Regal Princess Eastern Caribbean Cruise Review – Day 2

Day 2 aboard Regal Princess, and today we’re visiting Princess Cays in the Bahamas.

And before we get into the tender process, what there is to do once you get ashore, and how the day actually went, we need to clear up one thing that gets repeated all the time: Princess Cays is not a private island.

It’s a private destination located on the southern end of Eleuthera, a long, narrow island in the Bahamas that stretches roughly 100 miles from north to south and is only about two miles wide in places. Princess Cays takes up more than 30 acres along the southern shoreline and includes about a mile and a half of beachfront.

Princess has been bringing passengers here since 1992, which means Princess Cays has been around a lot longer than the current crop of cruise line private destinations that seem to be popping up everywhere these days. Back then, the idea was pretty simple: carve out a private area for cruise passengers, give them a beach, and call it day. No massive waterparks, no giant lagoons, no mile-long list of upcharges and no need to build something that looks like a theme park with palm trees.

And for the most part, Princess Cays has stayed that way.

That’s especially interesting considering what Carnival Corporation, parent company of Princess, has been doing elsewhere in the Bahamas. Holland America’s longtime private destination, Half Moon Cay, has been expanded and given the ridiculous new name RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay, with Carnival Cruise Line becoming a much bigger part of the picture and a new pier added so Carnival’s larger ships can dock there.

Then there’s Celebration Key, Carnival Cruise Line’s huge new destination on Grand Bahama Island near Freeport, which is very much the new-school version of a cruise line private destination: big and designed to handle a whole lot of passengers and a whole lot of spending.

So far, though, Princess Cays has escaped all of that.

Carnival Corporation hasn’t tried to turn it into “Carnival Princess Celebration Cays at Eleuthera presented by Guy Fieri” or whatever crazy name the marketing department could come up with. It’s still Princess Cays and there hasn’t been a major push to reinvent it.

Whether that remains the case is another question.

Private destinations have become a huge part of the cruise business, and Carnival Corporation has clearly shown it isn’t afraid to invest heavily in them. Princess Cays is now more than 30 years old and still relies on tender boats to get passengers ashore, so you have to wonder whether at some point somebody in a boardroom is going to look at that 30-acre piece of Eleuthera and start drawing up plans.

For now, though, it remains pretty much the Princess Cays cruisers have known for decades.

And Princess isn’t alone on this part of Eleuthera anymore.

Just a short distance away is Disney Cruise Line’s Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point, which opened in June 2024. It’s located on the same southern end of Eleuthera, and today Disney Fantasy was visiting while we were anchored at Princess Cays.

So yes, another cruise line is literally right around the corner.

There’s one very noticeable difference between the two destinations, though: Disney built a pier.

And it is a long pier.

Take one look at a photo of Disney Fantasy docked there and you can see just how far passengers have to walk before they’re technically “ashore.” Disney avoided building a traditional dredged harbor, which meant extending the pier well out into deeper water. The result is no tender boats, but you’re definitely getting your steps in before the beach day even starts.

Princess Cays takes the old-fashioned approach. Ships anchors offshore and passengers are brought back and forth on water shuttles, or tender boats as most of us still call them.

And that brings us to this morning, because before anyone could start enjoying Princess Cays, a few thousand people first had to figure out how to get off the ship.

Princess Cays Tender Process

Like every cruise line visiting a destination that requires a tender, Princess has a process in place to try to avoid mass chaos at the gangway.

Sometimes those systems work beautifully.

Sometimes they absolutely do not.

This morning, Regal Princess anchored off the coast of Eleuthera around 8:30 a.m. and the first order of business was getting supplies and crew ashore before passenger tender operations began.

Guests with shore excursions and those with Princess Elite status were given priority and assigned meeting locations. Everyone else had to wait until 9:00 a.m., when tender tickets became available at the Photo Gallery.

The process is pretty simple. You pick up a numbered ticket, wait somewhere around the ship, and listen for your number to be called.

Tender operations started moving around 9:30 a.m. with the first groups heading ashore. I made my way down around 10:15 a.m. and was handed tender ticket number 24.

