Onboard grand Princess 21st of December till 22nd of January

[MMDown Under]

4 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Just had it, chicken 🍛 curry and rice, cool down here, 12C, curry weather.

That is what I'm eating plus fresh beans. Warmer here but still mild. 

[Essence08]

Also on board and having a great time. 
taxi drove us up to baggage drop and we were in our room within half an hour I’d say. Super smooth. 
kids are LOViNG kids club and whenever we collect them for meals they ask when they can go back. Tonight at 830 when we’d finished dinner my 7 year old asked if he could back!! 
Food has been tasty and they are doing an amazing job looking after my son and his many many allergies. Tonight for entree they made a modified sushi for him which he loved so much they are making for him again tomorrow night even though it’s not on the menu. 
Cabin is great, cabin steward fabulous, drinks package getting a work out. 
Covid testing all passengers tomorrow - not sure they’ll get many positive cases yet, might be a different story in a few days time. Mixed mask use from what I’ve seen but the vast majority are doing the right thing.
 

[Womble99]

14 hours ago, yes!yes!yes! said:

Ship is very quiet

 

When you say the ship is quiet do you mean it doesn't seem to be at full capacity or literally quiet?

[arxcards]

4 hours ago, yes!yes!yes! said:

This on the bed this evening.

I don't mind at all. But they never even asked when we were boarding 

The discrepancies between Princess ships is a real curiosity. One ship, show your steward; another ship, put a paper bag in the bin whether testing positive/negative/not at all.

[arxcards]

4 hours ago, yes!yes!yes! said:

Potato soup, beef, and hopefully a nice crème brule please.

[yes!yes!yes!]

5 hours ago, arxcards said:

Potato soup, beef, and hopefully a nice crème brule please.

Yes. That's what I should have had. I thought I should try something different 

[yes!yes!yes!]

7 hours ago, Womble99 said:

 

When you say the ship is quiet do you mean it doesn't seem to be at full capacity or literally quiet?

I think it is full. I was waitlisted for this cruise.

Just seems to be a quiet crowd 

[yes!yes!yes!]

Had breakfast in the buffet today.

The bread and butter pudding was lovely.

The "biscuits" were good. I eat them with butter and jam like scones. Corned beef hash was very good. German sausages  were the sausage of the day  and very nice. Smoked salmon is the same as the dining room 

[OzKiwiJJ]

12 hours ago, Essence08 said:

Also on board and having a great time. 
taxi drove us up to baggage drop and we were in our room within half an hour I’d say. Super smooth. 
kids are LOViNG kids club and whenever we collect them for meals they ask when they can go back. Tonight at 830 when we’d finished dinner my 7 year old asked if he could back!! 
Food has been tasty and they are doing an amazing job looking after my son and his many many allergies. Tonight for entree they made a modified sushi for him which he loved so much they are making for him again tomorrow night even though it’s not on the menu. 
Cabin is great, cabin steward fabulous, drinks package getting a work out. 
Covid testing all passengers tomorrow - not sure they’ll get many positive cases yet, might be a different story in a few days time. Mixed mask use from what I’ve seen but the vast majority are doing the right thing.
 

Lovely to hear they are catering for your son so well.

 

Better to identify any positive cases early. With a R0 factor of 18.6 these variants of Omicron spread too easily.

 

The mandatory test we all did on Westerdam yesterday netted 12 passengers with Covid. 

[Essence08]

We were asked at check in if we had a negative rat test - when I tried to open the photos I was told oral confirmation was fine. Our vaccination certificates were looked at. 

[yes!yes!yes!]

1 hour ago, Essence08 said:

We were asked at check in if we had a negative rat test - when I tried to open the photos I was told oral confirmation was fine. Our vaccination certificates were looked at. 

We showed our vaccination certificates, but the rat test was never brought up.

Tested ourselves this morning. Negative. 

Did morning  trivia today. Mums in the casino and will go to bingo.

I have a book next to the windows outside explorers. Discovered the coffee machine at crooners Bar next door will deliver a pot of tea to me outside explorers.

[arxcards]

2 hours ago, Essence08 said:

We were asked at check in if we had a negative rat test - when I tried to open the photos I was told oral confirmation was fine. Our vaccination certificates were looked at. 

That is the government requirement - attest to taking a covid test with a negative result. Princess do ask that you take a photo, but they only randomly check.

[cruiser3775]

4 hours ago, yes!yes!yes! said:

The "biscuits" were good. I eat them with butter and jam like scones.

We actually do speak the same language, sort of.  'Biscuits' is American for scones, as I discovered on my first trip to the US, when I wondered aloud why anyone would eat biscuits at breakfast time.

Not to mention the whole thing about getting a salad as a starter, not to be consumed with the main course, or the fact that an 'entree' is actually the main course.

[yes!yes!yes!]

Lunch in the dining room 

[arxcards]

47 minutes ago, cruiser3775 said:

We actually do speak the same language, sort of.  'Biscuits' is American for scones, as I discovered on my first trip to the US, when I wondered aloud why anyone would eat biscuits at breakfast time.

Not to mention the whole thing about getting a salad as a starter, not to be consumed with the main course, or the fact that an 'entree' is actually the main course.

Biscuits for breakfast would seem bad enough, but we do eat muffins/crumpets/bagels and I do see some similarities.

 

Biscuits and gravy for breakfast, well that is a whole other level.

[OzKiwiJJ]

4 hours ago, cruiser3775 said:

We actually do speak the same language, sort of.  'Biscuits' is American for scones, as I discovered on my first trip to the US, when I wondered aloud why anyone would eat biscuits at breakfast time.

Not to mention the whole thing about getting a salad as a starter, not to be consumed with the main course, or the fact that an 'entree' is actually the main course.

Except biscuits aren't quite like scones. The ones we had in Charleston were like a cross between flaky pastry and a scone. Very yummy!

Edited December 23, 2022 by OzKiwiJJ

[yes!yes!yes!]

Reading up in 150. It's the nightclub  late at night. Also where the elite, platinum,  suites nightly spread is held. Nice and quiet during the day. Great views over the side and the wake

[cruiser3775]

I've had those southern US ones, too and I agree they are lighter and flakier.  But in other parts of the US, they seem to me to be the same as what we would call scones,  made with butter, milk and self raising flour, definitely no eggs.  My mother always claimed the secret was to have very cold hands when handling the dough.

[yes!yes!yes!]

1 minute ago, cruiser3775 said:

I've had those southern US ones, too and I agree they are lighter and flakier.  But in other parts of the US, they seem to me to be the same as what we would call scones,  made with butter, milk and self raising flour, definitely no eggs.  My mother always claimed the secret was to have very cold hands when handling the dough.

Your mother was correct 

 

 

[yes!yes!yes!]

I checked out Alfredo's earlier. It's just the pizza menu, no tortellini bake or apple tart. Probably won't bother unless I'm full of alcohol  late at night.

 

[lyndarra]

22 hours ago, NSWP said:

Thanks for posting the food pics, lubbly jubbly, inspires me to cook.

Me too. I'm sure there's a pie in my freezer somewhere.

[yes!yes!yes!]

[yes!yes!yes!]

[arxcards]

Good luck with the Fiords tomorrow, although it is a bonus that the ship doesn't have a crusty hull.

[yes!yes!yes!]

7 hours ago, arxcards said:

Good luck with the Fiords tomorrow, although it is a bonus that the ship doesn't have a crusty hull.

We are going the other way around. Auckland tomorrow.

The 3rd cruise does fiords first