Another Lap Around the Pond- Live from the Caribbean Princess- May 28 to June 4, 2022

[TracieABD]

55 minutes ago, azbirdmom said:

Ha!  Well I’m happy to report that we have gone an entire day now with a fully functioning. The parts they replaced along with other plumbing wizardry performed at 3 yesterday AM did the trick. Our cabin steward showed me one of the parts. I had no clue what I was looking at but it appeared to be ancient. 

Yes!!! I am so happy, Julie, that all is moving seamlessly!!! Yay!!!

[azbirdmom]

Just now, TracieABD said:

Yes!!! I am so happy, Julie, that all is moving seamlessly!!! Yay!!!

Missed the word toilet so hopefully everyone knows what I meant. I know you did and thank you!  We are using OBC today to go to Mountaintop and Magens Bay. Hot and humid waiting for our transportation. Enjoy the Sanctuary or whatever you decide to do today. 

[Jadn13]

Sharing for those who may have impacted flights and we may experience some bumps…worth keeping an eye on

https://youtu.be/Ne9JYZtQTUM

 

***tropical update of a storm off of Mexico headed towards FL this weekend

Edited May 31, 2022 by Jadn13

[TracieABD]

27 minutes ago, azbirdmom said:

Missed the word toilet so hopefully everyone knows what I meant. I know you did and thank you!  We are using OBC today to go to Mountaintop and Magens Bay. Hot and humid waiting for our transportation. Enjoy the Sanctuary or whatever you decide to do today. 

Enjoy your fun day on land! You are absolutely correct,,, we are gutting it out in the Sanctuary. Tanning, swimming, eating… Wash, rinse, repeat!

[TracieABD]

19 minutes ago, Jadn13 said:

Sharing for those who may have impacted flights and we may experience some bumps…worth keeping an eye on

https://youtu.be/Ne9JYZtQTUM

 

***tropical update of a storm off of Mexico headed towards FL this weekend

Thank you for this! It is very helpful!!!

[TracieABD]

Day 4

May 31, 2022

St Thomas

 

Hi friends-

 

We docked mid-morning in St Thomas. It is a lovely port- and actually one of my favorites, but we have decided to just enjoy the ship today. If you are looking for something to do, here is my big suggestion… Take the ferry from Red Hook to St. John. Once you get off of the ferry in St. John, find the little playground, there are a set of steps right behind the playground- take those to a trail and you can hike all the way to Caneel Bay. There are so many little offshoots on the trail, if you want to have a swim on your own private beach. It is a really fun way to spend a few hours.

 

Jon grabbed coffees for us. The process went much smoother this morning. He has taken to ordering the component separately and then mixing them in the room. It seems to work well. Anything to keep the day running smoothly.

 

He headed up to the Sanctuary, and I began the competitive sport known as Cruise Ship Laundry (CSL). Even though we have the elite laundry benefit, some things I just like to wash myself.

I found a washer, but had to go to another floor for tokens. I typically set the alarm on my phone and hover near-by during laundry. Today was no exception. When I went to stand by my washer in the spin cycle, someone was bringing their laundry from a different floor to dry. Now here is the dilemma… Do a washer and dryer come together as a contiguous set or is it first come/ first served? She saw that my laundry was finished and conceded the dryer… However, these are the social issues stemming from CSL… So I am opening this up to an informal poll- Think of that show “What Would You Do?” Please, feel free to weigh in to this deeply philosophical question- And GO!

 

We are back in the Sanctuary. And here we will stay. I am not sure if I will eat until dinner. I am still full from last night’s snack!

 

Anyone have an extra laundry token?

 

Thank you for following along-

More later-

Tracie-Lynn

[arizonaperson]

TracieABD- Love it,laundry as a sport! Well I’m glad that the person that came from another floor gave you the dryer. No I don’t believe they come as a set. On a Princess ship I only wash things in the machine and rarely dry them ,I take almost everything back to the cabin and hanging it up to dry. With the exception of underwear,that usually gets sent out with the elite laundry or I dry It myself in the machine.

Edited May 31, 2022 by arizonaperson

[KLM3164]

@TracieABDFor me if I do laundry on the ship I stay on the same floor for both washer and dryer. I don’t do laundry on one floor and then take stuff to another floor to dry. If no dryers available after I’ve finished with the wash I wait patiently in the laundry room (with my iPad) until a dryer is available. So I guess for me the washing machine and dryer go together.

[SASSYnLV]

On 5/29/2022 at 11:03 AM, TracieABD said:

Day 2

May 29, 2022

Princess Cays

 

It’s Back! The Smelly Smell from H3LL!

