LIVE: Caribbean Princess, British Isles, Aug. 17, 2017

[luvtoocruz]

Really enjoying your blog. We are leaving for TA 9/22. Nice hearing about the ship. Cannot wait, less than a month!!

 

 

 

Take care of the ship. We get on when you get off.

Betty

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Host CJSKIDS]

Really enjoying your live from thread! Enjoy the rest of your trip.

[geoherb]

We had another drizzly morning in Dublin. I'm glad we had the overnight stop to give us two days of touring--and we did not try to cram too much in either day. Today we picked up a hop-on/hop-off bus. There were three different companies to choose from. We went with the yellow one since they had live commentary on each bus. The other choices were red and green. The red one uses taped commentary. The green one also had live. We stayed on the bus for the most part, getting off briefly and Teelings Distillery before finding out it was not open its normal hours today due to a private function. Fortunately, we found out in time to get right back on our bus. We got off again at the next stop--Guinness. It was a fun tour, although a little bit crowded. We were there two and a half hours. I enjoyed learning how to pour a pint and pouring my own. We ate lunch in the cafeteria portion. There's also a sit-down restaurant. The food was tasty.

 

The rest of our ride we just finished up the route without getting off the bus. It stopped raining briefly, and we sat in the open air portion of the upper level for a bit. But by the end of the loop back to our starting point, it started raining again, and we decided to call it a day without going back to Temple Bar as planned. One of the downsides to the HoHo buses is that they run large loop routes. If we had decided to go on, we would have had to walk back to the shuttle stop or else ride around again. It would be great if they had buses running both directions on the loop.

 

We enjoyed a swim and the Skywalkers event before relaxing in our cabin while watching the coverage of the eclipse on our cabin TV. Then it was time for dinner. Tonight was back to assigned dining. I'm not sure why, but tomorrow we're back to all of the dining rooms being anytime again like our first night in Dublin. Tonight's show in the theater was "Beatles Celebration." They were great, although in my opinion, they focused too much on the early songs and not enough on the later ones. The theater was practically full, but we got there around 20 minutes before the show--going right after dinner with our tablemates.

[RLK33853]

Great detail and review. Thanks for taking us along on your adventure.

[sunsetbeachgal]

Loving your detailed comments, thx for taking the time to do this!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[geoherb]

My second batch of laundry came back last night before dinner. This batch would have been $21. It's a great perk to get it free, and once again I'm glad they're keeping up with next day delivery. I brought five polo shirts and two dress shirts, so it would be bad if they took four or five days.

 

Today is another drizzly cool day according to the forecast. We don't have plans for Belfast, just going to take the free shuttle into the city and see what's being offered from there. The people were swarming to get off the ship as we came out from breakfast in the dining room. One of the things that bugs me is people who don't pay attention to requests not to congregate on the stairs. Another is people who apparently don't remember how to line up. When we were leaving yesterday, several folks got off the elevators and merged into the existing line instead of looking for the end of the line. We had the same problem getting back on the ship in Dublin the first afternoon when several people from a tour bus decided that it was easier to merge into the existing line rather than walking 20 feet to the back of the line. I also saw a woman in the buffet packing sandwiches for lunch in spite of the announcements that no fruit, meat, or dairy products are allowed off the ship. If I were her family, I'd worry about the safety of eating sandwiches that had been stored for hours at room temperature.

 

The Chilean sea bass dish with mussels and clams by Curtis Stone was delicious. It just needed a vegetable to complete the meal. If I had paid attention to the description better, I would have had a salad and not needed a green vegetable.

[Grego]

I also saw a woman in the buffet packing sandwiches for lunch in spite of the announcements that no fruit, meat, or dairy products are allowed off the ship. If I were her family, I'd worry about the safety of eating sandwiches that had been stored for hours at room temperature.

 

......and when she and the family get sick, they will blame it on food poisoning they got while on the ship. It would be nice if everyone just followed instructions and obeyed the rules instead of thinking they don't apply to them......they are special.

[geoherb]

Today's weather wasn't as bad as the forecast. It drizzled lightly a couple of times, not hard enough for us to get our umbrellas out. Once again, Princess offered a free shuttle to the city. That's such a great service. We walked from the City Hall to the botanical gardens and Ulster Museum. Along the way, we stopped at some stores. The gardens are lovely. The highlight is a Victorian palm house (greenhouse). The rose garden was also lovely, though the lady at the Belfast tourism desk on the ship said it was past its prime.

