GoHuskies!

What's up with the mashed peas. :confused:

Is it a big custom in the UK.

I don't see the attraction except that they might be easier to get on the fork.

"Johnson boys eat peas and honey

They have et them all their life

Makes the peas taste mighty funny

But it keeps them on the knife."

My goodness, someone rattled your cage!

 

For your information, food is not lousy in England, some food is lousy I agree, but there are some wonderful restaurants if you do your homework and at least you don't have to eat burgers, pizza, macn'cheese, (what's that all about? Reminds us of bad school dinners!) or hot dogs plus fries fries fries day in day out. Many pubs here in the UK have raised the bar with their food offerings, and many cook with locally sourced ingredients, and fresh vegetables - not just the broccoli that many American restaurants seem only able to cook.

Haggis, anyone? Maybe white bacon? Kidney pie?

When I see them in front of a cabin I just slide them closer against their door so they have to move them when leaving their cabin or step over the tray.

Maybe that'll give them the message that it's not appropriate and they'll call in the future. ;)

My feeling exactly.

On my most recent cruise I complained to the spa staff about the 4 kids (estimated ages 8-12) who were using the bikes and ellipticals at peak time on a sea day. I was very frustrated that nothing was done. But I feel the most I can or should do is complain to the staff and reiterate my complaint on my post cruise survey from Princess. I can always vote with my feet (and dollars) if I get too frustrated.

You did not say whether these 4 kids were doing something that they should not have done, just that they were using the equipment. By your implication, they may have been "hogging" the bikes. However, they had every right to use the equipment, unless there was a time limit on them. Be thankful, if they were just letting off their teenage steam doing something as acceptable as this.

Was there something else that their actions made you frustrated, or just being kids in the way?

Oh, man, this is wonderful! I haven’t visited this thread in a few days and you all have written SO MUCH great material for comment!

Where do I begin? Feral child—

A more apt definition: "(of a young person) behaving in a wildly undisciplined and antisocial way." ie a child who is acting up, out of control, no manners, no consideration for others, flouting rules, and generally making a nuisance of him/herself. A child that has never been taught boundaries or respect for other people or property.

Undisciplined and a general nuisance is way too mild to describe this. I see a wolverine, a hyena, a rabies-damaged brain in these brats. Is that feral enough? “Wild child” doesn’t do it.

And just one more--to rgmacm--your well-developed post is exactly correct and says everything that needs to be said. So with that, I won't add to the diatribe here.

Thanks to you all.;p

I am often asleep when my 19 year old is still up and about on the ship. My 13 year old has free run and usually puts himself to be before 10, but he has stayed out later.

 

Just because I am in my room, and they have a room across the hall, does not mean that as a parent I have done anything wrong. I know my kids. They have rules and structure and follow them. Neither of my boys is so stupid as to pull some kind of stunt like this and I assure you had they seen it, they would have reported it.

 

The issue here is not addressed by a blanket statement about where the parents are. Did your parents watch you all day everyday when you were 14 or 15 - which is about the age I am guessing these kids are?

 

These kids (both of them) were 100% in the wrong. They are old enough to know better. Should they and their parents be put off the ship? Absolutely. Banned from Princess forever? Perhaps, depending on ship policy.

 

But the issue is NOT where parents are given the age kid of this kid- it is much broader in terms of the general parenting. Did the parents know that this kid was running a blog? Had they ever observed him being a daredevil before? What kinds of rules did they have in place for the trip? How was the child raised in generally with rules and consequences?

 

Despite your best efforts at rules and structures as a parent, kids do make independent decisions, and sometimes they are bad. Shoot, even adults from 18 -100 will have more than one or two and get behind the wheel of a car; never been in trouble before yet now we can add DUI to their record. Does that make their parents bad? Before you can pass judgment on the parents choice, you need to know the answer to such questions, and we never will.

Wow--did it ever hit a nerve in you!

The poster didn't even imply that ALL parents are derelict, just the ones of these two idiots in the video. You are completely right that there are plenty--even most--parents who are conscientious, who have brought up their children to respect and pay attention to not only rules but also the presence of people around them.

