Not really the ship, but the Oceanview was a pain. Had to go redo items several times, typing on the small phone is a pain, and some folks do not have a phone. Suggested to corporate they fire the idiot who killed the online registration before getting Oceanview up 100% and ensuring that EVERYONE could do a phone only registration.
BEST NEWS - NO COVID (or so my staff acquaintances reported) and we made all the ports that were turning away ships.
Medallion, while I am a card collector, the Medallion does make things easier. No, we did not use it to the fullest, I prefer going to get my drinks and snacks over getting the phone out and ordering. But it was nice to have a stranger take my order then say "Mr. White, B503? Oh, you are elite." instead of hassling with the card.
16 Days, 8 at 30%, 8 at 60%. Prime reason for this trip was Bonair, secondary reason was to do the Discovery. But even though we got bumped to the Regal, the trip was great and relaxing with over all great food in most venues (buffet had some good food, but too much was not good and we left it and did not eat there much except as a snack). Other than the buffet I only had two complaints. The street tacos in the grill were tasty, but they were made in Taco Bell type shells instead of two heated fresh corn tortillas per taco. And in the main dining room lunch, the "street tacos" was a 12 inch flour tortilla and was OK, but not good like other things I ate.
Entertainment, Princess has brought back some of what we liked on our first Princess cruise, ongoing music in the Wheel House and the Piazza.
For those who followed me on ShipMate, you know there is more than what I wrote here. But I do recommend this itinerary and ship. Despite the few, mostly minor, disappointments, we got what we wanted - a calm, relaxing, entertaining cruise with lots of good food. Due to the way they rate, the rating is 4.3 and I feel it should be 4.5 or 4.6. Did we do everything? No way, there was a lot that we just did not do for various reasons. Would we do it again? You can bet your sweet bippy we would! All 16 days too!
Embarkation
5 out of 5
We are Elite and it was only 33% full, so at 11:30 it was in the Elite door, through the nonexistent line, through the security scans, paperwork check (we had paper), walk a short distance, check into the ship, then across the bridge and on aboard to the welcoming crew. Very fast.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
MDR was 5, Crown and Sabatini's were 5, Alfredo's was a 5, buffet a 3, grill a 4. Ocean was a 4.5, slow, but very good. One nice thing abut the buffet, they had some Indian dishes, sometimes vegetarian, sometimes not. Did some afternoon snacks there. One morning I had to eat in the buffet early and there was a small but nice selection of Eastern and Asian dishes, tasty.
Concerto Dining Room
5 out of 5
Not much to say, good food, good people and a Maitre'D that lets you claim a table and is willing to send you on your way without waiting for a guide.
Sabatini's Italian Trattoria
5 out of 5
I disliked Sabatini's from experiences on another ship. There was nothing to dislike about this one! Great service, great food, and good ambience. Both times. Only complaint would be another $10 for a second entree, but that is universal.
Alfredo's Pizzeria
5 out of 5
Just one warning, most entrees are meant for two unless you are VERY hungry, we forgot about that. We do like eating here as a treat.
Crown Grill
5 out of 5
I disliked like the Grill from experiences on another ship. There was nothing to dislike about this one! Great service, great food, and good ambience. Only complaint would be another $10 for a second entree, but that is universal.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
Pool was nice the first 8 days, but the second we had more kids and at 60% so I did not use it the second 8 days. Fitness center small, but sufficient for the light loading. Walking track was good with some exercise aides around it. The serenity deck was nice and quite. Library was decent for us. Would rate a bit higher than 4, but not a 5.
Internet Cafe
3 out of 5
Good service from the staff, but the internet has dropped from 15 M up/down to 0.5-3 M down and 2-4 M up. Internet is not worth paying for. And this was with 30% loading, hate to see what a full ship would have. At 60% occupancy I could not reliably stream Church services, kept losing segments. Too many sites affected by the new blocks they put in against internet gambling (per the staff).
Entertainment
4 out of 5
Much more entertainment than before Covid, Alex on violin was great, the Princess bad doing Jazz were great, Varvara and Valeriia (piano and violin) were good, Kevin on the piano in the crooners was good, Roston on steel pans was ok, but did not sing, Rob on the Guitar was good, Dan on guitar OK. Stage shows, by far the best was Claude Eric, vocalist, his "Man of La Manchu" was excellent! The others ran from survivable to great. Jose Figueroa Jr. was a good singer too. Rated a 4 because of some of the stage shows and the addition of the Carnival Cruise's trick of painfully blinding you with the lights shown directly into the eyes (reported that both to corporate and to the staff).
Children's Programs
No grandkids and daughter is 29 and not with us.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
99.9 nothing bad, 0.1% ok. They wanted to be there and they made sure we were taken care of. Wheel House had Arlyn and Junella, after about three days they were our go to folks for non-alcoholic drinks. David our steward was unobtrusive in service, he just got it done and special requests did not have to be repeated, and he was great to talk with.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
GRIPE: no more wrap around promenade, but that lets them move the life boats down and put in another layer of balconies in the place of obstructed windows, but now the promenade deck seating is obstructed. Mostly very clean, a few places need repair (like inside railings without end caps) but overall a nice ship.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Balcony door hard to open, had to get the shower drain cleared (David got them in fast), some drawers had closing issues, small, lavatory - tiny, AC not consistent between day and night. Bed for us was comfy, slept good. And my biggest complaint was the light over the bed is tied to the closet light, bad design, but that is on most ships. Rated 4 because with all the complaints, we still had no problems getting clean, sleeping comfortably, and relaxing (the three most important parts of the room).
Ship tip
Get a paper map from guest services and wander about. And just because the buffet is not great, does not mean there are not some tasty gems there.
We did a Coast to Coast tour, TOV105A. The tour of the island was enjoyable but the transportation (looking at others) ranged from shaky (ours) to well kept up (a few others). Biggest issue was seating of six rows, 4 across, with an overhead cover made it hard to see for those not on the outside of the side of interest. Also, the drink we got was a small 6 oz cup of fruit punch or rum punch, glad I brought water. Rated 4 because I enjoyed the scenery.
Walked the town from 0900-1000. Went past the tourist area, standard town, tourist area was nice to look at, some historical markers that made for good reading. Folks either friendly or ignored you. many things closed for Christmas Eve or it was too early. I rated a 4 because another day may have been good. WARNING: although the air is cool (80's?), humidity is high and the sun brutal, even that early. Take precautions, one 16 oz water was not enough.
We were going to do the trolly tour but it was delayed about 90 minutes. Wife and I decided not to risk the sun and the apparent chaos. NOTE: Must have Covid Vaccination card with you here, they check it on ship and the locals do before you leave the pier.
5 because this was a bucket list. Really 4.5 because the coral was damaged by the earlier hurricane and the storm the day before left the waters a bit murky. But the SeaCow crew was great and I did see some sea life I had not seen before.
Sounds like the Princess we know!! Glad you enjoyed.
We just did 12 days on the Regal and quite liked it as well. Not perfect, but definitely very good!!
Thanks for the detailed review, Ray. In particular, I appreciate your detail on the musicians, often overlooked. We hate the strobe lights in the face too, can't understand why they do this!
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