Nee Nee and Biddy

After the show Billy and I took Gemma up to swim. She had the pool all to her herself but did get cold quickly. Of course we had to sample some pizza (for research purposes) and I would like to say officially that Princess pizza is just as delicious as it always has been. The debate is over. 😂

We ran into Amanda and Clint and sat down for a chat over some hot fries. More pizza may have been consumed. Then we headed to the buffet for something sweet. Lord help me, they are going to have to roll me off of this ship! 

Tomorrow is St Thomas! I have booked a private tour for the 13 of us so stay tuned...it should be interesting. 

This afternoon four of us went to afternoon tea and it was very good. I especially loved the little shrimp sandwiches. It does get to the point that you think, “Are we actually eating again?!?!”

After tea, I did some laundry (I don’t use the elite laundry service anymore after they lost a bunch of my underwear on our last cruise). We got ready for formal night in our Christmas outfits. Dinner tasted delicious but the service continues to be off, which I hate to say. I had such high hopes the first night. I’m pretty sure my brother in law is done with the MDR after tonight, but we will see. My beef tenderloin was so tender and cooked perfectly medium, but service is a big part of the meal too.  

After dinner a few of us went to the holiday show, which was good and entertaining. There is a lot of talent on this ship! Here are some food and menu pics. 

So after our grumpy Christmas breakfast, a few of us sat at the International Café and got coffees. At 9:45 Amanda and I went to pick up our book club selections and then we joined the Christmas Origami crafting class in the Crown Grill. I always try to attempt the crafting classes but I’m very bad at it. Origami is tricky if you know what you’re doing. If you don’t, it’s almost impossible and frustrating. I was still upset from the morning and was near tears trying to fold the paper. It was pathetic! Eventually we just started laughing and finished the craft. It didn’t turn out too badly. 

I then went up to the pool deck and found a chair in the shade to take a nap in. The sea is a little rough today and it’s very windy. Around noon I met my sister in the buffet for lunch. Then kids all showed up and so did the husbands, so we ate together at a big table and a tenuous peace seemed to be achieved. The food at the buffet was good today. There was a nacho/taco bar and all the gyro meat you could eat.

Some in our group are participating in the Gingerbread House Building Competition right now. Stay tuned for our insane Christmas outfits tonight...hopefully getting dressed for dinner isn’t as volatile as breakfast! 

4 hours ago, tillys mom said:

Thanks for the movie info. I am enjoying your continuing report and really looking forward to our cruise. We had our family over the weekend, so now I am sitting here in my robe looking forward to leftovers for lunch. I will add that we took our family of 10 on an Alaskan cruise in June, and with friends that tagged along, we had a group of 20.😳 It was like herding cats.

Yes, it is like herding cats! Throw in some strong willed kids and adults, an emotional holiday, moving the clocks forward an hour, and some teens/preteens who think matching pajamas are stupid and a blow up was bound to happen. 

4 hours ago, tillys mom said:

Thanks for the movie info. I am enjoying your continuing report and really looking forward to our cruise. We had our family over the weekend, so now I am sitting here in my robe looking forward to leftovers for lunch. I will add that we took our family of 10 on an Alaskan cruise in June, and with friends that tagged along, we had a group of 20.😳 It was like herding cats.

Yes, it is like herding cats! Throw in some strong willed kids and adults, an emotional holiday, moving the clocks forward an hour, and some teens/preteens who think matching pajamas are stupid and a blow up was bound to happen. 

Today’s patters. 

Merry Christmas everyone! We moved forward an hour so I had to catch the sunrise from my balcony. I really am exhausted. We all had breakfast in the MDR this morning, wearing our matching Christmas pajamas. Before you think, “What a perfect, happy family”, please understand that there were many fights and bad attitudes about the pajamas and everyone was pissed off and yelling on the way to breakfast. One direct quote from one of my beloved family members: “Kiss my butt! Merry Christmas jerks!”   I have dried my tears and am now focusing on being super kind to all of the staff members that may be sad today to be away from their families. I’ll start being nice to my own family soon too! 😂 

11 hours ago, tillys mom said:

We will be on the Regal on Jan 13. Would you mind telling me what movies they are showing. Thanks for the menu and all the other great pictures. I wish you all Merry Christmas!

Today the movie at MUTS is Mission Impossible-Fallout. They are also showing a lot of Christmas movies in the Vista Lounge. I’ll let you know what else is showing when I find out! 

We had nice pre dinner drinks at Crooner’s and of course I had to get some blue cheese stuffed olives! They were delicious and our server Josy was great.

I will post the dinner menu pics now. We did not have a great experience with dinner tonight, which I hate to report. The pacing was off, some people didn’t get any food until the third course showed up, the special penne was cold, etc etc. The head waiter was trying so hard, clearing plates and chatting with everyone but something was just off tonight.  The kids were exhausted from the beach day and grumpy. I will reserve judgement until the service is bad again because who knows what was going on behind the scenes. 

More Princess Cay pics. I am really impressed with the food carts. The jerk chicken was so good even though the picture doesn’t look that appetizing. I also had a pork soft taco with guacamole and grilled vegetables. So far we have been only been eating, drinking, and relaxing. The kids are more active but they are old enough now that they entertain themselves. I am now a firm believer in going right on the island instead of left! The crowds are minimal and there is no wait for the food. 

Medallion net really works well on Princess Cay!! We went right instead of left when we reached the island and it was basically deserted. We got 13 chairs in the shade and right next to the bar! Score!! My grandma is working on her cross stitch and the kids are in the ocean. It’s cloudy and breezy, but not too cool. I am going to sit in the shade and drink. We are close to the food trucks and can smell the burgers cooking. What a way to spend Christmas Eve! 

Today’s patters!

Breakfast in the MDR. 10 of us were there, three of kids were sleeping late and my Will was upstairs running 14 laps. 

It’s Christmas Eve! We woke up early to try to catch the sunrise. Billy and I left the kids to sleep and left the cabin around 5. The buffet was a ghost town. I got a cup of Darjeeling (the champagne of teas!) and Billy got some coffee. We went out to the deck to watch to the sun and saw the moon...we were a little early. While we were waiting, Will showed up to surprise us. I was shocked he got out of bed to see the sunrise with us! It was pretty cloudy so there wasn’t really much to see. It was more of a lightening of the sky. Oh well, there’s always tomorrow! We are meeting everyone at the Concerto dining room for breakfast and then on to Princess Cay. 

Thanks for all of the great replies! I should have practiced this at home on a real computer before I left and had to figure out how to do it on a small phone. I can’t seem to reply to anyone, but I do see your posts and I I appreciate them!!! I will figure it out when I get home. 

I purchased the unlimited internet package for $59.99 before the cruise and it is working very well. I did have to go to the Internet Café to get a little help, since my free Elite minutes were showing up but the unlimited plan wasn’t. They fixed everything quickly, but the lines were crazy long tonight. 

We went to the 8:00 show, Sweet Soul Music. I enjoyed it but we were all still a little “happy” from the drinks so that might have helped. I am happy to report that everyone in my group continues to get along and there has been no drama or annoyed people. Of course, the trip is still young, but there does seem to be a lot of good Christmas spirit going around the ship. 

After the show, Gemma and I went up to the buffet for some ice water. It is extremely convenient to just walk up one flight of stairs from our room and be at the buffet. Tonight was the Monogolian BBQ night and it smelled amazing. I am so full of food and alcohol that I couldn’t even try anything. I assume my stomach will stretch out soon and I’ll be able to sample more, purely for research purposes. 😉

Gemma turned in early in her little bunk bed and the boys are watching some kind of violent and loud movie on the TV that I have no interest in.   Everyone is relaxed and feeling good. It’s hard for me to believe that we are actually on the ship, after waiting so long for this trip. Going on a Princess Cruise for us is kind of like going home.  It’s comfortable and familiar. Tomorrow we will be at Princess Cay at 9. Billy and I have big plans to get up early and watch the sun rise. 

Someone asked about the beer menu I think? Here it is: 

More dinner shots and my nephew Sam enjoying his favorite Princess Love Boat Dream. Two soufflés in one day for me, Life is good my friends!!

Dinner! The older members of our party were not happy with our 7:45 dining time, so my mom  got it changed. We are now at two tables in the Symphony dining room at 5:30. The food has been amazing so far and our waiter Willie was nice too. The only hiccup was that after I ate my Shrimp appetizer (which I didn’t get a picture of! I’m sorry, I couldn’t wait) I asked for another one because it was SO good. Willie kind of laughed but never brought me more shrimp. 😞 He will get used to me soon. I tried everyone’s food and it was all good. I probably wouldn’t order the chili personally, but it did have a good flavor. I have always wanted to try the Limoncello, and we actually did tonight! Wow, it was no joke. We were really laughing and enjoying life by the time dinner was over. 

Some Piazza shots. The music is great and people are dancing. I can not figure out how to do quotes or post pictures where I want them, but this seems to be working fine. The gingerbread houses are great! 

Our room is Marina 701, and we are pleased with it. Our Steward’s name is Milan, and he is friendly. Here are some shots from our balcony. 

Today’s patters! We are all having drinks and waiting for sail away on deck 16. Just an FYI: dinner seating was supposed to be at 7:15 but when we got our cards it was at 7:45. 

We are on the ship and enjoying lunch in the Concerto dining room! I took a few pictures but we got excited and took bites occasionally. I love all the soufflés on Princess and I just had my first one. The food was delicious...the beef tenderloin on embarkation day is always soooo good! 

We stayed at the Comfort Suites, Fort Lauderdale Airport and Cruise Port in Dania Beach. It is a newer hotel and they sent a shuttle to pick us up at the airport. I booked these rooms in July for the rate of $159, which is an amazing deal for this area on a Saturday night right before Christmas. The hotel is very clean, the rooms are huge, and the kids didn’t have to share a bed because there is a sofa bed in every room. 

My mom and Vaughn arrived before us yesterday (we didn’t get to the hotel until 11:40 last night). We all met up at the continental breakfast this morning. I am very happy with this hotel choice and I don’t feel like I paid crazy money to stay close to port. 

Gemma and I walked down the sidewalk this morning and found a giant orange. The air feels good here. It’s sunny and you can tell we are in Florida! As you can see, she loves her new airport sunglasses. 😎 We are taking the hotel shuttle to the port at 11:45. Next stop: The Regal!!! 

We always try to travel the day before the cruise. When my mom took Gemma and Sophie to the 15 day Hawaii cruise a few years ago, they flew the day of the cruise and almost missed the ship due to delays. Gemma and Sophie were traumatized by the stress (the poor dears), so we now all fly in the day before. 

Because of where we live in MO, it always much cheaper to fly out of Kansas City or St Louis than to fly out of the regional airport that is closer. But since we had Grandma and there were 11 of us to worry about, we booked Princess EZ Air through Springfield, with a layover in Atlanta. The flights were on Delta, and I will say we had a smooth, stress free day of travel yesterday! It might be worth the extra money to fly out of Springfield from now on. It is not easy to travel with 11 people but we got through the day with no meltdowns. 

I can’t figure out how to write under the pictures once I add them, so I will just post all the pictures at the end of the posts until I figure out how to do this on an iPhone. 

Below are Gemma and Sophie with the sunglasses they bought at the airport, my son Will laying on the dirty floor, and Gemma and I eating Shake Shack at the Atlanta airport, which was amazing! I would highly recommend. Picture courtesy of Gemma’s iPad. 😊