Now a Day at Sea

In the end I am glad it ended up being a sea day and although I did hear a few people grumbling about it being a sea day and missing Toulon most understood the need for safety.

The International Café is busy but I am very impressed how it is running.  They are so on top of things here.  Waiters are all over and their supervisors are constantly walking around.  I need to get the guys name who is in charge because he is one of the best I have ever seen.  He often can be found chatting with guest, making sure everything is good, clearing tables, moving chairs you name it.  Very professional too – I say him correct something that was presented wrong at a table beside us and he came over apologized and then fixed it then he went to discuss with the waiter but did it quietly and considerately.  That is how it should be done!

Since it is now a sea day the dining room is open for lunch so we head there.  We know this ship class just does not have that many two tops so they go fast.  Because we are in the dining room after it has been open for half an hour we know the two tops are gone and are open to sitting with others.  But the woman in front of us is not very happy about this.  She demands a table for two.  The hostess was very polite and patient offering her to wait to the side and when one comes available they will give it to them.  Well this did not make the woman happy as she continued to complain as she waiting.  She even tried to get us to engage in her complaints but I was not going to encourage her.  

She hastily put up her hands and said “fine we will sit with others” and off they went.  

When we were asked will you share, we said yes and as the Head Waiter Felipe (who we have known for many years) came over to say hi we said we were happy to share, but not share with that woman ahead of us.  He smiled and said he understood and would sit us only with nice people.

And he sure did.  We had a lovely table for six which consisted of us, a lovely couple and a single woman, all from the US.  

It was a great meal with great conversation.  You know the kind of conversation that is balanced and informative, friendly, where you can ask questions and then people ask you questions.  

Okay this always gets me wondering if the art of conversation is gone?  So many times when I sit down I chat with others.  Sometimes it happens while we are waiting for something, or at Muster Drill, participating in one of the many games, having a drink etc.  You all know what I mean.  

I ask the people beside us “where are you from”  they respond with a long answer and that is it.  They keep talking and talking but not once do they ask where we are from, or what we do, or any question.  What has happened to us?  Sadly this is happening all over the world.  It does not matter where you are from or your age some people are not very good at creating a balanced conversation.  But boy when we do chat with someone who is good at conversation we recognize it and appreciate it.

So lunch was one of those times.  Oh and the food was good too.

Bernie has been participating in the trivia too.  Although he loves trivia and it always amazes me the things he knows, it is not really my thing.  So I am glad he is out there enjoying it.  He has hooked up with some very nice people he tells me and he often heads out and I wonder where he is but when I check the schedule it dawns on me that he is at trivia.  I don’t believe he has won yet but they are getting closer he tells me.  

For me my afternoon was spent in the cabin finishing off the Trinidad Port Lecture.  You see even after I have finished I need to go back and do a run thru and then I stop and fix some things I see then that leads me to something else.  Like I see how hearing some sounds of the steel pan would be good on this particular slide, so I spend the next 10 minutes searching for that on my computer and sometimes I have to go online to find it, then plop it in the slide.  Then I need to start the entire presentation again and do a run thru (each presentation is around 45 minutes) and then when Bernie returns to the cabin I do a run thru for him and he gives me some feedback.  So it takes a while but it looks good.  

I also was able to start the presentation for Fortaleza, Brazil too.  Got about 20 slides done.  I will continue with the presentations on the next sea day.

Now I do need to discuss one issue. The traditional dining times are still on the old times but will change starting on next sailing out of Fort Lauderdale.  So Da Vinci is 5:30 traditional and switches to Anytime at 7:30.  

Usually on these crossing the early seatings are the busiest.  We normally head down to Vines for our wine around 7 to 7:30.  Normally we have no issue getting a seat and enjoying our drink.  But since we boarded we come down and the place is packed.  Some are drinking but many are just sitting there with a pager waiting to get into the dining room.  

The Atrium is not that large (I do miss the Royal/Regal large Atrium now) so every table is occupied again many waiting for a table.  Doesn’t help that there are some people sitting in Vines and playing cards and not drinking. Please people move on, let us sit and enjoy the wine we can only get at Vines at that table!

This is a crunch time.  As the Anytime Dining room opens and fills and it usually takes about 2 hours to turn a table.  This makes the next round of tables come available around 7:30 to 8.  So anyone who arrives at 7 to 7:30 is going to get a pager meaning they need somewhere to wait.

It is causing a lot of people to be annoyed, frustrated and even angry. I get it.  Something needs to be done.  I am sure with changing the traditional dining time to a bit earlier for Da Vinci next sailing will make it open up earlier for Anytime and help with the flow.

But I am also hoping they add some chairs in the Atrium for people to be able to sit and wait for their table. 

For us we take a seat and order a drink (not in Vines as we can’t get in) and Bernie and are need to change our way of doing things too as we either have to come earlier or later to enjoy a pre dinner drink. 

Tonight Bernie suggests why not try and get into the Crown Grill.  Great idea and of course it is very quiet and they have no problem sitting us right away at a lovely booth.  
As soon as we sit down a waiter approaches and we are shocked – it is Riccardo!  We seem to keep running into him.  We first met him in 2009 on the Emerald and we keep meeting up with him.  He has spent his last two contracts on the Royal and so we have seen him quite a bit there but was shocked to see him here.  We end up moving to his section where we have a great time catching up with him. 

He just joined and is on till June.  So you never know we may see him again, but I know we will be back in the Crown Grill again this trip.

Oh and the food was amazing!  Yes it is $29 but it is so worth it, especially for a special night.  But hey it does not have to be a special night, you can make any night special.

While dining there was an announcement from the Bridge for first responders to deck 6 galley.  Thankfully a few minutes later we heard the stand down so we know all is good.  

Have to add we have really enjoyed the food on the Crown Princess.  We had found that the last few trips we made on the Crown that the food quality, ship presentation, staff, etc were not up to the standards we had experienced on other Princess ships.

But I am happy to say that the Crown is AMAZING now.  It shines and I really can see it is coming from the top down.  

The Hotel General Manager Andreas is out all the time engaging with passengers and crew.  He is proactive and friendly and makes passengers feel special.  That is a gift and Princess is lucky to have him.  

After a lovely dinner we meet up with Victor and Juan and head to the theater to watch Encore.  We love this show and are anxious to see it with this new (to us) team.  They did not disappoint either.  Fabulous job and I look forward to seeing it again on the next sailing.