pixiestyx

7 minutes ago, Humbb said:

Where did you hear that?

It was posted on the ship information on a marine traffic app that basically tracks all vessels at sea.

the same info is available on vesselfinder

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.vesselfinder.com/amp/vessels/VIKING-STAR-IMO-9650418-MMSI-257903000

4 minutes ago, Humbb said:

Has anybody seen posts from travelers on the March 10 Northern Lights cruise? We had to cancel, but I hope they are doing well and get to see the Lights up north. They should have left Bergen before the restrictions took hold.

Wow I messed that up 😂 

We also had to cancel, but I believe that ship started heading for Tilbury in the middle of last night effectively ending the cruise early in London.

Advice appreciated and saved-off. :-) Absolutely looking for food around the station. Looking forward to real ramen (vs. what I ate as a poor college student), and love gyoza. If you have any more recommendations for affordable restaurants in that area (wife loves sushi, but not looking for high-end prices), that would be wonderful.

 

 

 

I made another points booking for our last two nights at the Prince Sakura in case we don't like the IC Strings; can't imagine why, and it's hard to argue with free--but one never knows which free is better.

 

 

 

Also booked on points for one night in Kyoto at the Ritz Carlton. Shame to stay only one night in Kyoto, but we're only going to be in Japan 5 nights total. We get in somewhat late on the first day/night, so the second day we're reserving for having found going round the Yamanote line and seeing sights at some of the stations you mentioned.

You should have plenty of time to see the highlights in Kyoto. It can even be done as a day trip.

You actually have to go out of your way a bit to find really high priced meals. Most places you'll stumble upon are really reasonable. I don't think I've even been to sushi near Shinagawa station, I usually end up at the Ramen shop I mention or the little ramen alley down the road sort of under the station.

There's a great sushi restaurant in Shibuya station (Shibuya Mark City). There's a whole restaurant cafe section on the 4th floor. Umegaoka sushi midori. There's pretty much always a line but there's a sign in screen with English prompts and you'll get a number. The line moves pretty quickly. They have picture menus and a few English menus. You can always ask for the osusume, which is the recommendation and they'll point something out or just bring you a chef special.

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The Marriott you mentioned at Shinagawa station looks very nice. It came up with availability for using Marriott Rewards points. And had points availability while most other major chains (Hilton, Hyatt, etc) did not, for our stay in late Sept of 2017. We're using IHG free night certs and points. And InterContinental is an IHG brand.

 

We're staying at the InterContinental Strings, 5 nights for free on points, for the same reasons:

 

 

 

* Can take NRT Express train to the hotel

 

* 5 minute skywalk from the hotel to Shinagawa Station

 

* Shinagawa station is on the Yamanote subway line. The Circle line--can't get lost, just keep ridining. :-) So far, my research tells me that being at a hotel on the Yamanote subway line is a huge plus for efficient sight seeing.

 

* You can catch many bullet trains from Shinagawa station! Easy trips to Kyoto, etc.

 

 

 

Downside may be that the area around the hotel isn't sight-seeing worthy. But for my wife and I, the benefits of being

 

 

 

Hope this helps.

You're correct in that the area around the hotel is very much a business district, but the proximity to a central station can't be beat.

The Yamamoto line is great. Its about 20 minutes to Shinjuku and you pass Harajuku and Shibuya on the way which are common sightseeing stops. If you use it in the opposite direction you have Ueno, Akihabara, and Tokyo. It's really convenient to any JR station.

Not asked for advice, but if you go out the central exit of the station and cross the street (towards Takanawa Wing) and turn left, you'll run into a tiny ramen shop. It's a counter with a bunch of stools and can have a line, but I highly recommend it. You can see everything and they hand make the gyoza right behind the counter. They have picture menus but they're known for their tantanmen style ramen.

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They definitely have taxi vans that should accommodate you easily if you don't want to pay a premium for a book in advance limo type thing.

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The limo bus is ok. It's not really super comfortable, but not miserable. Where are you staying in Tokyo? Haneda is much more centrally located than Narita so depending on which area you're staying in a taxi would be reasonable.

I'd probably opt for the taxi but I'd rather spend a bit more for the ease of it all. Plus it will be quicker since your stop is the only stop.