 

Hi friends-

 

When we returned to our room last night, at least 50 nautical miles behind us, the smell was there. And it was worse than ever. We are not sure what it is (any guesses????), but this was my solution… I dug around my med bag and found a small tub of Vick’s! I rubbed a little under my nose- and voila!!! The icky smell was lessened (there is not enough Vick’s to make that smelly smell go away)! Problem solved!

 

I slept well and I think Jon did too. The gift of an interior cabin is for the most part, they are very dark and quiet. I love that!

 

We negotiated the International Cafe this morning for our coffee. We traded our mini bar for two coffee cards. They have charged our account for the cards- and will remove the charges soon. This is a new procedure to us. And we are trusting the process. 

 

There has been a little confusion (and I use that term liberally) at the Passenger Services Desk. There is a sign for Suite and Elite, but there are no stantions to  divide the two lines. We just stood in the one line. We were actually working with the PS rep, when a man created a new line for Suite and Elite. Then a guy in the reg line said that he was also Suite/ Elite. There were words and tempers. Nothing came of it, but we have noticed that people seem to be a wound a little tighter on this cruise. I chalk it up to the long periods of isolation throughout the pandemic. Many of us are learning to negotiate the world again. It has been hard on many. I am holding a great deal of space for those who are re-entering the world.

 

We are currently in the Sanctuary, with absolutely no plans to tender ashore. (Still listening to the Serenity Stewards turn people away). It is pretty gray and a little rainy, but it is quiet and peaceful and just what the doctor ordered!

 

Would you like cucumber water or citrus water?

 

Thank you for following along! 

 

More later-

Tracie-Lynn

I was on Caribbean princess,  may 21 to 28.

On aloha, 243. I too had that horrendous stench numerous times in my cabin.  There was also an odor at the entry to the theater.  It's been that way for at least 3 weeks.

I'm supposed to go with a group to the Panama Canal in January on Caribbean princess.  I don't want to go.

I notified the CEO of a major travel agency and he told me he would be contacting upper Princess management 

[TracieABD]

 

Day 4

May 31, 2022

St. Thomas

 

Judy, Julie, and Meh!

 

Hi friends-

 

I keep getting more and more behind on the blog. I always say… the hardest part of blogging is blogging. But I keep trying. And managing my expectations.

 

We ate lunch in the Sanctuary. I had delicious gazpacho, pineapple/ cottage cheese, and the chicken Fattoush salad. Jon had the shrimp and white beans. We ate every single bit of it. Shoot, we didn’t even leave the shiny on the Bento box.

 

Eat. Swim, Nap. Eat. Swim. Nap. And then there is Afternoon Tea, with the scone pushers. I swear that I am absolutely powerless over those scones. And they come around tempting use for three to four laps. And they don’t always take no for an answer. It is tragic!

 

After all that food and sun, we had to nap. The ship did not sail until 10 pm, so we figured the dining room would be pretty empty. We did not get up and moving until after 6 pm, so we sat down for dinner at 6:45.

 

It is my favorite night of the cruise… TBGCS!!!!! For those of you who know- YOU KNOW! For those of you who might not have the gumption to don your thinking caps… TBGCS= Twice Baked Goat Cheese Soufflé! This may be one of my all time favorite foods EVER! I have written poems and songs about it. It is so stinking yummy. So along with charcuterie and chilled ginger carrot soup (I love it- many people- not so much), I had the TBGCS as my main. Dessert was salted Carmel pot du crème- which was good.

 

We played cards in the Atrium for an hour or so. So here is my petty complaint of the day… what is up with people removing their shoes and putting their bare feet up on the furniture. Not one. Not two. But three different- non related people. So weird. I am completely open to possible responses that offer an explanation for how this is ok.

 

We were really waiting around for the performance in the Princess Theater. We were scheduled to hear a soprano. If you know me or have read blogs in the past, I am a lover of opera… and I was so hoping for an operatic soprano- heck- best case scenario- a mezzo, even! Nope. The title of the one woman show was Judy, Julie, and Me. (As in Garland, Andrews, and said performer). Just not my thing. We made a fairly hasty exit and headed back to the room.

 

And that is it for our day. We were just done. Still another great day on a ship!

 

Any one want to hum along to Carmen?

 

Thank you for following along-

More later-

Tracie-Lynn

[crimsonbird]

3 minutes ago, TracieABD said:

 

Day 4

May 31, 2022

St. Thomas

 

Judy, Julie, and Meh!

