Live From - The Caribbean Princess TransAtlantic

[lovevacadays]

Thank you for posting a live from thread. I'm really looking forward to reading it.

 

Have a fabulous cruise!

[homeinboca]

Bon Voyage, thanks for sharing and have a great trip, we look forward to hearing about your adventures.

[Working 2 Cruise]

Looking forward to another of your wonderful "live from." Have a wonderful cruise!

[ohhbother]

We'll join you on board May 12 -- can't wait! I'll be anxiously reading your posts between now and then.

[tequilasunrise]

Can't believe its been over a year since our last cruise. How time flies...but due to my last 35 days cruise we now have a new policy at work - I now am the proud prime cause of two new policies at work - everything over five consective days must be approved by your supervisor, in writing, and with HR and the Group President must be notified. So I had to cancel a couple of cruises in late 2012 and the around the horn cruise in January 2013. But I snuck this one in to my last supervisor prior to him leaving, so we are officially gone cruising, drinking, dancing and relaxitating for 32 days....We are booked on the following cruises as well for a 27 day B2B.

 

...

 

Such is life in America! My supervisor blamed my three week vacation last year on a back up that lasted for months. Really, she overestimates my value, but it's probably good that she thinks so ;)

 

Love your LIVE threads, thanks for doing this one!

[gaterbob]

Almost there bus just past Boca:

[capriccio]

We'll be watching (and feeling a wee bit jealous) as you pass Pompano Beach and the Hillsboro Lighthouse later this afternoon - just like we did for the Emerald Princess yesterday:D. We usually only see the ships in the distance as they head east for the Caribbean from Port Everglades but on a transatlantic they head north just off the Florida coast for a while.

 

Have a wonderful cruise - we'll be on the ship for the British Isles cruise in August.

[IECalCruiser]

Our friends left us a voice mail. They boarded with wine in their carry-on with no issue, had lunch in the DR, bought their 14 bottle Silver Wine Bottle package and are now relaxing in their WS. Wish we were their with them ;)

 

Have a great cruise Charles and Judy and hope there is some good dancing :) Alas, no Vian.

[A1A]

Watching you pull out of Pier 2 in Port Everglades on the web cam, brings back some memories. Pretty excited for all of you! Do you know if the ship is full, dosn't look to jammed pack up on the decks? Have a great cruise and look forward to hearing from you on your "live from"!

Cheers!

Ken

[Mom33]

Watching you go....Bon Voyage! Wish I was on it too :D

[jmkennett]

Why are you coming back?

[Perini3]

Shore looks like your coming back hope everything ok

[A1A]

Watching you return back to Port Everglades, hope everything is okay! Princess boards indicate there may be a medical emergency! Hope all is well with the ship and passengers, keeping an eye out! If it is a medical issue this was the a better situation than half way across the Atlantic Ocean, hoping and praying everyone is okay!

Ken

[goofy73]

A friend on board just called me. She says it was announced that someone had to get off. No reason was given. I also saw them leave port so was very surprised when she called.

[sbkathywithac]

They announced that we're returning due to a medical situation but that our arrival into the first port should not be affected. I hope it's not too serious.

[ccrain]

Our friends left us a voice mail. They boarded with wine in their carry-on with no issue, had lunch in the DR, bought their 14 bottle Silver Wine Bottle package and are now relaxing in their WS. Wish we were their with them ;)

 

Have a great cruise Charles and Judy and hope there is some good dancing :) Alas, no Vian.

 

Paul, Elizabeth and Mom made the cruise! We haven't cruised together since 2009 and haven't seen each other since Christmas in 2011!

[ccrain]

We all hope it all turned out well. It was a real fast transfer though. We had this happen on the Sun once before and they had to use a tender to get the person to shore faster.

