LIVE from the Ocean Princess - 28 days from Rome to Singapore 10/15 - 11/12/2011

[spingal]

Pia,

 

Have a great cruise!! I always enjoy your "Live From" threads! :D:D

[caribill]

 

It’s almost 9:30, we walked out of the welcome aboard show and shipboard life has begun.

 

Was that "walked out" when it was over or "walked out" in the middle?

 

In preparation for this itinerary, how many of the ports required you to get visas in advance?

[Kiwi Kruzer]

They have arrived in Sorrento

A good port for web cams to see them at anchor in the bay..

 

 

 

 

 

[ibfern]

Hi Pia,

Glad you got there safe and sound and I can't wait to see you in a month or so. Thanks for helping me with my live, and I will be following you until you pick me up in Rome. safe journey and exciting travels,

amelia

[Pia1913]

Buongiorno on a cool Sunday morning anchoring in Sorrento environs. This will be a quickie since we’d like to get off early. We were told that there’d be a shuttle at the port to take us into Sorrento city after we get off the tender. It’s walkable but you need to navigate 200 steps. We are not going to the gym this morning and will try to get our exercise with the Italian stair stepper. No mention was made as to how much the shuttle costs or where to buy tix. Can it really be free?

　

Not much happening around the ship today for those who elect to stay on board. There’s a movie “Zookeeper” at 2:45 and that’s about it. Something interesting that I’ve never seen before is a Cabin Door Meet and Greet at 5:15. “Who are your neighbors on this long journey” says our CD Peter. So at the appropriate time he wants everyone to open their cabin doors and say hello. Also something different is that the prize that will be awarded for winning trivia is listed in the Patter. So we know in advance that the winning team this morning will get a Princess tote bag and the afternoon winners will get a lanyard. Interesting concept.

　

Tonight’s entertainment will be Dan Hodge who is advertised as a piano entertainer, singer songwriter with songs and stories from his slightly twisted mind. Will check it out and let you know what this was all about.

For those who are interested in the food venues, the Panorama buffet will close at 5:00 and the Bistro will open at 5:30. I understand that these two will never be open at the same time. This ship still has the Sterling Steakhouse which is also never open at the same time as Sabatini’s. Diningroom will also be closed on all port days for lunch.

 

 

Answers:

 

1. We weren't in Rome; just transfer from airport, so no knowledge of demos

 

2. We know Capt. Ravera from past cruises. He's on vacation.

 

3. Only Visa needed is India

　

That’s it for now. Gotta run. Will answer more questions later.

[Guest012]

Thanks Pia for taking the time to go "Live"..look forward to following you along the way....and Donna too of course...We are boarding in Singapore so this thread will be for us a PreCruise virtual cruise...lol... Hope you got a good night sleep....cheers Shiona

[lizzy77]

Hi Pia. Looking forward to following your journey. Have a wonderful cruise.

[regnig]

Pia - Donna, many thanks for taking time out from your cruise to take us along with you! And David your maps and pictures make this log complete, THANK YOU.

 

Pia guess we could all send you our pennies to make up that $10 you lost in the slots! ;) Wow, an Italian stair-stepper, now that's a concept. Will be interested in hearing about Dan Hodge as he just might be very entertaining.

 

Love the idea of the Cabin Door Meet and Greet; sounds like something they should do on more cruises. If it was an original Peter concept then he gets at least one Gold Star from me.

 

Pia, let me know how the lamb is! :D

 

Barb

[curiouscat]

I'll be following you until wed when I board my cruise for 10 days and pick up when I get off.... can't wait to here about your experiences in some of those countries....:D

 

Best travels,

 

CC

[California Native]

Dan Hodges info for all of you

Larsen, Pia and anyone else interested.

We had him on the Azamara Journey last year for 24 days. AZ ships are like the Ocean and Pacific Princess.

Onboard those ships right where the future cruise consultant desk is, is where AZ put a mosaic coffee cafe and piano on the side of the room where Dan Hodges would entertain.

We really enjoyed him, found him to be friendly and outgoing not only on the ship but also in port when our paths crossed!!!

