Live from the Sky Princess- January 28, 2023 Our Big Old “Do-Over” Cruise

[TracieABD]

20 hours ago, g683002 said:

How full is the ship this week?

Stats:

3232 Passengers

1113 Blue

594 Gold

327 Ruby

694 Platinum

504 Elite

 

Most Traveled Guest- 1684 days

MTG Lunch Cut- 570 days

[TracieABD]

21 hours ago, princess76021 said:

Thank you for taking us along!

if it doesn't put you out would you please post the menus!

Thank you

Hugs

I will absolutely try to remember and try to post. Here is the menu for last night… 

[TracieABD]

16 hours ago, rdsqrl said:

Tracie!  I hope you're having a fabulous time; can't wait to read more!  And Happy Mixty-th Birthday!

Hey Annie!

Glad to see you are around! Hope the semester is amazing!

And thank you!

TL

[TracieABD]

2 hours ago, voljeep said:

love your postings ... could you please adjust the font size for us?

I am working on it!

[1emerald1]

35 minutes ago, TracieABD said:

 

January 29, 2023

Still out to sea… and pretty much out to lunch too

 

Attack of the F’Urchins- Touched for the Very First Time

 

Hi friends!

 

I swear we were asleep within 5 minutes of last night’s blog post. And finally we slept. Hard. I did not wake up until 8:30 this morning. It was glorious! The bed in our cabin is so comfy. So. Stinking. Comfy. Do you think they will miss it, if I decide to pack it in my suitcase?- as sort of a de facto souvenir- per se. Ok. They probably will miss a whole darn bed.

 

At the crack of 10 am- we finally crawled out of the cabin in search of the elusive “perfect” coffee. For those of you that know- you know. I have one vice in my life. It is my morning iced latte. Sometimes it can be challenging to get this on a ship. There is a certain order of operations that have to occur in order for the coffee to be considered perfect. It is physics. First the espresso- then the Splenda- then the cold milk- then the ice… If you insist, I will be happy to tell you why. But the real reason? Science.

 

We went upstairs to the baristas at the buffet. We now just get espresso and we manage the prep ourselves. I will warn you- if you are on the Sky and you want espresso AND you are sound sensitive- you may want to go to the IC- the buffet coffee is acoustically disruptive and LOUD. The coffee is fine, but I need a coffee to get through the getting the coffee experience up there. We did manage to get the coffee fixin’s (that’s Southern for “ingredients”) and headed back to the cabin where it is quiet.

 

Once we were properly caffeinated, we headed out to run errands. By running errands- we went to the IC to get more coffee. (Again- don’t judge). I also needed to get another clip for my medallion. Sadly, I lost my last medallion holder during the Covid cruise of 2022. And then we hid in the back of the Crown Grill and played cards. Fun fact: during the day, the Crown is the game room. (I don’t think they have a library on this ship, but I could be wrong).

 

Lunch was in the MDR- as it was Chicken Korma day!!! (This one’s for you, Pescado Amarillo!) Love, love, love chicken Korma- and all of the fun condiments! I limited to a single dish at lunch. Jon had grilled prawns and the carbonara- which is not really carbonara- IYKYK. They add cream and no raw egg- but he said it was a really great Alfredo sauce- so it was an expectation deal.

 

And because you are wondering- what the heck does all of this yammering have to do with F’Urchins? What the heck is a F’urchin? So here goes (and I hope it does not too lost in hubris and/or translation) In the back of the Estrella dining room, they have a wall decor. Looks a bit like a metal urchin- so I was trying to get Jon to touch the decor (I know, I know- bad form. I get it), and when he finally acquiesced, our waiter- Mey ( so sweet and attentive) caught him. Then she had to touch it. Then the people (who may have been on a first date- not kidding) had to touch it. Jon was calling it a “fake urchin” which became a F’urchin. And then we busted out into a rendition of Madonna’s “Like a F’urchin… touched for the very first time” and now we have completed digressed. Yep. They will be very happy to see us go in six days. Very, very happy.

