Airwavey

Well.... actually..... the "close doors" button on our Sky Princess cruise just finished DID work, every time. We quickly learnt that you could close doors the moment a "sharer" stepped out

Just finished 2 weeks on Sky Princess When the steward introduced himself when we boarded he told us we could have an evening service if we wished. We didn't request it. It's not something we've ever felt the need for. When we returned to our room after dinner on the first night our room had been redone, even got our used flannel - we'd just used the one - changed for fresh. And this continued for every night of the cruise even though we hadn't requested it As we are normally independent, back packing, cheap hotel type of travellers it was really nice to have this type of service

Captain's original announcement last night was that who had booked travel through Princess, Princess staff were already working on new arrangements including overnight hotel if necessary. Presume that includes/is the Ez/Air you refer to Independent travellers had to arrange their own changes

We had three 1st at sea day on Sunday 2nd at sea day on Friday end of week 1 3rd was the half at sea day after leaving Berg on 2nd week's Thursday

Currently holding station off the coast of Isle of Wight waiting permission to enter for docking. More on this later. UPDATE - 10.40 and expect to Dock 11am. We left Ålesund on Wednesday in 30 knot winds, and they used 2 tugs for additional control of the ship. The Captain explained this over the tannoy and warned of big swell out in ocean, several metres, and strong wind. As we anticipated, therefore, it was somewhat a "interesting" night at sea that night. Ship was bouncing and rocking all over the place, and quite noticeable up here on deck The 8.15pm showing of 5Skies was basically full around 8pm. A very brave choice of show/topic - computer gaming - given the type/age profile of the passengers. We've seen somewhere, pre-cruise, that it was part of Princess's drive to getting a younger clientele, but I can't see how a blockbuster contemporary show will itself attract a younger clientele - who choses a cruise because of a 1 night show??? It was very slick and high tech though and quite professional. Don't think they had the best choice for make lead singer though. The ship arrived in Bergen on Thursday at 7am as planned - with a notified all back on board of 1.30pm. We were off the boat by 7.10 and headed straight for the Bryggen old buildings area. It took us about 25 minutes to get there as the ship was docked at the Dock furthest away. But being there before 8am meant it was empty of tourists, great for photos. After that we put in another 9 miles around Bergen (another 15 caches). We did return to Bryggen when the shops were open. We also decided not to take up too much time with a sit down fish/shellfish meal at the fish market but shared a hot smoked salmon baguette which was delicious. We were back on board by 1pm. 3 tour buses rocked up late at 1.45, and it was 2pm by the time all the passengers were on board (takes some quite a time to get from bus to gangway). But at 2pm Captain notified us that we were still 2 passengers short. They finally ran down the dockside at 2.10. The final formal evening was lovely. The MDR menu was a real push-out - eg tomato bisque, beef wellington, lobster tail, duck breast with noodles - and even the chocolate special really did look the part tonight. Friday's Sea day was a general laze between the occasional event eg quizzes, eating - there's always eating isn't there - hot tub/swim and lazing in cabin. Where our cabin is, S210 on deck 16, with a glass walled corridor outside our room looking on to the Retreat Pool has been a lovely position. We took a walk around the ship on Friday to places we haven't been eg laundromat, Wedding Chapel, and remarked how enclosed it felt in the inside between-cabin corridors. Also I think the Retreat Pool and its 2 hot tubs above is little found by most passengers even though it is open to all. The info we needed for disembarking was under our door on Friday wake up, as was a new Disembarkation Video on the ship TV. All seems to make sense. In summary Packed bags outside your room by 8pm latest - ours were ready and moved along the corridor by our steward by around 6pm. And they were gone from corridor by the time we returned from dinner. The luggage tag is colour and number coded and we will use this for finding luggage in the terminal. We have a time to go to an onboard holding area eg ours is designated to the Take 5 Jazz Bar, from which we will be called down. At the time all this was happening during Friday morning our notified vacate room time was by 08.30 and go to Jazz for an expected 9.50 call for disembarkation. Breakfast service available in World Market and Estrella. That was all OK... Until around 9.00pm, during dinner, on Friday night. And then the Captain made an announcement The Captain had tried to go fast to make time to get us into port by 5.30. Because he had been informed by port authorities that the Channel would be closed at 5.30 because of the - ANNUAL! - Round the Island yacht race. Expected docking time now 11.30. As a result those with Princess ongoing travel arrangements eg flights, will have new arrangements made by Princess including possible overnight on Saturday. Those travelling independently will need to make new arrangements. Don't expect to make any Heathrow flights before 5pm or Gatwick before 5.30. Making cabin ship telephone free for use, and WiFi too though only use this if you need too so as to allow bandwidth for those who need to sort out new arrangements. Essentially everything pushed back by 4 hours. The queue at Guest Services, which we could see from the Piazza whilst having coffee, was horrendous. This morning, Saturday, new info was beneath our door. Our new time was now to vacate room by 1pm and meeting time 2.05pm. Around 9am this morning Captain updated us again. We may get in slightly earlier. And as of now, 09.56, he had just said - in what was a decidedly curt and unapologetic manner - that he anticipates 11am docking. And all because of a yacht race WHICH PRESUMABLY HAS BEEN IN THE DIARY FOR MONTHS!!! For us it just means we set off to drive back to Devon 4 hours later. For independent flight passengers the consequences for many will be horrendous. As we finish some random things we have found out in the last couple of days that would have been useful to know earlier:- - can get free "lemonade" (American "home made" style with lemon bits in) rather than plain water.... and glasses of cola - oaty biscuits to go with the cheese, if you ask - the grey terminals either side of Customer services gives you a print out of your account so far - if you ask you can get a baked potato with MDR meal - MDR menu a starting point eg can get starter AND pasta and main and pud,.... and mix/match other items - Breakfast tea comes from a thermos and can be stewed, but have seen others get it as tea bag in a cup which is more controllable. Or bring a tea bag down from room and ask for hot water to make at table Other observations peeps may find useful:- - Haven't used our electric adapter, which works with any known electrical sockets, plus has 4 USB B and 1 USB C socket. The only power we have used has been from the USB B outlets built into the bedside lamps which we've used to charge phone, camera, power brick (Photo of sockets) - WiFi - Using straight Google as browser was best. Firefox, DuckDuckGo - crappy, Twitter - crap, Facebook - crap. Still think it is vastly oversold and overpriced at $100+. - Room was well soundproofed - from the corridor outside, from the balcony /sea outside, and from next door rooms either side - hardly heard a peep . Even the chairs being set out on the open deck above barely noticed - Television Live had the following available channels BBC World News BBC - Random programmes with no selection/choice eg Dr Who, Doctors, Father Brown, Bargain Hunt... Sky News Sport 24 Sky Sports News CNBC - business news Prime One - no idea, random dramas? National Geographic Bridge Cam - need to be on this to normally hear disembarkation messages - World Market - no trays, have to hand carry all or do return journeys. - If you keep a manual list of your spend to x-reference to your account print out your job will be easier if you note where you made that sirens eg Estrella, Vista Lounge, International Cafe etc. All our billing was accurate - the room temperature control was very responsive. Could go from cold room to warm room very quickly - from what we could see on returning to boat crew smoking is far aft, deck 4? - level with keel of the lifeboats. Our last bill printout last night was $748 (after deducting paid for gelato and my Medallion accessory ). That is for alcoholic drinks, tea/coffee speciality, and daily Crew Appreciation. In addition we separately paid $105 (?) for a single WiFi. Someone earlier said it would have cost us £840 - say $1030 currently - at the old £30 pppd rate to go Premier. So $750 actual spend has saved us a bit of money, ~$280. Or around 28 extra alcoholic drinks?? But we accept that on the package we would have probably willingly have had more to drink, so can in hindsight see the value in it... especially as you don't need much extra drink to make it worthwhile.. We are leaving an additional tip for room steward though still confused if this currently goes to him or if he has to hand it in to a pool. So, that's it for now. Will we cruise again? Maybe. It's still not our holiday of choice, we are more rucksack/no luggage in hold of plane/doing it independently type of travellers. But maybe if there was a v. cheap offer, to somewhere interesting, in the sun, we might do again. That said we are "planning" an Antarctica cruise for Xmas/New Year this year. And here's to 3 weeks backpacking in Albania in September. Happy to answer any follow up questions NB - "Why are some of our photos upside down? “ I wish I knew. They are all the correct way up in my phone album but some turn when I post. Sorry! And it won't let me upload the ones I've chosen today.

