LIVE from the GRAND PRINCESS - FLL to Southampton 5/5/11

[richardj]

Why is it every time we turn around it’s time for dinner? Where does the day go? Morning trivia, mid morning IC coffee break, lunch in the dining room, pm trivia and Poof!……….day is over. In between of course is yak yak yak. Still haven’t finished reading one book.

 

 

Our CD made an announcement this morning that we were half way to Ponta Delgada, so if all goes well, we should get there on time. Sort of. We have lost a whole day plus at least 12 additional hours because of the critically ill passenger. We have heard nothing pro or con, so do hope he is on the road to recovery in Bermuda.

　

The seas have changed; lots of rocking and rolling. Nothing insurmountable. They finally found us a TV remote, though we watch so little of it that it hadn’t made much of a difference. This afternoon we saw Country Strong. I managed a few little naps and still missed nothing.

　

Yesterday someone asked about the songs for the Pop Choir. They are: Sweet Caroline, Oh What A Night, Isn’t She Lovely, Waterloo, We are the Champions and It’s not Unusual. I don’t know when there will be a rehearsal next. Will advise.

　

It’s almost seven and we’re going to dinner. I understand there’s been a problem with the internet all day. If this posts; good. Otherwise, you will see it eventually from a copy and paste.

 

Answers:

 

1. Yes, we are going to Holyhead. I intend to drop in on the newlyweds.:D

 

2. Latitude/Longitude? Me, you're asking? hahahaha :eek: We were supposed to have 7 sea days; leave on Thursday and get to Portugal on Thursday. We left on the 6th instead, but still expect to be in Portugal on the 12th.

 

See you tomorrow.

Pia

Many thanks for the info DW so much happier that her day won't be wasted, she will be in the bedroom window waiting to see the Grand passby early next Wednesday morning! Not seen Kate but keep your eyes open for a yellow helicopter you never know it may be William buzzing the ship! Enjoy the rest of the cruise, we are getting the urge to book something soon!

regards

richardj

[grandmaa]

Pia,

 

Just curious to how far along in your seas days you are? 3 of 5, or 4 of 5 etc...

 

Could you post you lat/long postion or GPS location that they show on the Princess channel? I am just curious to how far you have travelled?

 

Thank-you,

Andrew

 

There is a website http://www.sailwx.info/shiptrack/shiplocation.phtml

that shows ships on the oceans. Hope this helps you find where in the world the Grand Princess is.

[ssbeagle]

Pop Choir must be something new. I love the songs you will be doing. If they were to have that on our sailing I would certainly sign up. When you mentioned "Waterloo" I thought of the movie "Mamma Mia" and at the end where they are in costume singing it. I wish I was there.

 

Too bad about the sick passenger. Bermuda must have been unscheduled. I bet the Captain is going all out to get to your first port as close to on time as he can.

[rdsqrl]

Thanks, Pia! Those songs do sound fun. I love me some Tom Jones.

Your days sound perfect: eat, trivia, coffee, eat, trivia, eat . . .

[HAL4ME]

Why is it every time we turn around it’s time for dinner? Where does the day go? Morning trivia, mid morning IC coffee break, lunch in the dining room, pm trivia and Poof!……….day is over. In between of course is yak yak yak. Still haven’t finished reading one book.

 

 

Our CD made an announcement this morning that we were half way to Ponta Delgada, so if all goes well, we should get there on time. Sort of. We have lost a whole day plus at least 12 additional hours because of the critically ill passenger. We have heard nothing pro or con, so do hope he is on the road to recovery in Bermuda.

　

The seas have changed; lots of rocking and rolling. Nothing insurmountable. They finally found us a TV remote, though we watch so little of it that it hadn’t made much of a difference. This afternoon we saw Country Strong. I managed a few little naps and still missed nothing.

