LIVE from Emerald Princess Panama Canal FLL-LA 1/2-1/17 2023

[KLM3164]

2 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Don't forget to check out the wildlife area there next to where you docked. It's pretty cool and it's free! 

We discovered the wildlife area when we were heading back to the ship and it was a treat! We hadn’t seen any monkeys on our sailing and Cartagena was our last port stop. We finally got our fill of monkeys in the wildlife area. So much fun to watch. 

Edited January 5, 2023 by KLM3164

[gottagocit]

Have you been told how many passengers are onboard? Just curious how full she is this time. 
thanks

[sonomaphil]

11 minutes ago, gottagocit said:

Have you been told how many passengers are onboard? Just curious how full she is this time. 
thanks

1850 and about 1000 crew. 

[Thrak]

2 hours ago, catgirl411 said:

So my pet peeve on the liquor front isn’t so much about bartending (although I did find the martini I liked in Crooners (Baked Alaska) to be different almost every time)…my problem is with wine by the glass in the MDR on the Plus package. IMHO, it is unacceptable to merely list the varietal without even telling you the country it comes from. And heaven forbid you should know the region, winery or vintage.  Completely unacceptable.

 

We don't like the generic listings either. We have found that we can sometimes get what we want by asking. We don't have sophisticated wine palates and enjoy Spellbound Petite Sirah. We used to get it in Vines and also in MDR. Sitting in Vines this past December my wife decided to simply ask if it was available. The wine steward said it was definitely still in stock and thereafter we ordered it regularly.  It was within the Plus package pricing which made things quite nice for us.

[sonomaphil]

The Tui Marella Discovery 2 is along side today.

[Arizona Wildcat]

3 hours ago, catgirl411 said:

So my pet peeve on the liquor front isn’t so much about bartending (although I did find the martini I liked in Crooners (Baked Alaska) to be different almost every time)…my problem is with wine by the glass in the MDR on the Plus package. IMHO, it is unacceptable to merely list the varietal without even telling you the country it comes from. And heaven forbid you should know the region, winery or vintage.  Completely unacceptable.

Easy solution.  Find a wine in Vines you enjoy and request the waiter to have a bottle in the restaurant.  They brought a nice Zin for me and an oakey Chardonnay for DW.

[Robbie555]

5 hours ago, sonomaphil said:

Hello from Cartagena.

 

I should say "congratulations and blessed" for visiting Cartagena, Colombia.

 

I may have stated before that one of my best travel decisions I've made was to reschedule my cruise from 1/28/22 to 12/03/22 as the 1/28 sailing had lots of changes:

 

1. Cartagena, Colombia was skipped in addition to Nicaragua and that sailing just missed the port-of-call date of 2/01/22 in which the Colombia government allowed passengers to visit.

 

2. For that sailing, Covid-19 test was required both before and during the sailing. And if you were positive before the sailing, they would not let you board. Even though you were required to test 48-hours before embarkation, they will still require you to test for a second time before you go aboard.

 

3. The Lotus Pool was closed. 

 

Here's the LIVE thread for that sailing which I'm glad I rescheduled:

 

[sonomaphil]

The Boulevardier and a Tanqueray and Tonic at Skywalker's Elite Lounge live!

[sonomaphil]

Emerald Princess in Cartagena today.

[sonomaphil]

Tonight's menu.  

Edited January 6, 2023 by sonomaphil

[sonomaphil]

Pea soup and salmon app.

[sonomaphil]

Next course coming but I really recommend the pea soup.

 

Salad and meat lasagna. 

 

Yes, this is live from table 3 in the Botticelli. 

[sonomaphil]

The mains have arrived.  Pork and Beef stroganoff.  

[Robbie555]

Have you had dinner at both Da Vinci and Botticelli Dining Rooms? If you have, are there any differences?

 

For me, I noticed that at Botticelli there's less of a wait for a table and service and food is slightly faster.

[nasa1974]

Thanks for posting.

[sonomaphil]

Looks like our escort has arrived. 

[sonomaphil]

They have us now. Heading to the Bridge of the Atlantic, right on time if not a little ahead of schedule. 

[sonomaphil]

[sonomaphil]

[sonomaphil]

Mobile Bloody Mary cart on Promenade if you like.  

[sonomaphil]

[sonomaphil]

[sonomaphil]

You have to do the Ultimate Balcony Breakfast on canal day.  

[sonomaphil]

Into the second lock. 

[Essiesmom]

Here you come: