LIVE from the Ruby Princess - BARCELONA to VENICE, May 5th - May 17th

[BalconyGal]

OK Pia, you talked me into joining you. :p You said you checked in for the next leg, where did you do that PSD? I am following the grannycb who is on the crown making the crossing now and she says they are having a rough time of it. Thank goodness you first leg was smooth sailing (sorry had to). Have a great cruise!

[cruisingallover]

keep on blogging :)

[coo359a2]

Keep on having lots of fun. Hope for lots of sunshine for you on this cruise.

[cubfan63]

Pia,

 

You mentioned that one of the on-board lecturers was Brian Billick, but you didn't know his topic. I'm assuming from this that you aren't big NFL football fans based on this.

 

The Brian Billick that I'm aware of is is a football analyst on Fox during the NFL season. Prior to working for Fox Sports, he was the coach of the Baltimore Ravens when they won the Super Bowl.

 

Thanks for the live threads!

[Go-Bucks!]

Looking forward to living vicariously through your posts again. Enjoy Europe; it's my favorite place to travel. Best wishes for great weather too. :)

[fairstars]

Hi Pia,

 

I enjoyed reading you last leg and look forward to this one. Wonder if there will be a limerick competition on this one? If there is you might have to miss a couple to allow someone else a chance:)

 

Happy cruising

Chris

[Caribensun]

Pia, Thank you for continuing your post, we love reading as we are wanting do a med cruise, need the time first. Take care of Generosso for us and enjoy europe for us and the Ruby. We are hoping to be back on the Ruby next year. Glad to eruo prices are good, enjoy the wine.

Seadeck2

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Hi Pia,

 

Thanks for continuing the "live".

This segment is very port intensive.

 

Just wondering if they have said anything about the situation in Athens (Piraeus),

and wondering if you will still call there?

I would imagine the Captain and Head office will be watching very carefully,

and who knows ,

you may get a bonus sea day,

or another port of call.

 

Also, do you get a daylight sail in to Venice?

Thats one port that is still on my must do list.

Been there , but not on a sail in/out.

[us2]

Pia,

Thanks for bringing us along on your Ruby adventure. Since we will be boarding on September 2, I have a question. Do they still have a Red Formal Night? I understood that the wormen are encouraged to wear red. I'd like to be prepared. Thanks for your input.

__________

Barbara

[Pia1913]

Good Thursday morning as we sail towards Monte Carlo. Again. The weather today albeit overcast, looks a whole lot better than two days ago. However, rain is still forecast and if there is, we will not venture ashore. Not even for a minute. I'm still drying out from Tuesday. We expect to arrive about 11:00 and we sail at 7:00 PM

Went to the welcome aboard show last night. Production numbers as anticipated remained the same. Wanted to see the comedian Don Sherman who I did recognize from previous cruises. All I can say about him is that it's time for him to retire. He has a few funny lines, but very few. And very old and very stale. The casino post show was booming. Definately far more people in there last night than on the TA crossing.

Also the gym this morning. Packed at 7:15. As expected, much younger people on this cruise.

Tonight's entertainment will be the production show Broadway Ballroom. We've seen it before and didn't go on the last cruise. I think we might give it a shot tonight. Don Sherman will be in Explorer's, so we may look in on him and save the show for tomorrow night. Choices are good. Did you Hear About the Morgans? is the MUTS movie tonight.

I will try my hand at limericks again and will post them whether or not they win. This morning we have time for trivia too. I lead such a tough life. :D

ANSWERS:

1. Sabatini's breakfast: must be a Caribbean thing. Not available to Elites here.

2. Billick: Yep, heard something about football. Now I know. He's not on today's program.

3. Athens: No word yet. We follow the situation on CNN. Sounds ominous. We had nothing planned anyway. Was going to take train. Maybe not.

4. Red formal: They did it on the TA; hardly anyone dressed in red. No mention about it for this cruise.

[SraLiz]

thanks Pia for the wonderful travel journal.

some friends of mine are on this cruise with you. If you see Jim and Carol from Hamilton, Ohio traveling with about 10 other Eastern Star members, introduce yourself. They are TONS of fun!

Have a wonderful trip.

Liz

[doublemm16]

Hi Pia!

 

Thanks for keeping us all up to date with your live posts! The current news on Athens is that the strike is due to end tonight, so hopefully there will be no problems. Looking forward to meeting you in Venice on May 17th!

 

Only 10 more days......

 

Mindi:D:D

[Pia1913]

Just checking in before an early to bedtime. We need to be up at 6:00 tomorrow for an early shorex to Lucca. Decided to do this at the last minute, since there's really nothing new for us to do in the Livorno area.

Our stop in Monte Carlo today was fine. Nice weather. Cool, but this time thankfully dry. My jeans are just now drying out from Tuesday's monsoon.

We went to trivia this morning, just the four of us, and won. This cruise they will be giving prizes instead of coupons. I asked one of the staff why they decided to go back to prizes and he told me they only did coupons because on a TA there were too many trivias and not enough merchandise. Whatever the reason, we are now the recipients of two more lanyards.

Have I mentioned Rui? For those who don't know, he's one of the nicest and friendliest headwaiters in the Princess fleet and he has been preparing specialties for us each evening. A few days ago we asked him to just bring crudites since after his "appetizers" there's no room for dinner. And Generoso; the best MD out there; visits with us each evening too.

Going to sign off now and remember, we are six hours ahead

EST. so the next time I post you will all most likely be fast asleep. Until tomorrow. Oh yes, they are collecting our passports tomorrow night and they won't be returned until the night before we reach Venice.

[mrspaper]

Pia

Wondering why they are collecting your passport? At least no one will be able to take them ashore and lose them, I've seen that before.

 

Glad the weather cleared up for you. I believe my parents had rain the whole day in Barcelona on Tues. Wonder if they got to see anything?

 

glad the Euro has improved for you, as well as for us traveling in another week

 

Please keep us posted on what you hear the plan is for the ship in Athens.

 

Linda

[happytalk44]

Pia,

Please explain why they collect the passports. I never want mine out of my sight. Please reassure me since we are taking this cruise in May '11.

[caribill]

Wondering why they are collecting your passport?

 

Please explain why they collect the passports. I never want mine out of my sight. Please reassure me since we are taking this cruise in May '11.

 

 

One or more countries on the itinerary wants to examine all the passports and possibly stamp them for entry/exit.

 

Collecting the passports is common on many of the Princess itineraries.

 

Believe me, you would rather that Princess have them all together for inspection than you having to line up (along with 3100 of your closest friends) in several ports for the passport inspection.

 

You will be given a receipt for your passport that must be presented to get it back from Princess.

[BalconyGal]

Does Princess have to get visas stamped into your passports? :confused:

[Colo Cruiser]

Its protocol on that leg of the cruise.

[happytalk44]

Yep--sure don't want to stand in line with 3100 of my closest friends. Also, had my passport copied and forged while traveling on a tour in Europe in the '80's by someone "who had to collect it".

Hence my question.

[Colo Cruiser]

Yep--sure don't want to stand in line with 3100 of my closest friends. Also, had my passport copied and forged while traveling on a tour in Europe in the '80's by someone "who had to collect it".

Hence my question.

 

Well you have to give it up onboard.

[caribill]

Does Princess have to get visas stamped into your passports? :confused:

 

That's up to the country you are visiting.

 

Some fun examples:

 

On one cruise, Princess had our passports so they could be stamped at the last EU port for exiting the EU. Thus, as far as our passports are concerned, we entered the EU but did not leave it.

 

On another cruise, the stop in Incheon, South Korea was cancelled two miles from the dock due to fog. But our passports (collected by Princess) had already been stamped for both entering and leaving the country.

 

On one Greek Isle/Kusadasi/Venice cruise, embarking pasengers at Rome's port had their passports collected. We were on a B2B that started in the USA and they never collected our passports for either segment.

[happytalk44]

Ok--I will give it up as ordered. I merely asked a question as I did not understand. Then, jsut made conversation by posting my concern.Was not trying to be a smartypants.

[painfree]

Hi..

 

We stood in one of those line for almost an hour waiting to have our passports checked and stamped by an Australian immigration agent..At the time, we were experiencing 30' swells as we crossed the Tasman Sea..One of the immigration agents looked a little 'green' and probably wished she was some place else..

 

Carol

 

Protecting your passport is like protecting your SS#..I'd want all the information up front before surrendering my passport..

[JR_Janet]

Enjoyed the transatlantic live so I will be following on this one as well. Thanks for sharing your time with us.

 

Janet

[Colo Cruiser]

Protecting your passport is like protecting your SS#..I'd want all the information up front before surrendering my passport..

 

I am sure it will be explained to you but

I don't think you have a choice as far as turning it in. :)