We enjoyed the museum's exhibits. One focused on the Troubles. Another was a temporary exhibit featuring a 77-meter-long tapestry on the Game of Thrones. (Unfortunately, the primary exhibit note did not mention George R.R. Martin as the author of the books--and that was a trivia question later in the afternoon.) There was also a good display of the rest of the history of the area and nearby. One exhibit on crafts had a display case with pots by Bernard Leach, Lucie Rie, Hans Coper, and Shoji Hamada. Another had more modern pots. There was also many good pieces of glass. I recognized one by an artist couple but I don't recall their names. But every time we see their work, I recognize it right away.

 

We ate sandwiches from Tesco on the steps of a church afterwards. They were pretty good for premade sandwiches and a bargain at 3 pounds for a sandwich, bag of crisps, and drink. We walked back to a large mall that has a great viewing platform up high. I took photos of our ship from there. We did not buy anything other than a few packs of cookies at the pound store--like a dollar store in the U.S.

 

We made it back to the ship in time for afternoon trivia. We finished in third place with 15 out of 20. The winners had 17. After a nice swim in the spa pool, we dressed for the evening and enjoyed a bite at the Skywalkers event.

[RNGALNG]

We made it back to the ship in time for afternoon trivia. We finished in third place with 15 out of 20. The winners had 17. After a nice swim in the spa pool, we dressed for the evening and enjoyed a bite at the Skywalkers event.

 

 

Are you staying on for another couple cruises? I certainly don't want to play trivia against you! Congratulations on having heads full of useless information as do my husband and I. Your scores are nothing to scoff at. Great job!

[maz48]

......and when she and the family get sick, they will blame it on food poisoning they got while on the ship. It would be nice if everyone just followed instructions and obeyed the rules instead of thinking they don't apply to them......they are special.

 

We were on the Caribbean Princess on a Caribbean cruise, and some islands had sniffer dogs and bag checkers just outside the ship, to look for prohibited foods in those disembarking for tours etc. Our balcony overlooked that particular part of the dock and it was very interesting to watch:eek:. Cruisers trying to sneak round were caught and some had backpacks and carrier bags full of foodstuff. You should have seen the waste bags full of prohibited items by the time they had finished. It was certainly where all the bananas and apples went that day. Plenty of sandwiches also going out into the Caribbean heat too.

[beg3yrs]

Have you asked any of the ship's officers about the "Technical Difficulties"? There's so much speculation on this board it's crazy! At least hearing something from a source closer to the problem would be helpful!

[geoherb]

Wednesday, August 23, 2017

 

The sun returned for our day in Glasgow. We had breakfast in the dining room, choosing not to fight the crowds of people getting off the ship right away. The waiter did something irregular. I ordered the special (fried eggs, sausage and ham, and country style potatoes) without the meat. I noticed that the waiter was removing the meat from the plate before serving it to me. It's a good thing I'm not a vegetarian or someone keeping a halal or kosher diet.

 

Once again, reps from the local tourism office were on the ship in the morning to help people plan their day. We chose to take the train to Glasgow. They offered a combined ticket that included the round-trip train trip plus the hop-on/hop-off bus. It was 20 pounds per person, which saved us 2 pounds each.

 

Glasgow is a big city. One of our friends from home who has Scottish roots and has been here several times did not recommend anything in it. She prefers to stick to the countryside. But we found lots of things to see and do. We started at the Riverside Museum, which focuses on transportation. I wanted to go there primarily for the Glenlee--a tall ship at the dock beside the museum. But we ended up enjoying seeing the exhibits of cars, bicycles, trailers, trains, etc.

Our second stop was at the Kelvingrove Art Museum. We stuck to the Scottish galleries for the most part. I particularly enjoyed seeing the Charles Mackintosh exhibits. We ate lunch in the cafe. DH's fish and chips with mushy peas were better than what we had in Ireland. I enjoyed my roasted chicken with mashed potatoes and lentils. Next up was the Hunterian Museum on the campus of the University of Glasgow. We spent the majority of our time there looking at the exhibit on the Antonine Wall and the associated Roman artifacts. Next was the Hunterian Art Gallery. It contains the reassembled interiors of Mackintosh's house. It also has a great selection of James McNeill Whistler's works and French impressionists' works.

 

The first few buses had live narration along the way. Unfortunately, our bus from the Hunterian to the Glasgow Cathedral just had the taped commentary. We did not bother with listening to it. We barely had time to see the cathedral after stopping first at St. Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art. It's a nice display representing several different faiths. We enjoyed seeing the cathedral after that. Our last bus had a live narrator again.