Almost immediately, number 24 was called.

Not bad at all.

In fact, there was pretty much no waiting.

Of course, once your number is called, you and a couple hundred of your newest friends all start heading toward the embarkation deck at the same time.

The tender boats are then loaded with passengers until just about every available square inch of seating is occupied. It’s a true lesson in efficiency.

Princess notes that guests using wheelchairs and mobility scooters can’t be accommodated on the tenders, while those with mobility limitations may still be able to use them.

And this is where I have to stop for a moment because I see this far too often at tender ports.

People sometimes underestimate what getting onto one of these boats actually involves.

You’re stepping from a large ship sitting at anchor onto a much smaller vessel that is bobbing and moving with the waves. The gangway is moving. The tender is moving. You’re moving.

That can be challenging even for someone without mobility issues.

Over the years, I’ve seen people slip, stumble, freeze up and push themselves way beyond what they probably should have attempted.

This morning was another reminder.

As I sat on the tender, an elderly woman approached the gangway using two canes. She was very unsure of her footing, stopping and starting as she tried to make her way from the ship to the tender. A crew member eventually stepped in to help.

At one point, the people sitting next to me actually gasped and said, “Oh my God, she’s going to fall.”

Thankfully, she didn’t.

She eventually made it onboard.

But the takeaway here is simple: know your limits.

If you have mobility issues and you can’t safely walk without assistance on a moving gangway, seriously consider sitting this one out.

A beach day isn’t worth a broken hip or a very expensive medical bill.

Once everyone was packed onboard, the ride itself was short. It took less than ten minutes to reach the harbor at Princess Cays, where we all filed off and headed ashore.

Tendering isn’t necessarily the most enjoyable part of cruising, but it’s sometimes the price you pay for visiting places where large ships simply can’t dock.

And I wouldn’t automatically write off a port just because it requires a tender.

When I sailed on Explora I last December, we visited several tender ports, including some fantastic places that simply weren’t built to handle large cruise ships at a pier.

Sometimes those smaller, more difficult-to-reach ports end up being the hidden gems of the trip.

Which Way Do You Go at Princess Cays?

Once you’re ashore at Princess Cays, the layout is pretty easy to figure out.

When you get off the tender, you essentially have two choices.

Go left if you want the main action.

Go right if you want something quieter.

Heading left takes you into the primary Princess Cays area. You’ll first pass shops and merchandise stalls operated both by Princess and local vendors.

Purchases made at the Princess-operated shops can be charged to your shipboard account, while the local vendors selling souvenirs, crafts, hair braiding and similar items are cash only. And one important thing to remember: there is no ATM ashore.

This is also where most of the activity is concentrated, including the larger beach area, food service, bars, clamshell rentals and the private air-conditioned bungalows.

So if you want to be near everything, go left.

If you want something a little quieter, head right.

You’ll go up a few stairs, cross a bridge and eventually reach the smaller Serenity Beach area.

This side is much more laid back.

There’s a smaller beach setup, a bar, a smaller barbecue area and room to swim or snorkel without being right in the middle of the busiest part of Princess Cays.

Don’t expect rows and rows of lounge chairs over here. It’s a much smaller section of the property, and that’s really part of the appeal.

The main side is where most people end up.

Serenity Beach is where you go when you don’t necessarily want to be around most people, like me.

Now, let’s talk about what you can actually do here, because Princess Cays is more than just finding a chair and staring at the water.

Shore Excursions at Princess Cays

If sitting in a beach chair all day isn’t your thing, Princess Cays has a pretty good selection of activities, and they fall into two very different categories.

You can stay right at Princess Cays and do something in or around the water, or you can leave the resort area entirely and head out to see more of Eleuthera.

Things You Can Do Without Leaving Princess Cays

Most of the excursions offered are really more activities and rentals than traditional “get on a bus and go somewhere” excursions.

There were plenty of ways to get out on the water, including one- and two-person ocean kayaks, stand-up paddleboards, paddle wheelers and Hobie Wave sailboats. Rentals generally ran about an hour, with prices ranging from $19.95 for a single kayak up to $59.95 for a Hobie Wave sailboat that can accommodate up to three people.

