Home After The Greenland Cruise 2019

   Going home after a cruise is never the easiest of days. We were up early and expected to be off the ship by 8. There was a bit of a delay leaving as they unloaded the baggage of the 3000 plus passengers but when they started, all went very quickly. Clearing U.S.

Statue Of Liberty

customs was very quick. Gone are the declarations that we use to fill out! No need to mention if you were in transit or not. Passports checked against the database, stamped and away we went. We were on a the bus from Brooklyn to Newark airport before 9, waving good bye to the statue of Liberty. The bus headed out of New York, which avoided all the traffic. By about 10 we were checking in at the

New York From The Ship

Porter desk and had arranged an early flight out of New Jersey and connect to an earlier flight to Windsor. It saved an extra 3 hour wait in the airport! Of course we enjoyed the wine Porter serves on the flights. We were watching something on Utube and we almost missed out flight to Windsor. We heard our names being paged!

    Our pick up in Windsor was waiting with the added bonus of dinner. Where can you get a service like that! Yvonne and John are the best!

Thus ended our New York Greenland New York cruise. I think that in the future more ships will be going to the area. We were the largest ship (passengers wise) to ever stop in the 3 ports. As cruise lines look for new destinations, Greenland will grow into a popular destination. It is exactly what we imaging without the glaciers and the large icebergs. Those areas are found in the more remote areas further north and inland.

     Princess has changed many of the familiar things we have come to expect. Whether it was the number of passengers or the ship itself, the large number of Elite and others who have sailed on Princess before commented on the changes and the way things worked out. Until next time!

Last Day At Sea Before New York

       Today was our last day of the cruise. The seas have remained very calm for the entire 16 days and the weather got warmer as the day went on. We made it one last time to the meditation and zumba sessions. Both zumba instructors were very good blending regular zumba with gold for those who needed it. After that the activities were a bit sketchy as they have been for the entire cruise. We skipped the culinary demonstration and galley tour but did make the rounds of the another Onboard outlet sale. I think they have had one every sea day! Combined with tea and a muffin, that filled the morning.

    We took the morning break as chance to pack most of our things. That went quickly! After we skipped line dancing but went to the Ballroom dance class where we reviewed some of the dances taught. The old saying use it or loose it certainly is true for the steps taught but we enjoyed ourselves. The class was a lot smaller today so we were not bumping into people. We hurried and got into the dinning room for lunch just before they closed. The Voice of the Ocean Finale was right after that. They have the turning chairs, judges (?) who pick 2 of the finalists and then select 1. The audience then selects the winner electronically! Winner had 71% of the vote. She was really good.

   We spent the rest of the afternoon packing and getting ready for dinner. The show this evening was a Country Singer from Nashville. I think it was the first time we had seen a country singer as a headliner. He did mostly older country songs.

Dinner was excellent as we said good bye to those friends and then headed to the final show of the evening. Surf and turf for the final night. It was the comic from last night who we enjoyed very much. He entertained for a full 45 minutes. We did get our luggage out about 30 minutes late but they were still collecting.

    Another time change tonight and off the ship around 8 am tomorrow. The ports have been very good and worth the trip. We did not care for the way the daily schedule was put together. We noticed many changes to the way Princess does things. Everything seemed to be an effort to save money. Perhaps it was just this ship and this cruise.

Off The Maritimes Provinces

    We had another 30 minute time change last night which means we were up early enough to get to breakfast. We made it to the meditation and zumba sessions as has become our pattern on sea days. After that the day gets fragmented. We have talked to many Princess cruisers and all complain about the same things. One lady this morning said that this is the worse run ship she has been on. We know what the problems are – scheduling – but have not heard of why it is the way it is. One couple at breakfast said that they had to rush dinner to get to the early show which we are constantly reminded is for the late diners like us! The cruise itself has been good – especially the Greenland part – but the daily sea routine is not that good for our liking.

 

Our Table

  They had another shopping sale at sea. They have piles of tee shirts left over from their time in the Caribbean last year and are trying hard to unload their stock. I have replenished my supply – twice. The enrichment lecture was moved to the middle of the day for some reason which means we had an opportunity to go to it. He was a Hollywood writer with stories about the film and TV industry. Today the topic was New York. The whole talk was about Ellis Island and there was nothing about the film industry. It was the only lecture that we were able to attend since it the talks ran at the same time as zumba. We managed to get to the pub lunch and then headed to the cha cha dance lesson and more Effy jewellery events.

