Live from Sky Princess 25 February

[nini]

5 minutes ago, californiagirl said:

On Discovery here and that is exactly what happened to us!  We were the last two top seated and the server then proceeded to take orders for all the tables along the row of two seaters.  I watched and each of our courses were brought out at the same time…even though some were finished sooner.  It might be quicker to sit at a table for 6.  

We have had very good experiences when seated at a larger table (6  or more) and had great service and enjoyed meeting others.

[_rusty_shackleford]

8 minutes ago, californiagirl said:

On Discovery here and that is exactly what happened to us!  We were the last two top seated and the server then proceeded to take orders for all the tables along the row of two seaters.  I watched and each of our courses were brought out at the same time…even though some were finished sooner.  It might be quicker to sit at a table for 6.  

It's kind of strange. We actually prefer the 'traditional' dining set up where you have the same time, table, and staff all cruise because we enjoy getting to know them in ways you really can't with just one night. This was almost like that pacing except we won't be seated with the same staff and enjoy that part of it. They were able to accommodate our request on the Royal at 66-ish% capacity in the fall but I don't think that's a reasonable request to make with a full ship and 15-20 min waits past your requested time just to be seated at random. We'll see what tonight's dinner brings before I rush to judge but I'd prefer not to have that pace again if given the choice. Enjoy your cruise!

[UKWildcatCruiser]

6 hours ago, _rusty_shackleford said:

So about last night...

 

Confusing to say the least. Dinner service was the worst I've ever had on a ship. 2 hours from seated to finishing main course and we didn't stay for dessert, assistant server told us the only wines we could get in the dining room were the Plus options (refused to bring anything else even when I said I'd pay the difference), and brought me a late harvest dessert white wine when I asked for a Carmenere because he said they were from the same maker. They clearly seemed overwhelmed so I'm not sure if this a staffing or training issue since we haven't been back to full capacity for that long. Food quality still seems pretty good overall.

 

Unlimited juice bar: make sure you have unlimited time to wait. One poor guy who is working his tail off but there's only one blender and they have to wash everything out between orders. It is pretty good though so there's that.

 

The jazz band was really good though. Definitely plan on seeing them every night. Trying a different dining room tonight to see if that makes a difference experience wise.

This was a reoccurring theme last week on Sky.  Every meal was incredibly slow and there seemed to be a major staff shortage.  Crown Grill was the exception for us but we ate really early that night, at 5:30 so maybe that was the difference.  I started getting 2 glasses of wine at a bar closest to the dining room or Vines and taking it to the dining room.  Otherwise, you'd either not get it, or get it half way through your meal.  The staff was so nice too, I really hate that they seemed overwhelmed.  I didn't say anything to them, they knew what was going on, but I did speak to Guest Services before leaving. 

[wowzz]

4 hours ago, _rusty_shackleford said:

Plus/Premier wine menus. Not sure if they have all of them or not but I have definitely seen most of these options at one bar or another.

 

Most liquor seems to be in stock as well. I have not seen a bottle of Maker's or Knob Creek but they do seem to have plenty of Buffalo Trace unlike my last cruise. No glaring absences for scotch or tequila either.

That looks very much the same as last June on Regal. 

Perhaps Princess have decided it would be too obvious to increase prices at the same time as the new package prices come into force.

[_rusty_shackleford]

2 hours ago, UKWildcatCruiser said:

This was a reoccurring theme last week on Sky.  Every meal was incredibly slow and there seemed to be a major staff shortage.  Crown Grill was the exception for us but we ate really early that night, at 5:30 so maybe that was the difference.  I started getting 2 glasses of wine at a bar closest to the dining room or Vines and taking it to the dining room.  Otherwise, you'd either not get it, or get it half way through your meal.  The staff was so nice too, I really hate that they seemed overwhelmed.  I didn't say anything to them, they knew what was going on, but I did speak to Guest Services before leaving. 

