Touring on our own - Cherbourg, France

Given that we'd had our fill of Normandy and D-Day on the Viking River cruise we'd just finished, we had no interest in the many Normandy themed tours offered for our port visit to Cherbourg. After doing some research, we learned that literally right next door to the cruise port is a great maritime museum called La Cite De La Mer. The museum has a small Titanic themed exhibit and a much more extensive self-led tour through Le Redoubtable, the first French nuclear ballistic missile submarine. The website for the museum lists a range for ticket prices from 13.50€ to 15.00€. We were given the tip onboard to mention being cruise passengers for a unique rate. 

The ship terminal Princess used when visiting Cherbourg was historically used as a baggage carousel for Titanic passengers. This is part of the museum but is closed off to any non cruise passenger visiting when a ship is docked. As you walk back and forth to your ship, there are many informative signs to read as well as videos and holograms displayed on the walls. One such display was even interactive allowing you to hold your hand up and direct a cursor while standing in front of the wall. Definitely worth the time to look around even if you spent the day elsewhere on a tour. 

The interactive wall:

The main entry to the museum features an exhibit on unique watercraft. 

This one reminded me of the submarine on Viking Octantis.

There can be a good bit of walking depending on what you wish to see as the museum covers multiple buildings. On the plus side, once you're tired of walking, the ship is a short walk around some security fencing away.

Our next stop was to satisfy my inner Titanic nerd by visiting the Titanic exhibit. The exhibit is a bit modest compared to others we've visited. If you can only visit one in your travels, I highly recommend the Titanic Museum in Belfast, Northern Ireland. You could fill several hours there visiting everything from a ride that takes you through a Titanic building simulation to a solemn dark painted room filled with pillars simply spelling out the communication from the advance iceberg warnings to the calls for help. Reading them in order as you move through the quiet space really made me feel like I was in that moment with them.

This Cherbourg exhibit also featured a sort of timeline setup along with mockups of cabin types, and interactive communications examples. Information was in both French and English.

The smooth floors made it fairly easy to move around for all abilities making only our directional skills a challenge. The venue was pretty busy with a lot of families and groups so it was tough to move through in any real order.

It was great to see little touches like this sign written in text and braille to explain the sextant tool.

Next stop was to visit the Le Redoubtable that Dad had been looking forward to checking out. We asked at the counter where you pick up the audio guide if it was doable for Dad and his cane. This part of the museum is the actual submarine so you need to be able to move around in narrow spaces, step through hatches, and climb metal stairs. The employees said they thought Dad could do it but also informed us of an option to sit just inside the vessel entrance and watch a video walkthrough for those with mobility issues. Dad chose to try the video and an employee escorted us inside the submarine to set him up at the video station. The employee had to step away but promised to come back and collect us. They keep strict count and whereabouts on whomever goes in to the submarine. Before she left, she gave us a brief explanation on how to walk through and pointed out some of the places we could reach before steps were required. 

After viewing the video, Dad said he wanted to try and make his way through the submarine after all. We both had to do some less than elegant body moves to maneuver through all the transitions but I'm proud to say that we both made it the entire length of the submarine! Once you start moving through, it's really easy to follow the directional path to the end. I wouldn't start the effort however unless you feel capable enough to see it through since there's not many spots to turn around and go back.

The video screen to watch the walkthrough if you aren't capable of doing the walking.

Scenic shots from throughout the journey through this submarine - not pictured is the steps and narrow doorways that you had to step up and over. Was too busy holding on to the railings!

Our sense of accomplishment was only briefly dimmed when we made it back to the counter to return our audio guides. The poor employee who'd escorted us to the video screen had finally come back to collect us only to find us gone since we were off walking through the submarine. She must have been a few turns behind us because she never saw us until we arrived at the counter. We apologized for the trouble but instead of being upset, she was more ecstatic that we'd been able to complete the walkthrough!

Lastly, we checked out the aquarium exhibit. There were also several interactive things to do here mostly geared toward children. 

Casual Italian food versus specialty Italian food

One thing that seems to confuse a lot of cruisers, especially those new to Princess, is the wording in the Plus and Premier rate packages describing casual dining meals and specialty dining meals. What constitutes a casual dining venue is a venue that isn't quite as upscale and most notably a cheaper price per visit to dine there. While some specialty restaurants can cost upwards of $50 per person, these casual dining venues cost only $14.99 per adult or $7.99 for a child aged 3-12. Cruisers often save these venues for lunches or when they want something lighter. The newest version of Princess Plus gives you four casual dining meals per voyage while it is unlimited in Princess Premier. Casual dining restaurants do not take or require reservations so like Anytime Dining, you may have to wait with a pager until a table becomes available.

The caveat however, is that to use your included credit, you have to order from a prix fixe menu. A prix fixe menu, also a confusing wording for cruisers, means that you are limited to ordering from a certain list of dishes or one dish per course to be included. In the case of Ocean Terrace, a sushi restaurant also included in casual dining, it's a pre-set menu of choices you receive. At Alfredo's, the pizza/Italian restaurant, it's based on courses. You can order one appetizer (soup/salad), one entree, and one dessert. You're welcome to order anything beyond that at either restaurant but those will be charged to your onboard account at a la carte prices. Check out a menu for Alfredo's at Princess' official website here. Alfredo's offers options for vegans, vegetarians, dairy-free, and gluten-free. 

