Honolulu Blue

I'm not @ceilidh1, but I'd like to report favorable experiences with the Internet on my two Princess cruises - Regal Princess in November & December (Caribbean/Bahamas) and Majestic Princess in April (California Coastal). I should note that I've heard more recent reports on the Regal and Majestic that their Internet experience hasn't been so good. But they were in Europe and Alaska, respectively. I blame the satellites and their current locations rather than the equipment on the individual ships.

Have you investigated the vloggers that will be on this cruise? If not, you should take the time to do so. They're a diverse lot and I follow several of them, though I've never been on a group cruise with any of them - individually or collectively. If you've decided that you don't like any of them, you'll probably find they'll cramp your style at least a little bit with their filming and group activities. I don't think they'll take over main theater shows, but they might have some activities in some smaller rooms that could close things off, and they might take over some tables in various dining venues. I won't pretend to tell you what you should do in a situation like this. Good luck on this cruise, or whichever one you decide to take instead of this one.

Ditto. Following and praying. 🙏 P.S. Lois, chances are good - too good - you're going to have a hurricane travel right over your head. Get ready! We need you to survive so you can keep us solo cruisers in line!!🙂

I'm a latecomer to the Princess party, having sailed on my first one only last year (I had one scheduled back in 2020, but that one didn't go... long story). Since then, I sailed on another one in April and have one scheduled for next April. I guess they're doing something right. 🙂 My summary opinion of Princess is that they're all right. They do some things well, IMHO. The vibe is different than Carnival. The typical passenger on Princess has put their fighting days well behind them, and they're not too interested in nightclubbing either.

Here's a cruise that might fit some people's fantasies that Brand Ambassador John Heald announced this morning. It's a 14-day cruise on the Dream from Galveston that goes to the Eastern Caribbean. Here's the itinerary that Mr. Heald posted: • Carnival Journeys: 14-Day Exotic Eastern Caribbean Cruise from Galveston, FL (Saturday departure) 2024: 10/19/2024 2025: 01/11/2025 Sat Galveston, TX 6:00 PM Sun "Fun Day" At Sea Mon Key West, FL 12:00 PM 6:00 PM Tue "Fun Day" At Sea Wed Grand Turk 8:00 AM 4:00 PM Thu San Juan, Puerto Rico 12:00 PM 8:00 PM Fri St. Thomas, USVI 8:00 AM 5:00 PM Sat St. Kitts, WI 8:00 AM 5:00 PM Sun St. Maarten, NA 8:00 AM 5:00 PM Mon St. Croix, USVI 7:00 AM 4:00 PM Tue "Fun Day" At Sea Wed Ocho Rios, Jamaica 8:00 AM 4:00 PM Thu "Fun Day" At Sea Fri "Fun Day" At Sea Sat Galveston, TX 8:00 AM

I've had to do an unusual amount of running around in the past month - mostly maskless, and I encountered a relatively low percentage of people who were wearing them. Oh well, I wear my mask for my own reasons, and others do or don't for their own reasons. I'm at peace with it. Thank you very much for your boxscore. I should quiz those closest to me about this, though I feel it's a little sensitive for even that group. Anyway, I've had it once (mild symptoms but lingered for a few days), got both doses of the vaccine (almost no symptoms other than a sore arm), got a booster (ditto), and have an appointment for the latest booster on Friday. Wish me luck! 🙏

They don't go there often, but I was on a cruise just before the pandemic that did. I've heard that NCL's ships go there more.

Don't worry, I would. It's only a fantasy anyway. 😛

In your itinerary, you're welcome to do so, but the ABCs are a convenient gateway to the Canal and the Western Caribbean.

You'll need two sea days to get to any of the stops in the Bahamas from Baltimore. And now I realize I forgot about the ABCs in my itinerary, which I think are definitely worth visiting. I'm too lazy to revise the itinerary I posted.☹️

Because I have too much time on my hands, here's a course that I think is reasonable that weighs at 33 days. Go ahead and substitute some close by islands in your fantasy itinerary: Day 1 embark Miami Day 2 Nassau Day 3 Freeport Day 4 Princess Cays/HMC Day 5 Grand Turk Day 6 Amber Cove Day 7 San Juan Day 8 St. Croix Day 9 Tortola Day 10 Sint Maarten Day 11 St. Kitts Day 12 Antigua Day 13 St. Lucia Day 14 Dominica Day 15 Barbados Day 16 Grenada Day 17 Scarborough, Tobago Day 18 at sea Day 19 La Romana, DR Day 20 at sea Day 21 Santa Marta, Colombia Day 22 Cartagena Day 23 Panama Canal (partial transit) Day 24 Limon, CR Day 25 at sea Day 26 Grand Cayman Day 27 some stop in Jamaica (Ocho Rios/Montego Bay/Falmouth/the new one near Kingston?) Day 28 at sea Day 29 Costa Maya Day 30 Belize Day 31 Cozumel Day 32 at sea Day 33 disembark Miami

I've done several of the Carnival itineraries of my dreams. I've done San Juan round trip to the Eastern Caribbean multiple times, I've done Hawaii from Vancouver, I've done the Eastern Caribbean from Miami round trip, and I've visited the ABC Islands (though not all three in the same trip) Let's design a B2B A/B Eastern Caribbean run: Cruise 1 -> San Juan, St. Thomas, at sea, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, Sint Maarten, San Juan Cruise 2 -> San Juan, St. Croix, at sea, Grenada, Barbados, Dominica, Sint Maarten, San Juan Or if I'm really dreaming, how about a Caribbean sampler? Start it from Miami and go to every port with a dock (and a few that don't, like HMC), starting with Nassau, heading east, then south, then west, then north, then back to Miami. I'm too lazy to spell out all the ports (sorry), but it could weigh in at somewhere between 3 and 6 weeks.

Interesting. I did a Princess Cali Coastal with those ports (plus San Diego) from San Pedro/Los Angeles in April. I agree it would be nice to have Carnival's spin on it, but I understand why they don't want to encroach too much on Captain Stubing's territory.

It was $35 as of March

I had a Princess cruise stop in Ensenada in April - or at least I thought I did. In the immediate area of the pier, there were ZERO vendors of any kind - no stores, no food trucks, no individuals selling Chinese disposable souvenirs. There were just a couple of buildings, a few seats - and, oh, a gate that helpfully had a sign that said, "To town". I assume this is where the vendors were? I didn't go into town at all because I wasn't interested.

From what I've heard, the cruise lines do a good job at putting solos at tables where their presence is actively desired - or at least somewhat expected. That's part of the reason you might have to wait for a seat.

Two points: You can certainly use your phone in the MDR if you like. Your waiters will have seen far worse. Do try to pay attention and make sure you're off the phone or wrapping up as they come along to serve you. I almost forgot about the pandemic protocols where sitting with other parties was discouraged. I think, on most cruise lines, that's going away, and you can ask to sit with others and get to do that if that's what you want to do.

I've done a bunch of solo cruises on several different cruise lines. I've never worried about dining on any of them. Of course, my relationship with food and the dining experience is a little different than most people - when I eat in the MDR (not often), I can ask to be seated alone and usually get what I ask for. If that's not possible, it's not a huge deal; I'll deal with whomever wants to talk to me (while secretly hoping they don't want to talk to me). The buffet is where I like to hang out for meals for this reason and some others. I've found through experience that it's OK to do what you want when cruising solo - including dining. If you want to whip out your electronic toys during a meal, I say it's OK not to worry about what the other people at the table think. You're probably not going to see them again (unless you chose fixed dining, and you don't sound like a fixed dining kind of person - though I could be wrong).

Good point. I hadn't thought about that.👍

1) In thinking about this, I've been to hotels on land where I could store bags for several hours until they were ready to check me in. It was considered a concierge service, so the proper thing seemed to be to tip a few bucks on pickup. Looping back to Carnival, I haven't seen or heard about this service by Guest Services, so I suspect it isn't there, but... 2) Platinum & Diamond members have been officially authorized to drop off their carry-ons in the cabin if they want. You might have to open a door to the corridor, but it's easy enough to do. Even if you're not P or D, you could probably get away with dropping them off. It's highly likely anyone is going to check your status (indeed, your card will be in an envelope beside the door).

From Brand Ambassador John Heald's Facebook page, which I'll quote directly and in its entirety: During the last two years we have seen the end of some of the Fantasy class ships in such sad circumstances. These ships meant so much to me and I know they did you too and I wish I had been able to give them a special send off. Well I am determined to do that with CARNIVAL ECSTASY a ship I was Cruise Director on in 1994. So her last ever cruise with guests on board will be from Mobile, Alabama on OCTOBER 10TH . The cruise is a 5 day to Progresso and Cozumel and I will be there to host this final cruise and to have a chance to say cheerio to the ship and all the brilliant memories she has given to the the many, many thousands of people ho have sailed on her. Now I will be working with the fabulous people at the Port of Mobile to make sure we give the ship a proper send off. And on board I will be there to host some shows and get a chance to spend some special time with you. I see the rates are very special indeed so I hope some of you will come and join me for this Fun cruise and poignant goodbye. Cheers -------------------------------------------------------------- I know some of you are interested in saying goodbye to the Ecstasy, and I know some of you are interested in meeting Mr. Heald or watching him up close. This is your chance to kill two birds with one stone. This isn't my thing, but does anyone want to say they plan to attend?

I recently returned from a side-to-side musical adventure on two musical themed cruises - the Ultimate Disco Cruise on the Celebrity Summit, and The 80s Cruise on the Mariner of the Seas. For the long version of that adventure, head to this thread: (head to page 7 for my reports on these cruises) TL,DR: I had a wonderful time and wanted to repeat as much of it as I could. So I booked both cruises again for 2023. I started a thread in for the UDC '23 in the roll call section here: I'll eventually do the same for TEC '23 if someone else doesn't do it for me. I put relatively small deposits on both cruises and put them on separate payment plans. So essentially I have car payments for the next few months. There's not a lot for me to say for now on either of these cruises, but I'll keep an eye on future developments and put posts here about them. I'm also eyeing concerts on land that interest me and might attend; I'll let you know what I do with those. Thank you for stopping by. Feel free to ask questions or comment. I hope I can keep your interest.

Princess announced some themed cruises for this month and next. You can read the details at Themed Cruises – On Board Special Events - Princess Cruises . To summarize, there will be 80s themed cruises this month and next on the Grand Princess (October 18 and 23) and the Regal Princess (November 29). All are either 4 or 5 days. There will be some 80s tribute bands, 80s movies on the big screen, 80s TV shows, and other items. I'll be on the November 29 sailing and hoping for a good time. There will also be comedy-themed cruises over the next few months on the Grand Princess (October 14 and November 1) and Regal Princess (November 19 and December 9). They promise classic comedy sitcoms in the cabins (does "The Love Boat" count? It's certainly a classic!), classic comedy movies on the big screen, movie and TV trivia, and comedy-themed game shows. I haven't heard of any of the comedians they currently have listed, but I'm sure they're good. I don't think Starvista, ECP, or Sixthman are worried, but I think it's an interesting ploy by Princess to fill up their ships. I hope it goes well for them.