This report was written after a seven day, round-trip from New York in October, 2016
As
usual we had a wonderful trip.
New
York. We stayed at the Marriott Marquis because of it's perfect location
for us. The hotel is very nice. We saw Lion King which was right
across the street. We got our tickets 4 hours before show time and got to sit
in the front row which was fantastic. WE love it. The theater was a
one minute walk. Closeness is becoming very important to us as we
get older. We took the 6 hour Gray line tour around NYC again because it
was close and because it did exactly what we wanted to see. We had perfect
weather in NYC which made the tour very enjoyable.
Airports-
LGA is not good. They have solved some of the near term
construction woes but it is still not good. Cab fare was $62 to the
Marriott.
Cab
to ship was $49 which again is in line of what you thought. Fares are
traffic dependent and the traffic is awful all over athe NYC area.
We
found out 2 days before the cruise that one of our old Air Force friends were
also on the Regal. I email and text this guy every week but we never
talked about this cruise. The messages on Facebook were classic on how we
fond out that we were both going to NYC, both on the Regal and our cabins were
close. Their cabin was one deck above us and 4 behind. We got in
our cabin and looked up and there they were. It was fun to see
them.
Embarkation
- Brooklyn did a very good job. They have plenty of people directing
travelers. Our Premier line was empty when we arrived at noon. Then
we were directed right on to the ships. Friends that arrived from Newark
at 1030 had a 30 minute wait in line and another 45 minute wait to get on the
ship.
The
cruise was impacted one day by the effects of Hurricane Matthew. We
learned a lot about the wide spread effects of the hurricanes that affect the
seas long distances from the center.. The captain said he was getting
weather information from multiple sources including Princess, other ships in
the area, and their special weather companies. They missed their
forecasts.
Regal
- Very nice because it looks just like all the other Princess ships. The
Buffet area is larger but there are more people so there is the same problem of
finding a place to sit. Large flat screen on the wall was great. Our balcony
cabin was just like all the other Princess ships but very satisfactory.
We were glad to be in the middle of the ship when we hit the bad weather and
huge waves.. HUGE. The crew said that it was the most rocking they had
ever seen on their ship. The waves and swells were incredible.
Food
- Princess continues it's slow decline in food quality. Nothing was really bad
but things just aren't the same as they used to be. We have learned to love the
anytime dining option. We enjoy eating dinners in the buffet
because of the flexibility, the many choices and the time savings. I
could eat the shrimp and french bread every night. The International Cafe
is one of our favorite places. Very good food. Sometimes tough to
find a place to sit.
Sabatini's
Grill- Boy were we disappointed. Service and food were just not
that good. Won't pay again. Friends ate in the Crown Grill and said
the same thing.
Service
- Very good. We only saw our steward twice the whole trip but
everything was just fine. Crew was very good.
Photos
- Princess is way behind Royal Caribbean. They still put pictures
up on the walls and we never seem to be able to find them even with helpers.
Digital is the way to go.
Shopping
- bigger area and nice shops. But the price creep is slowing our shopping
down. No bargains on board
Entertainment.
Plenty to do. Theater was full for every show. We couldn't
even get a seat for one at 8 and had to go to the 1000 show.. Still too
many people saving seats. We did enjoy the fountain show along with about 10
other passengers. I guess it was too cold for the rest.
Activities
- Always plenty to do. Always very well run and they always have good
attendance at everything we did.
Excursions
- We did a Princess one in every port. The tender operation in Newport
was a real adventure. The driver had to make 2 passes before finally
catching on to the ship The waves in the harbor were mighty big.
Not sure what the captain was thinking letting folks in wheel chairs and
walkers get off/on. It was mighty rough. The short cruise between
Newport and Boston was another adventure.. The crew was forced to slow
the ship down because of the very rough seas and that made us 4 hours late
getting into Boston. Princess did a fantastic job in rescheduling
excursions. They had plenty of folks in the Shore excursion desk area and
in lines answering questions. The ship got lots of compliments on how
they handled all this confusion. The folks that did not use Princess
excursions were not happy because they had to either phone or email their
companies. Not sure how they resolved the money issues. Another vote for
using cruise line excursions. Bar Harbor was our favorite port.
Tender operation was smooth because the day was perfect. Lots to do
in that small town. I had a lobster roll which is one of my all time
favorites. Saint John and Halifax were excellent too. All our buses
and tour guides were excellent.
Clientele-
Most of the Princess passengers were just like us.
Disembarkation
- usually one of my least favorite parts of the vacation but this time Princess
got it right. The elevators on get off day are always full with luggage,
walkers and powered chairs. We were called 3 minutes after schedule which
is the best ever. There were plenty of port folks there to help us find
our luggage. Then the customs line took about 5 minutes. And then we were
off to our bus which was very clearly marked. We only sat on the bus for
7 minutes before leaving for LGA. Our friends got off an hour before we
did and had to sit on the bus for 40 minutes for their trip to Newark.
They were not happy campers. Both us had very bad Saturday traffic
getting to our respective airports. Our driver took all kinds of back
roads because the regular freeways were gridlocked.
Value
- our friends were traveling with 3 other couples and non of the 5
couples paid the same for our balconies. None of us got exactly the same
perks. Overall the price/value were close.
Platinum-
We sure like the perks of Platinum. While the internet is still
slow, it is nice to get a whole lot of free minutes. We never did attend
the special cocktail hours to get the free hors d'oeuvres . They still
charge for drinks and the lines were long. The Captains reception line
was again way too long for us.
Cruising-
Lots of talk about cruising and cruise lines. Disney seems to be
the best but everyone knows it is really pricey. Carnival is probably the
least popular. Some have tried it once and usually won't do it again.
Viking was the most often river cruise line used by our friends. This
is based on a small sample size...
Ned
and Carolyn
