Live: Geoherb's Solo Cruise on the Caribbean Princess, Dec. 10-20, 2019 (Partial Panama Canal)

[geoherb]

7 hours ago, tothemall&beyond said:

Hi there, dear friend Geoherb! When I sent you birthday wishes on FB the other day, I had no idea you were sailing (much less solo). Your FB posts gave no indication. I haven't been on CC much of late, so logging on today to find your cruise blog was a pleasant surprise. But please know that whenever your DH can't go with you, I'm always willing to sail along as your roomie. I'm serious. Easy for me living down here. And I think each of our DH's would be fine with the arrangement. LOL. 

PS If you should ever find yourself stuck down here with flight issues, you're welcome to stay with us. We're only 35-40 minutes from the port/airport. Happy Holidays!

 

 

Thanks. I'm hoping my flight goes as planned on Friday. It's time to get home. I've missed DH more on this cruise than my 14-day Alaskan cruises. 

 

I enjoyed the afternoon wine tasting with two of the women from the gathering for solos. Here's the list of wines we tasted.
 

 

[geoherb]

Here are photos of tonight's menu and of the chocolate journey dessert. I had the escargot, an appetizer portion of ravioli, and the lobster tail. I went to comedian Scott Wyler's show in Club Fusion after dinner. He was not that funny to me. Perhaps it's because I've seen his act several times before. I'm planning on going to the production show at 9:30. Meanwhile, I'm watching hockey on my computer. The game started at 8, so I'll miss a bit of it.

 

 

Edited December 18, 2019 by geoherb

[geoherb]

Broadway Ballroom ended up being my second favorite of the production shows. The singers were back in better form with songs that fit their voices better than Fantastic Voyage. There's still too much reliance on having the dancers lip sync to a few of the numbers without any of the lead vocalists on stage. One of the assistant cruise directors keeps saying this show is only on the CB. We must have seen it two years ago on our British Isles cruise because I remember the sets and many of the songs.

[geoherb]

We're in Montego Bay, Jamaica, a beautiful day at sea for me. I'll be staying on the ship. Here are the activity pages from today's Patter. I've never seen a morning devoid of activities like today with only one scheduled hosted activity all morning--and that's not until 11:30. I guess the cruise director's staff is either taking part in the crew emergency services drill or else all off enjoying the island.

 

Tonight is the Captain's Circle party. I have not see the Captain's Circle hostess since the beginning of the cruise. I hope she provides the breakdown of passengers. I did hear from one of the youth activities staff that there are just 25 children on board and that next week's cruise will have just 180. We've taken several Christmas cruises where the number was over 400.

 

 

[PAKathy]

Thanks for your postings.  We'll be sailing on January 3rd, I'm looking forward to a relaxing voyage.  A question for you if you have the classic soda package.   Did you get a tumbler?  We have the package and have received tumblers or different mugs on previous voyages.  Or, no tumbler because none were available.  Just want to know what to bring for our beverages.  Thanks.

[geoherb]

1 hour ago, PAKathy said:

Thanks for your postings.  We'll be sailing on January 3rd, I'm looking forward to a relaxing voyage.  A question for you if you have the classic soda package.   Did you get a tumbler?  We have the package and have received tumblers or different mugs on previous voyages.  Or, no tumbler because none were available.  Just want to know what to bring for our beverages.  Thanks.

 

I don't have the package, but I've seen some people carrying around the tumblers. 

[geoherb]

A couple of nights ago, a senior housekeeping staff member knocked on my door to point out a flaw in the shower. He asked if today would be a convenient time for them to fix it. I said OK. Here's a photo of the damage, a photo during the repair, and a photo after it. We settled on a time of 10 this morning for the fix, but it was sometime after 11:15, when I went down to trivia, that they came by. They may have been held up by the crew emergency drill. 

 

I paired up with the widower at morning trivia at 11:30. We tied, with 19 out of 21 points. We were closer in the tie-breaker question--the length of a Slinky if stretched out totally straight. The prize was the drawstring backpack/bag. 

 

 

[geoherb]

After trivia, I walked up to the buffet with the North Carolina with whom I ate breakfast a few days ago. I decided I did not want what they were serving and came back to my cabin and ordered room service. At the same time, I requested switching out my cans of soda for Perrier in my minibar. The switch was delivered first, about 10 minutes after I called. My meal came 5 minutes later. I had the caprese sandwich, three-bean chili, Caesar salad, and key lime pie in a jar. 

