Evening On Board Grand Princess

Thankfully I was able to get into an elevator and Bernie took the stairs and we are in Explorer’s Lounge – well sort of in the lounge.  It is full and we sit on the ledge of a planter by the couches.  The place is packed and lots of people are in vacation mode.

their amazing deck

I almost forgot to tell you that we got two free drink coupons in lieu of the Captain Circle Party.  But since we have the drink package we just give them to Dolores and Laura.  We also are informed that we are the third most travelled on this ship.  We will get a free dinner at one of the Specialty Restaurants and a bottle of champagne too.

Back in the cabin after Muster and Bernie says he needs a nap and I head down to see our friends and enjoy sailaway from their cabin.

They get free dinner in a Specialty restaurant too and we have reservations for 8 pm in the Crown Grill. 

When I get back to the cabin Bernie has showered and is ready and says he will meet up with me a Crooners.  This is helpful so I can hobble around the cabin and get ready.  Only issue is I have to wear flip flops and looks a little strange but that is the best I can do.

Bosco shaking the martini and his great moves

Up at Crooners we sit and I see Bernie is enjoying a Cosmopolitan.  Our bar server is Bosco comes and asks what I would like.  I ask him for a recommendation and he brings me a lemon drop Martini.  Oh and his shaking is fun to watch and he has the whole group around us laughing.  I got some pictures of it and will post and share when I get home. 

Beside us is a couple Terri and Brent who are from Langley and we chat with them and about their voyage and then they are spending some time in San Francisco afterward.  Brent says he takes the 555 bus route for which we often drive and tell him to look out for us on it.

Time for dinner!  Glen is our server in Crown Grill tonight and he is very good.  Very attentive and knowledgeable and always a step ahead of our needs.  We toast to Dolores and Laura’s marriage – they got married this year and we wish we could have been there but we just couldn’t swing it.  But we are here now and raising our glasses to them.

Now we noticed that Joel Directo is the Executive Chef on board!  OMG what a treat.  We have known him probably the longest of all our friends on board.  We met him, I believe on our second Princess Cruise before he became Executive Chef.  Then when we were on our first back to back on the Emerald we did the Chef’s Table and met Joel again.  He had just been promoted to Executive Chef.  The first Filipino Executive Chef.  We occasionally sail with him but it is usually shorter cruises ironically.  We ask the hostess to see if she can let Joel know we are here.  

Joel and I - so nice to see him again

A few minutes later Joel arrives and we hug and catch up and I tease him cause he still only has one son, and I tell him he needs to have a daughter now.  He certainly brightened our evening by seeing him.  He of course asks us if there is anything we want and we are good, and then Bernie pipes up and says Halo Halo for dessert.  Halo Halo is one of Bernie’s favorite desserts.  It is hard to describe so google it if you are interested.  Joel smiles and says he will see what he can do.

A while later Joel comes back out with another head chef (sorry I forgot his name) and says tomorrow just ask our waiter at dinner and they will bring us Halo Halo.  Oh… how nice… and people wonder why we stick with Princess.  This is why.  We love these guys and truly appreciate all they do.

For dinner I start with the Black and Blue soup which is cooked perfectly.  Then the spinach and beet salad – again very good.  For my entrée is a filet mignon with Béarnaise sauce and many items to share including garlic fries, creamed spinach, asparagus, and mushrooms. The entire meal was wonderful and Glen’s service was outstanding.

Before our dessert arrives we are served a round of Limocello from the Maître D’ – oh nice. 

We order Sicilian Kiss’ for after dinner drinks along with the molten chocolate.  Oh so good and wow I am full, and a little drunk, okay more than a little drunk.  But the foot doesn’t hurt too much!

Back in the cabin we have a letter saying to bring the letter to the Specialty Restaurant for a free dinner.  Oh well, we will take it to the Purser’s Desk tomorrow to have them credit tonight’s dinner.

I lay on the bed and I crash almost immediately.  The bed is hard, but we asked for an egg crate (which is a foam) on the bed to help with the hardness. 

I sleep well but I wake often cause my foot is sore and I am confused at where I am.  Oh yeah on a ship.

Here is a break down of the officers on the ship:

Captain Ronald Wilson, Staff Captain Goran Favro, Chief Engineer Antonio Di Biase, Hotel General Manager Timothy Ellis (last time we sailed with him he with F&B Manager), Cruise Director Mike Witte, Senior Doctor Robert Schneider, Food and Beverage Director Barbara Pasching, Customer Services Director Luca Baudoino, Staff Engineer Officer Francesco Fillella, Executive Housekeeper Monico Reyes Jr., Executive Chef Joel Directo, Maitre D’ Hotel Silvio Zampieri, Environmental Officer Dimitar Mitev.

