A Grand Adventure! Grand Princess California Coastal Complete Photo Review 9/18-9/25

[helenb]

The cabins were not supposed to be available for a little while,

 

Was there a problem? On Princess the cabins are usually available immediately upon boarding.

[shredie]

Was there a problem? On Princess the cabins are usually available immediately upon boarding.

 

I'm wondering that, too. And thanks for the picture of the hot dog! Love those.

[Izabelle]

Enjoying your review, I can't see any pics though unfortunately, looking forward to more....must have been my iPad, no problem now with pics.

Edited October 6, 2016 by Izabelle

[kc320]

Was there a problem? On Princess the cabins are usually available immediately upon boarding.

 

I was on this same cruise & was in boarding group #2...onboard approx. Noon & went straight to my cabin on Deck 8 with no problem...

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

Alcatraz is a must-do in SF. :)

 

I knew that I had to go there, heard so much about it and a lot of history. Plus I wanted to see what the places they shot the scenes for the Rock looked like for real. Almost like you can imagine what it must have been there during its heyday as a prison when you walk around. Nice time had there.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

Was there a problem? On Princess the cabins are usually available immediately upon boarding.

 

Maybe it is just that I am so used to sailing lines that do not have cabins available for non-priority pax until a certain time, I just did not figure that the room was ready when we boarded. Either way, it was not a major problem as we just had backpacks to carry around at lunch up on lido and we really didn't spend any time at the cabin until after sailaway anyway. So perhaps the cabins actually were ready earlier.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

I'm wondering that, too. And thanks for the picture of the hot dog! Love those.

 

I guess I was wrong about the cabins not being ready but I usually do not go right to the cabin anyway because I would rather get lunch up on lido and check the ship out upon boarding. But as others have said here it seems, I must have heard wrong or just assumed that the cabin would not be ready and didn't hit the cabin until later. But there were some stragglers leaving the terminal as we arrived at it so maybe there was some issue with a few pax on arrival back from its last voyage. The hot dogs were actually a little salty and the fries were usually cold and the pizza was far better but yeah, if it is available, I will try the hot dogs at least once. And I did get dogs upon getting back from port visits a few times later on in the cruise as well.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

Enjoying your review, I can't see any pics though unfortunately, looking forward to more....must have been my iPad, no problem now with pics.

 

Thanks for checking it out, I am about to finish up embarkation day's writeup in a moment. Maybe it is a flash player thing as I know some mobile devices have issues with showing pictures for whatever reason. But hopefully you can see the pics no problem now and I hope you like them.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

I was on this same cruise & was in boarding group #2...onboard approx. Noon & went straight to my cabin on Deck 8 with no problem...

 

Cool, guess I was off about the cabins but as I did say, I wouldn't have gone to the cabin anyway right upon boarding as we wanted to do lunch and sightsee around the ship a little before muster. But it was nice that the bags were delivered in the cabin. Never had that kind of service before.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

DAY 3: EMBARKATION DAY CONTINUED....

I left off at departure time from the pier in San Francisco. So, it was a clear and warm day but obviously it was quite a bit cooler and breezy on the water once we got moving. I went to the front of the ship, up on deck 15 I think, along with a few hundred others to watch sailaway and we sailed between the city and Alcatraz on the way out to the Pacific. As we passed Alcatraz, we saw a large cargo container ship headed into the port pass by on our left, pretty cool. By this point we were moving at a decent clip and one lady lost her hat as it blew right off her head and into the water. I closely clutched my Phillies hat so it didn't blow away and meet the same fate, lol.

 

 

Now, comes the really fun part. We watched as the ship got closer and closer to the Golden Gate bridge. It was a pretty clear today, not much fog, so it was neat to watch as we approached. We got closer, closer, finally we pulled right up to it, cleared by a decent margin, and watched as a bunch of well-wishers up on the bridge span itself waved and cheered our passage. Captain Wilson blew the horn, they cheered louder and we all waved as we passed under. Cool. I have gone under the Sunshine Skyway in St. Petersburg twice, but this was even more awesome. Great start to the cruise. I still had cell phone coverage for another couple hours as we made out way out to sea, so I played with the web and texted back and forth with people back home for a little while more.

 

 

 

 

 

After that excitement was over with shortly before 1700, I stopped back on lido to watch the sailaway party in the pool area. This was not as lively as some Caribbean cruise sailaways can be but it was neat to see. Entertainment team dancing along with live and recorded music and passenger participation. I think I got another soda, hung around here for a little while, and went back down to the cabin to explore it some more shortly thereafter.

 

 

More in a second....

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

DAY 3: EMBARKATION DAY CONTINUED

My mom was taking a nap in the cabin when I arrived back and had not really begun unpacking yet. Unfortunately, even though we requested separate beds, the beds were together when we boarded. ARRRGGGHHHHHHH. Whatever, we met our room steward, Grace, around 1730 and told her everything was good except we did need the beds separated. They did get on it right away, which was nice.

 

About the cabin, we were on Deck 5 midship, near the art gallery and elevators, and not far from the Piazza. Good location, with an unobstructed outside view cabin. The room featured what seemed almost like a little foyer with ample closet space and hangers and a large bathroom (compared to what I have seen on some ships) to the right, a large living space with a desk, a few wall outlets, a dresser, large mirror and a desk chair and little table next to the beds I think. Pretty good.

While we waited for them to take care of the beds, we went to the Piazza to hang out and see what was there to offer. You do have to go through the art gallery to get to the Piazza which sucks because the last thing I want to do on a cruise is buy a painting but whatever. It just makes the walk a little more "cultured," lol. The Piazza features a sit-down pizzeria, bar, internet cafe, coffee shop and the International Cafe, which had things like sweets, sandwiches and the like and was open late I believe. Up on Deck 6 was plenty of shopping and another bar area, but I will get into that more later on.

 

The Desperado Trio, a mariachi band, played some stuff in the center of the Piazza and the ship's entertainment crew did some singing and dancing during this time, around 1800 as well. Good entertainment while we waited to get back into the cabin. I also discovered the Princess at Sea, which is an electronic version of the Princess Patter and a good way to find your way around the ship, and is accessible on your internet-enabled device, free of charge. Pretty good and I used it at least a couple times each day. Just make sure that you are on airplane mode with wifi enabled on your phone and access it just like you would any other website.

 

 

A good look at our cabin, after bed separation and the turndown that they did for us while they were in there. They had also delivered the 12-pack of water that my mom pre-ordered for something like $6 to the cabin, which I thought was a fair price for the convenience. We also did receive the blue canvas Princess bag, which we did not use in port during this trip but I will surely use for grocery shopping going forward back home. Not a bad gift. We also had received most of our excursion tickets when we arrived in the cabin, and an invitation to the Captain's welcome show in the theater that was scheduled for the next afternoon.

 

 

 

When things calmed down some, I took a little nap before dinner around 1830. The bed was comfortable, just watch your head as there is a big bunk bed on the wall for times that they put 4 people in a cabin and it is not too far up on the wall. The comforters were also a bit on the small side, used to larger ones. I got up around 1930 for dinner, and as is customary on the first night of cruises, we did not change for dinner which was scheduled for 1945 at the Botticelli dining room on deck 6. I got a nice picture of the tail end of sunset from the outside lanai deck on the promenade level (our cabin was on the side facing land most of the time) as we made our way to the dining room. You do have to go through the photo gallery and go down, to get to the dining room on deck 6. Design flaw, talked about quite a bit on cruise critic from what I gather. Anyway....

 

Despite the scheduled time, the early diners apparently were not finished yet, so we had to wait outside until about 2015 for them to prepare and open the dining room for us late diners. I would say the dining room was only 2/3 full tonight at most. Guess folks on this ship did not like to be up too late. This will be a theme recurring throughout the cruise, haha. Anyway, we were seated near the window, on the left side of the dining room, at a table with 5 other diners, and got settled in.

 

I will talk about dinner more shortly.....

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

DAY 3: EMBARKATION DAY CONTINUED.....

