Eleven Things I Learned from the PrincessPatters

[berry22192]

DustinJones kindly posted on Nov 16 4:49pm the pdf files of his PrincessPatters His Caribbean Princess cruise was earlier this month.

 

This will be my first time on a Princess ship so here are eleven things that I have learned by reading Dustin's PrincessPatters:

 

• On Embarkation Day the musicians begin playing in the Piazza at Noon but interestingly lunch is served as early as 11:30am in the Horizon Court. Some passengers must board very early, or perhaps there are some passengers in transit.
  

• An “Ultimate Ship Tour” (sign up by 4pm the second day) is available to explore the Engine Control Room, Bridge, main laundry, and other areas behind the scenes for a cost, it is noted, of $150 (but you have to be selected to participate). Has anyone been on this?
  

• The Coral Dining Room does not open for Open Sitting Dinner until 8:30pm (the Island Dining Room, though, opens at 5:30pm).
  

• Captain Marco Fortezze met his wife Julie while sailing on Crown Princess.
  

• For those missing the Embarking Passengers Drill it is held at 9am on the second day.
  

• Needelpoint kits, should anyone be interested, are available from the Library, cost: from $5.
  

• There is no seating in the pier waiting area at St Thomas. (Information, I suppose, which could be important for some people)
  

• Sanctuary (adults only) costs $10 for use between 8am-12:30pm and $10 between 1pm-5:30pm
  

• Jewish Sabbath Service is 5pm Friday. “A volunteer is requested to conduct the service…”
  

• An English Style Pub Lunch (Ploughman’s Lunch, Traditional cottage Pie, etc.) is available 11:30am-2:30pm in the Crown Grill
  

• Books are to be returned to the Library by 6pm on last full day. “Please note a $50 charge will be assessed to your account for each book not returned.” Anyone $50 poorer?
  

Thanks again Dustin for letting us see your Patters. I'm ready!

[abbydancer2003]

And here's something I learned on the Dawn because of my cabin location.

 

Captain Marco and Julie have a daughter who is probably about 3 or 4 by now (we were on the same level as the bridge at the front, and I suspect our cabin backed up to the officer's since I saw Julie, child and Julie's mother going in and out of the crew only door).

[Nancyquilts]

The Coral dining room probably opens at 8:30 because it might be used for traditional first seating earlier.

[caribill]

DustinJones kindly posted on Nov 16 4:49pm the pdf files of his PrincessPatters His Caribbean Princess cruise was earlier this month.

 

• An “Ultimate Ship Tour” (sign up by 4pm the second day) is available to explore the Engine Control Room, Bridge, main laundry, and other areas behind the scenes for a cost, it is noted, of $150 (but you have to be selected to participate). Has anyone been on this?
  

 

 

Do not wait to sign up if you want this (and it is a fascinating 3 hour tour). As soon as you board, head for the Purser's desk and sign up. "Selection" on most of the ships is the first 12 people to sign up.

 

There have been several reviews of this tour on Cruise Critic. Every review said it was well worth the cost.

[MandD]

Do not wait to sign up if you want this (and it is a fascinating 3 hour tour). As soon as you board, head for the Purser's desk and sign up. "Selection" on most of the ships is the first 12 people to sign up.

 

There have been several reviews of this tour on Cruise Critic. Every review said it was well worth the cost.

 

The only negative to this tour was trying to pack the super, fluffy robe and other gifts into your suitcase that was so full when you left home.

[catergirl]

thought that was served in one of the bars??:confused:

 

you can ask for a free deck of cards from the pursers:)

[Nancyquilts]

thought that was served in one of the bars??:confused:

:)

It was in the Crown Grill on a few sea days on the Golden Princess.

[skf]

thought that was served in one of the bars??:confused:

 

you can ask for a free deck of cards from the pursers:)

On Diamond it started in the Wheelhouse Bar & later moved to the Savoy DR.

[SeaMatesNYC]

On Diamond it started in the Wheelhouse Bar & later moved to the Savoy DR.

 

Was this like one of those "progressive dinner" things?:D

[caribill]

thought that was served in one of the bars??

