Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

LIVE from the Ocean Princess - 28 days from Rome to Singapore 10/15 - 11/12/2011

Pia1913

By Pia1913,
in Princess Cruises

Recommended Posts

Pia1913

Pia1913

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Good Monday morning from Safaga, Egypt where we will spend a long day for most of the passengers to have their chance of seeing the Valley of the Kings, The Temple of Karnak and Luxor. Since we must carry our passports while in Egypt, they are being distributed right now up in the Tahitian Lounge. We will pop in there shortly, though I’m not sure whether or not we will even get off the ship. The outside temp is currently 76; going up to mid 80’s. Some of you may know that Mike and I spent two weeks in Egypt 3 years ago, including a seven day Nile cruise. We have seen all of the wonderful sites that today’s passengers will travel far to see. The one way trip is approx. 3 hours, but it’s really worth it. We of course had much more time, but even a little bit is a lot. Donna and Dennis are on a private tour and you will hear the full report when they get back.

 

　

Meanwhile, back at the ranch so to speak, there will be nothing all day except trivia, and the movie “Whatever Lola Wants.” Never heard of it, so maybe yes, maybe no. Will Google it first. At 8:15 there will be a Folkloric Show, even though most passengers will still not yet have returned. This is a very long day for them and our ship does not sail until 11:00 PM.

 

　

We’re finished at the gym; had the whole place to ourselves. Breakfast awaits. Later.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Donyb

Donyb

Posted
Posted

Hi Donna & Pia,

 

I'm travelling (via internet) with you and enjoying your stories. We've travelled with Donna & Dennis before and I'm looking forward to hearing more. I was quite fascinated with the pirate drill you encountered. Like the life boat drills, I hope you never have to use your education about them!!

 

Nancy

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ssbeagle

ssbeagle

Posted
Posted
Meanwhile, back at the ranch so to speak, there will be nothing all day except trivia, and the movie “Whatever Lola Wants.” Never heard of it, so maybe yes, maybe no. Will Google it first. At 8:15 there will be a Folkloric Show, even though most passengers will still not yet have returned. This is a very long day for them and our ship does not sail until 11:00 PM.

 

　

We’re finished at the gym; had the whole place to ourselves. Breakfast awaits. Later.

 

You should be able to get a good seat for the folkloric show. Those are always fun to watch.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Pia1913

Pia1913

Posted
  • Author
Posted

What a great lazy day this was. We watched two movies; Fever Pitch and Whatever Lola Wants I believe we were also the only Americans who stayed on board. Whatever ENGLISH I heard today was the Queen's English.

 

Something screwy is going on with my netbook, so please keep your fingers crossed. Meanwhile, nothing else to report for today.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ibfern

ibfern

Posted
Posted
What a great lazy day this was. We watched two movies; Fever Pitch and Whatever Lola Wants I believe we were also the only Americans who stayed on board. Whatever ENGLISH I heard today was the Queen's English.

 

Something screwy is going on with my netbook, so please keep your fingers crossed. Meanwhile, nothing else to report for today.

 

Hi Pia,

 

Sorry to hear about the netbook, I know its a bummer to be on a cruise and having computer issues! Glad to see you well on your way on this cruise and I am counting down the days until we see each other in Rome 11/27!

 

Have you downloaded all the updates on the computer? I sure hope you get it fixed fast!

 

Love your "live" posting,

Amelia

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Kiwi Kruzer

Kiwi Kruzer

Posted
Posted

Now on to Dubai...

 

25oceanmap.jpg

 

 

Mon 24/10/11 Safaga / Egypt 07:00 23:00

Tue 25/10/11 At Sea

Wed 26/10/11 At Sea

Thu 27/10/11 At Sea

Fri 28/10/11 At Sea

Sat 29/10/11 At Sea

Sun 30/10/11 At Sea

Mon 31/10/11 Dubai / United Arab Emirates 07:00 17:00

Link to comment
Share on other sites
caribill

caribill

Posted
Posted

Pia

 

Toto posted the following from the Sapphire:

 

Another change is the casino. We always send ourselves casino credits which made it easy to cash in the vouchers at the casino cage. No more! Now the casino credits are just credited to your shipboard account and you download what you wish, as you need it. This will make getting cash for those credits a little more complicated then it has been in the past.

 

Has it changed to that on the Ocean Princess also?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Pia1913

Pia1913

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Good morning from the first of many of our beautiful days at sea. Our next port is not until next Monday; the 31st. There was very little internet service yesterday and I don't know yet whether this will even post. It's being done live because something is wrong with my netbook and it won't let me do anything in the word processing documents area.

　

Lots of lectures today, starting with "Islam and it's Reflection on the cultural norms of Egypt, Oman, Jordan and the UAE". The next one is "Ancient Egypt: Was Tutankhamen Murdered," followed by "The Seven Wonders of the World" - learn about the ancient world and see which sites have been selected as the new wonders.

　

There's another pub lunch today and also wine tasting this afternoon. I'm going to cut this short, because I'm not sure how consistent the internet is going to be.

 

 

 

Ed: We are the Phantoms. And winning a lot.

 

Bill: Voucher amounts show up on account, but cash still gotten at cage. Then amount is deducted. Stupid, but their accounting method

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Waynetor "Live from...." Rare

Waynetor

Posted
Posted

Someone asked about lunch in the dining room on sea days - not sure as we tend to settle in either on deck 9 or go up to the Tahitain Lounge on deck 10 using the buffet or burger grill. The Burger Grill does not promote Onion rings (in fryer) but have seen them prepared on request. They have a repeat of game 5 of the world series on now in the in room TV. We will be resting this morning and doing the Pub lunch and then a lecture and the wine tasting.

I did a CC group tour to Petra. Pre cruise we had a group of about 15 put word got around the ship and we eneded up with 23. Great trip except for a bit of an incident at lunch. The place we went had 4 buses show up at the same time. Our group had two large tables. A waiter asked the first table if they wanted pop of fresh lemonade and most people took the lemonade. He then went to the 2nd table and just started pouring the lemonade. Later they came around asking for $5 per glass which did not go over well with those at the 2nd table that had not requested it. Petra was wonderful. Depending on how far you go it can be up to 8 km round trip with about a 150 metre change in elevation over mixed pathway types. My wife almost had the ship to herself.

We both did a CC group tour with Ramses tours to Luxor that included a couple extra stop over Princess tour including a short boat ride over the Nile River. With a group for 26 it was only $105, over a 50% discount from Princess tour. But I did notice Princess sent a spare bus just in case there was a isssue with one of their buses. Our bus included an armed security guard and I assume the Princess buses had one also. They take tourist security seriously after a serious incident back in 1998.

Wayne

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Pia1913

Pia1913

Posted
  • Author
Posted

It's mid afternoon, just 30 minutes before the wine tasting. The internet has been in and out all day, but at least I was able to post early this morning. I did experience the new casino cash routine after I told you it didn't exist here. It does now. I got my cash at the casino cage on the first sea day, but today when I went to get the balance of it was told it was on my account as a credit balance. Uh uh, said I. This is my money, not OBC. I was sent to the purser's desk, where the chief purser said it was something new and she couldn't understand why they are doing it. They gave me the cash at the purser's desk and evidentally until they find out how stupid it is, will continue it this way. Actually much easier, because you don't have to sign each individual voucher.

　

On the agenda tonight is the production show "Cinematastic". It is also formal night #2 and lobster tail on the menu. Two nights ago was my favorite meal; escargot and french onion soup. That was it for me; very filling and very satisfying.

 

 

I forgot to mention that the included lunch in Petra had beverages included; water. EAch person got one bottle. A couple at our table order Coke and the charge for that was $7.00. Just remembered this when I read Wayne's post about the lemonade. Always ask in advance what's included.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
chamima

chamima

Posted
Posted
It's mid afternoon, just 30 minutes before the wine tasting. The internet has been in and out all day, but at least I was able to post early this morning. I did experience the new casino cash routine after I told you it didn't exist here. It does now. I got my cash at the casino cage on the first sea day, but today when I went to get the balance of it was told it was on my account as a credit balance. Uh uh, said I. This is my money, not OBC. I was sent to the purser's desk, where the chief purser said it was something new and she couldn't understand why they are doing it. They gave me the cash at the purser's desk and evidentally until they find out how stupid it is, will continue it this way. Actually much easier, because you don't have to sign each individual voucher.

　

.

 

So now we go to the Purser's desk to get our cash? Will this be on all ships? (Don't know why I would think that since NOTHING seems to ever be on all ships! ;) :confused: :rolleyes: )

Link to comment
Share on other sites
coo359a2

coo359a2

Posted
Posted
Pia

 

Toto posted the following from the Sapphire:

 

Another change is the casino. We always send ourselves casino credits which made it easy to cash in the vouchers at the casino cage. No more! Now the casino credits are just credited to your shipboard account and you download what you wish, as you need it. This will make getting cash for those credits a little more complicated then it has been in the past.

 

Has it changed to that on the Ocean Princess also?

 

Pia and Bill

 

We are on the Ruby and I received the vouchers for our casino credits. Nothing has been said about doing it the way the Sapphire does.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
coo359a2

coo359a2

Posted
Posted

Pia and Donna

 

Enjoying following you along. On our way to Barcelona where we hope for sun. Cannes was a crappy day with wind and rain.

 

No top 40 lunch for us this time. We are 51 - our 352 days don't count here. Harry (trivia player with us Donna) is #1 one with over 1500 and John and Dee are 2nd with over 1100. Over 450 to 480 Elites on board. IC is very busy for coffee and food since so many repeat Ruby cruisers. Ken has had to pass up coffee several times due to long lines.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Pia1913

Pia1913

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Pia and Bill

 

We are on the Ruby and I received the vouchers for our casino credits. Nothing has been said about doing it the way the Sapphire does.

 

I got vouchers too, but second set couldn't get done at cage. Cash in at the cage now; all of it. See what happens.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...