Day 10 - A Cooking Competition At Sea

Oct 30, 2018 - Our last day aboard Island Princess is a day at sea as we sail back to Port Everglades (Fort Lauderdale). This morning we are treated to a cooking demonstration featuring Executive Chef, Dirk Daumichen, and Maitre'd Hotel, Silvio Zampieri.

Silvio Zampieri and Chef Daumichen

The stage in the Princess Theater is set up for a legitimate cooking show. Three different dishes are on the menu to be prepared by both the Maitre'd and the Executive Chef.  Chef Daumichen demonstrated the skill and technique to prepare each dish to perfection. However, Maitre'd Zampieri had a different objective. His job was to entertain the packed theater while Chef Daumichen showed how the dishes were prepared. The two poked fun at each other during the cook-off and Silvio had a hard time keeping his food from falling on the floor. It was hilarious!

Silvio stops to pose for photos

I think this cooking show interaction is even funnier than the comedian on board! Everyone had a great time, and we all left with three great recipes. Thanks to Chef Daumichen, we know how to prepare them!

We decided to have dinner this evening in the Provence Restaurant, one of the two "traditional" restaurants on Island Princess. My BBQ Rib appetizer was excellent, and I wish I could have had about 8 of these as my main course.

BBQ Rib Appetizer

For my main course, I ordered the New York Strip Steak with Green Peppercorn sauce. I ordered the steak Medium, but it arrived Rare, not even Med Rare. The waiter returned it to the galley and came back with another steak. Again, it was also cooked Rare! This is the only time this cruise we have had to send anything back to the galley. I am pretty flexible on how rare I can eat my steak. I can easily tolerate Medium Rare, but this was very rare. I asked the waiter if I could switch to the Roasted Pork Belly, which was the Curtis Stone Crafted offering. He quickly replaced my steak with the Pork Belly, which was excellent!

As it is the last night of the cruise, Princess waitstaff treated us to a Baked Alaska parade through the dining room. Gone are the days of flaming Baked Alaska being marched past diners. Now we live in a time of litigation and safety regulations. So, small electric candles are atop the Baked Alaska. 

The Baked Alaska was three layers of ice cream with a thin sheet of cake surrounded by meringue. It has been a long time since we've had Baked Alaska.

We spend the rest of the evening packing and getting ready to disembark in the morning. We have found a solution to the disembarkation blues that so many cruisers experience on the last day of a cruise. If you already have your next cruise booked, you are looking forward to the next cruise instead of being sad about leaving the current one!

Tomorrow, we will be back in Fort Lauderdale and will fly home to Dallas. We will begin working on a final review of Island Princess, so keep watching CruiseReport.com for updates. Better yet, subscribe to our free email newsletter to know in advance when we post updates.

Day 09 - Grand Cayman

Oct 30, 2018 - if you have been following this blog, you know that we are big fans of The Sanctuary on Deck 15 aft. So, today, while most guests will be tendering ashore to shop and explore the many wonders of Grand Cayman, we will be enjoying one of The Sanctuary's three cabanas.

The Sanctuary is an adults-only retreat, available by reservation only. Large, comfortable loungers are available for $20 (half-day) or $40 (full day). There are three cabanas available for $140 (half-day) or $220 (full day). One of the first things we did when we boarded Island Princess was to reserve a cabana for a full day while the ship was in Grand Cayman. Most people would reserve a cabana on a sea day. But, since we have been to Grand Cayman several times, we would rather stay onboard and enjoy The Sanctuary.

When we arrived, we were greeted by Wilson, one of The Sanctuary crew. Our cabana was ready and waiting for us. Special towels have been spread out over the loungers. The loungers themselves are much more substantial and comfortable than you will find anywhere else on the ship.

Sun Loungers

A basket of fresh fruit has been provided. A flat-screen television carries all of the ship's programming. There is a small mini-fridge, but it is not stocked with any drinks.

Flat-screen TV and fruit basket

We brought a bottle of champagne with us to The Sanctuary and it was iced down for us, and champagne glasses were provided.

Champagne on ice

It was sunny and hot today, so I spent most of my time inside the cabana. A ceiling fan helps to circulate air and curtains can be drawn to keep out direct sun if you want. Rickee spent most of the day on one of the two loungers right outside the cabana. I was able to get a good WiFi connection in the cabana and work on the blog and ship review and sort through the 1,000+ photos we have taken this trip. The sectional sofa in the cabana can easily seat four adults, and there is a large wicker chair with comfortable cushions. The wicker coffee tables is perfect for enjoying lunch, or, as a work desk in my case!

Working in the cabana

There are a couple of electrical outlets if you need to charge your phone or laptop. At 11am, lunch orders are taken. Once again, I order the cheeseburger and Rickee has the Princess Smoothie. The cheeseburgers are much improved over what I remember from our 2014 sailing on Royal Princess.

Cheeseburger

If you enjoy spending time in the sun, or just enjoy getting away from the crowd, The Sanctuary is the place to be. After our time in The Sanctuary, we enjoyed dinner again at Horizon Court. Tonight, they were featuring a Brazilian Buffet with carvings of roast beef, lamb and sausage. The roast beef with Chimichurri was delicious.

After dinner, we relaxed at Crooner's Bar and reminisced about all of our travels over the years. Tomorrow is our last day at sea, and our last day aboard Island Princess.

Day 08 - A Relaxing Day At Sea and Dinner at Bayou Cafe

Oct 28, 2018 - Today we enjoy another relaxing day at sea as Island Princess sails toward Grand Cayman. I am now on my third technique for morning coffee and blogging. First, I tried La Patisserie on Deck 5, but the tables were too small to hold my French Press, coffee, computer and other materials. Next, I tried Horizon Court (Lido Buffet) on Deck 14 forward. That was great for getting hot water for my French Press, and the tables are large enough. But, when the sun comes up, it comes right through the forward-facing windows and blinds me. Plus, by 6:15 it starts getting busy with other guests and gets really noisy and distracting.

Horizon Court

So, now I have a new approach. I take my French Press to Horizon Court each morning around 5:30am to get hot water. I grab a coffee cup, and take it back to our stateroom. Then, I can work on my blog at the desk there. The WiFi coverage on Island Princess is excellent and I can get a good connection right from our room. While on the subject of WiFi, Princess has really improved their Internet performance since our last sailing on Royal Princess. Internet speed has been surprisingly good throughout the cruise. I have been able to post my blog each day, which involves uploading several large photos to our server. So far, (knock on wood) I have not had the service drop a connection!

When you connect to the ship's WiFi and open a browser to their home page (island.princess.com in our case), you get access to a lot of free information without having to connect to the Internet and use up your purchased time.

Princess Intranet home page

From this home page, you can access your stateroom account, restaurant hours and locations, use their ship-wide messaging system, and much more. It is a very robust intranet with a lot of features. Connecting to the Internet is fairly simple. You just click the Internet button at the bottom of the home page and another page appears.

Connect to Internet

This page allows you to confirm that you want to connect to the Internet. Once you click on Confirm, minutes will begin being deducted from your account balance, based upon the Internet plan you purchased.

Connected to Internet page

When this page appears, you can see the remaining number of minutes on your plan. It is a good idea to leave this page open and work in another window or tab since it keeps a running balance of your remaining minutes. This is a GREAT feature that allows you to keep track of how much Internet time you have remaining.

Basically, today we were sea slugs. We again headed to Deck 15 aft to The Sanctuary, our favorite hangout on Island Princess. We have even decided to splurge with a private cabana tomorrow while the ship is in Grand Cayman. Why tomorrow? Because everybody will be off the ship in Grand Cayman and we will have The Sanctuary to ourselves! Now, if you have never been to Grand Cayman, you would definitely want to take one of Princess' excellent shore excursions. We would recommend one of the "swim with the Sting Rays" tours. But, we have been to Grand Cayman more times than we can count, and have done every excursion there is to do here, so we opt for The Sanctuary.

Sanctuary Cabana

Today, we had lunch again at The Sanctuary. Around 11am, menus appear and orders are taken. Lunch is delivered around noon.

The Sanctuary Lunch Menu

When we arrived at The Sanctuary this morning, apparently there had just been a big rain storm and all of the loungers were soaked. Any guests that were there had left when the rain came, so we were alone. Rain clouds are all around, but we decided to brave the elements and hope the sun would return. The Sanctuary crew fitted towels to our loungers and we waited for the sun to arrive, which it did about an hour later. We stayed here until about 2pm, then went back to our stateroom to shower and get ready for the rest of the day.

Afternoon Trivia worked out pretty well for us today. We teamed up with four other guests and our team ended up winning. I can't even begin to describe the amazing prizes we received. I will leave that for you to experience on your own Princess cruise.

This evening, we have dinner reservations at Bayou Café and Steakhouse (Deck 7 aft). This New Orleans/Cajun-themed restaurant is one of Island Princess' two optional restaurants, the other being Sabatini's Italian Restaurant, which happens to be right next door.

Entrance to Bayou Café

Bayou Café and Steakhouse has a much more relaxed and casual atmosphere than Sabatini's. Even though tonight is formal night, you will find guests here with slacks and shirts, no ties and no jackets. There is an adjoining bar/lounge and Danny, a guitar-playing vocalist is on stage performing. Beads are draped over the napkins to get you in the Mardis Gras mood.

Our waiter arrives to take our drink order. We mentioned to him that we had enjoyed a bottle of Moscato in Sabatini's. In a few minutes, he returned with one of the few remaining bottles of Rex-Goliath ($30).

The menu has a definite Cajun feel to it, especially the starter course offerings.

We thought the 'Smothered Gator Ribs' was just a clever name for BBQ pork ribs, but sure enough, they are alligator ribs! I ordered the Sausage Grillades and Rickee played it safe with the Southern Green Salad.

Sausage Grillades

The Sausage Grillades was a large chunk of spicy sausage which was grilled open-face and served with cheese grits. The sausage was very good, and quite spicy. The cheese grits, however, fell short of what I was expecting. Where we come from, cheese grits are usually made with cheddar cheese, and I think these may have been made with Mascarpone or some other white cheese. The grits had a slightly sweet taste. Rickee skipped a second course, but I wanted to try a small order of the Jambalaya.

Jambalaya

I am not enough of a Cajun connoisseur to judge whether or not the chunks of sausage were Andouille, but the sausage was good, as was the chicken. The little sliver of Jalapeño on top gave a nice kick of heat, too. The dish was spicy and delicious. If I were to return to Bayou Cafe, I think I would order this as my main course. Which brings me to my main course: the 16oz bone-in New York Strip. It was cooked perfectly Medium, as ordered.

Bone-In New York Strip

Rickee ordered the Fried Catfish, and, as you can see, received three large pieces of cornmeal-crusted fried fish.

Fried Catfish

Of course, there's no way she would ever be able to finish that much fish. She said the fish was good, and served very hot; however, she did say that it was not like any catfish she has ever had. And, being from Texas, she has had her share of fried catfish. It did not have that dark meat or "muddy" taste that you get with catfish. Perhaps this is Caribbean Catfish? Or, did they substitute another type of fish? Nevertheless, she enjoyed it.

For dessert, I ordered the bread pudding with caramel sauce, which was not much to look at, but was warm and delicious.

Bread Pudding

Rickee had the Chocolate Peanut Butter bar, which is their specialty dessert. It was rich and decadent and she really enjoyed it.

After our meal at Bayou Café, we were truly stuffed. Tomorrow, Island Princess will be anchored off the coast of Grand Cayman.

Day 07 - Limón, Costa Rica

Oct 27, 2018 - This morning Island Princess is docked in Limón, the largest city on the east coast of Costa Rica. We get our first look at the area from the Promenade deck as we take a walk around the deck.

Promenade Deck

We have booked an afternoon tour, "Historic Banana Route Railway Journey," which is scheduled to depart at 12:20pm. That gives us just enough time to test our brains at Morning Trivia, hosted today by the lovely and talented Assistant Cruise Director, Jade. As you can see, she does not shy away from the camera!

Jade, Asst. Cruise Director

I actually did pretty well today at Trivia getting 17 of the 20 questions correct, for a total of 17 points. Another couple got 17 & 1/2 points, so "technically" they won. But, we all know who the real genius is, right? After trivia, it was time to disembark Island Princess and walk down the long pier to the waiting motor coach.

Island Princess docked in Limón

We board the air conditioned motorcoach for the 40-minute drive to where we will board the train. Along the way, our local guide, Leonardo, gave us some very interesting information about the history of Costa Rica. The country gained its independence from Spain in 1820 and only had 20,000 residents at that time. They had no government to speak of and no economy. However, about that time, coffee was becoming very popular throughout Europe and Costa Rica had the tropical climate to grow coffee beans. In less than 10 years, Costa Rica was exporting coffee to Europe and other parts of the world. Today, Costa Rica is the second largest producer of bananas, second only to Ecuador. We passed by hundreds of container cars bearing the Dole and Chiquita brand names.

Today, Costa Rica still exports coffee, bananas, and pineapples. But, medical supplies and pharmaceuticals are the big industry. We learned from Leonardo that if you know someone with silicone breast implants, they most likely came from Costa Rica! Technology companies like Intel have also found a home here. Many of the components for the new iPhone are manufactured in Costa Rica. Like I said, Leonardo was very educational.

When we arrived at Estrada Village to board the train, our driver positioned the bus so that we literally stepped from the coach to the train car.

Train car

We never actually learned when the train was built, but you can tell, it is very old. The train cars are made from wood and steel and the engine appears to be diesel-electric.

Engine

The interior of the two train cars has been outfitted with padded bench seats and they are reasonably comfortable. There is no air conditioning, but every seat has an open window, and when the train is moving, there is enough air flowing through the car to keep it comfortable. It is about 82 degrees today, and quite humid, but we found the ride to be tolerable. However, when the train was stopped, the interior temperature started to get a little uncomfortable.

A window is next to each seat on the train

You can easily take photos through the windows (which were all fully open); however, Leonardo warned us not to put our hands or heads out of the window as passing banana plants and other foliage actually brush up against the train in some places. The lady sitting in front of me learned that lesson the hard way. She was taking a photo out of her window when a banana leaf swatted her arm. She was not hurt, but I imagine it stung for awhile.

Train cars pass close by foliage

Leonardo explained that this train route is still in use to take bananas from the fields to the port for processing and shipping. Along the route, banana plants can be seen on both sides of the train. When the fruit reaches a certain maturity, the farmers place blue bags over the bunches to protect them from bugs, pesticides, dust, rain or anything that could damage the fruit.

Banana plants with blue bags over the bunches

The train stopped at one point to let us look at monkeys, but I never saw one. Some guests claimed they did. Rickee said she saw a snake. So, that was about the extent of the wildlife on this journey. About half way through the journey, we were given bags of banana chips to enjoy along with bottled water.

Banana chips (actually, plantains)

Due to a train hauling freight coming the opposite direction on the track, our journey was cut short by about 10 minutes. Instead of disembarking in Moin as scheduled, our train backed up to a spot where there were two sets of tracks to allow the freight train to pass. Our coaches picked us up at a clearing nearby. 

Coaches coming to pick us up

We re-board the coach for the drive back to Limón and Leonardo continues his narrative. I have to say, without Leonardo, it would have been just a so-so excursion. But, I really feel like I learned something today. Usually, I just want the tour guides to shut up, but Leonardo was one of the rare ones who actually had a talent for communicating effectively. Therefore, we feel like this excursion was well worth the $59.95/pp price.

The coach drops us off in front of a local souvenir market, only 100 yards or so from the pier where Island Princess is docked.

We decide to take a few minutes to take a look-see. The market has dozens of vendors selling all kinds of souvenirs and crafts.

Dozens of vendors inside market

We spend about 15 minutes looking through the market before heading back to Island Princess. Once back onboard, we have a quick dinner at Horizon Court, then relax and listen to some music in the Wheelhouse Bar (Deck 7). Tomorrow is another day at sea.

Day 06 - Panama Canal

Oct 26, 2018 - Early this morning, Island Princess passed under the Atlantic Bridge, the third and newest bridge to span the Panama Canal.

Atlantic Bridge from our starboard balcony

Soon after passing under the bridge, we enter the first of three locks (on the Atlantic side). The three locks will raise Island Princess 85 feet to the level of Gatun Lake and the Panama Canal. When the ship enters the first lock, electric "mules" are attached to the ship to pull and guide the ship through the locks. A Canal Pilot is on the bridge with the Captain to oversee the whole operation. In fact, the only time a Captain of a ship is not in command of his vessel is when it is transiting the locks of the Panama Canal.

Electric Mule

Today, we are using the "old" locks which are still restricted to Panamax standards. These locks can handle ships up to 950 ft. in length and 106 ft. wide. There are some newer cruise ships (and freighters, tankers, etc.) that are too large to fit through these locks. Royal Princess, for example, is 126 ft. wide and 1,083 ft. long. She simply cannot fit into these locks. Fortunately, the Panama Canal Authority expansion project has added a second set of wider, longer and deeper locks. The new locks can handle ships up to 1,200 ft. long and 160 ft. wide. So, good news for Royal, Regal and Caribbean Princess!

