Mini TR for another Boston Road Trip - updated Nov 22

[KathyM2]

Monday Feb 25

Today was our first "sea day" on the voyage. Because we are travelling East, we had to change our clocks ahead one hour. Some cruise lines do this and change their clocks to local time for each location they go to, others stay on "ship time" which is the destination where the itinerary starts. I think I prefer the "ship time" way of doing things because then you don't have to constantly be changing your watch, however, that can also have it's confusion because when you get off the ship and see clocks that don't match your watch...well, you might just (literally) miss the boat and not get back to the ship on time before it departs for the next port!!

So anyway...today we changed from EST to AST (for @pkondz that's Eastern Standard Time to Atlantic Standard Time lol) and the clocks went ahead one hour. Which meant one less hour of sleep. Not that it would have mattered if you were sleeping in and didn't have anywhere to be at a certain time...I however, being the masochist that I am, was planning to go to a spin class at 8:30am....which was....7:30 am for me? or was it 9:30am...you can see the confusion. After doing too much math in my head (and not the fun Disney kind) I figured out that I actually had to get up at 6:30am EST...which was 7:30am AST if I wanted to get some breakfast and make it to that class. I heard my alarm and almost rolled over, but toughed it out and got out the door in time to grab some oatmeal and get on a bike in the spin class.

That was one tough class. I'd only done a spin class once before...and now I remember why I never went back! My glutes are going to hate me tomorrow. But I'm glad I did it and I signed up for another two more classes to get a discount later this week. After sweating it out on the bike, I went to the buffet and undid all the benefits of the spin class by indulging in a second breakfast. Actually I tried to be restrained and had an English muffin and some fruit and some of a delicious smoothie that they had on offer. After that I headed back to my room to shower and then meet up with my friends...

Monday TBC later...time for dinner lol

 

[pkondz]

Or maybe just kids who admit to being jerks can order it?? Hmmm

Would never happen. There's no such thing as a kid that's a jerk. Just ask them. They'll tell you.

I heard from another agent (of course not until after I'd booked the bus...) that there is some kind of super shuttle that does go door to door but can make many out of the way stops depending on who is booked...so I'm not sure if that would have been better or worse.

Ah. Details to look into.

Ocean's 8, yeah I'd seen it before, and quite liked it actually, so was happy to sit through just part of it until I got tired this time.

Good to know. I liked all the other "Ocean's" movies and wanted to see this one, but missed it.

Oh Super Tar-jay is even better...get your fill of American grocery store gluttony and overwhelming choice AND cheap yet fashionable clothing all in one spot!

Yeah it's great for a reasonable price. Also bonus, when you start changing in front of the window and THEN notice there is a guy doing maintenance on the lifeboats right outside...ahem...not that it's happened to me or anything...actually I came very close to whipping off my shirt as I came in the door but luckily caught a glimpse of the guy before actually doing it and caught myself lol.

Whoopsie! I bet that guy gets a show every now and then.

Right? Or room service, even better!

No, no, no... you miss my point. I want them to keep an entire dining room (including all staff) open just for me.

Yeah it's a little creepy...although they probably know where we all are anyway...they also use it to tell if everyone is back on the ship after after getting off I think...

Oh! I can see how that'd be handy.

I remember... oh, a couple years ago, watching a video of this car racing for the dock and people getting out and running and... juuuuuuuust missing their cruise ship.

 

[pkondz]

Some cruise lines do this and change their clocks to local time for each location they go to, others stay on "ship time" which is the destination where the itinerary starts.

Huh! I had no idea this happened.

I think I prefer the "ship time" way of doing things because then you don't have to constantly be changing your watch, however, that can also have it's confusion because when you get off the ship and see clocks that don't match your watch...well, you might just (literally) miss the boat and not get back to the ship on time before it departs for the next port!!

Hmmm... I think... think!... I would prefer the ship change to destination time. I like to look at a clock and look at my watch or phone and see the same thing.

So anyway...today we changed from EST to AST (for @pkondz that's Eastern Standard Time to Atlantic Standard Time lol) and the clocks went ahead one hour.

Uh, huh.
You have no idea who you're talking to, lady. I convert from CST (or CDT) and EST (or EDT) to UTC and back dozens of times a day. (for @KathyM2 UTC... that's Coordinated Universal Time which doesn't match the letters, but it's because GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) got changed to France who changed the name to Temps Universel Coordonné which also doesn't work, so the two languages spoken (English/French) compromised by calling it UTC. In your face. )

I however, being the masochist that I am, was planning to go to a spin class at 8:30am

Oh, dear. Did someone forget to tell you that you were on vacation?

I heard my alarm and almost rolled over, but toughed it out and got out the door in time to grab some oatmeal and get on a bike in the spin class.

You're vacationing wrong.

After sweating it out on the bike, I went to the buffet and undid all the benefits of the spin class by indulging in a second breakfast.

I've done that. Too often!

 

[KathyM2]

Whoopsie! I bet that guy gets a show every now and then.

Yeah I bet he does too! I waved at him just to make sure that he knew that "I" knew he was there, and then I shut the curtains lol

No, no, no... you miss my point. I want them to keep an entire dining room (including all staff) open just for me.

Oh and on a cruise ship they would, because heaven forbid someone actually want for food at any hour of the day on a ship.

I remember... oh, a couple years ago, watching a video of this car racing for the dock and people getting out and running and... juuuuuuuust missing their cruise ship.

Yeah funny story, last time when I went on a cruise with my daughter, our ship was getting ready to pull out of port but we were late leaving, and this couple comes slowly sauntering down the dock, and everyone on the ship starts yelling at them to hurry up, and someone started yelling "run Forest, run" and that started a whole bunch of cheering and these two idiots just didn't care...that the entire 3000 plus people on the ship were delayed because they couldn't be bothered to get back on time...or maybe they didn't change their watches...who knows...but it was pretty funny!

Huh! I had no idea this happened.

Yup, fun fact lol

Uh, huh.
You have no idea who you're talking to, lady. I convert from CST (or CDT) and EST (or EDT) to UTC and back dozens of times a day. (for @KathyM2 UTC... that's Coordinated Universal Time which doesn't match the letters, but it's because GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) got changed to France who changed the name to Temps Universel Coordonné which also doesn't work, so the two languages spoken (English/French) compromised by calling it UTC. In your face. )

Hahaha you know I was kidding right lol? I had a feeling you worked in something where you'd know these things lol. I have to call all kinds of places and am also trying to always figure out MST and MDT and EST and EDT and how it relates to GMT too lol. And it's a little confusing when some of them actually observe daylight savings and some don't...BTW have you ever been to that cool museum in Greenwich, UK? That has to be my fave museum of all time, where you can actually stand on the prime meridien and the museum has all these cool exhibits about time and geography and such? I'm not a big fan of regular museums but love quirky ones like that one.

I've done that. Too often!

Had multiple breakfasts lol? Yeah, it's pretty awesome. See, not vacationing wrong after all lol

 

[KathyM2]

Monday Feb 25 afternoon

Let's see...when I left off I had just eaten my second breakfast of the day. After that, I went back to my room and showered to get ready for the day of...lounging around! We sat around the pool for a while....but all of us had gotten a bit too much sun the day before, so we didn't want to be out too long this day. We tried playing some ping pong on the deck..but whoever positioned the tables maybe had ingested a few too many mimosas because ping pong...outside...on a moving ship....yeah...we lost a few balls pretty darn quick and gave up on the idea. We asked around if there was a shuffleboard court onboard because...you know, you have to play that on a cruise ship...but shockingly...they don't have one on this ship!!! We looked around in all the shops on the ship, and then soon it was time to go back to our rooms and get ready for...formal night!!

Formal nights on most cruise ships now are way less formal than they used to be, but in general people do make some attempt to look decent. They were serving seafood after all and had some other special menu items. I put on a dress and some lipstick and headed down to a cocktail reception that they were having first. They made this giant champagne glass fountain and poored way too many bottles of champagne over it while the captain posed for pictures with some of the guests. It was one of the things I had to attend for my travel agent questionnaire so I was obliged to go, even though that wasn't really my thing. It was meh...but I met some nice people from Boston and chatted with them and enjoyed a complimentary mimosa. After that I headed down to meet my friends for dinner.

I opted for an appetizer of salad and another appetizer of some pesto pasta (because again, why stop at one) and then had the salmon for my main course, and an amazing vanilla bean creme brulee for dessert. It was all delicious and dammit I'd share pics if I could figure out how. Someday. After that I headed to the lounge called Crooners (again) because there was a guy playing piano and signing great classic rock mostly, and people were signing along. It was a lot of fun even though I think I may have been a decade (or more) younger than most of the crowd present, but they were fun folks to hang out with! My friends went to the production show again but I'd rather hang with the seniors than endure more of the cruise director's stand up comedy!

This morning we were due to arrive in St. Thomas but not until noon! So....yeah I did what any good masochist would and did another spin class. And another 2 breakfasts morning. After that I came back to my room and got ready for the day. I met my friends and we headed out to the port.

First we browsed around the shops a bit. Since the friends I'm with had seen and done everything...they wanted to take a break but I wanted to see a bit more of the island. They have these open air cab/bus/van things where they kind of just pick up whoever wants to go somewhere and anyone can sort of join in. I jumped on one that was going to Magen's Bay which is rated as one of the top 10 or top 5 (depending on whom you ask) beaches in the world. When I got there, it was a bit overcast, but when the sun came out, I could really see what all the hype was about. It was truly amazing. Also amazing was the little beach bar where I ordered a drink called a Painkiller and let me tell you, it will take care of whatever ails you. First the bartender poored in rum from two bottles at the same time, followed by a little juice and then topped it with some more rum. I was definitely feeling no pain by the time I got to the end of that baby. I chatted with some nice people from San Francisco, before jumping in another open air cab back to the port area. It kind of felt like a ride on the teacups up and over the hill after my boozy liquid lunch, but I was in with a fun group of people and it was a good ride! Also with bonus stops for pictures of the amazing views of the bays around the island and the port.

Once I got back, I met up with my friends and we had tickets for a cable car ride which took us up to Paradise Point which is obviously quite high up, and has great views as well. Also, it's famous for (another) drink called a Bushwacker. It was like a boozy milkshake with several kinds of liquor, and very little else but did have some whipped cream and a cherry on top. It was powerful but tasty. We enjoyed those (and may have ordered a second round) while watching the sun set over the bay. It was a really great day. We headed down as it was getting dark, stopped in a few touristy shops on the way where I picked up the requisite sticker for my car and some other trinkets for souveniers, and soon were back on the ship where we headed up to the buffet for dinner. After a great dinner of a mish mash of all kinds of yummy foods that would not normally be eaten together, we headed back outside to watch as our ship pullled away from the dock and back out to sea.

Tomorrow we will be in St. Maarten. And no gym morning for me since we will be arriving waaaay too early for that!!

 

[pkondz]

Yeah I bet he does too! I waved at him just to make sure that he knew that "I" knew he was there, and then I shut the curtains lol

"I see you!... Now go away!"

Oh and on a cruise ship they would, because heaven forbid someone actually want for food at any hour of the day on a ship.

Yeah funny story, last time when I went on a cruise with my daughter, our ship was getting ready to pull out of port but we were late leaving, and this couple comes slowly sauntering down the dock, and everyone on the ship starts yelling at them to hurry up, and someone started yelling "run Forest, run" and that started a whole bunch of cheering and these two idiots just didn't care...that the entire 3000 plus people on the ship were delayed because they couldn't be bothered to get back on time...or maybe they didn't change their watches...who knows...but it was pretty funny!

"maybe they didn't change their watches"



Love the "Run Forest!" call!

