7 Nights Western Caribbean with Mexico Cruise

Wonderful birthday cruise

My wife had never visited the British Isles before, so we decided to rectify that with a cruise to celebrate her birthday. It was magical for the most part. Normandy being on the itinerary was a major factor in choosing this sailing. I got a great deal on an aft suite so decided to splurge a bit. The cabin and it's enormous balcony was incredible. The crew was very friendly and extremely helpful at every turn, especially the staff in the Concierge lounge. We found the ship to be in excellent shape overall, despite what some other reviewers have said. Food: buffet was buffet food. Excellent breakfast at Sabatini's, not as good for dinner. Crown Grill was excellent all 3 times we dined there (enormous lobster tails!). Main dining room was very good. We also splurged on the Chef's Table dinner - an experience not to be missed! I have to take exception with a previous reviewer who said "the captain decided to skip Liverpool." Winds there were excessive and the floating dock was bouncing all over the place to the point where the port authorities wouldn't allow the Regal to dock. Certainly very disappointing but understandable. I received a surprise invitation to tour the bridge, where I spoke to an officer who told me the captain was beyond upset at having to miss Liverpool. The minor delay at Glasgow was caused by exceedingly strong currents that actually caused one of the tethering ropes to snap. And, yes, the 3 AM announcements looking for a passenger were annoying. Oh, well. All in all, a great and memorable cruise. We have 3 more Princess cruises booked and hope they all turn out as special as this one.

12 Nights in the Southern Caribbean on the Regal

Now that the kids have grown and are often vacationing on their own, my wife and I have typically cruised with her brother and his wife and this was the most recent of several we have taken together. Having the wisdom garnered from over 30 cruises on most of the mainstream cruise lines, we pick our cabins carefully ensuring that there are cabins on decks both above and below us and try to get two close together. We chose this cruise because of its length, 12 nights, and a southern itinerary with an equal number of port and sea days. While the ports are fine, we have been to most of them many times, so the relaxed days on the ship are our favorite part of the cruise. Just for context, the last several trips have been on Celebrity which has been our cruise line of choice for over a decade. Our last Princess cruise was in 2012 and it was a total disaster. A thruster problem kept us on the dock in San Juan for 6 days and we swore we would avoid Princess in the future. However, the price, the itinerary and a positive referral from our son and his fiancee, who had cruised on Princess in December, convinced us to give the cruise line another chance and, admittedly, our previous cruise on the Celebrity Constellation had been a bit disappointing. The ship departed from Galveston and ended in Fort Lauderdale. We had arranged private transfer from Houston to the port. Watching the long lines and chaos at IAH experienced by those who had booked transfers with Princess made us grateful for our choice to prebook our own. Now for the cruise itself. First the negative. Unlike the speedy embarkation we enjoyed with Celebrity at the piers in both Tampa and Fort Lauderdale, the check-in at Galveston was a bit chaotic with long lines and some confusion with our documents and medallions. As well, the departure area is old and run down (unlike the sparkling new cruise port facility nearby built by Royal Caribbean). Once checked in, the real problem began. As soon as we boarded, we were taken aside by a staff member and told there was a problem with our "credentials". After several minutes, we were informed that there were problems with the cabins we had selected and there were no cabins available for us and we were told to wait until everyone had boarded to see if any cabins would be freed up by "no shows". My first thought was "here we go again, another Princess disaster cruise". So we hung around the ship lugging around our carry on and hoped for the best. One of the first things we usually do after boarding is visit the dining room and try to determine our dinner table location. You can imagine our our frustration reached an even higher level when we were informed that there was no seating reservation for us as our cabins had been cancelled. This trip was quickly evolving from a "well planned" journey to a repeat of the negative experience we had encountered with our last Princess cruise in 2012. It was clearly time for a calming drink, so we hit the bar to await news about our cabin status. To top off the afternoon, after we had imbibed our cocktails, we were presented with a bill for the drinks. The waiter had failed to advise us that, even though we had purchased the Plus package that included up to 15 drinks a day, the benefit did not begin until after the ship left the port of Galveston. Could anything else go wrong!!! OK, now for the positive. Sweeping to our rescue in her superhero officer's uniform was the ship's Administration Officer, Fernanda Castaneda. She informed us that she had found us two cabins and although they were not near each other, one had an obstructed review and was on the dreaded Deck 8 (i.e. above the deck with the shops, bars etc.) and the other was a cabin with a partially obstructed view, we at least had a place to sleep that night until she could make better arrangements. She also agreed to fix the problem with dining reservation. The next day, our travelling companions were relocated to Deck 10 in a cabin equivalent to cabin class we had booked. Unfortunately, we spent the cruise in a cabin where the balcony overlooked the top of a lifeboat but at least we now could at least unpack and get settled before our arrival in Cozumel, our first port. Now, for both couples, our cabin situation was far from what we had planned for and envisioned, but in the end it turned out be inconvenient, but far from the disaster we feared on embarkation day. And as for the dining room problem, miracle worker, Fernanda, managed to get us seated in that part of the main dining room set aside for suite guests at a private table for four right next to a window! Our waiters, Chen and Herbert were phenomenal and, while my wife constantly criticizes me for being a "fussy eater", we found the food to be excellent and copious with multiple choices each night. Even the buffet, not always my favorite, was constantly good and the specialty stations were well staffed. The ship was almost full, but the line-ups were not the problem we have encountered on other cruises. Fernanda also managed to secure for us a partial refund and a future cruise credit as compensation for the problems we had encountered. So now, are we Princess fans and Fernanda is our hero. The entertainment may well have been the highlight of the cruise. The production numbers were well done and the variety shows were by and large entertaining and high quality, but my absolute favorite was the rock opera "Bravo", perhaps the best production number I have ever experienced on a cruise ship. While other reviews have been critical of the "Ocean Now" service which allows passengers to order food and drink service using the phone app and your Medallion, we found the service to be very good notwithstanding the fact that the ship was virtually full and the passengers were predominantly older adults and most had a drink package that must have kept the waiters hopping. Cabin service was excellent as always and unfortunately, I have misplaced the card with the name of our cabin steward, but we were in cabin D606 on the cruise and the cruise line can identify him and he gets kudos from us! The ports were fine. Curacao and Aruba were especially good. We returned to the Paradise Beach Club in Cozumel with an all-inclusive day pass (always a great way to spend the day for those of us who have visited the port many times before) and did a beach day in Tortola. Both tours booked through Trip Advisor. In summary, while there is no such a thing is a bad cruise, there are some better than others. Our previous negative experience with Princess has been totally redeemed. In spite of some early disruption with the cabins, the voyage was exceptional, the ship although older and smaller (our preference) than the new mega vessels is beautiful and well maintained. We give the cruise 9.9 out of 10!!!!!

What an amazing experience for first time cruisers

This was the first cruise for most of my family (my parents had been on the same cruise about 14 years ago), so we were unsure what to expect. My mother recently passed away, and this cruise was something that she really wanted for our family. Our vacation truly was an unforgettable experience. We sailed out of Galveston (first time for most of us there), and stayed in a hotel right on the water the night before. We booked an amazing transportation company from the hotel to the port, and our driver gave us lots of good insider knowledge about the area and the cruise line. Coming into the security area, it was a bit overwhelming. You hear 3,500 people can sail on this ship, but you don't think about how busy that can make things. However, we never stopped moving the entire time we were going through the security process. From the time we walked into the area until we were walking the gangway to the ship was maybe 15 minutes at most. Everyone was so friendly and accommodating to us from the moment we walked in. You could tell that they really enjoy their jobs. The hosts that greeted us upon arrival were very cheerful as well. What a ship! It truly was breathtaking seeing everything for the first time. We quickly dropped off our luggage in the Concerto dining room, and we were off to explore the ship. I made a beeline for the Lido deck poolside to soak up that Texas sun. After a trip through the line to grab a burger, fries from Trident Grille and a soft drink from the (we had the Princess Plus package, so soda was included) we sat down at a shaded table and just took everything in. You could really feel the energy of the ship and the people around. We stayed on the Lido deck for the cast-off party (which was VERY high energy, I don't know where Giuseppe the cruise director gets his spunk from) and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We were seated next to a window, so we were able to watch as the ship sailed out from port, passing by a smaller Carnival ship and a much larger Royal Caribbean ship. Then it was open water. We decided to check if our room was ready, and were surprised to see that it was. The room was compact (we had a standard balcony room), but didn't feel closed in or crowded. The deck area was a little on the smaller side, but it comfortably fit my aunt and myself. We were in a room next to my father, so we had the stewards open the balcony up for us so that we could visit each other. That helped a bit with the size. The bathroom was a bit larger than I expected, which was a big plus (my brother and sister-in-law travel in a camper, and their bathroom seemed much smaller than this). We went to pick up our bags, only to discover that they were already on the way to our staterooms. On our way back, we met our steward Jeffrey. He was simply fantastic. Very attentive and always had a smile. And our room was always immaculate when we returned. We spent most of the first day getting a good look around the ship, including doing our muster station drill. That evening we had dinner in the Allegro dining room, and it was wonderful. Some of the best fettuccini alfredo I've ever had. The service was impeccable. We had several people waiting on us, so keeping the names straight was a bit of a challenge (I know Anjenette was one of them, because her name is close to my mother's). After dinner we walked around the ship a bit, but were too tired to really do much of anything. The bed in our stateroom was absolutely heavenly. One of the softest beds I've ever slept on. Day 2 was a continuation of exploring the ship and getting our bearings (we never did quite get it all right). We had breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the Horizon buffet restaurant, and were impressed. It was a bit crowded, but the food was hot and delicious, and the service was great. So much food (this would be a theme throughout our trip). My brother and sister-in-law checked out the casino area for a while, and really enjoyed their time there. We sat to listen to the music in the Atrium area, which was really good. My aunt, sister-in-law, and I all decided to do afternoon tea. A fun experience that everyone should try at least once. We were a small party, so we were seated with another party and enjoyed our chat with them. It was a really relaxing day, and another great night of sleep. On day 3, we docked in Costa Maya (Mahahual). If you've never been, listen to what you hear online about the area. It is very touristy. You're never far enough away that you don't hear someone trying to get you to buy something, unless you do one of the excursions (we did not). After perhaps an hour on land, we decided to go back to the ship and relax some more. We went to the adults-only Oasis, which was quite nice (there really weren't very many children on the ship, but it was still nice to have the more laid back and quiet area). Breakfast, lunch, and dinner in Horizon again. Mid-day snack at Preggo pizza on Lido deck, which was quite yummy and really not very busy. Took advantage of the OceanNow room service a couple of times during the day to get drinks, which were delivered promptly with a smile wherever we were on the ship. We attempted to see the production show at 7:30, but it was completely filled by the time we got there. The later showing was just too late for us to go, but it sounded amazing. Day 4 was the day we had all been waiting for: Roatan, Honduras. My parents had loved this stop on their cruise, and it did not disappoint. A very different feel from Costa Maya. We only saw one shop (the duty free shop), and a couple of restaurants. The white sand beach was perfect, and the crystal clear water just the right thing to keep you cooled off. We snorkeled a bit in the swimming area off Mahogany Bay beach, while the older adults soaked up the beach vibe in loungers. Too soon it was time to go back to the ship. We didn't pay for any excursions on this stop, either. However, the beach is free and so are the loungers if they are available. There is a roped off area that you can rent beach chairs and have a more intimate experience, although it's in the middle of the open area. The beach area has wifi throughout that can be purchased for $5 a day. Depending on where we were on the beach, we sometimes were able to pick up the wifi from the ship. We did dinner on our own that evening (Horizon again, never got tired of it). Day 5 was Cozumel, Mexico. My parents really weren't too keen on this during their cruise before, so we opted to enjoy the much less crowded ship during dock time. We booked a time for the exclusive Sanctuary adults-only area, and were not disappointed. There were only a couple of other people in the area, so it was a great way to relax and sun ourselves. Breakfast and lunch in Horizon, but dinner was at Allegro dining room. I had the roasted chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy, as well as a vegetable medley. Starter was a seafood stew that was very good. Dessert was crepes suzette (delicious, but a bit boozy tasting...I'd skip this if you're sensitive to the taste). We turned in after watching some live music in the Atrium. Day 6 was a sea day heading back to Galveston. We did the culinary demonstration with galley tour, as well as a presentation by the Second Officer Giuseppe that was very enlightening. It was incredible to hear some of the behind the scenes things that go on to cater to 3,500 passengers. We had breakfast and lunch in Horizon, but booked the farewell dinner in Allegro dining room. Dinner did not let us down: prime rib, baked potato, haricot veres, and a vegetable medley. During dinner, the galley crew and servers did a Baked Alaska parade throughout the dining room, with lively music playing. It was a great way to cap off our meal and a wonderful trip. Disembarkation day arrived, and we were in Horizon for breakfast by 7:30 (along with practically every other person on the ship). It was VERY crowded, but the food was perfect again. We waited for them to call our disembarkation station, and before you knew it we were heading off the ship. Other than a slight snafu with my aunt unknowingly dropping her passport, disembarkation was just as smooth as embarkation. Once again, the line really never stopped moving and we breezed through Customs in practically no time. We had arranged to be picked up by the same company that brought us to the port at noon on disembarkation day, so we decided to head over to a restaurant and hang out. Our driver back to Houston airport was very friendly and engaging, which was nice considering how busy traffic was. This trip was a breath of fresh air after a long, depressing winter. We have already talked about the possibility of cruising again, and were pretty much all in agreement that it has to be with Princess. I'd recommend to anybody. 10/10