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.