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

[Arlened236]

When you print out your boarding tags please post if there is anything about the wine limit.

 

Tom:)

 

 

Tom I just printed out my luggage tags for the March 16 cruise on the Grand (when you return to SF) and yes there is a very prominent statement on the tag

 

Asking: Bringing alchol onboard?

*one 750 ml bottle of wine or Champagne per adult

*additional wine & Champagne bottles are welcome for a $15 corkage fee each, per voyage

*other liquors, spirits or beers are prohibited. Luggage is subject to search

 

Guess its up to each ship if they inforce this policy

 

Don't think this is what you wanted to hear...sorry

Arlene

[CruzinNoony]

Hi Pia, sorry to hear about you being under the weather. It could be the change of weather from hot and humid to cold.:o Bob and I loved the movie "Argo". If you see it let us all know how you and Mike liked it. How is the morning show? Does she do trivia questions for prizes? And if so, have you won?:rolleyes:

[gr82sum]

We have not been cruising as long as some of you. So far we have met the captain at all the M&G except 1. There was also the head chef, the hotel manager, cruise director and some assistants. I guess it is up to the person arranging for the M&G to contact these people and give them enough information about the M&G. I think that the more people attending, the better attendance of the ship's staff.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

[Pia1913]

Still here in Puerto Madryn where we are set to depart at approx. 7 PM. When I said brrrrrrrrrr this morning I meant it. The sun was shining, but the temp was about 46 degrees with wind. Very strong wind. Our port lecturer said there might be a shuttle, but he wasn’t sure about it and the walk to town was more than ½ mile. Another person on staff this morning told me there would be no shuttle since it was Sunday and that nothing would be open anyway. Part true; part not. I don’t know when the shuttle began, and there was a grocery store and pharmacy open until 1 PM. Didn’t really matter, since I wasn’t going to brave the wind. Friend Tina said it’s a very small town; quaint.

　

We had a very nice long lunch with CC friends and then read for the rest of the aftenoon. It did warm up and we were able to sit out for a bit, but only when the sun was on our balcony. This was interrupted about an hour ago since the powers that be decided our balcony rails needed to be sanded and varnished. Wonderful to inhale that stuff when you have a cold. :(

　

Our intention tonight to is have an early dinner and to see the movie Argo. If of course we can get decent seating. Hard to see a movie in Vista with that small screen.

Meredith: no, she doesn't do any kind of trivia, so we hardly ever tune in. I do see her several times a day though and since I've known her for 10 years, we are on very friendly personal terms.

　

See you tomorrow as we sail to the Falklands. So far, so good as far as expectations on getting in there.

[Colo Cruiser]

Hope you get over the pre crud.

[coo359a2]

Hi Pia, sorry to hear about you being under the weather. It could be the change of weather from hot and humid to cold.:o Bob and I loved the movie "Argo". If you see it let us all know how you and Mike liked it. How is the morning show? Does she do trivia questions for prizes? And if so, have you won?:rolleyes:

 

No Meredith - it is the people who come to the Princess theater coughing and hacking over everyone that sits in front of them. I caught their "free" germs 2 days before Buenos Aires and spent 3 days in my cabin so that I wouldn't cough out in public. It's terrible what is going on with all the coughing. I've left the theater several times due to coughing going on behind me but waited too late one time. Now I plan to stand during any events held in the theater.

[DonahCBrown]

No Meredith - it is the people who come to the Princess theater coughing and hacking over everyone that sits in front of them. I caught their "free" germs 2 days before Buenos Aires and spent 3 days in my cabin so that I wouldn't cough out in public. It's terrible what is going on with all the coughing. I've left the theater several times due to coughing going on behind me but waited too late one time. Now I plan to stand during any events held in the theater.

 

Too bad some folks just feel a need to 'share' isn't it! You guys take care and get well soon!

