LIVE Caribbean Princess 9/24/24 - 10/8/24

[azbirdmom]

10 hours ago, KarmaCruisers said:

You got it; World Traveler Plus.

Ah ok.  You mentioned you had business seats when you were checking in so I figured you just had the old seats on that plane.  Looks like you made it just fine and are enjoying London.

[Dani24]

Very interested in hearing how the suite amenities are on this ship. We're sailing the CB in a Vista Suite in a few months. 

[KarmaCruisers]

Went to bed at 21:00; and here I am wide awake at 5:00!

The only downer with this hotel (chuck and Jolene picked it as they stayed here when they came six months ago with my cousins) is it’s literally a 90 minute hike into London.

Usually when I come, I stay in Covent Garden..it’s also $300 a night vs the $180 a night we paid here…but it makes it easy just to catch the tube to go anywhere in central london.

We have to be out of the hotel and on the U3 bus at 8am; to make it to Victoria Coach Station by 9:35. 
U3 Bus (picks up right here at our hotel) => Heathrow Terminal 2/3 => Picadilly line tube => Hammersmith Stop => District line tube => Victoria Stop => walk across the street to the Victoria Coach Station. (National Express bus leaves at 10am)
The bus from London => Southampton takes 2.5 hours.

Once we reach Southampton, it’s an Uber call to the actual port.

With the Norovirus deep cleaning happening today, they said we can’t even start boarding until noon; so I’m sure it’ll be a clusterflop.

We will flash our “VIP” badge whenever possible, haha.

 

[cr8tiv1]

The CB has Noro?  That's a bummer.  You will be happy that you have your medallion in hand and in a suite.  Let the party begin.  Ocean Terminal (46). Thanks for taking us all along.

[KarmaCruisers]

Shirt of the day this morning

[KarmaCruisers]

Free breakfast this morning 

EDIT: I appreciated these eggs were over-hard..I only ate one of the yolks. (I just need a little “good” fat in the mornings)

Edited Tuesday at 06:48 AM by KarmaCruisers

[KarmaCruisers]

Overheard another couple eating breakfast; that they’re also headed towards Southampton to get on a ship (dunno if it’s ours or another)

[KarmaCruisers]

19 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

The CB has Noro?  That's a bummer.  You will be happy that you have your medallion in hand and in a suite.  Let the party begin.  Ocean Terminal (46). Thanks for taking us all along.

Yup; and thanks.

let the commuting begin…

[cr8tiv1]

Breakfast at Sabatini's.  I met a couple that had an English breakfast waiting for them EVERY morning.  Beans and English "bacon".  Couldn't get bangers on the ship, but I thought they had them in the buffet.  Then there is always egg white dishes.  Or scrambled/omelette with what every you want in them (spinach, tomato, cheese, onions, peppers, ham, bacon, sausage, avocado, asparagus, mushrooms, etc).

Edited Tuesday at 08:30 AM by cr8tiv1

[KarmaCruisers]

Commuting has finished.

we made it from the hotel to Victoria Coach in only 74 minutes, as advertised.

Now just waiting on our bus.

Seen all the “Princess transfer” folks who paid 4x what we paid for this same bus, haha.

[KarmaCruisers]

34 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Breakfast at Sabatini's.  I met a couple that had an English breakfast waiting for them EVERY morning.  Beans and English "bacon".  Couldn't get bangers on the ship, but I thought they had them in the buffet.  Then there is always egg white dishes.  Or scrambled/omelette with what every you want in them (spinach, tomato, cheese, onions, peppers, ham, bacon, sausage, avocado, asparagus, mushrooms, etc).

Yeah I’ll have fresh fruit in my suite daily; but I’m going to get three eggs over-hard if they’ll do it. 
lol; I asked for Huevos Rancheros on the last one and the dude looked at me like I had asked him if God was real.

[KarmaCruisers]

Waiting for our bus to start boarding

[KarmaCruisers]

I think our bus has been delayed until 11…

[crawford]

4 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

The CB has Noro?  That's a bummer.  You will be happy that you have your medallion in hand and in a suite.  Let the party begin.  Ocean Terminal (46). Thanks for taking us all along.

The CB had Noro last month on our Greenland/Iceland cruise, in addition to Covid. The crew does the best it can to keep everything under control. Unfortunately, many passengers refuse to do the basics and spread their tidings around.

[KarmaCruisers]

Finally got underway..

we had reserved seats..but apparently the “system” also let other people reserve the same seats.

In the end; I got a solo seat up front (supposed to be for handicapped passengers; but there are none, and as a solo traveler it worked perfectly)

Chuck and Jolene are two rows behind me.

we’re halfway there.

[Lady Meer]

5 hours ago, KarmaCruisers said:

Overheard another couple eating breakfast; that they’re also headed towards Southampton to get on a ship (dunno if it’s ours or another)

Regal Princess and MSC Virtuosa are keeping you company in Southampton today!

[yancycruiser]

I will be following your live posts and very interested in your opinions about everything.  This will be our 25th cruise, 7th on Princess, and first time on Caribbean Princess.  We will be celebrating our 61st Anniversary.   Thank you for your willingness to share your experience with all of us.  You should be boarding the ship sometime this morning.   Our cruise will be out of Port Canaveral.  Have a wonderful time. 

[KarmaCruisers]

21 minutes ago, yancycruiser said:

I will be following your live posts and very interested in your opinions about everything.  This will be our 25th cruise, 7th on Princess, and first time on Caribbean Princess.  We will be celebrating our 61st Anniversary.   Thank you for your willingness to share your experience with all of us.  You should be boarding the ship sometime this morning.   Our cruise will be out of Port Canaveral.  Have a wonderful time. 

Thanks! 
we’re almost to the Southampton bus station.

Then just grab a quick Uber to Ocean Terminal 

[KarmaCruisers]

Daaaamn!

We walked In the terminal at 2:15; and it’s PACKED! Like to the point of, I don’t think they’re letting anyone on the ship yet!

[Crown Cruiser]

Just take a deep breath - all will be good once you get onboard!

[KarmaCruisers]

1 minute ago, Crown Cruiser said:

Just take a deep breath - all will be good once you get onboard!

Yuuuuup.

lol even Jolene commented; “there’s sure a lot of old people here”, lol and they’re 65!

[KarmaCruisers]

Took a bit but we finally got on the ship at 3pm; to an absolute clusterflop! Rooms weren’t ready until 3:45, and with this being a small ship…EVERRRRRYONE was up at the buffet (which one side was completely closed as they were still deep cleaning it)

Came up to the room (I’m in the Tobago Suite; haha)

it’s insane how much of a DOWNGRADE from a Royal class penthouse this is! This room literally only has three outlets (six total plugs) in literally each CORNER of the room! 
And not one Euro Plug! (Oddly)

This room, for $12,000 retail..almost makes me claustrophobic with how UN-“open” it feels. 
no WAY could three adults stay in this room..barely two!

 

NOW, with all the unpleasantness out of the way..we’re going to make the best of it, as I really wanted to do this itinerary!

picture of my fruit plate and all three of us on the balcony

[KarmaCruisers]

Video 

https://youtu.be/wPf13eeTQXs?si=JeM8NgwZMtgLky4h

[azbirdmom]

12 hours ago, KarmaCruisers said:

We have to be out of the hotel and on the U3 bus at 8am; to make it to Victoria Coach Station by 9:35. 
U3 Bus (picks up right here at our hotel) => Heathrow Terminal 2/3 => Picadilly line tube => Hammersmith Stop => District line tube => Victoria Stop => walk across the street to the Victoria Coach Station. (National Express bus leaves at 10am)

Glad you made it to the ship.  Just curious.  Why did you go back into London instead of taking the National Express bus from Heathrow to Southampton?  We took that once and it was super easy.  We've also done the train from London and "man with sign" limos from Heathrow to Southampton when we've stayed there pre-cruise and agree that the bus is definitely the most economical.  Enjoy your cruise!

[KarmaCruisers]

8 minutes ago, azbirdmom said:

Glad you made it to the ship.  Just curious.  Why did you go back into London instead of taking the National Express bus from Heathrow to Southampton?  We took that once and it was super easy.  We've also done the train from London and "man with sign" limos from Heathrow to Southampton when we've stayed there pre-cruise and agree that the bus is definitely the most economical.  Enjoy your cruise!

We didn’t book the hotel first; so we thought we were staying in town rather than by the airport.