　

Yesterday someone asked about the songs for the Pop Choir. They are: Sweet Caroline, Oh What A Night, Isn’t She Lovely, Waterloo, We are the Champions and It’s not Unusual. I don’t know when there will be a rehearsal next. Will advise.

　

It’s almost seven and we’re going to dinner. I understand there’s been a problem with the internet all day. If this posts; good. Otherwise, you will see it eventually from a copy and paste.

 

Answers:

 

1. Yes, we are going to Holyhead. I intend to drop in on the newlyweds.:D

 

2. Latitude/Longitude? Me, you're asking? hahahaha :eek: We were supposed to have 7 sea days; leave on Thursday and get to Portugal on Thursday. We left on the 6th instead, but still expect to be in Portugal on the 12th.

 

See you tomorrow.

 

Arlene? you still travelling the world with your Starbuck's mug from Busan, China?..LOL....say heloo to Milt!..poor Milt eating cookies all the time..:)

[IECalCruiser]

Pia, Thanks for your "Live From" and giving us some of the low down on the new Golden! From the new deck plans and photos it does not appear that there is actually a "bar" in Vines Wine Bar, just a seating area. Is this correct?

[kruisey]

Enjoying your sensible down to earth posts.....:)

[Pia1913]

Good Tuesday morning and I’m cold and ship is rocking. Weather is yucky; rained last night and looks like it might continue today. It’s supposed to reach mid 60’s, but I wouldn’t want to bet on it. Clocks went ahead last night and we’ll be doing it again tonight. These 23 hour days are bothering lots of people, but we like it because the gym is empty in the morning. However, today, out of 12 treadmills, four were out. I crawled back there while everyone laughed and pushed the resets. There were a few happy people afterwards.

 

 

　

We had all intentions of watching Secretariat last night, but sat around at dinner too long and missed the beginning. We weren’t going to wait 2 hours for it to start again, so watched “The Other Guys” instead. Stupid movie, but Mike liked it. I read.

 

 

　

Today’s schedule features a Holyhead port talk at 11:00, the first Pub Lunch at 11:30 (in the Crown Grill), “Making Peace with your Past” by you know who at 12:45, and also at this time the Choir Rehearsal in the Wheelhouse. The afternoon movie in the theater is Inception. Oh my goodness, almost forgot to mention the 2nd 3 hour sale in Michelangelo. I know I didn’t mention the first one. At this rate they might be able to unload lots of junk, er……..merchandise, before we even reach the first port.

 

　

Tonight’s offerings are comedian Steve Bruner and Enchantment Duo (adagio body balancing) in the theater, Motor City (yes, it’s still around) in Vista and Little Fockers on MUTS. Captain’s Cocktail Party (two of them) are also tonight and we will attend the one at 7:00 PM. There will be two more parties tomorrow night. I doubt we will attend any of the shows, and will probably find a movie to watch ensuite. Or not.

 

 

Meanwhile, connection seems to be poor with Cruise Critic. All other sites OK, so I will copy and paste later.

 

 

Answers:

 

IC: Same goodies as ever

 

Leaves: I don't think it's good for reading. Too dark.

[cruiseron36]

Arlene? you still travelling the world with your Starbuck's mug from Busan, China?..LOL....say heloo to Milt!..poor Milt eating cookies all the time..:)

 

Tony?????

[Cymro1953]

1. Yes, we are going to Holyhead. I intend to drop in on the newlyweds.:D

 

 

Looks like you'll be out of luck Pia. The news over here reported this morning that they've finally left on their honeymoon :)

 

Thanks for the daily reports they make great reading.

 

Berwyn

[6pack]

Looks like the Captain is trying to make up time; cruising between 21.3-23.6 knots over the past 24 hrs! Here's some trivia info

Grand Princess

 

Operator: Princess Cruises

 

Last reported at 2011-May-10 13:00 UTC. Time now 2011-May-10 14:38 UTC.

Position N 36°48' W 043°48'.

 

Length 289.5 m; beam 36 m; draft 8.5 m.