   

Tonight's Dessert

Tonight was a formal night with the Captain's farewell party – scheduled at the same time as the comedian in the Princess theatre and our dinner time. Actually the comedian was quite funny. He is from New York but he did joked about Canada. He was among the better of the acts that we have seen. Dinner was excellent as it always is on formal night. Lobster was on the menu! The rest of the evening was a game show called the Marriage Game. It was quite funny as well. They asked questions of 3 couples. Newly weds, mid marriage (35 years) and over 50 years marriage. Some of the answers were quite hilarious. We also received our leaving time and departure instructions. We will be off the ship by 8 am!

A Day In St. John's Newfoundland

       After a very calm night we entered St. John's on a absolutely perfect day. Sunny and

Entering The Harbour

bright with a glass like ocean. We were up early to see us go by Signal Hill. We were off the ship early although nothing was open because it is Sunday. We walked around the main street and stopped at the war memorial park. The last time we were here a few years ago, we tried to go to the Crow's Nest Bar. It opened in WW2 (1942) and was a frequent location for the Canadian Navy personnel who safely made it back here after escorting the convoys across

Crow's Nest

the dangerous German submarine waters of the north Atlantic. It has a German submarine periscope! The bar was under renovation the last time we were here. The club is now opened but it does not open on Sundays! Closed again. It is a member's only club but visitors seemed to be welcomed!

Harbour Scene

     We walked up to the Basilica which dominates a ridge that overlooks the city. It has many stained glass windows in it that are currently being restored. After we headed up to Signal Hill which was about 2 miles away. After hiking in Greenland, the hill was fairly easy. Being Sunday besides the 3000 visitors there were many families out enjoying the day with their kids and walking their dogs. The top of the hill was packed. I think every ship and private tour stops there. We toured the tower then started down the walk back to the city. The trail follows the edge of the hill before it ends in the city. We counted about 950 steps to get down. Of course there are many sections of the trail that do not have steps.

   

From Signal Hill

We walked down the main street looking for a Tim Horton's. We did manage to find a bar that was just starting to fill up. Being mid afternoon, we went in for a sit down and a drink. It was a good way to end the walk! Time was moving on so we returned to the ship and grabbed some pizza for a later afternoon snack. A rest and shower later we headed to the Princess Theatre for a production show.

Resting On The Walk

     We arrived 75 minutes before the start. The doors were closed and there was already a line up. Of course we got in and grabbed our favourite seats in the last row. We started sitting there years ago during the late show so we could sleep if the show was boring! We wanted to see the show because we could not remember if we had every seen it before. Once it started we knew we had never seen it before. It was called Fantastic Journey. It did not have any type of story line but was very modern and high tech in its presentation. They did 2 songs that we have danced to - Poker Face (lady gaga) and Taylor Swift - Shake. Some people did not like it but it was worth the effort to go early.

     The rest of the evening was the usual routine of dinner and then wandering around before heading to the cabin. We get another 30 minutes back tonight! Yea

Off The Newfoundland Coast

     We are already off the coast of Newfoundland getting close to St. John's. The weather today remained cool with the fog horn blasting all night. As the day progressed, we could see the ocean again as the fog disappeared and the temperature warmed. We had a 30 minute time fall back last night which resulted in waking up early this morning. We did have time to have breakfast and get to the morning meditation. We had done this with the same cruise director last year. It is a chance to step back and relax before we started the day. Of course zumba followed the relaxation.

    The photo department filmed an entire video based on the Greenland experience. It was

Up To Skywalkers

shown in the Princess theatre. I assume that it will be used to promote the area in the future as this cruise is already on the books for next year and perhaps the year after. I think that Greenland will be the go to area in the future. We were not able to even begin to find a seat as there was a lecture in there before and people simple stayed. The people who saw it said that there was very little on the ports and heavy on the pilot and captain. We went to our favourite seat and had a tea and a sweet.

    We had the ramen noodles again for lunch followed by the Foxtrot dance class. The count is very much like the 2 step which we need to learn! It was a good class and the teacher was extremely competent. The good instructor made the dance enjoyable. We were in the Club Fusion so we did get a seat for a lecture that was billed “The da Vinci Code”. The lecturer is convinced that he unlocked the secrets of the Mona Lisa painting. The entire hour had little to do with the painting except for the start and the end. He did not do a very good job of explaining his points. He kept saying this theory is a fact. We remained skeptical about the whole “secrets” he revealed. He did make some interesting points about things like the similarities of the pyramid like structures around the world. He absolutely did not believe that aliens were involved. For us that ended the day until our evening.

 

At Skywalkers

 We made our way to the elite lounge early enough to enjoy the view from deck 17. That was followed by a Princess theatre show with the singer from the other night. Again she sang songs from pop, broad way and opera . All were excellent. It was Italian night in the dinning room. We had pasta with plenty of garlic! After dinner we dropped by the “Rock and Roll Dance Party” and it was basically the same as we had seen in the past. Tomorrow we will tour St. John's but do not have a detailed plan of what we will do other than get a Tim Horton's coffee. The weather should be sunny! This is our last port of call for this cruise.

