Live from the Caribbean Princess, Oct 14 - Nov 5, 22-day Canadian and Atlantic Coast Land and Sea Adventure

[arizonaperson]

@Ken the cruiser

Now you have a few of us curious.   The Grapevine wine tasting that you see in the patter / event listing  ,pretty sure that is a paid venue and elites complementary. Check it out for us. I’ve only been once as an elite and it was OK I don’t think ,I’d go otherwise .

Edited October 28, 2023 by arizonaperson

[cr8tiv1]

2 hours ago, arizonaperson said:

@Ken the cruiser

Now you have a few of us curious.   The Grapevine wine tasting that you see in the patter / event listing  ,pretty sure that is a paid venue and elites complementary. Check it out for us. I’ve only been once as an elite and it was OK I don’t think ,I’d go otherwise .

It is still a paid event, but complimentary for Elite.  I stopped attending too.  I will go today since I have an Elite friend on this cruise.  Leave after the whites are poured.

[Ken the cruiser]

3 hours ago, arizonaperson said:

@Ken the cruiser

Now you have a few of us curious.   The Grapevine wine tasting that you see in the patter / event listing  ,pretty sure that is a paid venue and elites complementary. Check it out for us. I’ve only been once as an elite and it was OK I don’t think ,I’d go otherwise .

Will do, as long as I can get in for free since I have the Plus package. In all of the free wine tasting events that I’ve been to on various cruise lines, none of them have ever been that great. But then, I’m a moscato and German Riesling kind of guy since there is never any tasty blueberry and blackberry wine onboard. 😁

[WisCruiser2]

@Ken the cruiser, your photos of NYC are great! Funny, my friend on the ship sent me almost the same sunset and night shots that she took 🙂 I'm not 100% positive but the two birds in the water (from the ferry) look like they could be loons changing into their winter plumage?

[Ken the cruiser]

5 minutes ago, WisCruiser2 said:

@Ken the cruiser, your photos of NYC are great! Funny, my friend on the ship sent me almost the same sunset and night shots that she took 🙂 I'm not 100% positive but the two birds in the water (from the ferry) look like they could be loons changing into their winter plumage?

 

Thanks! NYC is definitely an awesome site to take pictures of from the ship, morning, noon, or night! And thanks for the mentioning the two birds looked like loons. We were wondering what type of bird they were as they didn’t look familiar to us. 😁

  

 

[WisCruiser2]

2 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

 

Thanks! NYC is definitely an awesome site to take pictures of from the ship, morning, noon, or night! And thanks for the mentioning the two birds looked like loons. We were wondering what type of bird they were as they didn’t look familiar to us. 😁

  

 

As we never see them in their winter feathers, I went more by the shape, and noticed the faint "necklace" they still have. They must be in transition, if you look up loon summer and winter images 🙂

[voljeep]

15 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

And we’re off! The next stop is Ft Lauderdale after 3 sea days of rest and relaxation! 😁
 

 

grrrrrrrr  way toi rub it in

[Ken the cruiser]

10 hours ago, arizonaperson said:

@Ken the cruiser

Now you have a few of us curious.   The Grapevine wine tasting that you see in the patter / event listing  ,pretty sure that is a paid venue and elites complementary. Check it out for us. I’ve only been once as an elite and it was OK I don’t think ,I’d go otherwise .

I went to the Grapevine wine tasting event today at 2 pm. When I arrived, they asked for my cabin number and I was allowed to enter with no charge. I was seated at a table for 6, all of whom were Elites. Interesting enough, there was a travel agent sitting next to me and in a discussion, I of course initiated, about who was allowed to attend the Grapevine wine tasting event, she said everyone booked in a Reserve Class mini-suite or higher as well as Elite guests were allowed to attend for free. I later found out the charge, if you are not otherwise allowed to enter for free, is $19.50 per person!
 

 
Afterwards I talked with the host of the Grapevine tasting event, whose main job is being in charge of the Coral Dining Room, which our Reserve dining area falls under. After a lengthy conversation, he basically could not offer a straight answer as to who gets to go to this particular wine tasting event for free, other than those that have achieved Elite status. IOW he’s just doing his part. It’s the person responsible for creating the check-in list the crew member is checking at the entrance that has the real answer I would imagine.
 

From my observation when checking in, if your cabin number is on the list, you’re in. If not, you will probably have to pay the $19.50 entrance fee. But that’s just a guess. But he did said he will try to find out and let me know how someone gets on the list. So stay tuned if you’re interested.
 

BTW nowhere was it noted on any publication I could find either on the ship or PCL website that the retail cost for the Grapevine wine tasting event was $19.50 pp. 

Edited October 28, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[caribill]

18 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Just curious, but why would I want to pay $9 for 4 very small glasses of different wines if I have a drink package? If nothing else, I’ll have to go by there tomorrow afternoon on one of my ”scavenger hunts” just to find out the details. 😁

 

Usually people do not go for a couple of sips of four wines. 

 

They go for the story behind those wines and the presentation is aimed at wine novices.

 

They used to give out a free shot glass when the dessert wine was poured, but they discontinued that before the pandemic to save $$$..

 

 

[avonlady6390]

Princess more than doubled the price it used to be 9.00 for those paying.  There is also another wine tasting event with more upscale wines it was 25.00 and not free to elites or suites I'm thinking that one has gone up in price as well.

[arizonaperson]

@Ken the cruiser

thanks for the Grapevine update,good information to know for reserve class,full suites, & Elites which I knew were complimentary.

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, arizonaperson said:

@Ken the cruiser

thanks for the Grapevine update,good information to know for reserve class,full suites, & Elites which I knew were complimentary.

Not sure yet about Reserve Class mini-suites and/or full suites until I hear back from the Coral DR maitre d’, or hear/read from some other official source this is in fact true. But what I found annoying, if this is in fact true about the Reserve Collection mini-suites and/or full suites like in my case today, or better yet it was because we had the Plus package, is that no effort was made to inform us of this fact.
 

But like I said, I’m waiting to hear from the maitre d’ before I draw any conclusions. But more importantly it’s really not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things, as we are still having a great time on the cruise! 😁

 

 

Edited October 28, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[caribill]

57 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

if this is in fact true about the Reserve Collection mini-suites and/or full suites like in my case today, or better yet it was because we had the Plus package

 

Definitely not by having the plus package. I suspect it was because you were in a full suite.

[caribill]

There was a change of Captains yesterday.

 

Not sure of the name of the new one as the screen with the names/pictures of the officers is not showing that info now, probably because it has not been updated with the photo/name of the new captain.

[caribill]

On 10/27/2023 at 2:27 PM, Ken the cruiser said:

One thing we like about cruising on Princess ships is they have a router out on the balcony. As far as quality, we’ve had no issues with download speeds in our cabin this whole trip.

 

 

These devices, one for every two balcony cabins, were installed to support the Medallion which uses the Intranet which is the gateway to the Internet.

 

No need to be on the balcony to get the best Internet speeds since if is good on the balcony, it will be good inside the cabin.

 

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

4 minutes ago, caribill said:

 

These devices, one for every two balcony cabins, were installed to support the Medallion which uses the Intranet which is the gateway to the Internet.

 

No need to be on the balcony to get the best Internet speeds since if is good on the balcony, it will be good inside the cabin.

But I have to say being a balcony dweller, it’s nice having good internet service out once balcony. 😁

[caribill]

Ken -- Have not met you in person yet. What will you be wearing during the day so I can recognize you?

[Ken the cruiser]

8 minutes ago, caribill said:

Ken -- Have not met you in person yet. What will you be wearing during the day so I can recognize you?

I’m the guy wearing glasses with salt and pepper hair wearing beige shorts and a polo shirt. 😂

[Sea&SkiCruiser]

Ken, I will be interested to know what you hear back about the wine tasting, whether suites are included.  A year ago we were platinum and in a suite.  We were told it was only a free elite benefit, not for suites.  We are now elite and it was included in the elite benefit letter we received on board.  It was not listed on the suite benefit letter signed by Duncan, Hotel General Manager.  We did not attend today.  We did last cruise and thought it just okay. 

Edited October 29, 2023 by Sea&SkiCruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

1 minute ago, Sea&SkiCruiser said:

Ken, I will be interested to know what you hear back about the wine tasting, whether suites are included.  A year ago we were platinum and in a suite.  We were told it was only a free elite benefit, not for suites.  We are now elite and it was included in the elite benefit letter we received on board.  It was not listed on the suite benefit letter signed by Duncan, Hotel General Manager.  We did not attend today.  We did last cruise and thought it just okay.  We're just not into whites and dessert wines.

Me too, even though we’ll be Elite after this B2B is over. But I agree. It was your “typical” free wine tasting event, regardless of the cruise line we’re on. But it was something to do, and as @caribill mentioned, it’s more about listening to the stories about the various wines. For me when I’m on a cruise, it’s moscato or if that’s not available, a good German Riesling Kabinett. 

[Ken the cruiser]

Tonight, instead of going to dinner in the Reserve dining room, we tried the Ultimate Balcony Dinner for $110 for two. Unfortunately, it was a little too cool for us on the balcony, so we had it in our cabin. The service was great and so was the food, but I think it’s a one and done event for us especially since it lasted for about 2 hours. We’d much rather just go to the Reserve dining room and be spoiled there for free! 😂

 

After dinner we chilled in the cabin for a while, as the 8:30 pm game show, Trivia Challenge: Famous Faces, sounded kind of blah. But we did go to the 9:30 pm theater show to watch a singer, Cheaza, perform a tribute to Whitney Houston which she did an awesome job doing!! 😁

 

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

Day 16 - Oct 29 - Sea Day (2 of 3)

  

 

 

Nightly Internet speed test

 

 
Current location around 11 pm

 

 
And it looks like it’s going to be smooth sailing tomorrow with moderate temperatures based on this Windy wind and temp chart at around noon tomorrow.

 

 

Edited October 29, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[caribill]

2 hours ago, caribill said:

There was a change of Captains yesterday.

 

Not sure of the name of the new one as the screen with the names/pictures of the officers is not showing that info now, probably because it has not been updated with the photo/name of the new captain.

 

Vincenzo Lubrano

[caribill]

1 hour ago, caribill said:

 

Vincenzo Lubrano

 

[Ken the cruiser]

Finally, a warm day to sit on the balcony! We had a great time on this adventure so far, but it sure is nice to get back to warm weather! 😁

  

 

 
This morning we went to watch the 4th of David Wiemers’ lectures, which was an interesting one about Hollywood going to Florida.

 

 

Edited October 29, 2023 by Ken the cruiser