 

Wind from 080 at 17 knots

 

Waves 2.5 meters (8 feet), 3 second period

 

Barometer 1014.6 mb

Air temperature 17.0 ° C

Visibility: greater than 10.8 NM

Dewpoint 13.5 ° C

Water temperature 20.0 ° C

[coops]

Pia,

Thanks for taking time to do a live. Just a quick question, is the casino smaller and do they have video poker? Thanks for all you info

Dawn

[Pia1913]

Shake, rattle and roll; more and more as the day progressed. We are fine, but our friends found it necessary to take some meclazine. We expected rain, but it never came to fruition. It also didn’t get much over 60 degrees; If that.

　

We had our first choir rehearsal; large group. I’m guessing about 40. Considering this was the first one, it was amazing how good it sounded. There are lots of good voices in this group. Did nothing much else during the day except trivia and reading.

　

For those who asked, here is the 4:00 to 6:00 PM Power Hour $3.99 menu:

 

Cocktails

Blue Margarita

Long Island Iced Tea

Pina Colada

Singapore Sling

Strawberry Daiquiri

House Spirits

Bourbon

Gin

Rum (Dark or Light)

Scotch

Tequila

Vodka

　

Went to the 7:00 PM cocktail party and got our award; champagne and the cut glass paperweight and of course had our photo taken with the Captain. Then decided to go to dinner in DaVinci and to the casino afterwards. DaVinci, great. Casino, bah humbug! Casino appears to be same size; haven't noticed video poker. Will look.

 

 

More tomorrow. Another 23 hour day coming up. I am copying this and will hopefully resume in the morning. Right now it’s 10:30 PM and there is no internet. Will try again shortly.

[ssbeagle]

Good Tuesday morning and I’m cold and ship is rocking. Weather is yucky; rained last night and looks like it might continue today. It’s supposed to reach mid 60’s, but I wouldn’t want to bet on it. Clocks went ahead last night and we’ll be doing it again tonight. These 23 hour days are bothering lots of people, but we like it because the gym is empty in the morning. However, today, out of 12 treadmills, four were out. I crawled back there while everyone laughed and pushed the resets. There were a few happy people afterwards.

　

We had all intentions of watching Secretariat last night, but sat around at dinner too long and missed the beginning. We weren’t going to wait 2 hours for it to start again, so watched “The Other Guys” instead. Stupid movie, but Mike liked it. I read.

 

　

Today’s schedule features a Holyhead port talk at 11:00, the first Pub Lunch at 11:30 (in the Crown Grill), “Making Peace with your Past” by you know who at 12:45, and also at this time the Choir Rehearsal in the Wheelhouse. The afternoon movie in the theater is Inception. Oh my goodness, almost forgot to mention the 2nd 3 hour sale in Michelangelo. I know I didn’t mention the first one. At this rate they might be able to unload lots of junk, er……..merchandise, before we even reach the first port.

 

　

Tonight’s offerings are comedian Steve Bruner and Enchantment Duo (adagio body balancing) in the theater, Motor City (yes, it’s still around) in Vista and Little Fockers on MUTS. Captain’s Cocktail Party (two of them) are also tonight and we will attend the one at 7:00 PM. There will be two more parties tomorrow night. I doubt we will attend any of the shows, and will probably find a movie to watch ensuite. Or not.

 

 

Meanwhile, connection seems to be poor with Cruise Critic. All other sites OK, so I will copy and paste later.

 

 

Did you watch Inception? I didn't like it when I saw it. I didn't like the ending at all. It was hard to understand.

 

 

Congrats on your award. Cruise Critic is having a lot of trouble here. I don't know why. We have been having a lot of trouble also.[/COLOR]

 

Enjoy the cool weather. It's been hot and sunny here at home!

[wineforhealth]

Pia

 

I noticed there was no wine on the "Power Hour"

 

Cocktails

Blue Margarita

Long Island Iced Tea

Pina Colada

Singapore Sling

Strawberry Daiquiri

House Spirits

Bourbon

Gin

Rum (Dark or Light)

Scotch

Tequila

Vodka

 

Wine

 

?

