Live from the Caribbean Princess: Panama Canal - Apr 26 to May 14 - SF to FTL

[Ken the cruiser]

11 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

So sorry to have missed this voyage.  It is not often the Caribbean Princess is on this side (West) of the world.  Hope they fixed her propulsion problem that has been plaguing her for years.  AND at 50%.  Delightful cruise.

 

So far, so good! 😁

 

[voljeep]

44 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

So far, so good! 😁

 

that should be our view ... got a B4 on Baja in November

[Ken the cruiser]

3 minutes ago, voljeep said:

that should be our view ... got a B4 on Baja in November

We love aft-facing cabins. The view is very relaxing and there is usually very little wind when the ship is moving! 

[AF-1]

1 minute ago, Ken the cruiser said:

We love aft-facing cabins. The view is very relaxing and there is usually very little wind when the ship is moving! 

I agree with aft suites.  Our last three cruises have been aft.  Calm and peaceful

[Ken the cruiser]

For those keeping track, here is the current internet speed while I was sitting on the balcony and the ship’s location when I did the speed test a few minutes ago.

 

 

 

Edited April 27, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[VibeGuy]

Ugh, why are they not on the SES 03b birds?   The ping time indicates they’re on the high-orbit system not the faster one with lower lag. 

[Ken the cruiser]

8 minutes ago, VibeGuy said:

Ugh, why are they not on the SES 03b birds?   The ping time indicates they’re on the high-orbit system not the faster one with lower lag. 

What can I say, I believe in using the same testing application if at all possible. In this case I’m using the free OOKLA internet testing app I have used since cruising started back. However, sometimes on a Celebrity cruise in the Caribbean, I would use the Google one if the OOKLA one wouldn’t work.

 

Do you have a more accurate one you can recommend?

 

Edited April 27, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[VibeGuy]

No, I mean the ping time indicates they’re using birds at 23,500 mile orbits rather than the newer, closer, 5000 mile orbit.  Yuck. 
 

Your testing is fine and appreciated.  I usually use fast.com as it’s easy to type and tends to have servers very close to the edge of the networks but the problem is at SES network operations or onboard,  not at all with your testing. 

[PaulS]

Is the Coral Dining room the one used for Club Class dining, and do you need to make reservations ahead of time on the app? Also, do people in suites still have breakfast available in Sabatini’s?

Thanks. I am really enjoying your posts as I did for yourCelebrity cruises earlier this year.

[dickinson]

5 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

One question. Was the device you were using the “one device” authorized by MedallionNet to also access the internet?
 

In my case I can text with other iPhones with my one MedallionNet “authorized” device, but can’t with my iPhone if my “authorized” device is my iPad, even if my iPhone is in Airplane Mode, with Cellular Data left on prior to turning on Airplane mode, as well as connected to the onboard MedallionNet intranet. 

We had the one device plan.  We brought our laptop and my iPhone.  Used both.  Went to login.com to go on the internet and logoff.com to log out.  I do not remember if one was considered the "authorized" device.  I found out fairly quickly that I could text when I received one.  I was so surprised.  Tried face time and that worked too.

[Ken the cruiser]

 

1 hour ago, PaulS said:

Is the Coral Dining room the one used for Club Class dining, and do you need to make reservations ahead of time on the app? Also, do people in suites still have breakfast available in Sabatini’s?

Thanks. I am really enjoying your posts as I did for yourCelebrity cruises earlier this year.

Yes, Club Class dining is in the Coral Dining Room on the port side and with no reservations required. Yes, breakfast at Sabatini’s is still open for suite guests only. That’s definitely one of the perks we really enjoy when we’re in a suite!

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, dickinson said:

We had the one device plan.  We brought our laptop and my iPhone.  Used both.  Went to login.com to go on the internet and logoff.com to log out.  I do not remember if one was considered the "authorized" device.  I found out fairly quickly that I could text when I received one.  I was so surprised.  Tried face time and that worked too.

Thanks! Funny thing about that. Today, when my iPad was the “authorized device” and my iPhone was not, I received a text from my son on both my iPhone and iPad. I too was amazed and subsequently used my iPhone to respond just to see what would happen and my return iMessage to my son was delivered. Both my DW and I couldn’t figure it out.
 

She then tried to go to a website using my iPhone just to see what would happen. The website came up! However, about an hour later with my iPad still being the “authorized device”, I could neither send an iMessage (text) to my son’s iPhone or connect to any website. Weird! I’m sure there is a logical “temporary loophole” answer, but I just don’t know what it is.