Tanker passes through locks toward the Atlantic

Dr. Dean, our resident Destination Expert, provided commentary on the Panama Canal over the ship's PA system during the transit. Guests on the outer decks could hear the commentary and it was also broadcast over the closed circuit television system in guest cabins. He informed us that Island Princess has to pay $385,000 to the Panama Canal Authority to transit the locks today! Once we ascend into Gatun Lake, Island Princess deploys the anchor and we prepare for our shore excursion, "Agua Clara Locks and Kayaking in the Canal".

Our shore excursion ticket

Excursions today require tendering to shore, and there are a lot of guests going ashore today. Princess has everyone divided into groups (1,2,3,4,5,6, etc.). We are also given numbered stickers to wear to indicate the shore excursion we have selected. As a matter of fact, guests are not allowed to go ashore if they are not on a ship's excursion . The process of getting this many people ashore in a short amount of time is no easy task. Princess has been doing this for a long time, so they know what works. There are long lines and large crowds, but it was managed well. We boarded the tender boat for the short ride to shore.

Boarding the tender

Once ashore, we are directed to a motor coach. As we board the vehicle, rain is beginning to fall. Yuck. Our first stop is at the Agua Clara Locks Visitor Center. By the time we arrive there, the rain is coming down pretty hard. We wonder how much fun kayaking in the rain will be.

Agua Clara Locks Visitor Center

The Agua Clara Locks are the result of the Panama Canal Expansion Project, the newest set of locks that can handle larger vessels. There is a great lookout point where you can watch these behemoth ships transit the locks.

Huge freighter transiting the Aqua Clara Locks

There is a theater in the visitor center that shows a short movie explaining the expansion project and there is a small gift shop selling a variety of Panama Canal souvenirs. We spent about an hour at the visitor center before boarding the bus for the ride to the Melia Resort Panama Canal, the starting point for our kayak adventure. It is raining pretty hard when we arrive at the Melia and walk down the long walkway to where the kayaks are waiting for us in the water. Rickee brought a dry change of clothes to wear after the kayaking, but there was not really anywhere to store items to keep them dry. We were offered the opportunity to place our items in one of the boats at the dock that had a canvas cover, but all of the benches in the boat were already covered in rain. I put our camera into a Ziploc bag and took it with us in the kayak.

There were about 18 kayaks in our group and a guide led us around the lake. I sat in the back seat of the kayak with Rickee in front. That way she has no idea when I stop rowing to take photos. I just let her do all the work! The waters on the lake are very calm, in fact, it is almost like glass. This makes rowing much easier.

Our guide stops to explain the wildlife visible in the trees and foliage along the shores. We spot some Howler Monkeys in the trees just above us.

We spent about an hour-and-a-half kayaking around the lake, and to a couple of small islands on the lake to look for monkeys. About half way through the journey, the rain stopped and it became quite pleasant. Of course, we were already soaking wet by the time the rain stopped. Unfortunately, we were told by someone in the Shore Excursion department that we did not need to take a towel with us for this excursion, so we did not. At the end of the kayaking, Rickee's dry clothes that had been left in the boat were wet and smelled like gasoline, and I had no towel to use to dry off. Rickee used paper towels in the resort's bathroom to dry off. CruiseReport.com Tip: Take a towel with you from the ship if you book this excursion!

Overall, we enjoyed the excursion and felt like it was a good value at $89/per person. We board the coach for the short ride to the port of Colón where Island Princess is waiting for us. While we were on excursion, Island Princess went back through the Gatun locks to the Caribbean Sea and docked at Colón to retrieve guests. We are back onboard Island Princess by around 5pm.

Tomorrow, Island Princess will be in Puerto Limón, Costa Rica.

Day 05 - Cartagena, Colombia

Oct 25, 2018 - This morning, Island Princess is docking in the port of Cartagena, Colombia.

Approaching the dock in Cartagena

This is a large and busy port with a lot of container ship and tankers. Since it is a long hike to the cruise terminal, Princess has arranged a complimentary shuttle to ferry guests to/from the ship/terminal. The cruise terminal here is quite nice with lots of little shops and an outdoor aviary with exotic birds and wildlife.

We have scheduled a City Sightseeing Hop-On/Hop-Off bus tour for this morning. As soon as we disembark Island Princess, City Sightseeing folks are at the end of the gangway to take our tickets and guide us onto a waiting shuttle. The tour includes a bus tour of Cartagena as well as a guided walking tour of the Old Town. Guests can opt to do both, or either one. 

Hop-On/Hop-Off Shuttle Bus

We chose to do the walking tour only. The shuttle drive to Old Town takes about 30 minutes and as soon as we disembark the bus, local merchants swarm around us selling everything from sunglasses to hats to bottled water. 

Local merchants selling all kinds of items

One of the double-decker Hop-On/Hop-Off buses is just about to leave on its 90-minute tour through the city. There are 14 stops along the way where guests can "hop off", do some shopping, have lunch, explore, then "hop on" when ready to continue their tour. A bus comes around every 30 minutes or so, depending on traffic.

Hop-On/Hop-Off Bus

We have done many of these Hop-On/Hop-Off bus tours with City Sightseeing all over the world and have always found them an excellent, and affordable, way to see an unfamiliar city. But, we have never done a walking tour with them, so today Raul will guide us through Old Town.

Raul, our guide

There are about 20 guests in our walking group and everyone is given a set of ear buds and an audio receiver. This allows everyone to clearly hear the guide talking through his transmitter.

Audio receiver

The tour begins with a walk through the old city gate under the clock tower.

Clock Tower

Once inside the walls of Old Town, we begin walking through a labyrinth of narrow streets, and into expansive plazas.

Tour group walking through streets

There is some beautiful architecture to be found here, not the least of which are the elaborate churches.

Church

Raul took us to a local chocolate museum where we enjoyed a complimentary chocolate milk drink. Many on the tour purchased chocolate items in the store.

