Today things seemed a bit calmer. We headed out for our usual Sabbattini’s breakfast. Today we chatted with people at other tables, including one my facebook friends Nancy. (Later we agreed that since we eat at the same time, tomorrow, the first to arrive will ask for a table for 4 and we’ll have breakfast together).
Once again, I was off for line dance. Glen had said he might go with me, but decided to pass. I got there in the middle of the first dance, but did pick it up because it was one I’d done before. We also did a partner dance. Apparently, the hoe down is tonight and these dances will be danced.
Glen met me after line dance and we walked along the promenade deck for a while. We practiced our quickstep routine (our goal now is to dance Desiree’s choreography in every ocean in the world).
After that we went to the Patassiere for good coffee. We’d been using our old coffee cards for three days, and they’d been giving us free brewed coffee on them. Today, Glen ordered a latte and the server wouldn’t take the card. She did however, exchange it for their new card. (The old card had no expiration on anything – the new ones expire the free brewed coffee and specialty teas after the voyage they were purchased on.)
After coffee, I went to the Hula lesson. It was taught by one of the cruise staff. After class I asked her if she had a hula background (she did a good job with the class). She’s Canadian, but did study it.
After hula I met Glen for lunch in the dining room. We were seated at a table for 6 and had a very nice meal with some friendly people.
After lunch, I met one of my facebook friends for coffee up at Horizon court. She’s a smoker and not very happy with the smoking policy. It’s been on the front of the cruise personalizer for months, so she should have thought of that. Oh well, I think she’s enjoying the rest of the cruise. She’s on a low carb diet, and the dining room crew has been wonderful about her food.
After that, we went up to the Elite lounge. We talked to Maria, a late joiner to the cruise critic roll call. As we were leaving, Jackie and Chris, friends from both roll calls joined us so we stayed for a while longer. I asked the waiter for another glass of water. He said no, but was teasing, so we had an ongoing tease until we left just before 7pm.
The next stop was Explorers because Indigo was playing dance music. We got there a little late, and there was almost nowhere to sit. We eventually found a place, and danced to a couple of songs. When we got back, someone had taken our seats, in spite of a drink being on the table. We then found one seat next to our tablemates Frank and Wendy, but left soon after for the Wheelhouse. The orchestra was playing and we tried to dance, but since they weren’t specifically playing dance music we gave up and wandered around until dinner.
Tonight’s dinner was the French and Mediterranean dinner, and there wasn’t really a good choice for me. I decided to be brave and get Duck A’la Orange. I also opted for a fruit kabab appetizer, rather than the Escargot. Joey, one of our table mates joking asked for 6 portions of it. I suggested we get one for the table to try. Natalie brought it but only Glen and I tried it. After he finished his first one, Natalie brought Joey another order. He then stopped it at 2. (BTW, they were good).
For the soup course I originally picked Onion Soup, but I wanted to try the cucumber too, so I asked Natalie for some. She said she doesn’t really like it, but I could try it. She brought it. It was OK., a little strong in the raw cucumber flavor. I ate about ¼ of that and ½ of the onion. Hmmm, maybe, when I want to try two different choices, I can keep doing that. Get two and don’t finish either.
The duck was OK. The sauce was great, but the duck was mostly dark meat and I didn’t really like. I wonder if next time they have this menu they’ll do chicken a’la Orange. Frank was brave and tried the Frogs Legs. He said they were good but bland.
For dessert most of us had the raspberry crème brulee. It was made in the right kind of ramekin, but could have had the top burnt a little more.
After dinner, we stopped by the Hoe down in Club Fusion, but there was nowhere to sit. I did a line dance, and since it was hot and crowded we left. We went to the Wheelhouse and danced a couple of dances before the band took a break, and then went to the top deck where we watched Moneyball, a movie about the 2002 Oakland A’s. When we went to dinner, the winds were at force 5 “gentle breeze”, but it was pretty windy up there. The deck chairs without people in them had their cushions flipping around.
After that, back to the room to catch up on email and Words with Friends. I checked the voyage channel and noticed that we were back to gale force winds. I also noticed the speed was less than 20 knots. A quick shower, and then bed.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Another sea day in which nothing much happens
They set the clocks back an hour, so we were able to sleep in a bit, which was good, since the ship kept hitting speed bumps every few minutes. Another nice breakfast at Sabbattini’s and another line dance class for me. Again, I caught the back half of the class, which included a review of Rockin Robin. We then wandered around the upper decks for a while since the Promenade was closed. Much of the upper deck was too.
