hllwdcruiser

What an absolute horrible way to end your cruise. I can't even imagine how helpless and out of control you must have felt. I'm sorry you had to go through this and Princess should be ashamed of how they handled the situation.

Of course it's not unusual that others here had completely different experiences after testing positive. The only consistent thing about Princess is its inconsistency.

18 hours ago, jwattle said:

May be the post won't disappear this time: 

 

After many fits and starts and disappearing posts, I finally figured out that I should copy my text before hitting the submit button. It saved me a lot of frustration!

Enjoying your blog and following along!

1 hour ago, capriccio said:

 

I really can’t see how they will handle public areas when they hit full capacity.  My first thought on entering the theater is that it appears smaller than the theater on the Caribbean Princess which we sailed in January.  Tonight’s 9 pm show (5 Skies) was almost full but I don’t know about attendance at the early show (7 pm) which is traditionally more popular. How will they accommodate 40% greater crowds?

I agree 100%. I questioned the same thing while onboard. 

This was an unusual cruise ~ Steve's injury prevented us from doing so many things that we normally do, but on the other hand, it forced us to relax, rest and enjoy many aspects of a quiet ship during busy port days. 

The ship is undeniably beautiful and we never get tired of the "sameness" of the brand that some YouTubers complain about. We actually feel a comfort in the familiarity and still get excited the moment we walk into the Piazza for the first time.

I do feel that they could be more innovative in their choice of new restaurant venues. I think Bistro Sur La Mer and the Salty Dog Gastro Pub are just a waste of space. We tried to get into The Crown Grill but all reservations were taken except for very late ones. We were not alone in this predicament, so clearly, Princess is leaving $$ on the table (pardon the pun). On the other hand, there was rarely anyone in the Salty Dog and there were always plenty of reservations available at the Bistro. Why not expand the Crown Grill to accommodate all passengers who wish to eat there? 

I wish they would bring back the British Pub atmosphere of the Wheelhouse Bar. Seriously, who didn't love the pub lunch? I'd be willing to pay for a good pub lunch, but certainly not $18 a head. I also think that a good asian fusion restaurant would go over well. Emphasis on the word "good" because, yes, I have read the reviews of Harmony on the Majestic.

On the subject of food, we really, really, really (!) liked being served the food in the buffet. This surprised me because I initially thought I was going to hate it. The servers were great at giving the exact amounts desired and this worked well for me because I like to try a little bit of almost everything! It was just mentally reassuring to not have multitudes of hands touching the same serving spoons. I hope Princess continues this forever. We also figured out that it is perfectly acceptable to take the little grab and go items and pour the contents onto our larger plate so we didn't have to balance multiple plates at one time. The servers had no problem taking the little plates from us.

I touched on this on earlier posts, the MDR service improved greatly by the 5th evening and was flawless in the Amalfi dining room. The food was generally good to excellent but we did notice cutbacks on their appetizer and dessert offerings. I hope these cutbacks are only due to the pandemic and will improve as the financials improve. 

I'm not really sure what is going on in the many bars onboard but things just seemed a little disjointed. I liked the location of Good Spirits bar on the Sky much better than where it is on the Enchanted. Crooners lacked enough bar stools so it was difficult to form the camaraderie with other passengers as you would on other ships. We never did make it to Take Five so I can't comment on that venue. Perhaps I'm just pining for the old Wheelhouse bar, the old Crooners, the old Vines. I really can't put my finger on it but we couldn't find a favorite hangout on this cruise.

Service was impeccable across the ship. Everyone in every venue looked at us with smiling eyes (remember, they all wore masks) and an eager to please attitude. Our cabin steward was one of the best we've ever had. He even found a large clear bucket so he could give Steve extra ice for his ankle every day. 

Speaking of cabins - we liked this cabin but being all the way forward and high really turned into a hinderance once Steve couldn't walk without difficulty. Walking aft to the Vista lounge or the Amalfi dining room became a painful marathon rather than an easy sprint. Then walking all the way forward to the theatre for the production show and afterwards mid ship to Princess Live for the game show... you get the idea. These new ships are not easy for the mobility challenged and we certainly have a new perspective and respect for those who deal with such issues every day.

We struggled a bit with the internet (it was slow at times) and the medallion app throughout the cruise. One of my biggest frustrations was trying to post on this CC site. My posts would disappear and/or my photos wouldn't upload. I finally figured out to copy the text before I hit "submit" and to edit my posts after submitting to add the photos. Fortunately, I am not a luddite, and was able to figure out workarounds most of the times we experienced issues.

We only ordered room service off the TV once and used the app to order food poolside once just to test them. Both times they worked flawlessly. It's a great concept, but we always felt like we were two steps from a bar or food venue and didn't feel the need to use the technology. I did find it odd that we couldn't order the same breakfast items off the TV or App that we could on the door card. What's up with that? Some things just didn't make sense.

