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

[Ken the cruiser]

Slept in this morning and then headed straight to watch the second lecture about sharks. This time it was in the theater and was definitely worth bypassing a late breakfast in Sabatinis. 😁

 

 

 

 

 
After the lecture we stopped by the International Cafe to get a muffin. Luckily, I didn’t need any more coffee, as the IC coffee line had about 10 people in line. But that line didn’t even start to compare to the bingo line which extended from Club Fusion all the way past the Explorers Lounge. This 5-day cruise definitely has no shortage of late night drinkers and all day/night gamblers! 😂

 

When we approached our cabin, we noticed the steward was cleaning it, so we decided to get the heart rate up and climb the stairs up to Deck 15 aft to see what the weather was like, as it did look a little misty outside.

 

 
When we got back to the cabin, I then had to check to see where the ship was compared to where the “pink wave” was.

 

  
It’s getting closer … 😱

 

 
Here’s the view from our aft balcony.

 

 

 

Edited November 2, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

After lunch in the Reserve dining room, we headed to the theater to watch Deal or No Deal, which had the largest audience by far than on any cruise line we’ve seen it on, to include PCL, NCL, or X.

 

 
When you figure the cards are $25 each, if I recall, and you do the math on the below, I think it’s pretty obvious who was the winner! 😂

 

Round 1 (at least 177 got at least 1 match)

 

 

 
Round 2 (175 at least got 1 match)

 

 

 
On the brighter side, it looks like the Captain has won the race against the waves! Yay!!

 

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

It’s about 3 pm right now, and apparently a lot of folks may have decided to rest up for the next round of partying this evening and decided to kick back and do some stuff on the web, as the internet has all of the sudden slowed down to a crawl.
 

As you can see I can still access CC and upload a (64 kb) photo. But it is definitely not very quick like it has been, and watching shows or zooming on the Internet may be a little difficult right now.

  

 

[Ken the cruiser]

Tonight after dinner, as we decided to pass on the Bravo production show, we headed to the Explorers Lounge to watch a couple of trivias and then the Yes/No game show.

 

 

 

 
But I have to say, even though we realize the cruise isn’t over yet, I don’t think we’ll be doing any more 5-day Caribbean cruises on any cruise line. The atmosphere just seems to be a little more rowdier than we’re used to on the longer cruises, and that’s cool! After all, the only reason we booked this 5-day cruise was to make Elite! 😁
 

For example, in the dining room this evening we saw folks being seated on formal night wearing a t-shirt and shorts. On the Yes/No game show, various contestants were either continually nodding their heads or saying the same phrase 3 or more times, such as absolutely not, and being allowed to continue on to win the bottle of “bubbly”. It’s like on a 5-day cruise, where folks are drinking, gambling, and having a good time spending $$$, no crew member wants to upset the apple cart.
 

It’s amazing how much the atmosphere has changed from the 12-day cruise we were just on to the one we’re on now. But that’s cool! These shorter cruises are just not our cup of tea. I know, it’s tough getting old! 😂

Edited November 3, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

Day 21 - Nov 3 - Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos Islands

  

 

 
The internet download speeds are continuing to slow down. But I can still post my stuff to the thread and my DW can still play her computer games, so we’re good. But I would imagine some others who require more bandwidth may not be so happy with the service being experienced today.

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

Our excursion tomorrow around Grand Turk is going to be on another Duck boat! Here’s an interesting side note if you’re wondering if it’s worth it to book a PCL excursion in advance. We paid $89.95 per person for this excursion when it first became available online. If we had waited until we were onboard to book it, the cost would be $164.95 per person!

 

[Ken the cruiser]

We have arrived at Grand Turk, with the weather looking pretty nice for a 2-hour Duck Boat tour this morning. 😁

 

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

14 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Our excursion tomorrow around Grand Turk is going to be on another Duck boat! Here’s an interesting side note if you’re wondering if it’s worth it to book a PCL excursion in advance. We paid $89.95 per person for this excursion when it first became available online. If we had waited until we were onboard to book it, the cost would be $164.95 per person!

 

We had fun day today on our Duck boat ride. However, most of the time we were touring the island, which if you have been here before you know it’s not all that awe inspiring.

 

This little guy stopped by to say hello as we were waiting for our tour to begin.

 

 
Then once everyone was onboard, we were off. Unfortunately, there was a person with a cracked rib that had to cancel at the last minute as she wasn’t able to climb the stairs to get on the Duck boat.

 

 

One of the salt ponds left over from the days salt was one of the main exports from the island.

 

 
Even saw some flamingos along the way! 😁

 

 

 
There was a 15-minute period where folks could go gift shopping before we went into the water. As we’re not shoppers, I stayed on the Duck and watched the waves splash against the rocky shore near where we were parked.

 

 

Then it was time to get into the water.

 

 

 

One of many beached vessels we saw on our brief “cruise” which were mostly remnants from various hurricanes that pass through here periodically.

 

 

Then it was time to get back out of the water and continue on our tour to “view” the light house.

 

 

 

 

There were wild donkeys all along our drive and in the light house parking lot. 
 

 
Then it was time to head back to the ship.

  

 

 
But if you were so inclined to just hang out on the beach, it was right next to the pier.

 

 

When we got back to the cabin, I heard a nose off the back of our balcony where there were a bunch of little minnows playing in the water! 😁

 

 
BTW the internet is much better when a lot of folks are either off the ship or up Ian the buffet having lunch! 😁

 

Edited November 3, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

So as I sit chilling on our balcony and after looking at the current Windy “wave” forecast,

 

 

I’m wondering which direction the Captain is going to take back towards Ft Lauderdale when we cast off around 5 pm. Right now we’re in a very protected area on the lower southwestern side of the island.

 

 
where the seas are quite calm? 🤔

 

 

Here are the links I’ll be using if you get curious which route he decides to take and how high the waves are forecasted to get on the chosen route. 😁

 
https://www.windy.com/-Waves-waves

 

https://www.cruisemapper.com/?imo=9215490

 

Edited November 3, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[GonzoWCS]

Loving it!  Quack Qauck!!

 

Cheers

[CCFC]

Do they still do the ships tour behind the scenes? We are on the Caribbean Princess in 6 weeks over Christmas!

[GonzoWCS]

This question just came to mind.  Is there a Wine Tasters Meal on offer?  If yes, could we hear the details please?  Thanks

 

Cheers

[Ken the cruiser]

And we’re off! Next stop Fort Lauderdale, Florida day after tomorrow!! 😁

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, CCFC said:

Do they still do the ships tour behind the scenes? We are on the Caribbean Princess in 6 weeks over Christmas!

There was no onboard Behind the Scenes excursions that I’m aware of other than the gallery tour I posted pictures of after the hilarious Chef’s cooking presentation in the theater at the end of the last leg.

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, GonzoWCS said:

This question just came to mind.  Is there a Wine Tasters Meal on offer?  If yes, could we hear the details please?  Thanks

 

Cheers

Sorry, never heard about any type of special meal offering on either leg of our B2B. Are you referring to something like the 360 dinner currently only offered on the Discovery and Enchanted right now?

 
https://www.princess.com/en-us/ships-and-experience/360-experience

 

[GonzoWCS]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Sorry, never heard about any type of special meal offering on either leg of our B2B. Are you referring to something like the 360 dinner currently only offered on the Discovery and Enchanted right now?

 
https://www.princess.com/en-us/ships-and-experience/360-experience

 

Here is a link (there are many many more).  But Winemakers Dinner.  We have been to a few and they are normally handled by the Restaurant Director...

 

Cheers

 

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, GonzoWCS said:

Here is a link (there are many many more).  But Winemakers Dinner.  We have been to a few and they are normally handled by the Restaurant Director...

 

Cheers

 

Whelp, I guess only those who are aware of these various Winemaker and chef’s table events prior to boarding the cruise go to them, or at least know how to sign up for them. As for us, none of them were ever mentioned in the Patters (that we saw) nor did we get any special invitation (or notice) in our cabin about them. Maybe when we make Elite, we’ll hear more about them. But chances are we wouldn’t go to them anyway since my DW only drinks water and hot chocolate. 😂

[Ken the cruiser]

After another tasty dinner in Reserve, we headed out to watch two super hilarious comedy shows. The first one was in the theater with Rich Purpura!

 

 

 
With an equally funny encore show my Doug Funk! It was definitely a night for comedy!! 😂

 

 

 

Edited November 4, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

Day 22 - Nov 4 - Sea Day

  

 

 
And yes, the internet is a little slow again tonight. 😂

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

Good morning from somewhere in the Bahamas Islands.

  

 
Looks like we have company this morning, at least for a while, as the RC Wonder of the Seas is heading to Port Canaveral.

 

 

Edited November 4, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

Today, while we were doing our final walk around the promenade, we saw a bunch of brown boobies taking turns diving after something tasty swimming around in the water. We never saw what is was, but they sure did! 😂

 

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

I just want to tip my hat to PCL regarding the lecturers provided on both legs our B2B, but especially on this short 5-night cruise. We have really enjoyed going to all 3 lecturers given by Martin Graf about the various aspects of a shark’s life. It was definitely enjoyable AND we actually learned something! I know, who would have thought! 😂

 

 
But I also have to post a shout out to the Starlink folks. Who would have thought I would have been able to post these two pictures to my thread with these pathetic speeds! But I will also note, it did take some patience as the shark photo did take quite a few minutes to upload! 😂

 

Edited November 4, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[memoak]

18 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Whelp, I guess only those who are aware of these various Winemaker and chef’s table events prior to boarding the cruise go to them, or at least know how to sign up for them. As for us, none of them were ever mentioned in the Patters (that we saw) nor did we get any special invitation (or notice) in our cabin about them. Maybe when we make Elite, we’ll hear more about them. But chances are we wouldn’t go to them anyway since my DW only drinks water and hot chocolate. 😂

No one gets invited to Chefs dinners or wine makers dinners elite or not. all you have to do is call the dine line and they can tell you when they are offered and put you on a list. At least that has been me experience. 360 on just 2 ships is different and is a full suite perk

[Ken the cruiser]

1 minute ago, memoak said:

No one gets invited to Chefs dinners or wine makers dinners elite or not. all you have to do is call the dine line and they can tell you when they are offered and put you on a list. At least that has been me experience. 360 on just 2 ships is different and is a full suite perk

Thanks! I guess the key point there is you have to know to call the Dine Line. How does someone even know to do that, let alone know these “special” dinners are even available, if they didn’t learn it first on some social media site?

[memoak]

55 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Thanks! I guess the key point there is you have to know to call the Dine Line. How does someone even know to do that, let alone know these “special” dinners are even available, if they didn’t learn it first on some social media site?

Just look on the Princess website under Specialty restaurant and Chefs table it will tell you to call the dine line when you board