Newly Retired Teachers

If you have a chance, we would love to see a picture of the new itinerary than Hank sent to you, so we can compare it to what is showing on the Navigator app.  Thanks again for posting your experiences on this Live blog.

18 minutes ago, dchip said:

Can’t wait to see you two again. 🥰
 

Cheers, Denise 

On 9/7/2022 at 8:14 AM, dchip said:

So excited to begin this journey with both of you!! See you on 10/3. 
 

Enjoy every second of the wonderful cool weather in Alaska. 

🏔BON VOYAGE,🏝

Denise and Howie, too

We just heard about your LIVE blog today.  We are also set to board in San Diego on 10/3.

Bob & Steve

2 minutes ago, Crazy For Cats said:

The Wajang theater is in use.  Today’s movie is listed at the top of the right hand side.

"Lost City", that's a recent release.  It's a fun summer type movie, we enjoyed it in the theater recently.

We just found this Live Blog, and thank you for posting it.  We are booked for the 9th, like many others, for the 35 day Voyage of the Vikings.  Your pictures are great, as well as the daily programs.  Do you know if they are planning a Mariner Awards gathering on your cruises?

Bob & Steve

Was Pickleball offered on Zaandam?  We will be sailing on her for the Voyage of the Vikings and would like to know if we should bring our paddles.

Bob & Steve

14 hours ago, kwokpot said:

Thanks for the update. I was getting worried I haven't seen or heard from anyone on that cruise. Most important question. Were there any Covid issues on board, and if so do you know how the cases were handled and whether quarantines went smoothly? I think with the issues on the Spirit your long cruise was cause for concern. 

The last morning on the ship, I did hear that a small group of passengers had tested positive and were quarantined until the next morning (debarkation day in Barcelona).  Not aware of any other issues.

We arrived in Barcelona this morning about 5:30 am.  Disembarkation went quickly and smoothly.  We were off the ship, right after all the unassisted passengers left.  The terminal we arrived at seemed very new, and customs and baggage were the easiest ever.  There was a marathon in the city this morning, but the cab navigated a way around the street closures just fine to get us to our friends home.  It's nice to have internet again.  I'll post more a little bit later.

Bob

Boarding the ship in Tampa went pretty smoothly considering. . .  The Carnival Pride looks better in person than it does in pictures.  It really is a great layout for spreading out the passengers.  We were told to expect a little over 1700 passengers, but that number reduces to about 1640 when we sailed away Sunday night.

We have experienced two special dining opportunities so far, and they were both wonderful.  David's Steakhouse, with its fig leaf covered huge statue of David, was worth the $38 pp.  We had a free bottle of wine because who chose to dine on the first formal night.  Then we were completely blown away by what we experienced during the Chef's Table.  Champagne, white and red wines flowed as we experienced course after course of gourmet presentations and tastes.  They converted Beauties Nightclub for the event, which lasted a full 3 hours.  There were almost as many chefs and servers as there were guests (16 passengers our night).  $75 pp may seem high, but since everything exceeding our expectations, it was well worth it.  We would definitely splurge on it again.

Our cabin, #5111 is a forward, extra large balcony.  The cabin seems larger than normal too.  Although dated in some ways, it is very comfortable and has plenty of storage.

Carnival seems to be pulling out all the stops to celebrate their 50th birthday, and they are offering many retro experiences from their past 5 decades.  We really weren't sure about being on the cruise, and we try not to compare to our other cruise line experiences, but we are enjoying every day, the staff and crew are great, and have no regrets in booking this cruise.

Yesterday we were in Bermuda and the weather cleared for a perfect day.  Gotta run to dinner now.

Bob & Steve

We think we have a handle on most things we need to know before we leave for Tampa on Saturday.  Based on the latest emails from Carnival, and in order to comply with CDC, and Bermuda, we can do our first COVID-19 test 3 days prior to sailing, so that means as early as Thursday.  Then we need to upload our negative test results to Carnival and to Bermuda for their Travel Authorization ($40 pp).  We can then complete our Health Questions.  We have been advised that all passengers will also be tested again prior to boarding, so we have signed our testing consent forms to take with us.  We are not complaining, but just sharing what our experiences are.  Today, by email, we received a free wine offer if we book the Steakhouse for the first night out, or the first "Cruise Elegant Night" (there will be two).  We have decided to book the Steakhouse for the first Cruise Elegant Night, but the date for that night is a mystery to all so far.  LOL.  It's not listed in our cruise documents, and Carnival's website states that it should be the 2nd or 3rd night out, but that doesn't help us to know which night to book.  We'll keep you posted when we find out.  I've been on the phone with Carnival for over 45 minutes and just found out that it should be the second night out.  See the things you can spend time on when you retire!  LOL

Bob & Steve

We will be boarding the Carnival Pride on Sunday, April 24th for a 14 day transatlantic repositioning, from Tampa to Barcelona.  My last cruise on Carnival Cruise Line was in June of 1985, aboard the Tropicale, for a Mexican Riviera cruise.  This will be the first Carnival cruise for my husband.  There are only 4 scheduled ports along the way (Bermuda, Ponta Delgada, Malaga and Valencia), but we love sea days!  The ports of Malaga and Valencia are both new for us, and we look forward to seeing these cities along with a tour out to the Alhambra from Malaga.  Please follow along as we share our experiences along the way.  Please feel free to ask questions about our trip that you think we might be able to answer.   

We chose this cruise because of a fantastic Casinos offer, and it fit in our calendar.  If you look at our Cruise Critic Signature, you'll see that we are crazily  booked through March of next year.  Most of our cruise choices have been on Holland America and NCL.  We did our first "Live" Topic (blog) during our first post COVID cruise in February, 2022 on board the Koningsdam, Hawaii roundtrip from San Diego.  It was fun to post, and to interact with other cruisers.

The COVID-19 procedures for this cruise require vaccinations, and a Booster if it's been more than 6 months since your last regular injection.  We also needed to apply for a Travel Authorization from Bermuda ($40 pp), and upload vaccine and testing results to Bermuda, and to Carnival using the VeriFly app.  The mask orders will still be in place for embarkation and the flight to Tampa.

Our journey for this trip will begin on Saturday, when we fly to Tampa one day before the cruise.  

Bob & Steve (Palm Springs, CA)

15 hours ago, Hobie said:

“Lands End” in Cabo San Lucas. 
where the Pacific Ocean meets the Sea of Cortez. 

Seeing a low snow level outside our window in Palm Springs!  Why did we get off in San Diego?

Just now, dchip said:

@Newly Retired TeachersDo you remember when you were able to drop off your luggage at the pier? Our check in time is 3pm. Hotel check out at 11, if I can’t arrange late check out.
 

Thanks for your help and taking us on your cruise!! See you in October. 
Denise 

 

Our check-in time was 2:20, but the terminal building was so empty when we arrived.  I sounds like they are not going to be testing everyone at the pier.  If that's the case, you shouldn't have a problem arriving early.  I've heard from many passengers currently onboard who arrived early.

Just want to share that the Captain, during his 12 pm update, mentioned that the Koningsdam is doing very well in terms of COVID this cruise.  There are still consistent reminders to wear a mask over mouth and nose, and to wash hands frequently.  But it was nice to have the reassurance that things are going well this time.

Just now, RlyLvn said:

If you are BtoB do you have to get tested in SD?

They have said that passengers who are continuing on to Mexico, will be tested onboard before we get to Mexico.  Passengers who are flying out of San Diego to another country will also be tested onboard.

Happy Valentines Day ♥️
It was a shortened port day in Kaua’i, 8am - 12:30pm.  The beach at the Sonesta Resort was walking distance and the weather was perfect again.

We’ll it’s almost 1:30 now and we haven’t left yet.

Valentines Day message in the sand

View from our table at Duke’s

Mai Tais seemed like a must!

Waterfall inside the patio area of Duke’s

Jan, this one is for you.

1 hour ago, Jomurbie said:

Does anyone have the time for tomorrow's Meet & Greet? I seem to recall it is later-like 11am?

I have it down for 10am tomorrow, and LCR at 11am.

Bob

6 hours ago, dchip said:

Bob & Steve,

Check your email. I sent small files since you are on the ship’s WIFI. If you want any full size, let me know and I’ll send them when you get back home. 
Happy Valentines Day. ❤️
Cheers, Denise

Got them.  They were fun to see again!

Bob & Steve

19 hours ago, Oahucruiser said:

Love your wonderful posts about my islands and the fabulous photos, especially Shangri La.  So glad you had such perfect winter weather.  Come back soon.   ALOHA NUI 🌺  🌴

 

Mahalo!  Looking forward to returning in May and October.  🏝 

Bob 

Arriving in Hilo this morning

It took 3 tries to not post us upside down.  LOL

Picture perfect weather today

Surprised to find that a hen had laid an egg on a lava rock wall

Super Bowl party at the Lido pool

On 2/12/2022 at 12:14 PM, dchip said:

You guys are looking great! Nice shirts. I came across some fun photos of you both in Tahiti today. 

Please share them, it would be fun to see them.

steveandbob AT me DOT com

Greeted by a rainbow when we arrived in Hilo this morning, and whales helped to escort us out of the harbor this afternoon.

12 hours ago, zelker said:

Really pretty.  Curious how much they're charging these days.

  

$25

Yesterday in Maui, we headed over to Kanaha Beach/Park.  The breeze kept it very comfortable and it was fun to watch the sea turtles, and locals playing on the water with their toys.

We stopped at Costco on the way back for $20 Aloha shirts and some flowers.  Both of these locations were short Uber rides.

On 2/11/2022 at 4:14 AM, vinonme2 said:

LOVE the Doris Duke Museum pictures, absolutely beautiful place.  Was this a Hal tour?

 

No it’s wasn’t a HAL tour.  I think the tickets are too limited for that to happen right now.  The museum usually opens up ticket sales at the beginning of each month for the following month.  Tickets for February went on sale January 6th.  Our morning group was limited to 12 people.  There is a Standby Line at the museum in case any ticket holders don’t show up.  Everyone in our group showed up, and the Standby line was empty.