We met some great people on this cruise and had a lot of fun with our new found friends who we hope to meet again onboard one day. Our cruise critic meet and greet was well attended and it was truly great to finally meet some of the posters I have seen on this site for years. 

Well, that's about all I can think of at the moment. I'm sure more things will come to me later, but I'll just have to save it for the next cruise. Thanks so much for traveling along with me!

21 minutes ago, Buckeye10640 said:

Ohhh the almond  croissant. Tried one on the Regal last week. Wow!

Indeed. They are downright dangerous!

10 hours ago, chrysalis said:

March 10th cruise is more crowded, and service in the dining room has been absolutely awful....same table as last cruise be different wait staff. We will give them one more chance tonight or we will change. Other people eating in our area also agree.

 

The USVI again today.

 

Very crowded so the buffet this morning..

Silvio told us that if the passenger count went above 2,000 that they would open the Santorini dining room, but apparently, they have not. It seems they are struggling with each uptick of the count. Perhaps they are so used to running at 40-50% capacity that these higher numbers are just overwhelming.

Our steward told us that the crew were no longer eating in the Santorini but were back in the mess hall. He preferred the latter because the food is served to them buffet style and it stayed hotter in the mess hall.

Bad service in the dining room can have such a negative effect on your evening. I hope things get better for you soon. 

They may have to consider opening the Horizon Bistro as well as the World Fresh Marketplace if the buffet continues to be crowded.

Have you noticed the 60 children that were supposed to be on this sailing?

11 hours ago, Lanz said:

Hope you’re home safe and sound and ankle beginning to repair.  Your review is excellent and mostly reflects our opinions too.  We loved this cruise, one of the best and we’ve been on quite a few..  We dropped our mask as soon as we could but of course empathized with people who felt more comfortable with masks on.  The only issue we had was communication, lack of, inconsistency or even worse WRONG.  As much as we hate paper the app/internet didn’t work thus they have to have a way of informing guests of issues especially when had new times for Debarkation.  We loved the catamaran tour in St Lucia.  Will definitely do this one again.

Thanks - we have an appointment on Friday with an orthopedist. He went to the ER this past Friday because he was in so much pain and they did give him a splint to stabilize it until he can get to see the specialist.

We ran into too many people who had issues with the app and/or medallion. Many just gave up and left their phones in the cabin. Steve had way more issues on his phone than I had on mine and we both have identical iPhone 13s. He had to keep going on medallion.net and reconnecting in order for his to work. The good people at Ocean Front did everything they could to try to fix the issue but to no avail. 

I will say that the internet on the Sky two years ago seemed faster and more reliable than we had on this cruise, but we did sail to different regions and that may have had an impact.

9 hours ago, MissP22 said:

Mask wearing is very limited.  Although it's suggested for the show lounge,  very few people are complying.  Maybe 4 or 5 per aisle.  Even less in Princess live.

Hardly any wear them in the elevators Although they suggest limiting the numbers to 6 on the elevators people still pack themselves in.

You are on now? Did you get some chocolate donuts? I got one the last morning but it was pretty stale and I didn't get past one bite. The almond croissant, however, I had no problem inhaling the entire thing!

19 hours ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

I slipped before on the Lido deck by the pool and the only thing that kept me from falling is that I grabbed my friends arm. I almost pulled her down with me but somehow we managed to stay upright. We hadn’t even left the port of Seattle yet for our Alaskan cruise and I just about ruined it.  The first thing I tell new cruisers is how slippery it is.  

I'm so glad you didn't fall. Apparently it is all too common and many people end up in medical, some seriously injured. Many crew members literally begged me to write to Princess to urge them to do something about the pool decks. I promised I would and I will, but I doubt I'll have an impact. Especially during these difficult financial times. I just hope they choose a different surface for the new builds.

We enjoyed our last sea day. I think it took the full 10 days for us to finally start to relax. I really would have loved to sign on for another 10, but we had a dog waiting for us at home and Steve needs to get to an orthopedist ASAP. 
Still, I did feel green with envy for those of you doing B2B2B etc. We met a gentleman on our deck who had been on for 40 days. He was in a suite that was comped for the entire time by the casino dept. The man clearly likes to gamble…

I have a few final thoughts that I will share tomorrow!
 

@MissP22This one’s for you:

So let’s talk about chair hogs. This would be called Chutzpah in the old country:

Early that evening we attended the Captain’s reception for Elite and Platinum. 
The Commodore made an appearance and was very informative.

However, he didn’t give too much information about the Sphere Class but did mention  that it will hold over 5,000 passengers. He said the first one would be delivered in 2023 and the next in 2024, but doesn’t that seem a little quick?

He also mentioned that new itineraries for 2024 should be out by April or May. 

On a sea day we decided to have a snack at Ocean Terrace. We had some Organic sake and ordered two rolls. The asparagus and cucumber was included free of charge, as was edamame of which I neglected to take a photo. 
The fish was fresh and well prepared but the rolls were a little too fussy for me. I think next time we’ll order the sushi and sashimi platters. 