 

Anyway, we’re having a great time cruising on the CB and that’s really all that matters! 😁

[dickinson]

Strange!  Glad you are having a good time though. 

[Ken the cruiser]

Thursday, Apr 28, Princess Patter

 

 

Edited April 28, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[AF-1]

11 hours ago, VibeGuy said:

No, I mean the ping time indicates they’re using birds at 23,500 mile orbits rather than the newer, closer, 5000 mile orbit.  Yuck. 
 

Your testing is fine and appreciated.  I usually use fast.com as it’s easy to type and tends to have servers very close to the edge of the networks but the problem is at SES network operations or onboard,  not at all with your testing. 

So do you think it's cheaper for Princess to use the satellites further away because it costs them less money than using the 5000 mile ones,  I would think  the ship would search for the link nearest to the ship and lock into that

Edited April 28, 2022 by AF-1

[srice]

 @Ken the cruiser, if you happen to be on the Promonade Deck and are in the area of the Photo Gallery and if they are still selling small cameras other than Go Pros would you mind taking a picture of them or it in the display case.  I have a lot of OBC to burn and may consider making a purchase.

[cruisingpeople]

Ken, I noticed that you had Steve Morris circled on your patter at the beginning of your cruise. According to today's patter, he is performing again tonight. He usually talks to passengers just before and after each show. If you get a chance, (and if he is outside the venue), would you please try and find out if he scheduled to be on the Caribbean Princess for either the May 28 - June 4 or June 4- June 11 cruise??

 

TIA

[StrawberryHill]

16 hours ago, VibeGuy said:

I, too, make a chilled piña colada soup at home: 

 

Combine:

2 oz silver rum

0.5 oz Jamaican overproof white rum

1 oz cream of coconut

3 oz pineapple juice 

 

Blend with ice. 
 

It’s frequently the soup of the day at our house. 

1 1/3 lbs (or 2 1/2 cups) pineapple (keep some dice for garnish)  1/2 cup sugar, granulated 6 tablespoons lime juice 1 1/3  cup coconut milk 3 oz coconut flakes,  rum to taste ,

 

Put pineapple,  sugar and lime juice,  rum  and coconut  milk  in the food processor

 then add:

 

1 1/2 cups plain yogurt,   2 1/2 cups sour cream

 

Coconut milk yogurt and coconut milk sour cream work better for flavor 

 

5 pieces pineapple, for garnish

[TBBucman]

Ken,

 

Any photos of casino/slot machines would be greatly appreciated. Wife would like to pick out her donation location. 🎰💸💸💸😂

[arizonaperson]

2 hours ago, cruisingpeople said:

Ken, I noticed that you had Steve Morris circled on your patter at the beginning of your cruise. According to today's patter, he is performing again tonight. He usually talks to passengers just before and after each show. If you get a chance, (and if he is outside the venue), would you please try and find out if he scheduled to be on the Caribbean Princess for either the May 28 - June 4 or June 4- June 11 cruise??

 

TIA

Hi Joe & Amelia.  I hope Steve is on your cruise , I have not seen him for a very long time , of course I have  not been on a cruise for a little while. The picture was from 2016 of Steve and I.

Enjoy your cruise coming up.

Julie

[Ken the cruiser]

4 hours ago, srice said:

 @Ken the cruiser, if you happen to be on the Promonade Deck and are in the area of the Photo Gallery and if they are still selling small cameras other than Go Pros would you mind taking a picture of them or it in the display case.  I have a lot of OBC to burn and may consider making a purchase.

Here’s what I found. 
 

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, TBBucman said:

Ken,

 

Any photos of casino/slot machines would be greatly appreciated. Wife would like to pick out her donation location. 🎰💸💸💸😂

Here are few I just took. 
 

 

 

[GonzoWCS]

Ken,

  Can't remember.  Is there a Craps Table on the CB?

 

Cheers

[srice]

6 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Here’s what I found. 
 

Thanks, Ken.

[VibeGuy]

6 hours ago, AF-1 said:

So do you think it's cheaper for Princess to use the satellites further away because it costs them less money than using the 5000 mile ones,  I would think  the ship would search for the link nearest to the ship and lock into that

I don’t know why - it’s been happening on other voyages as well - there’s no published outage of either the legacy MEO O3b network or the new exciting m3POWER 03b network, but ping times show they’re using the old GEO satellites a non-zero amount of the time.    Surprisingly, the newer constellation would be cheaper to use - the same amount of data takes up far less of the capacity so the satellite subscriber pays less. 
 

It’s just weird and Princess has been reimbursing a lot of customers as a result.