Enchanted Princess Review - 1/19/22 - 1/29/22

[Kmkub]

Nerd had to work during the cruise. I took these pictures to show his boss! LOL

 

Internet was included for one device. For an additional $50, we could have up to four devices connected. That's $5/day and completely worth it.

 

Internet is crazy fast. At times, faster than at home. He was able to work without issue. (Well, 'cept for the part where we are on a cruise and I got to go to The Enclave and he got to do this!)

 

He was able to meet both his deadlines. (He also worked from the Wakeview Bar; aft, deck 16.) It was very nice up there.

 

 

 

[MissP22]

10 minutes ago, Kmkub said:

 

With the ship at under 50% capacity, and so many people in port, I think they can't justify opening up an entire dining room for so few people.

 

I would hope it would return to normal once they can start sailing at capacity again. For now, though, I am okay with whatever they need to do to keep costs down. They are losing money like crazy right now.

I was referring to the food prep not to the DR's not being fully utilized.

I expect Princess to provide the same quality as before covid.

[Kmkub]

12 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

I was referring to the food prep not to the DR's not being fully utilized.

I expect Princess to provide the same quality as before covid.

 

I'm doing a terrible job of reviewing if I'm giving the impression that the food was bad. I've never been on a cruise where I enjoyed 100% of everything I ate.

 

To be clear - most of the food was in the very good, excellent, outstanding range. 

 

 

[mellon1]

9 minutes ago, Kmkub said:

 

I'm doing a terrible job of reviewing if I'm giving the impression that the food was bad. I've never been on a cruise where I enjoyed 100% of everything I ate.

 

To be clear - most of the food was in the very good, excellent, outstanding range. 

 

 

Great review!  Food can be different for everyone.  

 

Do you have photos of the Sanctuary?  Thanks.

[Kmkub]

4 minutes ago, mellon1 said:

Great review!  Food can be different for everyone.  

 

Do you have photos of the Sanctuary?  Thanks.

 

Thank you. Apologies, but no, we never go to the Sanctuary. We use The Enclave and our balcony as our sanctuaries!

 

With so few passengers, there was plenty of available seating everywhere; even poolside. 

 

 

[Kmkub]

On Saturday and Sunday, we spent 6-7 hours on Deck 17 (Sky,) watching NFL playoff games. What a spectacular time! 

 

We mostly cruise during playoff time, and this has become a favorite way to enjoy.

 

With the new medallion app, getting food and drink was just a few clicks on the phone away. Just order room service food to wherever you are, and they will find you! (Much more on medallion app later in the review.)

 

On one night, we ordered chips, guacamole and a cheese plate. We got it in about 20 minutes.

 

 

It was a great time! Nerd is a Chiefs fan, and they had the last game. For those who saw it, you know what an incredible end of the game that was. We were sitting with some Bills fans, which made it crazy fun!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[KLM3164]

2 hours ago, Kmkub said:

This fruit tart was my favorite non-chocolate sweet treat throughout the cruise. Everything about this tart made me happy. 

 

2 hours ago, Kmkub said:

The fries on Princess are delicious. Nice and crispy.

I completely agree with your comments about the fruit tarts and the French fries. On our 2 cruises last year we had a plate of French fries everyday we ate in the MDR for lunch. Our waiter would just automatically bring us a 2 plates (party of 4) when we arrived. The fruit tarts were also my favorite desserts. I loved being able to get them multiple times in the IC, MDR and Buffet.

[KLM3164]

1 hour ago, Kmkub said:

Nerd is a Chiefs fan,

I hope Nerd’s team does well today and that they’ll be playing my team (49ers) in the Super Bowl in 2 weeks!

[MissP22]

1 hour ago, Kmkub said:

 

I'm doing a terrible job of reviewing if I'm giving the impression that the food was bad. I've never been on a cruise where I enjoyed 100% of everything I ate.

 

To be clear - most of the food was in the very good, excellent, outstanding range. 

 

 

Not at all.

I appreciate someone telling it as it is, not just saying that everything was great. That's no help to anyone.

Any word about the Production shows yet?

[Kmkub]

10 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

Not at all.

I appreciate someone telling it as it is, not just saying that everything was great. That's no help to anyone.

Any word about the Production shows yet?

They did discuss shows on The Wake Show. I wasn’t paying very close attention, so I can’t help on that.

 

I wandered into the theater one time to listen. My cat sings better in the shower. Yikes.

 

I can say that if one cruises for the entertainment, now is not the time. It was rough.

 

One couple we met on the elevator rated the comedian as, “not a total ***** show.” That’s probably the best comment I heard about the entertainment.

 

The only bright spot was a violinist, who played nice but not enough.

 

There was way too much, “let’s sing pop favorites, elevator music style.”

 

I think that’s all I want to say about the entertainers.

