New York Sail Away and Morning of Rhode Island

It is a lovely afternoon for a sail away and there are lots of people out for it.  It is so nice to see so many people excited about their voyage.  This is a great place to people watch.  Most people are happy, excited, in love, hopeful and well just nice.  Give it a few hours, fast forward to 8 pm as we sit outside Explorer’s Lounge.  We sit waiting until dinner and we people watch as the passengers wander about the ship.  Now is not a good time for many people.  Many are tired from long day of travel.  They are trying to find something, the dining room, a lounge, the theater, even a washroom.  We notice a lot of people are short tempered and quite a few scream at their partners.  Oh well, it was nice while it lasted.  Hopefully a good night sleep will rejuvenate everyone.

Okay back to our evening and our regular scheduled program. 

We dance a bit, we enjoy a cocktail and we check out the views.  We are in a cabin that is aft right on Riviera deck so we can walk thru Horizon Court, thru Café Caribe to the aft pool and then down a flight of stairs right to our cabin.  We are the first cabin – well actually it is the last balcony cabin on starboard side.  So convenient to everything, but a long walk in the morning to the International Café.  But the exercise is doing us well.

The Cruise Critic gathering is happening at the aft bar and I meet up with many of the people from the roll call.  Didn’t get to make it to the roll call gathering last voyage as it was after we left Rhode Island and we slept right thru it.  Today I make a point of dropping in and meeting some really nice people.

We dress for dinner and head to the shops to stock up on some cologne.  We do this every so often as the first two days you get a great deal from the coupon book.  Spend $100 and get 10% off spend $250 and get 15% off, plus with our elite 10% discount we are saving 25% in total.  Germanie from South Africa takes very good care of us here and recommends colognes for both of us.  We even are able to leave our purchases here until after dinner so we don’t have to rush back to the cabin with them.

We drop into the Captain Circle desk and say hi and he gives us the invite for the Most Travelled Passenger Cocktail Party.  We qualify again and this time we are higher up on the list.  Although last week’s number one couple are still on so I am guessing they are number one again. 

Since we are a little early for dinner we take a seat outside Explorer’s Lounge (well see above on how that went).  At just after 8 we head to the Palm dining room and many of the staff are surprised to see us again.  We head back to our favorite waiter Remil at table number 126.  Seems strange to look around and see so many different faces.  It is much busier second seating tonight, but the waiters shine as usual.

I decide to switch it up a bit tonight, normally I have the Basa fillet but I am going for the Fettucini Alfredo in the Parmesan bowl in honour of Alice our friend aka Mimi who is just about to be getting on the Royal.  I do start out with the spring roll though and a Caesar salad and for dessert well you guessed it, the cheese plate.  I am stuffed!

We are not really interested in going to the Welcome Aboard Show again as the dancers only have one dance.  We make our way back to the shops to pick up our purchases.  We head upstairs to Facets to say hi to Delmarie and catch up on how she is doing.  The shops are busy but it looks like more looking and not as much purchasing.  If only people knew what a great deal and guarantee you got from on board. 

We are back in the cabin around 11 pm and we crash…. Nothing like the rocking of the ship to put us right to sleep.

I am woken Sunday morning to the sound of the tenders being dropped.  Ahhhh Rhode Island again, although today it is overcast and a light rain and I am not sure if it will clear up.  But we are okay with that, we are on vacation and a little rain won’t hurt us.  And like I always say “it could always be worse”.

Bernie heads down to get some coffees and we sit out and watch the beginning of the tender process.  A quick shower and we head down to the dining room as Bernie remembers last week on this day they had blueberry pancakes on the menu and he can’t wait to get them again.  This time I enjoy them to and I will concur they are amazing.

Things this week don’t seem as crazy for the tendering process.  I believe last week’s boat show in town caused a lot more boat traffic and slowed down the tendering process.  So far today it seems there are minimal waits for tender rides.  But I can’t verify that right now.  Key is be patient if you are going ashore.  Make sure everyone in your party is ready and proceed to the tender ticket location (today it is Deck 5 Island Dining Room) and have your cruise card and ID with you.

Since we went ashore last week and since we need some more relaxing days we have decided to stay on board today.  It isn’t that we don’t like this place but for us there is nothing drawing us out.  Tomorrow will be a busy day in Boston so we are resting up.  The great thing about cruising is you decide how you want to spend your vacation.

