Linda's Journal: Last day, At Sea enroute to New York City!

Sabatini's the Italian Restaurant. Surcharge of $25.00 per person, well worth the price!

It's quite casual, but the aroma when you enter is amazing!

These two gentlemen make the wonderful desserts

Antipasto appitizer

Calamari Appetizer

Lexie had spaghetti and four meatballs. I think she was so excited this picture is a little blurry!

Chocolate love dessert. It was so rich, I could only eat 1/3 of it! I wish they gave doggie bags!

Lexie had the sampler, all four desserts. It's for those who can't make up their minds. She loved it!

Champagne Waterfall

Every elevator advertised the new apps. I thought this was tacky!

One of the pools

Another Pool

Lots of lounge chairs

Atrium

This is our last day on board. We’ve had a wonderful cruise. Lexie loves to take pictures, “ the most technically advanced show on the high seas”. It was great, however, 15 minutes in they had a glitch and the curtain went down and the lights went on. They reset everything and it was excellent. Last night we had a “rock and roll” that even Lexie enjoyed. The problem with this ship is the theatre. Every seat is a good seat but there aren’t enough seats for the passengers! You need to arrive no later than 30 minutes before, 40 minutes if you want a decent seat. They also had a comedian, a comic juggler and tonight there is a magician. Lots of variety.

Activities

Trivia, Ping Pong, Basketball, Bridge, Mahjong get together, Bible study, Interdemoninational Sunday Service, and a Culinary Demonstration and Galley tour. Some of the activities from the spa staff; Chanel Makeup Event, secrets to a flatter stomach, wrinkle remedies, and acupuncture for stress relief! I’ve found these more to be “sales oriented” and not too informative. Bingo is on every cruise. It’s expensive and when you figure out what you are paying and what they are paying out, you’ll stay away. Cheryl did the math on a Royal Caribbean Cruise and in British Columbia there is a percentage they give back. It wasn’t even close and in BC, they would be breaking the gaming law. I overheard another passenger say there were no lecturers or naturalists on board. They are on Crystal, Cunard and Celebrity and I do miss them! Princess has a naturalist on the Alaska cruises but I’ve never been on any other cruise where one has been on board.

Spa

I’ve visited the spa but get everything done before I leave. The spa’s are gorgeous. The prices are very high. They tend to “upsell” items and I’ve seen some pretty hard upsells. Sean from the UK needed a men’s hair cut. The cost was US$99.00 plus tip! He got it done in port for CAD$12! When we did a 28 day cruise in Europe, my nails needed a fill. I made an appointment at the spa and a wonderful girl from Jamaica did my nails. There were only 10 colours to choose from! The bill was three times what I pay at home and I added a tip. When I got back to my room and read the bill with my reading glasses on, they added an 18% tip, then there was a blank line for “additional tip”, and of course I filled it in. That was the last time I visited the spa. If I do another long cruise, I’ll go ashore, like Sean did! Yes, I really should put my glasses on so I can actually see the bill!

Food

Lexie and I ate in the Crown Grill, a specialty restaurant with an additional charge. Cheryl gave it to us as a gift and the dinner was wonderful. The steak was amazing along with the service. We also went to Sabatini’s the Italian specialty restaurant and again it was a wonderful experience.

Breakfast in the dining room is okay. Most of the breakfasts by the time they get to you are lukewarm. They are tasty and the service is awesome but as much as I dislike buffet’s, the buffet is the best place for breakfast. Princess has an omelette bar and it’s the best one I’ve seen on any cruise line. There are 6 oz glasses and you fill them with whatever you want. There is bacon, green onions, peppers, salsa, many other different options and two choices of cheese. You give the filled glass to the cook, he hands you a pager that vibrates and lights up when your omelette is ready. Mine went off at my table and a staff member came along and said “let me get that for you”. The omelette was hot, delicious and just like I liked it!

The dining room is hit and miss. I’ve only had two meals I have really enjoyed. The rest of the food has been mediocre. I miss vegetables! Two spears of asparagus and a half a small tomato are not enough vegetables! There is only one salad a night and some nights it’s not to appealing. Maybe I was spoiled on our last Cunard cruise!