The CRuIseLLS

Satellite problems meant the internet connection was totally disabled earlier today......this is the first chance I've had to post Terry's birthday bloggy stuff

8/9 Cruise Day 004 - Happy Birthday to Terry

Well, talk about someone trying to upstage Terry on HIS big day......

After waking at 6 and putting banners & balloons all over the room (without waking Terry, go me!), I took my netbook downstairs to post Wednesday's news (it's a nuisance having to do that but at least I can upload something) and then I went to get some hot drinks for us both from the IC

Back in our room, the birthday boy was woken by my dulcet tones belting out another round of happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you etc and he laughed his head off when he saw what I'd done to the place. I must admit, it does look fun (pics to follow.....again!)

Terry opened all his birthday cards and we got ready for the day. We were going to have some breakfast & a bucks fizz or 2 but decided against it in the end - we needed to get out to tour the town.

We left the ship around 10, took approximately 20 paces and, cue drama #1...........

I somehow twisted my foot, lost my balance & went flying, ab.so.lute.ly flying - I don't know what it looked like but it felt like I was in some kind of slapstick comedy that had gone terribly wrong. I landed on my side and cut/scrapped both feet, my knee, my elbow & hand.

Because I needed help to get off the ground, the security guys insisted that a wheelchair was ordered. I really didn't want one but they wouldn't take no for an answer. I did refuse medical help though because I can't see the point of paying an astronomical bill to get a bit of grit out of my hand (ha, what a martyr) so I was taken back to our cabin to clean up.

When I sorted myself out and plastered (aka band-aided) where necessary we left the ship for the second time, with me keeping tight hold of Terry until we were on the main drag into town.

We made our way (via a couple of souvenir shops) to the funicular and waited for about half an hour to catch a train up to the top of Mount Floyen.

For those of you who have checked the webcam view, you'll know how beautiful it is up there - well it's even more spectacular in 'real life'.

I got on my phone & tweeted to my bestest twitter pal so she could check us out on the web cam. She is such a star, she took some screen shots of us and tweeted them back to me. I was so grateful because that's what I'd planned to do but my phone was taking an age to log onto the webcam. So thanks to C, we have a few pics of our time 'on screen'.

We also managed to speak to one of Terry's sisters and text/chat with another. They both got to say happy birthday to their baby brother & I got to find out that Pongo is doing great and apparently not missing us at all.

Fairweather friend dog or what?

We got the train back down & just as it stopped, I realised I'd left my phone in the ladies......we jumped back on the funicular (illegally cos we'd only paid for one round trip), got to the top and found the phone lying next to the till in the 'boutique'. Thank you so much to the person who handed it in - I'd be lost without it and big thank you to the funicular guy who let us go back down on the train for free once we'd told him about (mini) drama #2.

I think that's enough theatrics for one holiday - back to the main plot.

Bergen is a beautiful city - especially around the sea front.

Everywhere reminded me a bit of those quaint villages that were pictured on the box fronts of jigsaws you could buy years ago - the ones that had about 3,000 tiny pieces (but by the time you were nearing completion you discovered you actually had just 2,999!).

We strolled around Bryggen and popped in & out of a few souvenir shops. I can't believe how much everything costs here. It was £17 for 2 beers, £15 for a shot glass & bottle opener and £8 for some antiseptic cream from..... (for all you UK-ers out there) Boots......a little bit of home from home in Norway (even the logo is the same :) ).

We got back to the ship around 3:30 and, as we'd not eaten in town, we trotted up to the Caribe Cafe for a very small snack & a drink. The red wine in a (chipped) plastic glass was novel, particularly as it felt like I was drinking out of something as thick as stein, but other than that, it was an uneventful half hour.

Rather than go to the MDR to celebrate Terry's birthday, we'd decided (pre cruise) to have an Ultimate Balcony Dinner. Thinking it would be cold at this time of year, we weren't that bothered about having it around sailaway so I'd ordered it for 7pm.

Wouldn't you know it.............the weather was glorious but, fate lent a hand and, thanks to leaving port a little later than planned, along with the staff pulling out all the stops to start it all a little earlier, we got our sailaway dinner.

Abel was our server for the evening and he did a fantastic job of making sure everything was just perfect.