I was still having trouble with the internet today.  Since we are on a back to back we usually have one voyage’s minutes end at 11 pm on the last day of the first voyage.  Then the first day of the new voyage we need to set up a new account and get the Captain Circle Package again.  However this trip when I logged on the first day of the second voyage it was still showing minutes from the last cruise.  I check with the Internet guru and he said you just ask to get a new package.  So this morning I tried to do that and it wouldn’t offer me any package.  So I waited till his desk hours and went down and showed him and he was surprised.  He then had to override the system and allocate the packages to us.   Now I am set up so I can blog and post.

I do want to do a big shout out to some amazing crew on board that have made the trip so far so special.  Dana the CSD, Adam the HGM, Michael F&B, Douw Head Waiter, Mario Maitre d’, Remill our waiter, Catalin Head Waiter, Alberto and all the Princess Dancers and of course our lovely Delmarie.  Yes the voyage would be great even if they were not all here but boy have they all been so great and we truly appreciate all they do.

Just sitting here waiting for our mini bar to get changed up, again we are having trouble getting things switched.  Bernie called about an hour ago to get it changed and he dealt with the same woman as last week (for which we never did get the change – and had to call back that evening).  She said it would be 20 minutes so I just called back and she said they are on their way.   One area we have noticed some issues is with room service and we have only used them two times and both times there have been issues.   And just as I type this there is a knock at the door and they are here – yeah more vodka and soda.

Today some of the happenings are:  Acupuncture seminar, Ping pong tournament, Trivia, Mahjong, NFL Football on MUTS, Movie the Internship, Taboo game, Golf Chipping, Afternoon Tea, Lighting Photography seminar, Basketball Best Out of Ten, Pop Choir Rehersal, Horse Racing, Veterans Get Together, Book Club (this week the book is different it is The Silver Star), Art Auction, Bingo, Solo Travellers Get Together, Service Clulb Get Together, Dr. Bob & Bill W Meeting, Zumba, GLBT Gathering, Wii@Sea, Captain’s Welcome Champagne Waterfall Party, Karaoke, Multimedia Music Trivia, Waltz class, Majority Rules game, 50’s and 60’s dance Music at Skywalkers, and so much more!

Friday – Ah a Day At Sea

dolphins

It is so nice to know we don’t have to get up early, we can relax all day, we don’t have to go ashore – cause it is a sea day.

I am still full from dinner last night and Bernie heads up to get a bowl of oatmeal.  Horizon Court is busy he says when he returns with a latte for me.  That is all I need to get me going.

We shower and take our time getting going.  The main thing today is we want to see the Cooking Demonstration at 10:30.  The place is packed when we arrive at 10:15, so I suggest you head there early if you want to get a seat up close.

Mario and Douw

tasting chef and his family being interviewed by Conrad 

Now Mario the Maitre D and his staff doing the best show of all the ships I have been on.  You will love it, and you will laugh and you will be entertained.  Right from the start when Conrad comes out and gets the audience warmed up and then introduces Mario, and then the Executive Chef and then Douw we are laughing.  Mario is a character, but trust me he runs a tight ship.  You can tell his staff have a lot of respect for him and they get the job done.  Mario and his team I feel are the best in the fleet.  When he joins a ship their numbers go up. 

Mario, Douw, and Conrad

I have some video of the show that I will put up on my Youtube channel and will post a link to in when I get back home.  But I don’t want to post too much because I don’t want to ruin it by sharing too much, you have to go and see for yourself.

We don’t do the galley tour, we have seen the galley on many ships and the crowds are long.  But if you have never been take the time to see the galley.

The big sale is going on in the dining room on deck 5 from 10 until 1 pm and it is packed in there.  I don’t even attempt to go in.  I always go in and get frustrated by the crowds and  lines to cash out that I usually walk out with nothing anyways.  Plus there is nothing I need anyways.

We take a seat in the International Café and grab a drink and I do Suduoku and Bernie reads and we are content to watch everyone. 

For lunch we head to the dining room.  This is the first time they are offering lunch in the dining room as every day has been a port day and the dining room is closed normally.  It is rather quiet in the dining room.  I have a feeling that not a lot of people know that it is open.  Plus they are doing Pub Lunch in the Crown Grill so many people are going there too.

