Dungeons, gardens, and feeling foolish. Pearl PC 9/26!

[Starflyr3]

Day 2: Victoria!

 

I woke up around 4 am, and again around 6, then stayed awake until around 8 when I rousted DH out of bed and to Moderno. We had our normal breakfasts (on ships, anyway) of fruit, he had a ham and cheese omelette, I had eggs benedict.

 

We had a excursion at 9:20 to the Secret Garden. I had booked it because it sounded like a cross between The Secret Garden (the book) and a fairy tale. turns out, I was almost right.

 

We met our tour just outside the cruise terminal. We had to wait a bit, and I thought this was cute, and my kids would have loved it - just their size!

 

 

Anyway, we got on a bus with about 30 people and headed off. Our guide was an ex-Navy sailor who had lots of interesting stories. Actually, he pitched Victoria so well that DH and I decided we want to retire there (or maybe go sooner, depending on the election...)

 

The garden itself is on 1 acre of land in a residential neighborhood.

 

Here is the story:

 

Once upon a time, before WWII, there was a young Russian prince in exile, studying abroad to be a lawyer. At the same time, there was a young English orphan girl in China who had been adopted by a well to do English couple. She was studying to be a concert pianist. On a trip to London (I think, it may have been Paris), the orphan girl met the Russian Prince, and they became good friends. However, WWII soon began and they were separated. They kept in touch via letter as often as they could.

 

The Prince joined the French armed forces against Germany, and spent some time in a German POW camp before being released. The orphan girl had returned home to China, and was eventually captured and interned in a Japanese Internment Camp for the remainder of the War.

 

After the war (20 years after their last meeting), they got back in touch with each other and agreed to meet in New York. The rest, as they say, is history. They were engaged and married soon after. They then moved to Victoria and bought a 1 acre plot of land on which to build their home.

 

They did have some money, as the young lady had hidden a number of traveler's cheques in a tin of talcum powder for her entire internment, and the Russian prince had some finances in banks that he did not lose during exile/war.

 

Here is the happy couple:

 

 

They were too old for children by this point, so they took the rest of their lives to build a Chinese-inspired garden on their property. First they built a "summer house", which was 1 room with an outdoor desk on which to plan their garden. After this, they built a modest contemporary home on the property, which had a beautiful view of the garden, along with having a main room with carefully engineered acoustics for when the now-Princess would hold concerts in her garden. One curious thing about the house is that it had no proper kitchen. There was enough to make a simple breakfast of tea and toast, but they always ate dinner out, and never had guests to dinner. In fact, they entertained guests only by appointment, as the new Princess took her royal duties very seriously.

 

 

The Prince died in the 80s, and the Princess in the 90s. Their home and garden have been tended by volunteers since that time, who strive to keep the garden true to its original intention. Their house is now a tea room, which serves tea and scones daily.

 

The guides are all volunteers, though the teahouse/giftshop personnel are employed. Our guide was a lovely lady who normally gardens once weekly and does tours another 1-2x per week

 

 

There are metal dresses placed in various areas of the gardens. They are made to resemble the Princesses clothing, and can be purchased (for a pretty penny). Here is one example:

 

 

A few pictures of the garden in the next post.

[Starflyr3]

The garden itself is very different depending on where you are standing and in which direction your are looking. This was intentional on their part, as it is how some Chinese gardens are planned/laid out.

 

For example (not the best picture, but..) this path lined with heather is supposed to be represntative of the Yangtzee River.

 

 

This part of the garden is supposed to feel like fall in Canada (with another metal dress):

 

 

They insisted on keeping the rocks bare, and would incorporate some unusual things. For instance, this tree was blown over during a storm, and instead of removing it, they left it and let it continue to grow that way. It makes for a fairly dramatic scene, looking at it:

 

 

There are also 3 connected ponds with turtles and (tiny) Koi:

 

 

Up at the main house, there are several plant examples, with indentifying information that can be used as reference:

 

 

It is difficult to imagine that all of this is contained in only 1 acre. A word to the wise: wear sturdy shoes and be aware that there are several places where footing is unsteady, and there are some stairs (not many)

 

Up next:

 

[Starflyr3]

After the garden tour, we were sat in the teahouse and served tea and scones. As I said, this had been the house they lived in, so the bedroom has become a small gift shop, there is 1 washroom, an office, and the room that the Princess used to play her piano in (concerts for guests). There used to be french doors, so the guests could sit in the garden and listen.

