Regal Princess: Fitness Center and Fitness Activities

While Hubby and I were busy with relaxing and enjoying the activities on the ship, we did make it up to the Fitness Center.  Our work outs were not scheduled, but more like when we had nothing else to do and we knew we needed to burn some calories.

The Regal Princess Fitness Center was located on deck 17 (Sun deck) above the Horizon Court/Bistro.  The only time I was able to take pictures was during turnaround day and I happened to have my iPhone with me.

In this exercise area/room, they have dumbbells and balls to use.  I spent time in here stretching and lifting some dumbbells.  Most of the time there were health classes taking place in here so did my workout elsewhere.

Here are the weight machines located towards the back of the fitness center.  Hubby and I spent most of our time here.  There were a lot of folks working out, but the machines were always available (not hogging the machines).

Further past the weight machines, there's an office on the left where the personal trainer lives.

There was always treadmill available to use:

On the upper deck (Sports deck 18), there is a walk/run track available.  Hubby and I really enjoyed our time up there walking and running.  There are lanes which include one for walking and one for running:

The track has slight curves:

Here's a workout station on deck.  I've tried this one out and basically it uses your weight/resistance:

More workout stations on deck:

Yes, the view up here was pretty spectacular!

In the center of track is the basketball court.  This is also where they held Zumba classes (and the class was always filled)

Table tennis court:

On the stairs between Sun deck 17 and Sports deck 18:

Looking up from Sports deck 18 to see the Princess Logo:

Regal Princess: Mini-Suite

Hubby and I have always stayed in a mini-suite for 15 out of our 16 Princess cruises.  The one time we stayed in a balcony cabin was on the Sea Princess where we sailed out of Fort Lauderdale and did not come back to the home port until 14 days later.  That was also a much smaller ship and the mini-suite cabin was actually much larger and well more expensive.

When I booked the Regal (12 months before sailing), I knew we were in for a treat.  New ship.  Larger ship.  Beautiful ship.  We were on the Ruby Princess while in St Thomas and saw the Regal docked ahead of us at Havensight.  We walked along the dock admiring this new ship.  I remembered meeting with the Future Cruise rep on the Ruby and booking a two week cruise.  For once, itinerary did not matter.  We wanted to experience a cruise on the Regal.

The Princess Future Cruise rep wanted to know where on the ship we wanted to be.  I don't know.  Where are all the mini-suites located?  Unlike the Grand-class ships, where the mini-suites are located on the Dolphin deck 9 and a few towards the back on Emerald deck 8, the Regal has them on several decks.  Wow!  Okay, where are the lower priced mini-suites located?  Forward on Marina deck 15 and Lido deck 16.  I chose a cabin M208 and it was available for both weeks.  Sweet!

Hubby and I were entering uncharted territory.  We've never had a cabin on a high deck and so far forward before.  Hubby said we should feel a lot more motion.  Way cool!

When we boarded the Regal, we were anxious to see our cabin.  We immediately noticed the main hallway was not straight where you can see from one of the ship to the other end.  Instead the hallway appears to be broken into sections where it's straight for a couple of cabins and then the hallway extends out for a couple of cabins and then the hallways goes back in for a few more cabins.  Here's one end of our hallway.  I spied a wifi access point on the ceiling which explains why I had great wifi connectivity in our cabin.  Yeah Princess!

Here's our cabin door.  We enjoyed having a larger area outside our door.  Rare to see our mailbox empty:

Upon entering the room, there's a slot to store our cabin card key.  This slot activates the interior cabin lights.  Supposedly, when you leave the room, you're suppose to take the cabin card with you and all the lights will eventually turn off.

But I can see an issue with this.  Hunger sets in and I run out the door.  Slam!  Knock! Knock! Knock!  Hubby, can you hear me from the balcony?

Here I temporarily use my cabin card which I eventually replaced with an Embassy Suite key card.  See, I knew all those extra hotel key cards I've accumulated would come in handy one day!

Welcome home to our mini-suite!

Queen bed where two twins are pushed together:

The living area with a sleeper sofa:

A view of our cabin from the balcony.  Notice the curtains that can be used to divide/separate the sleeping and living spaces:

Here's our closet space which includes our life vests (upper left).  On the Grand-class ships, there would be mirrors on the front of the cubby doors.  Behind the cubby doors is a safe:

The safe is big enough to hold my iPad Air, my mirrorless camera (Fuji XT-1), our travel documents, wallets, and jewelry.

In the previous picture, you can see a door knob to the right of the cubby shelves.  That's the bathroom.  I really enjoyed having a large rectangle basin especially when I had to hand wash a few items or soak our waterproof cameras.  

The tub came in handy when I had to rinse our snorkel gear.  There's also a laundry line to hang our wet items:

The desk and chair in the living area.  On the right side of the desk is a door.  Behind this door is our mini fridge where our room steward, Shiv, replaced our bucket of ice daily.  On the left side of the desk are drawers.  The top drawer has a blow dryer that is already connected to a power source behind the desk.  I used the drawers here to store all my gadgets, chargers, batteries, cables, etc.  There are two 3-prong outlets under the desk ledge:  one on each side of the desk.  