Bernie heads back to the cabin and ends up watching the latest James Bond movie in the cabin.  He is happy.

I head down to Vines and enjoy two glasses of wine – yup two!  They were good too. 

At 3 pm is the Wine Tasting which is complimentary for elite passengers and for others it is $9.50.  We are sat at a table of 8 and we notice all the wines are the same from the last voyage.  The Sommelier (yup this ship has a sommelier still but they are phasing them out) and he does the entire wine tasting.  Have to say it was rather boring.  We have enjoyed the wine tastings that have been conducted by the Head Waiters recently.  Normally three different Head Waiters will take part and they bring a bit of their own personality to the tasting.  Today though it just drags on and his voice is so monotone and I am falling asleep.  Bernie is really bored, and considering he rarely even comes to the wine tastings normally he is sorry he came to this one.  We end up giving our dessert wine glasses away to two ladies that are travelling for the first time on Princess.  We don’t need more and we are trying to downsize and they were tickled pink.

When I come out of the wine tasting the cookies and milk guy is walking around and well that must be a sign – so we stop and get some cookies and I grab a latte and we chat with some other passengers.

I picked up the picture from formal night – the one I won from the welcome aboard/sailaway party.  The photo department is busy but not crazy (trust me try to go early if you can cause it only gets crazier as the day goes on).

I also get a print out of my bill – again print out your account from the machines located near the purser’s desk and save yourself the time of not having to line up to see someone at the Purser’s desk.  Oh and everything on the bill looks fine.  It has been a few years since we have noticed any errors in our bill.

I decide to head up to the Lido/Sun deck to sit out in the sun.  The weather this voyage has been amazing and there are a lot of people in the pool and hot tubs.  Lots of people sun tanning, hard to believe it is late September.  Ferris Buller’s Day Off is playing on Muts and a lot of people are watching it.  I decide to find a quieter place to sit out and read.  But I can’t keep my eyes open and actually nap for a good half hour up there.

Dinner tonight is in the Palm Dining room and Douw and our Emerill our waiter take very good care of us.  It is not one of my favorite menus but I do enjoy the Tom Turkey dinner.  We enjoy some great wine, chat with the table next to us and wish them well.  We enjoy the Baked Alaska Parade and we leave stuffed.

Service in the Dining Room, well actually everywhere has been amazing.  Probably one of the best we have ever had.  From our dining staff, breakfast, International Café, Vines and even the buffet.

We also want to see the Production Show tonight which is the Piano Man.  I haven’t seen this show in quite a while and I don’t think Bernie has ever seen it.  We get seats right up front for the 10 pm show.   The theater is rather quiet, guess with it being the last night and last show a lot of people have gone to bed already.  But I will say the casino is packed again tonight (another non smoking night).

The show is amazing…. Alberto doesn’t disappoint again.  And this time I brought my camera so I have pictures of the show.  Make sure you get to this show, you will not be able to not sing along.  They feature songs from Billy Joel, Elton John and Barry Mannilow.

The stores close early tonight for inventory so get your stuff before dinner. 

We head to bed, and look forward to a restful sleep because we know we will be woken early.  Thankfully we gain an hour’s sleep as our clocks go back to New York time.  

St. John New Brunswick

Reversing Falls

this is the pier, the white tent is a marketplace

We are docked early and we have to leave early so we wish we could say we woke early but sadly we didn’t.  We didn’t get to bed until late and we didn’t sleep well after all that food, and wine and time change.  Yes the clocks went forward an hour last night to East Coast time. 

I am still full from dinner so I opt out of getting breakfast.  We head ashore around 10 am and walk thru a little market of crafts and local items right at the pier.  We dock right in town, and it is easy to walk almost anywhere if you are physically able.

There were selling numerous tours right at the pier including the hop on hop off buses.  There are a few taxis here too and we jumped in one and headed to the Reversing Falls look out, which was rather close and we had the tai wait and then take us back to the city center too.  The cost of the entire ride was $15.

There is a mall in the downtown where you can find pretty much anything you might need, including a Starbucks and Tim Hortons and both have wifi.  We walked around the mall a bit and then crossed the street to the Marketplace which was lovely but boy was it crowded.  I should note that there were three ships in port today so the downtown was busy.