Is there a little spy camera somewhere that tells them when to top up your champers or that you've finished your food? He appeared at just the right moment to take care of whatever needed taking care of.

And talking of food, here's the menu

Cocktails & canapes

(all stop for photos to be taken - as we'd started earlier than planned, it was the only time the photographer could make it)

Crab cakes

Salad

Steak & lobster

Choccy desserts

It got a bit windy just as we were finishing the main course so the table was brought inside & we finished off the meal in our room.......as Abel and his assistant brought in the puds, they sang Happy Birthday to Terry - it was so funny - what a lovely touch and it ended the meal on a definite high.

Everything was cleared away by 9 so as we were so full, we decided to chill for a while to let it all settle and then we thought we'd go for a couple of drinks but, in the end, we chilled out in our room for the rest of the night & watch a bit of TV (God, don't The Crills know how to party :D).

To be honest, we were both a bit shattered and I was starting to feel like I'd gone 10 rounds with Joe Frazier (or a.n. other boxer) so it was the best plan for us really.

The most important thing was that Terry totally enjoyed the day (he said the bit were I fell wasn't that good but the rest of it had been) so, if he's happy then I am too.

We now have another 2 days in port so I think my 'live from' may be even more delayed than usual. I definitely won't get today's done in time to let you in on the webcam timetable, so here's a heads up......

Don't forget to check out Lerwick's webcams tomorrow morning (at a guess, from around 9:30 ish UK time). There's a good chance you'll see passengers milling around the town for a good few hours (you'll find links to all the webcams on my blog.....see below for the web address)

To visit our Up The Gangplank blog, please click HERE

Loving your Live From! We did this itinerary on the CB last Sept. (with just a couple of port differences) and will enjoy revisiting the ports with you. It's especially interesting to see the impressions of a Mersey-sider (Liverpudlian?).

 

PS The Isafjordur sail-out was one of the best we've ever experienced. The weather was beautiful and we saw more whales than we could count!

We're from 'across the water', Wirral

Again, thanks for following along everyone - I'll try to catch up with myself and post on time in future :)

Hi everyone......

Apologies for being so far behind all the time - I take my hat off to everyone who is about 50 million times busier than me and yet can still post on the day it all happens.

After eating so late on Tuesday night, neither of us felt like breakfast yesterday so we went down to the IC for a cuppa and then planned to go to the morning trivia quiz. We had the cuppa but didn't make the quiz.......the couple we're having dinner with tonight arrived and all four of us sat chatting til 11am when it was time to go to our Meet & Greet.

What a turn out that turned out to be - the place was packed.

It was nice to finally see Bob and thank him (via a round of applause) for all the work he did on our behalf. Thank you again, Bob.

I was amazed at how many of the senior crew turned up.....even the captain came to see us and they were all just as amazed at how many CC members turned up - one of them actually said that they'd been to a lot of M&Gs but he'd never seen so many people from one roll call.

I think the whole thing lasted about 40 minutes and then people started to drift off.....once we'd discussed final plans with (another) Barbara for the cabin crawl that's taking place during the transatlantic crossing, we drifted off too & went to the Crown Grill for a pub lunch of fish, chips & mushy peas.

The last time we had that meal (on the IP), I did nothing but moan because the peas weren't proper mushy peas (they'd mashed up garden peas.....yuk). They weren't totally right time either but they were much better - the fish was perfect though so that made up for it.

We arrived just before 12 because I knew if I ate too big a lunch, I wouldn't want to eat dinner & I'm glad we went so early because about half an hour later the queue was massive.

After that we went on a floor by floor tour of the ship & visited every area we hadn't yet seen - I'm totally impressed with Skywalkers.......we'll have to go back when it's dark to take some pics, I think it'll look amazing when it's all lit up.

We had a couple of drinks in Crooners and then got invited to join a group in Club Fusion for the afternoon quiz - we didn't win but it was good fun.

At 6:30 we met up with L and C and had a fantastic night. Both of the blokes were suited, booted & dicky bowed - looking all handsome - and us girls looked pretty damn good too - no proof of that though because, even though I had our camera with us, I didn't even turn it on......never mind take a picture.

