LIVE: Caribbean Princess to Canada and Greenland, August 15-31, 2022: Geoherb goes solo again

[moodyb1]

6 hours ago, coo359a2 said:

Glad all got back safely. Guess our tour had the best bus😀

It is hard when smaller tour companies have transportation problems and not a lot of replacements. We missed out on a Panama Canal tour through all the old locks when the company had a problem with their small boat used for the tour.   

Same thing happened to my husband and me a few years ago. I wonder if we were on the same cruise?

 

Arlene 

[Megamixer]

This thread got quiet!  Did the internet go down?

[geoherb]

The internet is so bad that I may give up on keeping a live thread. I wrote these notes in a Word document and am breaking them up into segments. A purser told me that access to the internet would be intermittent as we approached Greenland. It’s certainly not the “best internet at sea” promised. I tried to upload a screenshot of one speed test that gave me 0.01 Mbps download and 0.00 upload speeds, but even a 45 kb file was too much right now. I had several days where a speed test gave me an error message. I see a refund coming. I will wait to ask for it after I see how many days will be affected. The problems started on August 17. I did not have any major problems on August 15, 16, or 18. 

 

Friday, August 19: I just went to the most ridiculous trivia ever. I think the host borrowed the questions from someone who does Australian cruises. The questions included who invented the bionic ear, what is the longest river in the Northern Territory, what is the largest non-salt lake in Australia, what year was decimal currency introduced (and the answer matched Australia's conversion and not the U.K.'s), what Olivia Newton John's stores were named, and what woman won a record 16 world squash championships. People were booing him after the first three questions. He finally started giving extra points for some answers, and the winning team claimed to have 19 points out of a possible 27. He then toyed around with the answers, repeating wrong ones as if they were right, when he should have just pulled the bandage off quickly. If I see he's hosting another trivia, I may skip it.

 

In better news, I ended up tied for second place in the cruise-long trivia after the first round. I joined a mother-daughter pair for the second round, keeping my team name and points. I was hoping they'd fill in my holes, but they did not come up with the Disney answer I needed. We probably missed five or six out of 20 and will fall in the standings. But it's just for fun.

 

Dinner last night had great service. I sat at a table for six with two couples and one of the couple’s friends. The three originally were from California and met on a cruise. I can’t remember if the couple or the friends has since moved to another state. The other couple lives in Florida. I think six is the perfect number for conversation and service. Our waiter was great as well.

 

I had the coconut shrimp. It did not live up to its menu description of including some greens with it. I would have ordered a salad instead if I had known ahead of time. I had an appetizer portion of the ravioli in a walnut cream sauce. It was delicious and almost makes up for not having the spinach ravioli on embarkation day at lunch. My macadamia nut encrusted mahi-mahi was a little bland. The assistant waiter brought me a few slices of lemon. The lemon juice made it taste a little better. I had a fruit plate for dessert. None of the desserts on the menu tempted me.

 

After dinner, I went to the Generation Frustrations game show. The Explorers Lounge was packed. CD Kristoff divided the people into five sections to represent the five generations. I was on Team Generation X. It started off with giving the definition of slang words. Kristoff was giving 7 points for a correct answer and 4 points for some close answers. All the teams were competing head to head in that competition, with a secretary writing down the answers. The second segment consisted of pictures of cartoon characters. Each team got three screenshots to ID the cartoon. Those were worth 75 points each with 15 points extra if someone on the team could sing the theme song. Other teams could steal if no one on a team knew the answer. 

 

The third segment had photos of various objects and one sound to ID. Those were open up for all teams, with each team have a unique “buzzer” sound. But it was chaos. The fourth segment was back to having each individual team get three things to guess. That time it was songs. We had to name the title of the song and the singer or band. Those answers were worth 1,000 points apiece. My team had some great players. We were able to steal the points several times when other teams did not know the answer.

 

I have no idea how the competition turned out because I left for the production show. The theater was packed. I found a seat beside a friend. There were a few single seats available throughout the theater. The show was Born to Be Wild. It’s the one with the big pink Cadillac. The depleted cast managed to get through it with just one female lead singer, two male lead singers, three male dancers, and five female dancers. It’s a show with way too much lip syncing. I know I will enjoy the other two production shows more.
 

[cr8tiv1]

A friend on your cruise was able to send me a text last night.  He was also concerned about internet strength.  I sent him several links today regarding viewing Northern Lights as. you approach Greenland.  

 

https://www.gi.alaska.edu/monitors/aurora-forecast

 

https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/aurora-30-minute-forecast

 

[Megamixer]

Yikes about the internet.  Hopefully it will be better next cruise which will stay a bit further south.  I usually monitor cameras inside and around the house while cruising because we have 3 dogs that a neighbor comes by and visits several times a day.  Plus I like getting the notifications if someone is in the driveway or at the front door.

Still sounds like you're having a good trip.

[san diego sue]

1 hour ago, geoherb said:

The internet is so bad that I may give up on keeping a live thread. I wrote these notes in a Word document and am breaking them up into segments. A purser told me that access to the internet would be intermittent as we approached Greenland. It’s certainly not the “best internet at sea” promised. I tried to upload a screenshot of one speed test that gave me 0.01 Mbps download and 0.00 upload speeds, but even a 45 kb file was too much right now. I had several days where a speed test gave me an error message. I see a refund coming. I will wait to ask for it after I see how many days will be affected. The problems started on August 17. I did not have any major problems on August 15, 16, or 18. 

 

Friday, August 19: I just went to the most ridiculous trivia ever. I think the host borrowed the questions from someone who does Australian cruises. The questions included who invented the bionic ear, what is the longest river in the Northern Territory, what is the largest non-salt lake in Australia, what year was decimal currency introduced (and the answer matched Australia's conversion and not the U.K.'s), what Olivia Newton John's stores were named, and what woman won a record 16 world squash championships. People were booing him after the first three questions. He finally started giving extra points for some answers, and the winning team claimed to have 19 points out of a possible 27. He then toyed around with the answers, repeating wrong ones as if they were right, when he should have just pulled the bandage off quickly. If I see he's hosting another trivia, I may skip it.

 

In better news, I ended up tied for second place in the cruise-long trivia after the first round. I joined a mother-daughter pair for the second round, keeping my team name and points. I was hoping they'd fill in my holes, but they did not come up with the Disney answer I needed. We probably missed five or six out of 20 and will fall in the standings. But it's just for fun.

 

Dinner last night had great service. I sat at a table for six with two couples and one of the couple’s friends. The three originally were from California and met on a cruise. I can’t remember if the couple or the friends has since moved to another state. The other couple lives in Florida. I think six is the perfect number for conversation and service. Our waiter was great as well.

 

I had the coconut shrimp. It did not live up to its menu description of including some greens with it. I would have ordered a salad instead if I had known ahead of time. I had an appetizer portion of the ravioli in a walnut cream sauce. It was delicious and almost makes up for not having the spinach ravioli on embarkation day at lunch. My macadamia nut encrusted mahi-mahi was a little bland. The assistant waiter brought me a few slices of lemon. The lemon juice made it taste a little better. I had a fruit plate for dessert. None of the desserts on the menu tempted me.

 

After dinner, I went to the Generation Frustrations game show. The Explorers Lounge was packed. CD Kristoff divided the people into five sections to represent the five generations. I was on Team Generation X. It started off with giving the definition of slang words. Kristoff was giving 7 points for a correct answer and 4 points for some close answers. All the teams were competing head to head in that competition, with a secretary writing down the answers. The second segment consisted of pictures of cartoon characters. Each team got three screenshots to ID the cartoon. Those were worth 75 points each with 15 points extra if someone on the team could sing the theme song. Other teams could steal if no one on a team knew the answer. 

 

The third segment had photos of various objects and one sound to ID. Those were open up for all teams, with each team have a unique “buzzer” sound. But it was chaos. The fourth segment was back to having each individual team get three things to guess. That time it was songs. We had to name the title of the song and the singer or band. Those answers were worth 1,000 points apiece. My team had some great players. We were able to steal the points several times when other teams did not know the answer.

 

I have no idea how the competition turned out because I left for the production show. The theater was packed. I found a seat beside a friend. There were a few single seats available throughout the theater. The show was Born to Be Wild. It’s the one with the big pink Cadillac. The depleted cast managed to get through it with just one female lead singer, two male lead singers, three male dancers, and five female dancers. It’s a show with way too much lip syncing. I know I will enjoy the other two production shows more.
 

Strange that you have old shows on your cruise. When we were on the same cruise in August 2019, there were some fantastic new shows, very high tech with pyrotechnics. had to go to the shows early to get seats.

Don't remember the names of the shows but have never seen them on any ship , even the newer ships  had different ones. That awful show with the Car on stage is more than 10 years old.

[geoherb]

Saturday, August 20: Today’s schedule has lots of activities. Somehow, though, they have managed to schedule the cruise-long mini Olympics competition so that it conflicts with the cruise-long progressive trivia. The bean bag toss conflicts with the morning trivia. Pianist/singer John Bressler is back with shows at 7:30 and 9:30 in the theater. I guess I’ll be going to bed early tonight. Seeing him once was enough even if they do advertise it will be a brand new show. We do lose another hour tonight.

 

The morning trivia was tough but fair. Our team tied with two other teams. Bongs had a representative from each team go up for the tie-breaker question. Oddly, it was naming a country and not a number. One guy got it. That’s OK. I would have given away my coaster if we had received them. 

 

I walked around the outside Promenade Deck. It was breezy. The noon announcer said 35 knot winds and 48 degrees. I ordered room service for lunch: Caesar salad, chicken fingers (from the children’s menu) to top the salad, fruit cup, and key lime pie. The room service steward brought it about 45 minutes after I ordered, but it was a popular time. Everything was good except for the chicken fingers being a little overcooked. I watched Still Here while waiting for and eating lunch. It was a good movie.

 

My team slipped a little in the cruise long progressive trivia. We are in third place now, two points out of first. We did better than I thought—16 out of 20. 

 

Nicholas was back for the 4:00 trivia. This time he picked out a quiz with better questions. My team had 16 out of 21 points. Two teams tied with 18 points. I stayed and talked to two of my teammates for around an hour after trivia. I had time to stop by the Wheelhouse to see friends and then head to change for dinner. 

 

The line for dinner was long. I waited about 15 minutes before being told to wait aside. A couple of minutes later, a head waiter told me to go sit at a table that a waiter was still working on setting up. I waited there about 10 minutes before two couples joined me. The waiter had finished setting the table a couple of minutes before they got there. Service picked up from there. I ordered an appetizer size portion of the seafood bowl and the prime rib, rare. Everyone else at the table had the prime rib and various appetizers. My food was excellent. It was the best prime rib I’ve had on a ship in a very long time. Three of the four others enjoyed theirs as well. One woman said hers was tough. I think she ordered it medium.

 

I skipped going to the show. 

[Host CJSKIDS]

Sounds like it’s been a wonderful cruise so far.  Hope you continue to do well on trivia and enjoy the rest of the sailing.

[geoherb]

6 hours ago, Host CJSKIDS said:

Sounds like it’s been a wonderful cruise so far.  Hope you continue to do well on trivia and enjoy the rest of the sailing.

  

Thanks. It has been very enjoyable so far. The food has been great even if the service has been a bit slow at times. After waiting for five and a half hours for the shuttle from LaGuardia, waiting 15 minutes to be seated in the dining room doesn't seem that bad.

 

The app is working for me pretty well. My tablemates at dinner said they were still having problems with theirs. One woman said she even bought a new phone so they wouldn't try to blame it on the age of her phone like they did on a previous cruise. I like being able to see the menus without having to go down to the dining rooms. The journey view of activities is also helpful. I've been bookmarking the ones I want to go to and can then look at just those on the timeline. It makes it a lot easier to see. I will go to the show tonight--a repeat performance by Mike Mentz, the singer-songwriter. He'll be performing new songs.

 

I've managed to post here on Cruise Critic with difficulty. Sometimes it takes trying five or six times to get something posted. Facebook is working but not well. I see two or three posts, but I can send and receive messages. I can't get to my email or my hometown newspaper.

 

 

[geoherb]

Sunday, August 21: A nice breakfast in the dining room this morning, but Princess cooks don’t know how to cook grits and tried to pass off city ham as country ham. Service was a bit slow as usual. 
There are three Catholic priests on this cruise. They held Mass in the Explorers Lounge at 9 this morning. There was an interdenominational church service at 8:30. I did not go to either, but I was walking past several times during the Catholic Mass. It was too chilly for me to walk outside, and they had a large portion of the port side closed. 

Morning trivia was tough but fair. Our team had 15 out of 20. I think the winning team had 17. I ate lunch in the buffet. It was nice to see so many vegetables offered. I also had a taste of ravioli in tomato sauce and sliced tri-tip to go with broccoli, zucchini with peppers, and curried okra. Everything was tasty. I finished off with a raspberry cheesecake from the International Café. 

My team did well in the cruise long progressive trivia. We were tied for first after yesterday’s quiz. We missed two. I’m kicking myself for one of the ones we missed. They moved the golf chipping contest in the cruise long mini Olympics to a putting contest inside. Bongs had three cups taped to the floor in front of the Crown Grill. The closest one was worth 5 points, the middle one 10 points, and the far one 15 points. Most people went for the far one. I got one point for hitting the edge of the cup on one my three tries. One man sank two 15-pointers. 

I stopped by the 60 Second Frenzy (formerly Minute to Win It). The contest today was moving coffee beans from a central dish to a saucer using chopsticks, one at a time. They did it in groups of four people competing simultaneously. It took 10 to win a coaster. I managed to get 13, leading my group. I heard several others scoring more in later rounds. 

I asked at Vines about a Stammtisch. The guy said they had had one yesterday. He took down my cabin number and said he would call if he got several more to sign up.
 

[geoherb]

The captain just announced that we are skipping Nuuk tomorrow. The ship will head on a more southerly course toward Nanortalik for Wednesday. That will give us five sea days in a row.

[Daniel A]

Is anyone staying in an aft minisuite on Emerald Deck?  How is the noise at night from Club Fusion?

[Acorns Away]

5 hours ago, geoherb said:

The captain just announced that we are skipping Nuuk tomorrow. The ship will head on a more southerly course toward Nanortalik for Wednesday. That will give us five sea days in a row.

I understand that there are high winds in the area.  A couple of ships heading that way missed a couple of ports in Iceland due to the winds.  Hope you make the other two ports in Greenland.

[sp2]

2 hours ago, Daniel A said:

Is anyone staying in an aft minisuite on Emerald Deck?  How is the noise at night from Club Fusion?

We stayed in an Emerald aft mini on the previous cruise. There was no noise at all at night. The balcony is smaller than the Dolphin deck mini suites, but it’s fully covered.

[CPASam]

8 hours ago, geoherb said:

The captain just announced that we are skipping Nuuk tomorrow. The ship will head on a more southerly course toward Nanortalik for Wednesday. That will give us five sea days in a row.

Sorry you're missing a port.  I'm guessing the people who had shore excursions planned are sad.  Enjoy the extra sea days!

[geoherb]

My second batch of laundry came back last night. That was a 36-hour turnaround instead of 72. I’m happy. I realized this afternoon that if we were on a 7-day cruise, I would have been packing to go home. The time has gone by quickly. It doesn’t feel like I’ve been on the ship for a week.
We tied with two other teams in the afternoon trivia. The host was asking a tie-breaker question, but he accidently showed the answer. He ended up giving everyone on the winning teams prizes—the drawstring bag. It’s good. My old one had broken in Halifax. Now I’ll have a good one to use in Nanortalik and Qaqortoq. 

I went back to the evening cocktail event in Club Fusion. Last night’s specials were smoked salmon and butterflied fried shrimp. I sampled the shrimp. I get enough smoked salmon at breakfast.

Dinner last night was good. I had a salad; an appetizer size portion of the shrimp with black bean sauce, vegetables, and Asian egg noodles; and the sirloin steak Diane. Everything was good. My steak was cooked perfectly. The man beside me received one that was not medium-rare as ordered, but he managed to eat it and refused the waiter’s offer to bring another one.

 

Mike Mentz gave a good second show. He performed more original songs but still a few covers. I spoke to Caroline Miller, the guest soprano, after the show. She’s performing three nights in a row: Bravo tonight, the show she did in December tomorrow night (in Explorers Lounge), and a new show in the theater on Wednesday night. She mentioned that she may perform in a fourth show later in the cruise—part of a show with guest performers.

Monday, August 22: Lots of people I’ve spoken with were disappointed in skipping Nuuk. We have not had the rough seas the captain mentioned yesterday. Perhaps he kept the ship far enough south to avoid them. 

I joined the singles and solos group for lunch. Not as many people as the organizer anticipated showed up. She had reserved us two tables for eight, and only six of us showed up. We had three at each table. She released the other spots, and two couples and a single gentleman joined my table. 

I participated in the bean bag toss and watched another 60 Second Frenzy in the piazza this morning. We thought trivia was hard. It was another case where one team had so many more right that it was suspect. I think the cruise director’s staff members need to make sure they’re not repeating trivias from recent cruises. My team is leading the cruise long progressive trivia. We’re now a half point ahead of the team we were tied with yesterday. But we already know that we missed three questions on today’s quiz. Maybe the teams behind us faltered as well.

One of my teammates gave me a hint about a cruising duck she had found and rehidden. I found it and rehid it. I’ll hide the third duck ornament I brought tomorrow morning. 
 

[cruisen JJ]

On 8/17/2022 at 6:40 PM, Megamixer said:

Thanks all for answering. I think I better replace some warm weather things for cool weather clothes. We live in southern AZ and unlike the snowbirds that wear shorts all winter, I'm usually all wrapped up and cold when it gets down to 50. I just looked at pictures from an Alaskan cruise that was the last of the season and I was wearing mostly flannel shirts with a light jacket 😔.

Megamixer - we are also getting on Aug 31 and from the Greater Phoenix area

[jsquared]

On 8/15/2022 at 6:50 PM, geoherb said:

Bars of soap are gone. There's a liquid soap dispenser at the sink as well as a lotion dispenser.

Thanks for the info. We started bringing bars of soap for the shower when they changed to dispensers - we'll have to pack a couple more now 🙂 

[jsquared]

On 8/17/2022 at 2:21 PM, geoherb said:

I finished up my time on shore at Salty's, a restaurant on the waterfront.

We had been looking forward to getting lobster rolls from Dave's Lobster on the boardwalk. Oh well - only 359 days to go now 🙂 

[jsquared]

On 8/21/2022 at 6:01 PM, Daniel A said:

Is anyone staying in an aft minisuite on Emerald Deck?  How is the noise at night from Club Fusion?

We were in E731 (starboard) in February and had no issues with noise from CF. (Note: this was on the EP but it should be the same as the CB). We did occasionally hear noise from crew in the morning but we were already up so I don't know if it would have awakened us.

[swdke]

On 8/15/2022 at 10:25 PM, geoherb said:

Sailaway was great. We got to see a beautiful sunset since the ship did not leave until 7:30. I figured out the herd of elephants I could hear from my cabin were the dancers right above me. They did the sailaway party from Neptune's Reef and Pool area. MUTS is at the Calypso Reef and Pool. 

 

I went to dinner after we passed under the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. It was a nice table for 8 with a couple from Florida, a couple from Iowa, a couple from South Carolina, and a solo woman from California. The food was good. I thought there would be plenty of time to eat and make it to the show. I was wrong. I skipped out on dessert to go see Doug Funk's show. I don't know if I've seen him before or he was just telling old jokes that other comedians also tell. I left about halfway through.

 

 

What time was your dinner reservation and what time did the show starts?  Thanks 

[Megamixer]

23 hours ago, cruisen JJ said:

Megamixer - we are also getting on Aug 31 and from the Greater Phoenix area

It'll be nice to be in a different climate for a change.  We sailed out of Newark this past January.  People laughed at me but I kept talking about how exciting it was standing outside waiting to get in the port in the snow!  Hopefully you're not up in the areas near Phoenix that are flooding.  We live in the Santa Rita foothills with no washes near our house.  

[Acorns Away]

We just learned that we will not be going to Nuuk and will stop in Nanortalik instead.

Please post info when you get there.

[geoherb]

11 hours ago, swdke said:

What time was your dinner reservation and what time did the show starts?  Thanks 

 

I did not have a reservation the first night. That night there was just one show at 9:30. On subsequent nights, they've had two shows: 7:30 and 9:30. I have been making dinner reservations most nights for 6:20. That gets me out in time for the 8:30 game shows in Explorers Lounge and then the 9:30 show. But tonight I went to Caroline Miller's 6:30 show in Explorers Lounge and then to dinner at 7:20. I still made it to the 9:30 show, ventriloquist Phil Hughes. They did not have a game show in Explorers tonight.

[cruisen JJ]

5 hours ago, Megamixer said:

It'll be nice to be in a different climate for a change.  We sailed out of Newark this past January.  People laughed at me but I kept talking about how exciting it was standing outside waiting to get in the port in the snow!  Hopefully you're not up in the areas near Phoenix that are flooding.  We live in the Santa Rita foothills with no washes near our house.  

We're in Surprise, lots of rain, wind and lightning but no flooding. I've never been outside of the airports in NY so looking forward to a few days there ahead of the cruise.