Regal Princess Review

4.0 / 5.0
1,790 reviews

Enjoyable Cruise with Packed Itinerary on a Lovely Ship

Review for the Baltic Sea Cruise on Regal Princess
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euro_101
2-5 Cruises • Age 30s

Rating by category

Cabin
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Additional details

Sail Date: Jun 2015

Background: 3 20-somethings, 2 had cruised before (2 Caribbean cruises on Celebrity – Reflection and Silhouette), and 1 was new to cruising.

Overall Impressions: I will share my impressions of Princess and my impressions relative to Celebrity. A lot of these you could call nitpicking, but I am pointing them out to give a full impression. Bottom line: I liked Princess and would cruise again if the itinerary was right. If a Celebrity ship (esp. Solstice class) fit the bill then I would choose them over Princess. The itinerary was exhausting due to the # of ports – not relaxing like a Caribbean cruise, but we saw a lot of cool things.

Demographics: the majority were older than us (seemed to be 50s+). It was what I expected, and didn’t mind at all. There were not a lot of children, which I also wanted and expected. Similar to Celebrity I would say, maybe age was older on average – which could be due to the itinerary, but that is speculation.

Cabin Review

Cabin Balcony

We chose E110 (fwd) to get the larger balcony. I loved this room. The 1st and last nights we felt the most motion (empty hangers banged and the open closet door banged. The 3rd bed was the couch and was as long as the other 2 beds. Companion found it fine to sleep on. I liked the closet – we fit our 3 suitcases open there (2 large and 1 carryon size). Ample hanging room. Loved the shelved closet. Bathroom layout was nice – I liked the counter space and shelves. I liked that the trash was open (no doors to touch). The shower was fine – no curtain sticking issues. They provide body wash and a combo shampoo/conditioner. I wanted a separate conditioner so I just picked one up in port.

Port Reviews

Stockholm

Stockholm (Nynäshamn) 7a-6p:

- On our own.

- We were up at 6a. They made tender ready announcement at 7a. We rushed down and got #1 tender boat. They walked us to ships tender. It was about a 15min boat ride. We walked 15-20 min to the train station in Nynäshamn and caught the 35x bus to Västerhinge Station at 745a.

- The train from bus was right there. We arrived at Stockholm Central just before 9a.

- It was raining so we took a cab to the Vasa Museum. I enjoyed the Vasa Museum. I got a cappucino, a cardamom pastry - kanelbulle, and a sprinkle ball.

- We walked to the Abba Museum but there was a wait and we wanted to see the 1215p Changing of the Guard. We walked to the castle. We watched the change - some of the songs the marching band played reminded me of Disney.

- We walked around Gamla Stan - it was so pretty and the views on the water were stunning.

- We ate lunch at Cultur Bar and Restaurang and Catarina met us at 2p. It was fun to catch up.

- Close to 3p we walked back by City Hall and caught a 349p train. We were back in Nynäshamn at 510p and walked 15min. We got on the tender at 545p - there was a line but it kept moving. The tender process was all very smooth.

- Stockholm was very pretty. I wish we had more time. Lot of time in transit – more so b/c of bus to train transfer.

Tallinn

- On our own. Walked from ship to town. We were in the city from 830a to 430p.

- We walked the Old Town. We climbed the Town Hall, saw Fat Margaret, went into the Church of the Holy Ghost (a medieval church), saw the Wheel Well, City Walls, Russian Orthodox Cathedral (went inside), the Toompea Castle, went into the Dome Church (with coat of arms).

- We saw Vistas from the Patkuli and Kohtuotsa viewpoints.

- We ate lunch at Leib and had the Pearu IPA.

- We also stopped and had Saku light and dark.

Oslo

- Did on our own. Walked off the ship from Filistad port. Maybe 20min to the main drag, but it was fine - there were shops and eateries right away.

- We headed to Bigdøy first. We toured the Viking Museum (which was very interesting - I enjoyed the displays). We went to the Fram museum to see the Arctic explorer ship. It was cool to go inside.

- We grabbed lunch on the water.

- We walked to the Akershus Fortress and toured the castle

- We took the #12 tram to Frogner Park to see the Vigeland Sculpture Park.

Aarhus

- Did on our own. Mandatory shuttle bus (complimentary). Had to queue to get bus tickets – got #31 our of #21 – was called soon after #21-30. Number called at 1250p and in town at 110p.

- Rainy day.

- We looked inside at the Arhus Cathedral (Aarhus Domkirke) and climbed 150 steps to the top - the windows were dirty.

- Then we looked at the Resistance Museum (Besaettelsesmuseet) which was very interesting and served as Gastepo headquarters.

- We ate lunch (I tried Tuborg Classic beer) and tapas. We headed back to the ship shortly after 5p.

Helsinki

- On our own. Walked off – took 30 or so min but was nice out.

- Senate Square and saw the Lutheran Church.

- We took the tram (the lady driver was a real treat) to the Rock Church and to hop on/off to Sibelis Monument (the guy let us hop on/off for free).

- We took a taxi to Market Square.

- We went inside the Orthodox Church - Uspenki Cathedral.

- We ate Lunch at Havis. We tried the Luomu Leevi beer.

- We were back at the ship at 330p - there was a long line to get back on.

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