Antigua...Here We Come!

I stayed up late last night which led me to sleep all the way through the early morning until it was time to get up. 

We arrived in Antigua a bit before 8am.  A Royal Caribbean ship was already docked before us on the left side of the pier.  We docked on the right side. 

I enjoy being somewhat eye-to-eye with another ship so close.  From our balcony, I watched as our ship was being tied.   Captain Draper appeared on the ship’s speaker announcing our arrival into port.  We had to be back on the ship no later than 4:30pm. 

As we were docking, Hubby and I ran up to the buffet for breakfast.  Lots of people were milling around, again. 

Our excursion today was “Rex Halcyon Cove Resort Beach and Lunch”.  Departure:  9:30am.  Return:  2:30pm.  We had to be down at the dock and meet our group around 9:20. 

We dressed in our swim suits and applied tons of suntan lotion (SPF# 45 and 70).  First day on the beach always spells trouble for one of us.  Lots of lotion!  We donned our t-shirts, shorts and flip-flops and grabbed our bags and headed down to deck 4 to exit the ship.  Lines were already forming for many excursion groups.  I stepped out of line to take a picture of the steel drum band that was playing several melodies.  A gentleman to my right started to talk to me.  I immediately recognized him from our photography class.  How cool is that?

Our excursion line started to move and we headed into the main shopping area and then to the left.  We waited a few more minutes and were divided into small groups of 10.  Several mini-vans appeared and we were on our way to the beach. 

It took 15 minutes to get to the beach called Halcyon Cove Resort.  We had an introduction and a brief talk about our beach time (where the bathrooms are, beach lounges, shade, lunch, etc).  We were off for some fun in the sun!

Hubby knows to let me go first as I can wiggle and shimmy by folks to get where I need to go.  Yes, I can be fast and quick on my toes.  I snagged two lounges and plopped my bags down.  Territory marked!  I waited for Hubby and we headed for the water. 

Beach time!

The water was quite chilly at first.  I kept walking in.  The sand between my toes felt like so soft.  Sigh!  I’m one of the first few in the water…swimming around to get warmer.  It takes Hubby awhile to get acclimated. 

After swimming for an hour or so, I felt tentacles wrap around my right ankle and then the stinging began over my ankle and calf.  The pain was overwhelming and I tried to get away from whatever had grabbed a hold of me. 

I called out to Hubby who was swimming nearby.  We headed out of the water to see how my leg looked.  We walked along the beach basically to walk off the pain.  It took a while for the pain to subside and then the welts appeared.   

We continued walking until we reached the Sandals resort and then headed back to take care of my leg.

Our beach guide gave me a cup of ice and told me to ice down my leg.  Then I needed to take some of that fine Antiguan sand and coat my leg.  It worked!

Walking along the beach in front of Sandals Resort

We were called to lunch and were led to an outdoor dining area that sat over the beautiful blue Caribbean waters.  We enjoyed a buffet lunch of grilled chicken, salad, pasta, and rolls.  The view was spectacular!

Our outdoor dining venue

Our view from the buffet line

Our delicious lunch

View from my chair during lunch

My Darling Hubby...look at the view behind him!

The first group of cruisers had left and we were given the opportunity to sit in loungers under the shade.  This was definitely the islander life. 

Another view of the beach from the restaurant

Our beach side dining experience

The Aloe Doctor!

We enjoyed our beach time and soon it was time to head back.  We got back to the ship, changed our clothes and headed back out to do some window shopping in town.  It was a hot and sunny day.  It felt great to run in and out the shops to cool down. 

We got back to the ship in time to see the Royal Caribbean leaving port.  We were next.  The sun was setting and shining on the beautiful island.  I spent some time in our balcony taking lots of pictures.  

Watching the Royal Caribbean ship leave

Leaving Antigua!

Another Day @ Sea

I’m up early again!  You would think I would be fast asleep with the wonderful movement of the ship.  Not meant to be.  I get up and take my iPad with me over to the couch.  I don’t want to disturb Hubby from his sleep.  No point in having two sleepy heads on this cruise. 

After several rounds of Sudoku, I head back to bed and fast asleep until we get up for breakfast. 

Hubby was asking me if there was another photography class being offered today.  I told him the one I attended yesterday was the only one.  I think he wanted to attend one after hearing my rave reviews.  I check the Princess Patter to see what might be on our horizon.  At this point of our vacation, I really don’t want to be on a schedule. 

I see Yoga, Pilates, Brainteasers, Zumba, Speed Sudoku, Golf Putting, Croquet, Bocce, Bible Study, Ring Toss, Body Sculpt Boot Camp, Scattegories, Line Dancing, Morning Trivia, Basic Spanish Class, and a few seminars.  This is just the morning line up.  In the afternoon we had:  Slot Tournament, Visual Trivia, Art Auction, Cards/Games/Bridge players, Tropical Rum Tastings, Burn Fat Faster seminar, Pool Games (Neptunes Pool), Journal  Making, TV Themes Poolside Trivia, Wrinkle Remedies seminar, Survival French Class, Ballroom Dance class, Sommelier Wine Club (Tastings), Afternoon Tea, Strength-Indoor Cycling, No More Bad Hair Days seminar, Scavenger Hunt, Princess Pop Choir, and Afternoon Trivia!  Whew!

I decided not to partake in anything.  I got tired just thinking about all those activities! 

Line dancing!

I spent some time looking at the pictures I had taken and tried to get onto the Internet.  It was turtle-speed slow going.  Back to the cabin door I went…a bad girl facing the door again.  First thing in the morning, no less. 

By the time the afternoon came, I was feeling restless.  This has happened to me before at the beginning of a cruise.  Whenever I have two sea days in a row, I’m ready for the beach or to get in the water.  I was anxious and didn’t know what to do with myself.  I ended up wandering around the ship and watching the activities take place in and around the ship.  I wandered around the art gallery on deck 5.  I enjoyed looking at the paintings…contemporary and traditional.  I enjoyed seeing the textures as well as the dull or vibrant colors I saw. 

Art work being readied for an art auction

Dinner was a Mexican buffet in Café Caribe on deck 15.  Afterwards, we headed over to the MUTS (Movies Under the Stars) to watch “The Bourne Legacy”.  The wind was blowing a bit and we snuggled under the wool blankets that were given to us.  During the movie, we were offered pizza, popcorn, peanut butter cookies and milk!  Popcorn and a cookie made my evening. 

Tomorrow is our first port day in Antigua.  I gathered our snorkel gear and bags, beach towels, suntan lotion bottles, J&J shampoo for our mask, excursion tickets, copies of our passports, small bills for tipping, etc and set them aside.  I’ve learned over the years to do this the night before.  That way we don’t forget anything and we’re also more relaxed when we leave the ship rather than being frazzled. 

I’m getting sleepy and well…lights out! 

It's a Sea Day!

What do I do?  I wake up early!  As in 3am early!  Good thing I brought my own iPad with me.  I played Sudoku for an hour until my eyes got heavy and then I was back asleep for a couple of hours.  I really dislike getting old and I really dislike waking up in the wee hours of the morning and then going back to sleep.  It makes me more tired when I finally get up. 

We woke up around 8am and then lounged around our cabin.  Our stomachs started grumbling an hour later and we headed back to the Horizon buffet.  Bad call!  The buffet area was packed and so was the seating areas.   Where did all these people come from?  Are they on the same schedule as we are?

I checked the Princess Patter (I received last night) and saw there was a Photography class at 10:30 this morning.  This class intrigued me.  It was “learning the art of artificial and natural lighting techniques with the Princess Master Photographer.  It was a complementary class with a maximum of 35 guests…first come first served basis”.  I’ve never seen a photography class offered on a Princess ship before. 

