BamaVol

One advantage I hadn’t thought about that was mentioned above - I did receive an absolutely awful gin and tonic. I’m certain that the order was miscommunicated and not the gin I specified. Also left out the lime. I had no problem leaving it on the table and ordering something different. I imagine I’m in the majority when I say 15 drinks is way more than I can handle.

Having booked an excursion in Costa Rica with an independent provider, I appreciated the time change to match local time for that day. One less detail to be concerned about. I handle time changes just fine. I’m retired and I go to bed when I’m tired and get up when I’m refreshed and most things in my calendar are flexible. I let my phone tell me what time it is and it’s usually correct. We did run into three time flubs last week. 1. The fitness center had a schedule that didn’t match the one in the patter. Mrs BV missed the first yoga session as a result. 2. The clocks on the walking/jogging track were all different …. And wrong. 3. I manually set my phone to Halifax (Atlantic?) to handle the early daylight saving time change. When we got to port and I exited airplane mode, it corrected for DST and I was an hour ahead of Ft Lauderdale EDT. I figured it out somewhere on Floridas Turnpike and fixed it.

Our experience in E307 was similar. I did hear some noise from the casino below. There was amplified music and a voice but it was rarely heard and all was quiet from below after midnight. As pointed out by the next post, the crew door across the hall slammed frequently through the night and morning. Lots of crew chatter in the vicinity one particular morning. Privacy: while there was window washing and painting outside the window, workers eye level was well below the window. We brought a multi outlet extension and it served us well. I agree they could have added another chair. Ample storage space for clothes and baggage. We were pleasantly surprised.

We were on the sailing right after yours. We had never sailed with Princess so my expectations were different. I had no problem with the age of the ship. Yes, our bathroom needed regrouting. Other than that, I didn’t see a problem. It’s not a new ship and hasn’t been to dry dock in years. So? I stay in Hampton Inns on land. This was nicer. We are happy to dine in the MDR. The longest line I saw was maybe 30-40 people and it cleared in 10 minutes or less. I did see a short line for no reservations but I don’t know where those folks were seated. We got a two top by a window every night. Service each night was exceptional. Servers hustled. I expected no less. Meals were incredible. I have a dietary restriction. Princess handled it with class. I had a head waiter preparing my food personally. He even made me salmon with his grandmothers recipe one night. I couldn’t have asked for more from the MDR. Entertainment each night was at Crooners or Wheelhouse. Good enough for me. I thought Tommie McPhee was incredibly entertaining. We may not cruise again for a while, but Princess left a good impression. Enjoy Celebrity. I hope you find it to your liking.

We just got off the Caribbean. Paid $60 each per day for Plus. Averaged $10 each daily in bottled water alone - we drink a lot of water. A couple espressos or Americanos in the morning was another $5. We don’t drink much soda but there were a couple diet cokes in 10 days. Of course we used the internet daily, so $15 there. And the $16 gratuities. Normally, I’m two beers a night. That’s only $15. But the Plus package does encourage over- drinking and my drinks ran from 3-6 daily. Usually a beer, a couple wines and 2-3 manhattans a night. At ships’ prices, that was $40-70 (including tips). So, worth it? Yes. Now, I just have to cut back to 2 beers, cut out dessert and increase my steps to 20,000 a day for the next month to lose those 5 pounds I put on.

Our MDR reservations varied between 5:00, 6:00 and 7:00. The lines seemed to vary by day more than time. The later in the cruise, the shorter the line, or so it seemed.

About three or four nights in, I tried to order a fish dish (corvina?) and the head waiter said not to. Instead, he made me perfectly broiled salmon with his Serbian grandmother’s recipe. It involved a lot of dry sautéed spices - quite a bit of paprika among them. It turned out to be the best meal of the cruise.

Your Brother-in-law Law is one of the few humans we have not been tracking. Thank you for the alert. He appears to be a security risk and we plan to move him off-planet in a few days time.

We call it “Chateau Outhouse” around here. It took me a few tries to discover one I could tolerate on the ship. Pinot Grigio was exceedingly sweet. Pinto Noir had a weird flavor. The Wheelhouse bartender suggested I try a Red Blend. I could tolerate it, if not enjoy it. I prefer beer or bourbon anyway, just wanted a glass of wine with dinner.

I understand completely. We have friends and relatives with hearing loss that we socialize with. There are places we simply avoid as conversation is impossible. I remember having lunch with my mother one day after she moved into assisted living. She introduced several of her friends at the table. I could not hear a single word one of her friends spoke. I told her she would have to speak up. She said, “I would but I’ve had two strokes”. Needless to say, I added one more situation to my list of Be Careful What You Say.

We just got back from a Panama Canal cruise on Caribbean Princess. We had a couple time changes during the cruise. The first was to and from Costa Rica. We changed from Eastern to Central time overnight and then back the following evening. The second was the change from standard to daylight saving. The US made that change Saturday night. For the ship, that would have led to chaos, as Sunday was our disembarkation day. So, the ship time “sprung ahead” a day early. That way, we did not lose an hour the night before disembarkation. Bravo to Princess for figuring this out.

I never saw 100 in line ahead of me, but maybe 30-40. That number was cleared in under 10 minutes. There was always a much shorter line with no reservations but I don’t know what they heard when they got to the front of the line.

Dinesh at the Wheelhouse has been my go-to. But no bananas in an edible state. Good for making drinks.

They were on hand today at the Good Spirits bar but looked pretty rough. I was looking for a banana at the International Cafe. Lots on hand the first 5-6 days. Replaced with unripe peaches for the remainder of the cruise. Day 10 tomorrow and I don’t expect to find one.

The bananas disappeared sometime after day 5. The lady seated next to me in the Wheelhouse bar last night said they don’t keep. I expect they were turned into banana bread after that. I just found it ironic that we sailed out of Costa Rica the following day, where we had taken an excursion to a banana plantation.