 

At dinner, we were seated with a couple from San Francisco and a family from Florida who had been on many cruises as well, formerly from New York. We got to know each other a little bit, and were introduced to our wait staff, lead waiter Mirabel and assistant Marlon. I showed Marlon my soda package credentials, and he made sure the sodas kept flowing all cruise long each night at dinner. I brought my cup that you get with the program (it is delivered to your cabin if you pre-order) but you do not need it as they will give you glasses of soft drinks as you request them.

 

Anyway, I ordered chicken broth and shrimp cocktail as my appetizer and both were OK. I did get the shrimp quite a few times on this cruise. It was good each time. They always have the same four or five things on the menu for appetizers, entrees and desserts and the rest of the menu changes each night. As with other lines, you can order as much as you want and most nights I ordered two entrees because I couldn't decide which one I wanted more and wanted to sample multiple things. I got roast pork and my mom got prime rib, of which I sampled a little of and it was OK. They come around and try to put pepper on everything, haha and they do offer A-1 steak sauce if you ask for it.

 

I got dessert, which was ice cream with strawberry topping as I did not like anything else on the menu tonight. It was OK.

 

 

Dinner took forever this evening, and we were not out of there until after 2200, but we were not that late most nights. Unfortunately, the welcome aboard show with our singers and dancers, comedian, magician, and cruise director, Dan Falconer, was also at 2200 in the theater and we missed it due to the late dinner. Oh well.

 

We passed through some bar on deck 7 on the promenade with some entertainment going on, and saw the first karaoke show in one of the lounges, near the photo gallery. Since there was nothing else going on tonight, it was hang out here for a while and watch people try to sing to songs they may or may not have known the words to. Some were good, some were not as good but at least they all tried. The pictured guy was singing American Pie by Don McLean.

 

 

 

That was over by 2300 and it was to bed shortly thereafter. Passed through the library, across from the Crown steakhouse on Deck 7 on the way back to the cabin. Also walked back through the art gallery on deck 5 on the way back to the cabin.

 

 

 

Looked through the Princess Patter for the next day some and tried to figure out what time I had to be out of bed to do some of the sea day activities they had planned.

 

That is it for day 3 of the vacation and day 1 of the cruise. Only 6 more to go, LOL. Hope you enjoyed it and hope you like the review. Have a good night and we will talk again when I get to posting my review of day 2 of the cruise, which would be a sea day.

[shredie]

The first night menu is not my favorite, but I do agree the shrimp cocktail is a good choice. I have been trying more of the pork dishes, and I think that roast pork is next.

 

I'm curious to know how you liked Dan Falconer as the CD. I found him annoyingly goofy, but my daughter thought he was adorable. His Wake Show is pretty to-the-point.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

The first night menu is not my favorite, but I do agree the shrimp cocktail is a good choice. I have been trying more of the pork dishes, and I think that roast pork is next.

 

I'm curious to know how you liked Dan Falconer as the CD. I found him annoyingly goofy, but my daughter thought he was adorable. His Wake Show is pretty to-the-point.

 

I only got one thing off the entree menu that first night. It is always kind of disorganized anyway but I felt the soups were seriously lacking all cruise long. Very few nights that I got anything in the soup department and the shrimp was a safe alternative for my appetizer. I do not like cold soups and they offered too many of them I think. Not enough classics like chicken noodle, hearty stuff. They did have pasta fazul one night though and that was good. The fruit spring rolls that I had on another night were interesting and I will mention them when that particular day comes up for review.

 

I will tell you the pork products on this ship were pretty good though. The spare ribs on the first afternoon at the buffet were absolutely slamming. Best cruise line ribs ever, to go with the pizza. The pulled pork at the BBQ I had one night was really good also.

 

Dan Falconer was OK. Typical cruise director antics. It was a different demographic onboard from your usual island cruise or weekend booze trip, so that has to be factored in by the CD as well. He did a fine job. Not over the top, typical humor, not too cheesy I didn't think. I have had really low-key CDs (Armen on NCL Jewel put you to sleep when he talked) and too hyper and high energy ones that had to always be in the spotlight (Dr. E :) on Carnival), but he did his job. Got laughs, got serious when need be, kept people in the loop, managed his staff well it seemed. The wake show always started airing at night at like 2200, which was kind of odd. Thought a morning show wasn't supposed to play until the morning, lol. By the morning, the show was old and stale and you did not learn anything new.

 

Anyway, I am going to try to get to the first sea day tomorrow night or Sunday, not sure but hopefully soon. I did everything from chip and putt into a hot tub (:cool:) to dress up for dinner to watch a show and everything in between on the first sea day. I know everyone will like it and be thoroughly entertained.

[Lucky TGO]

Wow very nice keep it coming. I love the pictures to.

Tony

[hightownCO]

Loved your pictures of sailaway! I'll be doing the same three weeks from today on the Grand to Hawaii. Can't wait!

 

Funny you mentioned the 'high energy CDs' Dr. E on Carnival. He was fun and funny for about 2 days. Have to admit his muster drill routine was great. But after that got tired of his schtick!

 

Looking forward to more and Thanks!

[buffyk911]

Anxiously awaiting the rest of the review !!

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

Wow very nice keep it coming. I love the pictures to.

Tony

 

Thanks for checking it out, and for being patient considering it is taking me so long to get it done. I am coming back with the first sea day later tonight, pictures included. I have quite a few pics still to go with this cruise, it gets better as we move along. Have a good night!

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

Loved your pictures of sailaway! I'll be doing the same three weeks from today on the Grand to Hawaii. Can't wait!

 

Funny you mentioned the 'high energy CDs' Dr. E on Carnival. He was fun and funny for about 2 days. Have to admit his muster drill routine was great. But after that got tired of his schtick!

 

Looking forward to more and Thanks!

 

Thanks, the pictures of sailaway were even better once I got them all organized and saw them on the big screen back at home. I knew it would be an event just to see us go under the bridge and out through the bay, unforgettable. It was windy and chilly though, so make sure you bundle up and no drink cups or hats as they will be spilled or blown away quickly if you hang out at the very front of the ship as it speeds up. I should do a Hawaii trip sometime, it is one of the places I have not been yet. Enjoy your cruise.

 

Dr. E gets your attention during the muster drill with all his accents and everything, but yeah he does get annoying by about the second day. He does his job and he has his brand, but it does get to you after a while. I prefer cruise directors that are somewhere between his style and the total low-key types that you can get sometimes. I thought Dan Falconer was fine. Not the best, not the worst. Do not know how long he will be on the Grand, he mentioned that his wife was pregnant back home, he might be going on vacation soon.

 

Thanks again for checking out the review and my apologies for taking so long in between additions to it. I have been busier than expected last few days, I should be able to get to the first sea day later on tonight. Hope you enjoy reading about it!

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

Anxiously awaiting the rest of the review !!

 

Should be up in just a little while. It will be long with a lot of pictures, I did a lot on the first sea day. I do apologize for taking so long to get to it, I thought I would have some free evenings this past week and ended up not having that kind of time after all. I do have to work so I can cruise more, lol. Thanks for being patient with me and thanks for reading along!

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

Good evening everyone, I am ready to get going with the next part of this review. Been very busy this past week, I do apologize for taking so long to update this. We have covered our hectic and scenic embarkation day, and our next day was one at sea. This is where we will pick up.....

 

DAY 4: FIRST SEA DAY

 

After a good night's sleep, it was time to get to know the ship some. As always with the first day at sea during a cruise, it is a great time to sleep in and partake in as many activities as you can while still relaxing. I was up around 1000, with a good view out the cabin window of a fairly calm sea. It was warm today, temps about 70 degrees, it was calmer than the night before. My mom got some room service breakfast (don't ask me why, considering there was no port visit today and the buffet was available upstairs but whatever). I should also mention that you can set up a wake-up call on the cabin phone by calling the guest services desk I think and those are helpful sometimes if you need to take a nap and wake up at a certain time. We did that a few times.

