Caribbean Princess Sea Day, Sept 7

Today's post is a hodgepodge of random thoughts. I hope you don't mind.

Another pretty sunrise

While we've been having some spectacular sunrises and sunsets this entire trip, we've also had spectacular thunderstorms. I think we have sat on the balcony every single night and watched lightning off in the distance. We did have a couple nights where it was right on top of us where we had to watch from inside. Looking at the hurricane forecast for the next couple weeks makes me think we'll be seen plenty more storms. And be either skipping or substituting ports. I know passengers get frustrated at having to cancel pre-booked excursions, but I'd rather be in a safe location that facing high winds and huge waves.

We trust Gru to get us through it. Yes our Captain's name is Marco, but he sounds like Gru from Despicable Me. Seriously, he really does. When the noontime navigational update comes on each day we are just waiting for him to call us minions instead of passengers. Word has it that he actually has stuffed minions up on the Bridge. He's a good guy, though.

Have I mentioned how great a cabin steward we have? Yesterday he let me film him making towels animals and today I shared the video with him. He is so excited to show it to his wife and six year old son back at home. I'll be posting the video on the next Tutorial Tuesday on September 11 so you can see it, too.

Remember how hubby accidentally locked me on the balcony a while back? Well, guess what happened again today? Yup. He (accidentally) did it again. This is our last cruise with the balcony as we go to an inside cabin for next cruise. Probably a good thing. 

Since we're changing cabins this next cruise we just have a little bit of packing to do. We get to leave everything on their hangers and then we just toss the other stuff in the suitcase. Tomorrow morning the cabin steward will arrange for his supervisor to get things moved for us. We'll keep the things from the safe with us but otherwise they take care of us. Never had a problem so far. 

Medallion™ Update:
To make the progression of the roll-out more clear I've grouped the posts by week. Today I'm sharing some of those things I didn't yet write about this week.

You can find the post here on the Sept 1-8 update page.
August 18-25 updates can be found here.
August 25-Sept 1 updates can found here.

Encouraging Word Money Pocket Drop Off:
I haven't decided where I'm going to place it yet. After being locked on the balcony for the second time this trip the message might be for me.

Tomorrow is turnaround day, an early morning Walgreens run, a new cabin change, and another Medallion meeting. Should be a good day.

As usual, if you have any questions or comments, please click on the envelope icon at the top right of this screen.

Caribbean Princess Sea Day, Sept 6

As kids hubby and I both grew up in poverty. Food stamps and all. Life is never easy and you never think there is a way out. But education was our way. College and careers. It still wasn't big money - public school teachers in Idaho didn't make that much but it was better than we'd had before. Growing up poor, cruising is something we never ever considered being a part of our future lives. Then after 20 years of marriage (and saving) we were looking for a way to celebrate our anniversary in a big way. It was going to be a once-in-a-lifetime trip. A cruise. Seven days roundtrip from Seattle to Alaska on the Diamond Princess. Somehow that once in a lifetime trip turned into something we fell in love with. For us, getting to go again and again (and again) is nothing short of miraculous.

And if not for the Love Boat we probably wouldn't have ever started. As a kid, watching Captain Stubing and Julie McCoy and Doc and Gopher and Isaac each week (and let's not forgot all the tv and movie stars showing up each week) made me think there was another life out there. Granted, not one I would ever live, but it was out there.

So it was quite surprising when we booked this cruise last minute and received an email about who would be onboard. We hadn't seen any activities listed in the Patter about him yet. But he showed up today.

We watched his biography in the Princess Theater and then stayed for the Q & A session. He told touching stories of his life. He also had a book signing and photo opp session, but the crowd was from Wheelhouse all the way to Club Fusion so we didn't stand in line.

Listening to him tell stories about Marion Ross and Mary Tyler Moore and the filming of the Love Boat was enough. It definitely was a how did I get this life? kind of moment for me.

Who is that special guest we have joining us? None other than Captain Stubing, Gavin MacLeod.

That was pretty much the highlight of the day.

Coming in second was getting a look at the new accessories for the Medallions. The case in the Ocean Front area off the photo gallery is full of them. Click the link under the Medallion™ Update section below to see the pictures.

