Room on 16th floor front of ship balcony smelled like a locker room. Food quality was very poor. Carnival cruise line has way better food. Customer service is not honest with average age group traveling. They herd you in like cattle. Very disappointed on first cruise with Princess. Dancers were very very very good. Well done. Carlos Oscar comedian was very good. Just felt like there was lack of communication from staff. Like you are on your own. If you want to be on a cruise with the average age of 70 plus, than Princess is for you. Captain Tim was not honest about the rough seas. People were tortured because of rough seas. Took us around subtropical Storm Melissa. Not a great experience, but hey, they had to get the next cruise out Saturday afternoon. It’s all about making money. I get it. Not cool though taking passengers in a storm. Our steward that cleaned our room was very sweet young lady. Read Less

I have to agree with previous critic that the embarkation was a mess. It was 2 or more hours standing in line, hot sun, and there were many seniors there. No one was telling us what was going on. Announcements would have been reassuring . Getting off the ship was easy peasy. We were walk offs though. Food was good, but not awesome, the Beef Wellington was very nice and my table mates ate a lot of salmon. The lobster was a glorified shrimp . Desserts are great. Service was very nice. Room service was excellent. Toilets worked , hot water, etc The medallion thing was a little bit of a joke, but we moved on and off the ship quickly . One of our princess excursions did not fit he description that was advertised . So we had to use the public buses to go back into the Acadia National Park. The buses were great though, wish I had known about them instead of spending 100 or more dollars on one stop and a fisherman talk in a church ( he was great though) but I’d rather be seeking Thunder hole, Otter cliff, and Sandy beach, all of which we missed, we filled out a compliant and they refunded us 25 % Read Less

The ship was absolutely beautiful and very elegant, not to mention, huge and well maintained! Everything you need is conveniently found on the ship; variety of shops, restaurants and other eateries, casino, theater, spa, pools/jacuzzis, bars, cafes with specialty coffee, Internet cafe, gym, The Sanctuary, the private adult only pool area, plenty of seating throughout the entire ship on nearly every level, AND MUCH MORE... including a medical area!! They provided exceptional service from our stateroom attendant, (MARIO!!) to room service, the Horizon Buffet waiters, and every other staff member aboard the ship. There were great sights on and off board. The views were exceptional! The excursions were great, but please note, the Princess excursion options are much better than private shore ones! The best part of all, we truly were treated like royalty, which is very fitting for the "Princess" line of cruise ships! We will be back cruising again SOON!!! Read Less

Staff was the best of any cruise I have taken. They were very attentive and aimed to please. Shows were great and different every night. We had anytime dining and never had a problem, menus and quality of food was excellent. Shore excursions were handled very well.a little disappointed with St. John but that is not cruise line fault. This was the second time we sailed on Princess , some issues with ship on Alaska cruise but this one was great.. First time leaving from Brooklyn was very pleased with ease of getting to terminal, parking and leaving. Boarding and departing was fast and efficient. The ship was decorated nice and easy to navigate. I can say that I was pleased with every aspect . Some minor trouble with internet package . The medallion was convenient to use to access room. We definitely take a cruise on Princess cruise line again Read Less

The option of embarking from New York is especially good for those of us in the northeast. We like Princess. There is a new feature called Medallion Class. Not all ships are equipped with it yet. This new system replaces the old credit card room key. If you are already booked on a Medallion Class ship and fill out the necessary paperwork your medallion will be sent to your in advance and on embarkation day you don't even have to check in, just walk through. When you approach your room the door automatically unlocks and your picture appears on a screen outside your door. A medallion class cruise also has very strong and fast WIFI. Once you reach platinum status with Princess it is free. Our room was in the forward area on the Lido deck. That puts you a short walk from the Horizon Food Court. Plus there is always an available elevator to take you down to the theater and the main shopping and reception desks. The ship was sparkling clean and the crew friendly. Read Less

The main reason our group chose this cruise was the itinerary. I had not taken Princess before and was surprised by the size of the ship. Way too big for my taste. We stayed in the front on the 12 th floor and it was a quiet floor with no pass through to anything else which was nice. The food was pretty good in the main dining room, otherwise mediocre. The staff did a good job of moving people out for excursions....it was a lot of people...3000! The first excursion we made arrangements for ourselves to do a tour in Newport. But the day we toured Bar Harbor there was a major mix up! Our excursion itinerary said we would stop several places for photos, we only stopped one place and when we questioned our guide, he said he could not do a thing....he had to stick to his schedule. We were so disappointed! Then when we got back into town we paid for the local bus to take us back to Thunder Hole to enjoy the Acadia National Park. We went to the excursion desk on ship to explain and were given a paper to fill out. The cruise line only gave us 20% money back. Poorly done. Also, when we arrived to board, we stood more than 2 hours, not moving....Terrible One party in our group got her suitcase late that day with duct tape and Saran Wrap around it! They offered to repair it. There is no night club and the entertainment was average. In the fitness room there is no water to re fill water bottles, only a fountain! One cannot get their water bottle under the low pouring water from the fountain! We did enjoy each port and the stops were beautiful to see. Read Less

