LIVE From the Caribbean Princess - New Panama Canal - Dec 10, 2017

[cruisehappy001]

One word: Wow. I’d heard mixed reviews about Planks, but I could find no fault whatsoever. And I’m a man who loves his BBQ. The meat was hot, tender, and flavorful, and the sauces were tasty without being overpowering. A definite positive review!

(BTW, these are the same meatballs as the starter one)

The venue: (oddly devoid of guests)

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 8+ using Forums

 

Thanks for your posting your live from. A quick Planks question... Did you go to Planks by yourself or with someone else? It looks like your meal may be on a single serving platter, but I could be wrong. When I went to Planks a few month's ago with my mother, we both ordered individual items of our choosing, but they were served together on a big joint platter. This was not to our liking, and I would imagine if you were dining with new friends it may be a bit awkward eating from one large platter? (For us it was ok as we are related, but it was not as we were expecting. Also there were some things like and odd number of an item, with an even number of guests. Not a really big deal.) We mentioned this to the head waiters and they said they were still working things out and appreciated our feedback. It does look like the portions have been reduced judging from your picture. Just curious if they did change how they do it now?

 

Happy Cruising!

 

Mark

[CanadianBurger]

CanadianBurger: Thank you for taking the time to post this live review. This is probably a dumb question, but I'm confused about the logistics of the tour you took through the locks to the Pacific. Do you stay onboard the Caribbean Princess through the new locks, then depart by tender for the tour? Do you rejoin the ship after it has made the reverse trip through the new locks?

 

 

The ship anchors in Gatun Lake after transiting the new Agua Clara Locks on the Atlantic side , and only those that have purchased Princess shore excursions depart by tender. The ship then returns through the same locks to Cristobal, where the tours return passengers to reboard. Cristobal is a freight port, with nowhere to go if you stay aboard.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 8+ using Forums

[CanadianBurger]

Are you using just your standard Elite internet minutes or did you buy a package?

 

 

I bought 200 extra minutes for $40 in addition to the 250 elite minutes. Tip: the first time you logon, you can buy extra minutes at the cheapest rate offered. You can only buy them at this rate the first time.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 8+ using Forums

[CanadianBurger]

Thanks for your posting your live from. A quick Planks question... Did you go to Planks by yourself or with someone else? It looks like your meal may be on a single serving platter, but I could be wrong. When I went to Planks a few month's ago with my mother, we both ordered individual items of our choosing, but they were served together on a big joint platter. This was not to our liking, and I would imagine if you were dining with new friends it may be a bit awkward eating from one large platter? (For us it was ok as we are related, but it was not as we were expecting. Also there were some things like and odd number of an item, with an even number of guests. Not a really big deal.) We mentioned this to the head waiters and they said they were still working things out and appreciated our feedback. It does look like the portions have been reduced judging from your picture. Just curious if they did change how they do it now?

 

Happy Cruising!

 

Mark

 

 

I was there on my own, but each guest chooses their own four meats, so I can only assume each diner gets their own “aluminum pan plank”, but I could be wrong. I didn’t see any larger platters, but the sample size was limited (I could only see two other tables). I was stuffed afterwards, and I heard other diners were unable to finish.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 8+ using Forums

[CanadianBurger]

Costa Rica today! I booked the full-day Veragua Rainforest Aerial Tram and Original Canopy Zipline. Had a fantastic time. We had less rain in the rainforest (a few sprinkles) than the ship in port.

 

The roads to the rainforest were surprisingly bad. Once we were off the main road it was 10-15 mph max.

There was a talk given by one of the research biologists.

Views from the tram, which decends steeply into the rainforest.

Once at the bottom, you can take one of two trails: the 350-stair return trip to see the falls or the flat “Trail of the Giants”. I went to the falls:

Lots of animal exhibits. Some in controlled environments, some in natural settings.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 8+ using Forums

[CanadianBurger]

The view was incredible.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 8+ using Forums

[CanadianBurger]

The ziplines were really cool. There are eleven runs. I’ll have some video from the GoPro on my helmet to post later. The scenery was breathtaking, and the platforms in the trees a hundred feet up were not for the afraid of heights folks...

In all, a highly enjoyable, albeit long day. We left as soon as we docked, and returned a few minutes after all-aboard. This is one of those ports where I’d recommend a Princess excursion if you’re gone all day, because with the traffic (over an hour each way) you don’t want to miss the ship. There was a couple on the zipline that took their own taxi to the rainforest, and were put at the front of the line for ziplining. As soon as we finished the 11, they took off for the ship. We were late returning, but no worries, as the ship will wait for Princess excursions. With the taxi charge, the couple figured they only saved about $20 by doing it on their own.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 8+ using Forums

Edited December 17, 2017 by CanadianBurger

[CanadianBurger]

MDR Dinner tonight. Italian Night!

(Sorry, I missed the menu)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 8+ using Forums

[CanadianBurger]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 8+ using Forums

[Kenswing]

I bought 200 extra minutes for $40 in addition to the 250 elite minutes. Tip: the first time you logon, you can buy extra minutes at the cheapest rate offered. You can only buy them at this rate the first time.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 8+ using Forums

Thanks for the heads up..

[CanadianBurger]

Today’s Patter

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 8+ using Forums

[CanadianBurger]

I am wondering if you would be able to take a few pictures of the room service menu along with beverages that can be ordered to the room?

 

 

Here you go:

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 8+ using Forums

[CanadianBurger]

Thanks for the heads up..

 

I’ve exhausted my 450 minutes, now into my wife’s 250...

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 8+ using Forums

[Kenswing]

I’ve exhausted my 450 minutes, now into my wife’s 250...

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 8+ using Forums

LOL.. With the number of pictures you've uploaded I'm surprised you're just now poaching her minutes.

[CanadianBurger]

Last Night’s Magic/Comedy show with Bill Cook was a great time. His illusions and somehow getting audience random answers into sealed envelopes (the boy next to me had the envelope the whole time) was quite impressive. Definitely a must-see.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 8+ using Forums

[CanadianBurger]

This afternoon was Ernesto Burger time! The burger itself is $5, or with a beer it’s $8. It takes 25 minutes to prepare.

Verdict: One of the best burgers I have ever had. The patty was about an inch thick, perfectly cooked and perfectly seasoned. My only complaint is that the patty could be larger in diameter to better fit the bun. I’m told the kimchi adds another dimension to the flavor, but I’m not a fan of cabbage. (I ordered it without the kimchi in case anyone notices.) I also got a basket of bacon cheese fries.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 8+ using Forums

[CanadianBurger]

Later in the afternoon we ordered Elite Tea to our stateroom. There is no charge for this. Nice assortment of sandwiches, pastries, cookies, and of course warm scones. Both plain and raisin!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 8+ using Forums

[tip]

We shall be on the Caribbean Princess next month, although it will be a different itinerary, a fourteen day Southern Caribbean cruise. I do have a couple of questions...

 

1) It is hard to judge the portion size at Planks by your photos. If the containers of sauce are small, it looks as though the portions are small as well. Your take on this?

 

2) From your postings, I know that you are up late, thus you may not be able to answer this one. What time are the pools open in the morning? I like to take an early swim while me darling wife sleeps late. Also, is there one pool that is somewhat covered in case of inclement weather?

[HopSingh]

Dropped off my wife and our bags at Terminal 4. There’s a sign for cars to stay left, and they’ll wave you left, but that’s for pickup. Drop off is to the right. Had a car rented from National at FLL, but if you’re renting from National or Alamo, there’s an Alamo location right outside the south entrance to the port, and cars can be dropped there with no additional charge. They have a shuttle back to the cruise terminal.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 8+ using Forums

 

Thanks so much for reporting this! I switched my rental car company based on this report.:D

HopSingh

[Kenosha Cruiser]

CanadianBurger, thanks for the live review. The patters were great to look over and your review provided a few tips for our up coming cruise on the Caribbean Princess come Jan. 3rd to the canal.

 

Cheers - Ken & Darlene

[CanadianBurger]

We shall be on the Caribbean Princess next month, although it will be a different itinerary, a fourteen day Southern Caribbean cruise. I do have a couple of questions...

 

1) It is hard to judge the portion size at Planks by your photos. If the containers of sauce are small, it looks as though the portions are small as well. Your take on this?

 

2) From your postings, I know that you are up late, thus you may not be able to answer this one. What time are the pools open in the morning? I like to take an early swim while me darling wife sleeps late. Also, is there one pool that is somewhat covered in case of inclement weather?

 

 

You definitely won’t go hungry at Planks. Each portion of the 4 meats is not huge, but 4 together makes for a lot of food. Most people I heard can’t finish it all.

 

There is no covered pool on the CB, so if it’s raining, you’re out of luck. The adults-only pool off the spa is the most sheltered, but also has the smallest deck space. I’ll get a pic for you later. The aft pool does have the Skywalkers structure above, so there’s lots of shade, but any wind would drive any rain everywhere. I’ll see if I can find what time the pools open, which is undoubtedly way to early for me...

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 8+ using Forums

[cruisehappy001]

We shall be on the Caribbean Princess next month, although it will be a different itinerary, a fourteen day Southern Caribbean cruise. I do have a couple of questions...

 

1) It is hard to judge the portion size at Planks by your photos. If the containers of sauce are small, it looks as though the portions are small as well. Your take on this?

 

2) From your postings, I know that you are up late, thus you may not be able to answer this one. What time are the pools open in the morning? I like to take an early swim while me darling wife sleeps late. Also, is there one pool that is somewhat covered in case of inclement weather?

 

You definitely won’t go hungry at Planks. Each portion of the 4 meats is not huge, but 4 together makes for a lot of food. Most people I heard can’t finish it all.

 

There is no covered pool on the CB, so if it’s raining, you’re out of luck. The adults-only pool off the spa is the most sheltered, but also has the smallest deck space. I’ll get a pic for you later. The aft pool does have the Skywalkers structure above, so there’s lots of shade, but any wind would drive any rain everywhere. I’ll see if I can find what time the pools open, which is undoubtedly way to early for me...

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 8+ using Forums

 

I have attached a photo that I finally found that relates to my earlier post on Planks a few back. It does seem to me that they have reduced the portion sizes from our visit in Late September, probably as they were seeing a good deal of waste. (We may have already eaten some of the food when the picture was taken if I remember correctly. Also, we did not finish everything as we got full.) The portion cups for the sauces are small, you could probably estimate the size by looking at the pickle slices as they are standard size. In my picture it was one single "plank" with both mine and my Mom's meal mixed together. As I stated we would have preferred our own individual planks, especially if we were dining with others. Especially the beans and coleslaw for example. If it was meant to be family style serving it could have been done better in our opinion, and it should be clearly stated that way. On the menu it even states that you create YOUR OWN PLANK with the choices listed. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining as it was an OK meal, and the price seemed fair. Just wanted to share our experience as well.

 

On our cruise we were somewhat disappointed with the overall quality and selection of the food on the ship in comparison to our other Princess cruises. We were not alone as many fellow passengers felt the same, and we read similar comments made on our roll call even after the cruise. Comments were made about all of the food offerings including the MDR, Buffet and specialty restaurants. It was just not up to par as we usually experience on Princess. I really feel that I may know the reason why, and that is the Executive Chef at the time. I deduced this when I found out who it was, and then recalled that we had a cruise in the past that we felt the same way about the food and it was the same Executive Chef. The Executive chef does, in our opionion, have a great effect on the food. I have heard others make this Executive Chef observation here on CC before, and I really must agree with them now. We are hoping that these are just exceptions and not the rule for the Princess food offerings going forward! We will be taking our first cruise on the Royal soon and are really looking forward to checking out the buffet and other food offerings that we have heard so much about, as well as a new class of ship for us to enjoy! We always go with an open mind and a desire to have a great cruise!

 

Happy Cruising!

 

Mark

 

P.S. judging from the photos and comments in this "Live From" it does seem like the food is much better!!! (Also I did see in the patters that were posted that there is a different Executive Chef now!)

[dckmusic]

Quick question, which may or may not be relevant to the room you're staying in - does the in-room fridge have a little freezer in it, or is it just a fridge? We'll be in a mini-suite on the January 3rd sailing and my wife has some dietary restrictions, so she was hoping to bring something for the freezer (non-dairy, no-yeast bread). We're assuming that non-dairy, no yeast bread will not be available as part of the menu, but she really likes her bread.

 

And thanks for doing this. This is helping us plan our bookings for the Sanctuary and Crown grill.

[compozer]

Just a fridge and not always real cold

[CanadianBurger]

Quick question, which may or may not be relevant to the room you're staying in - does the in-room fridge have a little freezer in it, or is it just a fridge?

 

 

Compozer is correct: just a fridge. And depending on the luck of the draw, it may be cool or cold. This cabin’s fridge will keep something cold, but not easily chill something that’s room temperature.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 8+ using Forums