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

[Ken the cruiser]

While sitting on our balcony enjoying the warm afternoon, I did some checking on aft-facing balcony sizes on the Grand class ships. And confirmed something interesting that we recently discovered. The covered aft-facing VS balconies on the Dolphin deck are about 5 feet deeper than the similar cabins on the Caribe Deck. Just something I’d thought I’d pass along in case some of you may be thinking about booking a Grand Class VS in the future and weren’t aware of the size difference. But don’t tell anybody! 🤫

 

 

 

[Sea&SkiCruiser]

24 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

While sitting on our balcony enjoying the warm afternoon, I did some checking on aft-facing balcony sizes on the Grand class ships. And confirmed something interesting that we recently discovered. The covered aft-facing VS balconies on the Dolphin deck are about 5 feet deeper than the similar cabins on the Caribe Deck. Just something I’d thought I’d pass along in case some of you may be thinking about booking a Grand Class VS in the future and weren’t aware of the size difference. But don’t tell anybody! 🤫

 

 

 

They are also deeper than those on Emerald.  Wonder where we are....  We won't tell.

[Ken the cruiser]

42 minutes ago, Sea&SkiCruiser said:

They are also deeper than those on Emerald.  Wonder where we are....  We won't tell.

That location looks awfully familiar! 😂

 

[Sea&SkiCruiser]

6 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

That location looks awfully familiar! 😂

 

Ooops.  I should have said that the VS on Dolphin deck are deeper than those on Emerald "deck."

[Ken the cruiser]

This afternoon we went to an enrichment program entitled Food of the Gods given by Kez, also known as Kerry. She has also given various ports talks on the cruise and is always entertaining!

 

[Ken the cruiser]

2 minutes ago, Sea&SkiCruiser said:

Ooops.  I should have said that the VS on Dolphin deck are deeper than those on Emerald "deck."

Good to know. That explains why the Dolphin VS cabins were already booked, probably by Elite members, when we booked this cruise as well as our upcoming Antarctica cruise the 2nd day they had become available for booking, while the Caribe and Emerald deck VS cabins were still available. Thank goodness we’ll be Elite after this cruise, which then means we’ll have to get up at the crack of dawn on day 1 to book a Dolphin Deck VS cabin! 😂

[cr8tiv1]

Am I missing something, or are we only having one (1) Production Show…Bravo?

[Ken the cruiser]

42 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Am I missing something, or are we only having one (1) Production Show…Bravo?

Nope, just the one unless you call the Farewell Variety show at 9 pm tomorrow a “production show”. 

[GonzoWCS]

10 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Nope, just the one unless you call the Farewell Variety show at 9 pm tomorrow a “production show”. 

Wow down to 1 only.  Not sure how we might react to that...

 

Cheers

[Ken the cruiser]

22 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

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. 

@Sea&SkiCruiser and @arizonaperson, I talked with the Coral DR maitre d’ this evening and this is what he told me. Basically, unless you have received a personal invitation to attend the Grapevine Wine Tasting event, the corporate stance is that the only guests allowed to attend the event are Elite passengers. He did say at the discretion of the ship’s management while on a cruise, they can issue special invitations to certain “select” individuals on a case by case basis. He also ask if I had received an invitation, which might explain why our cabin number was on the list, and I said no.
 

He was thinking maybe we were one of the “select individuals” because we were in a suite and will reach Elite status after the conclusion of our B2B. In any event as others have noted earlier, if you’re not Elite or have an invitation in hand, you’re more than welcome to attend if you pay the $19.50 entrance fee.

[cr8tiv1]

On the way up July cruise, we had 3.  And I am glad that the variety show is returning.  It will be crowded.  Thank goodness this voyage is not full,  

 

Also, I received an invitation the the Captain Circle Party for Elite (and Platinum), but my sister did not get one for Ruby.  Is this also gone?

 

I will admit that I have received personal phone calls for suite thermal spa and Grapevine wine tasting.  HaHa…the green sticker bled onto my watch band and I did not return to use the services.  I did get a lovely gift bag when I toured the thermal spa.

Edited October 30, 2023 by cr8tiv1

[Ken the cruiser]

16 minutes ago, GonzoWCS said:

Wow down to 1 only.  Not sure how we might react to that...

 

Cheers

I know initially the first production show ran into “technical” issues and was postponed. Then the initial Bravo performance was postponed due to rough seas, but did eventually happen a few days later once the seas calmed down. No word on what happened to the mysterious third one. But all in all they made sure we had a fun evening show to go to every night considering all of the weather issues we ran into early on, so we’re good. 😁

[Ken the cruiser]

This evening after a tasty Formal Night dinner, which included Lobster Thermidor as the additional entree on our reserve menu, we took some family pictures and then headed to the theater to watch a funny magician, Jason Bird.

  

 

 
Since there was no game show tonight for some reason, we headed back to the cabin where we found our transition information on the bed. For those interested, here’s what we got.

 

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

Day 17 - Oct 30 - Sea Day (3 of 3)

  

 

 
Internet is still doing good! I have to admit the Starlink connection continues to be very stable.

 

 
And we’re just cruising along with calm seas and temps in the 70s. 😁

 

 

[caribill]

4 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Am I missing something, or are we only having one (1) Production Show…Bravo?

 

There were supposed to be three (the cast knows four).

 

I was told that the "technical problem" was that a member of the technical production team had to fly home and that a replacement was not available for this cruise. Without that person's knowledge, the shows could not be performed safely.

 

I think that the CD should have been more forthcoming in letting passengers know there would not be more than the one production show performed. 

[Ken the cruiser]

This morning was another fun one! After having breakfast with our daughters in Sabatini’s, we all went to watch an hilarious Culinary Demonstration followed by a galley tour!

 

 
The head chef and the others were an hilarious team to watch as they prepared dishes for a 3 course meal! Definitely a show you don’t want to miss if you haven’t seen it before! 😂

 

 

 
On the way to the galley tour, it looks like they’re working hard to add a little Halloween flavor to the ship decore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The head chef

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

While we were waiting for the demonstration to start, our daughters showed us some photos they took when they went on a private tour back in Newport that went to 4 different Gilded Age mansions! After seeing them I asked if it was OK if I could post them on the thread, so others that might be interested could see what they looked like. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[CruzinNoony]

Great pictures of the mansions.  Sounds like a wonderful tour.  Thanks for posting!

 

[Ken the cruiser]

After another tasty dinner in the Reserve dining room, we were off to the Explorers Lounge to watch a couple of trivias and to ultimately secure a table for 4 to watch the hilarious Hollywood Hiccups game show at 8 pm. But I had to first sneak out on the promenade to take a photo, as the clouds looked pretty cool. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to stick around for the sunset.
 

 

We got there just as one trivia game was ending, with the Halloween Trivia starting up at 7 pm. Of course, we would usually be going to the early show in the theater, but there is only a 9 pm show tonight.

 

  

 
The Bodyguard

  

 
Frozen

 

 
E.T.

 

 

Jaws

 

 
Ghost

 

 
Ghost Busters

 

 
Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark

 

 
Dirty Dancing

 

 
Titanic

 

 
The Entertainment staff with CD Sofie

 

 
Then as soon as it was over, we headed to what we figured would be another packed theater, even though tomorrow is disembarkation day for a lot of guests, and it was.

 

 

 
The Farewell Variety Show turned out to be another very enjoyable show! 😁

[Ken the cruiser]

Day 18 - Oct 31 - Fort Lauderdale, Florida (Transition Day)

  

 

 
The future “wave” action doesn’t look too bad when we set sail tomorrow evening. But click on the below link, and then on the start button in the lower left hand corner to see what is forecasted for this coming week in the area we will be cruising. It may get a little rocky based on what’s heading our way from over in the western Caribbean right now.

 

 
https://www.windy.com/-Waves-waves

 

Here’s where we will be heading on the upcoming 5-day leg of our cruise.

  

 

 
And the internet is still doing fine for those interested.

 

 

Edited October 31, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

We have arrived in Fort Lauderdale, Florida! 
 

 
Looks like there is some new terminal construction going on. 
 

 

Edited October 31, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

Here’s an interesting observation we noticed on a brochure we received on our bed today. We noticed there was no mention of the casual dining options. I’m sure the 2 Plus free ones and unlimited Premium ones are still a perk. It was just weird that they weren’t mentioned on the brochure. I wonder why? 🤔
 

[Ken the cruiser]

A couple of interesting things happened this morning. First, the In Transit guests that just wanted to stay on the ship today were supposed to meet in the theater and then be escorted off the ship, wait in the terminal until the ship was cleared, then come back onboard. As it turned out, Customs allowed us to stay on the ship, and we were allowed to go on our merry way without going through any type of security check. That was a first for us as that has never happened before. I also found out there are 82 guests staying on to the next cruise.

 

So we decided to walk a few laps around the promenade until we got a little glistening from the warm and humid weather today in Port Everglades. I know, who would have guessed it would be so warm down here! 😂

 

 
When we went back inside, we went to check out where the library was as my DW wanted to donate a game to the ship’s Library. Along the way we ran into the assistant CD. I asked him what was the “technical” issue as to why 2 of the 3 production shows were canceled on the last leg of the cruise. He said it was because the stage was a mess, especially when it comes to raising and lowering various props as well as the elevator the raises and lowers the parts of the stage floor.
 

Supposedly some technicians are coming onboard today to fix those technical issues. If they are successful, there will be production shows again. If not, we’ll be stuck with Bravo, as that’s the only show that isn’t impacted by the issues they are currently encountering. Sure hope they fix it, as we would definitely enjoy seeing the other two shows on the leg!

 
BTW besides the RC Liberty of the Seas, we are the only other cruise ship in port today.

 

 

 

Edited October 31, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[GonzoWCS]

Thanks for this Ken!  Have you sorted out your new Medallion?  Congrats on Elite!

 

Cheers

[Ken the cruiser]

18 minutes ago, GonzoWCS said:

Thanks for this Ken!  Have you sorted out your new Medallion?  Congrats on Elite!

 

Cheers

Thanks, but we’re not Elite yet. Once this 5-day cruise is over, we’ll be Elite. It would be nice if we got the cruise credit when we first boarded the ship, like we did when we cruised with Oceania. But, I’ll have to hold off going to the “free” Grapevine Wine Tasting event for one more cruise until we go on the Sapphire in January. 😂