Day 8 – Barbados

Day 8 (November 21, 2016) – Barbados

I could not wait for this day, I was so excited for our time in Barbados, I had searched and searched to find what to do on this day.  I knew going into this day that I really wanted to see Bathsheba, and I also really wanted to go to the beach.  It was going to be tough to get them both done, as Bathsheba was on the Atlantic side of the island and the beaches were closer to port.  I also really wanted to visit Rockly Beach, it just looked so beautiful.  But we didn’t make it there, so now I have to go back!

We arrived in port at 9:45, so we were able to have a little more leisurely morning then usual.  I would be carrying a lot of gear this day, as we were doing 2 different activities and we really did not want to come back to the ship in between.

Once we were cleared to get off of the ship, we started to make our way to the port shop… oh my goodness, it was a long walk, I am pretty sure that we were at the furthest berth today, it took us a while, but we made it to the gathering spot for ship tours.  I did drag mom along on this tour, as it was definitely more for me then for her, but it still gave us a tour of the island.  I was pretty excited to book this excursion when I saw it, it was right up my alley, it was the Guided Photography Tour, Bathsheba & Scenic Drive.  What more could I ask for!  And mom agreed to come along for the ride.  Our guide for the day was Ronnie Carrington, he is a local Barbados photographer, he does a great job leading this tour.  We found our way on to the tour bus, and there we sat.  The port was a mess today!    The local union had gone on strike and blocked up the port area, it probably took us a good 30 minutes to get out of there.

Our first stop was at the entrance to a plantation, so we could photograph the perfect lines of the royal palms.  We were told that you could always tell the entrance to a plantation because they were always lined with the royal palms as it was a symbol of wealth.

Next few photos were taken while en route to our next location, so of course taken through a window in a moving vehicle, so not the best, but I still liked them.

Our next stop was the small village of Sugar Hill (which is significant to us, as that is the road you need to take to get to our farm in Saskatchewan)!  Here we would stop to take a look at a Chattel House.  These are small wooden house that working class people would occupy, back in the plantation days they would live in these houses as they were designed to move from one property to the next as needed.  They all begin with a single 2 room unit, and then over time additions are built on.

These homes are also very symmetrical, with the door in the centre flanked by a window (equally spaced) on each side.

The woman who owns this home peeked at us through her window.  Ronnie stops for most of his tours here and he will take a small collection of money and give it to the lady for allowing us to photograph her home.  Also there were quite a few people on this tour, so it took a lot of patience for me to get photos without people on them, quite often I would wait until everyone else was done then I could have the shot without people.  I would often wander around and take photos of other things in the area that caught my eye.

Now we would start making our way to the eastern coast of Barbados, here are some more pictures on the way.

Our next stop was in the Scotland District, it was named this as the rolling hills reminded them of Scotland.  From here Ronnie told us this was the cleanest air as there was nothing between us and Africa.

I was playing around with settings on the above shot.  Below is some more evidence of me wandering off.

Next we headed to a small beach area, unfortunately I cannot recall the name.  The east coast of Barbados is not really just for swimming, it is mostly for surfers.  This little area did have washroom facilities so that was a nice break for us.

Across the road I spotted quite a few school children waiting on the wall, I assumed they were waiting for the bus, but I am not sure, as it was close to noon.

Next stop was a look out and our first view of the beautiful rock formations that run along this section of the east cost.

I know there are lots of pictures, but the area is just amazing!  Time to get back in the bus and head to the place I could not wait to see, Bathsheba.

We finally made it!  There is a beautiful park that leads to the beach and the ocean and on the other side of the road and a small bar.  I headed toward the beach and mom made her way to the bar, she was picking up the $2 rum punches for us.  I couldn’t wait to get down to the beach and see this area, it did not disappoint.

 

The shadows were amazing on this beach so I played around with them some.  Once I had the photographs I wanted I headed across the road so I could get my rum punch, it was so good.  This is the moment that Mom would kick herself.  They were selling bottles of Mount Guay rum for about $10, she decided not to buy one, but once she got home she decided to go and look for it at the local liquor store, and she could have purchased a bottle there for about $150.00.  So the lesson here is buy your rum in the Caribbean countries!  She did however purchase a copy of Ronnie’s book, it has some of his photography in it and some different quotes from him.

This was the end of our tour and it was time to make our way back to the port.  Because we had been delayed leaving the port and he was doing this tour again in the afternoon, we flew back to port.  I tried to take some pictures on the way back, but it was just impossible at the speed we were going.  The tour was about 3.5 hours.

Next was our beach time.  I just felt like we didn’t have the time to make it to Rockley beach so after reading some reviews online and talking to a couple at dinner the night before we decided to head to the Boatyard.  The cost to get in to the Boatyard was $20pp, but it was one of the best values yet, for $20 you got a chair and umbrella, a drink, use of the dock, which you could swing off of, toys in the water, a short snorkelling trip to swim with a turtle and the return ride to the ship!  Really it didn’t get better then that.  So once we got off of the bus from our tour we headed straight for a taxi and made our way to Boatyard.  It is only a 10 minute ride to get there.

I did manage to snag one picture on the way.

We paid our entrance fee and headed in, the advised that if we wanted to go on the snorkelling trip we should sign up now to ensure we could take part.  I did sign up, mom passed this activity up.  We found our spot and put our stuff down it was time to get in the water, I am not sure, I have ever really seen water this colour ever before.

