Takinoff

12 hours ago, sfdolphin said:

Hi - I was hoping that I could get some help from any “Princess Line “ experts. We have never done a Princess cruise but will be doing a 34 day crossing from FLL to Southampton at the end of May.

 As I am beginning to think of packing I was wondering if I could get some info on how formally people dress on the “formal nights”. Lately, on HAL people don’t dress up much except for a few (us included)! So I was hoping l might be able to reduce some of the packing. I would appreciate any help. Thanks

I imagine there's probably a roll call for your cruise.

This post is for Tallulah:

 

Sheena was very happily surprised to hear from you. I asked her if she knew a Tallulah. She looked at me in shock and said “Yes! O. M. G.” She tells me she was with you on the Rotterdam on her last contract as well as the last cruise. (I think I got that right.) She saw you every day and you and your husband were traveling with another couple.

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Captain Vaartjes has just made an announcement. We are still refueling so sailaway is now at 6:00 pm. Apparently there must be coordination with the airport because we are sailing directly in front of their landing strip. That must have been fairly exciting for them this morning because I saw squat through the fog. Oh sorry. Captain Vaartjes has just told us that they call them very low clouds. There are also very low clouds in Bar Harbor.

 

To continue...

 

I get my morning coffee in the Crows Nest. The Barista asks me if I am sure of my order because I didn’t get the same as yesterday. She’s good.

 

Yesterday and today I get the same questions from other passengers. “Where did you get your coffee?” They literally ask me that as I am standing beside the coffee bar. The visible presence of the new Explorations Cafe is literally abysmal. Today a man walked up to it and asked where they sell coffee.

 

We disembark and jump on the HOHO bus. I really like our driver but he only goes as far as Stop 1 where we have to get off and get on another bus. Bus driver # 2 is named Jules. She talks in a really fast monotone and puts people to sleep. When she is not boring us with the stories we can’t hear, she is admonishing us for things we haven’t done. Like getting off the bus; jaywalking; how we drive; why aren’t we getting off the bus?; jaywalking. I start calling them Jules’ Rules.

 

The architecture in this city is beautiful. There is a Freedom Festival going on. I can smell the pot. Coincidentally, we are now hungry. We finish the circuit and get off.

 

I had heard Quincy Market was the place to get lobster rolls. The crowds are horrendous and I decide that nothing is THAT good. We walk back to the harbor and stand in line at James Hook & Co. They have been in this location since 1925 so something’s keeping them in business. The lobster rolls are delicious. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture. My bad.

 

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Day 21: New York continued ...

 

Because our disembarkation time was 10:00AM, we had lots of time to spare, so we went to back to bed. I actually fell asleep for about an hour and was awoken by the first disembarkation group announcement at 07:00AM.

 

We went up to the Lido at 08:30AM and had a slow breakfast and it was nice and quiet...most people had already gotten off.

 

Breakfast, admiring the Manhattan skyline:

 

 

 

 

While going back to our room, we noticed that the majority of rooms were already vacated. We then got all of our belongings and left the room to go to the Queen’s Lounge to wait for our number to be called. There was a slight delay but we were eventually off by 10:20AM, saying goodbye to the Eurodam.

 

We picked up our luggage, went through customs and immigration and were out on the street at around 11:10AM waiting for a taxi to JFK. We got to JFK, but our flight wasn't leaving until 18:35 with British Airways, so we just waited around for the flight. The time went quickly as we were all reminiscing about our fantastic time on the Eurodam and looking back at our photos. After a quick 6 hour flight to London, we arrived there the next morning and connected for our 50 minute flight to Dublin. We were home by midday, tired from all the travelling.

 

We are home now, feeling sorry for ourselves, having to make the bed and cook our own meals! Oh well, time to go cruise shopping and look forward to another cruise!

 

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That's it! My first trip report completed. I hope you enjoyed it.

 

See you all again very soon!

 

John

Thank you so much for your detailed and informative journal! We are sailing on the Zuiderdam on the Viking Passage Aug 24 of this year on a similar itinerary. You have made us even more excited about our upcoming journey.

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We use park n go just out side the port. They shuttle you to and from the ship. They park the car, handle the bags, and drop you off right at your car on return.

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If we are considering a godfather, Why not pick Captain Albert. He loves Hal history and he's Dutch.

Too late for the NS, but a 3rd pinnacle class will be built.

Sandra

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We don't have any pre existing conditions at this time so I buy insurance just before cancellation penalties kick in.

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Personally, I am so glad that they stopped the conversions to lanai cabins. Yes, I would love one, ... but too expensive. What I do like is that on both of these ships, the deck chairs on the lower promenade deck are not reserved for the people in the lanai cabins. This means I can sit where the ship's railing is open and I can watch the ocean. I so love doing that, but not sitting way up high... or not sitting in the sun.

So here is my vote to leave the Amsterdam and the Zaandam alone please.

I agree. I have visited friends lanai cabins and they are much smaller than an ocean view on the same deck. Now THAT would be cause for claustrophobia 😎 Also seems the reserved chairs stay vacant most of the time.

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