 

 

Although it may normally be in the Wheelhouse, sometimes that area is used for other activities, so they move it to another location that can serve food.

[skf]

It probably occured to the Exec Chef & Maitre-d that the bar was inconvenient & the DR wasn't being used. Makes sense to me, anyway.

On Diamond the Wheelhouse gets a lot of thru-traffic, which may have prompted the change.

[sashas_mom]

Are you saying the dining room for anytime dining doesn't open till 8:30 on the Coral? Or is there a dining room named Coral on one of the ships? I'm confused. I can't imagine having to wait until 8:30 to have dinner in the Anytime dining room..that's too late for us and I've never experienced not being able to get into a dining room earlier for anytime dining. We're sailing on the Coral to Alaska in June. We've been on her before so I'm just wondering if this is something new.

[berry22192]

Are you saying the dining room for anytime dining doesn't open till 8:30 on the Coral? Or is there a dining room named Coral on one of the ships? I'm confused.

 

 

Sasha's Mom' date=' sorry for any confusion. I was quoting from the Caribbean Princess's [i']PrincessPatter [/i](the ship's daily information sheet). Here is the dinner dining information shown for the first day of the voyage:

 

Traditional Sitting - 6:00pm & 8:30pm

Palm Dining Room

 

Open Sitting

Island Dining Room

5:30pm - 10:00pm

Coral Dining Room [on the Caribbean Princess]

8:30pm - 10:00pm

 

 

As I noted earlier, the Coral Dining Room did not open until 8:30pm for 'Open Sitting.' And to answer an earlier poster, the Coral Dining Room did not appear (on Nov 8) to be used earlier for Traditional Dinner Dining.

[DrivesLikeMario]

I sure hope they change that. I can't imagine having only one dining room open for Anytime Dining from 5:30pm to 8:30pm!! :eek: By 8:30, the majority of people have eaten. Perhaps on this particular sailing, they had a large group that had that dining room to themselves? Having only 1 DR open for AD is not normal.

[monakayk]

• An English Style Pub Lunch (Ploughman’s Lunch, Traditional cottage Pie, etc.) is available 11:30am-2:30pm in the Crown Grill
  

Thanks for sharing (& Typing) all this info with us!

 

We tried to have the Pub Lunch on the Sapphire on our last cruise over Halloween week. I was told (from post from CC board) that it would be held in the Wheelhouse Bar during sea days. But when we tried to go....no one was in the bar...and no lunch served. So does anyone know if there was only 1 certain day that the pub lunch was served on the Sapphire?:confused:

[caribill]

We tried to have the Pub Lunch on the Sapphire on our last cruise over Halloween week. I was told (from post from CC board) that it would be held in the Wheelhouse Bar during sea days. But when we tried to go....no one was in the bar...and no lunch served. So does anyone know if there was only 1 certain day that the pub lunch was served on the Sapphire?:confused:

 

 

Any day that the Pub Lunch is held, it will be mentioned in the Princess Patter for the day. Sometimes it is held in locations other than the Wheelhouse Bar.

[monakayk]

Any day that the Pub Lunch is held, it will be mentioned in the Princess Patter for the day. Sometimes it is held in locations other than the Wheelhouse Bar.

 

Bummer---sure wished I had known that the Pub lunch could be held at different areas on the ship before we left. It was only mentioned on post from other folks that it was held at the Wheelhouse. Anyhow.........thanks so much for clearing this up for me and this info....it is greatly appreciated.

[Buddy604]

Thanks for sharing (& Typing) all this info with us!

 

We tried to have the Pub Lunch on the Sapphire on our last cruise over Halloween week. I was told (from post from CC board) that it would be held in the Wheelhouse Bar during sea days. But when we tried to go....no one was in the bar...and no lunch served. So does anyone know if there was only 1 certain day that the pub lunch was served on the Sapphire?:confused:

I'm just off the Sapphire and was surprised to see the pub lunch only offered on the first sea day, in the Savoy dining room. I skipped it expecting it to be offered on either of the other sea days, but it did not reoccur. Bummer - I love the cottage pie.