I chose this cruise for the itinerary. I had cruised on NCL Gem with the exact itinerary several years prior and wanted my daughter to experience it with us again. We wanted to try the Princess line, as we had experienced NCL, Celebrity, Carnival and HAL. The pricing for a deluxe balcony and interior cabin were about what we had paid for a recent Celebrity cruise to Bermuda. Given the price and reputation of Princess, I had high expectations. Sadly, those expectations were dashed from start to finish. Embarkation was delayed two hours due to a coast guard inspection and compounded by the manner of trying to throttle the number of guests once the line got moving. The Ocean Medallion nonsense was maddening. Do yourself a favor and ignore the technology, print out your boarding pass. Wifi is blocked in the terminal so you cant bring up the pass on your phone when you arrive. One large piece of luggage never came to the cabin, we had to retrieve at front desk, one wheel was broken and the luggage tag was removed. The food in the main dining rooms was sub par. only two dining room meals the entire trip were up to snuff, both filet mignon based. several meals had inedible entrees (including two nights we ordered the curtis stone curated entrees). the lobster tail was more like an over sized shrimp dish, not an appropriate size for an entree. No dish was particularly warm either. Wait staff were generally good, but the hostess and seating manager were a bit snippy. The Crown Grill was quite good and well worth the $29 up charge. A good size Lobster tail was available as an add on to any steak for an extra $10. The afternoon tea and royal tea were worthwhile if you like that sort of thing. Room service was prompt. The entertainment was weak. The dancers were of average ability, which made the Born to Dance show tedious to watch. The Fiera show was better, with colorful sets and costumes, but the lead male singer was not strong. Two female and other male singers were talented. There was prerecorded music for the shows which was a letdown, the orchestra only played with the singer (an American Idol finalist, who had a Vegas lounge like act on two nights - one too many). The comedian was not very funny, he had a rambling, unfocused set I could have skipped. The main band played in the "piazza" which is the lobby, not in a club with a dance floor. The schedule had the same acts in the same locations every night. Most if not all of the bar areas are open to the walk path on each deck, with even the nightclub set up like a pass thru hallway, so I didn't feel like the entertainment venues were distinct or special. You feel as if you are just passing through, not like other lines that have multiple rooms and clubs with distinct spaces and functions (for example - NCL's BB King Blues Club). It was low energy entertainment environment every night, wrapping up around 11:30 every night (piano player at one bar played until a little later). The nightclub was empty every night. I'm no night owl, but it was too subdued at night across the ship to feel like you were on a fun vacation. Food and entertainment comprise a huge component of a cruise, so to be so bad in both regards was shocking at this price point. Other passengers we spoke with agreed with our assessment. The ship itself was tasteful and in good repair. The cabins were clean and as expected size wise. The mattress and pillows were a bit skimpy, those with bad backs beware! I took exception to the Ocean Medallion nonsense. Princess is pushing this technology that is unnecessary and makes things more complicated as it doesn't work most of the time. Your name is listed on an electronic screen outside your cabin (always visible) and the door automatically unlocks when you are nearby (several cabins away). This was a security concern for my daughter who was alone in a cabin. There are many new movies available for cabin viewing and the internet package is available for $149 for the entire cruise on the first day only (4 devices) and works as well as can be expected. A few glitches and slowdowns here and there, but worth it for my smartphone addicted family. The ports were interesting but two required tenders which were slow. We explored all the ports on our own as the tour offerings were not particularly compelling. Disembarkation was as expected with no problems encountered. I would not choose to cruise with Princess again. The value is not there compared to other cruise lines. Sadly, I think the Love Boat glory days are past for Princess. Read Less

This is our fifth cruise with this general itinerary, although the first time doing it on princess. Living two hours outside New York, we enjoy the ability to book at last minute without having to plan airfare. First time using the Brooklyn cruise pier. Embarkation was a mess. They said it was because of a coast guard inspection but the result was compressing 3600 passengers into a three hour window. We have no particular complaints about the food. We had open seating and never experienced a delay getting seated as many have complained. We waited most nights until 7:30 when two dining rooms became available. We only used the buffet for snacks, but it appeared to be one of the best we have experienced. It was open continuously from 5 am to 11 pm. We used the sushi bar twice sharing the 20 dollar tower which was well worth it. And the international coffee bar was a delight for early coffee and an afternoon pick me up. We never used a specialty restaurant. Since we were in port 5 of 6 days, we ate our lobster, steamers and oysters in the various ports. Entertainment was enjoyable, not great. The production shows with the live orchestra were amazing. We had a Las Vegas guest singer two of the nights and a comic one of the nights. The lounge and dance entertainment were above average. The four piece dance band did a great job on 60’s night and could play every type of music. We didn’t experience any of the late night activity, hitting the stateroom after the 10 o’clock show most nights. The facilities were adequate for such a big ship. We were only shut out of the hot tubs once. The fitness room was very ordinary, but sparsely utilized on the four times I was up there. There were plenty of fun trivias, one in the morning and another in late afternoon for those so inclined. So with only one sea day, we kept very busy. Having taken excursions in all the ports on our prior cruises, we passed on the ship excursions. We took a long slow walk along the cliff walk in Newport on a gorgeous day, working our way back to the cruise pier after taking the bus to the end, about 3 miles. Then stopped at our favorite lobster and oyster house, Benjamin’s. We walked in both Boston and bar harbor prior to getting our daily fix of seafood. We took the city bus just outside the terminal for 25 dollars apiece on a 2 hour trip around St John and took a ferry over to Dartmouth to eat at a favorite spot for lunch in Halifax. Our inside stateroom was adequate for a one week port heavy cruise. It was aft which was an advantage for the fitness room and the dining venues. Only thing forward of note was the theatre. The lounges were mainly between aft and amidships. We walked off with our luggage without a problem. For anyone boarding a cruise in Brooklyn from Manhattan, we used the water taxi from Wall St pier 11 adjacent to south st seaport to the red hook stop on the South Brooklyn line. 2.75 one way. Then about 200 steps to the baggage pickup at the terminal. So the cruise gave us just what we wanted, a nice relaxing week away from home being pampered with very little annoyance. Read Less