Once again, we did lunch in the dining and met some nice couples, including Johnny and Lexie who also dance. We’d see them later in the Wheelhouse.
Following lunch we walked around the promenade deck, although because of gale force winds and rough seas, we were unable to go to the top. We also danced a little during our various walks.
After that we decided (OK, I decided) we’d go to the Cha Cha liesson. The instructor Phillipe is very nice, and very helpful, but in our opinion, give us 30 minutes with him and we could teach him a couple of things (like what the frame is, not open handed with wiggling arms) so that he could release beginning dancers on the world not bad dancers. It was a good chance for us to practice.
Following that, we went to the Patassierie, and on the way over we met up with Janet C. one of our facebook buddies. We spent a nice hour chatting with her, and I did promise here I’d meet up with her for trivia later in the cruise.
The weather was still bad, and at one point there was a pretty big movement – enough that we wondered if we’d hit something. (Not really since there isn’t anything out here to hit). However, it did cause a problem with the television management system, since it rebooted. Yes, our television showed the reboot of a Windows system. If I can get the picture I took of our tv displaying a windows boot, off my phone, I’ll post it.
Tonight, the wheelhouse band was playing at 6pm, and it was formal night, so we got ready early. At about 5:15 we went to the Elite lounge in Skywalkers. We watched the sunset from the top of the ship, and chatted with some other people.
Just after 6, we headed down to the Wheelhouse and danced until the band left at about 6:50. The captain’s welcome party was going on in the atrium, and they were supposed to have the champagne waterfall, but because of the sea and wind, they’ll have it at a later formal night. The Explorers band was playing so we danced a waltz to them.
We were the first to arrive at dinner, but all our tablemates arrived soon after, and once again Natalie and her assistant Joseph took good care of us. One of our tablemates, Grace was somewhat seasick, so they brought her apples and crackers. Hopefully she’ll be well enough to join us tomorrow.
As we were leaving dinner, Glen suggested maybe we could go to the Sterling Steakhouse tomorrow. I said lets wait for a menu I hate, and see if we get into the chefs table. Natalie heard that, and said that we were on the list and going. She sid it would be on the way back from Hawaii and would be amazing. (Not sure where she gets her info from, but OK).
Since we’d danced before dinner, we decided to get to bed early, but take a short walk upstairs. It was still windy, so we had to walk towards the back. The Jumbotron was showing The Three Musketeers, so we ended up watching that. It was a fun movie, and set itself up for a sequel.
After that we went back to the room and to bed.
Once again, we did lunch in the dining and met some nice couples, including Johnny and Lexie who also dance. We’d see them later in the Wheelhouse.
Following lunch we walked around the promenade deck, although because of gale force winds and rough seas, we were unable to go to the top. We also danced a little during our various walks.
After that we decided (OK, I decided) we’d go to the Cha Cha liesson. The instructor Phillipe is very nice, and very helpful, but in our opinion, give us 30 minutes with him and we could teach him a couple of things (like what the frame is, not open handed with wiggling arms) so that he could release beginning dancers on the world not bad dancers. It was a good chance for us to practice.
Following that, we went to the Patassierie, and on the way over we met up with Janet C. one of our facebook buddies. We spent a nice hour chatting with her, and I did promise here I’d meet up with her for trivia later in the cruise.
The weather was still bad, and at one point there was a pretty big movement – enough that we wondered if we’d hit something. (Not really since there isn’t anything out here to hit). However, it did cause a problem with the television management system, since it rebooted. Yes, our television showed the reboot of a Windows system. If I can get the picture I took of our tv displaying a windows boot, off my phone, I’ll post it.
Tonight, the wheelhouse band was playing at 6pm, and it was formal night, so we got ready early. At about 5:15 we went to the Elite lounge in Skywalkers. We watched the sunset from the top of the ship, and chatted with some other people.
Just after 6, we headed down to the Wheelhouse and danced until the band left at about 6:50. The captain’s welcome party was going on in the atrium, and they were supposed to have the champagne waterfall, but because of the sea and wind, they’ll have it at a later formal night. The Explorers band was playing so we danced a waltz to them.
We were the first to arrive at dinner, but all our tablemates arrived soon after, and once again Natalie and her assistant Joseph took good care of us. One of our tablemates, Grace was somewhat seasick, so they brought her apples and crackers. Hopefully she’ll be well enough to join us tomorrow.
As we were leaving dinner, Glen suggested maybe we could go to the Sterling Steakhouse tomorrow. I said lets wait for a menu I hate, and see if we get into the chefs table. Natalie heard that, and said that we were on the list and going. She sid it would be on the way back from Hawaii and would be amazing. (Not sure where she gets her info from, but OK).
Since we’d danced before dinner, we decided to get to bed early, but take a short walk upstairs. It was still windy, so we had to walk towards the back. The Jumbotron was showing The Three Musketeers, so we ended up watching that. It was a fun movie, and set itself up for a sequel.
After that we went back to the room and to bed.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
First day on the sea
We got a decent nights sleep, and woke up between 8 and 9. We headed to Sabattini’s for breakfast. On the Star two years ago this suite only perk was one of the great joys of the cruise, and one of the primary reasons we booked a suite this time.
Our server was Jane from Thailand, and as she was about to take our order the cruise director came over the PA. She was very funny as she made faces and pretended to fall asleep as the announcement went on. I think we’re going to very much enjoy Sabattini’s this time too.
After breakfast I went to the last half of line dancing. Since I knew I was going, Glen brought his Kindle to read while I was dancing. I got there in time for the last two dances – a relatively simple one to Red Neck Woman, and one with tricky footwork to Rockin Robin. During the teaching of Rockin Robin, Glen caught my eye as left. After class I couldn’t find him, but eventually found him having coffee. Apparetly, I missed the gesture of him drinking that was supposed to clue me in as to where he was going.
Following that, it was time for meeting number 2, the Cruise Critic group in Skywalkers.. Tripmaster, the member who set up the meet and greet did a great job organizing, and several officers showed up, including the captain. We spent some time talking to the deputy cruise director, who is from Blackpool England. When we mentioned we’d be there for a dance completion, he knew exactly what we were talking about. He also gave us some things to do suggestions.
Following that we had the typical first day lunch in the dining room. After lunch, Glen went back up to the room, and I stopped by the end of the Mergenie lesson. I noticed that the instructor was helping out individuals. I asked him what the ballroom blitz showcase was, and he had no idea. So maybe not, even though it was in the Patters.
We also went down to the Patasserie again and met up with cruise critic members Vickie and Vera. Vera will be celebrating her 100th birthday on the cruise, and Vickie is her niece. Vera currently lives in Alameda, but used to run a flower store in Berkeley. We enjoyed talking to them. After our coffee we went back to the room to watch the end of Secreatariet, and dress for dinner.
Tonight at dinner, we had a new server. She introduced herself as Natalie, from South Africa, and she is apparently our regular server. Last night, the server never introduced himself or his assistant, they just served us dinner (completently). Apparently Natalie was unavailable last night, but she told us she’s with us for the duration.
After dinner, we did a bit of dancing in the wheelhouse. Then it was off to the 70’s party at Explorers. However all they were playing was Hustle, which we suck at, so back to wheelhouse for a bit of dancing, and then an attempt to sleep.
I say attempt, because by this time, the weather, which had been a little windy with somewhat rough seas all days really kicked it up, so about every 10 mintues the ship would shudder badly, sort of like hitting a speed bump. The hangers in the closet shook all night. I think we eventually got some sleep. More fun stuff to do tomorrow.
Our server was Jane from Thailand, and as she was about to take our order the cruise director came over the PA. She was very funny as she made faces and pretended to fall asleep as the announcement went on. I think we’re going to very much enjoy Sabattini’s this time too.
After breakfast I went to the last half of line dancing. Since I knew I was going, Glen brought his Kindle to read while I was dancing. I got there in time for the last two dances – a relatively simple one to Red Neck Woman, and one with tricky footwork to Rockin Robin. During the teaching of Rockin Robin, Glen caught my eye as left. After class I couldn’t find him, but eventually found him having coffee. Apparetly, I missed the gesture of him drinking that was supposed to clue me in as to where he was going.
Following that, it was time for meeting number 2, the Cruise Critic group in Skywalkers.. Tripmaster, the member who set up the meet and greet did a great job organizing, and several officers showed up, including the captain. We spent some time talking to the deputy cruise director, who is from Blackpool England. When we mentioned we’d be there for a dance completion, he knew exactly what we were talking about. He also gave us some things to do suggestions.
Following that we had the typical first day lunch in the dining room. After lunch, Glen went back up to the room, and I stopped by the end of the Mergenie lesson. I noticed that the instructor was helping out individuals. I asked him what the ballroom blitz showcase was, and he had no idea. So maybe not, even though it was in the Patters.
