XBGuy

I think first timers are blue.

I think my odds are better taking my money (not sure I understand what “extra money” is) to Sabatini’s where my historical percentage of having a great dinner is 100%. 😃

Grand Cru Chablis. Très bien.

While I have taken part in the Chef's Table twice in the past. The first experience was less than optimal because of some of the guests with whom we had to share the experience. We signed up for the second one just in the hope that our fellow diners would be a bit more gracious. The second one was quite enjoyable. The news that Princess is going to a fixed menu for the Chef's Table is a bit disappointing. To me the idea of the Chef's Table is to allow the Executive Chef to show some of his own creativity to make each event a unique experience for the diners. Maybe they'll change the name to the McChef's Table. My sarcasm aside, there is a "Live From" on this board right now in which the posters participated in the Chef's Table with this new standard menu. The menu, in fact, looks pretty attractive, to me. The posters seemed to enjoy it quite a bit, and their pictures of the various dishes were quite attractive I am also glad to hear that the appetizers are no longer served in the galley. That seemed weird to me. I was not, and it seemed that others were not, comfortable in that environment. In the future, I think Mrs. XBGuy and I will stick with the Ultimate Balcony Dinner. Yes, the menu hasn't changed since our first experience in 2013. but we absolutely love being pampered by our own (at least it seems like they are our own} two servers. Also, I know the wine will be outstanding because I'll bring it from my inventory. 😁

That's a terrific story. Three UBDs on a single cruise???? Did you check with the Guinness people to see if that was some kind of record? One per cruise is our max.

Excellent workaround. I assume you made you request courteously and, afterwards, thanked Mr. Saldana profusely.

Sometimes when when you ar Down Under gravity gets confused. FIFY

Quite a few years ago we thought we would try the dining room for lunch on embarkation day. Our normal embarkation day routine is to get hamburgers at the Lido deck grill, grab a nearby table and watch the excited cruisers scurrying about. For whatever reason, we decided to change things up. Mrs. XBGuy ordered a veggie burger, and I ordered a plain old regular cheeseburger. She took one bite of hers, decided it was absolutely the worst thing she’d ever tasted in all her life, and pushed her plate away. My cheeseburger was fine—almost as good as the ones they offer on the Lido deck. Eventually, the waiter realized something was wrong and asked if she would like something else, but she declined. I do have a memory of her having a white wine with that lunch. It may very well have been a Sauvignon Blanc, Since that experience I have read numerous reports here on the Cruise Critic Princess Board about how bad the veggie burgers are in the dining rooms. I have to say, Tom, there were plenty of warnings out there. Cruise Critic is your friend. 🤣 Mrs. XBGuy’s attitude improved considerably when we reverted to another of our embarkation day routines—sparkling wine on our balcony during sailaway.

Jetways???

This looks like one of those Silverado blending events. I had not heard of anybody participating in one of those for several years. A good way to meet fellow wine buffs.

Very cool. Thank you.

My wife’s regular Crown Grill entree order is the Mussel Pot. Continuing with Mrs. XBGuy’s Crown Grill habits, for her appetizer she always orders the Garlic Fries. Invariably, the server will give her a double take, but then bustles off and she gets her fries when I get my Shrimp Bisque. The very cool thing is that I get to reach across the table and snag all the fries I want. I confess to being a red meat lover, but over the years I have tasted most of the Crown Grill entrees. I have found the Sea Bass to be outstanding. On the other hand, I am “one and done” with the Lobster Tails.

Boy multiple “Live from . . . “ posters are receiving Chef’s Table invitations this week. Very cool.

It is not surprising that suite cabins are not available for an April 2024 cruise are currently not available. However, the impending final payment date may cause that to change. I would suggest that starting today you, or your friend, check daily—preferably, multiple times per day. If final payment date passes with no joy, do not give up. Continue for at least a couple more weeks. Due to a domestic situation i personally have cancelled a suite on a Princess cruise a couple days before final payment. I intentionally postponed my decision as long as I could. So, it does happen. In addition to the above action I would certainly encourage your friends to try to enlist their travel agent for possible assistance.

You're in the Chef's Table event.

No reason to wait by the phone. Chef’s Table invitees are notified in writing. A letter is delivered to the cabin.

We have ordered the Ultimate Balcony Breakfast twice. As @JF - retired RRT has reported, it is delivered, but not served to you. Consider it to be the same as any order you would make from Room Service. The covered dishes were left for us to serve ourselves. The video shows the delivery person opening the Champagne. To be honest, I don’t recall whether or not they did that for us. One food item that the video did not show was a mini-quiche. It has been a few years since we have enjoyed the UBB. I have a distinct memory of having a mini-quiche on both of our experiences. Also, the passengers in the video were dressed much better than we’ve ever dressed for a UBB. Don’t get me wrong. The delivery person has never been shocked or embarrassed by our appearance, but shorts or jeans and a casual shirt would be our likely morning attire. We enjoy the UBB quite a bit. We feel that it is perfect on a “Scenic Cruising” day.

