How the Latest Princess Cruises Ship Upgrades The F&B Expertise

Princess Cruises is the OG of the fashionable cruise business. Not solely did it launch practically 60 years in the past, its star rose sharply within the late Nineteen Seventies when its Pacific Princess ship was forged within the tv present The Love Boat. The favored sequence, which ran from 1977 to 1986, launched new generations to the world of cruising and to the Princess model.

The Santa Clarita, CA-based firm right this moment boasts 16 ships throughout the fleet that carry thousands and thousands of friends every year to 330 locations across the globe. It’s charting a brand new course with its newest and largest ship, the Solar Princess.

The 177,882-ton, 4,300-guest Solar Princess, which launched within the Mediterranean this previous February, is the primary within the line’s Sphere class ship and billed as a “next-level Love Boat.” Along with its measurement and revamped aesthetics, Princess has stepped up its food and beverage program with the Solar.

The ship gives 30 new and signature eating and lounge choices together with celeb collaborators, high-end components and distinctive culinary experiences. “Solar Princess is the best foodie vacation spot at sea,” boasts Sami Kohen, the cruise line’s vice chairman of meals and beverage.

As an example, Good Spirits at Sea with Rob Floyd gives destination-inspired cocktail creations from celeb mixologist Rob Floyd. The Catch by Rudi is a chic dinner idea specializing in seafood from famend Chef Rudi Sodamin, who serves as head of culinary arts for Princess.

The Butcher’s Block by Dario is a specialty meat-centric pop-up restaurant from famed butcher Dario Cecchini, whereas Makoto Ocean by Chef Makoto Okuwa takes a artistic method to conventional sushi.

The beverage program has been upgraded as nicely. “We’ve got greater than 218 cocktails on board, which had been simply launched for the Solar Princess,” says Carlos Justina, the ship’s director of meals and beverage. Each completely different venue has its personal cocktails, “and the designs of the drinks, the garnishes, are all about high-level high quality,” he notes.

Intriguing vessels

Princess additionally invested in distinctive cocktail glassware and tableware for the Solar. For instance, The Blowfish rum punch cocktail on the Wakeview bar is available in a glass vessel formed like a blowfish and is garnished with fruit and edible flowers.

The Watering The Backyard drink on the Cascade Bar, made with strawberry-infused Hendrick’s gin, Pimm’s, elderflower, lime and basil, arrives in a small brass watering can. It’s then poured right into a rocks glass over a big infused ice sphere.

The Wheelhouse bar’s Ship In A Bottle, a large-format drink made with whiskey, tea and port wine, is introduced in a glass cylindrical vessel, with a miniature ship inside: You don’t get to see the ship till a lot of the drink is poured out.

The Revenge of The Kraken, additionally on the Wheelhouse, serves six tequila-based cocktails (two every of three completely different drinks) from Diageo manufacturers in a show formed just like the legendary sea octopus.

“We supply these things from all around the world, relying on the aim of the actual area or setting,” Kohen says of the drinkware. “Generally our staff is impressed by a selected theme, or maybe one thing they’ve seen whereas touring overseas. Our F&B staff may be very collaborative, so we recognize everybody’s enter when deciding the right way to arrange or change a selected setting.”

Sensory F&B choices

On the extra experiential finish of eating, Spellbound by Magic Citadel captures the essence of Hollywood’s unique Magic Citadel, a members-only magician clubhouse in Hollywood. From its ornate decor with classic curiosities and particular results, to surprises in themed rooms, to feats of magic from expert magicians and illusionists, to a Parlor Bar with theatrical cocktails, Spellbound by Magic Citadel offers an interactive and immersive expertise.

For instance, a cocktail known as Escape From Houdini’s Chest, made with cinnamon- and strawberry-infused vodka, elderflower liqueur and lime, is served in a glass positioned in a small chest crammed with smoke.

The Professor cocktail, with rosemary/lemon-infused Hendrick’s gin, elderflower, velvet falernum and lemon, arrives in a coupe glass housed in what seems like a small classic birdcage. Embossed into the drink’s foam is a picture of an owl — Artemis, the guardian of the Spellbound membership’s secrets and techniques.

The Solar’s new boutique restaurant Love by Britto celebrates the artist Romero Britto, founding father of the Pleased Artwork Motion. The 68-seat venue, which opened in late June, gives a romantic seven-course, prix fixe menu complemented by an in depth wine checklist and several other love-themed cocktails. The intimate area celebrates the artist’s love of vivid colours, daring patterns and heartfelt feelings.

Specialty drinks at Love by Britto embrace the Strawberry Love Potion, made with Tequila Rose, Disaronno Amaretto, Chambord and strawberries; Expresso My Love, with Jameson Irish whiskey, OM chocolate liqueur, Disaronno Amaretto, Demerara, chocolate bitters and espresso; and the Britto Coupe, with Gray Goose strawberry and lemongrass vodka, Aperol, Cointreau, lime and strawberries.

The Solar additionally gives two new experiences within the Good Spirits at Sea Lounge. In a single, Chef Darren McGrady — private chef to members of the British Royal Household — leads a classy Royal Afternoon Tea and shares his experiences and tales by digital media.

French winemaker Gérard Bertrand hosts a particular wine tasting by way of visible media to showcase the flavors of his bio-diverse wines, the panorama and tales of the Languedoc area of southern France.

“Each are distinctive and intimate experiences that our friends have actually loved to this point,” says Kohen.

Princess is acknowledged for its wine alternatives that embrace greater than 250 labels of wines designed to pair with the menus. The corporate final yr partnered with Caymus Vineyards to supply a five-course Caymus Winemaker Dinner, out there on all ships within the fleet.

Daybreak of a brand new ship class

Princess started its journey in 1965 when founder Stanley B. McDonald chartered a Canadian Pacific steamer known as Princess Patricia for cruises from Los Angeles to Mexico. The Pennisular & Oriental Steam Navigation Firm (P&O) acquired Princess in 1974 and expanded the fleet significantly. Carnival Corp. purchased P&O Princess Worldwide in 2003.

The latest ship is the third to be named Solar Princess; the primary ship sailed from 1974 to 1988 and was used to shoot the pilot episode of The Love Boat in Mexico. The second, which sailed from 1995 to 2020, had the most important variety of balcony cabins at the moment, and the cruise line’s first 24-hour cafe.

The brand new Solar was formally christened by its godmother, the actress Hannah Waddingham, in Barcelona this previous April. It gives probably the most balconies and solar decks on any Princess ship, and the most important on line casino ever constructed by the road. Solar Princess can also be the primary LNG (liquefied pure fuel) vessel for the corporate, lowering greenhouse fuel emissions with power restoration techniques for eco-conscious cruising.

The design emphasizes expansive ocean views, with architectural parts corresponding to The Dome — the cruise business’s first geodesic function on the highest deck — and The Sphere, a suspended glass Sphere Piazza on the middle of the ship. A sister ship, Star Princess, would be the second within the Sphere Class of ships for Princess and is scheduled to launch in fall 2025.

Along with the brand new meals and beverage venues, Princess elevated its predominant Horizons eating room on the Solar to a three-story area with aft views. Chef Rudi Sodamin teamed up with the Culinary Institute of America to create its inaugural menus.

The cruise line additionally elevated flexibility and selection with three completely different eating choices for Horizons: conventional, reservable or walk-in anytime. The transfer was common with friends: Princess Cruises in April introduced it was rolling out the three eating choices throughout its fleet.

Full steam forward

Cruising has come a good distance since The Love Boat set sail, when the buffets dominated and most ships served dinner at two mounted occasions — early and late seatings. Visitors had been additionally sometimes assigned to a seating and desk, with the identical folks, for the whole cruise.

The cruise strains have needed to navigate the altering preferences for extra flexibility, completely different choices, increased high quality and specialty choices. Additionally they should hold elevating the bar to enchantment to customers with better expectations.

In one other step Princess has taken to replace and differentiate its beverage program, the corporate in late Might revealed the Love Line Premium Liquors assortment with celeb companions. The unique line of wines and spirits contains Voli Vodka by Pitbull and Melorosa sauvignon blanc and cabernet sauvignon from Jason Aldean.

It additionally contains Love Prosecco, a collaboration between Romero Britto and winemaker Villa Sandi. The prosecco is served at Love by Britto and out there in bars throughout the Princess fleet.

The Love Line assortment made its debut on the Solar Princess and rolled out to all of the ships within the fleet all through the summer season. “It additional elevates the onboard expertise by offering friends with premium, specifically crafted drinks they gained’t discover anyplace else,” says Kohen.

“Our friends are searching for distinctive eating experiences, which is why we’ve added so many new and thrilling programming and venues onboard our ships,” he notes. The partnerships fashioned with celeb collaborators within the F&B area “have additionally elevated our choices immensely, particularly on Solar Princess.”