We also went down to the Patasserie again and met up with cruise critic members Vickie and Vera. Vera will be celebrating her 100th birthday on the cruise, and Vickie is her niece. Vera currently lives in Alameda, but used to run a flower store in Berkeley. We enjoyed talking to them. After our coffee we went back to the room to watch the end of Secreatariet, and dress for dinner.
Tonight at dinner, we had a new server. She introduced herself as Natalie, from South Africa, and she is apparently our regular server. Last night, the server never introduced himself or his assistant, they just served us dinner (completently). Apparently Natalie was unavailable last night, but she told us she’s with us for the duration.
After dinner, we did a bit of dancing in the wheelhouse. Then it was off to the 70’s party at Explorers. However all they were playing was Hustle, which we suck at, so back to wheelhouse for a bit of dancing, and then an attempt to sleep.
I say attempt, because by this time, the weather, which had been a little windy with somewhat rough seas all days really kicked it up, so about every 10 mintues the ship would shudder badly, sort of like hitting a speed bump. The hangers in the closet shook all night. I think we eventually got some sleep. More fun stuff to do tomorrow.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Captain, please don't hit Catalena
We were able to sleep in just a bit – we slept until about 8:45. Then dressed, packed and headed to the lobby at about 10 am. We were meeting a couple from our facebook roll call to share a private car to the ship and we wanted to get some starbucks before we left.
When we arrived in the lobby, Rich and Elizabeth were waiting for us. I grabbed the starbucks drinks and we chatted while waiting. While we were waiting, another couple from our roll call stopped by.
At about 10:30 Glen went out to the front of the hotel and found our driver. Glen said he’d been trying to call me, but I had nothing on my phone. No matter, we found him. We got the luggage loaded into the van (turns out they had a lot of it), and headed out. The ride took about a half hour, but the time passed quickly with pleasant small talk.
The porter we gave our bags to asked if we’d pulled out our passports and boarding documents. I asked him if it was a problem, and he said that they often had to go dig up bags. The worst was when somebody told him the wrong ship. It took him an hour and a half to find it.
There was a short line for security and no wait to check in. We’d been given priority boarding cards, but the checkin staff exchanged them for Elite cards, which meant walk right in. We had a bit of a wait getting onto the ship, but we were on by noon.
We’d booked another suite, but this time midship. We noticed the room itself was a bit smaller, but the balcony was bigger, and less crowded. It contained two lounge chairs and a table with four chairs. We might have to do a balcony breakfast one day.
Our steward, Eli (Elizardo) came by to introduce himself, tell us about the muster drill, and find out our special requests, etc. I asked him about dining in the room, and I’m still a bit unclear about the current policy. I’ll worry about it if I need to.
After that, we went to explore the ship. While we’d been on the Sapphire in 2005, she just finished an extensive dry dock to add some features. On the top deck, we noticed a couple of the front areas are now the Sanctuary, and the Horizon court has a new case where desserts are now served.
The atrium, in addition to Vines and the International Café now has a sit down pizza restaurant. The menu is simply about 5 different pizzas and you order one. We tried it and enjoyed it.
After that Glen wanted a brief nap, so I met up with one of my facebook friends, and kept her company while she ate lunch. After that, it was muster drill time. This one was different in that the captain read the announcement, not the guy who sounds like (maybe is ) John Cleese..
Following muster was our facebook meetup. It was nice putting faces to names, and hopefully we’ll spend some time with these folks throughout the cruise. We watched sailaway together, and noticed that Catalina was visible from the breakwater. Glen spent a lot of his time there as a kid, and was amazed at how clear it was.
Following that, we headed up to the Elite lounge for a snack. While there, we met Sherry and Tom, who are on cruise critic with us.
Then it was back to our room for some down time, and getting ready for dinner.
We are again at late seating dinner. We usually get seated at a table near the entrance to the dining room, but this time we were seating in the middle. We’re at a table for 8 with three other couples. Dinner started slowly, but people got warmed up as it went on so it should be fine.
After dinner we looked for dance venues. The rock band was playing at explorers, and they were good. We did some swing and a two step. During their break we went to the Wheelhouse, where there was another band playing. We didn’t think they were as good, but they did play traditional ballroom music. We danced. We saw another couple there doing Argentine tango trick type dancing. Maybe I’ll get their story later.
After dancing we wandered around the upper decks, not much to see since we’re heading across the Pacific. We got Secretariet for the DVD player in our room, so we watched the first part of it and went to bed.
