Sky Princess, Dec 23, drink of the day and random thoughts.

[J13C85]

Earlier this summer there was a thread about Princess Cocktails. DW and I collated the list and will send pics of the ones we try with some random thoughts.

 

First, check in was fast. We were on Sky by 10:30 and were greeted by old fashioned carolers.

 

As for the drinks, day one DW had  a 24K Maragarita and I went off menu w/ a Pina Colada substituting Grey Goose Peach Vodka for the rum. DW loved the Maragarita and said it was "citrusy". As for my drink, wow. The peach is the dominant flavor but the drink is light and refreshing.

[J13C85]

Update...as of 2:50 we were waiting for over 1K people to complete Muster process. More photos coming

[avonlady6390]

I'll be on in two weeks one of my favorites is a dirty banana which is a frozen drink.

[triple7tahoe]

4 hours ago, avonlady6390 said:

I'll be on in two weeks one of my favorites is a dirty banana which is a frozen drink.

See you onboard!!

 

[strobellayjam]

Following for your drink reviews 😆 we are onboard as well - see you around! 

[nini]

Thanks for sharing your holiday cruise with us. We were on the Sky last June and really enjoyed this gorgeous ship!

[Tropical PJ]

Following along,  we are a group of 5 couples on the Sky end of January!

[J13C85]

7 hours ago, strobellayjam said:

Following for your drink reviews 😆 we are onboard as well - see you around! 

I'm a big guy with very short hair and a beard, she is a red head. We have been and will tomorrow be wearing matching tee shirts. If you see us pls say "hi"

[J13C85]

Today our drinks were "The Chaiman of the Board" and "Dunes" (Dunes is the green one). "Chairman" can best be described as "holy cow, don't light a match". Goodness this was a strong drink. Not really our style. "Dunes" on the other hand was light, refreshing, and the lime made it so good. We both liked this one a lot.

 

Random thoughts from day two (and last night). Last night the tree lighting was so cool. Officers (and Stanley the Bear) came out to rhe Piazza and the Captain Lit the tree. The recycled Christmas tree contest this morning was awesome. Different departments each made Christmas trees out of various components that were recycled. We voted for team 6.

 

Ugly sweater contest was very fun. I didn't get good pics but the two who won were both a hoot (DW and I were split on this as we each preferred a different finalist). Glad they tied.

 

Lastly, we've listened to Silk Sounds Duo a couple times (last night at Crown Grill Bar and this afternoon in the Piazza). They are amazing.

[voljeep]

Dunes is rum based ... my wife is a rum girl - Dunes is definitely a go-to for her - mainly at night and mainly at Crooners.

[strobellayjam]

56 minutes ago, J13C85 said:

I'm a big guy with very short hair and a beard, she is a red head. We have been and will tomorrow be wearing matching tee shirts. If you see us pls say "hi"

I’ll keep an eye out for you! 

[J13C85]

Day 2 Update...formal night picture posing was busy but very fun. After dinner we saw the production show, "Spotlight Bar". This was phenomenal with such good music. DW and I loved it so much. Speaking of good music, 80s music trivia was next. This is always one of my favorite things to do. For so many of the kids in the crowd this is oldies music, to DW and I it is the soundtrack of our youth and when we met. Just so much fun.

 

Merry Christmas everyone and we will be back tomorrow.

[J13C85]

Merry Christmas. Today was Roataan. For our drink of the day. I had a special "Christmas Cranberry Margarita" while DW chose one of her favorites, the "Milky Way Martini". Both are visually appealing (as I love chocolate the Milky Way looked right up my alley). It did not disappoint but it was a little strong for my taste. Of course DW did remind me that Martinis are generally strong.

 

The Cranberry Margarita was outstanding. So light, so refreshing, and Cranberry was a nice flavor. We both really enjoyed this one.

 

Riataan was crowded as there were two ships in port, Norwegion Joy and us. It was so hot, like hotter than the face of the sun hot. We saw a place that DW said was a perfect description of me, the "Crazy Pineapple" (she said I'm crazy and shaped like a pineapple, that really tickled my funny bone).

 

Santa arrived in the Piazza this morning to give gifts to the children. This was cuteness overload for sure. We watched from deck 6 and it was so fun. So many matching PJs and happy children. Just a magical morning.

 

Off to dinner now and at half 9 there will be a "Holiday Wishes" production show with the singers and dancers from "Spotlight Bar". From there we'll see where the night leads us.

 

Catch you tomorrow on "Boxing Day".

 

[J13C85]

[Itchy&Scratchy]

On 12/24/2023 at 3:41 PM, J13C85 said:

Today our drinks were "The Chaiman of the Board" and "Dunes" (Dunes is the green one).  "Dunes" on the other hand was light, refreshing, and the lime made it so good. We both liked this one a lot.

I loved Dunes on Enchanted!

My go to drink is Midori Sour so I ordered it first, but it was undrinkable (just plain awful). I looked through the entire menu in search of something that would be close to it and found Dunes. OMG, so amazing!

 

P.S. If your wife liked Dunes, she may also like an Appletini (if it's made right, with apple schnapps, of course, and not too strong). 🙂

Edited December 26, 2023 by Itchy&Scratchy

[J13C85]

Boxing Day in Belize today and we got to do Good Spirits. Today's drinks of the day are 3. First, I had Sandia En Fuego (this was on our list).Very nice and it just takes like a watermelon punch, then the Jalapeño hits and woo. I really liked this. DW had Grappa Peach and this was also very nice. You can really taste the Peach, honey and lemon. I really liked this (DW let me have a little bit). She also liked it a lot (although Dunes is still her favorite). Third bonus drink was the "Magic Butterfly". This is a gin drink, tastes like Lemonade and changes color when stirred from purple to pink. I liked this a lot (I love lemonade) but it was too strong for DW.

 

As for our thoughts on last night and today. Christmas Dinner Menu was tradional with some flair. I haven't been doing the food pics thing but wanted to do so with Christmas Dinner.

 

Belize is a tender port, and as it was also hotter than the face of the sun, we decided to spend the day on board. It was lovely.

[dog]

To OP- enjoyed your posts- cool, fun, amazing etc!  Thanks for sharing!

[J13C85]

Today was Cozumel Day. For our drinks today, there was a Caribbean Themed Cocktail Party in the Concierge Lounge and we did a "Blue Lagoon" and a "Caribbean Iced Tea". The Blue Lagoon was blue curacao (sp) and Sprite. There may have been other things in it as well. All I could taste was the Sprite. It was a little sweet but as someone who likes Sprite, I enjoyed this.

 

As for the Caribbean Ice Tea, think Long Island with tropical flair. Pineapple juice is my favorite fruit juice and I loved this drink. Tasted like a big Pineapple juice that could easily get  me hammered.

 

Random thoughts. Last night we did the Ultimate Balcony Dining. Two of our closest friends gifted this to us last year for Christmas (this shows how long ago we booked this cruise). We elected to eat inside because Pepe Le'Pew made an appearance. The meal was wonderful and the Princess team did a fantastic job of making us feel special. 

 

Last night we went to the new production show "5 Skies". Concierge Host Igor told us this was the most expensive production Proncess has ever done and it definitely showed. DW and I really liked this show and want to see it again because so much was going on.

 

Today in Cozumel we made chocolate. Venue was wonderful with ocean view as we were right on the beach. Knew we were in for a treat when we started with a chocolate martini (goodness I loved this, was like a little glass of chocolate milk). We then had a little lesson about the history of chocolate dating back to the Mayans and the Aztecs. Host, "Lucy in the Sky with Chocolates" walked us through the entire process. There was a lot of grinding (DW said this was man's work, LOL) and kneading, and banging the table, lol. We got our chocolates in a mold and then it was time for a tasting with various chocolates paired with wines. The penultimate chocolate we tasted was a dark (60%) with Chili. This was so interesting as the chocolate was smooth snd then bang, the chili popped. So fun. 

 

DW is not a strong swimmer and beach days are not really our thing. This was the kind of excursion we like, where we learn something and have an experience. This was different and we had so much fun.

 

Here comes the pics starting with the "Drink of the Day".

[J13C85]

Today was Costa Maya day. Quite a busy port today. We were parked right next to Carnival's largest ship, Celebration, as well as what I believe is the largest currently operational cruise ship in the world (sorry Icon. not yet) Royal's Wonder of the Seas, and the German ship Mein Schiff 6. That was a whole lot of people at the port.

