suzyed

My opinion is to pre pay your tips.

 

If you want to do more, feel free to tip whomever you please.

I agree! Why complicate the issue?;)

I bring the mesh shoe holder. But I also bring two of those 3M sticky hooks. (the kind with the double sided tape that removes easily by stretching it). I hand the shoes holder on the wall near the mini bar and use it for things like chargers, cords, batteries, etc. All the things that we will need often. Works great

I got a shoe bag from the dollar store that just had a hanger type holder and just hung it in the closet...worked great!

We like to bring along clothes pins and Boca Clips. The clothes pins come in handy to dry out your bathing suit on your balcony when in port - we clip them to the chair and bring them in before we set sail. We find that they never completely dry in the bathroom. The Boca Clips are great to clip your towel to your chair on the pool deck. It is always windy and you can guarantee your towel will stay in place.

 

Another item we always bring is candied ginger. Helps settle your stomach after a rich meal or when you feel a little seasick. :)

Great idea on the candied ginger! They even serve it with dinner each night on the Queen Mary 2!

Also consider bringing a 6 or 9 ft. extension cord and a multi outlet power surge protector to use to charge your phone, camera, etc.

 

Thanks Maraprince regarding the extention cord/power outlet idea. Both DH and I need CPAP machines. We're booked on the Island in a mini-suite and I was wondering how many outlets would be available. It might help alleviate some issues if I brought my own ext. cord.

DH uses a CPAP and this is our first cruise where he will use it. Fortunately there is an outlet at the desk right next to the bed in the minis (at least on the Ruby,which we were on last year), so he won't need the extension cord, but one would be handy if you are both using the machines.

I am now wondering it the Grand(our next cruise) has the same set up?? Looks the same in photos...but maybe someone that has sailed on the Grand can attest to this???

A night light in the bathroom will not do much good if the door is closed!! We plug in a night light behind the TV.

I have an alarm clock, that has a night light in the base and it also can be used as a flash light when it's picked up and carried.

Also, if you are doing an east bound TA, you lose an hour each night of the TA, so this is where the alarm clock comes in really handy!!

Also, on Princess, the walls along side of the bed (at least in the mini), are metal. So I brought small magnets, to hang notes, pages from the Patter and our schedule of event with our CC Roll Call group, etc! It was a great way to keep everything organized!

I bring two hi-liters, 1 blue, 1 yellow to hi light activities we don't want to miss. So when we return to our cabin at night I mark what I want to do the next day in yellow, DH marks in blue and then things we want to do together get a mixture of yellow and blue--- green!

They use "dabbers" in Bingo. They sell them,(don't remember how much, $2?), but if you plan on playing, you can bring one from home bought from the dollar store.

I plan on bringing a "flameless" candle to use in our cabin (Romantic!);) and out on our balcony in the evening! :)

My 1st cruise EVER is in Nov so I'm obsessed with this site! I read everything I can, I come on here at least once a day to see if I missed anything....It's kinda sad, I know ;)

Next April on the Grand will be our 20th cruise and I am obsessed too! I am right here with you every day! ;):D

I pack a battery operated short pillar candle-no more than 3 inches tall and in diameter-to use both as night light in cabin' date=' and to put on table on balcony while we have our nightcap/Irish coffee before bed. Lovely evenings at sea!!:)[/quote']

Great idea!! Adds a bit of "romance at sea"!

My travel alarm has a night light/flash light feature, which is great, but I like your "candle" idea ALOT!!

Just did this yesterday on the Coral. It was well worth the $150 to us. It was a bit rocky at the start but we trudged on. We brought our small cameras but it wasn't mentioned if we could take photos or not, so we didn't. I was very impressed with the Captain and the amount of time he gave us and the questions he answered. We were on the land tour prior to the cruise and we didn't arrive at the ship until 7:30 pm (boarding began at 1:00.) As soon as we got on board we went to passenger services and signed up. We were the first to sign up. Passenger services said our group size was 12 but we had an hour time change the night before so it seems some people backed out. We ended up with only 8 on the tour. When we signed up for the tour we had to write down our size.

I don't remember seeing where to put your size prior to the tour, but when we got ours and mine was WAY big, I asked for a smaller one and they brought it to our cabin.

The robe I'd use every morning after my shower but the chef jacket will be useless to me. Anyone want to bid on ebay? :)

That's a great idea...how much are you going to ask for yours?? I will price mine the same! LOL;)

Great summary of the tour!

 

One quick caveat for people reading this later, the locations may vary slightly from ship to ship and tour to tour. For example, we were not able to go up on the funnel when we did it due to crosswinds.

We got to visit all the places mentioned above on the Ruby.

I wish they had an option of doing the tour at a reduced price, with out all the goodies...I would love to tour again, but don't need any more of the ''stuff"

Although we are fairly new on CruiseCritic.com, we have spent a lot of time on it since we booked our Panama Canal Cruise on the Island Princess about eight weeks ago. We investigated ports of call, excursions, specialty restaurants, etc.

 

 

We had seen people doing the Chef's Table last year on the Golden Princess and it looked like a lot of fun. The more that we read or saw, the more that we were convinced that we should do it. People who had done it previously seemed virtually unanimous in their praise. Vickie and Bernie's review and video and a couple of others were particularly compelling.

 

 

The Chef's Table became our primary goal for our October 6, San Francisco to Fort Lauderdale cruise. Since we would be joining this repositioning cruise two days after its origin in Vancouver (and we knew that we would not be arriving at the pier as early as some people), we were worried that we might not be high enough on the list to make the cut.

 

 

Fortunately, we ended up in the first of evidently four Chef's Tables on this 15 day sailing – that is 40 successful passengers with 8 on a waiting list (and this was without any promotion or announcement in the Princess Patter, etc.). We were very happy to get our preliminary notification about participation and the Health and Safety Agreement. We turned in our agreement quickly, then received the formal invitation.

 

 

On the appointed evening, we met Silvio Zampieri (Maitre D') and George Coteanu (Assistant Maitre D') in the atrium, donned our chef's coats and were escorted to the temporary tasting area in the galley. Here we were met by Executive Chef Klaus Baumgarten. Klaus is German born, but now lives in Florida. He is very focused and passionate about food.

 

 

Neither our words or photographs will do justice to the experience, so we are sharing some general impressions rather than a detailed critique of each dish. We were served four appetizers with our Champagne in the galley. The Blue Crab Margarita with Avocado and Mango, and Braised Escargots in Vol-au-Vent were our favorites, but all were excellent. Klaus entertained the group with thoughtful and in depth answers to a diverse range of questions about his background, the restaurant business, staffing, Chain De Rotisseur, menu planning, etc. Silvio and George also remained with us in the galley – they added humorous jabs and ensured there were no empty Champagne flutes (Heidsieck & Co. Monopole Blue Top Brut).

 

 

 

We then moved to the Bordeaux Dining Room and got to know the other four couples. Three from Florida and one from New York. Only one of the couples (from Boca Raton) had previously been on a Chef's Table. We talked about CruiseCritic and the Florida State vs LSU football game.

 

A very nice Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio was served as the Risotto with Asparagus and Lobster Tail and Claws were plated nearby. The Risotto was fantastic!

 

Every component of the Potted Stilton with Port Wine reduction, Walnuts and Rosemary Biscotti was great.

 

 

 

The famous Bloody Mary Sorbet was served as a palate cleanser. Doug regretted finishing his quickly so that could not rationalize accepting the offer of a Grey Goose top off when they came around again with the bottle.

 

The meat course was a trio of beef, pork, and veal tenderloins flambe-d nearby. The accompanying sauces were great – we especially liked the Cafe de Paris Butter for the beef and the garlicky Salsa Verde for the pork and veal. A Ferrari-Carano Merlot was served.

 

The desserts were beautiful in presentation and taste. The sugar sails were too pretty to eat and Peggy felt an emotional loss when they were crushed after our plates were bused. A late harvest Chilean Sauvignon Blanc was served.

 

Silvio, Klaus, George and some of the senior waiters attended to our group during the whole three hours. They continued to answer questions and tell amusing stories throughout the evening. There was nothing to up-sell, cross-sell or promote other than having a great time and special meal.

 

The only disappointment of the evening was the loss by Florida to LSU – the news of which arrived by text message. Fortunately only two members of the table had fits of uncontrollable sobbing (and we both have different recollections of this part of the evening, so there may have been more or no sobbing).

 

The ladies received a rose. Each couple received two group photographs and a coffee table cookbook.

 

 

 

 

The quality of food, personal attention, and uniqueness of the Chef's Table made this the most memorable event that we ever had on a cruise ship. We had very high expectations and they were exceeded.

 

I guess from a self interest standpoint, we should try to keep the Chef's Table as secret as possible. However, it would be selfish not to share the experience.

Summary:

We would heartily recommend the Chef's Table for anybody except picky eaters or people with restricted diets. More than worth the price. Highly memorable!

We had the same menu that you had at our first Chef's Table dinner on the Ruby! Unfortunately we got the same bad news during our sailing (FL lost)..but we still had a wonderful dinner and would highly recommend this lovely experience!

see below!!

see below!!!!

What a wait, i could not do that, i wouldn't be able to stand waiting for so long after booking a cruise. I have bee going crazy booking this cruise 10 months in advance, lol.:D

I think the MOST we have booked in advance was 5 1/2 months!

The shortest time? We booked QM2 on a Tuesday and sailed on Saturday!!

62 days, explorer of the seas, southern Caribbean. First ever cruise !!!!!!!!

How exciting!! You will be hooked!!!

Have fun!!

4 days until the Monarch!!

11 Days until Ruby Princess!!!!

Sure it is! Hurricane season is from June 1st to Nov. 1st....prime cruising time! Most of our cruises have been during that period. Only once did we experience really rough seas and the hurricane wasn't even nearby!

Go and have fun! :D

Hmm, $139 for 90 s fun? I am not sure, but thanks for the info

 

Mike

And we met a man on our sailing that ziplined at the beginning of the cruise....he was sitting in a wheelchair with a broken right ankle while we were speaking to him. YIKES!!

I'm giddy!! 9 more days!!!!!!! :D

I have to disagree with your conclusion. Just looking at only a few questions and answers, I saw one we know to be factually incorrect. Someone said that NCL still had a self service passenger laundry on a particular ship, although not on the one the person asked about.

 

If NCL is editting for factual accuracy, they have missed at least the laundry room error, so you can't rely on the accuracy of the answer to the soda question either.

I think they are editing for negative vs. positive....just as it appears they are doing on the excursion reviews on the website.

I have left a few reviews that may have had a bit of negative(as well as mostly positive) aspects. They have not been published.

I don't know of any airline that officially allows two full size carry ons in coach. They allow one, plus a small, personal item such as a handbag, small backpack or laptop computer.

right...that's two! ;)

Once again...no where is it mentioned about the limit on carry-ons.

Even the airlines allow two of those. :D

Maybe they literally mean "hand carry"...as in carrying them in your bare hands, not a piece of luggage. :eek::D;)

I doubt it! ;) LOL 'Cause how else am I getting my wine and champagne on? I don't think they would appreciate my carrying that on in my bare hands!! If I pack it, I will get called to the naughty room. :rolleyes: I'm using my rolling wine bag!

I guess my point is, that everyone is assuming that the carry on rules are the same as the airlines, and nothing has really been said about it one way or another. :p

The big problem with the cruise lines not allowing soda & water brought on board is the those of us who bring it on board usually bring something that they don't serve on board. I am diabetic, so I can only drink diet sodas, ice tea, coffee, tomato juice, V-8 or water. Add to that that I don't usually drink caffinated beverages and you are pretty much down to water. So I prefer to bring on diet orange soda, diet ginger ale, etc. Plus, I usually bring on those small tubes of Crystal Lite and mix part of a tube in my glass of water in the dining room. They wouldn't be making or loosing money on me unless the greatly increased their choice of diet beverages.

 

If only they were like Sonic & had diet cherry limeade, I would buy the soda card!

 

Trish

Or diet Dr. Pepper!

In the Welcome Aboard booklet, the only mention of carry-on:

"And remember, it's always a good idea to hand carry important doucments, medication, jewelry or other valuables."