starter salad, quickly consumed and forgotten about.

The lack of rake on the floor was an issue. It is also true that the shows were not particularly good so this may have contributed to my view of the theatre. The singers and dancers clearly work hard, but the shows themselves were meh.

We were definitely longing for the Royal "washy washy" guy at the buffet. So many people don't even do the bare minimum of using the hand sanitizer. Which we used in between getting food and eating. Inconvenient, sure, but better than not doing it.

Not a big buffet fan anyway, but the lack of washing was a real issue.

I honestly liked this. If you were looking for a lively spot in the evenings, you knew to go to the Piazza. Unless the guitarist was there - you can only get so lively when it's a guy with an acoustic guitar and a percussion block.

Definitely lively, but so loud that it was uncomfortable for me. And, if you were getting food or drink you had to yell at the servers/bartenders.

This has to be a Spring Break thing. More kids = more chaos?

Absolutely

I felt somewhat similar. Princess isn't bad by any means, but it's never going to be my first choice of cruise line to sail.

It's great that there are different lines, so people can choose what is best for them!

Really looking forward to being back on the Magic in July!

 

[starvenger]

The cruise director was Micca and the ACD was Jed. I guess I just didn't care for their style. I did not find any of the cruise staff to be enthusiastic. The art auction team on the other hand...

You know, I never understood the obsession with cruise directors on the various cruise forums. Might be because all the ones I've experienced prior to Allie were good but not memorable. But the experience you had with the CD versus mine on the same ship - but a couple of months apart - gives me some insight into that.

Did you ever see the bingo lady, Fortuna Luck? If so, curious about your thoughts on the character.

I see what you mean about size. Although the comedians they had on our cruise managed to fill the Vista.

I think they always do. Whether they are actually good or not... different story.

The lack of rake on the floor was an issue. It is also true that the shows were not particularly good so this may have contributed to my view of the theatre. The singers and dancers clearly work hard, but the shows themselves were meh.

No, you were right about the theatre, and dead on about the rake. If there were more incline on the floor, then the sightlines would be better. But better sightlines can't turn mediocre into great.

It's great that there are different lines, so people can choose what is best for them!

Agreed.

Again, for me, there was nothing fundamentally wrong or horrifically bad about Princess. But in terms of wow factor, they don't have it (although the medallions are pretty cool). Would sail them again if things align for that, but eyes wide open wrt what to expect.

Oh, and almost forgot. Pizza on the pool deck is the best I've had at sea. Way too easy to have too many slices. Also, fries at the grill were much better than the buffet fries. So I would go get the fries from the grill and gravy from the buffet. It made for a good poolside snack.

 

[starvenger]

When we sailed there was a hand washing station at each entrance as well as a free-standing purell dispenser. Did they get rid of those?

At least they don’t have that annoying “washy-washy” person that drives you nuts on RCCL…

I actually MISSED the annoying "washy washy" guy. Annoying? Yes. Did it make more people wash their hands? Most likely.

We are going on the Majestic Princess to Alaska in May. I have a question….what do people wear to dinner is it like DCL or more like it used to be a dress for dinner?

Polo and slacks/jeans are probably more than satisfactory.

Thanks for your report. We sail from Galveston too, and I'm considering Princess for our next one, so this is helpful. DH and I are more into finding comfortable spots to sit and read, maybe people watch, so the lack of organized activities probably wouldn't bother us. OTOH, poor food would!

One thing Princess does not lack for is comfortable spots to sit.

 

[tidefan]

This is really interesting as my cruise was the last one for the previous cruise director (Allie) and her group was absolutely fantastic. She seemed to give them leeway to create their own activities and trivia and I think it showed with their enthusiasm. I guess the new cruise director isn't as easygoing?

We just got off Carnival, and I can tell you that on Carnival, the cruise director makes a big difference. I think on Princess it does as well as it is my understanding that they schedule all of the daily activities on the ship. We had tons this past Summer. I believe we had Allie and Martyn Moss as CD's.

Agree with this. The Live Lounge is actually very nice but it is too small for some of the game shows they run. Thing is, if they run it in the Vista lounge, you'll lose some of the intimacy and vibrancy that the Live Lounge gives you, as I think the Vista lounge is too large for the things they run in there (like the comedians).

To note, while I very much prefer the Royal class Princess ships to the Grand class Princess ships, the one area I think was better on the Grand class ships was the Explorer's Lounge area that became the Princess Live area. It worked much better.

