It’s always fun to step onto a new ship and discover its décor, its dining and entertainment spots, its places to go to be with people and its places to go to be alone.

The Regal Princess has plenty of everything.

The décor is lovely and subdued – warm woods, glistening marble, sparkling crystal, gleaming brass, bunches of windows, plenty of glass and light. The feeling is very open and airy. The Regal Princess certainly lives up to her elegant name.

The heart of the ship is the glittering three-deck-tall atrium called the Piazza. That’s right – three ship decks for a glorious gathering spot.

The Piazza has waterfalls, lighted spiral staircases, theatrical balconies, bars, dining places, ship services, shops, and a huge chandelier twinkling overhead with sparkly fish.

Of course, these aren’t real fish. They are blown-glass fish swimming up and down the lighted columns of the three-deck-tall atrium.

The Italian-styled Piazza is where much of the entertainment will take place, where folks can sit to enjoy drinks and snacks and where passengers can show off their smooth dance moves on the circular floor. A glass-enclosed elevator glides up and down to give a birds-eye view of the plaza.

Christened on May 11, 2014, the Regal Princess can carry 4,222 passengers and 1,378 crew members. Our Caribbean cruise has 3,291 passengers and 1,315 crew members.

While I was on the upper deck, I took photos of that unusual SeaWalk that juts out from the Lido Deck. The architectural marvel is a 60-foot-long enclosed glass hallway that extends out over the side of the ship.

The enclosed SkyWalk is open day and night so passengers can watch the ocean glide by 128 feet below them. It is a strange stomach-churning feeling to walk on that cantilevered glass walkway and see the ocean 16 decks below.

I saw passengers stroll out on the SeaWalk, bend over and wave to someone below who was taking a pic of them. Then the people on the SeaWalk would snap a photo of the person waving below. Oh, the things we do to entertain ourselves.

I can already tell there is going to be no shortage of entertainment on this wonderful Regal Princess cruise.

 

Photo and Story by Jackie Sheckler Finch