 

Hi friends-

 

I keep getting more and more behind on the blog. I always say… the hardest part of blogging is blogging. But I keep trying. And managing my expectations.

 

We ate lunch in the Sanctuary. I had delicious gazpacho, pineapple/ cottage cheese, and the chicken Fattoush salad. Jon had the shrimp and white beans. We ate every single bit of it. Shoot, we didn’t even leave the shiny on the Bento box.

 

Eat. Swim, Nap. Eat. Swim. Nap. And then there is Afternoon Tea, with the scone pushers. I swear that I am absolutely powerless over those scones. And they come around tempting use for three to four laps. And they don’t always take no for an answer. It is tragic!

 

After all that food and sun, we had to nap. The ship did not sail until 10 pm, so we figured the dining room would be pretty empty. We did not get up and moving until after 6 pm, so we sat down for dinner at 6:45.

 

It is my favorite night of the cruise… TBGCS!!!!! For those of you who know- YOU KNOW! For those of you who might not have the gumption to don your thinking caps… TBGCS= Twice Baked Goat Cheese Soufflé! This may be one of my all time favorite foods EVER! I have written poems and songs about it. It is so stinking yummy. So along with charcuterie and chilled ginger carrot soup (I love it- many people- not so much), I had the TBGCS as my main. Dessert was salted Carmel pot du crème- which was good.

 

We played cards in the Atrium for an hour or so. So here is my petty complaint of the day… what is up with people removing their shoes and putting their bare feet up on the furniture. Not one. Not two. But three different- non related people. So weird. I am completely open to possible responses that offer an explanation for how this is ok.

 

We were really waiting around for the performance in the Princess Theater. We were scheduled to hear a soprano. If you know me or have read blogs in the past, I am a lover of opera… and I was so hoping for an operatic soprano- heck- best case scenario- a mezzo, even! Nope. The title of the one woman show was Judy, Julie, and Me. (As in Garland, Andrews, and said performer). Just not my thing. We made a fairly hasty exit and headed back to the room.

 

And that is it for our day. We were just done. Still another great day on a ship!

 

Any one want to hum along to Carmen?

 

Thank you for following along-

More later-

Loving your blog.  Thank you so much.  Does the sanctuary have a pool?  

[TracieABD]

17 hours ago, SASSYnLV said:

I was on Caribbean princess,  may 21 to 28.

On aloha, 243. I too had that horrendous stench numerous times in my cabin.  There was also an odor at the entry to the theater.  It's been that way for at least 3 weeks.

I'm supposed to go with a group to the Panama Canal in January on Caribbean princess.  I don't want to go.

I notified the CEO of a major travel agency and he told me he would be contacting upper Princess management 

I definitely comes and goes. The researcher in me would love to know its origins… 

I am dealing with it by thinking of it as Cabbage Soup and using Vick’s when it becomes untenable. 

 

I do think they need to get to the source of it, though. I hope your people can convey that to the Princess people. 

[TracieABD]

34 minutes ago, crimsonbird said:

Loving your blog.  Thank you so much.  Does the sanctuary have a pool?  

The Spa pool is called the Lotus pool. It is free for everyone, but designated as an adults only pool. It is one deck directly below the Sanctuary. 

[crimsonbird]

54 minutes ago, TracieABD said:

I definitely comes and goes. The researcher in me would love to know its origins… 

I am dealing with it by thinking of it as Cabbage Soup and using Vick’s when it becomes untenable. 

 

I do think they need to get to the source of it, though. I hope your people can convey that to the Princess people. 

We are on aloha this coming week.  5 cabins away from Sassy..near the elevators.  It's hard to believe that Princess would continue to subject guests to this odor...and perhaps more importantly, to the unhealthy source.  Keeping 🤞

 

[TracieABD]

11 minutes ago, crimsonbird said:

We are on aloha this coming week.  5 cabins away from Sassy..near the elevators.  It's hard to believe that Princess would continue to subject guests to this odor...and perhaps more importantly, to the unhealthy source.  Keeping 🤞

 

I will keep my fingers crossed for you.  We are in an aft interior on Aloha. 

[azbirdmom]

I have my bare feet up right now. But they are on a footstool on our balcony. I’m enjoying the shade and occasional breezes and am about to start my second book. The view is nice too, at least from the railing up. Below that is a huge fuel barge and next to that is a shiny tug. Thought about wandering up to the pool but they are all quite crowded so I will enjoy the view from the balcony. And I’m very glad I didn’t see bare feet on the Piazza furniture!

[billcruise34491]

Please post any update from Captain regarding returning to Port Everglades on time.

