Crown Princess Hawaii - 15 Feb to 2 Mar - Trip Prep & Live

[lennythenose]

I am going on my first Princess cruise in a few weeks. For a drink like Paradise Punch is it exclusive to Tradewinds or get it and the others listed at other bars or from the wandering servers?

[CruzeQueen2]

@arctickittyWOW! Loving your post-cruise bonus reports. Thank you for extending the fun for we armchair-cruisers. Very, very helpful information and fun too!

[Happiest when cruising]

6 hours ago, arctickitty said:

Here is the laundry menu from while we were onboard.

 

 

It was helpful that I’d seen a copy someone else had posted because we realized that the onboard dry cleaning prices was less than we’d pay locally (and easier, too!) and I guessed based on suggested formal night schedules that we’d have time to get it sent out and back.  This turned out to be true.  Special Someone packed up his dry cleaning (clothes he hadn’t worn since our last cruise) as soon as we got our luggage (which wasn’t very soon) and I ordered pickup via OceanNow in the medallion app the first morning.

I’m so glad the cleaning worked out, but there’s not a chance I’d pack something without trying it on to make sure it fit, unless it has been within a month. 
I always ask my husband to try his on too.. he’s been surprised a time or two.😏 

We try to go somewhere spring and fall, so after a long lazy winter, sometimes there’s a variance.😉

[arctickitty]

6 hours ago, lennythenose said:

I am going on my first Princess cruise in a few weeks. For a drink like Paradise Punch is it exclusive to Tradewinds or get it and the others listed at other bars or from the wandering servers?

@lennythenose

 

Each bar had its own QR code with its own menu, and I’ll be posting those as I come across them, but once you’re onboard you’ll quickly get a feel for what drinks they have where.  For example, the outdoor bars and Explorers had the most tropical style drinks but some of their menus were longer than others.  The menus aren’t the only things they can serve/make and you can easily see the size of each bar’s selection. 

[arctickitty]

6 hours ago, SleepyBunny said:

Thank you SO MUCH for the details - I am very glad to be able to budget my own "drinks allowance" for my upcoming trip!

 

Also - what on Earth make the Salted Watermelon Margarita cost $18 😳 ?!?

I have no idea why a few of the drinks were crazy higher prices.  To make people with Princess Premier feel like they were getting their money’s worth?

[arctickitty]

7 hours ago, SleepyBunny said:

I should also note that the Pina Colada on Celebrity was $10 in January 2023.  Quite happy to see very reasonable prices here. 

The bartenders were all expecting a major software update and price changes.  

[arctickitty]

Next it was time for our first snack attack aka visit to the buffet.

 

 

In general our buffet strategy was that only one of us would go through and then we’d both eat from the plate that person had gotten.  This way we didn’t get too ridiculously stuffed.

 

Overall the buffet was healthier and better quality (more vegetables, less junk food) than Carnival, but smaller with less variety than I remembered from the Before Times (eg no Indian food every meal).

[arctickitty]

Outriggers Bar Menu
 

[arctickitty]

First Dirty Banana of the Cruise

 

 

There is so little alcohol in there it’s basically a smoothie.  I had seen some discussion about what they would use instead of the coffee tequila and I’m pleased to report they’re using Tia Maria.  So a dirty banana is banana, cream, Hershey’s syrup, kahlua, Tia Maria, and theoretically rum.

 

 

We found the “jogging” track and played some cornhole.

[arctickitty]

While the kids areas were open to the public we went in and took a look and took lots of pictures for those of you who will be curious about it.
 

 

[SleepyBunny]

1 hour ago, arctickitty said:

While the kids areas were open to the public we went in and took a look and took lots of pictures for those of you who will be curious about it.
 

 

Thank you!  I am so appreciative of the pictures you took and are sharing!  Making me look even more forward to my trip with my kiddo! 

[arctickitty]

Dirty Banana in the system, it was time to resume wandering.

 

 

This was a conference room around deck 16 or so.  In case, you know, you need a conference room.

 

[arctickitty]

Next stop was to look around Adagio and screenshot their QR code menu.
 

 

[arctickitty]

Adagio, Deck 16
 

 

[arctickitty]

And a peek at Sabatini’s.  I love the blue color scheme.
 

 

 

 

 

[arctickitty]

Sabatini’s bar menu QR code version.

 

You may notice the Sabatini’s bar menu is longer than Adagio, even though all the drinks in Sabatini’s come from Adagio.  

 

The QR code menu didn’t match the paper beverage menus provided when dining in Sabatini’s.  
 

[arctickitty]

Calypso Bar QR code menu.  
 

This is one of the “beach bars” in the upper middle of the ship.

 

Have I posted this already?  If I’m going in order, I don’t think so.

 

IRL Special Someone keeps asking me if we’ve gotten to dinner yet.

 

Nope.

 

[arctickitty]

And the wanderings continue…

 

And an interlude.  It had been about 5 years since I’d been on a Princess ship (last cruise was Carnival Splendor last May) but I felt at home right away.  I don’t know if the layout is more logical than the Carnival Splendor or if the muscle memory kicked in, but I felt like I knew my way around right away.  