Off I go with my hunky Nikon DSLR hanging around my neck.  I go down two decks below (deck 7) and I end up back in the Crown Grill restaurant waiting for the class to begin.  Being the shy and introvert person that I am, I start to engage in small talk with a few folks gathered around the table I’m sitting at.  One guy to the left of me had traveled to India and stayed for several weeks taking pictures.  He didn’t have a camera with him at the moment.  Suspect!  A lady to the right of me didn’t have a camera with her, but was interested to see what the class was about.  She’s cool!  Others around me had their Canon P&S cameras with them.  A table behind mine had Nikon cameras.  Way cool!  I was the only one with a DSLR.  Interesting….

At 10:30 sharp, Nikola (Serbian) and Ivan (American) separated us into two groups (indoor and outdoor).  I was in Nikola’s group and we headed up to deck 19 where his indoor studio was located.  Nikola specializes in black and white portrait photography.  He showed us the studio lights he uses and his settings.  When it was time to take a picture, Nikola selected a gentleman to sit and pose for him.  Nikola showed us the three groups of lights he uses:  A, B, and C.  The “A” light was a backlight.  The “B” light was a small front light that was to the left of the subject.  The “C” light was a large front light, positioned in front of the subject.  Nikola took a couple of shots and showed us the results on his camera.  He then wanted another model and selected me to do a few poses.  I had a blast!  I got the chance to see how the different lights work (from the model’s perspective).  I got a chance to shoot a picture of the audience. 

A picture of Nikola and the audience

I snapped this picture using the studio lights

It was Ivan’s turn to take our group outside for natural light photography.  The sun was bright.  Ivan was looking for a model and picked me out of the group to pose for him.  Yep, that was a blast too!  He used two tools to help with natural lighting.  One was to use a medium size round reflector/diffuser and the other was to use his external flash.  There I was sitting on the putting green on deck 19…posing for the Princess photographer!

Ivan showing us how to use the reflector on a sunny day

That was the best two hour photography class I ever had! 

I went back to the cabin and found Hubby sitting outside on our balcony.  He was enjoying the peacefulness with his iPad and listening to the waves below. 

After lunch we went to the Princess Theater to watch a matinee movie:  Hope Springs with Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones. 

Much of the afternoon was spent lounging around in our cabin or on the balcony. 

In the evening I tried to find the best WiFi location in our cabin.  I went to the balcony…no such luck!  The desk in the middle of our cabin gave me only 3 bars.  I headed towards our cabin door and noticed I received an extra bar!  Four bars resulted in a good connection.  Not great, but good.  Except good meant the WiFi would go in and out…connect and then disconnect me.  Love the satellite at sea!

I grabbed the desk chair and place it front of the door.  You would have thought I was a very bad girl…sitting and facing the cabin door.  Hubby had a good chuckle.  My laptop was propped on my lap with the monitor leaning against the door.  I was hoping with the laptop touching the door would give me a continuous connection or perhaps another bar?  Again, no such luck!

Emerald Princess - Embarkation

Today, there were 8 ships in port.  Three of them were Princess ships:  Emerald, Caribbean, and Grand.  A very busy and crowded day!

After a quick breakfast at the hotel, I had to make a quick walk to Publix to look for a beach bag.  Another item I forgot to pack for this trip.  I walked into Publix right after they opened and found a pretty decent bag for under $20.  It felt funny to be running around in the early morning before our embarkation.  It’s so not like me to be this disorganized.  I had a funny feeling this has to do with that age-thing. 

We checked out of our room a little before 11am and joined a large crowd waiting in the lobby and atrium.  There were at least three groups representing three different Princess ships that were leaving the hotel today.  Once I identified the Emerald Princess rep, I signed us in and received a numbered ticket that designated the Emerald Princess group.  I walked over to one of the conference rooms and located and acknowledged that our luggage was there.  Around 12:30pm, we were gathered and loaded onto a Cabana bus.  Thirty minutes later, we were off to the Port Everglades.  The Caribbean Princess was at berth/terminal #2 the closest terminal to the main gate.  Our ship, Emerald Princess, was at berth/terminal #21.  Another 10 minutes and we were dropped off at terminal #21.  We waited for the bus driver to remove our luggage from under the bus.   He then gave us the signal to leave the bus and identify our luggage once more (to make sure it will get onto the ship).  It was easy to identify ours as I wrapped bright orange shoe laces on the handles.   

