Live from the Land of Princess

[YVRteacher]

@cruiseny4life no trouble at all! I love to write. Please ask any questions you want!

 

Also, I hope you book your Alaskan cruise out of Vancouver so we can have an introvert’s gathering.

[YVRteacher]

The art gallery has a Peter Max showing tonight. I spruced up one of his paintings.

 

[YVRteacher]

Do you know how much it hurts to get hand sanitizer in a quilling-induced paper cut??

[YVRteacher]

Needing to walk and get some exercise I opted for indoor deck walking today. To up the ante and make it a little more interesting I did a door decoration photo walk. 
 

May I present to you the door decorations of Decks 8-12?

 

This one intrigued me. 100 days of what? Cruising? Being sober? Going without perfume?

 

 

In addition to door decorations I also present the beginning of my next series, “Sorry you were quarantined on your cruise.”

 

 

 

 

[voljeep]

2 minutes ago, YVRteacher said:

Needing to walk and get some exercise I opted for indoor deck walking today. To up the ante and make it a little more interesting I did a door decoration photo walk. 
 

May I present to you the door decorations of Decks 8-12?

 

This one intrigued me. 100 days of what? Cruising? Being sober? Going without perfume?

 

 

In addition to door decorations I also present the beginning of my next series, “Sorry you were quarantined on your cruise.”

 

 

 

 

was that all of the door decorations? or just your pick and choose?

[YVRteacher]

I excluded all the ones that had personal photos just for privacy reasons. I also left out the one where the US flag was backwards. Otherwise that was all of them.

[voljeep]

15 minutes ago, YVRteacher said:

I excluded all the ones that had personal photos just for privacy reasons. I also left out the one where the US flag was backwards. Otherwise that was all of them.

thanks, as we are also door decorators - very subtle, and if something walks - well no loss other than another trip to the $ store before the next cruise

[YVRteacher]

Refreshment was needed after all that walking 

 

[latebloomer56]

2 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

Wow! I feel bad for asking you to spend your vacation time writing out this response. Princess needs to compensate you. Tell them I said so! I don't care what my husband says (dress, non-Haven, etc.) we are going to book a 2026 or 2027 on Princess to Alaska. 

 

With the Enclave, suite and Sanctuary! All those sound lovely. 

The Enclave on Regal was wonderful, so peaceful. When we were on board we used the quiet area every night. We were on a port intensive Baltic cruise and both areas were soothing. The pool was not to hot just warm and so nice. Now I want the Regal again 😁. 

[YVRteacher]

Happy hour at Good Spirits

 

 

First I tried Sandia En Fuego but I am Canadian and don’t do hot peppers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So I exchanged it for a Bangkok mule made with the traditional liquor of Thailand, Jack Daniel’s 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[latebloomer56]

4 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

Hi! The food is incredible! Not only does it look wonderful, the flavours are truly amazing. I will never forget that roasted pumpkin and the quinoa pesto pilaf from last night!

 

I haven’t tried a lot of the desserts. The little ones served at afternoon tea have been delicious and I have had to restrain myself. The hot baked brownies are to die for!  I have had many a cookie and they are homemade, often warm and perfect.  Something that is catching my attention is people are not leaving anything behind on their plates. On NCL there is a lot of food wasted. On Princess, everything is so yummy it all gets gobbled up.

 

In terms of price comparison, I haven’t worked it out. This is a 21 day cruise and I have never done one that long with NCL (last summer on the Star it was a B2B and I got a great deal.) Since I am cruising solo I paid double for this cruise so it was expensive. There was a sizeable price drop and my WTA (wonderful travel agent) was on it.  I also received a free cabin upgrade which has been amazing. My room steward is outstanding. I mentioned earlier that I used money from an insurance settlement from a bad car accident in 2017 to pay for this trip.

 

NCL does a better job of accommodating solo cruisers in terms of rates and cabin options and having options that don’t involve a double fare.