Chocolate museum/store

Of course, everywhere you look there are local street vendors selling their wares. Rickee finally gave in and purchased a decorative head band. Even though the vendors are persistent, they are not aggressive or pushy. A simple "no, gracias" will send them away if you are not interested. One unique merchant was an artist who painted on a mirror with his fingers and palm, only using a small sponge for a couple of effects. He gave us a demonstration and it was amazing. He did a beautiful painting in about two minutes! We bought two of his paintings ($10) to take home as gifts.

Street artist

The walking tour took about 90 minutes and was an excellent way to see the Old Town Cartegena, which is definitely the highlight of this port city. After the tour, most guests joined the Hop-On/Hop-Off bus for the driving tour of the city, but we opted to catch the shuttle back to the ship.

Of course, the first thing Rickee wants to do once back onboard is to head straight to The Sanctuary. So, I took my laptop with me so I could work on the blog while enjoying the view of Cartagena from Deck 15 aft!

Working at The Sanctuary

We had the chance to get a photo of The Sanctuary team who have been taking care of us. What a great group of guys! They are always on hand to bring a glass of cucumber water, or take a lunch order, or bring an umbrella for shade.

Wilson, John and Rasim

They even serve afternoon tea at The Sanctuary. Rasim brought us each a plate of delicious sandwiches, cakes and cookies. Unfortunately, we are booked for The Chef's Table dinner this evening, so we can't enjoy all of these wonderful treats.

Afternoon Tea at The Sanctuary

As mentioned before, this evening we have been fortunate to be selected to dine at The Chef's Table. This is a special, once-per-cruise event that is strictly first-come, first-served for reservations and is limited to no more than 12 guests. As instructed, we met the 10 other guests in La Patisserie at 6:45 where we were each fitted with white lab coats to wear during the galley portion of the event.

Rickee with Silvio, the Maitre'd Hotel in the galley

We were escorted into the galley on Deck 5 by Silvio Zampieri, the ship's Maitre'd Hotel, where we were introduced to Executive Chef Dirk Daumichen.

Chef Daumichen

Chef Daumichen took the time to explain how galley operations work on a Princess ship. Each guest enjoyed a glass of champagne during his presentation. Soon, trays of appetizers began to appear, one-by-one. First was a deep fried King Crab leg with a delicious mustard dipping sauce.

King Crab Leg

Next was a decadent Foie Gras lollipop coated in a port wine jelly served with crushed pistachio. I am not a fan of Foie Gras, but I have to admit, it was delicious.

Foie Gras Lollipops

As if the Foie Gras Lollipop was not creative enough, next up was a white tomato soup that was as tasty as it was unusual. Chef Daumichen explained how he was able to make the tomato soup white, and it is quite an interesting process.

White Tomato Soup

The Pancetta wrapped Angus Beef with Stilton cheese cube served next was drizzled with a Balsamic glaze. This was our least favorite of all the appetizers, but still quite interesting. I am just not a fan of bleu cheese.

Beef-Stilton cube

Our last appetizer was a small potato filled with Hackleback Caviar. I am not a caviar fan either, but this was pretty good if I do say so myself.

Caviar

Believe it or not, all the dishes I have just described are just the appetizers! Now we still have a huge meal ahead of us! We remove our white jackets and are escorted from the galley to a special table at the back of the dining room. Each place setting is marked with a name card. Soon after we are seated, a white wine is poured and our starter course arrives: a Porcini Mushroom Risotto with Jumbo Shrimp. It was excellent.

Porcini Mushroom Risotto

For an intermezzo, Chef Daumichen once again reached into his bag of tricks to produce a Bloody Mary Sherbet with Grey Goose Vodka. Sounds weird, right? Trust me, everyone at the table agreed it was incredible.

Bloody Mary Sherbet intermezzo

Of course, we were already full before the main course arrived. And, arrive it did in the form of two silver platters full of protein! The first had racks of lamb and beef tenderloin.

Rack of lamb and Beef Tenderloin

The second tray had Grilled Sea Scallops and Main Lobster Tails.

Lobster tails and Sea Scallops

After a beautiful glass of Shiraz was poured for each guest, we were served a platter filled with each item!

Our main course plate

A sweet potato mash was the perfect accompaniment to a plate of perfectly cooked proteins. Everything was simply amazing, and there was much more than even I could finish. But wait, there's more! Two more courses, if you can believe it. A cheese course was a ramekin filled with Chives and Pink Peppercorn Cheesecake. I don't even know how to describe this dish. It was sweet, savory, and spicy. Definitely one of the most interesting, and delicious dishes I have ever tried.

Finally, the dessert course arrived. The Sable Breton was almost too beautiful to eat. Imagine white chocolate dollops atop a mango panna cotta atop a crispy cookie base.

Sable Breton

A tray of Chef Dirk's Homemade Petit Fours was passed around, as if we had not eaten enough already. Ladies were presented with a rose and the Chef's Table event finally came to a delicious end. Of course, there were a couple of other surprises thrown in, but we have to leave something to your imagination. This is a meal we will remember for a long, long time. It far exceeded our expectations. If you love good food and good wine, do whatever it takes to get on the list early for a seat at The Chef's Table.

Tomorrow, we will going through the locks of the Panama Canal.

Day 04 - A Day At Sea with a Wine Tasting

Oct 24, 2018 - Today, Island Princess is sailing to Cartegena, Colombia. On days at sea, there is a lot going on all over the ship. Here are just a few of the activities in the morning:

9:00am Zumba
9:30am   Ping Pong Tournament
9:30am  Stretch and Release
9:30am  Advanced Digital Photography Seminar
10:00am  Port and Shopping Show
10:00am  Morning Trivia
10:00am  Holiday Store @ Sea
11:00am  Watercolor Speed Painting
11:00am Acupuncture seminar
11:15am Dance Lessons: The Cha Cha
11:30am Snowball Jackpot Bingo
11:30am British Pub Style Lunch
12:00 Blackjack Tournament
  

So, there is certainly no shortage of things to do on a Princess cruise. Rickee's favorite thing is to be out in the sun, so we make our way up to Deck 15 aft to The Sanctuary. I cannot emphasize enough how peaceful and relaxing it is there.