We acknowledged our luggage and proceeded into the terminal.  There were two long lines.  I pulled Hubby into the Priority Express Line as we are Platinum members.  At first it was a bit confusing as both lines didn’t seem to move at all.  Then both lines started to move.  Once we got beyond a long wall, that’s when we noticed the other line had several zig-zags before getting to security.  There was a lot of people in that line!  I was so glad to be standing in ours, as it was a straight line.  They had to shut down security as there was a large backup (people) upstairs in the Princess check-in area.  We waited 10 minutes before the line started to move again.  Once we passed through security, we headed upstairs.   

The left check-in area was packed with people waiting again in several lines.  I looked to my right and saw the Elite/Platinum check-in area.  There was hardly anyone on this side.  I grabbed Hubby who was heading to the left side and pulled him over to the right side where another Princess rep was standing.  She checked to see if we were Elite or Platinum members and pointed to the empty check-in area.  This was the first time where being Platinum members really worked for us.  The check-in took less than 5 minutes and we were heading to our ship!

We had our embarkation portrait taken and then proceeded to get our security picture taken for our cruise card.

Our mini-suite cabin was D622 and located towards the back of the ship on Deck #7 called Dolphin deck.  Our cabin was located a few doors before the back stairs of the ship.   This cabin location was the furthest back of the ship we been since cruising with Princess.  It was also located across the main crew entrance way where the most of the luggage for Dolphin deck port side came through to be delivered to the cabins.  The entrance way was also where most the port-side room stewards use to get their carts in and out.  Later, during our cruise we could hear the carts in the early morning hours coming out of that doorway.  I could hear the glassware clink together.  It was an issue with us, just noticeable.  We were also close to the Launderette which came in handy over the next few days.  

It was close to 2pm and we headed up to the Horizon Court buffet for some lunch.  Wow!  It was crowded.  

We walked around the ship, so I could take some pictures.  

The aft  pool area

Port side of the ship

Our hallway on Dolphin Deck 7

I knew we had to be back in our room after 3pm to get ready for our mandatory muster drill.  When we got back, our luggage was already in our room.  I checked our Princess Patter and muster was set for 3:30pm.  When we heard the 7 short and one long blast of the horn, we grabbed our life vests and headed down two decks below to our muster station.  We were fortunate to find seats in the Crown Grill restaurant.  Yes, that is our designated muster station.  They gave us a demo of how to put on the life vests and how to jump off the ship if needed.  All in the comforts of the restaurant.  If this was an actual emergency, the Princess guides would escort us out of the restaurant and into our designated life boats. 

We were back in our cabin in time for sail away at 4pm.  A Holland ship was the first to leave.  They were tucked away in the farthest berth/terminal and had to back out in front our ship and then proceed forward through the port channel.  Then it was our turn.  The captain, Tony Draper, blew the ship’s horn.  The Princess ships have an awesome sounding horn.  It is deep and long!  Not the wimpy horns we have heard from other ships. 

We were on our way!

I don’t remember too much of the unpacking.  I knew our room steward, Robert, was keeping an eye on us.  He was waiting for us to unpack, so he could “refresh” our room for the evening.  The unpacking was a long drawn out process for me.  I was inside our room removing items from the luggage and then I was outside on our balcony taking lots of pictures.  Then I was back inside and then outside.  By now you got the picture.  What should have taken an hour to unpack ended up taking almost 3 hours. 

Oh yeah, I also logged into our Internet accounts and signed up for our free Internet minutes.  We each received 250 minutes for 10 days for free.  Can’t complain about this wonderful deal! 

We left our room to let Robert do his thing.  We ended up back at Horizon’s buffet for a light dinner.  Or so we thought it would be.  They were having their Bon Voyage buffet. 

After dinner, we wandered around the ship.  Visited several shops to see what they offered.  Did some people-watching and then headed back to our cabin around 9pm.  We could feel the ship rocking a bit.  We were at home at sea. 

A Princess Patter with a list of tomorrow’s activities had arrived in our mailbox.  

