Cruise on the Caribbean Princess Feb 2013
We left St. Louis on Friday, Feb 1st and headed for Ft. Lauderdale. We would be cruising with a group of 7 and so 3 of them were also on our plane heading south, Nikki, Terry, and Phyllis.
We went to the 6 PM LGBT meet and greet. There were 3 guy couples and a single guy there (who lives in the 1000 Lake region of Canada and looked oddly familiar to me?).
We had anytime dining but I think Saturday was the only time we didn’t eat at 8:00 or 8:15. We had dinner at 7:30. Carol and I had Fettucine Alfredo and started a tradition. It was absolutely fabulous, and served on a bed of parmesan crust. It was so good, we ordered a big bowl for the table every night and it was always eaten by the end of dinner. We were a little late for the 9 PM movie Hope Springs but it was fun to be back at Movies Under the Stars.
Sunday morning, we ordered room service so we could enjoy a light breakfast on our balcony. We arrived early at Princess Cay and we disembarked around 10:30. On the tender we set near one of the singers on the ship and overheard his conversations. He had a friend visiting him and he was talking about the fact that his friends can cruise for free as long as they are ok with staying in his room. It sounded like he has a lot more freedom than the waiters and stewards on board. Once ashore, headed right for lunch. The ribs, as I remembered from last time, were excellent. We enjoyed laying on the beach but the water was a tad chilly to swim so our snorkel gear was to no avail. We climbed the wooden tower and got a nice view of the island.
Later that night, we went to the show, called "Do You Wanna Dance" and saw the blond-headed singer from the tender. It was a musical dance medly. But before that, we went up to see the Superbowl on the big screen.
Monday was a sea day and mostly we spent the day laying in the sun. I also decided I wanted to go watch shopping. I ended up finding a Guess watch that I absolutely loved and it was less than $100. We had a glass of wine at the Vines so Carol could indulge in some sushi. We listened to a band with a Lionel Ritchie vibe and before long, it was time to dress for formal night and go watch them build the champagne waterfall. I also learned a piece of trivia about the show "Love Boat" and that there were 5 Princess ships involved in the filming.
Tuesday morning and it was room service once again. We were not in a hurry as our shore excursion was later in the afternoon so we also ate lunch in the dining room. Once docked, we joined the group for a stroll into the picturesque Curacao as we did a little shopping. Carol bought her Del Sol sunglasses and I looked at bamboo sheets but didn't buy. We had bought two T-shirts earlier on the ship so our shopping was pretty much a wrap. The excursion group met at 4:30. Arthur was our leader and we rode small busses to the catamaran dock. Arthur had a very international background, living in New Zealand and Belguim. He came to Curacao to help his father fix his house there. Our driver was Mary Sol. She was not the regular driver and as such, was invited to go on the sail boat. She seemed to get quite a kick out of it and had Arthur take lots of photos. Three Dutch kids ran the boat, Eric, Patrick and the female who was the pilot. We saw some great sites, expensive homes owned by wealthy Dutch people, the new Hilton which is the place to go if you want a true get away. Eric told us that New Year's eve is quite a deal there in Curacao, as everyone is out in their boats for a big party. They served us rum punch and later on a green banana liquer. We set by some Canadians that had been on last year's Crown Princess cruise to nowhere. Arthur shared one other fun fact and that was that all the water is de-salinated and his water bill last month had been $400 for his home and guest house.
We ended the evening but our one solo dinner as we thought the group was eating in town. We happened to be seated with a couple from Canada and another from NY. It was her birthday and we enjoyed chatting with them about politics and New York city.
Wednesday morning was the only day we had something early so we ordered egg sandwiches from room service to ready ourselves for the day. We disembarked in Aruba and walked through the shops to meet our group at 9:20. We were going to ride a banana bus and our driver was Raymond. Off we went to our first stop, the lighthouse. And once there, we had great views (including Venezuela) and the best fresh coconut smoothie ever. It was so amazing, just fresh coconut and the fresh coconut milk.
