graphicgal

I think the negative comments about Curtis Stone are very unfair, especially coming from those who have not yet tried the food. If you've tried it and didn't like it, that's another matter entirely. But to dismiss something new because you don't think you will like it is premature at best.

I'm bumping this up because the above was my comment. Now that I'm back from our Emerald sailing, I can speak with a better informed opinion. We ate in the MDR every night. The 3 Curtis Stone items on the MDR menu "sounded" good so I tried 2 of them. The mahi I did not try but I did have the pork tenderloin and the flank steak. Both of these were underwhelming. For example, the flank steak (which I like and often prepare at home) was cooked correctly. But the tastes and presentation got an "F" from me. It was a small pile of plain rice covered with a small layer of flavorless black beans, covered with 4 or 5 small slices of steak. It rather resembled spa food because the size of the meal was punishingly small compared to the Princess meals that our tablemates ordered. However it was accompanied by a schmear of a sauce (small portion again) that was amazingly lick-the-plate delicious. Rather incongrous, IMO. The food contained a small promise of future goodness, but definitely needed an overhaul. I actually fault the Princess kitchen for some of this debacle and think they are not committed to these foods nor are they properly trained in presentation. The plates were devoid of visual interest--something that is apparently a great sin in the world of celebrity chefs.

One day we were at the pool and a staff member came by asking people if they had tried SHARE (we had not) or intended to do so (we did not though we might have if we had not been sailing with a family group). It appeared that they were trying to drum up business for SHARE and it really piqued our interest. So one evening while we were having a drink in Adagio, we looked into the restaurant and noticed that it was only 1/3 full! And this was prime dinner time too! It seems to me that Princess overhyped this roll-out and are now trying to make up for that mistake.

Magic to Do is a must see and for this show you do have to arrive quite early.

I agree about the new show. It was excellent. I heard some did not like it but I thought it was very imaginative and the music was great. They only had the show on one night of our 4-day sailing and the theater was absolutely full. Arrive very early.

The announcer mentioned that this is the first of 4 shows he is developing for Princess.

I was also on this cruise and enjoyed it. My favorite part of the cruise was the comfortable new beds. Wow, they really did a good job on this one! New linens too, but I think the pillows are not new and need to be looked at. They were sort of tired-looking (pun intended).

We had early traditional dining and had a great experience at our family reunion table for 8. Our food was very good, though there were some items I would not order again. The Curtis Stone plates were unremarkable and much smaller than the Princess offerings. Nothing seemed oversalted. Meats were cooked perfectly, though others commented on the fish being overcooked.

Embarkation and debarkation went very well and we came home with good feelings toward Princess. My only problem overall was the size of the ship. I learned that I do not like cruising with 3,000 people. Next cruise will be on a much smaller ship.

When they store your partially-consumed bottle of wine for the next dinner, do they store it under refrigeration or is it just placed in a closet?

On our last cruise we were "confirmed" for 5:45 which was pretty early. We weren't really happy when we boarded and found that Princess had changed the 5:45 time to 5:15. That's way too early.

I agree--way too early. With a schedule like that it's impossible to fit in 3 meals a day, something we try to do on vacation. Don't want to skip anything!

Our final booking page says "6:00 confirmed." Our summary says only "Early Seating." I was just wondering. Will confirm when onboard.

Thanks everyone!

For you experienced cruisers:

To which dining room will we be assigned and when will we find out?

Emerald

5-day, January

early traditional

. . . I have ordered a thing that you wet and wear around your neck to help with the heat from Magellan's... will post a report after our cruise (to thank all the kind folks on this board for sharing their knowledge and experiences) and let you know how it worked! I also have some cool wipes my daughter jokingly gave me years ago in my stocking for dealing with hot flashes that I plan to pack and take along - hahaha!

We were in Panama February a few years ago. The weather was fantastic! We also brought those neck towels that you moisten and wrap around your neck to keep cool. Never used them. Have a great trip. The canal is mesmerizing.

I'm not sure. I always thought nothing really worked in the shaver plug. (?)

I'd like to know this as well. Does a night light really work in a shaver receptacle?

http://www.portevergladeswebcam.com

http://www.ftlauderdalewebcam.com

Thanks for the links. I found it does not work on my browser, Firefox, but does work on Safari.

For a first cruise, definitely the Tradewinds Bar area above the pool. That's where the action is. Plus, between now and then, have them watch sailaways on the Port Everglades webcam: that'll get them all excited about their cruise and also make sailaway more fun when it's their turn (before I knew of the webcam, I had no idea why everyone was on the port side and waving at a condo building!).

Thank you, rdsqul. This may be the best location for the sail away. Do you have a web link for the port cam?

I would have reported him. Not sure if they would do anything about it, but it would make me feel better.

Skywalkers or forward deck 8 upper Promenade.

