February 19, 2016—Day 7, At Sea

Our last day is always a bit sad knowing the cruise was coming to an end.  Despite that, I had a wonderful day.

On the first day, we had signed up for the Ultimate Ships Tour.  It’s a behind the scenes tour of the ship that visits places passengers aren’t normally allowed to visit.  I had done it before on other ships and enjoyed it each time.  Linda had never heard of it, and when I told her about it, she said it sounded very interesting, so we had signed up.  The tour is very limited with no more than 15 people (on some ships, no more than 12), and if there are too many people signed up, then the participants are chosen by lottery.  On Wednesday, we had received a letter stating we had been selected to participate, and I was excited to do the tour again.

We met outside the Medical Center on Deck 4 at 8:15 and after turning in our release forms, we were escorted into the Medical Center accompanied by a member of the cruise director’s staff, a photographer, and a security staff member.  The ship’s doctor talked to us about the Medical Center and gave us a tour of the facilities.  We then visited the Princess Theater backstage area and the Production Manager told us what it took to put on the shows, then visited the dancer’s dressing rooms where one of the dancers explained about the costumes and what they do to get ready. 

Our next stop was the forward Mooring Deck where the anchor is located.  An officer explained how the ship is tied up at her berth and how the anchor works to keep the ship in place.  We then headed to the galley, where a nonalcoholic drink was waiting as well as several chocolate desserts.  One of the chefs on board talked about the galley operations, and walked us through the different areas including the bakery where all the wonderful bread is baked (I love the bread rolls).  We then went to the food storage areas and the provisioning officer walked us through the refrigerated areas where the vegetables and meats were stored (in different areas so there is no cross-contamination). 

Our next stop was the Engine Control Room, where one of the engineers explained all the different areas of the ship they monitor and control.  I always find it fascinating to learn about how the ship generates electricity, creates water, and handles waste water.  It really is a small, self-sufficient city.

From there, we went “below the waterline” to the laundry.  Linda really enjoyed all the different equipment that folded the sheets and towels (it really is kind of neat to see).  We also visited the print shop where all the Patters are printed and the photo lab where all the photos are printed. 

We then headed up to the navigation bridge.  This is always my favorite.  I never tire of the incredible view from the bridge and hearing about the navigation and ship’s operations.  The staff captain and first officer explained the different controls and how they maneuver the ship.  The captain then came over and talked to us and then asked if there was anything in particular we wanted to see.  One of the passengers asked about his cabin, and he offered to take us there.  First, he took us behind the navigation bridge to where all the monitors are located.  This is also where the ship’s officers would be in the event of an emergency; it did look more like a command post than the navigation bridge and is the first time I’ve see this part of the ship.

The captain then did take us all to his cabin, which had a living room, a bedroom, and an office and conference room.  He asked us all to sit and he explained that the conference room was where the senior staff would hold their meetings.  He had Champaign delivered (which took a while) and we sat there for well over an hour talking with him, listening to some stories he told, and asking questions.  In all the tours I’ve taken, I’ve never seen a captain do this, and it was so interesting hearing some of the stories he told. 

The tour is very expensive at $150, but is well worth it, even without all the gifts you get.  The photographer takes a group picture at some of the different areas, and the printed photos are delivered to the cabin later along with a robe from the laundry, an apron from the galley, personalized stationery with our names printed on it from the print shop, and a picture frame.  As I said, I’ve done the Ultimate Ships Tour on almost all the ships and even without these gifts, I thought it was worth it and each time I’ve learned something new. 

After the tour, we decided to do the Pub Lunch, which was held in the Crown Grill.  I had the fish and chips with mushy peas, and also asked for the shrimp.  Lunch was good and it was nice to finally sit down after all the walking up and down stairs. 

The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing with my Kindle, and I spent a little bit of time in the casino.  The weather was getting progressively worse, cold and very windy, and the ship was rocking quite a bit.  There was no one out at the pools, so the ship was getting a little bit crowded with everyone inside. 

Looking at the dinner menu, Linda and I decided to just eat at the buffet.  As we got off the midship elevators, we could see the pool water sloshing from one side to the other as the ship pitched up and down.  Water was sloshing up so high, it was washing over the sides of the pool and onto the deck!

Dinner was good, and I even had blueberry pie for dessert (not something I usually have).  I thought briefly about seeing a movie on MUTS, but the wind and cold convinced me it would be better to stay inside.  The ship was pitching and rolling so much that even the shows were cancelled—it would have been too dangerous for the dancers with the ship moving so muc.

Surprisingly, we were both tired, so ended up in the cabin very early, before 8:00 (and with the time change, that meant it was “really” before 7:00).  I watched an episode of Love Boat on TV, then read for a little while before turning out the light and going to sleep by 9:00 (or 8:00).

I fell asleep to the rocking, pitching, and rolling of the ship for the last time.  Tomorrow it would be time to disembark.

February 18, 2016—Day 6, Cabo San Lucas

Our last port of call for this cruise was Cabo San Lucas, a favorite of many of the passengers who had done this cruise previously.  It is the most “commercialized” with the primary industry being tourism; it is mostly comprised of resorts, restaurants, bars, and tourists, lots of tourists.

This was a tender port, which means that our ship would not berthed at a dock, but would anchor in the bay and passengers would get to shore using the tenders (or life boats).  Since we would only be here until 2:00 and the last tender to return to the ship would leave the dock at 1:00, there wasn’t much time to enjoy this port.  I had been here several times previously (including an overnight on my first cruise to the Mexican Riviera), I remained on board.

I woke up early, got ready, and headed out to the International Café for coffee.  It was a little before 6 and for the first time, I encountered a line for coffee.  I guess everyone wanted to get off as early as possible to make the best use of the short time the ship would be here.

By a little after 7, the ship had anchored, was cleared by the port authorities, and the tenders started taking passengers to shore.  Those on ship’s excursions met up and were escorted to the tenders; those who didn’t have a ship’s excursion booked, had to go to the dining room to pick up a tender ticket and wait until their number was called to proceed to the tenders.  The process takes a little while considering the tenders take about 100 passengers at a time, and there are around 3,000 passengers.  Of course not everyone intended to go ashore. 

After enjoying my morning coffee, I decided to actually have breakfast and headed to the Lido Deck buffet; by this time, it wasn’t crowded at all, since most passengers had eaten earlier in order to get off earlier.  Afterward, I enjoyed sitting at the aft pool deck, reading and admiring the beautiful view of the bay, the large rocks in the distance that make up the famous arch, El Arco.  It was a beautiful day, and the dark blue water, light blue sky, and dark and light gray rocks soaring above the waterline made it a postcard perfect view, although from where we were anchored, I couldn’t actually see the arch. 

Late morning, I headed back to the cabin.  I decided to do some packing instead of leaving it all until tomorrow.  While I was finishing up, Linda came back.  She had been to shore and had done some shopping.  Linda has been on several cruises, but usually goes with her family.  I know they normally spend time on the beach, swimming and snorkeling and doing things together throughout the cruise.  This time is probably different for her since we aren’t doing things together.  For me, this cruise is time to get away, and just relax, especially since I’ve done this cruise before.  Although we’ve met up for dinner, we are pretty much going our own way and I hope that she is enjoying the cruise despite the fact that we aren’t doing many things together. 

We had lunch together, then she headed to the Lido pool since the adult pool had no shade, and I headed down to the promenade deck to enjoy the view in the shade.  It was very warm, so I stopped to get an iced mocha, then sat out on the promenade deck intending to read, but kept getting distracted just watching the view.  There were colorful sail boats in the bay and there were several people parasailing. 

The time passed quickly, and the last tender approached the ship, discharged the passengers, and the crew hoisted it up as we prepared to pull anchor and leave Cabo San Lucas.  I watched with several others as we departed the bay.  Then off in the distance I could see whale spouts and whales breaching—a perfect send off for our last port of call.

It was formal night that evening, and we had decided to try to get into the dining room early, so we got ready, then with a wine glass in had (we had brought a couple of bottles on board with us), we headed to the dining room at 4:30 to stand in line for the 5:00 opening.  Another couple joined us and we stood and talked; the time quickly passed, and the dining room doors opened and we were quickly seated.  We elected for a shared table and the couple we had been talking to also elected for a shared table, so we were seated together.  Another couple joined us, and we all introduced ourselves.  I had the tomato cream soup followed by veal ravioli, and of course the lobster and shrimp dinner.  It was very warm in the dining room, while in past cruises I had found it very cool, so for dessert, I opted for tiramisu ice cream.  Following dinner, we all sat for a while just enjoying the conversation, but finally headed out.  Linda went to watch the MUTS movie, while I headed to the casino.  I didn’t stay long, and went back to the cabin, took a shower (it had been so warm in the dining room that I had actually been sweating), then read in bed until Linda got back. 

It had been a thoroughly enjoyable, relaxing day.

February 17, 2016--Day 5, Mazatlan

Our second port of call was Mazatlan—a place I hadn’t been before.  I’ve done the Mexican Riviera cruise twice before, but the ship never called in Mazatlan.  The first time, Mazatlan was on the itinerary when I booked, but about a month prior, the itinerary was changed removing Mazatlan and instead, staying overnight in Cabo San Lucas.  All the cruise ships stopped going to Mazatlan due to the safety reasons:  increased organized crime and violent crimes caused Mazatlan to be removed as a port of call and the US State Department issue a travel warning.  The city’s economy took a huge hit without the ships and other tourists, and so the government made a concerted effort to clean up the city.  After a few years, the cruise lines started coming back to Mazatlan, and the US State Department removed the warning against travelling to Mazatlan.

