LIVE from SEA PRINCESS 29-Nov to 13-Dec

[YoPhilly]

We're into our second week aboard Sea Princess - our third cruise on this ship. We're just leaving Grand Cayman - what a beautiful day we had here. Great weather today. We had to tender into St. Kitts the other day; the wind and current was so strong the captain couldn't position the ship at the dock. We tendered with no problem.

 

Toto, if you're reading this, you are so right - the suite perks are wonderful. Priority tendering...and we have four tender ports on this itinerary. The suite is phenomenal - so glad we splurged this time. Our steward has brought us so many canapes, we had to tell him to stop. Never thought we'd have had our fill of shrimp cocktail and smoked salmon, but, yes, we've been completely and irrestistably spoiled.

 

Lots and lots of Brits aboard and we're enjoying the change - quite a different atmosphere from other cruises with a majority of Americans. When we boarded in Barbados, the captain announced there were 42 Americans onboard, 55 Canadians, a couple of dozen Russians, and the rest were from the UK.

 

Which brings me to my question of the day....does Princess change the menus and/or cooking style depending on the passengers? Now, don't jump all over me....I'm a longtime Princess cruiser. But - the food on this cruise has been boring, boring, boring, boring, boring. The menus are just awful. Tonight's menu is pasta, flounder and pot roast! Every fish dish is tasteless - almost as if the kitchen is cooking without salt or seasoning of any kind. In fact, tonight we're going to Sterling's - hopefully it will be better.

 

Christmas decorations were installed yesterday and the ship looks lovely. Unfortunately they're playing Christmas music nonstop on the decks and in the atrium and I may have to jump overboard if I hear "Frosty the Snowman" one more time.:eek: I've asked the purser to change the music, but I guess no one else has mentioned it. No, I'm not a scrooge. We travel at this time of year to get AWAY from all the Christmas nonsense. If I wanted to hear "Jingle Bells" clanging in my head, I'd go to Walmart. :p

 

Our first two days still had remnants of noro from the prior week, but we're all clear now, thank goodness. Entertainment has been disappointing. MUTS has been showing lots of UK soccer matches during the day. Other shows have been Bourne Ultimatum, Mamma Mia, Swing Vote, Elton John concert, Hancock. There is also a 2p.m. movie every day in Princess Theater.

 

Let me know if you have any questions. I'll log on again later.

[peaofsweetness]

Disappointed the food is boring! I'm joining the ship on the 20th ........

 

What's the weather been like? What kind of clothes should I be packing?

Are people getting dressed up in the evenings?

 

Hope you're having a great time!

[YoPhilly]

Yes, we're having a wonderful time. I'm soooooo relaxed.

 

Re: the food - my husband says they have a bottle of Boring in the kitchen and they sprinkle it on everything! ;) Honestly, it's the blandest food I've ever had.

 

The weather has been wonderful. Low 80s, sunny, a few sprinkles a couple of days ago, but nothing major. The snorkeling has been fantastic. Let me know if you have questions about beaches, etc.

 

This is a much "dressier" crowd than the usual American crowd. I've only seen one pair of jeans - once - in eight days. Very few T-shirts. Even on the pool deck, most people are rather stylish. Women wearing very nice cover-ups over bathing suits. In the dining rooms for non-formal nights, women wear something like a silk blouse and trousers; many wear dresses. Men are wearing a polo shirt or dress shirt - no T-shirts in sight. Very nicely dressed. We had one formal night last week and everyone I saw wore formal wear. We have two more formal nights this week.

 

For those who are interested, our cruise director is Billy London.

 

We're on our way from Grand Cayman to Aruba, so we're really moving along tonight. Fortunately the seas are very smooth. Just came down from MUTS - Bourne Ultimatum. It's the very best way to see a movie.

 

Have to say, I'm adapting to the UK ways - I've taken to having tea every morning instead of coffee! And they're so polite. No real chair hogs - there's a body in every chair. :) By the way, be prepared to have to hunt for a deck lounger. I'm lucky to find a single lounger in the afternoon. I think absolutely every person onboard is up on deck - every lounger, every chair is taken, on every outside deck.

 

We turn our clocks forward tonight, losing an hour's sleep. I'll check back tomorrow if you have any other questions.

[Toto2Kansas]

Yo-Just saw this and so glad to hear you are enjoying the suite benefits, I knew you would! :) Your spoiled forever now girl.

 

We noticed a difference in food served onboard the last time we sailed (2-3 years ago if I remember correctly). It seemed to be geared more and more to the British tastes then American. But for us, it was a nice change as we know the menus and food served on regular Princess sailings (regular meaning more Americans onboard than anyone else) seem to be repeated no matter which ship or itineary you choose.

 

Have a wonderful cruise and I hope the weather stays nice for the rest of the week for you.

 

If they haven't changed the casino a lot since we were onboard last, try the poker slots against the wall in the 'table side' opposite side of the room from the slots, I won a ton over there the last time we were onboard. ;)

[two4cruising]

YoPhilly - we were on the cruise before you (the one with Norovirus and terrible weather ;)).

 

It seems that you are enjoying your cruise - wishing I could be back on the Sea.

 

On our cruise the food was good, it was the same like on the other Princess ships - they added some British items like English bacon, pepermit sauce, 'hot' horseradish and you will find more curry dishes on the buffet.

 

I just read some menus from the Sapphire Princess

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=885946

We got the same menus on the SEA two weeks ago.

 

On which deck is you suite?

[Shogun]

Hi YoPhilly

 

Thank you for posting,

 

who is the Captain and who is PSD,

 

 

how would you rate the condition of the ship.

 

Have a great cruise

 

 

yours Shogun

[Stevesan]

I'm very surprised that the food quality has declined.

I sailed Sea Princess with a large majority of Brits in September (NE/Canada) and was delighted.

The main dining room food was the best I've had on any cruise, except maybe the USS General AE Anderson. ;)

 

I doubt there's been a change in prep or recipes. More likely they've recycled the head chef.

Calling Gordon Ramsey. Sea Princess needs you! :p

[caber]

My US friend loves the Sea Princess because it is the only ship in the fleet with British bacon. That will be one difference. You get the American kind too.

 

The reason for the chairs on deck being full will be because of all the British. We are not used to the sun.

We found on Emerald in the Med last year it was quite easy to get a chair. Most of the passengers were American and I was told that, as many parts of the US get more sun, less of the passengers were bothered about sitting in it.:)

[J.A.H.]

Thank you SO much for all of the great news and for taking the time to write. We sail on the 20th on the Sea P. and there usually isn't much posted about her. I have been stressing about the Noro and glad to hear that it is under control.

 

Hmmmm, guess we will just have to starve on that food!:rolleyes: Do they still have those great cookies in the buffet at 3:30? And ice cream?:D If so, no danger of starvation.

 

Enjoy your cruise, and hope to hear more from you!

 

Thanks again,

Julie

P.S. Is there a covered pool on this ship? Water warm in the pools?

[YoPhilly]

We're really booking today, making the run from Grand Cayman to Aruba. The decks are VERY windy. Beautiful sunny skies and warm temps, though.

 

I'm sitting here watching people walk along Promenade Deck - there's a 5K Walk for the Cure fundraiser. I just woke from a lovely afternoon nap, so I'm happy to be an observer today instead of a participant. ;)

 

J.A.H., yes, there are cookies and plenty of ice cream. Let's see...we've had raspberry, hazelnut, blueberry, maple walnut, banana, and of course, chocolate and vanilla. My husband loves the peanut butter cookies. Sea Princess doesn't have an enclosed pool, but the aft pool has an open-air sort of roof to shield it from the sun. Because of this roof, the water in this pool is on the cool side; the other pools are warmer.

 

caber, I think you're right about the Brits and the sun. In fact I keep marveling at how long they sit out there in the sun without worrying about sunburn. I did try the English bacon; it tastes like regular pork - not cured or smoked. Is that right?

 

two4cruising, we're on Dolphin - D750. This is our first aft cabin and it will probably be our last for a couple of reasons. First, we prefer to have a view of the port when we arrive, rather than when leaving. Secondly, it's quite noisy back there with the wake while moving and the thrusters when positioning. That's just our opinion; most posters really love the aft cabins.

 

Stevesan, I'm used to cooking with more flavor and seasoning so that's obviously what we prefer. Others may like it just fine. Honestly, though, they took a fine piece of tuna and cooked it and cooked it and cooked it until it was a dry, grey piece of leather. We've actually resorted to getting our fish onshore for lunch; the fish on the ship is just plain boring - plain and boring.

 

who is the Captain and who is PSD,

how would you rate the condition of the ship.

 

Shogun, I'm so relaxed right now, I'm like a piece of putty. For the life of me, I can't figure out what is PSD. :confused: Fill me in and I'll be happy to answer.