 

 

Edited January 30, 2022 by Kmkub

[MissP22]

42 minutes ago, Kmkub said:

They did discuss shows on The Wake Show. I wasn’t paying very close attention, so I can’t help on that.

 

I wandered into the theater one time to listen. My cat sings better in the shower. Yikes.

 

I can say that if one cruises for the entertainment, now is not the time. It was rough.

 

One couple we met on the elevator rated the comedian as, “not a total ***** show.” That’s probably the best comment I heard about the entertainment.

 

The only bright spot was a violinist, who played nice but not enough.

 

There was way too much, “let’s sing pop favorites, elevator music style.”

 

I think that’s all I want to say about the entertainers.

 

 

Thanks again for an honest opinion. 

I know the guest entertainers can be repetitive year after year with no new material to add. If you've seen them once you've seen their act for life & you're better off going to a lounge for some piano music & a drink. 

At least I can try a new drink while listening to some songs. 

[seastheday]

We were on this cruise with you and we had a great time. The “word on the street” was that some/all of the cast members for the production shows tested positive and were seen leaving the ship on the 19th. I can’t vouch for this as I didn’t see it (and probably wouldn’t know what I was looking at if I had). This would have left Princess scrambling for replacements, which is what it looked and felt like. We aren’t into the shows though (if we were, Princess would NOT be our line of choice) so we didn’t feel short-changed. If it played out as we heard, that goes in the column of stuff that couldn’t be helped because of Covid, and we were prepared for that column to be a LOT longer than it turned out to be!

 

My comments about the food…we thought it was good as usual across the board in the dining room. The buffet had its usual hits and misses, with the misses maybe coming more frequently than usual…but I might have just chosen unwisely! And the hamburgers at the greasy spoon by the pool were clearly better than the unfortunate thing you got in the dining room. Hard to beat one right off the heat with a warm grilled bun and melting cheese! Good hot dogs, too, and the pizza is always yummy. We ate at the Crown Grill once and it was reliably excellent.

 

Honestly I don’t know how they can afford to pay their fuel bill at this point, much less feed us so well and provide any type of entertainment, so I’m really grateful for the wonderful experience they provided. I hope people will take heart from the great care they are taking to keep everyone healthy and get on a cruise as soon as possible. The industry can’t survive if we don’t take the first step.

[jeanandjim]

1 hour ago, seastheday said:

The “word on the street” was that some/all of the cast members for the production shows tested positive and were seen leaving the ship on the 19th.

We were also on this cruise. We had to stop by numerous times to the medallion app area outside of 'Princess Live' because of the poor app service esp, re. buying a drink. A number of times the crew member helping me had a tag on that said 'dancer' so I guess their group was still on board. The musicians were seen playing in Take Five on a number of occasions. So I guess that leaves the singers as the missing group.

Jim😎

[hllwdcruiser]

21 hours ago, VibeGuy said:

Sooooooo, yeah.   The unwanted cake and singing . . . the *one* feature of Ocean Medallion I loathe.   My hooooozbund nearly killed me when cake and singing happened unexpectedly. 
 

Happy Birthday To You!

(I’m SO VERY SORRY)

Happy Birthday To You!

(I HAD NO IDEA!)

Happy Birthday Mister Jon

(I THOUGHT THEY’D LEAVE THE CARD)

Happy Birthday Tooooooo Yooooooou

(Please don’t throw me overboard). 
 

I really like the card you could present at a convenient time and request cake without singing. 

 

Good to know - we sail on my birthday at least now I'll be prepared!

[Kmkub]

16 minutes ago, jeanandjim said:

We were also on this cruise. We had to stop by numerous times to the medallion app area outside of 'Princess Live' because of the poor app service esp, re. buying a drink. A number of times the crew member helping me had a tag on that said 'dancer' so I guess their group was still on board. The musicians were seen playing in Take Five on a number of occasions. So I guess that leaves the singers as the missing group.

Jim😎

You look familiar. Were  you wearing a kilt on the second formal night? I had a lot of issues with the app, but restarting always fixed it. I’m sorry you needed staff intervention. I will be talking about the app, but it will be last.

Edited January 31, 2022 by Kmkub

[GonzoWCS]

6 hours ago, KLM3164 said:

I hope Nerd’s team does well today and that they’ll be playing my team (49ers) in the Super Bowl in 2 weeks!

Well....

[KLM3164]

9 minutes ago, GonzoWCS said:

Well....

Obviously this wasn’t in the cards for either team 😢but I did enjoy the games today. Just wasn’t the outcome I was hoping for but there is always next year. 😃

[Kmkub]

13 minutes ago, GonzoWCS said:

Well....

Lol. Like 75% of last week’s games, the outcome was not what was expected.

 

Nerd is pouting.

[KLM3164]

2 minutes ago, Kmkub said:

Lol. Like 75% of last week’s games, the outcome was not what was expected.

 

Nerd is pouting.

Tell Nerd I feel his pain.

[Lanz]

Great review👏

[minnesotasisu]

On 1/29/2022 at 6:03 PM, Kmkub said:

 

There was no charge for gelato. I had it once, and I wasn't quite as impressed as I have been in the past. It was missing that super creamy richness that has always been present before. I'd appreciate comments from others, as this could have been my taste buds. I didn't go back.

 

Is this true? No charge for gelato? Now I am kind of hoping it doesn't taste as good otherwise I would be sitting down there often with my feed bag on.

[Kmkub]

Continuing 

 

On the second formal night, we went to Bistro Sur La Mer.  

Menu: https://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/ships-and-experience/food-and-dining/bistro-sur-la-mer-menu.pdf

 

This was the first time we've seen this restaurant on a Princess ship. It was, for the most part, outstanding. The service was the best we had during the cruise.

 

The first course comes automatically. It's larger than an amuse-bouche, but smaller than an appetizer. It was very good and we finished it. It's polenta fries & goat cheese stuffed olives.

 

 

For the second course, we both wanted escargot, since it's a favorite. The waiter told us it was a different sort of preparation, but we weren't prepared for what it actually is.

 

They are like poppers, filled with melted butter and finely chopped snail. Nerd didn't like it at all. I thought it was fine, but not great. I wouldn't order it again. For the last few, I just cut a hole in the breading and ate what was inside. The breading reminded me of how a mozzarella stick gets breaded and fried.

 

 

Without asking, the waiter brought us a tuna tartare. I don't like being brought things without asking, but luckily, this dish was delicious.

 

 

Nerd was given a choice for a new appetizer, since he didn't like the snail dish. He opted for bisque, which he thought was excellent. It comes inside a pastry dome, which the waiter cut off.

 

 

 

 

We both opted for the filet. I had a filet at Crown Grill as well. It was excellent, but this one was so much better. Sublime.  There's an onion sauté that is truly delicious.  

 

 

 

 

 

Finishing up with dessert, I went with the chocolate thing and Nerd went with (from the menu,) Chilled orange, lemon and grapefruit jelly crumble, orange blossom mountain beignet. He enjoyed it, but it didn't appeal to me. Mine was fabulous, but I couldn't finish it. 

 

 

 

 

[Kmkub]

Continuing

 

The Lotus Spa was my daily (almost,) visit. Their Enclave is a wonderful experience. We paid $15/pp per day and we could come and go as we please. I probably spent close to eight total hours in there.

 

I didn't take any pictures in there, but this video shows the layout. The thermal pool is a real treat. Powerful water pounding on your shoulders and back, a place to lounge in the back while the bubbles come up around you, a warm rain shower in the center, and two little "cubbies," where you can stand and just let the bubbles come up. Heavenly.

 

There are four showers to rinse off both before and after the pool. There are three saunas and 12 heated stone loungers. (My favorite.)

 

I used a towel as a lumbar support and another as a pillow. I fell asleep twice; it's so completely relaxing.

 

A couple of times, a few passengers who didn't get the "relax here," memo, were screaming at each other. It's hard to reach your inner Zen with screaming around you. When I went to tell the front desk, there was already a fellow passenger complaining about the issue, so I wasn't alone.

 

 

 

We always get a massage on a cruise. Yes, they are more pricey than what we can get at home. It's hard to put a price tag on a massage like this, though. At home, when we get home from a massage, all the stresses are still there. On the ship, we can go back to the room, take a nap, knowing when we wake up, we'll still be able to relax.

 

We got two on this cruise; the best we've ever had. We also did a pedi, which was wonderful.

 

The locker room is a nice place to be. There are over 50 lockers, which open with a waterproof wristband. There are toilets and showers as well. I opted to shower there, after the Enclave, and didn't have to shower in the cabin several times. The showers in the spa locker rooms are HUGE.

 

 

[Kmkub]

22 minutes ago, minnesotasisu said:

 

Is this true? No charge for gelato? Now I am kind of hoping it doesn't taste as good otherwise I would be sitting down there often with my feed bag on.

I did not get charged, but I am told that was an error, and there still is a charge.

[Kmkub]

14 hours ago, seastheday said:

 

Honestly I don’t know how they can afford to pay their fuel bill at this point, much less feed us so well and provide any type of entertainment, so I’m really grateful for the wonderful experience they provided. I hope people will take heart from the great care they are taking to keep everyone healthy and get on a cruise as soon as possible. The industry can’t survive if we don’t take the first step.

 

Thanks for chiming in. I agree with you completely on this point. People are understandably shy about cruising. What happened to The Diamond in Japan is terrifying.

 

I never, for a single moment, felt like I was being exposed to anything harmful. The staff rely on us for their jobs, so they would be utterly stupid to do anything other than take it very seriously.