 

Getting back to Greenock was a little bit of a challenge since we hit the train station at rush hour. But after asking a couple of employees, we made it on to the right train. The scenery along the way can be very pretty, especially in one spot where there's a castle on a peninsula or island in the Clyde.

 

We made it back to the ship a little before 7, in time for an Animal Planet trivia. We played with our Airforce buddies and came in second. They had open seating in all the dining rooms again. We were at a table for two next to our Canadian tablemates. They were eating their main courses when we arrived, but it was nice to be able to hear about their day. (They also took the train into the city, but walked instead of doing the HoHo bus. Their return tickets were 10 pounds since they left during peak time. We would have paid just 7 pounds without the HoHo combo since we left the station after 10.)

 

Tonight's show was Music Scotland--a group consisting of three bagpipers, a drummer, pianist, accordionist, singer, three female dancers, and a violinist/vocalist. I thought the show was better than the Irish one--especially the violinist/fiddler. Every time I hear this type of music, I think of Fiona Richie and the "Thistle and Shamrock" radio show that our public radio station carries. Our tablemates said they preferred the Irish show, but I enjoyed this one more because of the fiddler/vocalist.

[caribill]

The waiter did something irregular. I ordered the special (fried eggs, sausage and ham, and country style potatoes) without the meat. I noticed that the waiter was removing the meat from the plate before serving it to me. It's a good thing I'm not a vegetarian or someone keeping a halal or kosher diet.

 

 

Not a surprise.

 

It is extra work for the waiter to ask for a special plating and extra work for galley personnel to do it.

 

 

So the waiter just gets the standard plating and removes what you do not want.

 

However, your point about those on a religious or special diet is well taken.

[geoherb]

We're leaving after this cruise--one 12-day cruise is enough. But I do enjoy trivia. I think watching Jeopardy at home helps prepare me. And then some questions seem to pop up over and over again--such as the color of a polar bear's skin, which was one of the Animal Planet questions tonight.

 

I haven't asked any of the officers. We have our Captain's Circle party Thursday night. It's the second formal night. Maybe I'll see someone who knows. We also plan to see our Cruise Critic group doing a slot pull in the morning. Someone in the group may have heard.

 

Our Cruise Critic group had a slot pull this morning. I went to talk with several people before and after it, but we had trivia to go to. We played with our Canadian friend from our Alaskan cruise. We tied for first initially with several other teams, and then a team miraculously discovered they had earned an extra point. We headed to the paper airplane contest afterward. My plane had a good flight path but came up short. DH's was pathetic. He said he had practiced with it, but it went about five feet forward and then boomeranged back toward him.

 

When I asked some of the Cruise Critic group about BOGO happy hour they said it wasn't happening on our cruise. They were really disappointed. They're also not happy about the rise in prices at the Skywalkers event each evening. Four of the ones I spoke with had done the Tattoo with a private company. They enjoyed the experience but did not have great things to say about the company. I'm sure they'll fill in info later on the Britain board and Trip Advisor.

[sunsetbeachgal]

Regarding the breakfast incident, I would like to think that it would have been handled differently if someone had a dietary need and Princess had been made aware of it beforehand, rather than in this case asking for a set meal without a side item?? I have read that Princess handles dietary needs well.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[WoodstockGirl]

QUESTION:

I see you are having your laundry done for you (I await that standing with Princess!), but I am wondering if the self service laundry on this ship (esp since the renovation) uses old fashioned quarters, or if you swipe your card for tokens?

Thanks for info - esp for dinner food reviews. We sail upon your return. We are your replacements!

[GrammySpo]

You use your cruise card to buy tokens for washer and dryer (did this cruise in August)

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[geoherb]

I went back to the cabin to relax. We watched "A Royal Night Out" on the TV. Then I left DH to play carpet bowls. At least I wasn't the first one out, but I did not make the finals. We finished third in trivia. It was a hard one, but we should have had a couple more right answers. We played with the Canadian couple.

 

Passing through the Hebrides has been gorgeous. I tried taking a few photos as we were passing some of the islands. The captain said our route could be rough tonight through one particular passage. But that's after midnight, and I hope to sleep through it.

 

DH got his laundry from two days ago back tonight, and I got mine from yesterday. The charge has appeared on his account, so we were expecting it. I was not expecting mine. We probably won't send any more for this cruise. It's hard to believe we only have four days left. We met a couple who said it took four hours to do their laundry in the self-service. They ended up skipping going into Glasgow because of it. I think I would have skipped doing the laundry for that. Back before we received the free laundry perk, I'd wear a shirt to dinner one night and later during the day a couple of days later.