Yes, Princess should follow this up and eventually ban them from cruising again. But when someone says, "Where are the parents?", it's a very logical question that implicitly means, "--of these idiots?", not parents in general. No need to flame the person asking this.

On our very first cruise several years ago, on the NCLA Pride Of America, we were assigned an accessible cabin (though we did not realize this until we got on the ship). We enjoyed the extra room and especially the bathroom area. The only problem was that, being on the port side, when we used the shower underway the water washed across the drains surrounding the shower floor, and ended up in a very large puddle against the wall. I cleaned that all up the first time, using towels squeezed out many times, and after that I rolled up towels just outside the drains in advance of using the shower. A minor miscalculation by the designers.

Mine works fine. As long as you are logged in to the Princess site, this should work. I'd try closing the window and log back in again.

Yes, download everything you want to watch prior to the cruise, One exception: if you are really into snowboarding and want to see the same half hour of Shaun White on the halfpipe, over and over on the Star's tv 24/7 with no letup, you are in luck. That's what we experienced on a September cruise to Hawaii two years ago on the Star, filled with seniors, walkers, wheelchairs and canes. I use a cane myself for balance (though my wife insists it's a "walking stick"). I do enjoy snow sports but this was an unbelievably bad choice on Princess' part.

When all else fails, take along a small jar of Best Foods (Hellman's) mayonnaise!

I agree, take your own french press.

That's the absolute best way to have coffee, all right. I took my grinder along too, and for years I put up with the mess of getting rid of the spent grounds. But I guess I'm getting lazy--or old--or old and lazy--but it's a lot of trouble for a cup. And the interesting thing is, the coffee dispensers in Horizon Court look kinda like french presses to me!

PS - the military dining facilities ( formerly known as mess halls) have excellent food now, in my opinion. We just joined our son-in-law for supper at his base in San Diego.

Exactly. And even years ago the quality of mess hall food depended on the cooks and the specific military base or ship you were in. For example, the food at Treasure Island Naval Receiving Station (San Francisco) was surpassingly good. But the absolute best scrambled eggs I have ever had were at the Anacostia Naval Station in Washington, D.C. On the weekends there we would go through the kitchen in back of the cafeteria lines to the guy who prepared them. He had a huge tub of eggs from which he ladled a scoop onto a hot griddle. You would ask for one or two scoops, each equivalent to maybe four eggs, and he spread (kind of tossed) the ladleful across the griddle, then immediately started scooping them together, capturing the moistness within, and thence to your plate or platter. Never a dry egg among them! I always try to emulate this method in my frying pan at home--quickly on and off a hot pan, moist as can be. Plates have to be ready before I start the cooking of eggs. I have been completely spoiled by my Navy chef in this regard; that's why I can't stand those dry, overbaked solid yellow plastic pads they call scrambled eggs in any buffet line. Slow cooking just doesn't do it either.

Don't knock the SOS. It was actually featured as down to earth and fulfilling comfort food on a Food Channel show.

Hey, I don't, really. I prepare it myself at times--like any other dish, careful preparation with thoughtful ingredients and seasoning can make a wonderful meal out of SOS or anything else.

Cafeteria quality?! Clearly you should be cruising on a luxury line if you think the food is that bad on Princess. I've eaten in a military chow hall and I think I know what cafeteria quality is and Princess is NOT that!!

As I posted on another thread, the uber-gourmets among us (think Charles Winchester III on MASH) should try the SOS on board my Navy ships! They have no basis for comparison.

The über-gourmets among you need to try out the SOS-- **** on a shingle--served aboard the USS Mount McKinley. Then you will have something to compare. (Still trying to un-taste it even today.)