This was our first cruise to Canada and New England. Embarkation was an absolute shambles. Apparently because of a coast guard inspection but since the ship had freshly arrived from Europe this should have been envisaged. Ship itself is in great condition and can not really be faulted. Entertainment was the poorest ive seen on my 8 princess cruises so far. Comedian was not funny and just repeatedly switched between english and spanish. Singer was lou gazarra who had a decent voice but was on on two nights (1 would have sufficed). Production shows first one had to be rescheduled and a later one also ran into technical difficulties causing a delay. The club was dead due to the demographic onboard this time of year. Food in the buffet was good in my opinion as was the main dining room although not blessed with a great choice in the dining room. Two ports had tenders which were incredibly slow probably again due to the elderly demographic. Ive seen others mention medallion class being below par. I am below 30 and technologically savvy so i found it a dream. Wifi was by miles the best at sea i have experienced. Obviously if you are not tech adept then you may struggle but i love the program Read Less

Chose this cruise because of time of year and itinerary - the ship was beautiful and clean and service was good. Food was plentiful on the buffet with lots of choices but dining room food selection did not particularly appeal to us. Beef was tough and lobster was the size of a extra large shrimp and tough, but service was good. Ports were nice but Saint John was not very interesting to us; it's an older city which has not done much to move forward or has much to offer in terms of interesting places. The ship docks right in town and its and easy to get off and on. Any of the other ports would have been good overnight stops. We tendered in to Bar Harbor and Rhode Island and it was busy but handled well because of the amount of folks going to town. The ship's personnel knows how to do this routine and going and returning to ship was easy. We were also met at the piers by crew members offering us drinks and cool towels which was very nice. Note: if you decide to take the old town trolley in Boston, I recommend purchasing the tickets through the ship and you will be met at the terminal by the trolley, OR purchase on line ahead of time. You will need to walk a few blocks from the terminal to find the ticket booth and the stop, but the line to purchase tickets was at least 45-60 minutes long (it was 88 degrees that day and no shade), then you needed to wait in another line for the trolley. Additionally, the tickets on line are cheaper by about $5 per person than in Boston and cheaper than through the ship. The ship prices for all hop on/off tours were $59.95 per person in Boston and Canada. In Canada, we purchased tickets once we got off the ship and since the line and ship work hand in hand, we paid in American dollars and the cost was charged to our rooms. Our biggest and serious complaint was regarding the entertainment on board. (It was so bad that it became a topic of conversation with the people we met on ship, so it wasn't only us). This was by far the worst cruise I've taken for activities. Shows were all musical, Broadway and opera influenced except for one night show of an American Idol finalist and comedian. If this was not your style, you would need to find something else to do, which was difficult.There were 2 nights that had technical difficulties and one event stopped the show, while the other continued. The "newly wed game" has always been popular on every cruise I have taken and is guaranteed for a laugh. This show was held in the smaller "live" theater where tapings occur; not enough room for the guests crowding in the hallway to get in. Again you needed to find other entertainment. The activities were geared to elementary school children - one "event" was dropping drink stirrers into thermos type bottles, another was stick "race" horses competing by a toss of a foam die. The movies on board were incredible for the age range of the guests - Men In Black, Rocketman and Aladdin! Princess surely knew the ages of the folks on board and this was unbelievable. Additionally, the pool side only had a live sail away show that lasted for perhaps 20 mins, then the top deck was quiet all week (there was a Cheryl Crow concert from 2004 and a few other old concerts). People on deck either slept or watch other people. When the movie, The Greatest Showman started, it played for at least 20 minutes with no sound, then the sound was so loud we got up and left. I have never been on board with a cruise director and cast so absent. Much of the interesting (to me) live music was during the time we were dressing for dinner or eating, so that we missed most of it. The worse part of the cruise for me was our cabin location. We were as far forward as possible and therefore needed to walk the length of the ship to go to the dinning/buffet rooms. This was my fault for not choosing a cabin when booking; I booked a guarentee room. I had a procedure on my knees the week before leaving (although I planned to have this done after the cruise) so the walking was difficult. Lesson learned and I will never let someone else pick my cabin for me in the future. Only mention this because if walking is a problem, make sure your cabin is convenient for you. There were many people on board with walkers, canes, wheelchairs and scooters and they were able to get around with little difficulty. This was an older crowd and people were friendly, quiet and mannerly. In this regard, the cruise was a pleasure. Very few kids (I only counted about a dozen from 3 infants up to 2 young teens). The ship is large but didn't feel crowded except for peak times for elevator usage. The buffet staff was good and able to keep up with the crowds and people tended to eat and leave. Boarding and Departure was delayed due to a Coast Guard Inspection and drill so we left New York more than an hour late. I felt that it condensed all the on board required activities (muster drill and orientation for the medallion at sea Princess uses. ) That was probably an additional hour required to handle these required activities. Other than the boring time on ship, the ports were nice and the ship was lovely. The activity level is surely a personal thing so not everyone would be bothered by our experience. Cabin was nice, linens very nice but we didn't like the bed (just a personal thing). Steward Fidel was very attentive and good. The colors were sedate but I found the room to be boring. Additionally, our tv broke 2 nights, the first time it was quickly fixed, but the last time was the final night. Since we needed the tv for light and clock (time change from Canada), we waited in our room 3 hours for the tech to come. Never did, so we spent our last night of the cruise in an interior room with no tv, not able to leave as you needed to be in the room for the tech to fix the tv. We weren't happy about that. And since we didn't pay for internet, our phones didn't work either. So, next morning our alarm went off an hour sooner than we wanted. We did however, get to see the ship dock as we were up and ready at 5 am! Thought there was plenty of space but one thing--ladies, the blow dryer was not particularly powerful and it was plugged in a drawer next to the desk. You could not remove it so the cord was always in my way as I am right handed and hold the dryer in my left hand. Read Less

