Tell me about the Piazza!

[FoghornLeghorn]

Who's been on the Princess ships with the new Piazza??

Tell us about it....

What do they have?

Is there a charge for everything?

 

Thanks!

[Ernie G]

Who's been on the Princess ships with the new Piazza??

Tell us about it....

What do they have?

Is there a charge for everything?

 

Thanks!

 

We just returned from a week on the Ruby Princess, which has the Piazza area. We didn't spend much time there but I can tell you that some of the items at the International Cafe were complimentary (regular coffee) and there was a fee for some. Same thing at the Wine Bar. I believe the sushi was 1.00 for each piece. Hope this helps some.

[FoghornLeghorn]

Thanks Ernie!

[BballinQT24]

I love the Piazza! Vines is there which has a nominal charge. There is also the International Cafe which has many free things to eat, as well as some things that cost a little extra.

 

They will also have performances and other get togethers there. It's a great place to sit and people watch.

[CHIEB2812]

Just back from the Star, we weren't too impressed. It does have a nice sitting area if you can ever get a seat. The performers we're kinda neat, but they will have 1 performer, perform 3 times in that one day, and its the same performance each time, so you really only need to see it once. The International Cafe was ok, never got anything to eat there because it seemed like every time we were there, it was the exact same things they had in the buffet aside from cocktail shrimp which I believe were complimentary. The coffee was nice, we did purchase the coffee card which was $25 for 15 punches, each punch is good for 1 specialty coffee, I recomend the iced or blended caramel latte. Otherwise the brewed black coffee and hot chocolate were free as long as we showed our card. Never stopped by Vines as we are from Napa, and after viewing several of the ships wine lists including Sabatinis, Crown Grill and the Main Dining room, I realized it was slim pickin's. Had to laugh when we ordered the cheapo bottle of White Zin that we can purchase here at any 7-11 for 3.99, they charge 28.00 on the ship!:D All in all, it wasn't a huge change from the regular atrium for us, except some nicer chairs and fake plants.

[mii]

I have been in the International Cafe on the Star and there was all sorts of good things. They had the best chicken salad, panini sandwiches, etc all for free. The things that had a cost was usually in the evening and it was very well marked. Thoroughly enjoy the freshly baked cookies in the afternoon.

 

If you wish do a search on the International Cafe on this fourm. all sorts of posts come up about it.

 

Marilyn

[NotWthOutablcony]

Marilyn is right about the cookies. Forgot about those. We had them one day, hot out of the oven, our Crown Grill dinner was that night though, so we only allowed ourselves just 1 cookie. Th chocolate chocolate chip cookies were great, the chocolate chips were still melted. Mom said the oatmeal cookies were good too.

[Treven]

I was on the Emerald a couple weeks ago. Thoroughly enjoyed the Piazza with their daily/evening performers. Often times I'd sit there reading while enjoying the entertainment; piano player(s) as well as the string quartet. It was certainly handy that my cabin was right off the Piazza.

[lovespositano]

Just got off the Ruby transatlantic - we spent most seadays in an out of the piazza and ate a lot of meals, including breakfast, at the International Cafe. We were a group of 10 people, plus or minus at any given time, and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. We used it as our main meeting place, main place during the morning and afternoon to veg, people watch, and visit - we loved the food and the all-day-long entertainment.

[GBeret]

I just got back from 33 days on the Star Princess. During that time, especially when we were at sea, We spent many hours in the Plazza. There was of course entertainment every day of some sort.

 

I also enjoyed the piano players, music during times when there wasn't dancers, acrobats or speciality music providers doing their thing.

 

On my voyage the Star, didn't have WiFi in the cabins, so a lot of my time spent there was using the WiFi with my iPod to to compose and send e-mail. (There usually many other people using their lap books there as well.)

 

At times, chairs were hard to come by, especially on Sea days, when everyone was onboard and during times the entertainers were performing.

 

I did enjoy the 'cookies' and milk, brought around on a cart by both a very cute Brazilian lady and a Philippine lady. They served chocolate, chocolate chip. Oat meal raisin and coconut oat meal. Most of the time the cookies were still hot or warm. Of course, speciality coffee (For a fee) and regular coffee was available. As I recall the only cost we incurred in the Plazza was for the speciality coffee my spouse ordered.

 

I didn't partake of the other food sources there or the wine bar. They also on some days had a 'Pub' lunch setup, that I was going to try, but never got around to it. Typical english 'pub' fare like 'plow' mans lunch. shepherd's pie, etc.

 

I usually try to make the 'sit down' lunches in the dinning room as the choices are sometimes better than dinner, especially the appetizers. (As well as the good service.)

 

The Plazza, is also a great place to 'people watch.' I enjoy that activity. On occasion I have met and talked to a few interesting fellow passengers sitting near by.

 

As for the decor of the Plazza, I thought it was very nice.

[FoghornLeghorn]

Thanks everyone!

I'm a fan of great Chicken Salad, so I can't wait to try that...and the cookies!

[CherylsCaribbeanTravel]

I really enjoyed the international cafe area. On sea days, the piano player started at 9:00 a.m. which gave the area a feeling of life. There was also a variety of entertainment throughout the day. I never planned my day around the international cafe entertainment schedule, but it was always fun to walk by and see what was happening.

 

I thought the treats in the cafe were excellent, although I didn't see the cookies (which is probably a good thing). Vines has some excellent wine that you can order by the glass. I also felt that the stores were not ridiculously priced and made window shopping quite nice. Ladies, if interested, the make-up/perfume store will do a free make-over. The ladies on the CB weren't as talanted in make up application as I've seen on other ships, but here was absolutely NO HARD sales pitch, as the ladies make no commission on the product which was very nice.

 

I have lots of photos of the international cafe in my signature link if you are interested.

 

Cheryl :)

[i guide the sky]

too bad there isn't free sushi everyday like on celebrity cruises. I hate that things like food which used to be included in the fare are now more and more being charged for.

[NH Cruisers]

too bad there isn't free sushi everyday like on celebrity cruises. I hate that things like food which used to be included in the fare are now more and more being charged for.

I bet you don't hate the fact that a cruise is cheaper than 10 years ago though!!