St. John is not a huge city but a very quaint city that is spread out.  There is some interesting history here and the people are lovely.  We stopped and had a meal ashore which was okay and then crossed the street for a cupcake and that too was okay.  You win some you loose some I guess.

The City Market

inside

this restaurant - Steemers is right across from the pier and was recommended, although we didn't try it, it was busy

We are both tired and in need of a nap and we leave port early today at 2:45 so we get back on around 1:30. 

I will say the lines to get on and get off the ship whole trip have been crazy.  Some of the blame can be on so many new cruisers who just don’t know or understand things, like which gangway to get off at or to get tender tickets first, or have cruise card out etc.  But a lot has to do with Princess too.  Not enough tenders operating, especially in some ports like Rhode Island where we had a long tender ride.  And not enough gangways open.  So far every port we have had a gangway open at they have only had one gangway open not the normal two to accommodate the crowds.  This is probably the worst cruise with regards to getting on or off the ship. 

Back to today.  There are lines again and we snake our way up the gangway.  It is one of those big gangways like they have for planes that scizzor back and forth and there must be over a 100 people on it.  I am afraid to look at what the maximum number is.  In all it took about 20 minutes to get back on the ship.

The sun is shining all day today and it is hot hot hot.  The pools are busy, people are sun tanning and I drop my things in the cabin and grab a book and head up to the aft deck on deck 17 for some sun and relaxation.  Until this loud obnoxious man comes and stands at the railing and basically screams to the person beside him and one of his comments was “what a useless place this is”.  I have to feel sorry for him, someone with such a shallow view misses a lot of great things in life.

We stay out for sail away and then head back to the cabin for a nap, a much needed nap.  We sleep just over an hour and decide to dress for formal night and take some pictures.

A quick glass of wine in vines on deck 5 and we watch some of the people and chat with the bar staff there.  Vines is busy every night.  Along with the Casino these are two places making money.

Tonight is the Captain Circle Party and there were two parties and we had an invite for the second party.  We meet up with Barb and Gordon again and we sit with them near the back.  Adam the HGM notices us and sends a waiter over to get us drinks.  None of us one the bottle of champagne – sad face.  But we had a nice time.  Princess shows the video of the christening of the Royal Princess, sure it is nice to see, but we are all here because we have sailed numerous times on Princess.  You don’t have to sell it to us we are hooked.  It was a very nice party and I really like that the party is just for Platinum and Elite passengers now.  It keeps the crowds down and a more manageable group.

We dine tonight back with our regular servers in the Palm Dining room.  It is formal night tonight so that means two things escargot and lobster.  I get the escargot and then the vegetarian spring rolls and the yoghurt soup and then the ravioli as an entrée.  We loved it all and we left full.  One nice thing was one of the head waiters started to sing and the whole dining room got right into it.  Douw came over and grabbed our pepper mill and started to lip sink to the song and made us all laugh.  A few people even got up and danced.

As much as I normally dislike traditional dining and the formality of a set time each night I have enjoyed the camaraderie with the neighboring tables. 

The production show tonight is Born to Be Wild, the one with the pink Cadillac.  A show we like and we are sitting up front enjoying it and cheering them all on.  Great job you guys.

Bedtime, another big day tomorrow awaits – Halifax.

Tuesday Evening

The Most Traveled Cocktail Party is this evening in Skywalkers at 7:30.  We arrive just after and there is quite a line up at the bottom of the walking sidewalk.  Someone is checking names from a master list and also calling out names.  This is quite odd, not sure why they don’t just take our invite and cross off the names one at a time then send us up the ramp to meet the Captain.  I know they need to make sure there is no bottle neck at the top but they could always wait before sending up the next couple.

I am not sure what number were are on the list but I know we are not near the top.  The third highest is around 900 days with the top being around 1300 days.  We are just over 300 days but we are definetly the youngest in the crowd.  Many people have been on for the last Baltic cruise then did the crossing and are doing the first Canada New England.  The couple we sit with from Adelaide Australia did exactly this.  A very nice couple to sit with and we enjoyed our time with them.

We did get a picture with the Captain.  It was nice to see Captain Pomata again, and he is now sporting a beard.  He looks very good with this beard.  

