Our Two Trips on Princess Regal

You may read somewhere that we are not cruise people. With that being said, with a laugh, we have sailed on The Regal Princess twice in five years. Living in South Florida makes cruising a deal too hard to pass up at times.

Our first trip is a 7 night Eastern Caribbean girls trip for Karen and our daughter, Chloe. This stop includes 3 islands… St Thomas, St Martin, and Princess‘ private island in the Bahamas.  The last trip was a family trip for us was a 10 night Southern Caribbean New Years Cruise. Itineraries in the Southern Caribbean include stops in St. Thomas, Martinique, Bahamas, Bonaire, Grenada, and Curacao There will be separate reviews for each destination at a later date.

Alfredo’s, our favorite restaurants on the Regal, is open during embarkation. Therefore, we suggest that you have your first meal here, in addition to the great food, you will also avoid the crazy crowd in the buffet. From our experience, all of the food on Regal Princess was good..

 

We almost always book balcony staterooms. The balconies are very nice and the added space comes in handy when three people are sharing the cabin.

We mostly receive good service from most staff members, but Jose and Chetan were awesome. Both guys were on the first we sailed on the Regal. Only Chetan is still on the Regal on our second trip.

The Piazza

The piazza is great on this ship. There are a lot of activities and nightly dancing in this area. Our kids have had a great time on this ship and we have participated in the teen club from time to time. This ship like the others in the Princess line is not a party ship. The entertainment on the ship is pretty good and we have enjoyed the production shows in the theater.

 

As we mentioned, the food on board is pretty good. We mentioned Alfredo’s earlier, our other favorite is Crown Grill, a fee restaurant. We have found that the food and service are top notch and there were plenty of vegetarian options for our son. On all of our cruises, we choose the anytime dining option and usually dine in a fee restaurant once or twice.

The common areas, pools, bars, and buffets are kept really clean and most staff are efficient and somewhat friendly. The bar service at the main pools is not great. To be fair, they are probably the busiest on the ship, but they could definitely improve their customer service. Watching movies under the stars while eating popcorn is a cool family activity.

 

Bahamas – Private Island

While we will review the ports and excursions in separate posts, the procedures at the private island in the Bahamas will be mentioned here. You have to tender from the cruise ship onto the island. The tender process is pretty smooth and the boats are large. On our first trip to this island,  a bicycle tour around the island is a must for us. It is fun and informative. We did pass by a go cart tour. From the feedback we are getting from the participants, I cannot say we will ever book this.  Several of the drivers got stuck and driving doesn’t seem easy. TIP; Take insect repellent with you onto the private island, the bugs are fierce.

There are shops on the private island that have typical souvenirs and a buffet lunch is provided. Ordering drinks is just like ordering on the ship. There are plenty of places to secure a lounger on the beach and covered cabanas available for rent. On our most recent trip, we  had a debate about even going over to the private island. We did decide to get off and visit the locals market which is located just outside the back gate. Here we have a few drinks and bought some souvenirs. We also spend some time on the beach and have lunch prior to taking a tender back to the ship. We probably spent 3 hours or so on the private island.The Regal Princess is a great ship if you looking to relax and enjoy a great vacation.

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