LAZY SEA DAYS!

 Caribbean Princess
Thursday, February 9, 2023
At Sea—near Cuba
80F, rainy

We purchased this photo--I try to get one for each cruise

Packing and eating and reading. TK watched me pack, but did not say anything, which leads me to believe he is taking lessons from me. We use packing cubes which does make the process easier. He conceded that he does not have all the hair and cosmetics stuff that I do. Good thing.

We have to put our luggage outside our door by 10 p.m. the last night of a cruise. I used to wait till the last minute because I did not want to waste a day, but with practice, packing to leave the ship now takes about 45 minutes (except for the Mediterranean cruise when we bought a lot of items).  I don't just throw everything into the bags either--if you were thinking that!

It was raining most of the day, so everyone congregated inside. No one knew what to do, even though they had choices like this between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. today:

• Knitters and Knatters get together (this was a choice every day)
• Culinary Demonstration
• Stamp Collectors get together
• The Great Egg Drop Challenge
• Bingo
• Art Auction
• Enrichment Lecture
• Afternoon tea
• Voice of the Ocean Grand Finale
• Plus sales at the shops
• Seminars like how to burn fat or look younger
• And 9 different live music shows all over the ship
• And food at 3 dining rooms, the buffet, the piazza, and at the pizza shop, burger place, ice cream corner
• And drinks at 14 bars onboard.
• Something for everyone!

A little tour for you:

International Cafe, usually where gets our

 morning coffee. Deck 5

Open 24 hours, breakfast items in the morning, 

sandwiches, sweet breads, desserts

Piazza, Deck 5

A central meeting place with two bars, the International Cafe,

a candy shop, the Internet Cafe, Liquor store

The entrance to the dining room is nearby

Often small music groups are playing here

Dennis Smith on the Steel Pan

in  the Piazza, Deck 5

Vines Bar, Deck 5

One of two bars in this area

Art Gallery, Deck 5

We had another great dinner, peach soup, prime rib with Yorkshire pudding, and a baked potato for me and meatloaf for TK. Dessert was Baked Alaska. Crista and Virgilio, our servers from the Philippines, were always spot on with our dinners and beverages.  We will make sure we mention them on the survey, that is how they advance in their jobs.

 

Packing is complete except for what we need tomorrow, luggage is outside our stateroom. We said goodbye to our stateroom steward, Suriyan. He was super and cleaned our room and bath twice a day, and made sure we had enough towels, soaps, and everything. They work so hard.  Another cruise in the books!  On to our next adventure aboard the Carnival Celebration!

 

 

CARIBBEAN PRINCESS 2023!

Caribbean Princess
At Sea/Atlantic Ocean, leaving Fort Lauderdale/Port Everglades
January 27, 2023
65F--seems cooler

We took our time this morning because the ship would not accept passengers till 2 p.m.  I will say that the hotel personnel did bring us another chair last night so TK and I did not have to fight over one chair in the room.

Anyway, the front desk clerk told us there was a brand new mall nearby. That is where we headed, Dania Pointe Mall.  New construction is everywhere, including two new hotels by the mall, a Hilton and a Marriott, as well as three high rise apartment buildings that are not yet finished.  The contemporary shops and restaurants are new, and it is nicely landscaped with fountains. Since the stores were not open yet this morning, we decided to have breakfast at First Watch---it was very busy and quite upscale.  We were offered seating outdoors but it was too cool  for us. The freshly made waffle was very good and TK liked the blueberry muffin.  Many shops will be moving in, but I  did some damage at Tommy Bahamas.

Parking the truck was easy once we found the parking site and soon we were headed to the Caribbean Princess. TK reminded me that we have sailed this ship before—2014.  I know I should not say the ships all look alike to me, so I won’t.  Everything went smoothly as we boarded—passengers and carryon luggage must go through security, passports are shown, and today we walked right onto the ship after security  with no waiting at 2 p.m. We were also able to go to our stateroom and drop off our luggage. We had a small snack and met a lovely English couple at the buffet.

C209--10th Deck--the TV is reflected in the mirror over the desk

This balcony is larger than usual

Doesn't everyone want to see the bathroom?? They are quite compact

Today is a tiring day because  of “fuss” of boarding, organizing the room, unpacking, and so on. We had dinner at 6 p.m., and settled in for the night.  Tonight’s dinner was Yankee pot roast, one of the best dinners I have ever had on a ship. Everything tasted just right, no odd spices or anything. Maybe the powers in charge actually read my comments on the survey after the last cruise!

What would the blog be without some food photos?

This is marscapone and berry something or other, it was good

TK’s Takes: He got lost at the airport trying to find our Park and Go place—but Janie comments that the GPS was not clear, and it was easy to take the wrong off ramp.  He also said he forgot some of his favorite things, his magnetic hooks that affix to the stateroom wall and so on.  I know he is tired—we have the next two days to get our shipboard bearings. I’m tired too.

Hey Jim! We really appreciate your comments!

A NEW CARIBBEAN ADVENTURE BEGINS!

Erie, Pennsylvania
January 19, 2023

44F, cloudy

Our Family, December 2022

In just a few days, we are going to begin another travel adventure as we “explore the world!”  TK does love his cruising and so he has booked two cruises for January and February this year. It has been a while since we have been able to drive to Florida and cruise like we did before Covid.

 As always, he has meticulously planned this trip.

 Here is the basic schedule for now:

2023

January 23:                  Leave Erie, Pennsylvania and head south!

January 24-26:            Stop north of Charlotte, then St. Augustine, then Fort Lauderdale

January 27:                  Board the Caribbean Princess

January 28-29:            At Sea

January 30:                  St. Thomas shopping!!

January 31:                  St. Kitts/Palms Court Gardens luxury pool overlooking the Caribbean

February 1:                  Martinique

February 2:                  Dominica

February 3:                  Barbados

February 4:                  Trinidad

February 5:                  At Sea

February 6:                  Aruba

February 7:                  Curacao

February 8-9:              At Sea

February 10:                Fort Lauderdale

February 11:                Miami:  Meet up with our cruise friends we love, Donna and Lawrence

February 12:                Board the Carnival Celebration and hope to see the Buffalo Bills win the Super Bowl!

February 13:                At Sea

February 14:                Celebrate Valentine’s Day in the Dominican Republic

February 15:                San Juan

February 16:                St. Thomas again!!

February 17-18:          At Sea

February 19:                Miami

February 20-25:          Visit Fort Myers, the Panhandle, and drive to Erie.