LIVE from the CORAL PRINCESS - March 26th to April 6th

[Colo Cruiser]

Have a great day!!

 

Not a Scott Wyler fan. :(

Edited March 27, 2014 by Colo Cruiser

[Colo Cruiser]

[DonahCBrown]

May the Duck continue to be with you! ;)

[5326jan]

I'm a day late, but looking forward to your cruise! The Island and Coral are such great ships. How do you like the newly configured set up on CP?

 

Congratulations on your 75th cruise! You'll be at a hundred before you know it! :) We'll be getting on the Ocean when you get off in Dover on June 6. Too bad you're not continuing, but I think I saw you're heading out from Southampton shortly afterward. Do you know who the Ocean Princess CD will be?

 

Thanks for taking us along!

[DonahCBrown]

Pia - I updated the cruise director thread for you. Save your minutes;)

[RetiredNTraveling]

Pia, congratulations on your 75 and for being #1! Thanks for letting us cruise along. My DW says good luck at Bingo and have a Bloody Mary while you are playing for her!

[Pia1913]

And the day passes; and quickly. I just don’t know where all these hours go. We spent the entire morning talking. Had a wonderful turnout at the impromptu roll call. 28 people showed up. Pretty impressive for something not official. And some of us remained there chatting for almost two hours.

Nothing to report otherwise. Getting ready now to have formal photo taken. They said we had to do it and we will comply. Then we intend to spend some time snacking in the Elite lounge prior to dinner. Afterwards…………… D

Donna: thank you.

Jan: don't know what you mean by reconfigured. We were on in 2013 and nothing is new since then.

Retired: I don't do Bingo or bloody Mary's, but I will take an extra sip of wine for her.:p

See you all in the morning.

[bronxgirl25]

Pia, just found this. So happy you decided to do a live! :)

Ahhh, good ol' Diva Duck! May the quack stay with you :D

Congrats on 75 and #1 and Sabatini's! :)

Have a wonderful time. Tell Mike to behave himself! ;)

[Momma Mojito]

Pia,

As all the others have done I too would like to congratulate the two of you for having sailed 75 times with Princess Sorry to say we will only be doing our 8th on the 28th of April. With your terrific posts I already feel as if I'm there.

We were on the Coral two years ago before she was refurbished and am so looking forward to enjoying all that has been added.. I do have to say that the Coral is our favorite ship even as she was, so I'm sure the extras will just be a pleasant addition.

Thanks again!!!

[wineforhealth]

Pia

 

Thanks again for your live, I almost forgot until I noticed your thread. WoW what a treat Sabatini's for breakfast and # 75 on the cruise counter fantastic. You and Mike will be at 100 soon if you stop with the long and world cruises.

 

Have a sip of wine for me, I just got off the CB and had to leave a few bottles onboard as we disembarked early. Gave them to our room steward, he declined as he doesn't drink next time cruise next to us

 

CHEERS and enjoy the cruise

 

Jim

[cr8tiv1]

I am one of your followers. I always enjoy your perspective. Congratulations on reaching this threshold. Princess seems to be very good to their loyal Captain Circle members. Onward and forward to 100!

 

I will be checking in from time to time. I will be on the Coral as she moves to Alaska. Please let Joey (Phoenix Rising), that I need a dance partner and he has less than 2 months to locate one for me. He won't remember me until he sees me...I was on his last Hawaii run.

 

Thanks

[#1winelover]

And the day passes; and quickly. I just don’t know where all these hours go. We spent the entire morning talking. Had a wonderful turnout at the impromptu roll call. 28 people showed up. Pretty impressive for something not official. And some of us remained there chatting for almost two hours.

Nothing to report otherwise. Getting ready now to have formal photo taken. They said we had to do it and we will comply. Then we intend to spend some time snacking in the Elite lounge prior to dinner. Afterwards…………… D

Donna: thank you.

Jan: don't know what you mean by reconfigured. We were on in 2013 and nothing is new since then.

Retired: I don't do Bingo or bloody Mary's, but I will take an extra sip of wine for her.:p

See you all in the morning.

 

Pia! Just a thought! I see you are on the Emerald on 10-14-14. I'm on the new Regal on 11-6-14 (and 11-9-14). I would love so much to meet such an icon as yourself in person, and maybe, just maybe, IF you decided to do the Regal Maiden Caribbean Sampler, we could do that this year! :D Both of those cruises have Roll Calls under the Regal Princess and we even have some folks scheduled for Sail Away and M&G! Give it a thought!

[wineforhealth]

Pia! Just a thought! I see you are on the Emerald on 10-14-14. I'm on the new Regal on 11-6-14 (and 11-9-14). I would love so much to meet such an icon as yourself in person, and maybe, just maybe, IF you decided to do the Regal Maiden Caribbean Sampler, we could do that this year! :D Both of those cruises have Roll Calls under the Regal Princess and we even have some folks scheduled for Sail Away and M&G! Give it a thought!