It was so beautiful and clear.

I had some fun taking some pictures under the pier.

 

After a little swim, I was starving.  We hadn’t eaten since breakfast, so it was time to grab something from the kitchen here at the boatyard.  I didn’t take pictures of the menu or our meal, but we decided to try a local dish, we had flying fish fingers.  They included fries and they were delicious, we would have them again.

Then my name was called to go up and get prep’d for our snorkel trip.  I had brought along my own gear so the only thing I borrowed from them was a snorkel vest.  I would be heading out with a family of 5.

This is the boat they take you out on.

 

You have to climb down these steps to get on the boat, I love the water drops look in this picture.

 

A photo along the way.

 

I obviously had my camera with me and I did take some pictures of the turtles that we found, but they are so bad that I am not going to share them anywhere.  I am still getting used to this new Olympus camera, and there were so many people around, that the pictures are so bad.  This was not my first time snorkelling with turtles either.  I had swam with them in Akumal, Mexico.  We took a taxi there and I snorkelled from the shore, it was amazing, I was all on my own.

Shortly after I was back from snorkelling we decided to make our way back to ship, our all aboard time was 5:30, so we had a lot of time, but we were getting tired and ready to make our way back.  To leave the Boatyard you of course have to go into the souvenir shop to have them arrange the taxi back to port for you.  We waited for about 15 minutes before we got our taxi, of course they were waiting for more people as they wanted to fill the taxi.

Once we got back to the port it was time to do a little bit of shopping to find my Barbados souvenirs, which of course is a Christmas decoration.  I found one with a turtle and thought that was rather appropriate.

I got this picture before beginning our long walk back to the ship.

We headed back to our room for a shower and clean up before our departure at 6pm.  I would spend some time on our balcony getting some sunset pictures before we left.

Just before sailaway I headed up to deck 17 (for a smoke) and got a couple pictures of the ships still in port as we were leaving.  They are blurry, but that is expected on a moving ship with no tripod.

Shortly after this we headed to the dining room for dinner.  After we finished dinner we spent some time in the Atrium enjoying the entertainment and then went and changed and headed up to deck 16 to play some cards before calling it a night.

Day 7 (Nov 20, 2016) Antigua

Day 7 (Nov 20, 2016) Antigua

This morning we were arriving in Antigua, we arrived in port at 7:00am and would be here until 4:00pm.  I did a lot of research on what to do in this port, none of the ship tours where appealing to me.  After a lot of research we decided to go with Lawrence of Antigua, we would go on an island tour and then finish our day off at one of Antigua’s 365 beaches.  Lawrence was so easy to work with, he answered my original email right away.  Island tour was $40 US, and Island tour with beach time was $50 US.  Of course we wanted some beach time as well.  He also sent us an email confirmation a few days ahead as well.

We weren’t in a big rush to get off of the ship as we were not meeting Lawrence until 8:45, so we took our time getting ready and then as usual headed up to the buffet to get some breakfast and then take it out to our usual spot and enjoy our morning.

Lawrence told us he would be standing on the dock with his Lawrence of Antigua sign at 8:45 sharp, we of course were a few minutes early and we had no problem finding him.  He also wears a colourful vest, so he is easy to pick out of the crowd. Originally we were the only ones booked with him for the day, but another couple recognized him as they were getting off of the ship and asked if they could join, so there were only 4 of us on the tour that day, it was great we pretty much had a private tour.

We started out just seeing the different sights of Antigua as we were making our way to English Harbour and Shirley Heights.  The quality is not the best, since these were taking from a moving vehicle out a window.

This is a church, I wish I could have got a better picture, it was so different.

Then we arrived at the National Park, there is a fee of $8 per person to enter the park, the views from here are some of the most stunning I have ever seen.

The house in the above picture, just above my signature is Eric Clapton’s.

Then we headed further up to the amazing views of the English Harbour.  This little building had a few things that you could buy.  They also held a party in the area every week, it was open to everyone.

Here is some proof that we were actually there too!  I am terrible, I hate selfies so I never have them and I tend to forget to take pictures of other people and I spend so much time taking pictures of scenery.

From there we began the journey down to Nelson’s Dockyard.  It is a very neat site, but I am just not enough of a history buff to follow along on the tours, so I took off and did my own exploring.  Mom did go off and do some exploring.

While were there, there were also some ceremonies going on, as this was the time that Price Harry was touring around the Caribbean and he was scheduled to be in Antigua on the same day as us, unfortunately I didn’t find him.  So we did see the Governor General of Antigua, as he was attending some event at Nelson’s Dockyard.  I wasn’t sure who he was when I took his picture, but it seemed he was important.

It was so hot out today, so I tried to get as close to the water as I could, so I went and did some exploring of the Harbour.  There is also a bakery and a couple of souvenir shops, I was able to find a cute Christmas decoration in one of the shops here.  When I was young my great-aunt would give me a different Christmas decoration for a different country each year.  Now that I am travelling on my own, I have carried it on and pick up my own.