Hahaha you know I was kidding right lol?

100%. Wouldn't have said anything otherwise.

I had a feeling you worked in something where you'd know these things lol.

I have to call all kinds of places and am also trying to always figure out MST and MDT and EST and EDT and how it relates to GMT too lol. And it's a little confusing when some of them actually observe daylight savings and some don't...

Oh, I know... The next province over doesn't do it... messes me up... "So what time is it there now?"

BTW have you ever been to that cool museum in Greenwich, UK? That has to be my fave museum of all time, where you can actually stand on the prime meridien and the museum has all these cool exhibits about time and geography and such? I'm not a big fan of regular museums but love quirky ones like that one.

No! But that sure sounds cool!

Had multiple breakfasts lol? Yeah, it's pretty awesome. See, not vacationing wrong after all lol

No, I meant the working out... and then totally ruining any benefit by eating too much!

 

[DonnaBeeGood]

.

 

[pkondz]

I went back to my room and showered to get ready for the day of...lounging around!

Sure. Gotta prep for that, ya know.

We tried playing some ping pong on the deck..but whoever positioned the tables maybe had ingested a few too many mimosas because ping pong...outside...on a moving ship....yeah...we lost a few balls pretty darn quick and gave up on the idea

I can just imagine! Must be quite challenging during a hurricane.

We asked around if there was a shuffleboard court onboard because...you know, you have to play that on a cruise ship...but shockingly...they don't have one on this ship!!!

I thought this was a law of the sea!?!?

Formal nights on most cruise ships now are way less formal than they used to be, but in general people do make some attempt to look decent.

They made this giant champagne glass fountain and poored way too many bottles of champagne over it

Just help yourself... grab a glass... from the bottom.

It was one of the things I had to attend for my travel agent questionnaire so I was obliged to go, even though that wasn't really my thing. It was meh...but I met some nice people from Boston and chatted with them and enjoyed a complimentary mimosa.

Well, at least you got to chat with some nice folks.

and an amazing vanilla bean creme brulee for dessert

OMG. Want!

After that I headed to the lounge called Crooners (again) because there was a guy playing piano and signing great classic rock mostly,

I'd like that. Sounds like fun.

I'd rather hang with the seniors than endure more of the cruise director's stand up comedy!

So....yeah I did what any good masochist would and did another spin class.

What are we going to do with you???

And another 2 breakfasts morning

I jumped on one that was going to Magen's Bay which is rated as one of the top 10 or top 5 (depending on whom you ask) beaches in the world.

Nice! I'd go see that too.

Also amazing was the little beach bar where I ordered a drink called a Painkiller and let me tell you, it will take care of whatever ails you.

It kind of felt like a ride on the teacups up and over the hill after my boozy liquid lunch,

Once I got back, I met up with my friends and we had tickets for a cable car ride which took us up to Paradise Point which is obviously quite high up, and has great views as well.

Very nice. Sure hope you get the photos issue figured out.

It was a really great day.

Sure sounds like a good one!

 

[KathyM2]

No! But that sure sounds cool!

Yes, the Greenwich Observatory I think it's called, but the museum is a little house near the actual observatory where you there's a telescope and stuff. Anyway, I'd highly recommend it. Greenwich is only a short boat or bus ride away from central London and in my opinion way more fun than a lot of the stuffy museums that people go to in London lol.

Yay, love Hobbit style vacations! Breakfast, Second Breakfast, Elevenses...

Totally...food and more food. We call it doing a "drive by" when we walk by the pizza bar and grab a slice lol

Again. But this time with the bonus of a dead car -

Oh no!! That's brutal to come home to!! Ugh!! At least it's almost...March lol I won't say spring because we all know spring does not come to Canada in March lol

I thought this was a law of the sea!?!?

Shuffleboard - yeah me too. I was very disappointed! I will have to talk to the management about that....maybe when I'm 80 lol

Well, at least you got to chat with some nice folks.