We dined at Alfredo's twice during this cruise. It was routinely a popular venue, especially as it got later in the cruise with everyone thinking they'd better use or lose their included meals. We dined once for dinner and were seated as the only table around the corner so it took a while to get a waiter to realize we were there. For our later lunch visit near the end of the cruise, we got in just before they had to start handing out pagers because no tables were available. 

I thought it was quirky when our cans of Diet Coke arrived, one with the emphasis on "my" and the other one with no emphasis. 

Insalata Mista appetizer - mixed lettuces, cherry tomato, red and yellow bell peppers, radish, basil leaves, with the chef's balsamic-herb and extra virgin olive oil vinaigrette.

I chose to do the Create Your Own Pizza option. This and any of the themed Tony Gemignani pizza choices cost an extra $12 each. Both the Sun Princess and the Sky Princess waiters told us that ordering one of these was still $12 each even if you have a casual dining credit to use. We were okay with paying the charge but none showed up on our account. I did have quite a few bar charges show up on my account during the cruise that weren't ours but a quick note to Josue had that cleared each time. Make sure to routinely check your accounts on the medallion app so you're not in that long guest services line on the last night.

Pepperoni and Italian Pork Sausage with Tony's Pizza Sauce (aka marinara or red sauce)

Dad ordered the calzone and didn't like it. I shared a few slices of my pizza with him and he liked that better. The pizzas are basically plate sized equaling around 4-6 pieces so they can be shared or enjoyed by one if you're really hungry. We did have a cruiser dining alone next to us who was given a room service style covered lid to be able to take her leftovers back to the cabin. There is no way to reheat the food later but if you like that cold pizza late night snack, the option is there. Many have asked whether you can only use one of your casual dining credits if you choose to split every course. The answer seems to vary between cruiser experiences so best to ask onboard before you dine.

On our second visit, we both chose the included Pizza Pepperoni - tomato sauce, mozzarella, spicy pepperoni, crushed red pepper, and oregano. We both felt like there was such a difference between the taste and quality of the included pizza and the one from Create Your Own/Tony Gemignani. Surprisingly, it was the included pizza that we both liked better!

The specialty Italian restaurant on board Sky Princess is called Sabatini's Italian Trattoria. This venue does require making reservations. The cost is currently $55 per adult and $27.50 per child (3-12). I've heard that the menu may be changing again but click here to view the closest iteration to what we chose from on this sailing. If there is more than one picture for a dish shown below, it's because it was ordered on more than one visit.

This arancini used to feature at least two pieces when it was one of the appetizer choices. Now they serve a single one to each diner and automatically bring it to you instead of the old variety platter. Still just as delicious as when it was an appetizer choice and you can always ask for another.

Fritto Misto alla Veneziana Appetizer - light and crispy Venetian style fried shrimp and calamari, paired with grilled polenta and served with spicy marinara. I liked that the calamari was more lightly breaded as many tend to be too breaded and crispy. 

Burrata Caprese - fresh creamy stracciatella-filled cheese complemented by red and yellow tomatoes, fresh basil leaves, balsamic glaze, and basil oil. Creaminess meets saltness meats pepperiness meets delicious. Caprese salad meets an Italian sub. 

Fettuccine al Tartufo e Parmigiano - truffle-infused velvety parmigiano-reggiano sauce, topped with grated black truffle, a crispy parmesan tuile, and a drizzle of herbed oil.  

Spaghetti Polpette - rich meatballs of beef and pork, slowly braised in a mariana of san marzano tomatoes, garlic, onion, and herbs. Apparently all of the meatballs got together to form one big monopoly meatball since this description was added to the menu.  

Linguine Alla Carbonara - a luxurious creamy sauce of eggs, pancetta, and aged parmesan. I was definitely going to be trying the carbonara on at least one of our visits. Princess is pretty consistent when it comes to offering a good carbonara and this one lands in my top five of dishes I've tried across the cruises.

Lasagna Bolognese al Forno - fresh pasta sheets layered with bechamel and a long-simmered tomato and meat ragu, baked with aged parmesan.

Scaloppine di Pollo al Limone e Rosmarino - boneless chicken breast sauteed in fragrant lemon and rosemary, served with asparagus and creamy mashed potatoes.

Chicken Parmigiana - fresh buffalo mozzarella and tomato, served with basil roasted potato

Continuing our tradition of being too full for dessert - the manager begged us to stay on our second visit so that they could bring out the free celebration chocolate cake (just big enough for two) and sing Happy Birthday to me. We laughed it off when the crew brought the cake to Dad at first and the manager tried to keep smiling and hide the fact that he was desperately motioning to correct them. I was pleased to see that they acknowledged the day I'd chosen for celebrating (unlike on the Sun Princess where they insisted that fleetwide they don't do that anymore) but was again disappointed to see that they completely forgot about the date I'd chosen for Dad's birthday celebration. In the end he's the one that ate most of the cake from this night that we had sent back to the cabin. 

Back during the initial launch of the medallion, the interactive TV screens in the elevator lobbies were sensing your personal medallion when you walked by and changing to display a Happy Birthday or Happy Anniversary message if it was the day you selected to celebrate. It added to the special feeling because anyone else passing by would see the message and give their best wishes as well. On our voyage, I had to scan my medallion to log in and then a very dimly lit message wishing me a Happy Birthday appeared. We tried scanning to log in on Dad's scheduled day and still no message or acknowledgement. 

"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.