Live from the Sky Princess, 15 day Transatlantic, 10 Nov - 25 Nov

[trinitygirl]

It's a beautiful, albeit windy, day on board.  I got up at 6am to go for a walk up top but when I pulled up my window blinds it was to discover driving, straight heavy tropical rain!  So I headed to the gym instead and by the time I had finished my 5km walk, the sun had risen, the rain had disappeared and there were blue skies.  I raced back to my suite and changed into my togs (which have totally shrunk since I started this trip back in July!!) and headed back up to the retreat pool, which I had all to myself for 25 minutes.  It was just lovely!  The chair hogs started arriving to anchor their towels to the loungers and I headed back to change and go have breakfast in Sabatini.  I went down to the destination talk on Turks and Caicos (which has encouraged me to change my excursion and go see something of the island instead of just heading to the beach) and then came back to have a wee snooze on my balcony while my Steward waved his magic wand over my suite.  Bless him.    Yesterday I had a really painful and fabulous deep tissue massage, sampled some free products in a spa showcase, went to the Effy auction (where they sold a lot of very big jewellery for very small prices which makes me think their normal mark-up is huge) and the craft session (really cool but very easy - threading beads onto cord for bag tags and the stems of glasses for parties.  After dinner I went up to MUTS to watch Top Gun Maverick but literally just as we were all settling in with popcorn, the skies opened up and a tropical downpour just started - no warning, just WHAM, wet.  I headed back to my suite and watched it on the TV in my room, and I brought my popcorn with me - it was delicious!  All in all, an excellent day at sea.    I am sad today is the last real sea day (we do get one on Friday but that will be laden with all those last-day things that need to happen so it doesn't really count), even though I am excited to get onto the islands tomorrow.  I only took a few photos yesterday and was embarrassed to realise just now that they were all of food!  No wonder my togs have shrunk...    I surprised my waiter in Sabitini by ordering something different for breakfast, having an AELT (avo, egg, lettuce and tomato sandwich); I didn't have lunch because of all the activities, and then I had an absolutely delicious dinner from the vegan menu - the carrot and shallot dish was Ottolenghi-restaurant worthy (I ate at all three of them in London in the two weeks I was there so he is top of my mind).  If you see this dish on the menu, don't hesitate.  And then I shocked my waiter in the dining room by declining dessert for the third night in a row because I knew this would be popcorn up at MUTS.   Anyway, here are the pics if you are interested.

 

The AELT (on the menu it is listed as a BELT under their speciality, but they had no issue changing out the B for A).  It was yum but this morning I went back to a tried and tested favourite...

the day's craft project was super easy but fun.

 

I had the orecchiettte to start and it was delicious - the broccoli was crunchy and the pasta was al dente.  It's weird to think that it was more than three months ago I was in Bari watching the grandmothers making this stuff!

but this was the highlight - wow.  so good:

 

This doesn't happen too often - having the Retreat pool all to yourself!

 

This morning, back to my favourite breakfast - nom nom nom:

 

 

Edited November 19, 2023 by trinitygirl

[CruzeQueen2]

@trinitygirl  Thanks for taking the time to share your pics - food, bumps in the night, small change and all! I love hearing about all things related to your cruise. More days - more fun! Enjoy. Looking forward to hearing about what you choose to do in Turks and Caicos. 🥰

[snoozecrooze]

Love the crafting sessions as well @trinitygirl and am glad to see you share them with us here. They're an oddly nostalgic feeling for me and I'd encourage anyone else to join if they're even a little bit interested.

Edited November 19, 2023 by snoozecrooze

[trinitygirl]

Such a lovely lovely day!!  I watched a chocolate art showcase in the Piazza, made a christmas card in the craft class, had a nap, watched the awesome pop up choir give their concert at 4pm, had a totally delicious dinner (they are absolutely knocking the vegan menu out of the park) and then watched the latest Mission: Impossible movie up at MUTS (awesome! I was so anxious and now can't wait to see how it ends in part 2).  And when I finally got back to my suite, it was to chocolates (somehow I totally missed that it was formal night AGAIN tonight - I had dinner very early so I could make the movie start time of 6.15 and somehow I just totally missed that it was formal!) and a new towel animal, and the delightful news that we have to put our clocks back another hour tonight, so even though I have an early start tomorrow in Antigua, I still get a proper 8 hours sleep tonight.  Hurruh!  I am not sure if I can upload videos here - I took some of the choir and of the chocolate art session - but I will give it a go and see what happens.   ETA:  it looks like you can upload videos but they will take a seriously long time to upload and I need to get to bed.  I will try again later when I have more time.