 

Yes, it was/is 100% worth it for me to be sailing on Princess. I don’t feel like I can give a completely fair comparison since this is my first Princess ship but I am impressed, happy and am loving being on board the Island Princess.  
 

I know you like the Haven. Check out Princess Enclave, suites and the Sanctuary.

 

I will say that I am experiencing way better service as a new cruiser with zero status than I ever get on most NCL ships (the Jewel is an exception for my dad and I because the GM Rumi has made our cruises so special.)

 

Regular Princess food is better than NCL Haven and suites food (for me) and regular Princess service is better than what I have encountered in the Haven. 

We like NCL as well but the Haven on the Pearl was very nice but the breakfast down in Moderno's was the worse ever and Cagneys for lunch was subpar. Very disappointing as we took the family, they loved the separate area but thought the food was awful and ended up at the buffet. They preferred the Dawn and Gem. Can't wit to take them on Princess to Alaska.

[YVRteacher]

Tonight is formal night and I had a reservation at Sabatini’s. After two sea days I didn’t feel like a heavy meal or dressing up so I moved the dinner to a different evening.

 

This means I get to share scenes from an Italian-themed buffet!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[YVRteacher]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 16 by YVRteacher

[YVRteacher]

Food signage as requested

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[YVRteacher]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

@cruiseny4life I did some research for you and am reporting that this dessert, Mimosa Cake, tastes as good as it looks! It was like Christmas and the first day of summer got together and had a party on my taste buds!

[Tyskie]

4 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

Do you order ahead of time or request a switch once on board?

I request it once onboard - if I don't see the steward immediately, I leave a note.

[ceilidh1]

36 minutes ago, YVRteacher said:

 

 

@cruiseny4life I did some research for you and am reporting that this dessert, Mimosa Cake, tastes as good as it looks! It was like Christmas and the first day of summer got together and had a party on my taste buds!

Two of my favourite words in one sentence. Mimosa. Cake.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

@YVRteacher thank you so much for the photos of the signs. I am allergic to dairy so I hope to be able to tell if there are dairy products. The shrimp dish looks really yummy. 😋 

[YVRteacher]

Thank goodness they anticipated the massive turn out for Movies Under the Stars on this Arctic evening

[YVRteacher]

Production Show: Secret Silk

 

Another Stephen Schwartz show.

 

This was one part weird, one part good and two parts Rumplestiltskin goes to Asia. 
 

 

 

 

 

At one point a singer belted out In the Arms of an Angel and I was waiting for a herd of abandoned puppies to be put up for adoption.

 

Since it is formal night the perfume is in full force then the show used smoke effects so it was like the Chanel no 5 factory was on fire.

[ceilidh1]

That's my least fave show on Princess. Second least is Magic To Do. Both by Steven Swartz. Which is weird, because you know how much I love Wicked!

[YVRteacher]

By popular demand Naathan Phan did two encore shows tonight in Explorers Lounge. It was a jam-packed, standing room only crowd and I’m so glad I listened to the buzz onboard and went to see this show. 
 

 

Don’t miss him if he is headlining on your next cruise!

 

 

[YVRteacher]

Now I’m at Crooners Bar holding down a bar stool, sipping on a Sidecar and listening to Dan Downey on the acoustic guitar. It’s a little slow and funereal for my preference but the drink is delightful 

 

[YVRteacher]

Guess what hurts even more than hand sanitizer in a quilling-induced paper cut?

 

Lemon juice from the drink garnish in the quilling-induced paper cut.

[mking8288]

1 hour ago, YVRteacher said:

Thank goodness they anticipated the massive turn out for Movies Under the Stars on this Arctic evening

LOL, are those over-sized pool towels or wool blankets rolled up ... I would think, perhaps, Princess need to optionally provide weather-rated protections against the frigid elements & wind.  

 

Kahlua or Baileys with coffee would be the other choice, complimentary or otherwise, right 😁  😉  😆