Going Back To Tampa: 23 March 2023 The Final Leg

   Going home after a cruise is never the easiest of days. We were up early and expected to be off the ship by 7:30. We headed down to our assigned lounge and heard the announcement that we were already called about 20 minutes before. Actually a good thing because the crowd had moved on by then. We cleared Spanish arrival immigration; found our luggage in the few that remained and were on the bus in very short order. It was probably the best departure from a cruise that we have ever ha porters all over the place. At the airport all the luggage was taken off the bus and ready to go.

  The delta check in was quick enough as I had done all the getting ready stuff a few days ago. Then the wait which did not seam that long. Then the 9 hour flight to JFK. The food was probably the best we have had on a flight in a long time. Of course on international flights they serve wine, then refill. Always a bonus. We settled in to watch movies or sleep.

   Next up was the arrival at JFK. We were on time getting here and tried for an earlier flight to Tampa. No luck so we settled in for a few hours. About an hour before we were scheduled to go they cancelled the flight because they did not have a crew. We had to rebook for the next day. That took a bit but they did give us a food voucher and a room voucher for the Crown Plaza. Boy this airport is huge. We finally got the shuttle stop ( by sky train) and made the hotel by 8. Easy check in and then quickly to bed. The shuttle for the morning flight left at 4:30. We could not sleep anyway. We tried again for the direct flight but it was oversold by 5 seat so no chance of getting that one. Back to the flight to Atlanta and then to Tampa. Got “breakfast on the voucher”. Ready and boarded on time. Should be in Atlanta with 90 minutes to spare,

 This is the point where it becomes a flight from hell. We sat on the ground for just short of 2 hours with not chance of making our next flight. First it was loading luggage and then it was a mechanical problem. SURE! Then we had to contend with rebooking to Tampa, We finally arrived in Atlanta. Good thing they rebooked us on standby and then a definite seat on a later flight. We made the earlier flight and finally arrived in Tampa around 4 pm. Charlie was waiting and got us home quickly. So about 40 hours after we started, we were home.

 The cruise was very were not expected. CHANGE. However we will be ready to go when we find a good cruise to take. Maybe Alaska!

Last Port: Palma de Mallorca: 22 March 2023

   We are at the last stop before heading home tomorrow from Barcelona. Needless to say going ashore for some sight seeing and then packing was the order of the day.

  We did not schedule a tour today. This is the first time we have been to this city and we always like to just travel on our and get a feel for the city. Again today we started with breakfast in the dinning room for a very nice no hurry since we had plenty of time to go ashore.We did not schedule a tour today. This is the first time we have been to this city and we always like to just travel on our and get a feel for the city. Again today we started with breakfast in the dinning room for a very nice no hurry since we had plenty of time to go ashore.

We decided to skip the shuttle and just walk to the old palace and the cathedral which is almost the height of St. Peter's in Rome. We thought it was a short walk from the ship. Actually is was over an hour walk. We could see it but the harbour is very large and we had to walk around the whole thing. Our first stop was the Almudaina Palace. It was constructed as a Moorish fort in the 13^th century and became an official royal residence during the reigh of James 1 in the 24^th century. You could tell it probably was a fort because of the narrow passageways and thick walls.

Next to the palace was the cathedral know as La Seu but officially known as the Cathedral of Palma de Mallorca. They started building it in 1230 and finished it in 1601, It was a classic Gothis church with large towers, gargoyles, a bell tower with 9 bells, stained glass windows, high vaulted ceilings, etc. It has been updated many times so some of the areas in the interior are more recent. Gaudi worked on areas of it. We did come across more school kids on tours but the church is so big you hardly noticed.

  By the time we finished it was already early afternoon so we decided to just walk back to the ship. I think having 4 ports in 4 days begins to take its toll. We much prefur the fall crossing where you have all the ports early in the cruise and then have sea days to sit back and relax.

  After we getting back to the ship it was time to pack, always a thankless task but something necessary. Since we packed all our clothes, we had to wear travel cloths to dinner. Dinner tonight was surf and turf. We said goodbye to our dinner companions of the last 13 days nd then headed off to the farewell show. We left before it was finished as we have to be up early tomorrow. It will be a long day.

