LIVE from the Grand Princess - 49 days from FLL thru South America to SFO

Welcome aboard the Grand Princess where we, at least some of us, will spend the next 49 days together. We are starting here in Ft. Lauderdale and will end up in San Francisco on March 16th. Oh yes, there’s a whole lot of South America in between.

Even though we only live 40 miles from the port, we decided to spend last night at the Rodeway Inn and taking their shuttle here this morning. Our friends Gloria and Lew from San Diego had booked there too, so even though they are not cruising with us now (they are on the CB), we wanted to spend some fun time with them. We also had a mini M & G at the Bimini Boatyard restaurant, located on 17th St near the port. There must have been over 100 CC folks at the beginning of Happy Hour, where beer and wine were only $3.00 each. The restaurant also presented a huge fruit, cheese and crackers platter; nice touch.

The port played one of their switcheroos on us, so this time we boarded at #29 instead of the usual #2. I guess we are considered the “small” ship. Boarding was a zoo; no real place to wait at this outlying area. But, they did take Elites first and we were in our cabin (balcony on Baja) shortly after noon. Decided to have a dining room lunch; nice juicy burgers.

Here’s some of the important stuff:

Captain: Anthony Herriott

Hotel Manager Andreas Pitsch

Food & Beverage: Riccardo Capraro

Customer Service: Trent Denovan

Maitre d’ Francesco Ciorfito

Cruise Director: Sammi Baker

Circle Hostess: Dawn Harrison

More important stuff:

The welcome aboard show “One Night Only” will be presented at 7 and 8:30, though we won’t be there. Then again, there’s a comic, Michael Minor too, so maybe we’ll take a peek. MUTS is showing The Avengers and Hope Springs is the movie in Vista. We’ll just check out the shops and the casino and perhaps early to bed. We already get to lose an hour sleep tonight. Oops, almost forgot, Maurizio is here. In Crooners. The Wheelhouse band is Soundtrack and the Explorer’s band is Latin Connection.

Almost time for muster so goodbye until tomorrow morning.

Have a great relaxing trip Pia. I will be following along up here in the frigid north.

Yay! Pia!!!

We are right there with you. We sail on Wednesday from BA!:)

Bon voyage!

Btw I made you a Bon voyage thread!

Hi Pia

Have a great cruise, we will be following your travels, looking forward to your posts.

yours Shogun

Have a great time! We're looking forward to "traveling" along with you. Tell Tina, Ken and Milt "Hi". Good luck in all the Trivia. :-)

Bon Voyage, Pia! :)

Don't know if you have cruised with Sammi Baker as your CD before but we did SA and Antarctica on the Regal with her in 2006. She did a fanatastic job keeping lots of activities and learning opportunities going. We missed several ports because of lumpy seas so she had lots of time to fill and did a great job. She would remember that cruise - Antarctica was a "scientific expedition".

I don't expect to be as happy with JJ when we board the Star on 2/25 for BA to LA - was hoping for Sammi again. At least we will have Joe May.

Have a great cruise - I'll be watching for your posts.

Rock and Roll!!!!

Bon Voyage!

Enjoy your cruise. We will be looking forward to more of your reviews.

Pia,

Yes, I will see you on the 16th. Are you heading to the airport or staying in SF for a couple days?

Ed

Pia, have a GREAT cruise. I know many of us will be with you in spirit and cruising vicariously with you via your "Live" thread. Bon voyage!

Have a wonderful cruise! Looking forward to reading all about it!

Pia,

Have a great cruise! I will look forward to your daily updates!

Judy

Pia, thanks again for the 'live' thread - looking forward to following your exploits for the next 49 days. Gloria

Did they sail yet?

Did they sail yet?

No, still waiting. Harbormaster said something about one not sailing til 2300 hrs., don't know which ship he was talking about.

Okay, they just communicated - sailing at 1800 (6 pm).

Bon Voyage! I will be following your posts as friends of ours, George and Anne Bettinger are also on this cruise. If I am not mistaken, Michael Minor is not really a comedian. He is a fabulous ventriloquist and singer...and a wonderful, friendly guy. Go see him....he does a good show. And add me to the fans of Sammi Baker. She is a good CD and lots better than Billy London, the usual CD on the Grand.

The Grand is leaving now.

Hi Pia. Another fabulous cruise for you and Mike brings all of us a wonderful "live from." Thanks so much!:)

Bon Voyage Pia and Mike....

Heres a map of the voyage and the itinerary...

Date Port Arrive Depart

Sat 26/01/13 Fort Lauderdale (Port Everglades) / USA 16:00

Sun 27/01/13 At Sea

Mon 28/01/13 At Sea

Tue 29/01/13 Charlotte Amalie (St. Thomas) / US Virgin Islands 08:00 17:00

Wed 30/01/13 St. John's (Antigua) / Lesser Antilles 08:00 17:00

Thu 31/01/13 Bridgetown (Barbados) / Lesser Antilles 10:00 18:00

Fri 01/02/13 Port of Spain (Trinidad) / Lesser Antilles 08:00 17:00

Sat 02/02/13 At Sea

Sun 03/02/13 At Sea

Mon 04/02/13 At Sea

Tue 05/02/13 At Sea

Wed 06/02/13 Fortaleza / Brazil 06:00 16:00

Thu 07/02/13 At Sea

Fri 08/02/13 Salvador de Bahia / Brazil 09:00 17:00

Sat 09/02/13 At Sea

Sun 10/02/13 Rio de Janeiro / Brazil 10:00

Mon 11/02/13 Rio de Janeiro / Brazil 17:00

Tue 12/02/13 At Sea

Wed 13/02/13 At Sea

Thu 14/02/13 Buenos Aires / Argentina 05:00 20:00

Fri 15/02/13 Montevideo / Uruguay 08:00 17:00

Sat 16/02/13 At Sea

Sun 17/02/13 Puerto Madryn (Patagonia) / Argentina 08:00 18:00

Mon 18/02/13 At Sea

Tue 19/02/13 Port Stanley / Falkland Islands 08:00 18:00

Wed 20/02/13 Passage Cape Horn 17:00 18:00

Thu 21/02/13 Ushuaia (Tierra del Fuego) / Argentina 07:00 16:00

Fri 22/02/13 Punta Arenas / Chile 07:00 19:00

Sat 23/02/13 Amalia Glacier (Passage) / Chile 16:00 17:00

Sun 24/02/13 At Sea

Mon 25/02/13 Puerto Montt / Chile 08:00 17:00

Tue 26/02/13 At Sea

Wed 27/02/13 Valparaiso / Chile 05:00 18:00

Thu 28/02/13 Coquimbo / Chile 07:00 18:00

Fri 01/03/13 At Sea

Sat 02/03/13 At Sea

Sun 03/03/13 Callao (Lima) / Peru 12:00

Mon 04/03/13 Callao (Lima) / Peru 14:00

Tue 05/03/13 At Sea

Wed 06/03/13 Manta / Ecuador 05:30 19:00

Thu 07/03/13 At Sea

Fri 08/03/13 Puntarenas / Costa Rica 07:00 19:00

Sat 09/03/13 San Juan del Sur / Nicaragua 07:00 18:00

Sun 10/03/13 At Sea

Mon 11/03/13 At Sea

Tue 12/03/13 At Sea

Wed 13/03/13 Cabo San Lucas / Mexico 08:00 17:00

Thu 14/03/13 At Sea

Fri 15/03/13 At Sea

Sat 16/03/13 San Francisco / USA 07:00

From the bridge cam in Fort Lauderdale , looking up to Celebrity Eclipse.

Hi Pia, I'm following along this time! Have a fabulous cruise and of course I'm very jealous.

Will you tell Tina, "thank you very much for the wonderful picture you sent of me with Dylan."

Please send my best to Mike! :p

Hello Pia & Mike ,,,so U R already posting ,,,how great !! Many stories to tell & we'll fallow U as your cruising towards South-America ..Have the best time &

make lots of memories ,,,your cruising friends Dick & Renate,,,,,,:):)

Can't wait to ready of your daily experiences. Have a wonderful cruise.

Rick

Hi Pia!

Please give my regards to Mike and all of our other Ruby friends! Have fun in Antigua, my parents' homeland!

denise

xo