 

Back off Buckaroo I saw her first, LOL

 

I dont believe Pia can make that date in November as she is a 25 day cruise during that time. The only way you can meet up with her is one of her current sail dates. Unless the 11/9 works

 

Quick question what are some of you favorite wines, I love Caymus and lots of Sonoma County wines

 

Have a great cruise on the Regal

Edited March 28, 2014 by wineforhealth

[#1winelover]

Back off Buckaroo I saw her first, LOL

 

I dont believe Pia can make that date in November as she is a 25 day cruise during that time. The only way you can meet up with her is one of her current sail dates. Unless the 11/9 works

 

Quick question what are some of you favorite wines, I love Caymus and lots of Sonoma County wines

 

Have a great cruise on the Regal

 

 

ROFL! Perhaps! I've been following Pia since the very early days of the Royal. But that's not really that long ago, so you may have dibs! :) But nonetheless, I'd love to meet this cruising legend face to face!

 

Favorite wines is always a tough question, as I do love my wines from around the world. Some of my fav whites are Sauv Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Aveleda Vinho Verde, and a beautiful viogner/chard blend from a small vineyard in Sonoma - Spann Vineyard. Reds...top is Gravity from S. Africa (Stellenbosch) by Radford/Dale. Next would be Famous Gate Pinot Noir from the Carneros Region in CA (S. of Napa/Sonoma running E-W). They also produce a great series of bubbly goodies (they belong to the Tattinger family) and a mind-blowing Pinot Blanc that is to die for. And yes, I also like your Caymus! They make some wonderful stuff. But I also like to experiment with some of the "bargain brands" that you can find for $12-20 in a variety of locations. The Aveleda Vinho Verde is one of them, and the Barefoot selections are typically very good for the price. As you can see, I cannot be called a racist as I prefer reds AND whites equally! :eek:

 

Sounds like a meet up at Vines would be in order! :rolleyes:

[SOLIVITA LADY]

Congratulations on hitting the 75 cruise mark. Doubt we will ever get their but we enjoy Princess even with our measly 17 cruises. Hope to meet some day in our travels.

 

Jackie

 

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[newbie53]

Congratulations on #75! I'm in awe. With my 1 Princess cruise under my belt, and the 2nd one coming up this summer, I think it will be a long, long time before I get anywhere near that number :rolleyes:

 

Enjoy the cruise, and Sabatinis

 

Sue

[Greyt Dog.]

Welcome aboard the Coral Princess as we begin our 11 day short adventure through part of the Panama Canal. We know this ship well, so it’s like coming home. Boarding was a snap; being a Wednesday the port entrance was totally empty. There was no line, we went right to the Elite area and were in our cabin at 11:45.

For those who are interested in the wine situation, I carried on 1 bottle in my wheelie and one more in my big purse. They asked after xray screening how many bottles I had in my wheelie and I told them one. They didn’t ask about my purse and I didn’t offer info. Then they told me to go over to the table to officially tell about my wine. This time I complied. They had a list and wrote the number one next to my room number. I could have given them a false room number, since they never checked.

　

Ship’s Officers

Captain: Fabio Amitrano

Staff Capt.: Kevin Grant

Hotel Mgr: Martin May

CD: Daniel Falconer

Maitre D’: Silvio Zampieri

Customer Services : Marianna Del Core

　

Other than the usual Welcome Aboard Show, tonight’s entertainment is Now you See Me on MUTS. In the Universe Lounge will be two showings of the movie; Philomena. This is what we may do tonight. Daniel Oliver is in Crooners, party band Epithani is in Explorers and Phoenix Rising in Wheelhouse.

Now on a personal note. Most of you know that I’ve never told how many cruises we’ve done with Princess. But now I’m telling. This one is number 75. When we arrived to our cabin there was a beautiful floral arrangement and shortly thereafter arrived a bottle of French champagne and a tray of 8 chocolate covered strawberries. Everything had appropriate greetings, but the best gift is the welcome invitation for breakfast in Sabatini’s; every day for the entire cruise. Mike is loving this a lot, since right now his mobility is not too good and he loved this service when we were on the Ruby in January.

　

I’m going to end this now and start putting away our stuff. The big suitcase has just arrived. Hope internet works well and will try to post this now. It did log on immediately.

Later.

Any chance you could tell me who is the activities director? I am surprised the CD is not Bret. Thanks.

[golfb4cruzing]

Congrats on the 75th. To say I'm jealous would be an understatement. We wanted to do this cruise in October but couldn't get the necessary time. I will enjoy thru your eyes. I enjoy your whimsical and slightly snarky prose. Have a great trip.

[CruisingCoral]

Congrats Pia on #75! I love reading this blog as I will be on the Coral Princess this summer to Alaska! You make it seem as if I'm on board with you! Thank you for sharing your voyage with us!

 

 

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[wineforhealth]

ROFL! Perhaps! I've been following Pia since the very early days of the Royal. But that's not really that long ago, so you may have dibs! :) But nonetheless, I'd love to meet this cruising legend face to face!

