Windsor |To Houston Sunday April 17, 2016

    Our transportation arrived promptly |Saturday night and we were on our way to Detroit via our good friends John and Yvonne. It probably a good decision to overnight in Detroit. The crossing was very slow and although there wee only about 6 cars in front of us, it still took 35 minutes to see the customs officer. Actually he was very pleasant and we were on our way to the Olive Garden in short order. After a leisurely meal we were dropped at the Hilton hotel near Metro airport.

    We were up early and had the Delta boarding passes quickly. However security was another thing. The lines were long considering it was before 7 am. We could see that the stories about over 3 hours but not having enough security check in personal were true. Everyone in line had to go through the body x-ray. Judy even needed to have a pat down! I needed a pat down.

    The flight to Houston was 3 hours of nice weather. We were glad that we had a non stop. |The other option was a stop in Dallas. The weather there was terrible with severe thunderstorms and a possible tornado! Just our luck. The last time we stayed

On The Bus

overnight in Detroit before a Princess cruise we never made our flight to China because of thunderstorms in Chicago. It only took a little over 90 minutes from the time we landed to the time we were at the ship. Getting aboard was slick as well. |With the preferred boarding we could bypass the hundreds of people who were waiting for their boarding number to be called. The first order of business was lunch in the dining room.

   At lunch we sat with people who were on our last cruise

Boarding

but we had not met on that cruise. Tea followed in the Atrium We did buy a new all you can drink coffee and tea card. It is for specialty drinks but we use it for unlimited tea. Luggage was in our room by the time we got back. Clothes were put away before the emergency drill. A short nap was followed by the sail away party. The sailing was delayed because 68 people were not aboard yet. I can onlly thin they stopped in Dallas. It was a cloudy windy gray day in Houston for a party on the open decks.

Fire Drill

Tea Time

   The ship boarded about 1800 people. We did learn that some are aboard for a 3 day cruise to Lauderdale. Apparently we will pick up another 1200 people there. However even though the ship holds 3000 it did seem to be full this afternoon. We attended the early show with a comedian. He did about 50 minutes and had some good lines. Dinner followed at 8 pm. We are at a table for 8 although tonight there we only the 6 of us. One couple is from Texas and the other from Chicago. We hope that the other spot is occupied. 

   During dinner the captain announced that the ship now has all passengers aboard but we would not be leaving until early morning. The ship is not allowed to sail when there are high winds. We tried to walk on deck after dinner but the winds were still quite strong. So we may still be here in the morning!

April 2016 Houston to England Pre Cruise

Europe here we come again. After the wonderful time in Florida this past winter, we are headed back to the Princess cruise line. We are looking forward to this trip not only for the 21 day crossing but some places that we have not visited before. This will be our first cruise on the Caribbean Princess although it is similar is design to the Ruby Crown and Diamond which we have sailed on in the past. It does have the little food bar in the atrium which is where we like to gather for daily tea and mall meals .

As the map shows, we will board in Houston and then head to Fort Lauderdale. We decided to try leaving from Houston as a change of pace. We have been there on a previous crossing. We are wondering if the ship will be “empty” for the short run to Florida. We have only booked one ship tour. After doing the research and having been to some of these places before we are content to explore on our own. After Florida we stop in Bermuda, a place we visited years ago. Then the long crossing to the home of the Beatles – Liverpool. We have been once before but there is plenty for us to do there. A stop in Wales (new for us) before the port at Hamburg Germany. This was one of the reasons for this trip as we get a change to go to Berlin. We have never been before. The tour from the ship last about 13 hours! Finally we stop in Havre (Normandy). We have been to Normandy a few time but we have never visited the city.

As you can see from the itinerary, this cruise has plenty of sea days and we are looking forward to the crossing as a chance to just “be” after the very active winter.

This is the first time we will fly both ways from Detroit. We leave early Sunday morning so we will spend the night in Detroit near the airport. Then it will be off to Houston non stop on Delta. Our return will be on co-share Delta/Virgin Air non stop from London to Detroit which will shorten the return travel time. No waiting in Washington for a few hours! The 2 bags are almost packed and we are ready to go. After this trip we will have over 300 days on Princess ships (stuck in a rut?) but now that we attained Elite status we can hardly pass up the perks.  It is the free laundry! Anyone that has cruised will appreciate what a luxury this is. It means that you do not need to pack as many clothes. The mini bar, free internet (basically) and wine tasting are also nice.