We were patiently waiting for our luggage to arrive:

Our balcony with two reclining chairs, one foot stool, and a table:

Looking forward from our balcony.  Can you see the bridge?

Looking towards the back of the ship.

We enjoyed our balcony.  Though it was not as deep as the Grand-class ships, we did like having an overhang above.  It took me a few days to get used to this.  On the Grand-class ships, I could always look up to see other fellow passengers on their balconies...sometimes peering back at me.  We really enjoyed the Regal's balcony and more privacy.

Here's what our closet looked like after a week of living at "home":

Here's a part of a placard that is on our door.  You can see the mini-suite cabins are longer and therefore goes further out into the hallway than the regular balcony cabins.  To give you an idea of our room location (see the two red dots):

Oh yeah, the two TVs in our cabin:

Post-Cruise: Dos Ojos Cenotes & Akamal

When Hubby and I first saw this Princess excursion being offered (for the first time), we knew it was a no-brainer decision to try it out.  We are adventurous and enjoy doing something different each time we visit an island.

In Cozumel, we've power boated over to Passion Island and enjoyed the white sand beach and some rest and relaxation.  We've snorkeled the Planacar Reef twice.  We've enjoyed beach time and laying in the hammocks at Playa Mia beach resort.  We've also enjoyed hanging out at the Puerta Maya cruise terminal dining at Panchos Backyard, shopping, and people watching.  

This new Princess excursion had me curious.  The trip included visiting a "cenotes" and then swimming with the turtles.  There were lots of questions from curious folks (like me), but no feedback from fellow Princess cruisers.  I did some research and found some maps.  Hmmmmm...there are a lot of "cenotes" in Mexico.  Which one would we be going to?  My inquiring mind wanted to know.  Where would we be swimming with the turtles?  

Now that we're back from our wonderful and awesome cruise, I can look on the map and say "we've been there!"

In the following map, we travelled south from Playa de Carmen (not on the map, but north of Puerto Aventuros) to Dos Ojos (just northwest of Tulum).  The main road that we travelled on is Mex 307.  Depending on what map I'm looking at, I can see 9-10 cenotes between Playa de Carmen and Tulum.  

Here's a map of the Dos Ojos Cenotes park.  Interesting, huh?

Here's a better map that show the blue turquoise fresh water system of Dos Ojos.  We started our practice swim/snorkel exercise in the 1st eye (primero ojo) and then got out and walked over to the 2nd eye (segundo ojo) and snorkeled to the bat cave:

When we were finished snorkeling at Dos Ojos, we travelled north to Akamal (see map above).  We entered the water off the beach near the Akamal Dive Shop area and snorkeled for some distance til we ended up near Akamal Beach Resort:

Here's a view looking from Akumal Beach Resort:

Hubby and I did not think we were snorkeling for that long or gone far.  When we are in the water seeing all the wonderful and beautiful marine life, we lose track of time.  Sometimes I would pop my head up and wonder where everyone had gone.  Yes, between Hubby and I, one of us will get called out for snorkeling away from the group.  We can't help it, we like following the marine life versus people.  😊

Here's a Google map that shows part of the island of Cozumel and the mainland.  Do you see the white cloud in the water?  That's close to where the Puerta Maya pier is located and where the Regal Princess docked.

For additional pictures, please see my recent posts for Cozumel.  

Post-Cruise: Costa Maya

Hubby and I had great time in Costa Maya.  We especially enjoyed our time at Blue Kay and hope to go back on our next cruise.  We also hope to do additional exploring of the Malecon beach area.

Here's a Google map to give you an idea of where everything is located:

In the upper right corner is the pier going out into the water where the Regal Princess docked.  The other end of the pier ends at the Cruise port or terminal.  We walked out of the 2nd exit (cruise terminal) and walked along a street until we reached a taxi stand on the right side of the road.  The taxi took us to the first roundabout where we made the 2nd left and continued to the next roundabout and made another 2nd left until we came to the end of the road.  Turned left and headed towards the lighthouse.  Just before the lighthouse we made a right and next left into Blue Kay's parking area and the start of the Malecon.

In case we forgot what Blue Kay looked like:

When we were ready to leave the beach, the folks at Blue Kay escorted us to an area where the cabs were waiting to take folks back to the cruise port/terminal.  

Yes! We're Still Blogging About Our Cruise!

As you can tell by the date, we've been home for two weeks now.  I have gone through the 3,000+ pictures taken with four cameras and an iPhone 6.  I have pictures on my iPhone 6 which need to be posted.  I have found tons more pictures of Cozumel, Costa Maya, and Grand Cayman that I need to add.

I've added underwater pictures for Cozumel and Costa Maya.  So, if you missed them last week...check it out now.  :)

Stay tune!  I still need to add the last sea day and disembarkation posts plus pictures.  I also need to a post specifically about the Regal Princess, the venues, our stateroom, etc, complete with pictures.

Please continue to read below and thank you for your patience....