 

(See photo below)

 

After lunch, I went up to the fitness center to do a longer yoga. When I got Covid last May, I actually got fairly sick and I stayed sick for almost a couple of months. While I was sick, I lost a great deal of muscle mass. My breathing was messed up, and it left me with no stamina. In May of 2023,I am planning to hiking the Camino de Santiago in Portugal and Spain (one of the “shorter” paths- a little over 90 miles)- I I got really concerned if I could do it- so I decided to do yoga every day for 90 days… Welp- today is Day 177 (straight) and boy am I doing better. I can finally regulate my breathing and I think I am getting stronger. Bring on that long walk! 3 months and counting!!! The staff in the fitness center, especially Melissa, are so kind. They offered their assistance and were really helpful in finding me a corner to practice. Another reason why I love Princess.

 

However- there is was a tragic occurrence on the Sky today… The soft serve ice cream machine is down! I love the “ice milk” on Princess… and I was not nearly as thrilled with the hard packed ice cream offered in its place. Most other people were thrilled- but I am a weirdo about ice milk. Hopefully, they will get it up and running soon.

 

Jon and I are in danger of starving to death, so we went down to Afternoon Tea and sconey scones! (Yep. That is what we call them.) We asked for mint tea and it took a bit, but we ended up with two pots of mint tea and lovely little sammiches.

 

And that is where I will leave you. Jon has gone up to watch football and I am writing.

 

Anyone want to touch the F’urchins in the Estrella Dining Room?

 

Thanks for following along!

More later!

Tracie-Lynn

You are hilarious!

[TracieABD]

Tonight’s Formal Night Menu:

[CruzeQueen2]

Charmed for sure! Thrilled to find you here to regale us with your next adventure. Loved hearing about how you navigated through the bidding process, and used the live-chat, with such a satisfying  outcome. You definitely applied great skill with knowledge of how things work in Princess World. Bravo. I must try it out for myself one day. Bon Voyage! Love your style. Thanks for taking us along.

@TracieABD

Edited January 29, 2023 by CruzeQueen2
adding info

[princess76021]

1 hour ago, TracieABD said:

I will absolutely try to remember and try to post. Here is the menu for last night… 

Thank you so much for this!!

Hugs!!!

[TracieABD]

January 29, 2023

Still Bumping Along the Caribbean Sea

All Dressed Up and Lots of Places to Go…

 

Hi friends-

 

Formal Night! This is one thing I absolutely adore about Jon… that man will put on a suit for formal night! I have some fun dressy dresses- I get to wear them on cruises- I am grateful that Jon does not mind getting dressed up.

 

So that’s what we did! We made our way down to the MDR for dinner. Actually, in the spirit of full disclosure- I limped. A lot. Like limpy limped. The shoes that go with my dress have a 4 inch heal and a tiny strap at the toes. I am pretty sure they were actually designed a torture devices- people have been known to confess their crimes within moments of donning them. Tonight was the shoes last hurrah. I am not even sure if I will put them back in my suitcase. Buh bye- mean shoes.

 

I had consommé and beef tenderloin for dinner. Jon had crab cakes and the beef as well. We ordered the beef rare- and it was rare and so tasty. It came with a potato cake and purple cauliflower. (Not sure if that cauliflower is naturally purple- it may have paid a visit to my hair stylist- but I’m not telling…). Jon said the crab cakes may or may not have real crab- maybe it was faux crab- maybe it was “frab”. I really, really hope it was not F’urchin- that’s for sure!

 

As stated earlier, this is a birthday cruise- so they waitstaff came out in full force and sang a rousing rendition of “Happy Birthday” to the tune of Gaga’s Bad Romance. It was flipping awesome! This was followed by a round of peach melba… yum!

 

We could not get into the 7:30 performance of the production show- It was absolutely packed. So we returned to the room, gathered the laundry and watched football! Go Bengals! (Or not… 😞 )

 

Jon voluntarily left watching the game to accompany me to the Princess Theater for their production show- Rock Opera. It just might be the best production show I have seen on a cruise ship. The singing and dancing were stellar (though a couple of numbers were a bit over-engineered).

 

And now we are back in the room and ready for a wonderful night’s sleep.

 

Anyone want to grab a mint tea?

 

Thank you for following along.

