Regal Princess Review
Rating by category
Additional details
We chose this cruise to see some ports in New England and Canada along with some fall color. I booked only 3 weeks out and got a Deluxe balcony cabin - no suites were available, but this is a port intensive cruise, so a balcony is really all we needed and the price was right. We flew into LaGuardia a day before the cruise and stayed in 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge. This is a beautiful (and expensive) new hotel with open plan rooms. Not everything is open yet, but we were able to go to the rooftop bar for some amazing views of Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge. We had dinner at The River Cafe which is about 1 block walking distance from the hotel. We decided to do the tasting menu and it was outstanding in every way. Expensive, but highly recommended. Checkout at 1 Hotel is noon, so just before noon, we packed up and the hotel was kind enough to provide us with a car and driver for the short drive to the pier. Checkin was a breeze and we were able to board immediately and put our stuff in our cabin, then head out to the buffet for lunch where I had fresh mussels, seafood salad and many other delicious items. Frankly, it has been several years since our last cruise on Princess since we have been cruising NCL, Uniworld, Carnival, RCCL and MSC most recently and I was very pleased with the food selections on Princess as the quality is quite good. Dinner that night in the MDR was even better.
Ports:
Boston: We took a taxi to North Station and then took a train to Salem. It is a quick 28 minute ride to Salem and the train arrives in the historical district which is about 1.5 miles square - easily walkable. In Salem, we walked around town seeing the sights such as the Witch museums and famous statues and memorial to those who were convicted of witchcraft and then took a tour of The House of Seven Gables which was just incredible, especially the part where you can climb the secret staircase hidden in the chimney - super fun! Highly recommended. Afterwards, we simply took the train back to North Station and a taxi back to the ship and were back a good 2 hours before departure.
Cabin Review
Deluxe Balcony
Clean and neat. From what I have heard, the difference between a balcony and deluxe balcony is you get a love seat, which we did have. There is a small cocktail table - for which I ordered a flower arrangement to give the room some much needed color. There were 2 throw pillows on the love seat and 2 on the bed. I requested an extra pillow and this was provided by the cabin steward. He was very fast and efficient at making up our room when we left for breakfast. There is a nice large flatscreen TV, 2 120v plugs and at least 1 UK style plug. There is a refrigerator - not a mini bar. I did notice they didn't want us to take food back to our staterooms especially things that can spoil - I generally don't do that anyway, unless it is something I will eat or drink immediately.
Port Reviews
New York (Brooklyn, Red Hook)
With Manhattan right across the Brooklyn Bridge there is plenty to do in the area. But we enjoyed the 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge and dinner at the River Cafe.