Yeah that's what I love about vacations...everyone is happy. Why can't everyone be like that all the time lol

Very nice. Sure hope you get the photos issue figured out.

Yes me too. It was a really lovely view and sunset and several cruise ships were docked there.

 

[KathyM2]

Wednesday February 27th

Today was our last port stop until we arrive back in FLL on Saturday, so this report may not be as earth shattering for you as it has been to date after this point lol. But I will soldier on lol. This morning I set my alarm for 7am, but not for a spin class this time!! It was because we were due to arrive in port in St. Maarten for 7am, and I had hoped to watch as they ship stewards docked the ship. It's a pretty neat process how they get the ropes on the gangways down, sometimes it even involves a forklift. But sadly...I missed it today because 7am arrival actually means that the ship will be all docked at 7am and that is the time that they would start allowing people to get off. So if I'd wanted to see the ropes show I would have had to get up even earlier. Oh well.

I got dressed quickly, grabbed a great looking cinnamon chocolate danish (yeah it was as good as it sounds) and headed down the gangway on deck four to the dock. I walked around the dock area, where the ports typically have your standard tourist fare of jewellery shops and overpriced trinkets. It's fun if you don't have much time, but I always like to venture a little further afield to try to get even a tiny glimpse of the area that isn't immediately next to the dock. It's all pretty touristy even inland in most of these places as that is how they survive, but there was a cute little town there. It was quite heavily damaged by Irma and some has not yet been rebuilt, but they are getting there. I wandered around a bit and then took a little water taxi that would get me more in the center of town. It was really cute. We were on the Dutch side of the island. This island is half Dutch and half French. So I looked around the area and picked up a few souveniers (car sticker of course, a mug, oh and I wrote a postcard and got a stamp and mailed it, yeah I know, old school but it's fun, it makes me look around a bit more and find the post office)

After my little walk I decided to head back to the ship area to meet my friends - they are later risers than I but they have seen and done it all in these cruise ports. I went back and met them for my second breakfast...this seems to be becoming a habit. This time I went for some hash browns, bacon and an english muffin with a small side of fruit and yogurt. After our breakfast we decided to get ready for the day.

Our plan was to take a taxi to Maho Beach. This is a famous beach where the airport runways are like 10 feet from the beach. There is a fence, but you can get super close to planes taking off and landing. And I'm not just talking about small Fed Ex Castaway type planes...huge jets fly right over you. Here's where I really would love to post a picture because there is a sign on the fence that says "Danger: Jet blast of departing and arriving aircraft can cause severe physical harm resulting in extreme bodily harm and/or death" and yeah...we paid someone to take us there...and so did about 10000 of our closest friends from the four huge ships that were in port today. The place was packed with people hanging out waiting to see a jet go by. We waited a while and saw a few smaller planes and then finally a reasonably sized Delta jet came in and it was pretty loud. Did not cause any death or harm...but this was not the biggest plane that lands there and it was pretty loud. We were close enough to easily read the name and numbers on the bottom of the plane's belly as it zoomed over us. I don't think they'd allow rookie pilots on this route either because there is a big hill at the end of the runway too and would take a pretty steep ascent to clear them on takeoff.

Anyway...my friends don't really like crowds (so I don't take them to Disney lol) and had enough of this beach pretty quickly...though I could have watched the planes all day...we decided to bail and got in another taxi back to the cruise port area. I got out a little early and enjoyed a ginger beer at a cafe on the boardwalk that had some free wifi which was a nice touch. Sat there for a while and then decided to head back to the ship. I am now hanging out for a bit and then we are heading up to a deck 17 lounge for drinks during the "sail away" party which they have every time this beast leaves anywhere. It's also a fun fact that the Royal Caribbean Allure of the Seas ship is docked right next to our Princess ship. That was the ship that I cruised on with my daughter last August, it was kind of fun to see it again.

Time to go to the lounge...it's also Italian night in the dining room tonight so looking forward to that!

 

[suse66]

Loving reading about all your adventures and of course following along with the pictures on Instagram! You are living the life!!

