Live From Caribbean Princess 9/7/08 - 9/14/08

[WWCJR]

Sunday we were up and had eaten breakfast and were resting in our room when we got a call that the car service was outside waiting for us. It was 10:25 AM and we had order the car service for 10:45 AM. So we had to get ourselves down and into the minivan. We had a very quick ride to the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal but had a little wait in traffic outside the cruise terminal. When we were dropped off we just went right though the security check point and then right up to the check-in counter with no waiting at all. We were given cards with the number 39 on them and went to the sitting area. We waited there for a while before they started calling numbers to board. We were one of the earlier groups to board and were on the ship by noon.

We dropped our carry-on bags in our cabin and headed down to the passenger service desk to drop off our note to the Captain of the ship requesting a tour of the bridge, we will wait and see if that happens. We then had lunch in the Coral Dining Room where we meet several other people that we had met on our CC Roll Call. We enjoyed a very quite and relaxed lunch. We then walked around the ship for just a little before going to the Sail-a-way Cruise Critic meet and greet. We got to know some of the people that we are cruising with this week. We then went back to our cabin and got our life vests and headed down to the Muster Drill at 4:15 PM. By the time it was over it was nearing departure time so we returned the life vests to the cabin and headed up to the top most deck for sail-a-way.

Then we changed and headed to dinner in the Palm Dining Room. We had no waiting to be seated and ate with two other couples. We had a wonderful cheerful young lady, Zelda, from South Africa as our waiter at table 15. After dinner we headed back to the cabin and called it a night.

There was a time change overnight and we are now on Atlantic time which it one hour ahead of Eastern time. After breakfast we headed to the Sea Day Cruise Critic Meet and Greet. Our group was meet by James Dearing, the Passenger Service Director. He reads the Cruise Critic web-site and knew from that where and when we were meeting. He stayed for the hour with us answering questions and informing us of things going on this week as well as future plans for the Caribbean Princess.

We learned that this week Princess is having their once a year President’s Summit Meeting onboard our cruise and that all of the top level Princess people (CEO, etc) are onboard along with 300 of their best travel agents. They have set-up a temporary Princess Corporate Headquarters onboard our ship for the week. We learned what is being done in January when this ship goes into dry-dock for three weeks, We also found out that they postponed the originally scheduled dry-dock last April-May since they needed more time to prepare for all of the changes that they will be making to her.

This evening we had a number of pictures taken of us while we were all dressed up and waiting for the Captain’s Greet and introduction to the crew. We then went to dinner again in the Palm Dinning Room. Again we accepted a table seated with others and had not wait. We were at the same table as the night before but with different people tonight. Since we were at the same table we also had Zelda as our waiter. We had planned to go to the show tonight but by the time we got to the theater it was already full to capacity. We decided not to wait up for the next show tonight since we have to be up early tomorrow for our tour in Halifax, Nova Scotia. They will be having the same show tomorrow night at 7:00 PM so we might see it then. We are doing a Photo tour to Peggy’s Cove. It is a light house outside of Halifax. They have a live web-cam at:

http://www.peggyscovewebcam.ca/live/

It is updated about every ten seconds so you might be able to see us there in the morning.

That’s it for now. I will try to check back and report more tomorrow evening if possible.

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the live from and enjoy the cruise. :)

[D&N LUV 2 TRAVEL]

Thanks for your live update. So far so good with regards to the Anytime Dining. When you were on board at noon on Sunday, could you make reservations at the Coral or Palm Dining rooms for dinner yet ? and if so how many days ahead could you make them for?

Would be very interested in you letting me know how your Anytime Dining went for the week (could you get reservations and at what time ?) as we are on the CB next February and this has been a hot topic of discussion in the last couple of weeks.

Enjoy your week.

 

Dave

[Solara]

Thanks for the live update, I always enjoy reading them.

[lnew1gd1]

:D Thanks for the "live from" update. Keep 'er safe and nice now....we get on when you get off!

 

Have a wonderful time!

 

Question for you, we have our CC roll call meet and greet scheduled for right after muster on deck 7 forward in the Explorers lounge. Looks like from your report that we could miss sail-away if we keep it that time. Any suggestions?

 

Again thanks! Keep 'em coming if you can. Really appreciate it.

[rdsqrl]

Thanks for starting a "Live from . . . " and taking the time to share your cruise with us! It'll be interesting to hear if you think having the execs on board with y'all makes for better-than-average service (or even, dare one hope, better coffee?).

lnew1gd1: As to a CC meeting right after Muster, yes, you'll be very likely to miss sailaway -- you might consider relocating it to the outdoor bar overlooking the aft pool (can't think what it's called on the CB, the Outrigger maybe?) That way, you can meet up in a less-crowded venue but still be outside to watch the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan recede into the distance.

[lnew1gd1]

 

lnew1gd1: As to a CC meeting right after Muster, yes, you'll be very likely to miss sailaway -- you might consider relocating it to the outdoor bar overlooking the aft pool (can't think what it's called on the CB, the Outrigger maybe?) That way, you can meet up in a less-crowded venue but still be outside to watch the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan recede into the distance.

 

Thanks for your suggestion! I will take it to our roll call.

[AliceS]

Has Hanna had any impact on the weather or sea conditions?

[Atomica]

Glad to hear you're enjoying your first few days on the Caribbean Princess! You're in good hands with James Deering.

[Whimsy]

So glad everything is going well on your cruise. Thanks for taking time to post.

[apeller]

Thanks for starting a "Live from . . . " and taking the time to share your cruise with us! It'll be interesting to hear if you think having the execs on board with y'all makes for better-than-average service (or even, dare one hope, better coffee?).

I was wondering the same thing. (Naturally I know the comment about the coffee is wishful thinking).

[creativemomma]

Glad you are having a good time:) . Can you tell me what service you used from your hotel to the cruise terminal? Also, what times are the shows (main). We have early seating and wonder if we will make the earlier one or have to wait for the later. Thanks again:D

[noobiecruiser]

Thanks for your live update. Did they tell you anything about the changes planned for drydock that we didn't already know from Princess' press releases?

[Clutterlady]

Thanks for the live update! Can't wait to hear more.

[spongerob]

Thanks for the live update. Be sure to warn the staff that we will be on board in 6 weeks and I expect the ship to be fully stocked with rum.:)

[Northender]

Thanks for the "live from" and the Peggy's Cove webcam.

I grew up in N.S. and remember taking a Sunday drive or two and we would be the only ones there. You might see a few more as you were leaving. How times have changed......:)

 

About the coffee - perhaps you could write a nice note and have it delivered to the execs and ask them to go to HC and have a cup of coffee.:D

 

Also looking forward to reading about your Halifax excursion:)

[WWCJR]

Hi everyone, I’m back. am going to try doing this offline and then cut and paste it to save on the internet time. I left the web page open when I logged off so that I could then have all of the posts to respond to while writing this. Therefore, there might be some posts that get in between when I downloaded them and when I post this. Sorry if that happens but I will try to respond to any of those posts next time.

 

First let me thank all of the people for thank me for starting and write this thread.

 

I will say that a person could never meet a nicer person than James Dearing. I think most of what we learned will be done during dry-dock has either been cover in the press release or here by others that have talked with James Dearing. They will be replacing all of the TV’s with new flat panel TV’s. All new carpet and I believe he said wall coverings. The engine/generator (he called it the engine that exploded) is the center engine and they will have to cut a hole in the side of the ship AND the dry-dock the size of a school bus. First remove the two engines between that bad engine and the side of the ship before they can replace the engine. Then after it is replaced they have to reinstall the two outer engines. The engine “issue” has been an non-issue for our cruise. In fact two NCL ships left before us by 30 -45 minutes and we past them on the way up to Halifax.

 

The coffee issue, I don’t drink coffee but James Dearing told us that it is made using a concentrate syrup. He said that the best thing to do is to buy the coffee card and use it to get the fresh brewed coffee. They do not punch it of the fresh brewed coffee and he said that you can use it forever on all of your future cruises as well. They only punch the coffee card for the specialty coffees.

 

I cannot answer the questions about making reservations for the anytime dining since we are just truly doing our dinning any time we feel like going. An interesting note is that last night as we were leaving the Palm Dinning room there was a long line of people waiting in the reservations only line and no one was in the no reservations line. One of the couples in our roll call saw the same thing as they had tried the Coral Dinning Room, and found long line then came down to the Palm and there was no line for the no reservation line and they got seated right away while those with reservations were waiting in a line. Tonight we are skipping the dinning room and doing the buffet as we are going to try to see two shows this evening.

 

Shows in the Theater have been:

Sunday WELCOME ABOARD SHOWTIME” at 8:15 PM & 10:15 PM

Monday DO YOU WANNA DANCE 8:15 PM & 10:15 PM

Tuesday DO YOU WANNA DANCE 7:00 PM

Tuesday COMMEDY SHOWTIME Starring John Joseph 8:30 PM & 10:15 PM

 

As for a roll call right after the Muster Drill, under normal conditions it would probably be right at sail-a-way. On our cruise we were to sail at 5:00 PM but did not leave the pier until 5:30 PM. The Muster Drill was over a little after 4:30 PM when the alarm was sounded at 4:15 PM. If you want a seat during the Muster Drill you had better head down before they sound the alarm.

 

Hanna had basically no effect on our cruise. That cannot be said for Saturday afternoon and evening in New York City. The only effect we had from Hanna on the cruise was a little rough conditions the first night but it settled down by sometime Monday morning. Sunday night everyone looked like they had been drinking too much they way they were walking even those that did not drink. With that being said I tend to get sea sick but it did not have any effect on me, thank goodness.

 

The car service we used from LGA to the hotel and then from the hotel to the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal was Carmel. One other couple on our roll call used Dail-7.

 

This morning we woke-up to beautiful weather and it was 60 degrees and sunny. Not a cloud in sight. We arrived just before both of the NCL ships. But in truth all three ships were docking at the same time. By the time they got us tied up and the gangways in place it was 8:15 AM. Then they had Emit’s that came onboard with a stretcher. I have no idea what that was all about, just hope that no one is really that bad of shape. What a terrible thing to happen on your cruise.

 

We took the Halifax Photo Tour. We stopped at the Citadel and then drove out to Peggy’s Cove. Boy what a mad house of people there. I was talking with the bus driver and he said he had never seen so many people there before. This is what happens with three cruise ships in at the same time. Don’t even try to go into the gift shops. We did get some nice pictures on the way out and back. Our tour was a four hour tour and we were back at 12:30 PM. We came back aboard the ship for lunch. DW and sister are off shopping, I have no desire to shop!!!!!!

 

It is presently 3:00 PM and everyone is due back onboard at 4:30 PM for a 5:00 PM departure.

[Clutterlady]

Thanks again for keeping us updated:)

[Solara]

Bill, Thanks for keeping us updated. I agree we have cruised twice with James Deering & enjoyed our many talks with him. Is James staying on the CB, I know in May he said there was some talk about him going back to the Emerald?

[Northender]

I love visiting the Citadel. Great place.

Thanks for the update on today.

 

We never make ressies for Anytime, defeats the darn purpose as far as I am concerned. :confused:

 

You are right, with three cruise ships in Port, that must have been one crowded Peggy's Cove. Part of the attraction now is the Swiss Air memorial. They were so close to the airport.

 

Would like to know who is playing in the Lounges for entertainment. If it is good, I would rather do that than the shows.:)

 

Enjoy the rest of the day - where are you heading next?

[Luckyroot]

Glad to hear you're enjoying your first few days on the Caribbean Princess! You're in good hands with James Deering.

 

I have to agree, James is the best!

 

Thanks for posting the "Live From" thread. We are sailing on the 10/26 repo and these live from's just help me while away the time till it's our turn!

[dcrow72]

thanks for all the good news especially about the anytime dining situation. There's always hope! Maybe Mr Dearing is there to solve some of the customer service issues onboard? I believe he was on the Crown with us last year and I haven't a complaint in the world about that cruise! Hope he hangs out there for a while; 6 weeks to go for us! I only have one question; do you see many teens on board now that school is back in? I hope my kids have a few to hang with! Thanks again for the updates. Love them!

[rfs]

Lets me also add I really Appreciate the thread and news about the ship. Won't be long till I am on her.

 

Thanks

[CruiseBumm]

Thanks for th update. I am glad about the coffe card for fresh brewed. Were is the fresh brewed located?

 

Also great wether so far. Lets hope it continues for ta few more weeks.

[tompeter]

Not to hijack Bill's thread, but... coffee, fresh brewed is available in the lobby bar. There are maybe 10 children on board. James Deering is a very visible and interactive person on board and obviously takes pride and concern in all levels of the ship. I was concerned about the size of this ship, not our preference, but, no problems as long as you are aware of arriving early for theatre, etc. Very enjoyable cruise.