L had booked a table for us in the MDR - it was perfect, right by a window in a corner section of the dining room.....it made it seem just that bit exclusive.

Listing four people's menu choices would take forever so I'll just say that every course was delicious and we all thoroughly enjoyed every morsel.

The whole dinner was such a laugh and after we left the dining room (we were the last to go), it was off to Crooners for a final drink or 3.

We kept a steady countdown of how long Terry had to go until he reached the big six O and at 11:54, I made my way to the piano player to ask if he'd play happy birthday at midnight. He was just closing the lid of the piano and said he'd finished for the evening (apparently his shift was over about half an hour earlier) but, after a bit of cajoling and because he's a just so wonderful, he agreed to stay around to help us wish Terry a very, very, very happy birthday......and at exactly 12 o'clock that's what we did - even the other customers and all the bar staff joined in.

After a celebratory glass of champers and a few more off-key renditions of happy birthday, we called it a night around 12:30/12:45.

Check out the blog when you can - I pre-scheduled a post that should automatically be published at some point today......you'll be able to see the birthday boy :D

To visit our Up The Gangplank blog, please click HERE

6/9 - Cruise Day 002 - Rotterdam

Internet problem sorted - it turns out I was the problem :o

It's still very slow though so I may have to abandon my idea of posting pics to the blog until we get home.....if we find some decent/free wi-fi in port, I will try to upload a few photos.

And so to yesterday..........

I was up well before the crack of dawn so I went down to the International Cafe for some sustenance. I just love that place already....the IP doesn't have one so it's a new Princess experience for us. How great is it to be able to have a fab latte & a muffin at 3.30am?

Terry woke at a much more reasonable hour and once we were both ready we hot footed it (aka got the lift) up to the HC for some breakfast. Omelette for me and a (mini) full English for Terry. I think I prefer the "cook the eggs to order" serving station on the Island but everything tasted good.

We saw our server from the previous evening and I need to make a correction - her name is Elena not Helena.

After breakfast we had a walk around the shops and then went out on deck to have a nose around.

Q. Hands up all those people who sang the Beautiful South's "Rotterdam" as we sailed into port?

A. Me, me..........I did :D

Travelling toward the terminal was a bit surreal for me.

I've never been to Rotterdam in my life but because I've been checking out the webcams for months now, it seemed very, very familiar - the strange shaped buildings, the quayside....everything - very deja vu-ey. The only thing that didn't look quite the same didn't was the Erasmus bridge.....it was much closer to the water than it looks on the cameras.

By 12:40, we were off the ship and heading towards coach 18 - it would be taking us to Amsterdam for the day.

Amsterdam was lovely. Totally enjoyed it all, especially the trip around the canals - I'm glad we chose the ship's tour rather than try to do it on our own (which I did look into and, luckily, dismissed) because I don't think we'd have seen half a much on a DIY version.

We also wouldn't have found out some "well, I never" facts

Amsterdam re-introduced the Olympic flame w-a-a-a-a-a-y back in 1928 when they hosted the games

Amsterdam invented the P sign for parking

Amsterdam has 825,000 residents and over 1,000,000 bikes

We had 2 hours to tour the city by ourselves and so we made our way to Dam Square to have a look around. As I'd forgotten to bring the maps of all the places off the square that we'd researched :mad:- including Susie's Saloon! - the only thing left to do was to buy some souvenirs (the slippers in the shape of clogs are just classic), have a drink and watch the world pass by. So that's what we did.

We didn't get back to the CB until 8:40 and desperately needed something to eat so we made our way straight to the MDR.

Singapore beef satay and jerk chicken for both of us - with Terry having some kind of chocolate dessert and me, cheese. A couple of drinks followed and then we were off for some shut-eye.

(Today is our first full sea day - it's also our Meet & Greet - it'll be wonderful to put faces to names, can't wait.)

To visit our Up The Gangplank blog, please click HERE

(no pretty typeface - having probs with internet - going to get it sorted later)

What a busy day we had yesterday.

A visit to Boots to buy the bulk of our toiletries and a trip to Asda to buy anything we couldn't get in Boots were the main pre-embarkation tasks - we got loads of stuff & finding space to put it all once we got it back to the Premier was another!......We managed it, just......and were packed & ready to leave the hotel by 11:45.

