LIVE from the CROWN - Western Carib with SUNGIRL 3/13

[KCSungirl]

Greetings form the Sea on the beautiful Crown Princess!

 

I am sorry I did not post yesterday, Embarkation Day, but this “LIVE” review was almost over before it started. Yes, on my way to board the ship I had to make a detour to the ER of Broward Health Center. I kept thinking about Pam in CA and everything she went through with her BIL and sister. I got deathly sick on Friday night, after eating a disgustingly rich dinner at 9:30pm. My suspicions were correct, I have a gallstone and need surgery. My ER experience was not very pleasant. Had I had more time, I would have preferred to go to Holy Cross Hospital, but no time. I should have gone to the ER at 4am, but I felt I needed to get everything together for my friend Jan in case we had to go home. After all Jan had gone through to get to FLL, I hated to let her down. I had a series of tests and ultrasound. I was so sick and wanted to rule out an aortic aneurysm before making my plans. The Dr. reassured me that I did not have a heart issue. I would have walked out the door right then, but he insisted on an ultra sound. I waited three hours to be seen by a DR. You won’t believe it, but I walked out of the hospital without being discharged because no one seemed to care about my cruise dilemma. I took a HUGE risk, but I decided to control my health crisis with diet. So far so good. I laughed because I wanted to impress Jan with my Elite status when boarding the ship. We would walk to the front of that long line. By the time we got to the ship at 3:30pm, they were hurrying us and there were very few people left. The check-in counters were almost down to a single person behind the desk.

 

Welcome Aboard! This is Jan’s first Princess cruise, first 7 day cruise, first time sailing out of Port Everglades, and first time cruising with me. She is in heaven. We have a wonderful balcony cabin toward the aft - C628. The weather in FLL was beautiful. Sunny skies, but a cool breeze. After the muster drill we headed upstairs to the Horizon Court (HC from now on) to get a snack. We had not eaten all day. I had planned a meet and greet at the Outrigger bar for our very small, but super nice roll call at 5pm. We met our friends and had a nice sail away. The Oasis of the Seas was really something to see. They were the first ship in on Saturday morning about 4am ( I was going back and forth to the bathroom as all eight cruise ships came in Saturday morning!) and the first ship out of the port at 5pm. We followed them out of the channel. It is an amazing ship, but not sure it would be for me. They have renamed the Seafood Sailaway Buffet . It is now called the Bon Voyage Buffet. It still offers plenty of seafood options - crab claws, shrimp cocktail, seafood salads. I am sad I will not be able to enjoy all of the wonderful offerings on the buffet this week. You are going to be so bored with the food section of my blog, as I have to be very careful. I don’t recognize anything I am eating. I had fruit, potato, and bread. I had to skip my favorite spare ribs, cheese, meat, pizza, cheeseburgers, hot dogs and so on. . No alcohol at sail away either. That is not right.. I did sneak a peanut butter cookie. I love those. After sail away we went to the cabin to watch the ESPN broadcast of the Big 12 championship game. I had my KU t-shirt on and Jan had her K-State t-shirt on. Rock Chalk Jayhawk! After the game we thought about calling it a night, but walking seems to make me feel better after eating. We shopped, donated to the casino, played trivia at 9:30pm in Club Fusion. Jan was no help at all! ;-) I made her responsible for one question - How many Lords a Leaping? We were too fried to get the right answer. It’s eleven btw. We had fun playing. We went to the 10:15pm Welcome Aboard show. I last saw our Cruise Director, Lisa Ball, when she was a deputy cruise director under James Lay. She is a cute girl, but was a little long winded. They had a new opening dance number I had not seen before - “In the Mood”. I was still thinking they were doing the Ricky Martin “Rock this Ship” thing. Billy Prudhomme was the featured act, comedy and juggling. We had to leave early because I was exhausted. I had not slept for several nights.

