Regal Princess 2018 14-Day Transatlantic Cruise Review
Day 1           April 15,  2018                        Ft. Lauderdale, Florida                                    
Scheduled Departure:  4:30pm              
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​Arrival at Airport and Transfer to Ship:  We arrived at the airport about 30 minutes late which wasn’t too bad considering the pilot had to go several hundreds of miles out of the way because of a weather system in the Gulf of Mexico.  We had a connecting flight, so I was a little concerned about our luggage arriving with us. It was a great relief when we found our luggage at baggage claim! (Found out later that many passengers had delayed flights because of ice storms in the north and east and barely made it to the ship on time.  One couple never received their luggage so they only had what they were wearing plus what was in their carryon bag for the 14 days. Princess gave vouchers for some purchases in the gift shops and also provided laundry service each day. Sometimes it is better to arrive a day early for the cruise.) Since we had purchased a transfer, we met the Princess agents inside the terminal, got checked in and were escorted to the transfer coach.  The airport is not very far from Port Everglades so we were soon being dropped off at the ship while our luggage was taken to another area to be delivered to our room later in the afternoon. All we had to deal with was our carryon bags.

Embarkation:  Usually there are two lines for embarking the ship – one for preferred boarding (for those who have reached “platinum level” and above) and one for regular boarding.  However, there were so many cruisers who had cruised with Princess many times that there was only one line, but it moved very quickly. There were many representatives manning the check in counter so it didn’t take very long to receive our cruise cards.  It was a quick and smooth embarkation and we headed to board the ship!

Our home for 2 weeks

Horizon Court for lunch

Soup and salad with delicious guacamole and chips for lunch

​Lunch:  Usually we go straight to our stateroom to drop off our carryon bags, but this time we headed for the Lido deck and the Horizon Court buffet. It was already very crowded, but we managed to find a table and soon were enjoying some delicious food.  I had noticed and appreciated this on our last cruise on the Regal and was happy to see that it was still being done. Each table had already been set with napkins and silverware. It makes it so much easier to handle your food plate/plates and not have to deal with silverware. There were other dining opportunities for lunch that included the Concerto Dining Room, Alfredo’s Pizzeria, Ocean Terrace Seafood Bar, Prego Pizzeria and the Trident Grill.

Table set with napkins/silverware in Horizon Court

Another option for lunch

Concerto dining room

Another option for lunch

Another option for lunch

​Afternoon Activities:  We went to our room after lunch and looked over the Princess Patter to see what was happening on the ship for the rest of the day. There were several musical presentations in the Piazza, Deck 5 Midship, a movie being shown on Decks 16 & 17 Midship and an open house and tour of the Lotus Spa. Since many of the guests were from the northern states, there was a crowd enjoying the warm weather around all the pools. We enjoyed resting in our stateroom for a while and watching from our balcony all the boating activity in the water around the ship.

Our stateroom

Our stateroom

Stateroom Bathroom

​Guest Safety Assembly:  All guests must attend as this is required by law. Alarms sounded and broadcasts were made calling all to their assigned Muster Stations which were indicated on the notice on the back of your stateroom door. All of the Muster Stations were located at various places inside the ship. It was not necessary to take your life jacket with you, but you did need your cruise card as each person’s card was scanned to make sure all guests attended. A late guest emergency drill would be held later for those not checked in for the first one.  The correct method of wearing your life jacket was demonstrated at each Muster Station.  It was over quickly and we were all soon trying to make our way back to other areas of the ship. The Sail Away Celebration with the cruise staff, dancers and musicians was held at 3:45pm at the Fountain Pool on Deck 16 to start the journey across the Atlantic.

Ft. Lauderdale and activity around ship

Leaving Ft. Lauderdale area and heading out to sea

Afternoon tours

Pool area and screen for all the movies to be shown each day

We had complimentary dinner in this specialty restaurant

Crown Grill

​Dinner: We had been given a complimentary dinner in the Crown Grill and our reservation was for 5:30pm on our first night. The Crown Grill is a specialty restaurant that has a theater-style kitchen where you can see the premium aged beef and select seafood being prepared. It was a very fancy dinner and really delicious. What a way to start our cruise!

Appetizer

Appetizer

Lobster dinner

Waiter removed the shell for us.

Dessert

Princess Theater on Decks 6 & 7 Forward

​Entertainment: The production show called Sweet Soul Music was held at 7:00 and 9:00pm. It was a lively show showcasing the talented singers and dancers as well as the orchestra and it gave us a taste of what we could expect for the entertainment in the nights to come. There were so many other opportunities for entertainment around the ship until late in the evening, but since we had started our day at a very early hour, we called it a night. When we got back to our stateroom, our steward had already prepared the room for the night and left us two “princess” chocolate candies. It had been a great start for a fun trip.

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