LIVE! Crown Princess Hawaii/South Pacific 10/17 - 11/14

After 15 long months of anticipating the cruise of a lifetime, I couldn't wait a moment longer. The bags are packed, the kitties won't speak to us, and I doubt we'll get much sleep tonight so I decided no time like the present to get this show on the road.

After a nasty medical scare last year, DW and I decided that we would grab the bull by the horns and book the cruise we had been dreaming about for so long.

Tomorrow we are flying to LAX out of Syracuse with a stopover in Atlanta and for the first time in a long time, we are not flying at 0 dark 30. Subsequently, we'll be arriving in L.A. late; shortly after 6 pm and we have a shuttle booked to the Best Western Plus in San Pedro. Since we're getting in so late, we'll probably opt for a quick bite rather than a sit-down meal when we get there. Also have to factor in a stop at a nearby liquor store to get some wine to take aboard. Then if we're not dead on our feet, we'll pop in to the hotel bar for a nightcap and perhaps meet some of our fellow cruisers.

Hope to have lots of contributions from others on this cruise. As things stand we have 329 folks on the roll call and any and all are welcome to share in this "Live From". We learned a lot about this cruise from fellow CC members' posts and reviews and hope that others will enjoy sharing ours. Feel free to ask questions and we'll do our best to provide answers.

As Jackie Gleason used to say "And away we go".

Harry

Let me be the first to post on your 'live from' forum.

We leave early Saturday morning on a non stop out of Columbus. Bags are packed. Looking forward to this cruise.

Let me be the 2nd to post and wish you bon voyage!

Sounds like a great itinerary and I know this to be a great ship.

Keep it coming!

Best wishes,

Norris

We are on the same cruise and will be leaving early morning. See you soon!

Looking forward to your posts, it will be fun to compare tours and see what others are doing on board.

I will contribute if I think I have anything worthwhile to add. 🌴

Bon Voyage!

Thanks Harry for starting the "live" now and for giving us the link. Will send it to my kids so they can follow us. Busy day and we do wake up at "o dark 30". If flights are on schedule, we should get to the Crown Plaza around 1pm. Have plans to do a lot of walking around after sitting for so long.

...........................The bags are packed, the kitties won't speak to us, and I doubt we'll get much sleep tonight so I decided no time like the present to get this show on the road.

.......................

Harry

Too funny! Ours do the same thing (whoever said animals don't understand what is going on was plain wrong). Looking forward to more! :cool:

6th post. Don't have anything special to say. We fly out to LAX early Saturday morning.

6th post. Don't have anything special to say. We fly out to LAX early Saturday morning.

Sounds pretty special to me. See you on board!

Harry

I'm headed up Saturday morning from San Diego with my family. They will be participating in the BVE. Safe travels all.

Flying out Early Sat. Morn too..only an

hour and half flight..............BUT on

SouthWest usually alright but now with the

computer problems! Wish me Luck.

Glad booked flight at 7am worth the 3:30am

shuttle ride. Should get there on time even

with delays. Again wish ME luck!

Bon Voyage to us ALL! See you on board!

Ahoy Mateys,

I just booked marked this so our kitty sitters can follow along with us.;) Just like all cats they are being standoffish to us and now go to their new keepers for scratches.:rolleyes: We are lucky in that the same folks come over to house and pet sit for all our cruises. They are already booked for our next cruise next year. We are so lucky!:eek:

Mahalo Harry for getting this one started.

Herb & Jackie

Hi everyone! Unfortunately, circumstances beyond our control forced us to cancel this cruise...:(:(:mad:

I will be following along, with a sad song in my heart!

Have a fantastic time everyone!

Leaving the house at 4:15 a.m for our 6:15 a.m flight. If all goes well we will arrive at 8:30 a.m and hope to be at the Crown Plaza before noon. Sooo excited for this cruise of a life time! :)

See Ya on the Crown!

Wanda

Looking forward to following along.

I can feel your excitement. And even more so since you'll be missing Syracuse's first snow of the season this weekend!!

Have a great journey!!

Packing finally done! I think we will know for sure later this morning if its truly done.

Hi everyone! Unfortunately, circumstances beyond our control forced us to cancel this cruise...:(:(:mad:

 

I will be following along, with a sad song in my heart!

 

Have a fantastic time everyone!

So sorry to hear at such a late date you can't go.

This has to be every cruisers nightmare.Oh so close and POOF all gone :(:(

Have a great trip. You are very lucky to have Neville as your MD on this trip. He has a tableside surprise planned for a few lucky guests!

IT'S FINALLY HERE!

OK, I know the cruise starts tomorrow but we're flying today so that's good enough for me. Couldn't sleep much last night (as predicted) but we are energized this morning. Cats are fed. They didn't leave us any going-away presents...YET.

This is a shout out to all the great folks who pet sit for cruisers everywhere. You know who you are. Without you we couldn't do these long cruises or short ones for that matter. We have two dear friends who do the deed for us and we are more grateful than words can express. Of course they won't take a dime for all they do so we want to thank them again on this public forum. You're the best!

We heard on the news about all the mudslides in California. Hope everyone is safe and hope all our fellow cruisers are safe in their travels.

Our friends are coming in a few (thanks Dave and Donna!) to take us to the airport. Now it's time to batten down the hatches, lock the out buildings, turn on the security lights and get ready to fly. Lots, lots more to come.

Harry

After having to cancel this itinerary twice before, we are at the COS airport awaiting our flight to LAX. (A very hectic prep for this cruise as I just flew home from a week in DC yesterday via ORD.) Keeping our fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly and we are firmly ensconced in the Doubletree bar this evening with all luggage accounted for.

Thanks for starting the thread Harry. I hope to be a regular contributor as I like to log our daily activities and sort of preview the patter each day so that other people who are contemplating this cruise have a better idea of what to expect.

With Kelvin as our CD, and I am really hoping that Matt and his new bride are on the cruise staff, we should have a great time. Kelvin's never disappointed us and he typically gives away great morning show prizes.

I'm hoping lots of the CC people contribute, whether a little or a lot. Everyone brings a different perspective to cruising and their experiences will give readers different viewpoints. Judy and I like to wander around grocery stores and markets in foreign countries - others may prefer beaches or golfing.

Any way, looking forward to meeting everyone on the ship.

See ya!

.....

 

I'm hoping lots of the CC people contribute, whether a little or a lot. Everyone brings a different perspective to cruising and their experiences will give readers different viewpoints. Judy and I like to wander around grocery stores and markets in foreign countries - others may prefer beaches or golfing.

 

.......

Considering our roll call thread for this cruise is has over 8,700 posts and had to be broken up into two parts, I have a sneaky suspicion that this is going to be a very active "live" thread....

Hi everyone! Unfortunately, circumstances beyond our control forced us to cancel this cruise...:(:(:mad:

 

I will be following along, with a sad song in my heart!

 

Have a fantastic time everyone!

I am so sorry. It has a close one for me and my family. I hope you can make plans for another cruise very soon. Peace and good wishes.

Susan

Sorry Working 2 Cruise you had to cancel.

Hope what ever the problem everything

works out fine.

Glad I'm not the only one flying in Sat. morning.

Usually don't but had to this time. If flight

is on time I will get in to to early! Can't win them all!

Will try to post and say what I do as a first time solo

traveler. (been on many cruises but first without husband)

Might help others who have to go solo now.

I'm packing now..have till 3 am..catch shuttle at 3:30 am.

Know I won't sleep. Do you think I'll get it done? lol

Everyone at different Hotels have fun meeting each other.

Get a good nights sleep. See you on the Crown Princess!

We are now firmly ensconced in our DoubleTree San Pedro hotel room. Nice that they were able to put us in right away rather than having to wait. Anyone on the roll call around?

Oh, and all of our luggage got here too! Yeah!

Early morning direct flight COS to LAX. Booked supershuttle for the first time and was very impressed. Shared service, one other couple to the Catalina Ferry. The use of texts and smart phone technology was great. Once we collected our bags and hit the check in button, we got our passenger number and van number, turned left and headed down the sidewalk to where our van pulled up. Very, very nice drive to the port. Not like our past experience with in a hurry cab drivers, or cab drivers who had no idea where the hotel was or how to get there.

Supershuttle is very highly recommended.

Front desk at the DoubleTree was excellent. Probably because there were no other ships in port, we got a room right away, with a balcony to boot over looking the marina. Now its just a matter of kickin back and relaxin, awaiting our shuttle in the morning at 1000 to the port.

Now its time to get some walking in and loosen up those muscles!!!

Later….

We left home on August 6th on this grand adventure traveling through New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Banff, Vancouver, Victoria, Washingnton, Oregon, back to Idaho, and then down to Tahoe, Napa, Yosemite and the Sequoias. We have called the first two thirds of the trip the Smoky National Park trip as every park we went to was hazy with smoke - didn't matter. They were still beautiful and we were having a wonderful time!

Now here we are ready for the icing on the cake with a cruise to Hawaii and Tahiti and meeting so many new people that we have been visiting with for months on CC. Will see some of you tonight at the Doubletree and the rest on board!

PS: Sure wish they had better college football television on the ship. Going to miss watching my Texas A&M Aggies play. BTHObama!

Gig'em!

Lanee

We left home on August 6th on this grand adventure traveling through New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Banff, Vancouver, Victoria, Washingnton, Oregon, back to Idaho, and then down to Tahoe, Napa, Yosemite and the Sequoias. We have called the first two thirds of the trip the Smoky National Park trip as every park we went to was hazy with smoke - didn't matter. They were still beautiful and we were having a wonderful time!

 

Now here we are ready for the icing on the cake with a cruise to Hawaii and Tahiti and meeting so many new people that we have been visiting with for months on CC. Will see some of you tonight at the Doubletree and the rest on board!

 

PS: Sure wish they had better college football television on the ship. Going to miss watching my Texas A&M Aggies play. BTHObama!

 

Gig'em!

Lanee

What school is BTHObama? Where is it located?