 

They have shelves of her books and other personal items that can be looked at:

 

 

My husband was amused that I had "conned" him into "having a tea party". He was NOT the only male on the tour, however.

 

 

We were served 2 scones, with clotted cream and strawberry jam.

 

I began with the currant scone, which was delicious.

 

 

My husband began with the scone that didnt have fruit bits in it. Having never had one before, he asked me how to eat a scone, and I told him to put some cream and jam on it and have at.

 

Well, he started with the OTHER scone, since he is very suspicious of raisins. That one was cheese and herb. He was not impressed with the jam and cream on that one!

 

We were served 2 types of tea. One was an herbal lemongrass tea, the other was the Royal Abkhazi tea. I only had the Royal tea (I needed caffeine), and it was delicious. I picked up a tin of looseleaf tea in the gift shop on the way out.

 

 

After this, we headed back to the ship.

 

Most on the trip were older than we were, but we did have tea with some lovely ladies from the Washington area.

 

I finally got a decent picture of the ship on the way back:

 

 

Then we headed back to the ship, and watched part of the Avengers movie, then went to lunch in Moderno.

 

After lunch, we went up to the Haven for our only visit of this entire trip, but it was steamy in the pool area (roof closed) and just windy enough to be chilly on the top deck, so we went back to the room, and sat on the balcony there instead

 

We are not very exciting on cruises, I suppose. I went to the first training session in the gym at 4:30, and that was fun. We weight train 2x a week at home, so I didn't want to take a week off.

 

When I got back to the room, DH wasn't feeling well, so our plans for the night were a bit dashed. I called Lazaro, and he brought some meclizine, toast/crackers and chicken noodle soup.

 

In the midst of all this, workmen came in the room to take measurements for new curtains that will be installed in the upcoming drydock. I had DH lying on the floor in the bathroom, feeling awful, so that was interesting.

 

Once I knew DH was feeling better, I went to dinner in O'sheehans by myself. The chicken pot pie was delicious, though extremely filling.

 

By the end of that, i was tired and went to bed. The seas had gotten a bit rougher as well (~9 foot waves), and I slept like a baby being rocked to sleep.

 

Next up: Day 3: Sea day

[allomas1311]

Is Haven only for passengers with suites?

[Quilting_Cruiser]

Hey, I recognize the smiling face! It was great to meet you, Laurie. I wish we'd had more time to chat!

 

 

no, I agree that Yadhira was not a good concierge. Nowhere near Omar or Leo. She did introduce herself to us on the 4th day of the cruise - came by our cabin, etc - but was really not very helpful with anything.

 

 

 

I'm sorry you (and Nancy) felt Yahira wasn't a good concierge. She was mine as well, and I thought she was great! I saw her frequently (despite not being a haven passenger) and she took good care of me! She definitely made debarkation easier and she came by my breakfast table in Moderno each morning. It's so odd that some of us thought she was great and then some of you didn't have very good experiences with her. :(

 

I enjoyed Teppanyaki that first night more than I expected to. Our chef was better than the one I had last time (on the Epic) and I totally enjoyed chatting with Bridgette and Jennifer. :D

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review and I'm loving the pics. It's fun to see the cruise through someone else's eyes. BTW, I tried to come to the informal M&G after muster but couldn't find anyone. I walked around the Great Outdoors two or three times, got some ice cream and walked through again, but never saw any of you. Weird.

[Quilting_Cruiser]

Is Haven only for passengers with suites?

 

The Haven is for Haven passengers. :D As I understand it, not all suites are Haven suites though.

[Quilting_Cruiser]

BTW, I had the chicken pot pie in O'Sheehan's as well. I was glad to finally get to try it as I love chicken pot pie, but if I'm honest, I was disappointed they still had the old menu. I was so looking forward to the Thai chili wings. I had those everyday on the Epic and loved them!! :D

[Starflyr3]

Is Haven only for passengers with suites?

 

On Jewel class ships, there are suites and suites with Haven access. Haven suites are the suites IN the Haven, plus the 4 owners suites on decks 9 and 10.

 

On larger/newer ships (epic and later), all suites, regardless of location are Haven suites.