Our (pre-booked) cab arrived on time & a very excited pair of Merseysiders were at the cruise terminal around 12:25. It's a good job there's not such thing as an excitement gauge - if there was, I'm sure I'd have broken it - even the lady at check-in commented on how happy I looked.

The hoards of people inside the terminal made it look a bit manic but check in was organised really well.....we didn't wait in line for long and were getting our card keys by 12:45 and then, (queue drum roll please).....it. was.

"Up the Gangplank" time and we were on board :D

After dumping our luggage, putting the valuables in the safe & saying hello to our room steward "Larry" (he seems nice), we were down in the internet cafe redeeming our voucher & getting our account set up pdq (see first sentence for how well that's gone!)

We did a bit of exploring but with the suitcases arriving and a million things to do, we didn't see much of the ship - I have sussed out that she's huge though - think it will take the whole 17 days to see everything & even then, I don't think we'll see everything!

A late lunch, a bit of unpacking, door postering, muster drill all got us to 5pm and sailaway

The weather played nice and it was warm enough to stand on deck as we sailed out of Southampton. The AIDA Prima was also in port and her passengers gave us a great send off......tons of them were waving goodbye (& vice versa) and that, along with the CB's resident group belting out some fab songs as we made our way to the hight seas (aka the English Channel) all added to the occasion.

(Back down to earth!), I did a ton of ironing and then we made our way to the Welcome Aboard Show. The British comedian, Rick ???? (name escapes me) wasn't really our cup of tea but, credit where it's due, he did make us laugh occasionally. I suppose it comes down to different strokes for different folks because quite a lot of the audience like him so he certainly didn't bomb, he just wasn't for us.

A quick glass of wine in Crooners and then our tummies were telling us it was time for dinner.

Couldn't say which dining room we went to but there was no wait and we were seated immediately. We said we were happy to share so they put us on a table for 8 but we ended up being the only 2 on it becuase the later dinner trade had slowed to less than a trickle. Talk about feeling like a pair of Billy No Mates (Liverpool expression).

Not to worry, it meant Helena, our wonderful server could give us a load of attention and she did...by the bucket load - lovely girl.

The food was fab ......a fish cerviche followed by chilli for me and Terry had spring rolls then rib eye. Neither of us felt like dessert cos a) we were full and b) to tired to eat it.

It didn't help that I'd been awake since 2:40am but, that aside, I'm still amazed at how excitement can really tire you out - at 9:45 we were back in our room and totally ready for a good night's sleep.

Our first day on board was wonderful

(when I can get my internet sorted, I'll post on the blog & that will include pics.....I'll let you know when)

Thanks for following

Sue :)

Looking forward to your live from. Are you aware there is already another one? http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2396631 You might want to post on that.

Ha ha, yes I did realise about half an hour after I'd started my thread but I've decided to stay with it now - I just couldn't abandon another 'live from'.

Thanks for following and thanks to everyone else who's coming along on our journey.

Sue :)

4/9 - Southampton - Pre Cruise - Day 001

Beginning our hols with a full English brekky at Manchester (or any) airport is one of our traditions - one that we love but couldn't do yesterday because we weren't actually due at the airport until 3pm! We didn't want to miss out on our morning fry up so we remedied the situation as best we could by going to Seacombe Ferry Terminal (one of the stops on the famous "Ferry 'cross the Mersey" route) for breakfast.

Despite living just a 10 minute drive away, it was our first time there but it certainly won't be our last. The food was lovely, totally enjoyed it and it was a great start to the official start of our holiday.

Back home by 11am we twiddled our thumbs, made sure (again and again) that we had everything we needed and grew steadily more & more excited - and impatient - as we waited for our taxi to turn up.

We got to Manchester Airport in plenty of time and apart from the pull up handle thingy on one of our smaller (cabin) suitcases deciding to break into about 10 million different pieces, we had an uneventful afternoon.

No delays at take off - we were in the air by 5:10 and, even though I'm pretty scared of flying, I've got to admit that our journey in the DeHavilland watchamacallit wasn't bad at all - I wouldn't want to fly in one on a regular basis but for a short 35 min flight, it was fine.