 

 

I do have a question and may already know the answer:

 

Any young couples (under 40) also any teens on the cruise?

 

also if you think of it give us one of your daily tough Trivia questions

 

Sounds like your having a great time as always

[Woobstr112G]

Pia;

 

Thanks for your continued reports. Just curious about the power hour drinks. Are they potent or sorta watered down.....

 

Bob

[DonahCBrown]

Aloha Pia & Mike!

 

Sounds like you are having a bit of an adventure with all the 'in progess' stuff on the ship - congrats on the #1 - just catching up with your (as usual wonderful) live and wanted to say hi and thanks for all the updates - we're signed on for the FLL to Santiago portion of the SA trip as of today. Don't think we can be gone as long as the last trip again for a while - Mom didn't take it well, nor did the dogs...

 

Travel safe, enjoy yourselves.

[Pia1913]

Good Wednesday morning and maybe I can get this posted. Internet has been miserable on and off, weather is not so wonderful either. May not even get to 60, and right now it‘s drizzling. At least I was able to finish last night’s message last night. BTW, we haven’t had satellite in 4 days. This could be a quickie, since we have to report to UK immigration between 8:30 and 10:30 to hand over our passports. This has to be done before arrival into Cohb, Ireland and they will hang on to them until ??????

 

　

Meanwhile,on today’s agenda is a Falmouth port talk, a lecture on how to manage the changes in your life and our 2nd choir rehearsal. Tonight in the theater is the female vocalist Eve Sherratt, in Vista is Paul Burton, the regular piano bar guy (who I think is awful) and MUTS has Morning Glory.

 

Breakfast time and to answer your question Jim, I saw one couple under 40 and there are three kids on board; all babies and we don't see them either. No one else under 18.

[Scotjune]

Good morning Pia, have enjoyed your reports! We live 20 minutes from Greenock - when do you dock!

[cat-tav]

we have to report to UK immigration between 8:30 and 10:30 to hand over our passports. This has to be done before arrival into Cohb, Ireland and they will hang on to them until ??????

/quote]

 

Did I miss something? Did you have to skip Punta Delgada? That's too bad if you did!

 

I'm enjoying your posts as I wait to board the Grand on June 15.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for your reports Pia

 

sorry about the rocking of the ship and the bad weather

 

hope it improves soon for you all

[grandmaa]

Hope your weather get better. When we did a TA to Southampton our weather was similar and the fog horn was blowing constantly, day and night. Glad to know you are keeping busy.

Have all the new venues on the ship opened or are some still off limits? With all the rocking and rolling I would imagine the pools have been emptied or have the nets across them.

Stay warm and dry!!

[DKayFerg]

Hello Pia,

was very excited to see live post and updates from this cruise. My mother-in-law and her sister are on this cruise so these daily updates are great. My husband and I have wondered how things were going. Hope they are having a good time!! Will continue to watch for more posts.

Thanks

[Sunsailor]

Hi Pia,

It's Barbara and Mark from the Diamond Asia roll call

Thank you for this report. We've never been on a first after drydock cruise.

Sorry to hear about the problems and we hope your weather improves. The Grand is our favorite ship and we'll be on her in December.

What changes do you see to the cabins? Have the bathrooms been redone? Are there any changes to the conservatory?

All in all, what do you think of the changes that have been made?

 

Looking forward to meeting you when we plan a Florida pre-cruise M&G this winter.

[kayelbee]

Sounds like you are having a great time. I am on the Grand in June, my first every cruise and very much looking forward to it.

Just one question/comment, why are you going through UK immigration before Cobh, which is near Cork in the Irish Republic and a different country to the UK, is it because Ireland/UK are a common travel area but if that were so I would have thought you would be going through Irish immigration rather than UK.