Culinarycruiseguy

I was very excited to hear this news. As a chef I've been very honored to get to know Dario Cecchini and have done a few pork and beef fabrication seminars with him here in the states and have also spent time with him at his shop in Panzano and eaten 3 times at his restaurants in Panzano as well. He is just a joy to be around and I love the restaurants so it will be fun to see how this restaurant is on Sun Princess.

This has so much to do with the individual but for us it is well worth it. I enjoy quite a lot of specialty coffee and we partake in plenty of cocktails and wines and more importantly it allows us to try some different drinks without the thought of "what if we don't care for it" which really make the vacation enjoyable and stress free. Certainly if one does not drink alcohol I think the deal goes right out the door, but again, it really depends on the person and to figure in your mind what you are going to use and how much.

We always do Maya Chan in Costa Maya and are signed up once again for our December cruise. Absolutely love the place.

The twice baked goat cheese soufflé has always been my favorite (I've managed to have it up to 4 times on a cruise, even on nights it is not on the menu).  I also love their breads, French Onion Soup, and a number of their pastries in the International Cafe.

2 hours ago, loving goldens said:

We are doing our first Princess cruise March 2020... just wondering if the clamshell rentals  are in good locations and can you choose where you are placed? Thanks 

The other replies are correct regarding two areas and first come on those (make sure to reserve your clam shell ahead).  Personally my wife and I have always enjoyed the Little Bay side of the island which is to the right as you come in to the marina on the tender.  This area is a little more relaxed and I prefer the snorkeling there as well.  Have a great cruise.

12 hours ago, Fincherson said:

We just booked out first Princess Cruise (Sun Princess) after having previously sailed only Carnival and NCL. I was excited to get on Cruise Critic and join in on the fun/discussion on a new board, only to find it’s mainly negativity, rudeness and complaining. Am I missing something? Does Princess suck or are people generally more persnickety? Maybe I’m just reading the wrong threads? I’m kind of afraid to post this but I really want to know if I made a mistake giving Princess a try. Is it as mediocre as these posts make it sound?

Sometimes when I read the posts on here I think that cruises must be the worst thing ever created by how some make it sound.  Fact is, I love cruising and I really love Princess and look forward to our upcoming cruise on Regal (November 17) which will be our 3rd time on this wonderful ship and 8th Princess cruise overall.  We've sailed RCCL, NCL and Disney as well and we have yet to have a cruise we didn't love but have been cruising Princess exclusively for 15 years now. We travel a great deal and make sure to do a cruise every 2-3 years since it is the only trip we take that apparently "I relax".  We love Princess for a lot of reasons, great service, good food, and very relaxed atmosphere but quite frankly plop me in the middle of the ocean with plenty to eat and a cocktail and you'd have a pretty hard time getting a complaint out of me.  I do speak with some wisdom however, as an Executive Chef for 35+ years, a resort owner in a family business all of my life and the owner of a hospitality consulting company and a Italian Culinary Tour company so I've been around the block in the travel world....and I understand the service industry.  Everyone has a different opinion of what they like or think is the perfect holiday and what brings good value and I am firm believer that when it comes to getting the most from your vacation it has as much to do with you the traveler as it is does with the place you are traveling too.  I can always find things to nit pick at when I travel but I just won't do it.....vacations are far too important to me, so I'm only concerned with the good.  So get on that Princess cruise and go and enjoy the Hell out of yourself.......they're awesome and you will have a great time!!!

If there is one thing I have learned in my 30 years of running fine dining kitchens as an Executive Chef and spending the last 10 years as a restaurant consultant is that unfortunately, and no matter how well you are trained, mistakes are made in kitchens. However, I also tell my clients as a consultant (and your post is a good example) that someone can enjoy your property many times and have great experiences, but if you screw up that one time, well, you may have lost them for good. The culinary world walks a fine line in the love/hate relationship!! I'll be eating at CG twice next week so hopefully the experience will be better (I wouldn't have lobster anyway)! More importantly I hope you have no more bumps on the journey. Thanks for the posts and have a great day at sea.

Your giving us a great report! Thanks.....looking forward to our Regal trip to the Eastern starting on Sunday!!

Thanks for the great review and photos! We leave on the Regal on the 21st and being 3 years removed from our last Princess Cruise (and our 9th total) I will be interested to see if there is a downgrade of service and quality. The "Princess Way" of doing things is so much the reason that we have usually sailed with them and I would be very disappointed to see any of that going downhill!! Thanks again for your report.

Love Lido deck, and always book that. Have a great cruise!

We always stay in a cabin on Lido deck and have never had any problems with noise from above, plus all activity up there is during the day for the most part. Have a great cruise!