Back on terra firma (yayyyyy) by 5:45 and our airport taxi got us to the Premier Inn West Quay by 6:30.

I'm really quite impressed with the hotel....admittedly, it doesn't have the razzmatazz of the bigger chains but all the members of staff are lovely, our room is a really good size and, most importantly, the place is spotless.

Once we'd settled in, we went down to 'Thyme' (the onsite restaurant/bar) and had a couple of drinks while they sorted out our table - unfortunately the reservation we made when we'd booked the room hadn't filtered through and they couldn't find us (the guy said the software they use is rubbish) but luckily I had the confirmation on my phone so, as soon as a table for 2 became free....we were seated.

The meal wasn't actually that brilliant but credit where it's due.....the restaurant replaced my dinner for something completely different and, as a goodwill gesture, only charged us for Terry's food (my advice would be to avoid the baby back ribs!).

Needing to make sure that we'll be bright eyed & bushy tailed for embarkation day, we were back in our room before 10 and asleep not long after......

To visit our Up The Gangplank blog, please click HERE

I will be following along. Have a wonderful cruise and also happy birthday to your DH:)

Thank you so much :)

Hi everyone,

Welcome to the first post in the Gangplank 'live from'.

Admittedly, it is just a tad early :D - we don't actually sail until tomorrow - but I thought I'd get the thread started, write a little intro and say a quick hello now because, as it's daft o'clock, all's quiet (apart from my heart thumping with excitement) and I can take my time getting this typed up - once we leave the house later on today, we're going to be pretty busy.

In just over 24 hours Terry (my fab hubby) & I will be boarding the Caribbean Princess in Southampton for a wonderful 17 night cruise that will see us visit a total of 8 ports in 5 countries before arriving in New York on 22nd September.

We are so excited about this trip. Not only is it the first time in over 26 years that we'll be spending any part of any holiday anywhere in Europe, we'll also be making our first transatlantic crossing and, most importantly, Terry will be celebrating a very special birthday.

I'll hopefully be writing about our Gangplank exploits every day and posting not only on Cruise Critic but also on a blog I created - especially for this holiday - just over 6 months ago (the only difference between the two will be photos...... if I get chance to post any pics, I'll only be uploading them to the blog).

(The blog's been up & running for a while now but I thought I'd wait until nearer to our sailaway date before I posted the details on CC. If you'd like to check it out, you'll find the link at the end of this post)

I just know we're going to have a brilliant holiday and I'm really looking forward to sharing it all with you :D

Sue :)

PS - In the interests of full disclosure, my last "live from" didn't go too well - I gave up the ghost after just a couple of posts because of a terrible internet connection and a mini emergency (five days into the cruise) that forced us to use almost all the minutes left on our package!

I even stopped typing the daily write-ups because it never occurred to me to write them on the ship & post them when we got home (duhh, my brain hurts sometimes).

Fingers crossed it all works out this time around

To visit our Up The Gangplank blog, please click HERE

Thanks for posting, we're also on the Caribbean Princess in September. We'll be celebrating hubby's 60th in Bergen - these pics have got me just a tad (more) excited :D:D

Sue :)

Sorry, I think I'm getting in a bit of a mix up here. Can I just check that I'm now understanding this correctly.

 

1/ I can buy as much onboard credit in advance as I like in $100 units, paying in sterling at the rate it gives on my booking details.

 

2/ I can book onboard tours now, priced in dollars, to be paid with my onboard account.

 

3/ If I prepay enough in onboard credit now, this means I'll be paying for the excursions at the exchange rate applicable to my booking now, rather than at the current bank exchange rate.

 

4/ Any prepaid onboard credit that I don't use, will be paid back to my card after the cruise.

 

Thanks

Question 1

I rang Princess UK to buy our OBC and was told that there is a limit on how much you can purchase (apparently, it's to stop money laundering :eek::eek:) however, I was informed that I could get around the normal OBC limit by also buying "excursion OBC" (it does exactly what it says on the tin, you use it to pay for the excursions you've booked via Princess - note, it cannot be used for anything other than tours, so don't buy more than you need).

If you don't fancy buying both but think that you'll spend more than the allowed OBC limit, why not pre-pay gratuities, buy drink packages and/or internet minutes etc before you go.

Qs 2 and 3 - yes you're correct.

Q 4 - don't know - we're hoping we'll spend all ours :D

Sue :)

Oh I so wish CC had a "like" button

...........this applies to all posts.............. :D:):D

 

Has to be better than there first attempt, look forward to seeing it.

 

Couldn't agree more, their last series was pretty poor.

Let's hope it's 'lessons learned'

Sue :)

During the recent Cunard "3 Queens" visit to Liverpool, we watched the crew unfurl this warning banner on the QM2 as she pulled into port. No idea what would have happened had anyone got too close!

Looks like the back of a container ship.

Really!, who thought this was a good idea? They were definitely looking through "$£€¢¥" tinted glasses

Ugghhhh, looks horrible

Just be aware that your table for 2 will no doubt be very close to another table for 2 and you'll be treated as a foursome (your order will be taken & your food will be served at the same time as your neighbours).

Realistically, if the Internet gets to be faster, expect to pay more than the current rates.

What you want and what you get may be two different things but this is a wish list.......we can all dream :rolleyes:

Prices, Terms and Conditions to be equal for passengers booking in all countries.

Totally agree with Reina

Plus

1) faster and

2) cheaper internet

3) tea/coffee maker in rooms

4) cruises starting/finishing in Liverpool (please)

5) make Patters available to download or email them along with the post cruise questionnaires

6) hopefully someone with a bit of clout will read this thread, think that all these ideas are brilliant and start to implement them with immediate effect :D

So we can all 'cry-along' as they make the changes?

Why would I want to see the carnage?

Rotflmho

(Btw, I totally agree)

Taken from the NPS Pearl Harbour site

"Bags: Bags are prohibited at the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center due to strict security measures. Cameras, cell phones, wallets, and other similar personal items are allowed, but not if they are concealed in a purse, handbag, fanny pack, diaper bag, or camera bag. Although law enforcement and security bike patrols monitor the parking lots, do not leave items of value in your car. You may store your bags in the storage facility near the Visitor Center entrance for a nominal fee of $3 per bag. The Visitor Center is open daily from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m."

Short note to close out my live updates. I hope some found the information fun and useful.

Mark, a big thanks....... totally enjoyed your live from reports and the "did you know" sections were brilliant :D

Still not sure if it's going to be a cruise or hotel stay/island hop for us when we do venture to Hawaii but you've definitely given us something to think about :cool:

I'll be on the boards checking all things Hawaiian up until we do make our minds up so if I "see" you or your mum on here again I'll be sure to say hi.

Despite the rough forecast, I hope you have a reasonably smooth return to SF.

Thanks again

Sue :)

We intend to do something similar for my hubby's 60th in 2016.

We'll book independently though - we're definitely going to Las Vegas (we love that city) we're just not sure if we'll cruise to the islands or fly & island hop.

We love the idea of cruising there but just 4 days around the islands seems too little - with so much of the world still to see, it could well be our only visit to Hawaii and we want to see as much as we can.

With our last cruise, we combined a 2 night stay in San Francisco before embarkation with a 2 night stay in Fort Lauderdale after disembarkation.

Our first cruise was to Alaska - we stayed in Vancouver for 2 nights beforehand but did a lot of travelling afterwards. 4 nights in Seattle, 4 nights in Las Vegas and 5 nights in Washington DC........all booked independently

Apart from getting bumped off a flight from Philadelphia to DC and then, during our homeward journey, having to spend the night in a Chicago motel courtesy of American Airlines (the pilots went on strike as we sat on the plane waiting for other passengers to board!), everything went to plan :D

Did you know: Tonight the Horizon Court served Frog Legs.

 

 

Frogs legs!, that's one of the last food items on my bucket list.

I believe they're supposed to taste like chicken :rolleyes:

Did you (or anyone you know) try them?

Sue :)

It is, and not wanting to sound to critical, its just an observation.

It's great to know and as it's happened on one of your previous cruises, it sounds like it's the norm for this ship.

If we do sail to Hawaii - rather than do an island hop/hotel stay - details like that could be the deciding factor on where we board (SFO or VCR) - if the Grand has more of a Hawaiian atmosphere, I think we'd opt for that. :)