Getting the disembarkation paperwork and luggage tags came in a close third. Not because we're excited to put them on our suitcase, but because we were excited to not need them. Yeah, we called yet another audible and decided to stay for one more cruise. (If you're counting, that makes four back-to-back cruises.) By the time we leave this ship we will have had 31 days here. Yay! Or as hubby likes to say, "Booyah!" (Whatever that means.)

The sunrise has to be on the list somewhere. It had to be a good day when the sunrise might be the fourth best thing of the day.

Medallion™ Update:
To make the progression of the roll-out more clear I've grouped the posts by week. Today we're talking about the new Medallion accessories. 

 You can find the post here on the Sept 1-8 update page.
August 18-25 updates can be found here.
August 25-Sept 1 updates can found here.

Encouraging Word Money Pocket Drop Off:
Restroom behind the buffet.

One more sea day tomorrow as we head our way back to Fort Lauderdale.
As usual, if you have any questions or comments, please click on the envelope icon at the top right of this screen.

Caribbean Princess in St. Maarten

Today was the umpteenth perfect day in St. Maarten. Just like last week - Here's the recap of that day. Actually, today was perfect up until the point we tried to get a taxi back to the ship.

The drinks were again good at the Bikini Bar on Orient Beach.

 They had raked the sea grass so there were paths to get to the water.

While the beach was busier than last week it still wasn't crowded.

Even when the afternoon winds and tide brought in more sea grass and I decided to stop going into the water, it was still a great day.

Great until the taxi driver approached us as we were ready to leave. 

We've visited many Caribbean islands and many places in Mexico and have seen taxi drivers being pretty darn aggressive with cruise ship passengers. I get that drivers have to hustle to get tourist dollars but they don't have to flat out hustle passengers to get the dollars. We recognize when people are being scammed and we had a driver today trying to scam us. (Hubby called it a shakedown.) Most tourists would believe him, follow him, and pay him. But we weren't having any of it. While we made it back to the ship in plenty of time (after finally getting a different driver) the entire experience made us just not want to go back again. We'll see. 

Tonight we have the Most Traveled Guest Cocktail Party up in Skywalkers. The 40 passengers on the ship with the most days on Princess Cruises are invited to this. Sometimes it's a party, sometimes a luncheon, sometimes a brunch. We just barely made the cut this cruise. In fact, one of those invited couldn't make it so we were next on the list. So technically we were #41 on the ship. So I'm guessing the  number of days cutoff was in the mid 400s. I may or may not take food pics. If so, I'll add them here later tonight.

Update to Most Traveled Party: No food pics, but look what was on my side of the bed when we came back to the cabin - compliments of our cabin steward who has been teaching me how to make towel animals.

Medallion™ Update:
To make the progression of the roll-out more clear I've grouped the posts by week. Today I'm addressing a few of the questions and comments you've been sending my way.

You can find the post here on the Sept 1-8 update page.
August 18-25 updates can be found here.
August 25-Sept 1 updates can found here.

Encouraging Word Money Pocket Drop Off:
In the restroom at Bikini Bar.

We've got two sea days in a row coming up.

As usual, if you have any questions or comments, please click on the envelope icon at the top right of this screen.

Caribbean Princess in St. Thomas

7:30 am - pack the snorkel bag
8:00 am - go to the Future Cruise Consultant office to book something
8:20 am - pick up hubby from the International Cafe
8:30 am - walk off the ship to grab a taxi 
9:00 am - catch the ferry from Red Hook to St. John
Eat breakfast at the Cruz Bay Landing restaurant in St. John. Get a taxi for an island tour. Stop at Trunk Bay for a few hours of sunning and swimming and snorkeling.
3:00 pm - catch the ferry back to Red Hook and grab a taxi back to the ship.

Not being able to stop in Princess Cays because of the hurricane allowed us a full day on St. Thomas. Which meant we should have had a nice chunk of time on St. John. But you know us, things don't always go as planned.

When I went down to International Cafe this morning to pick up hubby up on the way off the ship I found him in a bit of pain. He had wrenched his back and couldn't hardly move. Couldn't hardly talk because of the pain and barely could get out of the chair. Poor guy.