Our trans Atlantic cruise was great when we visited our destinations but cold & rainy during the 5 days we crossed the Atlantic. This meant we were confined to the inside of the ship for the 5 day crossing. There were plenty of diversions & activities inside the ship which made the crossing fun although it would have been nice to be able to use the pool & hot-tubs. The food was no better or worse than any of the other cruises we have taken on other cruise lines. The crew was exceptional including the captain who always kept us informed about our route and weather conditions. Our cruise was forced to take a more northern route across the Atlantic because of storms which severely lowered the speed of our internet service. We were dismayed that Princess allowed one passenger to bring their dog on the cruise. There was no indication that this was any type of service dog! I am a dog owner & would never consider taking our dog on a cruise. I wonder about the public health issues when a dog is brought into the dining rooms! Overall we had a good time but would think twice about ever taking another Trans Atlantic cruise, particularly one that takes a northern route like ours did. Read Less

I chosen princess cuz of being a captain club member it was cruising to places my wife an I always wanted to go. The food at the buffet was not up to par. It was mediocre at best. Not a very good variety either. They had only 1 carving station. The dinning room food. Was a bit better the menu had only a few items to choose from fir each category. As far as the activities on board they were not very good. They had a lot of repeat activities which to me was very Boring. So I spent most of my time in the casino. The service was great. The staff onboard were all great. The captain was extremely therogh on his announcements an also re-routed the ship on our last sea day so we don’t hit the rough seas due to the hurricane. Over all I give the cruise a 6 on a scale of 1-10. Read Less

We chose this cruise because of the stop at St. Petersburg. We also booked a two day excursion through Princess and were very satisfied with the experience. The start at Copenhagen and later a stop at Tallin and Warnemunde/Rostok (we didn't go to Berlin) were new to us. The other countries, Sweden, Norway and Finland we had visited before but enjoyed going back again. We have traveled Princess for 6 trips all over the world and they are a good solid cruise line. The overall experience on the Regal was good if you subtract the introduction of the Medallion program. No matter what you read, this program is in it's infancy and very buggy. In our opinion, of course. The problem is that the marketing department touts all that the program can do but when you as a passenger are trying to use the various apps - it can be extremely frustrating. Why? because other than getting you into your room and on and off the ship it only works as advertised 50% of the time (at best). We and our 7 companions on this cruise all ran into similar problems. If you are not technologically sophisticated, forget it, as it stands, the Medallion program will drive you nuts. OK enough on that topic. The staff on Princess are top notch! And this cruise is no exception - from our cabin attendant to the dinning room staff to bartenders, etc. all make you fell pampered and appreciated. Even staff that have no direct relationship to you make a point of saying hello. Entertainers were great and every evening we had something to do that was fun. Food - this is a bit dicey because my wife and I don't eat meat, chicken, turkey, etc. We do eat seafood, some eggs and cheese. So my comments are based on our experience as semi-vegetarians. In general the vegetarian options in the dinning rooms are carb heavy and very light on acceptable protein. So if you are like us, plan on spending time at the Horizon Court where you have a wide selection of excellent vegetarian friendly choices. In closing you can't go wrong with Princess but at this point we suggest going in with no expectations for the "Medalion" program and be pleasantly surprised if things have improved by the time you sail. We have another trip booked in the Mediterranean in 2020 so we'll report back then. Read Less

1. When we left Scandic hotel in Copenhagen we asked a Princess rep in the hotel how to buy a ticket for a shuttle to the airport. She rudely said we hadn’t pre-booked one so to “find your own way there”. The taxi cost about 250 Danish crowns. 2. We lined up in the priority boarding line up and it was much slower than the regular line because so few non-platinum people were embarking. A waste of time. 3. The check-in woman kept my Canadian passport with no indication when I would get it back other than “sometime later today”. That was not true since the ship keeps my Canadian passport during the cruise in case we enter a non-Canadian country. 4. We tried to walk to our room and found the forward corridor on deck 9 near the front and there was no way to get to the starboard side from the port side. No signs were posted indicating this. 5. When we turned on the TV the sound was ridiculously loud with no way to quickly turn it lower. No channels worked on the TV and there were no instructions. Finally, by pressing “channel up” about 20 times it worked. There are no instructions provided on how to use the TV. 6. The balcony in our balcony suite is so small there is barely any room for the knees when sitting on a chair. 7. The drain in our sink was fairly blocked up and draining very slowly. When I told the room steward he said that is the way it is supposed to work. Nothing was changed for the rest of the cruise. 8. The fridge in our room was warm with no water or ice supplied. We had to have a maintenance person come to the room to fix it. 9. There was no welcome water or fruit supplied. Later we found out that you have to pay for water and none is supplied as an initial gift when you first embark, as it was on every other cruise ship we have been on, including Princess older ships. The benefits for a platinum member are very few. 10. The door to the cabin could not be locked until our medallions are at lease 5 meters away from it. Thus there is no way to tell if it is locked without returning to check it at which time it then unlocks because you are closer than 5 meters away from the door. This is probably the stupidest feature on the whole ship since you can no longer tell if your door is locked when leaving the cabin. When you return to the cabin the door should unlock automatically from about 3 meters away. As of day 4 when leaving the cabin the screen outside the door did not indicate that the door was unlocked so that feature sopped often working. Sometimes when approaching the cabin from the hallway the door did not unlock and the medallion had to be used to open it with numerous attempts. A most unreliable and problem-prone system. Whenever we mentioned this to any staff they began a lecture on how to use the system, as though they assumed we were stupid, so we gave up trying to explain the random failures. 11. Medallions are transmitters on a necklace they want you to wear at all times. They transmit your entire information at all times making you like a dog with a locator tag. The whole idea is anti-privacy and should not be allowed. We are concerned about the harm caused by the radio waves. 12. We sat down in a cafeteria for a light lunch and I ordered a chamomile tea. None ever arrived and we just left. We sat in other some bars and nobody came by to wait on us, we had to go to the bartender to order. The service is often very poor. 13. The elevators are very small and very slow. It can take up to 15 minutes to get one if a lot of people are waiting, which they usually are. Very often an elevator would go from a floor above you to a floor below you (or below to above) without stopping at the floor you are on with the button pressed. When one did arrive you have only about 5 seconds to get to it before the door closes. 14. We went to a presentation about the medallions and discovered that for “only” $9.95 per day you can download apps that let you play games, casino slots, childish tracking fish cartoons and several juvenile activities. Luckily I don’t own a cell phone. All of this was simply a way the cruise line can make more money taking advantage of people who are using their cell phones all day long. We really resented this nonsense and heard other people saying the same thing. 15. We ordered 2 glasses of water from room service. 45 minutes later none had arrived so I taped a note on the door saying “cancel the room service order” and we left the room for dinner. When we arrived back to the room 4 glasses had been delivered. There was an $8.00 charge for this room service delivery although we had tried to cancel it. 16. My laptop would not work with the ship’s WiFi system. It has worked in every other cruise ship or hotel we have been in. It appeared that only cell phones work with this system. None of the support personnel could tell me why this was happening but after I stood in line for 20 minutes holding my laptop open, the Internet manager was eventually able to resolve the problem, explaining that the WiFi on the Regal is different from other hotels and ships in the way it works. Obviously some knowledgeable staff should be added to the Internet café. 17. Our first excursion tour to Loch Lomond was a 4 ½ hour bus trip along a highway lined on both sides with trees. As the guide pointed out buildings and hills/valleys about 80 percent of the time, all we could see were trees. It was possible to spot a feature for about half a second between trees. A very boring waste of time. The tour was called “Light Lochs tour”. Coming back from the tour we were forced to stand in a line for about 20 minutes while the crew tried to figure out how we could enter the ship, as though they had never done this before. 18. The captain in his “welcome aboard” champagne party introduced the senior staff, saying we could speak to any of them to ask about concerns. Since we didn’t subsequently see any of them and weren’t told how to contact them, we couldn’t get them to resolve anything. 19. All the venues are kept at a cold threshold. In each on must sit below some form of air conditioning blowing at us so it is necessary for us to wear sweaters and fleece jackets at all times. Our cabin had a thermostat which made a minor difference but the cabin was always just below the warm threshold. We believe the outbreak of flu and colds among the passengers was due to the constant air conditioning and changing temperatures. 20. As platinum members we were invited to a get-together with the captain in the Vista lounge. We saw a line-up of hundreds of people who stood waiting at least 45 minutes to get into the lounge. We decided to join near the end of the line-up when it started moving. When we finally got into the Vista lounge it was absolutely full and we couldn’t find two seats together. We mentioned this to several staff members who just ignored us, though we had hoped they might help find us two seats. So we just left and went elsewhere. 21. Our room phone has been blinking indicating a message but when I called reception asking how to hear this message I was told the phone system was not working properly and this would soon be fixed. Two days later a light is still blinking on the phone leading us to unplug the phone altogether. There are no instructions provided showing how to use the phone. The phones were finally fixed 2 days before the end of the cruise and we were finally able to play a message recorded several days earlier. 22. We needed to ask the only future cruises person a question. I waited in line standing for over 2 hours as there were only four chairs all filled with people ahead of me. Eventually one person let me sit for 5 minutes and we exchanged sitting times. After 2 ½ hours I finally spoke to the representative for about 4 minutes. There need to be more people in the office. It is as if Princess couldn’t care less about possible future customers. 23. The casino machines seem to have recorded our progress to the point that after winning a bonus on one machine, we never won a bonus on any other machine we used except one that paid out $3.00. For the next 4 days to the last days of the cruise we did not get a single bonus on any machine although many players around us were getting their “first” bonuses. This led us to decide that we would stop trying and just give up. 24. A sales presentation in the theater encouraged us to go to Princess Theater and get a $200 off coupon for the Effy jewelry store. This was to be awarded to the first 200 people coming to the theater. No such coupon was given to anyone and then it was announced in the theater that the first 200 people who went to the store would get the coupon and it was first come first served to get one. Nobody seemed to get one. Also free mimosa drinks were supposed to be served. Although we went directly to the store the drinks had run out. The whole process was the most poorly done that we have ever seen. We left without purchasing anything. 25. We went to the Alfredo’s pizza restaurant on the 6th floor and were seated in the worst possible table with waiters and bus boys constantly walking around us on all sides. One of us had to face the workstation and constantly saw people cleaning plates and stacking dishes. Our pizza arrived 30 minutes after we sat down and the crust was severely burned around the edges. The ingredients were very sparse. 26. The ping pong table in the Teen Center is available for adults from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. However one small group of men hogs the table all day long every day. We tried in the mornings and afternoons numerous times and they are always hogging the table and are completely inconsiderate. I reported this to Lexi the cruise activity director and she replied “that’s too bad and we can’t do anything about it”. We paid for the cruise too and had hoped to use the table. 27. On the last 2 days of the cruise my medallion would no longer open our cabin door. A call to guest services put me on hold for over 10 minutes so I gave up bothering. The next guest on the cruise can deal with it. 28. Cruise ship final tour from cruise ship to Newark Airport. During the excursion we left the bus following the guide to the 911 twin towers memorial and he told us to meet him under a tree near the blue covered kiosks about 12 minutes later. He was not there 10 minutes later and there was no sign of him. We met others in our group who also could not find him. After 20 minutes of waiting we all decided to walk back to the bus where he was standing. When we asked him why he wasn’t where he said he would be he just ignored us. His lack of proper instructions is unacceptable and wasted our time, getting us very stressed thinking we had missed the bus. Read Less

