LIVE: Geoherb's solo Island Princess cruise, June 4-14, 2024 (Halifax, Boston, Norfolk, Charleston)

[KCSungirl]

Hi Geoherb! I’m thinking a cabin upgrade for the water issue😂. Have you been to my beloved Buffette? Remember - Fight For Your Answer!

[geocruiser]

Sorry to hear about your cabin.  Can they give you another cabin for the rest of your cruise?

[Teechur]

Ask Princess to launder your wet clothes. I'm sure they will.

Maybe you can get a cabin upgrade as well?

Edited June 8 by Teechur
Added a line.

[wallyj]

1 hour ago, Teechur said:

Ask Princess to launder your wet clothes. I'm sure they will.

Maybe you can get a cabin upgrade as well?

@geoherbis Elite, so Princess already does his laundry. 
 

From his passenger counts posted earlier, sounds like the cruise is not fully booked, but no ideal what other cabin availability is, assume he will ask.

[geoherb]

12 hours ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

So there is now an option for no cheese? If you have time, could you please post a photo of it? I’ve been working with them for a while to try to get that added. Thank you so, so much!

 

Sorry I typed that wrong. It's no egg, no turkey, or no ham. There's not an option for no cheese.

[geoherb]

8 hours ago, KCSungirl said:

Hi Geoherb! I’m thinking a cabin upgrade for the water issue😂. Have you been to my beloved Buffette? Remember - Fight For Your Answer!

 

I've given up on winning trivia this cruise. I don't have a chance against the professionals. They're the ones who used to play with Scooter Sue. And I moved from an inside to a balcony. More on that below.

[geoherb]

The room the supervisor moved me to down the hall was also an inside a little after I discovered my cabin flood. He offered to change the beds over to a queen instead of twins, but I told him not to bother since I would not be there long. It was a noisier cabin than my previous one. I got maybe an hour of sleep between 7 and 8. I wish the television had an option for the screen that’s similar to the mute button for the sound. That would be a great invention.

 

When I went back to my cabin, another supervisor came and told me that they would work on it while I was in Boston today. They had set up a large fan blowing on the wet carpet beside the bed. The carpet in front of the bathroom was still squishy. I had ordered room service and showered in the other cabin. I needed to put on deodorant and sunscreen, brush my teeth, and take my pills. I also changed clothes.

 

The line for the Immigration check was horribly long, stretching from the Bayou Café to the Wheelhouse. Officers were telling people that it was about a 45-minute wait. They said the Immigration officers had boarded late. A friend confirmed that story later. She was in line at 7 and the officers did not start until 7:45. There were just six of them. They were right on the money with the estimate of how long it would take. I ordered a sparkling water while I was in line. The server found me. That was much better than last night when they did not and marked it as delivered.

 

I checked with guest services before leaving the ship. The crew member told me to check back in the afternoon after I got back on the ship. I knew by then that my neighbor was moving to a balcony cabin, but I did not question her.

 

It’s about a 2-mile walk to Boston Common. The Pride activities were not going on yet, so I toured King’s Chapel, a colonial church that is now a Unitarian church. I walk through Boston Common to find a shady spot to watch the parade. It was fun but long. There were too many gaps between some of the groups. I should have gone closer to the start instead of being near the finish.

 

I walked back to the ship. I had originally planned on going to the aquarium and eating a nice lobster roll along the way. But my late start and worrying about my cabin situation led me to go back without doing those things.

 

My carpet was still squishy. For some reason, they had taken out the fan. I packed up my luggage and went to guest services to find out my new cabin. It took a few minutes for the crew member to let me know. It’s a Cat. BD near the back of the ship. Most important, the carpet is dry.

 

The sculpture is "The Embrace" by  Hank Willis Thomas. It depicts Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King embracing. I remember seeing a piece on a news show about how controversial some people thought it was. I liked it.

 

[geocruiser]

I am happy to hear that they moved you.  BUT I think they should have moved you to your new cabin right away.  They had the empty cabin, they knew it.  Instead you had to  sleep in another cabin and go on land think about what was going to happen, when you got back on board.  Just my thoughts.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

37 minutes ago, geoherb said:

 

Sorry I typed that wrong. It's no egg, no turkey, or no ham. There's not an option for no cheese.

Thank you for checking for me. I was told that they are working on my request. I wonder how long it will take? 

[geoherb]

2 hours ago, geocruiser said:

I am happy to hear that they moved you.  BUT I think they should have moved you to your new cabin right away.  They had the empty cabin, they knew it.  Instead you had to  sleep in another cabin and go on land think about what was going to happen, when you got back on board.  Just my thoughts.

