I meet up with Bernie in Crooners for a pre dinner drink and passengers come and go. The Motor City show is just letting out and second show is just about to begin. It is Rock and Roll night too in the Vista Lounge.
Dinner for us is 8 pm in Botticelli Dining room and when we arrive both Mark and Giovanni are waiting for us. It has only been two nights but we have missed them both.
Their sections and those around them are full, but ironically many of the sections elsewhere are empty again. We notice many waiters and assistant waiters from other sections are helping Mark and Giovanni out serving water, pouring wines, clearing plates, getting them dishes, etc. This is impressive and it is noted by us and trust me we know this doesn’t always happen.
The table beside us is celebrating an anniversary and Mark serenades them for the occasion. Everyone loves him and we see why.
Dinner tonight is the Chef’s dinner and we have to say that it was not the best. I start with the shrimp cocktail and the shrimp are mushy, they have been sitting in liquid for too long I am guessing.
Then I have the fettuccini Alfredo in the Parmesan bowl. I notice the parmesan bowl has tons of chopped chives in it and it really adds to the flavor and I enjoy that but the Alfredo sauce is really runny and not very flavourful and after two bites I just leave it.
For my entrée I had the scallops and the sauce is very very good but the scallops are smaller than normal, but I do think that is an issue beyond Princess’ control. The sliced potato served with the dish is raw, not sure what happened there. But I see some French fries on another table and ask if I can get some and Giovanni rushes off and returns with a plate of fries.
We decide to enjoy the rest of our wine with some cheese and savor the evening. We chat with many of the waiters/assistant waiters and head waiters who come by. So many familiar faces and such a great group.
As many of you know we are not Traditional Dining types. We don’t like to be set to a schedule when on board and like to go more with the flow. Dinner here is just not our thing. We found we were constantly watching our watch checking the time to ensure we weren’t late (too much like work).
Our table was lovely but found with everyone showing up at the same time the waiters were slammed and run off their feet at first. We noticed sadly people showing up very very late, one woman who was a solo diner showed up at 8:30 and another table didn’t show up until 8:40.
Dinner always took at minimum 2 hours and the noise levels were out of this world. We felt often that we couldn't even carry on a conversation. Because everyone arrives at the same time and are eating around the same time that conversation levels rose and fell depending on food courses.
So in the end we know that we are better suited to Anytime dining where we can be less set on a time and it feels more like a restaurant at home where people are dining at various times and conversation (although can also get noisy) varies more.
This is our last night at Mark’s table because tomorrow we are at the Crown Grill, then next night we are at Sabatinis then we are in Victoria for dinner. We are going to see Mark and Giovanni and a few others in Victoria for lunch, where we will take them to a Filipino restaurant.
We don’t get out of the dining room until 10:30 and wander along the Promenade. It is rather quiet. I think many people are tired and have gone to bed early. We wander back in the perfume shop to talk with Henishia, and buy a few more items. She arranges to delete our old bill and then ring everything up on a new bill so we get the added discount cause we are spending more. Great service and we are very happy.
We are back in the cabin at 11 pm and we are both looking forward to a good night’s sleep. The Captain has warned us all that there will be a lot of movement throughout the night and he didn’t disappoint. The ship was a rocking all night long.
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