Overall, a very good embarkation day, and looks like two weeks of great dancing. It will indeed be a trip to paradise.
When we arrived in the lobby, Rich and Elizabeth were waiting for us. I grabbed the starbucks drinks and we chatted while waiting. While we were waiting, another couple from our roll call stopped by.
At about 10:30 Glen went out to the front of the hotel and found our driver. Glen said he’d been trying to call me, but I had nothing on my phone. No matter, we found him. We got the luggage loaded into the van (turns out they had a lot of it), and headed out. The ride took about a half hour, but the time passed quickly with pleasant small talk.
The porter we gave our bags to asked if we’d pulled out our passports and boarding documents. I asked him if it was a problem, and he said that they often had to go dig up bags. The worst was when somebody told him the wrong ship. It took him an hour and a half to find it.
There was a short line for security and no wait to check in. We’d been given priority boarding cards, but the checkin staff exchanged them for Elite cards, which meant walk right in. We had a bit of a wait getting onto the ship, but we were on by noon.
We’d booked another suite, but this time midship. We noticed the room itself was a bit smaller, but the balcony was bigger, and less crowded. It contained two lounge chairs and a table with four chairs. We might have to do a balcony breakfast one day.
Our steward, Eli (Elizardo) came by to introduce himself, tell us about the muster drill, and find out our special requests, etc. I asked him about dining in the room, and I’m still a bit unclear about the current policy. I’ll worry about it if I need to.
After that, we went to explore the ship. While we’d been on the Sapphire in 2005, she just finished an extensive dry dock to add some features. On the top deck, we noticed a couple of the front areas are now the Sanctuary, and the Horizon court has a new case where desserts are now served.
The atrium, in addition to Vines and the International Café now has a sit down pizza restaurant. The menu is simply about 5 different pizzas and you order one. We tried it and enjoyed it.
After that Glen wanted a brief nap, so I met up with one of my facebook friends, and kept her company while she ate lunch. After that, it was muster drill time. This one was different in that the captain read the announcement, not the guy who sounds like (maybe is ) John Cleese..
Following muster was our facebook meetup. It was nice putting faces to names, and hopefully we’ll spend some time with these folks throughout the cruise. We watched sailaway together, and noticed that Catalina was visible from the breakwater. Glen spent a lot of his time there as a kid, and was amazed at how clear it was.
Following that, we headed up to the Elite lounge for a snack. While there, we met Sherry and Tom, who are on cruise critic with us.
Then it was back to our room for some down time, and getting ready for dinner.
We are again at late seating dinner. We usually get seated at a table near the entrance to the dining room, but this time we were seating in the middle. We’re at a table for 8 with three other couples. Dinner started slowly, but people got warmed up as it went on so it should be fine.
After dinner we looked for dance venues. The rock band was playing at explorers, and they were good. We did some swing and a two step. During their break we went to the Wheelhouse, where there was another band playing. We didn’t think they were as good, but they did play traditional ballroom music. We danced. We saw another couple there doing Argentine tango trick type dancing. Maybe I’ll get their story later.
After dancing we wandered around the upper decks, not much to see since we’re heading across the Pacific. We got Secretariet for the DVD player in our room, so we watched the first part of it and went to bed.
Overall, a very good embarkation day, and looks like two weeks of great dancing. It will indeed be a trip to paradise.
Friday, February 3, 2012
And we're off for another one
It's been a long time since my last post, and I've had a few minor fun trips since then but no major cruises.
Until tomorrow. At the moment, I'm sitting in my room at the LAX airport Marriott getting ready for bed. Tomorrow, we board the Sapphire Princess (our second time on the Sapphire - last was in 2005 to Mexico) for a two week round trip to Hawaii. Once again, we're going by ourselves, but through Facebook and Cruise Critic we've made lots of cyberfriends.
We flew to LA this evening. It was as smooth as could be. We got upgraded, so we were off the plane quickly, and our luggage came quickly. We didn't have to wait long for a shuttle, and because the flight was early we were in our room 20 minutes after the scheduled arrival. A quick trip to the bar for dinner, and to bed soon.
The hotel is crazy busy - I booked because we could get food late, but I forgot this is an official Princess transfer hotel, so I suspect we'll be seeing a lot of the people here over the next two weeks.
Tomorrow morning a shuttle is coming to pick us up.
I suspect this won't be as fascinating as my Antarctic blog, but I'll try to make it fun.
