Live from Caribbean princess 4/22-4/29

[Egreg19]

Wanted to preface this with my wife and I are currently on our second princess cruise, first was Alaska about 9 years ago, so we are far from experienced cruisers.

 

embarkation was a little time consuming. Due to norovirus outbreak on previous cruises the ship underwent a deep clean. Scheduled group arrivals were in 30 minute intervals starting at 1:00. Ours was 1:30 we arrived at 1:15 and asked one of the employees if we were too early, and he said to just get in line. No one was checking arrival groups. There were 3 lines I could see, people who had their medallion, people who didn’t, and disabled.  They allowed the disabled in as they arrived. We stood in line outside the processing room  in the medallion line for about 45 minutes unmoving. We found out later that they made the cruisers who were on the ship previously for the first half of the 14 day cruise option to completely leave the ship for 4 hours for cleaning. It seemed like loading up previous cruisers and allowing the processing room to completely empty before filling up again was the reason for the delay. Once in the processing room it was about 30-40 more minutes to board. 

We received a notice to try to use our own restrooms and wash hands often to prevent illness. Besides that they have a crew-member stationed at each buffet station serving.

 

as far as our experience so far. We’ve enjoyed it. Food is on par with what we experienced on our last cruise, although we had the crown grill first night and presentation was lacking. Just a chunk of meat and a potato on a plate. We ordered the asparagus and mushrooms as a side and it was delivered on a seperate plate. We placed it on the steak plate to take a picture so it didn’t look so sad. Flavor was there though. It has also been a little odd that we have been solicited to buy souvenir shot glasses at each of the meals we have had in the formal dining room.

 

We have the drink package and it’s a little unclear how they handle the drinks. Sometimes on our app it shows the drinks as “package discount” and sometimes it shows as a charge with a “complementary” as an additional item. We have been assured by guest services that both those mean it’s part of the package.

Our highlight of the ship so far has been hanging out with Asheesh at crooners bar. Super friendly and knowledgeable. He even went to the kitchen to get fresh peppers for my wife’s spicy marg! If anyone has a suggestion for an inexperienced cruiser on how to show a crew member special appreciation I would take it. Tips given at the bar seem to be shared. And I would assume a envelope with a name left at the end would be as well.

 

Any questions I’ll try to get back!

 

[RNRcruisers]

I agree the shot glass sales are odd. We have never had that on Princess and we have been on Princess 5 or 6 times and were just on the Caribbean in February.

 

It sure sounds like they are having a problem getting rid of the noro on board. This is not the first time I have seen delayed boarding for cleaning, including back in February when we boarded. The check in times don't really mean anything. They are probably an attempt to spread out the boarding more than an actual time allowed to board.

 

Glad you are having a good time.

 

[cruisin4thedeepblue]

Hi, glad you are having a good time!

How are the different house bands? We love to dance (ballroom) but also just like to hear good music too. All in all how is the entertainment? You mentioned the crooners bar. How is the piano player?

We haven't been able to cruise for 3 years so we are excited to get back to sea. 

Thanks!

 

[Egreg19]

So far we have been impressed with the music. We have heard an acoustic guitar/singer at the wheelhouse and the pianist at crooners. Pianist was very good and sang a lot of Elton John, maybe it was a themed performance I didn’t pay attention. Our highlight musically has been the violinist catz. When we were boarding she was playing pop songs with a classical twist and her classical music is amazing.

 

we seem to remember on our previous cruise more options for themed dancing. Having organized times for different dancing and lessons, haven’t seen that yet. Only dancing we have done is at the nightclub.

[Egreg19]

Formal night last night. They seem to have cancelled some of the events we saw in the medallion app before arrival. Specifically the “good spirits” events and the “white and gold” piazza party. Not sure about other events we didn’t pay attention. 
 

formal night notifications were posted around the ship alerting you to the dress code for the MDR. We saw plenty of men in shorts and T-shirts however at dinner.

 

 

[ravenjls]

They had the shot glass shots on my Regal cruise a month ago in the specialty restaurants.  I had the plus package and was charged $2 (drink free, shot glass $2 is what she told us).    

Edited April 25, 2023 by ravenjls

[wrongwaywatson]

On our first Princess cruise back in 2006, they were selling shots of Bailey's in the little shot glasses.  I still have some of them! LOL  They did it on the next one in 2007, but then we didn't see it again until this past cruise in April 2023.

[nini]

We have enjoyed dinners in the Crowne Grill. I also think their presentations needs improvement. They could at least sprinkle some green parsley around the rim of the dish! Truly!!!

[Torfamm]

On 4/24/2023 at 4:35 PM, cruisin4thedeepblue said:

Hi, glad you are having a good time!

How are the different house bands? We love to dance (ballroom) but also just like to hear good music too. All in all how is the entertainment? You mentioned the crooners bar. How is the piano player?

We haven't been able to cruise for 3 years so we are excited to get back to sea. 

Thanks!

 

We were on that cruise and the options for ballroom dancing were very limited. There were a few evenings when one duo played a few songs. 
 

There was a fantastic trio on the Enchanted in February though, especially if you like Latin.  Keeping my fingers crossed for future cruises!

[jeromep]

7 hours ago, nini said:

We have enjoyed dinners in the Crowne Grill. I also think their presentations needs improvement. They could at least sprinkle some green parsley around the rim of the dish! Truly!!!

Yes, they take the whole steak house thing a bit far.  If you are getting a larger cut, like a porter house, the plate looks more complete.  Filet from a good steakhouse should taste great and cut like butter, however, it is a rather small piece of meat on a large dish.  But the meat coming out on a plate and the sides served "family style" is pretty typical for a high end steak house.  You kind of have to make your own plate for it to have eye appeal.

 

Looking forward to your next entries in your live thread.

[BamaVol]

On 4/24/2023 at 5:02 PM, Egreg19 said:

So far we have been impressed with the music. We have heard an acoustic guitar/singer at the wheelhouse and the pianist at crooners. Pianist was very good and sang a lot of Elton John, maybe it was a themed performance I didn’t pay attention. Our highlight musically has been the violinist catz. When we were boarding she was playing pop songs with a classical twist and her classical music is amazing.

 

we seem to remember on our previous cruise more options for themed dancing. Having organized times for different dancing and lessons, haven’t seen that yet. Only dancing we have done is at the nightclub.

In March, it was Tommy and Tommy okaying at Crooners. The piano playing Tommy is Scottish. The guitar playing Tommy is Irish. I forget both their last names. Their music was right up our alley and we tried to catch them every night. 
 

We just love the Crooners vibe and wish we had a bar like that at home. Although I would end up with a drinking problem if we did. 
 

Our other favorite was the Wheelhouse. We got to know the bartenders and servers there pretty well and had pre and post dinner drinks there every night. It was never crowded and we always he’d friendly conversation with fellow barflies there.