ETA: the limo bus is really easy. There is a kiosk to buy tickets. The busses are easy to find and they throw your luggage under the bus and off you go!

Am I mistaken or did you ask this also in the Crystal forum?

 

 

 

I have sailed both and loved both. Crystal is a bit more polished with service and the food was a bit better but my cabin on Journey seemed larger than the one on Crystal (balcony cabin). I loved the fact that casual, al fresco dining was available every night on Journey. I loved the dinner buffets and I am NOT a buffet person, so, that says a lot. Enrichment is better on Crystal but the CD was better on Journey (Eric DeGray). LIbrary better on Crystal and they have DVD players and a DVD library but IIRC Journey had more satellite channels. Pools about equal. There is not a full promenade deck on Journey/Quest but you can walk around on the deck above the pool. I love the promenade deck on Crystal.

 

Entertainment (nightly shows) equal and Trivia better on Azamara. Loved the smoothie bar on Journey.

 

 

 

It would come down to itinerary and price when I compared them but you can't go wrong with either.

Yes, I did. I was thinking I might get different perspectives depending on the board folks were on. Lots of people have sailed both lines which is great to hear all the comparisons.

The itineraries were nearly identical-is really have to dig for the differences. The prices are very similar, though for the same money we could get a larger cabin on Azamara.

It is a very difficult decision!

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I suspect that no sandals rules is aimed more at flip flop type sandals than dressyish sandals.

Not in our experience lol. I believe that flip flops and sandals are also called out separately.

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Hello,

I am not new to cruising, but never sailed Azamara or Crystal. In looking at 2019 itineraries to Asia, these lines have very similar itineraries that are right in line with what we're looking for.

Has anybody sailed both lines? Azamara is a god bit cheaper, but price isn't the only factor. We don't mind paying more if the experience is there.

I'm not even sure what specifics to ask. Help me please :)

I absolutely love the Sakura Prince Tower in Shinagawa. It's less than a 5 minute walk from Shinagawa station. They also have a free shuttle that runs from the station every 20 minutes.

Shinagawa is centrally located on the JR line. The Narita express train and Shinkansen both stop at the station.

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Has anybody done the Private Journeys through RCCL? We are looking into this for an upcoming cruise and would love any thoughts or advice from those who have done it.

TIA

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Remy is a great experience esp for the price. And they definitely

Enforce the dress code. My wife wore dressy sandals under a long dress and they wouldn't let her in. They pulled out a pair of heels

For her to wear. I did also see a couple of ties and a sports coat in the closet for men that came without

 

 

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Whoa, seriously?!? I'm so glad I read this as I think we'll be skipping Remy. Neither one of us wears heels and certainly won't buy them for a dinner. I get no beach flip flops but I've never heard of a restaurant not allowing dressy sandals and requiring heels!

My mouth is agape lol. I've heard of restaurants keeping a courtesy jacket for men but shoes is a new one! How does that even work? Do they have every size or you're just expected to Cinderella your foot into whatever they have.

They should really state no sandals in their dress code then IMHO. That's a very different thing than no flip-flops.

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Following this conversation closely. We have air mattresses at home, I like maximum firm and he's a medium. The Adventure is getting refurbished 2 weeks before our cruise in November. Does anyone know if they will be replacing their mattresses?

 

Also I read someone got a memory foamed pillow upon request, is this isolated? I know hubby would be most happy if he could get one for him.

I was on the Adventure last year and it had the most rock hard mattresses I've ever experienced. We were pretty miserable. It's what made me check out all the mattress threads for BYO ideas.

They told us last year that there were no foam toppers. They gave us folded up mattress pads and duvets but it did little good.

pixiestyx, I have a question. You mentioned you traded in your mini bar for coffee cards. Can you give me more info or details about this. I am booked in a suite for my Emerald Cruise.

I actually found out about it from the boards here :)

When we arrived in our cabin we called down to room service and said that we wanted to trade in our mini-bar for coffee cards. They immediately knew what we meant. In the chaos of boarding day, it did take them a couple hours to send somebody to swap it out.

