A Tale of two Princesses

[scubacruiserx2]

While we were wait for the next ship it was apparent that the sky was becoming increasing cloudy .

 

 

 

 

The next ship to break out of port was the Independence of the Seas

 

 

 

 

The Independence and the Harmony appeared to be back to back in this picture

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Independence charging out to sea !

 

 

 

 

The video clip :

 

 

 

 

Note the dry ground . Only a moment later the wake waves will arrive and change things :

 

 

Edited December 21, 2016 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

A spotlight on the Harmony of the Seas

 

 

 

She is currently the largest passenger ship in the world .

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Harmony_of_the_Seas

 

 

 

 

 

 

Passing the Port Everglades web cam

 

 

 

She certainly had a glow about her

 

 

 

 

As she drew closer , she was longer than the width of my camcorder :

 

 

It required 2 overlapping photos , sandwiched together , to fit it all in !!!

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

After the Harmony left , there was only one ship still in port

 

 

 

 

The HAL Eurodam

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bet you feel small , it happens to us all

 

 

 

A look at the Harmony's Ultimate Abyss , a ten story slide ( the purple tubes ) .

 

 

 

 

The HAL Eurodam video clip :

 

 

 

 

And as the ships made their turns , we turned back to the Lago for dinner .

 

 

 

 

Edited December 21, 2016 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

We wanted to get in shipshape for our Regal cruise on the next day by doing some tummy stretching exercises at the Lago's Restaurant Acquario

 

 

 

 

 

We ordered the 3 course meal and it was nice and quite in the restaurant

 

 

 

 

We could have made a meal of this delicious Focaccia

 

 

 

 

The grilled Cesar salad

 

 

 

 

 

The Sea Scallops

 

 

 

 

We loved it all , including the cheese grits ( Polenta ? ) tucked under the veggies . The Key lime pie and Death by Chocolate Cake were taken to our room to sustain through the long Florida Winter night . I wanted to photograph it in the morning as we slipped into a food coma , but it somehow disappeared over night under less than mysterious circumstances .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[perfect match]

Of course Nancy , you may use any of the photos and thank you for asking . Will this be your first Princess cruise ?

 

We were quite surprised to see such small boats so far out to sea on a windy , bumpy day . When they came in it looked like several were in line and being towed by a powerboat with a line .

 

We have two previous cruises on Princess, Ruby in 2013 and Caribbean in 2014. The Panama Canal cruise will be our third on Princess. If you notice the new countdown ticker in my signature, you will see that we have gone ahead and booked another Princess cruise, southern Caribbean, also on the CB! I guess I must be going through my Princess phase. :D If this Princess phase continues, we might end up with more cruises on Princess than we have on Disney! Then again, a very similar itinerary as our Southern Caribbean on Princess would cost us twice as much on Disney! :eek: :eek:

 

I'm not surprised that some of the small boats needed a tow in. Between the currents in that port and the tsunami created by the cruise ships making their exit, I'm sure the conditions wewe a bit challenging for those sailors.

[jennybenny]

Beautiful photos!

[scubacruiserx2]

Beautiful photos!

 

Thanks jennybenny but you may want to ignore the next 2 batches !! ;)

[scubacruiserx2]

We have two previous cruises on Princess, Ruby in 2013 and Caribbean in 2014. The Panama Canal cruise will be our third on Princess. If you notice the new countdown ticker in my signature, you will see that we have gone ahead and booked another Princess cruise, southern Caribbean, also on the CB! I guess I must be going through my Princess phase. :D If this Princess phase continues, we might end up with more cruises on Princess than we have on Disney! Then again, a very similar itinerary as our Southern Caribbean on Princess would cost us twice as much on Disney! :eek:

 

I'm not surprised that some of the small boats needed a tow in. Between the currents in that port and the tsunami created by the cruise ships making their exit, I'm sure the conditions wewe a bit challenging for those sailors.

 

 

Congratulations on another cruise on the CB , she certainly is the affordable option . :) :D

 

 

And get what you're saying about a Princess phase , having just finished one . We noticed that your new cruise has a very interesting itinerary when we looked at it . Please excuse the dodgy quality of the photo from a travel web site .

 

 

 

 

The Southern Caribbean and Rome ? That sounds like one that we would like to do ! ;)

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

The parade of ships was shot under dark , cloudy and windy conditions and those qualities are reflected in the photos !

 

2 ships on the horizon

 

 

 

 

A video of the first 3 ships :

 

 

The Freedom of the Seas eclipsed by a condo

 

 

 

And entering Port Everglades :

 

 

The Carnival Conquest and the Regal Princess were next

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our ship has come in !!

 

 

 

 

[Julia’s Journey’s]

Enjoying this review as I do all of yours - great pictures:)

[scubacruiserx2]

Enjoying this review as I do all of yours - great pictures:)

 

That you Julia , and thanks again for writing in ! :cool:

[scubacruiserx2]

At this point I left the comfort of our room to walk down the beach . On the horizon were the HAL ships Nieuw Amsterdam and the Koningsdam , which are the 2 newest ships in their fleet and the Silhouette.

 

 

 

 

I couldn't reach the viewing area quick enough to capture the Nieuw Amsterdam , but here's 3 shots of the Koningsdam .

 

Bow

 

 

 

Midship

 

 

 

and Aft

 

 

 

 

And the last ship in as the day began to dawn was the Celebrity Silhouette

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 22, 2016 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

Back at the room in time for sunrise

 

 

 

 

 

 

and a breakfast

 

 

 

 

 

there she is

 

 

 

 

all we had to do was cross the 17th Street Causeway

 

 

 

 

can you feel the excitement ?