 

[Steppesister]

THanks for the info about CBR! Sounds like I really need to be strategic on my room request, but also figure we're not going to be utilizing the food court too. I'll plan on getting my coffee at the parks instead.

You're having such a great time!! Seeing your photos on FB.

 

[pkondz]

Yes, the Greenwich Observatory I think it's called, but the museum is a little house near the actual observatory where you there's a telescope and stuff. Anyway, I'd highly recommend it. Greenwich is only a short boat or bus ride away from central London and in my opinion way more fun than a lot of the stuffy museums that people go to in London lol.

Thanks for the tip!

Shuffleboard - yeah me too. I was very disappointed! I will have to talk to the management about that....maybe when I'm 80 lol

Yeah that's what I love about vacations...everyone is happy. Why can't everyone be like that all the time lol

Because they're at work.

 

[pkondz]

It's a pretty neat process how they get the ropes on the gangways down, sometimes it even involves a forklift.

That'd be cool to see.

But sadly...I missed it today because 7am arrival actually means that the ship will be all docked at 7am and that is the time that they would start allowing people to get off. So if I'd wanted to see the ropes show I would have had to get up even earlier. Oh well.

Well.... poop!

I walked around the dock area, where the ports typically have your standard tourist fare of jewellery shops and overpriced trinkets.

Yeah... pass. I'm not a fan of that. I'd like to find something a bit more... authentic.

It's all pretty touristy even inland in most of these places as that is how they survive,

Makes sense.

So I looked around the area and picked up a few souveniers (car sticker of course

Of course!

Um... just don't plaster them all over the windshield.

oh and I wrote a postcard and got a stamp and mailed it, yeah I know, old school but it's fun, it makes me look around a bit more and find the post office)

I like that!

Our plan was to take a taxi to Maho Beach. This is a famous beach where the airport runways are like 10 feet from the beach.

Oh!!! I'm very familiar with this! I've never been but have seen tons of photos similar to this:

"Danger: Jet blast of departing and arriving aircraft can cause severe physical harm resulting in extreme bodily harm and/or death"

July 2017 a woman from New Zealand was killed from jet blast.

Landing planes isn't the problem. If the approach is done right, the engines should be pretty much set at full idle. It's take-off that's the issue.

 

[KathyM2]

Loving reading about all your adventures and of course following along with the pictures on Instagram! You are living the life!!

Thanks!! It's not bad lol. The travel agent gig doesn't pay well, but I do hope lots of travel in my future. Right now, it's hard for me to capitalize on the travel agent perks because a lot of stuff is very last minute and I have kids and dog and other regular life crap to deal with at home, so it's hard to jump on things. But in a few years I'm hoping it will be easier to make the most of it all.

THanks for the info about CBR! Sounds like I really need to be strategic on my room request, but also figure we're not going to be utilizing the food court too. I'll plan on getting my coffee at the parks instead.

You're having such a great time!! Seeing your photos on FB.

Yeah I think if you are strategic the CBR is not a bad place to stay, especially if you don't care about the food court.

Um... just don't plaster them all over the windshield.

Yeah that'd be bad, the rest of the car's white space will have to do.

I like that!

Yeah it's a lot of fun seeking out best postcards and the post offices in each place. The only down side is I usually am home before anyone gets my postcards, but oh well.

Oh!!! I'm very familiar with this! I've never been but have seen tons of photos similar to this:

Yup!! There's one KLM flight per day and we were hoping to catch that but didn't. The Delta plane was the biggest one we saw.

Landing planes isn't the problem. If the approach is done right, the engines should be pretty much set at full idle. It's take-off that's the issue.

Yeah I can see that...we only saw one reasonably sized jet take off while we were there and I put a towel over my face because rocks and sand were flying all over the place.

 

[pkondz]

Yeah that'd be bad, the rest of the car's white space will have to do

Yeah I can see that...we only saw one reasonably sized jet take off while we were there and I put a towel over my face because rocks and sand were flying all over the place.