We boarded in St. Petersburg after a 4 day stay in town. Wonderful visit and nice, safe place, with friendly people. Lots to see and do, and cabs are cheap. The terminal experience was very unusual however. We expected the regular crush of hundreds of other passengers, but there were fewer than a dozen that we saw during our processing. The Medallion system isn't really much of a benefit under these type situations. The ship is in good condition, I didn't see any wear and tear anywhere, and the crew keeps it quite clean. The décor is a little boring except in a few spots like the central atrium. That said, the layout is peculiar in that there are parts of the ship that are difficult to reach, and not in the typical locations. For instance, the rear set of elevators ends at deck 6, but you need to go up a level to actually get anywhere except cabins on that deck. The buffet has somewhat narrow passages on each side and this causes a lot of bumping and confusion, particularly at peak meal times. Smoke from the open ceiling casino vents into the shops above and became an issue for passengers. My biggest disappointment with the entire cruise is the food in the buffet. The selection and availability is good, HOWEVER it is never hot! I mean it's barely warm. All the toasted items like bagels English muffins, French toast, etc. will not even begin to melt butter. Eggs are fried in batches and put out 20 or so at a time and also lukewarm. By the time you get to your table with your meal, everything is usually at room temp. The scrambled eggs taste like they began as powdered, and the omelets seem to be made from the same mix. The pastry selection is usually good for every meal in the buffet I must say. The highly touted "Highest Speed WiFi At Sea" was practically unusable for a full 5 days while crossing the Atlantic. Speeds typically were between 50-150kbps, similar to dialup or DSL speeds over 10 years ago. The Captain apologized, announcing it was the lack of satellite coverage, but it should have been no secret that over 25% of our 19 day cruise would encounter such poor service. The gym is sparsely equipped with basic machines like curls for instance. It's also small, and at the rear of the ship, unlike most I've seen. The main theatre does not have enough seating for anywhere near 1/2 the passengers, so you'll need to arrive 30-45 minutes before a show to get a few decent seats. Entertainment was average with the usual mix of entertainment. The dining room anytime dining is good, and we ate there about half the time. Alfredo's pizza on deck 6 is great and I highly recommend it for a quick, good individual pizza. The Calzones also looked good, but I didn't try one. I doubt I'd book this cruise again mostly because of the buffet food temps and the poor WiFi at sea, but overall, it wasn't a bad experience, just not great either. The standard balcony cabins are small compared to Celebrity and Royal Caribbean, with no couch and tiny bathrooms. The balcony was only about 4 feet deep it seemed, barely enough room to have a chair face out to sea. The Medallion feature turned into a major yawn for us. It only was used to unlock our door and check in and out in port. NO ONE used the public panels to navigate the ship or anything else that I noticed. There are at least 5 different Princess apps to download if you want to bother, but they are confusing and do very little easily. I've been on over 50 cruises, and I walked away slightly disappointed in this one. Read Less

Itinerary was awesome other then that, food was ok, shows were mediocre and staff were a little rude. Main dining waiter was rushed no interaction just took order, drop food and took off. Francesco head waiter was great. Always gave me menu for next night to make me comfortable with my food allergy. Room was clean, however, steward was not friendly. First thing out of his mouth was the hours he worked. No sure if he liked his job.. Received letter in cabin about respiratory illness on board. Was in cabin sick for 2 days, only left for steward to clean rooms. Captains messages at noontime you could hardly heard unless you opened the cabin door. Cruise staff did alittle too late Few times equipment for shows in theater didnt work. One major production show was cancelled after 15 minutes because of equipment failure. 3 computers went down. Not sure if I would cruise princess line again. We shall see. No pun intended. Read Less