Local Florida weather now predicting 80% chance of tropical storm development for South Florida on Saturday.

 

Thank you.

[GonzoWCS]

21 minutes ago, billcruise34491 said:

Please post any update from Captain regarding returning to Port Everglades on time.

Local Florida weather now predicting 80% chance of tropical storm development for South Florida on Saturday.

 

Thank you.

Stay safe South Florida!

[Host CJSKIDS]

2 hours ago, billcruise34491 said:

Please post any update from Captain regarding returning to Port Everglades on time.

Local Florida weather now predicting 80% chance of tropical storm development for South Florida on Saturday.

 

Thank you.

 

There is a 90% chance of it turning into a tropical depresssion or tropical storm Alex when it hits southwest Florida tomorrow but it will mainly be just a massive rain maker so the ship should more than likely have no issues getting in on time. Last I saw it was 6-10 inches for my coast and 4-6 for the East Coast.

 

Enjoy these last 2 nights everyone on board!  And Tracie and Julie, please have a cocktail for me!!!

 

 

[azbirdmom]

46 minutes ago, Host CJSKIDS said:

 

There is a 90% chance of it turning into a tropical depresssion or tropical storm Alex when it hits southwest Florida tomorrow but it will mainly be just a massive rain maker so the ship should more than likely have no issues getting in on time. Last I saw it was 6-10 inches for my coast and 4-6 for the East Coast.

 

Enjoy these last 2 nights everyone on board!  And Tracie and Julie, please have a cocktail for me!!!

 

 

Thank you, I will!  I am enjoying reading on the balcony at the moment. It has really clouded up and I am not sure it will be possible to be out here tomorrow with the rain expected. Last I checked we are going 21.5 but it’s a smooth ride. The captain said he’s pushing all 6 engines to get us up to the Bahamas area quickly. He is keeping up posted. We are set to fly home immediately after the cruise but I am not going to worry about it and will just appreciate our last couple of days onboard. 

[SASSYnLV]

On 6/1/2022 at 1:37 PM, crimsonbird said:

We are on aloha this coming week.  5 cabins away from Sassy..near the elevators.  It's hard to believe that Princess would continue to subject guests to this odor...and perhaps more importantly, to the unhealthy source.  Keeping 🤞

 

You can smell it outside the theater too, it's not just deck 12. Also noticed it one night, the elevator area closest to Planks at back of buffet. 

[sherman931]

Re: Smelly smell

It may be a result of “stack gas” (exhaust). Improper or incomplete burning of fuel can result in a sulphur like smell. Just a thought. 
 

Former Navy man. 

[TracieABD]

 

 

Day 5

June 1, 2022

St. Kitts

 

Our Last “Free Day”…

 

Hi friends-

Happy Pride Month!

 

Another sunny day in Paradise, for sure. We both slept well- and long. Around 9:45, Jon headed up to Coffee and Cones for our morning bevvies. The baristas have gotten to know him- so now they prepare our coffees to order. Yay! I love this. It just gets the whole day off to a better start.

 

I decided to go into port while Jon headed up to the Sanctuary. I have said it before, but when on a Caribbean cruise, the ship is the destination for us. We enjoy the quiet ship on port days. There is such a different feel on this ship on a sea day vs. a port day (just stating the obvious).

 

St. Thomas and St. Kitts are both walk-off ports. I walked off and onto the relatively long pier. My guess is that it might be a little over a 1/4 of a mile to the shops. It is pretty much the same as all of the other ports. Effy and other jewelry stores. Souvenir shops (I never buy them- my blog is my souvenir) . Lots of restaurants. And Taxi tours. I have to say, this was the least aggressive taxi tour operators I can remember. Say no once- and all of the taxi tour operators within earshot honour that no. I did run into some new friends on the ship and they invited me to go on their shore excursion to the beach. I was unprepared so I had to turn down their gracious offer.

 

Within an hour, I returned to the ship empty handed and met up with Jon in the Sanctuary. It is such a hot, hot day… I could not get into my swimsuit fast enough. I didn’t even drop my stuff at the lounger. I just jumped right into the pool. As we head closer to the equator, the pool water becomes more and more tepid. It was still cool enough to reduce my body temp. Today is definitely the day for lots of sunscreen and shade.

 

We ordered the usual suspects for lunch (gazpacho, fruit, salad, cottage cheese/ pineapple)- except Jon threw a little pizza into the mix. Balance. It is all about balance.