 

We had an all-aboard time of 1:30, but that was extended around 45 minutes waiting for late arriving excursions. The strange thing to me was that the last couple of buses had two and three passengers on them. I wonder why.

 

 

[geoherb]

My team came in second at trivia this afternoon. All six of us made it. We missed a broad range of answers, from Pele's number to an obscure quote by Oscar Wilde.

 

I went to the first Captain's Circle party. Here are the numbers: 307 Ruby passengers, 409 Platinum passengers, 207 Elite passengers; 3rd most traveled, 712 days; 2nd most traveled, 1,545 days; 1st most traveled, 1,552 days; and 276 days to make the Top 40 event.

[PAKathy]

1 hour ago, geoherb said:

My team came in second at trivia this afternoon. All six of us made it. We missed a broad range of answers, from Pele's number to an obscure quote by Oscar Wilde.

 

I went to the first Captain's Circle party. Here are the numbers: 307 Ruby passengers, 409 Platinum passengers, 207 Elite passengers; 3rd most traveled, 712 days; 2nd most traveled, 1,545 days; 1st most traveled, 1,552 days; and 276 days to make the Top 40 event.

 

That's only 923 passengers, there must be a lot of first timers.  Thanks for your reply about the soda package tumblers.  Hope they are still giving them out on January 3rd.

[geoherb]

2 hours ago, PAKathy said:

 

That's only 923 passengers, there must be a lot of first timers.  Thanks for your reply about the soda package tumblers.  Hope they are still giving them out on January 3rd.

 

I'm missing the numbers for blue cards and gold. I asked the Captain's Circle hostess, but she did not have them readily available. I'd guess there are more gold than blue on board from the people I've met.

[geoherb]

Last night's menu had some of my favorites but they weren't as good as I remembered them being. I had the twice-baked goat cheese soufflé and the diver scallops. The soufflé was a little bit dry. It still had good flavor. The scallops were small but still tasty.

 

 

[geoherb]

Here are the activity pages from today's Patter along with a handout from the galley tour that will take place this morning. I always enjoy seeing the numbers.

 

 

[geoherb]

Last night of the cruise. I played afternoon trivia with my regular teammates. We lost by one point. The two couples invited me to join them for dinner right after. I felt like a renegade since I was still wearing shorts and a T-shirt. But there were plenty of others similarly dressed in the dining room that early. I had hoped we would make it out before the baked Alaska parade, but alas we didn't. Here are the menu pages. I had the seafood chowder, an appetizer portion of the clam pasta, and the snapper. The latter two were very good. 

 

I went to hear the singer in the theater--Claude-Eric. He performed with the band and did 10 numbers ranging from Beyond the Sea and Night Moves to You've Lost that Loving Feeling and Man of la Mancha. His show was enjoyable.

 

My bag is packed and ready to be picked up. I managed with far fewer clothes than I ever have before. Next time, though, I'll make sure to pack more underwear. I'm glad my cabin steward found my wayward laundry when he did.

 

Overall, it's been an enjoyable cruise. It wasn't fun being quarantined, but the people in the medical center and the special cleaning team and room service took good care of me. I ended up with my smallest bar tab ever--zero. I'm finishing off my second bottle of wine right now. I drank my two beers and a couple of the mini bottles. 

 

 

Edited December 20, 2019 by geoherb

[geoherb]

I'm off the ship and waiting for my afternoon flight at the airport. It's going to be a long day. Disembarkation went smoothly. I packed up the rest of my items in my backpack and left my cabin around 7:30. The Palm Dining Room was often for breakfast. I ate with four people from Florida.  It was strange that Princess had not asked our preferred departure time. Both of the Florida couples were wishing they were on the road already instead of stuck on the ship until after 9.

 

I was in the Red 3 group, with an 8:50 estimated time to get off the ship.  They were running a little but behind schedule with some of the early groups. They caught up and were ahead of schedule by the time they reached my group. 

 

I found my checked bag right away. The line for Customs and Immigration moved quickly. I was out the door in about 10 minutes. I repacked my bag to transfer my Dopp kit to my checked bag along with other items. I then checked for an Uber. With dynamic pricing, I decided to wait a few minutes. These price came down from $15.90 to $14.30 and I ordered it.

 

That driver was a ditz. I could see him driving in circles. The estimated arrival time went at one point from less than a minute back to 5 minutes.  He eventually came through but was in the wrong lane to stop. The deputy waved him around. The estimated arrival time went back took 5 minutes, then he canceled the pickup. 

 

I hailed another through the app. That one knew where to go and picked me up in 3 minutes. The good thing was that the price for that ride was cheaper by $1.34.

Edited December 20, 2019 by geoherb

[voljeep]

2 minutes ago, geoherb said:

It was strange that Princess had not asked our preferred departure time. Both of the Florida couples were wishing they were on the road already instead of stuck on the ship until after 9.

we've never had a problem exchanging our group color/time to either earlier or later … j/s

[geoherb]

Neither have we, but I don't think these couples knew they could do that. I didn't mind my 8:50 time this morning. It was late enough to give me plenty of time for breakfast in the dining room. 

 

I breezed through check-in at the airport. The Delta and Air Canada terminal (Terminal 2) is undergoing renovations, so there's not as much waiting area. It was crowded at times. I had a great pizza for lunch at a place beside Shake Shack. I don't see it on the list of restaurants on the airport's website.

 

My flight went fairly smoothly. DH had a CPA course near our airport, so the timing was perfect for him to pick me up.

 

Overall, I had a good time going solo for the second time. I met some very nice people including, unfortunately, the ones in the medical center. The food was not as good as on the Crown a few months ago. I found it too salty a lot of the time. Part of it may have been my being sick. I still found plenty to eat. I never made it in the pools or hot tubs. 

 

[geoherb]

I finished my survey this morning. I heard more pushes for tens from the crew the last night than I have recently. I tend to believe that an honest rating is better than an artificially given one. 

[WisCruiser2]

I always hate surveys with the answers keyed to "worse than expected" "as expected" "better than expected". I have high expectations and if they are met, I'm satisfied!

[geoherb]

51 minutes ago, WisCruiser2 said:

I always hate surveys with the answers keyed to "worse than expected" "as expected" "better than expected". I have high expectations and if they are met, I'm satisfied!

 

Exactly. Princess needs a good editor to make sure its surveys are gathering useful information. I typed in more comments than I usually bother with doing. I hope someone reads them, especially regarding my excursion in Costa Rica. I was satisfied enough with the excursion to not ask for a partial refund, but it would be helpful if the descriptions matched reality. 

[geoherb]

It turns out my Uber ride was more expensive than the quote due to traffic delays. It was still cheaper than taking a cab or purchasing the transfer through Princess. Uber also had the nerve to charge me a cancellation fee for the driver who got lost and was told by the deputy to circle back around. I'm disputing that.

[CPASam]

Enjoyed reading about the cruise!  Glad you're home! 

[ExploringTheGlobe]

Great write up!  The Caribbean Princess is my favorite ship!

 

I cruise solo most of the time.  How did you find out about the low single supplement?  I've never come across one. 

[zukecruiser]

"I found my checked bag right away. The line for Customs and Immigration moved quickly. I was out the door in about 10 minutes. I repacked my bag to transfer my Dopp kit to my checked bag along with other items. I then checked for an Uber. With dynamic pricing, I decided to wait a few minutes. These price came down from $15.90 to $14.30 and I ordered it."

 

Wondering here you find Uber or Lyft after disembarkation, thought it was by the taxi or hotel shuttle drop off area.

 

Enjoyed your comments, will be one the same itinerary in March 2020.

[Ombud]

On 12/18/2019 at 2:52 PM, geoherb said:

My team came in second at trivia this afternoon. All six of us made it. We missed a broad range of answers, from Pele's number to an obscure quote by Oscar Wilde.

 

I went to the first Captain's Circle party. Here are the numbers: 307 Ruby passengers, 409 Platinum passengers, 207 Elite passengers; 3rd most traveled, 712 days; 2nd most traveled, 1,545 days; 1st most traveled, 1,552 days; and 276 days to make the Top 40 event.

This is the 2nd time I'm hearing about Ruby in with PES for the Captain Circle party instead of with the Gold. IMHO that crowds the room and no one is able to spread out in either Captain Circle party 

 

But then it's been a decade since I've been in the Caribbean 

Edited December 21, 2019 by Ombud