0
0
Sunday 28th August
Weather: Low lying cloud … fog coming in late morning
Sea Conditions: Mill pond
Jon was up early for his Birthday Treat – he’d managed to get a place on the Ultimate Ships Tour. Meeting point was by Snookers Bar at 8.20am. Quick breakfast in International Cafe beforehand … they had been warned there was no time for food … or toilet stops on this tour. Strictly no personal photography too. The Assistant Cruise Director, Nathan, was escorting the tour and he was flanked by a security officer and a ships photographer. Nathan was brilliant and very knowledgeable about all parts of the tour.
First stop on the tour was the forward mooring station. There we saw the anchor chains and mooring ropes. grand Princess has 2 anchors in the forward station plus a spare anchor up on deck. Mooring ropes were made of plastic and rubber. Then we were off to the theatre where we met Eric (who was English) and he was in charge with everything technical entertainment-wise on the ship. We walked through the control booth to see the audio mixer decks and the video controls for the stage. Then, up on stage where it was already set up for the Culinary Presentation. We were then taken back-stage to see the vast array of costumes. Six professional seamstresses were on board as the current production crew were being replaced and the costumes needed to be reworked to fit the new crew.
Next stop was the engine control room and met the Chief Engineer (from Alnwick!). We were all instructed NOT to touch that red button (very tempting!). They explained that as Grand Princess was the first built in its class, it was over engineered. It is the most powerful ship in the Princess fleet (more powerful than even the new larger ships with 6 x v16 diesel generators each the size of two train locomotives stacked on top of each other!). They were generators online whilst we were down there, powering the ships propellers. Ship also has it’s own evaporators and desalination plants on board which can produce far more fresh water (from sea water) than the passengers and crew can use.
Food storage stop next up – Stores Manager, responsible for all food for passengers and crew. Most of the supplies are taken on board at San Francisco so the huge fruit, vegetable and meat storage units were fairly empty.
We moved onto the food preparation areas where we saw chicken, beef and pork being prepared for dinner that evening as well as huge amounts of carrots and salad. Moving around the ship in the crew areas is accomplished mainly by using a huge central corridor nicknamed the “M1”. While walking through this, we stopped off to see the on board photo development lab and printing presses. Next stop, the galley just off the Michaelangelo Dining Room to see the carved fruit display and were greeted with a very refreshing mocktail. Joel, the executive chef explained that all dishes were cooked and prepared from scratch onboard. We walked through the bakery and soup making stations. If a dish is sent out to the restaurant and returned (i.e. steak undercooked), that is thrown away and a fresh one cooked. We went to visit the laundry facilities and had to enter through a huge water tight door, complete with flashing red light and siren whilst it was opening! We first saw the shirt pressing facilities, the huge washing machines and tumble dryers and finally the automated folding machines. These sucked in the table clothes and bed linen, stretched them out and spat them out the other end pressed & neatly folded!
Final stop was the bridge and we were met by the Italian Third Officer who explained the captain would join us shortly (a very busy man!). We were shown the control stations on the bridge wings which are used during docking procedures for a better view down the sides of the ship.
We were then joined by the captain who posed for photos and answered questions. One about how severe a list the ship could survive – Captain explained we were at 2-3 degrees in the strong winds yesterday but the ship would be stable at 25 degrees. However, anything beyond 10 degrees would wreck everything inside and no-one would be able to walk around.
Another question was how long would it take the ship to stop which was less than a mile at 20 knots achieved by putting the propellers into full astern.
At this point we noticed the fog had got a lot thicker and the captain explained in low visibility he had to clear the bridge of visitors and increase the watch crew. The captain also ordered the fog horn to start sounding whilst we were escorted into the safety room behind the bridge. From this room, the entire ship is monitored by CCTV and contains the passenger and crew lists of all hands on board and their allotted Muster Stations.
Overall, a great experience and really interesting to understand the workings behind the scenes.
Karen and Callum enjoyed a short lie in before heading up to the buffet for breakfast (Callum’s choice!). We were going to the Culinary Presentation in the Theatre. Callum sported his chefs hat and apron one more time as he was heading up on stage to be presented with his Junior Chef @ Sea Certificate in front of everyone in the theatre. Executive Chef, Joel, and Maitre D’ Luigi Moretti were the chef and host for the presentation and were a great double act. They made Gravelax, a seafood stew with pasta (that was on the menu that evening) and a Tirimisu dish with some fancy sugar work for decoration.
[easy-image-collage id=1333]
After the presentation, it was time for the galley tour and the whole theatre upped and left and headed to the Michelangelo Dining Room where we filed through the galley in a line. Very little activity going on in the actual galley but shiny stainless steel everywhere! Once out, we were among the bun fight that was the $10 dollar sale. It was heaving with people trying to pick up a bargain.
[easy-image-collage id=1334]
We met Jon after his tour and had our usual lunch from the International Cafe sat in Vines.
In the afternoon, Callum headed off to Kids Club whilst I packed our suitcases. Three needed to be put out before we went to dinner and just one held back so our evening clothes could be added. This was done just in time for the final Trivia Quiz in Explorers. I started us off int he quiz whilst Jon went to pick Callum up from Kids Club. They were late (9 questions in by the time they arrived) – hold up from kids choosing their rewards for Kids Club! Callum chose a Mighty (Bald) Eagle soft toy. We did OK on the quiz but very reassuring to know that we know as much (if not more!) about American history as our fellow US passengers!
Callum wanted to go to his final kids club evening. The buffet wasn’t open for dinner just yet (still serving afternoon tea) so he decided he would have a cheeseburger from the poolside grill (along with a cake and a cookie from afternoon tea for pudding!). When we returned to the cabin to get changed, Jon had received a delivery. Four group photos from the ship’s tour plus a silver effect photo frame, a Princess Dressing Gown and Apron and a personalised notepad! Hmmm … how to squeeze these into an already full suitcase! We managed it though.
Jon and I went for a drink in Vines to say goodbye to Arnie. He’s been brilliant – looking after Sir Jon and Mrs Karen. He’s also looked after Callum when he’s been with us, getting his mocktail, Shirley Temple (Sprite with Cherry Syrup flavour) or plain Sprite.
Dinner in Michelangelo – I had the crab and shrimp tian and Jon the Prawn Cocktail, Jon Beef Consomme and I had the Alaskan Seafood Broth. For mains I had the Kingklip fish and Jon the Curtis Stone Seafood Stew. Cheese & Biscuits for Jon and a Rhubarb dessert for me.
We had time for one final drink in Vines before collecting Callum from Kids Club and saying farewell to Rosa and Charity who’d done a great job of running the kids club between them.
Back to the cabin, final triple check that we had a full set of clothes and shoes for the next morning before putting the final case in the corridor. We didn’t want the embarrassment of not having shoes – or trousers! – at disembarkation!