A Walk Around Cartagena: 21 March 2023

  Today was a day where we did not have to be somewhere specific. We started with breakfast in the dinning room since we had plenty of time to go ashore. We have been to Cartagena before and decided to just do a walkabout. We had planned to go see the fortress and the Roman Theatre but never got there. There was another cruise ship in today so the main streets were very busy. In addition it was school visit day or something like that. There were bus loads of kids all over the place ranging in age from kindergartner to high school. I think they all wanted to go to the Roman theatre. We decided to skip that.

We decided to head to the city market which is always a good place to soak up some local activity. This market was smaller than many markets that we have seen and basically sold fish. There were a few meat markets and a few stalls that had more varieties of olives than you can imagine. There was one very interesting wine store. There were 6 kegs with a tap. I guess you bring your own bottle and just tap off what you want. It was a very new experience.

From there we went looking for a portion of the original Punic Wall that surrounded the city. I think we found it but it was hard to tell. A stop at the military museum and we started back to the harbour. Judy wanted a chiros. However no matter how hard we looked, no chiros. She said there must be one like a chip wagon. We did find them the last time we were here.

However we did come cross the Archaeological Park. The excavations started in 2008 which probably explains why we missed it. It was an entire Roman set of ruins. They are probably the largest of this type that we have seen outside of Italy. They were very well reconstructed with plenty of signs in English explaining the buildings and the function of each area. Well worth the visit,

Not having found the chiros and a bit weary from the past few long days, we headed back to the ship for a refreshment and a bit of lunch. The rest of the afternoon was spent with a short nap.

It was suppose to be a formal evening tonight but instead it was a Dress to Impress night what ever that means. I was going to wear shorts. We did manage to get to the lounge for a Manhattan for me, water for Judy. Dinner was good as usual but we still don't like it. The staff will tell you that they prefer the fixed dining in 1 dinning room, anytime in the other 2. We enjoy the same waiter every night but he seems to be run off his feet most nights. We notice the difference in a lot of little things. However Dexter, the area supervisor keeps us laughing and does visit every night. We hit it off the first night.  Dinner tonight was lobster which we have been waiting to have for a few nights.  Dessert was a chocolate journey one that is "special".  It was very good.  We did go to the entertainment but left because the singer was doing an Elton John Tribute but it wasn't very interesting.  We cut out early.

Tomorrow is our last port. We do not have a tour but will just walk around. We have not been to Palma Mallorca so that should be good. We may even take the shuttle into town but we will see. The weather has been sunny and pleasant.

Granada On A Full Day Tour: 20 March 2023

   Today's start time was a little better as we did not need to be ready in the Princess theatre until7:45. Everything went prety well and the bus was loaded and ready to go. Then we just sat! After we pulled out the bus stopped and 7 “late” passengers came “walking” to the bus like of course you would wait for us! The bus ride was suppose to be 2 hours but we were already 30 minutes late. On our way all vehicles on the highway were pulled over to the rest stop and the police were going through all the cars. One women was being swabbed! We simply got off the bus but the police talked to the bus driver. We had no idea what was going on. Exciting to say the least.

 

Granada was the location of the Moor empire that lasted for 800 years so there was plenty of indications in the city itself. It was very disappointing that we did not have a chance to visit the Alhambra complex which I thought we would do. Instead most of the tour concentrated on the Catholic history of the area and of Spain. We visited a chapel that was built specifically for the king and queen who had the biggest impact on Spain in the 15^th century. The tour guide went into minute detail about all the paintings and paintings on the altar. Interesting but way too much detail. Next we went into the very large cathedral that took over 100 years to construct. We have been in many European churches and this was on the same level of the best. After that we did a walking tour of the oldest (Moor) part of the city. Lunch followed and then we were on our way back to Malaga. In all it was a very short visit.

We rated the tour guide as #3 out of the 3 tours that we took. On the walking tour she just keep walking (quickly) with some people finding it hard to keep up. After visiting the church one of the people on the tour pointed had to point out that we were missing 1 person. She did not seem to be concerned. The woman was quickly found bit it could have been a disaster. So we were not impressed with her.

