Enchanted Thanksgiving 2022 Southern Caribbean review with patters, menus, and pics of food

[Itchy&Scratchy]

We had a fantastic voyage and didn't even get covid this time! Yay! Very exciting!

 

I'll post all the patters, menus, etc., so please be patient.

 

We paid for an upgrade bid from inside to an obstructed deluxe balcony. E324 was perfectly located, even if the view was a bit more obstructed than in other cabins.

 

 

 

 

We dined at Santorini every evening at 6 pm. We were seated within minutes, however, the service itself was slow paced, unlike on our previous Princess cruises.

We saw almost all the big production shows and enjoyed them very much - better than in previous years for sure.

 

 

 

The food was mostly great - more about this later.

 

We didn't use the kid's club - the kid refuses to go, but I do have a program for the 11 yo group.

 

We didn't have princess plus, but we got the soda package for our son. He loved the sodas and mocktails, especially the Key West cooler:

 

 

 

Edited December 2, 2022 by Itchy&Scratchy

[Itchy&Scratchy]

Kid's club program:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

 

 

 

 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

 

 

 

 

 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

 

 

 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

now that patters are out of the way, I'll start with the more personal stuff.

 

We usually fly in the day of the cruise, but with all the flight cancellations and shortages, we decided not to risk it and fly in the day before. I chose Crowne Plaza because it was a little more modern than Embassy Suites (as in less dusty and old because my DH can't breathe due to allergies) and had a free shuttle. That backfired when the shuttle didn't show up for 1.5 hours, the hotel staff hung up on us 4 out of the 6 times we called, so it was pretty bad and even though the hotel itself was nice, we won't stay there again. Eventually we took a taxi for $25 (too much), but we were exhausted and just wanted to shower and sleep.

 

The next morning I had a leisurely breakfast which we brought with us from home (hotel food prices were ridiculously high) while the boys (DH and DS11) decided to wait until they are onboard.

 

We took an uber to the port around 10:30-11. Uber arrived within 2 minutes of us placing an order and we were at the port about 5 minutes later.

 

Our medallions were not sent to the majority of our roll call fellow travelers' homes, so we picked ours up at the port. It took an extra 30 seconds. We used lovely silicone bands to hold them (from amazon):

 

 

DS wore a blue camo, DH chose green camo and I chose purple which matched my phone. The bands worked great, but even though my DH's wrist is narrower than mine, he found the band to be too short for him.

 

Embarkation at 11 took very little time and soon we were headed to the buffet. The buffet had a very nice lunch and it wasn't crowded at all. Cabins were ready by the time we were done with the lunch. To our surprise, our luggage was delivered around 2 pm. We played the "mustard grill" on the TV and then stopped by the muster station to get our medallions scanned. After that we chilled and unpacked.

 

The show that night was a comedian, and we chose not to go. A lot of people didn't like him anyway and left before the show ended.

Edited December 3, 2022 by Itchy&Scratchy

[canadarocks]

Loving your review so far, thank you! 

[princess76021]

Haven't been on Princess since 2015!  Enjoying your review!  Thanks for doing this

Hugs from texas!!

 

[wrongwaywatson]

We didn't leave the comedy show, but we wished we had!  It was the worst entertainment of the week.  We enjoyed everything else.  Quinton Greene?  not so much.   But overall, it was a wonderful, lovely cruise!

[Itchy&Scratchy]

My next several posts will be mostly about menu, MDR dinners and the entertainment. 🙂

 

 

I took pics of almost all the dishes we ordered and I will be posting them shortly with a commentary on each, 🙂 but in short and in general (and please remember that I am a glutton who hates only three things - onions, feta and blue cheese, and I also somewhat dislike tomato sauce):

Fettuccine Alfredo was great as always - DS ordered it for EVERY dinner.

Every day a different pasta dish was offered in addition to the Fettuccine - the ones we tried were good. Lemon scented ravioli had a good flavor, but were a bit undercooked.

Goat cheese souffle - divine (but DH and DS didn't like it).

I loved all the beef tenderloins, prime rib, strip steaks, and shrimp dishes. Fish was hit or miss (sometimes very dry).

MDR desserts were not very enticing this time, and on a couple of nights we left without ordering anything. We found that buffet desserts were often better than MDR ones on the same night. MDR  cheesecakes were great.

Crepes in the back of the buffet during dinner time were fabulous. Get a little bit of nutella on them - heavenly. A lot of people overdid it by piling all sorts of toppings (a plethora of offerings).

All the cold soups were great, with the exception of cucumber-melon-mint one. No bueno on that one.

We tried a lot of appetizer salads and liked them all, but I forgot to take their pics. DS really liked the Caesar salad and had it a couple of times.

 

 

Pina Colada soup was great, forgot to take a picture. I also remember having the prawns, but they looked and tasted like regular shrimp. I like shrimp and the dish was good.

 

 

Cognac Crawfish Stew, very good:

 

 

Texas beef chili was unexpectedly great: very flavorful and unlike any chili we've ever had

 

 

Barramundi was good:

 

[nimiq]

Following that review 😉

[Itchy&Scratchy]

We stopped by the buffet after MDR dinner every night. Mostly, to enjoy the crepes, but I also took pics of random desserts at the Bistro: a lot of them were better than MDR desserts, and some of them were the same as MDR desserts that night.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

The next day (Sunday) we were at Princess Cay, the weather was great, water was warm, it was difficult to find any chaises in the shade, because we got off the ship a little late, but we managed. We must have shade because DS is a redhead, and we don't like baking in the sun in general. 🙂

 

We usually go to the left - more shade. We lounged around, swam, fed the tropical fish some hot dog buns from the dock (better than snorkeling, because they are right in front of you, but you are not struggling to breathe), and then walked around and took some pics.

