Live from the Sky Christmas/New Yrs

[Coral]

45 minutes ago, AF-1 said:

voljeep I meant the pro football was over for the week.  Sun/Mon games;  yes the college bowl games start Christmas Day, 26, 29, 31st.  Pro football game on Sunday 29th.  So there we have it.  Sorry for any confusion.

I am all about College bowl games!

Edited December 24, 2019 by Coral

[phred119s]

18 minutes ago, Coral said:

I am all about College games!

Us, too! I think we have had one NFL game on all season. It was briefly last night. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Edited December 24, 2019 by phred119s

[AF-1]

h-sar, isn't crème brulee on the menu every day?  

[voljeep]

1 hour ago, AF-1 said:

voljeep I meant the pro football was over for the week.  Sun/Mon games;  yes the college bowl games start Christmas Day, 26, 29, 31st.  Pro football game on Sunday 29th.  So there we have it.  Sorry for any confusion.

no worries … 

[Orangefan]

h-sar,

      Thank you for sharing your wonderful pictures.   I was on the Dec.4 and Dec.7 Inaugurals. I have been on cruises near Christmas a few times.  What has happened in the past was when the ships docked in FLL, a team boarded the ship with trees and decorations . They did a great job of decorating the ship. Then the team left  before we sailed out of FLL.

     This time it was much different. I don't know if it is a new system or just because so much was going on between the two cruises. Because there were a lot of people doing the b2b.The naming of the ship ceremony , speeches and entertainment was quite the production in the Princess theater.

   VIP's, media and travel agents were invited to the ceremony. For those passengers on both the above cruises  , they did a lottery and some friends and myself were lucky enough to be selected. We were the last group to disembark and then we went to the Princess theater. The people who were going to board knew there would  be a delay  of a few hours . After we had the ceremony and then escorted to the Gala luncheon in the MDR, was when the cruisers were allowed to board.

   At this point no holiday decorations were put up . The next morning about 6:30 am I walking through the piazza and headed to the gym.  I noticed workers in green t-shirts who had been working through the night putting up decorations. It was fun watching new things being put up every day and night.

    I was not aware of something else that was happening on a few other Princess ships. Some people bought little plastic ducks from Oriental Trading company and placed them in different areas of the the ship. The idea was to have your picture taken with the duck, post it and you hide it for someone else to find it.  My friend found a duck. I looked all the time but  I didn't find any. But I will look into buying some myself.

  Enjoy the Sky Princess. I did and looking for a quick return to the ship.

Sali

 

 

[MJSailors]

h-sat-

    Thank you for reporting from the Sky Princess,taking time to post while on a family cruise.

       You mentioned that you are in a Deluxe balcony cabin. My DH and I are booked on a Sky cruise in November in a Deluxe Balcony cabin on Caribe deck.I would like to know about the size of the balcony for your cabin. Can two people sit out on it comfortably? . We have sailed on the Regal a few times and found the balconies (both for a balcony cabin and a mini-suite) on  that ship to be a bit restrictive for both of us to sit outside.

Thank you for your reply.

Enjoy the remainder of the cruise (s) and Happy Holidays,Happy New Year !

 

[GOODIES]

Please find out what the obstruction is for deck e 410

 

we board in Feb

thanks

[h-sar]

4 hours ago, AF-1 said:

h-sar, isn't crème brulee on the menu every day?  

Every day 👍🏼
It’s also the Princess go-to if someone wants a gluten free dessert and they don’t have something of interest for the passenger. My gluten free friend who often sails with us had one cruise where they’d surprise her with the gluten free special dessert - which was the creme brûlée about four nights in a row 😁. Became a running joke. 

[phred119s]

2 hours ago, GOODIES said:

Please find out what the obstruction is for deck e 410

 

we board in Feb

thanks

Not much. Right about the outside of one of the restaurants. We scoped it’s out because that’s our cabin in June. 

[Palmist]

We signed on  Feb. 29  to March 7. Looking forward to a new ship. We are elite and have been cruising for 20+ years on Princess. We tried other lines but this is more like home. Princess does a wonderful job of entertainment, food presentation, activities and movies under the stars. We usually hit it the minute we board to check everything out, sign up for specialty restaurants and excursions.

 

We live on west coast of FL in Venice and drive to the port. About 3 hours total.

Myrna & Howard

[5:00_Somewhere]

7 hours ago, MJSailors said:

h-sat-

    Thank you for reporting from the Sky Princess,taking time to post while on a family cruise.

       You mentioned that you are in a Deluxe balcony cabin. My DH and I are booked on a Sky cruise in November in a Deluxe Balcony cabin on Caribe deck.I would like to know about the size of the balcony for your cabin. Can two people sit out on it comfortably? . We have sailed on the Regal a few times and found the balconies (both for a balcony cabin and a mini-suite) on  that ship to be a bit restrictive for both of us to sit outside.