Not so sure that's it We were 40 minutes late leaving Bergen - late passenger arrivals And whenever I checked ship progress during the day we were typically doing 19.7 knots. Doesn't sound like an engine problem to me

At around 9.20 this evening there was a Captain announcement. The entry channel to Southampton past the Isle of Wight is going to be closed from 5.30 am due to Round The Island race. Have had the ship going fast enough to try to beat 5.30am deadline but now know won't be able to. So won't be fixing until 11.30am. People who have flights booked via Princess will have new arrangements made for them. People with independent arrangements will need to contact their TA. Anyone with a Heathrow flight earlier than 5pm / Gatwick 5.30pm will not make it. Ship cabin phones being given free access for calls. Free Internet for everyone, but encouragement for those that don't need to be on line to stay off to give bandwidth for those that need it. What a balls up for those with timed ongoing travel. Surely this race was in the diary months ago?!!! And there are 4 or 5 ships due in on Saturday morning. If they all miss the 5.30 deadline or all be fun having them all jostling for docking position at the same time. And the land side departures should be fun. And you can guess what the atmosphere on board ship is like A LOT of very angry passengers

All MUTS films here on the Sky Princess also available on the cabin TV.

Our Crown Grill meal last week was very nice, and worth it

Hi all Currently Wednesday in Ålesund, a quite delightful town, with three days blog to catch up on. Push off from Tromso on Sunday was around 9pm. We think there was a second medical emergency delay as a "crew medical team report to the theatre" call went out. This didn't delay our already announced late arrival into Gravdal/Lofoten Islands, and we moored up from around 10.30am. They started handing out tender tickets, done casually from a table set up alongside the Seafood Bar, from about 10am. But it was 11.30am before we boarded the tender. Organisation at the ticket issue was not as efficient as it could have been. When we arrived, around 9.45 the seats in the bar were taken by earlier arrivals. The staff then set up two identical "Tender Tickets" signs, one at each end of the bar. For some undefined reason the seated passengers became a queue with its front at the second placed sign, next to where we sat. Like it or lump it we maintained our position and so were in the first batch of issued tickets. For "novelty" they batch tickets by City names - we were Sunderland. But as I said earlier it was still 11.30 before we got on to the tender, and about 20 minutes for crossing and unboarding. On top of that the Dock is 3/3.5km from both Gravdal and Leknes, but in opposite directions. Shuttle laid on by Princess, but $19.95 pp again, and, we think, only went to Gravdal. We had a privately organised group tour, with Lofoten Lights. Passable, but rushed - insufficient time taken for photo stops, and inappropriate location for the driver's 50 minute compulsory stop. Some lovely scenery though. The tour got us back at around 5pm. The captain had already announced that the last shuttle would be 7.30. We had thought of using the time to go into Gravdal or Leknes but concluded time would be too tight/rushed. That evening we had a burger & chips/chicken burger & chips from the poolside bar, but went in to World Market to eat them as it was somewhat blowy and cold outside Both were fine as burger & chips go, but I certainly wouldn't call them "gourmet", the burger was particularly ordinary. Tuesday was a welcome chance for a lie-in, 9am, before breakfast and then Quizzical. A walking track walk and lunch, then we gave Scattergories a try, in the Take 5 lounge. Not the best organised or controlled. Particularly frustrating as Pip had put a lot of effort into entries for one category - famous people - and then host decided to ignore that category as it would take too long to mark. After some time watching the ballroom/Latin dancers strutting their stuff in the Plaza - how do they know the specific moves for each dance? —we had our 2nd quiz of the day, which we won..... ish. Joint top with 3 others, but didn't win the tie break. Hot tub and a swim in the Retreat Pool which acted as if it had its own wave machine as it moved in the swell. We had booked a late meal - 9.10pm - in Sabatinis for Tuesday, as it was summer solstice night, though with all the clouds the sun didn't really "perform". We had tried, via the Medallion app, a few days ago, to change our booking to earlier. But it would only offer us 5.30. We were immediately disappointed when we turned up therefore to find only 4 other tables occupied. And about 15 mins into our meal there was only us. Nice window table, but maybe with the heavier swell not best for enjoying a meal. Regarding being the only ones in we did feel decidedly rushed throughout the meal. No sooner had each course been finished then it was cleared and the next course set in front of us. In summary it wasn't the best meal on board ship, far from it. We both forewent the soup/salad starter choice. The spicy dip appetiser was nice. Pip - zuchinni and squash tempura with a cheese topping and crostini was OK, though the cheese was melted on the crostini not the veg as described Paul - Bell peppers, salad, anchovies. OK but too cold (as has been all cold served dishes on the trip) Pip - Broad tagliatelle with ox cheek reduction. Tasty, but some wide sinew had slipped through Paul - lamb tortaloni - Lamb mix was dry. Pasta on the thick side. Sauce, or the cheese on it, far too salty (and I like salty things) Pip - chicken with rosemary & lemon sauce, asparagus and mashed potatoes. Chicken, although beaten, was tough. Felt boiled rather then grilled. Asparagus - the tasty ends had been cut off. Mash had a skin on it, too long under heat lights. And the sauce.... like wallpaper paste. Paul - veal, marsala sauce, spinich, potatoes. The veal had to be really cut, and was chewy. Marsala sauce was harsh. Pip - pannacotta, fruit compote, shortbread biscuit. Pannacotta was too cold. The "shortbread" was a flavourless pastry, totally unworthy of the name "shortbread" Paul - zabaglione - wasn't made to order. It was lukewarm. Nice flavour and froth however, and fruits underneath. And if the waiter had asked us one more time "Gunpowder?" when offering to grind pepper onto each course I would have put the grinder where it would have had a real grind. Finished evening with a pleasant coffee in International Cafe listening to the string duo and the pianist. Sometime earlier in the day, around lunchtime, our toilet had refused to flush. Couldn't find our steward at that time. Reported it to Guest Services, all sorted by when we got back to our room later in the afternoon. Docking at Ålesund was on time this morning and we were off board by 8.10. A really lovely place. Town centre barely 10 mins walk away, and the rest of the town very compact. We spent a pleasant 7 hours walking around and out was a productive caching day (16 caches). Tonight is the two showings of 5Skies the 2nd big production show of the cruise. Going to make sure we get in early. During various previews on the Wake Show we know -they only do it on a port day as it takes all day to set up -it cost $2m to develop! -rehearsals in Los Angeles took 4 months