I think that they have changed this setup on the new Sun Princess.

The main theatre has very poor sightlines when you're on the sides at floor level. Sitting closer to the back was a better way to go. Not that the shows were good or anything. Competently produced and presented, but like a starter salad, quickly consumed and forgotten about.

They have changed this on the new Sun Princess as well. Will be interesting to see what they did.

We were definitely longing for the Royal "washy washy" guy at the buffet. So many people don't even do the bare minimum of using the hand sanitizer. Which we used in between getting food and eating. Inconvenient, sure, but better than not doing it.

I hated the "washy washy" lady on Independence of the Seas. Most people on all of my Princess sailings (or Carnival sailings even) routinely use at least the hand sanitizer.

I felt somewhat similar. Princess isn't bad by any means, but it's never going to be my first choice of cruise line to sail.

This is exactly how I feel about Royal Caribbean. It would be my last choice of cruise line. The included food (except on Coco Cay - that was good) is just not on par with other lines.

That said, every line has their strengths and weaknesses, and since we all gravitate towards different things, we can all have our preferences and all be correct about them. Even though the "bells and whistles" of RCCL are lost on me, I get why some people like them.

I do wish Disney could copy Princess' pizza though...

 

[starvenger]

I do wish Disney could copy Princess' pizza though...

I think that both Disney and Royal have realized that kids will eat any type of pizza, so replacement level pizza (think mediocre chain pizza) will do. Nothing special, but does the job.

 

[CarolynU]

I’m trying to remember what my two cruises last year were like on The Regal Princess. (Feb and March.)
Very easy check in procedure and fast boarding and debark. Very organised.
The ship was clean and I thought that the staff I encountered were very friendly.
The food was not brilliant in the main dining room some nights but I don’t find it particularly good on DCL either. Always barely warm. However, I loved The Crown Grill. Fabulous steaks cooked to perfection. A choice of delicious sides. The upcharge was very reasonable and worth it.
Likewise I thought that the burgers on the quick serve were amazing. None of this cook hundreds in advance and keep them in a warming drawer. They were freshly cooked to order.
I can’t remember the buffet particularly. I liked anytime dining or at least the concept but in reality rocking up anytime led to a ridiculous wait sometimes as now everyone is encouraged to reserve their times in advance on the app so if you hadn’t you had to expect to wait.
The entertainment was fantastic and I loved the shows. Particularly Bravo I think it was called! There were jazz bands everywhere, string quartets, singers, bands, steel drums. There were the usual speciality acts and comedians I do agree that it could be overwhelmingly noisy though.
There was a lively disco which was well attended.
I definitely felt more of an adult who had plenty to do post 10pm.
I loved the formal nights where so many people did make the effort and looked stunning. I myself love to wear long formal gowns so I appreciated that most others did too. It made it feel far more of an occasion.
The pool areas were ridiculously crowded on sea days with the awful 4am get up to reserve seats scenario. That was awful. They were also very noisy too because with the drinks package many people were always drinking blended drinks which made the so called quiet retreat pool sound like a very noisy Starbucks with blenders going constantly. I didn’t like that everyone sat around the perimeter of the pool, drinks in hand shouting from one side of the pool to their friends on the other side, getting louder the more drinks that they had consumed!
Overall though having spent 2 x 7 nights on Princess on the Regal Princess I’d sail again without hesitation.

 

[LAS2AMS]

Sounds like you had a poor spring break experience. I think your comments regarding hand washing are foolhardy. Sounds like the banks of handwashing stations on RCL, etc. make you feel comfortable when in reality, many people bypass them. Princess has plenty of handwashing stations scattered in the buffet areas and the reality is, people are people and people who want to wash their hands will. Seems like this left the most sour taste in your mouth, but things often are what they seem.

Kids will be on any cruise but there's usually far fewer on Princess than comparable lines (because there's far fewer kid activities). Princess usually daily adults-only events, including karaoke, it may have been that spring break brought too many kids onboard to do their usually activities with.

 

[dcassetta]

. Pizza on the pool deck is the best I've had at sea.

I do wish Disney could copy Princess' pizza though...

Loved the pool deck pizza. The other line that we think has excellent pool deck pizza is Holland America, although theirs is more of a thin crust style. But both of them, are far and away better than Disney.