Regal Princess fits the “everything’s bigger in Texas” adage. The 142,299-ton ship sits at its new homeport with grandeur as big as Teri Hatcher’s hair on “The Love Boat” (1985). 

The Love Boat Has Arrived in Galveston

Regal Princess arrived in Galveston on Nov. 5, 2023. It is the largest Princess Cruise ship ever to be based out of Texas. Regal Princess has already completed its first few of 21 voyages from Galveston, ranging from seven- to 12-days, visiting some of the world’s most captivating destinations in the Western Caribbean and Mexico, like Cozumel, Costa Maya and Roatan. Allow Regal Princess to bring comfort and joy to your holidays with special holiday savings over Christmas and New Years. 

Rodger Rees, Galveston Wharves port director and CEO, said, in a statement, “Regal Princess is expanding the array of attractive and enticing cruise vacation choices from Galveston, America’s fourth most popular homeport.” An anticipated 75,000 cruisers will sail aboard Regal Princess from Galveston between now and March 24. Here are reasons why your family and you may want to be among them.

Specialty Dining

You will never go hungry on board Regal Princess. You may fill your plate, bowl, and belly at any of the ship’s many dining options. At Horizon Court, you can serve yourself anything: healthy salads, charcuterie, chips and dips, hearty meals, and/or dessert (mmmm, vanilla millefeuille). At Gelato, you can grab a simple scoop of vanilla with marshmallows (my order), or stack several scoops as high as a tower with hot fudge, bananas, cookie crumbles, circle-circle-circles of whipped topping and a maraschino cherry on top. A premium drink package will give you full access to drinks (alcoholic or otherwise) and barista-crafted coffees. Foodies may especially enjoy the ship’s “specialty dining” options. Crown Grill serves fine cuts of beef and seafood, like buttery sea bass. I couldn’t get enough of Ocean Terrace’s fresh sushi and sashimi. My diet typically favors low-glycemic foods, so I had my doubts about dining at Sabatini’s Italian Trattoria. I’m so glad I did. It was “next level” fine dining! (Even the staff aboard Regal Princess rave about Sabatini’s. My stylist at The Lotus Spa, Romana- who gave me a haircut as viral-worthy as Rachel from “Friends”– said that Sabatini’s is her favorite restaurant to treat herself.)

At Sabatini’s Italian Trattoria, you can expect elevated food and elevated service. The house appetizer, arancini al tartufo, was sinfully good! It is a flash-fried ball of white rice, mozzarella cheese, and truffle oil, served with marinara sauce. The sauce tasted like it was cooked, slowly and artfully, by an Italian grandmother. 

The spaghetti was served with an Italian-seasoned meatball the size of a Christmas ornament. It enhanced the dish like an ornament to a tree. Our hospitable waiter, John, sprinkled grated parmesan cheese atop while singing “Let It Snow.” My kids devoured his entertainment as heartily as they did the pasta. 

Our dessert, Death by Chocolate, was a decadent glass of chocolate with a hollow chocolate ball that cracked with the tap of a spoon to reveal hazelnut mousse inside. There are good desserts (like what you eat at home); there are great desserts (like aforementioned gelato); and there’s this. This dessert is pure nirvana. If Death by Chocolate had lived up to its end-of-the-road name, put two words on my tombstone: worth it.

Regal Princess Takes the Crown for Cruising with Kids

Regal Princess is an optimal cruise ship choice if you’re traveling with children, but it’s for exactly the opposite of reasons you’d expect. Ships with Schlitterbahn-type water slides, go kart tracks, Merry Go-Rounds, and Disney characters beckon families, like a moth to a flame. For that reason, there is always a crowd (a big one). If you prefer personalized attention and small childcare class sizes, without sacrificing fun programming, Regal Princess comes out on top. 

My children colored hats and teddy bears, made maracas, created superhero masks and capes, played Mario Kart, had air hockey tournaments, and so much more. They had an absolute blast in Camp Discovery, the kids’ club aboard Regal Princess. There were only four dozen other children, tweens, and teens, total, aboard our ship, and those were divided among 3-7, 8-12, and 13-17 year old classes. The loving childcare workers gave each child the regal treatment. 

