After a disappointing cruise last year on the Getaway. We splurged on the Haven but like the ship it was very crowded. Chair hogs in the Haven pool were a big turn off. NCL is not for us - too crowded and nickel & dimed) we just wanted a relaxing week with Princess, even if the Regal was big and passenger capacity was almost as much as Getaway. We were not disappointed. In fact our expectations were exceeded! The Regal is now our favorite ship. Big, yes. Crowded, never.

I was surprised to read some reviews saying Regal looked 'tired' and crew was 'bored.' NOT AT ALL!! The ship was as immaculate as she was when we sailed on her brief Love Boat inaugural cruise almost a year and a half ago. And the crew was happy, helpful and always smiling, from waiters on Lido Deck to the room stewardess, everyone seemed to love their job! One nice touch which we missed on Getaway were the multitude of waiters around the pool area who were always happy to get a drink or towel. Another nice touch was the ginuine alcohol in the alcoholic beverages! We had the beverage package on Getaway and, being non-drinkers were afraid of passing out drunk every afternoon. But we never even got tipsy. However, the drinks on Regal (about $8.50 for cocktails) has us rocking even when the ship wasn't. PS: the Regal as with other Princess ships we've sailed on are smooth sailers whereas the Getaway rocked and bobbed even in calm seas.

The other thing that stood out on this cruise was how happy our fellow passengers were! Our cruise was tail end of Spring Break but not too many kids on board. I'd say the majority of passengers were the parents of Spring Breakers, empty nesters, teachers, etc. Not as old as Holland America, not as young as Carnival, not as many family and strollers as Norwegian. We did Princess excursions in each port and the small talk always turned to how much we all loved Princess, and in particular the Regal. Not one negative from any of the dozens of passengers we spoke to. The only negative we heard all week was the lady waiting to board ship on Day 1 in Pt. Everglades. She started loudly dropping F-bombs and BS-bombs when another line of waiting passengers was allowed to board before us. She wanted to be first on board! Instead she was 21st... out of 3,000+. Another negative was a couple that was obviously having some family drama unrelated to the cruise. It just goes to show you some people will always find something to complain about because they bring that negativity on board with them. Or else they're sailing NCL and tired of being elbowed for mediocre food. Read more