Soaking up the sun at The Sanctuary

We were at The Sanctuary less than two hours when a rogue rain cloud decided to start pouring rain on us. So, we went back to our stateroom to get cleaned up for our afternoon wine tasting. The Maitre'd Hotel Wine Club is an optional event that allows guests to experience six different premium wines ($25/pp). On our way to the tasting, a sign caught Rickee's attention: "$10 Gift Event", so we were diverted into the Provence Restaurant which has been set up as a flea market of sorts. Every item is $10, and the place is packed with guests doing some holiday shopping.

Rickee found a straw visor, much nicer than the one she bought yesterday in Falmouth, for $10. She paid $12 for the one in Falmouth. So, now she is the proud owner of two straw visors.

When we arrived at the Maitre'd Hotel Wine Club (in Bordeaux Restaurant), we were seated at tables where we each had six wine glasses and a plate of canapés.

After a brief welcome and introduction by Maitre'd Silvio, three head waiters began describing two wines each as waiters circulated through the room pouring each wine for us. We started with a Champagne, followed by two other white wines. We continued with a Merlot, followed by a Malbec from Argentina and finally, a Cabernet from California. Per bottle prices ranged from $37 to $108.

I would guess that close to 100 people were in attendance at the tasting. We had the opportunity to try some new wines and really enjoyed it. If you like wine, you should consider attending one of these tastings.

For this evening's entertainment, we attended the Headliner Showtime featuring Nathan Foley, Princess Cruises' Entertainer of the Year award winner. Foley's performance was an energetic musical journey through the 50's, 60's, 70's and even the 80's.

Foley was backed up by the Island Princess Orchestra and it was a great show.

Tomorrow Island Princess will be in Cartegena, Colombia.

Day 03 - Falmouth, Jamaica and Dinner at Sabatini's

Oct 23, 2018 - This morning, Island Princess is docked at the Falmouth, Jamaica, Cruise Port.

Island Princess in Falmouth

We have been to Falmouth a couple of times, yet we have never really checked out the cruise port shops. We decided we would get off the ship and do a little shopping this morning. The cruise port here is relatively new and very clean. If you are looking for a true Jamaican experience, this is NOT the place. However, if you are only interested in getting off the ship to stretch your legs, do a little shopping, or perhaps even have lunch ashore, this is a good place to do it.

Shops line the plaza at Falmouth cruise port

Of course, there are lots of jewelry shops like Diamonds International, et al. Island Princess has a Shopping Host who conducts a variety of lectures on how to get the best deals on diamonds, emeralds and other jewelry. My only experience with purchasing jewelry in the Caribbean was a few years back at a little shop in St. Thomas. We have returned there a couple of times to buy items and always had a good experience. However, when I was looking to buy a nice watch years ago, I was able to find the exact same watch back in the USA at a cheaper price.

Island Princess looms over Falmouth shops

In addition to the big name jewelry shops, there are quite a few local souvenir shops, most of which all sell the exact same thing. We always like to pick up a few souvenirs to give as gifts. I have a friend back home that will buy me a $20 lunch if I bring him a $2 magnet. I consider it a good investment! All of the shops accept US dollars and you can bargain with the merchants on most items. Rickee bought a straw visor that was priced at $20 for only $12 after some negotiating!

I was interested to see the price of Crown Royal at the "discount" liquor store. I pay $22 for a 750ml bottle at home. The "discount" liquor store had a 1 litre bottle (1000ml) for $28. A quick calculation tells me that they are charging .028 per ml vs the .029 ($22/750) that I pay at home. That is far from the 50% discount their sign claims they offer. I met another couple who were shopping for Highland Park scotch and they said the prices were no better than back in the USA. So, Falmouth cruise port is not the place to buy liquor. By contrast, I was able to purchase 1 litre of Crown Royal in St. Maarten last year for only $17. That is only .017 per ml. Now THAT is a discount.

After our shopping spree, we headed back to Island Princess for lunch, after which, we indulged in another visit to The Sanctuary. It is super hot this afternoon and there is virtually no breeze, so this was a short visit.

This evening we visited the Crooner's Bar on Deck 7 midship for a pre-dinner cocktail. Due to the bar's location right on the Atrium, we could enjoy the steel drum music from Trevor as he played on Deck 5 below. Crooner's Bar seems to have the most updated style on the ship with new black-and-white  furnishings. This may be our favorite lounge on Island Princess.

Crooner's Bar

We showed up at Sabatini's early for our dinner reservation, but they were gracious enough to get us right in and seated at a nice table with a view of the ocean. Sabatini's is Princess' Italian Restaurant with a menu that is the same each night. There is a $29/pp charge to dine in Sabatini's. Princess recommends that you make reservations in advance, which we did through the Cruise Personalizer website.

Sabatini's

As soon as we were seated, our waiter, Noel, introduced himself and presented the menus. We learned that Noel has been with Princess nearly 20 years!

Noel

When we were presented with the wine list, we chose the Rex-Goliath Moscato ($30). We like sweet wine with Italian food and this one was perfect.

The menu is filled with a variety of creative Italian dishes. From the list of Starters, I chose the Artichoke Souffle. The souffle was swimming in Castelrosso Cheese Sauce (whatever that is) and topped with a slice of black truffle. It was delicious.

Artichoke Souffle

Equally as tempting was Rickee's Burrata alla Panna con Carpaccio di Pomodori, a fist-size chunk of Burrata cheese (similar to Mozzarella) sitting atop thin slices of tomato, drizzled with olive oil and surrounded by jewels of Balsamic syrup.