[NancyL2]

"After lunch, we went up to the Haven for our only visit of this entire trip, but it was steamy in the pool area (roof closed) and just windy enough to be chilly on the top deck, so we went back to the room, and sat on the balcony there instead"

 

The Haven Pool area was quite steamy the entire cruise...roof was also closed the entire time. Jennifer used the stationary bike in the evenings before going to the show. It was really nice to have the private/quiet area.

Yes, the top sun deck was very windyl. :)

[Cruisermom2nick]

Thanks for your review! Great job so far! :)

[BlueLadyBlue]

Enjoying & following along.

[cincicruisers]

Great review. More please...

[Debde]

no, I agree that Yadhira was not a good concierge. Nowhere near Omar or Leo. She did introduce herself to us on the 4th day of the cruise - came by our cabin, etc - but was really not very helpful with anything.

 

She was never near the suite seating in the Stardust - and we never ever got drink service at the shows (even after talking to people about it, it still never happened). That was VERY odd. Heck, we wanted to do priority walk off, and when we got to the Stardust (the meeting point, I thought?) we were shooed off to Bliss to join the regular line. Not that it was a HUGE deal, but it was certainly off putting.

 

I did not write her a vacation hero card. I did write our steward (Marvin) and our butler (Lazaro), who were WONDERFUL.

 

This concerns me.:( After the Breakaway and having access to the concierge, face to face at the desk during the day was one thing I enjoyed as I do use them and often.

I thought they were available at a desk in the haven/suite breakfast and lunch dining room? That being Moderno now?

[Starflyr3]

Sorry all. I will come back to this. Some things came up around here and Ive been a bit on the busy/crazy side for a bit. Stay tuned!

[SuiteTraveler]

This concerns me.:( After the Breakaway and having access to the concierge, face to face at the desk during the day was one thing I enjoyed as I do use them and often.

I thought they were available at a desk in the haven/suite breakfast and lunch dining room? That being Moderno now?

 

On the older Jewel class ships there is no Haven restaurant so it is in one of the specialty restaurants that is otherwise closed for breakfast or lunch, the concierge is always present at breakfast near wherever the suite guest breakfast is and also they have a small office - on Jade it was just behind the reception desk. I don't recall if they were there at lunch or not. I just picked up the phone to call the concierge when we were on Jade for reservations or any questions I had. They were very helpful always - one even carried my luggage off the ship for me!

Edited November 26, 2016 by SuiteTraveler

[bakersdozen12]

Sorry all. I will come back to this. Some things came up around here and Ive been a bit on the busy/crazy side for a bit. Stay tuned!

 

 

Looking forward to it!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[Starflyr3]

My photo hosting site is super jacked up, so I dont have any pictures for now. I will try to describe, instead. Sorry.

 

Day 3: Sea Day

 

DH was finally feeling better, so we got up about 8 am and headed to breakfast at Moderno. It was good, but quite a bit of the fruit was almost rotten. Im not sure why they served it like that, but oh well.

 

My back was hurting, so I headed to the thermal suite and DH returned to the room.

 

It took a bit to get a lounger, as only 5 of the 6 were working, so I chilled in the thalassotherapy pool until one opened up. After about an hour, my back felt better and it was just about time for the CC M&G.

 

I will say, since the Pearl is arranged differently than the rest of the Jewel class (the Bliss Lounge is where Tradewinds is on the other ships and vice versa), Bliss was very different. It was the only time we went there on this trip.

 

There are these HUGE bed/couches that have TVs in the ceiling above them, huge armchairs, all velvet and plush - it looked like a good place to have a seance.

 

All of the officers attended, and we met JoyouslySailingAway, NancyL, etc. There was no formal cabin crawl, but some people wanted to see our cabin, so they came by for a short tour, and DH went with NancyL to get a scopolamine patch. (THANK YOU NANCYL). Then we headed to Moderno for lunch

 

After lunch, I napped for a bit, then we attended the Latitudes Party. There was on party for Bronze members, then a second for silver+. It was not as nice as ones we have attended in the past. You could get champagne/wine or rum punch, and cubes of cheese. That was all. No canapes or anything. They did the giveaway drawings, but instead of using our invitations to the party, they used the CruiseNext certificate papers, which (though I looked around and asked) were nowhere to be found. Needless to say, we didnt win anything (not that I expected to anyway).