Movies Under the Star:  Avengers Age of Ultron, Far From the Madding Crowd, NFL and Inside Out.

Princess Theater: Magician Jeff Peterson, Comedian Steve White, Production Show British Invasion. 

Explorer’s Lounge:  Liars Club Game Show, Majority Rules Game Show, Jeopardize Trivia.

Vista Lounge: Zumba Fitness (I will have to skip this), Line Dance Mania, Ballroom Classes, Bingo.

All Aborad the Grand Princess

We walked down to the bus stop and jumped on the 160 that heads straight downtown in about 50 minutes.  Terry was driving and it was busy but it was lovely talking with him all the way there.  We promised to have a drink for him.

One of my Facebook fans Anthony runs into me at the pier

Arriving at the pier at 11 am we noticed that the Noordam is in port too.  Things are right away a little different.  We are asked what ship we are on and we are directed up an escalator to one of the large conference rooms.  There they have the lovely staff there giving out our health forms and then we are at the booth and collecting our key cards right away. 

Then we walk around the room to the exit and back down the escalator and back to the “normal” security area and thru there quickly too.  Now the Noordam is heading to Alaska so after security they had to enter US Customs.  But for us we are heading to Victoria first so we don’t have to enter US Customs.  We just head to the boarding area. 

Now all of this took 15 minutes!  Very impressive, but now we have to wait.  We sit in the Preferred area until they start boarding at exactly noon. 

We pose for the boarding picture but do have a giggle because the background is says Alaska – ahhh wrong itinerary but I guess they are limited to what they can put up.

As soon as we get on we see Victor who is right by the elevators escorting people up and down the elevator.  Huge hugs and kisses.  So lovely to see him again. 

We are in cabin C505 and since we just have carry on bags for this voyage we are able to unpack right away.  The cabin looks great.  I think this ship looks better than the Crown does inside.  This cabin’s walls are in perfect condition, and the carpets, chairs, woodwork look excellent. 

Again take note if you are coming on this ship that the closet is smaller, and the cupboard too.  But certainly enough room for two people.  The bathroom is a nicer configuration and a bit bigger.

After unpacking we walk down to the Promenade to Crooners to buy the All Inclusive Drink Package.

Then of course Bernie is excited because there is an Alfredos pizzeria.  We get two pizzas and two drinks – yup Bernie got the Blue Moon and I got Sangria, and then soda water too.  The menu here is limited, not as big as on the Royal/Regal but it is still substantial and good.  No salads or appetizers, but we never have room for that anyways.

Okay now what?  Time to explore and we are up on the pool deck and enjoying the beautiful weather.  The aft pool is quiet and we take a seat and enjoy a drink there.  Okay I have now had three drinks in two hours!  Time to slow down.

Soon I am forced to slow down – yup!

Back in the cabin I am in the washroom and I forget all about the lip in the floor (that is on every single ship) and I don’t lift my foot up and boom.  I go flying to the floor!  I cry out and Bernie comes running and I know something is wrong. He helps me up and hobble to the bed and ouch my foot.  Yup foot is starting to swell.  Hurts like heck (I wanted to saying something else buy this is a family blog). 

Bernie is giggling – well you have never done that before, he says.  I give him a dirty look. 

I am not sure if it is a sprain, it isn’t in the normal area of the ankle.  I have had my share of sprains and this feels different.  I am not too worried about it.  I have asked Norma who we are seeing tomorrow to bring me a tensor bandage.  But there is no way I am able to wear shoes. 

Dolores and Laura are on board and they are in a full suite!  They text me and we head down to their cabin – that thankfully is on the same deck as our cabin.  So I hobble, boy I now understand how it must be for someone who has an issue with walking on board cause boy this ship is big when you have trouble walking.

We are welcomed with open arms by Laura and Dolores.  Hugs, kisses and just joy in seeing such great people.

Earlier we got two small bottles of Korbel each and brought this down with us to their cabin.  We spend an hour or so catching up with them until we have to head down to the Muster Drill.

Mini Break - Sailing the Grand Princess to San Francisco

Finished work for the day and now we are on vacation, well a mini vacation, but a vacation none the less.

Tomorrow we sail on the Grand Princess for a three day cruise to San Francisco with one stop in Victoria.

The reason we booked this cruise was because our friends Dolores and Laura are on board and we wanted to see them again. Plus the days of this cruise fell right in line with our days off this week and next.  So very few days were needed to get covered for us to pull this off.

Oh and the price was right.  Read all about it here.  

We are going to head down to the pier early tomorrow.  We will take the bus.  Not only cause we are transit drivers and we got a transit pass, but because it really is the most convenient way to get downtown.  After the trip we will take transit back home too.

I plan to take some pictures and video of the routing for anyone wanting to take the skytrain downtown from the airport.  Will do a separate blog just for that when I get home.

