Pretty uneventful couple of days to report. We mostly lounged around and read. The weather was nice so we were able to get up on the deck for some sun and swimming - almost like one of our tropical holidays! We also made it to the gym both days, and even had a body composition analysis done today by our friend Andrei, the spinning sadist. Andrew is pleased to tell you that he is practically perfect, according to the machine. I have almost 6 pounds of water to lose. The only thing surprising to me about that is that it isn't 10! Also positive to report is that we both carry about 10 pounds more muscle than the average person our gender/size.
We've just finished packing up so that we can have our luggage taken tonight. We'll pick it up just before customs tomorrow morning on our way out. We then take a shuttle bus from Fort Lauderdale to Miami, where we'll board a 1 pm flight home. All that is left to do tonight is our last dinner in the dining room, and to say goodbye and thank you to some of our favorite crew members - particularly Ramon (our cabin steward) and Kulthawat (our assistant waiter).
We've had a wonderful time and seen some amazing things on this trip. When we think back to our arrival in Venice, it seems like it was another trip completely, rather than just a few weeks ago! We're looking forward to seeing Harley - we've missed him very much, though he's been very well taken care of by Michelle, Ed, Mike & Stacy. I'm also always excited to get back to our very comfortable bed after so many nights. Andrew goes back to work on Monday, and I'm back on Tuesday. Then it will only be a few weeks until Thanksgiving and Christmas are here!
Our next trip is a 2-week land vacation in Belize in February. We've rented a house on one of the small cayes (Caye Caulker), and are looking forward to many hours on the amazing great barrier reef! See you then!
Friday, November 4, 2011
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Days 19 & 20 - sea days
Second and third of our lazy sea days. On Tuesday morning, we started out with a spin class taught by a Romanian instructor named Andrei Dragoni. Neither of us had ever done a spin class before and we should have known we were in for it by the instructor's name. I am pretty sure he learned how to teach this class in some sort of Romanian prison, because it was torture. Despite that, we'll probably go back for more on Thursday or Friday, if our butts can stand the bike seat by then!
After being beaten to a pulp by the stationary bikes, we had breakfast and then spent most of the day reading. We tried to lay out for about an hour up on the main deck, but the weather was not at all cooperative so we had to admit defeat and head back inside. We dined in the main dining room and opted out of the show, a comedic juggler, based on the lack of appeal of the comedic magician a few nights back.
Wednesday (today) we were awake by 5 am and hit the gym early. According to all posted information, the gym opens at 7 am. However, we have been suspicious of this from the beginning as, even if we would arrive at 6:45 am, it was always full. We have slowly started going earlier and earlier to see if we can determine the actual opening time. This morning we were there by 6 am and others were already working out. It has crossed our minds that it is open all the time, just not advertised. The seas were rough this morning and our 5K runs also had some excellent incline training components as an added bonus.
After the gym we had breakfast delivered in our cabin, which is always delightful. Before 9 am we were out of the cabin, picked up iced cappuccinos, and headed up to the reading lounge. By lunchtime, the seas had calmed considerably and the sky was blue and clear. We took the opportunity to secure a couple of lounge chairs by the pool for the afternoon to swim and soak in some sun. One definite bonus of Princess ships is that they have fresh-water pools, whereas Carnival has salt-water. It's always much nicer to swim in lovely fresh water!
We had to leave the pool about 2 pm to shower and get to our next wine tasting. This one was less expensive wines - which is nice since that is what we are more likely to buy at home. It's always fun to swirl your wine around and make comments such as, "Oh, you can't taste the pear? Tsk - I definitely do!" Even though I can barely taste the difference between the red wine and the white wine. Good thing it comes with the handy color coding!
Finally in our activity-packed day, we had the past-guest party to attend. All of the cruise ships have these as a "thank you" to their passengers who have sailed with them before, providing free cocktails and appetizers for an hour or so. This is our first time attending one on Princess (as this is only our second cruise with this line), and we found it to be nicer than the one that Carnival offers. Carnival shows a pre-taped video that highlights all their ships in their fleet, both current and retired. It's fun to see but, needless to say, we've seen that one several times! Princess had the captain present, and he spoke off-the-cuff for about 15 minutes about the ports we have stopped in on this voyage, the weather we've had and, more notably, the weather we have missed. We were aware of the terrible rains in Italy starting the day after we left, but we were not aware that we nearly missed stopping in the Azores due to high winds. In fact, the captain was advised not to stop, but thought he'd give it a try. Lucky for us,as the Azores was one of our favorites! He said that if we would have been one day later to that port, we definitely would not have docked due to winds over 40 mph. Another standard feature at the past-guest parties is that they introduced you to the most-traveled passengers on board. The gentleman who had the most days sailed with Princess tonight had over 1500 days! Can you imagine? That's about 5 years on a cruise ship! Andrew now has a goal to shoot for!
So, that's it for now. We have 3 sea days left, with little planned. Will likely post something in a day or two, unless we win big in the casino or something else thrilling happens! Until then, imagine us doing nothing much at all.
After being beaten to a pulp by the stationary bikes, we had breakfast and then spent most of the day reading. We tried to lay out for about an hour up on the main deck, but the weather was not at all cooperative so we had to admit defeat and head back inside. We dined in the main dining room and opted out of the show, a comedic juggler, based on the lack of appeal of the comedic magician a few nights back.
Wednesday (today) we were awake by 5 am and hit the gym early. According to all posted information, the gym opens at 7 am. However, we have been suspicious of this from the beginning as, even if we would arrive at 6:45 am, it was always full. We have slowly started going earlier and earlier to see if we can determine the actual opening time. This morning we were there by 6 am and others were already working out. It has crossed our minds that it is open all the time, just not advertised. The seas were rough this morning and our 5K runs also had some excellent incline training components as an added bonus.
After the gym we had breakfast delivered in our cabin, which is always delightful. Before 9 am we were out of the cabin, picked up iced cappuccinos, and headed up to the reading lounge. By lunchtime, the seas had calmed considerably and the sky was blue and clear. We took the opportunity to secure a couple of lounge chairs by the pool for the afternoon to swim and soak in some sun. One definite bonus of Princess ships is that they have fresh-water pools, whereas Carnival has salt-water. It's always much nicer to swim in lovely fresh water!
We had to leave the pool about 2 pm to shower and get to our next wine tasting. This one was less expensive wines - which is nice since that is what we are more likely to buy at home. It's always fun to swirl your wine around and make comments such as, "Oh, you can't taste the pear? Tsk - I definitely do!" Even though I can barely taste the difference between the red wine and the white wine. Good thing it comes with the handy color coding!
Finally in our activity-packed day, we had the past-guest party to attend. All of the cruise ships have these as a "thank you" to their passengers who have sailed with them before, providing free cocktails and appetizers for an hour or so. This is our first time attending one on Princess (as this is only our second cruise with this line), and we found it to be nicer than the one that Carnival offers. Carnival shows a pre-taped video that highlights all their ships in their fleet, both current and retired. It's fun to see but, needless to say, we've seen that one several times! Princess had the captain present, and he spoke off-the-cuff for about 15 minutes about the ports we have stopped in on this voyage, the weather we've had and, more notably, the weather we have missed. We were aware of the terrible rains in Italy starting the day after we left, but we were not aware that we nearly missed stopping in the Azores due to high winds. In fact, the captain was advised not to stop, but thought he'd give it a try. Lucky for us,as the Azores was one of our favorites! He said that if we would have been one day later to that port, we definitely would not have docked due to winds over 40 mph. Another standard feature at the past-guest parties is that they introduced you to the most-traveled passengers on board. The gentleman who had the most days sailed with Princess tonight had over 1500 days! Can you imagine? That's about 5 years on a cruise ship! Andrew now has a goal to shoot for!
So, that's it for now. We have 3 sea days left, with little planned. Will likely post something in a day or two, unless we win big in the casino or something else thrilling happens! Until then, imagine us doing nothing much at all.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Day 17 - Halloween at sea
Happy Halloween everyone! Today was the first of our six-day Atlantic crossing and we did pathetically little. We were up early, but didn't ever quite muster the energy to hit the gym. Also, the seas are quite rough again today, so I had to resort to another Gravol and a nap before lunch.
After lunch I was feeling much better so we headed up to the deck to try and enjoy the sea air. It was fairly warm today, about 20C/72F, but very windy. We were able to make it about an hour before we had to come back inside. The rest of the afternoon we read; ok, I read, Andrew slept. Before heading for an early dinner we stopped to check out the results of the pumpkin carving contest they had earlier today - pretty amazing, don't you agree!
At dinner, it was fun to see that a few dozen passengers had planned ahead and were dressed in costumes. The couple next to us were dressed as a witch and the devil and we were impressed that they had dedicated that much luggage space to one outfit!
When dinner was finished, the waiter brought us a lovely little cake with a candle and several of the crew sang "Happy Anniversary" to us, with many of the passengers also joining in. Andrew had tipped the staff off that we were celebrating our 10th anniversary on this trip - very sweet!
After dinner, we decided to go and see the show which featured a magician. He was moderately entertaining, and it was pretty exciting for us to stay up past 8:30! Despite the fact that we are among the youngest passengers on the ship (by a good 20 years), we are probably among the first to hit the hay at night. We just can't quite break out of our home routine to go to bed and then get up early!
We have booked a spinning class tomorrow morning, so are looking forward to that. Otherwise, our day will probably look very much the same as today. More R&R.
After lunch I was feeling much better so we headed up to the deck to try and enjoy the sea air. It was fairly warm today, about 20C/72F, but very windy. We were able to make it about an hour before we had to come back inside. The rest of the afternoon we read; ok, I read, Andrew slept. Before heading for an early dinner we stopped to check out the results of the pumpkin carving contest they had earlier today - pretty amazing, don't you agree!
At dinner, it was fun to see that a few dozen passengers had planned ahead and were dressed in costumes. The couple next to us were dressed as a witch and the devil and we were impressed that they had dedicated that much luggage space to one outfit!
When dinner was finished, the waiter brought us a lovely little cake with a candle and several of the crew sang "Happy Anniversary" to us, with many of the passengers also joining in. Andrew had tipped the staff off that we were celebrating our 10th anniversary on this trip - very sweet!
After dinner, we decided to go and see the show which featured a magician. He was moderately entertaining, and it was pretty exciting for us to stay up past 8:30! Despite the fact that we are among the youngest passengers on the ship (by a good 20 years), we are probably among the first to hit the hay at night. We just can't quite break out of our home routine to go to bed and then get up early!
We have booked a spinning class tomorrow morning, so are looking forward to that. Otherwise, our day will probably look very much the same as today. More R&R.
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