Great news! However, some of our funniest family pictures have come during cruise muster calls!!!

Thank you for a very good review, however, I just found out that I am the "older crowd" at 52:( I have sailed Princess many times (in fact will be doing so again on Regal in 3 weeks) and have also sailed RCCL, NCL, Disney and Carnival. I understand what you mean about the activity level and while I think Princess has a very fun vibe, it certainly is more laid back than RCCL! I think that Princess is simply a bit more refined and tends to hover slightly to the above 40 crowd with many passengers in their 60's, 70's and above (7 day seem to be a younger crowd with 10+ day cruises having a older clientele). My wife and I have traveled on Princess since our early 30's and have always enjoyed that mix of people and have found that by having that mix we get to do a little bit of everything from great shows, music and activities to being able to find quiet spaces for relaxation, cocktails or dining (and the pools are never as busy as some other line)....I think that is what makes Princess special to us. This is the beauty of cruising today, there is a line out there for pretty much everyone....couples (young or old), groups, large families, families with kids, families with teens, anyone really. And remember, no matter what, enjoy it! After all, you're on a cruise!!!

I don't get it! Maybe because I've been a chef for 30+ years but Cruise ship food always impresses me. In fact it is for the food that we love cruises.....is it like some of the 5 star restaurants I've been to around the world? No it is not, however, I always look at the operation and the fact at the numbers they are serving and the quality of food they turn out.....I personally know the difficulties of running a kitchen and I think it is pretty amazing what they do day in and day out. Now, if you are looking for a French Laundry, Altera, Benu, Crust, Daniel or Koi...then you might want to look somewhere else, but for a solid dining experience I love cruising and I love the Royal and Regal Princess!

We sail the Royal and Regal and enjoy Alfredo's for both lunch and dinner to change things up. We have done dinner there and also dropped in for some bites at the Ocean Terrace as well.

I enjoyed a couple of Carnival cruises when I was younger but have kind of grown out of them and while I have sailed RCCL (although not since most of their mega ships have come on line), NCL, Disney, and have done cooking demos on HAL (much to old for me) I simply keep coming back to Princess. I like what they offer, I love their ships, think their food quality is top notch, and I really enjoy the people they cater too. I really believe who you cruise with is based on so many things and what I like you may not and vise versa, so it's important to compare the things that are important to you and of course to consider cost and then go from there. At the end of the day I think you will enjoy either....heck you'll be sailing to Hawaii, what's not to love!!! Have a great time:)

Some really great photos....thanks for posting!;)

The meats in Crown are of a high quality, top grade choice at 88% or better or Prime 92% or better. This puts their cuts on par with any of the top steak houses in the country. It is a dining landing pad for us at least twice during the cruise. Have a great time!:)

We love having a balcony and have always booked port side. We have been on some pretty rough cruises but have never not been able to sit and enjoy our balcony, however, we are always on the Lido deck so we don't get any spray, lower balconies can get a bit of spray in rougher seas. You'll love it!

Barramundi is a very popular fish in Italy and the Princess Executive chef is Italian which would make that a logical choice to work with. Kingclip is popular right now and quite available.

I know they don't make significant changes to the MDR menu and when they have altered stuff they get some flak. We have been on 6 Princess Cruises and quite frankly I would rather have them get really good at what they do than to be changing it all the time and not doing as good of a job.....keep in mind they are serving up to 3500 people. We mix in the the specialty restaurants and the buffet a few nights and really don't have any problem (or usually memory) that we are seeing some of the same items.

I enjoy going to the wine tastings on Princess and there will usually be a couple of different ones. The basic is $25 with a nice tasting of 4-5 fairly standard, but good wines...you will receive a nice pour and will also have some tasting items to go with it. The higher level tasting will usually be $50-75 and include some excellent wines (Opus, Brunello, some Super Tuscans and such) and with this it will include some very nice tasting items. Either level is well worth it with some great information and some really nice wines. Enjoy!

You definitely do not want to skip this...they mean mandatory. It will happen before sailing.

QUOTE=koss78b2;44424551]Is it mandatory to take in part the safety drill on the first day?

Also if she sails at 4pm on first day. would safety drill take place after sailing or before it leaves?thanks

I think things like the flu are a far bigger threat to us than Ebola will ever be on a cruise ship......if that terrifies you then you shouldn't travel. Looking forward too my cruise in 37 days!

Is anyone else afraid that it is only a matter of time before the first case of ebola breaks out on a ship and that is the end of the cruise industry?

 

Since the US is welcoming 150 travelers a day from W. Africa with open arms, it is only a matter of time before it becomes more of a problem than it already is.

 

I'm terrified! :eek: