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Hi, I’m Julie McCoy, Your TR Director Review of the CB


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Ok, Ok, I am not really Julie McCoy. I am Jen.

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(And that sweet bundle of joy is my new granddaughter, Gracie)

Take a good look as there are not many pictures of me at all in this TR.

So who is Julie McCoy? Well if you don’t know who she is you either grew up with no TV, had mean parents, grew up on a desert island, or you are just plain too young!

She was the cruise director on the popular series from the late 70’s into the mid 80’s called “The Love Boat”. Growing up this show…along with Fantasy Island…could not be missed. At least in the early years. The later years were not so good.

The Love Boat had a cast of regulars who played the crew and then many stars weekly would join the crew for a sailing. Of course they had love issues as well as many other life issues, but by the end of the show everything pretty much worked out and all lived happily ever after. They also had a few stars that came back for recurring roles, such as Charo…who I am pretty sure I saw on this sailing as well. They sailed on the Pacific Princess each week out of California….usually.

Growing up and watching this show had made me want to cruise. It looked like so much fun. My sister and I used to play “cruise” at times and we always put on my mom’s fancy gowns and pretended to drink pina coladas. Had I known what they were back then I would’ve switched to another drink….I hate coconut! LOL!

My first cruise was in the late 90’s and it was on a NCL ship. I had a great time. It was neat to see that things on the show actually really were on ships….Like the promenade and lido decks.

My 2nd cruise was also with NCL in 2003 for my belated honeymoon with my husband, Skip.

We had a great time once again, but for some reason Skip doesn’t remember that. He came home and within weeks he had some delusion about the cruise and said he wasn’t going to sail again for a long time. I have been working on getting him back on a ship since then and finally in 2011 I had us booked on Disney….only to have him have to cancel a few weeks prior because his brother and business partner broke his leg. Since they are dairy farmers, he had to stay home and take care of the cows.

My mother took his place.

I have now sailed 4 Disney cruises and I can’t tell you enough about them. They are fabulous and I have written reports on each of those sailings. (currently working on my most recent one)

I did finally get Skip on the Disney Magic this past March and he loved it. Right before we sailed he asked me why he didn’t like the NCL cruise …..and my reply to him was “I have no idea…something you made up in your head”. LOL!

So you know my love for cruising and its roots and you know I love DCL. So why did I finally try Princess?

Well there are several really. Without going into too much detail, I am working on a certification that requires me to travel and one of the travel requirements was that I sail on more than one cruise line. Secondly, I had a free Princess cruise sitting in my back pocket for years now. Yes, I had this baby since 2011 and I just could never fit it in my schedule. Also by sailing Princess I was earning a 2nd certification besides the other one I am working on. So it all fit in nicely.

Now how did I decide on my dates?

Well, I had certain cruises I could choose from and I went down the list and I had to fit it in at a time I wasn’t too busy. I had a business trip to Disney World in Aug and I really tried to make it work with that, but it didn’t. I thought Sept. would be good, but then we had my nieces 5th b-day party coming up and my sister was surprising her with a trip to Disney World for her birthday…I couldn’t miss that party. My oldest daughter Paige was expecting a baby, due Oct. 14, so it had to be before that.

In the end, the Sept. 29th cruise looked like the best date. It was a 5 night cruise on the Caribbean Princess. Being that I had not sailed on any Princess ships to date, I wasn’t too worried about which ship I sailed on and I read some decent reviews of it. The ports however were not my favorite, but I could live with it. Costa Maya is basically a junk hole as far as ports go, but we could get off the ship for a short time and then back on and enjoy the day. Cozumel is one I do like and I didn’t mind going again, though this would be my 3rd time there.

Now who would go with me? Well I asked my best friend Lisa, who had sailed with me on a girls trip in 2012. That was her first cruise and we had a great time. But she was remodeling her house and though the cruise was free, she would still have to pay for air and anything extra and she decided she better not go.

So I asked my Mom. She is easy to travel with and I knew she had been wanting to cruise again. She said yes and I booked us and then we had a few months to wait.

Now we had to find airfare. We found a good price for our flight home on Southwest….which I also had a lot of points for, so I could get a free flight. We booked that one early on.

So we waited and watched and the Sunday flights down (our cruise started on a Monday) were just way too high. So we decided to fly down on Saturday in the end and stay at the Fairfield Inn near the airport for 2 nights, which was cheaper than paying the higher flight prices.

So we’re all set. But this cruise and several surrounding it were not selling out. I really debated adding the cruise beforehand and making it a 9 day cruise, but Mom wouldn’t be able to take the time off and my husband was going to be watching our daughter Claire as it was, so I didn’t make that move and kept it as a weeklong trip instead.

Join me as I tell you all about the Caribbean Princess and our other adventures and what I thought about the Love Boat! Be warned…I will probably be comparing this often with the Disney ships…it’s just in my nature.

 

 

Just a side note.....I am not fast at writing reviews and it will take me a while to get through this, so don't expect it to be done in a week or 2. ;)

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Jennifer, it was so nice meeting you onboard and seeing that you were at Disney in August, I took a look over on Facebook and it appears we both were attending the Villains Unleashed event. I can't help but wonder if our paths somehow crossed in Hollywood Studios, but even with "limited" capacity, it was still pretty busy.

 

Excellent start to your review and I look forward to reading it. Please, take your time so you can enjoy spending it with your new granddaughter.

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Hi Jen! I've really enjoyed your Disney reports, so I was hoping you would be able to get this one started before we sail on CB next week. I know that this report will be full of some great pictures of the ship, and most likely some great stories to go along with them as well. I'm here to go along for the full ride. :D

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Day 1, Sept. 27, 2014, Saturday

So how does one prepare for a cruise on a Princess ship? Well you watch episodes of the Love Boat. I actually have seasons 1 and 2 on DVD and I have been watching them off and on for 2 years. I am still working on watching them in my spare time, but I did watch about 3 more the month before our cruise.

We had to leave fairly early this day for the airport. My Dad brought my Mom over to my house….and he stayed till we left. My Aunt was going to take us and arrive around 7:15 AM.

I had to wake Claire up so she could say her good byes to us…well mostly me and she was not too happy about it. There were a lot of tears. Though I think my dad was going to miss my mom just as much and if he could, he would’ve cried and held on to her leg as well. Claire then went off crying over to my mother in laws house next door.

We left around 7:30ish and drove up to Detroit Airport, with one potty stop because my Mom can’t make it anywhere very far when she drinks coffee.

I had done airline check in the day before, and wouldn’t you know it, Mom got the TSA pre-select….I did not.

We said goodbye to my Aunt and checked in our bags and headed through security, which for mom was a breeze and for me not too bad, and went to our gate.

I had an email from a client in the morning, so once we found a seat I had to make some calls to get things situated and send off some emails.

Then I decided I better eat something since it would be a few hours before I got something decent….and I am not a pleasant person when I am hungry.

I remembered the airport had an Earl of Sandwich, though I have yet to visit this location, so I looked on the airport map and found it and walked over and got myself a Full Montagu…MMMMM!

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And it was delicious!!!!

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After my sandwich was done, the airplane had arrived and we watched them load the bags and saw all 4 of ours go on it. Well we know our bags are making it at least one leg of the journey!

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We were a B loading number so once we got on the plane we decided to go to the very last seat of the plane to sit together. Mom has to be on the end as she gets anxious sitting inside. I sat next to her, but then I moved over to the window seat. I had hoped no one would come this far back and sit with us and then we could have the seat to ourselves. The flight attendant told us the flight was not full, but close to it. She said there was a good chance we would sit alone.

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We didn’t luck out. There was a lady that made a beeline to the back. We should’ve put a bag on the seat between us to make it look like we were waiting on someone else, but I wasn’t quick thinking. And I think this girl wanted the back row and she bypassed many other seats to come to ours.

Oh well you can’t have it all.

Soon we were in the air and on our way to Baltimore for the first leg of the trip.

Once we landed and exited off the plane….being in the last row makes you one of the last to get off….we looked for our next gate number and then headed that way. We had a little time before the flight and Mom was hungry, so she went to find something and I got us a table.

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I ended up getting some spring rolls to snack on as I wasn’t super hungry, but I needed a little boost.

Soon it was time to head to the gate and it was packed over there. I stood at one of the recharging stations and charged my laptop and phone. My phone didn’t need much and a lady came over to charge hers only to realize she didn’t have the plug part. I let her use mine so she could at least top it off and we chatted for a bit.

Again we were B boarding and we went for the same row again…and this time we lucked out and had the seat to ourselves. It was nice to have a little bit of extra room.

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Looking forward to reading your report. We have sailed with Disney three times and are leaving on our first Princess cruise this weekend. I'm sure we will be doing a lot of comparing while on board.

 

You'll have a good time....it is different, but if you go in knowing that, you will be fine. You might find things you like better. We had the best stateroom host we have ever had on this ship.

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Not sure I would want to pretend to be someone who on the show had a neverending string of amorous shortlived liasons, and who in real life was said to have been kicked off the show for substance abuse....................but that may be scuttlebutt.

I only ever met the Doctor from that show in person, what a nice guy, really funny even without a script and very lively for his age, has two young kids.

 

What great photos you are posting, so clear!

PS I just got off Caribbean P. and will reboard in a couple of weeks. I spent several months on there this year.

Edited by Griller
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You'll have a good time....it is different, but if you go in knowing that, you will be fine. You might find things you like better. We had the best stateroom host we have ever had on this ship.

 

Thanks! Yeah, we know it won't be the same, but still a great cruise!

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Great review ! We're looking forward to more. Did you see this picture of Jill Whelan ( Vicki ) from the Love Boat ? She's the Godmother of the Caribbean Princess !

 

 

Vicki from Love Boat

 

 

I think the whole cast are the godparents of the Regal.

 

Personally after my first cruise in 1994, I threw out the whole idea that the Love Boat is even close to modern day (post 70s) cruising. I have the first DVD set (actually won it in a contest on Cruise Critic), so it was fun to show it to my teen as an example of corny 70s/80s TV.

 

I was disappointed that the Med cruise special episode wasn't on this set (the last time I checked You Tube's shows -- some episodes are there, but not this one). That's because one of the happy smiley faces in the beginning worked as a temp for the ad agency I worked at during the late 70s thru 80s, even working several weeks for our account group. And he was actually good as a secretary, but his heart was in acting. He did get a free Med cruise (they actually shot much of this episode at sea) out of it along with the talent payments.

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I hope I can get a few ship pictures up before you cruise. (I do have a few on facebook already, but still editing)

You will have a good time. Just remember it is different than Disney, but you can make or break a vacation by your frame of mind and as long as you look for the good and laugh about the bad, it's all good.

 

This will actually be our second Princess cruise. We sailed on the Ruby last spring and had a wonderful time. We already had a couple of Disney cruises booked when we sailed on Ruby, so we are just now getting back to Princess. I expect we will continue to sail a mix of both lines, as they both have their strenghts and weaknesses. For our upcoming cruise on the CB we got a deal I doubt we will ever see on Disney so we are sneaking off on a cruise we had not originally planned to take!

 

I will be disappearing for a few days starting this weekend, but I will be back here when we come home to relive my own cruise memories. I know there will be plenty of food porn, some interesting shots of the ship, and some great stories about your sailing that I will have to catch up with. :D

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your pictures are great! I love a good picture review! thank you.

 

Well you are in luck. I think I took around 1500 pictures on my trip!

 

Not sure I would want to pretend to be someone who on the show had a neverending string of amorous shortlived liasons, and who in real life was said to have been kicked off the show for substance abuse....................but that may be scuttlebutt.

I only ever met the Doctor from that show in person, what a nice guy, really funny even without a script and very lively for his age, has two young kids.

 

What great photos you are posting, so clear!

PS I just got off Caribbean P. and will reboard in a couple of weeks. I spent several months on there this year.

 

 

LOL! So true, They made it sound like she was so sweet and innocent, but she was falling in love every other week on the show. And yes.. she had issues with cocaine and she was kicked off the show for it. I read an article/interview with her about it not too long ago.

Recently she cruised one of the Princess ships and did some promotional videos. She is a lot heavier now and if it wasn't for her voice, I would've never known it was her. I think she now does catering...and is clean from drugs...at least when I read the article.

We have met Doc as well. He is super nice and friendly. I swear i read he died a few years ago, but then looked again at a later date and he is listed as alive. So it must've been some false info out there.

 

I wish I could cruise more often. Living in Ohio makes it harder with needing a plane ride to just about everywhere....and my husband is a travel resistor! ;)

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Great review ! We're looking forward to more. Did you see this picture of Jill Whelan ( Vicki ) from the Love Boat ? She's the Godmother of the Caribbean Princess !

 

 

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Vicki from Love Boat

 

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I did not see that picture....where was it located?

I knew she was a Godmother to one of the ships, but I didn't realize it was this one.

 

I think the whole cast are the godparents of the Regal.

 

Personally after my first cruise in 1994' date=' I threw out the whole idea that the Love Boat is even close to modern day (post 70s) cruising. I have the first DVD set (actually won it in a contest on Cruise Critic), so it was fun to show it to my teen as an example of corny 70s/80s TV.

 

I was disappointed that the Med cruise special episode wasn't on this set (the last time I checked You Tube's shows -- some episodes are there, but not this one). That's because one of the happy smiley faces in the beginning worked as a temp for the ad agency I worked at during the late 70s thru 80s, even working several weeks for our account group. And he was actually good as a secretary, but his heart was in acting. He did get a free Med cruise (they actually shot much of this episode at sea) out of it along with the talent payments.[/quote']

 

I believe you are correct about the whole cast for the Regal.

I don't know if I have ever seen the Med episode. Maybe long ago and I just no longer remember. Not that I am old or anything. ;)

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This will actually be our second Princess cruise. We sailed on the Ruby last spring and had a wonderful time. We already had a couple of Disney cruises booked when we sailed on Ruby, so we are just now getting back to Princess. I expect we will continue to sail a mix of both lines, as they both have their strenghts and weaknesses. For our upcoming cruise on the CB we got a deal I doubt we will ever see on Disney so we are sneaking off on a cruise we had not originally planned to take!

 

I will be disappearing for a few days starting this weekend, but I will be back here when we come home to relive my own cruise memories. I know there will be plenty of food porn, some interesting shots of the ship, and some great stories about your sailing that I will have to catch up with. :D

 

I have heard from many that the Ruby is their favorite ship! Have fun!!!

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The approach to Ft. Lauderdale.

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Once we landed, we headed down to baggage claim. The bags weren’t coming yet, so I stepped outside….it was hot…and when I came back in Mom had already pulled all 4 of our bags off the belt. That was fast!

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Originally we were going to take the complimentary shuttle to Fairfield Inn, but a few days prior I thought better of it and decided to check on car rentals. Since we had a day and a half on our own, it might just be easier to have a car than to rely on shuttles and taxis. I think the car price was just over $52 with a free upgrade to a midsize. I figured we could easily pay that in taxi fares.

We headed to Alamo and it was basically deserted. The lady said something about having an economy and I told her no, I had a free upgrade and that was it and I signed away and all was fine.

We walked out and were point to the midsize row. We walked down and found a Chevy Cruze and stopped there. That would be our car. I drive a Cruze at home and I knew at least I would be somewhat familiar with how it drives.

We loaded the bags and I went in to start, but there wasn’t as key hole. It had the push button start. It must be a 2014 as it was a little fancier than mine. It did however have a sun roof! (For those that know me, one of the requirements when I got my car last year was a sunroof).

We programmed Siri to get us to the Fairfield Inn. It was a very easy and close drive and soon I was checking us in. We were given our room number and we toted a couple of bags up and I did my duty and took a few pictures of the room.

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I then went down and made a few trips lugging up our bags. Mom is recovering from a broken arm from a few months ago and though she is pretty much healed, her arm will never have the same mobility again.

I spotted this little guy outside…..Our first Florida lizard sighting of the trip!

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I texted it to my sister who was also in Florida, but at Disney World and she texted back a picture of their first lizard sighting. Yeah, we get really excited over lizards in Ohio. LOL!

We just kind of chilled out for a little bit. We decided to look for a place to eat. I looked on the Fairfield website to see what was nearby and recommended. It had a couple listed that didn’t seem too far away. We got on each of their websites and looked at the menus. We hem hawed around but finally decided on the Islamorada Fish Company.

We headed back out to the car and programmed Siri to get us there. Well she failed miserably. She took us right and then left, then all of a sudden she tells us to park our car along the road and walk to the destination. Um…there is no parking along this road????? We just started laughing. So we went further on, with Siri yelling at us to pull over and park. I did pull over eventually and went to google maps on my phone and typed in the address. That gave us better directions and mom read them off. We still were not sure where the heck we were going, but then I saw a Bass pro shop and I knew we were in the area as I had read this restaurant was part of a Bass Pro.

We parked and walked up and saw another lady who asked if the restaurant had its own entrance or if we had to go through the Store. We had no clue, so we all just walked in the store and found the entrance there and were seated promptly.

Our waitress came over right away and made some suggestions. The menu had a lot of options and it was really hard to decide, but with her suggestions we narrowed it down.

The bread was fabulous. It had a sugar coating and I really could’ve made a meal out of that.

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This place was decorated really neat.

Loved the old truck turned into a table.

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This fish tank reminded me of the one at T-rex in Downtown Disney.

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I am thinking I ordered a bowl of clam chowder, but if I did, I did not take a picture of it…..I know…what was I thinking????

For my main course I ordered the scallops with a side of garlic. The garlic was strong…..but oh so good.

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That would be my bud light in the background.

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Mom also got the scallops, but she had a different seasoning on hers.

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Needless to say, we were extremely full when we were done. We rolled on out and then took a gander in the store. Mom bought a few things, mostly junk food type stuff to bring home for dad. I bought a diet coke to take back to the hotel.

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