 

The production cast did three performances of "Piano Man" tonight. We went to the first performance at 6:45. They were very good. The only problem seemed to be with the lighting. We went from there to the Captain's Circle party. The Captain's Circle hostess said there are 1,731 members on this cruise: 704 Gold, 343 Ruby, 524 Platinum, and 160 Elite. The third place most traveled passengers had 656 days, second place had 912, and first place had 1,103. The cocktails were flowing freely. I had a few glasses of red wine. I saw some folks getting them two at a time. Our tablemate even received a shot of Bailey's.

 

Dinner was the second formal night menu. I ordered both the surf and the turf main courses--no problem getting both. I stopped by the Liars' Club game show after dinner. It was already in progress. Micca, DuVaul, and Jessica were all very good. Matt hosted the show ably.

[geoherb]

Princess may handle food allergies well, but they haven't been as good with DH's dietary restrictions. He can't have nuts or seeds. It's not an allergy, though, so it's fine for him to have a salad with tomatoes on it, for instance, and just not eat them. The first couple of nights, the head waiter for our section brought a menu for him to see for the next night. He was able to see ahead that everything he wanted was OK, so he did not have to order in advance. I guess that signaled to the head waiter that he did not need to provide the menu any more. But then later in the cruise, they had to leave off the seaweed salad on the sushi because of the sesame seeds in that part of the dish. I've noticed that things are not always clearly spelled out in the menu, so it would be nice to have that personal attention ahead of time again. But on the other hand, he's making out fairly well. Last night, though, they served him the floating island dessert with toasted almonds on top. He raked them to the side. But it's something that should have been left off.

 

The Chocolate Journeys dessert last night was the pistachio dome. It wasn't how I remembered it. Perhaps I'm getting it confused with another one, but I remember it as having a chocolate shell dome. This one was a soft dome of chocolate on a pistachio cookie with a pistachio filling. Still very good.

[dickinson]

I just did a search on CC for the pistachio dome and saw a picture from a couple of years ago when it started. Looked soft to me.

[CoolChange1979]

All eight drinks are available at the Skywalkers event each day for the special price of $6.50. I haven't looked at a drink menu to see how much of a savings that is. They are boulevardier, Mayan mule, floradora, port lemonade, Bacardi limon mojito, cherry blossom garden, deep sea martini, and Tito's fresh mint lemondrop. There's another thread here on Cruise Critic about what's in the drinks. DH had the last one. It was a strong drink. We have not tried the others. I'm limited as to how much alcohol I can drink, and he started a new medicine that he can't drink at all with.

 

 

 

There are two dispensers--one with body wash and one with shampoo (supposedly with conditioner included with the shampoo). There's no longer separate conditioner except for those receiving the suite amenities.

 

 

 

We were never told fully what the technical problem was after leaving Guernsey. I think the propulsion problem kept us from being able to make up the time. But we ended up with the full time we were supposed to get, just four hours later. Our tablemates, for instance, had their excursion turn from including a stop for lunch to having a stop for dinner. But otherwise, I can't tell that the ship isn't moving as fast as it did when we were on it December.

 

 

 

Thanks for your Live postings! I've done a quick search trying to find the thread referenced re: what's in the drinks. Found a recipe for the Mayan Mule and the Tito's lemon drop is pretty obvious. Any intel on the others or if someone can point me to the thread it is appreciated. Cheers!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[geoherb]

Friday, August 25, 2017

 

Our day in the highlands was terrific. We booked an independent excursion with Invergordon Tours. We were in a coach with two dozen others along with a driver, guide, and guide in training. Our first stop was Urquhart Castle--ruins along Loch Ness. We had a little over an hour there to explore on our own before getting on a boat for an hour cruise up the loch. We did not spot Nessie on the way, unfortunately. We stopped at a nice garden center for lunch. They had a restaurant inside. Our guides arranged for sandwiches and soup to be ready for when we arrived. They had it all set up--trays full of sandwiches, pitchers of water, and then served the soup shortly afterward. All of the sandwiches I tried were tasty. My favorites were the shrimp salad and the curried chicken. We were at a table for six with 28 sandwiches. There were a few left at the end. I did not try to tuna or the ham.

