vickie_bernie

Princess uses wharf 30.  Not as good as the pier right by the lower gown.  Here is a mapnto help.  Princess did offer a shuttle but it doesn't help much,  you can take taxis, and uber to it.  

I was the Destination Expert last year on the Caribbean for the entire season.

On 11/24/2023 at 6:41 PM, LACruiser88 said:

I just ran into the Loyalty & Events Host, the cut-off for the MTG Luncheon was 1,045 sea days for this voyage.

We asked too and was told 899.  We have 950 at the end of this voyage (no walker for us, but maybe after all this walking) and we got an invite to the MTG,  we will be at the kids table probably.   Yes some very high numbers.  

1 hour ago, LACruiser88 said:

Youshould be able to scan the QR code on the receipt on my post above.  If that does not work, Google LivornoCitySightseeing.  We used a credit card, I didn't see anyone paying in cash.

Did they bring you right back to the ship or did you have to take the shuttle back to the ship from livorno 

Yee us too with laundry, put it in last night.  It was here in the cabin tonight. Excellent.  We also washed some items in the laundry and the machine ate a coin so we paid twice.  Went to guest services and they were great, gave us two tokens.  We said it ate only one and they said that is ok, you were nice so here is two.  

Found out today there a few hundred workers doing jobs around the ship especially jobs that are out of site of passengers.  Some from head office too.  They would all be given a blue card.  Even when I am working as a guest entertainer I get a blue card and every cruise it is blue.  Even though as a passenger, as I am this voyage, I have almost 1000 days.  

Neville went home at end of last cruise.  Oscar returns on the 9th.

We are currently in Saguenay.

On 9/10/2023 at 10:49 AM, eltigre said:

On the 10 day New England and thought our first would probably be the Porland port day. It is 4pm all aboard, no tender and not the Bay of Fundy excursion day which also is a 4pm port. The second one will be the Sea Day after Charlottetown before Quebec.

formals on the Sept 19 cruise are Sept 22 Saint John, NB and last sea day Sept 26

I am currently on the Caribbean Princess and have used the soap and yes it is scented

On 8/24/2023 at 5:19 PM, CruisinCouple2010 said:

Thanks snoozecrooze I wanted to know if Carla was there. 

Carla went home for vacation.  Zoey relaced her.

Jody our cd is going home at the end of this cruise.

Will try and post an updated officers board next voyage 

Steamers was open tonight.  

There were a few tables enjoying it. 

glad you got a lobster roll sandwich and that is a very good price even in the Maritimes.

I am glad you enjoyed your stop in Saint John.  I am guessing you did not go to St. John's as it is in Newfoundland.  A common mistake that even many Canadians make.  

Enjoy.

Thanks for doing the live thread,  I loved all the pics and seeing the voyage thru your eyes.

Vickie

I would not recommend.  Port is 1,5 hrs away from airport with ideal conditions.  

It is an industrial pier and everyone must take the shuttle from the ship to the pier building,  

There is no option for self disembarkation with all your bags, unless all you have is a carryon. Everyone needs to out bags out the night prior.  

This season the Sapphire usually docked around 7 am. Once cleared of customs first guests got off around 730.  Give yourself a half hour to get off and take shuttle and get bags, another half hour to clear customs and get into transportation  make sure you have your own transportation so you aren'twaiting for others.  1.5 hrs to Santiago. 

That puts you at airport 10.  And that is if everything works perfectly, which I rarely does.   

Book later flight for peace of mind,

Not all cabins have the USB on the lights.  We had an ocean view on plaza that didn't.  And our friends are In a suite on Baja and they don't, see pic.  

All the balcony, insides and ocean views minus the one on plaza did have USB outlets.  

5 hours ago, EDVM96 said:

Did you make a full circle around Cape Horn today? The Crown did in 2017. An the Captain said he would never do it again. 😆  West of the island 90° heavy side winds. Heeling of the ship was funny for about 15 minutes.

Yeah we made it to the Horn Island.  Princess only does a scenic cruising to the eastern side of Horn Island. 

We Could see the lighthouse and the albatross memorial Monument. 

It was surprisingly clear, because as we approached it was cloudy and visibility was low.  But mother nature surprised us and lifted.

In our six trips this winter down to the Horn we have only been able to stop and view 3 times, the last 3.

It is 330 am an we are currently at Port William picking up the pilots for Ushuaia.