[bronxgirl25]

I hope your cold doesn't progress any further than it is :( and that you feel better very soon. :)Love reading your "live". I feel like I'm there with you....at least in spirit! :p

[Judycpro]

We were on the Grand for two weeks, disembarking on Jan. 26 th ( the beginning of the 49'er). The coughing that was going on was incredible. I have never seen anything like it! I got a slight cough, which is still lingering, but not nearly as bad as others. So PIA, drink a lot of tea and if you can get zinc lozenges, suck on a lot of them. That helped keep me in check.

 

Thanks for posting these updates. We are extremely jealous and wish we could have stayed on. But unfortunately we just didn't have the time to devote. But your posts are helping us decide on which leg of a Sourh American cruise we should take.

 

thanks again Pia.

[san diego sue]

And the weather will get even colder, especially In The Faulklands.

[RNGALNG]

We were on the Sapphire for New Years and the weather didn't cooperate so we could be out much. We were a breeding petri dish! There were two types of crud onboard. Three of the 4 of us got the easy version from our flight to the ship before starting out and one got the worst upper respiratory crud that was hitting everyone! (We were very careful to use anti stuff and lots of soap to no avail.) If you get the crud really bad, please go visit the wonderful staff in the medical ward. They will hook you up to an IV that really helped our traveler to get better a whole lot quicker! They were fantastic and without them, I think we would not have made it home when planned! The ill traveler was in no condition 8 hours before getting off the ship to travel but after the magic IV, he did make it home!

 

Take care, you don't want to miss any of the cruise!

[ppgote3]

I'm new and sailing on March 16 to Hawaii. Cruise personalizer says Captain Lawes. Customer service, phone call, says Captain Anthony???? any info shall be appreciated. thanks paul.

[caribill]

no, she doesn't do any kind of trivia, so we hardly ever tune in. I do see her several times a day though and since I've known her for 10 years, we are on very friendly personal terms.

 

 

　

 

The quality of the morning show has gone done on all my recent Princess cruises. Of course a major part has always been having a "guest" from some department such as the Spa pushing whatever the depatrtment has to sell, but that was tolerable.

 

However, last year about every ten minutes they stop the actual show to run just straight advertisements about ship services and videos about the new Royal Princess, the same videos most CC people have seen on the Internet already.

 

If taking a long cruise such as Pia is on, seeing the same Royal videos day after day after day would be enough to make someone swear off from cruising.

 

Besides being on the morning show, they will be shown in lounges when waiting for shore excursions and on disembarkation morning, at the Captain's Circle party, on the MUTS screen, and on any other occasion Princess can slip them in. Even seeing the "Hunger Games" again would be preferable to seeing the Royal videos one more time while on board.

[Pia1913]

Another cold morning and getting colder. Florida bodies do not do well with low temps. Especially those fighting colds. Hopefully the sun will rear its head and warm us up a bit. We have been rocking and rolling all night and seas are heavy. Tomorrow in Stanley will surely be colder. If of course we get in there. This was just a statement, but we do know they expect winds around 35 mph, so that could avert tendering.

　

We did see the movie Argo last night. Loved it.

　

Today’s morning schedule has a destination lecture on Stanley and Cape Horn and Spelling Bee Heat #1. The only other time I have seen a spelling bee was on the Sapphire in 2010. And I won! There’s also to be a paperback book exchange in Explorer’s. Pretty funny, since when they diagnosed noro they also threw out all the paperbacks and locked up the exchange shelf. They also kept the Princess books locked up and if you wanted one you pointed and they took it out. Absolutely ludicrous.

　

In the afternoon there’s the sequel to the Maxtone-Graham lecture; this time it’s the South Pole. Movie in the theater is Bourne Legacy and on MUTS it’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl.

　

Tonight’s entertainment is the comic guitarist again (Dan Riley) in

Vista, a female vocalist Elvy Rose in the theater and Beasts of the Southern Wild on MUTS.