Thank you for your reply.

Enjoy the remainder of the cruise (s) and Happy Holidays,Happy New Year !

 

 

We were just on the Sky last week and had the BEST cabin we've ever had on a Royal Class ship. The vast majority of the balconies on the Royal Class ships are TINY. But, starting with the Majestic, they began adding a section of Deluxe Balcony cabins on Dolphin Deck forward and aft that have larger balconies that are half covered and half uncovered, much like the much-loved Caribe deck balconies on the Grand Class ships (See attached image from the Deck Plans).  I highly recommend these cabins.  Also, here's a link to my recent post in the stickied "Cabin Review" thread describing our cabin, including pictures (you may have to scroll - it's on page 12 of the thread). 

 I hope you find this helpful.

Edited December 25, 2019 by 5:00_Somewhere

[masterty]

Durring 'twaz the night before Christmas, Capitan Tuvo announced that Jan Swartz called to ask him to share with us that the Madrina of the Discovery Princess. It is our hotel manager but I failed to remember or note the name. I am sure someone will be along to correct or confirm.

[h-sar]

On 12/23/2019 at 10:55 PM, Daddysbaby said:

 

Thank you so much for your observation.  We have just booked a resort in Cozumel - Nachi Cocom.  Mr. Sancho's was booked up.

Sheila

We did Mr. S a couple of years ago. Loved it.  Tried last year and, with 6 other ships in port, we were unsuccessful as they were only taking people who were doing the all inclusive. Being non drinkers, made no sense to do that, so we ended up at Paradise which is where we’ll head this year as there are 6 ships here yet again. 

[h-sar]

5 hours ago, masterty said:

Durring 'twaz the night before Christmas, Capitan Tuvo announced that Jan Swartz called to ask him to share with us that the Madrina of the Discovery Princess. It is our hotel manager but I failed to remember or note the name. I am sure someone will be along to correct or confirm.

We also watched the announcement and I believe it’s Terri Cybuliak from White Rock, Canada 👍🏼. Nice to see some strong females who’ve made a significant contribution in their professional lives be elevated to those ranks. 
 

Speaking of Capt Tuvo, absolutely love him! He’s got such an engaging personality. He was leaning against a wall in the buffet yesterday, being very casual, so I asked if we could take a picture and he orchestrated a selfie of us 👌🏽. He also seems to enjoy playing the Love Boat theme, so is aces in my book 😁

[h-sar]

The reading of ‘Twas the Night before Christmas and the carolling by the crew in the piazza last night (7:15 - 7:45 pm) will be a highlight of the cruise. What a great way to come together on Christmas Eve. The captain’s wife and young son (12ish?) have been very visible at the important gatherings and it’s nice that he’s able to have the family on board for the holidays. His son is often the straight man to his antics 😁. I find Cpt Tuvo to be just the perfect mix of personable and professional. Would love to sail with him again. I think he and Perrin are my favourites. 
 

Anyone wanting a question answered, picture taken - let me know. Don’t be shy. Need to do some serious walking. Sunil brought us way too many desserts last nights. Even though he’s a pretty quiet personality, he drops the most effective lines and comments at just the perfect moments and has us in stitches. Last night it was about forcing my niece to say profiterole when she pointed at the desserts and tried to take the easy way, saying “I want this.” 🤣
 

Speaking of, the profiterole seems to be showing up quite a bit, with different ice creams in the middle. Last night it was banana, with the crunchy profiterole drenched in a sticky caramel sauce, night before it was raspberry ice cream. Have all been very good. There seems to be a number of new desserts in the MDR that I’ve never seen before. 

 

Dinner took about 80 min the night before and maybe 2 hrs last night. Formal night was the longest. However, for my immediate family, getting dressed up and spending time reflecting on the day, just spending that time together after the hustle and bustle of the day, enjoying  a good meal together, is a pleasurable part of the cruising experience. My family’s dinners might also take longer as we are 8 at this table and we also tend to order multiple starters. 
 

The every day dinner menu has a gourmet burger that changes up every night. We order one for the table so we can try it out, cut it into a few small, messy pieces and everyone takes a bite. Some of us really want to try them out, but just can’t imagine spending two hrs over dinner and getting just a  burger, so this is a great way to sample it each night. Yesterday was bleu cheese so we opted for the duck main for the table share. My first time. Did not enjoy it, as was the case with most of the table. First time and last time, me thinks. 
 

DS had a sundae from the gelato shop. Was 3.50 for a very decent size and was very good. He recommends it. No milkshakes there, unfortunately. Anyone know where they’re available - a real one, not making your own with soft ice cream from Swirls and milk. 
 

