talkorpi

Pasta Pasta Primavera: This had lots of fresh seasonal veggies in a nice basil and olive oil sauce. The penne was perfectly Al dente and everything had a nice bite to it. While this was probably the least impressive thing we ordered, it was still a solid 8/10 which shows how great this whole meal was. Lobster Tortelloni: This was really rich so 3 was the perfect amount. The lobster sauce was so savory and the pasta filling was light and tangy. Really good!

Appetizers (not even going to attempt this in Italian) Panzanella was interesting version of panzanella featuring grilled shrimp and olives. Very flavorful and I wish I had the foresight to pick this light of an appetizer considering how full I would become over the course of the evening! Buratta Caprese: Velvety, delicate, and insanely fresh cheese had such a great taste. The fresh shaved tomatoes and basil oil rounded it out to be a simple yet incredibly delicious appetizer. They gave me a LOT of cheese so I did not eat it all but it was very tempting!

Okay, now onto the food and drink: Arancini was delicious. Had a nice flavor from the cheese inside, a nice crispy texture, and the tomato sauce was the perfect accompaniment. The bread service consisted of fresh focaccia and a garlic Parmesan roll. It is accompanied by some olive oil and balsamic. I tried not to fill up on that to save room but it was great bread and hard to resist (you’ll notice this theme through the whole meal.) We skipped the soup/salad course to save room for later courses - this turned out to be a good idea but I’m sure the quality of those items would’ve been top notch.

Oh my LORD y’all. Just finished dinner at Sabatini’s. I feel like a whale because I am SO FULL but it was one of the best meals I have EVER had! The new menu is fantastic and everything was seriously delicious. Our server was Milos and he made tonight extra special - truly incredible service. He said this will be his 10th year on cruise ships and he only has two more contracts until retirement - you can tell he is a professional and he was truly a world class waiter! Sabatini’s on Ruby is also a beautiful space as it was completely redecorated in her last dry dock. It actually became the restaurant “Share” for a while but has since reverted back to Sabatini’s albeit keeping the nice modern but rustic atmosphere. Probably one of the most beautiful rooms on the ship. I will be posting in segments by course since doing it all in one swoop will probably make my phone explode

This is my first time buying them. The way it was explained to me is that if you pay $100 PP right now, it covers your deposit for any Princess cruise you book in the next tow years. Depending on your cruise length and cabin category, you’ll also get some onboard credit as an incentive. If you don’t end up booking within the window then Princess will just refund you the money when it expires. Policy change goes into effect tomorrow that shortens the booking window from two years to one year. I’m very glad I did my research because I would’ve been oblivious if I hadn’t. Being a recent college grad with a pretty gross student loan I have to pay monthly, I’m trying to limit my travel budget to lower than I would like, so that extra year that I snagged on its last day today really helped.

Haha, yeah any sun is a problem. My ancestry is German, Finnish, Swedish, and British a.k.a. four of the fairest-skinned countries on earth so I will cook quickly outside. Hoping I can get a lounger in the shade in Roatan tomorrow 🤞🏻

Just got two FCCs at the Future Cruise Planning Desk. They were not really advertising that today is the last day to get them valid for 2 years and that tomorrow it will shorten to 1. Not sure if I will even use them but it doesn’t hurt to have just in case!

Take 2. They got it right this time. Much better!

Ordered a hurricane from Outrigger bar. After about 10 minutes I was handed this. Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t believe this is a hurricane. I’ll call it “industrial solvent” because that’s what it looked and tasted like to me. 😂😂

They had sushi out at the World Fresh Marketplace / Horizon Court / Cafe Caribe (seriously, which one is it called) this afternoon!

Pub lunch: Everything was absolutely delicious, including my probably-not-British beer! I hate peas but the pea soup was really good. I hate onions but the onion gravy on the bangers and mash was good. If you can get me to compliment something where the main ingredient is a food I don’t like, that’s pretty high praise!

It’s pub lunch so naturally I ordered wanted to get a beer. I don’t usually drink beer so I just asked for whatever British beer they had. This is what I got. I don’t think it’s British

Sorry this took so long. I took the picture this morning and completely forgot to post it here. Here’s the current officer board:

Next sailing (5-day 80’s cruise) will have 3,144 pax

Breakfast with a view! This buffet is much better than the one on Carnival. I actively avoid the buffet there but this one actually has a lot of good stuff. I think I am already becoming addicted to the chocolate chip brioche rolls…

Today’s Patter:

Some other notes: - CD Micca does a good job of balancing being visible to guests and being professional. Maybe it is because I am used to Carnival CDs who are all up in your face but while I haven’t seen him out as much as they are, when he is visible/making announcements they seem to do a better job of conveying what is going on and what not to miss. - Karaoke sounded like daycare. I seriously think Camp Discovery+ or whatever it’s called just made its way down to Club Fusion and dropped off the kids with a microphone. Hearing a bunch of little kids “singing” their favorite songs is cute for about 10 seconds and then hurts your ears pretty quickly after that - I wasn’t expecting this cruise to be as full as the last few since Spring Break in TX and surrounding states was in early March but I asked Guest Services what the pax count was and they said there are 3050 passengers aboard this cruise! That’s like right around 100% double occupancy. There’s a nice mix of “this is what I pictured princess looking like” and “how are you/your getting a whole week off for Easter when all I ever got off was Good Friday” onboard for this cruise.

Our reservation is at 5:40 each night. We showed up a couple minutes late on night 1 (still unpacking) and a few minutes early tonight since it was formal night and the dining rooms were going to be more crowded. Both nights we have been in and out by 7:00, which is perfect as the main show first seating is at 7:30. Gives me plenty of time to go in, get some decent seats, get us drinks at Wheelhouse, and come back to (hopefully) enjoy the shows. If you like to dine a little later, I would say 7:00-7:20 would probably be a decent time to make the 9:30 showtime since it would be a little busier and thus take longer. We requested a private table for two but you have the option to share. We are both pretty introverted and keep to ourselves so that’s definitely not for us but a lot seem to enjoy that social aspect so it is a popular option.

Day 2 Recap: Dining room breakfast was a nice way to start the morning. Did some trivia and fun activities in the morning including a neat fruit and vegetable carving demonstration before getting lunch at Salty Dog Grill. I think the entire ship decided to go up to the pools right at noon because it was PACKED. However, SDG was a pleasant surprise and everything was really good! For some reason today the activities were all scheduled like right at 10:00 and then nothing really happened again until 3:30. We took a nice break to relax and enjoy the outdoors, moving between the sun deck and our balcony (and no, I still can’t get over how huge it is). Did some trivia and lost by one point before getting ready for dinner and our first formal night. Tonight’s MDR dinner was incredible - I barely ever get to eat duck so I was SO excited to get the Duck a la Orange and it DID NOT DISAPPOINT. After our great dinner we went to Colors of the World. I… don’t know how I feel about the show? 5 minutes in I was preparing for a loooooong 45 minutes and wasn’t too impressed. Then it suddenly got really good with tons of crazy impressive Brazilian carnival type dancing and tango and it was very cool. And then the ending was really bad! The entertainment crew is very talented but I just don’t think the show flows correctly is what I guess I’m trying to say. Was a fun rollercoaster ride that’s for sure. After that it was a quick change back into comfy clothes and up topside for the NCAA national championship game. Was a cool experience to watch this on a ship at MUTS! Left at halftime to go play musical bingo. I actually got a bingo but didn’t call it out fast enough so I lost - oh well, it was still a fun game but definitely made a bit harder by being 1) late at night and 2) after I had 7 drinks today when it usually takes me a few months to drink that much… 😂 Overall, a great day at sea. I went ahead and booked Sabatini’s for tomorrow, and we also have the Pub Lunch so tomorrow looks like it will be all about food.

Y’all, it has only been ONE DAY and I already have a sunburn. That is one of the blessings of being Nordic/Scandinavian - I go straight from looking the color of sour cream to looking like a tomato in fifteen minutes 🫠

Sure. Here is everything that is listed. Honestly, I would rename this section to be “oops I forgot my toiletries” - feel like that would be more fitting

MDR Dinner (Formal Night #1): Crab Cake (very good, had a slightly spicy flavor which was unexpected but a very nice surprise) Gnocci in Truffle Cream Sauce (really good but really rich - couldn’t finish) Pan-Fried Snapper (Good, interesting flavors) Duck a la Orange (The best thing I have eaten so far - cooked perfectly, excellent taste, crispy skin with moist meat, really good side pairings) Crepes Suzette (we didn’t love this - the batter had too much egg and so it kind of tasted like ice cream with scrambled eggs 🥴) Chocolate Hazelnut Bar (really good, super sweet and rich dessert so the small portion was perfect)

I ordered a drink on ocean now while watching one of the game shows (music bingo) in Explorers. Made it through the whole game show and it never showed up. Hoping I don’t get a knock on the door at midnight with my london lemonade

Ended up pulling some outdoor dining chairs to watch the game. Not the big cushy loungers but those were in very limited supply and watching this on a cruise ship is a pretty unique experience so I’m still happy!

Hi! So I asked and they said that she is in fact going in for dry dock but they didn’t know if there would be any changes, if any. I’ll let you know if I hear more details but for now that’s all they were able to tell me.