[ccrain]

04-27-2013 - Embarkation

 

Well we made it. One of the smoothest embarkations we’ve ever done. Just for the heck of it, we walked out of the hotel at 10:30, got in a cab. $6 to the port, dropped off the luggage, walked up to the Preferred check in line, which had just started, checked in and was directed to the Elite and Suite Lounge. Sweet! (Black Card pays off again!) We sat around reading e-books until about noon, then walked up, on, past the photographers, and onto the ship!

 

No upgrades this time, even within grade, just a standard aft-wards Aloha deck cabin with a small balcony, coaster for a table and two semi-lounging chairs. But hey, never select a GTY cabin that you won’t be happy without any upgrades. Upgrades welcome, but not necessary.

 

So now for a preview of the cruise – 6 days of hour aheads, one day back. We definitely gotta get a ship going in the other direction for once. Hour ahead days suck, especially after the 3rd or 4th day. So, we have 6 full days at sea, then Punta Delgada in the Azores. Then three more days at sea, then Dublin, Cobh, Falmouth, Le Havre and Southampton. We are staying on for the following cruise, but more about that later.

 

Entertainment from the Patter – The preview for the cruise looks good. We have two of our favorite production shows – Do You Want To Dance and Caribbean Caliente, along with Born to be Wild, which we’ve never seen before. Piano Man we’ve probably seen a dozen times so we might or might not go.

 

The Welcome Aboard show was different with a techno opening number under blacklight rather than the scantily clad ‘we cruise’ number. The comedian we’ve never seen before, Dan West, who does standup and sings remade songs ‘blew by you’ (toupe that is) to the tune of “blue bayou” with a guitar. Very funny. Will definitely make his main show.

There are a lot of MUTS stuff going on. The Hobbit; Jack Reacher; Les Miserables; Life of Pi; a bunch of oldies. Looks like a lot of good movies.

 

So now to the important stuff. Dancing. There are two bands, CJS in the wheelhouse, quartet, and S-Sounds in Explorer (quintet). CJS has a wide range of music for dancing and are accommodating. S-Sounds is good, a little chatty with the audience, and too many Cha-Chas in a row, but good sound, good vocals. Both are good to dance to, our dancing fix will be met. They do have canned music in Club Fusion as well at various times. Did not give that a try as we prefer the live band and the interactions we have with them.

 

Food – We signed up for Chef’s table, but at $95 each, we might skip. At $75 it was a bargain, at $95 it’s questionable. We did the HC for lunch and dinner. Pretty tired of the food in the dining rooms. Head chefs get to do their own thing in the HC, but are stuck with the fixed menus in the dining rooms, so we are tending to gravitate to the HC more and more. We are definitely going to do Crown Grill and Sabbatini’s on this cruise – or at least that is the plan, subject to change – he we are on vacation!

 

For lunch we stuck with very simple fare – sandwich and cookies. For dinner they had a lot of seafood. Mussels, smoked salmon, shrimp, calamari steak. All really good.

 

04-28-2013 – AT SEA -

 

So this is our first TA, weather so far this morning is fine. Last night we implemented the Pam from CA/Toto From Kansas (not sure which one originated the idea by I’ll gladly give credit to both) sleeping plan – we bought a $40 foam mattress pad from Wal-Mart and brought it in our luggage to put on the bed. When we get done we just leave it. For a 27 day cruise having a nice bed to sleep in – priceless! (Also frees up a lot of space in our luggage for the return.)

 

The patter schedule today is rather disappointing. Zumba is in the afternoon – 1630. That’s a little late for us. We prefer to work out in the morning, dance in the evening, not work out then dance… However, it does allow for more posting time in the morning over coffee.

 

Hey Neil – If you are reading this. Move Zumba to the morning about 0930. That would be perfect.

 

The Caribbean Princess has had her full Gem class upgrade with the IC, Vines, Crown Grill, etc. She looks great. Can’t tell she was the first of the SuperGrands so many years ago.