I think I'm piecing together why that is. They don't seem to have the electronic seating system a lot of restaurants have, so they have no way of tracking tables. There isn't a dedicated person seating anyone either. I'm guessing they wait for 'blocks' of tables to open up, and then start seating people. No clue why. I swear they had a seating system on the Royal.

[PacnGoNow]

14 minutes ago, _rusty_shackleford said:

I think I'm piecing together why that is. They don't seem to have the electronic seating system a lot of restaurants have, so they have no way of tracking tables. There isn't a dedicated person seating anyone either. I'm guessing they wait for 'blocks' of tables to open up, and then start seating people. No clue why. I swear they had a seating system on the Royal.

There should be a desk or podium at the entrance to the MDR.  The had a computer which had a seating system.

It’s odd there isn’t someone seating everyone. They really must be short staffed.

[_rusty_shackleford]

18 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

There should be a desk or podium at the entrance to the MDR.  The had a computer which had a seating system.

It’s odd there isn’t someone seating everyone. They really must be short staffed.

There is the standard podium there for Medallion check-in and such but they don't seem to be using it to make seating decisions. It's strange. If nothing else I would think whoever is checking people in could show them to their table but she stands there and waits for staff that looks available to seat people.

[pklein9747]

If you get a chance, could you please post a picture of the Sabatini's menu?  Lots of talk about a "new" menu but have not seen it.  Thanks & Enjoy!!

[lucas34]

4 hours ago, _rusty_shackleford said:

Siellä on tavallinen podium Medallion-sisäänkirjautumista varten ja niin edelleen, mutta he eivät näytä käyttävän sitä istumapäätösten tekemiseen. Se on outoa. Jos ei muuta, luulisin, että henkilöitä kirjaava henkilö voisi näyttää heidät pöydälleen, mutta hän seisoo siellä ja odottaa henkilökuntaa, joka näyttää olevan käytettävissä istumaan ihmisiä.

So sorry for long dinner time. What time they have usually their show time? Do you think if we have dinner at 7pm that we could make second show time (at 9pm?)?  Or should we go at 6.30pm for dinner (my spanish friend usually have dinnet at his home at 10pm)? I guess that have now also the new Spotlight Bar show? 

[muggo11]

I appreciate your postings.   We will be on Sky this June to Norway and will be our first post-pandemic Princess cruise (we are Elite but this will be a gambling comp so different perks—it’s booked at the Standard rate).  BUT, we also hope we can swap out our Elite liquor for sodas and/or coffee. . .  

 

We are also sad about the loss of fixed, shared tables.  Having said that, we easily booked specialty dining on Medallion BUT it looks like there are no shared table options available past 6:20pm.  We like late dining AND sitting with others (even if it will be different people each night).  Is that an option for us when we’re onboard?  Should we just stand in line every night around 8 and ask for a shared table?  Also are any of the 3 MDRs less crowded than the others?

 

And then again, who knows.  It may change again by June 17!  

[lx200gps]

17 hours ago, UKWildcatCruiser said:

This was a reoccurring theme last week on Sky.  Every meal was incredibly slow and there seemed to be a major staff shortage.  Crown Grill was the exception for us but we ate really early that night, at 5:30 so maybe that was the difference.  I started getting 2 glasses of wine at a bar closest to the dining room or Vines and taking it to the dining room.  Otherwise, you'd either not get it, or get it half way through your meal.  The staff was so nice too, I really hate that they seemed overwhelmed.  I didn't say anything to them, they knew what was going on, but I did speak to Guest Services before leaving. 