I like the cocktail parties personally.  We can order any type of drink we wish and we do and the wait staff come around with lovely tapas and there is a food station set up as well with other items.  But we didn’t indulge too much because we are dining at the Crown Grill tonight.  We meet Adam Gorst the Hotel General Manager and we are so wowed as he comes around serving crepes for everyone and I must say they are great too and a nice treat.  He even wanted to clear our plates but I wouldn’t let him.  He is much too high an officer to do that.  I actually told him I wasn’t finished and then when a bar staff came by I gave the plate to them.

We finally got to meet Michael Glass the Food and Beverage Manager who Douw had been telling us about and invited him to join us for a drink in the Crown Grill later.  We also met Dana I the Customer Services Director and we really like her.  Her smile and her caring manner really shine thru.  She knows Johan and we giggle about our experiences with him.

Overall the party was very nice and the views spectacular something we have never experienced at other parties.  The officers get a chance to wander around and chat with many different people instead of sitting with just one officer at a luncheon.  The food is good too and I like the drinks more than just wine.  But a luncheon is nice too but my preference is the cocktail party.

We meet up in the Crown Grill for dinner at 9 and we are sat in a very nice booth at the end and enjoy a lovely bottle of Jack London, and after that a lovely bottle of wine that we got in port from South Africa. 

I ordered the Black and Blue Onion soup and it was good, not as hot as we are use to and not as flavourful as we are use to but still good.  In fact I didn’t even finish it because of this and to save room for the steak.  I ordered the filet mignon medium and it arrived perfectly cooked and so wonderfully seasoned on the outside.  I was able to also get a side of Bernaisse sauce too.  For our sides we got a variety of items, garlic fries, mashed potatoes, asparagus, spinach and also mushrooms.  They no longer offer scalloped potatoes or creamed corn.  The entrée was fabulous and I managed to eat most of my steak.  But had to save room for dessert.

Of course many of you already know me well enough to know I got the molten chocolate cake and we sprinkled some pink salt on it to bring out the flavours of the chocolate.  Yummy.  I am writing this a few days later and my mouth is watering just thinking of it.

Dining in the Crown Grill is an experience, a nice treat, great way to celebrate and trust me you don’t need a special occasion to dine here, just being on vacation is a good enough reason.

Bar Harbor

I wake to someone talking loudly in the hallway….. What time is it?  Why are they talking so loud?  Then I realize we have dropped anchor and it is the purser’s staff announcing that the tender service is now available.  Oh…. It is 7:15

We decide to head to the dining room for breakfast this morning and we had a lovely table right near the window and pancakes and sausage hit the spot.  The staff here are amazing… so attentive and patient. 

I will state that there was a bit of a queue to get a table but they moved it along very fast so patience is necessary but worth it.

We are not going ashore for a bit so we are down in the coffee bar enjoying a latte and a tea while we see so many grab tender tickets to go ashore.  We are meeting up with Delmarie to go ashore and enjoy a nice meal.  The sun is shining and the place looks beautiful.

Around 11 am they no longer require that you go to the dining room for tender tickets.  Although we don’t require tender tickets anyways cause of priority but we aren’t in any rush.  We only head ashore around noon.  The ride is quick and the weather is lovely, a light jacket is required as the winds can be cool.

When we get ashore we head to find lobster.  We walk up the main street to the Lobster Pound.  A nice simple restaurant that a local recommended.  We sit outside and order a drink and well some lobster.  Bernie gets a lobster roll dinner and I and Delmarie get a pound and a quarter whole lobster.  Marketprice for the lobster was $15 and then we added on the meal option for an additional $12 which included chowder, mussels, fries and corn on the cob and a piece of pie for dessert.  Oh my what a lot of food but I really dug into that lobster!  It was so good and so fresh. 

After the meal we are so full and we need to walk a bit.  We walk around the streets and pop into a few stores.  I ended up buying a tshirt that has the lobster with the sign that says “say no to pot”. 

We stroll along the water and then we are back on board around 4 pm.

