TR--Caribbean Princess July 9-23, 2022

[KKB]

Inspired by @GenerationX (Celebrity boards), @JamieLogical & @graphicguy (both NCL & Celebrity boards) I am inspired to do a TR as interesting as theirs!.

NOW...I do NOT usually have high speed internet on cruises so photo drops may be hit or miss but since I am on these boards daily, I certainly could get this going!

 

A little about me.

Just retired from 30 years as a teacher/librarian. (DH did the same last year)

Our obsession began 18 years ago on the Star Princess. My folks were avid cruisers & convinced us to try. 

DH was NOT sure but he pretty much lets me do what I want so he was along for the ride (when he DOES speak up, I listen--he picks his battles!)

Embarkation was a CLUSTER--long lines in hot FLL sun, lady near front of line has heart attack so line is at standstill--but hey, if you showed up after that , you walked right in while the rest of us stood in the hot sun! THEN A/C was out in the check in building as well as computers.

NOT A GOOD START.

We FINALLY got on (I think it was about 3 hours)...DH got his drink (beer cart girls would be a BRILLIANT idea out there...), looked around & said:

"It's Vegas on a ship!"

I knew we were good.☺️

 

17 cruises later & 9+ cruises in the next year...IT'S RETIREMENT YEAR, BABY.

Hey, my colleagues who retired said give it a year. You will know if you want to substitute.

Or not...

 

We have sailed Princess, DCL, NCL, RCCL & Celebrity. 

Would sail them all again. 

Said DCL never again...but just saw the new Marvel themed MDR on the DCL Wish--nuts, now I wanna sail DCL!

 

We have mostly sailed with just us, a couple with friends, and several with family (extended or just our YA kids)

I am adding a new dimension this year--SOLO.

DH is an avid golf player so he requests he sail only ONE cruise during golf league (May-Aug).

Additionally, we have Husker football tix so I am to AVOID football season.

GEES--so we are talking Dec-Apr is it??!! 

NOT WORKING FOR ME.

 

I have done Vegas solo numerous times. (Vegas was our 1st love affair. Married there 28 yrs ago; well over 100 trips since)

2020-21 were the Vegas years (otherwise known as the COVID years) since there was NOWHERE ELSE TO GO.

Uh...I kinda overdosed. 

Plus, Vegas is DIFFERENT. 

I am a TX Hold Em player--tournaments are my preference. 

And that scene has COMPLETELY changed during COVID.

Most of the places I played at for years are closed. 

 

So enough about me.

Pre-cruise TR to begin soon.

Edited July 5, 2022 by KKB

[KKB]

Oooh, boy. 

Sorry about that.

KINDA LONG.

I'll try to remedy that in the future.

No promises though.

 

Edited July 5, 2022 by KKB

[graphicguy]

Yay....!!!!!!!! Looking forward to a lot more.

[LACruiser88]

Enjoy your cruise!

[KKB]

SO this all started with an email from Princess in late April  with a casino offer.
WHAT??!!
WE HAVEN’T SAILED PRINCESS IN 10 YEARS
WHY??!!
At the time we DID have 2 Europe cruises booked for fall (have since had to cancel..a story for another time), that is the ONLY thing I can think of!
 
WELL…since it IS retirement year & I love a good deal…let’s go have a look.
HECK of a deal…no solo supplement either. 
But I when I keep checking, I get a higher price one time & a lower one the other. 
Uh, oh–cookies messing with my reservation?
SO I decide if I see that lower price, BOOK IT, DANO!
1st week together, 2nd week solo (I had some SWA credit to burn & we have Companion so it basically HAS to be used on a solo trip. DARN;-)
 
WELLLLLLLL…my lack of dealing w/ Princess’ website in 10 years & the changes since then have come back to bite me in the butt. 
That lower price was Princess STANDARD…and the higher one was Princess PLUS.
Once I figured this out (AFTER paying in full), it was still a solid deal w/ a nice OBC.
Still called & added Princess plus for $50/day/pp.
EASY decision–even with Platinum status once you remove tips/wifi, $30/day for ALL drinks. 
Hey, the bill is paid, so no use crying in the coffee–LET’S CRUISE!
 

Edited July 5, 2022 by KKB

[KKB]

Addendum to last post since I can no longer Edit:
I now realize that I THOUGHT I was getting Princess Plus at Princess Standard prices.
Would have booked the interior had we realized that. 
Love a balcony, but we really are not in our room much, and would rather sail more often..
 
OK!
Hilton Marina booked free with the last of our Hilton points. Stayed last year. 
It's not 5* but location is great, can walk to Walgreens if we need anything & has a cool bar where you can order food that sits on the Intercoastal. And I can see the ship from our window.

Excursions: 
With $398 OBC to burn on each cruise, makes this less painful. I would sit a beach on every port but DH wants to go see the islands. Actually after so many visits to these islands, I’m beginning to agree with him.

July 9:

Grand Cayman: Coast to Coast Scenic Drive; a bit pricey but you hit 6 different popular spots around the island. Did a similar tour last year in Cozumel & we realized you usually get what you pay for. Weather looks good.

Roatan: Plan walk over to Mahogany Beach. 50% chance of storms so glad we don’t have a paid beach day

Belize: Open air trolley train; cheap & short. Nothing else hit us & we haven’t been. 60% chance of thunderstorms–not sure how that affects an open trolley tour. This is an AM tour so hope to lay in the sun at the ship pool after–I love me a ship when most passengers are in port.

Cozumel: Nachi Cochum on our own. This is a fav that is our “go to”--$59pp for an uncrowded quiet beach with chairs, palapa, unlimited drinks & a 4 course lunch. Last summer on the Edge we had to do ship excursion–expensive & worth it. We hit a local tequila place. Would love to try to get back there…my bottle of coconut tequila is almost gone! Weather looks good.

I am well aware that thunderstorms in the Caribbean in the summer are to be expected.

Fingers crossed they give me my beach time.

July 16: DH has asked that I take ship excursions. Like I said, he doesn’t say much regarding my travel so when he makes a request, I try to honor it.

Private Island: $10 got me a floating chair with a drink holder. BEST. DEAL. EVER.

St. Kitts: Cockleshell Beach excursion

St. Thomas: I’m hitting them TWICE next month on the Getaway (yep another solo trip…STILL had more SWA credit to burn!) So I am very likely to hang out on the ship. I am planning to buy a Sanctuary pass–not sure for the whole week or pick & choose times at this point–but this will be a good day to hang by the regular pool with no crowds.

 

Notice that my solo week involves more BEACH TIME.
 

Edited July 5, 2022 by KKB

[KKB]

Flights: 
Now these were initially booked before hotel & excursion. 
(Book cruise then air then hotel then transfers then excursions/extras)

BUT after reading a FB post by a flight attendant & visiting with my friend who IS one…I evaluated EVERY. SINGLE.FLIGHT that we have booked right now. 

Rules:
1–Fly in day before (2 is even better but I’m battling Thursday night golf league, so 1 it is)
2–Morning flight (1st one of day IF it meets later criteria)
3–Layover OVER 1 hour (2.5-4.5 hrs in MDW in AM..ugh…better than missing the ship)
4–Several flights to our destination from the connecting city later in the day
(direct is preferable but rarely an option to FL for us on SWA)

I had a pretty large amount of SWA credit. We had booked our spring break cruise on the Apex last fall & air was INSANE ($700 each–all airlines). We did not think we were getting companion but managed to so suddenly I’m flush with credit! Got to visit our daughter in Fort Worth for Easter, return flight home from this trip plus RT for Aug cruise out of that. Had to be used b4 Sept, so clearly I HAD to cruise that much–RIGHT??!! 🙂
 

[KKB]

So it is now T-minus 3 days. Still MANY things to do. (so CLEARLY deciding to start a TR was SUPER important, RIGHT?)

I have a cruise/month planned for the next 7-10 months (7 for sure…the next 3 are tentative–who can resist $1 deposits??!!) 

So I pop onto CC every morning & peruse while I have my coffee. (OK OK and occasionally in the afternoon..MAYBE once in a while in the evening). 

Planning is almost as much fun as the actual trip. 
And organizing is my jam so I love all sorts of travel items that make my travel easier. So I MIGHT do some travel shopping too. 
The one really new thing I have put together is a “COVID kit”--heaven forbid one of us should contract COVID while on the ship, a kit of meds, Puffs & comfort items has been created. Hope for the best & plan for the worst. 

Luckily we mostly fly SWA so I don’t NEED to limit what I take–though we have cruised with just a carryon & backpack once when we flew in on embarkation day. I did enjoy the organizational prowess required to do it. 

But I like to bring SEVERAL pairs of shoes. (and truly, my plantar fasciitis insists). I think that time we flew minimalist I had to buy a pair of overpriced crappy slides onboard due to blisters!

My father is in assisted living & doesn’t drive so need to make sure he has EVERYTHING he needs before departure. I have a brother in town but he still works so I try to take care of most stuff. I need to buy him lottery tickets for this week & next (don’t ask) & get him to his haircut. Friend & DH will get him to appts the week I am gone.

I plan to sort travel items/start pulling clothing & shoes together today.. 
Tomorrow: mani/pedi, tan, COVID test, get cash, wrap up packing. Big day, LOL. 

I see many are reveling NCL's announcement to drop pre-cruise COVID testing August 1. Before everyone gets too excited, that currently does NOT include those departing from US, CAN, Bermuda & Greece. Yes, it's another thing to do. But I would rather know that I and all my other passengers do NOT have COVID (well, at least don't have enough viral load to test positive a few days before embarkation) BEFORE getting on the ship. But that's just me. 
 

[KKB]

Forgot to add: 
Spent last night perusing the Journeys Timeline on the Medallion app.
I prefer Celebrity’s version with tabs at the top & you just scroll. This is a true timeline so things overlap & you must scroll up & down as well as back & forth. A bit cumbersome. 
BUT it was fun to see what there is to do & sketch out some thoughts. 
I still like a printed version to highlight up!
 

[voljeep]

13 minutes ago, KKB said:

Forgot to add: 
Spent last night perusing the Journeys Timeline on the Medallion app.
I prefer Celebrity’s version with tabs at the top & you just scroll. This is a true timeline so things overlap & you must scroll up & down as well as back & forth. A bit cumbersome. 
BUT it was fun to see what there is to do & sketch out some thoughts. 
I still like a printed version to highlight up!
 

I'm old - what does "TR" stand for?

[KKB]

TR=Trip Report

[GonzoWCS]

Good stuff so far.  Safe travels!

 

Cheers

[voljeep]

24 minutes ago, KKB said:

TR=Trip Report

D'oh

[avonlady6390]

If you haven't already look for a roll call for your cruises especially your solo trips a lot of them organize meet and greets so you can meet fellow cruisers.

[westcoaster]

1 hour ago, KKB said:

TR=Trip Report

Thanks.  I was wondering about this as well.  It sounds like this will be a "live from" thread.  I've just never heard it referred to as a "TR" before.

[KKB]

48 minutes ago, westcoaster said:

Thanks.  I was wondering about this as well.  It sounds like this will be a "live from" thread.  I've just never heard it referred to as a "TR" before.

True…TR is usually post cruise!

[Steelers36]

48 minutes ago, westcoaster said:

Thanks.  I was wondering about this as well.  It sounds like this will be a "live from" thread.  I've just never heard it referred to as a "TR" before.

It's a "live from" if you can post each day.  Post cruise is a Trip Report.  At least that's the way I see it.

[KKB]

COVID TEST=NEGATIVE!👏👏👏

[phabric]

Looking forward to your review

[KKB]

2 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

It's a "live from" if you can post each day.  Post cruise is a Trip Report.  At least that's the way I see it.

Correct. 

Should have titled it differently....

[Tedferg]

5 hours ago, KKB said:

TR=Trip Report

Thank you 🙂

 

[LACruiser88]

19 minutes ago, KKB said:

Correct. 

Should have titled it differently....

You can ask the Moderator to re-title it...

[GonzoWCS]

43 minutes ago, KKB said:

Correct. 

Should have titled it differently....

It is fine.  Enjoy your cruise!

 

Cheers

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, KKB said:

Correct. 

Should have titled it differently....

NBD

[KKB]

I LOVE that SWA allows 2 checked bags.

 

I HATE that SWA allows 2 checked bags.

 

I have done a 7 day cruise with a carry on & backpack…and still had a couple items I didn’ wear! BUT this time it is 14 days (yes, I COULD do laundry…and I have a couple Tide pods & dryer sheets…but that is valuable vaca time there…) which includes heavy items like 5 bottles of sunscreen (I usually take 3/wk for 2 of us), and that damn COVID kit. (COVID kit: meds, Puffs, thermometer, etc) You KNOW if I don’t bring it, we WILL contract it onboard.

 

SO…since I’m checking 2 bags anyway…my theory was pretty much, if I MIGHT use it, toss it in! 10 pair of shoes is a new record for me…(I have plantar fasciitis & numerous pair is a must, but I admit to overdoing it. TRUST ME–I could have brought more!)

(Photo is mid-packing...DH is packed, I have a few things in...)

 

I was done packing by 6pm–also a new record! Ran an errand, grabbed a bite & finally….a drink to reward myself!

 

We need to be on the road by 830AM, so will wrap up those loose ends & be on our way!