Not Terribly Live From the Sky Princess Moroccan Passage

[*Miss G*]

DAY 12

GIBRALTAR

 

It is dark and windy as we glide into the Port of Gibraltar.  

 

 

 

I walk as far as I can go* on the narrow promenade and capture the sun rising out from The Rock.  

 

 

*The tiny promenade ends abruptly at a stretchy barrier saying “Do Not Enter”.  Judging by the number of crew members emerging from this area, I have found the employee entrance.  I have also found the source of the incessant cigarette smoke, day and night, as our stateroom is immediately above this area.

 

I am impressed with the Captain’s skills as he comes smoothly alongside despite the wind and the waves and the current.

 

 

The Pilot Boat says it all.

 

 

 

 

 

[*Miss G*]

9 minutes ago, Retirement2016 said:

Did Princess provide Covid test yesterday on board the Sky Princess for passengers flying back to the US today?

 

Sorry, I do not know for sure.  We are on Adventure - Part Deux, traveling around the south of England, so we did not require a test.  If I go by their statements prior to boarding and during the cruise, they did say they would provide the testing if you needed it to fly home.

[*Miss G*]

There is lots of shopping in Gibraltar.  Especially if you need perfume or booze.  If there’s anything you want, I’m sure they’ve got it.  I left with three fridge magnets and two bars of Cadbury’s chocolate.  Don’t judge.  (I gave one to my Dad.)

 

There are multi-person taxis just outside the terminal.  Cost is £2 per person and about a 5 minute drive.  They drop you outside this tunnel and you emerge into the shopping district.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[*Miss G*]

EGGPLANTS & OLIGARCHS

 

This morning my sister told me I was whimpering in my sleep, and that’s when I remembered the dream I had last night.  My family was trying to get me to eat eggplant, and I hate eggplant.  They told me that I really should eat it; It doesn’t matter that I don’t like it.  They even have leftover eggplant broth, so tomorrow they will make it into eggplant soup.  Something different.

 

So then I got in their face yelling “WHY DO YOU ALWAYS MAKE ME EAT EGGPLANT WHEN YOU KNOW I HATE EGGPLANT?!  WHY CAN’T I HAVE SOMETHING OTHER THAN EGGPLANT??!!!”

 

So then my best friend, Wendy, got $75 worth of gas for the car but we didn’t have any money.  Wendy said “Well, I’ve got these two eggplants here.  Why don’t I offer that and maybe he’ll accept them for the gas if I charm him with my beauty and personality?”  So then I said “Wendy, you’re fricking ancient!  He’s not going to give you $75 worth of gas for two eggplants and your charming personality!!”

 

Well then Wendy came out of the attendant’s booth having been able to procure $75 worth of gas for two eggplants and her beauty.  So then I said “Huh.  I guess she really does have a charming personality.”

 

Today, while we were in Gibraltar, they seized a $75M superyacht belonging to a Russian Oligarch.  I’m thinking I must be psychic because Wendy got $75 worth of gas for eggplant, and that’s almost the same.

[*Miss G*]

ARTS & CRAFTS

 

Some mornings there is an Arts & Crafts class.  Today I made little thread flowers.  We were actually making Crystal Sun Catchers but I couldn’t get past Step 2: Tie a Knot.   Here is my masterpiece.  It fits nicely in the little paper box we made last week.  When I drew those fancy jewels on the little paper box top, I had no idea I was having a prophetic moment.  Look how lovely it all is next to my origami sailboat.

 

 

Don’t be jealous.  You, too, can learn to make museum-worthy objet d’art if you put your heart and soul into it like I did.

[*Miss G*]

THE PIAZZA

 

The Sky Princess has a beautiful interior.  I particularly love the Piazza concept on Deck 5 in the atrium.  The International Cafe has small snacks and coffee shop beverages.  Next to it is Bellini’s Bar, then across the Piazza is the sundries & liquor store, the gelato bar, and Vines Bar.  Late morning, afternoon, and evening is assorted entertainment where you see the piano.  We particularly loved the Extravaganza String Duet.  They were amazing!!

 

 

 

 

There are lots of places to sit and drink your morning beverage or afternoon beverage of choice.  Here is the view from my favourite place to drink my early morning coffee.

 

 

 

 

One morning I happened to catch a glimpse of something in the window well.  It was a duck!  Thank you, hide-the-duck person!!

 

[*Miss G*]

CADIZ

 

After leaving Gibraltar we began our journey to Cadiz.   In the middle of the night I woke up to this site through the balcony window:

 

 

Naturally, I immediately thought “Aliens!”  Then I wondered “Angels?”  And then I thought “War.”  (Hey.  It was the middle of the night and I would remind you that I had previously dreamt of eggplants.)

 

I got up to take a closer look and it turned out to be hundreds of seagulls flying next to the ship!  Quite freaky really.

 

So Cadiz.  There was a Sheik’s yacht in the harbour.  There was also a national protest at the price of petrol with hundreds of honking vehicles:

 

 

 

 

I waited to make sure they weren’t protesting cruise ships before venturing out for a bit of light shopping.  It was pouring rain so my Dad was the only one who agreed to accompany me, but as soon as we got outside he turned around and went back in!  I decided to go for a bit of a walk, anyway, and came back looking like a drowned rat.  As a result, I only took one picture.  The construction didn’t bother me because I’ve been here before.

 

[ChutChut]

Thank you so much for your review and great pics. Will be on Sky in November. Love your writing style. Looking forward to more!

[*Miss G*]

On 3/24/2022 at 1:07 PM, dickinson said:

Thanks for posting.  Can't wait for more!  

 

On 3/24/2022 at 5:20 PM, phabric said:

Enjoyed reading your reviews. Looking forward to more.

 

On 3/24/2022 at 9:44 PM, In Toronto said:

Love this review!

 

On 3/24/2022 at 10:15 PM, arizonaperson said:

 

I am enjoying your review glad you somewhat have Internet access on this voyage.

 

On 3/25/2022 at 2:11 AM, h-sar said:

Love your writing style! Looking forward to reading a lot more of your upcoming adventures.

 

On 3/28/2022 at 4:58 PM, Pink-belle said:

You’re writing style is so enjoyable, I’m hoping you did have some fun on the ship, but I for one can’t wait for the next few days, really hoping it doesn’t include Covid! 

 

23 hours ago, ChutChut said:

Thank you so much for your review and great pics. Will be on Sky in November. Love your writing style. Looking forward to more!

 

Thank you all so much for your positive comments!  I am slowly working my way through my notes and pictures of the remainder of the trip, so there will be more coming.  Sorry it’s taking a bit of time!  This is much easier when you actually have internet.  😂

[*Miss G*]

LISBON

 

Today we woke up to a very strange sight:  Mud in the air!  The first clue was mud on the balcony:

 

 

Feeling rather confused, I turned on the Bridge Cam:

 

 

Picking up my early morning coffee I proceeded to my favourite spot.  This is what I normally see as the shipping is waking up:

 

 

Today I saw this:

 

 

Having seen a documentary on the rainforest I realized what was happening.  The Spring winds pick up the sand from the Sahara where they are blown west to seed the rainforests of South America.  The Captain later confirmed this in his noon address.  Look what happened to the pools!

 

 

The crew had to pack up all those loungers and scrub the entire deck, stairs, railings, glass, as well as all the tables, loungers and chairs.  They were also kept busy cleaning out the pools.  They did a great job!

[LarryL]

Thanks for sharing your cruise. We were booked on this cruise and had to cancel because of work. It appears we were fortunate as we are waiting till next year with a different line. The highlight would have been Morocco and I see you messed going there, I'm sorry the dining and other experiences went so poorly for you. We were on the Majestic last December and everything went flawlessly.  Maybe with so many new crew members, that put them at a disadvantage.

 

Who was your captain? One of our favorites, Captain Tuvo, is now rotating on the Sky. We were hoping to see him again on this cruise, had we sailed.

[*Miss G*]

6 hours ago, LarryL said:

 

Who was your captain? One of our favorites, Captain Tuvo, is now rotating on the Sky. We were hoping to see him again on this cruise, had we sailed.

 

Luckily I took a pic of the senior officers whilst I was waiting for the elevator!

 

[doenbucket]

Loving your "sort of" live from Sky Princess. Beautiful sunrise at Gibraltar. Sometimes sunrise through the clouds is amazing. I'm so jealous, We have to wait until August 😔for our next cruise. Australia has only just opened up to cruising starting 31st May.

 

Having a great time reading about your adventures & also laughing along with you.🤣

[*Miss G*]

INTERACTIVE PUBLIC DISPLAYS (of affection)

 

One of the funniest things, ever, was our first encounter with the interactive screens by the elevators:

 

 

At check-in, one of us, *cough*my sister*cough* had neglected to print out or take a screen shot of her negative covid test, resulting in a significant delay while she attempted to access it through the barely-functional terminal WiFi.  As she had not uploaded a picture of herself for security purposes pre-cruise, the person doing the check-in (Jerry) took a snap once all her documents had cleared.  (As an aside, Jerry had the patience of Job ((thank you, Jerry)) and should be receiving sainthood soon.)

 

The resultant picture was a visual representation of all the harassment of travel during covid.  Following dinner the first evening, we emerged from the elevator to the image of my sister displayed in all its horrifying splendour and was our first visual of the picture Jerry took.  I will not post said picture for fear of sororicide (certain death at the hands of said sister) but suffice it to say that this is a close likeness:

 

 

Well, myself and my parents collapsed into uncontrollable laughter, and my sister stood horrified at the unwelcome public display and the fact that every time she would tap her medallion for purchases or in/out verification, that picture was going to pop up on everyone’s screens.

 

All this to say… take a nice selfie and upload it yourself.  Fair warning.

[pobox1067]

Is there anyone out there who can answer the question, "Has Princess actually sailed into Morocco in the past two years?"  They have a history of advertising Morocco as a cruise port then at the last minute stating that the paperwork fell through.

[Thrak]

43 minutes ago, pobox1067 said:

Is there anyone out there who can answer the question, "Has Princess actually sailed into Morocco in the past two years?"  They have a history of advertising Morocco as a cruise port then at the last minute stating that the paperwork fell through.

 

Not in the last two years but we did sail to Morocco in 2018 when going from Barcelona to Florida and, in my opinion, once was way more than enough. We have no desire to return. I really felt bad for the folks who decided to visit Marrakesh. They spent most of the day on a bus getting there and back and all of them we spoke with said it wasn't even vaguely worth doing.

Edited July 5, 2023 by Thrak

[EDVM96]

1 hour ago, pobox1067 said:

Is there anyone out there who can answer the question, "Has Princess actually sailed into Morocco in the past two years?"  They have a history of advertising Morocco as a cruise port then at the last minute stating that the paperwork fell through.

Yes, there was one ship earlier this year who made a stop at Casablanca. I don't remember which ship, it was a live from. And as far as I remember it was the only Princess ship since restart.

Edit: It was the Island Princess on April 24.
 

 

Edited July 5, 2023 by EDVM96