Most passengers aboard Regal Princess are in their golden years. These grandparents and grandparent-types delighted in the children aboard Regal Princess. Unlike kid mega-ships, where children can be overlooked by other passengers (namely, other parents, preoccupied with their own kids), passengers on the Regal Princess took genuine interest in the young humans aboard the ship. 

When my children played in any of the ship’s swimming pools, they knew the names of the other children in the pool with them. Regal Princess may be the Marie Kondo of kids’ cruises. But less is more for all of these reasons. If we were to cruise as a family again, my children would choose Princess Cruises. 

The X-Fitness Factor

A recent fitness partnership bound the most iconic premium cruise ship with the biggest thing in fitness.

In July 2022, Xponential Fitness CEO, Anthony Geisler, told Fitt Insider, “we believe that our unique portfolio of 10 fitness modalities will continue to make an impact on the boutique fitness market worldwide.” Those words came to life two months later when Princess Cruises signed an exclusive five-year licensing agreement with the largest global franchisor of boutique fitness brands. On Regal Princess, you can expect some or all market-leading Club Pilates, Pure Barre, YogaSix, CycleBar, Row House, AKT Dance, and StretchLab programming. Classes range from 30 to 60 minutes, and require a reasonable $30 fee. Lower your expectations from the swanky boutique studio with various-colored lights and connected technology at your home-based club. But effective fitness sessions with intelligent instructors, you’ll get that, swimmingly. 

Regal Princess boasts 19 decks and 1,400 ocean-view stateroom balconies. Make one of those staterooms yours (for seven- to 12-days). Book your cruise here.

Pro Tips

Fit Body Tip: Pack in a rucksack. Rucking (loading weight into a backpack and walking) is a rapidly growing fitness trend- one that many exercisers consider an alternative to running that’s kinder on the knees. 

There are 19 decks on Regal Princess, and most passengers will not climb stairs. To cut out the needless wait for an elevator, take the path less traveled. Ruck the stairwells.

According to Michael Easter, New York Times’ best-selling author of The Comfort Crisis and Scarcity Brain, only 2% of people will take the stairs, if given an elevator or escalator option. Easter wears apparel, encouraging people to “be a two-percenter.” I am a two-percenter. My children are two-percenters. I write these words so that you, too, may become a two-percenter, and, ultimately, we aggrandize the statistic! 

By taking the stairs and adding a rucksack, you not only move your luggage efficiently, but you up the ante of your strength and cardio workout.

Fit Family Tip: Nowadays, every mother has a camera phone. (“Mamarazzi” is a fictitious word, but the shoe fits.) Family photos, snapped with an iPhone, are ubiquitous. But high quality, professional shots very rarely happen. It’s just hard to get kids dressed, find a location, hire a photographer, and get dinner prepared while at home. On the ship, three of the four tasks are handled for you. All you have to do is get the family dressed. From there, professional photographers, like Candi who took this photograph, will pose your party in a smart, stylish, unstuffy fashion and deliver family photographs that you’ll cherish for the rest of your life.

Fit Foodie Tip: There are more food and beverage options aboard a cruise ship than anywhere else in the world. Careful planning ahead of time is the way to stay in ship shape, and not get into the shape of the ship. I instruct personal training clients to “play the tape forward.” In other words, think about how your future self will feel because of the decisions you make. Horizon Court, the Regal Princess’s buffet, is a monstrosity. Plan on taking a sightseeing trip every time you visit the buffet, no plates allowed. Next, pause and take time to think about what you saw and what appeals to you the most. Do a mental checklist to be sure that your selections include fiber and protein. Decide if you will allow yourself dessert afterward or not and adjust your portion size accordingly. Then, take one plate and get the food you mentally selected in the amount you allotted. One trip with one plate through the buffet and done. 

Do the same thing for drinks. If you have a premium drink package, even though it’s permissible to drink 15 pina coladas in a day, it doesn’t mean that’s beneficial for you. Plan ahead to know what you will drink and when. Having a plan helps you to stay healthy and well, living life to the fullest while aboard the ship.

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Cover photo courtesy Princess Cruises

Brook Benten is an exercise physiologist and wellness spokesperson in Austin, TX. Her next book, Sweat with Brook Benten, will be published on January 15, 2024. Hang out with Brook on her “More Than Sweat” podcast, workout videos, and blog at BrookBenten.com.