 

I went upstairs to the lido deck to get some breakfast just before 1030, my mom joined me. It was a little difficult to find seating, but we did find a table all the way at the back of the dining room. They have utensils inside of cloth napkins already laid out on the tables for you, so no need to get your own at the buffet line. Neat, haven't seen that before.

 

The typical breakfast stuff. Pancakes with a few different kinds of garnish and regular syrup, bacon, pork and turkey sausage (I think), nasty scrambled eggs, pre-made fried eggs, omelets by request at the end of the line. Biscuits and gravy, potatoes, the usual. Not bad. Just wish they would vary selection some more from day to day as the same stuff does get old after a while. But all cruise lines are like that. Breakfast just is not a huge priority for them it seems. You can get orange, apple juice, probably something else also, at the dessert station across the corridor from the main buffet line. An attendant fills up the small glasses and lines them up for people to take, no machines for self-service here. The buffet is set up on both sides of the lido dining room, two separate lines for the same stuff I think. Cuts down on crowds. You do have to sanitize your hands before entering, and a crew member does enforce this before she or he will give you a plate.

 

 

My mom and I had our own plans for today, and there was plenty to do onboard. She went off on her own to explore and I went to the Prego pizzeria on lido to get a slice as it was around noon by now and they were open. I sat down on lido, near the ice cream sundae station (which is open during the day, not sure about at night) and figured out what I would do in just a little while. The lido was not very crowded today, got a soda from one of the multiple lido bars and just hung out for a while. I do not know about the bars downstairs at the evening attractions but the lido bars were almost never crowded, it was walk right up and get served. I have never seen a cruise like that. Guessing their alcohol sales were not that high on this day.

 

 

The pizzeria that I have been talking about. Freshly made, full-size neapolitan pizzas. Stopped here many times.

 

 

 

After that, I explored some. There is a section of the ship all the way forward, deck 14 or 15 that is called the Sanctuary, adults only retreat, and they charge $20 for half-day access or $40 for the whole day. I didn't go in there but from what I saw from the outside, it was not crowded and not worth that much money. Plenty of other areas that were quiet to hang out at for free all cruise long. Nice pool and hot tub below it though, also access to the spa and gym on that level.

 

On this day, they had quite a few activities to choose from. I stopped at the miniature golf course, which is up the stairs, behind the fanavision on lido, secluded some. There was also a room that used to house a golf simulator, but it was out of service and from what I have heard, has been for a while. I did a sim like that on the Golden Princess many years ago, and it was fun. It is a 9-hole course, and it is obviously astroturf, but it is tougher than it looks. I never broke par all the times I tried it during the cruise. Not too much effect from the wind here either, unless the ship was moving. Not too crowded here, sadly. Was fun.

Edited October 12, 2016 by FlyingCruiserNJ

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

DAY 4: FIRST SEA DAY CONTINUED

 

After golf, I just had to go to the activity that featured the opportunity to chip plastic practice training golf balls into the indoor pool on lido. There was quite a line of people wanting to give it a try and it was organized by one of the entertainment staff members. This was sometime around 1300. Most people were clearly not golfers but they still tried. The goal was to chip into either the hot tub on the other side of the pool or into the shower next to it. You got to hit off the top of the stairway leading to the hot tub on one side, using a pitching wedge but there was no mat to hit off of which made it more difficult. My turn came up and I hit one into the pool and one into the shower next to the hot tub on the other side of the pool. A gentleman behind me in line was nice enough to get a few pics of me in action. He did hit the hot tub after I went with a shot, impressive. Fun. No prizes for the winner though, unfortunately. There may also have been a paper airplane contest somewhere on the Piazza on this day, but I did not make it if there was and I might have it confused with the other sea day.

 

 

 

 

Included in the soda package was freshly squeezed juice and "mocktails" which were non-alcoholic cocktails. I think there were about four different kinds to choose from. I got a Key West cooler, which was surprisingly better than I expected. At 1345, we met at the Crown Steakhouse for a pub-style lunch. Worst experience we had on the whole cruise. It was supposed to feature British-style dishes and atmosphere, but the waiter we got was rude, messed up our soft drink orders (brought me a diet coke, ordered regular and believe me, I can tell the difference), didn't say a word when bringing our food out to the table, was never to be seen again the rest of the time we were there. I have to note that this was the only bad experience and the only bad employee we came across on the cruise. My mom complained to the supervisor on the way out and told them in no uncertain terms that we had planned on possibly going to that steakhouse for dinner one night but after this horrible experience, we definitely would not be. Hope that sent a message. The food wasn't all that great either, lol. Bangers and mash or fish and chips, maybe another option but I cannot recall.