Vickie

On 3/6/2023 at 4:34 PM, LACruiser88 said:

 

They seem to be breeding   I came back to the cabin to this little guy

19 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

I just had a nice chat with the Loyalty & Events Manager.  As far as milestone recognitions the program has been totally discontinued regardless of when your cruise was booked.

 

Below are the most traveled passenger sea days for this sailing:

 

1 - 2,194 days

 

2 - 1,879 days

 

3 - 887 days

 

The cut-off for the MTG Luncheon was 377 days.

 

Below were the top 3 on the previous cruise:

 

1 - 790 days

2 - 742 days

3 - 507 days

 

We would have been #2 on the previous sailing.

 

Just a correction the previous cruise you mentioned is actually the numbers from 2 cruises ago.   Very low numbers.  

Last cruise san antonio to BA numbers were as follow

3rd 522

2nd 597

1st 2180 ... they are staying on all the way to LA 

Yes April 12 it starts after it arrives I Vancouver 

It will, do drydock in Portland

Not sure what is getting done though

1 hour ago, LACruiser88 said:

Another tip:  The currency exchange at the Money Exchange casas has been 365 pesos to one USD.  On our credit card charges via Amex the exchange has been 198 pesos to one USD.

 

So, to really benefit from the best exchange rate you need to pay in cash.  Also, if you take a cab make sure it is one with the meter in the upper right hand corner of the windshield.  

 

There are "bandit" cabs that look just like the "good" cabs with no meters and will overcharge tourists.  Today we took a "good" cab for about a 20 min ride.  The fare was 585 pesos, less than $2.

 

 

Great tios.

Blue dollar rate can be anywhere from 350 to 375.  Lower rate especially in Ushuaia. Also better rate if you a 100 dollar bill as opposed to a 50 dollar bill.  Bills should be in great condition too,

Note credit cards initially charge the bank rate and month or so later adjust and credit you to a better rate,  not as good as the blue dollar but pretty close,  

BA also has uber which if you have data is helpful. 

Vickie

47 minutes ago, LACruiser88 said:

Today we had a FANTASTIC time on a 6 hr walking tour with Sebastián from viptoursba.com  If you come to Buenos Aires you must see the city through Sebastián's eyes! 

 

Thank you @vickie_bernie for the great recommendation!  Sebastián has arranged a dinner tango show for tomorrow night and we are also spending Saturday with him.

So glad you connected.  Sebastian is amazing and so happy to now call him friend 

We will be seeing him again Sunday night.

Make sure to come say hi me once on board!  

Vickie 

was just in Stanley yesterday - February 1, 2023

The shuttles were right in front of the tourist information.  There is a guy with a sign and he sells the tickets for $20 US cash only and gives you a paper ticket.  Then you take the one of many buses that go back and forth all day long.  

It is transportation only.

It is only about a 10 min drive away.  

you can walk along the path thru the low brush to see a lot of Magellanic penguins.  You have to look though as the adults and babies can sometimes be hidden by the  grasses.  Note the path is uneven at times.  There are a few benches along it too if you need to sit.  

Beautiful views too.

Yes if you walk to the right along the beach, you may come across some other penguins, we saw gentoos and a few King.  It is a long walk and tough to walk on the sand.  There were numerous people who were really struggling when they chose to do that route.  

There are washrooms there too.  Also numerous volunteers there too that aided visitors with information but mainly given warnings to stay a distance from the penguins, especially the nesting ones.  

we also saw a lot of dolphins in the bay too.

We spent a week in Santiago and uber is very popular.  Very easy and cheap.  

We have travelled thru sao Paulo a few times.  It is very easy and well marked.  We did have to clear customs but didn't need to get bags.

Later today I was updated by friends

Sydney is cancelled,,,, the whole island  of cape breton is still in recovery mode.  Many don't have power still, including my family.  Could be a few more days.

Charlottetown has also been cancelled.

The ship will dock at Saguenay and also Sept-Iles.  

We did go down to the ship today to meet friends.  Driving around Halifax was difficult.  Trees down all over causing us to reroute.  Power still out in major sections.  Street lights out.  Took an extra 25 min to get to the pier.

All museums were closed.  Many restaurants were closed.  The waterfront has reopened, it was closed up until yesterday for people's safety.  Power was on at pier and many businesses off the waterfront.  

Cell service is sporadic but it seemed to improve as the day continued.

We met up with friends and had a nice lunch.

On trip out of town already many trees had been cleared, but still many blocked roads.   

Schools are cancelled tomorrow in Halifax and east.