Dinner tonight is the Crown Grill with a dear friend but it is going to be late around 9 pm as he can’t really get away until then.  But it works out great for us cause we have the Most Traveled Cocktail Party tonight at 7:30.  Yes it is a cocktail party as this is something Captain Pomata prefers and personally we do too.  We don’t know where we fall in the numbers as we have not even met the Captain Circle Host yet and I can’t be bother to wait for his desk hours.  We hear he is from Buenos Aries and Delmarie speaks highly of him so we will say hi soon, well tonight for sure.

Bernie is trying trivia this afternoon again.  Me I am just going to wander the ship.  Got some great pictures of the entire ship earlier today for my fan page.  Make sure to head there and check out the album when I get back.  Here is a link to my fan page.  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cruising-Princess-Cruiseline-with-Vickie/240526055979098 

I sat in Vines for a bit and enjoyed two glasses of my wine that is stored at Vines and did some Sudoku puzzles and Bernie joined me after his trivia for which he said he did poorly at but met a lovely Mother Daughter from Ontario.

I am back in the cabin now.  Earlier in the voyage Bernie gave me some little pampering items and I am indulging in a deep moisturizing hair mask and a facial mask, trust me, no pictures of this will be put up here on this blog.  But the results may be later on tonight at dinner.

Boston

We are not getting in until 10 am today but around 8 am we start hearing noises in the hallway and room service being deliver near us.  Oh well time to get we say.

The weather is beautiful again and we are really lucking out in that regards.

Today we received our Canadian declaration form. Everyone needs to fill it out before arriving in Canada whether  you plan to get off or not.  

Bernie has just headed to Horizon Court for bite to eat.  Personally I am still full from dinner!

Our plan for today is to head ashore and take the Old Town Trolley.  You can buy this tour from on board thru Shore Excursion Desk but we got our tickets on line from their website prior to coming for a bit less than on board.  

Bernie has just walked back in.  I say “boy that didn’t take long” and he laughs, apparently it is a zoo, and that is putting it lightly.  We don’t dock until 10 am and with everyone getting ready to go ashore for then it seems everyone had the same idea, get breakfast at the Horizon Court.  Long lines just to get into the buffet area and forget about getting a seat.  Of course I say back to Bernie “really, you should of known better” and yeah we should of.  So he waits about a half hour until 10 and then heads back up for a meal and it is better.

We have two other ships in port with us and there are a few sprinkles falling but nothing to slow us down.  But boy there seems to be a lot of people in the Atrium and we quickly realize they are queuing up to get off the ship.  An announcement has come on saying because of the tides they only have one gangway open on deck five.  The one on deck six is closed currently because it is just too steep with the tide being low.  We make our way to the back of the line which has stretched thru the art gallery on deck five to the forward stairway.  But it is moving very fast and we maybe wait five minutes.  It is also made slower because many don’t know about where to go or why and also don’t have their card out ready to scan.

When we get on land we start walking, the pier is very very long but we are okay with that but if you have mobility issues it could be a problem.  The ship has a transfer service that takes you to town for a small fee and sorry I don’t remember how much it was but I believe it is around $15 per person and you buy it once you go ashore.  Note though that a taxi would be similar.  We walk out looking for where we can board the hop on hop off trolley and there is a pick up spot nearby when ships are in port #17.  Check their website for details.

We did the tour which was around an 1.5 to 2 hours and decided to stay on and do most of the tour and then get off later and get a bite to eat.  Of course we could of gotten off and reboarded but we were being two things, lazy and really wanting a good overview.  Plus the tour kind of winds back and intersects so it would be easy to get on and off. 

We see so many sights, here are just a few of the pictures.

We grab a bite to eat at the Grainery and the food was very good but there are tons of restaurants and types of food to choose from to suit everyone’s taste.  

A friend of ours who lives in Boston (Sharon & Bruce, thanks) recommended Mike’s Pastry so we walk over there.  It is located in Little Italy, Boston’s North End and we love the atmosphere of this area, and heck we are not even Italian.  This place is famous for cannoli pastries and we grab one each and then one for Mario the Maitre d’ cause we know he is Italian.  

We wander back to the bus to take us on the Orange line back to the pier.  It has been a full day and lots of walking and we didn’t sleep well the night before and back in the cabin and we both look at each other and say “nap time”.

