Live Emerald b2b Jan 17 and Jan 27

[PescadoAmarillo]

Are you ever easy to please. :rolleyes:

Guess we are too! No wonder we enjoy mass market $70 a day cruising so much. Or maybe it's just that Beatle Maniacs is a nice change of pace from the comedians, jugulars, ventriloquists and hypnotists that are the standard entertainment fare.

 

Beatle Maniacs have not been on a formal night the 4 time we've seen them this season on the Emerald.

[gingera]

Guess we are too! No wonder we enjoy mass market $70 a day cruising so much. Or maybe it's just that Beatle Maniacs is a nice change of pace from the comedians, jugulars, ventriloquists and hypnotists that are the standard entertainment fare.

 

Beatle Maniacs have not been on a formal night the 4 time we've seen them this season on the Emerald.

 

thanks!

[vickie_bernie]

I am up at 3:30 am!!! What I am on vacation, a little hungover from all those liquid beverages, okay I was bad but it was so fun. After tossing and turning I get up and write my blog from yesterday and around 6 am I am up and out of the room so I can let Bernie sleep.

First stop Horizon Court for breakfast, normally I try to stay away from the Horizon court for breakfast but first thing it is very very quiet and I grab a big bowl of fruit salad with cottage cheese and a latte and I am good to go.

I head downstairs and run into Alice so we chat in the coffee bar.

Today we are in Aruba and we are meeting up with Illene and Murray from the Celebrity Ship that is docked right beside us. We originally met them on the Emerald four years ago and have kept in touch with them via facebook and cruisecritic and we are looking forward to seeing them. Bernie has purchased some Cherry Blossom chocolate bars for Murray as a transplant Canadian in the States he misses them. We head over to the Renaissance Mall and Starbucks and get our fix for which we have been without for a week. The ship’s latte is good though, but I am addicted to Starbucks. We visit with Illene and Murray for over two hours.

The rest of the visit is spent running around getting a few items that we need from Aruba, namely the Aloe lotion that our friend in Vancouver loves and we have to stock up on.

We are back on board around 1:30 pm and we are back in the cabin ordering room service and a nap!

The Platinum and Elite lounge is offering the Japanese Slipper as the drink today and sushi for appetizer. Our Captain Circle Party is tonight and it is well attended in Club Fusion, there were two parties tonight and we were at the 7:30 party.

Dinner is a little later tonight because of the party and we are at our table at 8:15, it is the Chef’s Dinner tonight but we are brought prosciutto and parmesan right away, then French onion soup, and a special pasta which I ended up having as my entre and Bernie had the rack of lamb. For dessert it is the ménage a trios the trio of desserts. We ordered one of our favorite bottles of wine the Pinot Grigio Dazante.

We have two more sea days now and they are always relaxing, but it is nice to know that we are staying on for the next sailing. The sales are really gearing up and you can see people spending more. The casino was hoping and is open 24 hours so you can get your gambling fix. We don’t usually engage in the casino but since it was a non smoking night it was nice to be in.

[vickie_bernie]

Bernie had just gone up to the Horizon Court and right away he was handled utensils and his plate and saw more staff at the stations! Oh something is up he said. We've seen this before -- yup it is official -- we are under precautionary status with Noro virus (stomach flu) --

 

yesterday one of our friends said the table next to us was cleared like it was a contamination site, and this morning it all makes sense. guessing the ship has the number of passengers with norwalk type symptoms to put us at the level where we can not serve ourselves anymore.

 

At 8:45 am the Captain came on the speaker in the cabin (hard to understand him but we got the gist of it) until further notice precautions are underway. He did state that washing your hands is the best way to combat the virus, so we will continue that.

 

Tim the cruise director is also away again, not sure if he is still ill or not, but he was not at the Captain Circle Party and this morning he was not on the morning show.

 

This is the third year in a row in January that we have had this happen. I am sure the ship will go thru a thorough cleaning before the new passengers board in thursday.

 

Well off to the International Cafe.

[klugh]

I received a email that Billy London will be our cruise director on the Feb 6th sailing. I guess Tim is leaving the ship.

[CruiseKing]

Orinally Posted By vickie_bernie

 

Tim the cruise director is also away again, not sure if he is still ill or not, but he was not at the Captain Circle Party and this morning he was not on the morning show

.

Vickie, Tim has been trying to shake a case of Bronchial Pneumonia.