 

I think the immediate thought of the guy was to move me to the closest available cabin. At that time, they were hoping that my cabin would be ready. I don't think that was a realistic expectation. 

 

I think they should have moved me before I left the ship since they were able to move my neighbor. He received assistance in his move. I packed and moved my own things. It was easier than waiting around since I did it before the cabin stewards came on duty for the evening.

[geoherb]

My former cabin steward told me that the occupants of five cabins moved. I did not ask if more cabins were affected by the flood but not as badly.

 

When I went back to check with him about my laundry, the room had been turned upside down. The bed was stripped and pulled out from the wall, and the nightstands were pushed to the closet area. I had packed up my mini bottles but left the soft drinks. I told the crew member I spoke to that he could help himself to a soft drink. 

 

As of tonight, I'm the proud owner of a medallion that opens three cabin doors: my former cabin, my current cabin, and my temporary cabin. 

 

I'm surprised that no one has followed up with me. I expected the guest services manager or rooms division manager to do so.

 

When I returned to the new cabin after the show and dinner, the cabin steward had not been in to fix it for the evening. I paged her through the phone. She gave me some clean hand towels and glasses. I'm hoping the bed linens had been changed. It's one of the cabins that had not been occupied on the last cruise, but it seemed strange that there was just one hand towel and it looked like it had been used. The glasses were also dirty.

 

 

[geoherb]

My laundry charges showed up on my folio today. I'm hoping that between my two cabin stewards, I receive it in the morning. I'm almost out of clean socks and T-shirts.

 

It's difficult to see how wet the carpet beside the bed is in this photo. Squish, squish. And here's a photo of the Immigration line this morning. 

[geoherb]

I forgot to ask my new cabin steward for a copy of the Patter. I went to guest services to get one. Here it is. 

 

Tonight's schedule threw me. The shows were at 6:30 and 7:45 instead of 7:30 and 9:30. I did not realize it until it would have been too late for dinner in the dining room before the second show. The featured entertainer was a vocalist/impressionist--Tricia Kelly. She was a lot of fun. I'm glad I did not miss her show. She is getting off the ship in Charleston. She got on today. I wonder if Princess gets special permission to do this or if they just go ahead and pay the penalty under the Passenger Vessel Services Act. 

 

I ate dinner in Provence after the show. The menu did not thrill me. I ended up having scallop ceviche, a delicious cream of garlic soup with croutons and sage, and beef fajitas. Service was very fast. I was out in 30 minutes.

 

 

[cr8tiv1]

It has been posted elsewhere that guest entertainers are NOT passengers and therefore not subject to the PVSA.  Can't verify the post, but I am sure the poster will claim credit.  (thank you).

 

If she is staying on, why would the show times be different?  I know that some ports I've been to, they bring on the entertainer for a show before the ship sets sail (thus early show).  Honolulu, Alaska, and Norfolk come to mind.

[Queen of the Queen]

18 hours ago, geoherb said:

 

Yes to door decorations on this ship. Most of the ones I've seen have used magnets or Command hooks, like the photo I posted earlier of the skeleton in the Hawaiian shirt. I believe people are allowed to bring fresh flowers on the ship but not take them off. They also sell them on board.

Thanks for the information  I enjoy walking thru the port area with the flowers, as my sailaway gift to myself

[geoherb]

5 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

It has been posted elsewhere that guest entertainers are NOT passengers and therefore not subject to the PVSA.  Can't verify the post, but I am sure the poster will claim credit.  (thank you).

 

If she is staying on, why would the show times be different?  I know that some ports I've been to, they bring on the entertainer for a show before the ship sets sail (thus early show).  Honolulu, Alaska, and Norfolk come to mind.

 

Thanks for the info. I'm betting they changed the schedule because they had a "Back to the 80s Deck Party" last night that started at 9:15. I went by there on my way to get dessert at Horizon Court. The desserts on the dining room menu did not interest me. And it turned out the desserts at Horizon Court did not either. I chose something that looked like a rectangular piece of cheesecake. It did wasn't. It was a gelatin-set dessert without much flavor. I ate just one bite of it and the small piece of white chocolate garnish. I also ate some pineapple, which is better a better dessert for me.

Edited June 9 by geoherb

[geoherb]

I learned the lesson of keeping the drapes pulled during the night. I woke up at 5 a.m. again this morning--right before sunrise. I may still be on Atlantic time. I did go to bed early last night.

[scubacruiserx2]

24 minutes ago, geoherb said:

 

Thanks for the info. I'm betting they changed the schedule because they had a "Back to the 80s Deck Party" last night that started at 9:15. I went by there on my way to get dessert at Horizon Court. The desserts on the dining room menu did not interest me. And it turned out the desserts at Horizon Court did not either. I chose something that looked like a rectangular piece of cheesecake. It did wasn't. It was a gelatin-set dessert without much flavor. I ate just one bite of it and the small piece of white chocolate garnish. I also ate some pineapple, which is better a better dessert for me.

 

 

 We love Pineapples and we have 9 of them growing in our yard currently . They are all grown from the tops of a fresh pineapple that we just cut the top off and stick it in the ground .

[geoherb]

I ate breakfast back in the dining room for the first time since Thursday. I ordered the smoked salmon with rye toast and sliced avocado and a fruit plate. A gentleman at our table wanted real butter. The waiter checked and offered him the round pats of margarine, saying that they did not have the square pats of butter available. After the gentleman refused it and the toast that went with it, the waiter said he would check with a supervisor. But the gentleman left the table. He also left his eggs uneaten. He said it took an hour to get real butter at dinner last night. 

 

My laundry from Wednesday and Friday came back. I won't need to send out any more. The cost showed up on my folio as $27 total for two T-shirts, one polo shirt, three pairs of underwear, and four pairs of socks. The credit for being Elite posted this morning.

 

[Alecks Ander]

Thank you for the amazing, informative thread and updates! I am sorry to hear about the water/flooding issue, that sounds awful!!

 

We are cruising with Island Princess on June 25th. I am wondering if you have any updates on how the internet has been while underway? Still pretty slow for Starlink, 2 mbps down or something like that, or has it gotten better? Have there been any outages or dead zones while under way or has it been reliable and consistent as far as you can tell?

 

🙏 thank you and hope your cruise concludes well

[geoherb]

I did the goofy golf competition first couple of rounds this morning, but I had to hurry off to trivia. I wish they'd schedule things better. The golf started at 10 and trivia started at 10:15. I joined four others--two with whom I had played before. We did really well, coming in second with 17. The professional team had just 15. They were down a couple of players plus they admitted that she asked some questions they had not heard before.

 

I attended the theater for "Behind the Scenes: Meet the Cast." They started off with a brief video showing interviews with various people responsible for assembling the talent and producing the shows. Then CD Robbie and the dance leader interviewed four of the dancers and two of the vocalists. At the end, they opened it up to questions.

 

Most of the questions were spot on--things I was wondering. But some of the answers were way off. They never mentioned how the dancers are lip-synching and that the musicians on stage are playing along to a recorded track. I'm afraid some people in the audience came away with the impression that one violinist can sound like a whole orchestra.

 

I had lunch in the dining room after the presentation. It was pretty good. I had the summer roll again and a pulled pork and brisket sandwich. I ordered a side of the collards from the chicken and waffles. A woman at my table ordered the chicken and waffles. I was glad I did not since the fried chicken is a thigh and not a breast. We agreed that the collards might have been a different type of green. They did not taste like collards to either one of us.

 

[geoherb]

6 minutes ago, Alecks Ander said:

Thank you for the amazing, informative thread and updates! I am sorry to hear about the water/flooding issue, that sounds awful!!

 

We are cruising with Island Princess on June 25th. I am wondering if you have any updates on how the internet has been while underway? Still pretty slow for Starlink, 2 mbps down or something like that, or has it gotten better? Have there been any outages or dead zones while under way or has it been reliable and consistent as far as you can tell?

 

🙏 thank you and hope your cruise concludes well

 

Thanks. The internet speed hasn't lived up to Princess's promises of being able to "... text, post photos, video chat and stream your favorite shows, movies, music and sports with ease." It's slow at times. I've had YouTube videos that buffered as I tried to watch them. Uploading photos can take up to 30 seconds for a 5 mB file. I have not tried to make a phone call through the Wi-Fi. Here is the current speed:
 

 

[geoherb]

Someone commented on my post on the Facebook group for this cruise that there is another leak on the Baja Deck. The cabins involved this time are 401-411 or so. 

[Alecks Ander]

12 minutes ago, geoherb said:

 

Thanks. The internet speed hasn't lived up to Princess's promises of being able to "... text, post photos, video chat and stream your favorite shows, movies, music and sports with ease." It's slow at times. I've had YouTube videos that buffered as I tried to watch them. Uploading photos can take up to 30 seconds for a 5 mB file. I have not tried to make a phone call through the Wi-Fi. Here is the current speed:
 

 

Thank you for the update. That is disappointing -- I unfortunately may have to do a couple days of remote work on our cruise and was hoping for better. But if 2 mbps down is more or less consistent, it should be enough to get by... although only barely.

 

Really appreciate the updates regardless, it's really invaluable and so much better to know ahead of time what to expect

[AZaTaz]

I will be on the Island on July 5.  Do you know what caused the flooding.