 

Well, that’s the at Sea morning. E’ya all later…

[Love.II.Cruise]

Can't believe its been over a year since our last cruise. How time flies...but due to my last 35 days cruise we now have a new policy at work - I now am the proud prime cause of two new policies at work - everything over five consective days must be approved by your supervisor, in writing, and with HR and the Group President must be notified. So I had to cancel a couple of cruises in late 2012 and the around the horn cruise in January 2013. But I snuck this one in to my last supervisor prior to him leaving, so we are officially gone cruising, drinking, dancing and relaxitating for 32 days....We are booked on the following cruises as well for a 27 day B2B.

 

We're Charles and Judy from Colorado Springs, CO where it snowed on Tuesday, with hundreds of flights cancelled at COS and DEN. That's why we fly in a day or two early. Two days in this case, and just to make absolutely sure this time we flew through Houston instead of Denver or Chicago. Part of my OCPD (Obsessive Cruise Planning Disorder) affliction.

 

Oh you had me laughing at the new policies and the OCPD!!!! I had to read that to my DH. We are along for the ride and plan to read your review. Have a wonderful cruise.

 

Oh and you should do a reverse TA sometime, it's nice to add hours everyday instead of lose them! ;)

[Woobstr112G]

04-27-2013 - Embarkation

 

So now for a preview of the cruise – 6 days of hour aheads, one day back. We definitely gotta get a ship going in the other direction for once. Hour ahead days suck, especially after the 3rd or 4th day. So, we have 6 full days at sea, then Punta Delgada in the Azores. Then three more days at sea, then Dublin, Cobh, Falmouth, Le Havre and Southampton. We are staying on for the following cruise, but more about that later.

 

Sounds like a wonderful first day:) I'm a confirmed T/A addict. Best itinerary out there. Don't know if I could do the east bound ones for the exact reasons you mentioned. Of course you could always relax on the second cruise:D

Looking forward to your future reports.....:):):)

 

Bob

[Orangefan]

04-27-2013 - Embarkation

 

Well we made it. One of the smoothest embarkations we’ve ever done. Just for the heck of it, we walked out of the hotel at 10:30, got in a cab. $6 to the port, dropped off the luggage, walked up to the Preferred check in line, which had just started, checked in and was directed to the Elite and Suite Lounge. Sweet! (Black Card pays off again!) We sat around reading e-books until about noon, then walked up, on, past the photographers, and onto the ship!

 

No upgrades this time, even within grade, just a standard aft-wards Aloha deck cabin with a small balcony, coaster for a table and two semi-lounging chairs. But hey, never select a GTY cabin that you won’t be happy without any upgrades. Upgrades welcome, but not necessary.

 

So now for a preview of the cruise – 6 days of hour aheads, one day back. We definitely gotta get a ship going in the other direction for once. Hour ahead days suck, especially after the 3rd or 4th day. So, we have 6 full days at sea, then Punta Delgada in the Azores. Then three more days at sea, then Dublin, Cobh, Falmouth, Le Havre and Southampton. We are staying on for the following cruise, but more about that later.

 

Entertainment from the Patter – The preview for the cruise looks good. We have two of our favorite production shows – Do You Want To Dance and Caribbean Caliente, along with Born to be Wild, which we’ve never seen before. Piano Man we’ve probably seen a dozen times so we might or might not go.

 

The Welcome Aboard show was different with a techno opening number under blacklight rather than the scantily clad ‘we cruise’ number. The comedian we’ve never seen before, Dan West, who does standup and sings remade songs ‘blew by you’ (toupe that is) to the tune of “blue bayou” with a guitar. Very funny. Will definitely make his main show.

There are a lot of MUTS stuff going on. The Hobbit; Jack Reacher; Les Miserables; Life of Pi; a bunch of oldies. Looks like a lot of good movies.

 

So now to the important stuff. Dancing. There are two bands, CJS in the wheelhouse, quartet, and S-Sounds in Explorer (quintet). CJS has a wide range of music for dancing and are accommodating. S-Sounds is good, a little chatty with the audience, and too many Cha-Chas in a row, but good sound, good vocals. Both are good to dance to, our dancing fix will be met. They do have canned music in Club Fusion as well at various times. Did not give that a try as we prefer the live band and the interactions we have with them.