Bruce

[PescadoAmarillo]

Tim is introducing the shows and making announcements. Given that he has pneumonia, that's commendable. I had it in late October and it took 2 weeks before i felt human and two more to be able to resume normal activities. Tim phoned me since he's been sick and told memhe plans to attend our CC meet and greet on Friday.

 

Yes, noro. If it's January and a Princess 10 night cruise, it's noro. Not a huge thing. We deal with it. Wish it wasn't, but it is. Makes the dining room that much more appealing!

[SomeBeach]

Vickie, I have been following your thread, especially in regards to the general info on the ship and crew. I've not been on the Emerald but will be in Aug, so I appreciate reading all the good comments about your on board experiences.

 

I have sailed with Captain Pomata before and enjoyed meeting him. If an opportunity arises, could you inquire as to whether he will be on board in late Aug.

Thank you.

[vickie_bernie]

I received a email that Billy London will be our cruise director on the Feb 6th sailing. I guess Tim is leaving the ship.

 

yes Tim is heading off on his vacation starting Feb 6, Billy will be coming on a few days early to settle in

 

Orinally Posted By vickie_bernie

 

.

Vickie, Tim has been trying to shake a case of Bronchial Pneumonia.

Bruce

 

yes he has been quite ill and he is a real trooper! He is out and about today though and he certainly is going the extra mile especially with the health issues.

 

Some Beach: I will ask him the next time we see him - probably won't be until the next sailing.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Bernie had just gone up to the Horizon Court and right away he was handled utensils and his plate and saw more staff at the stations! Oh something is up he said. We've seen this before -- yup it is official -- we are under precautionary status with Noro virus (stomach flu) --

 

yesterday one of our friends said the table next to us was cleared like it was a contamination site, and this morning it all makes sense. guessing the ship has the number of passengers with norwalk type symptoms to put us at the level where we can not serve ourselves anymore.

 

At 8:45 am the Captain came on the speaker in the cabin (hard to understand him but we got the gist of it) until further notice precautions are underway. He did state that washing your hands is the best way to combat the virus, so we will continue that.

 

Tim the cruise director is also away again, not sure if he is still ill or not, but he was not at the Captain Circle Party and this morning he was not on the morning show.

 

This is the third year in a row in January that we have had this happen. I am sure the ship will go thru a thorough cleaning before the new passengers board in thursday.

 

Well off to the International Cafe.

Hi vickie and Bernie sorry to here about your code RED ,have fun gail and marty

[jascom]

Hey Vickie and Bernie,

Hope all is well now.

we are first time cruisers feb/6th on emrald princess.Really enjoy reading your blog and lots of info.please keet it going its so interesting.

we are excited about cruising and beatle maniacs DW is big beatle fan.

we are in ottawa.besides being canadian capital city its also cold and snow capital and we love it.winterlude is first week of february and we are glad will miss it.

[vickie_bernie]

Two sea days!

Sleep in, yup Vickie is finally sleeping in and I don’t feel guilty about it. Bernie has gone up to the Horizon Court for some breakfast and when he comes back he informs me that yup it looks like the ship may have an outbreak of Noro virus. Yup and then shortly thereafter the Captain is in our room, well not really in our room, but coming over the loud speaker. For safety reasons we are now under red alert to help combat the spread of the virus.

This is the third year in a row in January where we have had an outbreak. Now for those who are not aware Noro Virus is very common everywhere, not just on cruise ships, but those on land are not reported like they are on a cruise ship. For this ship once 12 people have confirmed cases they must go to red alert, which out of 4000 people on board is not a lot but the health of the passengers is first and foremost. Once passengers come down with the symptoms they are quarantined to their cabin (but trust me they don’t want to go anywhere anyways) and then the next day the symptoms are gone but the patient is way too weak to go anywhere and needs to rest. Normally after 48 hours of the first symptoms the patient is cleared and can move about the ship but often needs to take it easy. I have personally had the virus (on land and comfortably in my own home) and know someone who has had it on a ship (and his spouse who shared his cabin didn’t get the virus).

Right away the ship goes into safe mode, hand santizers even though prevelant before are everywhere, hand washing is the most effective means of removing the germs, but you must sanitize your hands before entering any of the food areas. Cutlery is handed out, staff serve you at each buffet station, after you leave the table the whole table is quickly wipped down and sanitized. On deck, deck hands carry a cloth and sanitizer spray to wipe everything down that is touched, in bars staff do the same and everywhere you look crew are wiping elevators, railings, walls, arm rests (wow the ship sparkles).

