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Sky! Feb 8-15 Trip Report & Review


MaryBethV
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8 hours ago, Bridalgownz said:

This is the best trip review I've ever read. (And I've read a lot of them!)  I felt like I was sailing along with you.  Thanks for all the pics, the menu's and the reviews of the food and ship.   I enjoyed every line!

 

Princess Cays looks a bit different than last year. The water was so rough when we were there that it knocked me down and ground sand in my bathing suit.  I can't get it out....free souvenir! 😁 Now I'm excited for my cruise in April!

Thank you -- and that is one unique souvenir! 😂I'm thankful it was nice and calm when we were there since our other beach day in St. Maarten was that great due to wind, waves, & rain.

Edited by MaryBethV
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      Thank you for posting your photos and impressions of the Sky Princess. We are hoping to be on the ship this coming November,so it is interesting to get a preview of the ship. It does appear to be lovely.

      You are obviously home now,but I seem to recall that you have a future cruise on Princess in April. Regarding the afternoon tea...I think items such as scones,jam and clotted cream are available in the buffet in the late afternoon. At least this was our experience on the Regal Princess a few years ago. You might want to check it out. 

      My DH and I did the tea in the MDR once. We prefer a table for two with a sea view in the buffet for a late afternoon tid bit.

       Wishing you an enjoyable next cruise !

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Friday | February 14, 2020 | Sea Day 

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

We were planning on going to either Coffee with the Captain or the Culinary Demo (that was such a riot last year on the Regal) this morning... but we slept in instead. Last chance to be lazy before heading back to real life!!! We ordered room service (called the dine line) and it was at our door in 15 minutes. While nothing beats breakfast with a view, I am sad to report that the egg & ham muffins were once again lukewarm at best, dry, and fairly inedible. If Princess is only going to offer one hot option for breakfast room service, then they need to figure out how to do it well. We enjoyed the coffee & croissants though!

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Since we had quite a bit of sun yesterday, we opted to just head to the Piazza for more coffee (cappuccino!) and to listen to the string quartet. We enjoyed the music from these talented ladies throughout the week. 

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We were sitting in front of this metal art piece - beautiful!

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After a while we decided to have lunch in the main dining room since we were practically starving after only croissants and coffee. 🤣

 

This was at the entrance to the Estrella dining room -

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We had Elvie and Sittisak from the Philippines as our servers. Elvie was practically dancing around and was often singing along to the love-themed music playing. Just a bundle of joy. 💗Loved her! The crew on this ship really is exceptional.

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Chimichanga with Salsa Cruda - If you see this on the menu... order it! Full of flavor and so good!

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Leek and Potato Cream Soup (DH liked it)

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Maccheroni ala Chitarra with Lamb Ragout (Pasta) - I've never been disappointed with any 'ragout' item on this ship and once again - absolutely delicious and perfectly al dente pasta. 

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Fritto Misto Platter - There was a generous amount of seafood (I stole a scallop or two) and the batter was nice and light. DH wished there was a garlic aioli or a spicy sauce of some sort with it instead of tartar sauce, but that is just personal preference. For the record: fried potatoes = french fries 😉

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We headed back to our stateroom and enjoyed vodka tonics (we ordered the small bottle of vodka in advance of our cruise - and we brought on small bottles of tonic) while we did some packing. Packing is always 😭, so I suggest only doing so with a drink in hand.

 

I also took some time to fill out a few comment cards that I picked up at the guest services counter earlier. On our next cruise I plan to pick these up the first day and just have them on hand. It says at the bottom of the card that you can hand it to the employee and I think that would be a great way to brighten the day of these hard-working crew members!

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We decided to get some sun after all - since once we get back to MI we are still MONTHS away from summer. We found a couple of loungers by the wake pool on deck 16.

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Another Princess ship was following us -

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We thought of getting in the wake pool to cool off, but it was SUPER cloudy and VERY warm. Ew. So, instead we headed forward to the Retreat Pool which was perfect and refreshing. This was probably the nicest weather we've ever had on the last day of a cruise. 