As the 4 of us are staying on next week, one of the MDR personnel came to ask, during dinner, if we’d like to stay at a smaller table in the same section or move. We decided to stay, out of loyalty to Sunil, and asked for the banquet table behind us next to the window (all tables of two that can be pushed together). Have never had that question posed as we’ve always just been the same size group for both weeks in our prior two week cruises. 
 

 

 

[h-sar]

17 hours ago, Palmist said:

We signed on  Feb. 29  to March 7. Looking forward to a new ship. We are elite and have been cruising for 20+ years on Princess. We tried other lines but this is more like home. Princess does a wonderful job of entertainment, food presentation, activities and movies under the stars. We usually hit it the minute we board to check everything out, sign up for specialty restaurants and excursions.

 

We live on west coast of FL in Venice and drive to the port. About 3 hours total.

Myrna & Howard

You are so lucky, Myrna and Howard! We had a 12 hour travel day with two flights from Edmonton. But always worth it once we are finally on board. 

[h-sar]

22 hours ago, MJSailors said:

h-sat-

    Thank you for reporting from the Sky Princess,taking time to post while on a family cruise.

       You mentioned that you are in a Deluxe balcony cabin. My DH and I are booked on a Sky cruise in November in a Deluxe Balcony cabin on Caribe deck.I would like to know about the size of the balcony for your cabin. Can two people sit out on it comfortably? . We have sailed on the Regal a few times and found the balconies (both for a balcony cabin and a mini-suite) on  that ship to be a bit restrictive for both of us to sit outside.

Thank you for your reply.

Enjoy the remainder of the cruise (s) and Happy Holidays,Happy New Year !

 

 

Here are some pics. The table is directly in the centre so you can see how much space each person would have. 

[masterty]

Merry Christmas to all my fellow pax today on the Sky Princess. 

[h-sar]

Sorry, in previous post, meant to say table is in the centre in very first picture. And what you see of the half space in that first pic is exactly what each person would have. The chair is pretty much right against the balcony wall. 
 

Merry Christmas!! Can’t think of a better way to spend it 😀😀🛳🏝

[h-sar]

2 hours ago, masterty said:

Merry Christmas to all my fellow pax today on the Sky Princess. 

 Merry Christmas to you and your family! So happy to see fellow passengers on the thread 🙂

[h-sar]

Pics are of last night’s dinner. My daughter’s escargot which she said was fantastic. Her gingerbread soufflé dessert, before and after the sauce. The duck with noodles which none of us really enjoyed. The beef Wellington which the Majority got and deemed excellent. My white fish which was very good; can’t remember if it was snapper or rockfish. My mocha café Norman Love dessert which I had been nervous about ordering is I hate coffee, but Sunil assured me that it was a subtle flavour of coffee and he was right. Another Norman love Chocolate Journeys success. The kids’ room service breakfast prior to their early morning departure for their Belize snorkelling excursion. Nine of our party are gone there. 
 

I am currently enjoying the enclave - all by myself for the last half hour. It’s been blissful. Not sure what my husband and I will be doing for the day. It’s a pretty long tender to Belize, so whatever we decide, we have to figure it out soon.

 

One annoyance about the enclave this year: In the pool there are two switches on either side which one has to push to start the Jets in the pool. On the regal, the Jets would go for about nine minutes before they stopped. One could press the button and immediately they would restart. On the sky, they only go for five minutes and 30 seconds, I timed it for you 😀, and then you sometimes have to wait a few seconds to three minutes before being able to get them going again. I tried going back-and-forth between both switches, same thing. I asked at the desk and he said it has something to do with the hydraulic something something in the switch. Not sure why this is an issue on this ship when it was not on the Regal the last couple of years. Anyone else experienced this on the sky?

[h-sar]

PS... Kids ordered breakfast for between 7:00 and 7:30 AM and received it at 6:40 AM. Guess who had to fumble around, open the door, and find tip money?!

 

I highly recommend that anyone who has to leave the ship early have their breakfast delivered to them instead of fighting the throngs in the buffet.

[h-sar]

Enclave photos without jets and video with jets. 

[h-sar]

Video isn’t loading 😞

[h-sar]

Princess has broken my heart ☹️😔💔

 

One of my greatest pleasures on a princess cruise is to go check out the daily pizza special at the poolside pizzeria. My favourites have been the four cheese and the vegetarian. To my utter horror, I have discovered that the Sky only has Margherita  and pepperoni every single day. Every single day. No changeovers. The cooks said they do not have daily specials anymore. By adding the very boring and very doughy Stromboli slices and the Love Boat meatball dishes, seems like they have done away with the specialty pizzas.
 

Here are two of the new dishes. No one in our party has enjoyed them. Smaller than they look. 
 

Edited December 25, 2019 by h-sar