If you’re more interested in what’s under the water, Princess offers snorkeling equipment rentals for $19.95 as well as a guided snorkeling excursion for experienced snorkelers. There was also a Stingray Beach Encounter.

For those of us who prefer to see marine life without actually having to become part of it, there was a Glass-Bottom Boat Cruise for $54.95 and a Princess Cays Coastal Cruise for $44.95. Both take you out on the water but still keep you relatively close to the resort.

There’s also a clear-bottom kayaking adventure through the lagoon, surf fishing, and an Island Bike Adventure. So if your idea of a relaxing beach day involves paddling, pedaling, fishing or sweating, Princess has you covered.

Then there are the less strenuous options.

You can rent a clamshell, beach umbrella, daybed or private bungalow and call that your excursion. Honestly, sometimes that’s the better choice.  I tried to rent a bungalow, but they were all sold out.  Since they are in limited supply, if you’re dead set on having one for the day, don’t wait till the last minute to book one.  Book early!

On this sailing, a beach clamshell for two was $44.95, a full-day umbrella was $34.95, a daybed for two was $149.95 and a private bungalow for up to four people was $254.95.

And if you really want to keep things simple, there are also floats, aqua chairs, noodles and snorkel vests available for rent.

Getting Out and Seeing Eleuthera

Here’s the part people sometimes forget about Princess Cays.

You’re not trapped inside a private island.

Because Princess Cays is actually located on Eleuthera, there are excursions that take you beyond the Princess resort and out into the surrounding island.

Princess offers an excursion to Rock Sound, one of the larger communities in southern Eleuthera, but it’s important to note that a visit can only be done via a Princess excursion you can’t do it yourself by taxi.

One of the bigger attractions is Ocean Hole, a large saltwater hole that is believed to connect to the ocean through underground passages. Supposedly it’s 600 feet deep, a bit too freaky for me.

Other tours take you to places such as Tarpum Bay, a small 19th-century fishing village, and the Leon Levy Native Plant Preserve, where you’ll find walking trails, native plants and gardens. Princess also lists dune buggy tours along the island’s back roads with stops at pink-sand beaches.

No.  There is no excursion over to Disney’s Lookout Cay!

So if getting off the Princess property and seeing more of Eleuthera is something you want to do, check the excursion list for your cruise before you board, as these things do change based on the time of year and tour operators they contract out to.

And if you’ve already done the beach thing here a few times, getting out and seeing some of the island may be the better way to spend the day.

My Day at Princess Cays

Once I was ashore, I spent a little time wandering around the main area, checking out the shops and getting the lay of the land.

The merchandise is pretty much what you’d expect at a cruise line private destination. T-shirts, hats, beach bags, magnets, Christmas ornaments and the usual assortment of “I was here” souvenirs. If you really want to bring home a Princess Cays magnet, you’ll have no problem dropping a few bucks on one.

The local vendors are easy to distinguish from the Princess-operated shops. The local merchants are set up in small kiosks lining the walkway toward the main beach and sell handicrafts, souvenirs, hair braiding and other items.

The main beach was definitely busy by the time I got there, but there were still plenty of lounge chairs available. Where there weren’t plenty of openings were the bars.

Every bar I passed had a line.

Sometimes a pretty good one.

At one point I heard a bartender tell a guest, “This is a new menu and we’re all learning it.” Whether that was actually the reason for the waits or just something you say when you’ve got 25 thirsty cruisers staring at you, I have no idea, but you can see the current Princess Cays bar menu below.

There is one thing Princess absolutely gets right here, though.

Your beverage package works on Princess Cays.

If you have Princess Plus, Princess Premier or another qualifying beverage package, you can use it ashore just like you would onboard the ship.

That may sound like something that should be obvious, but it isn’t.

At other Carnival Corporation destinations such as Half Moon Cay and Celebration Key, your onboard beverage package generally doesn’t follow you ashore, meaning those drinks become another separate expense. At Princess Cays, Princess treats the destination much more like an extension of the ship, and I definitely prefer that approach.