We were on the Sky the week of Feb 11 and I would completely agree with this. We alwasy sit down the moment the venue opens, either 5 or 5:30PM. We only ate in the MDR once but found it slow and disjointed. We ate in Sabatini's only once and service was every bit as slow as in the same venue back in November, to the point where we missed the first theater show that night.  We ate in CG twice and service was, as you say, quicker. Problem was, in all these dining venues, we had almost as many food misses as hits, some courses very good, others dreadful. I think finding bread mold in the onion soup in the CG, and the inedible, uncuttable rubber lobster served to my wife were the low points for us. Wine availability was a bit better this trip than in November, but there were still a few missing wines. Although we had the Basic package, we tended to order the higher priced, $16 + wines, so perhaps that was the issue.

[_rusty_shackleford]

4 hours ago, muggo11 said:

I appreciate your postings.   We will be on Sky this June to Norway and will be our first post-pandemic Princess cruise (we are Elite but this will be a gambling comp so different perks—it’s booked at the Standard rate).  BUT, we also hope we can swap out our Elite liquor for sodas and/or coffee. . .  

 

We are also sad about the loss of fixed, shared tables.  Having said that, we easily booked specialty dining on Medallion BUT it looks like there are no shared table options available past 6:20pm.  We like late dining AND sitting with others (even if it will be different people each night).  Is that an option for us when we’re onboard?  Should we just stand in line every night around 8 and ask for a shared table?  Also are any of the 3 MDRs less crowded than the others?

 

And then again, who knows.  It may change again by June 17!  

When we went to be seated in the Estrella dining room the first night they were sending people without reservations down one level to the Soleil DR because allegedly there wasn't a wait. This was at 6:20pm. We switched our reservation to Soleil for last night and it was much more reasonable (1:30 seated to dessert) but still seemed very disorganized. It's becoming clear that staffing levels are low. Dirty tables just sat until someone freed up vs being cleaned almost immediately when we left in the past.

 

You can certainly ask for a shared table later and you may have some luck since it seems anything after 7 is past peak demand but to it's hard to say. They're having a hard enough time with whatever system they're using right now that I'm not sure how a deviation would be handled. We are having a great time overall and these are fairly minor issues in the grand scheme of things. Certainly wouldn't discourage you from going or having a great time!

[_rusty_shackleford]

14 hours ago, lucas34 said:

So sorry for long dinner time. What time they have usually their show time? Do you think if we have dinner at 7pm that we could make second show time (at 9pm?)?  Or should we go at 6.30pm for dinner (my spanish friend usually have dinnet at his home at 10pm)? I guess that have now also the new Spotlight Bar show? 

7 would be pushing it based on my experience with this cruise. I'd feel much more comfortable at 6:30pm if you're wanting to make the show without having to hurry. I think the shows are like at 8 and 10 but I will edit this post when I get back onboard today and can look at the schedule.

[nini]

Is a Chef's Table or Winemaker's Dinner being offered?

[_rusty_shackleford]

22 minutes ago, nini said:

Is a Chef's Table or Winemaker's Dinner being offered?

I'm not as sure about Winemaker's but I believe Chef's Table is. If I find out I'll edit this post.

[nini]

10 hours ago, _rusty_shackleford said:

I'm not as sure about Winemaker's but I believe Chef's Table is. If I find out I'll edit this post.

Thank you!

[_rusty_shackleford]

Here's the officer staff board in case anyone is interested.

 

Didn't end up in the dining room last night. Combination of going scuba diving and the late lunch that comes with the territory. Last night was tacos and fajitas made to order in the buffet. Chicken fajitas were ok, skip the steak in my opinion. Didn't have any of the tacos but they looked pretty appealing.

 

Pretty uneventful day in Roatan today. We're the only ship in Mahogany Bay but we decided not to dive today and neither of us are terribly interested in the tourist compound here. If anyone has recommendations of restaurants outside of the trap we'd be happy to explore those next time.

 

Diving in Cozumel was nice yesterday as always. We went with Maple Leaf Scuba this time due to arrival time and they were a good outfit. Before this we had exclusively used Dive With Martin and I'd strongly recommend them to any divers out there if you can make their early departure times work or have enough divers to do a private charter. Great DMs, safe, and extremely observant underwater for wildlife. Maple Leaf was good too and kind enough to let us hitch a ride back to their shop in their group's cab so we could hit Cerveceria Punta Sur a couple of blocks away. Great guac and ceviche. Beers weren't bad either.

 

We don't have any excursions planned today or tomorrow in Belize so if anyone has any info requests let me know and I'll do my best to fulfill them.

[_rusty_shackleford]

Bonus picture of MDR breakfast this morning. I had fruit and asked for sides of bacon, hash browns, and sausage. Here's my plate of "sides". You may notice the surplus of bacon which I have named Swine Mountain. To think just 5 months ago bacon was rationed and the tongs were behind the buffet. For the record I was expecting and would have been perfectly happy with 2-3 pieces of bacon.

[_rusty_shackleford]

Here's Bellini's. This one is kind of pointless since they have far more than is shown here. Doesn't seem to be lacking for much of anything aside from the standard out of stocks I mentioned previously.

[lucas34]

2 hours ago, _rusty_shackleford said:

Bonuskuva MDR-aamiaisesta tänä aamuna. Minulla oli hedelmiä ja pyysin pekonia, hashruskeaa ja makkaraa. Tässä on lautaseni "sivuista". Saatat huomata pekonin ylijäämän, jolle olen antanut nimeksi Sikavuori. Ajatella, että vain 5 kuukautta sitten pekonia säännösteltiin ja pihdit olivat buffetin takana. Itse asiassa odotin ja olisin ollut täysin tyytyväinen 2-3 pekonipalaan.

Hi! Thank you for all your info from Sky. Do you have any picture of MDR breakfast menu?

[nini]

4 hours ago, _rusty_shackleford said:

Here's Bellini's. This one is kind of pointless since they have far more than is shown here. Doesn't seem to be lacking for much of anything aside from the standard out of stocks I mentioned previously.

 

Thank you for posting that menu! I had no clue about Bellini's! It looks wonderful.

[avonlady6390]

Yes bellinis is too good on my last cruise on the discovery I had one of the champagne cocktails and I was very drunk attending the afternoon tea I could drink several drinks from other bars and be fine but one of those did me in.

[_rusty_shackleford]

5 hours ago, lucas34 said:

Hi! Thank you for all your info from Sky. Do you have any picture of MDR breakfast menu?

I don't have one handy but when we went this morning it was definitely pared down from what the app listed. Plenty of great options (traditional American breakfasts like pancakes and bacon/sausage/hash browns, fresh fruit, omlettes, a mushroom and Italia sausage frittata, etc. I think better options than the buffet but not life changing either. Service was decent but coffee refills were a little on the slow side. No major complaints and would still recommend.

[_rusty_shackleford]

Good Spirits menu. We ate at Bistro Sur La Mer tonight. Well, well worth it. Best piece of fish I've ever had (seabass). My wife also liked her duck breast. My tuna tartare was good but we both preferred my wife's smoked salmon appetizer. Service was excellent as well.

 

At the risk of starting a war: if you desire to leave a tip bring cash. There is no way to do so using your medallion.

[lucas34]

5 hours ago, _rusty_shackleford said:

Minulla ei ole yhtä kätevää, mutta kun menimme tänä aamuna, se oli ehdottomasti vähentynyt sovelluksen luettelosta. Paljon erinomaisia vaihtoehtoja (perinteiset amerikkalaiset aamiaiset, kuten pannukakkuja ja pekonia/makkaraa/hash brownia, tuoreita hedelmiä, munakkaita, sieni- ja italialaista makkaraa frittataa jne. Mielestäni parempia vaihtoehtoja kuin buffet, mutta ei myöskään elämää muuttava. Palvelu oli kunnollista, mutta kahvi täyttö oli hieman hidasta. Ei suuria valituksia ja suosittelen silti.

Nice to hear. If you can, please, check if they have ship models for sale and price/or picture with price. I am more than happy for your help.