In the midst of dinner, the suave maitre’d at Sabatini’s restaurant grabs a silver bowl and a spoon as his instrument and breaks into a rendition of O Sole Mio. It’s a quintessential Love Boat moment that generations of guests on Princess Cruises have come to expect.
On the same evening, the band entertaining outside the bars around the central Piazza unexpectedly segues from a reggae song to hip hop and energetic singers and dancers suddenly start leaping and break dancing around the marble floor.
The big new Sky Princess highlights how Princess is appealing to its long tradition, while attracting a new generation looking for more tech and options on a cruise. Here are some immediate impressions:
Getting to the action is a snap with a tap
We’ve just boarded Sky Princess in Fort Lauderdale and even though she was officially launched in 2019, she’s still a new girl in town. She was only sailing briefly before being laid up during the prolonged lockdown and this cruise is one of the first where the 3,660-passenger ship is sailing with a nearly full guest contingent.
Despite the numbers getting on board, check-in is a snap because all the formalities including loading passport info and selfies on the Princess app can be done days in advance of arriving at the pier. Rather than a key card, there’s a Medallion that you can get by mail before your cruise that serves as your ID everywhere you are on the ship. Just tap it at the gangway and you’re good to go.
The Medallion is a game-changing innovation
A Princess innovation that saves a lot of fumbling for key cards, the Medallion that resembles a small photo locket, serves as your ID and entrée everywhere you are on ship.
Any time you’re within 10 feet of your stateroom door, the system reads the signal from the Medallion and unlocks the door. That’s handy when your have an armful of beach gear or a take-out cappuccino to juggle. But the biggest advantage is that you don’t have to sign for drinks or onboard activities. Sometimes even without having to tap it to a reader, a waiter can read on an order tablet what level of drinks package you have and can find you in a crowd to deliver drinks, snacks or other services you’ve ordered remotely.
The Medallion comes with a lanyard and many guests wear it it like a necklace, but it can also clip to a wrist band or be carried in a pocket or purse. One thing I discovered by accident is that the Medallions are magnetic, and will attract Canadian coins in your pocket (but not American ones or Euros). Because of that, Princess also cautions against wearing them around your neck if you have a pacemaker.
Sky Princess joins a growing number of Princess ships that have the Medallion Class technology, with more on the way. The system is really a game changing innovation.
However, the wi-fi still needs work. Princess boasts that their MedallionNet satellite wi-fi at $9,99 a day is the fastest at sea. And that may be true on mornings when everyone is off the ship on shore excursions. But on a sea day on this cruise, connection often bogged down, particularly in late afternoon when everyone is probably logged in at once to stream or post Instagrams before heading to dinner and shows.
Life revolves around The Piazza
The always-busy center of the ship is the multi-level atrium whose levels are connected by swirling floating staircases and glass-walled elevators. Entertainment here is pretty much non-stop from musicians, to dance lessons, kids’ games or acrobatic shows.
On the first evening out, there’s a huge champagne glass waterfall set up in the Piazza and guests are urged to get on the stage and pour from a bottle onto the cascade. It’s a guaranteed Instagram moment. The busiest bars on the ship are nearby. Bellini’s cocktail bar and the wine specialty bar Vines feature global arrays of brands and attract crowds throughout the day. Other attractions on the deck include the International Café, which serves coffee, snacks and desserts, and Gelato, with lavish frozen treats of course.
On other levels of the atrium, there’s a sushi bar, Alfredo’s pizzeria and a new Mediterranean-themed Bistro Sur la Mer. No matter when you arrive there always seems to be a place to sit around the Piazza that offers a panoramic view of the action.
Explore outside, there’s always more
Princess cruisers are a sun-loving group and the expansive Lido deck features two pools and three whirlpools within a centrally located deck filled with sun loungers. And there’s a third Retreat pool on Deck 17 and Wake View pool and the extra-charge Sanctuary at the rear of the ship with more places to plunge or lounge.
Notable on Princess is the lack of the big noisy attractions that are becoming common on upper decks of other ships. There’s no splash zone, no water slides, climbing walls or race course. The separate Teens and Youth zones are indoors on the same deck as the Retreat. There are thrills, though, and a fascinating glass floored SeaWalk that gives the impression you’re walking 14 decks above the water.
In the main Lido zone there’s generally a feature film or major sporting event being aired on the big screen. What with the complimentary burger bar and Slice pizza and soft ice cream shop Swirls, it’s a busy deck but there are enough loungers and tables in the shade to seldom feel overcrowded.
Move inside and you’re in an innovative complimentary food court, World Fresh Marketplace, where you can wander lanes that offer different international food options. Vegan and vegetarian have their own aisle, as do kid’s menu comfort foods, which are not surprisingly also popular with adults. And in the middle of it all is The Pastry Shop, which cruisers of any age will appreciate.
Care to enter the mind of a video gamer?
Entertainment is where you can really see Princess aiming for a young, tech-savvy crowd. The production show 5-SKIES, tries to simulate the world of virtual reality with music and special effects to match. The musical that debuted on Sky Princess follows “Gamer 1” outwitting challenges from demons and dragons and gaining powers and points in a quest to reach the magical fifth level of play to win top score–and presumably the love of the beautiful VR princess.
Another production show, Rock Opera features singers and dancers in a fantastic array of costumes and songs that ranges from classic rock, opera and musical theater in English, Spanish, Latin and even American Sign Language.
So there seems to be something to appeal to virtually everyone on board. We’re on Sky Princess for a week. There’s much more to experience. Stay tuned.
Story by Wallace Immen, The Cruisington Times
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