Enchanted Princess Review - 1/19/22 - 1/29/22

[jeanandjim]

13 hours ago, Kmkub said:

You look familiar. Were  you wearing a kilt on the second formal night? 

LOL No, we also saw him, but I was in black tux, blue bow-tie with a lovely woman on my arm (much like my CC photo.) Spent most late nights at Crooners or Take Five.

Jim😎

[Kmkub]

Continuing

 

These are the last of our pictures from MDR.

 

A word about portion size, specifically in the MDR. I think in the past the portions in MDR were way too much. It seems they've toned it down a bit, and now portions, for the most part, are more to our liking. You can always get more, but I dislike wasting food because there was too much.

 

***

 

This is beef tenderloin with pasta and brown gravy. The pasta was done perfectly, but there wasn't enough of it. The beef was good, not great, and I couldn't eat a couple of pieces because they were mostly grizzle. This dish needed more pasta, less beef and more gravy.

 

This is a pasta dish with shellfish. Nerd enjoyed this, but there wasn't enough sauce. 

 

This was a chorizo and potato hash appetizer, with a poached egg on top. I loved this dish! It was so full of flavor and just the right texture.

 

This was a squid steak with pork belly over a chorizo paella. I loved it! 

 

Beef tri tip with mashed potatoes and asparagus. I also loved this!

 

 

Pork with shrimp, corn and bock choy. My husband thought this was fine; not great, but certainly edible. Not what you want from MDR.

This was a polenta cake stuffed with goat cheese. I found the polenta overwhelming and the goat cheese largely absent. I didn't finish this. It reached "bleh" status.

 

 

Blueberry sorbet with strawberry sauce. Nerd would have licked the bowl if it was appropriate MDR behavior.

 

Another chocolate thingy. I love chocolate thingies! I believe this one had a hazelnut/chocolate mousse. Yum.

 

I have been ordering brandy with chocolate thingy desserts for decades. Never, ever before has it come with ice. This made me laugh!

 

Apple pie with vanilla ice cream. Nerd rated this a yummy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kmkub]

Continued:

 

Random notes

 

Gone are the days of getting a full ream of paper by the end of the cruise. You can choose what paper you want delivered to your cabin. We opted out of all CZ, Effy, Spa & excursion paperwork. 

 

Daily, we only received The Patter, which is now down to one page, two-sides. We also got notices like time change & disembarkation notes. 

 

A huge, huge upgrade, IMO.

 

***

 

Also absent were the high pressure sales as you walk through decks 5-7 midship. Nobody bugging you to buy gold or spa services or anything. Another huge upgrade.

 

The shops are now in their own section, forward, on deck 7. It's more like a mini indoor mall, now, with classy seating for the non-shoppers in the group. We enjoyed this area very much, and spent a bit when there was a sale. I took pictures, but they ended up being mostly of my thumb, so they were useless for my review!

 

***

 

Muster - watch a video in your room and then check in with your medallion at your muster station. These medallions make it so the crew can find you, no matter where you are. You can't hide from muster. They will find you and drag you by the hand to your muster station!! LOL. All in all, a much easier process. The video is short and to-the-point.

 

***

 

The coupon book promising hundreds of dollars in savings is mostly useless for (probably,) most people. We took advantage of $25. $10 in free play in the casino and $15 off $150 or more on perfume. We always buy perfume on the ship; it is cheaper than buying at home so we help out a couple of friends with their favorite scent.

 

 

 

[RNRcruisers]

Great review - thanks! 

 

Our food was also excellent on the Regal - I got that chorizo hash with egg thing and it was fabulous! I also loved the chocolate desserts. The portion sizes were great for me, although my surf and turf included only 2 shrimp. I much prefer not leaving the table uncomfortably stuffed - it was still a challenge to not eat too much.

 

I really was happy that we got less paper in the room. The Patter was enough. We didn't get the coupon book, not a big deal because we don't usually use it, but I wonder why not.

 

[RNRcruisers]

 

Oh and if the pizza in Gigi's is the same as Alfredo's count me in! I got the Princess Pizza 3 days for lunch, so good. Yes it was huge, the last day I talked my hubby into sharing and we still didn't finish it.

 

[Kmkub]

Continued

 

Casino talk

 

I believe I already mentioned that the casino was smoke free for all 10 days. This was so amazing! I don't think it had a negative impact for Princess, as it was the only busy place on the ship, ever. That includes poolside and the buffet, so that's saying something!

 

We had so much fun in the casino, and we came out ahead, by quite a lot!

 

Slots - several new and fun slots. My favorite is the Little Shop of Horrors slots, which is relatively new. We played this in Vegas in October and it was a payout machine; I made a few hundred on it.

 

The slots on this ship were extremely tight, but they did pay out once in awhile. We almost exclusively play minimum bet, because the house always wins. I did get some nice jackpots, though. My largest was on the Little Shop game; a $130 payout on a 75 cent bet. I had a few others in the $60-$100 range.

 

Some of the machines were so tight that by the end of the cruise, nobody was going near them.