Our next stop was the Moomba beach, between the Holiday Inn and the Mariott. We had comfortable yellow beach chairs and it was near a restaurant bar. The pina coloda was not the same after the coconut smoothie though. The beach was gorgesous, the water was a beautiful aqua shade and very calm. The sand was white and clean. The water was warm and we enjoyed our time on the water. We chatted with a lady from Massachusetts who asked if we were married. Our time there ended too soon.
Once back on the ship, we ate lunch at the Lido. There, we ran into Warren, Jim, and Nikki so we planned the evening. We were suppose to depart Aruba at 5 so we laid on the back deck on the Riveria level waiting, but we were delayed so we didn't get to see it. It was fun though watching people run back to the ship as the scheduled departure time drew near. We went to see the Illusionist, Hawley Magic, which was quite an impressive show and at the end of the show, around 8 PM, we could feel our ship was moving. Hawley's Magic had been on America's Got Talent.
For dinner, we brought our Italian wine (even though Italian night was the night before) so we could share with Pickes.
Thursday was a sea day. I tried the $1.25 speciality coffee which was not that great. But brought back an excellent apple turnover. Carol went to get some sun on the Riveria deck. Sharon went up for a 20 minute elliptical workout and then returned to our fabulous balcony and just watched the ocean. It was Zen like and is probably the reason for coming home so incredibly relaxed and at peace.
Lunch was a Mexican buffet and then at 2 PM, we went to see the movie "Lincoln." From there, we went to the LGBT gathering in the Wheelhouse and chatted with Richard (who used to live in the CWE) and Mike who live in Virginia.
It was formal night and dinner was awesome, escargot, lobster tail and shrimp, a shrimp/crab cake with caviar, and goat cheese soup.
That night, we went to see the Bourne Legacy at Movies Under the Stars. It was so windy and back in our room, we could hear the balcony furniture banging around. The waves were really crashing against the ship.
Friday is sad as you know it is the last day. We got to the main pool early, 7:30 AM and staked a spot. Then we slipped in for breakfast at the Lido. The classic much loved movie, "Momma Mia" was shown at 10 AM. We stayed put and later brought back lunch. It was an Indian buffet for me and Carol had pizza. We watched a little bit of the Love Boat series and I napped. We then came back to the solitude of our balcony and started packing. We went down to the front desk and decided to take $2.50 off our gratuity since we had taken care of our room steward ourselves. We even nominated Cynthia for outstanding employee.
We had our last wondeful cruise dinner and said our goodbyes to Warren, Jim, and Nikki. The next morning, we had breakfast in the dining room and then headed out to board our bus to the airport. There, we met up with Pickles and Phyllis for a bit of lunch and a cocktail. Soon we were on the plane. Pickles set with us and then we all said our goodbyes at the St. Louis airport. Our friends Carolyn and Donna were there to pick us up.
We left St. Louis on Friday, Feb 1st and headed for Ft. Lauderdale. Carolyn had picked us up and drove us to the airport. Once there, we had lunch at the new Brew House restaurant as our old stand-by Chili’s is under construction. We would be cruising with a group of 7 and so 3 of them were also on our plane heading south, Nikki, Terry, and Phyllis.
Once we arrived, we took the shuttle to the Ramada Cruise Port. The shuttle was a little slow but we finally got there. It was our third time staying at this place and it is very convenient. Once we were settled, Jim and Terry (aka Pickles) came and picked us up. We all met at the 17th Street Gilberts Grill for dinner. Awesome burgers!! and Carol had the chicken sandwich. After dinner, it was on the Wine shop and then back to our hotel for our customary glass of wine in the beautiful courtyard. On Saturday morning, we headed for the free Continental breakfast. The old lady that was working there the two times before was not there this time. We had an 11:45 time to board the bus for our ship and that part went quickly and smoothly. Once in line to board though, things slowed down. We didn’t move at all for about 90 minutes. I later theorized that there were still cleaning the ship. It turned out that many passengers from the Crown cruise after ours in 2011 were on this one. So the last thing they wanted was any cases of the Norovirus.