 

The ship is in fine condition; Sea Princess really is a lovely ship. When we boarded, my husband and I commented to each other that our balcony was in need of some paint. Lo and behold, within a couple of days we received a call that the crew were going to paint our balcony and varnish the railing.

 

If they haven't changed the casino a lot since we were onboard last, try the poker slots against the wall in the 'table side' opposite side of the room from the slots, I won a ton over there the last time we were onboard. ;)

 

Hmmm....thanks for the tip, Toto. The casino has been empty almost the entire cruise. Not many players onboard. I'll have to try my luck.

 

We miss the gang from last year's cruise. :( No CC folks this time.

 

Time for my afternoon latte. Talk to ya later.

[FritzG]

My US friend loves the Sea Princess because it is the only ship in the fleet with British bacon. That will be one difference. You get the American kind too.)

 

On the Diamond last January we requested British bacon in the dining room and after saying they weren't sure they had it, we had it two different mornings. In May on the Diamond we only ate breakfast in the HC, and it wasn't available there.

[mycruz]

For a nice change, have you tried the Cafe Corniche? I really enjoyed eating here for either lunch or dinner. The menu is somewhat limited but the Itallian options were really good. They probably have the best Cesar's Salad of any I've tasted on any Princess ship at the Cafe Corniche.

We had an almost perfect trip on the Sea, the only thing that would have made it better would have been in a full suite! we had the AB mini and it was huge. Glad that you are having a great time on the Sea Princess, I have grown so fond of her.

[two4cruising]

I can't figure out what is PSD. :confused: Fill me in and I'll be happy to answer.

 

PSD = Passenger Service Director

Two weeks ago it was Peter Bratt.

[YoPhilly]

Wow, what a night!! (And I don't mean that in a good way. ;)) We had quite a rough sea throughout the night. It's 8:00 a.m. and I've been up since 6:30 - couldn't sleep any longer. We just heard the captain announce that we had 40 knot winds :eek: last night and we're an hour behind schedule into Aruba. That explains it. We're in an aft cabin and all night, we heard/felt tremendous vibrations. I suppose the propeller or something kept surfacing whenever the ship pitched (or rolled?). Very noisy. Oh well, I can't think of a better remedy than to take a snooze on an Aruba beach this afternoon.

 

I canceled our in-cabin breakfast and we're opting for the dining room instead - less movement there. I'm watching the sea from the Internet cafe and it's very choppy with some big swells. The sun is up and the sky is blue so it looks like we'll have good beach weather.

 

Last night was formal and we shared a table with a very pleasant group last night - three couples, all from England. I had every intention of going to the casino but I took my book to the library for some quiet reading instead.

 

My husband received word this morning that his mom was hospitalized yesterday, so his sisters are keeping us informed about her condition. She's an amazing 97 years old. Keep your fingers crossed.

 

More announcements about delays in Aruba tours. Luckily, we're just grabbing a cab here to go to the beach at Amsterdam Manor Resort.

 

One other thing....for U.S. passengers....we had planned to book the Barbados Farewell excursion which takes you around the island then to the airport. When I inquired about it yesterday, I was told that tour is only for UK passengers on the Princess charter flights. The tour bus is not equipped to take luggage, and the baggage for UK charter flights are loaded onto trucks and transported directly to the aircraft. So we'll have to think of something else to do until our late afternoon departure.

 

Gotta go - meeting Ken in the dining room. Have a great day, all.

[peaofsweetness]

Thanks for your postings ... they are so useful. I'm getting really excited about my cruise on the 20th now.

 

So what were the ladies wearing on formal nights ......... I'd really like to take a couple of all sequin long gowns ..... would that be too dressy?

 

Also how much is it to use the internet? Would you recommend taking a wireless laptop?

 

So many questions ........

[J.A.H.]

Thank you for answering my questions! You are so sweet:). I am especially glad to hear about the cookies. Peanut butter are my favorites too! On the Island, I planned my days around the "cookies and milk" time!

Glad that you mentioned the library as well, as I forgot to ask about that. Another of my favorite spots!

 

Hope you have a great time in Aruba, and no more rough seas!

 

Julie

[Elsea]

Peaofsweetness

 

I too will be taking a couple of long lightweight sequined dresses. in my opinion it is a Holiday cruise so you can never be overdressed, especially on formal nights;). You just take what you feel most comfortable in, I personally like nice dressy clothes, but it is really your decision:confused:.

 

I can't help you with the internet as I have never used on board any ship and due to the weight allowances I have never been tempted to take my own laptop, again it is all a matter of priority, I need more shoes for my swollen feet :mad: and, I love my dresses:D

[YoPhilly]

Much calmer seas this evening - just as the captain promised.:) Just as we suspected, it was the propeller coming out of the water that caused the noise and vibrations we experienced through the night. "Vibration" isn't quite strong enough - it felt like the ship was breaking apart. It's causing us to seriously consider changing cabins on our next cruise - we'll stick to midship from now on.

 

We had a gorgeous day in Aruba although there were some steady winds. Spent the day on the beach at Amsterdam Manor Resort Hotel - beautiful, beautiful beach with soft white sand and brilliant turquoise water. Cab was $6 pp each way; we could have taken the bus for $1 but didn't want to wait. Chair rental was $6 each under shady palapas.

 

By the way, while I'm remembering cab fares: ship to Darkwood Beach in Antigua was $8 pp with a full van or $32 on your own. Ship to Brewer's Bay in Tortola was $6 pp with a full van or $24 on your own. Ship to Doctor's Cave in Jamaica was $5 pp in a full cab or $15 on your own. Doctor's Cave Beach has AWESOME swimming - the water was crystal clear to the very bottom for about 75 yards out. We had lunch at Groovy Grouper - excellent grouper.

 

Tomorrow in Bonaire we're going with Renee Snorkel Tours for some underwater thrills. Can't wait - everyone says Bonaire is extraordinary. We'll snorkel two sites with Renee, then go on our own to the bitty beach at the end of the airport runway - supposedly very good snorkeling there as well.

 

We've been very lucky in every port - most often we've been the only ship in port. Today we shared the dock with Adventure of the Seas. Tomorrow P&O's Ventura will be in Bonaire with us.

 

Shared a table tonight with yet another very pleasant couple from Wales. We're really enjoying the company onboard.

 

I can't figure out the entertainment. There was one morning and one afternoon movie on MUTS and then none for the rest of the day. No movie tonight. That's a disappointment for me, as I LOVE MUTS at night. Tonight there's a juggler (my husband went there) and a pianist in the Princess Theater and Vista Lounge. I'm opting for a little Internet time, a little casino action, and then retreating to the library for some reading.

 

Lots of evening gowns - sequins, sparkle, mostly all long dresses. Everyone dresses up quite a bit. I didn't see any men in suits - all wore tuxedos.

 

There was a bit of excitement last night in the onboard boutique where one woman was buying a $12,000 necklace. Everyone was oohing-and-aahing over it.

 

This morning we experienced something very new and very different. As you know, this cruise is overwhelmingly British and as one lady put it, "We are a nation of queue-ers!" So we arrived in Aruba late today and disembarkation was set up on Deck 5 in the Atrium. My husband and I arrived in the Atrium to find hundreds of people in a queue that stretched from the shore excursion desk completely around the atrium, and up three flights of stairs to Deck 8. It was amazing...all those people waiting very patiently and very politely for their turn to disembark. I've never seen anything like it on any other cruise.

 

Shogun, I just asked the Internet cafe monitor about the PSD. Not a wealth of knowledge, unfortunately; only got his first name - Antonio.

 

peaofsweetness, I didn't want to bring my laptop since it would remind me too much of work! That's up to you. Pricing for Internet is:

250 minutes $100

150 minutes $75

100 minutes $55

or pay-as-you-go for 75 cents per minute

[YoPhilly]

LOVED Bonaire!!! It's still somewhat unspoiled, not many large hotels, etc. We did a snorkeling tour with Renee who met us at the ship at 8:30. She takes no more than 5 people, so it was DH and me, and two Canadians. What beautiful reefs! We saw barracuda, squid, eels, and thousands of fish. It was so cool - there is a shallow reef with crystal clear water, and then there's the black abyss below. Awesome. After lunch, DH went back to the ship and I went back in the water for more snorkeling. I couldn't get enough.

 

This was our third and final formal night, thank goodness. In fact, we skipped the Captain's Circle reception and went to dinner early. Dinner was very good - DH had lobster tail with two jumbo shrimp and I had beef Wellington. Excellent.

 

Still very disappointed in the entertainment onboard this cruise. Tonight there was a comedian from Liverpool - Tom Pepper - who was just awful. I gave him about 15 minutes, then left. DH is much sweeter than me - he stayed 'til the bitter end.....then said it was awful all the way through.

 

Still perplexed by the MUTS selections...there are TWO screenings tonight of "Transformers". I suppose one primetime screening of a silly adolescent toy movie isn't enough to satisfy 2,000 middle-aged passengers! :confused: Do you know what other brilliant entertainment they've been showing on MUTS during the day? - views from the bridge cam. I swear to you - they've been showing the bridge cam view for the past three days from 4:30 for a couple of hours - like we can't look over the railing to see the same thing. (Funny thing is, the first time it was listed in the Patter, I actually went up on deck all prepared to watch a movie called "View From The Bridge" :o LOL!) C'mon CD, pop in a DVD!

 

The staff onboard have been outstanding. Our steward Bernie is the best ever. And we're still loving the suite life .....and living la dolce vita. :D

 

Tomorrow we'll be in La Guaira, Venezuela, a truly depressing port call. We'll stay onboard and relax for the day.

 

Bye for now.

[Toto2Kansas]

Yo, sounds like you can strike MUTS for lack of interest. With those choices, I don't blame you at all.

Time to hit the suite and get a DVD from the library and pop it in while trying to view the TV screen from your beauitful balcony. :)

 

Glad to hear you loved Bonaire, the snorkeling is amazing there.

 

Enjoy! And thanks for checking in, love reading your thoughts.

[mycruz]

Bonaire is my favorite island in the Caribbean, so beautiful and like you say, unspoiled.

 

Don't laugh but my travel companion keeps the bridge cam on in the room to see where we're going and we always have at least a balcony. :o

[peaofsweetness]

Thanks for the internet prices....... think I'm going to opt out and have a proper break rather than be tempted to do some work!

 

Note that someone mentioned watching a DVD ....... is that only in suites or does a balcony cabin have a DVD /CD player? Would be great to listen to my own music or watch a movie in the comfort of my own cabin.

[YoPhilly]

Can you believe it - Transformers playing yet again on MUTS today! This evening they're showing a concert by Diana Krall, which I'd like to see but it starts at 7:15. The rest of the night they're showing a camera view of a deck party.

 

Toto, I watched a couple of movies on our in-suite DVD, so I'm not in movie-withdrawal. peaofsweetness, the DVD players are in the suites only.

 

This morning we ran into a couple from Liverpool we met the other day. He was very disappointed with last night's comedian; said it was "rubbish". Told me he saw me leave the show and said I did the right thing. Glad to know even the UK'ers didn't find him funny.

 

Do I sound like I'm complaining? We're actually having a wonderful vacation....haven't been this rested in years! But yes, we're very disappointed in the entertainment. We've only seen our cruise director once....he hasn't been very visible onboard. The upside of the poor entertainment options is that I've been doing lots of reading and knitting, which is very relaxing for me.

 

It's great fun conversing with our UK passengers. It's ironic....they think the tea onboard is "tea dust" so they're all drinking coffee. Yet we Americans think the coffee onboard is terrible, so we've been drinking tea. LOL! :)

 

We're in the port of LaGuaira. :eek: For those of you who have been here, you probably can guess my feelings. DH and I were here a few years ago...still can't figure out why we call here, except for cheap fuel? We just disembarked to walk around the terminal shops, only to find out that there are no shops operating there anymore. Oh well, it was meager pickings the last time. We were back onboard in ten minutes. A short report here, then I'm heading up on deck for some R&R.

 

Later we'll register for our FCCs. Did you know that passengers from UK, Australia and New Zealand can register for FCCs without paying any deposit? Lucky them!

 

Tomorrow is Grenada, our last call before disembarking in Barbados. We spoke to the purser about our 4:30 flight. She said we can store our hand luggage and remain onboard until 1:00 or 1:30, so we're happy about that...no need to make other arrangements.

 

Talk to you later. The sun is calling my name.:D

[YoPhilly]

I was talking to some UK pax this afternoon and realized I completely forgot to report on the UK charter flights. Everyone I spoke to - those who joined in Barbados, as well as though who joined in Montego Bay - said that the Princess UK charter flights were "brilliant". Those folks checked their luggage in the UK and never saw their bags again until they were in their cabins. When their flights landed, they boarded buses to the ship, no immigration, easy ship check-in, and right to their cabins.

 

Lucky for those of you in that situation. Nice and easy - a great way to start a holiday.:)

[Shogun]

Hi Yophilly

 

thank you for the updates

 

FCC are the only thing we Brits get a better deal on if we cancel, move cabin, charge, charge, if you booked an inside and wanted to move up to a suite they would not charge you $200 for this.

 

yours

 

Shogun