Modes: Your nastiness really added something to this thread. Keep up the good work. :rolleyes:

　

　

　

　

[Julia’s Journey’s]

Glad you enjoyed Argo, we did when we saw it:)

 

Hoping you have good tendering into Stanley too :)

 

We have never been morning show watchers but I have noticed how many times they played those royal videos, over and over and over. Even being booked on the ship I got sick of seeing them.

[davaller]

If you dont like the posts dont read them but some people do enjoy them I for one do.

 

Pia

We always do long cruises and at times the weather gets you down to cold/wet to go out side and the sale pitches day after day would drive you nuts and it us hard to get away from it and days at sea which we love with out a good C/D and staff and listening to the people that do not know how to entertain themselves read a book play cards talk to people would drive any sane person crazy we were waitlisted for that cruise and with the weather as it is are glad we are 28 days to Hawaii and south pacific

 

Love your posts and tell it as it is

 

Davaller

[PescadoAmarillo]

If taking a long cruise such as Pia is on, seeing the same Royal videos day after day after day would be enough to make someone swear off from cruising.

 

Very true, but it seems a bit pretentious to complain about it, so I don't. ;)

 

DH, OTOH, says, ad nauseum, that he never cares to see The Office, Modern Family, Love Boat, the Royal Princess or Ray Calouri again in this lifetime.

 

I could handle Modern Family, perhaps, but not the episodes we've seen 137 times this winter.

[Dietemann]

Pia, love your posts, thanks for taking the time! We miss being on this trip, cold here in FL, too, mid-40's in Sarasota area.

[juniper berries]

Pia Thankyou so much for taking the time to tell us about your days while you are away.I hope your cold gets better soon. looking forward to reading about the rest of your cruise. Safe travels where ever you and your Dh roam.:)

[kruisey]

I usually take a long cruise but due to an acute very bad respiratory infection on my last one decided a balcony cabin is best for me in future...the expense:eek:

Anyway on sea days when its warm and everyone can go out in the sunshine I love it.:)

When its cold and calmy and we all stay inside not so good and it makes me feel down at that time.:(

I know Princess will disagree with me but I think personally its the 'Air Conditioning' that carries the bugs.Hence the need for a balcony cabin in my case.

Pia I sometimes don't agree with you on stuff but I do commiserate at this time with your health condition.You have had major surgery and your immune system is still getting up to everyone elses level and those litltle buggies have decided to have a field day with you.:eek:.I have empathy with you at this time due to the fact I have also been there..

[bcnvcanada]

Pia, we love following you around the world. The info is helpful in our planning. Thank you for taking the time and your minutes to relate your travels. Fanolorion, loved the comment. Eh

[san diego sue]

46,800 hits. I guess some of us LOVE Pia.

Getting sick on the ship is no fun. Remember these germs are coming from all over the world. On one cruise, I got sick twice, different germs each times. First half one type, second leg with new people, a whole new kind of Virus.

Pia has to be really careful. For those that know her, after her surgery,

she was so underweight(she could blow over) and had so little strength. So everyone, lets pray this bug doesn't catch on and she stays well.

Gloria:D

[WendyG]

Vegemite. I like that! :D

 

Modes - everyone is entitled to their own opinion! Pia is, as are you. The difference is that Pia takes time for all of us every single day to write about what is goign on for every cruise she goes on.

 

You are the one who was negative and critical on here with your snarky comments, while the rest of the 46,000+ people that have come here to read LOVE everything Pia has to say - good or bad! We value her opinion and appreciate the time she takes to write to all of us so IMHO - you just don't count!

 

Pia - thanks for continuing to keep us all informed of what happens each and every day - I know it helps everyone pass the time until their next cruise, so in the interim we live thru you and enjoy every word as we feel we are right there with you enjoying every moment! :D

[nanlaur]

Pia - thanks for continuing to keep us all informed of what happens each and every day - I know it helps everyone pass the time until their next cruise, so in the interim we live thru you and enjoy every word as we feel we are right there with you enjoying every moment! :D

Especially since you are reporting on the ship we will next board!