Since this was the first time I had been here, I had booked a ship’s excursion—the City Highlights and Folkloric Show.  The tour was scheduled to meet in the Wheelhouse Bar at 8:30, and I had set the alarm for 7:00, just in case.  But I was awake early as usual, so had plenty of time to follow my usual routine.

I checked in for the excursion at the Wheelhouse and was given a sticker showing I was in the “silver 7” group, and directed to the Princess Theater. (Another difference on the Crown Princess is the Wheelhouse Bar is just outside the Princess Theater on Deck 7 forward, while the Crown Grill is midship—the opposite of some of the other ships I’ve been on).  After a few minutes, out group was directed to Deck 4 to the gangway, off the ship, and to our tour bus.  The ship was berthed at the industrial dock, and our bus wound it’s way around the stacked containers and out of the dock area. 

Our guide introduced himself and the driver, and pointed out the different sights and buildings as we drove around the city.  There were armed police officers everywhere, and the sight of them was reassuring.  We stopped at a viewing point along the coast where the guide pointed out the second highest lighthouse in the world (the highest is in Gibraltar).  We continued along the coast and made a second stop to watch the cliff divers, diving into water that is only 8 feet deep.  The divers time their dive with the waves so they gain another couple of feet.  They made it look easy, but I wouldn’t want to do it.  At both stops, there were the usual vendors set up trying to sell hats, jewelry, blankets, and other souvenirs. 

Our next stop was in the old town where we had some free time to visit the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception and the Mercado Pino Suarez, a large market place.  

I visited the marketplace first, which is an indoor market with booth after booth of Mexican style sundresses, blankets, shell jewelry and trinkets, and souvenirs.  There were also booths with seafood and meats, along with fruit and vegetable stands.  The marketplace was a colorful collection of goods for sale, and if I had wanted to buy a souvenir, this would have been the place to do so.

Leaving the marketplace, I wandered down the street to the cathedral.  The cathedral was built with both Moorish and Gothic style architecture, with arched columns throughout.  Leaving the cathedral, I crossed the street to walk through the small park with a gazebo at the center.  This was the Plaza Revolucion, a plaza to commemorate the Mexican Revolution. 

Back on the bus, our guide again pointed out the different sights as we followed the coast passed beaches and made our way to the Golden Zone, which is where all the resort hotels and more upscale stores and restaurants were located, in other words, the upscale tourist area.  Our bus made the obligatory stop at a jewelry store (I don’t think I’ve ever taken a ships’ tour that didn’t include a stop at a jewelry store). 

Our last stop was Playa Mazatlan, a hotel resort, where we would have a buffet lunch and watch a Folkloric show.  Our guide explained that we would be leaving the bus at this resort, and that following lunch and the show, we would have about 2 hours free time to enjoy the private beach (the hotel has changing rooms and would provide towels), the pool, or the other amenities at the resort.  The return to the ship would be by taxi which is prepaid by the tour guide at the hotel, and we could return at any time (before all aboard time of course).

We were given a ticket for the buffet lunch and show, and two drink tickets which can be used for anything including alcoholic drinks, presumably one for lunch and one for later in the afternoon.  The lunch was very good and included salad, refried beans, Mexican rice, BBQ chicken, beef taquitos, chicken enchiladas, sour cream, guacamole, chips and salsa, and flan and rice pudding for dessert.  The food was very good, although I suspect it was more “Americanized” instead of traditional Mexican.  The show was also very good and included various dances in traditional costume, and one man singing various different folk songs (he had a very good voice).  At one point, they had three men from the audience come up on stage and had them “acting out” being a macho man riding into town on his horse, kicking open the door of a bar, and ordering a tequila—it was absolutely hilarious.

After the show, a few folks headed out to the beach, but I decided to head back to the ship, sharing a taxi with another couple who also decided to go back.  The taxi ride was about 15 minutes and dropped us off at the entrance to the port area. 

Inside the entrance to the port but before the secure dock area, there was a very large building which was set up like a market with booths of all the same souvenirs and handcrafts offered elsewhere.  There was also a very nice courtyard area lined with shops, with places to sit and enjoy a drink.  It was very well done, and there were a lot of passengers here shopping, or just enjoying a drink (or two or three).  For those who didn’t want to go far, go into town, or go sightseeing, this was a good alternative.

