G
gointothechapel
Guest
Hi Everyone,
Just got back from a wonderful honeymoon on the Regal.
From reading previous reviews on the Regal, it seems to me that everyone either loves her or hates her. There is no middle ground for most people. Well for me, I'm walking the fence a bit.
The positives: The itenerary, the huge variety of shore excursions ( except for diving.. I'll get to that) The dining room staff. WAIT let me say that again, the dining room staff, waiter, asst waiter, head waiter, Maitre'd.. all EXCEPTIONAL. We were treated to nearly 5 star service everytime we sat down. Forget the buffet or pizza place..they were mediocre at best for both service and food. The dining room, however.....holy cow. I can't imagine why some say the food is bland! It was fabulous. Loved it so much we bought the cookbook. Now you have to understand that my Husband and I are both gourmet food fans. We love fine dining and will pay for pricy resturaunts if they are worth it. The head waiter is Italian, found out that we love Italian food and prepared a couple of special meals for us at dinner, had the chef make Eggs Benedict for us the first morning at sea, and allowed us to make our Kona coffee in a french press at the table anytime we liked.
Our waiter was psychic ( He had to be) and was at our table with drinks etc before we even noticed we needed them.
Other positives, cabin steward was ok, not outstanding, but acceptable. Fresh fruit anytime we liked, lots of ice, etc. Art auctions were great! I know they annoy some people, but go just once before you make up your mind. They are entertaining, educational, ( the auction staff is very knowlegeable and interesting) and provide great deals on fine art. Not to even mention the GIVEAWAYS!!!!
Tne negatives..
Purser's desk assistants were catty when dealing with a small ($100) problem and acted like we were freeloaders. I understand that the've probably been ripped off and scammed, but you can't treat passengers like you ASSUME that they are con artists! Really, really annoying, but we got it sorted out in the end. There were no scuba diving excursions on this trip. WHAT?? We were surprised, and when we tried to book on our own we ran into problems with the fact that the ship did not dock until 8 AM and most diving companies like to leave their docks at around the same time or, alternatively, wouldnt do a charter unless we could find at least 4 other people. Richard was soooooo dissapointed that he didnt get to dive. I felt really bad for him. Another annoyance was the lack of variety of evening music. We are huge live music fans, and love just about anything, but got really sick of the easy listening. They had a great little orchestra, and I didnt understand why they didn't do a swing night or SOMETHING a little more fun. Now, I knew that this was mainly an older crowd, but even people in their 80s like swing or old Rock like Elvis, etc. We had fun at the 70's disco, but it was not live music, and it didnt start until 11:30 pm. Afterward, they would play pretty much whatever you wanted, so that was cool, but then you are looking at 2-3 AM onward. We're pretty young, but even that is really late if you've been running around since 8 AM.
Well, all in all it was a great trip, and would do it again. Outside cabin seemed a waste on this trip, because there is really nothing to see in between ports, so would probably save the money and do an inside next time.
Thats all I can think of!
Happy Travels!
Just got back from a wonderful honeymoon on the Regal.
From reading previous reviews on the Regal, it seems to me that everyone either loves her or hates her. There is no middle ground for most people. Well for me, I'm walking the fence a bit.
The positives: The itenerary, the huge variety of shore excursions ( except for diving.. I'll get to that) The dining room staff. WAIT let me say that again, the dining room staff, waiter, asst waiter, head waiter, Maitre'd.. all EXCEPTIONAL. We were treated to nearly 5 star service everytime we sat down. Forget the buffet or pizza place..they were mediocre at best for both service and food. The dining room, however.....holy cow. I can't imagine why some say the food is bland! It was fabulous. Loved it so much we bought the cookbook. Now you have to understand that my Husband and I are both gourmet food fans. We love fine dining and will pay for pricy resturaunts if they are worth it. The head waiter is Italian, found out that we love Italian food and prepared a couple of special meals for us at dinner, had the chef make Eggs Benedict for us the first morning at sea, and allowed us to make our Kona coffee in a french press at the table anytime we liked.
Our waiter was psychic ( He had to be) and was at our table with drinks etc before we even noticed we needed them.
Other positives, cabin steward was ok, not outstanding, but acceptable. Fresh fruit anytime we liked, lots of ice, etc. Art auctions were great! I know they annoy some people, but go just once before you make up your mind. They are entertaining, educational, ( the auction staff is very knowlegeable and interesting) and provide great deals on fine art. Not to even mention the GIVEAWAYS!!!!
Tne negatives..
Purser's desk assistants were catty when dealing with a small ($100) problem and acted like we were freeloaders. I understand that the've probably been ripped off and scammed, but you can't treat passengers like you ASSUME that they are con artists! Really, really annoying, but we got it sorted out in the end. There were no scuba diving excursions on this trip. WHAT?? We were surprised, and when we tried to book on our own we ran into problems with the fact that the ship did not dock until 8 AM and most diving companies like to leave their docks at around the same time or, alternatively, wouldnt do a charter unless we could find at least 4 other people. Richard was soooooo dissapointed that he didnt get to dive. I felt really bad for him. Another annoyance was the lack of variety of evening music. We are huge live music fans, and love just about anything, but got really sick of the easy listening. They had a great little orchestra, and I didnt understand why they didn't do a swing night or SOMETHING a little more fun. Now, I knew that this was mainly an older crowd, but even people in their 80s like swing or old Rock like Elvis, etc. We had fun at the 70's disco, but it was not live music, and it didnt start until 11:30 pm. Afterward, they would play pretty much whatever you wanted, so that was cool, but then you are looking at 2-3 AM onward. We're pretty young, but even that is really late if you've been running around since 8 AM.
Well, all in all it was a great trip, and would do it again. Outside cabin seemed a waste on this trip, because there is really nothing to see in between ports, so would probably save the money and do an inside next time.
Thats all I can think of!
Happy Travels!