 

 

Next up for us was a sea day wine tasting.........

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

DAY 4: SEA DAY CONTINUED

My mom talked me into doing the wine tasting event that they offered as a sea day activity, so we booked it the night before at dinner. We had done a similar tasting on the Golden back in 2007, and it was a lot of fun then so we figured we would try it again. If you want to do it, book it before the cruise or as early as you can onboard because the Botticelli dining room will fill up really quickly with reservations. We never received tickets for this as we booked it just the night before and instead, the man at the door had our folio and room numbers written down on a paper that he verified us to when we showed up at 1400 for the event. My mom got there earlier and I did not see her seated when I went in so we unfortunately did not sit at the same table, but I did meet some nice folks at my table and she told me she met some nice folks at her table also.

 

The cost for this was $25, and you got to sample 6 different types of wines, ranging from Prosecco to red wine. Hors'devores were at the table for everyone, along with a list of what we were trying out. The waiters would come around and pour a small amount of wine into each person's glass as we went along. Here we also got to meet the maitre'd, named Beppe Castino, an Italian who has over 40 years on the seas. He seemed to be everywhere on this cruise. Really good, maybe best maitre'd I have had on a cruise. Probably most memorable. With each wine came a story, and some info about food pairings, and what type of wine each is and where it comes from. Interesting stuff. Probably went on for a good hour. We also saw a few other folks from the service department during this presentation, each person presented two different wine samples.

Only thing was they tried to push a "wine package" on everyone, saying it was hugely discounted from sticker price but whatever, I could still probably buy these wines at home at the wine warehouse in my neighborhood for less. Plus how would I transport that home? Anyway, a few people did buy it and we also reserved a seat at the second wine tasting seminar, scheduled for the second sea day, later in the cruise. I found my mom after most others left, and I had to prove that I was actually there and did not miss the event by showing her the pictures I took and telling her what each person said about the wines that we sampled. LOL. It was all good. Nice experience, I would recommend it.

 

 

 

 

We went upstairs to get a late lunch after the wine tasting was over around 1500, I got a close up picture of the dining room schedule, which is pretty much the same each day. The lunch buffet closes at 1530 but you can still get things like grilled chicken and dessert stuff at the little snack stand across from the buffet.

 

 

We got lunch, which was rice, meat, potatoes, cannot remember it too well. Got some sort of soup with it as well and they have waffles available at the snack station. Interesting combo haha. Not too much problem finding seating this time of day either.

 

 

After lunch, we had invitations to an event for returning guests, at 1600 in the theater, a little talk about the cruise, events, a welcome, a few door prizes drawn out of a hat by Captain Ronald Wilson (we did not win anything), a little speech by Captain Wilson, and each person got a voucher for a free drink, redeemable anywhere, anytime compliments of the captain. Not bad.

 

I made my first trip to the hot tub around 1700, and hung out there for a little while until dinnertime. Nice, warm pool and hot tubs with functioning jets. If I am not mistaken, Princess has fresh water pools when nobody else does? Am I right and if I am, I can say it does make a noticeable difference. You can get towels here too, each pool has a towel station with clean ones and a place to leave your used ones. They do have a deck chair hog rule but no need to enforce it here tonight, it was not crowded at all. I did not get a sunset picture either tonight, as I went back to the cabin to take a nap before dinner and did not wait until sunset, which was around 1845 tonight. Plenty of chances to do that later though.

 

This was formal night, so plenty to talk about with that, in just a minute.....

