Sky princess 28 March live

[phabric]

Which Southampton Terminal did Sky leave from?  Was it the Mayflower cruise terminal?

[*Miss G*]

35 minutes ago, phabric said:

Which Southampton Terminal did Sky leave from?  Was it the Mayflower cruise terminal?

 

Yes.

[Eglesbrech]

Food in the main dining rooms at dinner continues to be fine, nothing fancy but all perfectly pleasant.

 

We are booked for all of the speciality dining so will report back. So far Sabbatinis and it was spectacularly poor in my opinion. The bread etc was nice and the calamari good. The fondue soup was luke warm and inedible and it just went downhill from there. Not just us, the two tables next to us commenting adversely on the food as well. It just got taken away with “I’ll tell the chef”, dessert was pleasant enough. They may just have had a bad night but for me I would certainly not book again, on this cruise at least.

 

The  deck 9 quarantine has guests already, we can see people leaning out over their balcony and the Captain mentioned it today at noon. Mask wearing is still well complied with but certainly not sip and cover.

 

We have not managed to see a theatre show because in my opinion there are just far too many people in there with no social distance. They even mentioned on the Wake Show that this was their first “full house” and were quite proud of that fact. 

 

Cruising for us is currently a balance between enjoying what you can and there is a lot to enjoy and trying to personally risk access activities. If it is too crowded we just move on. We try to avoid the lifts as much as possible but take it up to the top deck and have twice walked out when people crowded in - some people clearly cannot count to six!

 

The weather is lovely. Currently sipping a glass of wine on the balcony which was delivered by room service which is great (when it works). The WiFi has been pretty good most of the time, the app comes and goes. A sea view, chilled wine, good company - what could be better😀.

[Eglesbrech]

Ps curry at lunch today, lamb madras was really excellent.If you like curry then try it out when aboard. The honey frozen yogurt was also fresh and zingy.

 

Off to walk 7 times round the top to burn some calories, it won’t work of course as there are many more calories going in than any walk will deal with but I’m on holiday so what the heck.

 

For mini gold enthusiast the mini course is fun and runs very fast, so gentle taps or you will see you golf ball fly off down the stairs or ping off the rocks back to where it started. I’m speaking from experience here.

 

Another random thought, with the drinks package they only charge the extra if you pick a drink over the $12 limit and I have to say the staff are very good at mentioning this fact. Great selection of wines within the package price but some of the nicer reds are just a bit over (they have already run out of some wines but still a very fair selection on offer).

[db51]

Agree with above- went to Rock Opera and it was packed - some people were using sip and cover as an excuse not to wear the mask as long as they had a drink; it was a bit annoying for all those who who were being good. They are testing the back to back people ( from the TA) every day apparently at 8.30 which must be quite annoying. 
weather is lovely , salads from buffet are fantastic - we take ours back to our balcony. No soot on aft balcony yet! 

[db51]

Just had dinner in Crown Grill ; I wasn’t expecting much because I have read reviews about slow service and fatty steak, but it was amazing. Service was brilliant, and every course was fantastic. We had scallops, then bisque, then the fillet steak ( which was the nicest steak I have ever had) followed by cobbler and coffee. I really recommend it ( and wouldn’t usually because I don’t like spending extra on top of the cruise fare! It was actually worth paying more.) We sat next to the window which was covered by a blind since outside was a lifeboat and it was quite dark but quite secluded and quiet. 

[db51]

Also check your statements since both my brother and ourselves were charged for some drinks but have Princess plus

[db51]

There are 2500 passengers aboard but they are expecting 3000 on the next cruise ( before our cruise I thought there were 3000 expected for ours so I am not sure what happened to the 500- failed Covid tests?)

[antsp]

On 3/28/2022 at 12:43 PM, db51 said:

Problem is we arrived to drop the car, intending on going off for a walk and they told us to go inside because embarkation had started. We followed directions then were not allowed to go outside. They carried on letting people in even once there was no seating, putting people awaiting test results and people who had passed in the same room. I have never known anything like it. 

That's rediculous, I would of just told them quite firmly I will be waiting outside. 

[Maizie_Mouse]

11 hours ago, db51 said:

Just had dinner in Crown Grill ; I wasn’t expecting much because I have read reviews about slow service and fatty steak, but it was amazing. Service was brilliant, and every course was fantastic. We had scallops, then bisque, then the fillet steak ( which was the nicest steak I have ever had) followed by cobbler and coffee. I really recommend it ( and wouldn’t usually because I don’t like spending extra on top of the cruise fare! It was actually worth paying more.) We sat next to the window which was covered by a blind since outside was a lifeboat and it was quite dark but quite secluded and quiet. 

 That’s great to read, I’ve booked it for us (we go when you get back) as we’re celebrating our 25th anniversary next week but because we’re trying to stay clear of covid we’ve decided we’re not going out for dinner on the day. I’m also in your camp re not paying extra on top for restaurants.

[db51]

Some photos since we’ re in port- docking incredibly quiet ; usually if you have aft cabins there is massive vibrations on docking - with sky Princess so far none- we are quite high on 14 so maybe that is why. Filling are pictures of our balcony and then my brothers obstructed one.

[db51]

[db51]

[Princess Cat]

Following with interest as we are on the next cruise. The 3,000 passengers does worry me though. Hopefully embarkation will be better than you had to endure. 

[insidecabin]

That climb in numbers to 3000 from 2500 this cruise will be mainly kids heard over 400 due.

 

Never book a school holiday cruise.

[Eglesbrech]

Lovely day here in Gran Canaria.
 

Came back on the ship late and had a small snack at the international cafe. Really fresh Valencia orange salad and OH had a nice Thai prawn salad.

 

This little cafe area offers really nice small plates all day from egg muffins and swizz cheese croissants at breakfast to hot sandwiches, salad, small cakes etc through the day. It is also the only place we have found the coffee drinkable. The coffee in the main restaurant is distressed hot water.

 

The  alcoholic drink offerings in every bar are different so for example for a decent glass of brut fizz (my tastebuds  only of course) get the domaine Chandon in Bellinis  bar. The other bars offer a Prosecco that is too sweet for me (there are others on the menu but they have not been available this week). My advice would be browse the bars early to find what meets your particular taste.

 

Many of the cocktails are far too sweet for me as well but I have found a few I like by trying them out.

 

The other nice snack area is upon the pool deck where the lime chicken tacos are tasty. My OH rates the chips which we have always had fresh made.

 

Asked about the quarantine area (currently deck 9 both sides). Apparently it will change each cruise depending on a number of factors which they would not go into. If you have a deck 9 booking then you probably won’t know within the 30 cancellation period that you are getting bumped else here which imo is a bit unfair.

 

[Maizie_Mouse]

8 hours ago, insidecabin said:

That climb in numbers to 3000 from 2500 this cruise will be mainly kids heard over 400 due.

 

Never book a school holiday cruise.

I’m on next cruise & was told it will only be older kids as under 12’s won’t have been double vax’d in time. 3000 is still lower than max capacity of 3660. This time next week we will be on our way to 1st port of call 

[Eglesbrech]

25 minutes ago, Maizie_Mouse said:

I’m on next cruise & was told it will only be older kids as under 12’s won’t have been double vax’d in time. 3000 is still lower than max capacity of 3660. This time next week we will be on our way to 1st port of call 

A few very young children on here, small toddlers.

 

You will have a lovely cruise. Enjoy!

[db51]

In Tenerife on ‘ best of ‘ Princess tour and really enjoying it despite the National Park segment being changed due to high winds. Well organised tour to nice places - much better than the RCL equivalent we did a couple of years ago. 

[db51]

 

[insidecabin]

21 hours ago, Maizie_Mouse said:

I’m on next cruise & was told it will only be older kids as under 12’s won’t have been double vax’d in time. 3000 is still lower than max capacity of 3660. This time next week we will be on our way to 1st port of call 

Older kids can be worse as they don't alway coral in the kids clubs like the younger ones.

 

3660 is standard lower berth capacity

Max capacity on Sky is ~4600 when they pack them into those extra beds

 

 

 

[db51]

One puzzling thing about Princess; if you want a hot dessert from the buffet in the evening there is little or no choice but they serve bread pudding and rice pudding at breakfast!? - please Princess have them available at dinner I love bread pudding!! But not in the morning.

[db51]

My older kids have loved this cruise and I don’t think anyone would think they were a nuisance. Most of the pools have been empty of people and sometimes it is nice to have younger people around. 

[insidecabin]

52 minutes ago, db51 said:

One puzzling thing about Princess; if you want a hot dessert from the buffet in the evening there is little or no choice but they serve bread pudding and rice pudding at breakfast!? - please Princess have them available at dinner I love bread pudding!! But not in the morning.

At the back port side there is a hot station.

It is a  flambé fruit in a juice rotating through various fruits.

The desert corridor has 1 sometimes 2.

[db51]

Thank you ‘inside cabin’ I will go and look later, but guess what - bread pudding turned up at the buffet at lunch; I am so happy ( and so is my brother) thank you Princess for answering my wishes. Just had brilliant tour of National Park in Lanzarote and a camel ride- best excursion ever. So far all the Princess tours we have been on have been superb; the girls did playas dos America’s (or something like that in Tenerife) yesterday and then caught a taxi to Siam water park where they had a great day. We were a little worried when they phoned us to ask us how they could get back to the coach before it left because they couldn’t find a taxi but they eventually managed to get back before the ship left!!!