Travel Gossip Editor-in-Chief Linsey McNeill and her sister-in-law Heidi joined a Princess Cruises six-night England & Ireland cruise to find out what guests think of the brand that brought us the ‘Love Boat’.
My main takeaway from my Regal Princess cruise was that if you book a customer on a Princess ship, they’ll most likely stay loyal to the brand.
All the passengers I spoke to during my cruise were fans of Princess. Admittedly, most of the British guests (mainly in their 60s) seemed to have booked that particular cruise because they’d seen a last-minute offer that was ‘too good to refuse’, but they’d already been on multiple Princess voyages on different ships to different regions, and they had more booked.
They’d mostly taken this five-day coast-hugger from Southampton as a sort of cheeky little extra cruise between longer, more exotic voyages. I was surprised to hear that a few of the guests had already visited the destinations on our itinerary on previous cruises, but they were happy to go again just for the onboard experience.
What they said they loved about the brand was the exceptionally friendly service, the entertainment, and the value for money. Several thought some other premium cruise lines operating from Southampton had ‘dumbed down’ too much since the pandemic, but not Princess.
One guest – an early retiree – said she liked that there were few children on Princess cruises, even though there are family facilities including a kids’ club, and another loved the formal night, when passengers are encouraged (but not obliged) to dress up and they install a giant Champagne fountain in the glitzy Piazza.
I couldn’t fault the service from our attentive cabin steward ‘Joey’, the bar and spa staff and the waiters, and Sehban in the Concierge lounge, to which we were kindly given access.
Everyone had big smiles, a joke or two, and they were very helpful. After seeing the musical Born to Dance in the Princess Theater, which features hits from much-loved Broadway shows, I could see why guests rated the evening entertainment too.
On other evenings, there was live music in Bellini’s and the Wheelhouse Bar, which guests seemed to enjoy, movies in the Vista Lounge, an 80s movie quiz in the Princess Live TV-studio style entertainment venue, amongst other shows, and a ‘Vegas-style’ casino. The silent disco was very popular too.
As for the dining, there are three traditional main dining rooms included in the cruise fare, plus an extensive Horizon buffet, grill, snack bar and pizzeria. However, we found the speciality restaurants, which have a cover charge of $55 per person, were worth the additional charge. My antipasti and chicken main in Sabatini’s Italian Trattoria were delicious, as was my onion soup starter and lamb chops in the Crown Grill.
The Lotus Spa is a welcome retreat from the hustle and bustle of the 3,500-passenger ship. It boasts multiple treatment rooms, and The Enclave thermal suite with its fabulous hydrotherapy pool, two steam rooms, a sauna, two waterbeds and eight heated loungers in a spacious relaxation area is divine.
It costs $250 per couple for access to the Enclave for the entire cruise, which I thought was good value given that, even on a sea day, it wasn’t crowded, though I’m not sure the ship was full. Prices for the spa treatments are punchy, though, especially when you add on the tax (which isn’t included in the advertised price), but I enjoyed my Elemis facial and my sister-in-law reported back that her reflexology and massage were ‘excellent’.
First stop on our itinerary was Falmouth in Cornwall. It’s a bit of a chore taking a water shuttle (tender) from the ship to the harbour (we had a 30-minute wait for seats), though from there it’s only a short walk or free bus ride to the town centre.
Never having been to Falmouth before, we wandered along the old high street filled with quaint boutiques, independent cafes and pubs, bought a Cornish pasty from Pennies Pies, which we were told by the bus driver were the best in town (100% would recommend), and climbed up the steep Jacob’s Ladder for a stunning view of the harbour.
We could have taken excursions to Land’s End, St Michael’s Mount, joined a guided walk around Lizard Point, gone for a countryside drive and Cornish cream tea, but we were happy just strolling around the town.
A minor irritation was the 20-minute queue for the water shuttle back to the Regal Princess, which would have been worse in bad weather, but at least loos and water were provided.
In Cobh (pronounced Cove), in Ireland, the next day, we were able to walk off the ship straight into the little town, which is most famous for being the last stop for the Titanic before her fateful maiden voyage in 1912.
Previously known as Queenstown, Cobh has a fascinating maritime history, and it’s well worth dropping into the Queenstown Story, inside the Cobh Heritage Centre, which includes the stories of locals who perished on the Titanic.
Also worth a visit is the Titanic Garden, a moving memorial to the 79 who boarded the ship in Queenstown and drowned when it went down, which included two teenage elopers and a widow and her five young children.
Available excursions from Cobh included an inflatable speed boat tour of the historic coastline, with a chance to see dolphins, seals and puffins; a trip to Cork and the surrounding countryside; Blarney Castle; a tour of Killarney; and a trip to the House of Waterford Crystal, and more.
In our next stop, Dun Laoghaire, the choice of excursions was just as endless. We could have visited Dublin and Dublin Castle, joined a cocktail-making class at the Jameson’s whiskey distillery, toured the Guinness brewery, gone horse-riding, and so much more – but instead we stayed onboard because my sister-in-law wanted to attend a napkin folding demonstration (true story) and a cocktail-making class. Plus, once again, the ship dropped anchor offshore and we didn’t fancy the 45-minute water shuttle to the port.
Belfast, the fourth and final stop on our cruise, was the highlight. We joined the ship’s excursion to the Giant’s Causeway, a bewildering collection of tens of thousands of interlocking basalt columns that lie along the coast on the edge of the Antrim plateau.
Walking along the columns, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, you could almost believe they’d been thrown down by giants striding across the sea to Scotland.
On our way back to the ship, which included excellent commentary from our guide (pointing our where Liam Neeson and Rory Mcllroy live, explaining a little of the history of Northern Ireland) with an afternoon still to spare, we jumped off the coach at the Titanic Belfast museum in the city centre. You might think we’d have had our fill of stories of the ‘unsinkable ship’ in Cobh, but it had only whetted our appetite for more, and the museum’s story of the building of the Titanic in the nearby Harland & Wolff shipyard is not to be missed.
I’d have probably never have visited any of these close-to-home places if I hadn’t cruised with Princess and I could see why our fellow guests thought they’d bagged a bargain. It would probably have cost three times more to visit them all on individual city breaks and taken much longer too.
Aside from a slightly choppy sea for two to three hours on our return from Belfast to Southampton, the cruise was smooth sailing from start to finish.
Next year, the British Isles cruises will be operated by sister ship Majestic Princess, which is very similar to Regal, with a few, small differences. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of those guests I met on Regal are also onboard, soaking up the Princess experience!
Linsey and Heidi McNeill were guests of Princess Cruises. Its next British Isles cruise departs on 9 May from Southampton and costs from £859 for nine nights and stops in Portland, Cobh, Holyhead, Liverpool, Greenock, Belfast, Edinburgh and Le Havre in France.