 

I headed over for an “ice cream” cone at Coffee and Cones. I feel a need to chat about this a bit. This is not really ice cream per se. Ice cream may be a bit of a stretch. It is soft serve ice milk. Not everybody’s cup of tea, but it sure is mine. I am not sure if it is a Scandinavian thing or not, but I prefer ice milk to ice cream any day (unless it it Jeni’s and that is a whole ‘nother story). My dad and I would often search tirelessly for ice milk… but to little avail. I am so happy to have it on the ship. It is like having a moment with my dad.

 

We packed it in a little early. Jon went to meet with some friends and I took a nap. It was Italian Night. I really like this menu and was so happy to see it appear!

 

As our usual, we headed down to the MDR early to be seated. We ordered a lot of food. I had the minestrone soup, a salad, and the prosciutto and melon to start. Jon had the same. He ordered a shrimp and scallop meal and I had the veal Marsala. All was delicious… Actually, the food in the MDR has been remarkably good on this ship. We had a little dessert and headed out for the evening festivities.

 

I do want to note, with the change in dining to the Dine My Way, and the discontinuation of Traditional Dining, the dining staff seem much less engaged or engaging. We have chatted with a few of our dining staff, and they are not loving the change. We are not either. We get that Princess is trying to keep up with the current trends, but I miss getting to know our dedicated servers. It also makes leaving a bit “extra”- extra challenging.

 

We tried our hand first at Facial Recognition Trivia. We scored 19/28. The winner was a solo woman who confessed she “just watches too much TV”. She had 27/28! The prizes have been “headache in a bottle”- so when we lose, we actually are winning!

 

We tried to see the comedian/ magician but he just did not do it for us. He was a bit too edgy for our taste. And the theater was packed. And there were very few masks. So we left very early in the show.

 

And with that we headed to bed early. For some reason, we were both tired.

It was a good day on board a lovely ship… what’s to complain about?

 

Anyone want to grade an ice milk?

 

Thanks for following along-

More later-

Tracie-Lynn

 

PS Stay tuned for the  how this cruise took a turn… <insert ominous music here>

[TracieABD]

Day 6

June 2, 2022

Day at Sea

 

How We Received an Upgrade- A Cautionary Tale

 

Hi friends-

 

Jon and I slept so late for us this morning. Jon finally went to forage for coffee around 10 am. We have been taking the stairs and wearing our masks a lot, but honestly, as the cruise has gone on, we forget some too.

 

After I drank my delicious caffeinated beverage- I went to find Jon in the Sanctuary. He was absolutely dragging… telling me that he couldn’t walk fast because of his flip flops. I convinced him to return to the cabin with me- and I tested him.

 

And that folks… is all she wrote. The second pink line only took a few minutes to appear. I tested me, and I was negative.

 

I know that there are some people who have blatantly stated they would not report to medical if they tested positive or felt poorly… we are just not those people… We called and lovely Caroline came to our room with her basket of swabs. She told us to wait in the room until she called with our PCR results

 

Exactly, 45 minutes later… the phone rang with he confirmation that Jon was positive and I am negative. She informed us that Jon would be moved to isolation forthwith. I had the choice of remaining in our cabin or going with him. Honestly, we vacillated between the two options, but in the end… we are a team. We are just to better together, so I packed up my gear too.

 

It took several hours for the team to come to move us, which was fine. We ordered a room service pizza and packed stuff. When they did finally come, the move was very fast.

 

So the upshot is we are now in a balcony room. It is lovely. Tonight is formal night for the healthy… So we called room service and they delivered a 5 course meal to us- apps (tofu ponzu and salmon), wedge salads, tomato bisque soup, and lobster for Jon- pumpkin crepes for me. They threw in dessert… Norman Love’s Pistachio Dome and cheese cake just to sweeten the deal. We were told it would take around an hour… and it took exactly one hour. We ate on our balcony while being serenaded by our upstairs neighbor’s reggae-ton. (Rolling my eyes here).

 

We are fine. Jon is sick… but it is not serious. I am waiting. There is very little hope that I will escape this. We are newlyweds. We are joined at the hip. And truth be told, there is no one in the whole world I would rather do this with.

 

I have always said, the best kind of problems you can have are the ones that you can throw some money at. As long as we both stay healthy… the rest will sort itself out.

 

I will keep you posted on how quarantine is going…

 

Anyone want to borrow one of our super duper KN95 masks?

 

Thanks for following along-

More later-

Tracie-Lynn

[PescadoAmarillo]

Oh no. Welcome to the club that no one wants to join. And it’s not inevitable that you’ll test positive eventually. Just probable. 

Edited June 3, 2022 by PescadoAmarillo