 

We drove by the Culloden Moor, site of a famous battle in 1746 where the British defeated the Scottish, then stopped at the nearby cairns, which date to the Bronze Age and Iron Age. Our final stop was Cawdor Castle. We were too hurried there, but I still enjoyed seeing the castle and the flower garden. Our driver dropped us off at the ship at 4:20, in plenty of time for our scheduled 5:15 all-aboard. The Princess tour buses apparently did not get the memo. They kept coming and coming. We enjoyed the Invergordon performers in the Princess Theater. They consisted of an accordianist, a bag piper, a singer, and four female dancers. They presented an enjoyable performance. The last Princess bus pulled up a little before 6. A group of seven bag pipers played us off. It was a nice touch.

[cricketts]

Thanks for a great "live" review. We're considering Invergordon Tours for our cruise next summer! It sounds like a wonderful day. Sorry you didn't see Nessie... maybe we will!!

[easyboy]

Getting a lot of idea from your review for our next sailing!

[geoherb]

Saturday, August 26, 2017

 

Today was our final day in Scotland. The weather held out for the most part--just a little drizzle a couple of times. We took the train from the port to town after taking a tender to the port. For this port, the shuttle buses were not free. They were 10 pounds or $15 per person round trip. The train was just 9.2 pounds for the two of us round trip, so we saved more than half by walking up the hill to the station. There are 120 steps and then a path through the woods to get to the station. I've been in training the whole cruise. To get from the Promenade Deck to our cabin on the Lido is 119 steps. I still have not taken an elevator on the ship this cruise.

 

We met some fellow Cruise Critic members on the train ride. They had been on the first tender and just barely missed the train at the station. They run about every 15 minutes. We were on the third tender. There was hardly any wait for us. I think everyone waiting in the dining room made it on our tender. We were directed immediately to the door and got great seats on the top deck of the tender. There are three bridges going across the water at South Queensferry. The rail one is a Victorian one that's very picturesque. I took some good photos of the ship between the columns of that bridge. We walked to Edinburgh Castle with the Cruise Critic folks. It's uphill all the way from the train station. Like us, they had purchased their tickets to the castle online ahead of time. The line wasn't bad when we got there right after opening. By the time we left, the line for folks who did not have tickets was very long--and then there was another line outside for people to wait in before joining that queue.

 

We enjoyed touring the castle on our own. By getting there early, we did not have much of a wait. We toured one of the military museums in the castle first before deciding it was starting to get crowded. We headed next to see the Crown Jewels of Scotland. We had about a 20-minute wait, going through an interesting exhibit during that time. By the time we left, the line was three times as long.

 

After three hours at the castle, we walked down the Royal Mile. It's Fringe Festival season, and the place was packed. We watched a couple of the street shows--jugglers, musicians, etc.--and shopped in a couple of stores. I grew tired of the crowds, though, and we decided to head back to the ship. We just missed one tender and had to wait for ours to fill. This one was a local party boat, although the downstairs bar was closed. The wait was around 20 minutes before the boat took us back to the CB.

 

I wanted to try the new menu items at the hamburger grill (The Salty Dog Grill) and pizza place. We ordered an order of both new taco offerings (grilled chipotle-lime chicken with corn and black bean salsa and cilantro lime avocado cream; sweet potato-green chili with smashed black beans, cheddar cheese, and maple syrup). The chicken one was better than the vegetarian one. At the pizza place, we tried the new strombolli and the new foccaccio bread with cheese and meatballs. I liked the strombolli and would order it again. I think I already mentioned trying the California toast with pesto, tomato, and mozzarella.

 

After these samples, we had tea in the Coral Dining Room. I had a couple of the small sandwiches, a scone with cream and jam, and a fruit tart. The waiter had already started pouring black tea into my cup before I could stop him. He brought me a new cup for my pot of chamomile tea. Everything was tasty. We enjoyed talking with a couple of Cruise Critic members who had been on our eCoach tour to Blarney Castle on our first day in Ireland and a woman.

 

Afternoon trivia was a mixed bag of questions. We won aluminum water bottles with 16 out of 20. Second place was sitting right beside us with 15 out of 20. They knew a couple of answers that could have boasted us to 18 out of 20 (as long as we did not change any of our right answers).

 

I've been using my internet minutes sparingly. Today, though, it took 30 minutes to sign up for our seats on Virgin Atlantic. I knew that we had to wait until 72 hours before our flights to do so if we did not want to pay extra. What I did not realize was that we had to sign up to Virgin's free frequent flyer program to pick our seats. That took a little bit of time. But I still have 150 minutes out of my original 250 free minutes. DH has around 180.