[scubacruiserx2]

The view from the causeway

 

 

 

 

our cabin was just below the flag

 

 

 

 

After arriving at terminal 2 the line moved quickly through check in and we were ushered to priority embarkation lounge for a short time before boarding . While in line I recognized arowe6 , Andrew and Brad from their photos and reviews on Cruise Critic . It was a pleasure to meet them in person and see them during the cruise . :) :D

 

 

 

 

 

And just before noon it was time to board .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Woobstr112G]

You take the best pictures.....:):):)

 

Bob

[perfect match]

Congratulations on another cruise on the CB , she certainly is the affordable option . :) :D

 

 

And get what you're saying about a Princess phase , having just finished one . We noticed that your new cruise has a very interesting itinerary when we looked at it . Please excuse the dodgy quality of the photo from a travel web site .

 

 

 

 

The Southern Caribbean and Rome ? That sounds like one that we would like to do ! ;)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glad to see you like our unique itinerary! :p. I used your post to prank Barry into thinking we were going to Rome. I almost had him for a minute. :D. I think he may pay more attention in the future when I show him an itinerary I want to book!

 

Actually, I was wondering if we would be allowed to stay on board for the overnight run to Rome, and what they were planning to do about the Panama Canal sailing that is supposed to follow ours.

 

While doing my research before booking, I did see Rome tacked on to either the beginning or the end of a few cruises where it obviously did not belong, but never the itinerary that I booked.

 

Although we have our next two sailings on the Caribbean Princess, and while I do like the ship, she is not one of our favorites. Our selections for the two cruises we have booked were based more on itinerary and sail dates rather than the ship we would be on. I would really prefer to sail on a ship we haven't been on yet. I am still looking to see what is offered when Disney and RCI open up their fall 2018 sailings. If either of them offer a similar itinerary on a ship we haven't sailed yet or that we perfer to the CB at a reasonable price (Disney) we may jump ship. If not, I will be perfectly happy with what we currently have booked.

 

When I was showing Barry the itinerary for our cruise that you posted, he also looked at some of the sailaway pictures. He thought there were pictures of both the Caribbean Princess and Independence of the Seas that looked like they were sitting on a sand bar! No way the water looked deep enough for ships that size to be floating!

[scubacruiserx2]

You take the best pictures.....:):):)

 

Bob

 

WOW , thank you Bob ! Best wishes to you , Holli , and all of your family . :) :D

[scubacruiserx2]

Glad to see you like our unique itinerary! :p. I used your post to prank Barry into thinking we were going to Rome. I almost had him for a minute. :D. I think he may pay more attention in the future when I show him an itinerary I want to book!

 

Actually, I was wondering if we would be allowed to stay on board for the overnight run to Rome, and what they were planning to do about the Panama Canal sailing that is supposed to follow ours.

 

While doing my research before booking, I did see Rome tacked on to either the beginning or the end of a few cruises where it obviously did not belong, but never the itinerary that I booked.

 

Although we have our next two sailings on the Caribbean Princess, and while I do like the ship, she is not one of our favorites. Our selections for the two cruises we have booked were based more on itinerary and sail dates rather than the ship we would be on. I would really prefer to sail on a ship we haven't been on yet. I am still looking to see what is offered when Disney and RCI open up their fall 2018 sailings. If either of them offer a similar itinerary on a ship we haven't sailed yet or that we perfer to the CB at a reasonable price (Disney) we may jump ship. If not, I will be perfectly happy with what we currently have booked.

 

When I was showing Barry the itinerary for our cruise that you posted, he also looked at some of the sailaway pictures. He thought there were pictures of both the Caribbean Princess and Independence of the Seas that looked like they were sitting on a sand bar! No way the water looked deep enough for ships that size to be floating!

 

 

Pat knows me too well when I try to prank her because she can smell a rat a mile away . And if my memory serves me well ( which it does occasionally ) , on the night that we met , Pat asked me " What's that smell ? "

 

I thought that she meant my After Shave ! ;)

 

 

Most of our cruises are based on price and itinerary ( for diving ) . That's why we did 2 different Princess cruises b2b - diving and price . Both ships had it's own unique character and flavor .

 

 

Patty thought the same as Barry when she looked at the photos , even though she was there in person while I was taking the sail away . The camera's lens and perspective can make things look different from reality .

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Glittering and glamorous is the first impression you get as you enter the Piazza which is 50% larger than the Grand class ships .

 

 

 

But hunger was calling out at a more visceral level leading us to a quite , sit down lunch .

 

 

 

 

A starter

 

 

 

 

and the real deal

 

 

 

 

 

did you say Parmesan basket with fettuccine alfredo ?

 

 

 

 

 

[TorontoTL]

Have a wonderful Christmas cruise. The food looks wonderful. I can't wait to board I. February.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[scubacruiserx2]

Have a wonderful Christmas cruise. The food looks wonderful. I can't wait to board I. February.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

 

It won't be long now , have a Merry Christmas !!

[scubacruiserx2]

After lunch we headed to our cabin in the aft of the ship

 

 

 

 

closet and storage

 

 

 

 

the bathroom

 

 

 

 

The TP placement is awkward for right handed people , and has a better placement in the CB . But the showers in the Regal are a little larger and have a hand held , multi position massager .

 

 

 

It also has a small love seat , desk and mini fridge , beneath the water bottles . And the large screen TV is interactive .

 

 

 

and our favorite , an aft balcony !!!

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

The Princess Patter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and everyone's favorite exercise

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[easyboy]

Really impressed by the quality of your pictures.

[perfect match]

Joe, Pat, your family, and of course, all your readers, Barry and I hope you have a very

 

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!