Sailing Back To Canada

   We left Greenland last nigh and are headed south to St John's Newfoundland. The entire transit will only be 2 days. We arrive there on Sunday morning. The day is overcast and the waves are up a bit, the temperature is cool (40's) so going outside is probably out. In a few days we may be wishing for this cool weather.

There was a little more to do today but we started with the zumba routine for an hour this morning. After all the hiking we did in the last few days we fell right back into it. Tea with a muffin in the International Cafe served as breakfast. Another store at sea (buy, buy buy) again today. Judy did stop and looked at a diamond ring just because!

    We waited for the pub lunch to clear out then sat with a nice couple from Virginia until they kicked us out. We made it to the dance class where The Jive (East Coast). Actually we did ok with this dance. We did it to Rock and Roll Music. We had a bit of a break before the line dance class where the simple dances prevailed. It was led by the new cruise person onboard. She had the steps to Cupid Shuffle written down. The newest person always gets to do line dancing so there is never a change to what they do!

   We had the Captain's Circle Party in the late afternoon. There are just under 1100 elite aboard. We sat with a couple from Calgary. The most cruised couple have over 1700 days at sea. That is the most that we have ever seen. We did get to the showtime entertainment with an Instrumentalist who we missed the other night. He was a fiddle (violin) player. It was very entertaining. Then of course dinner. We had a filet with giant prawns. One of the bands was playing Country Classic so we dropped in to see what they were playing. It was old country. Then there had a “Dancing With The Stars” type dance party with couples made up of someone from the ship and a passenger. We had never seen it before and it was quite funny; especially the type of dances that they were given (Bollywood, Irish Step, etc.) .

   The internet has been very slow so I have not been able to post all the photos that I would have liked. Email is impossible except in the middle of the night. Sea day tomorrow then Newfoundland.

Hiking Nanortalik

     Nanortalik was the last of our 3 stops in Greenland. By far it is the prettiest in terms of

Nanortalik

scenery. There are mountains all around. Today we were on the second group of hikers which did not start out until noon. It is another 8 mile “strenuous” hike that was originally billed as a 3 hour hike, then moved to 4 hours. With the later start time we were able to see the town of 1300 before we headed out.

       The town itself seemed more prepared to receive cruise ships. We found it better than the bigger towns of the last few days. It was a whaling site in the past and they

in Town

have preserved the buildings from that era. It was quite informative. We did not see many things to buy in town. There were plenty of items made of seal skin and some local arts and crafts. Missing were the “made in China” tourist items!

     Our hike was less than we expected. In fact the previous 2 hikes were much better. Most of the hike took place on flat areas with plenty of crow berry (ground cover) plants. They look like a small blueberry. The guide was from the area but other

On The Mountain

than a few comments about the plants really did not provide much information. Again the level of the guides is not the same as you would see in tourist areas.

    We were disappointed until the last part of the hike when the guide said we could climb the low mountain that we had seen all walk. Only about half of the hikers chose to do that. It took about 25 minutes to reach the top. With better information we could have done all of it on our own as we simply walked through the town to the trail head. The views of the town from the top were excellent and made the entire experience worth while.

Cemetery

There was only 1 dock for the tenders to tie up and so the line up to get back to the ship was long, taking about 1 hour. A glass of wine helped! As we sailed tonight for St John's (2 day sail) we immediately heard the fog horn. The ship is rocking a bit and we expect that to continue.

    Tonight we enjoyed another specialty dining at the Crown Grill Steak restaurant. We do not know why we got this one but after looking at the menu, decided on the steak restaurant rather than the Italian restaurant. The meal was excellent. We had a lobster cake as an appetizer, a french onion soup followed by a filet perfectly cooked. The lava cake Judy had was the best she has had on the ship. We skipped the show (which we had seen before) stopped by the line dancing (Electric Slide type dances) before dinner. A bottle of red wine and some excellent food ended our visit to Greenland. By the time we finished, the only thing going on was a game show. After the walk today it was another turn in early night.

Hiking Qaqortoq – Around the Big Lake

   We made it to southern Greenland to a small town called Qaqortoq. It has a population of about 3000 which means we basically doubled the size of the town. There are around 40 cruise ships that stop here in the summer time. The tourist infrastructure is a bit more developed but it has a long way to go to accommodate a ship of this size. Most tours were a narrated walk through town. We opted for the 8 mile 5 hour walk. We had a very good guide who lives is Switzerland and comes here in the summer. The lake walk is around the fresh water lake that supplies the town with their drinking water. However there is one large hill at the far end of the lake which took about 90 minutes to climb. There was a lot of up and down on the way up but overall we thought that it was not as hard as Nuuk. There were not as much scrambling as in Nuuk. It is really hard to describe the hike and what the landscape looks like. The pictures should help.