Until tomorrow. At the moment, I'm sitting in my room at the LAX airport Marriott getting ready for bed. Tomorrow, we board the Sapphire Princess (our second time on the Sapphire - last was in 2005 to Mexico) for a two week round trip to Hawaii. Once again, we're going by ourselves, but through Facebook and Cruise Critic we've made lots of cyberfriends.
We flew to LA this evening. It was as smooth as could be. We got upgraded, so we were off the plane quickly, and our luggage came quickly. We didn't have to wait long for a shuttle, and because the flight was early we were in our room 20 minutes after the scheduled arrival. A quick trip to the bar for dinner, and to bed soon.
The hotel is crazy busy - I booked because we could get food late, but I forgot this is an official Princess transfer hotel, so I suspect we'll be seeing a lot of the people here over the next two weeks.
Tomorrow morning a shuttle is coming to pick us up.
I suspect this won't be as fascinating as my Antarctic blog, but I'll try to make it fun.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Sarturday 12/18 and Sunday 12/19
Our flight to Miami was delayed 30 minutes due to a late arriving crew. However, when we got to the gate, there was a nice surprise in addition to that not so bad news - we got upgraded to first class. That meant a bit more room and a breakfast snack box with bagel chips, Rondele cheese and fruit cup.
We arrived in Miami just before noon. It took a few minutes for our bags to come out, and then we headed off to Super Shuttle. We gave the dispatcher the zip code, and then the fun began. She told us not to take them because it would be over 100.00, but to go to the bus terminal to get the shuttle to the Tri-Rail train (a train that goes up the coast in Florida). I'd already looked at the schedule and on weekends it runs every two hours, and we'd just missed the noon train. Since she seemed to really not want to take us, so off to the bus terminal we went. She told us to go across the parking lot, but that seemed to simply go to a parking garage.
We eventually found somebody who told us to go to the international terminal and the bus terminal there. We found it and the gentleman working there helped us get tickets. The best shuttle left around 1:40 so we went back into the terminal, and had lunch. At 1:15 we headed to the bus terminal, at which point it started pouring. While waiting, we met an art teacher from Renton WA who sat with us on the train and we chatted all the way up to Boyton Beach.
It was about 3:30 by the time we arrived, and Joan and Rich came and got us soon after. We headed to their home on a lake, showered, hung out and then went to dinner at a nice east coast chain called The Village Tavern. I'd eat there again on my travels. Following that, we went to West Palm Beach. They'd purchased tickets for the John Test Christmas concert. It was not exactly what any of us expected, but was mostly fun.
After that we went back to their house, had dessert and looked at some of our Antarctica pictures, and then went to bed for much needed sleep.
Sunday morning, Glen woke me up at 9:30 - Joan was making a lovely breakfast for us - cinnamon scones and a spinach frittata. After a leisurely breakfast we demonstrator our team tango for them, packed up and headed to the port.
We normally sail out of SF, LA or Vancouver - SF can handle one ship, LA three and Vancouver four; there were eight in port here. Traffic was a mess, but once we got into the port, it was a quick trip to the terminal. They dropped us by the luggage drop, so we gave our bags to the porter and headed in. There was a short line to enter the terminal and go through security, but once we got in we walked right up to a preferred check in agent, and she had our cards to us within 2 minutes. There was almost no line to get on the ship, and we were soon in our room. No more than 10 minutes tops. Amazing!
We explored the ship - this is our first time on a ship of this class and it's the biggest ship we've ever been on. There are many features that are similar to other ships, but there are some differences. The rear of the ship has Club Fusion, and the biggest dance floor we've seen in a while. We practiced our tango on it. The ship has two buffets - the normal horizon count and behind it, the Caribe Cafe, a smaller buffet. Today it had similar food to the Horizon court but apparently they put things like the seafood and dessert buffets there. In addition, the International Cafe in the Piazza was bigger than on the Star, because it was in the original design, not put on as a retrofit. The Sanctuary, the adult only area reflected the same thing.
We had lunch, and then headed back to the room to rest and get ready for the muster drill. Glen took a nap while I got a brewed coffee. While we were out, our steward had left our glasses of champagne that mini-suite guests receive. He eventually came in to deliver ice. I asked for an eggcrate mattress topper, extra towels and a top sheet.
The muster drill was standard, I almost have the spiel memorized - this was our fourth one this year. When we came back to drop of the life jackets our suitcases had arrived so we unpacked and headed off to our Cruise Critic meeting.
