Monday Evening - Dinner at Share

Tonight we are dining at Share.  Our reservation is for 7 and we start with a drink in Skywalker's Elite Lounge.

I order a Cosmo and notice they have the menu cards on the table.  This is a good idea because normally we can order any of the drinks from the elite menu but since this is a 7 day voyage there are a few less choices.  Last week I ordered a mojito and was charged full price. Normallly this is one of the choices (or at least on a longer voyage) but not on a 7 day voyage.  So take note.

We are sat at a table that is well I think way too big for 2, but great for 4 or 6.  Our waiter introduces himself - sorry I forgot his name but he is from Serbia.  He explained the menu to us and we asked for a wine suggestion and he had a great suggestion.

We had brought up one of the coupons from the coupon book that gives you 15% off a bottle of wine when you order one in a specialty restaurant.  Problem is later we notice it was not put thru.  We are working on getting the Purser's staff to correct it.

I purposely did not bring my camera and just wanted to enjoy the meal and the company so I am not going to report on each item but rest assured it was amazing.

I absolutely loved the salad.  The poached lobster was amazing but very rich.  I had the mushroom ragout that was also amazing and very flavourful and couldn't finish because I was getting full and wanted to save room for dessert.

The dessert was the cheesecake that again was so yummy! 

We left very full and happy.

We then attended the Once Upon a Dream Show - which we have no seen in years.  Really enjoyed it and especially enjoyed chatting with this lovely lady (Betty) beside me who is in her 80s and told me she marched in the Women's March.  So impressive! 

Later when we got back to the cabin we had officially received our invite to the Most Travelled Party which is Wednesday night.

I then checked our on board account and noticed that we did not receive the discount for the wine and we were charged twice for the Share Cover Charge. 

First thing in the morning Bernie goes down to get it fixed.  Removing the extra Share Charge was not an issue.  But getting the 15% discount was an issue and we have to check back later.  So if you are going to use one of the coupons double check that it is processed.

Sunday – First Sea Day

It was so nice to sleep in today. With an hour forward we wake at 9:30 (really 8:30) and just relax and watch the Wake Show and take our time getting ready.

Bernie does head up to the Horizon Court (HC) for a light breakfast and it is very busy he says. Hard to find a seat and when he asks a woman at a table for four with only herself if he could sit there she said the seats were all taken.  

Sadly he sits right beside her and only her spouse showed up and the other two seats stayed empty. I guess people are afraid, inconsiderate or just uneasy. But cruising is really about being on a ship and interacting. Take some time to get to know your fellow guests you just never know who you might meet.

We finally leave the cabin around 11 am and the Atrium is very busy – they are doing the raffle draw from embarkation but as soon as that is done it quiets down. 

But we take seats in Crooners and read and do crosswords.

They are doing a Curtis Stone Restaurant Open house and I really want to check it out. 

Sure looks good, so we make reservations for Thursday for the two of us.

It is now just after 1 pm and we are hungry so we head to Da Vinci for lunch.  Again we ask for a table for two and had to wait only a few minutes. 

Lunch was very good and our server Caesar from Peru excellent.  I started with the Thai soup and then the Philly Cheese Steak sandwich, for which I could only eat half of.

After lunch we wander around a bit but end up sitting in Vines reading and chatting with friends who stop by.

We happen to see Lisa Ball go by and got to say hi to her. So lovely to see her again.

We check in with the Captain Circle Host – I believe her name is Collena from North Vancouver.  Beautiful young woman and we love chatting about Vancouver.  We find out we are number 19 out of the top 40. This voyage will have a cocktail party for the Most Travelled Party on the night of Mazatlán. 

The next night is the Captain Circle Party.

The Dining Room opens at 5:30 on deck 5 and they are lined up past the IC by 5:10.  Thankfully we eat later. But tonight we are heading to the HC as they have an Indian section tonight and we love Indian.

Second Sea Day

Today is the official Cruise Critic Meet and Greet.  The roll call was very busy and lots of people participate and volunteered. It was held at 10 am in Club 6 but silly me thought it was 10:30.  No officers attended but don't think many were invited.  I know Michael the HGM was not invited as he said to me if he would of received an invite he would of ensured his whole team was there.

Weather is a little nicer today so more people are outside.

For lunch I decide to get room service delivered to the cabin and just relax. But I am on hold for 10 minutes at 11:45. Again less crew is affects the service. I know Princess is trying to save money but it is noticeable. They need more staff and one to answer the bell box within a few minutes would be nice.

I forgot to mention that last night we approached the Crown Grill hostess station and Bernie asked about making a reservation for tomorrow. The woman stated they only had two seatings (5:30 and 9). Weird we have never heard this before. He tried to clarify "is this just the only times available this night or is this an ongoing thing". She clearly stated that Crown Grill only sits people at 5:30 and at 9. Okay and since neither time works he walks away a little flustered. 

When he explains to me what has just happened. I tell him "try again tomorrow by calling the dine line".  Which he does today and he has no problem getting a reservation for tonight. He is offered a whole range of times and we agree on an 8 pm reservation. 

So not sure why we got two different answers but this is not uncommon on board. So if you get one answer check again you could get a different answer. But what really concerns me is those who are new to Princess. What would they take away from this happening to them. They may not question it but be frustrated. This is an area that I would like to see Princess improve. Again I would love to see them implement an online reservation you could do once on board with the Princess at Sea App.

Duck tape works all the time!

I should bring you up to date on the issue of the overhead light that kept flashing. Find out that it is a heat sensor that is installed all over the ship and our cabin has two of them - one in the bedroom and one in the bathroom. The reason it is flashing is offline and should be corrected soon. But in the mean time we got the clearance to put duck tape over it and it does help to buffer the flash. 

There are still issues on board with tv not working in some people's cabins (later find out that each person who had an issue with no tv got a $50 on board credit per person). The mid ship stairway is still not done but I believe it will open soon. We encounter workers all over the ship. And see them lounging in the International Cafe during their breaks. They are working very hard to get the ship finished.

Tonight dinner is in Concerto Dining room where we sit in Ivy's section.  Excellent service from Ivy and her assistant Nerus. 

Food was excellent. Tonight I had the Curtis Stone Chicken and Leek Pie and it looks so perfect - like a picture. I would just like to see it served with a side of vegetables.  I also tried the Vegetable Falafel dish which was cold and dry and the pitas that it was served with were so dry they cracked apart.  Ivy did offer to get us a fresh one but decided we probably wouldn't be able to eat it as we were getting full.

The dining room is busy but it is still a puzzle to me why some waiters are so busy with a full section where others are serving only one table in their section and the wait staff are standing around. Either spread out the tables better or have them help the waiters who are busy.

After dinner we went to Crooners for drinks where we chat and then join another couple who are from Virginia Jane and Cecil. I am trying to meet and connect with a least someone new each day.

Bernie is in love with a new martini called the Bugsy and I love the Tango Tini (vodka, blue Curacao and pineapple juice).

All Aboard the Royal Princess

The ship is at pier 2 and we wake and relax for a bit.  I had a great sleep last night and feel rested.  The weather is beautiful today.

Our plans today is to head to get some breakfast and a coffee at Starbucks somewhere and then drop our bags off at the pier.  We will then drive the car back to the airport and then take the free shuttle to the pier that Alamo offers (note not all car rental agencies offer free shuttle so check).

Well as I write this on board the ship the very first morning at sea I need to back track a bit to fill you all in on the embarkation and the ship.

The morning did proceed just as we had planned.  

Starbucks, gas for the car, and then to Port Everglades.  
We arrived at Pier 2 and the Royal Princess around 12:30 and long queue of cars snaked around the parking lot.  Not sure why this pier seems to be so bad at traffic flow but it does.  We have gotten on in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco and it flows much better than here.  Anyways no big deal after about 20 minutes waiting to get to the bag drop we quickly hand over our bags to the porter and we leave via the Port to the airport to the rental car drop off.  

Remember the airport is very close and after ten minutes we had dropped off the car.

One nice thing about Alamo/National Car Rental is they have a shuttle for free from the airport to the pier but we are here at a prime time and there are a lot of ships in port so the queue for the shuttle is long.  But since we dropped our bags off first we ask the driver if there is space for us just before he leaves and he says yes because we have no bags.  YEAH!  Everyone on the bus is either going on Oasis or Navigator, we are the only Royal Princess passengers and he states we will be the last stop as we are the furthest away – no problem.  We chat with the driver on the way and he fills us in on how busy it is and how his job is.  We share that we too drive bus but at least we don’t have to schlep suitcases, but then again we don’t get tips – hmmm there may be an idea there for my cruise fund.

Once at the pier (around 1:30) the line isn’t too long for security.  We declare to the wine table that we are bringing on two bottles.  The guys take note that we have brought our wine allotment and we are directed to the line for check in – oh and we filled in our health forms here too.   

My reflection on the check in is that it is simple but the lines for it are kind of a mess.  They have two reps to check you in at each station and once you have seen them you have to turn around and weave yourself back thru the bunch of people waiting behind you.  Again this is messy and I am not sure why it is done like this as it is not like this at other piers.  Normally the queue is a single one and someone directs you to a specific agent then once you have seen them you walk freely to the area to board.  The staff here were very nice and helpful and have so much patience certainly something I may not have if I did their job.

Well this is really minor but something you observe and critic if you write a blog or cruise a lot I guess.  But truly Princess needs to work on the flow for pier 2.

Okay we are on board!  We head to our cabin on Emerald deck, which is E515 – midship.  Because it is midship and only one deck above the Promenade we do notice that we are missing the midship stairway.  We are forced to take the elevator down one flight or go forward or aft to walk down.  Again we will survive but it is something to take note when booking a cabin.

We have a Deluxe Obstructed View Balcony.  This cabin has a small couch in it in the place where there is normally a desk with drawers.  So we have the couch and on the other side is a fridge with a small desk with only one drawer.  

only one desk with one drawer above the fridge - really  missed those added drawers and small shelves in regular cabins

on the Regal the upper shelf has duck work so you don't have as deep a shelf or another top shelf in closet like other ships

Oh we are missing those drawers and small shelves that are in a normal balcony cabin.  Also for this cabin there is some enclosed duct work that makes the closet top shelf shorter and also runs thru the shelf/closet near the washroom taking away the top shelf.  I will post pictures later in the blog to show you cause it is hard to describe.

We head down to Alfredos for a pizza – of course Bernie’s suggestion as he LOVES Alfredos.  And guess who was on board!  Corporate Executive Chef Alfredo!  Bernie sees him and Alfredo comes over and we both get big hugs from him.  
He was just on the Island with us!  He fills us in on what he has been up to…. Which is a lot of different ships.  So that is cool we are in Alfredos and we see the man it was named after.  

I will add our pizzas were fabulous and of course I had the litre of Sangria – great deal.  

Muster Drill is just about to happen (3:15) so we head back to the cabin to get our life jackets and see our bags have arrived.  That was very fast.  So we do some unpacking until the general emergency signal sounds.  Our Muster Station is Concerto Dining room and we are able to go down the center stair case that is normally closed and for crew only. If only we had access to it all the time.

Back after Muster Drill and we finish our unpacking.  Now you know we are not heavy packers.  In fact we only brought a 25” suitcase each and a small roller carry on each.  But we are having some issues with where to put things.  Mainly things like the electronics, cables, paperwork, hair products – the stuff I usually keep in those drawers by the phone.  We will certainly manage but take note if you get a Deluxe Balcony there is a bit less storage.  

We are only in this cabin for this leg.  Next leg we move to a mini suite.

So where was I --- oh yeah --- sail away.  We head up to the open deck where we spot Anthony behind the bar there.  It has been a while since we have seen Anthony.  We keep in touch via Facebook and this is his last sailing before going home.  He has been on since just after we got off last year!  
We are very proud of Anthony he got promoted to Bartender this contract and I can say the drink he made for us was very good.

We meet up with Barbara and George and low and behold Bill and Sue are with them.  Originally they were only going to do the last cruise and head home after that but they decided late last year to also do a back to back with their friends.  Alice finds us and we all have a great sail away dancing to the sounds of the Atomic Party Band.  

We see Lisa Ball the Cruise Director up there dancing away too and hosting the event.  Very impressive – she is always out and about and a real “hands on” Cruise Director.  We saw Lisa earlier and had our hellos then.  This is her last sailing before vacation too.  Just glad we got to sail with her again.

We stop in to see Dylan and deliver a box of chocolates for him and his staff.  Again it has been a year since we saw Dylan and we are happy he is still here.  We hope to spend some time with him and his partner, who is also on board.
Bernie is back in the cabin resting and will get ready and meet up with me later.  I walk thru Club 6 and see Dave and Cindy so I stop in for a drink.  Happy to report that the Royal is allowing you to order any of the featured drinks for the Platinum Elite Lounge.  Well I guess I should get a drink then.  Now if you are counting (and I should have been) the drink count is adding up.

I get showered and dressed and meet up with Bernie in Vines before heading for dinner (oh another glass of wine in Vines – still I should have been counting). We see Ronnie is back on board and serving us.

We head for dinner around 7:30 and have no problem getting a table for two.  We had hoped to see Maître D’ Hotel Federico but sadly he was busy.  I will try and catch up with him today (meaning first sea day).  I am hoping to coordinate a Wine Maker’s Dinner for the last day of this cruise for Bernie’s BIG birthday.  We did see his wife Monica.

I know someone on my Facebook page asked me to put up the menus here is a link to many of the menus we had on this trip.

I really wanted to try one of the new Curtis Stone items that I have heard so much about.  I had the pork tenderloin and I was very impressed.  It was very moist.  I loved the mash potatoes it was served with and the apple chutney. But the dish is very bland looking and really lacked colourful veggies. 

Bernie had the Mahi Mahi with the plantains and he too loved it!  Both were very good and would definitely order them again but I can see how some may not like them cause of the unique flavors but give them a try.

We did buy the Silver Wine Card for 12 bottles and ordered a bottle for tonight – so add a glass of wine to the number of drinks.  To learn more about the wine package check out my blog on the subject.

We met up with our friend Sanja for a short while and caught up with her and what she has been up to.  We are just so blessed, our Princess family means the world to us.

Off to bed and boy am I feeling no pain, but trust me when I wake up at 3:30 I feel the pain of a headache.  I need some aspirin and some water!  Oh I have a hangover!  Why oh why do I do this?

Ships officers:  Captain Bob Oliver, Staff Captain Gennaro Arma, Chief Engineer Fabio Braccelli, Hotel General Manager Micahel Prasse, Cruise Director Lisa Ball, Senior Doctor Dylan Bleton, Food & Beverage Director Ferdinando Vinelli, Customer Services Director Antonio Romano, Staff Engineer Gaetano Guida, Executive Housekeeper Vitor Silva, Executive Chef David McDonald, Maitre d’Hotel Federico Arcos Cantos.