A Regal Time with Florence the Zebra: Canada/New England Oct. 17-24

[bluenoser2]

Yes, it really was no problem. Our tour was for 10:00 and we thought that we should get to the tender "line-up" early to give ourselves lots of time, but it was really easy. Because Bar Harbor was the first U.S. port after being in Canada there was the immigration check which started at 7:00 a.m. when we got to port, and that was very quick. For tenders, we went to the assigned dining room at 8:00, were given a ticket, entered a completely empty dining room, just had to wait for the next tender to start loading, and we sashayed down to the tender, boarded, and actually, the Princess tour groups came on that tender AFTER we had boarded. They had a spot up front. The tenders hold a lot of people. We were on land easily before 9:00 a.m. and just wandered around for the hour before our tour. The same went for Newport tendering. Hope that helps you?

[bluenoser2]

Yup, it’s definitely become a problem. The lure of the apple donut was too much for me…..I could say “I can stop whenever I want” but I don’t think I ever would. This was it though. Last day. At least until getting home and “needing” to see whether I liked it or the Tim Horton’s apple fritter better (it was a tie.)

 

I finally remembered this morning to get an omelet made for me with my choice of fillings in Horizon. I picked it up myself as they weren’t busy and it didn’t take very long at all – by the time I had gotten my fruit to go with it, my order was up. The previous day DH had just given his little slip of paper to the server who got us our drinks, and it was brought to him at the table. I think I have trust issues.

 

I have a question: Can someone tell me what the red/white flag and the yellow flag signify? I saw them a couple of times when we came into a port, but not after. C'mon....show off your expertise and knowledge....you know you wanna.

 

 

After watching the final approach into Newport it was time for me to do some waffling (no, I was actually done with breakfast – and yes, I did try one of the waffles earlier in the week, but I like mine better) – sunny AND windy…..light jacket or hooded jacket? DH was endlessly patient, bless him, and eventually I made the commitment and we hoofed it to the dining room for our tender tickets. We were actually out on the first tender of the day, along with Princess excursion people, so there was no worry about feeling like a second class citizen and having to wait for the tour people to go first. Of course, we didn’t get to sport the snazzy little oval number stickers on our jackets, but hey, we could live with that.

 

 

When the good folks on CC say that a place is easy to get around, believe them! We found the visitor’s centre easily, just a block away, and got our tickets to visit the mansions, and our day pass for the bus in one stop. Easy peasy. Taking the advice of one sage, we limited ourselves to 2 mansions, and were happy in our choices.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had been to The Breakers 21 years ago, but decided to go there again, and really liked the audio tour headsets. There were no crowds and it was easy to move through the mansion at our own pace. No pictures to share of course, as it’s not allowed, but I would go back again. Our second mansion was The Marble House, and it was also amazing and very interesting.

 

 

 

The bus was easy to catch – every 20 minutes – I just had to train myself to look at my watch AS we were dropped off at any place, so Ii would remember which part of the hour the “every 20 minutes” would occur. Which I didn’t remember at the first place, and we waited for 15 minutes! We timed it perfectly on our second return to the bus however – we learn quickly.

 

We did take some time to wander through the downtown area, but as we weren’t in a shopping kind of mood we didn’t last very long.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spoiler alert.....the next post will contain some images not suitable for all audiences......yup....food porn coming soon.

[bluenoser2]

We headed back to the tenders, and snagged a couple of seats up top – cold and windy, but beautiful and sunny trip back to the ship. Once on board we realized it was our last chance to have lunch at Alfredo’s pizza, so we just stopped on deck 6 and plunked ourselves and our stuff down to have a light lunch. The minestrone was divinely warm and much appreciated by my hands that just wanted to hold the bowl. They could have just given me a bowl of hot water and I would have been happy. (The minestrone tasted far better than hot water…don’t get me wrong.) We ordered two different pizzas to share, and couldn’t decide which we liked better. Note – this year I believe they were doing 50th anniversary daily specials. If you see one that interests you, get it on that day, it doesn’t show up as a special again – now I’m not sure if you could just ask for it anyway– but I wouldn’t have remembered what I was asking for at that point, so I was happy with the current day’s presentation. But absolutely no dessert. We were cutting back. Time for re-entry back into the real world. NOT. Actually it was because tonight was our night at Sabatiini’s and we needed to save some room.

 

 

 

You might want to avert your eyes for this next sentence. (hushed whisper….) Then we went to our room to pack. Yup. It was that day. I won’t dwell there, only to say that we actually managed to leave out the right stuff for the next morning and pack the right stuff to leave forlornly out in the hall later that day.

 

 

OK, you can look back now. What was left of the afternoon was spent in some improv entertainment by going to take a gander at the photos on display….we had escaped most of the port pictures, except the leprechauns, and a nondescript Halifax shot, and had said no in the dining room every time they came around, so there wasn’t much of us to find. No matter, we were able to leave without photos in hand, and had some good laughs about some of the pictures that were on display.