We had the most relaxing and enjoyable time. The best part for us was the bed!! the most comfortable sleep like being on a cloud. Our accommodations were wonderful. We had a suite and big balcony. One morning we had room service and it was perfect but we preferred to go to Sbabinit's for club class private breakfast. Food was special, service with attentive wait staff and always with joy. Also the club class dinning for dinner was above expectations. Food was varied delicious with so many choices. Again staff and seating was so accommodating. Relaxation time in the afternoon at the Vines bar was such a treat and late lunch at Alfredos pizza and Italian was out of this world. Our excursions were one of a kind. Visiting Russian and Berlin were the high lights for us but we were so pleased with all our choices. Even some of the ports where you could go on your own and walk into towns were so enjoyable. We also enjoyed the comic shows and the music in the atrium especially the classical group which played every afternoon and also the afternoon teas. We are ready to travel with Princess again and cannot wait until we will be able to book again. Additionally, my husband had some difficulty walking and he was treated with such care and consideration as were others on this cruise who needed chairs or walkers. It was truly heart warming to see how well everyone was treated. Read Less

We chose the cruise because of ports we wanted to visit. We have elite status on Princess and had been on the Regal twice before and this third time was a big disappointment. The quality/selection of the food was limited and awful and either over cooked and/or frequently cold. Many evenings the diningrm menu offerings were mediocre enough to warrant our going to the buffet, where service was spotty and even under warmers, was neither replaced, nor kept hot. Don’t even get me started on the charge added on top of the $30pp for ordering surf and turf at the Crown Grill AND, the person handling reservations was ill trained and screwed up the time and date. I actually filed a written blistering formal complaint about the food on day 11 of our 28 day cruise. No one had the courtesy to get back to us. No one cares. Another couple we met also went to the concierge desk to speak with someone about the food; going so far as to say they might not choose to rebook Princess moving forward. They were told “ that is your prerogative”. How’s that for caring about your loyal customer base? The daytime entertainment offerings onboard- particularly during the transatlantic crossing, showed zero creativity. For example: we don’t feel having a crew member have you guess which elevator would open first, or ring toss, are activities worthy of a Princess cruise. Card games were unhosted, subject to random scheduling, held in spaces concurrently occupied by shop sales being hawked on megaphones.... The bed in our cabin was lumpy on one side and sagged down, so that one slid to the edge.... Evening shows, while of generally good quality, were- with little exception, repeated during the second leg of our cruise, leaving us few alternative choices to chamber music ad nauseam. Disembarkation was a total disaster! The waiting areas were overcrowded and too warm. They ran more than an hour late getting us offloaded and then misplaced our luggage under the wrong number/color! Everyone we spoke wuth, directed us to someone else, with no explanation or apology. Totally clueless! I could go on and on about various incidents ( ie- the woman who fell and cut herself outside the jewelry store and despite call after call by shop mgt. as she lay bleeding on the floor , it took an inordinate length of time elapsing before anyone from medical materialized!) We are now questioning the sense in having had already booked a 14 day Xmas/New Years cruise on the Pacific Princess this winter, with friends... If our experience does not significantly improve, There are a glut of other cruise lines out there we can turn to for better entertainment value with our expendable cash! * We filed the routine online review one gets automatically from the cruise line. As we suspected, no one responded to what should have raised red flags IF they bother to even read them. We’ve heard nothing in response; hence, I am posting on social media- where their bottom line does garner the most attention.... Needless to say, we were not feeling the love on ‘the loveboat’! Read Less

This is a 8th cruise with Princess and our second time on the Regal Princess. We fully enjoyed all the cities in the Baltic region we went to and concentrated mainly of the visiting and not time on the ship. The staff on the ship made you feel comfortable and were always polite and made sure all your needs were met. We only went to a few shows on the ship and found them OK but not of high caliber. We found that the cities always had something for us to see and explore. We did not really use the cruise ship excursion as they were very expensive and using Rick Steves guide for the ports allowed us to go into town and see most of the sites as most ports were walkable, We did use the cruise excursion to get to town for Sweden as the ship docks about an hour away for Stockholm and the hop on/ hop off bus did not seem very convenient and we had on board credits to use. Princess also tries to scare you into using them for St. Petersburg as you need to be on an escorted excursion or you will need to have a visa for there. There are numerous other local companies that can arrange the same thing. After some research on Cruise Critic and Trip Advisor we decided used TJ Travel for a 2 day excursion at half the price and I would rate them 10 our to 10. They also will give you a discount if you mention you are a Cruise Critic member ( which they honored no questions asked). Read Less

Started off with great embarkation and very good cabin (C425 interior). But we were shocked at how many things were not included in our cruise. A good cup of black coffee was only available at the International Cafe and they charged over a dollar for just a cup of black coffee! You could get free coffee at the buffet and through room service, but that coffee was so weak we couldn't stomach it! And so many other things were being sold or pushed constantly. Plus an automatic 18% gratuity on everything. Maybe that's how cruising is nowadays, but we were disappointed. Also, we did not buy the expensive internet package and regretted it daily. If you are used to checking weather, port info, etc., make sure you get the expensive internet because there are NO OTHER options until you get off the ship and find a decent wifi area. There is the internet cafe, but I believe they charge $20 for one hour of internet use! And the Ocean Concierge program for messaging your travel friends was spotty at best. We will definitely buy internet on all future cruises! All that being said, the cruise itinerary was great and we enjoyed all the ports and the adventure. Food was for the most part delicious, and overall staff was friendly with some outstanding staff that made our cruise so much more enjoyable. Customer service is so important to making us feel welcome and appreciated! We would recommend the itinerary, but maybe look into a different cruise line. We would have appreciated a few more "active" things to do besides the gym. Most activities and excursions seemed to be directed at older passengers with limited mobility. We are in our 60's, but still very active so would have preferred some alternative activities for active passengers. Beatlemaniacs were amazing! But we missed a couple of shows because you had to get there very early to grab a seat. Visit the Baltics, but choose your cruise line wisely! Read Less