We finally made it and dropped our carry-on luggage in our cabin, then headed to the Lido for lunch. It was crowded as usual.
Our muster station was in the casino, which we found amusing and just as we were close to setting off, our luggage arrived. The sail-away party was a blast as usual. This was the first cruise for Phyllis, which made it extra fun.
Once we arrived, we took the shuttle to the Ramada Cruise Port. The shuttle was a little slow but we finally got there. It was our third time staying at this place and it is very convenient. Once we were settled, Jim and Terry (aka Pickles) came and picked us up. We all met at the 17th Street Gilberts Grill for dinner. Awesome burgers!! and Carol had the chicken sandwich. After dinner, it was on the Wine shop and then back to our hotel for our customary glass of wine in the beautiful courtyard. On Saturday morning, we headed for the free Continental breakfast. The old lady that was working there the two times before was not there this time. We had an 11:45 time to board the bus for our ship and that part went quickly and smoothly. Once in line to board though, things slowed down. We didn’t move at all for about 90 minutes. I later theorized that there were still cleaning the ship. It turned out that many passengers from the Crown cruise after ours in 2011 were on this one. So the last thing they wanted was any cases of the Norovirus.
We finally made it and dropped our carry-on luggage in our cabin, then headed to the Lido for lunch. It was crowded as usual.
Our muster station was in the casino, which we found amusing and just as we were close to setting off, our luggage arrived. The sail-away party was a blast as usual. This was the first cruise for Phyllis, which made it extra fun.
We went to the 6 PM LGBT meet and greet. There were 3 guy couples and a single guy there (who lives in the 1000 Lake region of Canada and looked oddly familiar to me?).
We had anytime dining but I think Saturday was the only time we didn’t eat at 8:00 or 8:15. We had dinner at 7:30. Carol and I had Fettucine Alfredo and started a tradition. It was absolutely fabulous, and served on a bed of parmesan crust. It was so good, we ordered a big bowl for the table every night and it was always eaten by the end of dinner. We were a little late for the 9 PM movie Hope Springs but it was fun to be back at Movies Under the Stars.
Sunday morning, we ordered room service so we could enjoy a light breakfast on our balcony. We arrived early at Princess Cay and we disembarked around 10:30. On the tender we set near one of the singers on the ship and overheard his conversations. He had a friend visiting him and he was talking about the fact that his friends can cruise for free as long as they are ok with staying in his room. It sounded like he has a lot more freedom than the waiters and stewards on board. Once ashore, headed right for lunch. The ribs, as I remembered from last time, were excellent. We enjoyed laying on the beach but the water was a tad chilly to swim so our snorkel gear was to no avail. We climbed the wooden tower and got a nice view of the island.
Later that night, we went to the show, called "Do You Wanna Dance" and saw the blond-headed singer from the tender. It was a musical dance medly. But before that, we went up to see the Superbowl on the big screen.
Monday was a sea day and mostly we spent the day laying in the sun. I also decided I wanted to go watch shopping. I ended up finding a Guess watch that I absolutely loved and it was less than $100. We had a glass of wine at the Vines so Carol could indulge in some sushi. We listened to a band with a Lionel Ritchie vibe and before long, it was time to dress for formal night and go watch them build the champagne waterfall. I also learned a piece of trivia about the show "Love Boat" and that there were 5 Princess ships involved in the filming.
Tuesday morning and it was room service once again. We were not in a hurry as our shore excursion was later in the afternoon so we also ate lunch in the dining room. Once docked, we joined the group for a stroll into the picturesque Curacao as we did a little shopping. Carol bought her Del Sol sunglasses and I looked at bamboo sheets but didn't buy. We had bought two T-shirts earlier on the ship so our shopping was pretty much a wrap. The excursion group met at 4:30. Arthur was our leader and we rode small busses to the catamaran dock. Arthur had a very international background, living in New Zealand and Belguim. He came to Curacao to help his father fix his house there. Our driver was Mary Sol. She was not the regular driver and as such, was invited to go on the sail boat. She seemed to get quite a kick out of it and had Arthur take lots of photos. Three Dutch kids ran the boat, Eric, Patrick and the female who was the pilot. We saw some great sites, expensive homes owned by wealthy Dutch people, the new Hilton which is the place to go if you want a true get away. Eric told us that New Year's eve is quite a deal there in Curacao, as everyone is out in their boats for a big party. They served us rum punch and later on a green banana liquer. We set by some Canadians that had been on last year's Crown Princess cruise to nowhere. Arthur shared one other fun fact and that was that all the water is de-salinated and his water bill last month had been $400 for his home and guest house.
We ended the evening but our one solo dinner as we thought the group was eating in town. We happened to be seated with a couple from Canada and another from NY. It was her birthday and we enjoyed chatting with them about politics and New York city.
Wednesday morning was the only day we had something early so we ordered egg sandwiches from room service to ready ourselves for the day. We disembarked in Aruba and walked through the shops to meet our group at 9:20. We were going to ride a banana bus and our driver was Raymond. Off we went to our first stop, the lighthouse. And once there, we had great views (including Venezuela) and the best fresh coconut smoothie ever. It was so amazing, just fresh coconut and the fresh coconut milk.
Our next stop was the Moomba beach, between the Holiday Inn and the Mariott. We had comfortable yellow beach chairs and it was near a restaurant bar. The pina coloda was not the same after the coconut smoothie though. The beach was gorgesous, the water was a beautiful aqua shade and very calm. The sand was white and clean. The water was warm and we enjoyed our time on the water. We chatted with a lady from Massachusetts who asked if we were married. Our time there ended too soon.
Once back on the ship, we ate lunch at the Lido. There, we ran into Warren, Jim, and Nikki so we planned the evening. We were suppose to depart Aruba at 5 so we laid on the back deck on the Riveria level waiting, but we were delayed so we didn't get to see it. It was fun though watching people run back to the ship as the scheduled departure time drew near. We went to see the Illusionist, Hawley Magic, which was quite an impressive show and at the end of the show, around 8 PM, we could feel our ship was moving. Hawley's Magic had been on America's Got Talent.
For dinner, we brought our Italian wine (even though Italian night was the night before) so we could share with Pickes.
Thursday was a sea day. I tried the $1.25 speciality coffee which was not that great. But brought back an excellent apple turnover. Carol went to get some sun on the Riveria deck. Sharon went up for a 20 minute elliptical workout and then returned to our fabulous balcony and just watched the ocean. It was Zen like and is probably the reason for coming home so incredibly relaxed and at peace.
Lunch was a Mexican buffet and then at 2 PM, we went to see the movie "Lincoln." From there, we went to the LGBT gathering in the Wheelhouse and chatted with Richard (who used to live in the CWE) and Mike who live in Virginia.
It was formal night and dinner was awesome, escargot, lobster tail and shrimp, a shrimp/crab cake with caviar, and goat cheese soup.
That night, we went to see the Bourne Legacy at Movies Under the Stars. It was so windy and back in our room, we could hear the balcony furniture banging around. The waves were really crashing against the ship.
Friday is sad as you know it is the last day. We got to the main pool early, 7:30 AM and staked a spot. Then we slipped in for breakfast at the Lido. The classic much loved movie, "Momma Mia" was shown at 10 AM. We stayed put and later brought back lunch. It was an Indian buffet for me and Carol had pizza. We watched a little bit of the Love Boat series and I napped. We then came back to the solitude of our balcony and started packing. We went down to the front desk and decided to take $2.50 off our gratuity since we had taken care of our room steward ourselves. We even nominated Cynthia for outstanding employee.
We had our last wondeful cruise dinner and said our goodbyes to Warren, Jim, and Nikki. The next morning, we had breakfast in the dining room and then headed out to board our bus to the airport. There, we met up with Pickles and Phyllis for a bit of lunch and a cocktail. Soon we were on the plane. Pickles set with us and then we all said our goodbyes at the St. Louis airport. Our friends Carolyn and Donna were there to pick us up.
Comments