 

As for today's drinks, the Dirty Banana finally appears on this list. Full disclosure, this is my favorite drink on Princess and I have has a bunch of them. Goes down like a chocolate banana milkshake. Some bartenders spread chocolate sprinkles on top, others not so much.

 

DW enjoyed the Tiramisu martini. This was so smooth and tasted like a cold coffee drink. DW loved this and I liked it a lot too.

 

Costa Maya found us wandering the port. We had some awesome chips, guacamole and flautas (they were a little pricy), bought a magnet, watched the flyers and listened to a marvelous saxophone player.

 

Tonight was formal night. I wore a tie that is very special to me. It belonged to the father of two of my closest friends (I call them chosen brothers) and when he passed the brothers gifted the tie to me. I wear it at one formal night every time we cruise so I can honor my friend. I tell this because tonight Beef Wellington was on the dinner menu and my friend's mom made the best Wellington I ever had. Just seemed right having the Welly tonight whole wearing that tie. I'm going to text a picture to my friends when we're back in Lauderdale Saturday.

 

Rock Opera was so good. Highlights were the guest tenor nailing the hig notes in "Dream On", the five girls doing a wonderful version of "Total Eclipse of the Heart", and the 5 boys doing a haunting rendition of "Sound of Silence" (this is one of my favorite songs and Disturbed's version is, too me, the best cover of all time)

 

We so enjoyed all three production shows. Tomorrow is a sea day and then  back to Lauderdale. Pics follow:

[avonlady6390]

Thank you for reporting in 8 days I'll be on the Sky same itenary as you having my share of dirty bananas as well did you try the ultimate cooler I think I'm getting the name right with vodka and watermelon😊

[J13C85]

Just now, avonlady6390 said:

Thank you for reporting in 8 days I'll be on the Sky same itenary as you having my share of dirty bananas as well did you try the ultimate cooler I think I'm getting the name right with vodka and watermelon😊

Ultimate Cooler is on the agenda for toda🍸

[Itchy&Scratchy]

15 minutes ago, J13C85 said:

Ultimate Cooler is on the agenda for toda🍸

It is great! The zero proof version was also our kid's favorite.

 

[J13C85]

We are coming to the end of the first week. Today is a relaxing sea day. Currently, I am sitting on my balcony, it is cool with a nice breeze in the late afternoon. Normally, about this time the "end of cruise depression" sets in (good news is I can put that off for a week, LOL) but right now, in this very moment, I am at such peace. Here are some pics I took from the balcony.. 

[J13C85]

Will send the Drink of the Day a little along with more random thoughts a little later

[J13C85]

Back to the balcony after dinner for a nice quiet evening. In the distance I see another ship and I am happy enjoying the night. BTW, it feels the same out here as it did 5 hours ago, cool (but not cold) with a slight breeze.

 

Drinks today were "Captain's Bounty" and the "Ultimate Cooler". The Captain's Bounty was described as "all the rums". However this was mixed, I can tell you that none of the rum is overpowering and it is just a real nice cocktail. I enjoyed it a lot. 

 

As for the Ultimate Cooler, the first thing I tasted was fruit juice and then the grapefruit juice "arrived at the show". This is a really good drink, DW liked it, but it is not for me. I don't drink Grapefruit Juice as it is counter effective to a medication I take. That said, if you like grapefruit juice you will love this drink because the punch & grapefruit juice blend nicely and definitely camouflage any liquor. 

 

Today in the piazza there was the Aviator Challenge (flying paper airplanes). It was so fun watching the children. There was also "Officers versus Guests" giant Jenga. This was so much fun as a team of 5 guests took on a team of 5 officers in a event that is best described as "Music Trivia meets Jenga". I didn't get too many good pics as I videotaped the whole thing.

 

We also listened to the Silk Sounds Duo in the atrium. They were my favorite of the acts on this cruise. Their afternoon set was wonderful.

 

Reaching the halfway point of this adventure, I can honestly say I don't have the words to sufficiently convey just how wonderful this experience is. Looking forward to next week.

 

As I sign off for tonight, the last pic shows the drinks we had with dinner as to this point they are our favorites. Catch you tomorrow.