Thank you. Do you know if the upper Promenade is accessible from deck 8 or do we have to go via deck 7 and walk forward?

What is your favorite place on the Emerald for a sail away celebration? We're going with a party of 8 out of Ft. Lauderdale for the 5-day. Some in the group have never been on a cruise before and we'd like the sail away to be special.

besides what the cruise line offers? We're not so much into beach toys. The other tours are not of interest and there are only 2 of them anyway. Since it's a tender port, is it worth it to just stay on the ship? What have others done?

No limit to number of persons or devices that can use one plan (assuming you share the password with each other). Just only one at a time.

This is good news. Thanks for the fast reply!

Thinking of purchasing a pre-paid internet plan. Can one plan be used by both of us or do we have to purchase separate plans for each person?

Would not worry about the cabin, but more what is at the side of it, have had ones with room stewards cupboard at the side, every morning crash bang etc. as they got ready for theirs days work.

This would be good to know. But do they even show the room stewards cupboard on the deck plans? I've not seen it.

Judging by your post, if you've ever dined in a fine restaurant(which seems doubtful)The wine is always poured by the waiter/Sommelier. It is in a ice bucket(if a white wine) This IS standard procedure on ANY cruise ship or decent restaurant. Just let the staff do their job!

You, sir, are mistaken. We have dined in many types of restaurants. The better restaurants know how much to fill the glass and when. That was part of my comment. The waiter on the ship either left us bereft with no wine in the glass or filled it to the brim. That is not good wine service; it is faux wine service and is merely done that way for the convenience of the staff, not the pleasure of the diners.

Let's not be judgmental about this. I was only requesting advice in order to avoid another confrontation in front of our table mates. This will only be our second cruise on Princess and I was not sure how to handle the situation if it arises again. There have been many excellent suggestions from this thread and we will surely try them.

Graphical, great, great, great post. My wife and I really enjoy wine. We have a wine cellar at home and usually have wine five or six times a week. I would prefer the bottle left on our table after the initial pour. If the server does not get to refilling our glass in a timely manner, I want the freedom to do so. West wind, your tip about discussing your preferences with the waiter was something I had not considered. I certainly will the first night as we prefer Traditional dining. Thanks, both of you.

Some good ideas here. Thanks to everyone for some excellent suggestions. We will try discussing with the waiter first. This cruise we are doing traditional dining which should make it much easier having the same waiter each evening.

Wouldn't you have just told him "no thank you, we're going to save the remainder for tomorrow's dinner?" Then he wouldn't have poured it.

If it's truly "upscale" service, I would say no to your question. However, my original question had more to do with how it was handled and the embarassment everyone suffered because we just didn't know. The error was committed only once and the server's reaction was over the top. Nothing was explained to us. And we still don't know if the error was ours or the waiter's.

Next time we will speak up at the beginning just in case it's a company-wide policy.

Try putting your own napkin in your lap! Pouring the wine for you is one of their "upscale" things just like putting the napkin in your lap. Neither is worth getting upset about. Enjoy your cruise and accept the wine pouring as a bit of pampering - whether it feels that way or not.

Well it could be something to get upset about if we had wanted the bottle to last throughout dinner without having to purchase a second one. Or that we might have preferred to drink only half of it and save the remainder for another meal. Either way, no one asked our preferences, and they should have.

A couple of years ago we were newbies on the Island Princess to Alaska and had an incident in the dining room that was quite embarassing. At home, we always order a bottle of wine with dinner and prefer to pour our own. On this cruise we had a terrible kerfuffle with the waiter over who was going to pour the wine: him or us. It was a huge problem evidently because even his supervisor got involved.

First of all, he placed the wine a very long distance from the table, certainly out of our reach, and never ON the table. Then he poured very large servings nearly filling the glass, which we knew would empty the entire bottle in a short time. I'm sure it was convenient for him because he would not have to keep watch to see if our glasses were empty. But it would have been so much more convenient if he had let us pour our own. Then he would not have needed to keep watch.

It was quite embarassing for us as well as the waiter. We were not aware of any protocol requiring us to let the waiter pour our wine. No one explained anything to us at the time so we were unsure if the problem was our expectations or the waiter's mistake, and we never heard any more about it.

Is there any official "policy" that would cause this to happen or was it just that particular server? We are going again in January on the Emerald and I would like to avoid a repeat.

My color printer is an inkjet and the ink is WATER SOLUBLE, which means that the ink will run if it gets wet. So I take the extreme measure of covering the entire luggage tag with clear packing tape before I fold it up. I guess I'm OCD but it works for me. :D

I think the negative comments about Curtis Stone are very unfair, especially coming from those who have not yet tried the food. If you've tried it and didn't like it, that's another matter entirely. But to dismiss something new because you don't think you will like it is premature at best.