We did manage to get ready in time to have a drink with people we have met on this cruise. We had a full table (6) for dinner and then we took in the production show. It is brand new and was very futuristic. It was probably the best of the 3 new shows that were designed for this new Princess ship.

 Tomorrow we are in Cartagena, a port that we have been to before. No touring, just some things we can see on our own.

Seville On A Full Day Tour: 19 March 2023

 We had to be in the Princess theatre at 7 am this morning to join our full day tour to Seville. We docked at Cadiz but needed a 2 hour bus ride to visit Seville. Needless to say it was a long day.

We had a good guide who got us to the Seville and the first stop which was the site of the 1929 world fair. Of course the architecture is completely different from what we are use to in Canada. We did have a chance to explore the complex. Most of the buildings are now used as government offices. Being Sunday everything was closed. However Seville was very crowded with many tourists. We were quite surprised to see so many tourist there so early in the season. Seville was a very important trading city receiving much of the tobacco and other goods that came from North America.

The next stop was a palace that was built withe the cross styles of Italy and the Moorish influence. We did have a local guide who used a fm system which made it very easy to follow the talk. The palace is located in the old part of the city. We then walked through the “old” Jewish section of the city. Most Jews were ordered out of the country hundreds of years ago as the king wanted Spain to be a Catholic country. It remains a very religious country today.

As we walked through the narrow streets we came across a “practice” for one of the upcoming parades. Easter is a very special time in Spain. Each church will carry a statue from their church through the streets to the main cathedral and back. The platform is very heavy and is carried by 25? men under the platform. They walk with someone calling the cadence. We just happened to come across one of the practices. There will be 61 of these individual church parades around Easter time. We did see the old wall of the city and the cathedral. It started as a Mosque built back when the Moors controlled Spain but was converted to a cathedral after they were driven out.

We had lunch in one of the downtown hotels. The best part was the bottle of wine on the table – the other 2 people did not drink. After we had some free time to walk around the main shopping area. We elected to walk down and along the river. the 2 hour ride back to the ship. It was a long day and the bus was quite quiet on the ride back to Cadiz.

Back at the ship we finally got some internet. That is why all the posts were done today. It took a bit of time to post all the posts since we started this cruise. A quick drink, dinner with another couple from California and then early to bed was the order of the day. We have another full tour tomorrow.

Last Sea Day Before Spain: 18 March 2023

 After a tiring day touring all day yesterday and then the time change last night we had a good night's sleep. We were able to get to the 9 am line dancing session. Same old stuff. The instructor again forgot some of the steps of the dances. We were doing the Cupid Shuffle. I think someone in the front row told him about the mistake. We ended the class with the Jerusalema dance, That is the one where he needed help.

It seems that for us there are not enough things to do. However that may be because we don't do trivia and avoid the bingo games. After the class we went to the special 3 hour end of season sale where they sell all the old t-shirts. Since they just left the Caribbean they usually have some for sale. This one had all the new ones on sale. They were about 80% more than the last time we were on a ship and no discount as on other items. I did get 2 and Judy did find a nice black one. A cup of tea and a destination talk on Barcelona rounded out the morning.

We did sit in on another Deal or No Deal game show. It is just another form of gambling run by the casino. I must admit they have a pretty slick presentation with the computer generated boxes, the banker, etc. My advice was always take the money. Everybody that we have seen (4) ended with very little. We did see the final cosmos talk. This one was on the sun. Always interesting with great pictures. After that is was nap time, then cocktails (Manhattan of course) and dinner. Our random couple tonight were from Detroit so they knew where Windsor was located. After we sat and listened to Static, probably the best band on the ship. A few dances and an early turn in were in order. We have a 6 am wake up call for an all day tour leaving at 7:30. Seville here we come.