 

We had never been to Sabatini’s before, so this was quite an event for us. All of us.

 

 

 

 

It was a lovely meal, and you’ll have to excuse all the food porn that I have to show since I really held back for the rest of the cruise. Honestly, I’m not sure what all we had – I need to look at the menu online again to check it, but it was good, very good. The appetizers tasted better than they looked in my humble opinion:

 

Insalata di Gamberi, Finocchi e Cannellini (ha! I got it....looks like a soup, but it's a salad....can you tell I'm from the sticks?)

 

 

Mosaico di Verdure Grigliate e Porcini all’ Olio Vergine d’Oliva (look at me doing my research now.....)

 

DH was pretty pleased that he could say he had scallops 5 consecutive nights in a row (there’s a flair for redundancy). I was a bit grossed out by his pasta dish.....(honestly, so was he...but he hid it well)

langostino, diver scallops, tiger shrimp, vongole and black mussels in cherry tomato sauce

 

My pasta dish was an unfortunately blurry manicotti.....tasted good though!

 

For our main dishes, DH had the lobster three ways....

 

 

while I chose the Petto di Pollo con Asiago e Pomodorini, Salsa al Marsala (Sounds better than "chicken" doesn't it?)

 

 

The most amusing was when the waiter served me my tea and then looked apologetically at DH, and said, “Your milk is coming. I had to get it …….from…somewhere else.” Not a lot of call for skim milk in the Italian specialty restaurant I guess. So, when the votes were in DH and I decided we did like the Crown Grill (on a previous trip on the Royal) better than Sabatini’s but we certainly didn’t mind having the meal there, as a perk with our cruise deal. I think DH just felt bad because the desserts were predominantly coffee flavoured, and he doesn’t like coffee. At all. Not a bit. Forget it.

 

I do......

 

 

 

We took in the last night of The Voice of the Ocean, which was quite fun – we started by peeking in the Princess Theatre, but ended up watching the simulcast in the Vista Lounge, since we wanted to be there for Darrell Joyce, the comedian, which was following shortly after. Alas, DH could NOT stay awake for the life of him, so I sent him to his room, and I watched to the end. It was a sad night for us. Yes, the last night of the cruise. Yes, the night the Bluejays lost for the last time this season. Ah well, there’s always next year.

[CRLess]

I have a question: Can someone tell me what the red/white flag and the yellow flag signify? I saw them a couple of times when we came into a port, but not after. C'mon....show off your expertise and knowledge....you know you wanna.

 

 

 

The Yellow flag is a quarantine flag. It signifies that you have not cleared customs. Not sure why it was flying when you entered Newport from Boston as you were not in a foreign port prior to arrival in Newport. When we take the boat over to the Bahamas from here in South FL, we have to raise the yellow flag until we are cleared by the Bahamian authorities, at which time we raise the Bahamian courtesy flag and fly it the whole time we are in their waters.

[Retiring cajun]

bluenoser2, I have enjoyed your review so much. Love Francis[emoji4]

[Retiring cajun]

oops, Florence[emoji2]

[rdsqrl]

The red & white flag means there's a harbour pilot onboard.

The yellow flag means the ship carries no contagious diseases (the vessel is requesting "free pratique"). [insert Noro joke of your choice here]

 

That lady in Sabatini's in the background of your photo of Florence -- whatever is she doing? Either she's looking at a phone or else she's stuffing purloined goodies into her open handbag! Too funny.

[trbarton]

Can you describe your inside sideways cabin? I've read that it's about 2' bigger and when you enter the room vola there's your bed. Any photos appreciated.

 

Thanks for your review and photos.

 

Tom:)

[bluenoser2]

rdsqrl and CRLess- thanks for the intel on the flags; I feel much more informed now.

 

And oh my goodness, I hadn't even noticed the lady in the background! In all our trips there is one photo with a cameo appearance by someone we don't know. In Venice it was two ladies who, in their attempt to get out of the way of a photo we were taking in the gondola, became the main focus of the picture! In Alaska it was the picture I took of DH, with the lady sound asleep in a lounger with mouth wide open. You have found my New England photo for me! Many thanks!

[bluenoser2]

Earlier in my review I have the only pictures I took of our interior cabin. Yes, it does look quite different coming straight into the bedroom area, but it felt more roomy somehow, and we really liked it.

 

 

In this picture you can see the position of the bed in relation to the door to the hall. Behind where I was standing, was the closet area that led into the washroom.

 

 

If you look at it this way, it doesn't look much different than the "regular" insides, - the door would be at the far end past the desk. But now that is closet space before you turn to the washroom. I'm sure others have spectacular pictures somewhere on the Princess boards of these rooms, I never have the patience to try and get the right pic!

 

However, I must say, as we've always been in balconies, this was a great room! We weren't planning to do any tanning out on our balcony, so we didn't miss it at all. And it didn't seem claustrophobic or anything!

[bluenoser2]

 

The day of sadness. The day of departure. The day of days. Florence was clinging to the hope that we might just forget her, and she could become one of those who live on the cruise ship forever, but alas, we had her tucked back in the carry-on, where she would be doomed to life in a drawer again until the next big vaycay.

 

DH is a lover of sunrise, sunset, (not the song, the actual events) and was up before dawn watching the arrival back into New York.

 

 

 

 

We had a big breakfast in Horizon Court, well the bistro – it was our favourite place to eat, and where we always knew we could find each other if we got lost or turned around (like that ever happened….). You know, last meal and all. No telling when we might ever eat again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jefferson had already stealthily been into our room to prepare the bed for the next cruise goers, so it didn’t really feel like our room anymore anyway, so after making sure I hadn’t left anything (I’ve done it before….) we headed down to the Vista lounge to take advantage of one last Platinum perk. I think the one thing we didn’t do as platinums on the cruise, was take advantage of the cocktails and canapes served daily. That’s because we eat so early anyway, and none of the apps they showed on the card in our room really called out to us. So we lounged about in the …er...lounge, used up the last few remaining minutes of our (free) internet, and then were called with the rest of the Blue group to leave the ship.

 

 

We had a Princess transfer to get back to Newark airport, and that was really easy. It wasn’t too expensive, and it was a no-brainer for our tired heads. We waited on the bus for a while and then, aside from a driver who seemed surprised that we all weren’t on the same flight and terminal, we eventually made it to the right building and departed, back into the real world. It was an uneventful flight home, and our car was waiting for us at the other end, and we drove home in daylight (usually our car is waiting for us, laden with snow and needing to be shovelled out under cover of darkness – in JANUARY, not in OCTOBER!) .

 

 

So there it is. Congratulations to those of you who made it to the end. I’m proud of you. You all get virtual gold stickers! It would seem that Florence’s next big trip will take her to the Carnival boards next year and across the pond for another adventure on another big new ship, the Vista. Thanks for

coming along for the ride on my indulgent cruise re-living!

[Mom33]

Thanks for taking us along on your Regal adventure! :D

[cnd crsr]

Thanks Marla for the fantastic review. I enjoyed virtually traveling along.:)

[sunsetbeachgal]

Thanks again for such a fun review!!!

[gkkapp]

Marla-

 

Really enjoyed your review. We were on the Oct 3 cruise and had a great time, too. Really liked the Canadian ports and I'm proudly wearing my "toony" necklace purchased in St John. Hopefully, we'll get to do the cruise again.

 

<<<Karen>>>

[dickinson]

Thanks for the fun review. I really enjoyed following along!

[seapals2]

Ok .. I'm late at the party .. but its not over till the fat lady sings they say.

 

A great review .. some lovely photos ... tell Florence ..I almost feel I could call her Flo I know her so well ... that she did an amazing modelling job.

 

All the best ... hope its not too long before you are back at sea.

 

Hope Flo comes out for Christmas fun.

[seapals2]

Had to come back to your review and show husband Florence ... The last shot in the cabin is so funny ... Exactly how I feel when having to leave!

Would love your take on those peek a boo balconies under the glass walk way. We have been 'upgraded' to one and would have to actually pay more now to down grade! So we plan to stick with the gold fish bowl.

Better pack husband some new pants!

[bluenoser2]

(Sorry for the late reply - had to go away for the weekend....without Florence). First of all, thank you all who read the review, and enjoyed it. ANY of you can call our little Zebra Flo, she considers you all her besties, BFFs, and good friends! I keep waiting for the day when we take her out to take a picture of her and someone recognizes her! That'll be a great day.

 

 

 

 

Had to come back to your review and show husband Florence ... The last shot in the cabin is so funny ... Exactly how I feel when having to leave!

Would love your take on those peek a boo balconies under the glass walk way. We have been 'upgraded' to one and would have to actually pay more now to down grade! So we plan to stick with the gold fish bowl.

Better pack husband some new pants!

 

 

I've never BEEN in one of the balconies under the seawalk, but I have been ON the seawalk. It's not a place I'd stop to examine anyone's balcony - unless of course there was a crowd there, pointing, and laughing. The pointing and laughing would draw me in, but not the fact of there being balconies under the walk. Mostly I just walk quickly over that part and there's no time for me with my progressive lenses to focus on anything but getting to the other end of it. Unless I take gravol (or I believe as the Americans would say, Bonine) first. Which I won't do. Just to look. I think your husband will be safe. Happy travels!

[westendgirl]

Just wanted to thank you for another enlightening and entertaining review! You don't know me and to my knowledge, we've never sailed together; however, we have a mutual friend: Florence! Realize that I'm a little late to the party but we just returned from a 'land cruise' in Hawaii and it took me a bit to get caught up.

 

We had never visited the Maritimes before and cruised there in September on the Caribbean. VERY impressed with the region and the denizens and look forward to going back soon. Very much anticipating your next adventure with DH & Flo! Thanks for taking the time to post your review.