LIVE on the Caribbean Princess, Western Caribbean, December 5-12, 2021: Geoherb goes solo again

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, chamima said:

Are there 2 formal nights on a 7 day cruise?????

And have you heard anything about a luncheon for the top 40 most cruised passengers?

This struck me as a contradiction.  You might qualify for MTP luncheon and unsure about how many formal nights?  The answer is still 2. 😉

Edited December 10, 2021 by Steelers36

[Chad_O]

I have never seen the canape request card. Is it an Elite perk? I might be biased but that would be nearly as valuable as laundry service! 

[chamima]

1 hour ago, Steelers36 said:

This struck me as a contradiction.  You might qualify for MTP luncheon and unsure about how many formal nights?  The answer is still 2. 😉

We haven’t gone on this short a cruise in many , many years. 

[Coral]

54 minutes ago, chamima said:

We haven’t gone on this short a cruise in many , many years. 

It has been a long time since I have done a 7 night cruise also. I am doing a 10 night and couldn't remember how many formals are on that cruise.

[geoherb]

4 hours ago, chamima said:

Are there 2 formal nights on a 7 day cruise?????

And have you heard anything about a luncheon for the top 40 most cruised passengers?

 

Yes, there are two formal nights on our cruise. They've been listed as "formal" in the Patters. Here is the Patter for tomorrow, our 6th day and the last day at sea.

 

I'm hoping the loyalty and events manager will give a breakdown of the numbers of each Captain's Circle group as well as how many days it took to make the top 40 party. I had breakfast with a couple who were invited. They have sailed 60-some Princess cruises including some lengthy itineraries. The other couple at the table had 30-some cruises but had not been invited. I knew it was a long shot for me to make it. Maybe next year in Alaska.

 

 

[geoherb]

56 minutes ago, Chad_O said:

I have never seen the canape request card. Is it an Elite perk? I might be biased but that would be nearly as valuable as laundry service! 

 

Yes, it is an Elite perk on formal nights. Suite guests can get the canapés every afternoon. It's not that valuable. In the past, when they used to offer the chocolate-covered strawberries, it was very nice. My problem is that a few times we have ordered them and had them delivered way before the requested time. We ended up throwing them out once because we did not know how long they had been sitting out in our cabin and they felt warm.

[chamima]

7 minutes ago, geoherb said:

 

Yes, it is an Elite perk on formal nights. Suite guests can get the canapés every afternoon. It's not that valuable. In the past, when they used to offer the chocolate-covered strawberries, it was very nice. My problem is that a few times we have ordered them and had them delivered way before the requested time. We ended up throwing them out once because we did not know how long they had been sitting out in our cabin and they felt warm.

It might be too late but try writing in chocolate covered strawberries. Sometimes that works. 

[geoherb]

6 minutes ago, Coral said:

It has been a long time since I have done a 7 night cruise also. I am doing a 10 night and couldn't remember how many formals are on that cruise.

 

Two for a 10-night as well (and up to 13 nights). It goes up to three on cruises 14 to 20 nights long. The exception is that the people who book cruises like this one as a 14-nighter, with either the week before or after this one, will end up with four formal nights--two for each 7-night cruise.

[caribill]

On 12/8/2021 at 6:08 AM, chamima said:

 

Has Princess re instituted EZ Check (or whatever they currently call it) where you pay $25 a bag to have your luggage taken to the airport.

 

(For those that aren't familiar - it's the best money we've ever spent on a cruise. It's $25 a bag and you are given special disembarkation luggage tags and you put your luggage outside your room the last night and don't have to touch it again until your home airport. You get to avoid the LONG checkin lines at the Fort Lauderdale airport!)

 

It is $25 per person, not per bag. And a person can have more than one bag.

 

And of course, and luggage charges the airlines might have. If you are exempt from luggage charges (1st class ticket, airline loyalty status, etc.) be sure to note that on your signup form. If Princess charges you for airline luggage fees when they should not, it is almost impossible to get your $$$ back.

[Coral]

7 hours ago, geoherb said:

 

Two for a 10-night as well (and up to 13 nights). It goes up to three on cruises 14 to 20 nights long. The exception is that the people who book cruises like this one as a 14-nighter, with either the week before or after this one, will end up with four formal nights--two for each 7-night cruise.

I did look it up. I can just see why someone asks how many on a length they don't do often.