 

Entertainment:

Wheelhouse - Nova

Explorer’s Lounge - Temperature

Crooners - Bert Stratton/Jozef Sobolewski

Adagio Bar - Ludovic at the Piano

MUTS - UP

[KCSungirl]

Sunday at Sea

 

Good News! My eating plan is working. I had a glorious pain free night of sleep. I was beyond exhausted. We woke to sunny skies, smooth seas, and 73 degrees. We headed to the HC for breakfast at 9am. Again, I didn’t recognize anything on my plate - fruit, toast, cereal. I was dying for bacon, sausage, waffles, eggs, etc. Can’t do it. We shopped the $10 Bijoux Terner sale in the dining room. I am doing a lot more shopping because Jan is a shopper. She is finding treasures everywhere. Newsflash - great deal for Elite passengers on the first sea day - an extra 10% off any purchases over $50.That is a 20% savings with the Elite discount. Great deal if you are shopping expensive items - ie Tag watches or something like that. I got a free coffee at the coffee bar next to the International café. I am not sure why the barrista gave it to me free, but maybe she knew a free coffee would really perk me up. We found our campground in the sun. It’s crowded, but we found chairs and were lounging by 10:45am. We spent three hours in the sun before deciding that getting burned was not a good idea. I am fairly tan year round, but I actually got burned earlier in the week. We went to the HC for lunch around 2:30pm.The featured theme in Café Caribe was sushi and oriental buffet. Again, I resisted all of the yummy food I have become accustomed to. I did, however, take three bites of a sparerib to go along with my cauliflower, bread, and mashed potatoes. Are you feeling sorry for me yet? If I can lose some weight and feel better it’s all worth it. I did enjoy another peanut butter cookie. I feel like I have to confess my sins for some reason.

 

Entertainment;

Afternoon Movie - 500 Days of Summer

MUTS afternoon movie - Mamma Mia, Tina Turner, Cirque de Soleil

MUTS evening movie - Twilight New Moon

Explorer’s Comedy = Rollin Jay Moore

Princess theater = What a Swell Party, tribute to Cole Porter

 

I will be back later for a recap of tonight’s activities. My blog is so boring compared to Jo and Rob’s. Their video clips were great fun. See you soon, Sungirl

[Colo Cruiser]

Good to hear you are feeling better. Stick with that diet!

I have had dealings in the past with the Broward ER, nasty nasty nasty.

Mostly homeless soles there in the early am.

Typical large county ER service though.

I think you are in really good hands onboard with the med staff if you need them. ;)

[SF]

Thanks for the "live" posting. I'm enjoying reading about your days at sea. Glad to hear you are feeling better.:)

Keep the posts coming....... Enjoy!!!!!

[LadyPandora407]

Sunday at Sea

 

Good News! My eating plan is working. I had a glorious pain free night of sleep. I was beyond exhausted. We woke to sunny skies, smooth seas, and 73 degrees. We headed to the HC for breakfast at 9am. Again, I didn’t recognize anything on my plate - fruit, toast, cereal. I was dying for bacon, sausage, waffles, eggs, etc. Can’t do it. We shopped the $10 Bijoux Terner sale in the dining room. I am doing a lot more shopping because Jan is a shopper. She is finding treasures everywhere. Newsflash - great deal for Elite passengers on the first sea day - an extra 10% off any purchases over $50.That is a 20% savings with the Elite discount. Great deal if you are shopping expensive items - ie Tag watches or something like that. I got a free coffee at the coffee bar next to the International café. I am not sure why the barrista gave it to me free, but maybe she knew a free coffee would really perk me up. We found our campground in the sun. It’s crowded, but we found chairs and were lounging by 10:45am. We spent three hours in the sun before deciding that getting burned was not a good idea. I am fairly tan year round, but I actually got burned earlier in the week. We went to the HC for lunch around 2:30pm.The featured theme in Café Caribe was sushi and oriental buffet. Again, I resisted all of the yummy food I have become accustomed to. I did, however, take three bites of a sparerib to go along with my cauliflower, bread, and mashed potatoes. Are you feeling sorry for me yet? If I can lose some weight and feel better it’s all worth it. I did enjoy another peanut butter cookie. I feel like I have to confess my sins for some reason.

 

Entertainment;

Afternoon Movie - 500 Days of Summer

MUTS afternoon movie - Mamma Mia, Tina Turner, Cirque de Soleil

MUTS evening movie - Twilight New Moon

Explorer’s Comedy = Rollin Jay Moore

Princess theater = What a Swell Party, tribute to Cole Porter

 

I will be back later for a recap of tonight’s activities. My blog is so boring compared to Jo and Rob’s. Their video clips were great fun. See you soon, Sungirl

 

 

Get checked when you get home, my recent bout that the MD's thought was my gallbladder turned out to be a severe case of Colitis and gastritis, with a severe case of anemia on top of it. Gall bladder is functioning normally.

 

 

Just watch the greasy and rich foods and you should be ok. You should be able to eat Cottage Cheese, better than nothing I guess. Watch eating raw veggies and salads as they are hard to digest.....

 

 

Are you planning on doing the new snorkle tour on Princess Cays? If you do can you please let me know how it is climbing onto the platform at the back of the boat, they say it is underwater, but I am curious if it is an easy or difficult climb.

[4cats4me]

KCGirl, hang in there with that new cruise diet of yours. I can relate

to ya somewhat as I had some issue a month or two ago and was

relegated to a diet of brown toast and applesauce and "all things bland"

no fat, no this, no that... but it is a survivable diet. I had to

embark a cruise ship knowing that the diet would be very limited.

Glad to hear you're feeling well today:)

[High C's]

Enjoy your cruise. I hope you stay well.

 

I remember when I had a severe gb attack. I kept drinking milk, thinking it would "settle my stomach". Instead, I was told later, dairy causes the gb to spasm - it was the worst thing I could do.

 

I am no expert, but just to be safe I would recommend watching your dairy intake over the next week.

 

Good luck!:)

[Riskytou]

Love you sharing with us. Interested in hearing how the ports are and any excursions you take. Maybe your friend can give a review on the food. Let her know, she is eating for all of us right now.:p

[Older Sister]

It is practically impossible to resist those cookies! I never could figure out whether the chocolate or peanut butter was my favorite . . . they were both so wonderful, especially when they were still warm out of the oven!

[seacrystal]

Hey KCSungirl,

 

I was part of your Caribbean Christmas fan club. I absolutely loved your commentary on every subject - I was always cracking up!:D

 

Good luck with your new diet. If you stick with it, it will make for a better cruise.

 

I look forward to all your posts.

[Coral]

You are far more daring than I am! I would have not gotten on the ship. Stay well!

[smilz]

Sorry to hear about your GB. Here's a few more suggestions:

Pasta with marinara(tomatoes will not cause spasms) NO ALFREDO

Chicken (not fried)

pancakes

shrimp cocktail

broiled or baked fish

sorbet

cake:D:D

 

I wish you a pain-free cruise.

[maxxedout2]

Have a great cruise. Stay well.

Anxious to hear your comments about the Crown since we

sail on her soon.

All the best.

Maxx

:cool::cool:

 

[KCSungirl]

Good Evening from the Sea

 

Thank you all for your well wishes and food advice. I need all the help I can get as I haven’t been counseled by a Dr. yet. My DH is making me an appt. for when I return home.

 

Lovely day aboard the Crown. After our late lunch we came back to the cabin to rest, read, write, and watch the movie 500 Days of Summer. We met our CC friends at Skywalker’s for sunset. The Elite Happy Hour is a great addition to the schedule. I had two vodka’s. Not sure about the alcohol. I will see how I feel around 3am. It was formal night, but nothing on the dining room menu appealed to me - halibut, cornished hen, beef Wellington. We went the buffet and enjoyed shrimp cocktail, salmon, mashed potatoes, and bread. No dessert, not even the souffle in the main dining room. ;-(

 

After dinner we went to the Jay Moore comedy show. He is really good. I have seen him many times, but he had some new jokes tonight. I liked his joke about poor people shopping at Walmart and rich people shopping at Target. After the show we joined our CC friends, Carole and Pat at Crooner’s Lounge for a dose of Bert. You know I have a love/hate relationship with Bert. He is a genius on the piano, but his Jim Carrey antics get old. Jan really enjoyed him, so I had a great time knowing she was enjoying herself.

 

Grand Cayman tomorrow. No plans. We will beach it and shop. I was thinking about Rum Point. Any thoughts on the beaches at Rum Point?

 

The ship has a very diverse crowd. 420 kids under age 17,which didn’t seem like all that many considering spring break is in full force. There are probably an equal amount of kids between 17 and 21. I got very amused by a family at the dining room sale. It was a smart looking Asian American family. The father says to the mother - “ The kids don’t want to go to the pool, they want to go to the cabin and do homework” No wonder they are so much smarter than me.

 

Jroban - el marie is not styling hair on this ship. Sorry, cuz if she gave you the best haircut ever, I would hunt her down too.

 

Carolina cruiser - your friend Carole and her friend Pat are delightful. We enjoyed the piano bar together.

 

See you tomorrow. Goodnight, Sungirl

[geoherb]

Sam and I enjoyed meeting you at the sailaway party. We're sitting with Cruznaccountant for dinner. He and his wife are very nice. We're going to try to make it up for pre-dinner snacks one of these nights. We're doing the Chef's table tonight and won't be eating anything but a light lunch.

 

The weather is beautiful. We may stay on the ship this morning instead of tendering over to Grand Cayman. It's great to have a ship with half the passengers gone.

 

Service was poor for our first night in the dining room but our waiter and assistant were much better last night. One of the women at our table spoke to the head waiter and straightened things out. I think they got everything right last night after getting many many things wrong the first night.

 

We did not have any problems eating in the dining room on embarkation day. On the Emerald last fall, we had to force our way in practically. On this cruise, they welcomed us just as they have for all the open seating meals.

 

Embarkation was a breeze for us. We were able to skip the huge line of folks waiting since we're Platinum. I'm enjoying the free Internet minutes, but Sam's laptop has a problem connecting. I won't be trying to do my own live thread like I did from the Crown since I can't type everything offline like I did then.

[tinatark]

Hey KCgirl, is there snorkel rental? On the CB 2 years ago, we could rent from "Davy Jones Locker" for the week - the shop had very limited hours but it was a better deal than renting while we were in port. Thank You!

 

Also - Carnival had a ship building contest - I know Princess does the horse race - is there anything else like that? My artistic son would love it!

[ssbeagle]

We'll be on the Crown on Mar 27th. I understand the CD will be Ron Goodman. Is there any way you can find out? I also heard we will get a different Captain.

 

I'm really interested in Roatan when you get there. I haven't been there before. Are you doing any tours there?

 

With GB problems, just stay away from greasy fried foods and anything really rich and you should be okay. I remember those days before I had mine out. I was so sick all the time I lost 45 lbs before surgery. Don't eat nuts either.

 

Hope you are doing better.

[choochella]

Thanks for your "live" feed. We are sailing the Crown next month, same itinerary. I did see where you stated that Bert Stratten was in Crooner's. Do you know how long he is planning on staying on board? I thought he had moved on and was no longer playing on cruise ships, except for special occasions. We saw him in 1997 on the now defunct Dolphin cruiseline. We thought he was a hoot! I guess some like him, some don't. But, it would be nice if he was going to be on our sailing.

[lovevacadays]

Thanks for the live from. I love the Crown. Hope you are feeling ok.

[KCSungirl]

Perfect Day in Grand Cayman

 

We enjoyed a hot and sunny day in Grand Cayman. We had breakfast in the HC. I had Rice Krispies and fruit. Jan is enjoying the egg selections, especially the scrambled eggs with mushrooms. I think the breakfast buffet is very good. My new diet is really agreeing with me. I feel great. I have had so much back pain in the past six months, never thinking it was a gall bladder issue. I thought it was my expensive mattress. I have had no more than a few bites of meat/fat in the past three days and I have absolutely no pain. It’s a miracle!

 

Princess is gathering people in the dining room instead of the Princess Theater for tender tickets to go ashore in Cayman. Since I am lucky enough to have priority tendering with my elite status, we went straight to the tender and bypassed the ticket distribution. I stopped at the Icafe to get a coffee and bran muffin for the road. I love the bran muffins. This sweet bartender keeps giving me free coffee. I am not sure what I have done to deserve this, but I feel like I won the coffee lottery. Tendering was pretty smooth and we were on shore by 9:00am. Jan had never tendered before and she thought we were going to use some sort of dinghy. Jan was officially ordained as a cruiser today. Do you know what that trophy is? The Diamond International charm bracelet. I had forgotten DI opened stores in Cayman two years ago. It’s very exciting to get your first charm bracelet. We stopped at DI to get our bracelet and stingray charm. Jan will have fun collecting those charms. I have a hundred charms that I never put on the bracelets. Can you remember your first cruise or first time to Cayman? Did you shop at every store and buy all of those tacky souvenirs? Jan was in knick knack nirvana. I quit buying the magnets, key chains, shot glasses, and dust collectors a long time ago. If I can’t wear it or eat it, I don’t buy it. I had fun, however, shopping with Jan and reminiscing about the days when I collected crap. First stop, Hard Rock Café. Jan bought several items, mostly gifts. I wanted a St.Patty’s collector pin but they didn’t have any. We stopped at all the souvenir shops on the waterfront. I do collect Swatch watches, so I always make a stop at the Swatch shop. Another very important stop for Jan - Margaritaville. More key chains, shot glasses, and magnets. I finally was able to drag Jan away from the shops, after she enjoyed two free shots of mango rum at a souvenir shop. We stopped at Capt Marvins business office to check what excursions they were offering. All excursions lead to Stingray City and we weren’t interested. We hopped in a taxi to go to the beautiful Seven Mile Beach. ($15, because it was private, $5/pp shared ride). I have been to Cayman many times and have enjoyed all areas of the beach. We decided to spend the day at Sea Grape Beach. It’s a nice public beach. We rented chairs ($10/pp). There was only one other ship in port - Carnival Inspiration. The crowds were very manageable. If you have read any of my live reviews, then you know the best part of my day is lunch on the beach enjoying local cuisine. Lots of fish sandwiches, burger/fries, spicy foods, and margaritas. Keeping in mind my medical condition, my lunch consisted of a popsicle from the ice cream man parked in the beach parking lot and the bran muffin I carried off the ship. This is not right! Jan got an ice cream bar also. The sun was hot and burning so we only spent three hours at the beach. No marathon tanning session for us today. We taxied back to town ($5/pp) and did more shopping. A second trip to Margaritaville for more stuff. I did buy a tank top and ball cap. The hat reads “I am the Woman to Blame”. I thought that sounded like a good slogan. No tender line to get back to the ship at 2:30pm. The line is usually around the block. We got back to the ship and immediately went to the HC for a real lunch. I think Jan tried a bite of every single item on the buffet. It was very good. I had more mashed potatoes, bread, and fruit, but I also had a few bites of some of the gnocchi in the Gorgonzola cream sauce I love. I passed on the clam chowder. We spent the rest of the afternoon resting in the cabin, enjoying the balcony. and watching movies - The Notebook and Marley and Me. Two good tear-jerkers.

 

We met our CC friends, Carole and Pat at Skywalkers for 6pm elite happy hour. Wonderful views from Skywalkers. Tonight was Italian night in the dining room. We went to the Café Caribe. They were featuring the Indian theme tonight - curry, rice, lamb meatbealls, kebobs, etc. I love the lamb meatballs. I had one. The spicy rice was very good. After dinner we shopped in the boutiques. Bought a few bracelets in the shop with the purses/jewelry/sunglasses. They were 2/$30. Really cool slider bead bracelets. With my discount they were $13.50each. Another sign of a professional cruiser is a lanyard. Had to buy Jan the Princess Lanyard for her key card. We donated to the slot machines in the casino for over an hour. I spent/lost more money in one hour than I have spent in ten years of cruising. What is going on?

 

We left the casino depressed and went to Crooners Piano Bar for more Bert. I had a new found respect for him this evening when he said he had four kids and three grandkids. He is a lot older than I thought he was and works much too hard for his age. He is off the charts when it comes to expending energy. He is so thin and pale. He must be exhausted at the end of the night. I know he is doing what he loves to do, however. After a set with Bert we went to Club Fusion for the last few minutes of the 50’s/60’s RocknRoll party. Very large crowd and lots of dancers.

 

We came back to the cabin at 10:30pm. No good cabin movie selections tonight.

 

Entertainment:

Afternoon Movie - The Invention of Lying

MUTS afternoon - Alvin 2:The Squeaquel, 500 Days of Summer, Julie and Julia

Evening Princess Theater movie - Up In the Air (Loved this movie)

MUTS Evening - The Boys Are Back

Featured Cabin Movie - Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

Explorers Comedy - Rollin Jay Moore (Encore)

Princess Theater - What a Swell Party(Encore)

Club Fusion - 50’s/60’sRock and Roll Party

Crooners - Bert Stratton

Adagio Bar - Ludovic on the piano

 

The activity choices are endless. Something for everyone. Something I had not seen before - the $2.99 drinks after 8pm in the bars. WOW! It only includes well drinks and beer, but it’s a great deal if you aren’t too picky on your liquor.

 

This cruise has been the Bizarro Jerry episode of Seinfeld. Everything is opposite of what I usually experience. No tender lines, seats in the showroom, seats in the HC, no waiting in the dining room, chairs at the pool, gambling, dates with Bert, no shore lunches, souvenir shopping, my pants are zipping without problems, and a really well-behaved crowd. It must have something to do with the fact that my Del Boca Vista friends are in the minority this week. I think I like this spring break cruising.

 

I know this blog is probably too much ridiculous info, but at least you will know what to expect in the entertainment dept. I am getting more practice for the book I want to write.

 

I apologize for not answering all questions, but I will eventually.

 

See you tomorrow in Roatan. Cheers, Sungirl

 

PS. I left the coffemaker at home and forgot the power strip. I am really missing the power strip.

[ulcards99]

Thank you so much!! I love your posts!! I LOVE the detail!! We are getting on the Crown Saturday, so the detail is very helpful!!

 

$2.99 drinks? Never heard of that one before! Is it in any bar after 8pm?

[rjrice1]

KCSUNGIRL: So sorry that you had to go the the ER; some ER's are known for "treat" and "street.":mad: But with you self control and that dreadful FOUR letter work "diet" you should survive the cruise. However make sure you go to a good GI doctor.

We will be on the ship on her last carribean cruise in April and so looking forward to it. Let me know it was in Roatan? And NO your blog is so great. Stay well and feel better.

Cathy

[Cruisindad]

 

I know this blog is probably too much ridiculous info . . .

 

Not at all! Like everyone else, I am enjoying your reports. Since we were on the Crown the week before you it is interesting to see how your experience compares to ours.

 

We also were surpirised at the availability of seats in the Princess theatre, as we have been on many cruises where seats were hard to come by.

 

I was also pleasantly surprised by the drink specials after 8:00, although I really didn't take advantage of it. I must be getting too old to drink after 8:00! :o

 

My bizarro world experiences were that I didn't take my usual afternoon naps after day 2, and I almost didn't turn on my cabin TV the entire week.

[jroban]

Thank you so much for stopping in the spa to see if El Marie is working onboard. Guess I will have to hunt her down and book another cruise! :)

[KCSungirl]

We are getting close to Roatan, will dock in a couple of hours.

 

Correction - TEN Lords a Leaping - refers to the ten commandments.

 

I am very knowledgeable about Roatan. My dad was an avid scuba diver and made several trips to Roatan since the 70's, before it hardly had a population. He is 71 now. I have been to Roatan twice in the past year on Carnival cruises.

 

I have a driver named Hulk. He is from Jamaica. I will see if I can find him today. I will also find my dad's friend, Junior McField. My dad sent 6 sets of different size dominoes for Junior. Junior is a tour operator for Carnival. He gives island tours booked through the ship.

 

The jury is still out on the weather, but I think the clouds will burn off. It's early yet. See you soon.

 

Cheers,Sungirl