More later-

Tracie-Lynn

[Thrak]

6 hours ago, TracieABD said:

Jon was calling it a “fake urchin” which became a F’urchin. And then we busted out into a rendition of Madonna’s “Like a F’urchin… touched for the very first time” and now we have completed digressed. Yep. They will be very happy to see us go in six days. Very, very happy.

 

I truly wish I had been there to see this. It would have been a cruise highlight! 😁

 

(No, really. I mean it. This is great. 😎)

Edited January 30, 2023 by Thrak

[KLM3164]

So happy to find your current Live thread as I love your humor and writing style. Happy ##th birthday, which is really the new 40. I’m just a few months behind you in May (also having a birthday that rhymes with mixty). My deal is to wake up in Hawaii on my actual birthday whenever it ends in a zero so this year I’ll be in my happy place on Kauai. It makes big birthdays so much easier to slide into.

 

Thanks for taking us along and have a great cruise!

[nini]

1 hour ago, KLM3164 said:

So happy to find your current Live thread as I love your humor and writing style. Happy ##th birthday, which is really the new 40. I’m just a few months behind you in May (also having a birthday that rhymes with mixty). My deal is to wake up in Hawaii on my actual birthday whenever it ends in a zero so this year I’ll be in my happy place on Kauai. It makes big birthdays so much easier to slide into.

 

Thanks for taking us along and have a great cruise!

 

Wait... I thought that 60 is the new 30!

[Wedgeh]

4 hours ago, TracieABD said:

January 29, 2023

Still Bumping Along the Caribbean Sea

All Dressed Up and Lots of Places to Go…

 

.....

You both look great, sounds like you had a fab birthday!

[CruisnDeb]

6 hours ago, KLM3164 said:

So happy to find your current Live thread as I love your humor and writing style. Happy ##th birthday, which is really the new 40. I’m just a few months behind you in May (also having a birthday that rhymes with mixty). My deal is to wake up in Hawaii on my actual birthday whenever it ends in a zero so this year I’ll be in my happy place on Kauai. It makes big birthdays so much easier to slide into.

 

Thanks for taking us along and have a great cruise!

Kauai is my favorite place to go for a land vacation ❤️

[morechances]

On 1/28/2023 at 10:00 PM, TracieABD said:

 

January 28, 2023

Somewhere in the Caribbean Sea

 

It’s a Charmed Life

 

Hi friends-

 

The whole day… Charmed. Seriously. Amazingly. Awesomely. Charmed.

 

No one got much sleep last night, yet we were still up and at ‘em early this morning. We stayed in Miramar last night. The hotel experience was pretty meh… I was a bit worried that it might set the tone for the week. But not so.

 

We left the hotel at 8:17, stopped at Starbucks for breakfast sammies and coffee, and headed back to Fort Lauderdale. Traffic was light and we got there in less than a half hour.  The last couple of times we have been to Port Everglades it has been a bit of circus- and my worry was increased, because the Sky was berthed at Pier 21- not Pier 2. But the signage at the port! Holy cow. Maybe it was already there or maybe it is new- but so much easier. There were big colour-coded signs. And because Pier 26 and Pier 22 and Pier 21 are so close together, they even painted the roadway which lane was best for which pier. How easy is that?!

 

We dropped luggage (all 146 pounds- don’t judge. Seriously. Don’t judge. I can feel the judgy-ness) and headed back to the airport to drop the rental. We were in an Uber less than 20 minutes later with dear Luis- brand spanking new to Uber- Luis. He had never been to port before- we helped. A lot. We were back to port by 9:45 am.

 

The most challenging part of the day was the line outside of the terminal- we had to wait for about 30 minutes for the ship to zero out. There were two lines- one for priority embarkation (platinum, elite, and suites) and a standard line. Once the line opened, we never stopped moving. We were directed upstairs to the lounge- yes- there were pastries and bevvies. Unlike Terminal 2- they did not segregate the Elites and the Platinums into separate areas.

 

Of course, Jon and I were anxious to board- because- Sanctuary. It is always about the Sanctuary for us. We watched so many transit passengers board- and then it was our turn. It was a first. We were on board at 10:30 am. Unbelievably efficient.