Second Day in Fort Lauderdale

After breakfast, we headed out and walked east along the 17^th Street Causeway.  We decided to head to the beach and check out the views.  It was pleasant sunny day with a slight breeze. Along the Causeway, we noticed that the palm trees were more lush than last year.  They were definitely greener and so brown.  

Palm trees lined up along the 17th Street Causeway

Can you see the coconuts?  These same palm trees were bare last year

Here's a different variety of palms

We walked for about 2-3 miles and ended up at the southern end of Ft Lauderdale beach.  It was quiet here.  There was hardly anyone on the beach.  It was a bright sunny morning with blue skies and puffy white clouds.  It was a perfect day for walking around and for people watching. 

Fort Lauderdale beach!

A colorful playground.  Where are the kids?

An empty basketball court right on the beach

We headed down to the main beach area around Olas Blvd.  This area was hopping.  We started to see more people hanging out on the beach.  We saw many diners sitting outside enjoying their late breakfast meals. 

Bubba Gump's restaurant

Beach Bunnies!

We did some window shopping along the main shopping area along the beach front. 

We stopped in this surf shop to find some sturdy flip-flops

Walking past Bubba Gump's

A few people enjoying the beach.  Notice how pale the life guard is?

After a few hours, our stomachs started to growl.  We were getting tired and walking back was not a good option for us.  We decided to catch the local trolley and head back to the 17^th Street Causeway. 

As we made our way along the Causeway we signaled the trolley driver to stop and we jumped off the trolley and headed over to the Bimini Boatyard restaurant for lunch.  Hubby had an Ahi Tuna salad and I had Swordfish. 

On the way back to the Embassy Suites, we stopped off at the Fort Lauderdale Dive shop to pick up a hat for Hubby.  Yes, we had slowly figured out a few things we forgot to pack for this trip.  While at the Dive shop, I tried on a few masks.  I immediately found one that fit on my face and stayed in place without the straps.  When I pulled the mask off, you could hear the suction of air being released.  Great fit!  I passed up on this purchase as it would have been a “want” purchase and not a “need” purchase. 

Fort Lauderdale Dive shop is my favorite Dive shop as they are well stocked and the staff is very friendly and they are a wealth of knowledge.  They offer dive certifications and mentioned that the next time we’re in Ft Lauderdale to come down a few days earlier and get certified.  Now that’s a great idea!

We headed back to our hotel to get some rest and I had to do some last minute repacking.  At that point, luggage weight doesn’t matter when you arrive at the cruise ship terminal.  I transferred all the heavy items from our backpacks (e.g. magazines, a book, rechargers and cables, etc) to our luggage. 

For this trip I had managed to get Hubby to purchase Kindle-versions of his books.  He used to carry a backpack full of books for the cruise and I noticed he would read only one or two of them during the whole trip.  Slowly, he has weaned himself from carrying the physical books.  I did throw one in his bag just in case it was too bright for him to read his iPad. 

Hubby had mentioned he wanted to get some nice polo shirts in case we went to one of the dining rooms on the ship.  I remembered there was a Ross Dress for Less across the street from our hotel.  After a quick trip to Ross with two nice polos purchased and bagged, we were ready for dinner. 

We found a lovely sushi place a block from our hotel.  The menu was extensive and there were many items I wasn’t familiar with.  I let Hubby order for us.  We had tuna sashimi and an order of vegetable fried rice.  I have to admit something funny here.  At this sushi restaurant, I learned how to use my chopsticks correctly.  

Fort Lauderdale...Here We Come!

We arrived into Fort Lauderdale Airport around 1pm.  We picked up our luggage and looked around for our Princess rep.  After waiting 10 minutes, one arrived and escorted us outside to a group waiting on the curb outside the airport.  Our transportation arrived and we were loaded onto a Cabana bus for a 15 minute trip to the hotel. 

Upon arrival at the Embassy Suites, we received our Princess letter with instructions for embarkation on Saturday.  We also received our tickets for free breakfast.  Our room was ready and we were too happy to drop off all our luggage and heavy backpacks.  We quickly changed into our cruise clothes (shorts, t-shirts, and flip-flops). 