Burrata alla Panna con Carpaccio di Pomodori

For my pasta course, I chose the Penne con Brasato di Manzo, which is basically braised beef short rib over penne pasta. Try to imagine shreds of the most tender pot roast sitting on perfectly cooked penne pasta. The dish was delicious, and could easily be a main course. However, it is very rich.

Penne con Brasato di Manzo

Rickee opted for the Manicotti alla Sorrentina, pasta shells filled with spinach, Ricotta & Fontina cheese roulade on a tomato coulis. Rickee and I agreed that we preferred the Manicotti, but both dishes were excellent.

Manicotti alla Sorrentina

My Main Course was the Lombata di Vitello al Forno, a thick veal chop with mushroom ragout. The veal was very tender and flavorful, and quite large. I could not quite finish the entire chop.

Lombata di Vitello al Forno

Rickee has been on a shrimp kick this cruise, so she decided to try the Gamberi alla Caprese con Verdurine di Stagiono. That translates into six large garlic-infused shrimp with cherry tomatoes and vegetables. Noel suggested that the tomato sauce be served on the side, and that was a good choice. The shrimp were delicious without the sauce, and we found the sauce to be somewhat bitter. If you like shrimp, this is an excellent choice.

Gamberi alla Caprese con Verdurine di Stagiono

For dessert, Rickee enjoyed a small glass of Limoncello (lemon-flavored liqueur) and I thought it only fitting to try the Tiramisu. Sabatini's take on Tiramisu is very creative in their use of chocolate. The dish was as beautiful to look at as it was delicious to eat!

Tiramisu

This was our third time to dine at Sabatini's on as many Princess ships. Hands down, this was the best Sabatini's meal we have enjoyed so far. If you are planning a cruise on Island Princess, make sure to reserve at least one dinner at Sabatini's. It is a bargain at only $29. 

Tomorrow is another day at sea as we sail to Cartegena, Colombia.

Day 02 -A Relaxing Day At Sea and Secret Silk

Oct 22, 2018 - Our first day at sea finds us steaming toward Falmouth, Jamaica. My morning begins at 6am with a visit to La Patisserie (Deck 5 midship), at least I think that is where I am. I don't see a sign anywhere, but they are making coffee. And, even though I bring my own coffee and French Press with me when I travel, I am in need of hot water and a cup.

My blogging station at La Patisserie

I suspect this area of the ship is the closest thing to the International Cafe on larger Princess ships. However, I did not see any pastries or breakfast items here, just coffee drinks. While this is a nice, relatively quiet area, it is not well suited to my morning blogging duties. The tables are small and it is a bit of a hassle to get the hot water for my coffee. Tomorrow, I will try Horizon Court.

By the time my blog is posted and I am caught up on emails, Rickee is up and getting ready for one of her favorite Princess Cruises' activities: visiting The Sanctuary!

The Sanctuary

The Sanctuary is an adults-only area located on Deck 15 aft. Luxurious, comfortable loungers are found in both sun and shade. There are three semi-private cabanas with sofa, loungers, television and other amenities. Sanctuary guests enjoy complimentary cucumber or orange-flavored ice water, which are delicious and refreshing. Crew members are very attentive and refill glasses regularly.

Complimentary cucumber and orange water

If additional shade is needed, a crew member will attach a large umbrella to the back of the lounger. We spent the entire morning just enjoying the peaceful, serene atmosphere of The Sanctuary.

Our view from The Sanctuary

At 11am, crew members come around to take lunch orders. I ordered a cheeseburger and Gazpacho and Rickee ordered shrimp skewers and Gazpacho. Our food was delivered right to our lounger at around noon just as promised.

Lunch is served at The Sanctuary!

The Sanctuary is as close to a 5-star luxury experience as you will find on a large cruise ship. However, there is a cost for this luxury. Loungers are $20 for a half-day or $40 for a full day. Cabanas are $140 (half-day) and $220 (full day). In our opinion, The Sanctuary is one of the best features on a Princess ship.

This afternoon, I attended two lectures in the Princess Theater. Destination expert, Dr. Dean, gave the crowd valuable information on the upcoming ports of Falmouth, Jamaica, and Cartegena, Colombia.

Dr. Dean

Immediately following Dr. Dean's presentation, Patrick McCormack gave an interesting lecture on "The Bermuda Triangle: Love it, or Leave it".

Patrick McCormack

With two lectures under my belt, I meet Rickee in the Wheelhouse Bar for Afternoon Trivia conducted by Lucy, a member of the Cruise Staff. We got 17 out of 20 questions right, but that was not enough to win the prize. I mistook the Australian flag for New Zealand, even though Rickee insisted it was the Australia flag, and we missed the question on what temperature is the same in Celsius and Fahrenheit.

Lucy

This evening, along with most other guests on the ship, we headed to the Atrium for the Captain's Champagne Reception. On our way, we were greeted by Stanley, the Princess Cruises' bear mascot.

Rickee gets a photo with Stanley

The Atrium was packed with guests waiting to get their photo taken with Maitre'd, Silvio Zampieri.

Maitre'd Silvio Zampieri

After hundreds of champagne glasses were filled with the bubbly, we decided to go to the early showing of The Secret Silk in the Princess Theater.

The Secret Silk was produced by Stephen Schwartz, the producer and composer of the Broadway play, WICKED. Rickee and I agreed that this was the most elaborate production show we have ever seen on a cruise ship, and we have seen more than our share. Four vocalists and ten dancers brought the stage alive with action, song, dance, and romance. There were even puppets!

Music from The Secret Silk included songs from Josh Groban, R. Kelly, Sara McLachlan, Lee Ann Womack, The Police, Heart, Lionel Richie, DeBarge, Cyndi Lauper, Celine Dion, Bastille and Christina Aguilera. The show had a much more contemporary theme than you typically find on cruise ships.

The multiple costumes and props used throughout the show were nothing short of amazing. If The Secret Silk is playing on your next Princess cruise, this is one show you definitely do not want to miss.

