Caribbean Princess Galley Information

The Caribbean Princess has two main galleys one for each specialty restaurant.   There's also one fully equipped Lido Galley which produces the variety of offerings in the Horizon Court (buffet).

The food comes from all over the world.  Fine cheeses come from Italy, England, US, Scandinavia, and France.  Selected beef, fresh fruit and vegetables from California and Florida.  For each cruise, the ship's shopping list consists of 110 to 115 tons of food that's delivered to the ship.

There are storekeepers, butchers, and fish and vegetable preparation specialists use their skills to ensure that the proper items and amounts are prepared and transported to the galley on time.

In the galleys, teams of chefs, cooks, and pantrymen use their skills to turn the raw food into some beautiful and delicious meals.

Here are the different areas and their stats.  Enjoy!

Fish Preparations:  there are three butchers
- Avg amount of fish prepared daily:  1,700

Meat Preparation:  five butchers and three assistants slice and portion beef and poultry.  Team of twelve complete the preparation
- Avg amounts of meats cooked daily:
  -  Poultry:  1,400 lbs
  -  Beef:  1,700 lbs
  -  Pork/Pork Products:  1,400 lbs
  -  Veal:  300 lbs
  -  Lamb:  200 lbs

Garde Manger (cold kitchen):  eleven crew members work in this area
- Avg amount of salad served daily:  1,600 lbs
- Avg amount of shrimps used daily:  400 lbs
- Avg amount of mayonnaise used daily:  13 gallons
- Avg amount of sandwiches made daily:  1,500 each

Soups, Pastas, and Vegetables:  thirteen members of the galley crew work to prepare in this area
- Avg amount of pastas made daily:  500 lbs
- Avg amount of potatoes cooked daily:  2,700 lbs
- Avg amount of vegetables cooked daily:  2,500 lbs
- Avg amount of soups made daily:  550 gallons

Bakery:  ten bakers produce the following from scratch daily
- Sweet rolls
- Croissants
- Bread sticks
- Pizzas
- Bread rolls
- Vol-au-Vents
- Biscuits
- Avg amount of flour used daily:  1,500 lbs

Pastry shop:  thirteen people during the day and four during the night work in this area
- Avg amount of assorted pastries prepared daily:  6,000
- Avg amount of ice cream prepared daily:  100 gallons
- Avg amount of cakes and pies served daily:  300

Fruit and Cheese Pantry:  six members of the galley crew prepare in this area
- Avg amount of cheese used daily:  400 lbs
- Avg amount of fresh fruits served daily:  6,000 lbs

Coffee Pantry:  team of three keeps the automatic coffee and expresso machines working during the meal times
- Avg amount of coffee consumed daily:  470 gallons
- Avg amount of coffee cream consumed daily:  62 gallons
- Avg amount of sugar consumed daily:  400 lbs

Dishwashing:  fifty-seven people working continuously throughout the ship's galley pre-washing, sorting, and feeding a constant stream of china, glasses, silver, pots and pans into the dishwashing machines
- Avg amount of dishes washed daily:  70,000
- Avg amount of glasses washed daily:  21,500


Whew!  What do you think of these amazing stats?

Sunday (01/26): Heading Home

We wake up around 6:30am. We're supposed to meet our Princess transfer down in the lobby at 8am to take us to the airport. We shower, pack our essentials and check out a few minutes before our meeting time. Our limo arrives. Yes, limo! We are heading to IAH for our flight home. Oh joy! I'm still feeling pretty bad. The good thing is I don't have take any additional medicine as the one I took last night is still working.

Once we check our luggage in and go through security, we head over to a cute diner called Ruby's. We order our breakfast and I only eat less than 2/3 of my meal. Hubby is looking at me. He knows me well. I tend to clean my plate. That's the way I was brought up. I tell him I'll be fine. I just need a nap.

Once we boarded our plane, I settled into my middle seat with Hubby by the window. Now, I normally don't like the middle seat, but I splurged and upgraded to economy plus with the additional leg room. When Hubby is happy, I'm happy. He had a few inches of extra leg room. I'm also happy because I don't feel like a sardine.