        At the bottom of each post is a small icon that looks like an envelop. If you open it, you should be able to send us an email directly to my gmail address from the post. If you have a gmail account I think that you can leave a message on the blog. One of the perks on this cruise as mentioned is the “free” internet minutes that we are allotted. So we will continue to get emails as long as the service holds up. It is always nice to read the comments of people interested in our travels. More Later!

Post # 19 Back To Canada September 26, 2015

    The joys of leaving the a cruise! We have been away for 3 weeks and we were ready to go. With the cold that has been hanging on, we were ready for a change. We did have an

New York From The Cruise Terminal

groups were to leave. We said our final goodbyes to Bill and Eli, got our luggage quickly (love those luggage straps!) and made our way through immigration without much trouble. The agent was actually pleasant! Out to the departure bus. With the hoards of people going to Newark airport, there was a scramble to get on the buses. We missed the first one. By now it was nearing 9:30 and the flight left at noon. However one of the longshoremen said that we had plenty of time. I felt relieved.

     We arrived at the airport by 10:30. Nobody was in line anywhere. Porter offered an earlier flight at 11. I did not think we had enough time. However security was empty and we were ready to leave about 10 minutes after arriving. The agents were very pleasant and joking. I did not opt for the pat down! We were in Toronto by noon; passed Canadian customs quickly and relaxed in the comfort of soft chairs. The an hour into Windsor and it was over. Our ride was waiting.

     The jury is still out on the Regal Princess. In many ways it is really an improvement

Prominade Deck!

over the older ships. The food was probably consistently the best we have had on the ships. The room steward was the best we have ever had (she arranged the shoes each night) and the staff we met were very friendly as always . Atrium is large and spectacular. It truly is the centre of the life on the ship. Gone are the smaller venues for dancing. Princess Live is a small studio like setting for talks, demos, trivia, etc. With all the expanded shops you feel like you are in a shopping mall. In some cases we needed to walk through them. The lack of a central staircase meant that we needed to be at one end of the ship or the other to use them. Fortunately our cabin was close to the forward one. They need another staircase and the new ship being built will have one. That ship will stay in the Far East. With the ship being all balconies a true promenade deck does not exist which forces you to walk inside. Everywhere you looked the hard sell for spa treatments, jewelry sales, photos, etc. was on.

We have not even thought about another cruise at this time. Winter is here and thoughts of warm weather occupy us now. Thanks to all who left remarks on the blog site. They were appreciated. Until we travel again we are silent!

Post # 18 At Sea – Packing Day September 25, 2015

With Eli and Bill

    Today was the last day of the cruise. It was a sea day after the great experience in Halifax yesterday. We are getting very close to New York and the rush to make our plane at noon. Tonight we also get the last of our zone hours back so we get some extra sleep time. It was like any other sea day – zumba at 9 followed by line dancing shortly after 10. We skipped the culinary demo as we had seen that before but we did take in a lecture about the positive benefits of the NASA space program. Then of course the packing. Since we had a 1 pm lunch date we could only get 1 bag done before time for one last pizza.        They had the egg drop competition but we did not enter it this voyage.

Pat and Dennis Table Mates

      After a good time eating and relaxing with our friends Eli and Bill we headed back to our cabin to finish getting ready to put out our luggage. Judy's cold seemed to go back to day one again. After 12 days you would think that she should be over it but it seems to be as bad as ever. Fortunately I am over mine.

     We met Eli and Bill and our table mates from Ontario for one last round in the Elite lounge before dinner, then made the pre dinner show. The juggler was part of it and was by far the best of the 3 acts. We were a bit late for dinner but it was good as usual. The food has been excellent on this cruise. Others have remarked about it. Baked Alaska and sad goodbyes ended the evening.

    I did spend some time today looking at the photos around the ship. They seem to concentrate on Alaska, the Caribbean and Santorini. I don't know if that a conscience effort by Princess or it is just what they got. I found it interesting that everyone seems to take the same photo of the sites. Been there, took the photo was my thought. After having spent some time in a photo club, many of the photos framed were as one person called them “snapshots”. Some great ones, some not so great. I did hear back from the cruise director that the Great Wall photo that is on this ship was the only one selected of the 3 I sent in.