 

The Downside

Our guide did a good job of filling in details about the area, something we did not get on the last hike. He knew about the flowers and the landscape and did an excellent job of keeping the group together. One person was very slow and we left him behind with others from the ship. We did a small walk through town but opted to return to the ship as we had not eaten much since our early breakfast. We left at 8:30 and were back on aboard around 3:30. We stopped for afternoon tea to replenish ourselves. After a brief rest, we were off to the early show.

  The main entertainment seemed to come up fast! The entertainment was a vocalist who did a variety of songs from Broadway, Opera and Pop. It was among the better entertainment that we have seen. We could not remember hearing her in the past. One of our missing table mates came back so the 5 of us had a very nice meal. We checked out the specialty restaurants menus as we are going tomorrow. We decided to head to the cabin early as we have another 5 hour hike tomorrow. It is billed as strenuous but the other hikes were billed the same. We shall see.

Foggy Day At Sea

   Since we sailed last night we have been making our way south along the Greenland coast to the southern tip where we will stop at our next 2 ports. The day started very foggy and we would not see land even if we were close enough. As the day went by, the fog cleared and the calm sea got a tad rougher. Again today we did not find a full day of activities. We did hear that there are certain activities that are dictated from head office which would explain all the sales and special Effy events which are held 3 times a day.

We caught the last part of the meditation session. We were early to stake out our spots for zumba. “Zumba people be crazy.” Everyone has a spot and you need to claim it. Of course today 2 people tried to elbow me out but I stood my ground. The session was a bit more structured. After zumba we managed to get a table in the Atrium. That in itself was a feat! Tea and a light breakfast doing a cross word followed by a quick look at the “ongoing” 3 hour onboard outlet sale. Then we had a 45 minute Meringue lesson. Actually we did quite well. The instructor kept adding moves. It was fun.

Down The Hill

 

Up The Hill

 After lunch in the dining room, the rest of the day was followed by non events for us: an art auction, beauty seminars, casino games, karaoke, pop choir, a movie on the upper deck (fat chance), etc. So we watch an in room movie before getting ready for the evening activities. The 6:30 show was a Ventriloquist named Dan Horn. We had seen him before and we recognized the puppets and most of the jokes. It was a good show if you like that type of theatre but if there was something else to do we should have done it. Dinner was good. We are 6 at the table but 1 couple seems to have given up (did we drive them away?) as we have not seen them the last 2 days. We wandered after dinner but the main activity was a game show. We have a big hike tomorrow with and early start. I included 2 pictures from the hike yesterday. The Wi Fi is very iffy and takes forever to log on and upload photos. It should get better as we move south

Hiking Nuuk Greenland

   The day was sunny and bright when we docked in Nuuk. As expected the area is very rocky and the houses are brightly painted – reds, blues, pinks, greens, etc. Our 5 hour hike started at 10 so we had time for a big breakfast. Our tour only had 2 sections (staggered leaving times). We had about 30 on our hike.

   

Nuuk

The hike was not extremely difficult. We were dropped at one end of the town and hiked behind the mountain to the end point near the airport on the other side of town. The photos show the landscape which was unlike anything else we have seen. Of course there are no trees, not even bushes of any sort. The ground was covered mainly with lichens and mosses. There was some colour to the landscape but it was overwhelmed by the grey barren rock. The evidence of glaciation was everywhere with large boulders strewn about. A few flowers were seen the the bog areas. They were similar to what you see in the alpine areas of Canada.

On The Hike

   There were 2 guides, a mother and a young daughter. That is all they were. They simply pointed the way. As a “tour” it lacked greatly. We did not learn a thing about Nuuk, Greenland, the landscape, etc. For example there were blueberries along the way. We learned this from someone on the other tour when we returned back to the ship. Nothing was offered by the young guide. The area is just getting into the tourism business and have not developed a good program. The hike was billed as strenuous. There was one person who could not keep up. The real guide had to stay back with him. It was evident in the first 30 minutes that he was not able to keep up. The group was continually waiting for him after every uphill walk. The final descent was a bit difficult but by the end he was so far behind that he had to go back by taxi after we left. This was after constantly waiting for him after every hill, etc. The result was that we were later than we thought going back to the ship so we decided not to stop in town. We did not have enough time to stay in town. We went to afternoon tea!

Up The Hill

    The town itself had many apartment type of buildings. We did not see one single family type dwelling. We did notice piles of building materials and there were 2 new “high” rise type structures going up. We could not tell what the main type of employment there is in Nook. There were many large containers in the port but we could not tell if they were coming into the port or for export. There were fishing vessels but not many large ones. Considering this is the capital with about 17,000 people in the city, it will be interesting to see what the next 2 stops look like. The next stop has 3000 people and the last stop has 1000.