 

On a wall in the buffet - 

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The Sea Walk -

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Along the way we grabbed ice cream cones at Swirls -

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Time to get ready for our dinner at the Crown Grill...

 

 

 

 

Edited by MaryBethV
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49 minutes ago, MJSailors said:

      You are obviously home now,but I seem to recall that you have a future cruise on Princess in April. Regarding the afternoon tea...I think items such as scones,jam and clotted cream are available in the buffet in the late afternoon. At least this was our experience on the Regal Princess a few years ago. You might want to check it out. 

      My DH and I did the tea in the MDR once. We prefer a table for two with a sea view in the buffet for a late afternoon tid bit.

       Wishing you an enjoyable next cruise !

Thanks for the tip - we will definitely check out the buffet for scones on our next cruise. A table for two with a sea view in the buffet is much more "us" also. 🙂

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We headed down to the Crown Grill bar area about an hour before our dinner reservations. The seating is comfortable and the design throughout is just beautiful. (I took a few of these photos earlier in the week - believe me, it wasn't deserted at 7pm!)

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Cassie Matthews was playing/singing and I ordered a Toasted Almond martini (sweet and creamy - I would order it again). DH had a Manhattan which he said was well-made.

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Time for dinner! 😋Samuel from Mexico and Andru from the Ukraine were our servers. They explained everything to us since this was our first time at the Crown Grill and took very good care of us throughout the meal.
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The Grill Salad, Grape-Balsamic Dressing (MIL thought it was very good)

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DH had the Marinated Goat Cheese and Heirloom Tomato Salad. Unfortunately the photo was really blurry (dim lighting was challenging!) - but it was also a very good salad.

 

FIL's Black Tiger Prawn and Papaya Salpicon. My FIL actually doesn't eat seafood and didn't want the Tartare, so he ordered this app for the rest of us to share. I had no idea what to expect from the menu description, but it was good. The shrimp were hot, but what they are sitting on is cold (reminded me of potato salad). Good and lovely presentation, but I personally would order something else.

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My Black and Blue Onion Soup - O.M.G. yummy! I rarely order the same thing because I like to try out everything, but I'm VERY tempted to order this again next time. It puts all other onion soups to shame.

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Three of us ordered the Mediterranean-Style Spiny Lobster Cake, Tarragon Foam - this was very good, but by far wasn't my favorite lobster cake ever. 'Mediterranean' does suggest milder flavors - but I personally would have preferred more flavor (even a little spice) in the green sauce you see on the side.

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When at a steakhouse... order steak! All of our steaks were perfectly cooked as ordered. The smashed potatoes were delicious - as were our sides which were served family-style (creamed spinach, asparagus, mushrooms, and red skin mashed potatoes).

 

DH and I both ordered the Rib-eye, medium. 

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Salts top to bottom: Hawaiian Black Salt (very good), Smoked Applewood Salt (my favorite, tons of flavor), Himalayan Mountain Pink Salt (good, but pretty standard I think - I cook with it all the time at home).

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MIL's Filet Mignon, medium

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FIL's ordered a New York Strip, medium - which I don't have a photo of. He really enjoyed it with the salts.

 

Time for dessert - but first, COFFEE and tea. We need to get back to our rooms before the food coma sets in!

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My Warm Chocolate Mousse Trifle - very good until I hit the rock-hard frozen grapefruit segments in the bottom. Besides being frozen, the sour note didn't go with the rest of the dish - personal opinion. I left them right where they were and ate around them. I would order something else next time.

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DH and MIL had the Key Lime Pie Bar with the most delicious raspberries EVER. They loved it all.

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My FIL, upon receiving his Apple & Rhubarb Cobbler, lifted his dessert right up for me to take a photo. He is clearly fully trained now and I wouldn't hesitate to cruise with him again. 😄

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So. Much. (Delicious) Food. 

 

I'm really glad we saved the Crown Grill for our last meal. Such a great way to wrap up this cruise. Time for bed!

Patter for the day -

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Well, all good things must come to an end and it is time to go. I love vacation - but I also LOVE going home. Especially when I miss our kids!