I don't remember too much about taxing towards the runway. But when we started to take off, I said a quick prayer like I normally do and then I was out like a light. Our return flight was only 2 hours and 20 minutes long. I woke up to order water from the flight attendant. Stayed up long enough to finish it. Then I was out again. I woke up with my head against Hubby's arm. I heard an announcement that we were beginning our decent. Hubby opened the plane's window shade and we could see a blanket of white snow below us. It was beautiful!

I had reserved a shuttle to take us home. After two other drop-offs we were finally home.

I will be back with additional posts and pictures from our trip. I will also be updating some previous posts. As I am now reviewing my blog, I realize I have missed a few things about our adventure. I have so many pictures taken from 4 different cameras. Each camera served a purpose. One for snorkeling, one for beach and water, one for carrying around the ship, and my pro camera that stayed on the ship. There were days when it dawned on me that I had taken pictures with this one particular camera. Yes, it can get overwhelming but it's worth it to share our adventure with you.

Stay tuned and I will keep you updated.

Saturday (01/25): Back in Houston and Some Cruising Thoughts

I was up early around 4am. The first thing I noticed was how quiet our cabin was. The ship was calm as well. This could mean two things: we're anchored in the Gulf because of fog or we're actually gliding in the channel heading into port. I went back to sleep and Hubby woke me up at 6am for our last breakfast on the ship. He told me we were heading into port. Good sign! We will disembark on time.

It was busy in the buffet area. I skipped the oatmeal and went for the blueberry french toast. Also had a nice and runny fried egg with smoked salmon and capers. Oh yeah, a friendly chocolate croissant jumped onto my plate. :)

Back in our cabin, we took a quick nap. Between yesterday's lunch and this morning, I've developed a little tickle in my throat. The ship was noticeably colder even in the dining areas. No worries. I'm glad we were both healthy during our cruise the last two weeks. I'm rather surprised we didn't catch a cold during the first week when we were in Belize getting chilled on the boat ride back from our snorkeling adventure. It was meant to be and we are thankful.

We had to be out of our cabin by 8am. We gathered our belongings and did a final pack in our cabin. I said goodbye to my towel animal friends. Hubby said goodbye to our cabin D220. We found Woodie, our cabin steward. We gave him a small gift, thanking him for his wonderful service. We slowly made our way down to the Promenade deck 7. Our group, Green 2, was to meet in the Explorer's Lounge. Our disembarkation time was scheduled for 9:25am. I am extremely tired and also sad to be leaving a wonderful cruise.

I have read many reviews of the Princess ships over the years. Some ships are just average and a few are memorable. What makes the ship memorable? It's the crew. It's the officers. Back when the CB was based in San Juan a few years ago, the great reviews were based on having a great crew on the ship. That intrigued me. When the opportunity arose to sail on the Caribbean Princess with a Western itinerary, I couldn't resist and booked the B2B. The only hesitation I had was leaving from the Port of Houston. Just a minor inconvenience.

The Caribbean Princess is a beautiful ship and has it's own personality. As I mentioned in a previous post back in December, we have sailed on several other Princess ships. The CB was built a bit different than the other Grand class ships we've been on. The beautiful Skywalker's sits high in the back of the ship. Providing a wonderful view and perspective. The main areas of deck 6 and deck 7 are nicely laid out with more cozy areas to read or meet people. I found two comfy lounge areas: one outside of Churchill's Cigar Lounge (when not in use) and one on the port side. The Internet Cafe and the Library are combined into one area. I thought that was an efficient use of space. The Vines Bar is much bigger on this ship and tastefully decorated. It's a great meeting place when waiting for the dining room to open or dine on the pastries and coffee from the International Cafe.

Here's the lounge area outside of Churchill's:


We are sitting in the Explorer's Lounge and it's now 9:23am. They are still disembarking on the Red color. I assume Immigration is slow this morning.