Up on the hill in the below pictures you will see some tents and buildings, this is Clarence House, which was the home of Royalty, Naval Commanders, commissioners and Governors.  It was originally built in 1783.  It was severely damaged in the 1990’s due to hurricane’s.  There had been attempts to restore it but  no major progress until a Charity Commission was set up and fundraising efforts really began.  They will use Clarence House for high end events, including weddings, conferences and State Functions.  Prince Harry was due to officially re-open Clarence House that afternoon.

We then headed out of Nelson’s Dockyard and did some more touring around the island, it was interesting to see the different areas.  We then headed to a roadside stand where Lawrence got us some black pineapple, it was AMAZING.  Nothing like fresh fruit.  I didn’t get any pictures of this area as while we were enjoying our pineapple a man ran up to the lady yelling at her and she was yelling back, it started to get quite heated so we quickly made our way back to the van, and I forgot to get any pictures.  Lawrence did tell us after that they were arguing over money… what else!

As you can see in the first picture many people live in houses that are not quite done, and they will keep working on them, but some never get finished.  A lot of people build their homes with cinder blocks in case of hurricanes.

Next it was time for the beach!  There are 365 beaches in Antigua, so it is a little difficult to choose.  We ended up at Valley Church Beach, the water was the most beautiful colour, the whole thing was just stunning.  There are facilities, including a small restaurant.  We rented a couple of chairs and set up our camp, we were there for about 2 hours.

I didn’t try any snorkelling here as it was pretty sandy, so I just enjoyed the beautiful water and views.  I could have stayed here forever.  But all to soon it was time to head back to the ship and say our good-bye’s to Lawrence.  I really cannot say enough good things about him.  if you are heading that way and want to do an Island Tour give him a call, he will not disappoint.

Since I had already bought my decoration and Mom didn’t really want much, we did not head for the port shops, and instead made our way back to the ship.  This is also more of an industrial pier.

Royal Princess sure does look big next to this little Viking ship.

We went up to our cabin and took a shower and clean up after our fantastic day.  We still had some time before sail away, so we headed up to Horizon Court on Deck 16 so I could take some pictures of the port and we would play some cards.

I had to take a picture of the back of the Viking Ship as it is registered out of Bergen, Norway and that is where my Great-Grandfather was from.

And just like that we were pulling away from Antigua and beginning our journey to our next destination.

The ship in the below picture is a Frigate from the British Navy and was actually Prince Harry’s accommodations during his tour of the Caribbean.

Unfortunately, I have no more pictures from this day, and I am pretty bad at taking notes, so I am not exactly sure what we did this night, but I will say that we definitely did go to the main dining room at one point for dinner.  Since I did that every night.

 

Day 6 – St Thomas

Day 6 (Nov 19, 2016) St Thomas

I am writing this post with a hint of sadness for the devastation this beautiful island has faced, but with hope that they will recover.  The people of this island are amazing and resilient.  I wish them all the best.

We docked just before 8am at Havensight, about 10 minutes from downtown Charlotte Amalie. We were the only ship in port today.  We took our time today getting ready, headed down to our usual spot for breakfast.  Then back to our cabin and took a few pictures from our balcony and a few other spots around the ship.  I really do love the landscape of St. Thomas.

On our first visit to St. Thomas we had done a ship tour, so this time decided to go with a private tour, our first ever, and well, it did not start out great.  I wanted something that included some shopping, there is a great little book store in Downtown Charlotte Amalie that we had visited before and really wanted to go back to (Waterfront Trading Co), not only do they have books they have a lot of art from local artists.  I have bought beautiful Christmas decorations, etc from there.  I really suggest a visit.  Then we also wanted a bit of an island tour (not a huge one) and then some beach time.  There are so many vendors that offer this type of tour, but we decided to go with Godfrey Tours.  I paid our deposit and we booked it a few months in advance.  Just before 10am, we headed down and found the meeting area, but there was no one there.  Note, we didn’t receive any sort of communication just before our arrival.  We waited a bit and some other people arrived, and a tour guide, but he worked for a different company then we booked with.  This was our first private tour so I was a little bit sceptical when he said, oh Godfrey told me to take you with us.  He didn’t have us on any list or anything, so I asked him to call our operator, he says he called him, but I am not sure, but whoever he talked to said, he didn’t know he had a tour booked or that there was even a ship in port, so we decided to get on Elvis’ truck and go with the flow.  Elvis drives with Sonny Liston Tours and I will recommend him.  He gave us bracelets and dropped us off downtown, we had just over an hour to shop downtown, which was fine for us, since we had been here before and knew what we were looking for.

We were ready to go early, so we went and waited in the park while we waited for our ride to show up.  however the weather wasn’t great so we tried to hide under a tree to not get rained on.  Once we were all back we hopped back onto the truck, then we decided that it was exactly a great beach day (everyone on the truck), so we just decided to go for an island tour instead.  Kicking myself about that later.  We were heading up to Mountain Top, which is quite the drive, I did manage to take some pictures along the way.  I don’t actually remember if we stopped at Drake’s Seat or not.

We made our way to Mountain Top and it had started to pour.  Many of the utilities at mountain top were not working, so we went into the store and it had no lights, and the toilets wouldn’t flush, so it was interesting.

Mom was slightly afraid of her new friend, I think.

This is what you should be able to see from that viewpoint.

This is what we could see

Not quite the same.

From here we toured the island a bit more and decided to head down to Coki beach and take a bit of time and have a look around. The first pictures are across the bay and the resort you can see is Sugar Bay Resort & Spa.