 

 

This is the fettuccine with walnut sauce - it is seriously freaking delicious, so much better than Alfredo! Yum.

 

And then I had the budda bowl - it looked very different than I was expecting but it was delicious.  They turned the cauliflower into rice, and it was sitting on top of the finely sliced sweet potato, and covered with the avocado.  Scrumptious.

 

 

 

 

Edited November 20, 2023 by trinitygirl

[happy42cruise]

On 11/12/2023 at 10:06 AM, trinitygirl said:

it is SO far away!!  I will definitely try the afternoon tea sometime later in the week. thanks for reminding me - I had forgotten that was an option.

You can order afternoon tea in your suite.  No need to go down to the dining room.

[p.pete]

22 hours ago, Stromer1969 said:

Is it just me or does $6.37 sound like a small refund for a lost port stop?

Maybe that's why they were striking? 😄 

[soccermom4]

Thanks so much for posting the vegan menus.  Thinking of trying Princess for the first time for a TA next year, this time.  We're generally vegan but have had mixed results cruising on RCCL, CCL and HAL in keeping vegan. End up flexing vegetarian or pescatarian to get a good meal.  How are things in the buffet?  Are vegan options marked in any way?

[trinitygirl]

2 hours ago, soccermom4 said:

Thanks so much for posting the vegan menus.  Thinking of trying Princess for the first time for a TA next year, this time.  We're generally vegan but have had mixed results cruising on RCCL, CCL and HAL in keeping vegan. End up flexing vegetarian or pescatarian to get a good meal.  How are things in the buffet?  Are vegan options marked in any way?

The ordinary dinner menu has vegetarian options which are sometimes vegan but the menu does not denote those separately.  The Vegan menu is being rolled out across the fleet and as I have said, it has been chock full of really fabulous food - I have been totally delighted.  You have to ask for the separate menu - as the stewards know that I am vegetarian, they bring me both menus and I mix and match if necessary but I would estimate that about 60% of the time, I have ordered solely from the vegan menu.

 

ETA:  as far as I know, they do not have a separate vegan menu at breakfast or lunch in the main dining room.

Edited November 20, 2023 by trinitygirl

[Bedruthen]

On 11/19/2023 at 9:19 AM, trinitygirl said:

did you all get the same amount?  My understanding is that the Port fee is X amount for the ship + X amount per passenger and that the way they charge it/refund it is to divide the total amount by the total amount of passengers, which explains the weird final figure.  I just assumed that since it was Portugal, it was much less than for ports in the Caribbean or elsewhere in Europe, because Portugal is in general much less expensive than other European countries.

Yes same amount. It verges on an insult!

[trinitygirl]

5 hours ago, soccermom4 said:

 How are things in the buffet?  Are vegan options marked in any way?

Sorry, didn’t see this question before I hit reply.  I haven’t been into the buffet so I can’t answer that question.  I hate buffets for the same reason I don’t shop in supermarkets - choice paralysis.  I end up walking in endless circles trying to decide!  So I stick to the dining room where there are limited choices and recommendations from the waiter who knows what I like…

[rhblake]

Thank you for all of the great information. As mentioned earlier we have the suite below yours on the Dec 2 cruise and have been living vicariously through you posts until we sail. We have a couple of questions 1) do we need to have a separate card or does the medallion work to get into the concierge lounge and 2) while we are not vegan (some of the offerings look really good) can we mix and match some of the vegan items with regular menu items? Only 11 days until we sail.

[maryann2]

On 11/20/2023 at 5:33 AM, soccermom4 said:

Thanks so much for posting the vegan menus.  Thinking of trying Princess for the first time for a TA next year, this time.  We're generally vegan but have had mixed results cruising on RCCL, CCL and HAL in keeping vegan. End up flexing vegetarian or pescatarian to get a good meal.  How are things in the buffet?  Are vegan options marked in any way?

There is a vegan section in the buffet.

The evening vegan menu in MDR changes every day.

Can be ordered the night before.

Yesterday's menu.

[trinitygirl]

6 hours ago, rhblake said:

Thank you for all of the great information. As mentioned earlier we have the suite below yours on the Dec 2 cruise and have been living vicariously through you posts until we sail. We have a couple of questions 1) do we need to have a separate card or does the medallion work to get into the concierge lounge and 2) while we are not vegan (some of the offerings look really good) can we mix and match some of the vegan items with regular menu items? Only 11 days until we sail.

you will be given a separate card for the concierge lounge - its a white proximity card. it was in an envelope in my suite when i arrived.  and yes, anyone can ask for the vegan menu and its completely fine to mix and match - i have been doing that all cruise long.

[trinitygirl]

Hey everyone, greetings from the Sky Princess after another fabulous day in the Caribbean.  I had a quick scroll back and it seems I haven't posted for a few days - port days are intense.  So a quick catch up is in order.  In Antigua we had really gorgeous weather, and I went on an expensive catamaran and beach excursion with a lobster lunch.  To be honest, to me it was not good value for money.  The crew were lovely and the scenery was gorgeous but unfortunately I didn't realise until it was too late to change, that there was no snorkling on this cruise.  We went to two beaches and the water was so murky at the first that I couldn't see my hands, and at the second one, while the water was clear, there was nothing to see under the sea.  The lunch was pretty basic (especially for me) and it was clear that my fellow sailors were determined to get their money's worth from the booze - they started drinking as soon as we were off (at 9am!) and they continued until the minute we got back at 3pm.  As someone brought up in NZ to respect the dangers of the sea, the idea of drinking IN the water (as they did - cans and bottles in hand) is totally foreign and it stressed me out - not least because as they got intoxicated they got loud and some of them, fairly obnoxious.  I know that the caribbean is completely different from the pacific ocean but still, it wasn't fun for me.   The music was awesome but it wasn't enough to turn the day around for me.  Actually, the day got off to a bad start because of a gentleman doing a loud 'grace' at breakfast in Sabatini, and I really don't need to hear out loud, before I have absorbed my tea, what all someone else believes is wrong with the sinners of the world.    Anyway... that was Antigua - it's a lovely island and I wish I had chosen a different excursion.   Yesterday we were in Sint Maarten/St Martin and the weather was crap - it started off blue and hot and humid but no sooner were we in the bus on the way to the french side of the island, it started to rain and it didn't stop until way after the excursion ended.  We hit all the sights - it was a good excursion that way - but its hard to appreciate the beauty when you can't see it through the fog.  I am back here next week and doing a (non-cruise ship) snorkling adventure, and I am really looking forward to seeing the island from the water.  Also, I found the diamond pendant I have been looking for since I was robbed in Arles back in September - it was exactly what I wanted and about 1/3 of the price of the one I had been looking at in Effy, so I bought it.  Colour me pleased.   Today we were in beautiful San Juan.  I have been here before, back in 2010, when I walked all over the old town and had a tour of the gorgeous civic buildings, so this time I went on a nature adventure, to El Yanque National Park - it was just lovely.  They had 6 inches of rain yesterday so the La Coca Falls was in great shape, and the view from the top of the tower was so beautiful!  When we got back to town, we visited the San Cristobel Fort for awesome views of the city up the top.  It was super hot (35 degrees) and humid, but hey, I am travel-hardened now, having lived through the summer from hell in Europe.    I have also been catching up on my movies up at MUTS:  I have now seen the latest Mission: Impossible, and the last Indiana Jones movie, along with Barbie! and Top Gun Maverick. So I feel culturally caught-up again, and if only they were showing Oppenheimer, I would feel even more complete.  Hopefully it will be showing on a plane as I make my way home next month.  There has been more great food in the main dining room, and this morning when I had to have room service because we had a super early immigration call (I was really glad for this when I got back mid afternoon to realise that there were a number of other huge ships in port and large numbers of passengers milling about outside - we were all through customs by 8am and on our way before they even arrived in port, so well played Princess) - anyway this morning I had to have awful room service breakfast and it has made me even more determined to really enjoy the next three breakfasts in Sabatini before disembarkation.  