Tomorrow, Island Princess will be docked in Falmouth, Jamaica.

Day 01 - Embarkation in Port Everglades

Oct 21, 2018 - This morning we had some time to explore the pool and beach areas of Acqualina Resort before departing for Port Everglades. Acqualina has three beautiful swimming pools: one for families, an "activities" pool, and one for adults only. Luxurious loungers surround each pool as do semi-private cabanas.

Cabanas and loungers

There is plenty of shade from large palm trees for those who prefer to stay out of direct sunlight and, of course, more than enough sun for those who are working on the perfect tan. The beach is just steps away from the pool and is perhaps the nicest beach we have seen in Miami.

Beach

We only wish we had more time to spend here and enjoy this beautiful property. Acqualina Resort is definitely at the top of our list of favorite places to stay in Miami. If you are looking for a luxury getaway for a few days prior to boarding your cruise, or after disembarking your cruise, Acqualina Resort & Spa is the place.

At around 11:30, we arranged for an Uber to pick us up at the resort for the 30-minute drive to Port Everglades. Our driver delivered us to Terminal 2 at 12:15 where we turned our large luggage over to the porters for delivery to our stateroom. 

Luggage drop-off

Princess begins embarkation at noon and lines were alredy beginning to form. We were surprised at how fast the lines were moving. Within a few minutes, we were sending our carry-on luggage through the x-ray scanners and checking in. Check-in is simple. Just hand over the Princess Boarding Passes (printed out from the Cruise Personalizer website) and your passports. Passports are scanned and returned to you along with your stateroom key. The stateroom key serves as your boarding pass for getting on or off the ship during the cruise and as your charge card for any onboard purchases.

Stateroom key

It literally took us less than 10 minutes from the time we dropped our luggage until we were walking onto Deck 5 of Island Princess. We wasted no time getting to Deck 8 (Emerald) Forward and dropping our hand luggage in our stateroom (E211). Our first impression of our balcony stateroom was one of familiarity. The stateroom was virtually identical to the one we had on Royal Princess a few years ago. The modest 225 sq. ft. stateroom is compact, yet functional. Of course, we will go into great detail about the stateroom in our final review.

After dropping our luggage, we wanted to make sure we got on the waiting list for The Chef's Table dining experience. We stopped at Bordeaux Restaurant on Deck 5 and spoke to Head Waiter, George, who wrote down our name and stateroom number and promised to give our request to the Maitre'd. Our next stop was a visit to The Sanctuary (Deck 15 aft) to see about reserving a spot on a sea day. We met with Ali who was very responsive and assured us that we would have a spot!

Rickee and Ali at The Sanctuary

Once we took care of our Chef's Table and The Sanctuary requests, it was time for lunch! But, first things first: we must start the cruise with a welcome aboard cocktail. A stop at the Lido Bar produced a Mojito for Rickee and a Piña Colada for me.

Rickee's Welcome Aboard Mojito

We decided to have lunch in Horizon Court, Island Princess' Lido buffet. The crowds were already beginning to form there by the time we arrived. We enjoyed a quick lunch, then headed back to our stateroom to unpack.

We met our stateroom attendant, Dario, as we entered our stateroom and he was very nice. We were pleased to learn that our large luggage had been delivered while we were at lunch. Rickee, as usual, asked for more hangers for her steamer trunk full of clothes. Within minutes, Dario returned with a handful of hangers. We also noticed that the bottled water we had pre-ordered online had been delivered as promised.

Bottled water ordered from the Cruise Personalizer website in advance

After unpacking, it was time to attend the mandatory muster drill. Our muster station is the Princess Theater located just one deck below our stateroom. Thankfully, Princess no longer requires guests to bring their life vests to the muster drill. Instead, crew members demonstrate how to properly put on the life vest and other safety information is delivered.

After the muster drill, we walked around the ship to better familiarize ourselves with the layout. Island Princess would have been considered a mega-ship 15 years ago. By today's standards, she is a mid-size ship carrying a maximum of 2,200 guests.

We requested Anytime Dining instead of the traditional assigned seating dining option. We arrived at the dining room just as guests were lining up for the second seating. We met the Maitre'd, Silvio, who greeted us and escorted us to a nice table for two. We each enjoyed a delicious shrimp appetizer and a prime rib main course for dinner.

Prime rib

After dinner, we headed to the Princess Theater for the 9:45pm Welcome Aboard Show featuring comedian Scott Wyler. After a welcome from Cruise Director, Kevin Tugwell, we enjoyed a hilarious comedy show by Wyler. Hopefully, we will have a chance to see his next show a couple of days from now.

Tomorrow is a relaxing day at sea. Perhaps a visit to The Sanctuary is in order?

Princess Cruise Personalizer

Oct 20, 2018 - Once you have booked your Princess cruise, you have access to the Princess Cruise Personalizer website. The website allows guests to pre-book shore excursions, spa treatments, pre-pay gratuities, make reservations at specialty restaurants, and more. The website does not retain credit card information, so each time you go back to the site to make additional purchases or bookings you will have to re-enter your CC information. Also, pre-booked items must be paid for at the time of booking and cannot simply be added to your onboard account. For some reason, there is no way to pre-book a stay at The Sanctuary so that must be done onboard the ship.

Of course, you can use the website to complete all of your travel documents online such as personal information, passport numbers, flight arrival/departure information, etc. Once you have satisfactorily completed all of this information you will be able to print your travel documents.

The Boarding Pass (above) and your passport are the only documents required for embarkation. You can also print out luggage tags (see below) from the website.

The Cruise Personalizer website is comprehensive and useful; however, the interface is rather confusing. It took me awhile to figure out why my Boarding Pass would not show up. Finally, I discovered that if you don't complete the airline arrival/departure information, you will not see a link for the boarding pass. The website interface could use some improvement, but all-in-all, it serves its purpose and makes preparing for your Princess cruise much easier.