The red truck is what we rode around in, the open air vehicles definitely are nice option there.

Next stop was Sapphire Beach.

I am really kicking myself that we didn’t spend much time at either of the beaches, and I really wanted to do some snorkelling.  Oh well, next time.  These 2 beaches were beautiful, but not as beautiful as Magen’s Bay.  After visiting Sapphire for a while we headed back to the ship.  Our day did turn out pretty great, Elvis from Sonny Liston Tours was a lot of fun, and if I was going to do a tour again, I would consider booking with him again.  Except if we visit again, I think we would skip the tour.

We got back to the ship and we were hungry, so we decided to go and grab a pizza, big shocker!  But it was so good!  We still had some time before we were leaving port so I decided to head down and take a look at some of the port shops.  Mom stayed on the ship.

Of course, I didn’t buy anything.  All aboard time was 5:30, and we were departing at 6:00, I believe they called for a few people who weren’t on board, but they were not very far, as the lines were up by 5:50 and we were making our way to Antigua.

We then got dressed and made our way down to the main dining room for dinner.  I did get a picture of my dinner but had already started eating, so I am not going to share, but it was Beef with Yorkshire pudding, and it was amazing!

After dinner, we went back up to our room and changed, grabbed our cards and headed up to Deck 16 to enjoy the beautiful night and play some cribbage.  We actually use an app on the iPad for the cribbage board and you would not believe how many people stopped by and commented on the board.

We called it an early night, as we were docking in Antigua bright and early at 7am the next morning.

Ship Tour Conclusion

We will finish off the ship tour with Decks 17, 18 and 19.

Deck 17 – Sun

At the Bow of this Deck you will find the Sanctuary, it is an adult only area, you can rent a lounger for the entire cruise, day or half day.  For the entire day it was $40 and $20 for the half day.  There are also Cabana’s that can be rented.  We did rent loungers for our second sea day.  I really enjoyed my day in there, it was so peaceful and the loungers were very comfortable, however since we only rented for the day we didn’t get the best seats, so I was a little sun’d out by the end of the day.  So, I did go and sit under the shade for a bit.  I still don’t know if I would do it again… definitely not for the whole cruise, as I don’t think I would get the value, but maybe for a day or two, if I could get more shade.

Each afternoon they serve tea, sorry no pictures because I fell asleep in the lounger and missed it.  There is a menu for items you can order while in the sanctuary, they will also deliver you pretty much anything to eat for a $3.00 surcharge.

To get to The Sanctuary you need to walk through the Retreat Pool area, this is the adults only pool and area.  They also have cabana’s that can be rented.

Through mid-ship on this deck, you will find mostly sun loungers, which are great if you want to watch a movie on the big screen, there are also a few hot tubs on this deck.  Also, there is the SeaWalk look through which is pretty cool to look at.

Mid-aft on the starboard side you will find the kid’s clubs, teen centre and the photo studio, Platinum Studio.  We did get a tour in here, for a photo nerd there is a beautiful set up.

On the Port side you will find the fitness centre and change rooms.

Aft on this deck you will find more lounge chairs and the smoking area.

 

Deck 18 – Sports

Mid ship on this deck you will find some more lounge chairs.

Mid aft is where most of the items are that you will find.  First you will come across the Movies Under the Stars screen and the jogging track which goes all along this deck, I believe it is a quarter of a mile.

On either side you will find Princess Sports Central, which has some various exercise equipment.

On the Starboard side you will find The Driving Range.

In the Centre, you will find Centre Court, which has some Basketball nets, and is basically a gym.

On the port side to round out this deck you will find some Table Tennis tables, The Game Lounge (sorry no pics) and the Laser Range (no pics here either)

 

Deck 19 – Sky

The final accessible deck is the sky deck which only has 2 small areas that you can visit.  Mid ship you will find the sun deck, with more lounge chairs.  Then mid aft you will find the Lawn Court.  Here you will find the putting area, we also came up here one night to do some organized star gazing, it is pretty cool being up there, and they shut down the lights so that we could view the stars without the light pollution.

There is one more deck that does have some public areas but I did not take any pictures, that is Deck 4 – Gala Deck.  On this deck you will find the Medical Centre (which luckily we didn’t have to visit).  This is also the deck you will visit if you will be taking a tender.

This ends the ship tour… now back to Island visits.

Ship Tour – Deck 16 Lido Deck

Ship tour – Deck 16 Lido Deck

Continuing with our ship tour we will move up to the next floor with public spares, which is Deck 16.  Deck’s 8-15 (there is no deck 13) are stateroom only floors, I will note that each of these floors do have laundramat facilities.  I am unsure of the prices.

At the bow of deck 15 are staterooms towards mid-ship.  Once you enter the area with public spaces you will walk through an area with tables and chairs, we spent a few evening after dinner sitting up here and playing cards.

In the centre of this deck you will find Trident Grill, where you can get burgers, etc.  Mermaid’s Tail (bar) and Prego Pizzaria (good pizza as well)

Continuing through the middle of this deck you will find a couple hot tubs, the fountain pool and the plunge pool.  Each evening (weather permitting) they will have a fountain show at the fountain pool, it was very pretty!

There are lounge chairs around the pool, but on the outsides of the decks there are various seating options.

Heading further back on the port side you will find the seawall, which if you are afraid of heights is a little scary at first, but pretty cool once you get over the fear, you will also find Swirls back here, which is great to visit for some pretty good ice cream.

On the starboard side you will find the beautiful SeaView bar, unfortunately I didn’t spend any time here.  That is also where you will find Calypso Cabana, which is a small version of the gift shop where you could get sunscreen, etc.

Then you will find some more seating, before heading to the food.

Then it is time to head into Horizon Bistro, or the buffet, you can go on either side of the ship.  There are hand sanitizer stations throughout, but also a sink where you can wash your hands before heading to grab your food.

Sorry to the guy I caught with the mouthful… but it must have been good.

In the next section you will find the Horizon Court.  Which is pretty much the same as the Bistro.  During breakfast hours both areas are fully open, I’m not sure during dinner as we didn’t visit.  On the nights they do Crab Shack it is also in one part of the buffet.

At the back of this deck was one of my favourite spots on the whole ship, we would eat our breakfast out here every morning, one afternoon we sat out here and played cards.  it was so lovely.  This space is called Horizon Terrace and you will also find Outrigger bar back here.

Ship Tour Continued

Deck 7 – Promenade Deck

Continuing with our ship tour, let’s check out Deck 7 – Promenade Deck

As usual we will start at the Bow of the ship, which is the Upper level of Princess Theatre, see Deck 6 for pictures of the Theatre.

Next you will come across the Princess Art Gallery and the main Shops of Princess (unfortunately I didn’t get any pictures when they were open) also this area is open to the casino below and has the spiral staircase down to the casino.

Next up is the Ocean Terrace Seafood Bar, we never visited this area, but it did look lovely and opened to the Piazza below.

On The Starboard side you will then find Crooners Bar, there is a lot of seating in this area and they have nightly entertainment.

Outside of Crooners there is some seating outside on the balcony.

On the Port side you will find some more shops, the perfume and makeup shop and the jewellery shop, then as you go further down the hall you will find the Captain’s Circle Office and the Future Cruise Centre.  If you think you will be going on another cruise with Princess in the future I highly recommend purchasing a future cruise credit.  The cost is $100 in your home currency, and you can use it for any booking in the next 2 years.  It reduces your deposit amount down to that $100, and you will also get on-board credit, the amount depends on the category of room you book.  If you don’t book in that 2 years your deposit is returned, so it really is a no loose option.

As you continue to the Bow of the ship, you can only walk towards the back of the ship on the Port Side.  Next is the Princess Live! Cafe, bar and theatre.  The decor and furniture in this area is very cool, I really like it.  In the Princess Live! theatre they record the daily show and have different events.  One night I went to Name that Tune in the theatre, it was a lot of fun, and I got to meet some other people on the ship.

Next you will find the Wheelhouse Bar and the Crown Grill.  The Crown Grill is again a paid extra restaurant, it is a steakhouse.  It had a nice atmosphere, again we did not have dinner here.

Next you will find The Library, I thought it was very beautiful.

In the aft of the ship on this floor, you will find the Vista Lounge, again, we only went to one event here (no huge joiners), but as with all the spaces on this ship, it is very beautiful and had some interesting details.

Also, on the aft port side of the ship, you can go outside on the deck, they have some nice chairs where you can enjoy the view, this is also a designated smoking area.  This deck also has most of the life boats.

Day 5 – Sea Day

Today was a sea day, we took the day pretty easy, went and got our usual breakfast from the buffet and headed out to Horizon Terrace to enjoy our food and the beautiful view.  Unfortunately I didn’t take any pictures or take any notes about what we did, so it wasn’t all that memorable of a day.  We are not real big pool people.  I do remember going out and watching a movie on the big screen around the pool and just doing some exploring.  This night was our first formal night on the ship, I of course didn’t get any pictures of us or our dinner.

So to take up the space for this day, I have ship tour photos, I tried to take pictures of all of the public spaces on the ship.  Today I will share Deck 5 and 6.

Deck 5 – Plaza

Every floor on the ship has the above map when you get off of the elevators to make sure you can find what you are looking for.

We will start the tour towards the Bow of the ship and on the Plaza deck that is the Lotus Spa.  I just have some pictures of the entrance and hallway.  I did actually have a service here on our first sea day, Mom bought me a massage for my birthday.  I did enjoy the massage, but I do not really think it was worth the elevated costs, and they very much tried to sell me all kinds of product once the massage was done, which did annoy me.  Also I don’t think the facilities were that great, just my opinion.

Once you come down the hallway from the Spa, you will enter the area that has the Shore Excursion Desk, and the Guest Services Desk, there is also a computer there where you can swipe your sail card and get a print out of your account summary, which is pretty handy if you want to keep track of your account balance.

Also in this area you will find Sabatini’s restaurant, it is an Italian restaurant that is a surcharge.  I didn’t manage to get any pictures inside, as we didn’t eat there.

As you walk down the hallway towards The Piazza there is a display of the Christening of Royal Princess, which was done by Princess Kate.

