Note: We have done our best to proof read the posts and have added pictures within each post to complete the blog. In addition, we have added more photos to the photo albums, and added a couple of new photo albums, specifically Sea Days and Greenock. Lastly, we have added a few videos, which can be selected in the rights side menu under Videos of the Trip, or at the top of the page under the Trip Videos Menu. The Video pages are each linked to a YouTube Video.
Also, you can now select to see posts only from the following categories by clicking on the menu items at the top of the main page. Selections are Planning Posts Only, which will only show posts related to the planning of this trip, Pre-Cruise Posts Only, which include posts from the travel day, and our time before we boarded the Regal Princess, and finally, Cruise Posts Only, which will only show posts from our 22 day cruise.
We have been home for a few days now, and have finished all of our laundry and put away all of our special travel gear. It has been nice to sleep in our own bed, and to take a shower in a large shower, not a small and cramped cruise cabin shower. It was not so nice to be in 87 degree temperatures, but that is better than 55 degrees like we saw on the trip on occasion.
We were sad that we did not get a Log of the Cruise delivered to our stateroom before we left the ship. These are usually nice, and give the details of each day of the cruise, and the total distances traveled, which we normally put into this post.
As is usual, we have switched over the order of the posts to normal chronological order, which is the reverse of how the trip is normally shown on the blog while we are on the trip. Normally, the latest day of travel is first so that you see the latest information, but after the trip is completed, it is a little cumbersome to read in that format.
We were very thankful that we did not have any major issues during the trip, and in general, stayed healthy. There were certainly a lot of instances where we were traveling in close quarters using public transportation, and we did notice that many people were coughing and sneezing, probably due to the initial stages of the change in seasons that far north. Although we both suffered from some congestion, it was not debilitating.
We were thankful that Hurricane Florence did not bring too much rain or wind to Columbia, but it certainly caused some concern for us during the cruise when it was forecasted to be worse.
We were thankful that we had great weather in most of the places we stopped, especially in St. Petersburg, which was the highlight of the trip, and the main reason we chose this itinerary. We were a little disappointed in the weather during the crossing of the Atlantic, we had hoped we could spend a little more time outside. We certainly did not need the three bottles of sunscreen we had taken, we did not use any of it.
If we were to do a similar Baltic Cruise, we may opt out of the crossing portion, unless the ship is heading more southward to Ft. Lauderdale, where we know that the weather gets warmer as we cross, and we can enjoy time outdoors. We enjoyed the relaxation, but it was also a little stressful fighting all of the crowds for tables and seats in inside spaces.
We were probably most surprised by the change in passenger demographics for this cruise between the initial Baltic cruise portion and then for the British Isles and Transatlantic portion. A lot of fun people left the ship when we stopped in Copenhagen, where 2/3 of the passengers disembarked, and were replaced by a much older crowd for the Atlantic crossing. We knew from past experience that Transatlantic Cruises are usually an older demographic, but this time it seemed much older, and much more mobility limited for some reason. Maybe it was because we normally do not join the cruise for this much time before the Transatlantic portion of the cruise and get to know that many people who end up not staying on for the crossing. We may have enjoyed it more just staying somewhere in Europe for the same time and cost as we spent crossing the Atlantic.
We certainly like the Royal/Regal class of ship, even though it is larger than others in the fleet. We specifically like the buffet better, it is much larger on this class of ship, and we also like Alfredo’s as an alternative to the dining room for dinner. We would have to retrain ourselves to go to the dining room if we were on an older class of Princess ships without these options.
This will probably be our last long duration cruise for a while, we are planning on a land trip to Italy next year. We had originally planned our land trip to Italy for this year, but when this cruise came up, we chose it instead of the Italy trip, specifically because of visiting St. Petersburg. We may still go on a short cruise to the Caribbean if we see one that is really cheap, just for a quick getaway, but we have gone on too many cruises as compared to land trips recently, and are ready for a different experience.
We did learn that having the Beverage Package for a 22 day cruise, especially a port intensive cruise, it not such a great thing. It may be a break even deal from a cost perspective, but we found ourselves wanting to take a break from having a lot of beverages after that many days, especially when we were stuck inside all day. Since this was a Sip N Sale Promotion, and it was “included” in the price, we did not have much of a choice, but would most likely not pay for it as a separate purchase had it not been included, at least not for that many days. We have compared the cost of the Sip N Sale with the same cruises without the promotion, and in our opinion, for most instances, it is just built into the overall cost for the cruise, basically just added in at the same rate. Although you only need to have about 6-7 drinks per day to break even, not counting any water and specialty coffee, it is often difficult when there are five days of port visits in a row, and you are gone from the ship all day, and need to get up early every morning.