In order to get to the ship, we had to take a complementary (and obligatory) trolley.  Since the ship was berthed in a container dock, passengers were not allowed to walk through the secure area to the ship. 

Once on board, stopped by the cabin to put my wallet back in the safe.  Linda was in the cabin getting ready to go to the pool.  She had been off the ship and had taken a “pulmonia” (not sure how that’s spelled) which is an open air taxi (it’s really more of a golf cart), around Mazatlan with a couple of other folks, seeing some of the same places that I had seen on my excursion (but without the lunch and show). 

I read for a while in Explorers Lounge while waiting for trivia.  I met the same people I had teamed with previously, and we talked for a while before trivia started, sharing our day’s activities.  Our team didn’t win this time, but we had fun.  Then I headed out to the Promenade Deck for sailaway.  Since the ship was in a secure area, there wouldn’t be any “runners” (those passengers who are late and make a run for the ship before it left).  As I stood outside, the ship’s loudspeakers made an announcement, “Would passenger, (whatever the name is) from cabin Emerald XXX, please contact Passenger Services at extension 6000.”  Two names were announced, which meant that there were two passengers who were not accounted for.  The ship waited a few minutes, and finally I saw one of the officers lift his walkie talkie and talk into it.  Then off in the distance, I could see one of the trolley headed for the ship, and sure enough, two passengers got off—these were the latecomers, and they were very lucky not to have been left behind.  Ships have left passengers behind before, so I always make it a point to be back on board well before “all aboard time.”

I had eaten such a large lunch, that I wasn’t hungry for dinner.  Instead, I arranged to meet Linda on the Lido deck at 7:00 to watch the movie, “The Intern” on MUTS (Movies Under the Stars).  The crew passed out plaid blankets and popcorn, and it really is a good way to enjoy a movie (as long as it isn’t too cold or windy).  Unfortunately, all the nice pool loungers were already filled, so we sat on a hard wooden bench instead.  But the movie was enjoyable, and I did end up eating pizza while watching it.

After the movie, I spent a few minutes in the casino (where I again lost…darn!).  I was back in the cabin by 10:00.  Hmmm, I see a trend here—on my first few cruises, I stayed out late every night at one of the bars, but the last few cruises, I haven’t been going to the bars, and I’ve back in the cabin well before midnight (must be getting old…yikes!).

February 15, 2016--Day 3, At Sea

We again woke up early, both about the same time at about 5:30.  I got ready quickly and headed out to for my morning cappuccino and offered to bring coffee back for Linda.  She wanted a macchiato and when I ordered it was asked if I wanted it “Italian style or Starbucks style.”  Apparently the Starbucks style is with the caramel while the Italian style is without (I don’t “do” Starbucks, so really had no clue so good thing Linda told me “Starbucks style”).

After delivering the macchiato, I headed to my quiet spot for a while.  While I always wake up early, I’m not really a morning person, and a couple of hours to myself early in the morning gives me time to write my blog, and to more fully wake up.

There is one lady who I saw the day before and saw again, who comes and sits nearby.  She's also an early riser and we've chatted a few times.  Her family is also on this cruise including her two adult daughters who are on their first cruise.  I always enjoy talking with people on their first cruise and hearing their impressions.

After returning my laptop to the cabin, I headed to the Lido for another cup of coffee and sat out on the aft deck near the adults only pool with my kindle.  The sun was out and it was very warm out.  I spent quite a while there just enjoying the weather. 

Linda found me out there and we talked for a few minutes, then decided to go to the special $10 sale the ship was having just to see what they had.  I ended up buying some cute bags that were like make up or storage bags and were 3 for $10 that I thought I could bring back for the ladies in the office (it’s not a souvenir from Mexico, but they are souvenirs from my vacation, and they were cute and would actually be useful).

I had skipped breakfast and was hungry, so I told Linda I was going up for pizza for lunch.  She said she hadn’t had the pizza on board, and I told her how much I like and look forward to Princess pizza, so after dropping off our purchases in the cabin, we headed up to the Lido pool where the pizza grill was located.  Princess always has the cheese pizza, pepperoni pizza, and one specialty pizza that changes each day.  I had a slice of the pepperoni which is one of my favorites along with the specialty which included ham and bell peppers.  Linda said she thought it was really good, and went back for more.  The Princess pizza has a very thin crust pizza and reminds me of the pizza in Italy, and is advertised as the “Best pizza at sea.”  Not sure who decided that, but I would tend to agree with them.  (To be honest, I haven’t been on all the different cruise lines’ ships, so I don’t have anything to compare it to.  Hmmmm, wonder if someone would finance all my cruises so that I could do the full review—I’d be happy to publish my findings.) 