The took away the mini-bar setup and gave us two coffee cards for unlimited brewed coffee and 15 (on each card) specialty coffee drinks.

We mentioned it to our cabin steward who showed up to see if we needed anything, but he wasn't aware of being able to trade for the coffee cards. It is definitely possible in case your steward is unaware.

Dinner-Room Service on veranda

After the long day at Chichen Itza we didn’t have the energy to go sit in any of the dining venues or think about what to wear for dinner. We decided to take advantage of our wonderful aft balcony and order room service. We ordered off the dining room menu (I think this is a suite perk, but I’m not entirely sure). We both got a Caesar salad, which was pretty much what you expect. We tried one of the Mojo Pork tenderloin (a Curtis Stone offering) and one of the pan-fried chicken. We also got a side of the fettuccine alfredo. The pork was overcooked, but not terribly tough and it had a good flavor. The fried chicken wasn’t winning any awards though they managed to get the skin crispy and the meat was tender. It’s downside was that it was lacking in any punchy flavor. The side of pasta had decent flavor, but the pasta was very overcooked. We also had them bring a large plate of steamed vegetables, which had a very nice assortment. You really have to specifically seek out multi-colored foods and vegetables from the dining room. Overall, the quality of the food was about what we expected from our one other dinner in the dining room. However, after the long day it was a satisfying and relaxing meal out on our beautiful balcony.

When they dropped off the food they set up a tablecloth on our balcony table and arranged everything for us. This is a really nice touch and makes you feel like you’re having a proper dinner on the veranda. The food arrived hot and nothing was missing or incorrect on our order. This is something we would definitely do again after a long day in port or to take advantage of really perfect evening weather.

When you where in Rohatan does the Emerald dock at the private beach area Carnival Built or at the main docks. If its at the private beach area I dont need a shore excursion.

 

Thanks for the info, great review, I leave in 2 weeks

We docked at Mahogany Bay. I'm not sure if that is the main dock or not. There was only docks for two ships and the other was a Carnival ship with us.

Hope this helps.

Just past mid-cruise thoughts

International Cafe

We don’t drink much and when we do prefer a nice mixed drink or glass of wine so we traded in our suite minibar setup for two coffee cards. I have been quite pleased with the coffee creations from the IC. My drink of choice is an iced latte and they have been quite good. After the long, hot day touring Chichen Itza I was craving something cold, sweet, and icy. I went for the Black Forest Freeze (a dark chocolate cherry frappucino type drink) and it was delicious. It was a sugar bomb no doubt about it but the flavor was spot on and blended to perfection.

I have also been really impressed with the selection of foods/snacks from this venue. I haven’t tried any of the sweets, but their savory options are really good. They always have a field greens mix and then various other salads such as shrimp or Waldorf chicken and mixed roasted vegetables. Everything I have tried has been well-seasoned and very fresh. In addition to the various salads they offer several different types of sandwiches that they will press panini style. It’s a great option if you have a longer day on shore and just need a small something to tide you over until dinner.

Overall Ship Thoughts

The ship is really well maintained. All the common areas are well appointed and have been spotless so far this week. Aside from one hot water hiccup we have had no issues with A/C or plumbing in our cabin.

This is one of the larger ships I have been on and there are times when you definitely feel the crowds. Getting on and off the ship can be a bit of a cluster as people seem completely unaware of their surroundings and the same thing happens around dinner time with people just crowding the dining area all the way through the IC.

Anytime Dining

Their system is completely FUBAR. I just can’t sugar coat it. I’m not even sure they actually have a system. We tried to call in the am to make a reservation for the first evening and they told us they were all booked up but to just show up. We decided to try again a bit later and I guess they saw we were in a suite and they were able to make a reservation. We went down to the anytime dining room and it was just a mob of people. There didn’t seem to be any differentiation between those who had reservations and those who did not. We made our way to the front of the line and without taking our name or cabin number the gentleman seating people told us we were late for our 5pm reservation. We were very confused as we did not have a 5pm reservation and had no idea what made him think we did. We gave him our cabin number and then he told us that because we were in a suite we didn’t need reservations and could come whenever we wanted.

There is very little explanation of this system and I’m not even sure the staff knows there is a system. Somebody at Princess needs to do an internal review and revamp their process.

Day 5 Cozumel

Breakfast-Horizon Court

Because we were on a very early tour we opted to pop upstairs and try the Horizon Court for breakfast. I really dislike buffets and generally try to avoid them at all costs. I was very impressed with the cleanliness of the buffet area upstairs. It was spotless and the staff were great at monitoring people making sure no used plates or drink cups came through the buffet line. I was able to find a few crispy pieces of bacon hiding in the pan and then saw a sign for made-to-order omelettes. There wasn’t much of a wait and it came out from the small cooking area behind the buffet piping hot. It was a very thin crepe like omelette, which is my favorite. If you prefer thicker, fluffier eggs then it may disappoint. There were the usual cereal and bread options along with a variety of melon, which sadly was either under or over ripe. Overall it was a much better than expected breakfast.

Tour to Chichen Itza

Part I-The Ferry

I had read horror stories about the ferry from Cozumel to the main land on this board so I was a bit nervous and expecting some bare bones industrial ferry. I was very surprised by how nice the ferry was. There was outdoor seating on the upper deck and the lower deck had bus like seats and was well air-conditioned. There is a bathroom on-board and a small area that has snacks and various types of drinks that are reasonably priced. We had pretty good weather and I am not prone to seasickness though I can see how it might get to some people. I would recommend going on the top deck if you’re prone to sea sickness so that you have a clear view of the horizon as looking out at a fixed point on the horizon is just about the best thing you can do to combat motion sickness while on a boat. It was about 40 minutes over to Playa Del Carmen.

Part II-The bus

We were met at the ferry pier and escorted to our bus for the ride over to Chichen Itza. The bus was very new and modern and pretty spotless on the inside. They handed out water and granola bars as we boarded for the 2ish hour ride out. Our bus guide, Luis, gave some good information about the area and the ruins and his English was great, but he had an awkward communication style that made it difficult to follow him. He would begin speaking about one topic than jump to a completely unrelated topic than back to the first. He was also rambled a bit. We found ourselves asking each other what in the heck he was talking about quite often. Overall he was adequate, but not a standout guide.

The Ruins

We were given time to use the restrooms, which were very clean and well maintained. After a quick stop the ruins guide handed out our tickets and we headed into the ruins. Unfortunately there was only one guide for the 51 people on the bus, which made it difficult to hear the guide unless you were really crowded in close. We had no interest in fighting to hear so we decided to wander off and explore on our own to take pictures. We had a watch and were given the return time to the bus so we figured we wouldn’t be left behind. All of the buildings have plaques that explain what they are so we knew what we were photographing and seeing.

Bring water and a hat or a parasol and sunscreen. There is very little shade and the sun is fierce. We’re pretty good in the heat and were ready to get out of the sun after a quick walk around the various ruins. We headed back to the restroom area about 15 minutes before our metope time to cool off in the shade and use the facilities before our group returned.

On headed back to the bus they had sub sandwiches and a bag snack along with more water and soda. It was a pretty decent sack lunch that included chips, a muffin, and a juice box. The guide didn’t offer any info on the way back so that people could nap.

All in all it was a good tour and something we were glad to have done once. We wouldn’t repeat the tour if we came back to Cozumel, but it was nice to do something historical in the Caribbean that is usually all beach days and boat rides. It does make for a long day so definitely keep that in mind if you are interested in this tour. The ride out didn’t seem to bad and they make it as comfortable as they can, but we were ready to be off that bus on the way back.

I will do a separate update for dinner and any evening activities once we decide which option to go with for dinner.

Day 4-Roatan

Breakfast-Crown Grill

Delicious breakfast once again. The yogurt parfait is quite nice and not too sweet as we got it without the raspberry puree. The smoked salmon was delicious and you could tell it was of nice quality. Really no downsides to speak of about this breakfast experience.

Excursion-two tank certified dive

I usually opt for diving as an independent excursions since I’ve been very disappointed with cruise diving excursions in the past. Due to the diving being on the opposite side of the island and difficulty finding an outfit that offered transportation paired with the good reviews of the dive shop contracted with the cruises, I opted to book through Princess. The shore excursion area was very chaotic and it was a bit difficult to find the different excursions. Once I located my group, I was sent to a nearby shop to obtain a waiver and then waited about ten minutes until we were taken to the vans. It was about a 25 minute ride to the other side of the island to Anthony’s Key Resort. A guide of sorts was in the van with us and gave some bits of information about the island as we drove.

