Entertainment and Dining on Caribbean Princess

On a cold sea day when pool decks mostly served as shortcuts to the buffet, we recognized the necessity to arrive at the Princess Theater early to snag seats for the much touted cook-off between the Executive Chef and Maitre d' Hotel.

Announcements trumpeted the credentials of the Maitre d'Hotel, who is in charge of restaurant service, as the illogical favorite over the man actually in charge of cooking all the meals, in what would be a taste battle royale.

When the show began, the Maitre d' enterred to great fanfare, flanked by two beautiful young ladies whom he claimed to be ex-wives, and we knew this was to be at least as much comedy as cooking.

The standing room only audience enjoyed the show throughout, and perhaps some learned how to prepare the dishes the Exectuive Chef whipped up.  In any case, we all shared a plenty of giggles and a few guffaws during this good-natured show.

While this daytime show attracted more viewers than seats could accommodate, we never had trouble getting good seats for the nighttime entertainment in the Princess Theater, including for production shows,

"Bravo," a brand new Princess Cruises extravaganza performed by a new cast who boarded the ship with us in Brooklyn, blew away the crowd.

To a great extent, "Bravo" simply featured terrific singers belting out show-stopping songs rather than extensively staged and costumed dance scenes, but after the standing ovations, many attendees called it the best show they'd ever seen on a cruise.

Princess scheduled three performances of their production shows, and we selected to attend the 7 PM pre-dinner show each time.  As we left the theater, we found people already lining up for the 8:30 show.

We were on open dining, without assignment of early or late seating, and that for us translated into usually having dinner at about 8:20, because we also like having appetizers at the Platinum Member Happy Hour in Skywalkers between 5 and 7.  By opening our schedule during the peak dining time for "anytime" diners and before assigned early diners usually finished full meals, we never had any problem sitting exactly where we wanted in the Princess Theater for production shows.  Similarly, we had no trouble getting seats for guest performers at the late show when there were only two performances scheduled.

In nightclub venues like Explorer's Lounge with more limited seating and views, a good tip to remember would be to get seats early, as many guests will relax with drinks beginning long before the show begins.


Also new on the entertainment front, Princess recently added "The Voice of the Ocean," complete with the spinning red chairs for the judges.

Because the finale in the Princess Theater was naturally one performance only, it drew a full house at 8 PM, but without arriving excessively early, we once again had no trouble getting seats, although we did shift our dinner time to attend. People who arrived late for that show might have been out of luck.

We had watched the preliminary rounds of "The Voice" and were pleasantly surprised by the improvement in several performers, who were all fellow passengers.  If you can sing, you should try out on your next Princess cruise.

Crew member Derek Floyd, who sang regularly at Crooners Lounge, also had a night in the spotlight at the Princess Theater, performing his tribute to Lionel Richie, which brought the house down with his energetic performance.


There are several genres of music for listening and/or dancing in assorted venues.

At the outset of the cruise in Brooklyn, we watched a Paul McCartney concert in lounge chairs at the Calypso Pool's Movies Under the Stars before sail away.  Concerts and movies are regularly shown on that screen and in the Princess Theater,  where on a sea day I watched "Captain Fantastic," a rather strange movie that I doubt I would have seen otherwise but proved to be thought provoking.


Of course, the dining experience is an important part of the cruise experience, and we thoroughly enjoyed every meal on Caribbean Princess.  I always especially savor the opportunity to enjoy great sea food, including fresh New England lobster, in the dining room.  Almost every day at lunch I included some Indian curried dishes on my large plate.

Returning home from the cruise to once again notice that we'd lost weight despite eating what seemed like huge portions of delicious food including desserts throughout the cruise, I came to the realization that the seeming incongruity can best be attributed to all those delicious vegetable dishes, including my favorite Indian sides.

Getting back to the cooking demonstration, the audience had the opportunity to tour the galley afterwards, and most of us went to see where the magic is made.

It's comforting to see all that gleaming clean stainless steel for ourselves and know the delicious food is meticulously prepared with the highest standards of cleanliness.