The only disappointment I had on some of the meals were the starters and salad/soup selections. One day there was actually guacamole and plantain chips as one of the options. I think another night they offered a grilled pineapple slice. Here is another example - I chose to have an appetizer size of fettuccine Alfredo that evening! It was delicious. 

Our next port was St Kitts. We didn’t have anything planned and Steve’s ankle was not getting any better, so we pretty much stayed on the ship. 
we did get to see something we’d never seen before, the refueling of the ship:

I highly recommend Steve for a private tour of Barbados. I think I miscommunicated his fees in an earlier post. His fee for 4 hours was a $200 flat fee, it was not per person. He will do whatever you want and take you wherever you want. He is reliable, respectful and generally a super likable guy!

Finally we drove through Bathsheba And saw the cool rock formations in the ocean. - they are supposed to resemble a lioness, an alien, a donkey and a giant frog. These are harder to see in the photo - they are the further formations. I apologize for my poor photography skills! 

I finally have a chance to finish this review and add some final thoughts. 
Back to Barbados:

We continued on the East Coast and stopped at the Sleeping Giant. It really does resemble a man’s face - look at the tree, it’s in his mouth, then continue looking to your right , his nose, eye and forehead are pretty apparent:

On 3/10/2022 at 12:22 PM, MsSoCalCruiser said:

I’m loving your review.  Does anyone know if the Chia pudding is non-dairy? It looks really good and I’m hoping that they made it with almond, coconut, or soy milk.  If it is non-dairy I know what I’ll be having daily for breakfast.  😊

I thought of you often during this cruise! 
I had been able to sample little bites of dairy desserts with no ill effects so I got brave (translation- stupid) and ordered a regular cappuccino one night after dinner. To say I suffered for the rest of the night would be an understatement. 
I did have a soy latte every morning which was so good. I’m not a fan of almond milk but they had that as an option too, as I’m sure you know. I think they had another option too. 
I wish I had seen your request on the Chia pudding while I was still onboard - I would have definitely asked for you.

They have so many options for sugar and gluten free now - an entire section in the pastry shop on Lido was dedicated to them - but nothing dairy free. I know so many people who have dairy intolerance - hopefully one day they’ll have a special section for us too!

On 3/10/2022 at 11:13 AM, HleeCruiser said:

I did not realize the Bistro had outside dining.  Where exactly is the Bistro?  Thank you for your comments about your cruise.

 

Bistro Sur La Mer - it is a specialty restaurant located off of the Piazza. There are tables located directly outside the restaurant and apparently they offer Al fresco dining, but it is very windy and I never saw anyone having a meal outside. Gigi’s Pizzeria is located directly across the Piazza and it, too, has outside tables. 

On 3/10/2022 at 10:12 AM, capriccio said:

@hllwdcruiserIf you see them, tell them to check out www.sunny.org, the website of the tourist bureau.  Most highly recommended activity is the water taxi (www.watertaxi.com).

I never did see them again but I actually did tell them to take the water taxi, to visit Las Olas and if they are in the mood for another beach day, Hollywood Beach and the broadwalk are worth the trip. 
I agree, Sunny.org is a great resource. 

On 3/7/2022 at 9:55 PM, Kmkub said:

 

We were on Enchanted in January, and had amazing food! I've just done my Regal review (we got off today.) 

Above is the cheese fondue you received at Sabatini's.

Here's what we got on Regal. We didn't like it at all!

 

I read your review in full of the Regal and I think that the food was so amazingly flawless on the Enchanted that any other ship would be hard pressed to match up. Still, that soup looks sad and the chicken tacos looked like they bordered on inedible. 
Besides having Florin Dragan as the executive chef,  we shared the elevator one day with some big wigs from corporate who were in the process of revamping the menus for Alaska and even mentioned bringing flambés back to the dining rooms. I’m sure having them onboard for our sailing kept everyone in the kitchens on their toes. 

20 hours ago, capriccio said:

The official Port Everglades ship schedule has the Enchanted arriving at 8 am and departing at 4 pm (no change) tomorrow (https://pevvesseltraffic.broward.org/webx/).

 

We have a vested interest in that since DH and I are sailing with my two brothers and spouses!

We don’t disembark until 10:45 today (our original time was 9:15) so I would think that embarkation will be somewhat delayed. They still requested that we leave our cabins by 8:30 AM and our steward is already busy cleaning the empty ones. 

20 hours ago, suzyed said:

I just noticed on the Medallion app that you can check a box if you want the announcements to come through in your cabin.

 

Commodore came on later and repeated the announcement. He said that it was in error that it didn’t go into all cabins. In situations like this or in emergencies they override personal preferences. 
I will look for that checkbox though  for future cruises because I do like hearing all announcements.