Hubby and I start to see others dressed to their nines and a few getting their formal pictures taken. We stand in a short line for a few minutes waiting for the dining room to open at 5:30pm. There are two lines for this dining venue. The right line is for reservations while the left line is for, you guessed it, non-reservations. Yes, we are standing in the left line. The doors open a few minutes early and we are immediately seated at a two-top table #218. Sweet!
I could get used to the wonderful service in this particular dining room on this particular ship. After being seated along with a white cloth napkin delicately draped onto my lap, I was handed a menu. I looked around and could see the waiters and their staff were ready to get started. The menus were different than the previous cruises we've been on. This year, 2015, marks the 50th anniversary for Princess. We get to take part in some special events which include the new dining menu. The other is the chocolate experience which I will get to in a moment.
The left side of the menu represents the typical Princess dining meals (e.g. appetizers, soups, salads, main courses and desserts. On the right side is the Princess 50th anniversary menu. Here they list the foods that were popular from the previous eras (60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, etc). (I would love to see all the old Princess cookbooks). The menu items/selection were spectacular. Luis, our headwaiter from Mexico, stopped by and introduced himself and went over the whole menu giving more attention to the 50th anniversary side. I let Hubby order for me which ended up being from the right side of the menu. Hubby even placed his order for dessert! Remember I had mentioned the chocolate experience in the previous paragraph? Luis then gave me a smaller copy of the 50th anniversary menu to keep. I think he was reading my mind as I was about to whip out my iPhone and start taking pictures of the menu selections. Yes, I have no filter when it comes taking pictures. Luis is now my favorite Princess person. Right up there with Angela from the future cruise desk.
Our meals came at a steady pace, but noticeably quicker than sitting at a larger table with a lot more people. I have to point out that the two-top tables are hard to get when dinner is in full swing. So the two-top tables are arranged in a row. Picture an extra, extra, extra long couch or lounger with tables placed every so many feet and then a chair in front of each table. Oh and lets place the tables six inches apart from each other. You have to have skinny thighs to shimmy between the tables. The next time I'm in this dining venue, I'll take a quick picture.
Oh yeah, back to our meals. Can we say divine? Can we say we'll be checking the dining menu every day when it gets posted?
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| The special 50th Anniversary Menu (1st formal night) |
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| Description of the special menu |
As each meal was placed and presented in front of us, I whipped out my iPhone to document the beauty, the colors, and the presentation. Hubby has a smile on his face. I can't tell if it's from the meal he's about to consume or he thinks it's funny that I'm snapping pictures like a kid who hasn't seen a fancy meal before. I hope it's the former and not the latter.
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| Duck Terrine, Apricot Preserves, brioche, and Porcini Mushroom Cappuccino Soup |
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| Panache of Greens, Balsamic & Walnut Vinaigrette (rosemary flatbread, goat cheese & olive tapenade) |
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| Blueberry Mojito Sorbet |
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| Filet of Turbot, Truffle Chive Sauce, and potato & celeriac mousseline |
I have pictures I can't post yet. I know what I ate, but can't remember the names from the menu. I can tell you about the dessert. Think raspberry mousse with creme brûlée. Now take it up a notch and picture this: a red heart shaped dessert wrapped along the edges with raspberry mousse strips topped with red raspberry sauce with a single raspberry fruit floating on top. Oh and a dark chocolate decoration behind the raspberry fruit. Ready to hear what's inside? I carefully took my spoon and cut into this beautiful dessert. Inside were layers of creme brûlée, with thin layers of what appeared to be cake with a dark chocolate base. The whole heart shaped dessert was sitting on top of a heart shaped shortbread. The dessert left me speechless.... Oh and did I mentioned when our desserts arrived at our table, the other couples dining around us...well..."gasped" at the same time? Our two-top table immediately become a six-top as the other couples were commenting about our beautiful dessert.
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| Chocolate Raspberry Mousse w/Vanilla Creme Brûlée and crunchy shortbread |
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| Two bites into this beautiful dessert...can you see the scrumptious layers? |
Our wonderful dining experience took about an hour and a half. As we left the dining room, we came across the champagne waterfall that was being built. The crew was just wetting the glasses down.
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| Lovely setup with the Ruby red liquid in the glasses |
As I took the picture I then noticed the shape of how the glasses were stacked. Normally it's more rounded. Love the red liquid that was poured in each glass. Nice touch Ruby!
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| Looks a lot larger from this perspective |
We wandered around the ship and by this time I noticed many fellow cruisers were in their formal attire. We stopped in the Princess Theater to listen to a singer who we later find out will be in the upcoming talent show on TV. The TV program name escapes me for the moment. We head back to our cabin and change from formal wear to casual wear. We are on our way to catch a movie on MUTS. I think a pattern is developing as I can't remember the name of the movie. Did I mention about the wonderful dessert we had for dinner?
Oh yeah...Tonight's Movie at MUTS: The Giver
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