It does look cheesy and gooey—and really good.

What is this?

1988? Is somebody a Kirk Gibson fan?

From 1956 to 1960 there was a TV sitcom, “The Gale Storm Show,” in which the star, Gale Storm, portrayed Susanna Pomeroy, the “Social Director” on a ship traveling around the world. The slight discrepancy in nomenclature notwithstanding, the concept of a cruise director clearly pre-dates the OP’s 1971 initial experience. Our first cruise in 1976 had a cruise director, and, as a young person with absolutely no idea what cruising was all about, I really appreciated him. I attended every one of his presentations on what was happening on the ship and what to expect in the next day, or so. As the years progressed and we became more experienced with cruising, our dependence on and interest in the cruise director has diminished. We pretty much have our own “agenda” on a cruise and are perfectly able to “entertain ourselves.” However, while I may feel that the effect that a cruise director has on my cruise experience has diminished, it has not gone to zero. Clearly, the cruise director, along with numerous other personnel, do much to made my cruise experience so pleasant.

Bob Trinchero is one of my winemaking heroes. The owner/winemaker of the Sutter Home Winery he focussed on wines made from Zinfandel grapes. In 1972 he was making a Rose of Zinfandel, when the fermentation unexpectedly stopped leaving leaving significant sugar in his partially fermented wine. Being a businessman he bottled the batch, but, instead of calling it Zinfandel Rose, he called it White Zinfandel. He sold every bottle. Again, being a businessman Trinchero thought he might have a new product idea and started regularly producing high-sugar White Zinfandel. The emerging American wine consumers loved it. The only mistake that Trinchero made was that he did not trademark the name. Dozens of wineries started producing White Zinfandel. Let me explain why Bob Trinchero is my hero. In the 1980s wine consumerism boomed in America. White Zinfandel sales exploded. Also, though, the new American wine lovers moved beyond White Zinfandel to investigate wines made from other grapes. The easy thing to like was a white wine. Sure enough by the late 1980s Chardonnay emerged to challenge White Zinfandel. In the 1990s Merlot emerged as America’s favorite red wine. These changes did not go unnoticed farther up the supply chain—to invoke popular nomenclature. Acres and acres of vineyards were replanted to Chardonnay or Merlot. Less popular grape varieties—e.g., Carignan, Chenin Blanc, Colombard—were taken out of production. While I am sure that some Zinfandel vines were replaced, the continuing popularity of White Zinfandel meant that vineyardists could profitably grow Zinfandel. Many of these old vine Zinfandel vineyards were originally planted in the final decades of the 19th Century and the early decades of the 20th Century. Today, outstanding winemakers such as Mike Officer, Joel Peterson, and Morgan Twain-Peterson are producing world class Zinfandel wines—many from these historic old vine vineyards. So, thank you, Bob Trinchero. I am happy to toast you with a glass of Sutter Home White Zinfandel. Of course, I’ll then follow that with some Carlisle Winery Pagani Ranch Zinfandel. . 😊

Thank you, @BlerkOne, for the pictures from Vines. The Crudités and the Charcuterie Board look great. Mrs. XBGuy and I would enjoy noshing on either of those with some nice wine. I have to say that the Truffles also look great, but I have to question how much we would enjoy them with a glass of wine. As a red wine drinker, I might be OK, but I see no way that my wife, predominantly, a white wine drinker, would enjoy it. Does anybody have any Vines Truffle wine pairings that they have enjoyed? I realize that this is a completely trivial First World problem, but isn’t that Cruise Critic’s raison d’etre? In my case I could see where we would place a la carte orders for the Crudités or Charcuterie and just avoid the Truffles.

I know that the Winemaker's dinner has been evolving over the years, but when I saw the $100 pp levy, I was a bit surprised. OK, inflation is worldwide, let's take a look at the menu. It looks like you were started with a pink sparkler that was not on the menu. I was very impressed when I saw the third wine on the menu--Ornellaia. Excellent. The meal looks terrific. Mrs. XBGuy and I would have enjoyed it.

It is difficult to rate one restaurant, in this case Crown Grill or Sabatini’s, as consistently better than the other. We have regularly dined in both on multiple Princess ships. On some cruises we preferred Crown Grill. On some cruises we preferred Sabatini’s. The reality is that the staff and the management of these rooms are constantly changing, and I am convinced that this explains my inconsistent experiences. Usually, the headwaiter is engaging, customer oriented and provides both good direction and good support to the service staff. However, sometimes he is less engaging and just assumes that the service staff is doing their job. Similarly, the care that the head chef shows will directly reflect the quality of the dishes coming out of his galley. My fatalistic view is that I won’t know until I walk in. @pebbleman I would suggest that you just review the menus for these two restaurants over on the Princess site and pick the one that looks better to you.