So instead of an 8:30 walk off the ship time we took the elevator back to the cabin and he wound up with an 8:30 stretch and heat compress and massage time. Finally by 11:00 he thought he might want to take the short walk to the Smoking Rooster for a couple of glasses of sangria to dull the pain. He thought after those then he'd really be ready to go. We were at the Smoking Rooster a couple weeks back so he knows what the drinks can do. Here's the recap of that visit.

But today two glasses of sangria turned into three. And three turned into four. Of course I kept up with his number of drinks, just with the Mai Tais and a new drink, a Blue Parrot Tail. 

And 11:00 turned into 3:00, just like that. We talked to the server who waited on us just a couple weeks ago. We love hearing people's stories! We talked to the guys smoking the meats. Don't tell anyone, but the guys cut off the end of one of the racks of ribs as they were pulling them out of the smoker and gave them to us. Oh. My. Goodness.

We shared an Italian Beef sandwich and decided we had to call it a day. We headed back to the ship and hubby went to take a nap and I went right to the spa pool and stripped. Thank goodness I still had my swimsuit on, right? I floated a bit then plopped myself into one of the comfy loungers and proceeded to fall fast asleep.

It was not what we planned for the day but it still wound up being the umpteenth perfect day.

Here's the Smoking Rooster menu, just in case you're ever in St. Thomas.

Medallion™ Update:
To make the progression of the roll-out more clear I've grouped the posts by week. Today we're talking about the information on the current cruise cards versus the Medallion.
You can find the post here on the Sept 1-8 update page.
August 18-25 updates can be found here.
August 25-Sept 1 updates can found here.

Encouraging Word Money Pocket Drop Off: Left at the Smoking Rooster. 

Tomorrow we're in St. Maarten. If hubby's back holds out we're heading back to Orient Beach for the day and have the Most Traveled Guest Party tomorrow night. Should be a full day.

As usual, if you have any questions or comments, please click on the envelope icon at the top right of this screen.

Caribbean Princess Sea Day, September 3, 2018

Hello from the balcony of Caribbean Princess.

Well, it looks like the storm that chased us away from Princess Cays yesterday is now Tropical Storm Gordon and is hitting Florida as we speak. And Tropical Storm Florence is gaining strength as she moves in from the Atlantic. It appears we will be dodging both; although if we decide to stay for one more cruise we may see some impact.

This week is also the one year anniversary of Hurricane Irma hitting the Caribbean. We will visiting two of the islands devastated by her - St. Thomas and St. Maarten - in the next couple days. It's a bit somber for us. We were on both islands before the hurricane and then revisited them two cruises back so we know the destruction that still remains. We also remember visiting New Orleans less than a year after Katrina. It's not easy to start over.

Today was another work day for me. I did take a little break where I learned something new. Towel animals! Our cabin steward was kind enough to show me how to make some so I can turn around and show you in a future Tutorial Tuesday video. I still need some lots of practice before I can show them off but I am pleased with the little doggie I made.

Tonight is formal night and we won't be joining the dressed up folks. We are planning on going to Planks for dinner instead. We'll be wearing the nicest clothes we have with us, which means we will actually wear pants and not shorts for a change. I'll do a separate post when we get back from dinner.

Medallion™ Update:
To make the progression of the roll-out more clear I've grouped the posts by week. Today we're talking about MedallionNet™.

 You can find the post here on the Sept 1-8 update page.
August 18-25 updates can be found here.
August 25-Sept 1 updates can found here.

Encouraging Word Money Pocket Drop Off:

Left at Salty Dog Grill.

Tomorrow is St. Thomas. Since we didn't stop in Princess Cays we are arriving earlier than planned. We now will be there from 8:00 am to 9:30 pm. Yay and double yay!

As usual, if you have any questions or comments, please click on the envelope icon at the top right of this screen.

Caribbean Princess at (NOT) Princess Cays

We had a stormy day and never made it to Princess Cays today. So no snorkeling for me. Boo hoo. But a big plus is that we will be arriving in St. Thomas on Tuesday in the morning instead of the afternoon. Longer is always better! Another plus was that I needed some extra time today to work. And boy, I've been working. Filming and writing and photos around the ship and voiceovers. Other than out to take pictures I've sequestered myself in the cabin. Hubby even brought me breakfast and lunch so I could keep working. I found out that audio recording doesn't work so great in a big metal cruise ship cabin with a hand held tape recorder. Nothing like my professional quality equipment at home. Oh, well.

