jenseib
Mommy to Claire
- Joined
- Oct 28, 2006
Ok, Ok, I am not really Julie McCoy. I am Jen.
(And that sweet bundle of joy is my new granddaughter, Gracie)
Take a good look as there are not many pictures of me at all in this TR.
So who is Julie McCoy? Well if you dont know who she is you either grew up with no TV, had mean parents, grew up on a desert island, or you are just plain too young!
She was the cruise director on the popular series from the late 70s into the mid 80s called The Love Boat. Growing up this show along with Fantasy Island could not be missed. At least in the early years. The later years were not so good.
The Love Boat had a cast of regulars who played the crew and then many stars weekly would join the crew for a sailing. Of course they had love issues as well as many other life issues, but by the end of the show everything pretty much worked out and all lived happily ever after. They also had a few stars that came back for recurring roles, such as Charo who I am pretty sure I saw on this sailing as well. They sailed on the Pacific Princess each week out of California .usually.
Growing up and watching this show had made me want to cruise. It looked like so much fun. My sister and I used to play cruise at times and we always put on my moms fancy gowns and pretended to drink pina coladas. Had I known what they were back then I wouldve switched to another drink .I hate coconut! LOL!
My first cruise was in the late 90s and it was on a NCL ship. I had a great time. It was neat to see that things on the show actually really were on ships .Like the promenade and lido decks.
My 2nd cruise was also with NCL in 2003 for my belated honeymoon with my husband, Skip.
We had a great time once again, but for some reason Skip doesnt remember that. He came home and within weeks he had some delusion about the cruise and said he wasnt going to sail again for a long time. I have been working on getting him back on a ship since then and finally in 2011 I had us booked on Disney .only to have him have to cancel a few weeks prior because his brother and business partner broke his leg. Since they are dairy farmers, he had to stay home and take care of the cows.
My mother took his place.
I have now sailed 4 Disney cruises and I cant tell you enough about them. They are fabulous and I have written reports on each of those sailings. (currently working on my most recent one)
I did finally get Skip on the Disney Magic this past March and he loved it. Right before we sailed he asked me why he didnt like the NCL cruise ..and my reply to him was I have no idea something you made up in your head. LOL!
So you know my love for cruising and its roots and you know I love DCL. So why did I finally try Princess?
Well there are several really. Without going into too much detail, I am working on a certification that requires me to travel and one of the travel requirements was that I sail on more than one cruise line. Secondly, I had a free Princess cruise sitting in my back pocket for years now. Yes, I had this baby since 2011 and I just could never fit it in my schedule. Also by sailing Princess I was earning a 2nd certification besides the other one I am working on. So it all fit in nicely.
Now how did I decide on my dates?
Well, I had certain cruises I could choose from and I went down the list and I had to fit it in at a time I wasnt too busy. I had a business trip to Disney World in Aug and I really tried to make it work with that, but it didnt. I thought Sept. would be good, but then we had my nieces 5th b-day party coming up and my sister was surprising her with a trip to Disney World for her birthday I couldnt miss that party. My oldest daughter Paige was expecting a baby, due Oct. 14, so it had to be before that.
In the end, the Sept. 29th cruise looked like the best date. It was a 5 night cruise on the Caribbean Princess. Being that I had not sailed on any Princess ships to date, I wasnt too worried about which ship I sailed on and I read some decent reviews of it. The ports however were not my favorite, but I could live with it. Costa Maya is basically a junk hole as far as ports go, but we could get off the ship for a short time and then back on and enjoy the day. Cozumel is one I do like and I didnt mind going again, though this would be my 3rd time there.
Now who would go with me? Well I asked my best friend Lisa, who had sailed with me on a girls trip in 2012. That was her first cruise and we had a great time. But she was remodeling her house and though the cruise was free, she would still have to pay for air and anything extra and she decided she better not go.
So I asked my Mom. She is easy to travel with and I knew she had been wanting to cruise again. She said yes and I booked us and then we had a few months to wait.
Now we had to find airfare. We found a good price for our flight home on Southwest .which I also had a lot of points for, so I could get a free flight. We booked that one early on.
So we waited and watched and the Sunday flights down (our cruise started on a Monday) were just way too high. So we decided to fly down on Saturday in the end and stay at the Fairfield Inn near the airport for 2 nights, which was cheaper than paying the higher flight prices.
So were all set. But this cruise and several surrounding it were not selling out. I really debated adding the cruise beforehand and making it a 9 day cruise, but Mom wouldnt be able to take the time off and my husband was going to be watching our daughter Claire as it was, so I didnt make that move and kept it as a weeklong trip instead.
Join me as I tell you all about the Caribbean Princess and our other adventures and what I thought about the Love Boat! Be warned I will probably be comparing this often with the Disney ships its just in my nature.
(And that sweet bundle of joy is my new granddaughter, Gracie)
Take a good look as there are not many pictures of me at all in this TR.
So who is Julie McCoy? Well if you dont know who she is you either grew up with no TV, had mean parents, grew up on a desert island, or you are just plain too young!
She was the cruise director on the popular series from the late 70s into the mid 80s called The Love Boat. Growing up this show along with Fantasy Island could not be missed. At least in the early years. The later years were not so good.
The Love Boat had a cast of regulars who played the crew and then many stars weekly would join the crew for a sailing. Of course they had love issues as well as many other life issues, but by the end of the show everything pretty much worked out and all lived happily ever after. They also had a few stars that came back for recurring roles, such as Charo who I am pretty sure I saw on this sailing as well. They sailed on the Pacific Princess each week out of California .usually.
Growing up and watching this show had made me want to cruise. It looked like so much fun. My sister and I used to play cruise at times and we always put on my moms fancy gowns and pretended to drink pina coladas. Had I known what they were back then I wouldve switched to another drink .I hate coconut! LOL!
My first cruise was in the late 90s and it was on a NCL ship. I had a great time. It was neat to see that things on the show actually really were on ships .Like the promenade and lido decks.
My 2nd cruise was also with NCL in 2003 for my belated honeymoon with my husband, Skip.
We had a great time once again, but for some reason Skip doesnt remember that. He came home and within weeks he had some delusion about the cruise and said he wasnt going to sail again for a long time. I have been working on getting him back on a ship since then and finally in 2011 I had us booked on Disney .only to have him have to cancel a few weeks prior because his brother and business partner broke his leg. Since they are dairy farmers, he had to stay home and take care of the cows.
My mother took his place.
I have now sailed 4 Disney cruises and I cant tell you enough about them. They are fabulous and I have written reports on each of those sailings. (currently working on my most recent one)
I did finally get Skip on the Disney Magic this past March and he loved it. Right before we sailed he asked me why he didnt like the NCL cruise ..and my reply to him was I have no idea something you made up in your head. LOL!
So you know my love for cruising and its roots and you know I love DCL. So why did I finally try Princess?
Well there are several really. Without going into too much detail, I am working on a certification that requires me to travel and one of the travel requirements was that I sail on more than one cruise line. Secondly, I had a free Princess cruise sitting in my back pocket for years now. Yes, I had this baby since 2011 and I just could never fit it in my schedule. Also by sailing Princess I was earning a 2nd certification besides the other one I am working on. So it all fit in nicely.
Now how did I decide on my dates?
Well, I had certain cruises I could choose from and I went down the list and I had to fit it in at a time I wasnt too busy. I had a business trip to Disney World in Aug and I really tried to make it work with that, but it didnt. I thought Sept. would be good, but then we had my nieces 5th b-day party coming up and my sister was surprising her with a trip to Disney World for her birthday I couldnt miss that party. My oldest daughter Paige was expecting a baby, due Oct. 14, so it had to be before that.
In the end, the Sept. 29th cruise looked like the best date. It was a 5 night cruise on the Caribbean Princess. Being that I had not sailed on any Princess ships to date, I wasnt too worried about which ship I sailed on and I read some decent reviews of it. The ports however were not my favorite, but I could live with it. Costa Maya is basically a junk hole as far as ports go, but we could get off the ship for a short time and then back on and enjoy the day. Cozumel is one I do like and I didnt mind going again, though this would be my 3rd time there.
Now who would go with me? Well I asked my best friend Lisa, who had sailed with me on a girls trip in 2012. That was her first cruise and we had a great time. But she was remodeling her house and though the cruise was free, she would still have to pay for air and anything extra and she decided she better not go.
So I asked my Mom. She is easy to travel with and I knew she had been wanting to cruise again. She said yes and I booked us and then we had a few months to wait.
Now we had to find airfare. We found a good price for our flight home on Southwest .which I also had a lot of points for, so I could get a free flight. We booked that one early on.
So we waited and watched and the Sunday flights down (our cruise started on a Monday) were just way too high. So we decided to fly down on Saturday in the end and stay at the Fairfield Inn near the airport for 2 nights, which was cheaper than paying the higher flight prices.
So were all set. But this cruise and several surrounding it were not selling out. I really debated adding the cruise beforehand and making it a 9 day cruise, but Mom wouldnt be able to take the time off and my husband was going to be watching our daughter Claire as it was, so I didnt make that move and kept it as a weeklong trip instead.
Join me as I tell you all about the Caribbean Princess and our other adventures and what I thought about the Love Boat! Be warned I will probably be comparing this often with the Disney ships its just in my nature.
I may end up doing a little of both with a short break for my own cruise on the Caribbean Princess. The main difference is that we will be stopping in Grand Cayman instead of Costa Maya. It will be interesting to see how our experience compares with yours. Regardless of whether I end up following you here or there I am coming along for the ride. 
