nreeder

We had mixed results with room service. First week no problems. Second week one of our orders “got delivered” according to the app, but not to us! The good news, is that we are now back home in Los Angeles, and we tested negative for Covid after being on the ship for two weeks! We did wear our masks in public areas and spent a lot of time out on our balcony rather than by by the pool. So not all 3,000 passengers come down with Covid! Norm

To answer the question above about the Amber Cover tour, it was a Princess tour called Eat, Drink and Dance, a Dominican Fiesta. Great tour that wasn’t all that expensive. We are now off the ship in Fort Lauderdale which welcomed us at lunch time with a giant thunderstorm, drenching rain, and lighting! Must have been fun for the boarding of new passengers. That storm is gone. But more a predicted this afternoon. We had an absolutely wonderful cruise. The ship, the food, and the staff were great. We made lots of memories! Norm

For the last port we visited Amber Cove in the Dominican Republic. We drove to the central square where the Cathedral is. Then we drove high up in the mountains to a restaurant called La Catalina. Beautiful grounds and spectacular views of the coastline. The first course was a fresh fruit buffet with bananas, mangoes, papayas, passion fruit, oranges, and watermelon. So fresh and refreshing. Then they took us to the kitchen to see how they cook their national dish sancocho. This is a stew with beef, chicken, sausage and everything on that platter of vegetables. Spiced with cilantro, garlic and Thyme. Delicious with a wonderful broth. A wonderful day. Norm

We had a wonderful day at Grand Turk. We booked an independent snorkeling tour from Exclusive Supreme which we found on two travel websites. One begins with a V and the other can be abbreviated as TA. The reason was we had 12 people on the boat. The Princess snorkel boat had 60. We snorkeled at two sites. Then dropped off 6 passengers as they hadn’t paid for the next part. We went to a deserted island. On the way one of the staff dove down with a snorkel 30 feet and picked up two giant conchs. We stopped at the island and got off the ship. Captain dug out the conch from the shell and cleaned it up. The he marinated it kind of like ceviche. Spicy and crunchy. Really good with their rum punch. Finally the other boat staff attracted two stingrays as he fed them the cut off pieces of conch. The island is at the divide between the open Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean. John Glenn’s first space flight landed just off the island. Great day. Norm

Today we did a walking tour of Old San Juat. Also visited the El Convento Hotel next to the Cathedral where we stayed long ago. Still beautiful. Had traditional Puerto Rican lunch with corn cake logs, and Mufungo. Got to use Mortor and pestle to mash cassia which is like cooked potatoes. Once mashed you make an indentation in the middle and they pour in chicken stew. Wonderful. More to come! Norm

I have mixed feelings about the post that started this thread. Yes lines for International Cafe with not enough help. We have seen lines at dinner but it depends on what time you want. We go at 7 pm and short lines for Coral Dining room. Two lines one for reservations that’s shorter and one for walk in that’s longer. No waiting for us in Club Class. Room service has been OK except for tonight where we haven’t yet received our drinks in a hour from ordering. Turns out they delivered to wrong room. We never got them. Hasn’t happened before and we have been on for over a week. Norm

So the weather from the tropical storm affected us today at Princess Cays. The wind and waves prevented Caribbean Princess from using the tender boats permanently docked at Princess Cays. They no longer use the ships tenders as they are too small. So we had a sea day as well as tomorrow. No problem. We like sea days. I did a two mile walk on the promenade deck but the front stairs were blocked off due to weather. So I did giant back and forth walk. Enjoyed our balcony and caught up on news. Tonight we went back to Club Class dinner. Same waiters as last week as they know us. I’m not going to post menus as I did that last week. But know this is prime rib night. However since we had that last week we ordered different entrees. We had the pate, pea soup but not green kind and Caesar salad. Maureen had seafood bowl with bok choi. I had Coq au Vin, ie braised chicken in red wine. Both excellent. We plan to order different entrees this week as menus are the same as last week. Not a problem fo us. Norm

No testing was required or offered. Norm

Like the investment commercial says “change in plans”! An hour before we approached Princess Cays, the Captain came on and said he was apprehensive about conditions there. We rocked all night and have 45-50 knot winds and white caps where the wind blows the spray up in the air. He was hoping as we would get to Princess Cays things might calm down a little. These are the remnants of the tropical storm that came through Fort Lauderdale on turnaround day. When we got to Princess Cays offshore he talked the the land crew. Princess now uses large double decked shuttle boats housed at Princess Cays, not on the ship, to deliver passengers to the shore. The land crew indicated they had 6 foot swells coming into the little harbor where you dock and it wasn’t safe to try to get the shuttles out. So we had to skip the island beach day, and begin the long journey south to Puerto Rico. We now have two sea days in a row. We don’t mind those. I did my 2 miles around the Promenade Deck (almost around, the front stairs were closed so I did a grand loop back round and around). Princess trivia To our surprise we have a new room Steward who started to take care of us yesterday. His name is Kishore, and he’s from India. He said Sydney, who was taking care of us, rotated to the other side of the ship. So I went over this morning and found Sydney and gave him his tip for last week. We had expected to give him a tip at the end of the cruise this week. Sydney did tell me he was glad with the rotation as they received more crew so they now have 24 cabins each (sounds like a lot to me, but he is in a balcony cabin area and those aren’t as big as suites or mini suites. Our dining room waiters and busboy will also rotate in the dining room and we will follow them 20 feet beyond their old section. They told us they would make sure to make room for us each night. Our favorite guy is coming back to Crooners tonight, Paul. Last week was split between Duo Diva whose singer is a little loud for us, and Paul. Paul is just the perfect piano bar singer, with great voice and wonderful repertoire. That’s all for now. I hope you all can relax as much as we are! Norm

ok the Patter for tomorrow loaded. Norm

The debarkation process was delayed due th trouble getting off luggage in th wind and rain. Scanners at Customs not working either. We were 2 hours late with the returning passengers customs check. Boarding started close to noon. Passengers flowing on now. We will leave 2 hours later but that was announced last night. Nice to be back on board. We both just got massages as they have a 25% discount on embarkation day. Crown Grill tonight. Reminder I’m posting pictures on Princess FB page as they don’t seem to load in CruiseCritic. I’m hoping some of the new passengers will post here too as they will do other tours and dinners than us. Norm

We docked last night in Fort Lauderdale to ride out the storm in port. Debarkation is going slow as stevedores have trouble unloading luggage in wind and rain. Our transfer process has been delayed by 45 no. We’ve finished breakfast up in Steamers and waiting up here. Will go down a litlater. Just hope all new passengers made flights yesterday. Pouring down heavy rain overnight and windy. Still raining and windy now. More adventures to come! Norm

Ok techie trivia. On sea days I walk the promenade deck for exercise. Usually walk equivalent of two miles which is 6 laps. So my Apple Watch tracks this. But…it also has a built in GPS. So it’s counting steps and miles. Except the ship is moving as well as me. So for my two miles it counts 20!!! The number of steps is accurate. The joy of technology. Norm

Ok I have news from the Captain. Because of the storm we are going to dock early in Fort Lauderdale at 11 pm tonight. This is the ship can be tied down to the pier safely and endure the brunt of the storm safely. No one witness allowed off on on until regular boarding process begins in the morning as originally scheduled. Captain is expecting buckets of rain and wind. Feel sorry for the incoming passengers struggling with flights and driving today. Norm

First page of today’s Patter I’ll try for the second Norm