See? Dangerous.

 

[KathyM2]

Thursday Feb 28

Well yesterday here on the Caribbean Princess...it was a bit of a lazy day! Well apart from the spin class in the morning. I very seriously considered rolling over and not going, but decided I better because of all the eating I planned on doing!! The ship was moving a bit on this day...and although I wasn't bothered much by it, it was a really strange sensation on a bike at the front of the ship where the gym is. Sometimes during the workout you are supposed to take your hands off the handlebars and do some arm stretches and stuff and I really thought I might fall right off the bike.

After my workout I went for my second breakfast and met my friends as they were getting up. We sat around for a bit and tried to figure out a loose plan for our sea day. After breakfast we went back to put our bathing suits on and headed out by the pool. It was HOT out there. But with the help of a Pina Colada was tolerable while reading some trashy magazines!! After learning more about the Kardashians than I care to...we decided it was time for...more food lol. We hadn't tried the "Salty Dog" poolside restaurant yet so that was in order. I got the hot dog because I didn't want to overindulge and it felt like we'd just eaten...which we had lol

We lounged around some more and then packed it in because it was time for....afternoon tea!! Princess does this every day at 3pm. They had all the usual afternoon tea suspects with scones and cream, mini sandwiches, cookies and cakes, and of course, tea. The food was delicious and it was fun, although it was a very popular event and the staff seemed to really want to rush through it as they had all the food in front of you the minute you sat down. At other "tea" things I have gone to, usually it's some kind of serving platter in the center with all manner of treats on it that you can take at your leisure, but here they had waiters serving everything at once and with people coming and going....I'm not complaining...but it wasn't the sort of relaxing afternoon tea that I had envisioned.

After that we walked around the ship a bit more, checked out some shops and got some pictures outside. Then it was time to....go and get ready for formal night #2! I don't think all the cruise lines have 2 formal nights on a 7 day cruise, but Princess does. Not sure how I feel about that...having to get presentable twice in one week. But anyway...I sucked it up and put on a dress and lipstick (again). Because of my travel agent status, I got invited to a Captain's Circle reception with all the avid cruisers on the ship. They had drinks and fancy hors doevres which was nice. They highlighted all the people who had spent 15, 100, 1000 and 2000 days at sea!! (seriously..some people have spent like 8 years on a ship lol) Then the captain posed for pictures with people and some people danced and they had a band. It was a fun little gathering.

We had some time to kill before...more food at dinner...so we went to the TV Theme Music trivia in the Explorers Lounge. Some people were using Siri, come on people, it's trivia!! What's the fun in that??? WE did NOT use Siri and got 23/25 but sadly did not win the free Princess water bottle.

After that, time for dinner!! I went with the smoked salmon with cucumber salad appetizer, and the lobster tail with pesto risotto as my main. Dessert was called "floating islands" and it was meringue on top of vanilla sauce with some caramel drizzle. It was pretty good. We also got a plate of petit fours to share but it was way too much! We rolled out of there and went for a little walk to digest. My friends went to bed early, so I headed up to Crooners bar again where they had the guy singing old rock tunes again. At 10pm they do this "balloon drop" over the central piazza which is a 3 level atrium. That was pretty cool to watch. After that I called it a night...had to rest up for today...another day at sea...where we will do some more lounging and sadly have to pack up and get ready for debarkation tomorrow.

 

[DonnaBeeGood]

.

 

[KathyM2]

Omg, time has gone so quickly for you! So glad that you are enjoying, and no issues with motion sickness I want lobster with pesto risotto please!

Yes it has gone by waaay too quickly and I don't want to go home to the snow!!! But at least I will be back in Florida soon and will be too busy this week to notice the weather I think!!

Yeah that food was yummy...all the food really was.

Also yes, I'm fortunate that I've not (knocking on wood) felt sick at all this week, other than from eating too much lol. If you could guarantee that every cruise would have weather like this, I'd be a total cruise addict I think. But the fact that the weather can be unpredictable does scare me a bit!

 

[KathyM2]

Friday March 1

Sadly today is the last day of my cruise ( I am actually really surprised by how much I have not minded being on a ship for a whole week this time...this is my 4th cruise and with all the others I have to say I have enjoyed them for the most part, but not been that sad to get on to dry land again. With this one, I really can say, I wouldn't mind staying just a few more days!!

Today was a lazy day. And actually I think that is a nice way to end the trip...so I hopefully won't feel like I need a vacation at the end of it, except for the fact that they usually make you feel very unwelcome very early in the morning in debarkation day. They are anxious to get the ship ready for the next 3000 guests to come aboard and I get that...but....still hate having to get up and out so dang early...just to go hang around the FLL airport...which I really hate. It's not nearly as much fun as MCO.

Anyway...today I did not set my alarm and made no crazy plans to go to the gym or anything! I rolled out of bed around 8:30am anyway, but for me that's a sleep in, I am a morning person anyway. I got up and headed over to the future cruise bookings office. This is where I had to drop off my questionnaire that I had to complete while on this cruise. I got to meet the people that worked in the future cruise sales office and funny thing, they are actually from London, Ontario which is about a 2 hour drive from my home town of Toronto!! They have been working on cruise ships for about 10 years and now have managed to score this gig as a married couple working together on the Caribbean Princess. How awesome!! So of course we bonded over how much they love being away from Canada in winter and hope to never go back before April again lol. I wouldn't either.

After that I headed up to find some breakfast at the buffet. Had a little bit of everything as one does at a buffet..and then a little bit more. I wandered around a bit and then my friends were having coffee so I went and sat with them for a bit. We then got ready for some lounging by the pool. We lounged and read books and I learned how to download some of my fave shows for watching on the plane tomorrow so I'm excited about that hopefully making the trip go by a little more quickly! When it was lunch time I decided to try the Planks buffet which I hadn't checked out at lunch time yet. They had a good assortment of Mexican type stuff and also a "make your own Ramen" station which I thought was kind of cool and decided to try. You fill a bowl with your choice of noodles, meats and veggies and then they add boiling hot broth to it and you can add herbs and spices too. It was a perfect light lunch.

Followed that up with...more lounging by the pool!! Checked out the hot tub this time too. Sadly before we knew it, it was time to go get ready for dinner and more eating!! We got changed and meet up at Planks BBQ. This is a specialty restaurant and not a buffet...but it was still way too much food. You got to choose soup or salad for your starter, and that came with a big basket of cornbread and buns with some dips and spiced butters to go with, and then you got to choose 4 meats - choices were chicken, beef tips, sausage, pulled pork, ribs, and chipotle meatballs. That also came with pickles, coleslaw and potato wedges. It was all amazingly good. And then of course...dessert. There was a choice of banana pudding or chocolate cake. I went with the chocolate cake and it was massive and I couldn't nearly finish it. We rolled out of there.

We then headed to the theatre where they were having a Princess cruise lines version of The Voice called Voice of the Ocean. They had the turning chairs for the judges and everything. I guess they had been having the contest all week throughout the cruise and they were down to six finalists for the finale, and the audience got to vote to determine the winner. They were all actually really good, but they were such different styles - they sang Bryan Adams, some Elvis, some more recent stuff...and it was a tough call. The judges made it pretty entertaining. Ultimately a guy from Kentucky who sang Summer of 69 was the overall winner. It was a good time.

I went for another stroll on the deck and walked by Crooners again where the same guy was playing piano and singing...stood there for a while but the place was packed so I decided to call it a night. I am just finishing packing up for tomorrow. I am going to get off the ship and hopefully have time for another quick breakfast with my dad before heading to the airport. My dad will be at the airport anyway to pick up my mom who happens to be flying to FLL tomorrow just as I'm leaving (good thing because she was taking care of my daughter at home lol)

Catch you all later!! Gonna try to catch up on all everyone else's TR's now that my trip is coming to an end!!