We took our normal walk behind the hotel to get to the shopping center.  Here we had access to a Publix grocery store, a Total Wine shop, several restaurants, and a natural health store.  We had lunch at Lauderdale Grill.  I had the Parmesan and almond crusted salmon and hubby had the grilled Ahi Tuna with a lemon grass sauce. 

After lunch we headed over to our favorite Publix store to pick up some toiletries we didn’t want to carry in our luggage (suntan lotion, contact lens solution, etc). Once we got our necessities, we wandered over to a really cool natural health store.  There we came across Olive Leaf.  The owner of the shop highly recommended this product to help get rid of our annoying coughs.  Hubby took a sample of the liquid form and told me to get pill form. 

I dropped Hubby off at the hotel so I could go and visit a favorite shop of mine…Essential Boutique in the shopping center next door.  They were having a sale on everything in their shop including some Brighton jewelry pieces.  A Brighton sale is unheard of!  I found a bracelet and necklace that went with the pieces I already had and I managed to get them for 50% off.  

As dinner time approached, hubby and I decided to have a light meal.  We headed over to the shopping center next to the Embassy Suites and went to Carlos and Pepes for chips and salsa.  Afterwards, we decided to hit the sack early as we were exhausted from all the traveling we did earlier in the day.  

Getting Ready for Our Next Cruise!

Today, I worked half day and then came home to finish packing.  I'm not sure why I did that as I normally take the whole day off.  It doesn't help that today I'm feeling a bit stressed.

I have been packing for our upcoming cruise for about a week now.  Hubby packed last night and this afternoon I'm doing a final pack to make sure the weight of each luggage is under 50 lbs.  So far, they are around 42 lbs each.

I double-check to make I have the required documents:  passports for each of us, boarding passes for our flight, boarding passes for our cruise, and other cruise related documents.  Also copies of our passports that I take with me when we're in port and on our excursions.  I have a plastic waterproof box that I wear around my neck like a big necklace.  In this box I have our passport copies, small bills for tipping, and cruise cards (when we get them on the ship).  This plastic box goes with into the water with me when we're snorkeling or just swimming at the beach.  Sorry to digress.

This will be our ninth cruise with Princess.  We've been on the Golden, Sea, Emerald, and Crown.  This Saturday, we'll be back on the Emerald Princess, one of our favorite ships.  We will be sailing the Eastern Caribbean itinerary:  Antigua, Barbados, Dominica, St Kitts/Nevis, St Thomas and ending with Grand Turk. We haven't done this itinerary in years and look forward to re-visiting the islands again.

Normally, I'm pinching pennies and looking for an inexpensive snorkeling/beach excursion around $50 pp.  After a couple of ports with excursions...they start to add up.  This year, we're splurging a bit on our excursions.  Yes, I've picked out expensive ones starting around $100 pp.  Hubby agreed with me that we need to have fun and enjoy ourselves.  We work hard, we should play hard!

While we save up for our cruises, I also save up for our tipping money.  When we come home from a cruise with extra tipping money, I save it for the next cruise.  During the year, when I go out to lunch at work I take my change money and put it towards the tipping  money.  Yes, I use cash whenever I go out to lunch.  That way I don't spend too much on food and I know the change is going to a good cause...our cruise!

Are we big tippers?  Yes!  We tip when we get great service.  We have been to over 20 islands in the Caribbean.  Didn't think there were that many, huh?  We see many islanders working hard for very little pay. While we think they live in poor conditions, that is their normal way of life.  Many don't live the lifestyle we live.  Many don't know what we know.  It's our way of giving something back.  Saying thank you.  Again, I digress.

We are so looking forward to our vacation.  We are tired from work and hustle and bustle of our everyday schedule.  We know it will take a few days to do some serious unwinding.  That's why we have two days in Fort Lauderdale before getting on our ship.  I have a funny feeling it will take me longer to unwind.  So many details and things keep going through my head.  Like right now...have I forgotten to pack something?

After many cruises under our belt, I have learned to keep a packing list.  It's written in a little notebook I keep as well as on my iPhone.  The packing list has been refined over the years.  Some things get removed, some things get added.

We've also learned to take one luggage per person and under the 50 lb limit.  I do all the packing as I know where things should go in the suitcase.  We no longer do formal nights on the ship.  That's at least 10 lbs of clothes right there.  Instead, we pack our snorkel gear:  fins, masks, and snorkels.  Everything fits in each luggage like a puzzle piece.

For carry-on, we each have one backpack.  That's it!  Hubby carries all the P&S cameras (there are 3 of them now!), the rechargers and cables, underwater housing for one of the P&S, his iPad, and magazines.

I found a really cool camera combo backpack.  On the bottom is a special zippered area that houses a padded box-like pouch that contains my DSLR with lens, small flash, and an extra lens.  The upper part of my backpack holds my rechargeable batteries (for all the cameras), all the media cards we need, my quart-sized zip-lock bag for hand sanitizer and other lotions, contact lens (Hubby and myself), and my sunglasses and eyeglasses. In the front area of my backpack I have my ultra-portable laptop and iPad.  It's a bit heavy, but I've managed to get everything into one single bag for myself.

We are all packed and ready to go.

We get a text message in the evening that our transportation will arrive shortly to pick us up and take us to our hotel near the airport.  It's been awhile since I've had to use a taxi and getting a text message was a nice surprise.

We arrive at the hotel near Reagan National airport.  I'm exhausted and we haven't started our real travel and vacation.  It must be an age-thing!

Our Mini Suite on the Crown Princess

Here are pictures of our Mini Suite on deck 9, port side.

Desk area with storage and two outlets

Mini fridge holds 1 liter bottle of water, bottle of wine, and a few cans of sodas

Balcony with the new furniture

The TVs are no longer bolted to the wall.  They are now mounted on a stand which allows them to move a bit more freely (up/down and left/right).

I got the wine glasses from one of the bars on deck 7.

There is a fruit card that you can fill out and have oranges, kiwis, apples, pears, and bananas delivered to the cabin.  We did this once and then decided it was easier for us to get our own fruits from the Horizon Court buffet area.  No waiting.  The oranges were sweet!

There are only two outlets located over the desk area.  I brought my Belkin mini surge protector which allowed us to recharge our iPads, Kindle device, camera batteries and electric tooth brush.

We stored our electronic gadgets in the drawers without any worries.

A Few More Pictures

While in Belize....

Our Cruise Summary

The dock at Geoff's Caye (Belize)

Background Information:  Hubby is 50 and I will be turning 50 this year.  We are Princess Platinum members and we do get to enjoy some of the Princess benefits.  We spend our annual vacation time cruising around the Caribbean.  We enjoy snorkeling so much that we pack our own snorkeling gear in our luggage.  That leaves no room for formal wear.  I've been able to pack and arrange our luggage so that each of them are under 50 lbs.  I rely on my packing list that I have refined over the years.  If we are cruising over 7 days, I do make a trip to the onboard laundry room.

The last time we were on the Crown Princess was four years ago and we were leaving out of San Juan for a B2B cruise (14 days).  We thoroughly enjoyed the cruise then and thoroughly enjoyed it this year.

Crown Princess:

During the first week of our cruise, we noticed the average age on the ship was around 65-70.  There were plenty of folks with walkers and mobility aids.  During the second week of our cruise, the average age went down considerably.  We saw more younger couples and families.

Compared to our last cruise, we noticed many more iPads and Kindle devices on this cruise.

During our first week, we both purchased 250 minutes of Internet time for free.  Hubby didn't use any of his minutes that week.  I had 15 minutes left on my account and I ended up using some of his Internet minutes.  After the turnaround for the second week, I went ahead and added additional time to each of our accounts.  I was able to add another 250 minutes to each account for free.  The previous week's minutes rolled over into the second week as well.  Sweet!  At the end of our cruise, my Hubby and I could not use up all the remaining Internet time.  That was a first for us.