The same goes for Wi-Fi.

If your package includes MedallionNet, Wi-Fi is available throughout Princess Cays. I’ve used Wi-Fi on MSC’s Ocean Cay before and found getting a usable signal around the island to be hit or miss at best. Here, I had no problem staying connected pretty much everywhere I wandered.

And because we’re not actually on some remote private island in the middle of nowhere, remember that Eleuthera is a populated island, so cell service was also strong.

As the week goes on, I’ll get more into Princess Plus, Princess Premier and whether these packages are actually worth the money, but having both drinks and Wi-Fi carry over to Princess Cays is definitely a point in their favor.

After walking around the main beach for a while, I headed back toward the quieter side of Princess Cays.

And this is where I ended up having the best part of my day.

I kept walking toward the far end, past most of the chairs and crowds, until there really wasn’t much of anything except shoreline, water and nature.

Perfect.

I headed into the crystal-clear water and pretty much stayed there for the next few hours.

There were other people around, but if I had to guess, there were fewer than 50 people in that entire area. Compared with the main beach, it felt almost deserted.

It was one of those rare cruise private-destination moments where you can actually convince yourself you’ve found your own little private beach.

Just you, clear Bahamian water and a pretty nice view of Regal Princess sitting offshore.

There is one important thing to know if you head over this way: the bottom is rocky in spots and there’s coral, so watch where you step. This isn’t one of those perfectly groomed sandy-bottom swimming areas where you can blindly run into the water. Water shoes wouldn’t be a bad idea.

There also wasn’t a lifeguard in the area where I was swimming, so that’s something else to keep in mind.

But if you’re looking for a quiet place to get away from the busier side of Princess Cays and just chill for a while, this is absolutely where I’d head on a future visit.

Don’t Forget to Wander

Before heading back to the ship, I did a little more wandering around the property and found a few of the quirky little things you’d completely miss if your Princess Cays routine is simply tender, beach chair, buffet, tender.

There are little decorations and odd things left around by visitors and locals that range from cute to strange to surprisingly beautiful.

Nothing that’s going to make a “Top 10 Things You Must See Before You Die” list, but that’s kind of the point.

Sometimes the fun part of exploring a place like this is wandering down a path you weren’t planning on taking and finding something you didn’t know was there.

So don’t just grab the first lounge chair you see and stay planted in it for five hours.

Walk around a little.

You never know what you’ll find.

And yes, if all that wandering and swimming makes you hungry, Princess provides a complimentary barbecue lunch ashore. The main food area serves the usual private-island fare such as burgers, hot dogs, chicken, salads and cookies, and there’s also a smaller barbecue setup on the quieter side.

The Tender Ride Back

The final tender back to Regal Princess was scheduled for 3:00 p.m., and I had absolutely no desire to be part of the last-minute rush, so I started heading back around 1:30.

Getting back onboard is straightforward. You head toward the security area, go through the metal detector, scan your Medallion and board the next tender.

And this is where tendering goes from:

“Woohoo! We’re going ashore!”

to:

“OH MY GOD, CAN WE PLEASE LEAVE?”

You’ve just spent several hours baking in the Bahamian sun.

You’re hot.

You’re tired.

Maybe you just stood in line for ten minutes to get one last beer and you’re already a little cranky.

The kids are screaming that they’re starving even though 20 minutes earlier they were attacking hot dogs at the buffet like a pack of hungry wolves.

And now you’re sitting on a tender boat in the sun while someone keeps yelling:

“Move down! Fill in all the available space!”

So everyone scoots a little closer.

Then more people get on.

You scoot again.

More people.

A little closer to the stranger next to you.

And suddenly you’re sharing a bench with somebody who smells like an unfortunate combination of body odor, saltwater and Hawaiian Tropic.

Just when you’re convinced there is absolutely no possible way another human being can fit on the boat…

Here come six more.

Eventually the tender finally pulls away and makes the short ride back to the ship.

Then something magical happens.

The second the boat is tied up and the gangway is put into place, any concept of manners, patience, lines, women and children first, or basic human civilization disappears.

It’s like someone yelled, “ABANDON SHIP!”

People stand up.

People start squeezing into the aisle.

Someone inevitably tries to get around everyone even though we’re all getting off through the exact same opening.

Everybody suddenly needs to be the first person back aboard.

The tender ride ashore has a little bit of excitement to it because you’re starting your day.

The tender ride back?

That one has a very different energy.

And it definitely brings out the best in absolutely no one.

With the last tender back, everyone accounted for and all the supplies loaded back onboard, Regal Princess pulled away from Princess Cays a little before 4:00 p.m. and headed back out to sea.

Princess Cruises Dress Code

Tonight was another casual evening onboard, which is probably a good time to talk a little about Princess’ dress code.

Princess has casual nights where you’ll see pretty much everything. Shorts, polos, sundresses, business casual, jeans, whatever. Then there are formal nights, where tuxedos and suits are suggested for men and cocktail dresses or evening gowns for women. There are also “dress to impress” evenings that land somewhere between casual and formal.

The important part is that taking part is really up to you.

If you don’t feel like packing a tuxedo or ball gown, nobody is going to drag you away from dinner or tell you that you can’t have dinner in the steakhouse because you’re wearing shorts.  Some will clutch their pearls when you walk in, but you do you. You’ll see plenty of people dressed up, plenty who aren’t, and everything in between.

Along with casual night, tonight’s theme in the Piazza was disco and 70s music, so there was plenty going on there later in the evening.

But first, dinner.

For those choosing the main dining room tonight, here’s a look at what was being served.

A Few Drinks Before Dinner

I started the evening back at the Wheelhouse Bar, which sits right outside Crown Grill, for a few pre-dinner cocktails.

And I’m going to be blunt here: I’m having a hard time figuring out the bar staffing situation on this ship.

Earlier the bars at Princess Cays had lines pretty much all day, and tonight Wheelhouse was another example of a bar that simply didn’t appear to have enough people working it.

This isn’t just a lounge bar.

It also serves Crown Grill, handles drinks for guests sitting in the lounge area, serves those sitting directly at the bar, and acts as a walk-up bar for anyone passing by who decides they want a cocktail, beer or bottle of water.

That’s a lot of traffic.

When I arrived, there were three bartenders working and I got my first drink fairly quickly.

Then one of them went on break.

And things went sideways fast.

Bar servers were waiting for drinks for guests sitting in the lounge. Restaurant servers were looking for drinks for their Crown Grill tables. Those of us sitting at the bar weren’t getting another round. Meanwhile, people continued walking up and forming a line.

The two remaining bartenders were doing the best they could, but they desperately needed help.

Unfortunately, that was going to become a theme for the rest of the evening.

Dinner at Crown Grill on Regal Princess

While sitting at the bar, I checked the Princess app to see if Crown Grill happened to have any reservations available.

Sure enough, there was an 8:00 p.m. opening.

I grabbed it.

When 8:00 rolled around, however, there was already a line of people waiting to check in that was at least 10 couples deep.

Rather than stand there immediately, I stayed at the bar and waited until the end of the line eventually made its way down to where I was sitting.

By then, it was around 8:15.

When I finally reached the host stand, they couldn’t find my reservation.

Apparently, the restaurant prints its reservation list earlier in the day.

So if you make a reservation after that list is printed?

Your name may not be on it.

But it’s there.

Somewhere.

For a cruise line built around Medallion technology, where the ship can figure out who I am when I walk up to my stateroom door and a bartender’s handheld can know my name before I even sit down, relying on a printed reservation sheet seems… a little strange.

The host wrote my name onto the paper list and went to find me a table that needed to be cleared and reset.

Eventually I was seated.

A server came over and asked whether I wanted sparkling or still water.

“Sparkling.”

Then my actual server arrived, introduced himself, looked at the table and said, “You don’t have a menu?”

Nope.

So he went to find one and returned with the menu, bread and butter.

And here’s an important side note before we go any further:

Do not pass on the bread.

It was fantastic.

The original server who had asked about my water came back about 15 minutes later and told me the bar was really busy and my water was coming.

