Ken the cruiser

I totally agree. Do the math and put in a bid to upgrade to a balcony. The freedom that comes with having a balcony to hang out on is definitely worth spending a few extra $$.

Just finished watching a Disney Nature movie called Oceans recommended by Martin Graf, who provided 3 awesome shark lectures on our 5-day cruise, which definitely helped us start to get excited about our three upcoming cruises, a 10-day Galapagos land-cruise in early December, followed by a 30-day B2B to Antarctica and South America in January, and a 21-day Alaska B3B starting in late April! 😁 We had a great time on our CB B2B and went to some pretty cool locations, especially on our land tour adventures up in Canada and four very cool ports along the northeastern US coast line. However, it’s time to start to focus on our upcoming wildlife cruises, and this movie definitely helped get us further excited about what’s to come over the next six months. Hopefully, you’ll be able to join us on these upcoming cruises, even if it’s only to follow along on the Live From threads I’ll be posting to. 😁

You’re going to have a great time!! Just a couple of hints. If you like going to the early shows in the main theater, plan on going about 30+ minutes early to get a good seat. We always take a deck of cards and play gin rummy to pass the time. 😁 Also, many of the hilarious game shows are held at 8:30 pm. If you want to get a good seat in the Explorers Lounge, plan accordingly. For example, we would position ourselves in an advantageous position in the theater to make a quick exit to get to the game shows. I know it sounds crazy, but we enjoy going to both as you may have noticed in my thread. 😁

In our case that's when the afternoon sun's location on the cruising route, especially on sea days, will determine the side of the ship we'll book the Reserve mini suite on. Sometimes it doesn't matter. But on occasion it does. For example, if we book a TA from Europe back to the US, we'll book a Reserve mini suite on the starboard side, and vice versa if the TA is going from the US to Europe. But that's just us.

I love it! They do have some cool wildlife down under that’s for sure! 😂

Reserve Collection mini-suites are our new minimum when booking a Princess cruise. We have definitely gotten spoiled by the extra service we receive every time we dine in the Reserve Dining Room. We also enjoy the bottle of wine sitting in our cabin upon arrival as well as (optionally) placing an order from a list of available canapés to be delivered around 4 pm the next day. The nice thing about being able to order them from a list is that you can get what you want rather than just getting one of each regardless if you like them or not. The Reserve Collection mini-suites are also usually found in desirable locations on the ship. But the main perk by far, as others have said, is being able to dine in the Reserve Dining Room. 😁 https://www.princess.com/en-us/ships-and-experience/ships/staterooms/reserve-collection

Glad to hear you're both doing great! Hopefully one day we’ll be able to cross paths once again on the high seas! 😁

Definitely love the elusive Ala Moana pigeon photos, and it was a pleasure to meet you as well! 😁 Hopefully @NavyVeteran is feeling much better.

Thanks!! We are definitely looking forward to the Elite perks. 😁

Thanks! My DW actually had to order it the day before as part of her gluten free preorder. She only saw it one other time and that was in the IC a day or two after we boarded the ship in Quebec City.

Sorry to hear that. Unfortunately, I’ve got no suggestions since I’m guessing you paid the taxi driver with cash rather than a credit card from which you would be able to figure out which taxi company it was.

Thanks, and thank you for following along again! We can’t wait for our Galapagos cruise in December and Antarctica in January! Talk about places where the wildlife out numbers the visitors! 😁

If you do decide to go on the NCL Viva, may I suggest booking it with the FAS Plus package. You’ll get 2 additional specialty restaurants, totaling 4, an extra $50 for the second person on any excursions you book on the 7 port cruise, water and all the Starbucks drinks for free, and unlimited internet, all for an additional $49 pp/day. Just a suggestion. You also get to book your NCL cruise with a refundable deposit whereas with Celebrity, you have to pay an additional 20%.

We have arrived at Port Everglades as well as to Elite!! Yay!! 🕺💃🏻 It’s definitely been a blast, as always, and thanks everyone that decided to tag along! Our next adventure will be on the Celebrity Flora early next month on a 10-day adventure visiting the Galapagos. For those that would like to follow along on that Live From thread, I’ll post the link on this one once I start it. 😁

After our last tasty dinner in the Reserve tonight where my DW received her favorite dessert, flourless chocolate cake, made specially for her, we headed back to the cabin to chill before heading to watch the Queen trivia in the Explorers Lounge in order to make sure we had seats for Rich Purpura’s encore comedy show at 8 pm. But while we were in the cabin, I looked outside and saw this ominous cloud blank which we appear to be leaving in our wake! Luckily, when we got to the Explorers Lounge, Rich’s 6 pm show had just finished and some folks were leaving for dinner, which was good for us. However, by 7:30 pm, the place was packed with standing room only! His 8 pm show, as expected, was awesome and had everyone laughing from beginning to end! 🤣 Then it was back to our cabin to put our luggage out in the hallway by 9 pm. As far as the internet speeds go tonight, everyone must be out partying the final night of the cruise because it’s back to normal speeds! 😂

I apologize, but we didn’t listen to any live music played in any of the lounges or the Piazza. Sorry.

I’ve got a few recent Princess Live From threads listed in my below signature, to include the one we’re disembarking tomorrow. I’ll also be posting to a Live From thread from the Sapphire when we’re on a 30-day Antarctica and SA B2B in January, as well as a Celebrity one from the Flora next month from the Galapagos.

Thanks! I found where the Chef’s Table was listed on the website. https://www.princess.com/en-us/ships-and-experience/onboard-experience/food-and-dining/specialty-restaurants No reference found for the Winemakers Dinner. But that’s cool. At least we now know where to find information about the Chef’s Table, and how to book it. 😁

Thanks! I guess the key point there is you have to know to call the Dine Line. How does someone even know to do that, let alone know these “special” dinners are even available, if they didn’t learn it first on some social media site?

Sorry, I was born in 1952, graduated high school when Queen, Led Zepplin and Elton John were just coming on the scene, and that is are basic type of music we enjoy listening to. Well, we do enjoy listening to a good singer singing Whitney Houston songs. Then there’s Phantom of the Opera songs. But to be really honest, we’re good with any music released from Elvis Presley on! 😁

I just want to tip my hat to PCL regarding the lecturers provided on both legs our B2B, but especially on this short 5-night cruise. We have really enjoyed going to all 3 lecturers given by Martin Graf about the various aspects of a shark’s life. It was definitely enjoyable AND we actually learned something! I know, who would have thought! 😂 But I also have to post a shout out to the Starlink folks. Who would have thought I would have been able to post these two pictures to my thread with these pathetic speeds! But I will also note, it did take some patience as the shark photo did take quite a few minutes to upload! 😂

We agree. We’re currently on the Caribbean Princess and have had a blast ever since we boarded her on Oct 19 after a 5-day PCL land tour! Of course what’s not to like about being in an aft-facing suite for $307 pp/day (net). 😁

Today, while we were doing our final walk around the promenade, we saw a bunch of brown boobies taking turns diving after something tasty swimming around in the water. We never saw what is was, but they sure did! 😂

One thing I’ve learned is that just because you miss the sun setting into the horizon, doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve missed seeing an awesome sunset. On occasion you may get lucky if you time it right. As far as taking the picture goes, the device plays an important role as well. I know, who knew! 😂 These photos of a Japanese sunset were taken in order this past July. The first, second and fourth shots were using my iPhone SE. The third one was using my iPad. On this last one, well after the sun had gone down, these colors lasted for about 2-3 minutes, and then they were gone.

If all goes well on that April 2025 cruise, their 28-day Alaska cruise to Nome has our attention as well. 😂 The 20% penalty for booking a Celebrity cruise with a refundable deposit really irked us, as we usually book 2+ years ahead of time. However, Princess for us still has pretty green pastures and nice longer itineraries, as we’re just finishing one now. 😁