 

Black jack - We did well on black jack. Remember the two exceptions to outstanding service I mentioned? Both were blackjack dealers. I won't mention names here, but I will in my Princess questionnaire. (It hasn't come, yet.)

 

For the most part, black jack dealers are friendly and will give solid guidance on those situations where it's not clear what the right strategy is. Example: "I have a 15 and you are showing an ace. What should I do?" The dealer responded with, "I think you should be careful with an ace. I'd probably hit it."

 

These other two dealers, though had very curt responses to such questions. "Do whatever you want!" in a dismissive tone. 

 

In addition, one of them was side chatting quite a bit and missed requests a few times. Hitting on a player who clearly wanted to stand, then refusing to declare a misdeal. She was a hot mess of a dealer, and we tended to leave the table when she showed up.

 

These new medallions allow them to track exactly who is playing. When you sit at a table, the dealer will log you in as a player. They did numerous drawings for currently active players. One lady won something like $2,000 in free play.

 

They also now sell lottery tickets. I bought 2 for $10. One was worth $10 and the other was a dud, so was put into a drum for a 2nd chance drawing on the last night. The winners got to spin a prize wheel and one lady won $250.

 

Our casino time was a lot of fun!

 

There's also in room and in medallion app betting, which I will go into when I discuss the technology.

[Kmkub]

A quick word about the bars. All of them are very classy. 

 

Wheelhouse and Skywalker's are both gone. We did miss fish-n-chips at Wheelhouse.

 

All the bars have QR codes. You can get a traditional menu if you want, but we didn't feel the need. We bought lanyards for our phones, so it was easy to just view menus on the phones.

 

Almost all the bartenders we encountered were super friendly and helpful. If you tell them some ingredients, they will make you something, even if it's not on the menu.

 

Crooner's has always been our favorite. It's been, traditionally, a daily stop for some sort of martini-esque cocktail. 

 

It wasn't like that this time. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it just wasn't the same. It could easily be the entertainment; it was the same man all week, and he wasn't very impressive. These were also the least friendly servers on the ship. (Not unfriendly; just not as eager to please.) 

 

 

[MissP22]

6 minutes ago, Kmkub said:

A quick word about the bars. All of them are very classy. 

Was there at least one bar open early in the morning. My husband wants Bailys for his coffee & doesn't want to order it. He prefers to add it himself.

 

Some of those food pictures look like appetizer size portions.

I guess we'll have to order accordingly. 😉

[Kmkub]

47 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

Was there at least one bar open early in the morning. My husband wants Bailys for his coffee & doesn't want to order it. He prefers to add it himself.

 

Some of those food pictures look like appetizer size portions.

I guess we'll have to order accordingly. 😉

MissP, I can’t answer the question. We are night owls and missed breakfast most of the time!
 

We rarely got to bed before 2.

[gardenbunny]

55 minutes ago, Kmkub said:

on the menu.

 

Crooner's has always been our favorite. It's been, traditionally, a daily stop for some sort of martini-esque cocktail. 

 

It wasn't like that this time. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it just wasn't the same. It could easily be the entertainment; it was the same man all week, and he wasn't very impressive. These were also the least friendly servers on the ship. (Not unfriendly; just not as eager to please.) 

 

I tend to agree.  We were on 12/30-1/9. My impressions were for one it is larger - which had also been a frequent topic of wishing it were larger.  However, previously there were always several servers coming around as soon as they saw you sit down, and would put the napkin down to let other servers know you were being served.  They were also very easy to engage with as their eyes were always looking aroundmthe room.  Many would play little games with you, bits of magic, etc.  Always entertaining.  And always remembered what you wanted every visit.

That said, I felt the Medallion may have had an impact - in all the dining, pool and bar venues it seemed to me they were very busy being delivery servers vs. the personal servers.  

No one ever really stopped to ask you if you needed anything.  And if you were able to catch one as they walked by on their delievery destination, they put your request in the device and left, someone else delivered, and no one ever came back  to check see if you would like a refill or another beverage.

That disappointed me.  But it was only the first cruise back for us.  We are on Emerald March 13 so will see if any difference.

[shamrockace]

Being from Ohio, all I can say is Go Bengals🥳!

[RNRcruisers]

20 minutes ago, gardenbunny said:

That said, I felt the Medallion may have had an impact - in all the dining, pool and bar venues it seemed to me they were very busy being delivery servers vs. the personal servers.  

No one ever really stopped to ask you if you needed anything.  And if you were able to catch one as they walked by on their delievery destination, they put your request in the device and left, someone else delivered, and no one ever came back  to check see if you would like a refill or another beverage.

 

 

That wasn't our experience at all on the Regal. We saw a lot of servers making the rounds in the bars and at the pools. We could easily get their attention and order a drink, they would bring it back (not always quickly) and come back around later to check on us. And at a couple of the lounges that we frequented most often we were remembered, as well as what we liked to drink. I wonder if this is a difference in how the individual ships are being run.

 

[MissP22]

41 minutes ago, Kmkub said:

MissP, I can’t answer the question. We are night owls and missed breakfast most of the time!
 

We rarely got to bed before 2.