Around The Island: 17 March 2023

 

 We finished our 7 straight days at sea and finally landed at Mederia. We have been here before but it was nice to finally get to a port. One of the things about an Atlantic crossing at this time of year is that all the sea days are first. We have one more sea day and then 5 daysof ports before heading home. We booked a fully day tour of the island since we had not seen very much of it before. We were gone by 9:30 and came back at 5:30. We did 5 stops. The first was a small sea side village with great views of one of the highest cliffs in the world. We had some time to walk around and get a feel for the town. The next stop was at the highest point on Funchal in the middle of the island. We were crossing from the south coast to the north coast. We were headed to Soa Vicente, another coastal town where we had lunch in a very nice restaurant right at the water. It was tasty and they did serve lots of wine. Needless to say it was a success. The highlight might have been that they had free wifi and people were using the internet to call all over. I was able to finally download some messages. However back at the ship tonight the wifi was “working (there was a signal) but it would not download anything.

   After lunch we drove along the coast to Porto Moniz which has a number of ocean swimming pools. They were closed because the waves were too strong. However the crashing waves made for some nice pictures. The area was used to film some parts of another Star Wars movie to be released in the future. From there we headed back to the ship, making a stop at a sugar cane producing factory. They turn the cane into molasses and then into rum. We had a taste of some local drink made from the rum. By the time we got back to the ship it was nearly sailing time.

  Dinner tonight was shared with 2 new couples; one American and the other from Great Britain. Everyone had interesting things to say but we missed our regular dinner companion. They went to a specialty restaurant for their anniversary. Today was St Patrick's Day and they had a “party” but we elected to see the comic. What a bust. Very few people laughed in the 45 show.

Another time change tonight, the last one for the cruise. Tomorrow is our last sea day.

Last Of The Sea Days: 16 March 2023

 There was a hint of internet today but it still won't send messages. It just grinds away. Perhaps by tonight we will be able to get a bit more news. We had another don't call it zoomba class this morning which we were up early enough for. The Princess Theatre evening entertainment on this ship is not like it use to be. They have the same person back for “another show” and if you did not care for it one night there is no point in going back. One of the headliners was the piano player from the bar. Everything so far has been singers. To me they downsized this part of their program. It has been a very lazy day for us. After exercise and breakfast, we did manage to get to a port lecture on Cartagena. It is one of the ports that we did not book a tour. We have been before but I think that we have a better idea of what to see this time. Everything of interest is within walking distance of where the ship will be docked. Then we just sat with a cup of tea and watched the officers do “YMCA” followed by the ballroom dance lesson. We did go to the presentation on Saturn. As to be expected, there was overlap with some of the other lectures on the cosmos that we have seen. He is the more interesting of the two lecturers. After that we retired for a bit.

We did turn in our mini-bar which is a bit redundant when everything is available with our package. We got a bottle of wine instead. Just what we need, more wine. It has been nice to just order a Manhattan every night but most of the time we get the bottled water from the bar. We did put in a future cruise deposit just in case we want to cruise again with Princess.

It was the second formal night tonight. Judy ordered tuna for our appetizers. They were ok but we had just had a piece of pizza for lunch. We were in the Elite lounge for drinks with our table mates and then had a very nice dinner. They seated a couple from Toronto tonight. She was a teacher who had exchanged to Australia 9 years after we did. It was interesting to compare notes with here. What are the chances of meeting a teacher from Ontario who had been on exchange? There was a production show tonight – Spotlight Bar. Again it was good but there did not to seem to be a theme except that it was set in a bar. I guess that is the way of the new shows. I did not recognize much of the music. No time change tonight and Maderia tomorrow. We have a full day tour. We have been here couple of times but have never seen the island. We hope to get some good photos. No time change tonight! Yea.

A Surprise At Sea: 15 March 2023

  There was a bit of a surprise this afternoon. Way back when were filling in all the relative info for this cruise, I checked off that it we were celebrating our anniversary on the 15^th. Now the 15^th is the right day but our actual anniversary is the 15th of June. In the past Princess puts a sign on the door with happy anniversary. Just as we got back to the cabin to get ready for dinner, a steward appears with a dozen roses and some appetizers that were complements of the Assistant hotel manager. That was a surprise. Then we got a visit from the housekeeping supervisor checking to make sure all was ok and another Happy Anniversary. Then we received a phone call from passenger services responding to our written comments asking us how they did the first few days. Judy took that one because she had completed the form. A busy late afternoon.

We were up for the early (9:00am) line dance class this morning even though there we advanced the time again last night. Same basic dances. The staff member forgot the steps that he had taught the other day. Eventually he got all of the steps in. The development of ships and a bit of a break; then the game show Deal or No Deal was held. It cost $25 for a ticket; they pick 2 people to try to win the $1000 prize. The first group up were people from LaSalle! They did not win. It was good for something to do. A walk and then a lecture on Mars followed.

Off to our wine tasting. We never did get our cheese and crackers and the old glasses were left on the table. The waiters filled the glasses all at once which is not the way they have done it before. However we met some very nice people from Vancouver. We returned and then the door knocking began. That is when all the anniversary stuff happened.

At dinner the couple we met at the wine tasting joined us – just by chance. They are from Vancouver. They were a pleasant addition. At dinner we had a special dessert – chocolate of course. We skipped the singer and stayed in the Vista lounge. When we got back to our room we had heart streamers hanging from the ceiling and an arrangement of kissing swans made out of towels! Another WOW. Princess seemed to really go “all out” but we have never celebrated any occasion on the ship before this time.

Another time change tonight with one more to go!

Great Weather At Sea: 14 March 2023

   We were up “early” again this morning. That attraction was at 9 this morning in the atrium they had a rhythmic dance class with Nikki from Taiwan. That is a way of saying there was a “zoomba” session. Only a certified instructor can do zoomba so they change the name and basically just do exercises to music. It was a good workout for about 45 minutes but it was definitely not at the level of a real zoomba class. After a bit of a rest we were upon the outside track walking for about 30 minutes. 7 laps of the track equates to a mile and we try to do that a few times a day.

We did attend the lecture life on the ocean wave but that was just something to do while we worked our way (slowly for me) through the sudoku puzzles. As we sat and had a small lunch there was a chocolate demonstration in the atrium. We already had a table so that was a good place to just sit.

Somewhere in that time frame a brief burst of internet came back. It downloaded some emails but not the content of most of them. I think 1 of mine got transmitted but now we are without again. I check it a few times a day. The net was in and out all day but maybe Princess has paid their bill! When it does come back I want to post all the blogs that I have managed to keep up to date.

Comets and meteorites was topic of the Cosmos speaker and of course he had some spectacular photos of many as he explained what they are and how they work. He is interesting but still the best enrichment programs we have ever heard were the ones on the Titanic, DNA, and cars. We decided to sit in the sun for a bit and watch a movie under the “stars”. The movie was Bohemian Rhopsody. It was a good reason to just be outside. Most of the dialogue could not be heard but the Queen music was great.

Dinner with our new friends were great. We did see the piano player's show and then stopped in at the rock and roll celebration in the Vista Lounge. Another time change tonight!

Sunny Days In The Atlantic! 13 March 2023

  Even with the time change last night we were up early enough to get to the dining room for breakfast. If was not very busy and we were able to try the line dancing at 9 this morning. As to be expected the dances are simple but the instructors know little about the steps and certainly have no idea about the count which is the way we learn a dance. Once the music is on we can fill in he “gaps” and just enjoy the movement. So many people had trouble with the dance that he had to do it as a one wall dance. It is country western night tonight but we will be having dinner at the same time.

We did attend the port lecture on Malaga although we have a full day tour to Granada so we will not have time for anything else. We did do our puzzles during the talk on D Gama who opened up the sea routes to the east but the lecture turned into 45 minutes of the different types of curry. The speaker should be put on a boat and set adrift!

We were back at the pizza restaurant after we did our laps of the “running” (read walking) track. It is another beautiful day with temperatures in the mid 70”s and barely a movement of the ship. In fact it has been pretty calm since we left. We sat for tea and watched the egg drop contest. Everybody got some type of prize which was good PR. Some of the devices were very interesting and it is amazing that an egg survives the 2 story fall.

Judy watch a movie before we were back to the theatre listen to the cosmos talk. This one was on the moon. The photos are great and the lecturer has a very easy way of presenting the material. It was a very entertaining lecture although it was late in the afternoon and gave us little time to get ready for the Captain's Circle party. Our table mates delayed their dinner while we were there. The party ran pretty well as usual with a few drinks some music, the regular speeches, etc. It is one thing that has not “changed”. There are about 600 elite passengers onboard which means they had to have 3 or 4 of these receptions. The Commodore (captain) breezed in said the words took the photo and was gone in a few minutes. We did meet a very nice woman travelling by herself who we invited to go to dinner with us. We were one of the last to leave the dining room and by the time we got to the show, it was already well underway.

  We did get a few minutes of internet as I noticed that the phone had downloaded a few messages but other than that nothing yet. Apparently we are still between satellites! SURE as Judy would say!

Another Day at Sea! 12 March 2023

With the long day yesterday and the time change last night, needless to say we slept in again. Part of that is because there is very little going. The schedule had line dancing this morning at 9 so there was no chance of even trying to make that. Besides after the crowded floor and same steps on all the dances, it was not worth the effort.

Breakfast at the buffet was followed by some walks around the deck. Actually they have a nice walk on the highest deck. On this ship you can't walk the entire promenade deck. It just stops. All the tenders are on that deck. We did find where they “hide” the sudoku. Actually people asked us where we got it. They are not where they say they place them! We did miss the Cadez destination port lecture but saw it in our cabin later in the day.

 So we did attend the lecture on how Maderia wine came to be made. An add on was all the things that were discovered by mistakes like microwaves, post it notes, etc. After a small bit of lunch we saw the presentation on telescopes. It was not as interesting as the first Cosmos presentation but I never realized how many telescopes there are in the world and how many are in space. A towel folding demo in the Atrium was interesting. In all the cruises we have taken we never have seen one.

Needless to say the internet is still not working as apparently we are between satellites! It is the monkey in the room but has lead to an interesting point. You watch people trying to check their phones (me too I guess) and then putting them down. We have heard people are going to the passenger services desk complaining. Statements like I am paying for this but it is useless. And merrily we roll along and still I can't send these. Eventually there will be a whole bunch sent at once!

We have managed to fill the days. We having been using the stairs every time we go up and down and have taken to the the track a few times a day. We are still getting over 10,000 steps in a day which is the goal. We don't seem to know how to just sit in the sun.

We ended the day with a nice roast beef dinner. We skipped the entertainer (more puppets) and since we have another time change tonight, decided to turn in early. We want to try to get to a dinning venue tomorrow for breakfast and then try the line dancing again.

Atlantic Blues! 11 March 2023

     Well here we are! We don't know when we will be able to send this as the internet has been out for over a day and the excuse remains we are between satellites and need to switch over. More than once today I told someone from the ship that we have done may crossing in both the Atlantic and Pacific and although things might be slow we always were able to get a connection. We were down at the services desk and they immediately said that we are getting a credit for should not having the net. I suggested that Princess pay the bill! We asked about our package benefits which said that we were allowed gelatto but had been refused. Oh you are on the old package and this ship is using the new, more expensive updated one that started 2 weeks ago. However the information in our room never said that! Are we happy to still getting drinks or is that changed as well. Needless to say we are not very happy about the change. We really hope things improve!So we had another good night's rest waking just before 9 this morning. We missed the time for breakfast in a dining venue so we managed in the “World Market Place” a fancy name for buffet.

   

 We did attend a lecture on Funchal (packed) but we have booked a full tour there. We have been to the city at least 2 times that I can remember so we are doing an around the island tour. We did attend the “Age of Discovery” lecture but Judy said it reminded her of her high school history class except she could not sleep in the class! A nice soup and sandwich lunch was followed by a “Cruising Through The Cosmos” which was very interesting. The speaker is an astronomer who just comments on the many wonderful universe photos. No notes as opposed to the other lecturer who reads everything. It made the day pleasant. One highlight is that we met 2 people from Ontario that we called 3 and 4. That is the number of Canadian we have met out of the 500 plus.

The final thing was line dancing in the crowded piazza. I did not expect much but they even “ruined” Jerusalea with some made up version. Having just taught that dance it was very hard to follow all the stuff in it. That ended the day.

It was formal night night tonight. Our snacks arrived early but they were not very tasty. Luckily I had a beer with me to help ease the pain! The champagne waterfall celebrations preceded dinner. There was a production show tonight “Rock Opera”. We had not seen this show before. It had all the bells and whistles that they like to put into a show with singing dancing costume changes, etc. Actually if there was a theme both Judy and I did not see one. Judy liked it me, not so much. After that we did take in the show by the comedian from the other night but we did not think his material was as good. In all it was a late night and then we had another time change. That makes the day very long!

Headed East: 10 March 2023

 We are sailing out into the Atlantic. So far smooth sailing with just a bit of a roll. With the long day and the time change of course it was late before we even though of waking up. The schedule had very few things to do. For some reason no zumba today which was a good thing. We did not even have much time for breakfast. Just a fast coffee before the first enrichment lecture. The lecture was on the real pirates of the Caribbean. Maybe he was left over from the last cruise. It was interesting enough. There was very little to do after that. The Medallion apt is suppose to work on the phone but no deal. First they needed to download something and then reconnect. The internet has not worked all day. The problem as explained is that the ship is switching over to a European satellite. SURE as Judy likes to say.

After lunch at the “small” buffet we did get back to the tour desk and booked the final 2 tours that we wanted. They are all day tours in Spain. We plan to just wander in the other 2 ports. Back to the theatre for another lecture. Cruising Through The Solar System was based on the planets. The speaker was much better and the subject matter very interesting. After that we had just enough time to get to “line dancing”. Don't breath or you bump into someone. The leader was entertaining. After we finished a lady came up to us and said we were the best couple. No Lie! WOW! Of course the dancing was “very primitive” as we expected.

There are many things that have changed in the ship's routines. A lot of subtle things but definitely different. This ship has photos along the passage ways that were submitted by passengers. I did send some a couple of times and I have one on another ship. I will try to see if any of the other ones are framed somewhere in the fleet. Not all the photos would be given a 10!

Rest time followed until we headed to the Elite lounge for pre dinner snacks. Then to dinner. We do have an assigned table now. Seems they were reluctant to do that but we are at a table for 6. One couple will be there for the duration. The other 2 spots will be filled each night with someone different.

The show was a not very good impressionist singer with pupits. Judy hates them. The internet is still out so this will be posted later. Still can't get the photos downloaded because of the internet. Between satellites. SURE. We have done many crossings and never lost some type of internet.

Joining the Enchanted Princess

    We made it to the ship today. I was up early before the alarm and we had the rental car packed last night so we were ready to go early this morning. I was up before 5 so I had all the leaving chores done by the time Judy was ready to go. We left around 5:15 and were in Lauderdale before 11 having stopped for breakfast. We drove around 300 miles to the port. I made a mistake and ended up going right to the ship. No problem, so we stopped and dropped off the luggage, gassed the car and had it back to the Hertz drop off (right outside the gate) in quick time. We grabbed a cab for the short ride back to the ship. Boarding the Enchanted was easy as everything had been submitted through the app.

After dropping our carry on in our cabin, we headed to the made to order pizza venue for lunch. We needed to wait for a table but we did have a very nice meal. We also tested our drink package – diet soda for Judy and of course a beer to go with the pizza. Then we did a walk through of the ship, trying to get a good idea of the layout. There are many redesigned areas on this ship and you can tell it is bigger with more space in the popular areas which you would expect.. There seems to be more “space”. We also discovered that we did get the tour we had requested. However the app thing sucks as you try to do something and it just grinds away. For example we tried to find out what dining room we are scheduled for but needed our room steward to get the info. In any case, luggage was in our room, we unpacked, did the safety briefing and were ready to sail by the afternoon. We were a bit late on that count.

At the sail away deck party they announced that there are 2700 guests on the his ship that holds over 3600 so we were correct in thinking that it is empty. Of course they did the Electric Slide and the Cupid Shuffle. The other songs had line dances associated with them but we could not remember how they go. Judy did manage a big Margarita and loved it.

By dinner time we were beginning to feel the effects of a long day. There were 2 other couples at the table. Apparently we will not be at the same table every night – maybe. We have a set time but not a set place. Service seemed very slow. I hope that it was just first night confusion. After we did go to the show. The comedian startled slowly but got better as he went on. We did find out that there are over 500 Canadians on this trip. We met 2 today. We did not check out any of the music venues as the early start finally caught up to us. Our first time change is tonight.

Joining the Enchanted Princess

     We made it to the ship today. I was up before the alarm and we had the rental car packed last night so we were ready to go early this morning. I was up before 5 so I had all the house chores done by the time Judy was ready to go. We left around 5:15 and were in Lauderdale before 11 having stopped for breakfast. We drove around 300 miles to the port. I made a mistake and ended up going right to the ship. No problem, so we stopped and dropped off the luggage, gassed the car and had it back to the Hertz drop off (right outside the gate) in quick time. We grabbed a cab for the short ride back to the ship.  Boarding the Enchanted was easy as everything had been submitted through the app.

  After dropping our carry on in our cabin, we headed to the made to order pizza venue for lunch. We needed to wait for a table but we did have a very nice meal. We also tested our drink package – diet soda for Judy and of course a beer to go with the pizza. Then we did a walk through of the ship, trying to get a good idea of the layout. There are many redesigned areas on this ship and you can tell it is bigger with more space in the popular areas which you would expect.. There seems to be more “space” We also discovered that we did get a tour we had requested. However the app thing sucks as you try to do something and it just grinds away. For example we tried to find out what dining room we are scheduled for but needed our room steward to get that info. In any case, luggage was in our room, we unpacked, did the safety briefing and were ready to sail by the afternoon. We were a bit late on that count.

   At the sail away deck party they announced that there are 2700 guests on the his ship that holds over 3600 so we were correct in thinking that it is "empty". Of course they did the Electric Slide and the Cupid Shuffle. Some of the other songs had line dances associated with them but we could not remember how they go. Judy did manage a big Margarita and loved it.

  By dinner time we were beginning to feel the effects of a long day. There were 2 other couples at the table. Apparently we will not be at the same table every night – maybe. We have a set time but not a set place. Service seemed very slow. I hope that it was just first night confusion. After we did go to the show. The comedian startled slowly but got better as he went on. We did find out that there are over 500 Canadians on this trip. We met 2 today. We did not check out any of the music venues as the early start finally caught up to us. Our first time change is tonight.

Ready to Sail

  Finally we are ready to cruise again. It has been a few years since we have been able to take to the high seas. First Covid cancelled a trip to Europe. Then in the fall of that year our second cruise was cancelled. Finally we were scheduled to go cruising last fall but a bike accident made us put that one on hold. So here we are ready to go again! We are going on a Transatlantic repositioning cruise. We have many crossing of the Atlantic but this one has a few ports that we have not been to and will give us a better opportunity to explore the south coast of Spain

Itinery

This will be cruise number 26 on the Princess Line. It is a 14 day adventure starting in Fort Lauderdale and ending in Barcelona. The first 9 days are at sea except for one port, the last few days are port heavy.

The Enchanted Princess carries 3600 passengers, has 19 decks and is 1100 feet long and has only been sailing for about 18 months. It is one of the newest designs for Princess ships. We have a balcony on the Baja deck. 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. We really like the dedicated made to order pizza restaurant in the atrium. However it has many redesigned areas and new names for places on the ship.

It has been a interesting time preparing for this cruise. Like many cruise companies we must use an App to prepare for this trip. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. It remains to be seen how it works this time. This ship uses the Medallion Net. No more cruise cards for drinks, leaving the ship, etc. The Medallion transmits the info. If you walk up to a bar, the bartender sees your picture and has your name and probably what you ordered last time. We used this system that last time we sailed in 2019.

We have rented a car for the trip to Lauderdale and will simply drop it off at the port. That will be Thursday morning.