Sky Princess April 1st Cruise - random jottings.

[wowzz]

I have no wish to do a live blog, but thought I would just post random thoughts on our 14 night cruise, as they occur to me. Apologies in advance to non-Brit readers for any parochial content.

The cruise is the first European cruise for Sky in 2023, and comes after an early arrival into Southampton  - already well documented ! After this cruise there will be a short 4 day "booze cruise ", and then Sky goes into dry dock. A staff member confirmed today that Bistro de Mar will be removed during the dry dock.

We drove to Southampton yesterday. Stayed in the Premier Inn City Centre ( not West Quay). Booking ahead, the room cost £62. The weather was miserable, so we bought the meal deal for £25 each, as we did not fancy the (admittedly)short walk into town in the rain . The food was actually pretty good. Unfortunately we got one of the dreaded rooms overlooking the railway line, so a bit noisy.  Car parking at the hotel cost  £10, so overall £122 for the stay. In July we will drive down the same day.

We arrived at the Mayflower terminal at 11am. Dropped off our bags, and my wife. A porter took our cases - I don't carry cash, but gave him £1 or so in loose change from the stash I have in the car for car parks. Seemed happy enough.

Then I drove a short distance to the short stay carpark - handed the car over to Parking4cruises. £135 for 14 days. 5% discount for previous customers.

Worth pointing out that there were enormous queues for CPS at this stage. Three lines of cars, with 20 cars in each line. 

Met up with my wife and went straight through to check in. No one asked us what our check in time was, although we did have an 11am slot. The agent checked our passports onto her iPad,  and then collected and gave us our Medallions. I took the opportunity to ask her about the QR codes that everyone worries about.  Her response was that if someone shows her the code,  she will scan it, out of politeness,  but otherwise the QR code is  not needed. Total time - Five minutes.  

Security was efficient and extremely friendly. We were actually on board the ship by 11:30 !

Cabins not ready so found a seat in the Photo Centre. The central piazza was pretty packed. 

No announcements were made as to when the cabins were ready, but around 12:45 people just seemed to disappear,  so we upped sticks and went to our cabin (standard minisuute).

Then to Alfredos where we shared a pizza,  and had a couple of celebratory glasses of wine. 

Final observations for now:

3960 pax on board, so pretty much full, with quite a lot of children 

Staff are all happy and enthusiastic,  as always. 

 

 

 

 

[sunviking90]

I hope you have a wonderful cruise. I am surprised at a full ship for 14 days and so many children! Do the schools have an extended Easter break in the UK? Where we live what used to be “Easter Break” when I was a kid is now “Spring Break” and in mid March (before it is officially spring, lol).

[LACruiser88]

Have a great cruise!  🥂

[wowzz]

13 minutes ago, sunviking90 said:

I hope you have a wonderful cruise. I am surprised at a full ship for 14 days and so many children! Do the schools have an extended Easter break in the UK? Where we live what used to be “Easter Break” when I was a kid is now “Spring Break” and in mid March (before it is officially spring, lol).

English schools broke up yesterday for two weeks.

[Rick&Jeannie]

Thanks for this thread @wowzz!  We will be on the Sky in about a month, so are interested in anything noteworthy.  We've been on her once before.

[Ken the cruiser]

Have a great cruise!!

[wowzz]

7 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

Thanks for this thread @wowzz!  We will be on the Sky in about a month, so are interested in anything noteworthy.  We've been on her once before.

No worries.

If anyone wants to post menus etc, feel free. 

I will just post any snippets that might be of interest.

[wowzz]

Just set sail from the Mayflower terminal. Love Boat theme played, causing all the burglar alarms on every Tesla in the adjoing Tesla compound to go off.

Reminded me of the days when Concorde took off !

[Pink-belle]

2 hours ago, sunviking90 said:

I hope you have a wonderful cruise. I am surprised at a full ship for 14 days and so many children! Do the schools have an extended Easter break in the UK? Where we live what used to be “Easter Break” when I was a kid is now “Spring Break” and in mid March (before it is officially spring, lol).

Yes, school holidays here for the next 2 weeks. 