After a two hour nap we are woken to an announcement of looking for so and so.  Oh my it is 6:30…. So glad we have late seating for dinner.
We dress for dinner and then wander around to see what is happening around.  Oh a Martini demonstration is going on in the Atrium.  Corey is hosting and he is so good at his job so much energy and I can tell the people here love him.  And he calls out a few questions to win the final martini and I guessed the right answer to one so I walked away with a martini… great way to start the evening I say.

For dinner we are sat and the regulars are all around us, so we all say hi and catch up with each other. 

Douw has a few treats for us… oh so much and so sweet and it is appreciated.

I have a salad to start and the pork for my entrée and love the raspberry/ricotta spring rolls for dessert and they were hot which is just how they should be.
We want to see the production show “Do You Wanna Dance” which we have seen many times but Alberto is performing and well we love the energy and the effort they put into the shows.  And of course they don’t disappoint us again.  One note is the sequin jackets on the singers really need to be replaced they look sad!

One thing about this ship when you exit the theater on deck 7 you have to walk thru the casino. 

Thankfully is no smoking night because normally it is horrible having to walk thru it.  Sure you can go down to deck six and walk but even there it is smoky with Churchills Bar.  We also have ducked out to the Promenade outside deck too just to get away from the crowds and smoke.

Boy oh Boy you wouldn’t believe the crowds in the casino.  I don’t think I have ever seen so many people playing in any casino ever on board!  You couldn’t find a slot machine even if you wanted to.  And it is almost 11 pm and they are queued up for the machines.  Later we hear a woman saying how she waited for a machine and was glad she did cause she walked away with money.  

We are back in the cabin just before midnight and we watch a bit of the movie Mud which of course when we piece it together with all the bits we have watched throughout the day I think we have seen most of it…. The joys of trying to watch a movie on the ship.

Sunday Newport, Rhode Island

Today is a tender port at we drop anchor early around 7 am but what really awakens us is the announcement in the hall way that tenders are now available.  We slept like babies, the great thing about being in an inside cabin is it is very quiet (at least this one is) and dark.  

We don’t have anything big planned today just head ashore and check things out.

Things happening today:  Dr. Bob & Bill W Meeting, Solo Travellers gathering, Pin Pong Tournament, Introduction to Acupuncture, Trivia, Mah-Jong, Taboo game, Golf Chipping Challenge, Princess Pop Choir Rehearsal, Afternoon Tea, Lighting Photography seminar, Pain Management Seminar, Veterans Get Together, NFL Football on MUTS, Bingo, Princess Book Club, Art Auction, Zumba Fitness, GLBT Get Together.  
Tonight is formal night and the Princess Theater is showing Comedian Steve White at 7, 8:15 and 10:15 pm.  It is also the Captain’s Welcome Aboard Champagne Waterfall Party in the Atrium at 7:15.

Well off to enjoy the day.

We are back after a lovely day in Newport.  Key to remember it is a tender port and the harbor today is very very busy with lots of boats of all types.  In fact there is a boat show going on we later realize.  Because of this the tender process is very slow as the tenders manoeuver in and around all the traffic.  The ride on the tender was at least a half hour.  Because of this waits to get a tender from the ship were long.  We were lucky as with elite you get priority tendering and so we just walked down to deck 4 midship and boarded the next tender by showing our priority tickets.

But if you don’t have priority tickets remember you need to follow the directions in the Patter on where you need to go to get tender tickets.  For us today people had to go to the dining room mid ship on deck 5 and wait there for their tender number to be called.  Of course if you have a Princess tour booked meet with the group as per the directions on the ticket.

Once ashore we first tried to rent some bikes.  We had read on line that there was a rental place just a block from the pier and we went there but all the bikes were taken.  They directed us to a place a few blocks further and we went there and they didn’t open until noon and that was still 1.5 hours away.  So with our map we picked up at the Visitor’s Center we started walking.  We walked along streets with beautiful older buildings and then back towards the center of town along Spring Street.  

Stopped for a coffee and a treat and a rest then we were back out towards the downtown and old mansions.  

The mansions are huge, stunning, huge, oh and did I say huge.  In fact we like the walking cause all along the way there are signs explaining a lot about the history of the area and the facts about many of the buildings, including many mansions.  