 

We moved quickly onto the ship and up to Deck 18 Forward. Yay! We were the first in the Sanctuary line! And…. We did not get the full week. There are over 400 transit passengers on this cruise- and they get priority at booking. So there is that. We did get the 4 port days and passed on two morning slots. We would always prefer afternoon- for the tea. We are grateful that we got what we got.

 

We headed down to the International Cafe (IC) for some tea. I was fussing with Medallion app when I noticed that we had a shared table for dining. No offense to the 3,229 other passengers on board- I am certain they are lovely- but Jon and I are a bit gun shy. We are trying to reduce the risk of a second round of Covid by limiting a lot of contact. We are also some of the only people on the ship consistently masking.

 

At lunch in the MDR (because nothing starts a cruise off better than lunch in the MDR), we spoke with the Maitre’d, Giuseppe, about our seating concerns. He directed us to go to the Cielo dining room at 6 pm- and they would help us figure something out. He is so sincere you can’t help but trust him.

 

We took care of the safety requirements and went to our room at 1pm. No luggage- but that was fine- we managed a little business and headed down to the Internet Cafe for assistance with the Medallion thingy- yep- we are “Assistance in the Internet Cafe for the Medallion thingy old.” Natalya was great- she had us up and running in no time. I adored her efficient “no nonsense” approach. They had a lot of people to help those of us, so the wait was relatively short. (Actually, we had no wait- because- it has been a charmed day! We arrived ahead of the wave). When we went back to the cabin- Luggage!

 

It is amazing how quickly time passes on a ship. Soon, it was time to head down to dinner. And just as Giuseppe told us, when it was our turn to be seated, we were directed to a lovely corner table in one of the small back dining rooms- by a window! We loved our waitstaff- and we are looking forward to getting to know them a bit more over the next week. Giuseppe stopped by to say “hello”- a really touching and personal gesture.

 

Dinner was delicious. I had the pork and Jon had the snapper and we both had dessert and I even took pictures. I just have to figure out how to download them. Presentation was absolutely on point and the food was really well seasoned. It felt like Princess dining of old. It felt like “Welcome home”.

 

We rushed off to see the comedian. The theater was packed- and he just did not hit the mark with us. Not our type of humor, but most of the audience seemed to really enjoy the show.

 

We are exhausted so we headed back to the room- to read and do a little yoga. And that is where I will leave you… the ship is gently rocking us to sleep.

 

Thanks for following along!

 

More tomorrow-

Tracie-Lynn

Agree with you on Cielo, Giuseppe, and the team in Cielo. 

Although, it can be confusing and difficult for some people to find, that dining room is the best. Unfortunately,  more people are finding it, and it is busy. 

[Lady Arwen]

I’m so enjoying this!  Thanks for taking us along on your birthday adventure…can’t wait for what comes next!

[phabric]

Enjoy your birthday cruise🎂

[philv]

We are on the Sky February 18. Can’t wait! Really enjoying your blog. 👍

[tobyt]

Happy Birthday cruise! Enjoying your writing style and details. I would love to join you for some tea! Sadly my lunch today will not hold a candle (birthday or other) to my menu drooling!

[Host CJSKIDS]

I don't know how I missed this but Bon Voyage abs have a wonderful cruise!  And Happy Birthday!!  
 

our great friends Kathy and Bernie are on this sailing along with their family. This is their re do after having Covid ok their last sailing. 

[Senga]

@TracieABDThanks for posting that you are wearing masks.  We will definitely be in the minority on the Sky in May but we'll continue to mask regardless.

[azbirdmom]

16 hours ago, TracieABD said:

As stated earlier, this is a birthday cruise- so they waitstaff came out in full force and sang a rousing rendition of “Happy Birthday” to the tune of Gaga’s Bad Romance. It was flipping awesome!

 

Happy birthday dear Tracie Lynn!  What an unusual and fun way to celebrate your special day.

[catgirl411]

18 hours ago, TracieABD said:

January 29, 2023

Still Bumping Along the Caribbean Sea

All Dressed Up and Lots of Places to Go…

 

Hi friends-

 

Formal Night! This is one thing I absolutely adore about Jon… that man will put on a suit for formal night! I have some fun dressy dresses- I get to wear them on cruises- I am grateful that Jon does not mind getting dressed up.

 

So that’s what we did! We made our way down to the MDR for dinner. Actually, in the spirit of full disclosure- I limped. A lot. Like limpy limped. The shoes that go with my dress have a 4 inch heal and a tiny strap at the toes. I am pretty sure they were actually designed a torture devices- people have been known to confess their crimes within moments of donning them. Tonight was the shoes last hurrah. I am not even sure if I will put them back in my suitcase. Buh bye- mean shoes.

 

I had consommé and beef tenderloin for dinner. Jon had crab cakes and the beef as well. We ordered the beef rare- and it was rare and so tasty. It came with a potato cake and purple cauliflower. (Not sure if that cauliflower is naturally purple- it may have paid a visit to my hair stylist- but I’m not telling…). Jon said the crab cakes may or may not have real crab- maybe it was faux crab- maybe it was “frab”. I really, really hope it was not F’urchin- that’s for sure!

 

As stated earlier, this is a birthday cruise- so they waitstaff came out in full force and sang a rousing rendition of “Happy Birthday” to the tune of Gaga’s Bad Romance. It was flipping awesome! This was followed by a round of peach melba… yum!

 

We could not get into the 7:30 performance of the production show- It was absolutely packed. So we returned to the room, gathered the laundry and watched football! Go Bengals! (Or not… 😞 )

 

Jon voluntarily left watching the game to accompany me to the Princess Theater for their production show- Rock Opera. It just might be the best production show I have seen on a cruise ship. The singing and dancing were stellar (though a couple of numbers were a bit over-engineered).

 

And now we are back in the room and ready for a wonderful night’s sleep.

 

Anyone want to grab a mint tea?

 

Thank you for following along.

More later-

Tracie-Lynn

Totally agree about Rock Opera! Absolutely amazing show!

[TracieABD]

January 30, 2023

Cozumel, Mexico

 

Riding on the Struggle Bus

 

Hi friends-

 

This morning was glorious. We slept well, woke up relatively early, coffee went off without a hitch, and we love our seats in the Sanctuary. Perfect!

 

I decided to head into the port at Cozumel. It is always nice to go for a little walk. I wanted to look for a specific battery- for our little battery candles (helpful hint: these help to provide a little light in an otherwise dark cabin). I wanted to leave the port area and walk out a bit… I did not find the battery- but I had a great walk. One thing I love about Cozumel, while the hawkers are there- they will take no for an answer on the first round.

Jon came in to meet me at Los Cinco Soles/ Pancho’s BackYard for little nosh and shop.

 

I had the taquitos and Jon had shrimp tacos- and the coffee flan! Oh the coffee flan! The weather was lovely and the food was great. Pancho’s is probably a bit more spendy than your typical fare- (more like American pricing)- but worth it. It is one of my fav places. Jon really liked it too (he is a Pancho’s F’urchin!)

 

We bought a tchotchke at the adjacent store. We found a really fun green pig that would have been amazing on our back porch- but it was big- too big to haul home. Maybe next time…

 

On the way back to the ship, I developed a migraine- and that was it for me for the afternoon.  Dark, cold cabin and sleep. It took me a few hours to resolve it.

 

Jon helped me get settled and returned to the Sanctuary. There was Afternoon Tea to tend to… At one point I woke up and found the tea and scones he brought down for me- but I just had to pass.

 

I hated missing the day in the Sanctuary- and to add to it- I lost a contact lens in the shower- fortunately I scrounged around and found another one. Whew.

 

I fussed with an email/ internet/ app issue for a bit. I am so grateful that Jon is super calm and helpful in these situations. I was struggling and he was just handling stuff- and me.

 

We went to dinner- fruit, salad, and leek quiche for me… fruit, crab dip, and stroganoff for Jon. The stroganoff was really good, but was more of a “deconstructed roulanden”- It was delicious, but a bit heavy for me.

 

We could not get seats to the production show at 7:30- even though were were there 15 minutes early- and we took this as a sign to return the room. I did a little yoga and Jon is watching a show. It will be an early night for us.

 

I am going to cut it here and pack it in early.

 

Anyone need a seat on the bus?

 

Thanks for following along!

More later-

Tracie-Lynn

[TracieABD]

Day 3 Menu: