Monday, September 3, 2018

Planks and Steamers on Caribbean Princess


We fought it as long as we could. 

When we boarded the ship over two weeks ago our plan was to walk off after three weeks with no balance due. We booked these super-cheap cruises so late that we didn't have any promotions tied to the bookings. But we did have some of the onboard credit that comes with future cruise deposits, a small amount of additional bonus onboard credit, and the $100 loyalty credit per cruise segment. It was all enough to cover the gratuities for both of us for three weeks. Plus a couple shirts for hubby at the 2 for $20 t-shirt sale. No drinks, no other shopping, and no specialty dining would ensure we walked away from the ship with no charges.

But these Planks and Steamers restaurants have been peaking our interest. Then Vickie and Bernie from http://vickieandbernietravel.blogspot.com/ were on the ship a couple weeks ago and talked about Planks and Steamers. She had written about their visit on her blog, too. So we finally took the plunge tonight and paid a whopping $12 each for our meal. Boy, it was a bargain for the amount of food we received. And the flavor? Yummy yum yum.

We ate on the Planks side but they allowed us to mix and match from the two restaurants. Here's what we got for $24 total.

Welcome starters from the Planks side: Chipotle BBQ meatballs and honey and bacon-cheddar cornbread with jalapeno-honey butter and pimento cheese

From Steamers: Tomato-Lime Ceviche with breads and sun-dried tomato-cream cheese and smoked salmon spread
Look at the bacon in that cornbread.
Next up, appetizers. We chose both from the Steamers side.
Caesar Salad and Clam and Smoked Ham Chowder

Main courses:
From Planks: You can order four different meats. If you want to want to double up on a meat and not choose four different ones, you can. We went with smoked kielbasa, ribs, and a double order of chili-spiced roasted tri-tip. It also came with wedge-cut fries, 3-bean chili, slaw, toast, dill pickles, and two different BBQ sauces.

From Steamers:
We went with the Fried Seafood Platter. It had fried torpedo shrimp, battered haddock, fishcakes, carrot and raisin salad, fries, and tarter sauce, cocktail sauce, and ketchup.

For dessert we went from just the Steamers side. Strawberry shortcake and key lime pie in a jar.

I probably should have taken a picture after we were finished eating. But you probably wouldn't notice we had finished because we left so much food behind. Again, all of this for $24 total!

The highlights of the meal included the jalapeno-honey butter, the Caesar salad (hubby loved the capers on it), the ribs and tri-tip, and the haddock and the shrimp. I think the desserts were a tie for what was the best. So basically everything was delicious.

If you want more detail about our menu items or want to know what else is offered, here are the menus for both places.





I'm totally okay we went over our budget by a whole $24. 


Caribbean Princess Sea Day, September 3, 2018

Hello from the balcony of Caribbean Princess.
Well, it looks like the storm that chased us away from Princess Cays yesterday is now Tropical Storm Gordon and is hitting Florida as we speak. And Tropical Storm Florence is gaining strength as she moves in from the Atlantic. It appears we will be dodging both; although if we decide to stay for one more cruise we may see some impact.

This week is also the one year anniversary of Hurricane Irma hitting the Caribbean. We will visiting two of the islands devastated by her - St. Thomas and St. Maarten - in the next couple days. It's a bit somber for us. We were on both islands before the hurricane and then revisited them two cruises back so we know the destruction that still remains. We also remember visiting New Orleans less than a year after Katrina. It's not easy to start over.

Today was another work day for me. I did take a little break where I learned something new. Towel animals! Our cabin steward was kind enough to show me how to make some so I can turn around and show you in a future Tutorial Tuesday video. I still need some lots of practice before I can show them off but I am pleased with the little doggie I made.

Tonight is formal night and we won't be joining the dressed up folks. We are planning on going to Planks for dinner instead. We'll be wearing the nicest clothes we have with us, which means we will actually wear pants and not shorts for a change. I'll do a separate post when we get back from dinner.

Medallion™ Update:
To make the progression of the roll-out more clear I've grouped the posts by week. Today we're talking about MedallionNet
™.

 You can find the post here on the Sept 1-8 update page.
August 18-25 updates can be found here.
August 25-Sept 1 updates can found here.

Encouraging Word Money Pocket Drop Off:
Left at Salty Dog Grill.

Tomorrow is St. Thomas. Since we didn't stop in Princess Cays we are arriving earlier than planned. We now will be there from 8:00 am to 9:30 pm. Yay and double yay!

As usual, if you have any questions or comments, please click on the envelope icon at the top right of this screen.