 

Food – We signed up for Chef’s table, but at $95 each, we might skip. At $75 it was a bargain, at $95 it’s questionable. We did the HC for lunch and dinner. Pretty tired of the food in the dining rooms. Head chefs get to do their own thing in the HC, but are stuck with the fixed menus in the dining rooms, so we are tending to gravitate to the HC more and more. We are definitely going to do Crown Grill and Sabbatini’s on this cruise – or at least that is the plan, subject to change – he we are on vacation!

 

For lunch we stuck with very simple fare – sandwich and cookies. For dinner they had a lot of seafood. Mussels, smoked salmon, shrimp, calamari steak. All really good.

 

04-28-2013 – AT SEA -

 

So this is our first TA, weather so far this morning is fine. Last night we implemented the Pam from CA/Toto From Kansas (not sure which one originated the idea by I’ll gladly give credit to both) sleeping plan – we bought a $40 foam mattress pad from Wal-Mart and brought it in our luggage to put on the bed. When we get done we just leave it. For a 27 day cruise having a nice bed to sleep in – priceless! (Also frees up a lot of space in our luggage for the return.)

 

The patter schedule today is rather disappointing. Zumba is in the afternoon – 1630. That’s a little late for us. We prefer to work out in the morning, dance in the evening, not work out then dance… However, it does allow for more posting time in the morning over coffee.

 

Hey Neil – If you are reading this. Move Zumba to the morning about 0930. That would be perfect.

 

The Caribbean Princess has had her full Gem class upgrade with the IC, Vines, Crown Grill, etc. She looks great. Can’t tell she was the first of the SuperGrands so many years ago.

 

Well, that’s the at Sea morning. E’ya all later…

 

 

 

Hi !

I just got off the Carib Princess April 27th. We had zumba 2x a day each sea day. I went to 9am at the Neptune pool deck( they removed all the deck chairs on the port side for the class). The I attended the 4:30 pm zumba class at Club Fusion. We actually had 2 very good instructors.Nat from Brazil and Armando from Mexico. Armando left with us and was going to LA for training with others who are going to be on staff on the Royal Princess.

Nat said he was going to do the 2 zumba classes for the 9 sea days for a total of 18 days. I would ask questions. Nat does a demanding zumba which I enjoyed. You can modify it to your abilities since you know your body.

You might want to try line dancing with Sila. Not hard at all but fun.

Have a wonderful cruise. I will check the "live " again so let me know about zumba.

Sali

[spyro1952]

Hello everyone following this thread as I am also aboard this cruise in a WS. Although I had a bit of a change in plans after I got to Ft. Lauderdale. My BFF was supposed to be joining me but her brother (54) had a massive stroke Thursday night and he is on a vent in NJ. Unfortunately we had to drop her off at the airport and then her husband took me on to the port.

 

I got to the port about 12:40 and was in my cabin by 12:55. I like the WS and being by myself I have some unbelievable closet space. My cabin steward is Pablo and we finally met up last evening. On arrival in the suite there was a small bottle of Brut, canapes, a beautiful floral arrangement, and a huge bowl of fruit.

 

I made a 6:30 reservation in Crown Grill and had a great rib eye steak, scallops wrapped in bacon, goat cheese salad, and the chocolate moulton dessert. It was very good and I think I'll go back there instead of going to the casino!!:)

 

I did go to the show last night as those who know me know that I work strictly on line so I had to get some work done and after that huge meal I was exhausted.

 

We already had to turn our clocks ahead an hour and this will be pretty much every other night throughout the cruise.

I was up @ 7:30, had coffee delivered to the room and took it up to deck 15.

 

I did not eat breakfast in Sabitini's this morning as I met a friend who sailed with me on the Grand TA in November so we went to the HC, but I don't think I'll do that again as I am certainly paying for the perk to eat in Sabitini's.

 

Just came back from our CC M&G. Thought I would have to cancel the private tour I signed up for in the Azores but actually found another single traveler who wants to take my friend's seat on the bus, so that worked out really well.

 

The movie this pm is Lincoln in the theater so I might go see it again since I just saw it last month on the Sapphire. I didn't think there was a whole lot going on but I am not really big into ship activities anymore.

 

As ccrain and others explained, we had to turn around yesterday after about 30 minutes out. It was a supposed medical emergency but the person taken off was a younger guy, walking and talking, met by Broward Sheriffs' officers so I am not really sure what was going on.

 

I'll post later on this afternoon, the activities and what's on for shows, etc. I am not doing the B2B so I get off in Southampton and fly right home. If you have any questions, please let me know. I am under the old suite perks so my internet is free and I'm certainly going to take advantage of that.

 

Marcia :)

PS: I am also from Colorado Springs - that is so weird and yes we had snow last Wed.

[jrzebird]

Spyro - perhaps someone onboard had a relative with a medical emergency at home and had to get home?

 

I'm enjoying both live-froms and am very glad they are on one thread. Each is a bit different so not boring! Wish it was October and I was on the CB. I have friends sailing with you, Kevin and Joanie, so I really want to be there now!

 

Maureen

[IECalCruiser]

Paul, Elizabeth and Mom made the cruise! We haven't cruised together since 2009 and haven't seen each other since Christmas in 2011!

Charles, You have me confused with someone else.

[Woobstr112G]

Hello everyone following this thread as I am also aboard this cruise in a WS. Although I had a bit of a change in plans after I got to Ft. Lauderdale. My BFF was supposed to be joining me but her brother (54) had a massive stroke Thursday night and he is on a vent in NJ. Unfortunately we had to drop her off at the airport and then her husband took me on to the port.

 

I got to the port about 12:40 and was in my cabin by 12:55. I like the WS and being by myself I have some unbelievable closet space. My cabin steward is Pablo and we finally met up last evening. On arrival in the suite there was a small bottle of Brut, canapes, a beautiful floral arrangement, and a huge bowl of fruit.

 

I made a 6:30 reservation in Crown Grill and had a great rib eye steak, scallops wrapped in bacon, goat cheese salad, and the chocolate moulton dessert. It was very good and I think I'll go back there instead of going to the casino!!:)

 

I did go to the show last night as those who know me know that I work strictly on line so I had to get some work done and after that huge meal I was exhausted.

 

We already had to turn our clocks ahead an hour and this will be pretty much every other night throughout the cruise.

I was up @ 7:30, had coffee delivered to the room and took it up to deck 15.

 

I did not eat breakfast in Sabitini's this morning as I met a friend who sailed with me on the Grand TA in November so we went to the HC, but I don't think I'll do that again as I am certainly paying for the perk to eat in Sabitini's.

 

Just came back from our CC M&G. Thought I would have to cancel the private tour I signed up for in the Azores but actually found another single traveler who wants to take my friend's seat on the bus, so that worked out really well.

 

The movie this pm is Lincoln in the theater so I might go see it again since I just saw it last month on the Sapphire. I didn't think there was a whole lot going on but I am not really big into ship activities anymore.

 

As ccrain and others explained, we had to turn around yesterday after about 30 minutes out. It was a supposed medical emergency but the person taken off was a younger guy, walking and talking, met by Broward Sheriffs' officers so I am not really sure what was going on.

 

I'll post later on this afternoon, the activities and what's on for shows, etc. I am not doing the B2B so I get off in Southampton and fly right home. If you have any questions, please let me know. I am under the old suite perks so my internet is free and I'm certainly going to take advantage of that.

 

Marcia :)

PS: I am also from Colorado Springs - that is so weird and yes we had snow last Wed.

 

Marcia;

 

Thanks for checking in. Hope you have a wonderful cruise.....:):):)

 

Bob