****Live From the Golden Princess****

[T&J]

I'm looking at them for EZE to SFO via LAX. I found a really good Business Class fare. Nice to hear they weren't bad.

 

We flew Business Calss on them as well but for only 2.5 hour flight but it was nice and good service and was on a B-767.

 

Stacey I am pretty sure I am going to be joining you guys on the New Orleans to Rio de Janeiro segment. However, I will be embarking in Aruba on Jan 10th/07. Javier and I spoke last night and he's OK with flying into Rio on his own on Jan 22nd to join me on the Antartica Cruise.

 

Tony

:cool: :eek: :cool:

[T&J]

The Staff Captain just came on the P.A. and the ship has been cleared by local authorties actually early at 7:50am.

 

I am heading out very shortly.

 

More to follow later this morning from the Golden Princess.

 

Tony

:cool: :eek: :cool:

[T&J]

Just came back from ashore now. The weather here today is stunning, sunny and warm approx. 74F and a light breeze. I got off the ship at 8:15am and walked to the Marina area whic approx. 10-15 walk from the ship pier.

 

In that area re some local restaurants, bakeries and shops as well as local fisherman and the local fish market and produce and flower market. I picked up this beautifull bouquet of fresh cut flowers in an arragement for the PSD, Franco Consavare as a thank you for the kind hospitality and wonderfull accomodations. The arragement is huge and cost all of $5 euros. Make sure to visit this open air market as the best selections for flowers and arragemnts are gone by 10:00am usually. A cheaper alternative than using Princess onboard florist.

 

I chartered a 20 foot boat to take me out on the Adriatic and the pricing for the 4 hour charter was very inexpensive compared to other places I ahve chartered a boat...all of $40.00 euros.

 

On the way back I stopped at a local bakery and had a great raspberry danish. The puff pastry was so fresh it was flaking off.

 

The ship was running a shuttle bus into the Dubrovnik at $10.00 per person. Last time Sharon, Javier and I walked it and it took us apporx. 45 minutes in each direction.

 

Going to go to lunch very soon probably in the Dinning Room for a light salad and something.

 

There is hardly anyone onboard as most people are out on tours.

 

More to follow later today from the Golden Princess in Dubrovnik, Croatia.

 

Tony

:cool: :eek: :cool:

[arlenemilt]

Good Morning Tony........

One of these days we need to get to Dubrovnik too. The flowers you bought remind me of Papeete, when we went to the market and bought this beautiful bouquet, which lived in our mini (and stayed alive) for all 24 days. Cost; $10. Probably the only inexpensive thing in Tahiti is flowers.

So how come I don't hear anything about the gym? :) Is that pesky sign-up sheet there?

Coffee time.

Arlene

[Druke I]

Reference Lan Chile Air - I would rate them at about the same level as the late not lamented Eastern Airlines, somewhere around "below average" to perhaps just "average".

 

We flew Lan Chile SFO to Buenos Aires last March, to catch Regal Princess. Equipment was recycled Lufthansa, still in their upholstery, etc, and had seen better days.

[T&J]

Good Morning Tony........

 

One of these days we need to get to Dubrovnik too. The flowers you bought remind me of Papeete, when we went to the market and bought this beautiful bouquet, which lived in our mini (and stayed alive) for all 24 days. Cost; $10. Probably the only inexpensive thing in Tahiti is flowers.

 

So how come I don't hear anything about the gym? :) Is that pesky sign-up sheet there?

 

Coffee time.

 

Arlene

 

Yes the flowers and a baguette of bread are about the only two "cheap" things in Tahiti!

 

Will you wait about the gym...I am getting there in teh next post!

 

Tony

[T&J]

Reference Lan Chile Air - I would rate them at about the same level as the late not lamented Eastern Airlines, somewhere around "below average" to perhaps just "average".

 

We flew Lan Chile SFO to Buenos Aires last March, to catch Regal Princess. Equipment was recycled Lufthansa, still in their upholstery, etc, and had seen better days.

 

WOW, I remember flying Eastern Airline sin First Class froim MIA-LAX and they serve us on paper plates and plastic cups!...LAN Chile wasn't that bad when Javier and I were on them in Business Class 2 years ago.

 

Tony

:cool: :eek: :cool:

[T&J]

We'll went to lunch after my that posting regarding luinch.

I decided to go to the Main Dinning Room and I shared a table with 5 other people and was quite interesting....:rolleyes:

 

I ordered the fresh gazpacho soup and a Grrek Salad and the chocolate Mint ice cream. I also order a bottle of Groth, Sauvignon Blanc and had 1.5 glasses and ask them to send the remainder of the bottle to my cabin. I actually did arrive before I made it back to the cabin and put it in my fridge for safe keeping for those days when you want a nice glass of wine on your balcony or before dinner....it will probably be dead in a day or two who am I kidding!:p

 

Went back to my cabin after lunch and took a little "cat nap" as I was sensing I was needing it. I then hit the gym and did my treadmill routine for one hour (see Arlene, on treadmill #8 which has the TV directly in front of me). There was no one in that gym at 3:30pm at all.

 

There is no sign up sheet system at all on the Golden Princess like some on other Princess ships.

 

The Spa was running a promotion on the La Therapie Hydra Lift Facial for $109.00 + 15% off if you use your passport to savings booklet. I recommend this deep cleaning facial which has a glycolic peel treatment as well included. I was tempted to book one for today but will wait for tomorrow or teh following day as they run those in port specials all the time.

 

They are running a passport collection desk from 5:00pm until 8:00pm tonight on deck 5 opposite the tour desk and the lines are already past the art collection all the way to the back! This is due to the fact that we are arriving into Greece and local authorities have to stamp all of them.

 

There is another Friends of Dorothy (FOD) gathering at 6:15pm tonight. I missed yesterdays due to the CC get together scheduled at teh same time. Frankie will be hosting this one so I'll go just for that reason ...he's crazy!

 

I will be going to dinner around 7:30pm tonight and then the "Office" on Halloween!

 

More to follow later today from the Golden Princess enroute for Corfu, Greece in 40 minutes time.

 

Tony

:cool: :eek: :cool:

[T&J]

Captain David Calabrese just cam eon the P.A. system to announce that we have all pax's onboard and that all pre-departures checks have been completed and we will be leaving Dubrovnik 20 minutes ahead of sched.

 

I forgot to mention that I saw the sunset from my beautifull balcony at 5:10pm after getting out of the shower. I almost went out there comletely stark naked and realized that I should put something on just in case.

 

The sunset was amazing and just coming down over the mountains. I have some excellent shots from my AFT cabin today.

 

OK, going to go and hand in my passport and hopefully the lines have subsided a little and then to the F.O.D. meet and greet and then I'll chekc back in here again hopefully before dinner.

 

More to follow from the Golden Princess enroute to Corfu, Greece.

 

Tony

:cool: :eek: :cool:

[cruisemom42]

They are running a passport collection desk from 5:00pm until 8:00pm tonight on deck 5 opposite the tour desk and the lines are already past the art collection all the way to the back! This is due to the fact that we are arriving into Greece and local authorities have to stamp all of them.

 

Tony

:cool: :eek: :cool:

 

 

So, they don't collect your passport upon boarding? I wasn't sure how they'd handle it for our upcoming cruise...

[T&J]

So, they don't collect your passport upon boarding? I wasn't sure how they'd handle it for our upcoming cruise...

 

On this cruise, they only took it today and will give it back on Nov 8th...basically only for the Greek ports and Turkey.

 

Tony

:cool: :eek: :cool:

[Trece]

My Mom & Aunt are on this cruise, having flown out during the wild east coast weather on Saturday. As of their departure from Dubrovnik (60 hours after their flight arrived), they are still missing three of four pieces of luggage they checked. The one piece that did arrive belongs to my aunt and contains underwear and nightgowns - which isn't going to get them very far, though if you do see two ladies of a certain age walking around Golden in their underwear, go up and say hello! :)

 

I was happy to learn that their Princess Care insurance is providing baggage delay coverage. I wasn't sure since their flights were booked independently whether this would be true, but I verified it with Princess myself this morning & my Mom says they received a letter in their cabin explaining this. Formal night wear was provided to both of them - though it was identical, making them look like the Bobbsey Twins, according to Mom.

 

I don't know where she got these figures, but she was told initially there were 104 individuals, cabins, or pieces missing (she wasn't sure of the statistic), now there are 60.

 

The "I told you so" gremlin in me wants to remind them that they ignored two suggestions I had made to them:

 

1) Go in a day early. Granted they overnighted in Venice so technically their luggage had 24 hours to catch up with them - but if they had spent a night in a hotel as well as the ship's overnight, perhaps it would have arrived in time

 

2) Cross pack. DH and I always do this. If they had done this, that one suitcase my aunt received would have given them both a few items.

 

Before anyone asks, the airline was Delta, which is my second personal most detested airline next to number one, Air France. When they filed their claim in the airport, they were told the luggage lost by Delta would be arriving in a few hours on Air France. This only confirms my opinion of both airlines.

 

They are having a great time otherwise and not letting the inconvenience get them down! :)

[T&J]

My Mom & Aunt are on this cruise, having flown out during the wild east coast weather on Saturday. As of their departure from Dubrovnik (60 hours after their flight arrived), they are still missing three of four pieces of luggage they checked. The one piece that did arrive belongs to my aunt and contains underwear and nightgowns - which isn't going to get them very far, though if you do see two ladies of a certain age walking around Golden in their underwear, go up and say hello! :)

 

I was happy to learn that their Princess Care insurance is providing baggage delay coverage. I wasn't sure since their flights were booked independently whether this would be true, but I verified it with Princess myself this morning & my Mom says they received a letter in their cabin explaining this. Formal night wear was provided to both of them - though it was identical, making them look like the Bobbsey Twins, according to Mom.

 

I don't know where she got these figures, but she was told initially there were 104 individuals, cabins, or pieces missing (she wasn't sure of the statistic), now there are 60.

 

The "I told you so" gremlin in me wants to remind them that they ignored two suggestions I had made to them:

 

1) Go in a day early. Granted they overnighted in Venice so technically their luggage had 24 hours to catch up with them - but if they had spent a night in a hotel as well as the ship's overnight, perhaps it would have arrived in time

 

2) Cross pack. DH and I always do this. If they had done this, that one suitcase my aunt received would have given them both a few items.

 

Before anyone asks, the airline was Delta, which is my second personal most detested airline next to number one, Air France. When they filed their claim in the airport, they were told the luggage lost by Delta would be arriving in a few hours on Air France. This only confirms my opinion of both airlines.

 

They are having a great time otherwise and not letting the inconvenience get them down! :)

 

Trece...the exact number was 135 and including ME!...I didn't want to post this but my garment bag has been missing since I dropped it off in Venice at the luggage depot. What is strange is that it was dropped off with Sue and Stan from Charlotte on this board from CC and when I was upgraded the individual looked and the manifest and noticed the cabin change and took 2 disembarkation tags and wrote only my cabin number and that's it.

 

It has yet to arrive and has most of my good clothing as well and the ship did provide Formal Wear for me and has done a cabin search of all cabins last night and doing it again tonight. I am going to call AMEX since my Paltimum card has lost luggage insurance included when I charge the ticket to my AMEX. It's teh bag that is a concern as it is TUMI luggage which is NOT cheap at all leave alone the contents as well.

 

Oh well 39 cruises and this has never happened to me before!

 

Tony

:cool: :eek: :cool:

[T&J]

I went to the F.O.D and there were all of 4 of us and Frankie...was fun but there should have been way more that could have attented.

 

I am off now to dinner and then the "Office" for sure tonight. All the staff is pretty much dressed up or wearing Venitian masks etc....very festive here onboard tonight and ncie to see people and pax's dressing up as well.

 

More to follow after dinner from the Golden Princess enroute to Corfu.

 

Tony

:cool: :eek: :cool:

[Trece]

Hi Tony, It sounds like the circumstances of the missing luggage isn't quite the same, but who knows? When they filed a claim in the Venice airport, Delta acknowledged it wasn't on the plane with them & would be arriving on a later Air France flight. Me, the Mom, and the Aunt are all assuming this is the point where they & their luggage parted company. However, we have no sure way of knowing if it was delivered to the ship and went missing LATER. Since Princess provided the insurance in their case, one would assume it would be in their best interest to find it if in fact it's somewhere on board. Thanks for the reminder that their credit card could be involved in this if Princess insurance isn't sufficient, at European prices and exchange rate, to get them what they need to wear, and, if the luggage never shows up, to compensate them for their loss.

 

This has never happened to them before either. :mad:

[cactusrose]

We flew Business Class on them as well but for only 2.5 hour flight but it was nice and good service and was on a B-767.

 

Stacey I am pretty sure I am going to be joining you guys on the New Orleans to Rio de Janeiro segment. However, I will be embarking in Aruba on Jan 10th/07. Javier and I spoke last night and he's OK with flying into Rio on his own on Jan 22nd to join me on the Antartica Cruise.

 

Tony

:cool: :eek: :cool:

 

Great news Tony. . . there are several on those cruises who have followed your adventures and are looking forward to meeting you and Javier. I'm sure you have met some already.

[cactusrose]

Reference Lan Chile Air - I would rate them at about the same level as the late not lamented Eastern Airlines, somewhere around "below average" to perhaps just "average".

 

We flew Lan Chile SFO to Buenos Aires last March, to catch Regal Princess. Equipment was recycled Lufthansa, still in their upholstery, etc, and had seen better days.

 

Thanks Michael. It doesn't sound like a totally miserable experience, right? For the price (less than what I have booked for coach and waitlisted for upgrade) I might try them. I haven't really decided yet. I've read mixed reviews and it sounds like if you go through their HUB, Santiago, you have a better experience.

 

Tony. . . sorry for sidetracking your thread.

[T&J]

Hi Tony, It sounds like the circumstances of the missing luggage isn't quite the same, but who knows? When they filed a claim in the Venice airport, Delta acknowledged it wasn't on the plane with them & would be arriving on a later Air France flight. Me, the Mom, and the Aunt are all assuming this is the point where they & their luggage parted company. However, we have no sure way of knowing if it was delivered to the ship and went missing LATER. Since Princess provided the insurance in their case, one would assume it would be in their best interest to find it if in fact it's somewhere on board. Thanks for the reminder that their credit card could be involved in this if Princess insurance isn't sufficient, at European prices and exchange rate, to get them what they need to wear, and, if the luggage never shows up, to compensate them for their loss.

 

This has never happened to them before either. :mad:

 

Yes you are right...at least I have my underwear but no Formal Wear or really ncie clothing...all in that garment bag!

 

I hope the luggage turns up for them soon. I was told there is a great chance it will happen in Athens, Greece in 2 days time for most people.

 

Tony

:cool: :eek: :cool:

[T&J]

Great news Tony. . . there are several on those cruises who have followed your adventures and are looking forward to meeting you and Javier. I'm sure you have met some already.

 

Yes I am looking forward to doing that cruise that you are on as well out of New Orleans. I have done more or less the reverse itineary before on the Old Royal Princess.

 

As soon as I book it Stacey I will let you know!

 

Tony

:cool: :eek: :cool:

[T&J]

Thanks Michael. It doesn't sound like a totally miserable experience, right? For the price (less than what I have booked for coach and waitlisted for upgrade) I might try them. I haven't really decided yet. I've read mixed reviews and it sounds like if you go through their HUB, Santiago, you have a better experience.

 

Tony. . . sorry for sidetracking your thread.

 

Ahh no worries..the more the merrier!

 

Tony

:cool: :eek: :cool:

[arlenemilt]

 

 

Went back to my cabin after lunch and took a little "cat nap" as I was sensing I was needing it. I then hit the gym and did my treadmill routine for one hour (see Arlene, on treadmill #8 which has the TV directly in front of me). There was no one in that gym at 3:30pm at all.

 

There is no sign up sheet system at all on the Golden Princess like some on other Princess ships.

 

 

Tony

:cool: :eek: :cool:

 

No sign-up sheet? That's different. We've been on the Golden twice and there's always been a sheet like on all the Grand class ships. Wonder what it looks like at the time we like to work out.

Arlene

[T&J]

Just came back from Dinner tonight and the meal was excellent. Maria my waitress from Grenada was dressed as a Clown and Cornlel was dressed as Julius Ceasar (with a btter body) in a toga.

 

I had a special appetizer made of Jumbo shrimp, capers and salmon rosette and freash crab, followed by a pumpkin seed salad with oriental dressing and the Lamb Chops w/ Cafe de Paris butter and fresh vegetables and a bottle of Santa Marguerita Pinot Grigio and coffe and Merh Heim (warm chocolate cake with cocholate sauce).

 

I have left there completely stuffed!

 

Going back to my cabin and then hitting the "Office".

 

The seas are very calm tonight as we are making our way towards Corfu, Greece.

 

More to follow later tonight from the Golden Princess.

 

Tony

:cool: :eek: :cool:

[T&J]

No sign-up sheet? That's different. We've been on the Golden twice and there's always been a sheet like on all the Grand class ships. Wonder what it looks like at the time we like to work out.

 

Arlene

 

Yeap I was surprise too that there weren't any sign up sheets and I haven't been there yet at 7:00am...I'll let you know one day when I make it there at that time!

 

P.S. I had to do the Lamb!....Baaaahhhhhh!

 

Tony

:cool: :eek: :cool:

[T&J]

I forgot to add that we move the clocks ahead one hour tonight due to the time change coming into Greece.

 

Tony

:cool: :eek: :cool:

[arlenemilt]

P.S. I had to do the Lamb!....Baaaahhhhhh!

 

Tony

:cool: :eek: :cool:

 

YUK!!!!!