 

Also, after the purple and turquoise modernity of the Farcas-designed Carnival Splendor, I thought I’d find Princess boring, but I didn’t, just calmer and classier.  Blue, brown, and gray are my favorite interior design colors and those colors were everywhere.

 

That said, when we were in SeaTac, that seemed calmer and quieter than being on the Crown Princess and we realized just how noisy and busy and nonstop life on board had been.

 

 

Anyway, I believe this model ship was in Wheelhouse.

 

 

Special Someone picked up a White Russian.

 

 

And this is another conference room for those of you who need conference rooms.  This one is up by the Princess Theater and I thought it was really smart that they used half of it for ping pong.  The ping pong conference room was always busy.

[arctickitty]

Good Spirits Daytime Menu

 

This bar menu is available anytime they are open.  They also have an international cruise port themed specialty cocktail menu that’s only offered after 5pm.  I’ll post that later.

 

 

[arctickitty]

We found the distance sign on the Promenade Desk: 2.8 laps equals one mile.  This is far more pleasant than the “jogging track” up top in which a blistering 16 laps equals one mile.

 

 

We also began sailing away.  These pictures are from 5:39pm.  We were delayed leaving due to supplies and other logistical things.

 

 

 

[arctickitty]

News flash!  We have arrived at dinner!  Embarkation night dinner, of course!

 

However, you’ll have to wait.  Because there’s a line.  And the line for people with reservations is longer than the line for people without.

 

Since traditional dining is a thing of the past, I tried booking our table online.  By the time we booked this sailing, Dine My Way was only offering shared tables.  I am an introvert and did not like trying out table sharing on Carnival or Norwegian, but Special Someone is really good with people so I booked us for 6pm shared every night on the theory that if we got people we liked, we could ask to stay.  Or we could change things around.

 

While we’re on the commentary, our table mates the first night were all extremely veteran cruisers who were first time Princess cruisers and they were not at all pleased by the Princess product.  I know it’s confusing to board a ship or switch lines as the cruise lines don’t explain things clearly or at all, so if you haven’t read Cruise Critic for years like I have, you have no idea what is going on.  I don’t mind that we never saw those table mates again the rest of the cruise.

 

I did it true that it was easy to change dinner reservations.  We had better table mates other times but the two hour dinners with new strangers was tiresome at time so we tried to mix it up.  I eventually got smart and looked at every open time in every dining room and in this manner got us a mix of times and table styles.  We didn’t try going without a reservation as the handful of times we thought we’d wing it we never wound up in the MDR.  

 

Anyway,  all this is to say I can’t post the dinner pictures yet because I’m at the gym and I need my notes to properly tell you about the food, so that’s the real reason you’ll have to wait.

[arctickitty]

Now we are really going to eat Embarkation Day Dinner:

 

 

Ceviche

 

 

Greek Salad X 2

One of the best dishes of the cruise

 

 

Pork

 

 

Prawns

 

 

Leek & ricotta tart

 

 

Mahi mahi

 

Special Someone learned why I don’t order fish on Princess: it’s always over cooked 

 

 

Chili

 

This was a surprise!  It didn’t taste like chili at all but it was a yummy bean stew.  This was also the beginning of our love affair with the rice on board the Grand Princess.  It was so perfectly cooked and flavorful.  My whole life I’ve never really liked rice.  Special Someone likes rice a lot.  We both loved this rice and afterwards sought out rice dishes on the other menus and they did not disappoint.

 

 

Steamed vegetables

[Bettyboop66]

 

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I am enjoying your recap of the cruise! Thanks for taking so much of your time to share your cruise with us.

[arctickitty]

23 minutes ago, Bettyboop66 said:

 

•  

I am enjoying your recap of the cruise! Thanks for taking so much of your time to share your cruise with us.

You are very welcome.  I do 90% of it while I’m working out so it makes the time just fly.  Plus, I like having the record.

 

 

[arctickitty]

Good Morning.  IRL Good Morning that is.  In cruise time we still need to eat embarkation day dessert.  And wander around some more.

 

A 6pm shared table meant there was no chance of making it to the 7:30pm show.  We peeked in on deck 6 and were impressed by the range of the vocalist; she was also to be the guest soprano for the production show Encore.  Being so late led us to a strategy that helped me enjoy the shows: we stood in the wheelchair area.  My leg gets uncomfortable if I sit still for too long so typically during an MDR meal I will get up and walk out to the piazza and back at least once.  Likewise, sitting in tight theater seats is uncomfortable for me, especially if I’ve just been sitting, so I was much more comfortable standing.  I was self conscious that someone would come and tell me to get out of the wheelchair only area but I planned to point out that I have a disability, which I do, my disability just wants me to stand up instead of sit down.  I needn’t have worried, however, as in the coming days I noticed that officers often joined us in “our spot.”  And some days, if my leg was feeling ok, we did go sit down in actual seats, especially if we stayed up for the late show.

 

 

 

 

Double espresso

 

 

Bananas foster.  It was OK.

 

Flourless macadamia but chocolate cake.  It was also OK.

 

In the before times, I always like Princess’s savory foods better than most of the desserts, which is AOK with me.  I can’t eat everything I want, so it’s helpful if there’s less I want to eat.  I’m very picky about desserts and they are one thing I can take a bite out of and walk away from it if I don’t like it.