Once you walk into The Piazza area there is the centre area and then shops and services on both sides.  On the Port side of the ship you will find the International Cafe, which I unfortunately didn’t get any pictures of, but it has ready made salads, sandwiches and deserts, it was a great place to stop at when you wanted something quick.  Then it is the Piazza Bar, we visited here a few times, mostly while waiting for our table in the dining room.  On the Starboard side you will find, Vines, which is the wine bar that has a few things to eat.  The Gelato shop, we didn’t have anything here either, it is an upcharge for anything here, next is Celebrations, where you can order flowers, chocolates or other treats.  Then it is the Internet cafe, we only visited here once, we did have an internet package, but aside from our initial visit to set it up, we didn’t have to visit again.

I cannot describe how much I loved The Piazza on this ship, I just think it was so beautiful!  It is open for 3 floors above.

To finish off the Plaza deck is the Symphony Dining Room, this is the anytime dining room, it is also where we ate every night.

Deck 6 – Fiesta Deck

Like the previous floor we will start on the Bow of the ship, and on the Fiesta deck that is the first level of the Princess Theatre.  It is a very beautiful theatre, however we didn’t go to any show’s in here.

Outside of the Theatre and on the Port Side, you will find Chruchill’s, which is the Cigar / smoking lounge.  I was still smoking at the time, so I did spend some time in there as it was the closest smoking area to our room, so if I wanted to go somewhere quick that is where I would head, the ventilation isn’t so great in there, so if you don’t smoke, I wouldn’t head in there.  Next is Club 6, which was our muster area, it is where the Elite cocktail reception is each night and then later in the evening it is the nightclub on the ship.  I love the decor in Club 6, so many of the details are amazing!

If you head to the starboard side of the ship when you get off of the elevators at the Bow of the ship you will find the casino.  I did sneak in here a few times for a smoke, it was way better then in the cigar lounge.  They did have some evenings where the entire casino was smoke free.  I did a little bit of gambling in here, but not very much an I didn’t make any money 😦

I cannot get enough of these spiral glass staircases on this ship!

As you head out of the casino and towards the Piazza opening you will find the cocktail lounge Bellini’s.

Finishing out the starboard side of the ship on the Fiesta Desk is Alfredo’s.  I cannot say enough about this restaurant.  It is so good, and one of the best pizza’s I have ever had.  There is no uncharge for this restaurant, we ate here at least 3 times on our 10 day trip.

On the port side of the ship you will find the Photo & Video Gallery, here you can purchase an assortment of photography equipment, this is also the area where they will display all of the photos they have taken of you on the ship. The photo team on the ship also runs a couple of education sessions.  I did take one with them and it was pretty good.

Rounding out the rear or aft on this deck is the Concerto Dining room, which does the traditional early seating and then switches over to anytime dining.  And then finally the Allegro Dining Room, which is traditional dining for both seatings.  I don’t have pictures of the individual dining rooms as they are all pretty similar.

Day 4 – Princess Cays, Bahamas

We woke up after our first night on the ship.  The beds are very comfortable, but it is a little different sleeping in a twin instead of my usual queen size bed, luckily I don’t move much at night, otherwise I may have fallen out of my little bed.  After packing our bags and getting ready for our beach day in the Bahamas, we headed down to the Horizon court to get some breakfast.  There are so many great choices for breakfast to meet everyone’s needs.  Filled up our plates and headed to what would become our breakfast table, at the aft of the ship you will find Horizon Terrace, which is a lovely outdoor space where you can eat, there is also a bar out there.  We found a little 2 person table and that became our spot every morning.

After breakfast we headed back to our rooms for a bit while the ship settled into the spot we would be anchoring at for the day.  Princess Cays is a tender spot, which can take some time to get to shore.  Once you are ready to go ashore head down to the dining room and get your tender ticket, then grab a seat and wait until they call your group.  We didn’t have to wait too long this morning before we were called to head to our tender, they take you down to the 4th floor where you board the tender and they begin the short ride over to the island.

When you arrive at Princess Cays most people including us head towards the left and find a seat, as that is where most of the seating is.  We headed over that way and found a seat close to the water and right by the beach volleyball court.  We didn’t do too much during the day, we would go in the water to cool off or relax on the beach.  A couple that we had met the night before at dinner found us and we spent some time together on the beach.  I headed off to do some exploring with my camera and take a few pictures, I didn’t get pictures of all of the amenities, the scenery was so beautiful on this day, I couldn’t resist.

I did get a few shots of Grill Crazy, where they serve lunch when we went to get ours.  I have to say it was the most disappointing meal that we had the entire trip, which is a little surprising since it is really only burgers and hot dogs.  Oh well, we decided to just head for pizza again when we got back on the ship.

I also took some photos of the bungalows that you can rent, they are so beautiful and colourful.  They are designed for 4 people and cost $199.95 for the day.  You can also rent ones that are in a Sanctuary area for adults only.  For the expensive price tag you don’t seem to get much, I believe it aside from the building you only get a couple of floats.

Princess Cays is also a great spot to do some snorkelling, they have a few areas with a lot of rocks around them which makes for some pretty good snorkelling.  I left mom sitting on the beach while I went out for a couple of snorkelling sessions of about 45 minutes each.  I could spend hours out there, it is so peaceful and such a beautiful different world down there.

Soon it was time to make our way back to the tender and head back to the ship.  We waited until the beach had cleared out some before we headed back, however the line was still quite long to get back on the tender.  While waiting in line they will come by and hand out a cool cloth.  Soon it was our turn and we were back on the tender heading back to the ship.  We boarded the ship on level 4 again and headed up in the elevator back to our cabin.  We took some time to relax and enjoy our room and our balcony.