Speaking with some of the crew (photographers, dancers etc. that are allowed to eat in public areas) are confined to the crew mess hall while the alert is on. All public sales outside of the stores are cancelled, so darn it the Bijoux sale is cancelled, the galley tour is cancelled but the demonstration still happens. At the wine tasting yesterday they did not provide communial cheese/crackers/grapes. Salt/pepper shakers are off the tables and little packets are provided.

Okay enough about the virus.

For lunch I grab two slices of pizza and watch a bit of a movie at MUTS (movies under the stars) but the sun is hot so after a half hour I take cover and arrange to meet up with friends for some wine in their cabin. Then darn it is wine tasting where a few nice wines have been introduced.

Skywalkers has port for the drink tonight so I am heading up there while Bernie heads to the trivia. Tonight is formal night and we have opted out so we head up to Café Caribe for the Landfall dinner, it is rather busy and it goes rather smoothly, and they have lobster claws, crab and large shrimp! I get my feast!

We watch the sunset off the aft deck and then head up to the Movies Under the Stars to watch the movie “You Again” with Sigorney Weaver, Betty White, Jamie Lee Curtis – it is cute and it is so nice to enjoy the movie in the heat. I love that they come around with fresh baked hot cookies and cold milk for you to enjoy, it is these little things that make sailing so special.

Last day for the first leg – we sleep in room service is delivered at 8:45 a little late but that is okay because I think they are extra busy this morning. Then it is down to the International Café for a latte and chatting with friends. Today I am going to go to this Zumba class at 10:00 in Club Fusion and for 45 minutes we dance dance dance and I hopefully burned off that donut I ate earlier, I love it because it is great exercise for me with my back injury.

I head up to Adagio’s Bar for trivia for which we sucked! Well at least it is consistent. Jerry and Rose join us for lunch in the Wheelhouse Bar for the Pub Lunch and I tried the Ploughman’s lunch and the others all had fish and chips (again a newer item that is included and makes sailing with Princess even better).

1:00 pm sees us in Club Fusion again for Movie Trivia which we did pretty good at but still didn’t win so we better go drown our sorrows and we head to Mike/Sue’s balcony along with Bill/Cathy and two bottles of wine and some finger foods and a lot of great laughs.

It is our last dinner with Jerry/Rose tonight and we have to say goodbye to so many but we are excited about staying on and seeing our friends from Blackpool England that arrive tomorrow Colin and Gwenda.

We also have to move cabins tomorrow we are heading to A743 and have already spoken to our cabin steward and informed her that we will move our own bags and that we will just put them in the closet. We will unpack after we come back from running errands in Fort Lauderdale.

[Starshine95123]

Sounds like you are having a wonderful cruise so far. AND, you get to stay on while most people have to get off. Have fun and enjoy the rest of your cruise.

[jascom]

Ditto and keep on blogging.love reading it.

[cormike1]

Hi Vickie,

I have thoroughly enjoyed your reports and you have kept me informed of what is going on each day that my friends might be doing to. Thanks for this. I have a question....could you not book the same cabin for this back-to-back cruise or do you have to change cabins...is that a rule. Also do you have to disembark or could you stay on the ship in Ft. Lauderdale if you wanted to. Just curious as to how this works. Thanks Vickie. Looking forward to reading your part 2 of your cruise.

Corinne

[PescadoAmarillo]

Hi Corinne, I'm not Vickie but I can reply about B2B cruises. You only have to change cabins if you didn't book the same cabin for both cruises. I think Vicki booked guarantees, so she didn't book a specific cabin. We are in the same cabin for 3 cruises, but are waitlisted for a 4th cruise. If we get that, we'll have to change cabins, I'm sure. We simply have to exit the ship either individually or in a group with other B2B passengers to go through immigration, and then normally, if we're part of the group, we can reboard almost immediately. If we choose to go off early on our own, we can't reboard until the first passengers start coming on. Today it might all be a bit delayed because I'm sure they're going to super clean the ship because of Noro. But we kind of want to buy all day water taxi passes so we may simply leave right after breakfast.

 

52 degrees in Fort Lauderdale this morning! Is Florida ever going to warm up this winter? This is our 6th turnaround day in Fort Lauderdale this winter, and almost all of them have been chilly. Of course, it's all relative, isn't it. At least no rain today, a most welcome change from 1/17!

 

We are ready for another incredible 10 days!

[ggprincess2004]

Hi Corinne, I'm not Vickie but I can reply about B2B cruises. You only have to change cabins if you didn't book the same cabin for both cruises. I think Vicki booked guarantees, so she didn't book a specific cabin. We are in the same cabin for 3 cruises, but are waitlisted for a 4th cruise. If we get that, we'll have to change cabins, I'm sure. We simply have to exit the ship either individually or in a group with other B2B passengers to go through immigration, and then normally, if we're part of the group, we can reboard almost immediately. If we choose to go off early on our own, we can't reboard until the first passengers start coming on. Today it might all be a bit delayed because I'm sure they're going to super clean the ship because of Noro. But we kind of want to buy all day water taxi passes so we may simply leave right after breakfast.

 

52 degrees in Fort Lauderdale this morning! Is Florida ever going to warm up this winter? This is our 6th turnaround day in Fort Lauderdale this winter, and almost all of them have been chilly. Of course, it's all relative, isn't it. At least no rain today, a most welcome change from 1/17!

 

We are ready for another incredible 10 days!

 

 

Bon Voyage again! We woke up to over a foot of snow this morning. We are so ready to head to FL on Saturday, even if it is a bit cool, and the forecast for next week is showing rain every day.

 

Have a great time!

 

Ginger

[PescadoAmarillo]

Thanks, Ginger, and I hope you and Wes have a safe journey south and a wonderful cruise.

 

As anticipated, the Noro issue is delaying our reboarding the ship a bit. Cabins are being sprayed with an anti-viral spray in between cruises (although not ours, since we obviously don't have the illness). We will eventually be ensconced in Club Fusion until we can return to our cabins. Of course, we can also head out and explore Fort Lauderdale too.

[cormike1]

Hi Corinne, I'm not Vickie but I can reply about B2B cruises. You only have to change cabins if you didn't book the same cabin for both cruises. I think Vicki booked guarantees, so she didn't book a specific cabin. We are in the same cabin for 3 cruises, but are waitlisted for a 4th cruise. If we get that, we'll have to change cabins, I'm sure. We simply have to exit the ship either individually or in a group with other B2B passengers to go through immigration, and then normally, if we're part of the group, we can reboard almost immediately. If we choose to go off early on our own, we can't reboard until the first passengers start coming on. Today it might all be a bit delayed because I'm sure they're going to super clean the ship because of Noro. But we kind of want to buy all day water taxi passes so we may simply leave right after breakfast.

 

52 degrees in Fort Lauderdale this morning! Is Florida ever going to warm up this winter? This is our 6th turnaround day in Fort Lauderdale this winter, and almost all of them have been chilly. Of course, it's all relative, isn't it. At least no rain today, a most welcome change from 1/17!

 

We are ready for another incredible 10 days!

 

Thanks for replying to my questions Pescado....I always wondered about cabins and having to get of the ship. Have a wonderful cruise and keep those postings happening....I am in Southern Ontario and it is cold and lightly snowing....as usual lol.

Corinne

[AliceS]

Hi Everyone,

 

What a great time. I'm home safe and sound, but cold. I really enjoyed meeting everyone and seeing old friends. Wasn't Zumba fun? I hope that they continue to offer the Zumba without additional charges. I wonder if that's where that will head, right with the yoga, spinning and pilates?

 

Please let me know if someone posts pictures.

 

I wasn't able to use the EZcheck because Delta changed my 11:30 flight to 11:05. I did have red tags and got to the airport really early. Enjoy the next 10 days on the beautiful Emerald and don't miss me too much. You know that you'll think of me when you go for your latte.

[vickie_bernie]

Hi Everyone,

 

What a great time. I'm home safe and sound, but cold. I really enjoyed meeting everyone and seeing old friends. Wasn't Zumba fun? I hope that they continue to offer the Zumba without additional charges. I wonder if that's where that will head, right with the yoga, spinning and pilates?

 

Please let me know if someone posts pictures.

 

I wasn't able to use the EZcheck because Delta changed my 11:30 flight to 11:05. I did have red tags and got to the airport really early. Enjoy the next 10 days on the beautiful Emerald and don't miss me too much. You know that you'll think of me when you go for your latte.

 

we really loved meeting you too and Bernie just thinks you are so cute!

 

We are still under red alert but it looks good so far, I've been told that if all goes well it will be cleared if no one new breaks out with it.

 

Turnaround for in transit was a little longer than normal they allowed us back on the ship but we had to wait in Club Fusion as a group for about a half hour (juice, tea coffee papers were provided) until they finished sanitizing the entire ship.

 

We have a cigar smoker in the inside cabin right across the hall from us and the smoke is coming in our cabin! we are dealing with it thru the pursers desk as it clearly states no cigar/pipe smoking in your cabin.

 

Francesco is taking care of us again inDavinci

 

will write mroe later, internet is slow today

[1 HappyCruiser]

We have a cigar smoker in the inside cabin right across the hall from us and the smoke is coming in our cabin! we are dealing with it thru the pursers desk as it clearly states no cigar/pipe smoking in your cabin.

 

 

Good luck with getting him (or her) so stop smoking. ;):rolleyes:

I doubt if the smoke is coming through the door vent but if it is why don't you get some cardboard & tape the vent closed? It's most likely the ceiling vent in you cabin.

[ROWSE]

I can't even begin to express how happy I am we do not have an inside for our Feb. 6th Emerald cruise. We would not want to have that cabin that Vickie is currently across from.

Poor people, unless they are smokers too!

 

Thanks for keeping us informed, Vickie, I am sure you don't want the next few days to pass as quickly as I do.

[vickie_bernie]

Turnaround Day

Of course there is no chance of sleeping in today, at 6 am we are coming into port and you can feel it. We are not in any rush but we do want to give our cabin steward some time to get the cabin ready for the next passengers. So we are showered and packed up by 8:00 am and we head up to Aloha to see Elisa our new cabin steward and she says it is fine for us to move our suitcases into the closet until later so this is what we do. Now Princess will gladly move the suitcases for you but they are so busy with the total ship clean up that we don’t want to add to the work and we are only moving two flights up on the same area.

Many have asked why we are moving, couldn’t we have booked the same cabin, etc. So here is the details, when we originally booked these two cruises we booked the same inside cabin C721 for both legs. But last fall the price dropped $150 per person for both legs so we decided to upgrade only the second leg to a balcony and this is why we had to move.

There are quite a few in transit passengers and we are called to the dining room for 10 am and we are told their that because of the sanitizing that is needed to be done we will be escorted off then clear customs then taken back on board but will be in held in Club Fusion until the ship is cleaned. In the end we were escorted off at 10:30, went thru customs and were back on the ship around 11:15 and waited in Club Fusion until 11:45 (juice, coffee, water, tea, papers were on hand for us). In all it took a little longer than usual but it was done very professionally and most passengers didn’t mind. Of course if you wanted to head ashore and do some errands you could of and then you just come back on at your leisure.

We just went back to our cabin and unpacked everything and got settled. We went ashore around 12:30 and went to Starbucks, Total Wine and Publix. We had a lovely meal at a Mediterranean restaurant and then we walked back to the ship.

Since we are in transit we were able to skip the muster drill and we went up to the Sun deck to enjoy the peace and quiet before everyone comes up for sail away. Colin and Gwenda meet us and they come up with a bottle of champagne to toast the voyage. We then head to Skywalkers for the drink of the day, margaritas and a few laughs.

One issue we have with our cabin is the cabin across the hall from us (an inside A745) smokes cigars in his cabin. The smell drifts into the hallway and thru the vent in our door and into our cabin, our cabin stinks of cigar smoke! We mention it to the purser’s desk and they will look into it. According to the Patters and the notice sent to each cabin cigar smoking is not permitted outside of the Speakeasy. But it looks like the Purser’s desk doesn’t want to deal with as the manager called this morning saying “well there is nothing we can do if they smoke in their cabins” I quoted the policy but he hummed and hawed…. So we thankfully brought duck tape and we have taped over our vent in our door. Too bad that someone can ruin it for so many and no one seems to really care. This so far has been our only beef, not bad and we will not let it ruin our cruise.

Dinner is back in the Da Vinci dining room where Francesco has been able to accommodate us in the dining room at a table for 8 at 7:45. The meal is great and it is so nice to enjoy with good friends.

After diner we are both so tired and we are back in the cabin and resting and soon are sound asleep. The next two days are sea days and we know that we will get lots of rest then.

[vickie_bernie]

I can't even begin to express how happy I am we do not have an inside for our Feb. 6th Emerald cruise. We would not want to have that cabin that Vickie is currently across from.

Poor people, unless they are smokers too!

 

Thanks for keeping us informed, Vickie, I am sure you don't want the next few days to pass as quickly as I do.

 

well it can happen in any type of cabin, and they do have a way of removing the smell.

 

We have used duck tape (which we always pack) to cover the vents. I believe the purser's desk has spoken to them as we haven't noticed the smell all day. Trust me if someone is not following the rules they will be warned only once.