We had cabin D302.  It was located one cabin away from the forward elevators/stairs on the port side.  When I first booked this cruise (1-1/2 years ago), this was the only cabin available for the whole 14 days.  I wasn't too sure about the noise level from the elevators and possible crowd noise.  Our travel agent told us we could change the cabin if additional ones became available.  Hubby and I both agreed to leave the booking as is.

This cabin location turned out to be wonderful for us.  This was our first time being in a forward location on the ship.  We hardly noticed any noise from the elevators and may have heard a handful of folks late at night as they walked by our cabin.  The only noise I consistently heard was in the morning when the room service cart(s) would be pushed down the hallway.

Our cabin was located on the port side of the ship.  Most of the time, the ship docked on this side while in port (e.g. Curacao, Aruba, Cozumel).

Aruba

Cozumel

Curacao

During the first day or two of our cruise, we received a box in our balcony.  The label read "table".  Must be new furniture!  Our balcony chairs were looking quite old and shabby.  I've never seen furniture that looked that used on a cruise before.  A few days later, we received two new chairs and two foot rests.  The new chair color reminded me of indigo sea color.  The chairs had three back settings.  The box still remained on our balcony.  It wasn't until Thursday that our table was put together and the box disappeared.

New furniture

Old round table (new table in box)

At the beginning of the 2nd week of our cruise, Princess instituted a new no smoking policy in the cabins or on the balconies.  Later in the week, we found cigarette ashes on our new balcony table.  It must have come from an upper deck.  Careless!

WiFi access was pretty good in our cabin.  Most of the time I sat at the desk and could see all the bars while accessing the Internet.  During the first week, I did notice some spotty connections while we were at sea.  While in port, I did not have any problems with the ship's WiFi.  I did notice that early in the morning was the best time to access FB and check my emails.

I did use the Internet Cafe a few times and I ended up with consistent ongoing connectivity.  I also noticed it was a bit faster than using Wifi in our cabin.  Not really fast, just a bit.  ;-)

The first week we noticed a lot more rocking and rolling on the ship as we headed down to the southern Caribbean.  It was fabulous!  Hubby and I prefer to feel some motion than none at all.

Our one dining experience with Anytime Dining in Michelangelo dining room was mediocre.  Hubby and I went so I could get a plate of fettuccine alfredo.  The food server gave Hubby the wrong entree and we ended up waiting 5 minutes for the server to come back and to realize that he made a mistake.  By that time, Hubby's meal was not hot.

We spent most of our dining options at the Horizon buffet or the Caribe Cafe when they were open.  We did make a few trips to the Trident Grill for their excellent grilled chicken sandwiches and french fries.  Okay, we made several trips there.  We did get a few slices of cheese pizza from the pizza place, but it was just average.  We thought the pizza on the Emerald Princess was much better.  The best pizza we've had on a cruise ship was on the Sea Princess which was awesome.

Breakfast at Horizon

Breakfast at Horizon

Lunch at Horizon

During the afternoon, I did make my daily run down to the IC for warm peanut butter cookies.  In the evenings, there was popcorn available which we would enjoy during MUTS or take down to our room to watch a movie.

Quiche from IC

Our room steward, Henry, was just okay.  This was our 8th cruise with Princess and we've never had a problem with our room stewards.  Henry and I never seemed to make a connection.  I asked for a bottle of water to keep in our fridge and he said he didn't have any.  Really?  I ended up going to one of the bars on the ship to pick up a one liter bottle.  Henry didn't leave me a refreshment form (water & sodas) to fill out.  It wasn't until the 2nd week that he left a form for me to fill out and sign.

Henry also failed to replenish our Lotus Spa shampoo and gel.  At the end of the cruise, I noticed we had four bottles of conditioner in the bathroom.  ???

Despite some minor issues we've encountered and endured, Hubby and I had a wonderful cruise.  We definitely enjoyed the second week because of the itinerary.  Our favorite port ended up being Cozumel.  We had a blast there.

We are looking at going on another Western Caribbean cruise in the future.

Geoff's Caye (Belize)