After lunch, I went for a walk around the top decks.  The Crown Princess isn’t laid out quite the same as the other ships I had been on.  For one thing, the big screen known as MUTS (movies under the stars) was over the first pool just outside the Lido buffet.  On other ships, this is a covered pool, while the next one was an outside pool with MUTS.  On the Crown Princess, the first pool isn’t covered at all, so there are two outdoor pools midship.  MUTS was playing a lot of children’s movies during the day on this cruise (Beauty and the Beast, and The Peanuts Movie for example) and there were quite a few children around, but for the most part, the children did seem to be well behaved (not the case on all cruises).  I think they should change the name of MUTS to “Movies under the Sky” instead of under the stars since they do play movies during the day. 

Another difference is that you can walk all the way forward on the upper deck and look out over the bow of the ship; that isn’t the case on all ships.  The Crown Princess also had the new upcharge restaurant, the Salty Dog, a pub-type restaurant with music.  I’ve heard it’s good with some gourmet pub food served, but can’t see spending the additional $19 charge to have a “gourmet burger” (yikes, much more than the $6 burger).  The hamburger grill on the Lido deck was located in the same place, but the pizza was at the other end of the pool—instead of forward of the pool, port side, it was aft of the pool port side.  The ice cream bar was next to the pizza grill instead of on starboard side.

Still, the ship is enough like other Princess ships, that I feel at home on board.  The cabins are still numbered the same with even cabins on the left, or port side—all four letters—while odd cabins are on the right, or starboard side; the red striped carpet on port side while the blue striped carpet on the starboard side.  I always thought they should have reversed that so that everything on the port side was four letters long (port, left, even, blue), but unfortunately, the color of the carpet doesn’t follow that pattern.  Most of the main venues, Princess Theater, Lido buffet, Club Fusion, Skywalkers, etc., are the same and are located in the same place.

The ship isn’t in bad shape, but the mattress definitely could use replacing since there is a little dip in the middle, but not enough to interfere with my sleep.  I’ve heard that Princess is upgrading all the beds and mattresses with pillow-top mattresses, and I know that a lot of long-time Princess cruises is looking forward to that.

Most of the afternoon was spent doing very little, except relaxing and reading.  I thought about participating in trivia since I’ve enjoyed that on other cruises, but never quite got around to it.  Late afternoon, I had a refreshing pina colada at the aft adult pool area (so far, this cruise, I’ve had one for my dad, one for my mom, one for me, and this one is for one of my friends).  While it was a little crowded (almost every lounger was taken or “reserved” with towels), it was much quieter out there with no children in the pool, no MUTS playing, and no band playing music as there was at the other pools. 

The previous night , there had been such a long line to the dining room at 5 when they opened, so Linda and I thought we might avoid that by going a little later.  We got dressed and headed to the dining room a little after 7:00 and were quickly seated at a table for 8, the same table we had been seated at the night before.  There was one other couple there, and a family of three were seated shortly after us.  We introduced ourselves, and talked a little about what we had planned for the different Mexican ports.

It was Italian night which I always enjoy, and I had the same meal I always seem to order on Italian night:  eggplant parmesan, minestrone, veal scaloppini, and tiramisu.  Afterward I headed to the casino for a little while, where I very quickly lost $50, so I headed back to the cabin early.

There was a time change tonight, so I moved the clock and my watch forward one hour, then got ready for bed and was asleep fairly early by 10:30 (which would have been 9:30 before I changed the clock).

Tomorrow we would arrive at our first port of call, Puerto Vallarta.

February 14, 2016--Day 2, At Sea

Yesterday, when we sailed away, the captain had made an announcement that a low pressure system was headed towards us, but that we would be staying ahead of the system and that we may have some ocean swells.  That was true and that first night the ship was swaying a bit; it was great to be rocked to sleep.

Both Linda and I were awake by a little after 5.  Having a cabinmate with the same schedule makes it so much easier to share a cabin since I didn’t have to worry about waking her up when I took a shower.  I told her that my usual routine is to get up, quickly get ready, then take my laptop, get coffee, and find a place to sit and type up my blog from the day before, and that is what I did.

I also spent time talking to whoever happened to come by and sit near me (which is why it usually takes me some time to actually get this blog typed up).  I do find it easy to strike up conversations with other passengers and crew.  Some people who don’t know me well would think I’m an extrovert, when in fact, I’m actually somewhat of an introvert—I do like my quiet time, which is why I enjoy cruising solo.  Cruising with my parents does allow me to pretty much go my own way since we aren’t “tied to the hip” (so to speak).  Cruising with my sister-in-law, Holga, on the previous cruise also allowed me enough freedom to do what I enjoyed doing instead of feeling like we needed to do everything together, and yesterday, I was glad to see the same thing with my sister-in-law, Linda.  We are all independent enough to feel comfortable on our own, doing what we enjoyed doing without having to have someone always there to do it with.  So although I’m sharing a cabin, it’s working out.  Well, enough of the introspection, and on to how the day went.

After spending a couple of hours typing and posting my blog (while talking with other passengers), I headed back to the cabin to drop off my laptop, then went to the buffet for breakfast, a meal I don’t usually eat at home, but do enjoy while I’m on board a ship.  One of my favorites is the crusty bread rolls which are baked fresh on the ship.  They are just like the Kaiser rolls I remember from Germany and unfortunately haven’t found anywhere else.  Whenever I’m on board, I have them with almost every meal (which may account for the couple of extra pounds I seem to gain on board a ship).

After breakfast, I spent some time out on deck reading my kindle and enjoying the beautiful warm sunshine until it was time to attend the Cruise Critic Meet and Greet.  Several of the officers were there including the captain, the hotel manager, the cruise director, and the entertainment director.  I spent a few minutes talking to the captain and the cruise director, as well as a few of the Cruise Critic members. 

I wasn’t hungry for lunch, so after attending the Meet and Greet, I headed to the shops to buy the ship’s model, a ship ornament, and a ship coffee mug (the three things I’ve been collecting from every ship I’ve been on—I am missing a few such as the ship’s model of the Royal Princess since they didn’t have them when we were on board).

The Princess Patter (the ship’s daily newsletter with the day’s activities listed) said there was a slot tournament, so after dropping off my package at the cabin, I headed to the casino to enter.  The top 5 people are entered into the finals, and I made it to the leader board in third place.  For the next two hours, I stayed in the casino and watched the leader board which showed me drop to fourth place, and finally to fifth place.  The last final rounds took place and I kept expecting to drop off, but surprisingly, I stayed in fifth place and found myself in the final round.  The winner of the final round would get $500, and the top two would get a place on board the Regal Princess in November for a chance to win $75,000.  I came in third—darn!  I did get a Princess t-shirt and a bingo entry card, so that afternoon, I headed off to play bingo.  Unfortunately, I didn’t win anything there either.  Oh well, I had fun, and that’s what it’s really all about.

I ran into Linda on the way back to the cabin, and we decided to go to dinner early.  It was formal night, and also Valentine’s Day and we anticipated there would be lines waiting at the dining room.  We were right, and there was a fairly long line; it took us about 20 minutes to get into the dining room.  We asked to share a table, and were placed at a table for eight.  Dinner conversation was enjoyable as we got to know each other.  I had the crab quiche and cream of asparagus soup for an appetizer, and had the broiled shrimp for a main course, followed by one of the new chocolate desserts created for Princess by a master chef and “chocolatier.”  It was a hazelnut and chocolate layered dessert and was very rich, but very good. 

After dinner, Linda and I went back to the cabin to change out of the formal wear, then went to the Princess Theater to see the new show, “Magic to Do.”  I had heard quite a bit about this show which premiered just last fall.  The show was a collaboration between Princess and the composer Stephen Schwartz, and was a musical about magic and included a lot of magical illusion tricks.  As far as shows go, it was very well done, and the dancers did a great job, but I thought the show was just OK—guess I really don’t care for musicals that don’t really have a storyline. 

After being packed into the showroom, I decided I needed some fresh air, and took a walk out on deck.  Thinking it would be a little cool, I was pleasantly surprised at how nice it was.  We had travelled far enough south that the evening was warm and pleasant.  The seas had calmed down earlier in the afternoon, and I couldn’t even feel the ship move.  There were very few people outside and it was nice to just enjoy the evening out.  After a final stroll out on deck, I headed back to the cabin.  Tomorrow would be another sea day with nothing planned except to enjoy the freedom to do whatever I felt like doing.

February 13, 2016--Day 1, Embarkation

Yay, it’s Saturday, a weekend, and I don’t have to go to work; even better than a weekend, it was the start of another cruise!  I woke up early, finished packing and getting ready, then anxiously awaited a call from Linda, my sister-in-law.  (Linda is my late husband’s brother’s wife, so I’m not sure if she is still “legally” my sister-in-law, but as far as I’m concerned she still is.)

Linda’s flight landed at 10:20, and I headed to the airport to pick her up, then drove to San Pedro port.  We arrived a little after 11:30, were quickly checked in and through security.  They had just started boarding Elite Group A, and we were Elite Group B, so after just a couple minutes wait (didn’t even have time to sit down), we were on board. 

Our cabin, P326, was an inside cabin on Plaza deck, just steps away from the International Café, which would be great for early morning cappuccino.  We dropped of the carry on luggage and headed to the Lido buffet for lunch.  Since we were among the first group on board, the buffet was pretty empty, but quickly filled up as we ate.  After lunch we headed aft to sit outside Outriggers Bar and enjoy a pina colada—the traditional sailaway drink (even though it wasn’t quite sailaway time).  It was nice outside, and warm in the sun. 

At 2:30, we headed back to the cabin to check on the luggage, which had been delivered already, so we unpacked, then headed to our muster station with life jackets in hand for the passenger safety drill.  Our muster station was in the casino where the usual announcements were made.  Princess always says that the alarm is NOT the signal to abandon ship, but is the call to proceed to your designated muster station, where passengers would wait.  This allows everyone to be in place while the ships crew handled whatever emergency occurs, and if a determination is made to abandon ship, then we would be taken to the appropriate life boat.  As I listened to these familiar instructions, I thought that the casino would be the perfect place to wait, as long as the machines were turned on, then we’d at least have something to do while we waited.  Then I thought it would be my luck that I’d be winning when it was time to abandon ship (lol).

After the drill, Linda and I headed back to Outriggers, and watched as we sailed away and the port of Los Angeles faded into the distance.  I never tire of the relaxing feeling of being on board a ship and leaving all the day-to-day routine behind.  Of course, I do have a routine I seem to follow on board, but shipboard routine is much more enjoyable than my “real” life routine.

We decided to check out the Anytime Dining Room to see what was on the menu.  Even though it was early, only 5:00, there was a long line waiting.  This is the longest line I’ve ever seen gathered well before the dining room even opened.  Not wanting to stand in line, we headed up to the Lido buffet.  I must say that dinner was very good.  I had cream of artichoke soup, cold shrimp with cocktail sauce, and crab cakes for an appetizer, then went back for the main course of citrus marinated calamari, prime rib, and grilled vegetables.  Food on a ship can vary from ok, to good, to very good, and this buffet was some of the best I’ve had in a buffet on board. 

After dinner, I headed to the casino and played for a while.  I lost at first, but then won back what I had lost and left the casino after several hours about $20 down, so not too bad.  I was back in the cabin before 10, and in bed and asleep shortly afterward. 

British Isle Cruise--Day 19

August 13, 2015—Day 19, Disembarkation and Homeward Bound

My alarm went off at a very early 4:30am so I would have time to shower, get dressed, finish packing, have breakfast, and get ready to get off the ship by 7:15am.  It was another cold, cloudy, and windy day (welcome back to England), so we had to dress in layers again knowing that when we landed in LAX it would be hot.  All went smoothly until we presented our cruise cards to be scanned one last time before getting off the ship. 

Just after we were scanned off, but before we had actually left the ship, the line came to a stop and we stood there waiting…and waiting.  Finally after about 20 minutes, one of the security guards told us that the gangway was broken (not sure what exactly was broken on the gangway) and that an engineer had been called.  In the meantime, the crowd behind us that was waiting to be scanned off the ship had grown larger and larger, and the passengers were getting angry saying they had a flight to catch—there were hundreds of people behind us all waiting to get off.  After another 10 minutes, the crowd behind us had been directed down to Deck 5 where another gangway had been opened.  Finally, with the crowd behind us clearing away, we were turned around, had to be re-scanned back on board the ship, then directed down to the other gangway where we were scanned off the ship again and made our way into the terminal.  We found our luggage right away (it usually takes us a few minutes) and we were out of the terminal less than 5 minutes after finally leaving the ship.  There were no immigration or customs lines to go through like we usually did when leaving a ship, so we ended up outside sooner than planned even with the unexpected delay. 

I had hired Smiths for Airports to take us to Heathrow Airport with a 1-hour stop at Stonehenge on the way.  Our flight wasn’t due to leave until 4:15pm, so we had time for this last sightseeing stop. 

The drive to Stonehenge was only about 45 minutes, and we arrived before most of the tour buses.  I had booked an hour at Stonehenge, and asked the driver how much it would be if we went over the hour.  He said since our flight didn’t leave until 4:15pm we had plenty of time and not to worry about any additional charge, that we could safely take over 2 hours if we wanted and still be at Heathrow in plenty of time.  He told me had to stay at the airport for a pickup at 5:00pm, so he was in no hurry and it didn’t matter to him if we took longer.

I had pre-purchased the tickets for the tram out to the stones on the Stonehenge website before leaving home and only had to present the receipt to collect them.  The visitors center is quite a ways from the actual stones and you couldn’t see them from there, but the tram bus only took a few minutes to take us out.  We walked out to see these famous stones which are even larger than I had thought.  I can’t image how they were moved, or how the large cross stones were placed on top of the others, especially over 4,000 years ago (without cranes to lift them).  Visitors aren’t able to walk among the stones themselves, and there is a small roped line to keep tourists out.  This actually is a very good thing since you can take pictures without having a bunch of people in them around the stones. 

After taking the tram back to the visitor’s center, we wandered through the gift shop, then to the café for a warming drink (tea, hot chocolate, and cappuccino).  By then, several tour buses had arrived and it was starting to get crowded, so we decided we’d better leave.  Just as we were walking back, it was starting to sprinkle, and by the time we were well no our way to Heathrow, it was raining hard.  The drive took a little longer than usual as everyone was driving slower. 

With visibility down, I decided to check my emails on the drive to the airport (there were quite a few since I hadn't checked in a while).  Air New Zealand had a program where you could place a bid for an upgrade and I had placed a very small bid of $300 to be upgraded from premium economy to business class.  I had received an email a week ago saying that they had noticed that my bid was extremely small and did I want to increase it in order to have a better chance of getting an upgrade—guess they pretty much laughed at my bid.  I had another email a few days ago saying that unfortunately, my bid was not accepted (no surprise), but that we would be placed on the standby list (I guess in case they didn’t receive any other bids).  During the drive to the airport, I received a “Congratulations, your bid has been accepted and you have been upgraded to business class.”  This was a very happy surprise since there was no way I thought they would upgrade the three of us for such a small amount (I guess that from their standpoint, it’s better than giving away a free upgrade).  While we had enjoyed the experience of flying in their spaceseat on the way over, now we would be flying in business class on the way back (Air New Zealand was quickly becoming a favorite airline—too bad they don’t fly all over).

We had also been very lucky with the weather.  While it was cold, and windy, and cloudy, and certainly not typical August weather, we hadn’t had any rain at any of the stops while we were actually outside and sightseeing and taking pictures.  Oh, it would rain while we were in the cars, but not whenever we stopped to get out. 

Unfortunately, our luck had run out and it was pouring rain at the airport.  We unloaded the luggage and wheeled them into the airport and we were really wet by the time we got inside (there is no protective covering roof which seems strange in a country that gets lots of rain).  Finally, we check in and were assigned seats 9J, 9K, and 10J.  We were also able to use United’s business class lounge since Air New Zealand is in the Star Alliance.  How nice to get complementary food and drink in a very nice setting while waiting for our flight. 

Once on board, our flight attendant offered us Champagne or orange juice, and explained all the seat controls.  As I mentioned, when we flew out, economy seats were configured in a 3-4-3 design, while premium economy was 2-2-2, but business class was 1-2-1, so much more room.  The seats were like little pods that you had all to yourself and they were lay-flat seats, meaning they would convert to a fully flat bed!  Service on the flight was beyond compare.  After such a long day with disembarkation, the stop in Stonehenge, and getting to the airport, we were all tired.  How wonderful to be able to stretch out completely, covered with a nice quilt, and fall asleep to the droning of the plane’s engines.  While I can’t imagine paying 3-5 times as much for business, it sure was nice to be able to experience it on this flight (probably the only time I will ever be able to—unless I win the lottery or megabucks of course).

I think we all slept a good 5-6 hours when growing activity in the cabin woke us.  My dad had no sooner lifted his head, when the flight attendant handed him a glass of orange juice!  I think he could definitely get used to that kind of service! 

Debarking the plane, going through immigration, getting our luggage, and clearing customs went fairly quick, and we found someplace to sit while we waited for my son to pick us up.  Unfortunately, the traffic into LAX airport was horrendous, but he finally made it and we loaded up the van and drove to my house for the night, getting here around 11:00pm California time (while it was Friday morning in England).  My parents' continuing flight from Orange County airport to Sacramento on Southwest was leaving at 8:00am, and I had to go to work the next morning, so we all tried to get some more sleep. 

This trip to England had been a bucket list item and we were able to see all the places we wanted to see.  While there were some issues with the ship, and the weather could have been warmer with less wind, there were so many other things that went well and we enjoyed being able to see so much including Buckingham Palace, Tower of London, and Windsor Castle in London.  Especially memorable was the trip to Leominster, visiting the town, walking the same streets as family members long gone have done hundreds of years before, and finding the graves of our ancestors.  The private excursions we took were wonderful and exceeded our expectations!  We visited five countries:  England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, and France.  We saw numerous castles and churches and cathedrals, and visited the Outlander sites we wanted to see.  We saw the Champes-Elysee, Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and Notre Dame Cathedral, and cruised down the Seine River.  While I had seen some of these places before, when I lived in England (over 30 years ago) and in Germany (almost 20 years ago), it was nice to be able to visit them again, and it was especially nice to be able to share all of this with my parents! 

It had been a memorable vacation, another once-in-a-lifetime experience, and yet, it was good to be home.

Till next time….