Princess Cruises with the Regal was outstanding. We are elite so we have a few cruises with Princess but this time the entire staff: dinning room waiter (Herbert), assistance waiter (Veljko), dinning room manager (Norbert), dinning room hostess(Yaniris), and room steward (Carlos) were exceptional with friendly attitude, willingness to provide service, interest in our activities on ship and in ports with recommendations of what to try. Captain Stringer was amazing with his detailed explanation of our course across the Atlantic Ocean and changes due to the weather patterns. His daily updates could be quite humorous. I loved the description of a massive ship like the Regal sneaking out of port late at night. It reminded me of an elephant in a china shop trying to be delicate. The itinerary was great the best ports were Copenhagen. I could have stayed longer. St. Petersburg was fantastic with the two day small group tour and our guide was the best with so much knowledge about the people and history. Again I could have stayed longer. What a fantastic voyage. Thank you Princess Cruises and the Regal Princess Staff. Read Less

Excellent cruise. The captain provided informative narratives each day. The production shows were outstanding. The art lectures were quite interesting. Food was outstanding, particularly at dinner in the dining room. Most nights I ordered the fish entree and was never disappointed! There were so many choices of healthy deliciously prepared vegetarian dishes at the buffet as well as a wide selection of amazing desserts. We appreciated our balcony room when we pulled out of Oslo. What breathtaking scenery. If you are thinking about going on this cruise, consider these things: You are at ports from a few hours to a couple of days. As a result you only get a small picture of each city. Rather than spending hours going to and from Berlin, consider staying in the port town. It has a wonderful family beach and a delightful village--perfect for people watching and absorbing the culture. Helsinki is another place that I believe for the short time you are there that you can experience it best without a tour. Get a ticket for the cruise ship shuttle which will take you to 4 different locations, then explore major attractions on your own. St. Petersburg and Stockholm are best experienced with a tours. Read Less

Embarkation was very smooth and we were on ship within 20 minutes of arriving at the port. Our cabin C212 was ready for us and luggage arrived very soon. Anyone using this cabin in future should note that although the theatre is on deck 6 and 7 the sound travels all the way to deck 10 where we heard every rehearsal and every show very loudly. You would have thought that perhaps they could have put some kind of sound baffle in between decks but I guess not. Our cabin steward was very good and our wait staff in the MDR were wonderful. The food in both MDR and buffet was up to the usual standard. Princess excursions were expensive and we only used them once. This was for a disembarkation tour which took us to a fishing village just outside of Copenhagen before dropping us off at the airport. We only went on this tour as our flight was not until 4.30. At the other ports we just got off the ship and did our own thing. In St Petersburg we used Cruiseexcursions.com for a 2 day tour and our guide, Natalie was very knowledgable. I can thoroughly recommend that tour which is about half the price of the Princess one and includes a visa. Nynashamn was the only disappointing port. We were told it was a lovely place where people from Stockholm came to relax but there was nothing there. We should have taken the train into Stockholm which seemed really easy to do. Read Less

Exceeded our expectations from embarkation to debarkation. Crews are very friendly and helpful. You don’t get hungry as lots of yummy foods on board and lots of sporting activities you can do on board to ensure you don’t get extra kg while indulging with lots of good variety of foods. Medallion class made everything on board really easy. They have a very systematic system where everything really works very well. We have enjoyed all the activities on board, in particular, the shows daily. Our crew steward always ensure that our room is being looked after daily. Live TV updates is also very helpful for everyone as you will be informed on what’s happening on the ship, ports and shore excursions very important informations and tips. We will definitely cruise with Princess again and will recommend them to our friends and families. Keep up the good work and hope to see you again soon. Read Less

We flew onto Copenhagen the day before the cruise making our way to the ship on our own. This cruise went to many places in northern and Eastern Europe in the former Soviet block. We enjoy visiting historic and UNESCO sites and St. Petersburg’s palaces and churches and the Peterhof Palace and gardens were wonderfully beautiful on a grand scale. In the evening we enjoyed a variety of traditional Russian folk dance and song complete with an intermission that included pastries and champagne in a beautiful private palace. In Finland we toured the city and drove into the countryside to visit a classic old village and then off to a vineyard at an old farm for a wonderful luncheon and in Estonia we toured a lovely mid-evil town from the 1600’s that survived WW2. In Germany we visited Rostock which was heavily bombed during the war because of the submarine and aircraft manufacturing that existed. Today it’s the home of large shipyards which build cruise ships among other vessels. After touring the cathedral which houses a calendar clock made in the 1420’s and still operating with its original works we drove to the Schwerin Castle. In Stockholm the Vasa Museum and a walk through the old city were spectacular. The Vasa was a 17th century wooden sailing ship with two gun decks that was unstable and had sunk during its maiden voyage in front of the royal palace in 1628. Because the water in the Baltic has such a low salinity level the ship remained nearly completely intact. The visit to Oslo was too short but the sail away through the fjord was beautiful. We had previously visited Oslo so this time we only took a boat cruise around the area. The city itself is beautiful in there are sculptures everywhere the most impressive being in the Vigeland Sculpture Park where hundreds of lifelike granite sculptures depict every stage of human emotion. At the conclusion of the cruise everything during the disembarkation went extremely smoothly and efficiently. Our bags were delivered directly to the airport where we retrieved them for our flight home. Read Less