Let me just start this sea day cruise diary by mentioning the speciality dining; not the details of it – that will come towards the end of this post – but the word used to describe it. Speciality. Or specialty. See, I tend to use speciality but I know that Princess Cruises use specialty. I’ve put specialty dining in the title of this post just to make it easier for people to find this but other than this introduction I’m going to keep calling it speciality dining if that’s okay with you (and even if it’s not) because someone has to make a stand against Americans dropping vowels whenever they feel like it. I might also mention aluminium and colours in this write-up but I haven’t made my mind up on that yet.
Sea Day Princess Patter
Planning for a sea day aboard a Princess ship begins the night before when the Princess Patter is delivered to your stateroom. Our conversation when browsing the programme of events for the day to come went something like:
Free mimosas in Effy at ten.
In the morning?
In the morning.
Too dangerous.
There’s Zumba at ten-fifteen in Vista.
Get lost.
More cowboy poetry at eleven-fifteen.
It’s a possible.
Rum tasting in Vines at twelve-thirty.
I don’t want to be on the rum that early, either.
Shackleton lecture at one.
That could be good.
Ladies pamper party at half three.
Like nappies?
Not Pampers. Pamper.
Pass. What’s the music theme in Skywalkers this evening?
Our favourite.
Please don’t say it’s latin fiesta.
It’s latin fiesta.
Guess we know where we’re not going tonight.
We ended up doing pretty much nothing from the arranged events aboard Star Princess. After a late start with subsequent late breakfast we picked up the daily sudoku and crossword puzzles from outside the internet café at the bottom of the piazza and, with breaks for trivia when we were around for them, our day fell into the fairly regular pattern of reading in the morning and afternoon with a swim around lunchtime followed by either a pizza slice from Prego Pizzeria or a burger or hot dog from the Trident Grill after that.
Most of our reading time was spent either in Crooners to soak up the atmosphere of people buzzing around the heart of the ship or, when that got too noisy, in Explorers.
Later in the afternoon we hit the International Café for a bite to eat (toasted paninis and a pistachio cake), then took our food across the floor of the piazza to Vines to wash that down with a glass of wine.
Star Princess Promenade Deck
Another conversation.
I think I might take the camera and head off for a circuit of the promenade deck.
Okay.
Do you want a break from reading?
Nope.
So you just want to stay here?
Yep.
I’ll head off on my own then.
Do you want me to come? Is that what you’re saying? Do you want me to put down my Kindle and walk around with you while you take pictures?
No, it’s fine, I’m sure I’ll be fine, I’m sure nothing will happen to me alone on this ship filled with strangers in the middle of the ocean on the other side of the world.
Good. Don’t forget your cruise card.
And so I went for a lap around the promenade deck with just my camera for company. Although I was on my own this time, this was the cruise we probably spent more of our time on the promenade deck than any other except possibly our first cruise aboard Diamond Princess when we had an inside cabin. The reason for that was the sheer amount of wildlife visible in the water. During this cruise we managed to see flying fish, dolphins, turtles, jellyfish, seals, rays, and sea snakes alongside the ship at some point. While we had a balcony cabin, that limited our view to just one side of the ship so we found ourselves frequently popping out onto the promenade if we were on deck seven just to chance a look or whenever there would be an announcement over the ship’s speakers that dolphins had been spotted.
Star Princess is a Grand-class ship and this design features a complete wraparound promenade deck of approximately a third of a mile in length. A lot of the newer ships only feature partial promenade decks, encouraging walkers to head up to the top decks instead, but on this class of vessel you can often find people completing circuits of the promenade to hit a target offset of food overindulgence of some description. During my photographic bimble of a single lap I was probably passed by the same people two or three times.
If this view doesn’t make you feel instantly calm then cruising simply isn’t for you.
The promenade deck circuit isn’t all on one level. You’ll need to climb some steps to deck eight around the bow of the ship. On most ships in the fleet this is a straightforward ascension up one level but on Star Princess (as well as Grand Princess and Golden Princess) the promenade walkway then juts out slightly to accommodate four slightly longer room designs at this point of the ship on Emerald Deck. Whereas these rooms are classed as Ocean View on other ships because they have windows only, here they include balconies. As you can see from the photos, they don’t afford a huge amount of privacy, but for some extra space to sit out and enjoy the sea views with only occasional heads atop bodies stomping past to distract then they could be a good option for people who don’t like to go far from their rooms to all the bars. I can appreciate that sentiment even if I don’t subscribe to it. The one thing I really like about this extended section of the promenade deck is the pleasing photography compositions it provides for without people, chairs, or overhanging tender boats and lifeboats with which to contend.
Lido Deck
Giving my wife more time to miss me I then took advantage of the fabulous weather in this part of the Pacific and headed up to the top deck for a quick circuit with my camera there too. Did I already have photos of most of this? Yes. Was I likely to take even more photos in the future? Also yes.
Loads of people were out and about enjoying the sunshine on the sea but, as is often the case on Princess ships (at least on the cruises we tend to choose), there was plenty of room around the outside pool and nobody at all up on the sun terrace. Perhaps people don’t like bathing next to giant white orbs. Perhaps I should take advantage of my Irish heritage, bulk up on food before the next cruise, and see if I can elicit the same response from other cruisers too.
The Princess Cruises Sea Witch logo looked gorgeous against the ship’s funnel housing. Completing the walk around the aft of the ship I realised for the first time that the logo faced different directions on the port and starboard sides. I’d never noticed before but suppose I must have assumed that since it was a logo it would be the same on both sides of the ship. Obviously not the case, and clearly the same reversal of the logo takes place on the ship’s bow where the Sea Witch is also painted.
One day I shall endeavour to have a game of outdoor chess on a Princess ship. It’s taken me over ten years to persuade my wife to pick up a paddle and return a ball on a table tennis table and to take part in the shortest game of shuffleboard ever and those are activities she doesn’t care about one way or another; she claims she doesn’t like chess and has no interest in learning it so the chess match might still be a way off. However, I’m patient and persuasive. Just look at the sterling job I did in getting her to accompany me on this photo walk around Star Princess. Oh.
Even though I’d not spotted any sealife during the promenade deck portion of my time outside with the camera on this day I did manage to finally capture a frigate bird that had been circling around the top deck just as I was about to head back to the room. I’m no birder but I really enjoy seeing wildlife you don’t typically spot at home.
Crown Grill On Star Princess
The dress code for the evening on the ship was formal but we didn’t bother as we had reservations at the Crown Grill speciality dining venue. I’ve nothing against formal wear but a tuxedo does not make for the most comfortable way to eat and when it comes to Princess’s steak house you really want to feel comfortable. We were still smart, though; we’re not animals.
We always enjoy the Crown Grill (well, except for that time aboard Royal Princess) and this was another great meal with great service. The quality of the food in the speciality dining locations on Star Princess probably rates as the best aboard any ship to date.
For our appetisers I chose the Hand-cut Beef Filet Tartare (Plancha Sear, Fried Quail Egg, Smoky Dressing, Crispy Polenta Sticks) while my wife picked Black Tiger Prawn And Papaya Salpicon (Mustard Seed Aioli).
We both had the Shrimp And Pancetta Bisque (Chickpea Croutons) for our soup course.
We both also had the 8oz Filet Mignon (rare, because anything else is a crime against steak) and selected Garlic And Herb French Fries to share, with Creamed Spinach for me and Sautéed Wild Mushrooms for my wife as side dishes. We had a little of all the fabulous flavoured salts because they’re all so good.
Dessert for both of us was The Crown Dependence, the Executive Pastry Chef’s Sampling of all the featured desserts on the menu.
Crossing The Equator
We didn’t finish our wine at the table in the Crown Grill which is quite unusual for us, but this gave us the chance to take the bottle back to our room and head out onto the balcony to drink it under a bright moon at midnight. We’d talked about doing something like this anyway as it was around this time that the ship was crossing the equator. The traditional ceremony wouldn’t be until the following day (and will be covered in the next post in this cruise diary series) but this felt pretty special as a private little ceremony of our own and marked a lovely end to another relaxing day at sea aboard Star Princess.