 

Ok, that's probably enough jabbering on and its almost time to head to dinner.  So, here are some photos in case you are interested.

 

First up, does anyone know what this insignia is? I have never seen it before.

 

Some photos of beautiful Antigua:

 

Some photos from Sint Maartin:

 

There are so many igunanas!  lots and lots of bright green adolescents, and a few huge adults like this one:

 

A word of warning:  do not waste your time at Moro Beach - it was amazing prior to 2016 when the 747s landed but now they are only small planes and the effect is not the same.

the ONLY product actually made in St Martin is this liquor made from a local berry.  Literally everything else for sale here is imported.  But its also tax free so that means some of the things are good value.

it was so lovely looking out my window and seeing the sun rise, and then I saw the string of cruise ships following us into port and that was not so great.

 

And from today:

 

The Mameyes River running through the park:

 

La Coca Falls

The Yokohu Scenic Tower:

View from the top:

It's worth the climb.

 

 

The Atlantic looking far more gorgeous than she did on our crossing:

 

 

[Rick&Jeannie]

I am jealous that you got over to MoroBeach! That's been a bucket list item for me for a long time...but it sounds like it's not the treat it used to be without a 747 screaming over your head at 50 feet!

 

(The group I am with have no interest in that...)

 

 

Edited November 22, 2023 by Rick&Jeannie

[trinitygirl]

Just now, Rick&Jeannie said:

I am jealous that you got over to MoroBeach! That's been a bucket list item for me for a long time...but it sounds like it's not the treat it used to be without a 747 screaming over your head at 50 feet!

 

(The group I am with have no interest in that...)

 

 

I was really looking forward to it too, but the online reviews fail to point out that since 2016 there have been no big planes landing there.  I was on the beach when three of the small planes went over and it was no big deal at all.  If you really want the full experience, go to Wellington, NZ and head to the end of the runway from Lyall Bay.  That's super exhilarating.

[trinitygirl]

And now some food photos for those of you who are interested:

 

tonight's menus - the first two pages of the main menu and then the Vegan menu:

 

I went with the cauliflower tacos - they were very flavourful but the taco shells were not crisp so the texture was off and I wished I had gone with the spring rolls which looked amazing!

Then I had a small portion of the fafalle with broccoli and cheese sauce which was scrumptious - silky and very tasty.  Followed by the vegetable strudel - the strudel was yummy but the accompaniments were yuck and remained on the plate.

 

No room for dessert tonight but the other night I had a very light starter of orange, almond and fennel, and so had room for dessert which was the banana tart with chocolate gelato.  They were both DELICIOUS.

 

 

[Gettingwarmer]

14 hours ago, trinitygirl said:

 

 

First up, does anyone know what this insignia is? I have never seen it before.

See this

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/1293669-bow-badge-on-princess-ships/

 

[trinitygirl]

Just now, Gettingwarmer said:

See this

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/1293669-bow-badge-on-princess-ships/

 

Thank you!  How completely fascinating!  I must have just not seen it on the other Princess ships I have been on - I am not very visually observant.   

[Rick&Jeannie]

Happy Thanksgiving to all Sky Princess cruisers!

[trinitygirl]

Hi everyone, its our last day!  A lovely blissful sea day to finish. I am about to head up to the main pool for a swim - i haven't been in there yet and I figure it will be packed all day long so I am going before breakfast so I can at least know I have been in there! 

 

Yesterday was Grand Turk, and it was lovely.  I headed out on a snorkling tour; we had a warm up at a baby spot because there were a number of new snorklers in the group, and then headed to the Library Reef, right on the edge of the Grand Turk Wall, where the sea bed drops away to 7000 feet.  The water was a pure indigo over there, and it was gorgeous.  There were a lot of fishies - all the little tropical ones and lots of big fish like snapper - and it is bliss to spend time in the water watching them, but the reef itself, like all the reefs I have seen over here, was nothing special.  unfortunately for me, I snorkled the Great Barrier Reef back in the late 90s - there are no words to describe the poetry in motion down there, and nothing else since (not even the red sea in Egypt) has come even close to the colour and perfection.  Now that its pretty much gone, I feel such sorrow whenever I go snorkling, to think that we just let such a magnificent treasure die. Anyway, it was wonderful to spend time in the water, and then even better to get back on board to enjoy some ship-side silliness and thanksgiving dinner, followed by a last lovely bath in that gorgeous bathroom in my suite.  I am going to miss that bath so much!!