The group had agreed to wear beads or leis so it was easy to find each other. We met Neil and Jerry from Boyton Beach - Neil is the most active poster on our roll call. A few other members were there including Lydia and Tim from New Brunswick Canada - they're getting married on Tuesday and we're all going to the wedding. We said, passing the Allure of the Seas - one of Royal Caribbean's ginormous ships (over 5K passengers) - it's got an open center atrium so we named it "Grand Canyon of the Seas" or "Monstrocity of the Seas" (it's sister, Oasis of the Seas has been named Behemoth of the Seas).
After our meet and greet we headed to the Platinum Elite lounge - met a couple of women from New Jersey who were on the Antarctic cruise before ours. We offered to play scrabble with them later.
Coming back to our room, Michael, our steward had done the turn down. He'd got the egg crate but no top sheet or extra towels. I paged him and he brought the top sheet.
We changed, and headed off to dinner. We stopped at the wheel house and danced to the jazz quartet there. Not great for dancing but it worked. We then headed to dinner.
We were seated at a table for 10 - I've always requested 6 or 8 so I'll have to contact my travel agent afterward to see what's going on. To our surprise, Neil and Jerry were our tablemates - this is the first time we've had roll call members at the table. It was a nice group, so we'll stay. We are the 2nd most traveled couples at the table.
After dinner we danced to the pool band at Explorers Lounge, they were good and not too loud. After dancing we walked around the Promenade deck, followed by a walk on the top decks. Somewhere on the lido deck a couple of women who were at Explorers complemented us on our dancing. Cool - and it's only the first night.
Now it's bed time, and I'm watching "My Big Fat Greek Wedding". Tomorrow, we head to Princess's private beach so we'll sleep in and head over there for lunch and a walk. Still no extra towels.
Good night.
Our flight to Miami was delayed 30 minutes due to a late arriving crew. However, when we got to the gate, there was a nice surprise in addition to that not so bad news - we got upgraded to first class. That meant a bit more room and a breakfast snack box with bagel chips, Rondele cheese and fruit cup.
We arrived in Miami just before noon. It took a few minutes for our bags to come out, and then we headed off to Super Shuttle. We gave the dispatcher the zip code, and then the fun began. She told us not to take them because it would be over 100.00, but to go to the bus terminal to get the shuttle to the Tri-Rail train (a train that goes up the coast in Florida). I'd already looked at the schedule and on weekends it runs every two hours, and we'd just missed the noon train. Since she seemed to really not want to take us, so off to the bus terminal we went. She told us to go across the parking lot, but that seemed to simply go to a parking garage.
We eventually found somebody who told us to go to the international terminal and the bus terminal there. We found it and the gentleman working there helped us get tickets. The best shuttle left around 1:40 so we went back into the terminal, and had lunch. At 1:15 we headed to the bus terminal, at which point it started pouring. While waiting, we met an art teacher from Renton WA who sat with us on the train and we chatted all the way up to Boyton Beach.
It was about 3:30 by the time we arrived, and Joan and Rich came and got us soon after. We headed to their home on a lake, showered, hung out and then went to dinner at a nice east coast chain called The Village Tavern. I'd eat there again on my travels. Following that, we went to West Palm Beach. They'd purchased tickets for the John Test Christmas concert. It was not exactly what any of us expected, but was mostly fun.
After that we went back to their house, had dessert and looked at some of our Antarctica pictures, and then went to bed for much needed sleep.
Sunday morning, Glen woke me up at 9:30 - Joan was making a lovely breakfast for us - cinnamon scones and a spinach frittata. After a leisurely breakfast we demonstrator our team tango for them, packed up and headed to the port.
We normally sail out of SF, LA or Vancouver - SF can handle one ship, LA three and Vancouver four; there were eight in port here. Traffic was a mess, but once we got into the port, it was a quick trip to the terminal. They dropped us by the luggage drop, so we gave our bags to the porter and headed in. There was a short line to enter the terminal and go through security, but once we got in we walked right up to a preferred check in agent, and she had our cards to us within 2 minutes. There was almost no line to get on the ship, and we were soon in our room. No more than 10 minutes tops. Amazing!
We explored the ship - this is our first time on a ship of this class and it's the biggest ship we've ever been on. There are many features that are similar to other ships, but there are some differences. The rear of the ship has Club Fusion, and the biggest dance floor we've seen in a while. We practiced our tango on it. The ship has two buffets - the normal horizon count and behind it, the Caribe Cafe, a smaller buffet. Today it had similar food to the Horizon court but apparently they put things like the seafood and dessert buffets there. In addition, the International Cafe in the Piazza was bigger than on the Star, because it was in the original design, not put on as a retrofit. The Sanctuary, the adult only area reflected the same thing.