We woke up already docked and I slipped out onto the balcony to watch the sunrise as the other ships sailed into port.

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After hauling our luggage down the stairs, we met my in-laws on deck 5. They had managed to get an elevator. One last breakfast from the IC (and the BEST blueberry muffin ever - look for them on your cruise!). 

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Thank you SO much for following along with this review! I have made it through all my photos (yay!) and now have a couple of coffee table books to design - one for us and one for my in-laws.

 

I'm already planning a few new things to do/try when we are on this amazing ship again in April. 

  • *try* to book a morning or afternoon in the Sanctuary
  • eat at Bistro Sur La Mer
  • visit the Good Spirits Bar

What do you think I should add to my list? Also, are there any areas that I didn't capture this time around that you would like to see? Do you have any excursion or beach recommendations for St. Maarten (we'd like something without an expensive 45 minute cab ride, if possible)?

Thanks again! And to all of you looking forward to your cruises on the Sky, happy sailing - you will love this ship!!!

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On Sea Days, our favorite morning spot (just after breakfast) was the Wakeview Bar...best Spicy Bloody Mary on the ship.

 

One of our favorite St. Maarten excursions is the Rum Punch cruise that takes you around the massive yachts...basically all around the lagoon area...then drops you on the Dutch side for 1-2 hours to tray a restaurant or shop.  A bus then picks you up and head's over to the Market or you can ride back to the dock.  All along the way, of course, is music playing and rum punch flowing!!  It's a pretty fun time.

 

Thanks again for your review...the pictures are incredible.  Bravo!!!!

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4 hours ago, USCcruisecrazy said:

On Sea Days, our favorite morning spot (just after breakfast) was the Wakeview Bar...best Spicy Bloody Mary on the ship.

 

One of our favorite St. Maarten excursions is the Rum Punch cruise that takes you around the massive yachts...basically all around the lagoon area...then drops you on the Dutch side for 1-2 hours to tray a restaurant or shop.  A bus then picks you up and head's over to the Market or you can ride back to the dock.  All along the way, of course, is music playing and rum punch flowing!!  It's a pretty fun time.

 

Thanks again for your review...the pictures are incredible.  Bravo!!!!

Spicy Bloody Mary at the Wakeview bar is added to my list! (And the Rum Punch cruise added to my research for the next time we are there without kids - thanks!) 

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7 hours ago, traci_money said:

so how did the in laws enjoy getting dragged 😉 into the unknown? 

I second this question.  I love hearing about newbie reactions to their first cruise and cruising as a whole.  Thanks again for the fantastic review!

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8 hours ago, traci_money said:

so how did the in laws enjoy getting dragged 😉 into the unknown? 

 

38 minutes ago, 4hunters said:

I second this question.  I love hearing about newbie reactions to their first cruise and cruising as a whole.  Thanks again for the fantastic review!

 

We saw them a few days after the cruise and they were both sad that there wasn't an International Cafe downstairs in their condo. 😁 It is such a rough adjustment back to real life. 😉

I think they will consider going on a cruise on their own now - we'll see. Since I monitor sales, etc. anyways... you know I won't be able to resist sending them a few tempting options.

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1 hour ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

Thank you for your great review and photos . We will be on the Regal Princess on April 19 for a TA and the UK cruise B2B and will do a photo review after we return .

I will be watching for your photo review!!!

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This review and your excellent photos have both been outstanding.  I have a cruise in a few months on the new Enchanted Princess , so I've been following your report with the idea that some of the venues on Enchanted will be similar to those on the Sky.  Thanks again for putting in all the time & effort.

Edited by MKellyUtah
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7 minutes ago, MKellyUtah said:

This review and your excellent photos have both been outstanding.  I have a cruise in a few months on the new Enchanted Princess , so I've been following your report with the idea that some of the venues on Enchanted will be similar to those on the Sky.  Thanks again for putting in all the time & effort.

On a side note - we are booked on the enchanted in September - are you considering a change of plans?  I have been looking forward to this cruise - I hope they get everything cleared up by then.  
 

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