 

Some photos:

A beautiful sunset at sea:

 

I thought the Sky Princess was a huge ship, but we felt dwarfed by Carnival Mardi Gras - what an enormous ship!

Grand Turk from my cabin window:

 

A monument to the Friendship 7 splashdown:

 

 

Thanksgiving decorations:

 

 

A demonstration of towel art:

 

Thanksgiving Dinner:

I had the special cocktail - it was super delicious:

I had the pumpkin soup (very yummy), then the green salad, and the gnocchi which was too rich for me and most of which I didn't eat.  I didn't have dessert but the people at the next table had pumpkin pie, pecan pie and apple pie and they weren't impressed with any of them, so I don't think I missed much except calories I definitely didn't need.

 

 

more silliness - I scored 19/20, being tripped up by a law in Minnesota prohibiting bingo more than twice a week.

[Cruise Puss]

1 hour ago, trinitygirl said:

Hi everyone, its our last day!  A lovely blissful sea day to finish. I am about to head up to the main pool for a swim - i haven't been in there yet and I figure it will be packed all day long so I am going before breakfast so I can at least know I have been in there! 

 

Yesterday was Grand Turk, and it was lovely.  I headed out on a snorkling tour; we had a warm up at a baby spot because there were a number of new snorklers in the group, and then headed to the Library Reef, right on the edge of the Grand Turk Wall, where the sea bed drops away to 7000 feet.  The water was a pure indigo over there, and it was gorgeous.  There were a lot of fishies - all the little tropical ones and lots of big fish like snapper - and it is bliss to spend time in the water watching them, but the reef itself, like all the reefs I have seen over here, was nothing special.  unfortunately for me, I snorkled the Great Barrier Reef back in the late 90s - there are no words to describe the poetry in motion down there, and nothing else since (not even the red sea in Egypt) has come even close to the colour and perfection.  Now that its pretty much gone, I feel such sorrow whenever I go snorkling, to think that we just let such a magnificent treasure die. Anyway, it was wonderful to spend time in the water, and then even better to get back on board to enjoy some ship-side silliness and thanksgiving dinner, followed by a last lovely bath in that gorgeous bathroom in my suite.  I am going to miss that bath so much!!

 

Some photos:

A beautiful sunset at sea:

 

I thought the Sky Princess was a huge ship, but we felt dwarfed by Carnival Mardi Gras - what an enormous ship!

Grand Turk from my cabin window:

 

A monument to the Friendship 7 splashdown:

 

 

Thanksgiving decorations:

 

 

A demonstration of towel art:

 

Thanksgiving Dinner:

I had the special cocktail - it was super delicious:

I had the pumpkin soup (very yummy), then the green salad, and the gnocchi which was too rich for me and most of which I didn't eat.  I didn't have dessert but the people at the next table had pumpkin pie, pecan pie and apple pie and they weren't impressed with any of them, so I don't think I missed much except calories I definitely didn't need.

 

 

more silliness - I scored 19/20, being tripped up by a law in Minnesota prohibiting bingo more than twice a week.

Lovely photos.  We loved Halloween on Sky and would love to do Thanksgiving on her as well.

 

Grand Turk looks amazing as well.

 

You will be pleased to know that the Great Barrier Reef is, in fact, recovering, despite what the media around the World would have you believe.

 

Enjoy your last day. 😊

[nwcruiselover]

I have enjoyed reading your live review.  Safe travels home tomorrow!

[rhblake]

Thank you for the preview to my upcoming cruise. Safe travels!

[ChutChut]

On 11/18/2023 at 2:17 PM, Bedruthen said:

Met a couple last night on their very first cruise and boy were they unhappy. They have a forward cabin and have barely slept because of the noise in their cabin, which a previous poster has already documented. They have been to guest services and asked if they could be moved, but told no other cabin available. They booked it 18 months ago for an anniversary and it has put them off ever cruising again. That’s the trouble when you are new to cruising, you don’t know about the importance of cabin choice.

When one crosses the Atlantic this time of year, be prepared for rough seas and ship noises. This is the norm and should be expected.