We arrived at the resort and were directed to our boat. Anthony’s key has several large, well maintained boats. There were 18 of us and the boat did not feel over crowded at all. There was ample space to store dry goods along with a camera and mask buckets. There was also plenty of room under the benches so that gear bags could be tucked out of the way. I had my own equipment so I didn’t see their rental gear up close, but it looked to be in good shape.

The first dive site was only about 5 minutes from the dock. The guides gave a site and safety briefing once we got to the site. They divided us up into two groups of nine-one group going with each guide. They divided the group up by who jumped in the water first. I do wish they had done a quick poll and tried to divide up by skill as that helps everybody get the most out of their dive IMO. The dive was to about 70 and timed to 45 minutes or when the first person hot 700psi. The surface interval was spent back at the resort where the crew swapped out tanks. They do not provide snacks (water is available on the boat), but the resort has a small snack shop where you can purchase a variety of snacks so it’s good to have a few dollars in case you want something. The second dive was to 4ish feet and went about the same way as the first. Overall I think they did a good job managing the amount of people they had with varying skill levels.

Excursion-Semi-sub, West End Village, and Cameo Factory

The glass bottom boat was fairly bare bones, but it had a deep glass hull for viewing the sea life and the coral. The guide was knowledgable about the marine life and gave some good info and interesting facts. The village with the traditional dancing was a bit unnerving. There was quite a long stop here and the hawkers were very aggressive, which made my mom very uncomfortable. The guide mentioned that there was a good local fish so a portion of the group went to go get fish tacos, which got great reviews.

The tour ended at the Cameo Castle. It’s a artisan workshop where the carve cameos out of coral and conch shells. Prices start as low as $20 and go upwards of $500 for very large pieces. There were a lot of earrings, bracelets, and different size pendants. They do take credit cards, but they charge 18% on top of the price. I would recommend taking cash if you plan on purchasing something here. If this is where you plan to do some shopping, skip the presentation and head right in to start looking. There is a lot to look through and it is only a 20 minute stop.

Dinner-Salty Dog Pub

We decided not to fight out dinner in the dining room and opted to try the pub. Each person chooses three small plates and in addition each table gets breadsticks with cheese dipping sauce, truffle Parmesan fries or sweet potato fries, and a parma ham and artichoke salad. The breadsticks are like Grissini breadsticks which seemed an odd choice to pair with cheese sauce and they were a bit stale to boot. The Parmesan fries and salad were really well executed and very tasty.

We decided to each get the burger and then share the other four plates. The burger is super tasty and very filling. It was much larger than expected under the small plate description. This is a must if you visit this venue. We shared the mushroom saute, calamari, crab cake, and the beets and goat cheese. All of them were delicious. The description of the mushrooms didn’t exactly match the dish. It sounded from the menu like it would be saluted mushroom with a poached egg. The egg was really the star of the dish. It was a perfectly soft poached egg that was breaded and fried or baked crispy with the mushrooms being more of a garnish. It was really better than expected. The calamari are thicker fry like pieces. I was afraid they would be tough or chewy based on the thickness of the squid, but I was pleasantly surprised to find them very tender. The crab cake was very heavy on the crab and very light on the breading, which is something you don’t often find on the ships.

We tried the chocolate bourbon and strawberries and cream for dessert. Our server warned us that the chocolate dessert had bourbon in it and that it came with a bourbon kick. She sure wasn’t kidding, but with the richness of the chocolate it really made for a great dessert. Overall it was a delectable meal and a great value at $19pp.

Day 3 Grand Cayman

Breakfast-Room Service

Since we wanted to get off the boat bright and early, we decided to try the extended suite room service menu. We went with an omelette, bacon, and sausage. I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the lid and it looked quite good. Unfortunately it was all superficial as trying to cut into the eggs proved difficult. It was just tough or luke warm, but it had an off texture to it. The sausage was pretty anemic looking so I skipped that and the hash brown was total flavorless mush. The bacon was crispy so I had that and coffee for breakfast.