   

Travel Day tomorrow with one post to follow.

Post # 17 A Great Day In Halifax September 24, 2015

    What a great day in Halifax. We were up at 6:30 to see the pilot come aboard. The weather was spectacular. It was warm and sunny all day. We were the first ship in followed quickly by a Holland America (Marsdan?) followed by a smaller ship called The World. We found out later that the world is actually a “condo” ship. Since we had a 9:30 pick up, we ate in the dining room again. Then it was quickly ashore for us.

    We met our very good Halifax friends at the arrange pick up place. Bernie and Loretta have a condo in Highland Lakes. We met them about 5 years ago and have enjoyed many laughs together over the years. They are renovating their recently purchased Halifax condo and took time to provide the best tour possible. Having been to Halifax many times    

Titanic Graves

I wanted to return to the Fairfax cemetery, the sight of the Titanic Graves. I had been there about 20 years ago. Bernie mentioned that there are actually 3 cemeteries with graves from the Titanic. That was something I had never heard of. We headed there right away and managed to get to the grave site before the many buses arrived. It meant that we could get photos without hundreds of people around. The graves look like they have been refurbished. All the markers were quite “bright”.

Now Identified Baby

   

Typical Marker

Next we headed to a Jewish cemetery (right next to the main one) which do have some markers. Unfortunately all the gates were closed and although we could see them, they were too far away to get a photo. It would have been easy to jump the fence but we did not need to do that for obvious reasons. Next we headed to a catholic cemetery with more graves. The Mount Olive site must not be on many tourist maps. It was not as neat and well kept. There were 19 markers of exactly the same shape as the Fairfax cemetery. That is because the White Star Line paid for all the headstones. Of the 19 markers, 14 were identified with 8 being passengers. There is a number on every site but they are not arranged in any order. They seem to be completely random. However the number identified when the body was found i.e. First, second, third, etc. I wondered if this was for Catholics, what about the 5 unknown ones. Also research in recent years have provided more information and some of the original misinformation has been corrected. It was just a wonderful visit to both sites.

 

With Loretta and Bernie

  We then headed out of Halifax towards St. Margaret's

Rope Loft

Bay. We thought of going to Peggy's Cove but by now the tour buses would have arrived and the lighthouse would be obscured by the people. We drove for about an hour with Chester being our destination. It is a beautiful little town with very large houses along the bay. Many admirals retire to this area. We stopped a a very nice place called the Rope Loft where we had lunch. It is the type of restaurant that you would like to eat at all the time. With the warm sunny day we sat outside and enjoyed a leisure lunch. After we wandered down the streets enjoying the flowers, the houses and the boats in the harbour.

   We headed back to Halifax after spending about 2 hours in Chester. We wanted to get

At Chester on St Margaret's Bay

back so that we could enjoy the wonderful boardwalk along the harbour that Halifax has developed in recent years. Shops, bars, sellers populate the area. Besides we had accomplished what we set out to do. Before going back to the ship, Judy did some shopping in the market place and Pier 21. Pier 21 is a large building filled with shops and a museum. We went through it on our last visit here. It is the pier where the immigrant ships from Europe to Canada stopped. My father entered Canada through this building, boarded the train nearby and headed to Windsor.

On The Boardwalk

   After a cup of tea, we watched the bagpipe and drum band of the RCMP perform in the Princess theatre. I did get a call from the Cruise Director. I had sent him a note asking if he could help. I am still trying to find out if my other pictures that I submitted years ago are framed anywhere. He contacted someone he knows in the public relations department back in California. You never know. After a short rest it was time to start the night time activities.

   We had a drink with our friends in their suite and wandered a bit before dinner. After dinner we went to the late show. It was a juggler with a very funny comedy act. His jokes were really off the wall stuff. It was a really good act. He must have been having a great time because he did about 55 minutes. That was way longer than any other act we have seen. Tomorrow is our last full day. They call it packing day - and for good reason. We land in New York on Saturday.

Post # 16 St. John's To Halifax September 23, 2015

    What a great day for sailing. The good weather from yesterday continued all day. It

Calm Seas, sunny skies

wasn't that warm but sunny. The sea was as calm as we have seen all trip. We were up early enough to have breakfast in the dining room but the service was so slow, we almost missed the zumba class. Even after the walking yesterday, it was good to do some exercise. That was quickly followed by line dance class. We met a very nice woman from Australia. She was a good dancer and we learned that she teaches a basic class in her retirement community on the Gold coast.

