"Tanks" for the memories Portland

While this transatlantic cruise was mostly comprised of sea days, we took a variety of approaches to our times in port. In Vigo, Spain I simply got off the ship and walked around the area. In Bermuda, we had done a wonderful tour from Winsome Tours that covered the entire island during our first visit. This time, I chose to get off and walk around the port area and do some shopping. For the port of Cherbourg, France (given that we'd just come off a cruise with all the D-Day themed experiences we could ever want), we did our own tour on the spot that I'll cover in another post. Also in that post, I'll cover the private tour we booked for our stop in Ponta Delgada in the Azores.

For this post, I will share the one Princess sponsored ship excursion we chose to do. The tour in Portland, England was called Relics from the Great War: the Bovington Tank Museum. This 3.75 hour tour costs $124.95 per person. We used part of our on board credit (OBC) to cover the cost for both of us. To read the tour description at Princess' official page, click here.

Our stop in Portland occurred on day 2 of the cruise. By the time we came back to our cabin from dinner on night 1, there was a letter in the cabin explaining that the timing of our port stop coincided with the Bovington Tank Museum's annual hosting of their Christmas Craft Fair. The letter warned of extra crowds due to the fair and the fact that it might take longer to move through the exhibits. What our tour guide didn't even realize was that the craft seller's tables and displays would be set up within the exhibits themselves versus taking over a conference room or lobby. It led to a lot more crowding due to people standing around the tables and physically blocked portions of the exhibits from view. I also would have liked to see some option in the letter from Princess that allowed you to get at least a partial refund and still attend or switch to a different option given that we couldn't help but be already within the 48 hour window for cancellation on our own. 

Once we arrived at the museum which was a good drive away from where the ship docks, we were given a brief overview of what was where and a time of 5PM to meet back at the bus. This gave us about 2 hours to walk around. After that, it was up to us where to go, what to see, and how much walking we felt like doing. We first headed down a long ramp into an exhibition hall filled with the various tank exhibits. One minor frustration is that the elevator at the bottom of this exhibition hall was out of order. Only options to get back to the main level were steps or heading back up the long ramp we first came down.

What our perspective of the area was like as we headed down the ramp - everything that wasn't a tank in this picture was a craft booth. At least there was nothing stopping you from walking between the tables and the tanks if you could get past the crowds. Only a handful of tanks on display had signs asking you not to touch due to their age and condition.

It also gave me lots of practice framing a picture that doesn't include too much of the crowd.

The museum had a mini scavenger hunt option for kids to seek out all of these little friends positioned on various tanks throughout the exhibits.

There were also boot prints painted on the floor to give the impression of following in the soldier's footsteps. I thought this was a pretty creative way of showing the route for walking through the exhibit zones.

The exhibits empty out into a large hanger with picnic tables, a play area, and some of the bigger tanks that allow climbing up to pose for pictures. The cafe our guide told us about turned out to be more of a concession stand. We took some time to rest at a picnic table before we sought out a quieter place to kill the remaining time. We spent some time at the mobbed gift shop where I picked up a magnet showcasing Rosie the Riveter and Dad picked out a new T-shirt. They had tons with funny and punny sayings such as "I like big guns and I cannot lie." 

By now, the sun was starting to set. We still had some time to kill before the meeting time so we headed outside to sit at one of those picnic tables. 

I shared this picture below with my neighborhood Facebook group jokingly asking if the HOA would let us bring home this Christmas decoration to display in the front yard.

Once everyone was back on the bus, the sun had long since set. Our tour guide insisted on taking us some long way back to the ship through back roads in order to "see" some local writer's childhood home. He talked about this writer and the sites we were passing for the longest time until one of the passengers asked if we could turn off the bus' interior lights because no one could see anything out the windows except our own reflections. The guide and driver agreed to turn off the lights and those of us on my side of the bus got a brief drive by glimpse of a roof through the trees of this house. The rest of the drive was very treacherous with the driver having to follow blind curves in the pitch dark on these tree lined back roads taking chances on whether there was any oncoming traffic. If there was, he'd have to wait and let them pass before he would have enough room to drive around the curve. I think the entire bus breathed a sigh of relief when we reached the highway again. 

Time for Prince S to get his "Crown" on

Even back when suite perks were the only way to get a specialty restaurant dinner included, we fell in love with the Crown Grill, the steakhouse onboard Princess Cruises. Now it's become an embarkation night tradition for us. The current price, unless you have the Premier package or are using your suite perk on embarkation day, is $55 per adult and $27.50 per child aged 3-12. If you are sailing on the Sun or Star ships, the rate is $60 per adult and $30 per child aged 3-12. Check out Princess' official website here to view a sample of the menu.

What follows is a collection of dishes ordered over multiple visits. We routinely skipped desserts due to appetite, time it took to complete the meal, and a lack of interest in the menu choices.

Prince S insisted on getting to look at the menu first.

Melted cheese on bread to start every Crown Grill dining experience? Umm, yes please!

Blue Iceberg Salad Appetizer (also noted as gluten free) - applewood smoked bacon, heirloom cherry tomatoes, blue cheese dressing. I've come to enjoy a blue cheese dressing but in the past there was never any problem having it changed to ranch if you're not a fan of blue cheese. I used to joke that an iceberg wedge salad at a steakhouse is the only way you'll see Dad willingly eating a salad but he's now expanded that palate to enjoy a Caesar salad as well. :)

Same salad another night:

Colossal Lump Crab Cake Appetizer - cognac mustard cream sauce, shaved asparagus fennel salad. You know this born and raised Maryland girl had to get a crab cake. Solid amount of crab meat versus filler and well prepared.

Chilled Jumbo Shrimp Appetizer - XO Brandy, fresh horseradish cocktail sauce

Shellfish Bisque Appetizer - lobster chunks and shrimp, aged cognac, and whipped cream. This was one of those soups where they bring you a bowl of the ingredients and then pour the broth in front of you at the table. This broth seemed unusually thin for a bisque and reminded me more of a brown gravy.

Porterhouse Steak - described on the menu as 20oz, 560 grams, the best of filet and sirloin, grilled on the bone. 

Dad's steak - Dad ordered the Loaded Idaho Baked Potato on the side. 

Rib-Eye Steak -described on the menu as 14oz, 400 grams, rich with heavy marbling.

The formerly known as truffle fries are now called Parmesan Fries on the menu. Sorry to say that the fries at Catch by Rudi have now taken the title of my favorite thing to order away from these fries at Crown Grill.

Another night's order of fries:

We laughed in surprise when the waiter served our Red Skin Mashed Potatoes that we both ordered as a serving platter of four white domes that looked like halved ice cream scoops. Yet gave us a larger bowl of fries that we also planned to share. I guess if they could have found a way to arrange the fries in half mounds, it would have looked like the mashed potatoes. I applaud the presentation but seems a bit silly when each of those mounds disappears after two to three forkfuls.

Grilled Asparagus side - they brought enough to share but you know I was the only one eating a non potato based vegetable.

We found a good bit of service issues throughout all the venues perhaps by default given how often the Premier package had us dining in specialty restaurants. We'd have issues getting drink refills, courses would take a long time to arrive, and often our server would either disappear into the server protection program or we'd spot them spending extra time chatting up a table nearby while we sat needing something. During those moments, we were often ignored when we'd politely try to get their attention. We'd have to ask for sides and toppings that were forgotten. One of the Crown Grill evenings, our waiter stopped by the table to ask if we liked how our steaks were cooked but then after spending our entire interaction looking back at a nearby table, raced back to chatting with the other table before we could even give him an answer. 

The inclusion of all the digital pictures taken by ship's photographers with the Premier package gives you tons of opportunities as the photographers routinely wander through the specialty restaurants asking to take your picture. Thank you to the few regular photographers we saw who would take the time to chat and then ask if you'd like your picture taken. Then there was one who swooped in during one of our Crown Grill dinners obviously tired of being told no thanks. He arrived at our table, stuck the camera with large flash bulb in my face while I was mid-bite, and yelled "Smile!" Being ambushed apparently didn't bode well for my ability to refrain from blinking at the strong light thrust in front of my eyes. The photographer complained about my blinking, shoved the camera and flash bulb back in my face, yelled again to smile, and snapped the picture all in the space of about 30 seconds before he left to visit another table.