Around 6pm we decided to head down for dinner.  As usual we headed to the Symphony dining room, said we would share our table.  But it was a little busy tonight and there was a bit of a wait, so we got a pager and headed out to the Piazza Bar for a drink while we waited for our table.  We were seated at a table for 8 (I believe), and we ended up with a wonderful group of people, we really did get lucky with our table mates on this trip.  Tonight we met some sisters from Toronto that we ended up spending quite a bit of time with on this trip.

We then spent a bit of time hanging out in the Piazza watching some of the entertainment.  I was pretty tired after the full day in the sun and a bunch of swimming, so I was ready for bed early.

Boarding the Ship – Day 3

Had another slow start today, since we weren’t in a big rush to go anywhere.  Once we had gotten dressed we headed downstairs for breakfast again.  Like the day before, wasn’t the best, wasn’t the worst, but it was enough to satisfy us until we would get on the ship.  After our bite to eat, we headed back upstairs and finished packing up our bags and securing our luggage tags.  We then just hung out for a while since we still had plenty of time before we needed to board the ship, we lazed around for a while and watched The Vow on TV.  We didn’t actually finish it before it was time to head downstairs and make our way to the ship.

After following the advise of several people on Cruise Critic we decided that I would drop Mom and our luggage off at the port, then I would return the rental car to the airport and then take a taxi back.  While we were pretty close to the port, it did take us a while to get there, and we did drive through most of the port before we made our way to the Royal Princess berth.  It felt like we were waiting forever in this line to get to the drop off point.  This was the first photo of the ship that I could get since I was driving, she sure is beautiful (less the orange pylons).

Once we made it to the drop off point I let mom and our luggage out and I made my way back to the airport.  There was an accident on the way and it felt like it took forever to get back there.  I got the car dropped off and headed back to the terminal and to look for a washroom, well it turns out there are not very many public washrooms in that area of the FLL airport.  So instead of trying to find one there, I decided to just head out and grab a cab, so I could make my way back to the terminal as I knew Mom would be starting to worry.  The trip back was much quicker and I actually hopped out part of the way through the loop this time, since I had no luggage.  I found Mom sitting on a bench talking to some others that were waiting.  I made a mad dash to the washroom (which lucky for me was right there).  We then decided to head inside and begin our embarkation.  We completed our paperwork about illnesses and made it through the x-ray machines quite quickly.  Then we headed to the lines to receive our cruise cards and that line was long!  But it really didn’t take us very long, soon enough we were heading through the terminal, getting our photo taken and having our cruise card scanned for the first time.

Once we got on board the ship was even more beautiful then I could imagine, the attention to detail is just amazing.  I have pictures floor by floor that I will share in later posts.  We entered the ship right next to Alfredo’s and I had read that they had really good pizza, so we decided to head right there and get a bite to eat.  I didn’t get a picture of our pizza this day, but it was so good we went back a few other times and I did get pictures then.  They were not kidding that pizza was one of the most delicious I have ever had, and I believe Mom would agree.

After our belly’s were full we decided to head up to our room and see if we could get settled a bit.  We had a standard balcony suite on deck 12, it was room A308, which was pretty close to mid-ship.  by the time we got there 1 of Mom’s bags had arrived so we made our way into the room.

It is definitely not the biggest room I have ever stayed in, but we new that going in, and it worked just fine for us.  I took the bed next to the wall and relaxed a bit while Mom began unpacking since her bags had made it.  Then I went out and did a bit of exploring, mostly I needed to find the smoking sections (since I hadn’t quit yet).  By the time I got back to the room one of my bags had arrived so I started to unpack.  We also met our room steward (I am terrible with names and cannot remember his), we didn’t have any complaints about him, we didn’t see him much, but he did a great job and got us whatever we needed.

Then it was time for muster, the one thing I don’t like about Princess is that you have to take your life jacket down with you, but this is for safety so we will roll with it.  Our muster was in Club 6 and lucky for us we headed down there early so we managed to get a seat.  We probably were there for about an hour, they cover all kinds of scenarios, so I felt pretty safe.  Once we were released I took both of our life jackets up to the room and left mom sitting in club 6 for a while (since it takes forever to get anywhere after the muster).

Once it had calmed down a bit, we headed up to Deck 15 so we could take part in the sail away celebration, I got one of the cocktails of the day.  I can’t remember what it was called, just that it had tequila in it, but it was really tasty.

While we waited for sail away I took some pictures of the waterways, I love watching the drawbridge and managed to get a great set of progression shots of that.

 

It is also just fun watching all of the nearby action, especially the 2 tugs pushing the giant freighter.

Before long it was time for Royal Princess to blow her horn (which happens to be the theme from The Love Boat” and we were on our way, I believe we were slightly delayed but not by much.