Five minutes later, our color is called. With our cruise card in hand, we are scanned for the last time as we exit the ship. It's cold outside. We quickly walk down the gangway and into the Bayport terminal. We are directed to the luggage holding area and find our green color and then our 3 pieces of luggage. We grab our luggage and proceed to a long Immigration line. I have our passports and Immigration form ready. We noticed another couple was having a heated argument. Actually it was a one-sided argument in which the husband was cursing. Apparently, the wife had packed their passports in their luggage. She was on the floor with their luggage open and clothes everywhere. After she found their passports, the husband was still cursing loudly. So sad to be that way. So sad that he could not stop to help her! Okay, I'm going to say this once. I would have left that dude at home! Okay, I'm done. Where was I?

After going though Immigration, I find a Princess rep and ask where is our transfer to the Four Season Houston. She directs me to a line that is waiting for busses. I ask a port rep about going to the FSH. She has no clue. She told me to take one of the buses to IAH (airport) and then get a shuttle to the hotel. I told her a big NO! That's not part of the package. Another port rep came to my rescue. She told me to stand in a new line for the FSH and she would find me transportation. Much better. At this point my coughing has become persistent. Uh oh! Not a good sign! We're standing in the sunshine, but it's 36 degrees outside. Brrrr!

They finally find a bus for us. We are sharing the bus with the our fellow cruisers who are heading to Hobby Airport. We give our luggage to the bus driver who then places them in a separate holding area under the bus. Not to be confused with those getting off at Hobby. I make a mental note of this. Thirty minutes later, we drop off the Hobby Airport folks and then proceed to the hotel. I give our bus driver a little token of our appreciation. For not mistakenly take our luggage off at Hobby. FYI. I've read reviews on other cruise lines where this has happened.

Upon entering the lobby at Four Seasons, we are greeted by Starlyn. She gives me a welcome back hug and our Princess letter. She also has a tiny envelope for me. We chat about out cruise experience. She apologizes about the start of our cruise and having to wait for the disembarkation. We told her no worries. I hand her a small gift of appreciation that I picked up on the cruise and thanked her for her help. Unfortunately, when there have been issues with the CB coming in late or leaving late, she gets the brunt of the cruisers pointing their fingers at her. Folks, it's just not right. How can she control the weather or the noro? We part ways as Starlyn has a large group of upcoming cruisers (61!) who are ready to board a bus and get their cruise started.

I am a wreck. I am starting to feel sick big time. We check in and head up to our room on the 15th floor. I put our valuables in the safe. Hubby thinks I should eat something. We head over to Phoenicia across the street. How weird for me being a foodie and all that I can't find anything that appeals to me at this market. Hubby is being patient with me. He finally realizes that I'm not even looking at the pastries and cakes...I must be coming down with something. I finally settle on a veggie pizza. We pay for our lunch and head back to the warmth of our hotel room.

I take a nap, but that doesn't help much. Hubby remembers a CVS a few blocks away. We head back out with me bundled up. It's 60 degrees, but I'm not feeling it. We find the CVS and stock up on what I need to take care of me now and to survive the plane trip home.

I told Hubby I needed chicken noodle soup. Most of the restaurants and cafes are closed for the weekend in downtown Houston. There are only homeless people and beggars among the tourists and the regulars who live in the downtown area. It's really weird here. Even with Hubby, I still feel unsafe walking around. We head straight for our hotel and the restaurant called Quattros. After scanning the menu, I don't see the soup I want. I ask the waitress if I can somehow get chicken noodle soup. Hubby then told her that I was starting to catch a cold. She came back immediately and said the chef would make it for me. Now, that's service!

I devour the soup and bread our waitress provides. Yes, I forgot to take that foodie picture again! Stomach over mind. I thank our waitress for the wonderful meal. Hubby and I head back up to our room to hunker down for the evening. I tried to do a last minute repacking as in redistributing the weight between 3 suitcases. Then I give up. I don't care. I'm tired and not feeling well. Hubby tells me to go soak in the tub with hot water. I have to say that the Four Seasons bathroom is devine. Instead of shower curtains they have shower doors. That means I can also create a sauna-like environment in the tub!

After my soak, I find a thick terry cloth robe. I had a good laugh at myself. The robe size was like XL on me. You get the picture! By this time, it was 7pm and I took my medicine. Comfy and cozy under the covers, I tried to read a book on my Kindle. My eyelids were getting quite heavy. ZZZZZzzzzzzzz!

Some where in between my dozing in and out of sleep, we get a phone call. Hubby is still up and answers the phone. The front desk is checking on me and making sure I have everything I need. How cool is that?! ZZZZZzzzzzzzz!

Friday (01/24): Last Cruising Day at Sea

** I forgot to mention an important update on our ship. Last night during our formal dinner, the salt and pepper shakers appeared on the table along with the bread baskets. The Noro-virus alert has been lifted. Yeah! That means some of the crew can go back to their normal duties on the ship. Now, back to our normal post. **

OMG! We woke up to a lot of motion. As in ship motion. I tried to walk a few feet in our cabin, but kept bumping into things. This is our last sea day. Our last day of cruising. After an early morning breakfast, I left Hubby in the cabin while I went exploring around the ship one last time.

The temperature today was 60 degrees with 21 knot winds blowing across the deck. The wind was blowing from the starboard side. I tried to get out onto the Promenade deck to take some pictures of the waves. Pushing the door into the wind was difficult. My pro camera almost got smashed into the door. The doors would just slam back into the ship.

The swells were around 4 ft to 7.5 ft:

Looking at the starboard side as the ship is cutting into the water:

:

We're sailing in the Gulf and passing the oils rigs every now and then:

I stopped by Club Fusion where they had a Zumba class:

I ended up taking a galley tour:

I went up to Lido deck 15 to see what kind of pool activities were going on. Not much, just a lot of pool water sloshing around at the Calypso pool:

I took this picture in the early morning before they put the net over the pool:

Here's what one of pools normally looks like in calm seas:

I took a break from wandering around and headed back to the cabin to start packing. Good thing as it started to rain. My intent was to pack one suit case at a time. Each of the three suit cases had an owner: Hubby, Me, and Extras. Hubby knows to stay out of my way when I get into the packing zone. Our cabin looks like a tornado came through:

After an hour of packing, I was tired and needed some food to get energized again. We headed up to Horizons for our last lunch on the ship. We were in for a treat. One of the crew members mentioned to me that they were having a sweet surprise over at Cafe Caribe. Here's what we saw:

Strawberry shortcake:

A chocolate delight!

Delicious pineapple cake:

A tower of chocolate cream puffs!

One of the chefs and a crew member decided to ham it up for me:

Can you tell the Chef really enjoys his creations? Another crew member told me to submit this picture to corporate Princess and see what I get. I just might take them up on that offer.

After lunch, we walked around a bit and noticed it was chilly throughout the ship and still rocking from the waves. By now, I'm used to the rocking motion. I heard a fellow cruiser mention "it's like walking around the ship like a drunk, but without the alcohol". I had a good laugh!

Back in the cabin, I finished packing around 6pm. That was after we showered and put our toiletries and the rest of our clothes in the suitcases. We left out our warm weather clothes to wear tomorrow and a few essentials for the evening (e.g. toothbrush, toothpaste, etc). After I put the colored tags on our luggage, Hubby puts them out in the hallway for the crew to pick up and take to the belly of the ship. Sometime tomorrow morning, we'll see them in the terminal.

For our last evening meal, we decided to go to Vines. We select our wines and are offered free tapas and sushi for our meal. ** Note: I will be back to post pictures of this venue and the wine offerings. **

We decided to stay in the cabin for the rest of the night. Normally, we would to up to MUTS to watch a movie. I went up to the Lido deck to get some bags of popcorn. While up there, it was a ghost town. I headed over to MUTS where a movie was playing, but no one was watching it. It was cold! I noticed the bored deck attendants wore their heavy jackets. I spoke to a passing crew member who was from the Ukraine. He said this was warm in comparison to what he's used to back in his home country. I believe him!

Life is good back in our cabin and munching on popcorn, but we're a bit sad. The last evening of our cruise. Now, I tell Hubby that 14 days on a ship is not long enough....

Thursday (01/23): At Sea and Other Things!

Where has all our cruising days gone? Here we are with just two more days of cruising. We received our dreaded disembarkation letter and tags this morning. I should start packing. At least I thought about it.

After an early breakfast (6am!) and a quick morning nap, we went up to the top deck to spend some quiet time in Skywalker's. Much to our surprise, it was crowded and noisy! I found a spot, port side overlooking the kiddie pool area. There were multiple activities going on: knitters and knitters, beginner ballroom dance lessons, and various groups chatting at the same time. Yikes! Our secret is out! Hubby tried to get some studying done. I tried to type my blog posts. I also tried getting onto the Internet to upload my posts. It wasn't going to happen this morning.

After two hours, we gave up our spot in Skywalker's. My head was throbbing from the dance music. Unfortunately the spot I chose for us to sit was next to the speakers. On our way down to Dolphin deck 9, we stopped by the Horizon buffet on Lido deck 15. We were hungry, again. I took a few steps into the buffet area and noticed a lot of similarities. Like deja vu from early this morning. Then it hit me that the tail end of breakfast was still being served. I checked my watch and it was 11:27am. I did not want second breakfast. I wanted to eat lunch. I was good. I ended up with a chocolate croissant (carbs!) and a couple of pineapple and melon slices. Hubby called this meal "elevensies". If I didn't hear that phrase right, please correct me.

After our quick snack, we noticed the crew was changing out the buffet from breakfast to lunch. I checked my watch again and it's was 11:35am. We'll catch our next meal somewhere else.

Since we were still on Noro-alert, both buffet areas have been open. For some strange reason, there has been lots of fellow cruisers eating in the buffet for breakfast and lunch. We've noticed the longer lines. At the same time, Cafe Caribe has been closed for breakfast and lunch and opened only for dinner. Yes, we were handed our silverware wrapped in a cloth napkin and a plate. Yes, the crew still served us in the buffet area. Yes, we used salt/pepper packets. Yes, we were not allowed to get our own drinks (water, hot tea, ice, etc) from the drink station. We're basically not allowed to touch anything in the buffet area while the Noro-alert is still active. I was perfectly happy with this as I preferred not to be sick on the cruise.

I dropped Hubby off in our cabin and went down to the lower decks to check out the afternoon activities. I also wanted to see if I could find a pouch for Hubby's new gadget.

New gadget? What new gadget? No worries. Hubby has been looking at a GoPro. Like for the last two years. Last year, we almost bought one in Ft Lauderdale. But something told me to hold off. I checked the reviews and it wasn't favorable. Gut feeling has never failed me. A few days ago, we had been wandering around the photo gallery and saw their GoPro display. I checked the specs and I knew it was the right model to get. You know that gut feeling? I have never been wrong about my gut feeling for gadgets. Hubby wanted me check the prices and the reviews. But my gut feeling says a big YES! No tax and no shipping fee. Another Yes!

Since Hubby did not share my gut feeling, I decided to do some research on the Internet. We each have an Internet account on the ship. Thanks to our Platinum status, we each get free minutes on each cruise. Not unlimited minutes, just 150 free minutes each. I decided we should burn through his minutes for the research.

Well, you know the results. I've been testing this cute little camera around the ship. That's my task as a gadget queen. I must say, I enjoy that task quite a bit. Conclusion: it's an awesome gadget! One of the ship's photographer, Hice from the Philippines, gave me a quick demo. He answered all my questions...which he kept saying "now, that's a good question". Yes, I have a checklist of questions that applies to any potential gadget purchase. Hice was very knowledgeable and very personable. I made a mental note to write up a recommendation for him. More on that later.

Photo Gallery area:

Princess sells Nikon cameras onboard. Yes, there's a big huge smile plastered on my face. They also sell the new Nikon 1 AW1 underwater camera. Yes, I checked that one out and it's quite heavy. It would need a heavy duty float strap to make that baby float. No, I do not need another Nikon and I'm perfectly happy with my reliable AW100 and P7100 cameras. Still, it was good to see the latest models and try them out. After all, I'm a gadget queen.

Wow! Did I digress! Back to my At Sea post!

I wandered around the ship on decks 5, 6, and 7. The huge Piazza atrium was in full swing. On Promenade deck 7, the staff was blowing up balloons and throwing them into the net. Later tonight, they will have a balloon drop. Oh, I forgot to mention that tonight is formal night.

Hubby wanted to get dressed for formal night. I was in the mood to be lazy and content in my t-shirt, shorts, and flip-flops. Hubby also wanted to eat in the Coral dining room. We dressed in our nines and went down to the Piazza atrium and then to dinner. I'm glad we went as I was able to get my favorite Princess meal: Fettuccine Alfredo.

And for dessert, we had chocolate hazelnut soufflé!

Here's mine with amaretto cream sauce. Yes, it was delish!

Lovely way to end a beautiful sea day!

Wednesday (01/22): Belize and It's Sunny!

I've been fortunate to have access to WiFi from our cabin. I have a strong signal in the bedroom area, in the sitting room area, and on our balcony. That's a big thumbs up and improvement from last year where I had to sit by the cabin door to get a lame signal.

The first few days into our B2B cruise, I could get the strong WiFi signal but no login screen. I figured out the trick and it's been working like a charm!

We are in Belize today. The weather is so clear that we can see Belize City in the distance (4 miles away). That's how far we are anchored along with the Carnival Glory and NCL Norwegian Jewel ships.




Belize is an unusual tender port. Many of the cruise lines have to use the Belize taxi tenders to come ashore. One, the ship's small tender boats are not powerful and would take a long time to get from ship to shore. Two, the Belize taxi tenders are much more bigger and powerful. They can carry a large amount of cruisers to their port in a short amount of time.

Hubby and I decided not to tender into Belize today. Our daily Princess Patter forecasted a partly cloudy day with showers. Boy, were they wrong! It was a beautiful sunny day to be on the ship. We decided to go work out in the gym while other fellow cruisers where lining up on deck 3 to take the Belize taxi tenders to the port. We practically had the gym to ourselves.

Back in our cabin, we freshened up and went to the dining room for breakfast. Our first time in years. We were curious. After spending 1-1/2 hours in the dining room, we decided that wasn't our cup of tea. The breakfast buffet is more our speed and the selection is better than in the dining room. I can get my oatmeal, fried egg, smoked salmon and capers, and pineapple and be done in 20 minutes.

Since we were one of the few on the ship, we decided to check out one of the many pools. This was the first time we've used a pool onboard since we've been cruising with Princess. There's a first time for everything. The pools onboard Princess are filled with freshwater. Many of the other cruise lines use saltwater in their pools. We ended up at the Calypso pool which is also where the Movies Under the Stars (MUTS) is located. There were a handful of fellow cruisers lounging nearby. The pool water was cold! Hubby and I sat at the edge for awhile and then took the plunge. It was bone-chilling cold! We did a few quick laps and then headed to the hot tub nearby. We watched and listened to the Barry Manilow concert on MUTS. The sun was intense up on the Lido deck. Between the hot tub and the sun, I was sure I was hot flashing.

We enjoyed our quiet time on the ship. It was one of those days that should not be spent inside. So, we spent a lovely afternoon out on our balcony:

Tuesday (01/21): Roatan, Honduras and Maya Key Snorkeling Pictures (part 3)

As I mentioned in the previous post, I thoroughly enjoyed snorkeling at Maya Key. It reminded me of the many times we had snorkeled off of Klein Bonaire. There we did "drift snorkeling". No guides and no crowds. No worries.

Maya Key has a beautiful reef with lots of beautiful coral and a variety of colorful fish. One could snorkel for hours (like we did) and not get tired of the endless beauty.

Hubby and I swam and snorkeled to the edge of the reef before it dropped off into the dark blue waters. When I popped my head up to see where we were, the gazebo/pier was tiny. We swam through areas of warm and cold water. We saw several groups of fish huddled around the coral. Some I had not seen before in our many years of snorkeling.

The following pictures were taken by Hubby. He is a great underwater photographer. He is patient and daring at the same time. He will dive to get that Kodak moment. Enjoy!

See the gazebo/pier in the distance? That's what I saw while snorkeling the outer edge of the reef: