"Live" Enchanted Princess, 26 Days, Nov 12th to Dec 8th, Barcelona to Ft Lauderdale (+ Madrid Pre-Cruise)

[LACruiser88]

I have been busy this morning answering questions re: bus service from Livorno to Pisa and Florence, on the two separate roll calls from our voyage.  I recommended asking questions and answers here for the sake of simplicity.  Below is my input regarding the bus shuttles to Pisa and Florence.

 

 

Going on how it was handled this past November, they had several buses going to Pisa and several buses going to Florence.  They all left between 9:00 am and 10:00 am.  I do not recall them making continuous round-trips throughout the day???  The bus to Florence takes around 80/90 min's each way.  The bus to Pisa took about 30 min's each way.  

 

You catch the bus right where the ship shuttle bus drops you off in Livorno.  No need to pre-book, pay at the time.  The tour company drops you off in Florence for a DIY day.  They will give you a time to return to the bus and returns you to the same ship shuttle bus stop.

 

Here is the web site of the company running the buses.

 

https://www.city-sightseeing.it/livorno/

[LACruiser88]

We are now 72 hrs away from our departure from home to Madrid.  Later today, we will be doing a dry run with our luggage as 95% of our things are out.

 

It looks a bit daunting seeing all of the items to be packed, but Debbie assures me that it will all fit into our scheduled four checked bags!  Flying BC, we each get to check two bags up to 70 lbs each. 

 

We have prepared for chilly Madrid and also if we hit a warm stretch as we did on last year's Med cruise. 

 

Countdown continues....

[Sadebud]

We will be joining you in Civitavecchia for the TA!  This will be our 5th TA...3rd time on Princess.  Can't wait...and will be following along until we leave for Rome on the 19th.  Hope to see you onboard!

[LACruiser88]

37 minutes ago, Sadebud said:

Hope to see you onboard!

Looking forward to it!  🙂

[LACruiser88]

Today there have been questions regarding Paxlovid on our two roll calls.  Whether you should bring it from home or depend on the onboard Med Center to provide it if you contract Covid.

 

We are bringing it from home, as you can never depend on the Med Center to have sufficient supplies of it and it will be very expensive onboard.  For us, our Medicare coverage paid for it.  So, nada out of pocket. 

 

Having come down with Covid on a Panama Canal cruise early last year, we feel it is better to be safe than sorry!

[Host CJSKIDS]

28 minutes ago, LACruiser88 said:

Today there have been questions regarding Paxlovid on our two roll calls.  Whether you should bring it from home or depend on the onboard Med Center to provide it if you contract Covid.

 

We are bringing it from home, as you can never depend on the Med Center to have sufficient supplies of it and it will be very expensive onboard.  For us, our Medicare coverage paid for it.  So, nada out of pocket. 

 

Having come down with Covid on a Panama Canal cruise early last year, we feel it is better to be safe than sorry!

 

Great advice about bringing that as when our friends got covid, none was to be found on the ship. 

[dockhl]

32 minutes ago, Host CJSKIDS said:

 

Great advice about bringing that as when our friends got covid, none was to be found on the ship. 

......except neither of our docs will Rx it without a cause (+ test or symptoms) !!!!

[LACruiser88]

34 minutes ago, dockhl said:

......except neither of our docs will Rx it without a cause (+ test or symptoms) !!!!

That's a shame.  Our Dr had no problem with it as a precaution.  

[Susagoode1]

If you can take it along, do so. My husband got Covid on our June Alaska cruise. Thankfully he didn’t need it. My friends just got off of an Oceania cruise and one got it. They were charged $1200 to see doctor but declined the $800 Paxlovid. COVID’s definitely still out there. They were quarantined in cabin for the last 5 days of cruise. 

[LACruiser88]

Btw, our luggage dry run was a success!  Debbie will have her clothing, shoes, and jewelry options!  😄

[Ombud]

14 minutes ago, LACruiser88 said:

Btw, our luggage dry run was a success!  Debbie will have her clothing, shoes, and jewelry options!  😄

My dry run is in 10 days .... I've already got my Dove chocolates to put out for steward & room service (yes thats in addition to ca$h), 2 bottles of my favorite wine, and a short list of what new clothes I'd like to buy this weekend. Then to cram it all in a 22"

 

See you onboard in 3 weeks! 

[candy4040]

1 hour ago, Susagoode1 said:

If you can take it along, do so. My husband got Covid on our June Alaska cruise. Thankfully he didn’t need it. My friends just got off of an Oceania cruise and one got it. They were charged $1200 to see doctor but declined the $800 Paxlovid. COVID’s definitely still out there. They were quarantined in cabin for the last 5 days of cruise. 

I just returned home from an Oceania cruise from Monte Carlo to Venice.  I contracted covid and was quarantined for 5 days.  I received the Paxlovid and was visited in my cabin at least two times a day by a nurse who took my blood pressure and temperature and made sure everything was ok.  They really took care of me.  My total bill for testing, visit and medicine was &1850 which I thought was very reasonable.  If I were to contract Covid again I would definitely choose to do it on a ship.  The hotel management called several times during my quarantine, they cancelled all my excursions for me, and I could order food from any of their venues.   

[LACruiser88]

Just now, candy4040 said:

was visited in my cabin at least two times a day by a nurse who took my blood pressure and temperature and made sure everything was ok.

That is a big difference between Oceana and Princess!  On Princess you will not hear from anybody in the Medical Dept during your quarantine  (I sure didn't).  I guess you get what you pay for!

[LACruiser88]

11 minutes ago, Ombud said:

See you onboard in 3 weeks! 

We are both looking forward to meeting you!

[Ombud]

9 minutes ago, LACruiser88 said:

We are both looking forward to meeting you!

I'm looking forward to finding you both onboard too!!

[Susagoode1]

58 minutes ago, candy4040 said:

I just returned home from an Oceania cruise from Monte Carlo to Venice.  I contracted covid and was quarantined for 5 days.  I received the Paxlovid and was visited in my cabin at least two times a day by a nurse who took my blood pressure and temperature and made sure everything was ok.  They really took care of me.  My total bill for testing, visit and medicine was &1850 which I thought was very reasonable.  If I were to contract Covid again I would definitely choose to do it on a ship.  The hotel management called several times during my quarantine, they cancelled all my excursions for me, and I could order food from any of their venues.   

That’s a good way to look at it Candy. My friends were going stir crazy but nice to get the medical care like that. I’m sure they had medical visits daily too. It’s a bummer COVID’s still active. Don’t want to pay all that money for a cruise and stay in my cabin! Wish it’d end. 

[Rfzz38W]

Great to hear everyone is getting ready!  we are also excited and looking forward to the upcoming adventure. This will be our second TA, we did the Rome - FL November last year and EVERYTHING was simply fantastic including calm ocean and warm weather over the Atlantic although some guests were visibly showing signs & sympoms of Cold/Flu etc.

 

Crossing fingers for this time..but keeping a wary eye on the weather reports. Currently getting battered by Storm Ciaran. Hope all this blows over before our cruise. 

Stay safe on the way and best wishes to all for a pleasant cruise :-)

[Ombud]

IThe November 26th Meet and Greet has been moved:

[LACruiser88]

We are checked into our flight for tomorrow, LAX>Paris>Madrid, and our bags are 99.5% packed.  Debbie has a few toiletries to pack in the morning and then we wait to be picked up! 

 

I'm sure tonight we will get very little sleep.  It is always difficult to sleep the night before leaving home, for me it's too much excitement.  For Debbie, it will be worrying that she forgot to pack something!  We pack off a very extensive check list that we have developed over the years, that still won't keep her from worrying.   ☺️

[Pepes Pal]

7 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

We are checked into our flight for tomorrow, LAX>Paris>Madrid, and our bags are 99.5% packed.  Debbie has a few toiletries to pack in the morning and then we wait to be picked up! 

 

I'm sure tonight we will get very little sleep.  It is always difficult to sleep the night before leaving home, for me it's too much excitement.  For Debbie, it will be worrying that she forgot to pack something!  We pack off a very extensive check list that we have developed over the years, that still won't keep her from worrying.   ☺️

Debby & Rafael, Rest well tonight. Melatonin may help. Hope your flight is good & you can sleep well aboard!!
We leave non-stop out of LAX on Alitalia Wed the 22nd, the day before Thanksgiving!! 😬. The worst day of the year to fly, but Princess had arranged it, so they are responsible....

Luckily it is a non-stop, so fingers crossed that we will make it before the Enchanted leaves port!! 
¡Deséanos suerte para comer una cena de pavo de acción de gracias! ¡Esperamos conocer a nuestros vecinos del sur de California!

Saludos, Judy de San Pedro. 

[LACruiser88]

@Pepes Pal  ¡Muchísimas gracias! 

 

If I start to toss and turn, a Lunesta will be deployed! 

 

Hope you have a great flight! 

 

¡Esperamos conocer a nuestros compadres del Sur de Cali!

 

Debbie y Rafa

 

 

[LACruiser88]

Finally, trip day has arrived!  Last night sleep was evasive and I was wide awake at 4 am!

 

We will be picked up at noon for our ride to LAX and our 4:25 pm flight.  I'm hoping to make up some sleep time on the flight.  ✈️

[BabySarge]

On 11/1/2023 at 7:44 PM, LACruiser88 said:

That is a big difference between Oceana and Princess!  On Princess you will not hear from anybody in the Medical Dept during your quarantine  (I sure didn't).  I guess you get what you pay for!

Unfortunately, it really does depend on what Princess ship you are on, who the medical staff are, who the hotel management staff is, and how many other passengers are ill at the same time.  When my husband contracted COVID onboard the Caribbean Princess last year we were fortunate to have attentive medical, hotel, guest services, and cabin staff who checked on him/us multiple times a day and were quick to respond to all calls for assistance.  This was a remarkably different experience than what we found on a previous cruise with Princess on a different ship where it was like pulling teeth from a very angry cat at times to even get information let alone assistance.

[BabySarge]

1 hour ago, LACruiser88 said:

Finally, trip day has arrived!  Last night sleep was evasive and I was wide awake at 4 am!

 

We will be picked up at noon for our ride to LAX and our 4:25 pm flight.  I'm hoping to make up some sleep time on the flight.  ✈️

Bon Voyage!  Safe travels and see you Barcelona.

[LACruiser88]

We have been picked up and we are on our way!!!