   There was a back stage tour of the Princess theatre. It was very interesting to see the props

At the pub lunch

and how they are stored. The cost of the lights used were over 1 million dollars; the pyro used in any production is $300 a show, etc. After a brief talk we toured the dressing rooms and talked to some of the dancers. I had been before years ago and this ship has all the bells and whistles. After the tour we headed up to the upper deck and did some laps. It is too bad that this nice weather has arrived so late in the cruise.

    It was pub lunch day so we did a quick change. Then we tried the rumba dance lesson. It was not the Little

Table Mates

Rumba of line dancing. However we struggled through it. In fact by the end I think that I finally figured out the count of the dance. Tonight was the last formal night but we did not try the rumba in the Atrium. Stood around for awhile before the Captain said a few words. We did manage a few drinks from the poor waitress who was mobbed every time she came out with her tray. Dinner

Chocolate Dessert

was lobster followed by another special chocolate dessert. The show was an impersonator. I think we both fell asleep. It was not our kind of entertainment. Halifax tomorrow.

Post # 15 St John's Newfoundland September 22, 2015

   What a great day in |Newfoundland. The day was absolutely perfect. After 4 days of overcast, rainy skies and a whole day of fog, we entered the harbour with clear blue skies. It remained that way all day. We were up and ready as we entered through the very narrow opening of the harbour around 7 am. This was the largest passenger ship to ever call here and the last of the season. The captain did a perfect 180 in the harbor and backed into the wharf right in the centre of the city. We were ready to go ashore by about 8:30.

     One of the things that Princess has done this cruise is have the tourist people set up

Along Duckworth Street

right on ship so that you can get all the info needed before going ashore. It has saved a lineup and time. The one thing that we absolutely wanted to do was to visit the National Historic Park at Signal Hill where Marconi received the first trans-Atlantic radio signal. The tower itself is at about 800 feet so it was an uphill climb all the way. Situated on the outskirts of town it afford wonderful views of the city, the harbour as well as the ocean. As we walked along admiring the very colourful building, we encountered a Tim |Horton's and had to stop for a double double!

On Signal Hill

Walking Back To Town

   After reaching the Marconi Tower and exploring the high point, we decided to take a trail back into the city. It was only a little over a mile to the park boundary but we did have many steps to go go up and down. Again some spectacular views of the entrance and the city. The trail came out on a narrow street filled with houses that must have been there for many years.

The Trail

We were constantly snapping pictures and we went. We ended up in a nice harbour park where they had 2 statues of 2 dogs – The Newfoundlander and Labrador Retriever – giving the history of both breeds.

    Walking along Waters street we found Hollis Street. There is an alley off this street. The Crowsnest Pub is located in this alley. It is where the people from the warships came after coming from convoy duty in the north Atlantic during World War II. No sign of the pub but we did learn later that it opens infrequently and only for members. I have heard about it many times in my old navy days and wanted to catch a glimpse of the inside. No such luck this time.  

    With a ship this size Waters street was packed with people. We wandered along and met our friends. Off we went to find an outdoor patio to share 

At The Pub

a beer. It took some doing as all the pubs along the main street were jammed but a few blocks up, we turned into the Three Cheers Pub where we had a drink and sat enjoying the sunshine for a bit of time. Heading back to the ship we again wandered along.

    There was to be a special dockside ceremony but it was quite far from where the ship was. By the time we found it, they had finished playing. Later in the afternoon we were invited to our friends suite at the back of the ship to watch the sail away. It is a very nice location for a suite.

Leaving St John's

The balcony runs along the back of the ship and then along the port side. It afforded wonderful views of the harbour as we left. The city also fired a cannon (?) as we left. Our friends always book a suite in that location. We sat for a long time enjoying a glass of wine.

    We went to the early production show and although a bit weird, at least the music was updated in comparison to some of the things we have seen. A nice long relaxing dinner follow. In fact our table was the last to leave the dining room tonight.

   Tomorrow is a sea day as we make our way to Halifax. St John's was a great port where we had a sense that they appreciated the ship in town. And they had a Tim Horton's.