A Disappointing Experience
Regal Princess Retired Cruise Review to Panama Canal, Central America
10 Night Panama Canal Adventure (San Juan To Acapulco)
Sail date: December 07, 2006
Ship: Regal Princess Retired
Cabin type: Oceanview
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 14 years ago
Review summary
We traveled on the Regal Princess. The ship itself was fine. The room was spacious, and I particularly liked the ample storage space available for our clothing. The food was OK--though after a few days it seemed liked everything tasted the same--new name, same recipe. It seemed like everything was an extra charge, even hot chocolate was considered a "bar drink" which meant an extra charge and mandatory 15% tip. I felt like I was being expected to pay Princess Lines for extras at every turn. Mandatory tipping of $10/per person per day was a lot considering the poor service we experienced. We removed it from our bill and tipped personally those deserving of a tip. Wait staff, especially at breakfast, was rude and inattentive. Our room steward seemed to forget something every day--glasses, ice, bath mat, towels, etc. Different things every day. We have been told the Regal Princess is being sold in April, 2007, and the staff exhibited the poor morale resulting from the pending sale. Princess Lines did not meet us at the airport in San Juan though we paid for transfers (the Tourist Bureau had to call Princess and told us we were the second people with that problem that day). told us there was a Princess Lines counter in the baggage area, but there is no Princess Lines counter. The return from Acapulco was a test of patience since the airport has no X-ray equipment and tried to hand search the luggage of 1,500 passengers for the flights home. Princess scheduled poor plane connections, and we wound up stuck in Dallas overnight because they did not allow sufficient time to clear customers, re-check luggage, and move to a different terminal for the new airline. There are lots of non-stop flights between Houston and Acapulco and Houston and San Juan, but Princess used cheap, late at night and very early morning flights that required changing planes and even airlines on the way home. We were definitely not impressed with Princess Lines.Ports of call
Pros: The Panama Canal--it was fascinating
Cons: Poor service and bad attitude of many of the crew members
Recommends Regal Princess Retired? No.
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