Only one other thing worth mentioning today. I received a call about a letter I had sent to Princess a couple days back about the gals smoking on the balcony next to us. When I reported it they had sent someone up, but the ladies had their privacy sign out. Princess policy is that if a guest has their privacy sign out, they can't be disturbed - even if they are smoking. I had shared that these gals had their privacy sign out most of the time. (They are the ones who refused to pay gratuities and thought if the steward never entered their cabin they wouldn't have to.) In my letter to Princess, and again on the phone today, I had encouraged them to revisit their privacy sign policy, particularly when passenger safety is as stake. These ladies could smoke every day and nothing done about it because they kept their privacy sign out.

Not long after that call today a bouquet of flowers arrived. Now I don't know if they had to do with the issue or are from someone else - the card just said enjoy the rest of your cruise - but it was a kind gesture either way.

Medallion™ Update:
To make the progression of the roll-out more clear I've grouped the posts by week. 
The Sept 1-8 update page is here.
August 18-25 updates can be found here.
August 25-Sept 1 updates can found here.

I also did a new video today of updated information.

The one above has hubby in it, but I did one just of him down below. With him being disabled, the Medallion has made his cruise vacation even better. Take a look.

Encouraging Word Money Pocket Drop Off:
In the Piazza.

Another sea day is up tomorrow. Thanks goodness because I've got more work to do.
As usual, if you have any questions or comments, please click on the envelope icon at the top right of this screen.

Eastern Caribbean Cruise on the Caribbean Princess - Embarkation Day

Well, third time was the charm for 5 O'Clock Charlie's. If you remember, two weeks ago hubby had a fall in the airport and we couldn't go. Here's the story of that Un-Adventure Day. Then last week we got stuck in Panera Bread for a good chunk of the day because of severe thunderstorms. Here's the story of that drenching day. So today, we were going to go no matter what.

We walked from the port (I love being docked at Pier 2!) to the bus stop and caught the Sun Trolley down to Bubba Gumps. It opened earlier than Charlie's so we ate at Bubba Gumps and watched the weather.

And then at exactly noon we walked right next door to 5 O'Clock Charlie's.

And were greeted by Lee, our favorite bartender who remembered us from previous visits. Before she even made me a Rocket Pop drink, she grabbed her wallet and pulled something out to show me.

Like I've said before, over the last several years I’ve been giving away dollar bills with notes of encouragement. I’ve left them in restrooms and airplane magazines and sugar containers. I’ve left them in windowsills and tip jars and hotel room drawers. I’ve left them on buses and taxis and trains and cruise ships. Sometimes I place one somewhere once a day and other days I drop them off multiple times.

5 O'Clock Charlie's is a place I've left them more than once. During one visit quite a while ago Lee figured out I was the one leaving them in the restroom because they only showed up there when I was there.

So guess what Lee pulled out of her wallet to show me today? One of those encouraging word money pockets she had found from long ago. All this time she's kept it in her wallet. It's looking a little rough around the edges now, but how amazing is that? I had brought one to drop off again today but after finding how important it was to her I went ahead and just gave the new one to her.

And what makes getting to 5 O'Clock Charlie's even more special is that Lee told us today that the bar is closing this month. If we hadn't made our way down there we would never have seen her for the last time. Or learned how important an encouraging note had been to her all this time. 

Life is just flippin' awesome. It was a good day.

Now we're back on the ship with one last go at it.

It's always depressing when we take our last cruise. While most folks are just arriving for their one week vacation we are downtrodden about only getting three weeks on the ship. If we could find a way to stay on the ship one more cruise after this one, we would. Heck, I have no where to go!

Medallion™ Update:
I've moved my updates to make the progression of the roll-out more clear. Today I had more super-informative conversations with the folks running the Medallion roll-out. I always learn so much from them. I'll keep sharing with you throughout the week.

August 18-25 updates can be found here.

August 25-Sept 1 updates can found here.

Sept 1-8 updates can be found here.

Encouraging Word Money Pocket Drop Off:
Left at Bubba Gumps at lunch. And then of course, the one for Lee. (I didn't take a photo of that one.)

Tomorrow we're back in Princess Cays. I'm a going a-snorkelin'!

As usual, if you have any questions or comments, please click on the envelope icon at the top right of this screen.