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

DAY 4: SEA DAY CONTINUED

I got up around 1700, got cleaned up and dressed in my suit for this was formal night. I usually do not bring suits along on cruises anymore but made an exception this time. They said a minimum of a sport jacket was required so I figured dressing up was a must. Most people had suits and dresses from what I saw.

 

At 1930, they had a champagne reception in the Piazza, featuring a speech from Captain Wilson. Anyone who wanted to, was allowed to go up on the stairs in the Piazza and pour champagne into the stack of glasses in the middle of the area alongside Beppe Castino. I told you that guy was everywhere. They must have gone through 10 bottles of bubbly, LOL. Lots of people participated also. Free drinks for all in the Piazza tonight as well. Well done, they went all out and didn't cheapen the experience like other lines do with formal nights these days. Captain Wilson also made a nice point when he said that they have people from dozens of countries working and living together in peace on his ship, why can't we do this all over the world? They also had the usual photo setup for those who wanted glamorous professional pictures taken in the area, many people waited for their chance. The ship officers were also introduced one-by-one here.

 

 

 

 

Shortly afterward, we headed to the Botticelli for dinner. Two of our tablemates from the first night did not show up and it turns out they requested a table for two near the window. OK. Fine by us but what are you going to see out the window at night? Either way, no problem, just more room for us at the table I guess. That is a subject of discussion at times on cruise critic - is it rude if people move from your table without telling you they will and does it bother you? It didn't really bother me this time as the other family we dined with every night was really nice and we had a good time each evening.

 

I got my usual shrimp and a roast duck appetizer. OK.

 

 

Cornish hen and I think, roast beef. The hen was OK and the beef was average, nothing extraordinary. Also pictured is the cup that you get with the soda package.

 

 

Dessert, some sort of bananas and ice cream with walnuts. The bananas seemed overripe but it wasn't horrible.

 

We still had a show to attend after dinner....

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

DAY 4: SEA DAY CONTINUED....

I had to show off the suit outside the dining room, a classic that you have to do on a cruise on formal night. Just a long wait for the elevators to get back up to a level with stuff to do if you are unable to or do not want to use the steps because you might be too full from dinner.

 

 

After dinner, we went to the theater to see the production show, which had something to do with rock, called Stardust, not my thing but my mom liked it. The set was OK, the performers were pretty talented and there was live pit music there, which makes a huge difference. It was over around 2230 and we headed back to the Piazza to get a late-night pizza at the Alfredo pizzeria. This is a sit-down place, and everything is made to order, but it is not as good as the Prego upstairs. The pizzas are not as large, and more resemble Carnival-style pizza which is not bad but not as good as what is on lido. The lido pizzeria closes around 2100 or 2200 at night, so not an option this late. The service was good and prompt and we got a regular pizza and a few sodas. I think the pizzeria does close at 2300.

 

On the way to the show, we stopped by the piano on the promenade and got this shot of the piano player, doing familiar songs with a nice audience in the lounge nearby.

 

Pizza at Alfredo's.

 

 

I will note that there was a comedy magic show with Jeff Peterson and his dog, Indy as well tonight but it fell during our dinner time. He would perform for us later diners again later in the cruise. Will talk about that more later on. I will also say that although there was not much to do in terms of shows at night, the clubs were always open late and it was heavily advertised. I did not go at all, and heard attendance was not that great most nights. Even the cruise director joked about it a few times during shows, lol. I will also say that they feature a crew member each month, and he or she gets a write-up in the Princess Patter, and this time it happened to be one of the dedicated stage crew guys, Daniel De Anda. Good for him. The work of guys like him too often goes unnoticed but he got his due here.

 

Anyway, around 2330 it was back to bed, as tomorrow would feature our first port visit of the sailing. We were scheduled to have an early arrival into the town of Santa Barbara, and we had a tender and an early excursion to meet, so it was lights out after an eventful day. Oh yeah, and they still give you chocolates at night along with the next day's newsletter. Awesome.

 

 

So, that wraps up day 4 of this journey, hope you enjoyed it. Questions and comments are welcome, I will try to get back to you in a timely manner and I will get to Day 5: SANTA BARBARA as soon as I can in the coming days. Thanks for reading and have a good evening.