Sep 27

Sep 27 Day 05 - At Sea

Ship: Princess Cruises’ Sun Princess
Itinerary: 16-Night Transatlantic - Southampton to Fort Lauderdale

Today is another day at sea aboard Sun Princess. On this sailing, there will be many more to come. We chose to sleep in this morning, so we got a late start. We were pleasantly surprised that they continue to serve breakfast at The Eatery up until 10:45am and I think even later at the very aft section.

We were only looking for a banana for Rickee to take back to the stateroom for later, and sure enough, they had one!

For lunch today, we decided to try O’Malley’s Pub on Deck 7 midship. We arrived at 11:45am, even though they do not begin lunch service until 12 noon. The pub was almost full by the time we arrived, but we found an open table and sat down.

A waiter took our drink order and told us that lunch could be ordered at noon. This is one venue that definitely appeared to be understaffed and service was very slow. We were not able to place our order until 12:15pm and our food did not begin to arrive until after 1:00pm.

First to arrive was the Onion Stack ($5). This starter dish is a stack of crispy onion rings served with ketchup and another sauce we did not try. The onion rings were good, but were only warm, not hot.

The second dish to arrive was my Scotch Egg ($5), which I wanted to try since I have never had one before. This is a hard boiled egg, covered in sausage, then breaded and deep fried. It sounded good when I read the description, but the sausage was a bit unusual and I really did not care for the flavor. It was very large and perhaps this is just an acquired taste. I am glad I tried it.

Rickee ordered Fish and Chips ($10) for her main lunch course. This was served with mushy peas, which were cold, and French Fries, which were very hot and very good. The fish, however, was just OK. In our opinion, it was over-battered and, like many other items, served only lukewarm.

My cheeseburger ($10) was the highlight of the meal. It was served hot and, at my request, they substituted the standard blue cheese with cheddar. My fries were not as hot as Rickee’s, so I ate a few of hers. The burger was cooked Medium, just like I ordered it and the bun was soft and fresh. Overall, I would say a solid 7 out of 10 in the burger department.

So, our O’Malley’s experience, without drinks, would have been $30. The cost of the meal was covered by our Premier Package. I am anxious to try one of the burgers at Lido Deck to see if the burger at O’Malley’s is really worth the extra $10.

After lunch, we decided to walk to the front of Deck 18 to the Seaview Terrace, just forward of The Dome, where we found a couple of open loungers under some shaded glass panels. This is a very nice area and it was not too crowded.

We skipped dinner this evening after having the big lunch at O’Malley’s (we typically only eat lunch or dinner, not both). After enjoying a cocktail at Wheelhouse Bar, I insisted that we head forward to get in line early for the 8:00pm production show, Fiera. We arrived at Princess Arena at 7:00pm, and none too early. The arena was already ⅔ full! Fortunately, as Premier Package holders, we had reserved seating. However, Premier seating is no guarantee that you will get a seat, so you still have to arrive early.

Fiera was a very interesting production show, and honestly, not my favorite. The music was all recorded and even some of the vocal performances were lip-synced. The standout for this show was the visuals with the brightly colored costumes, stage lighting, intense music and energetic cast running all over the stage.

One thing is clear: Princess Arena is way too small for a ship this size.