Orangefan

Chris, You are doing an awesome job as usual. The food presentations and creativity by the Celebrity staff are AMAZING ! I am glad the Celebrity brass noticed what a great ambassador you are and even attracting new cruisers for their line. They should give you some wonderful perks like returning your payment for the internet , offering you return visits to their restaurants and drinks to name a few.

Sali

Thanks for that compliment Sali :) much appreciated ~ we have fun with it. Yesterday had some fun PINK waves on a couple of ships. Chris was part of our Oct PINK sail away on Oasis as you know and his LIVE report was like reliving my Oasis sailing all over.

 

Look forward to sail away today and to the week's reports.:)

Emmy, I had predicted to Chris that he would have 10,000 hits before the anchor was lifted in Fort Lauderdale. Now I am thinking he might surpass that number. Both you and Chris bring joy and inclusiveness in what you do. Emmy, I like that you exude positiveness and spread it around to others. Chris,through his pictures gives cruisers a spirit of adventure to explore everything and meet a lot of fine people along the way. It is all about the journey and not just the destination. Hopefully in the future our paths will cross.

SALI

Bon Voyage to the April 7 Silhouette Cruise Critic group

 

We WILL be watching you..wave for us :)

 

Watch the sail away on the webcam 5pm scheduled sail away time..tune in earlier:)

 

http://www.portevergladeswebcam.com

 

http://www.ftlauderdalewebcam.com

 

Emmy, I thought of you yesterday when I was watching the parade of ships and saw some pink boas ladies madly waving their pink boas. In the fall, I was following your Oasis Oct. roll call. Your group had the best sail away I have ever seen. Add the perfect music and your enthusiastic cruisers, I must admit I have watched it multiple times. Then Chris doing super job with the "live from the Oasis" , I felt like I was part of the adventure.

Sali

Good morning Chris !

The excitement of starting a new cruise is always fun. It sounds like you and some of your roll call made fun connections at dinner. Now you will start off knowing people, continuing conversations and sharing cruise information.

That is very generous of you allocating all that internet time and money to keep us informed, entertained and making us feel like we are making the journey with you. It is intriguing for me since I have never been on Celebrity. Lucky me has a tour guide to give me a taste of what I can expect from a Celebrity cruise. I think you will have 10,000 hits before you even pull anchor in Fort Lauderdale !

Sali

Chris,

Thanks for the picture of the Caribbean Princess.She looks marvelous. Two weeks from today I will be on board the ship.

It looks like you are off to a great start meeting up with some of the people on your roll call. Added bonus is the sunshine you have today.

Speaking of sunshine , that is what we have today after 5 inches of snow on Wed. It has melted and I can't ignore the twigs and leaves that are littering the lawn. So I am heading outside for awhile to start that chore. My to do list keeps on growing despite all my efforts eliminating the other jobs.

Sali

Sali, good to see you again. I may or may not sail on the Royal. It's not a knock on Princess but I really like what RCCL has to offer and anxious to experience what Celebrity has to offer. I may decide to settle down with these two cruise lines and start building up cruises to get the perks

Chris, it will be interesting to read your thoughts about the RCCL and Celebrity and how they compare after you experience this cruise. Not matter what line you cruise, I always feel it is an opportunity to meet wonderful people who are so willing to share their experiences. I love to hear the positives but the negatives also help me avoid situations, unsafe places or disappointing tours.

I am smiling because you are starting your adventure and I know it will bring you to fun experiences and friends you haven't met yet.

Sali

Hi Chris !

I look forward to your " Live from Celebrity Silhouette April 7th sailing ". I am Platinum on Princess and will be doing the southern Carib again in 2 weeks.

I have only gone on Princess but enjoy following other roll calls and live reporting. Chris, you did a marvelous job reporting on the Oasis of the Seas. You delivered a wonderful variety of what people would be interested in.

A number of cruisers I met 2 cruises ago are going on the Royal Nov. 10, 2013. ( Actually, a group will be on my ship again in 2 weeks ) I remember seeing your posts on that site but now I notice it isn't listed for your future cruises. Did you decide not to go on the Royal ? I like to read about experiences people have on other cruise lines but I haven't been tempted to change since I already have some nice perks on Princess.

Safe journey and adventures to you and your fellow travelers.I will be checking in again.

Sali

Thank you for your comprehensive reviews and photos. I am thinking about the Panama Canal on the Coral. Did they have any zumba classes on your ship?

Thanks,

Sali

Congrats Emmy and friends ! The webcam focused on your Pink boa group for quite awhile. Have a fun, safe cruise !

Sali

Is there a charge to take the zumba classes ? If they do offer them on a cruise, how do find that out and do you just show up at the designated time and location ? I have never been to a zumba class before and it looks like lots of fun.

Princess does not charge for dance classes. In the gym they charge for spinning classes. Every evening the Princess Patter will be delivered to your stateroom with all the times and activities for the next day.

Sali

I just got off the Crown Princess 4/21/12 and I participated in all 5 zumba classes ! They were held in Club Fusion at 9 am. Toby taught the lessons and was very good. Karen and Nat ( part of the cruise director's staff) just became certified to teach zumba. On one day Toby had Karen teach a few dances to get experience teaching. Then another day Nat ( had been on the Crown for 1 week and from Brazil ) taught a few dances during class . Great attendance and FUN ! For me it was great to do zumba since I do it a lot at home. They also had Bollywood dancing classes in the atrium 3 times. Teacher was great and we had a ball. Karen taught line dancing 3 times. I was pleased to have all the opportunities. Those interested in ballroom they had a lot of those classes too ( cha cha ,tango,merengue, can't remember what else).

Sali

At this very minute...Princess is scheming a way to now charge for these. ;)

I sent out a lot of e-cards on my Nov. cruise. It would be a shame for Princess to fool with this. Princess is getting a lot of free advertising with cards with Princess ships pictured and named.

Sali

Yes, I have heard that...but I have never seen that flavor in the stores. I wonder if I can get them online?

I get candied ginger at World Market or sometimes I have even found it at Marshalls or TJMaxx.

I have bought the ginger Altoids at Rite-Aid and Walgreens. Both are drug stores. I would google ginger Altoids and maybe the company to give you an idea of stores near you that carry them.

Sali

I also find ginger a stomach settler. An easy way to travel with ginger is Altoids. The little mints in the small tin come in a ginger flavor .

Sali

I buy the clear sweater bags at the Dollar Store. They come 2 to a $ 1 pack and each have a zipper. I pack like things together. Example shorts,bathing suits,pants dresses etc. I have about 10 bags I bring with me each time. If they search my luggage, they just pull out the sweater bags and don't make a mess of my suitcase. Also when I unpack, I just empty the suitcase of these bags and unpack them individually later on. I also found these very large plastic clothespins at the Dollar Store. I think there were 6 in a package. The clothespins are round in the middle an I plan on trying to attach the 2 clothespins to the top of the lounge chair to keep the beach towel from falling down. On my April Cruise I saw a lady with fancy, colorful animals on top of these clothespins. She found them in a port for $6 each. They were adorable but I didn't want to worry about losing them. So I am going to try this on my cruise in a few weeks.

Sali

I just completed a trip on the Crown Princess and became a platinum member. I do know the benefits outlined by Princess. I remember browsing through the critic boards and someone writing that they have a daily cocktail hour 5-7 at the Skywalkers lounge with hors d'ouevres for the Platinum and elite members .Also mentioned that it wasn't an advertised perk. I can't find the thread and the board and was wondering if anyone else has knowledge of this practice.

Thanks, Sali