Well, back to reality---we are aboard the Island Princess in a couple of months and I'm looking forward to the Princess food once again. We've only taken one other Princess voyage so far, 15 days on the Star, but we really appreciate the food that we tried. In general, we haven't had particularly good luck with specialty restaurants, especially on NCL where I swear the wine at the Italian restaurant had to be Two-buck Chuck. And the beef offerings were only so-so, both there and on the Star. MDR is a flop to me. Even if we got in when we wished, the interminable waits for the next "course" meant only warm, not hot, food. The choices are not too great either. BUT: the Princess buffet saves the day. Food is hot, it is widely varied, it is replenished at a rate which guarantees freshness, and so help me I never tasted anything from the buffet on the Star Princess that was not excellent. I try to take a small sample of many different foods in the buffet so that over time I have tried most of their offerings, though they change often enough that it's tough to try them all. I was never disappointed. Three cheers for Princess buffets! Try this to whet your appetite:

i just saw video on cnn.

 

But.... Unless that jet said "princess cruises" on its tail, why are we discussing it here??

 

Slow day? I mean can't we discuss formal night dress code or beverage policy again?? :eek:

snore!!

I've made this same argument on Royal Caribbean, too. It's just a bigger balcony cabin. I remember liking the mini suites on Princess more, too.

You're right, it's not a MINI-SUITE. It's a MAXI-CABIN.

That was on the Star Princess.

In 2015 we cruised RT to Hawaii from Vancouver, in September. I was amazed how the sea flattened out and we never, in six days out and six days back, ever felt the slightest sea movement. Probably not typical but the Pacific lived up to its name.

I seriously doubt that we will find the Island Princess to be anything but wonderful. I have yet to see perfection anywhere--on any ship, even at home--and have found most criticisms of ships to be very subjective and somewhat snobbish. Sure, the addition of a hundred staterooms has changed the ship, but on the other hand I have never been on the Island before so what I find will be great. Our first cruise was on the NCL POA, and then we repeated the cruise several years later. Comparing the two, we found the crew--American, by the way--to be sadly inferior to the first crew which was international during its first few cruises. But guess what--we still enjoyed the cruise! It may be that on the IP Anytime Dining causes us to change our favorite time to eat, but so what? We will not starve. Just check out the videos of MDR food offerings and also the Horizon Court buffet. It could be that a bit of rust may be found, but check out the underside of your car at home. If the steward is late for cleaning your cabin, just give her/him a call or a comment when you pass in the passageway--besides, do you expect that kind of daily work from your spouse at home? I am sure that we will enjoy the wonders of this ship and crew immensely, as long as we don't expect God to stop the universe to suit our whims, as some posters seem to expect,

But if I don't like Gelato.....:D:D:D

 

Bob

{AGHAST!!} :eek:

That's almost as bad as saying you don't like (genuflect here) Best Foods mayonnaise!!

:D

Did not know staircases were one way?

Well, there is some logic to this use of stairways. Don't know if it is still true, but when I was in the Navy the rule was "starboard side, up and forward; port side, down and back".

Suggestion for everyone:

When you pick up a salt or pepper shaker, check the lid first. I ended up with a neat pyramid of salt on my eggs on a cruise. I wouldn't necessarily blame this on a juvenile person, but it was a juvenile act.

In fact, here is her latest cruise travelogue. I recommend it highly--entertaining, informative and intelligent.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2466453&highlight=Florence+the+zebra

On our recent cruise on the Getaway, there was a couple, I'd guess them to be in their early 40s, who took small stuffed bears with them everywhere. I saw the bears sitting out by the pool, pretending to eat at Savor, greeting the captain at the Latitudes party, etc. My parents overheard them tell someone that the bears were over 20 years old and had recently gotten new shirts for this cruise.

That's pretty good,not weird at all. We sometimes take a hometown newspaper along to snap a photo including it at various places around the world. But if you want something really interesting along this line, look for "Florence the Zebra" on the Princess threads. Marla, the writer, takes a small stuffed zebra along on cruises and includes her in various photos. That in itself is a minor point--the major one is that Marla is a superb writer, and a very interesting traveloguer, a Canadian to whom I would refer anyone for an interesting read, Check her out.

Hi, Marla!