Wednesday a Precious Sea Day

This review is my own personal experience... if you would like more information about cruising check out my Facebook Fan Page Cruising-Princess-Cruiseline-with-Vickie where knowledgeable cruisers share their experiences.

 

the aft deck I sat out on to watch the Aqua show

 

 

Had another great sleep, slept in, nothing like sleeping at sea.  The rooms are very quiet, we never hear our neighbours.

 

We decide to try the dining room again.  We sit at a table of 8 and meet some very nice people.  Service today was much better and I had their feature item the Onion Quiche and it was very good.  Bernie had his usual, oatmeal, toast and tea and it all arrived hot and he is content.

 

Afterwards we head to Starbucks and pass thru the zumba class that Amy the Cruise Director is leading.  Lots of people attending, she is on a stage and it is easy to see her and follow her moves.  The class is an hour long and she played great and current music.  The only downside is it is right in the middle of the Promenade, the major thoroughfare and it causes a bottleneck trying to get around.

 

At 10:45 we attend the trivia game and team up with a nice couple from Seattle.  The game is held in Schooners and again it is very hard to hear the questions, and made even harder when the fountain below the rising tide bar starts it's performance and the music is played.  Please move the trivia venue to a quieter area (like On Air or Boleros) or don't play music when it is going on.  But in the end it didn't matter, we still sucked, but had a good time.

 

Not sure what we will do this afternoon.  So far relaxation is wining out.  I want to check out the Dreamworks Parade and head down to take some pictures.  The place is busy and I am enjoying the performance and getting right into it.... yes that was me signing along to the songs.  You never really grow up.

 

 

 

For lunch we want to try something new. We both love pizza and head to Sorrentos to try their pizza. When you arrive you have the option of an individual made to order pizza or you can choose from the already made pizzas. We opt for an individual made to order pizza each. It is about six inches in diameter. The wait to get them is about five minutes and they are served to us at our table.

 

 

 

 

However it is some of the worst pizza we have ever had. Very thick/dry crust, not enough sauce. We don't finish them. We then go and get a slice of the already made pizza hoping it may be better. But it tastes like frozen pizza (but I don't think it is), and actually it is really worse than frozen pizza. Neither of us finish the pizzas.

 

 

 

 

We head to the photo department (called Focus on deck 6) and pick up our embarkation photo along with our silver frame that we got for free from the Romance package. I am very impressed with how this ship handles the photos, you can view them on the screen and you can either alter them and change the background from the screen or you can go to your binder and pick the stocked photo there. Which we do.

 

 

Bernie and I decide to participate in the Flip Photo Scavenger Challenge.  Each team is given a small flip camera to record the activities from the list of things given to us.  One person records and the rest of the team performs the activity.  Each activity has a point value.  We are then given 20 minutes to run around the ship and accomplish these events.

Some of these activities include propose to a total stranger, dance in the glass elevator, have a nap in an odd place, play leap frog etc. ect. 

One of them was to sing "I Will Survive" to a total stranger.  I see two of the singers from Mo5aic at the Starbucks and I ask if I can bother them and sing to them and record it (best to explain why this crazy woman who can't sing is doing this).  I break out into song, Bernie records and they are very gracious and clap. 

When we all meet up they show the videos on the screen.  We ended up coming in first.  We win a RCI small camera case bag.  Prizes on RCI are very good, better than Princess, but then again I will never use this camera case thing and end up giving it away.

Back in the cabin and Bernie is reading but I head all the way aft to a small public area to catch the splish splash comedy show at the Aqua Theatre.  Very Well done, again the shows are top notch.  Here are some shots from the show. 

 

you can see the divers below the surface that assist the performers

 

 

Another nap!  Yup I am officially rested.

We made reservations earlier today for dinner tonight.  We got 8 pm, as that was the only time we could get unless we went at 5:15.  That is what we get for leaving it to the last minute.  It is our second formal night and we dress up.  There is a long queue for those with reservations and when we finally get to the hostess it is now 8:08, she asks if we will share and we say no as we made reservations for 2 because we wanted two.  She asks us to sit and wait as a table will be a few minutes.  We are sat at 8:15 in the middle area of the dining room. 

Their "my time dining" is something we love and we always choose "anytime dining" on Princess.  Things I am impressed with on Oasis is everything is electronic, you get to the hostess she asks for your cabin # and confirms if you have my time dining.  Princess I wish you would check and confirm that only those that have anytime are using the dining room.  Then the hostess prints out a chit and hands it to a hostess to sit us, that chit is given to the waiter and they know our name and any requests we may have.  All their ordering is down electronically and this also means Oasis knows exactly when we eat, what we ate, and how much we ate.  Downfall with Oasis is even with reservations we have to line up and it takes a long time, and even with reservations we have had to wait. 

Something we have noticed on both lines is even though it is formal night, the dress code is not enforced at all.  We witness a lot of people in jeans, t shirts, flip flops and yes this is Formal night.  But this is an occurrence on Princess too.  Now I have no problem if you want to dress casually, but I think you should eat elsewhere (like the buffet).  The rules for the dress code are there when you book, there are in the Compass/Patter, and sometimes even posted at the entrance to the dining room.  Just wish they would enforce it.  But that may just be me.

The table we are at has a great view of the entire dining room, but again since it is in the middle of the room it is very noisy.  A large table behind us is just about to finish up though, and the large one beside that is also finishing up and when they leave it is quieter and we can chat. 

We ordered a nice bottle of wine and an appetizer of mushrooms in puff pastry and they were very good.

Bernie got the Corn and Pepper soup, and he loved it.  I got the Caesar Salad and it was overly dressed in salad dressing that I didn't finish.  I think most would like it though as it seems that most like this much dressing, I prefer a lot less, and usually ask for it on the side.  I will know better next time.

We both ordered the seafood platter which was a plate with peas, carrots, potatoes, 5 shrimp and a lobster tail.  First thing that surprised me was the waiter came and removed the shell, but she picked up our fork and knife and used it to remove the shell.  She then put the shell on my bread plate and left it there.  A little odd, I am use to them coming and using their own utensils and then taking the shell away.  Oh well again not a big thing but odd.  The meal was definitely good but nothing special.

Bernie then ordered the souffle, he loves his souffles.  He thought it was not good at all, and compared to the other one he had on the first formal night that he loved.  I just go the cheese plate.

We didn't have anything reserved tonight but wanted to get out and walk around a bit so we went back to the cabin and changed and went exploring. 

We went all the way up to the sun deck and all the way forward then all the way back.  We checked out the spa and gym and it is very big.  Very nicely laid out with lots of cardio machines, weight area, aerobic area, and small sitting area for talks. 

We then went to the aft deck and played a game of mini golf.... what a great night.  Here are some shots of the course taken during the day.

 

I really don't think I would like a loft suite that looks down on the mini putt or the basketball court
 

We are back in the cabin and after flushing the toilet something has happened and water is pouring out like a pipe broke.  The water has filled the floor of the bathroom and we throw down some towels and moved a few of our lower stored items away.  There is a good drain and it is helping otherwise the whole cabin would of been flooded.

We call maintenance and after waiting about 10 minutes they show up and shut the water off and fix the problem within 10 minutes.  They then have to call housekeeping to get someone to come clean the floor as it is contaminated - it really is only fresh toilet water (thankfully) but we have no choice.  So here we are at midnight waiting for housekeeping.  They show up and clean it all up but they don't have any towels and all three of ours are soaked.  We will have to wait until tomorrow to get some new ones.  In all it took 40 minutes from the first call to the repair/clean.   In the end nothing else was done or said, a nice card of apology would of been good.  But it didn't ruin our night and these things happen.  We later learn that there were a few others that had the same problem during the trip.