Here's a video of him on our youtube channel

AND you can view our tender in and out of Sorrento. just use the scroll bar within the youtube screen to access the videos.

 

http://www.youtube.com/user/OurPassportStamps

[Toto2Kansas]

Pia and Donna, thanks for reporting in. Will follow along for the next few days and then hopefully there will be two 28 day live from threads. ;)

[jajohnson]

Pia

 

Thanks for this wonderful "live". I will be following it closely since we do the reverse next year....<grin>....always a day late and a dollar short....

 

John

[chamima]

Hi Pia and Donna

Thanks for doing this "Live From". It will be fun to sail along with you.

The cabin door "Meet and Greet" is a great idea! How creative of Peter. Let us know how it works out.

Could you ask Arturo and Giuseppe how long they'll be on board. We have sailed with both before and they're wonderful! Contemplating sailing on the Ocean this February and their presence would certainly be a plus!

[Pia1913]

Back on board from our Sorrento escapade. First: the 200 steps. Nope. False. When we got off the tender there were 20 steps up to the shuttle area. And yes, the shuttle up to the city was free. Instead of steps there is a winding, steep and narrow roadway which our bus navigated slowly. Along this roadway is a narrow sort of bike lane where you see those adventurous walkers. We chose not to be four of them.

Very, very crowded. Could hardly walk through some streets. The 5 ships that were with us in Civitavecchia probably all came here. But not here; Naples. We are the only ship in Sorrento and the other zillion people are in town on shorex from their respective Naples docking. Lots of stores open even though it’s Sunday, but just as many closed. We found exactly what we were looking for; a supermarket with good wine prices. Could you ask for more? For all you folks who intend to be here, the supermarket is next to the cinema/theater and very close to the town center.

The ship is using two tenders; #3 and #5. #5 has the better driver. But no guarantee it will be same guy when you get here.

　

We’ve just returned from our first trivia session and started with our “same old, same old.” Tied and lost the tiebreaker. Oh well, we already have lanyards. Time to start getting ready for dinner and since we lose our first hour of many tonight, will probably not be checking in with you until tomorrow morning.

 

Answer : Giuseppe on until Feb.

[coo359a2]

Hi Pia and Donna - just getting chance to chime in. Couldn't find ya'll before we left for Rome. Made it to and fro with no problems. Didn't see anything lingering from the Protest except for many many police wandering around the tourist areas. Saw nothing that resembled a pickpocket either. Met some friends at the Spanish Steps and they said that Princess didn't bring them to Rome Termini where the protest began at 2pm - dropped them off at another train station.

 

Looking forward to cruising with ya'll thru the "live". Have lots of fun. Do you like your table location? Suppose to be#46.

[kruisey]

Let me know if it gets very crowded on sea days especially treadmills.Usually walk after breakfast on the larger ships but probably have to use the gym on the smaller ship.

Also about the activities on board during sea days also.

Thank you so much Pia for all the useful info you send us .......Heather:)

[HKM]

Hi, Pia. I always enjoy your journals and will try to follow along from the Sapphire. Sorry you had such a stressful flight. Just booked the Crown transatlantic from Rome next fall. I've made a note of the Hotel San Giorgio.

[DrJohn]

Hi Pia -- looking forward to reading your latest live posts!

 

If you have a chance could you please give a big hug to Giuseppe Franchina along with our best regards from Kathy and John? We sailed with him on B2B cruises to celebrate our retirement, 4 cruises on the Grand starting in Sept 2009 for a total of 50 days. He is super.

 

Have a great cruise, we look forward to sailing with you on the Grand on Feb 4, 2012.

 

John

[shellbeachjim]

Pia, well we missed being on the same cruise again. Someday we'll connect up. We cruised with Donna and Dennis last year on the "Beautiful White Lady". We had Peter Roberts a couple of times when he was an Associate Cruise Director on the original Royal Princess and liked him very much. He mostly worked with JJ King who I believe was responsible for getting Peter promoted.

[DonahCBrown]

Hello Donna,

 

We read that you arrived in Civatevecchia early and were looking for some good wine shops. Did you have any luck and if so would you be willing to share the names? We are boarding the Pacific at the end of November for the Transatlantic crossing and would love to take some bottles with us. We also hope to finally meet Pia on this cruise.

 

Hope the cruise is wonderful and the weather is good.

 

Thank you

 

Midge

 

The place we bought wine is likely to be out of business by the time you get there - it was a grocery in an apartment complex about three blocks inland from the San Giorgio and was clearly about to close down - amazing prices! Not much selection, though.

 

There are a lot of little 'mom and pop' places with a few bottles, but there is also a 'real' wine shop about mid-block on Via Mazzini which is close to the port area. That is probably your best bet for your trip.

 

We also found another grocery in Sorrento, as Pia already mentioned.

[DonahCBrown]

Hi Pia and Donna - just getting chance to chime in. Couldn't find ya'll before we left for Rome. Made it to and fro with no problems. Didn't see anything lingering from the Protest except for many many police wandering around the tourist areas. Saw nothing that resembled a pickpocket either. Met some friends at the Spanish Steps and they said that Princess didn't bring them to Rome Termini where the protest began at 2pm - dropped them off at another train station.

 

Looking forward to cruising with ya'll thru the "live". Have lots of fun. Do you like your table location? Suppose to be#46.

 

Yep we got 46, so glad you didn't get caught up in any problems! Enjoy your stay - good to catch up even so briefly!

[Pia1913]

Good Monday morning at sea, where the ship wiggled last night and then about 4:00 AM all hell broke loose. Cabinets opened and things flew out. The wind was howling and the ship was rocking; big time. I tried getting up to go to the gym at 7:00, but Mike yelled at me so I stayed in bed. A little past 8 the captain made an announcement into all cabins telling us that elevators cannot be used, and no access to decks 8 and 10 either. Deck nine is open, but right now we’re not going up there. Seas should calm down by midday, and seems better now. The sun is trying to come out, but wind is still at 50 knots. Nothing that will make us majorly uncomfortable; so far. Coffee is brewing, so all’s well right now.

 

　

We did attend the Dan Hodge show last night; most of it anyway. The man is a good pianist, but he really should stop trying to be a comedian. He told us he’s been aboard for 12 weeks and he’s still staying on. So I guess we will see him again. Karen, I will try to look at the Youtube link, but not until I know I’ll have enough minutes. Otherwise, will see it when we are home.

Our Scholarship at Sea program will be featuring two different lecturers. One is William Roberts who is billed as a cultural historian and is a retired Lt. Commander in the US Navy. He also recently retired from a second career as a litigation and trial attorney. The second gentleman is Dr. Bradley J. Rowe whose subject is cultural anthropology. He has lived and traveled all over Asia and Latin America and his Ph.D is in the area of Applied Eco-Psychology and Integrated Ecology. Today’s lecture by Mr. Roberts is “The Ancient Mediterranean: 5000 years in a nutshell. From the Great Flood to the Minoan, Hitites, Philistines to the Persians.” Dr. Rowe’s topic this afternoon will be “The Psyche of Italy: a dynamic discussion of the people and culture of Italy.”

　

Our Meet and Greet is scheduled in the Tahitian Lounge at 11:30 which will conflict with the port lecture on Athens and Kusadasi. I wonder how many of our Roll Call people will be choosing the lecture instead.

　

Also on the agenda today is the first art auction, a future cruise presentation on Alaska and a boat building competition. Of course there are 2 daytime trivias as well.

　

Tonight is our first formal night with a Captain’s Welcome cocktail party at 5:15 for early seating and 7:30 for late. Following that is the first production showtime: “Stardust.” We are going to attend even though we’ve seen it many times. I don’t recall whether or not we’ve ever seen it on a small ship and a lounge performance is always different than a theater performance.

 

 

One of us wants breakfast so will try to navigate up to deck 9. See you. :)

[kruisey]

To stop you going to the gym in this weather.

Hope it calms down soon for you.

Take care.......Heather.....:)

[phabric]

Enjoyed your live reviews. Looking forward to more. We have been on the Ocean and enjoyed it.

[Billy and Charlie's Mum]

Tagging along on your "live from" Pia. I have to tell you...... we won at trivia on our last cruise ...... sport trivia, no less! Clive told me we have to tell you! :D