 

She is one of many legends here on CC but she does a great (best)Live

 

Sounds like a meet up at Vines would be in order! :rolleyes:

 

#1 can't argue with all your wine choices and reasoning. Be aware Mike and Pia love the white wine also and not into any of the pricey stuff just needs to taste good.

 

Yes a vines meet would be in order or a suite balconey

 

Thanks again for understanding the humor

 

Sorry Pia you can have your Live Back

 

Jim

Edited March 28, 2014 by wineforhealth

[greenie082756]

Pia congratulations on your 75th cruise. I too am new to Princess (1 cruise down and one in Nov. coming up) and its good people like you that keeps us interested and informed here on CC. Thanks for doing the live thread! :)

 

Husband retiring in about 4 years and we were thinking of doing a B2B Panama canal to celebrate the new life adventure of retirement. I also will be reading what you have to tell...:eek:

[CruisingCoral]

Pia, if you don't mind, can you write about your cruise director? I'm going on the Coral in the beginning of July to Alaska and I'm so curious as to who the cruise director will be. I've never heard of the current one that's onboard. I hope he's good! Enjoy your cruise!

 

 

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[Pia1913]

Good Morning, as we begin another day at sea with lovely weather again anticipated in the 80 degree vicinity. And, we also begin a very boring day with little to do. Unless of course you want to indulge in all the spa “classes.” More later.

　

You know about the “best laid plans of mice and men?” Didn’t I tell you there was no way we would go to Motor

City? I lied. I was mistaken. We went. Why, you ask? Because we had lots of time to kill before the 9:00 PM comedy show. Motor City has changed. In the wrong direction. There is no direction. There is zero substance. Never was much; now less. Yeh, I know, my opinion. And then, decided not to shlep all the way back to Universe to see the other show. People were running in the hallways as if their lives depended on it, and we didn’t and couldn’t comfortably get thru the masses. Not with the wheelie walker that Mike is now temporarily using.

Now I’ll tell you about todays offerings. As mentioned, lots of spa stuff. Yep, they have to make a living. Here are some of the “seminars” you can attend.

1. Go Home Looking 10 years Younger

2. How to increase your Metabolism

3. Relieving Back Pain & Walking in Comfort

4. Reverse signs of Aging

5. Whiter, brighter smile in 30 minutes

6. Introduction to Acupuncture

Other events are the $10 3 hour only sale, a martini demo, a photography presentation on lighting techniques, a tanzanite event, several casino tournys and of course the art auction.

Of interest perhaps will be a port talk on the Panama Canal and a lecture; “Life of a Seaman Under Sail.”

I forgot to mention the the Crab Shack is being held on this cruise; I believe they intend to do it twice. It’s $20, but it’s a lunch, not a dinner. Several of our roll call people were interested, but then they decided they didn’t want all this food in the middle of the day. There’s really no reason they can’t do it in the closed side of HC as an evening alternative. Then again, perhaps they do have enough daytime interest to warrant this.

I also didn’t mention the Wake Show. Very, very boring. So far this new CD isn’t showing much personality. I did catch a question of the day a few minutes ago, but no clue as to the prize, Will find out tomorrow. Maybe. ;)

It’s going to be a yucky night entertainment wise as far as we’re concerned, since the main show is a female vocalist and trumpeter and MUTS has The Hobbit. Nothing in Universe, other than dancing as it also is in Wheelhouse and Explorer’s. But this doesn’t mean we’re not having a good time. We entertain ourselves and we have no problem chatting with other passengers.

Responses:

1. Jim and Larry: Keep fighting over me. I love it! :D As Jim mentioned, impossible timing for the Regal.

2. Jackie: we almost did meet. Remember the Florida M & G which you couldn’t attend in August of 2012?

3. Greyt Dog: What do you mean by activities director? Are you talking about the ACD? If so, his name is Chris Hycz.

4. Golf: Me, snarky? LOL. Don't mean to be. If you knew me you'd know it's meant as laughter not insults.

OK. Gym done; time to get the day moving. See ya.

[5326jan]

Jan: don't know what you mean by reconfigured. We were on in 2013 and nothing is new since then.

 

Oops! :o I was referring to the addition of the International Cafe and extra cabins, but I should have realized that you'd have been on since then and covered it at that time. :) Sometimes my old brain can't keep track! ;)

[regnig]

Maitre D’: Silvio Zampieri

 

Pia, is he a bit on the short side with reddish colored hair that probably now has some gray in it? If so (we never knew his last name) he was our 1st table waiter way back in '93 aboard the old Crown. We knew he had made Maitre D' but thought he had left Princess to work on "terra firma". In fact he was the subject of conversation just last week as we were reliving the dining experience while sailing with another couple who were with us then. Still remember him serving the "Pasta Course" (yep they used to do that) on top of a turned over plate while giving direction "you will eat the pasta". :D

 

Congratulations on your 75th! You and Mike deserve all the extras Princess sees fit to throw your direction.

 

Barb