Hi 3150 ish 2400 brits 450 USA

It has been very hit and miss for me But I recently stopped accessing Web by my preferred browser Firefox and went online by straight Google from my android phone and links seem to come up better & quicker But direct to Twitter is rubbish. Best area? Princess Theatre has been best when I've been in there

Monday 20.32 In World Marketplace. Captain has just announced that they have a number of asymptotic covid cases on board. They and identified contacts have been isolated. As a result they have introduced COMPULSORY Mask wearing (usual caveats - not when eating or drinking or in cabin) String recommendation when ashore, public transport etc Separately - medical emergency requiring transport to hospital so departure delayed for at least a further 45 minutes. No expected delay to our arrival in Ålesund after tomorrow's at sea day

It was indeed the chatty Monika, fresh with a new child during lockdown Ken the cruiser - no, didn't notice the satellite dishes

Hi all Sunday here as I start this latest update, berthed at Tromso awaiting push away. So we have had a further 3 days since the previous post. We made it in to Thursday night's late night Tom Binns show where he gave a very full Vista Lounge his alta ego Ivan Brackenbridge (inappropriate) Hospital DJ. Given that his act consists of taking the p*** out of people with ailments and playing inappropriate clips from records, coupled with the average age of the ship's audience, I'm not surprised the ship's entertainment director gave it a "no complaints" intro. Really, a laugh a minute though. Since the previous post we have had a further 4 evening meals - two MDR, 1 World Market and the Crown Grill. The MDR is still acceptable and varied. The World Market has some great choices from evening to evening. Last night I had two very generous large spoonfuls of saute shrimp, with some rice from a counter in another section, as a starter! The Crown Grill was delicious. The starter that Pip wanted though was not available, nor was one other. The starters being seafood heavy do not suit Pip when the other choices are unavailable. Both our steaks - one rib eye, one fillet - were done perfectly. But, there are no sauces offered and the fillet would have benefited from some lubrication eg some bearnaise or the like. Pip's key lime pie bar in the Crown Grill was the first creamy dessert that has delivered a hit of flavour. Every other flavour dessert had been lacking the advertised flavour, be it strawberry, mango or lemon. My chocolate choice was OK but nothing as grand as the examples shown in the Chocolate Journeys video on the ship TV. They are still having problems providing most of the listed by-the-glass red wines from the wine list. The Crown Grill manager blamed it on "supply issues caused by the war"!!! What! How does the Ukrainian war affect the ability of Princess to access and load their wines?? We have also had an Estrella afternoon cream tea. As serious partakers of cream teas across the SW of England where we live, we found this a slightly strange affair. Everyone piles into one corner of Estrella when the doors open at around 2.55. The waiters then come around the tables in no particular order - depending on where you sit you may be served your scones, or sandwiches, or jam & cream, or cakes 1st, 2nd or 3rd... You only have a side plate sized plate to fit it all on to. The plate was warm, so the whipped cream melted. The items themselves were nice. The scones weren't a typical English scone, closer to a muffin in texture. And it wasn't clotted cream. And then everyone trundles out at around 3.45. The gelato ice cream has also been sampled and very nice too. And even a single scoop was very generous. Friday's Sea day went smoothly. Some time during the day the cabin steward bought around a Crossed The Arctic Circle certificate for each passenger. Evening Formal Night saw most people partake again. Saturday was Honningsvåg for the North Cape. On arrival we had a 4 hour morning tour with Blue Puffin Tours, organised via our Roll Call group. A really great tour. Excellent guide, very knowledgeable, very enthusiastic. The tour included a (her) fishing village, a king crab fishing village and 1.5 hours at the North Cape, as well as a 'view' and a Reindeer photo opportunity stop too. Really highly recommended. We spoke that evening to someone who had done the afternoon ship's tour. The ship was late pushing off because of issues with that tour. Apparently on the several busses to the Cape they had been instructed to catch any bus back, last one at 4.30. Surprise, surprise too many waited for the 4.30 and they had to send out another bus to get them. Hence our +30 minutes late departure. Also that ship's tour wasn't 'guided' - no commentary, no photo stops, nowhere else visited. Essentially just a shuttle to/from the Cape. And nearly the same price as the "full guided tour" that we had with Puffin. The return cruise past the North Cape, in the bright evening midnight-sun, with a Hans Zimmer concert on the screen behind was magical. And enhanced by spending that hour watching several pods of whales passing by between us and the shore. No noticeable breeches, but dozens and dozens of blow-hole activity. Had our first real Medallion let down last night. Ordered a latte and a hot chocolate for on deck (Slices) delivery. It took 40 minutes for them to arrive, they were barely lukewarm, and from their looks had clearly been sitting for a very long time - no 'top' to either drink. We sent the server away to fetch 2 fresh ones, which were acceptable around 10 minutes later. Today Tromso will possibly have been a surprise to a lot of people for two reasons in particular. 1 - the port is 4.5 km from the city centre, so around an hour's walk, if you walk. Given the make up of this cruise that would be too challenging for many. Princess provide a constant supply of shuttle buses but they are just short of $20 pp for the day. That seems a bit outrageous. There is a normal bus service nearby, approximately every 30 min on a Sunday. 2 - it's a Sunday stop. Norway, mostly, doesn't open shops on a Sunday. Very few shops were open in Tromso centre. We walked. Having been to Tromso before we had no plans to do any of the major sights. Just across the road from the port though is the Arctic Botanical Garden, the world's most northerly. And it was an absolute delight. Stacked full of flowing alpine plants. We were there around 1.5 hours - we are keen gardeners - and would have happily stayed longer. One of the best gardens we have visited. Back on board, push off from Tromso has been 40 minutes late again. Looking down to the port from our balcony a late "Sightseeing Tour" bus return was again the problem. And the captain has just announced that due to some enforced routing changes we will be 2 hours later arriving in Gravdal /Lofoten in the morning. But we will depart 2 hours later to compensate - 8pm. Fine-ish, but I bet it will make dinner-times interesting. Weather has continued fine but cool, low double figures for temps. No rain though for a few days. However, around 2 hours out from Tromso the captain is using the ship's horn because of the dense sea fog. The paid for WiFi on board ship continues to be poor value for money. Very intermittent and very slow even when it does lock on. Tonight we went for our first shared MDR table. As we are both committed and proud members of the "woke left" it was an interesting experience with the other two couples (who were 10+ years older than us) ✌️🤔