Tea lover looking at cruising on the Grand

[FawnRiver]

DH and I just got back from our cruise on the Emerald (very nice) and now looking for the next cruise.

 

The Grand is on my list and I was looking for information on how the new tea room works - especially additional costs involved and if so, are those costs covered by any drink package or card. I don't mind a reasonable additional cost, I just like to know in advance so I can budget for it.

 

I've been pretty much resigned to not get a decent cup of tea while travelling :(, so I'm trying not to get my hopes up.

 

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

[5326jan]

On our cruises with Princess, we have taken our mini (17 oz) bodum ibis kettle. It's not the cordless version, which is all I see online now. The cordless version has an exposed heating plate, but ours has the heating elements inside the vessel. It automatically turns off as soon as it boils (a minute or two) and the outside never gets hot. We unplug when not in use. Its great for tea and coffee with a melita drip cone. I bring small plastic waste bags to put the grounds in so that the steward doesn't have to deal with the mess.

 

We found that ordering from room service wasn't satisfactory, because the water is never hot enough and often tastes like coffee, which isn't good when making tea. :(

[pakarinen]

DW and I attended one afternoon tea on the Crown. Our waiter told us the tea was Lipton. :rolleyes: I'm not a tea expert; maybe he was joking.

[zahav1]

The Grand has a wonderful tea room within the same area as the library. Many kinds of fresh teas, but all for a charge. I didn't have any, but did pass through a few times and it looked liked a wonderful selection of teas.

[TorontoTL]

The Grand has a wonderful tea room within the same area as the library. Many kinds of fresh teas, but all for a charge. I didn't have any, but did pass through a few times and it looked liked a wonderful selection of teas.

 

Yes the loose leaf teas were from The Mighty Leaf Tea Company I believe and they would do tea flights, custom blends or what was on the menu. I believe the teas were around $2.00 and up, but I don't recall because I didn't have any there.

 

However, the International Cafe has The Mighty Leaf Tea Company tea bags instead of the Revolution teas like the other ships. I really enjoyed the teas there and they were complimentary if you had a coffee card.:)

[shepp]

Yes the loose leaf teas were from The Mighty Leaf Tea Company I believe and they would do tea flights, custom blends or what was on the menu. I believe the teas were around $2.00 and up, but I don't recall because I didn't have any there.

 

In a week on the Grand, I noticed maybe two people drinking tea there. It's odd place, because it's combined with the library in an open nook in a high-traffic spot. Not quiet or secluded enough for a library, and IMO, drinking beverages while reading a loaned-out book or working on a laptop isn't a perfect combo. Leaves was usually empty, or in use by games players or jigsaw puzzlers. I'm not even sure I saw staff there.

 

The tea selection did seem astonishing, though.

[TorontoTL]

It sounds like the Leaves concept will be merged into the International Cafe on the new Royal Princess because the video mentions a large variety of teas being available there.

[cantwaitfornextcruise]

Being a tea drinker first thing in the morning, I have now finally managed to get a perfect cuppa in the HC, ask the waiter to go into the kitchen and put boiling water into the cup with the tea bag already in the cup , last year on the Golden I was fortunate enough one morning to have young man from South Africa bring my tea it was so hot, I went looking for him to say thank you, he told me his mum was British so he knew how to make tea, his advice just ask for boiling water they have an urn just inside the kitchen for just that purpose, reason the tap at the drinks station isn’t boiling – Health and Safety, we may burn ourselves :rolleyes:. Some staff members have needed just a little persuading to go and get boiling water :mad:

[Alaskanb]

On our cruises with Princess, we have taken our mini (17 oz) bodum ibis kettle. It's not the cordless version, which is all I see online now. The cordless version has an exposed heating plate, but ours has the heating elements inside the vessel. It automatically turns off as soon as it boils (a minute or two) and the outside never gets hot. We unplug when not in use. Its great for tea and coffee with a melita drip cone. I bring small plastic waste bags to put the grounds in so that the steward doesn't have to deal with the mess.

 

We found that ordering from room service wasn't satisfactory, because the water is never hot enough and often tastes like coffee, which isn't good when making tea. :(

I purchased the Bodum cordless and it does NOT have an exposed heating plate. The heating element is within the pot. http://www.amazon.com/Bodum-Bistro-17-Ounce-Cordless-Electric/dp/B004EBV0JG/ref=pd_sbs_k_5 If you look at the image on the right- the base is simply an electrical connector to the heating element within the kettle.