   We sailed around 6. Some people reported seeing whales but we have not been lucky enough. As we sailed, we could see a number of small grounded icebergs. The weather remains cool but it was very nice all day. We decided to skip the show for a chance to just relax and have a drink. We have a sea day tomorrow. My camera was a bit “wonky”. I think there is a bit of an electronics problem. Still takes pictures but I can't always use the screen. We still have Judy's for backup.

Close To Nook, Greenland

    Tomorrow we are in Nuuk the capital of Greenland. We have slowed to about 12 knots as we made good time getting here. The temperature remains in the low 40's. The outlook for tomorrow is partly cloudy with a high in the low 50's F. We also found out that we will be tied up about a mile from town and not be tendered. We look forward to the hike. There are only 40 people in 2 groups going on this excursion.

 

A Ship

 Last night we had an advance of the clock. We were up in time for Zumba, always a good way to start the day. Tea and a muffin in the atrium was enough of a breakfast. We attended the Ship Life Q and A where 3 senior officers answered questions about the ship i.e. Where does the fresh water come from, what about waste water, fuel, etc., etc. An interesting thing is that the ship has had 2 Greenland pilots aboard (since Sydney). It is a requirement of the laws for the polar region. The pilot was able to fill in some of the details about all 3 ports. In all a very interesting session.

 

Ready For Nook

 We stop for champagne at the Effy store and then went to the ballroom dance class for a session in “The Bachata”. I had never heard of that dance before but now we are experts. Interestingly enough we had a line dance to the music used. We rushed to the pub lunch, then the Clinique store sale. Judy always needs to stock up on these cruises. Those were the main events for the day.

    After watching an in cabin movie, we went down to the Elite lounge for some sushi before rushing off to see Tom Franek the variety piano entertainer that we had seen a few nights ago. Another very good show. Dinner followed. The rest of the evening was spent wandering before an early turn in.

Half Way To Greenland

   Around 6 tonight we were over half way to our first port in Greenland called Nuuk. It is up the western coast a bit from the other ports which are on the southern edge of the continent. The temperature is in the low 40's.

It was a better day at sea for activities and everything we attended was packed. That is to be expected with the 3000 plus people aboard. We started the day with a Zumba workout. It was the not as hard as the first day even though it was the same instructor. They had another holiday shopping day – all items for $10.00. I also went to a basic photographic class. He covered many basic topics but it was a chance to do something different. The advanced class is to come later. They tried to hold a “chat with the cruise staff” about life

Medallion Board

at sea but most of the comments were about the lack of activities. For example, where are the port talks? Why is there only one lecture aboard? Etc. With 2000 elite (veteran Princess cruisers) people notice the differences on this ship. We took the time to watch an on demand movie, then had a small lunch in the Atrium.

    After a Neil Diamond tribute show, we stayed for the workshop by the Magician from last night. He demonstrated about 6 tricks and how to do them. They are not “magic”. I only guessed how part of 1 trick was done. He explained in detail how all were done so we can now amaze our friends. That took care of the afternoon except for a Rumba dance lesson.

    We did have our photos taken as tonight was the second formal night. We still have not heard about the Captain's party or the wine tasting. Before dinner we saw a new production show called Broadway Ballroom featuring music from Broadway hits. It is only on this ship. Our reaction was ok. There were only a few songs

Rainbow

that we recognized. Jersey Boys and Abba were included. The swells are down to 1 meter so they could safely perform. Other than the normal Effy jewellery and one game show, there were no other activities planned for the evening. We were along eating tonight. One couple had other arrangements and the other ate quickly in order to get to the show, We had a leisurely dinner which was very nice.

   As were are far north, the internet is spotty at best. I can get on in the middle of the night. Some of the posts may not be the “right” date. Last sea day tomorrow

Out Into The Atlantic

   When we left Sydney last night, the ship headed out into the Gulf of St Lawrence through the Straits of Belle Isle and then north to Greenland. The total run will be about 1200 miles. The seas had remained relatively calm but we are getting a little more rock as we moved along.

   The sea day started with our usual Zumba. The instructor was different today and she had more of a routine. It is what we have experienced on other ships. More people were there today. After a light breakfast, I did manage to find some port tees that were on sale. They are both from the Caribbean! not Greenland. We have not seen any Greenland tee shirts in the shops.

    We had raman noodles in the small buffet at the back of the ship. That buffet has limited choices which is a good thing. For lunch they alternate between a noodle station and a Mongolian stir fry station. They also have a Mexican station and a few other selections as well.

