Brooklyn Cruise Terminal

One of the most often asked questions for guests sailing with Princess out of or into New York is "what cruise pier do we go to?"

Not surprising, because your cruise personalizer says Manhattan or Brooklyn.  And it never does identify which one.

I have sailed in or out of here probably 20 times.  EVERY time we are at Brooklyn Cruise Pier.

Even when it was a port stop for the day on trips south or north it was Brooklyn.

Here is a map of the ports location.

Address is 72 Bowne Street, Brooklyn for your GPS.

Once here shuttles to airport are nearby.  Taxis, ride sharing services and personal pickup. Even the port parking is right there.  The ferry to Manhattan is a short walk from the terminal.

I hope you found this useful.  Like and share if you did.

Room Service Menu - March 2023

Here are screenshots of the room service menu from Sapphire Princess March 2023.

We Need a Vacation

We have really missed cruising as passengers. With the last few cruises being working cruises we missed the true felling of being a guest.  I know, I know you will say "well you are cruising when you are working". Yes we are but it is different.

As guest entertainers we are non revenue.  We have to be mindful of what we do, where we go, and to not take away from revenue guests.  

Also we missed things like mini bar, laundry service, priority tendering, and other perks we get with our loyalty level.  Just being able to participate in games like Yes/No, or trivia is nice.

So we started looking at options.  We wanted the Caribbean, we like the option of driving to Florida as flying right now is crazy expensive and not reliable.  Plus we have the time to drive.

The deal was cinched when Bernie's Brother announced they were going to Myrtle Beach and offered us a place to stay if we wished.  So perfect, we will drive down there and stay a few days then continue to Fort Lauderdale and cruise, then drive to Myrtle Beach on the way up and spend a few days, then drive home.

Also excited to be going on the Enchanted - Princess' newest ship (as of right now).  Also looking forward to the drive.  Yes it is long, but we are looking forward to taking our time, and if we want to stop longer we can.

So we will be sailing March 30th on the Enchanted.  Care to join us?

Note port stop in Bonaire has been replace with Aruba.

Barbados Port Lecture

If you or anyone you know is travelling to Barbados on a cruise have them take a look at my port presentation.

This video was recorded in February 2019.

Trinidad and Tobago Port Lecture

I am just now getting around to putting up my port lectures from my role as Destination Expert on the Royal Princess.

I will make sure that they are easily found via the search function.

Note not all the lectures will be going up, but I will try to put up most.

Here is the first one - Trinidad and Tobago.

This lecture was actually recorded in Princess Live prior to the cruise as we had four port stops in a row and we were not able to schedule a live presentation.

I must apologize my voice is very raspy.  I got quite sick and even lost my voice and it was just coming back when I recorded this lecture.  The show must go they say.

So if you or someone you know is going to Trinidad share this post for them so they can check it out.

Bar Menus - Spring 2019

Here are photos of the latest Bar Menus from both the Royal and Star Princess Spring of 2019

Premier of Stephen Schwartz’ The Secret Silk

I have to start out that this whole cruise has felt extra special.  Every day the buzz of the premier of The Secret Silk is seen and felt.

So many production people are on board from all over to make this show happen.  We have spoken to many of them and their excitement has been contagious.  

Then there is Matt O the Cruise Director talking about the show at every event and on the Wake Show.

The energy has been building and tonight is the night!

Last night the show was performed at 11:30 for Crew Only.  Love that Princess does these kinds of things for their crew.  Most crew would never get a chance to see the show in regular day to day activities because they are so busy working.  So for those that could stay up and enjoy it a special show was performed for them.

We have been getting little tidbits for what makes this show special from video interview clips that Matt O did for the Wake Show. 

For Bernie and I, we are so looking forward to it.  We love live theater and have been to numerous plays, Broadway Shows and concerts.  

The first show was at 8:15 and I know it was packed.  We decided to aim for the second show.  Note they are doing another show tomorrow at 7:45.  Again isn’t that great.  So there is no reason why you could not get in to see it.

Our evening started with us dressing up for Formal Night. 

Then drinks in Vines, which was very busy with everyone dressed lovely.  Many of the staff brought on for the Premier are celebrating in Vines to their accomplishment.  I am not sure how many are on for it but I am guessing at least 20.  Some have been on since January 9, but most came on for this last sailing.

We are heading up to the Horizon Court for dinner tonight. 

Bernie grabs a glass of champagne and once at the buffet he starts his meal with caviar on toast.  Yes there is a caviar station in the buffet tonight.  OMG do you know how much this would cost at home!

It is very quiet up here.  I am sure most have decided to dine in the dining room.  

It is only 9:30 so we walk around for a while before the 10:15 show.  

The theater doors were closed right after the first show for cleaning and resetting.  We head to deck 6 forward – in Club 6 and we can see a queue is forming for the show.  Instead of lining up we take a seat in Club 6 and get drinks from the Casino Bar and relax for a bit.

When the doors do open around 10 we walk in and get two seats easily in the lower section in the middle.  It is already very busy and anyone who does not show up soon will not get seats.

There are theater programs on each chair and makes a nice souvenir.  Very nice!  

Here is a video that was shown on the Wake Show that features the Secret Silk. 

For those who are not aware of this production show it is called The Secret Silk which was Produced by Stephen Schwartz, who composed for the Broadway show Wicked and is a four time Grammy Award Winner.  Jim Henson’s Creature Shop is also involved with puppets that appear in the show.  

The story is based on an ancient Asian fairy tale with a beautiful message. 

When the show starts the stage seems dark and ancient looking. Dancers enter carrying poles with cranes on them and it looks like they are flying cranes. 

Costumes throughout the show are very dramatic and dark at times but then shine and are magnificent.

The puppets make appearances and after a while they don’t seem like puppets but real characters. Oh and then the huge life size creatures!  Heck even larger than life sized! 

But I don’t want to ruin it for you.  But it is very cool!

The music is recognizable with songs like Believe, Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic, I Believe I Can Fly, Taking Chances, All Night Long, and so many more. 

This is the third unique production show for Princess.  Just think about it….  This show can ONLY be seen on Princess.  

Other lines bring on Broadway shows, but Princess has their own shows developed specifically for their ships.  Shows like The Secret Silk would cost over a $100 a ticket on land (if not more), but it is included in your cruise ticket. 

A big shout out goes to the singers and dancers of the Royal Princess, the Royal Princess Show Band and the Audio/Technical team!  Great job, you should all be proud of yourselves.

We are just so honoured to be able to see the show’s premier and I know we will be seeing it again before we get off.

So book a cruise on the Royal Princess and come see The Secret Silk.

I wrote about the show again the next sailing and posted lots of pictures.  You can read/see more here. 

Fort de France, Martinique

We don’t dock until 10 am and I am glad we got outside to watch the sail in.  It truly is a beautiful approach.  The island is large with lush mountains.  The capital Fort de France is quite large with a population of 400,000 for the entire island.

There are two main piers – one is an industrial pier Tourelles Terminal where you have to take a shuttle from the ship to the main gate.  Thankfully we are at the other pier – Pointe Simon Terminal which is an easy walk (you can hire pedicabs to take you the length of the pier).

Once you arrive there are tents set up for taxis and tours. 
It is a short walk to the right to get to one of the many ferries that can take you La Pointe du Bout and the beaches. Initially this is what we were going to do.  Friends did go and they thought the beach was lovely but not cheap once you got to the beach.

We ended up heading to a lovely restaurant right on the beach called Lily’s.  The Taxi there was 15 US to get there and we paid 20 US to return.  The beach was lovely, a small cove with an easy slope.  The restaurant had very good food and even better drinks, but again not cheap.  

I got to try out my full snorkel mask which worked very well. I loved that I could see so much more than a regular snorkel mask.  It is easy to breath and easy to put on and off and the seal was perfect.  

Lots of the people here are tourist visiting the island.  One waiter spoke English but I was able to use my French.  Although at times I had difficulty understanding them as the French here has a bit of Creole in it.

We did not do much else on the island but will head out again next time we are here.  I still want to take the ferry over to the beach.

We are back on board and Bernie heads down to the Enclave.  I end up going up on the upper decks to get some pictures.

Sorry I don’t have many pictures of the day at the beach as our underwater camera looks like it has died.  It has done us well over the many years and we are discussing whether to buy a new one or not.  Our friends Dylan and Ben took quite a few photos and they promised to share them and will post them when I get them.

There was a lot happening on board while ashore and lots happening tonight.

Sweet Soul Music is the Production Show in the Princess Theater.  Also the Love Boat Disco Deck Party is happening at 9:15.  After the disco deck party the Night Sky Lounge is happening in the Retreat Pool.  

They are showing Wind River in the Vista Lounge.

They are hosting the Bavarian Night in the Horizon Court.

The have the All Inclusive Photo Package for $249 but it often is cheaper  if you buy ahead of time.

We receive our Captain Circle Party Invite.  The parties are happening tomorrow – Grenada Night.

We also qualified for the Most Travelled Guest Luncheon – The cut off for the luncheon was 577 days and the lunch is happening the second to last day.

Tonight we started in Vines where we watched one of the Wine Tastings featuring Norman Love Chocolates.  

They have a brand new wine list starting this voyage.  I will arrange to get pictures of it soon.  It is bigger in size and well laid out with tabs for the different wine types.  Here is a link to the new Wine List.

Since we missed the German Buffet last cruise we decided to head up tonight.  Oh so good, love the pretzels and the cabbage.  We sat with friends and ended up chatting there for over an hour.

Our original plan to have an early night went to the wayside as we then proceeded to the Love Boat Disco Deck Party where we had a great time and did a lot of dancing.  Met some lovely people and enjoyed the night sky.  
Oh I love cruising!