LIVE: Geoherb's solo Island Princess cruise, June 4-14, 2024 (Halifax, Boston, Norfolk, Charleston)

[geoherb]

1 hour ago, AZaTaz said:

I will be on the Island on July 5.  Do you know what caused the flooding. 

 

Broken water pipes. I don't know why so many are going out on the same cruise. Thankfully, they're pipes for clean water and not sewage or waste water.

[geoherb]

And now a bunch of cabins, including mine, don't have water. I called guest services at 3 to report it. The crew member told me it was a widespread problem that they hoped to have fixed between 4 and 4:15. It's now 5:15 and not fixed. On our Facebook group for this cruise, someone reported that they were told it also affected the Caribe Deck in addition to the Baja Deck. The new estimate is 5:30.

[geoherb]

Another tidbit from the talk with the crew: the shows they currently can do on this ship are Encore, Spectacular, On the Bayou, The Secret Silk, Disco, Motor City, and Do You Wanna Dance. The CD said that Motor City was just for the world cruise. The other six are in rotation. I'm glad The Secret Silk was not one of the ones for this cruise. I'm sure it's popular.

[geoherb]

I had an interesting conversation with a crew member who is sailing as a passenger on this cruise. He's visiting his girlfriend on this ship. He's a third officer on P&O Australia ships. Their contracts can be with either line. Anyway, he was explaining how often the fog horn was required by regulations to be sounded. He called it a "whistle." We're through the fog now. It's been a lovely day at sea, although a little bit rocky.

 

Another thing the dancers talked about was how they perform when it is rocky. If it's a lot worse than what we're having now, they will rework the show to take out some of the lifts and other moves that could be dangerous. CD Robbie was a dancer on ships. He said the worst part was not knowing if the stage floor was going to be higher or lower than he expected it to be when he did a jump.

 

I enjoyed afternoon tea. I always like to try it at least once each cruise. A woman at lunch complained that the scones weren't much like a real scone. The one I had tasted fine.

 

Afternoon trivia was packed. My team of three ended up standing. The professionals won again with a perfect score.

 

I'm enjoying my balcony as I type this.

[geoherb]

The water is back on. My cabin steward said the starboard side of Baja Deck doesn't have it still. I'm missing a shirt. I don't know if it fell off the hanger as I was moving from my original cabin to my new one. I'll check with lost and found. I went back to the original cabin to look for it. That cabin is still a mess, but the carpet doesn't feel squishy. I did not check to see if they dried it successfully or replaced it.

 

The token machine in the laundry room on Baja isn't working. The washers and dryers are free. A passenger said that an attendant would sell people detergent if they need it. Someone else said it was the same on Dolphin Deck.

[MsTabbyKats]

@geoherbPlease co firm....washers and dryers on Island Princess are free.  Others on other ships said they had to pay.

Thanks

[paddingtonbear]

2 hours ago, MsTabbyKats said:

@geoherbPlease co firm....washers and dryers on Island Princess are free.  Others on other ships said they had to pay.

Thanks

I think geoherb is saying the washer and dryer on Baja deck are currently free because the token machine on the Baja deck doesn't work. 

Once they get the token machine working again you will have to use them to do your washing and drying. 

Edited June 10 by paddingtonbear

[geoherb]

3 hours ago, MsTabbyKats said:

@geoherbPlease co firm....washers and dryers on Island Princess are free.  Others on other ships said they had to pay.

Thanks

 

All I know for sure is that the ones on the Baja Deck are free. I heard from someone else that they're also free on the Dolphin Deck, but I have not checked those out in person.

[geoherb]

It was a busy evening. I met some friends for drinks at Crooners. Before I knew it, I had to go back to my cabin and change clothes for the Captain's Circle party. It was nice. Someone complained that they did not serve canapes at the first one. That's been hit and miss for me since the restart three years ago. 

 

The future cruise consultant announced the totals for this cruise. It turns out 47 more people embarked in Boston than disembarked. The new total is 1,685. The breakdown is 444 first-time Princess cruisers, 363 Gold, 173 Ruby, 424 Platinum, and 281 Elite. Third place has 1,288 days. Second place has 1,575 days. First place has 2,035 days. I heard the cutoff for the top 40 luncheon was around 450, but I have not confirmed that number.

 

After the party, I went to see On the Bayou. It's a much better show than Spectacular. I then went to the Marriage Matters game show. The three couples provided plenty of entertaining answers. I decided to skip dinner in the dining room. It was Italian night--not a menu I like. I went up to Horizon Court after the game show to eat there. Nothing really appealed to me, so I decided to order room service through the app. It was a little bit slower but still reasonable--about 20 minutes. 

 

On the Caribbean in December 2019, I was quarantined to my cabin for three days. I learned the room service menu pretty well. I decided to order one of my favorites from that time--a Caesar salad with chicken fingers from the children's menu on top of it. I'm happy to report that the Key lime pie in a jar is the good version. The Majestic's version was horrible.

 

 

[geoherb]

Here's the Patter for tomorrow. 

[geoherb]

The forecast is for a beautiful day in Norfolk. It rained last night during MUTS. I took my room service tray to Horizon Court after my dinner. I watched the end of The Boys in the Boat. I've never watched a whole movie at MUTS. There were about a dozen people watching. 

[lljost]

11 hours ago, MsTabbyKats said:

@geoherbPlease co firm....washers and dryers on Island Princess are free.  Others on other ships said they had to pay.

Thanks

I disembarked when @geoherb boarded. The washers and dryers were free on Caribe and Dolphin and was told same on all floors. The token machines were not working on those two floors.

[geoherb]

The water cutoff affected more decks than I thought. Someone posted in the Facebook group for this cruise that it was decks 10-14. A friend used the sauna and tried to shower afterward in the spa. No water up there. Thankfully, it was just two and a half hours in my cabin.

 

Today's drama will be that they're going to be working on the HVAC system this morning. The notice they left in my cabin said it will start at 10 a.m. and last a couple of hours if things go to plan. I will be in Norfolk during that time. I'll leave the drapes pulled so my cabin doesn't heat up too much while the AC is off.

[susancruzs]

Enjoy Norfolk!  Last time I was there I toured Nauticus and USS Wisconsin, it was good.

[metairiegal]

Following along...  Thanks for the reports!

[pompeii]

@geoherb have you noticed if the buffet has the blue Lavazza coffee dispensers?  I'm hoping that all the ships have upgraded by now, but just wanted to check.  We board in Brooklyn on July 5.  

[geoherb]

5 hours ago, pompeii said:

@geoherb have you noticed if the buffet has the blue Lavazza coffee dispensers?  I'm hoping that all the ships have upgraded by now, but just wanted to check.  We board in Brooklyn on July 5.  

 

I think so. I'm not a coffee drinker, so I haven't paid attention to what they say. They're big. I'll try to check tomorrow.

[geoherb]

It was a beautiful day in Norfolk. We had perfect weather. I walked in the morning to the Glass Light Hotel and Gallery. It has an interesting display of modern art glass pieces. I stopped by an ABC store to see what it had available--but they're run by the state, and the prices seemed about the same as we pay in North Carolina. 

 

I ate lunch on the ship--a salad from Horizon Court and the "Margherita" pizza from the pizzeria. It's not really Margherita pizza to me without fresh tomato and fresh basil on it. But it was good after I added some chopped jalapeño from the buffet.

 

I went back to shore after lunch. The tickets for the boat tour were sold out for 2:00, so I toured the Battleship Wisconsin instead. It was interesting. The Nauticus exhibits were as well, but there is a large section of the museum undergoing renovations and closed off.

 

I could see the pagoda and gardens from the battleship and went there next. The pagoda was a gift from Taiwan to Norfolk in the 1980s. "The two-story octagon structure was built on and around the pillars that previously supported a 500,000 gallon molasses storage tank. Materials for the tower were manufactured in Taiwan and shipped to Norfolk where the Pagoda was meticulously assembled by artisans from Taiwan." I enjoyed seeing the koi and various plants in the garden. One of my ideas for yesterday was to visit the botanical garden. An Uber there and back was going to cost $40, so I decided against going. I should have found someone to go with me.

 

After getting back to the ship around 3:00, I decided to try the indoor pool. The water was nice and warm. 

 

 

[geoherb]

I asked at guest services about the canapes for Elite passengers for tonight's formal night. The crew member told me I had to order them 24 hours in advance through room service by calling. But then there was this card in my cabin when I came back after dinner. I'm not going to order them, but I did want the opportunity to do so. I'd be more inclined to order them when DH was with me.

 

Here is the Patter for today.

[geoherb]

I left the comedian's show early, as the ship started to pull away from the dock. Sailaway was better than he was. I did not realize how far we had come up the river and bay from the ocean. I slept through that part in the morning.

 

I was able to get the hockey game on my computer. The internet speed still isn't great enough to watch streaming video without some interruptions. The quality of the picture wasn't always the best, and at other times the video would stop to buffer.

 

 

[geoherb]

The Salty Dog Gastro Pub and Alfredo's Pizzeria are open for lunch today in the Bayou Cafe and Sabatini's. I'm going to Alfredo's since I went to the Salty Dog on our first sea day. I hope they open them again on Thursday so that people with Plus who missed going last week can get both of their included casual dining meals.

[johnmik1]

If you are still having cabin issues,we are in D737 and all the cabins on our section are available.We were at the most traveled with 545 days.When we ask for butter in the MDR,we are told that none is available so we now have a head waiter who approves our request as I threatened to bring our own from the Horizon Court.Also,no straws are available!

[geoherb]

19 minutes ago, johnmik1 said:

If you are still having cabin issues,we are in D737 and all the cabins on our section are available.We were at the most traveled with 545 days.When we ask for butter in the MDR,we are told that none is available so we now have a head waiter who approves our request as I threatened to bring our own from the Horizon Court.Also,no straws are available!

 

Thanks. My new cabin is fine. It seems like lots of cabins were affected by the water being off Sunday afternoon. I noticed it around 3, and they fixed it by 5:30. Someone in the Facebook group posted about there being straws available at one of the bars. I don't know which one.

[johnmik1]

14 minutes ago, geoherb said:

 

Thanks. My new cabin is fine. It seems like lots of cabins were affected by the water being off Sunday afternoon. I noticed it around 3, and they fixed it by 5:30. Someone in the Facebook group posted about there being straws available at one of the bars. I don't know which one.

I posted our cabin wrong as we are in E737 which is the last cabin before the rear deck.As of this morning the door to that back deck is our of service.

[geoherb]

17 hours ago, pompeii said:

@geoherb have you noticed if the buffet has the blue Lavazza coffee dispensers?  I'm hoping that all the ships have upgraded by now, but just wanted to check.  We board in Brooklyn on July 5.  

 

They are the Lavazza coffee dispensers. A friend said the coffee was very strong.