[Mary loves to travel]

@wowzz.  
 

interesting about Bistro Sur la Mer.    Seems some (like us) really like it, others not so much.   
BUT, for what it’s worth, on the Princess web site, deck plans, there are 2 options for Sky: before or after April 8.    Both still show Bistro Sur la Mer in its current location on deck 7.   

[Poulsbo Cruisers]

We recently booked the Sky for next year. I’m surprised to read in your post about the ship going into dry dock so soon. Where was the Bistro located that is being removed and do you know if anything is replacing it? 

[wowzz]

Just now, Mary loves to travel said:

@wowzz.  
 

interesting about Bistro Sur la Mer.    Seems some (like us) really like it, others not so much.   
BUT, for what it’s worth, on the Princess web site, deck plans, there are 2 options for Sky: before or after April 8.    Both still show Bistro Sur la Mer in its current location on deck 7.   

Yes, and in theory we can make a booking for our July cruise.

However  the staff member was adamant that BsM was going. 

[Lady Arwen]

Have a wonderful time!  Please tell us about your excursions.

[Mary loves to travel]

1 minute ago, wowzz said:

Yes, and in theory we can make a booking for our July cruise.

However  the staff member was adamant that BsM was going. 

I guess we'll know when the first people on after the dry dock report back.

At least they're not still selling coffee cards 😄

 

[wowzz]

1 minute ago, Poulsbo Cruisers said:

We recently booked the Sky for next year. I’m surprised to read in your post about the ship going into dry dock so soon. Where was the Bistro located that is being removed and do you know if anything is replacing it? 

Not sure if it is that soon. Iirc it is the first dry dock for Sky since being  introduced into service, so probably on schedule.  

[Poulsbo Cruisers]

8 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Not sure if it is that soon. Iirc it is the first dry dock for Sky since being  introduced into service, so probably on schedule.  

True, but she was out of service for a long time during the pandemic shortly after her launch. But, glad to hear she’s being freshened up. 

[debs246]

2 hours ago, wowzz said:

Just set sail from the Mayflower terminal. Love Boat theme played, causing all the burglar alarms on every Tesla in the adjoing Tesla compound to go off.

Reminded me of the days when Concorde took off !

Reminds me of a time at a Airshow at Humberside Airport many years ago! 😄

[Pink-belle]

I believe it was previously reported that Bistro sur La Mer was going to become Crooners. 

[voljeep]

2 minutes ago, Pink-belle said:

I believe it was previously reported that Bistro sur La Mer was going to become Crooners. 

FANTASTIC !

[nini]

Thank you @wowzz for your posts! We will be on the Sky this June along with @Mary loves to travel.

 

As long as they keep Alfredo's, IC, and Vines then that is great!

We would also be interested in menus, shows, and is the coffee any better in the IC (Princess is supposed to be switching to Lavazza).

Also, please tell us about your shore excursions.

 

Thanks and have a great time!

[wowzz]

3 hours ago, Poulsbo Cruisers said:

True, but she was out of service for a long time during the pandemic shortly after her launch. But, glad to hear she’s being freshened up. 

Ships are to be dry docked even if they are not in service, for maritime insurance. Apologies if that is not the correct term. 

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, nini said:

Princess is supposed to be switching to Lavazza).

Sorry,  we are not coffee aficionados,  so can't help you there. 

Our Americanos from the IC seemed ok to us. 

[wowzz]

Just an observation. Ordered about six rounds of drinks today for Mrs W and I. No problem.

But interestingly enough, all the bar staff just asked for our cabin number.  Absolutely no one scanned my Medallion. 

Edited April 1, 2023 by wowzz

[Rick&Jeannie]

We've had VERY few requests to see medallions when ordering drinks...on at least 7 or 8 cruises, both pre and post-pandemic.  I think they've figured out that it just slows things down trying to go the "scan" route!

[nini]

9 hours ago, wowzz said:

Just an observation. Ordered about six rounds of drinks today for Mrs W and I. No problem.

But interestingly enough, all the bar staff just asked for our cabin number.  Absolutely no one scanned my Medallion. 

Actually, when they know your cabin number, they can see if you have Princess Plus, Premium or a drink package and can bill accordingly if needed.