We just voyaged on the new Regal, for over three weeks, September 2015. At about this same time last year we sailed on the Regal's sister, the Royal Princess, and in January of this year we sailed on the Coral Princess. The truth is, it is very difficult to rate cruise ships since they keep changing as the industry evolves and matures. There is no such thing as a best cruise line or best cruise ship only the ship and cruise that is best for you. We have sailed a lot with Princess (we only cruise on Princess, Regent and HAL) but prior to our first voyage last year on the Regal the last was in 2010, much had changed within the industry by 2014, so much it isn't practical to compare cruises that took place more than a few years ago with today's experiences. So:

We found much improvement in the Princess overall cruise product during this sailing on the Regal, over that we encountered on our previous two Princess cruises during the last year. This was a good cruise but not exceptional. We are beginning to appreciate some aspects of a cruise on the larger vessels a little more, previously we only used the smaller ships. Regal/Royal are the largest we have been on, the Regal is almost a new ship, it is delightful to enjoy a cruise on a vessel that has little wear and tear on it. We had a mini-suite and were satisfied with the size of the room which still has a curtain divider making for a bedroom with a TV and separate area with a large sofa, desk, coffee table, refrigerator, two seats and TV. The balcony size is not as large as we would like though, we would prefer a balcony at least another foot deep. Much better though than the commensurate level cabins on HAL even though HAL has a larger balcony.

OUTSTANDING---One feature about this ship that is real intriguing is the over-the-water SeaWalks (one port and one starboard about midship). They are on deck level 17, 128 feet above the sea, and extend 30 feet beyond the vessels hull. They are enclosed extended half-moon walkways with glass-floors, the crew keeps the glass impeccably clean, so much so that one looking down at the sea far below, and rushing by, gives even those used to heights pause before stepping out onto the glass. Read more