LIVE from the Pacific Princess; 28 days R/T Ft Lauderdale/Manaus/Ft Lauderdale

[Pia1913]

Hi everyone, from the Pacific Princess; sitting here in Ft. Lauderdale. We boarded at 11:30; hardly any passengers at that time and no photographer either. How are we ever going to survive without that embarkation photo?

This ship is not new to us, since we've sailed on her twice for a total of 84 days. However, those cruises were in a mini and now we're in a balcony. There is a tremendous difference with downgrading our accomodations; we saved the $$$ but we lost a lot of space. We will survive, and eventually all our stuff will find a home for the next 28 days. We needed to get rid of those heavy wooden hangars which our steward replaced with the skinny wire ones.

Lunch in the buffet was unremarkable. Nobody is going to go hungry. And yes, there is a self service dispenser for lemonade. I was able to use my coffee card there for their version of brewed coffee. They used a large paper cup did an espresso, and then filled it with hot water. Excellent. Much better than the regular brewed coffee on the other ships.

The captain is Carlo Servillo, PSD is Adam Gorst, CD is Susan Rawlings and Maitre d' is Giuseppe Castino. I expected the MD to be Renzo, but I guess he's on vacation. The CC host is Sylvain; we know him from other cruises so will be nice to touch base again.

I signed on to the internet at the cafe, bought the 250 minute $100 package and got our free 30 minutes bonus. I cannot get a signal from here (in my cabin), so I'm writing this and will cut and paste from a good wifi area either later tonight or some time tomorrow.

Room service just left and I was able to replace the complimentary 8 bottles of booze for 8 cans of Miller Lite and also changed the 6 cans of whatever for 8 diet coke. DH will drink the coke; I brought Diet Pepsi aboard.

We are a group of 8 and will be dining at 6:00 PM. The schedule states that there's a dinner buffet from 5:30 - 9:00 and then the pizzeria/bistro opens from 9:00 to after midnight.

Will add additional info before posting to the Board.

Hi again and it’s now 9:20 PM. We had our dinner (I had the usual chicken breast and broccoli) and then attended the quickie Welcome Aboard show. The dancers, who will also be our daily cruise staff are wonderful. The young singer Luke Sabatino has a nice voice, but still needs polishing. In due time he will improve.

The next two days are sea days, but we will still be in the gym at 7:00 AM. I looked it over this afternoon; saw 5 treadmills and no TV. My husband will just have to talk to me instead of immersing himself in CNN.

Ask your questions if you have any, and I’ll do my best to answer them the next time. I know how important the mattresses are to some of you and after tonight’s sleep I’ll report on that.

Goodnite for today.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Hi Pia,

All the best to you all on your wonderful cruise.

The ship looked great in Fort Lauderdale today .

Looking forward to hearing of your adventures "up the Amazon".

 

Port cam 4pm.

 

Heading out from the beach cam

[kruzinRiva]

Bon Voyage, Pia! It's good to know you're on board and away!!! Thanks for the info from today -- I now know twice as much about the Pacific Princess as I did before!

 

So looking forward to sharing the next month "with" you!

 

Smooth sailing and pleasant dreams,

 

Becca

[rdsqrl]

Pia, thanks for beginning a Live from . . . . I'm really looking forward to sailing along with you in between sailing along with WitaMut on his world cruise. Is the itinerary identical on both segments? I see you're scheduled to go to Devil's Island on the trip north -- if you feel moved to post photos of that, I for one would love to see them. Have a good evening aboard and a relaxing day at sea tomorrow.

[kftw]

Thank you for doing a "live cruise" for those of us who are stuck on land. I look forward to cruising with you.

 

k

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the live from!!

 

Bon Voyage and say hi to Susan Rawlings for me. :D

[rc51]

Lucky you guys! Good to hear you're onboard and got away fine.

 

Pia: One question..when did you get your dinner seating confirmed? We always opt for late seating but oddly on this upcoming cruise, we're still waitlisted?? I can't understand there being such a demand for late seating.

[Toto2Kansas]

Glad to hear you made it pia, have a great evening. And don't forget, I need a report on the beds. ;) I need a first hand report if they are 'firm' 'extra firm' or 'extra extra firm'. Please! ;)

[aussieoz]

Will enjoy your daily updates about the cruise.

We were on the Amazon back in 2004 on the Prinsendam .... looking forward to what you all see & do!

Say Hi to Mary Ann & John Darcy

Jean & Doug:)

[qld cruiser]

Hi there, so glad to hear Luke Sabatino is still on the ship, is his girlfriend Ruth Hake on as a dancer ???

 

We had the pleasure of them both appearing out of Australia twice last year.

 

Thank you Pia, I look forward to reading about your cruise.

 

kind regards, Lorraine:):)

[Francine]

Hi Pia,

I am glad to hear that you made it safely to the ship. I am looking forward to hearing from you.

Send our best to Mike, Tina and Ken, Donna and Dennis, and Vicky and Bill. Wish we were there having dinner with all of you again.

Fran

[JWJs]

Watched your sail away from Port Everglades today. Thanks for reporting live from. :)

[mississauga]

Hi Pia, Glad you have finally posted your Live.... I was looking for it all day. You said the dancers were also the cruise staff. Is this still the norm on the smaller Princess ships? When we first cruised in the 70's and 90's, this was always the case. Nowadays on the larger ships, the singers and dancers have it a lot easier.

[caribill]

Good to see there will be a Live From.

 

Hope you enjoy this great cruise. Rgards to Tina.

 

Bill

[kruisey]

Look forward to your bed report.;)

Alex and I are 210 on early wait list.With even late dining wait listed.

Very interested to know how they sort the Dining out.

I thought it most kind of you to contact us as soon as you got onboard.

Enjoy the cruise....Eager for your report.......Kruisey.:)

[WitaMut]

Hi Pia,

Thanks for doing another one of your Great "Lives"!;) Now we will have a "Live" from, on all (3) Princess "R" Sisters for the next 4 weeks, at least! (One being in Blog form only, for the Tahitian WC, 5 weeks to go; & my "Live" on the Royal WC with 6 weeks still to go.) :cool:

May you & yours have a Wonderful RT Amazon cruise on the Gorgeous Pacific Princess, I love those little "R" ships! :D

May you have:

Calm Seas & Pleasant Breezes, :)

Bill

[ginbuck]

Hi Pia,

 

We were on the 1/30 sailing for 28 days. Sorry to hear 'Renzo is on vacation. He was great. New Captain also. You won't miss the excruciatingly slow announcements the other one made, trust me. Look up Arky who is Assistant Food and Beverage Director and head waiter in Sabitini's and Sterling. A really nice young man who loves to talk about the places he has been. A real love of travel.

 

Have a great cruise.

 

Ginny

[CruzinNoony]

Hi Pia,

 

So glad you are doing a "live from". I will be following your voyage every mile of the way. Good luck with trivia!!! M:)

[paul929207]

Hi there, so glad to hear Luke Sabatino is still on the ship, is his girlfriend Ruth Hake on as a dancer ???

 

We had the pleasure of them both appearing out of Australia twice last year.

 

Thank you Pia, I look forward to reading about your cruise.

 

kind regards, Lorraine:):)

Yes, Ruth is also on the Pacific. They and the rest of the singers and dancers will finish their contracts when the ship returns to FLL in 4 weeks. Luke, Ruth and Nicki will move to the Tahitian in July.

[paul929207]

Hi Pia, Glad you have finally posted your Live.... I was looking for it all day. You said the dancers were also the cruise staff. Is this still the norm on the smaller Princess ships? When we first cruised in the 70's and 90's, this was always the case. Nowadays on the larger ships, the singers and dancers have it a lot easier.

Yes, on the Pacific, Royal and Tahitian, the dancers also are the cruise staff which runs things like trivia, ceramics, dance lessons, etc.

[qld cruiser]

Yes, Ruth is also on the Pacific. They and the rest of the singers and dancers will finish their contracts when the ship returns to FLL in 4 weeks. Luke, Ruth and Nicki will move to the Tahitian in July.

 

 

 

Hi, thanks Paul,

 

kind regards, Lorraine:):)

[Toto2Kansas]

Yes, on the Pacific, Royal and Tahitian, the dancers also are the cruise staff which runs things like trivia, ceramics, dance lessons, etc.

 

Paul, I love it when the entertainers are also your cruise staff. I still remember our very first cruise on the Fair Princess, they did it just like that. You really got to know the entertainers during the voyage and by the end, you were all on a first name basis. ;)

[pgcruiser20]

:) Hi Pia, will be waiting to here how the beds are as well, will be going on the Pacific Princess in Sept/09. This will be are first cruise on a small ship, we did do the old Crown back in I think about 1985 it is the smallest out of all that we have done. I will be watching for all the interesting things you have to say on this ship. We will be on the 8th deck, cabin 8064, I sure hope we made a good choice. We got confirmed dining as soon as we booked, way back in March 2008. Have a great day.

[Mary Ellen]

Thank you for doing this 'live from.. ' thread. DH's father is sailing with you for the full 28 days, so the whole extended family will enjoy following along.

[Clutterlady]

Bon Voyage Pia.....have a wonderful trip and will be looking forward to your updates:)