[5326jan]

I purchased the Bodum cordless and it does NOT have an exposed heating plate. The heating element is within the pot. http://www.amazon.com/Bodum-Bistro-17-Ounce-Cordless-Electric/dp/B004EBV0JG/ref=pd_sbs_k_5 If you look at the image on the right- the base is simply an electrical connector to the heating element within the kettle.

 

That's very good to know! I bought my DD one a few years ago and the part that the kettle sits on to heat up stays on the counter, but when you lifted the pot to pour, the plate on the counter was searingly hot! They must have changed the design. On mine, the plug goes to the pot and that is where the heating element is. Not cordless. Thanks for letting me know! :)

[Alaskanb]

That's very good to know! I bought my DD one a few years ago and the part that the kettle sits on to heat up stays on the counter, but when you lifted the pot to pour, the plate on the counter was searingly hot! They must have changed the design. On mine, the plug goes to the pot and that is where the heating element is. Not cordless. Thanks for letting me know! :)

I'll try it out again and let you know if it does get too hot. There will be some heat transfer. It's a bit of a nuisance as it must get to a boil and turn off on it's own. We will just use it for travel.:)

[FawnRiver]

Thanks for the info, all. I wish they could train the staff that proper tea has to be made with boiling water. Guess they need to hire more Brits or Canucks to do the training ;).

[Alaskanb]

Thanks for the info, all. I wish they could train the staff that proper tea has to be made with boiling water. Guess they need to hire more Brits or Canucks to do the training ;).

Oh so true! :) Is the Afternoon Tea made with boiling water in tea pots?

[FawnRiver]

Oh so true! :) Is the Afternoon Tea made with boiling water in tea pots?

I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I haven't made it to the afternoon tea on any of my three cruises, but I was afraid that I was going to be disappointed. The last thing I wanted was to be disappointed, so I didn't risk it.

[montgomeryfamily]

Leaves is the name of the new tea room which shares the library area on the Grand. When we were on our cruise in December, we visited Leaves a couple of times and took part in one of the tea flight tastings offered. There are many different loose teas offered, as well as various highlights and flavor enhancers.

 

There is an ala carte menu for various teas and then some groupings and tea flights, as well as a "design your own" tea tasting. The price seemed to range from a little under $3.00 to a little under $5.00 for the most expensive non-alcoholic tea offerings. There were a small number of alcoholic ones offered, but we weren't interested in those and they do have to go to Crooners Lounge for the alcohol. You can pay directly or for any of the non-alcoholic offerings you can use a coffee card punch. If you pay directly, a drink gratituty is charged.

 

I talked with the steward who had primary responsibility for Leaves. He was a very pleasant and knowledgable young man who enthusiastically explained the tea service process, shared information about the teas and answered questions. On our first visit to Leaves, we just obtained information and talked with the young man, but decided we would do a tea tasting at some point when we had a lot of time to relax and just enjoy the experience. We also wanted to choose a time when it would not be crowded in the library with people playing games or with lots of people walking by, as this space is completely open to the hallway and there are limited tables available.

 

We selected a time period when the library was technically not open--it was not staffed full time--there were various periods of time when the CD staff or dancers came to the library checkout desk and opened the library shelves. It seemed to be crowded during those times--often there were no tables even available for tea. Unfortunately, when we returned, the young male steward was not there and there was a female steward who was staffing Leaves. She did not speak English well, but it appeared that the male steward had been training her and she was his assistant. After talking with her, it did seem that she had complete understanding how to properly prepare the tea, but she was really not good in trying to explain the different teas or answer questions. Based upon our prior conversation with the male steward, we decided to go ahead and proceed with the tea tasting based on his previous recommendations. We each had a separate tea flight, so we could have a taste of both.

 

There is a hot water dispenser built into Leaves that the steward uses when preparing your tea service and it does dispense boiling water. There are also small minute timers (hourglass types) of appropriate lengths to use for the tea steeping. The tea flights were very nice and we really enjoyed them.

 

The male steward always had pastries, etc, offered with the tea service. We asked about that when we decided to have our tea, as the pastry cart was not there. She asserted that she just had to go get them--it would only take one minute--and that she was going to do so as soon as she prepared our tea service. Since the tea would take some time to steep, that was fine. However, after we received service, she did not go get the tea cakes--she continued with other activities. We reminded her, and she assured she was going and she disappeared in the back. She actually didn't return until we were almost finished--don't know if she took a break or what. We really weren't hungry--we just wanted to try some of these tea cakes as they appeared to be different than the pastries we had seen at the IC. So after she returned, she offered the cakes. My companion took one and I passed, because we were basically finished with the tea service and did not want to order another to have with the cake. So although I probably would have left an additional gratituity if we had had the service from the male steward, we didn't leave anything extra for her.

 

I had not realized that there were two stewards who shared the workload in Leaves, and so I would hightly recommend a tasting if it is the male steward, but would only recommend for the female steward if you know exactly what it is that you want. I did look for him in Leaves that evening and the next day, but did not see him. So we didn't go back.

 

There is tea offered at the coffee bar--this is tea bags. There are various flavors. If you purchase the coffee card, the tea is complementary along with brewed coffee. If you have an old coffee card, then it requires a punch. Or you can purchase individually. I'm not sure of the price, but I believe it was around $2.00. The water from the coffee bar is steaming hot, as it is the water dispensed from their machine. You can get this in take away cups or glass cups.

[palolake]

Kathy,

 

Thank you so much for all the information. I've been wondering about Leaves and haven't read anything.

 

Cathy

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

There are plenty of different types of teas on the ship ...

[lexyplexy]

Following a live thread from "Pia". She mentioned that thru her back to back cruise on the Grand that Leaves has not been opened. She took a good look yesterday. Here is her quote.

 

"Something I haven’t mentioned. LEAVES. I don’t think they are open for business. I have seen no advertisements, nor have I seen any action any time I passed by. Yesterday I took a good look. There are no dishes or cups/saucers on the shelves, nor any attendant who could be of service. I never thought it was a good idea and it looks as if it never took off."

 

Sorry to say doesn't look good for your specialty teas.

 

I would have put the link to her live thread, but not sure how too. Sorry

[montgomeryfamily]

The opening time for Leaves is in the Princesss Patter. It has limited operating hours--primarily late morning through early evening. There are no cups/saucers, etc on display. All of the tea service is kept in a back area which is accessed through a door which is behind the games shelf, so it isn't even obvious that there is even a door. All of the tea leaves are kept in various drawers which are built into the walls. So you have the book shelves for the library and the walls filled with various locked drawers containing the tea leaves, flavorings, enhancements, etc. There is a small shelf about waist level where the drawers are and that is where the hot water dispenser is located. So unless you walk into the library area, you may not even realize that this is where Leaves is also located.

 

When we first went to Leaves and I saw the steward, I did not realize he was associated with Leaves because he wasn't dressed like the dining room staff--it was a different uniform similar to that of the accommodations staff or the daytime dress of the Horizon Court waitstaff.

 

While it is possible that Pia is correct, we were also on the Grand on a cruise the week before her first leg and Leaves was open. I didn't write about that because we ended up not doing the tea service in Leaves on that cruise because we couldn't come when the male steward was there and ended up having tea insuite a couple of times instead.

[sez809]

I cruised the Grand last August, and Leaves was definitely open often, although I cannot recall the exact hours. There seemed to be people using the service whenever I passed by, to the point where I was eventually tempted, whilst my family were all elsewhere, to try "something new". I was served by a female steward, whose name escapes me, but who gave me an exemplary service from start to finish. I did not choose to enjoy any cake or pastries at that time though!

[TorontoTL]

I too was on the Grand on the Feb. 4th 2012 sailing and Leaves was operational during that cruise. As has been said, the hours are a bit short so it is easy to miss when it is open.

[beshears]

It was mentioned about ordering tea from room service, but by the time the tea arrived, the water was not that hot.

 

Now, it depends upon if you have time to do this or not, but when I wanted tea just before I went to bed, I went to main buffet area and got my tea bags, or you can bring your own, and got my cup of hot tea. Yes, the water is very HOT when I get it. I then place a small saucer over it, and go back to my room. I will tell you, the tea is STILL hot, when I arrive.