Day 10 - At Sea Crossing The Atlantic
Ship: Princess Cruises’ Sun Princess
Itinerary: 16-Night Transatlantic - Southampton to Fort Lauderdale
Today, we decided to try lunch at American Diner, which is actually located on Deck 8 of the Horizon’s Dining Room. As with many of the dining venues on Sun Princess, this one will soon be changing locations and moving to the aft section of The Eatery on Deck 9.
window seat at American Diner
The menu reflects American favorites like Country Fried Steak (Rickee’s favorite), BBQ Ribs (one of my favorites) and all-day breakfast items.
The Menu at American Diner
Let’s start with the positives: my Sticky Pork Ribs were messy, but very good. I would order these again. The cole slaw was also very good and fresh.
Sticky BBQ Pork Ribs
Rickee’s Country Fried Steak, on the other hand, was so tough she could barely cut it with a knife, much less chew it. I tried a bite and it was impossible to chew. Also, the breading fell off as soon as she cut into the steak. Rickee ordered some mashed potatoes as a side item and they were very good.
Country Fried Steak
The strawberry shortcake (below) was not reminiscent of any traditional American strawberry shortcake, but it was tasty. Same for the banana split. This is not your Dairy Queen banana split, but the brûlée on the banana was an interesting twist and the three flavors of gelato were good.
Strawberry Shortcake
Banana Split
We spent most of the day relaxing in our cabana and on the balcony and enjoying the great weather and smooth sailing.
For dinner this evening, we had reservations at Umai Hot Pot ($45 per person), another specialty restaurant experience located in the same space as the Umai Teppenyaki. We were a little skeptical about this concept at first, but figured that we needed to try it just so we could report on it.
We were seated at a table for four, even though there were only two of us. There is a large, round induction burner in the center of the table into which is placed a pot with two different broths (sorry, I forgot to take a photo of the broths). There are three broths from which to choose, but the waiter advised agains the tomato broth and encouraged us to try the Miso and the Lemongrass with Kaffir Lime.
Umai Hot Pot
You can choose from three different selections: Meat (pork belly, chicken and beef), Vegetables, and Seafood. Rickee and I chose the Meat and the Vegetable. Long platters of raw meat and uncooked vegetables are then brought to the table. The waiter cranks up the heat on the broth(s) and when they start boiling (only takes a couple of minutes), you can start placing meat and veg into the broth to cook.
At Umai Hot Pot YOU are the chef and you get to add which meat and vegetables to your broth of choice. Each diner is also presented with a bowl of Ramen noodles and Udon noodles. So, the idea is, you cook the meat or veg in the broth, then ladle the broth into your bowl with noodles. Think of it sort of like an Asian version of fondue.
Both the Miso and Lemongrass broths were delicious. The meats are very thinly sliced, so they cook in the boiling broth very quickly. The waiter did warn us that the chicken takes 5 minutes to cook. I used the timer on my phone to time the cooking process, but having a small timer on the table would have been a nice touch.
The only critique is that the cooking process is a little clumsy, having to reach over with tongs to get to the meat and veggies or the ladle to get to the broth. In spite of that, the uniqueness of this experience, combined with the fact that the food was very good makes Umai Hot Pot well worth the $45pp cover charge. I think this is a must-try dining experience on Sun Princess.
Tomorrow is yet another day at sea as we make our way to Fort Lauderdale.