At this point I had to ask:

“Fifteen minutes for a can of water?”

That eventually brought the manager, Dion, over to the table.

He apologized, explained once again that the bar was extremely busy, brought me the water himself and also delivered another cocktail, telling me, “I made it myself so you wouldn’t have to wait.”

I appreciated that.

But service was definitely not getting off to a great start.

For my starter, I ordered the beef tartare.

Flavor-wise, it was excellent.

The only strange part was that it came with just a tiny sliver of toast, so this was definitely going to be more of a knife-and-fork tartare than something you could scoop onto toast.

Except…

I didn’t have any silverware.

Another strike.

Eventually that got sorted out, and I moved on to the wedge salad.

There isn’t much to say about a wedge salad other than this: if a steakhouse manages to screw up iceberg lettuce, bacon and blue cheese, just turn off the lights and lock the doors.

Thankfully, Crown Grill did not.

For my main course, I went with the $20 upcharge dry-aged strip loin from Nolan Ryan Beef.

And yes, that Nolan Ryan.

Turns out the Hall of Fame pitcher didn’t suddenly decide after baseball that cattle sounded fun. Ryan  has been a professional cattle rancher for more than 45 years and that the cattle business was his first passion. His beef brand now supplies Texas-raised beef to Princess for the Crown Grill.

I ordered the strip loin medium, and it came out exactly that way.

Perfectly cooked.

I had it with mushrooms and a loaded baked potato, and Crown Grill also lets you choose from several different salts to accompany the steak.

Food-wise, there really wasn’t much to complain about. My server was apologetic and accommodating, which I appreciate considering the hand he was dealt.

But the overall service?

That was another story.

What Happened to Steakhouse Service?  Seriously!

Crown Grill is $55 per person.

At that price point, and especially for what is supposed to be Princess’ signature steakhouse, I expect the service to match the food.

Tonight it simply didn’t.

• There was the huge check-in line.
• The missing reservation.
• The wait for a table.
• No menu.
• Fifteen minutes for a can of water.
• No silverware.
• A bar so overwhelmed that the restaurant manager was making cocktails himself just to get drinks to guests.

Any one of those things by itself wouldn’t bother me much.

Put them all together during one dinner and you start wondering what exactly is going on.

That’s especially true because the steakhouse is traditionally one of the places where cruise lines really shine when it comes to service.

Whether I’m at Pinnacle Grill on Holland America, Fahrenheit 555 on Carnival, Butcher’s Cut on MSC or Chops Grille on Royal Caribbean, service is generally one of the reasons you pay extra to eat there.

Tonight at Crown Grill, the food lived up to that expectation.

The service absolutely did not.

I was genuinely sitting there wondering what the heck was going on.

At that point, I decided not to press my luck with dessert.

I also went into the Princess app and canceled the reservation I had already made to return to Crown Grill later in the cruise.

Maybe tonight was just a bad night.

Whatever the reason, $55-a-person specialty dining experience shouldn’t feel this disorganized.

70s Night in the Piazza

After dinner, I spent a little time wandering around the ship waiting for the 70s disco entertainment to get started in the Piazza.

And once it did, my people-watching expectations for the night were more than exceeded.

The DJ got people out on the dance floor pretty quickly, and the crowd ranged from people in their 20s all the way up into their 80s. Nobody seemed to care how old they were, whether they actually knew how to dance, or if the person next to them was doing something that only kinda somewhat resembled dancing.

Everyone was just having a genuinely good time.

There’s something about 70s disco music that just sets the mood. Even if you were born in a year that starts with a 2, you probably know half the songs anyway, and once the music gets going it doesn’t take long before people start moving.

The Piazza was packed, the dance floor stayed busy, and it was easily one of the most entertaining parts of the evening.

After that, I took a quick walk around the upper outside decks, enjoyed the night air for a bit, and called it a night.

We’re currently sailing toward our next port of call, San Juan.

More from Regal Princess tomorrow, and as always, thanks for following along.

Regal Princess Daily Planner – Day 2

Regal Princess Cruise Review By Day