We had lunch, and then headed back to the room to rest and get ready for the muster drill. Glen took a nap while I got a brewed coffee. While we were out, our steward had left our glasses of champagne that mini-suite guests receive. He eventually came in to deliver ice. I asked for an eggcrate mattress topper, extra towels and a top sheet.
The muster drill was standard, I almost have the spiel memorized - this was our fourth one this year. When we came back to drop of the life jackets our suitcases had arrived so we unpacked and headed off to our Cruise Critic meeting.
The group had agreed to wear beads or leis so it was easy to find each other. We met Neil and Jerry from Boyton Beach - Neil is the most active poster on our roll call. A few other members were there including Lydia and Tim from New Brunswick Canada - they're getting married on Tuesday and we're all going to the wedding. We said, passing the Allure of the Seas - one of Royal Caribbean's ginormous ships (over 5K passengers) - it's got an open center atrium so we named it "Grand Canyon of the Seas" or "Monstrocity of the Seas" (it's sister, Oasis of the Seas has been named Behemoth of the Seas).
After our meet and greet we headed to the Platinum Elite lounge - met a couple of women from New Jersey who were on the Antarctic cruise before ours. We offered to play scrabble with them later.
Coming back to our room, Michael, our steward had done the turn down. He'd got the egg crate but no top sheet or extra towels. I paged him and he brought the top sheet.
We changed, and headed off to dinner. We stopped at the wheel house and danced to the jazz quartet there. Not great for dancing but it worked. We then headed to dinner.
We were seated at a table for 10 - I've always requested 6 or 8 so I'll have to contact my travel agent afterward to see what's going on. To our surprise, Neil and Jerry were our tablemates - this is the first time we've had roll call members at the table. It was a nice group, so we'll stay. We are the 2nd most traveled couples at the table.
After dinner we danced to the pool band at Explorers Lounge, they were good and not too loud. After dancing we walked around the Promenade deck, followed by a walk on the top decks. Somewhere on the lido deck a couple of women who were at Explorers complemented us on our dancing. Cool - and it's only the first night.
Now it's bed time, and I'm watching "My Big Fat Greek Wedding". Tomorrow, we head to Princess's private beach so we'll sleep in and head over there for lunch and a walk. Still no extra towels.
Good night.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Off to the Caribbean - wait, there's snow on the ground
Greetings from Washington DC, actually Dulles airport, which for those of you who don't know this - is actually in Virginia.
It's 7am here, which is 4am our time, and we're waiting to board our connecting flight to Miami. From the airport, we'll go to our friends Joan and Rich's home, (if you read my Antarctic blog you may recognize their names) and spend the evening with them. They'll then take us to Ft. Lauderdale tomorrow for our 7 day cruise on the Ruby Princess.
On the cruise, we'll make Princess elite status - their highest tier. What's vaguely interesting about that (and when you've had less than 4 hours of sleep it doesn't take much to be interesting) is that to get to that level you need 15 cruise credits (we got two for Antarctica because of the suite) and this is our first Caribbean cruise. Caribbean is a word that I need the spell checker for, so maybe after this cruise I won't any more.
Our flight from SF was short for a cross country flight. I still can't get comfortable in airplane seats to sleep. Oh well.
I will be blogging this trip, although pictures will probably come later since I have limited internet time, and the picture upload was the slow part on the last cruise.
Stay tuned.
It's 7am here, which is 4am our time, and we're waiting to board our connecting flight to Miami. From the airport, we'll go to our friends Joan and Rich's home, (if you read my Antarctic blog you may recognize their names) and spend the evening with them. They'll then take us to Ft. Lauderdale tomorrow for our 7 day cruise on the Ruby Princess.
On the cruise, we'll make Princess elite status - their highest tier. What's vaguely interesting about that (and when you've had less than 4 hours of sleep it doesn't take much to be interesting) is that to get to that level you need 15 cruise credits (we got two for Antarctica because of the suite) and this is our first Caribbean cruise. Caribbean is a word that I need the spell checker for, so maybe after this cruise I won't any more.
Our flight from SF was short for a cross country flight. I still can't get comfortable in airplane seats to sleep. Oh well.
I will be blogging this trip, although pictures will probably come later since I have limited internet time, and the picture upload was the slow part on the last cruise.
Stay tuned.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)