[whitecap]

Goherb; Has there been any information from the crew regarding reported cases of COVID?  I see that the CB continues to be listed by the CDC as "yellow" status (defined as either failed to submit their daily reports or have reported cases onboard).  We moved our Nov 2021 CB cruise to Jan 2023 and have a RCCL cruise booked for Oct 2022 so we are keeping up with the "live threads" to see how things are being handled.  Appreciate you taking the time to do the live and provide all the good information.

[geoherb]

6 minutes ago, whitecap said:

Goherb; Has there been any information from the crew regarding reported cases of COVID?  I see that the CB continues to be listed by the CDC as "yellow" status (defined as either failed to submit their daily reports or have reported cases onboard).  We moved our Nov 2021 CB cruise to Jan 2023 and have a RCCL cruise booked for Oct 2022 so we are keeping up with the "live threads" to see how things are being handled.  Appreciate you taking the time to do the live and provide all the good information.

 

They have not told all the passengers about any cases. I have seen the quarantine area on the Aloha Deck but haven't seen anyone going to or coming from it. If they are using it, they could be accessing it through crew stairs. On my Majestic cruise in August, I would not have known about someone testing positive except for one of my trivia teammates receiving a notice about it since he was on the same excursion with that person. The people on the excursion received the notice to be tested in the medical center.

 

Yellow status could also be passengers from the previous cruise testing positive within five days of disembarking.

 

 

[whitecap]

2 minutes ago, geoherb said:

 

They have not told all the passengers about any cases. I have seen the quarantine area on the Aloha Deck but haven't seen anyone going to or coming from it. If they are using it, they could be accessing it through crew stairs. On my Majestic cruise in August, I would not have known about someone testing positive except for one of my trivia teammates receiving a notice about it since he was on the same excursion with that person. The people on the excursion received the notice to be tested in the medical center.

 

Yellow status could also be passengers from the previous cruise testing positive within five days of disembarking.

 

 

CDC changed the remarks section of the listing:  Caribbean Princess is still listed as Yellow with this remark:  CDC has investigated and ship remains under observation.  Hopefully it is a very low number and well contained.  Everyone stay safe and enjoy the remainder of the cruise.

[geoherb]

I haven't received any info about disembarkation. It doesn't really matter to me since I am staying a night in Fort Lauderdale. It was going to cost me more than $200 to fly back on Sunday versus waiting until Monday. That was an easy call, especially since my flight on Monday is nonstop and that wasn't available on Sunday.

[cltnccruisers]

3 minutes ago, geoherb said:

I haven't received any info about disembarkation. It doesn't really matter to me since I am staying a night in Fort Lauderdale. It was going to cost me more than $200 to fly back on Sunday versus waiting until Monday. That was an easy call, especially since my flight on Monday is nonstop and that wasn't available on Sunday.

Who did you fly on?  We are all of 15 minutes from Concord Regional so we're thinking about Allegiant for our 10/22 cruise.

[cltnccruisers]

6 minutes ago, geoherb said:

I haven't received any info about disembarkation. It doesn't really matter to me since I am staying a night in Fort Lauderdale. It was going to cost me more than $200 to fly back on Sunday versus waiting until Monday. That was an easy call, especially since my flight on Monday is nonstop and that wasn't available on Sunday.

We were never able to choose debarkation group with the app last week on Sky.  The debarkation sheet was in our cabin after dinner Thursday.

[JF - retired RRT]

10 hours ago, Chad_O said:

I have never seen the canape request card. Is it an Elite perk? I might be biased but that would be nearly as valuable as laundry service! 

Yeah...IF the canapes were any good. The "new" (hopefully) menu has a couple that look interesting. The "old" menu wasn't worth a repeat. Once was enough.

[Steelers36]

2 hours ago, Coral said:

I did look it up. I can just see why someone asks how many on a length they don't do often.

If anyone is asking here, they need to indicate the composition if multiple-linked voyages (B2B2......).

 

For example, we are on REGAL for 25 nights next OCT.  A quick look at the chart on Princess.com indicates 4 nights for the uninitiated.  However, knowing this voyage is 7+7+11, the correct number is 2+2+2 = 6.

[geoherb]

2 hours ago, cltnccruisers said:

Who did you fly on?  We are all of 15 minutes from Concord Regional so we're thinking about Allegiant for our 10/22 cruise.

 

I'm flying Southwest. The flight down here was a breeze. The only hiccup was waiting a little long for the luggage to make it to the carousel. I knew I was taking a chance by flying down the day of the cruise without making the reservations through Princess. In August, I paid a little bit more to fly in the morning of the cruise through EZAir just so that I would have the reassurance that Princess would take care of me if I missed the ship. I figured for this cruise it did not matter.

 

I saw a few passengers boarding the ship with their luggage in Cozumel on Tuesday. If my flight had been delayed to where I would not have made the ship, I would have canceled the cruise and not try to catch up with the ship.

 

[geoherb]

2 hours ago, cltnccruisers said:

We were never able to choose debarkation group with the app last week on Sky.  The debarkation sheet was in our cabin after dinner Thursday.

 

The app is still giving me the message that "Departure groups will be available closer to the start of your journey."

[cltnccruisers]

2 minutes ago, geoherb said:

 

The app is still giving me the message that "Departure groups will be available closer to the start of your journey."

That's what the app had right up to the end.  I was relieved to see the paper schedule Thursday night.  😀

[geoherb]

1 hour ago, JF - retired RRT said:

Yeah...IF the canapes were any good. The "new" (hopefully) menu has a couple that look interesting. The "old" menu wasn't worth a repeat. Once was enough.

 

It's to be seen whether I'll receive the canapés. I hung the card on the door knob this morning before heading to breakfast at 8. My cabin steward came and cleaned my room. The card is still hanging there now at a little past 10. 

 

 

[geoherb]

My team won the game show last night, the Hollywood Hiccups. The cruise director and his staff acted out scenes from movies then asked a couple of questions about the movie. We had an unfair advantage in that my four teammates had been on for the last cruise and most of the questions were repeats. But there were several other teams with repeat passengers on them as well. One of them wanted me to be in charge of the bottle of champagne, but I let her carry it back to her cabin.

 

The Crooners pianist/singer gave an Elton John tribute show in the theater backed up by the Caribbean Princess "orchestra." He's a good piano player, but I wish he had stuck to the original melody. At times it sounded as if he were a backup singer trying to provide harmony. I left a little bit early to make it back to my cabin to watch hockey. The Hurricanes won in overtime. It was an exciting game. The internet was working better than during the previous game.

 

I ate breakfast with a couple of Gold and Platinum passengers. They said they had received an invitation to some welcome back event but did not go.

 

Laundry has been fantastic this cruise. My cabin steward picked up one batch in the evening and returned my clean clothes the next evening. The second batch he picked up one morning and returned in the evening on the next day.

[geoherb]

I played trivia as a team of one and placed second with 17 points out of 21. Two teams tied with 18 points. She gave a tie-breaker question but said that members of both teams would get a prize. I second guessed myself on a couple of answers. 

 

I saw some friends previewing the art auction and talked with them. It was a special invitation-only event for people who had previously purchased art on Princess ships. One of them was looking at a work by Patrick Guyton. Another friend purchased one of his works on a previous Princess cruise. She had a hard time deciding between works featuring different trees and finally decided on one of them. I enjoyed a complimentary glass of wine while listening to the auctioneer go through some spectacular unveilings of art. There were around 20 people at the event. I did not stay for the auction part or to see if my friend bought the piece he was interested in.

 

My luggage tags were in my cabin when I came back, and the request form for canapés was gone. Maybe I'll receive them after all. I went down to Guest Relations to trade in my luggage tags for a later time. I'm now in the last group--light blue 6--with an estimated departure time of 9:20. I'm not in any hurry to go to my hotel and have them hold my large luggage while I wander around Fort Lauderdale until check-in time.

 

Here are the menus for lunch and dinner. Escargots tonight. Yum!

 

[geoherb]

The Grapevine Wine Tasting was nice. They served the same wines I've had on past cruises. I sat at a table with pleasant people, including a couple who live about an hour from me. The best thing was that the staff members talking about the wines kept it brief. I've been to some of the wine tastings when they'd talk on and on.

 

I tried my luck in the casino after the wine tasting. I played a slot machine that I don't understand. The machine I chose had a minimum of 18 cents per spin. That's my speed. It was fun for several spins and went into a bonus feature once. That got me back over my initial outlay by a little more than a dollar. I should have quit there, but I decided to play it down. I ended up $0.06 ahead when I cashed out. Big winner!