 

We then went back to the spa for more Thalassotherapy time, and then got ready for the VIP Captain's party. It was also NNO, so we got a *little* dressed up. (not much)

 

The Captain's party was nice - canapes, drinks, really friendly staff. We had a nice talk with Dan the Man and Stephen, the assistant Hotel Director.

 

I made my big faux pas here, because I forgot about taking a picture with the Captain after shaking his hand. Boy, was I embarrassed. Oh well. Se la vie.

 

The entertainment that night was David Naster, the comedian. Bizarrely, he has been on every cruise (except Sky) we have been on with NCL since 2015. DH wanted to go to the buffet, so I told him to go and I would save seats (not that we really needed to, but...). When he came back, he told me that he understands why I dont like the buffet!

 

The show was great, as usual. We went to Indigo for dinner afterwards. The hostess recognized us and was very friendly and came by and checked on us during the meal.

 

After this, we headed to bed.

 

Next up: San Francisco!

[Starflyr3]

Day 4: San Francisco!

 

Everyone on the boat had to go through customs, and it was supposed to be completely over by 9:30 am. um...yeah, that didnt happen.

 

After breakfast, We took advantage of the priority debarkation that Yadhira and her assistant provided, and went through customs first, so there was hardly any waiting.

 

We had purchased a tour to Sausalito and Alcatraz via NCL, so we headed for that bus. We had a chance to stop after we crossed the Golden Gate bridge, but it was so foggy, it was really hard to see the whole thing. It was like that the entire time we were there, actually.

 

Sausalito was pretty, but we only had an hour there, which was basically enough time to duck into a little cafe, eat fast, and get a couple of Christmas ornaments.

 

After that, we got back on the bus and headed to the Alcatraz ferry. They gave us our tickets, got us in line, and said that we would need to find our own way back (the Pearl was just 1-2 piers over, so it wasnt far).

 

Alcatraz was cool. It was a LOT of walking, though. They do have a tram type thing that you can take up to the cellblock area if you have a disability or something, but it's very limited. DH and I decided we could use the exercise, and my back and knees were doing ok, so we just walked it.

 

They have a personal audio tour available in multiple languages, so once you get into the prison part, you go through the "intake" part of the prison and the shower room, then get your tour and head off. There was lots of good information in there, Stories of famous prisoners, pictures of the last prisoners to leave the island, and they took you step by step through the one time the inmates took over the prison and killed some of the guards.

 

We did no have time to really look into the island as it related to Native Americans - apperantly, a tribe or group of some sort took over Alcatraz at one point and declared it Native land. There is still graffiti up on a water tower, etc. We went out through the bookstore, and one of the 2 surviving prisoners was there signing copies of his book - Alcatraz #1259, William Baker. We got copies for everyone back home. I mean, how cool is THAT??

 

We then realized that it was about 3 pm. The all aboard had been posted as 4:30 when we got off the ship. We ran down to the ferry dock, just in time to watch the 3:10 ferry pull away. We had to wait for the 3:45 ferry. ACK!

 

We saw a dolphin on the way back, but we werent really paying that much attention, since we were starting to panic about being left behind!

 

We literally RAN (as much as we could) back to the Pearl, and arrived totally out of breath. We got through the building, and just as we were about to board, we saw a sign that said: All aboard: 7:30! Apparently, customs took so long (until like noon?) that they extended port time. Oh well.

 

After all the walking and climbing, we were pretty knackered, so we went back to the room and drank our champagne (with orange juice), then I sat out on the balcony and read until it got too cold. I tried to get a Golden Gate picture, but it is not lit at night. Grrrrr.

 

We were so tired that we called Lazaro and ordered pizza and RED and just stayed in the cabin and watched a movie!

 

Next up: Sea Day!

[Starflyr3]

Day 5: Sea Day!

 

I got up early, as I had another training appointment at 9 am (yes, Im crazy). After that workout, I found that DH was working on his computer, so after I cleaned up, I headed to the CruiseNext desk. I booked us on the Pearl for June 2017 in Alaska. (unfortunately, some circumstances have come up and we've had to reschedule that, as we will be moving in the summer of 2017, but I ended up transferring that credit to an Escape cruise in 2018 instead)

 

I also went to guest services to add tip for Lazaro, Marvin (our amazing room steward) Yadhira, and one of the the suite restaurant waitstaff, Bernardo Fernandes. He was really great. I also filled out some vacation hero cards.

