Live from the Ocean Princess Land of the Midnight Sun June 7 - 25

[Canuker]

1. How have the seas been? Has the ship handled the weather OK?

2. The onboard pool. Has it been open? Is it heated? Fresh or sea water?
Have you seen anyone in it!? Do folk sit out on deck much?

[DonahCBrown]

Day 9 Continued

Went to the show – Gotta Sing Gotta Dance. Singers and Dancers were very good, principal female singer, Bronwyn Andrews was in good voice, but Neil James, who has had the flu, I understand, started to flag about half way through, although he carried on heroically. Felt really bad for him as he has another show this evening.

Tomorrow’s entertainment is scheduled to be Garry Carson and Bronwyn and Neil, evening movie will be Invictus, and the first evening game show of the cruise, I think – Jeopardy – will have to see if our trivia team is going to play or not.

Port talks tomorrow will be Geiranger and Bergen, enrichment talk is International Trad and Faberge Eggs of Russia, and Gloria will be doing a Future Cruise talk on the European 2011 season offerings, usual bridge, games, crafts, and musical entertainment.

Internet very erratic - connection has be up/down etc. etc.

In re: water questions
Have had one really rock and roll day - ship handled pretty well but, obviously, not being as large as some, there was more motion.

Pools- have seen one hardy soul out there doing laps on one occasion. Have seen no one in lounges, fair number of folks walking for the first few days, not so much lately. Have seen maybe two or three people in the hot tubs. There are blankets available for any who do want to wrap up and sit outside.

Will try and get this to post now while we still have signal!

[DonahCBrown]

Seas calm today, and the sun is finally out, as well so it is a lot more pleasant. Had our port lectures for the last two ports today which makes me realize that this portion of our trip is at the halfway point.

Not much exciting to tell at the moment.

[Nick_C]

Geiranger - are you in for a treat. Wrap up warm and get up on deck, the sail in from Hellesylt its stunningly beautiful.

Is there a forward view from any of the outside decks?

[sunsetbeachgal]

Hi Donna,

How is the food quality in the main dining room? My last cruise was on the Crown in March, and everything was really top notch. Hope the Ocean is great...do they have the the same menu as the other ships?

[coo359a2]

[quote name='Nick_C']Geiranger - are you in for a treat. Wrap up warm and get up on deck, the sail in from Hellesylt its stunningly beautiful.

Is there a forward view from any of the outside decks?[/quote]

Deck 11 is only deck with forward view (that I know of) and that is mostly through the wind deflectors. Side views from decks 9 and 10. We'll probably be on deck 10. Just hoping for clear skies - like today has been.

[coo359a2]

[quote name='sunsetbeachgal']Hi Donna,

How is the food quality in the main dining room? My last cruise was on the Crown in March, and everything was really top notch. Hope the Ocean is great...do they have the the same menu as the other ships?[/quote]


I'm a little picky and for the most part, I've managed to always find something I like and it's been good. If pickings are slim at the main dining room, the Bistro has good menus. There has been a lot of seafood dishes on this cruise so far.

[Minoushka]

Could you tell me which penny machines are on Ocean

Thank You

[Pia1913]

[quote name='coo359a2']I'm a little picky and for the most part, I've managed to always find something I like and it's been good. If pickings are slim at the main dining room, the Bistro has good menus. There has been a lot of seafood dishes on this cruise so far.[/quote]

Picky? hahahahahahaha. And just what you love - seafood dishes. :eek:

[sunsetbeachgal]

I am not that hard to please (we have never had a bad cruise and rarely any bad travel experiences that we can't laugh about endlessly afterwards) but just hoping that the Ocean offers all of my Princess dinner favorites-the pastas (which I usually order a small portion as an appetizer), the great soups and salads, the souffle's, the escargot...oh my mouth is watering just typing this!!

[Kiwi Kruzer]

[SIZE="2"][COLOR="Blue"]From the scheduled position and the bridge cam,
looks like they are sailing into Murmansk at the moment.[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[IMG]http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll281/kiwikruzer/cam%20shots%202/18ocean1.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll281/kiwikruzer/cam%20shots%202/18ocean2.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll281/kiwikruzer/cam%20shots%202/18ocean3.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll281/kiwikruzer/cam%20shots%202/18ocean4.jpg[/IMG]

[Kiwi Kruzer]

[SIZE="2"][COLOR="Blue"]City coming into view.[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[IMG]http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll281/kiwikruzer/cam%20shots%202/18oceanmurmansk2.jpg[/IMG]

[JohnLauben]

Murmansk (Belarus): Been here, done that, don't care if I ever see it again! Not one of the better ports. The day started out overcase, slight rain, temperature in the 50s; sun came out later, temperature to about 65. A few brave soles now out by the pool ... first day in quite a while, since the temp has been in the 30s to low 40s most of the time.

Leaing the previous port (Honningsvag), we were greeted with the arrival of the ship that was the old PACIFIC PRINCESS. Captain Ravera exchanged a few blasts on the ship's horns as we departed.

Dining room food has been quite good; but, the menus have left something to be desired IMHO. I'm not a seafood fan; that leave 3 choices in addition to the "always available" beef medallions. There's prime rib on the menu tonight ... I'll be very happy! (I forget the head chef's name at the moment ... he's an Italian from England.)

Right now, we're awaiting departure from Murmansk. A passenger fell while on tour, and the medical staff decided to take that person to a local hospital. Still awaiting further information here.

We lost an hour each of the 2 previous nights. We'll gain them back over the next 2 nights on our way back to Norway (Gravdal) on Sunday.

More to come .....

[Nick_C]

Think it was "Discovery" that you saw John. She's the old Island Princess, sister to Pacific Princess, and of the original pair of "Love Boats". Beautiful looking classic ship. She sails regularly on worldwide exotic itineraries and is based in the UK.

Pacific Princess is currently called "Pacific", and liveried in the colours of the Spanish line Quail Cruises. She was seized by the Italian Coastguard in July 2009 because of unpaid debts of $14M owed to a Genoa shipyard, and she has been laid up in Genoa ever since.

[coo359a2]

[quote name='Pia1913']Picky? hahahahahahaha. And just what you love - seafood dishes. :eek:[/quote]

Yuk to the seafood. Tonight had what will rank as one of my best meals yet, Pulled pork, mashed potatoes and sauerkraut. Go figure but it was good. :)

Murmansk was different to say the least but at least we got here. Don't thik I would plan a land trip for here. Weather turned out warm and sunny after early morning rain. The buffet was full so found a table out in the sun by the pool.

[Woobstr112G]

[quote name='JohnLauben']Murmansk (Belarus): Been here, done that, don't care if I ever see it again! Not one of the better ports. The day started out overcase, slight rain, temperature in the 50s; sun came out later, temperature to about 65. A few brave soles now out by the pool ... first day in quite a while, since the temp has been in the 30s to low 40s most of the time.

Leaing the previous port (Honningsvag), we were greeted with the arrival of the ship that was the old PACIFIC PRINCESS. Captain Ravera exchanged a few blasts on the ship's horns as we departed.

Dining room food has been quite good; but, the menus have left something to be desired IMHO. I'm not a seafood fan; that leave 3 choices in addition to the "always available" beef medallions. There's prime rib on the menu tonight ... I'll be very happy! (I forget the head chef's name at the moment ... he's an Italian from England.)

Right now, we're awaiting departure from Murmansk. A passenger fell while on tour, and the medical staff decided to take that person to a local hospital. Still awaiting further information here.

We lost an hour each of the 2 previous nights. We'll gain them back over the next 2 nights on our way back to Norway (Gravdal) on Sunday.

More to come .....[/quote]

Was thinking of a baltic itinerary for the future. What are to good (if any) and bad points on Murmansk.....

Bob

[zanoza]

Murmansk-Russia, not Belarus.

[Raamo]

[quote name='Woobstr112G']Was thinking of a baltic itinerary for the future. What are to good (if any) and bad points on Murmansk.....

Bob[/quote]

Baltic cruises goto Saint Petersburg - on our last one there was an option to go to Moscow, I don't believe Murmansk was offered.

[DonahCBrown]

Day 10 At Sea and Day 11 Murmansk

Turns out the entertainment was the magician, so after an unsuccessful foray into the Casino, made it an early evening, as we lost another hour to time changes. Up early to the gym, and waiting now for our tour time. We’re doing Murmansk without Pancakes – there are basically three tours – Murmansk, Murmansk with Pancake Tasting, and Murmansk with a visit to a resort and lunch there – The other option is to get your own visa, and arrange something locally with an approved tour company – doesn’t seem possible to anything of an ‘on your own’ basis here, as even if you have a visa you also have to have a ‘host’.

Weather is warmer – around mid 40s and misting rain, although I can see breaks in the clouds along the horizon, so maybe things will clear up. The Captain told us to expect delays as the authorities go over everyone’s paperwork, and none of the tours are scheduled to leave before around 9ish, although we’ve been here since around 5 or so.

What I can see of the area from our balcony looks pretty grim – blocky concrete building, industrial smokestacks, cargo cranes, surrounded by wooded hillsides. Buses are lined up below - look serviceable and aren’t school buses, which I had about half expected since we were told in the port talk not to have really high expectations for this port call. It will be interesting to see how the tour goes – we will all be visiting pretty much the same places – The Palace of Culture, Orthodox Cathedral, Allied Cemetery, Museum of Regional Studies, and the Aloysha Monument. The other tours have stops for the pancake tasting and lunch respectively.

We are evidently a big deal to the town, as there is now what appears to be a news reporter interviewing passengers as they enter their tour buses and a couple of camera guys are filming both the exiting passengers and the ship as well.

The tour was a pretty typical bus tour, one of the venues – the Palace of Culture – was closed for renovation. The Museum of Regional Studies had displays on geology, cultures, history, and the natural environment - all labeling in Cyrillic, of course, so harder to puzzle out on your own, but our guide did a pretty good job of keeping people close enough together to at least have some sense of what was being presented. Our second stop was the Russian Orthodox Cathedral of St. Nicholas, a modern ‘onion dome’ style church with many icons, the most interesting among them being the Romonov royal family shown as saints.

Our next stop at the Allied Cemetery was particularly touching, not the least because we had a veteran of the Murmansk Polar Convoys, from the H.M. Bluebell, which ultimately went down with all hands but for one survivor, on our particular tour bus, and he laid a wreath on the monument to the sailors from the UK who were lost at sea during WWII.

Our final stop was at the Aloysha statue, where we had an unfortunate incident in that one of our group had a bad fall, but we understood later (after she had been checked by the ship’s doctor and also evaluated at the local hospital) that she will be fine. With the exception of that incident, this was an impressive stop – the monument is a major local landmark and during our stop there we observed a military group doing a wreath laying and a wedding party who came there, it appeared, for photos to be made.

The weather changed several times during our half day tour, from overcast to rain/sleet to sunshine, and by the time we got back to the ship it was sunny and warm enough to have our lunch on the pool deck outside.

The evening’s entertainment is a Ragtime Piano concert by the musical director Tim Barton, the Country and Western Party (and an accompanying Country and Western Trivia – no we’re not playing) Heather in the Casino Lounge, Cinnamoon late in the Tahitian and Pete Nilson Duo early.

Tomorrow is the final formal night and Captain’s Farewell Cocktail party, as we don’t have another sea day until the night before Dover. It is also the 75% off sale – we’ll have to have a look at that, of course. The enrichment lecture will be International Trade Around the World, Afternoon Movie is “Leap Year” – the Champagne Art Auction, as well, usual round of games, bridge, etc. Evening entertainment will be the production show “Ports of Call,” the Champagne Waterfall will be at 11PM in the Tahitian Lounge, preceded by Cinnamoon and Pete Nilson Duo. Heather, of course, in the Casino Lounge.

Most likely, we will again be ‘between satellites’ so will post this now and get back on when we have signal again.

[DonahCBrown]

[quote name='mmemichele']Could you tell me which penny machines are on Ocean

Thank You[/QUOTE]

4 of the '7s' machines, the Neptune one, Fairy Fortune, the gold mining one, an "Enchanted Kingdom" that is very very greedy, and a Jungle something that sometimes is fairly generous.

Better at the beginning of the cruise, all of the 'modern' ones have gotten pretty tight, and I'm doing better on the '7s' ones - there's red hot, butterflies, and I forget what the other two are. Might be two of each??

[DonahCBrown]

[quote name='sunsetbeachgal']Hi Donna,

How is the food quality in the main dining room? My last cruise was on the Crown in March, and everything was really top notch. Hope the Ocean is great...do they have the the same menu as the other ships?[/QUOTE]

Generally, I would say it has been good, not great - agree with Tina that tonight's pulled pork was one of the best so far. Ken and Dennis had prime rib that Dennis said was terrific and cooked 'just right' - Bistro was good when we ate up there (which we may do again tomorrow)

Menus are the same fleet wide, I think.

[Lady Meer]

Hi Donna

We've been enjoying your 'live' reports. Just 2 things before we see you next Friday: how many formal nights will we have and also do you know the price of a lady's hair cut? Thanks.

Brenda

[California Native]

[SIZE=3][COLOR=indigo]Donna and Tina[/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][COLOR=indigo][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][COLOR=indigo]I just wanted to thank you for your live from thread[/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][COLOR=indigo][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][COLOR=indigo] I have a deep respect for your vast knowledge of the world [/COLOR][/SIZE][SIZE=3][COLOR=indigo]and cruise experience...[/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][COLOR=indigo][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][COLOR=indigo]Everytime you do a live from thread ...I feel like I'm there![/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][COLOR=indigo][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][COLOR=indigo]This itinerary is high on our list as a must do![/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][COLOR=indigo][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][COLOR=indigo]I've bookmarked this thread in my favorites for future reference![/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][COLOR=indigo][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][COLOR=indigo]Just wanted you to know that the time you take out of your day [/COLOR][/SIZE][SIZE=3][COLOR=indigo]to make the posts is REALLY appreciated![/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][COLOR=indigo][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][COLOR=indigo]K. [/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][COLOR=indigo][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][COLOR=indigo]PS...we ended up booking Aus/NZ for Feb 20, 2012...[/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][COLOR=indigo]So, I will be excited to see your Aus/NZ [/COLOR][/SIZE][SIZE=3][COLOR=indigo]2011 live from thread...[/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][COLOR=indigo]just wish we were able to keep that booking with both of you!!![/COLOR][/SIZE]

[Kiwi Kruzer]

[SIZE="2"][COLOR="Blue"]Heading back across the top of Norway , then down to Gravdal ( Leknes/Lofoten)[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[IMG]http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll281/kiwikruzer/cam%20shots%202/19oceanmap1a.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll281/kiwikruzer/cam%20shots%202/19oceanmap2.jpg[/IMG]

[caribill]

[quote name='DonahCBrown'] The other option is to get your own visa, and arrange something locally with an approved tour company.

[/quote]

Are you sure about the need for your own visa to use an approved local tour company?

In St.Petersburg, you do not need your own visa to use a local approved tour company as they arrange for a day visa just like Princess does for its tours.