My husband is usually up around 3 AM on the ship. 😆

[VibeGuy]

That chorizo and potato hash app is legit.  I am seriously impressed that they can turn out perfect poached eggs these days.  

[Kmkub]

2 hours ago, MissP22 said:

My husband is usually up around 3 AM on the ship. 😆

He should really be able to get any beverage he wants, delivered anywhere on the ship, through the app.

 

Also, at that time, the casino bar should still be open. Don't quote me on this, but I think it's only closed in port.

[Kmkub]

2 hours ago, RNRcruisers said:

 

That wasn't our experience at all on the Regal. We saw a lot of servers making the rounds in the bars and at the pools. We could easily get their attention and order a drink, they would bring it back (not always quickly) and come back around later to check on us. And at a couple of the lounges that we frequented most often we were remembered, as well as what we liked to drink. I wonder if this is a difference in how the individual ships are being run.

 

 

Agreed. This specific discussion was about Crooner's, only. There was a notable difference, there.

[Kmkub]

Nerd found a rubber duck. Curious, I googled it. Apparently, it's a cruising thing. Is anyone else in on this?

 

We left it in our safe.

 

 

 

 

 

[Kmkub]

Continued

 

Promenade, deck 7. It really isn't, anymore. There is very little space on the promenade to actually stroll. There's barriers almost immediately, no matter which way you turn.

 

 

 

On the other hand, there are some nice seating areas that we've never really seen before.

 

On the Lido deck, there are three of these, I think.  Very nice. There's also similar conversation pits at the Wakeview bar; aft 16.

 

[Kmkub]

Continued

 

Moving onto technology. This is a dramatic change and huge improvement. It's got bugs, and it's not seamless, yet, so there is plenty of room for improvement. Overall, we loved all the upgrades!

 

I have lots of screenshots.

 

There are four general areas I will cover:

 

- The actual medallion and using it around the ship

- The app, which can be installed on your phone or tablet

- The TV, which incorporates some of the things from the app, but not everything (not consistent.) I'll also include television watching options. They are numerous, now.

- The screens around the ship; generally in the elevator banks.

 

The first thing is that the app is super glitchy. I found at times I would load it and it would freeze, telling me I'm off ship. On numerous occasions, I had to restart it a few times for it to reset itself. One thing that seemed impossible to do was to go away from the app and return to it. You can't do that. It needs to be restarted if you've not interacted with it in a while. (Even a few minutes, sometimes.)

 

Before we left home, the app told us the ship was at sea. LOL

 

Here is the main menu on the tv. This has a lot of potential, but it's not quite there, yet. IMO, it should all be completely incorporated. This is not the case. 

 

Example: Today's events - it's not helpful, it just tells you to open the app. Same for the option to view your account. I suspect that these are placeholders and they will eventually incorporate all these things.

 

 

Today's reminders can be helpful. I think this was St. Lucia.

 

[Kmkub]

Continued

 

The Wake Show comes out each evening; around 9:00 p.m., for the next day. It can be helpful, but not always. It's the cruise director and designated guests. (Casino manager, spa manager, shop manager, etc.)

 

The entertainment section just lists the production shows. Since they weren't available on this trip, there were no times listed. I have no idea if the times are listed if the shows are operational.

 

The Shore Excursion menu allows you to reserve expeditions, and you can, in theory, cancel them there, too. The one excursion we did book never showed up as reserved, either in the app or on the tv option. We cancelled it, but we had to trek down to deck 5 to do so. This is a bug.

 

The lotus spa screen is just a menu of services. You cannot reserve from this screen, nor can you view your spa reservations.

 

[Kmkub]

Continued

 

This is the "where are we now," screen. It also shows where we are going and where we've been.
 

This screen used to show how many miles travelled, how many to home port and how many to next port. None of that is there, now. I hope they include it at some point. Those numbers interest both of us. (We are data nerds.)

 

[Kmkub]

Continued

 

This is a favorite! Being able to view "today's," MDR menu is a very nice upgrade. You can also order room service from this screen. (You can order any beverages, room service food, from the gift shops or ask for more towels or soap, etc.)

 

 

Here's an example of viewing MDR menu. It will also show breakfast and lunch, if being served that day. For this cruise, Capris had breakfast, and lunch on sea days.

 

(No, to answer your question - I did not take a screen shot of the entire menu for every day! What you see is what I got!)

 

[Kmkub]

The following screens show the various television watching options. A very nice improvement, here. I only captured a sampling of what's offered; just to give an idea.

 

I love that you can create a watch list, and if you pause, it saves your place, just like at home on your various streaming services.

 

The music offerings are also a nice touch. We used this often, when playing cards or reading or whatever.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kmkub]

You can play blackjack on the television. This was "meh," not the same.  There are also some casino games on the app. They are not the same. 

 

Blackjack only on the tv. Several options excluding blackjack on the app.

 

 

 

 

[Musky Ike]

6 hours ago, Kmkub said:

Gone are the days of getting a full ream of paper by the end of the cruise. You can choose what paper you want delivered to your cabin.

Is the "log of the cruise" still available? I always liked to take that home with me .