Live from the Land of Princess

[mking8288]

Yvonne, short answer is yes, QE out of Canada Place on Aug 30th, Alaska 10 nights ... gang of 6 staying in Richmond pre & post.

 

EWR has good & free WiFi at the airport, one of my nephrew was working ground ops out of there for a while.  Just a short delay & left the gate at 17:01 ... taxiing, should be airborne shortly / already.  

 

Edited Thursday at 09:16 PM by mking8288

[Mrhubbabubba]

Excited to follow along with yo; I hope you have a fabulous time. Really thinking I may book Princess for my next cruise. Crazy that you are just getting out of school, and I go back in a week. 
 

Stay safe, and I hope you get some awesome food experiences that match your needs. 

[cr8tiv1]

Don't know if you will check in when you get to the Marriott, but you should have free wi-fi there.  Just anxious to hear more of your wonderful adventures.  Love your description of your bus ride.  Hope you had your mask on.

 

And the adventure begins.  

[njkate]

Thank you for posting link on NCL board

I have always enjoyed your reviews and will follow along!

I’m about ready to try a different cruise line for a myriad of reasons! I’ve seen some Princess cruises that interest me but hesitant as I thought Princess might be a bit stuffy for me, I want no part of formal nights lol

So your review of Princess will help me decide 

[jimbri]

Looking forward to your review.  Have a great time!

[schmoopie17]

On 7/3/2024 at 10:14 PM, YVRteacher said:

 

For those in the know, I will keep my bathing suit on at all times in the spa!!

I see what you did there...subtle reference to Dad's full monty in the Spa? Nice...

 

You can run, but you can't hide. I see several of us managed to find our way from the poor side of town...aka the NCL Board... over to the gated community of Princess.

 

Missing Dad, but eagerly and vicariously following along.

[Tyskie]

@YVRteacher

I've been looking for your trip report and see I'm a late start!  I have alot of catching up to do!  

 

Hoping you having a wonderful trip🥰 

[mimi'sgirl]

Have a wonderful trip! Looking forward to your new adventures on Princess and more cake pictures! 🍰

[YVRteacher]

Travel day part 2

 

Overall that was a smooth travel day. I waited in the airport lounge until I received a notification on my phone that the flight was boarding, filled my water bottle and when I arrived at the gate it was my turn to board. We would have left either early or at least on time had it not been for an issue with a passenger.  When the flight crew came to check with those of us in exit row seats about speaking either English or French and being able to physically pull down the red handle, they discovered a man could not speak English. They asked him to move and his wife popped up from another row saying he wouldn’t move. This went around in circles and the flight crew told her the flight would be grounded if they didn’t comply and change seats. It very clearly states the requirement for an exit row seat when booking yet the wife kept arguing that there was nothing that said her husband has to speak English. She insisted that she paid for extra leg room and wanted a refund. The flight crew (the entire flight crew!) was involved and kept explaining over and over that it was a safety issue. Finally he moved and another passenger chose this time to argue with the flight crew about why she had to check one of her 3 pieces of onboard luggage. I could feel the flight crew trying not to roll their eyes from 5 rows away!

 

My seat was comfy, the ginger ale was cold, the Goldfish crackers I found in my pantry added an element of sophistication and I watched 3 movies:

The appetizer movie was Cool Runnings

For the main course movie I selected A League of Their Own

For dessert the best choice was Barbie.

 

A little summer vacation nap was enjoyed during A League of Their Own.

 

As we lowered altitude approaching Newark I could see all the neighbourhood fireworks as well as the Empire State Building lit up in red, white and blue. Despite the downpour One World Trade Centre was visible too. There’s an IKEA adjacent to Newark and I suddenly had a hankering for some veggie meatballs and the need to assemble some furniture with an Allen wrench and 72 pages of pictorial instructions. That feeling passed when I walked through the airport and found Dunkin. I really wanted the Smores cold brew and an iced doughnut with sprinkles but I acted like a grown up and ordered an egg and cheese breakfast sandwich to take to the hotel for a late evening dinner. This is my first time having Dunkin.

 

The next 45 minutes were a little bit less than delightful. It was a torrential downpour but also hot like a sauna. I found the place to take the bus to P4 to board the hotel shuttle. I was not at the main airport Marriott but at Marriott SpringHill Suites Newark Airport. The wait for the shuttle was long and it was a dark, off the beaten path waiting area. The drive to the hotel was so long for a minute there I thought we were heading all the way to Snooki’s house or to the Hershey Chocolate factory in Pennsylvania. I don’t know what the speed limit is here but I’m sure the fact that we all had to grasp our seat armrests so as to not fly into the other people seating across the aisle indicates that perhaps our driver had a more than slightly elevated limit in his mind. Or, he had just watched Mean Girls and had decided the limit does not exist.

Hotel check in was smooth and I bought a mini Häagen-Dazs to enjoy for snack dessert.

 

The room was perfect

 

 

 

and I was able to watch the 4th of July fireworks through the rain drops

for an hour from the bed. That was an unexpected bonus and I had dinner from Dunkin

plus delightful entertainment.

 

Now I’m going to enjoy my book until I feel sleepy.

[SenatorsFan]

Hope you enjoy that book. I did and her new one just came in for me! 

[YVRteacher]

 

 

 

Cruise day

 

After over a month of fitful, stress-induced poor sleep I finally slept well last night and I feel great this morning.

 

That humidity last night did wonders for my skin and now I look 20 years younger after that steamy, free, outdoor facial!

 

The pickings were slim and the people were hungry this morning at the hotel’s free breakfast. Some large lady took ALL the strawberries so I just had a little bit of scrambled egg with cheddar cheese and half a bagel. The line for bagels stretched down one wall then made a 90 degree turn down the bread wall. A man barged in front of me and said “can I just get a bagel?” I body blocked him and told him he could get his bagel when he stood in line like the rest of us. He rolled his eyes. Come on, fella, you know how line ups work. All my years of cruising have prepared me well for bagel budgers!

 

I took the free shuttle from the hotel back to the airport and met the Princess rep next to Dunkin.

 

The big transfer bus left Newark at 11:07 and we arrived at the port in Brooklyn at 11:45. Since I only have carry on luggage I didn’t have to wait while the bus driver unloaded all the other luggage.  

 

That was a most impressive port and boarding experience. There were no line ups and I was through security and green lane check in within moments. Everyone was friendly.

 

I went right to my cabin and had unpacked and found the dining room by 12:16pm!

 

I adore this cabin!

 

 

 

 

I do not adore the plastic shower curtain. No woman needs plastic flopping against all the good parts.

[WisCruiser2]

Glad you had a smooth boarding experience! And yeah, Princess gets grief from a lot of people about the shower curtain...

Are you in a mini-suite?

[YVRteacher]

I don’t think I’m in a mini suite.

[YVRteacher]

The fridge was empty so I’m definitely not in a suite!

[YVRteacher]

@cr8tiv1

Here is the link to my live trip report to Iceland and Norway last summer

 

 

[YVRteacher]

And here is my first meal on a Princess cruise. I ate in the Bordeaux dining room. They ran out of menus and it took awhile before I received a menu but once menus were distributed all went well.

 

Prosecco with pineapple (delicious and refreshing)

 

Tuscan chick pea soup (delicious!)

 

Salad with avocado added (delicious). Next time I will order without onions.

 

 

Papaya sorbet (also delicious)

 

[YVRteacher]

6 hours ago, njkate said:

Thank you for posting link on NCL board

I have always enjoyed your reviews and will follow along!

I’m about ready to try a different cruise line for a myriad of reasons! I’ve seen some Princess cruises that interest me but hesitant as I thought Princess might be a bit stuffy for me, I want no part of formal nights lol

So your review of Princess will help me decide 

So far I’m super impressed and am so, so happy to be here on the Island Princess. It’s not stuffy and formal at all. She is a beautiful ship and every passenger and crew member with whom I have interacted has been wonderful.

[YVRteacher]

 

[YVRteacher]

[arizonaperson]

@YVRteacher absolutely loving your writing style & following along on your transatlantic voyage

[arizonaperson]

52 minutes ago, YVRteacher said:

I don’t think I’m in a mini suite.

Maybe an ocean view cabin? Does not look like a balcony door slider  in the photo. But nice that you have a small little couch.

Do you have another chair besides the desk chair?

So many cruisers on Princess are disappointed when they’re traveling with two people in a cabin that there’s only a desk/ vanity chair to sit on and some/ most cabins have no couch at all. This looks like a cabin that others may want to know about on the Island princess, especially if it has seating for two people besides the bed .

Edited Friday at 07:02 PM by arizonaperson

[YVRteacher]

There is definitely a slightly older crowd on board. The Princess Shops should sell ear hair trimmers.

[ceilidh1]

44 minutes ago, arizonaperson said:

Maybe an ocean view cabin? Does not look like a balcony door slider  in the photo. But nice that you have a small little couch.

Do you have another chair besides the desk chair?

So many cruisers on Princess are disappointed when they’re traveling with two people in a cabin that there’s only a desk/ vanity chair to sit on and some/ most cabins have no couch at all. This looks like a cabin that others may want to know about on the Island princess, especially if it has seating for two people besides the bed .

It's a premium oceanview...

[schmoopie17]

"Finally he moved and another passenger chose this time to argue with the flight crew about why she had to check one of her 3 pieces of onboard luggage."

 

Been meaning to ask about the picture of your luggage (all carry-ons). It looks to my weary, old eyes that you had three pieces. No?  Again, maybe I'm seeing things.

 

Also, Mrs.Schmoopie is insisting for our upcoming cruise that we each take a carry-on roller, along with a backpack. Problem is, we have bulkhead seats each way. I'm freaking out because we have no seat in front of us to stow the backpacks. Will they make us check them?

I know you're a teacher and not an airline employee, but I'm sure you've had bulkhead seats at some point in your world travels.

[tsahall01]

I've never had a problem putting both of my carry-ons in the overhead bins.  On some planes, the bulkheads are not the "real" bulkheads and they have underseat access to the row ahead (the wall does not completely come down to the floor).  Love those bulkhead seats!