I think I might save this one for the blooper reel and be thankful that I didn't have my mouth open. If you can't laugh at yourself, then who can you laugh at?

By the last few days of the cruise, we were reconsidering keeping any more of our specialty dining reservations. We had also shared our disappointment with Josue about the balcony dinner experience. A meeting with two officers from the food and restaurant departments was scheduled. I appreciate how the meeting was handled. I felt like our concerns were listened to and taken seriously. At the conclusion of the meeting, the officers encouraged us to give the specialty restaurants another try. We had initially decided to cancel plans to fit in one more visit to Crown Grill as the Reserve dining team had been amazing but we decided to go ahead with another visit the second to last night of the cruise. There was not only a marked improvement in service, especially since they pulled one of the servers we had praised from the Sabatini's experience to wait on us for this dinner in Crown Grill, but it was like we were unnecessarily fawned over. 

Several visits were made to the table by our server and fellow restaurant management making sure we were enjoying ourselves and wanted for nothing. The pastry chef stopped at our table to ask how she could improve the snacks being sent to our cabin. We were finding it tough to enjoy her treats when they'd dried out by the time we returned to our cabin in the evenings. She told us about how she takes in guest feedback for things like harder crunchier cookies versus soft. She offered to make a softer batch for us and together we came up with a solution of having the treats delivered later in the evening so they weren't sitting as long. 

The sommelier came over and tried setting up an impromptu personal wine tasting. When I didn't like any of the offerings, she produced a bottle of non-alcoholic wine from the Kylie Minogue collection. It tasted like a dry peach seltzer. If I only liked peach flavored items, this would have definitely been one non alcoholic wine I'd enjoy having with my meal. 

I don't recall what cut of steak we had during this dinner. I believe we both decided to try one from the Goodstock by Nolan Ryan upcharge section of the menu. I ordered mine medium while Dad ordered his medium well. Our server kept assuring us that the steaks were coming but that they took longer to cook being such premium thick cuts of meat. What did stick with me though was the way our server became more frantic at how long the steaks were taking to cook. She'd try to keep checking with the open kitchen but the manager would come up behind her gesturing and yelling at her to hurry up. She would get more and more flustered as she could only wait until the chef was finished preparing the dishes. We perfectly understood the need for extra time and appreciated her checking in at our table to explain. It left a proverbial poor taste in my mouth to see such treatment when it was a delay not in her control. 

When the steaks arrived, Dad's plate looked great and cooked exactly to his liking. 

Mine arrived swimming in the bloody beef juice that resembled more medium rare. The piece of meat slid around the plate like it was on an ice rink in all that red beef juice runoff. I've had medium cooked beef before and understand that it means I'll still see pink. This was more like it ought to still be mooing. I tried a piece or two and was just going to focus on eating the sides. Our server saw that I wasn't eating the steak and offered to cook it some more or get me something else. I turned down the offer insisting that we'd had plenty to eat already. When she persisted, I apologetically insisted it was my fault because I should have ordered more medium well. This unfortunately prompted the manager to visit the table and in turn the chef came over. I showed the chef the pool of bloody juice the steak was sitting in. He exclaimed "Yes, that's medium, it's perfect!" turned on his heel and headed back to the kitchen. None of my other medium ordered steaks we'd had earlier in the cruise had come out looking like this. I don't make a living cooking for others but I doubt cooking a thicker cut of beef to the same doneness level as the thinner cuts should translate to a timed cook versus an individual doneness level.

We finally bothered to order dessert on this final visit. I went with the standard ice cream and Dad chose the Triple Chocolate Treasure from the dessert menu.

Triple Chocolate Treasure - dark chocolate mousse, orange cremeux, hazelnut filling, blonde brownie crust, and golden chocolate macaroons.

Peek behind the curtain on the Sky Princess

It can be hit or miss when you stay in a suite on any cruise line as to whether they will offer any behind the scenes tours of places on the ship.  These are normally areas only accessed by the crew. We often will ask whomever is working with suite guests such as the concierge to keep us in mind if any such tour is offered. These are all at the discretion of the head crew member for the area, especially as far as what day and/or time a tour gets scheduled if at all. 

We've been lucky to experience many of these tours on various ships. It has been very interesting to see the differences even on the same cruise line when the ships can differ so much in size. While talking to our shoreside concierge pre-cruise to organize all of our reservations and preferences, he said before I could even ask, "And you will have a bridge tour." I asked if that was an included perk now for the Sky Suites and he said yes. We mentioned it onboard to Josue when we hadn't seen any notice for several days and had already noticed some things that should have been delivered to the cabin that weren't. He confirmed that a tour would be happening and was disappointed that his planned surprise of one had been revealed. So yes, if you book the Sky Suite, start practicing your surprised reaction. :)

While on the Sun Princess, a ship that has multiple Sky Suites, they scheduled two separate visits assigning each cabin to one of the times in order to keep the group small. On this Sky Princess sailing, where only two Sky Suites with a total of 6 occupants were on board, we showed up at the meeting place to discover that the group gathered basically included every other suite guest. Imagine 15-20 people crowding around to try and watch the same phone screen. 

Our tour was led by two female cadets who did their best to split the group so we could crowd around the instrument panel on one of the two identical bridge wings. They took the time to explain each piece of technology, what training they've done to get to this position, and what the routine schedule is like for bridge officers. Our half of the group had many questions and our cadet was super patient in answering them all. Even split in half however, there was no way everyone could see what the cadet was pointing out on the panel. Given that the waves on this sea day were making being anywhere on the ship feel a little off balance, Dad and I were happy to hang back and hold up the wall until the presentation was over. 

One of the more pleasant surprises that made this bridge tour unique was that Captain Tony Draper stuck around to greet everyone when we first arrived. He gave a brief rundown of his own work history and talked about what it was like working on the Sky Princess. He only answered a few questions and then passed us off to the cadets. Usually, these tours are given by one of the junior officers not currently on the watch and you never get to meet the Captain. Thank you Captain Draper for taking the time out of your busy day to say hello!

Dad spotted this display on the bridge proving that even the crew likes to collect Cruising Ducks. I'd say that tall one looks like they have the drink package and the one next to it is trying to stay upright on this rocky sea day.

The bridge's front view looks out over the crew pool and hot tub. Just like on your balcony, someone's always watching.

Another surprise tour that we were invited to was to tour the galley. Once again, this was a single time where anyone staying in a suite got to attend. Dad saw the crowd gathered and decided to go play trivia instead. Executive Chef Naveen Quadros, who led the tour, apologized for having to rush us through as he only had a short window of time in between having to prepare for several events. A great tip for those cruisers who would love to see the galley but aren't invited to a "private" walkthrough - Princess offers a comedic cooking presentation in the theater on one of the last days of the cruise. After the show, anyone is welcome to meet at a designated door where someone from the galley will guide you on a walkthrough through the space. If you've never seen it, it really is quite a fascinating setup when you think about how many passengers and crew need to be fed multiple times a day in multiple restaurants on board. 

The photo cards displayed on the wall behind Chef Quadros serve as reminders to the galley crew how each dish needs to look.

Butter anyone?

On one of the last days, we got another invitation in our cabin. This time it was inviting us and 18 of our closest friends (aka the other suite guests) to tour the Engine Control Room. This was an area of the ship that Dad had been interested in seeing. While the other invitations at least gave us half a day or more's notice, this one actually arrived within about an hour of the meeting time. After seeing how crowded the other tours were, we decided it wasn't worth skipping our planned onboard activity to attend. If we hadn't already seen many of the ship's crew areas through invited and paid for tours over the years, we would have given a lot more thought to attending. 

Thank you Princess Cruises and the crew of the Sky Princess for giving us this small glance into all the people and all the hard work that goes on behind the curtain!