We should be down at the pier for around 11 am.  Normallly we never head to the pier that early but we both agreed we just want to get this trip started.  

Our cabin is C505 and our friends are also on Caribe.  We know a few crew on board currently - big shout out to Victor (watch specialist) and Paul the Deputy Cruise Director.   We recently found out that one of my Facebook fans that has been on the page for a long time will be on too - YEAH Chuck.

We are looking at getting the All Inclusive Drink Package too.  Not something I would normally consider but for a three day trip with only half a day being in port I think we can get our money's worth. Plus I said to Bernie we need to get it cause it is research for my Facebook fan page.  To read more about Princess' drink package click here.

After some discussion we agreed to just bring on carry on.  We will carry our bags on board too.  We are not planning on bringing any wine/champagne - sort of like bringing a sandwich to a buffet.  

So stay tuned.  Will be blogging throughout the entire cruise and posting lots of things. If you have any questions post them to my Facebook Page and I will try and respond quickly.

What is Better Than Coffee? Cruise With Them

Our friends Dolores and Laura had told us they would be in Vancouver before getting on the Grand Princess for a three day cruise to San Francisco.

We really wanted to see them and knew whatever time we had with them it would be very limited before they had to get on the ship.

Well.... why not join them I suggested to Bernie.  The price sure was right $188 for an inside, and $218 for a balcony.  

Then Bernie suggested why not take some time and visit his niece who recently moved with her husband and two young boys to just outside of San Francisco.  

Even better, I have never met her boys and would love to see Erin again.

So we booked a BD balcony guarantee and then went and used our points to secure tickets for a flight home.

The next day we were assigned a cabin.  A BC category A617 and I was happy.  Bernie was a little concerned about the possible noise from the Horizon Court just above us.  He suggested I contact Connie our travel agent to see what she could do.

My suggestion to her was if they could move us to any BC of BD category that was not below public space.  I already knew that space was limited and there were no cabins in either of those categories left.  I did see some B2 categories left - those are the ones on Caribe Deck with the big balconies. But the cost was $35 more per person.  

When I got an email back from her about an hour later I was tickled pink to see that not only did Princess assign us a new cabin, they assigned us a Caribe Balcony Cabin at no added costs.  So it pays to have a good travel agent that will go to bat for you.

We are very excited to see Dolores and Laura again and spend a few days with them.  We are also going to be able to see some friends in Victoria for brunch too.  

Of course Bernie is excited to eat at Alfredos on the Grand.

Meeting New People - A Challenge to Myself

Yesterday I listening to CBC Radio and the whole topic was about how focused we all are as a society on ourselves and how we don't engage and meet as many strangers as we use to.  They were interviewing a guy who is blogging about his challenge to meet and chat with a new stranger every day. Here is his link:  The Stranger Project link.

Also I have some friends who I have sailed with independently who just happen to be on the same cruise right now. They were both posting to their Facebook page about their embarkation and I thought "hey here is a chance for them to meet". I sent out a group private message to the two couples and they arranged to meet on board and they even had dinner last night in the Crown Grill. I knew they would get along as they had similar values, and of course they did. Here is a picture Larry posted today of them.  

This got me thinking.

When we cruise we meet new people when we are forced to meet new people. Like when we choose to sit with others at breakfast. When we have to share a van on an excursion. But what about the other times?

How many times have I been at the railing looking out and someone is beside me, or I am sitting enjoying my coffee in the International Cafe. Or I am waiting in line for something. Sure sometimes conversations may start, but often I just try to keep to myself not wanting to bother anyone.

I am going to change this. The whole purpose of travelling is to get to experience new things, to learn from the places you are going. So many people have amazing stories and I bet I would learn a lot.

I remember on our last trip to South America I was sitting in the International Cafe one day when we were in port in San Martin, Peru by myself and a couple was sitting beside me. I had my head down focused on my Suduko but the man next to me wanted to talk. At first I was a little annoyed but i put down my puzzle and we struck up a conversation. I learned that they both were originally from Chile and that they had to flee Chile as he was an activist that fought for student's/women's/worker's rights many years ago for which the government at the time did not like. He came to Canada as a refugee and he has written a few books on the subject and he is now a professor at a university in Manitoba.  

We chatted for at least an hour and I learned so much.

I have had many experiences since starting this blog and my facebook fan page, of passengers coming up to me on a ship and introducing themselves to me. I have loved this experience and it has stemmed many new friendships or at minimum the chance to meet someone new. 

So for my next trip I will challenge myself and I will try and include these new encounters in my daily blog. I am sure there will be some people who just want to be left alone, heck even I sometimes just don't want to be bothered but I will not take it personally.  

So here is to learning not only about where you travel to but to learning about the people you are travelling with.