 

I picked up DH for lunch, then we went to the casino. DH lost $40, I played $80 and left with $95, so that was good!

 

It was now warm outside, so I spent basically the rest of the day sitting on the balcony, trying to make a dent in our booze selection and reading. Around 3 ish, I invited our neighbors from the other front balconies over to the room to help, and we all sat around, having drinks and talking about cruising.

 

One lady, who was travelling solo, had gotten pulled in customs in SF. She has dark hair and an olive complexion, and they pulled her into the Customs room on the ship, asking her all kinds of questions and even googling her place of work. She was told, "People like you don't travel alone"

 

WTH?!?!

 

After it was all over, another official told her it was because she looked Phillipino and that someitmes crew try to slip past Customs into the US and "get lost" so they can stay illegally. (WTH?!?!). Aside from being horribly racist/profiling, has anybody ever heard about anything like that happening before???

 

She was travelling alone because she was going through a divorce! That just makes it worse!

 

Eventually, they all headed off to do more, and I went back to the balcony until it was too cold, then moved to the hull balcony. We ordered ensuite dining, so I had escargot, and both DH and I had filet mignon from Cagneys. It was fantastic!

 

We did attend the show that night - an acrobat performance. It was similar to the other acrobatic shows on NCL, which we like.

 

After that, it was on to packing up.

 

Day 6: disembarkation

 

We woke at 6:45, had breakfast delivered, then headed for the priority debarkation area (Stardust), only to be shooed off by Yadhira's assistant to the Bliss lounge to join the self-assist walk off line. That was wierd and off-putting, but the line wasnt long at that time.

 

Off to LAX, then back home!

 

I will keep trying with the pictures. Not sure WHAT is going on with photobucket!

[marelind]

One lady, who was travelling solo, had gotten pulled in customs in SF. She has dark hair and an olive complexion, and they pulled her into the Customs room on the ship, asking her all kinds of questions and even googling her place of work. She was told, "People like you don't travel alone"

 

WTH?!?!

 

After it was all over, another official told her it was because she looked Phillipino and that someitmes crew try to slip past Customs into the US and "get lost" so they can stay illegally. (WTH?!?!). Aside from being horribly racist/profiling, has anybody ever heard about anything like that happening before???

 

Not saying what Customs did was right, but one of the times we were in San Francisco on a Pacific Coastal we were waiting for sailaway, and waiting, and waiting, and waiting. Finally the captain got on the PA and said there was a crew member who had not returned to the ship. What we were told in the ensuing days was that this crew member had been a relatively new hire and just disappeared into the city. Other crew members I spoke to said that it happens every so often that someone either signs a contract to get to the US or decides after signing a contract they would rather stay illegally in the US with family or friends. The captain was pi**ed off!! ICE would not let us leave until they were sure s/he was not coming back. We left a couple hours late.

[NancyL2]

Hi Laurie! Glad you are back...hope all is well and you are enjoying the holidays.

I'm glad Jennifer had an extra patch to give your husband. She swears by those things.

How did Jennifer and I miss the "party" in your suite. :eek: Hahaha

I'm still debating on which cruise to do next year or the year after.

 

If you want to catch up with me I'm on fb....Nancy Lucas

[Starflyr3]

Hi Laurie! Glad you are back...hope all is well and you are enjoying the holidays.

I'm glad Jennifer had an extra patch to give your husband. She swears by those things.

How did Jennifer and I miss the "party" in your suite. :eek: Hahaha

I'm still debating on which cruise to do next year or the year after.

 

If you want to catch up with me I'm on fb....Nancy Lucas

 

Thanks, Nancy!

 

Sorry, the party thing was pretty spur of the moment -we were all out on our balconies and some were lamenting that they didnt want to go to a bar to get a drink. Its not like the 2 of us could drink 3L of alcohol in 5 days anyway!

 

We usually cruise during spring break - so if you love crowds and swarms of children, come join us! :D

[NancyL2]

Thanks, Nancy!

 

Sorry, the party thing was pretty spur of the moment -we were all out on our balconies and some were lamenting that they didnt want to go to a bar to anyway! get a drink. Its not like the 2 of us could drink 3L of alcohol in 5 days

 

We usually cruise during spring break - so if you love crowds and swarms of children, come join us! :D

 

Ohhh I know how that was...lol. We'd get to the room then think "we should have stopped at a bar for a drink first" lol