 

 

The island buffet was the exact same thing as in all the previous years. Nothing to write home about, but you won't starve.

 

Then it was time to go back (we returned on some of the last boats), and we talked to a lovely Canadian lady who cruised with her mom while standing in line for the tender boats.

 

Dinner that night:

 

 

 

I loved the chorizo appetizer - flavorful, but not spicy - an excellent dish:

 

 

DH loved the roasted pineapple and caprese salad:

 

 

 

and DS enjoyed his Caesar salad:

 

Edited December 3, 2022 by Itchy&Scratchy

[Itchy&Scratchy]

Szechuan shrimp was very good:

 

 

DH liked the jerk chicken:

 

 

Dh found the pork dish to be ok:

 

 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

Monday night, day 3

 

Mango Mimosa soup was amazing, and DS and I enjoyed the bacon potato soup very much. DH and I had the pate - it was good. I know that I had the quiche and it was great, but I must have forgotten to take any appetizer pics.

 

 

DS ordered the herbed chicken tagliatelle, but didn't like it. DH ate it for him, but found it just ok or decent. Nothing special.

 

 

 

DH and I had the shrimp - wonderful, and I also had the beef tenderloin. It was really wonderful! However, I get all the beef dishes without the sauce, au jus, gravy, etc. I really hate all of them. I love the way beef tastes on its own or just with a bit of spice. I am almost never disappointed.

 

 

 

 

 

And here is a picture of the crepe station at the back of the buffet: it is an amazing place where the magic happens:

 

you may come over disappointed or underwhelmed by something on the ship, but you will leave a happy person:

 

 

and all it takes is a little Nutella on your crepe. Don't overdo it. Don't get a ton of different stuff piled on your crepe - the magic is only good when it's simple. 🙂

 

by the way, the buffet dessert in the background was amazing! but nothing compares to a nutella crepe.

 

Edited December 3, 2022 by Itchy&Scratchy

[Itchy&Scratchy]

Day 4, Tue, St Thomas

We love going to Sapphire beach at St Thomas. A lovely, quiet place, not overcrowded.

This time, however, we were shocked by the taxi prices - I believe we paid $5 pp last November, and this November the same open air bus is $15 pp to Sapphire beach.

 

 

 

Still love the beach, though.

 

 

We lounge and swim, and then we walk over to the right for photo op. 🙂

 

 

 

and this time we met the cutest little doggo who looks just like our doggo, but about a quarter of our dog's size:

 

 

Isn't she the cutest dog you've ever seen? Photos don't do her justice. She was beyond adorable. She was adopted from a local shelter.

She literally bent over backwards and gave our son sweet kisses. We all squealed with delight!

 

 

[wrongwaywatson]

We ate in Santorini each night, too, but usually at 5 or 5:15.   I agree with you about the meat.  It was as good as I have ever had in the MDR on any of the ships.  Beef tenderloin, cowboy steak, prime rib, it was all great!

[Itchy&Scratchy]

Day 4 continued

 

 

We had a crab cake which was great, and DH also got a grilled chicken salad appetizer, which he enjoyed very much:

 

 

The strawberry smoothie was great, but for some odd reason it was served in a bowl instead of a glass:

 

 

I also had the Tom Kah Gai soup which was lovely and flavorful.

 

 

DH and I both ordered the rockfish, which was good (not dry), but too spicy for me. I scraped off the cajun seasoning, but it was still more than I could enjoy:

 

sorry for the half eaten state of the dish - sometimes I remembered to use the camera when the food was gone or half eaten... But it shows all the seasoning I scraped off, lol.

DH likes spicy food, so he didn't mind. 🙂

 

DH loved the scallops:

 

 

and I loved the cauliflower.

 

I also enjoyed the striploin steaks (sans sauce), medium:

 

 

Garlic fries were very nice, and DH stole some off of my plate. 🙂

 

DH hated the pork shoulder. Now, this one is very subjective, but DH hates any kind of fat on or in his meat. Texture also plays an important part. He hated it because it had fat (it is a pork shoulder after all) and to him it was also bland and "not good texture":

 

 

I tried the middle round piece and it was ok, but not something I would order again. At home we use pork shoulder for kebabs and they are great (for me).

[canadarocks]

Loving the menus and food porn! 

[nwnittany]

In general, have you been in shorts and T-shirt every day ?  We are on the same itinerary on Dec 17. and not sure how much cooler weather wear to bring.... Just a sweatshirt/jacket ? 

[macaroni]

We are on now and it is very hot out. A light sweater for evenings inside….otherwise shorts/tshirt westher.

[latebloomer56]

Thank you for this post, love food porn. Not exactly like the Sapphire menu in Oct. but close. We are on the Enchanted next summer, love the crepe station tip.

[bren51]

My husband and I were on this same cruise.  We ate in the Capri dining room for breakfast each morning and for some of our dinners.  We were quite disappointed in the Thanksgiving meal.  The food was tasty but gosh you got as I can describe it a cookie scoop of stuffing and potatoes and the cranberry sauce was basically just a liquid.  The turkey was good but portions very small at the least.  We ate at Gigi's when we opted out of the dining room.  I use to go to the buffet but now I just want to be served.  We have been elite for quite a few years now and have seen many changes good and bad.  They finally had a new movie on the big screen Maverick Top Gun...very good