{"id":16256,"date":"2013-02-15T01:22:22","date_gmt":"2013-02-15T09:22:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cruisingdoneright.com\/?p=16256"},"modified":"2013-02-15T01:22:22","modified_gmt":"2013-02-15T09:22:22","slug":"friday-31","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vitaluna.net\/?p=16256","title":{"rendered":"Princess, Valentine's Day a Match"},"content":{"rendered":"

ON BOARD THE CROWN PRINCESS — Saved by a Princess. No, not the one I'm married to…by the Crown Princess, who really isn't a person but a ship, a ship that came in handy on Valentine's Day.<\/p>\n

The tradition in our house on Valentine's Day is that there isn't one. Just another day…in paradise, that is. Just another way for some enterprising vendor to extract a few dollars from my wallet, which never seems to contain many. Red roses that cost $18 a dozen are suddenly valued at $48. Even cards cost a fortune, relatively, all in the name of guilt…er, love. <\/p>\n

Why does a man have to buy a card on February 14th to convince his wife he loves her? Isn't that what happens on the other 364 days?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Oh yes, the Princess. The ship, I mean.<\/p>\n

The Crown Princess<\/a>, bless her heart, offers a romantic Lobster Balcony Dinner for its cruise passengers and this being Valentine's Day Week (no, no, don't ever think it could be a whole week!), it seemed like a good idea. The fact that the Crown Princess — like all 16 ships in the Princess fleet — offers such a dinner the other 51 weeks each year is completely irrelevant, at least in my world.<\/p>\n

This was MY idea for a romantic Lobster Balcony Dinner and, for this night at least, that makes the Crown Princess "The Love Boat"…a ship which was once the Pacific Princess, but that's another story. This story is about doing something special for Valentine's Day without having to think about it.<\/p>\n

Well, mission accomplished.<\/p>\n

Such bold ventures by somebody who in many years of marriage has managed to ignore February 14th come with a cost, of course. It's $100 and before you wince too hard, think about that. Start by smelling the flowers. If a dozen roses was already going to cost you $48, and that's not a given, you can maybe convince her that a colorful combination of daisies, carnations, baby's breath and lilies is an enriched substitute. She'll be so touched by the entire thoughtfulness of your plan that it won't matter anyway.<\/p>\n

T\"\"<\/a>hen there's the dinner.<\/p>\n

On a cozy table on your cozy balcony – all balconies are cozy on cruise ships — arrives a glass of champagne to accompany the "Pacific Blue Crab Cake" followed by "Marinated Chevre and Mesclun Field Grass, which is goat's cheese and tasty grass to we who have no professional palate. Then comes the coup-de-gras (not to be confused with the field grass): surf and turf.<\/p>\n

Now if there's one main course my bride loves, even though there are many she loves, it's lobster and beef tenderloin. The accoutrements were roast Parisienne potatoes, a bouquet of vegetables and two sauces (peppercorn and hollandaise). Wine is extra but it is most nights wherever we dine.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

For dessert, there's a quartet of chocolate: dark, Swiss, milk and white, capped by a generous plate of small assorted pastries…if you still have room.<\/p>\n

I was sold by the bargain but, frankly, I think she was sold by the flowers — and we hadn't even started to eat. So "romantic" wins over "dinner" every time.<\/p>\n

Especially on Valentine's Day.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\tStar Princess<\/a>
\n\t14 nights
\n\tApril 23, 2013
\n\tLos Angeles<\/a> (return): Kona<\/a>, Nawilwili, Honolulu<\/a>, Lahaina<\/a>, Ensenada<\/a>
\n\tInside: $1,309
\n\tCost per day: $93<\/strong><\/span>
\n\twww.princess.com<\/a>
\n\t <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ON BOARD THE CROWN PRINCESS — Saved by a Princess. No, not the one I'm married to…by the Crown Princess, who really isn't a person but a ship, a ship that came in handy on Valentine's Day. The tradition in our house on Valentine's Day is that there isn't one. Just another day…in paradise, that… Continue reading Princess, Valentine's Day a Match<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,25,36,19,15],"tags":[648,912,72,35,231,528,64,957,302,178],"class_list":["post-16256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-deals","category-people","category-reviews","category-ships","category-stories","tag-crown-princess","tag-cruise-bargains","tag-cruise-deals","tag-cruises","tag-dining-on-ships","tag-hawaii","tag-princess-cruise","tag-princess-cruises","tag-specialty-dining","tag-star-princess","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vitaluna.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vitaluna.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vitaluna.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitaluna.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitaluna.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vitaluna.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16256\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vitaluna.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitaluna.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitaluna.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}