    We went to our first art auction since they changed to Park West many cruises ago. There was very little of interest on the entire afternoon. Most of the artists that we were familiar with are long gone. We also noticed that the works were more high end than before. There must have been collectors in the crowd because some works went for thousands of dollars. The bid price was a lot closer to the estimated price for most of the works. They also sell most of the works unframed which was another change from the past. It is probably the last time I will go to an auction this cruise.

   

Steamer's Dinner

 The main showtime was a magician. We had seen a number of the tricks like the rope cutting. The Princess theatre is so packed that they do a broadcast to one of the lounges.

We were scheduled to go to the Italian specialty restaurant tonight but we cancelled that and went to “Steamers”. You can get a basic seafood dinner for a lower price but we enhanced it with our certificate. You add king crab and lobster. The meal was excellent and we could not finish everything that they brought.

   They also held Country Western night which of course meant the electric slide! Enough said. 2 more sea days before we hit Greenland. The temperature is around 7C (44F) already.

Sydney Revisited

Old Church

Who Me?

     Today was our last stop before the 3 day transit to Greenland. Weather is looking good there but you never know. We have been to Sydney a few times before on transatlantic crossings. We had travel this area years ago so for us there was not a lot to do except to go ashore and wander. It took about 3 hours to see the entire city. Along the was we stopped at the Tim Horton's and a rest. We talked to a very nice couple from Arizona who had travelled a lot in Canada. They said that they met someone else from Windsor! There are about 500 Canadians on the cruise and we have yet to meet any. We have only met some of the 2000 Americans onboard!

Beaver Tail Truck

 

Big Fiddle

   We walked the main road and the older parts of the city where all the brightly coloured older houses are located. There are a number of old churches which we saw. In one the women were dresses in Victorian era clothes.

When we got back to the dock, Judy wanted a beaver tail from a local vendor. They have a wonderful local craft area filled with jewellery. Judy did manage to find something.

   The rest of the day was spent watching a movie which they have “on demand”. We went to see a comedy juggler. For jugglers he put on a good show. Because we attend the “early show” (6:30) there was little to do later in the evening. We hope that in the next 3 days that they fill it with more “late night” activities. Judy medallion was not working again! (and again!) Sea routines the next 3 days.

Loretta and Bernie Excellent Halifax Tour

   What a wonderful day in Halifax. We spent the entire time with friends Loretta and Bernie. This is the third time we have stopped in Halifax and Loretta and Bernie have toured us. They picked us up at 8:30 and we were off for the day. Our first stop was a trail out to a headland outside of Halifax.

Along The Coast

Bernie leads the way

 We walked along the rugged shoreline for about an 2 hours enjoying the wonderful sunny day. The scenery was the typical wonderful Nova Scotia coastline as shown in the photo. It was a great time to catch up on the each other. We can't say enough about how much we enjoyed the hike. It was like a practice for our upcoming Greenland hikes.

The Hikers

    After the hike we went back to their condo located right on Bedford basin. The area has really changed since we were last in the area years ago. After refreshing drinks, lunch was the best lobster roll that anyone could expect. They have an absolute great location and condo. We did take some time to stroll along the Bedford waterfront where they live. We suggested that they should go into the private tour business for cruise passengers. They would be continually booked! In all no matter what is in store for us in the future of this cruise this will be a highlight.

    They dropped us off along the waterfront in downtown Halifax and we strolled back to the ship. The area was very crowded as there were 2 other cruise ships docked near our ship. 

 Back aboard, we took a quick dip in the pool and when we returned to our cabin, the new

Halifax Memorial

system would not open our cabin door. We were locked out until someone from the ship came and opened it for us. Judy needed her 'medallion' reprogrammed. It worked when we returned.

   We did get to the main show. He was a piano entertainer/comedian who was elected Princess entertainer of the year. It was a very good show. Dinner followed. We were too late for the dance class (scheduled during our late sitting). With little going on, we decided to end the day. We are in Sydney tomorrow and are planning to wander around.

Moving To Halifax

   We are sailing along up the east coast on our way to Halifax. The schedule had very few things to do. We did Zumba first. The leader was in a full zumba mode and it certainly was not gold level as we have seen on ship before. It was a very a hard work out. Judy loved it. The ship scheduled the enrichment lecture at the same time and it was the only real activity of the day. There was very little to do after the exercise. We went to the “big” sale, nothing there. The we went to the lecture on the ports which turned into a commercial for the Effy stores. The only part that we heard about the ports was “ we have some interesting tours planned”. We did the waltz ballroom dance class and had the pub lunch.

 

Eating Noodles!

    Bravo production show was in the evening. We had seen it before. It was formal night with the waterfall followed by the Captain's speech. All activities were “planned” at the same time.

    The ship pushes the “medallion” system at every point. Gone are many things like an introduction of who the cruise staff are, activities that do not involve shopping, etc. For example formal nights in the past were really played up. Narry a mention. The production show ended after our dinner start time. The last was while e were eating. I hope that the time change as we go on.

     We did go to the comic and he was very funny! We had not seen him before. After, we managed a glass of champagne but missed most of the Captain's speech. Being formal night, chocolate journey was served for dessert. In all a good meal.

Halifax tour tomorrow.

Joining the Caribbean Princess

   We made it to the ship today. Breakfast and another stroll in Central park was enough to get us to our 11 am pick up time. Our drive was waiting for us – boy is having a working cell phone the berries! There was a bit of panic (me) when we tried to open the safe to get our passports, etc. Apparently when I punch in the code to lock it, my fat fingers hit the wrong numbers. So of course it stayed locked! This was about 20 minutes before our pick up. A quick call and hotel security showed up immediately and we were back in business! Stressed gone, ready for a ride to the terminal.

    Driver was great, luxury SUV was nice and cool. 30 minutes later we were in Brooklyn. Funny thing, nobody was in the check in terminal! We were early and expected a huge crowd. Nobody was here. We were among the first to get on the ship. The usual paperwork was there but we were surprised with a small shipboard credit added to our account and a 2^nd specialty dinner. Who knows where that came from!

NY Skyline

About 2 hours later the announced that the cabins were now ready. We had moved in right after getting aboard. Daisy our steward did not say anything then as our room was ready. On this ship they have what is called Medallion service. No more cruise cards, nothing but a tablet device to unlock doors, etc. Everyone carries a tablet and you scan your small Medallion to order, buy, etc. That was our check in. Of course you can sign up for the full service but I don't want to gamble in the room, order drinks to exotic locations in the ship, etc. All we want is internet which is the elite perk. When I tried to log in, error occurs. It will work out but it took the edge off a neat new gadget that they flog for $20 a day! I would rather order a Manhattan! Finally the fast internet was working. The ship was in refit recently and they have upgraded many areas of the ship. The food court and the food choices are looking very modern.

From The Ship

   The rest of the day was spent as usual. Tea in the International Cafe, safety demonstration and more wandering. Our fixed dining is the late sitting at 7:15. That is the earliest late dinning time we have ever had. Menu tonight included the welcome aboard prime roast dinner. We always look forward to that! We did not even come close to seeing the comedian as our server was slow as is usual for the first night.

   We went right back to our cabin as there was little going on around the ship. Our luggage had finally arrived. We were among the first to get aboard and the last to receive our luggage! Go figure. Sea routine tomorrow!

Big Bus Tour of New York

     Today was tour New York by Big Red bus day. We were out for over 12 hours which made for a long tiring day. We had a big breakfast in the hotel, then headed for the Rockerfeller Centre to go to the Top Of The Rock. It is an observatory about 70 stories up that is north of the Empire State Building. We had been up that one before. This one gave us views all the way back to lower Manhattan (World Trade Centre) as well as north to Central Park. Unfortunately it was not the best day for photos.

South From Top of the Rock

    From there we headed to Times Square to pick up the Big Red Bus hop on hop off tour. It takes about 2 hours to do the complete cycle. “Luckily” it was Sunday and we were told that the traffic was not that bad! We had decided to only get off at the site of the world trade centre. A new tower is up. We walked the grounds which is a total dedication to 9/11 except for a new structure holding many stores.

New World Trade Centre

    We toured the 9/11 dedicated memorial collection. If you want to see how deep the terrorist act has affected Americans go see this collection. One exhibit had a photograph of every single victim. It is extremely well done and by the time we were in the hall that recalled the events step by step (minute by minute?) we had seen enough. It was very sad. It was like going through the entire tragedy again. Perhaps it was because that day is deeply imprinted on us! The area was very crowded and it seemed a bit “cramped” so you had this feeling of being closed in! We spent a lot of time in there but we could have stayed another hour. Outside are the 2 reflecting pools where the towers stood. In the centre is a deep pit (can't see the bottom from the side). Again very well done. We have been to ground zero in Nagasaki, the site of then atomic bomb blast. The memorial was quite simple in comparison.

   From there we walked over to Wall Street to see the

On The Bus

famous bull which we had seen on an earlier tour. At Battery Park we caught the bus for the return to Times Square. We used our ticket to hop on another tour bus that took us north to the area of Central Park. That is when the skies opened up and we were drenched as sat on the upper open deck of the bus. They did give us rain ponchos. It did cool down the 95F heat index. Drenched, we got off that bus and decided to re ride the main bus. That was a mistake as the rain returned, so we moved to the lower area of the bus. Of course you can't see much from there especially since the rain continued.

   Finally finished touring, had a quick bite and then decided to go back to Times Square again. However not “much” was going on and being a bit tired we decided to end the day still wet from the downpours. We head to the ship tomorrow!

New York, Central Park, Jersey Boys and Times Square

    We were up early for our flight to the big city. A message on our phone said that the 8 am flight was delayed by 30 minutes. Not to worry as we had a 60 minute wait in Toronto anyway. We did get to the airport well in advance (6:30). Yesterday when I did the pre check in, I could not do it. Judy was fine. After 3 tries of not letting me do it, I called Porter and told that there was extra security required for me. Our luggage was opened (fortunately I was there) and the agent went through everything including the explosive swab. Fine. Then it was the security check point. Shoes, watch, belt, wallet, etc. All went into the scanner. After that I had the pat down. It was very through. Even the bottom of my feet. Then the baggage inspection. They checked the inside of my wallet! This was all due to a random check. It was my number that came up. Finally through. Then the wait!

      So our departure was delayed for an hour and when we arrived in Toronto, our plane had already left. So much for time to walk around in New York. The next flight was full and we put on the noon flight. Of course we still had to go through U.S. Customs in Newark. What a start to our New York days.

Central Park

   We had a good bit of humour on the NY flight. Somehow we ended up in seats 1A and 1B. “The front of the plane.” Now that was nice. Porter gave us our glass of wine shortly after take off. About 2 minute later we hit a bit of rough air. Judy and I were holding these full wine glasses away from our seats and the wine was splashing all over us and the floor. She started to laugh. Few things cause her to laugh for a long period of time. I guess that broke the ice about being delayed.

Times Square

Customs was slick. Scan the passport, click a picture and answer the on screen questions and go. Agent was very friendly! I wish crossing into Detroit was like that.       Airport transfer was quick as well. We were at the hotel by 3. We are only a few blocks from Central Park so we did a quick walk in the Park on a very hot sunny day. We did some sight seeing after that and then grabbed something to eat.

We walked to our Jersey Boys show which lasted about 2 1/2 hours with a short break. I found the first part a little slow as they filled in the back story. After that it rolled along nicely. Quite enjoyable. 

  After that we were only about a 20 minute walk from Times Square so we took that in as well. Talk about people. Jammed with people enjoying themselves. We stopped at the Hershey store for a bit of chocolate (samples were being given out) and finally headed back to the hotel. A very long day ended!

New York To Greenland and Back

   After the winter spent in Florida and our quick cruise to Hawaii in February, we thought that we would not look to cruise again until next year. So here we are ready to go again! We heard about this cruise about 8 months ago as it was featured in a weekly article about cruising in our newspaper. When the opportunity to cruise to Greenland out of New York arose, it was too good to resist. It is a bit off the beaten path and we don't think that are many cruises dedicated to Greenland. Other cruises do stop there occasionally.

    This will be cruise number 25 on the Princess Line. This cruise is a 16 day adventure starting and ending in New York. No long trans ocean flights for this one. It has a total of 6 stops. Halifax and Sydney Nova Scotia are the stops in Canada heading north. 3 sea days later we arrive at the first of 3 stops in Greenland. Then we head back to New York with a stop in Newfoundland before getting back to New York. The Full schedule is as follows:

   We have been to Iceland twice but have never explored Greenland. It is a bit off the normal cruise route. In fact this a relatively “new” itinerary for Princess. It only sails there once this year and will repeat it again next summer.

We have booked tours for the 3 stops in Greenland. When we first booked the cruise there were no scheduled tours. Princess added a few later. All 3 of our tours involve hikes with about 20 people. We are looking forward to some really interesting scenery.

The Caribbean Princess carries 3100 passengers and was refurbished in May 2019. It will be the 2nd time on this ship. We have a balcony on the Riveria deck. The last time on this ship we did a trans Atlantic out of Houston. The ship has all the familiar venues including the International Cafe, the small food bar in the atrium which is where we like to gather for daily tea and small meals .

    As frequent Princess passengers, we are ready to enjoy the perks of being “Elite”.  Free laundry, on board credits, free internet, mini bar and wine tasting are part of it! We did receive paid gratuities on this cruise. Thanks to Stacey our agent at the Automobile Association, we will again enjoy dining in a specialty restaurant!

   We leave Saturday morning August Wednesday 17^th for New York and will spend the weekend in New York before joining the ship on Monday. While in New York we will do the tourist thing including a Broadway performance of The Jersey Boys. It should be fun.

      I hope to report on each day but the New York reports may have to wait until we are on the ship. I try to post in the late evening each day and we only have 2 time changes on this cruise. The posts will be “real time”. We will try to answer any and all emails that we received.

    The ship must be fully booked because we received an offer to give up our spot for a few future perks.  Fat Chance!