We stop and look at the Elms mansion and we are blown away to think that this wasn’t even their main house but their summer house.  Seriously, just so much wealth.  You can tour these homes and we are not really interested in that.  I am sure they are beautiful but we are happier seeing more how the “normal” hard working people live.

We walk back towards the water and the crowds are getting heavier.  Again that boat show has brought a lot of people into Newport.  By now we have been walking around for four hours and the last tender is 3:15 so with not much time left we decide to head back on board.  

The line to get back on is long, but don’t worry the line moved rather quickly and in total we maybe waited five minutes.

Once back on board Bernie decides to head to the trivia and I head to Vines to find a quiet place and get a glass of wine and read.  Mark the bar staff at Vines is very helpful and I order a bottle of Santa Margarita and he recommends buying a bottle because a glass is $9.50 and a bottle is $47 so I would get a lot more wine for a better price.  That sounds great and so that is what I do and he has tagged the bottle for me and will keep it in the cooler there for whenever I come back.  Aren’t the crew great!

We then head up to the Lido deck at the grill to grab a burger and I fill up on a big salad from Horizon Court.  

My observations so far about this trip are the ship is full.  The age group is rather young in fact it seems the average age is around late 40’s early 50’s and very few kids.  I can count on my hand how many kids I have seen.

A lot of new cruisers – and many first time cruisers.  So a lot of people asking question about where to go and how to find something and learning about cruise travel.  But by the end of the second day a lot are more knowledgeable and we see people finding their grove.

Tonight is formal night and we head back to the cabin to shower and get ready to head to Skywalkers for a cocktail for the Platinum/Elite Lounge.  It is not very busy up there, again a reflection on the ship.  We enjoy a Cosmopolitan that is the drink of the day for $5 each and the food is shrimp cocktail and also there are chesses, olives, vegetables and a nice snack.  We meet up with Barb and Gordon from Wisconsin who are on the roll call and we have a lovely chat with them sharing our passion of travel with each other.

Dinner again is in the Palm Dining room second seating.   I start with the quiche appetizer, then the French Onion Soup then I had the beef entre which was okay.  Definitely not one of our favorite menus but we certainly didn’t go hungry.

We head out to take a few pictures, this is not a normal thing for us to pose for formal pics but I forgot to mention that yesterday I won a free formal picture from the sail away party.  First time I have won anything from the sail away party.  

We head to see the comedian Steve White in the Princess Theater for the 10:15 show.  We enjoyed him again, and thought his material was very current and funny.  Of course he has to make fun of all the people coming in late which again made us laugh but really people if you are going to come in late why would you come in and sit right near the front?  You are just asking for it.

After dinner we head over to say hi to Delmarie in Facets for a while and then it is up to Skywalkers for some dancing.  We must of danced for an hour straight and then bamm we hit a wall and my feet are killing me and it is midnight so back to the cabin we go.

Our laundry is already there, that was fast, just put it in yesterday and we got it back the next day.  Now remember this is not what is promised but it is nice when we get it.

Other comments about the voyage.

The ship is in great shape.  This is the first time we are on the Caribbean Princess and she is beautiful. Constant upkeep is being done, today we saw work being done on some tiles in the Atrium.  

Morning show is being shown at 10 pm the night prior which is something we experienced on the Emerald last Jan/Feb and actually works out well.  We watch just before we go to sleep and Neil today explained a lot of great info about coming into Boston and some details of where some sights are.   Well done!
Switching out our mini bar was an experience.  We wanted to trade out all our hard liquor for vodka and then replace the two beers and two tonic waters for Perrier.  On the first call the person we were talking to was all confused and said we can’t trade the beers for water which we know can be done and  of course is much cheaper than beer.  We think she understands and when we come back from being ashore, nothing has been replaced.  Okay we call again and this time we are talking to someone different and they seem to understand completely.  A few minutes later a knock at the door and everything is correct but they only have three Vodkas instead of the six.  He says he will come back and he does.  We giggle never realized how difficult a mini bar change could be.

This is a port intensive voyage with five ports in a row then one sea day and after one day in port we are exhausted and when going to bed tonight we both commented we need to make sure to take some time to relax more.  We are so glad we are doing a back to back.

Oh and we saw Klaus the Executive Chef from the Island Princess a few years ago.  He is now Chef de Cuisine but he is still cooking and loving it.  And is so personable.