Grand Cayman-Turtle Farm

We headed down to catch the tenders and found we were able to walk right on and away we went. Upon arriving at the pier we inquired about how to get to the turtle farm. A very nice man at the taxi stand gave us directions for the bus depot about a block and a half away. We hopped on the bus with a few locals and we were off. We arrived at the turtle farm just after 8am and were the first visitors there.

We quite enjoyed this center/farm. We were aware before we went that it is both a working farm and a conservation effort for the local turtle population. While the turtles are in captivity and not afforded the same space as they would in the wild, the park was well maintained and the turtles had some room to move around. It didn’t take long to make our way around the ponds especially considering we were the only ones there. After a quick passthrough of the gift shop we headed out.

Beach Time-Westin 7-mile beach

We hopped on another bus- well actually, we asked where to catch the bus and somebody from the turtle farm flagged down a tour bus that had dropped off a load of folks and he agreed to take us.

We purchased a day pass through “resort for a day” for the Westin on 7-mile beach. This pass included the use of the Westin facilities and a room to use for the day while we were there. This was perfect for us. Having a private bathroom and place to shower with towels, shampoo, etc. made for a very easy and relaxing beach break. We were able to leave valuables in the room safe and non-valuables that we didn’t want to bring to the beach in the room. The water was a bit chilly but the perfect Caribbean turquoise color. We opted for lunch at the pool restaurant/bar (not included in price), which was quite good for beach food. The resort had two pools, two hot tubs and of course beach access. Chairs and umbrellas were included and available.

The doorman of the hotel flagged (yep, you read that right) a bus for us and we headed back to the pier and back to the boat.

Note about bus system-We thought the bus was great. Anywhere you go is $2.50pp and the system goes something like this-there are designated bus stops where the buses will stop if people are waiting, but you can also just flag a bus down from anywhere on either side of the street and it will stop. You might even get the double U-turn, one to pick you up and one to get going the right direction again. You can pretty much hop on any bus to get where you want to go and just tell the driver where you want to get out. The buses are just vans similar to taxi vans and say “public bus” on the front. It feels more like a shared ride system than a bus system. It was a very painless way to get from place to place and as we were only two people saved us a lot of money on taxis (it would have been a $35 taxi to the turtle farm alone).

Dinner-Crown Grill

We decided we didn’t want to gamble on the main dining room. Food aside, we really struggled last night with the setup of the two-tops as being so close together just isn’t comfortable for us. So we opted to give Crown Grill a try and we weren't disappointed.

We both had the roasted goat cheese salad to start, which was bright and fresh. It was very lightly dressed spinach leaves with goat cheese and tomatoes. To avoid filling up before our main course we chose not to try any of the other appetizers. We decided to split a ribeye steak and lobster. We also asked if we could try one or two of the tiger prawns. Our Waiter Anil was great and worried that we may leave hungry tried to talk us into each getting our own steak. We luckily stuck to our guns as the portion was huge. We also ended up with an entire order of the shrimp. Everything was really tasty, and most importantly with steak and shellfish, cooked properly. The lobster and the shrimp were incredibly tender and just cooked to perfection. The choices of specials salts to enhance the flavor of the steak were interesting to try. The applewood smoked salt was very surprising and added a wonderfully woody flavor.

For dessert we tried the sampler of all the desserts: chocolate lava cake, lemon custard tart, s’mores stack, and the chocolate journey chocolate peanut butter bar. None of the desserts really stood out and none of them were worth a second bite. I will say that I tend not to eat a lot of desserts or really anything with sugar so desserts tend to taste overwhelmingly sweet to me. I am also incredibly picky about sweets, so if you’re a sweets person you may find these much better.

After a day at the beach, it’s time to retire to the stateroom early after heading downstairs for one last coffee and melt into the new Princess bed.

New Bed

I realized that I hadn’t mentioned anything about the beds. Our cabin has the new mattress and what definitely looks like the new linens. We also have feather or non-feather pillow options. This bed is heavenly. I love a soft mattress and the new beds are like sleeping on a cloud! If you like/need a firm mattress you may be disappointed.

Thanks for telling us about Mayapapaya! DH & I are both avid green juice drinkers, or at least DH doesn't make a face anymore when drinking it! :p I know I'm going to be missing it big time next month, so I just put maya in the calendar for embarkation morning breakfast! I'll get one more in before we hit the "bacon buffet" aka Horizon Court! :D

 

Thanks for doing a LIVE! Love reading about anyone's cruise when we're counting down the days!

Part of the reason we chose MayaPapaya over other juice bars in the Ft. Lauderdale area is because they actually sell their juices in sealed plastic bottles (my local juice place just uses mason jars and another just has regular cups). We took an insulated bag with us and brought about 6 bottles of juice on board since non-alocholic seems allowed on princess. They've kept well so far in the stateroom fridge with a bucket of ice to help keep the temp. down.

If you also happen to be doing a stop in Grand Cayman and need a fix, the coffee cafe at the Westin on 7-mile beach sells cold pressed juices (just in a cup).

My dream is that the cruises will figure out a way to juice on board or stock juices to sell a la carte! We have a hard time without them too.

Day 2 sea day

Breakfast

Since it was a sea day and we were just taking our time, we decided to go to Crown Grill to enjoy the suite breakfast. The staff were very attentive and the service timing was spot on. I love eggs Benedict, but I find it inedible on most cruise ships. Between the overcooked eggs and the canned (at least that’s what it tastes like) hollandaise sauce its usually awful, however Princess got it right.

Fruit carving demonstration

We attended the fruit carving demonstration while having another coffee in the Piazza. This was very entertaining. One of the guys seems like he was just learning as his creations were more basic. The second gentlemen that was part of the demonstration was pretty amazing. I haven’t seen a lot of carved fruit demonstrations so I don’t have a lot to compare it to, but his designs were very detailed and animated-will post pictures when I return!

Lunch

We decided to try the main dining room for lunch and I have to say it was a bit of a disappointment. I will give a disclaimer and say that I love food, specifically I love good food. I understand that it’s difficult to cook for so many people en mass so it doesn’t deter me from cruising, however I find good meals to be the exception when I sail.

I ordered some Indian or Asian chicken dish. I can’t remember what it was, but it was awful. It pretty much looked like dirty dish water with an oil slick on top. I tried it, as I’m a firm believer of Andrew Zimmern’s philosophy of taste anything twice; it was disgusting. I really didn’t know food could be so bland. It was cooked such that everything went a sickly grey. My mom had the Cobb salad and while it wasn’t winning any awards was adequate. I ended up with a steak sandwich, which was adequate as well.

We spent the remainder of the afternoon enjoying our balcony.

As we were getting ready for dinner, there was no hot water. But there was somebody already fixing it and it was back on within a few minutes. We’re not sure how long it was out before we realized.

Dinner-Formal Night

We went to the Anytime dining room around 6pm for the formal night dinner. The menu seemed a bit lackluster for a formal night. The salad was pretty sad looking with a few pieces of lettuce and a few strips of red and yellow pepper on it, but it tasted fine. None of the other appetizers appealed to us so we skipped those. We both had the Barramundi (Australian Seabass) for an entree and it was good and not over-cooked. Our waiter was great about substituting the potatoes and rice for some vegetables with a variety of colors. For dessert we had chocolate hazelnut chocolate bar journey, which was disappointing. For having so many chocolate layers it really lacked in flavor. It was just sweet and missing all the variety of chocolate flavors and deepness that one would expect from a dessert like that.

We had planned to enjoy MUTS, but were just too cold. We decided to turn in early since we were to arrive in Grand Cayman at 7am!

Were you allowed to choose between Share and Crown Grill for your complementary first night dinner?

Yes, you are allowed to choose between the two. :)

Live From the Emerald Princess Feb. 27-Mar. 5

I wanted to do a live review and answer any questions people have on the current state of the Emerald Princess. I will not upload photos or videos until I’m back on land due to the time it takes to upload.

I will try to answer questions as I see them.

Pre-Cruise

We drove down to Ft. Lauderdale on Friday. While it’s possible (and I have) to drive in from central Florida on the day of, I find it much less stressful to go down the night before. We stayed at the Ft. Lauderdale Marriott Harbor and Beach Resort on points.

That property confused me to say the least. The rooms and parts of the property looked very worn, but the service was really a cut above and close to what you’s find in a luxury hotel. We had lunch at the beachside restaurant. It has a beautiful view and adequate food.

For dinner, we stayed at the hotel and dined at 3030 Seafood and it was fantastic. The chef there really knows what she is doing. We started with the charred octopus and the risotto; both were outstanding. I eat octopus just about every time I see it and this was in the top 3 as it was so tender. The risotto was pretty much perfect and had great citrus flavor to help cut the heaviness. For a main course we split the flounder and it was perfectly cooked. There really wasn’t a bad thing to say about the meal.

Embarkation and Room

We got up Saturday and after a quick stop at MayaPapaya for breakfast and green juice we headed to the pier. After dropping off luggage and parking we headed inside around noon. There were absolutely no lines and we pretty much breezed through checking and boarding.

We didn’t go to any lunch venues since we had a late breakfast. We opted to head straight to our room. On our way down the long way to the back of the ship we saw our luggage coming down the hallway behind us!!

Our home through the week is A751 also known as the Grand Cayman suite, which is an aft facing balcony. The cabin is well appointed and pretty much what we expected. I was happy to see that we had the small tubes of shampoo, conditioner, and body wash instead of wall dispensers.

We got a bit frosty last night so for the time being our cabin seems to have very well functioning A/C :)

Share by Curtis Stone

We decided to use our complimentary specialty fee on embarkation night to try Share. Let me just get this out of the way-the chairs are horrible. Horrible, horrible, horrible. Our waiter said many had complained and they are working on fixing the problem.

The chairs were our first, last, and only issue with that meal. Our server Janos was fantastic: personable, friendly, and extremely knowledgable about the menu. The Charcuterie that comes as the first course was top notch. It comes with crispy bread that looks like vine leaves (a very nice touch), pate (though I think he said it was chicken liver, not goose), pomegranate chutney, really high quality prosciutto, and I’m honestly not sure what the other delicious Italian cured meat is called. There were also olives and pickled onions. Everything paired together perfectly.

For starters we had the Shrimp Salad and the Cavatelli. The shrimp salad was one of the brightest cleanest dishes I’ve eaten in a long time. It is presented as four shrimp with the tails already removed with thin pieces of julienne turnip and crispy brioche cracker on top. The plate has small dots of lemon gel and citrus salt that the shrimp pick up as you cut it.

The Cavatelli is presented in a bowl that looks to be a white foam with pieces of vegetables visible. This was the most surprising dish as far as taste. We didn’t really know what to expect from the description on the menu. Mixed in with a foamed cheese sauce are pieces of roasted sun choke (similar texture to a turnip or other starchy root vegetable), pureed beets, flour gnocchi, and topped with brussel sprout leaves. The pureed beets had a pickled element that cut through the heavy flavor of the cream and dense pasta.

For our main course we had the roast Turbot and the wild mushroom ragu. The Turbot was the only part of our meal that wasn’t 100% outstanding. Unfortunately it was slightly overcooked and thus a bit on the tough side. The flavors were good, but compared to everything else was a bit meh. The mushroom ragu managed to standout among the other outstanding dishes. If you love mushrooms this is a no-brainer. It was a mix of mushrooms on top of a creamy base (we couldn’t figure out what exactly was under the mushrooms). They were cooked to perfection and flavored to really bring out the woodsy nuances of the fungi.

We had the potatoes and kale for sides. The potatoes were good but pretty typical gratin potatoes with a hint of blue cheese. The kale was amazing. it was cooked in an almost southern style with pork and sugar. It was in a both that was drinkable it was so good.

Dessert was the Dark chocolate and ricotta fritters. I was hoping the ricotta flavor would come through in the fritters and it didn’t. It was noticeable in the texture but they tasted otherwise like a fried donut ball. The dark chocolate was death by chocolate, delicious, rich and decadent.

We enjoyed our meal enough that we decided we would return and pay the cover charge so that we could try the other offerings.

Will follow up with any reviews from the day sea today…