We stayed on deck for a while longer and then headed back down to our room so that we could finish unpacking, relax a bit and then get ready for dinner.  By the time we got back to our room all of our suitcases had arrived, so we could go ahead and finish getting  unpacked and settled into the room, however because the room is so small we could only really do this one at a time, so it took a while.  Once we were all settled and ready we decided to head down to the dining room.  We like to eat dinner in the dining room and do “anytime dining” so we are not stuck to a schedule.  We also like sharing the table with others, as you get to meet a lot of interesting people, and on this trip, we had excellent table mates each night.  We also learnt on our last cruise that when you are in the dining room if you want wine (and don’t have the drink package), you can order yourself a bottle of wine and they will cork it for you and store it for you until you finish the bottle, a much better deal then buying by the glass, and especially great if you like different kinds of wine, which Mom and I do.  For dinner tonight I had a Pina Colada Soup and the Fettuccine Alfredo (there’s is delicious even if it is no longer served in the parmesan bowl.  I didn’t take a picture of my dessert so unfortunately I don’t remember what I had.

 

After dinner we sat in the Piazza for a little while, before heading up to our cabin and calling it an early evening.  We had had a long day and tomorrow we would be in the Bahamas!

Day 2 – Florida

Day 2 – Tuesday, February 15th, 2016

After a somewhat slow start, me actually, we got dressed and headed downstairs for breakfast, it wasn’t bad, it wasn’t great.  They had fruit, yogurt, some eggs, pastries, cereal, etc.  It would meet our needs and start us on our way.

We had a few errands we need to run today, in preparation for boarding the ship on Wednesday.  The first thing we wanted to find were some self laminating luggage tags.  I had found them back home the last time we went on a cruise, but I couldn’t find them this time.  I had done some googling and we were able to find some at Office Max, which lucky for us, was in the shopping complex across from us.  But getting there was easier said then done.  When you were leaving the hotel on the Main Street you could only go right or left, not straight like we wanted to.  So after the round about drive we found Office Max and our luggage tags.

Next errand was for some supplies for the cabin.  We decided to try the Target right there, but they didn’t have the best selection, so we decided to drive over to the public, it was about 10 minutes.  We picked up a bottle of wine each, that we are allowed to bring on board, and that we will never do again, as neither of us drank our wine and left it in the cabin when we left.  We also picked up some water, some coke, and some snacks for the room.  Not like there is enough food to eat on board, but we needed more apparently. After we had our supplies, we headed back to the hotel to drop them off, we would have to do some re-packing later to get them in our luggage.

Then, it was time to head to MIAMI!  I was so excited to go to Miami Beach, just so I could see it and say I had been there.  We followed the interstate there and the drive was pretty boring, and didn’t take us long at all.  What did take forever?  Trying to find parking… don’t even dream of getting close to the beach… it’s not going to happen.  So we parked in the Lincoln Road Mall parking lot and began our hike to the beach.  We found an entrance to the beach beside the Ritz Carleton and made our way closer to the water.  It was hot and humid out today (at least to us Canadians), but it was pretty grey and overcast so there were not that many people on the beach.  So I went and stuck my feat in the water for a bit and then we just sat in the sand and did some people watching (one of my favourite activities).

 

We then decided to walk further south towards Lummus Park, which is between the Ocean and all of the Art Deco buildings.  It is a great park with a lot of different things going on, we watched one group practicing for a wedding dance, again, lots of great people watching and a great space.

I left Mom on a bench for a little rest and some people watching, while I wandered off to take some photos of the amazing Art Deco buildings, they are so beautiful, my only regret is not going into one!

Then we started making our way back towards the mall, and I couldn’t stop taking pictures off all of the interesting buildings on our way back.  It is definitely the image you have in your mind when you think of old Miami.  Next time we will have to go back in the evening to see them all lit up!

We headed back to the mall (which is actually just stores open along a pedestrian only road, at least going east and west, the cross streets still drove by).  We ended up stopping at Sushi Samba to have a bite to eat, something to tide us over until dinner.  After we were done eating, I left mom at the restaurant while I went to the Apple Store to get a case for my new phone.  After my long walk they didn’t have the one I wanted in stock, so I guess I was going on the trip careless, guess I better be careful.  I thought it was much closed but ended up being about 5 blocks from the restaurant.

Then it was time to head back to Fort Lauderdale and our hotel, however this time instead of taking the boring I-95 back, we decided to take the A1A back, it was a great drive that followed close to the coast.  A lot of time was in between the ocean and the inter-costal.  I definitely recommend going this route if you have the time, the scenery isn’t always the best, but you get to see a lot of interesting condos and resorts.

We spent some time in the hotel relaxing before we went to dinner.  We were going to 15th Street Fisheries.  If you are a seafood fan, I highly recommend visiting here for at least one meal.  It is located right on the inter-costal, we found it when we visited last time and just knew that we had to visit again this time.  On the main level is the more casual bar like level and on the upper level is the more classy dining area.  We have only ever ate upstairs, but I have heard the food is good downstairs too, maybe next time.  Mom and I both ordered a cocktail and decided to have the Alaskan King Crab legs each.  Well that was a mistake, the portions are HUGE.  Crab legs are my favourite food and it breaks my heart to say that I could not eat it all and had to leave some behind.  Oh, and they give you a giant order of potatoes as well!  We have already decided that next time, we will split an order and maybe get a small appetizer as well, as it is just too much food and way too good to go to waste!  Oh and they serve bread to start as well.

After we rolled ourselves out of the restaurant we made our way back to the hotel.  We decided to just sit outside for a little bit and enjoy the beautiful weather.  Really I think we were just too full to get all the way back to our room.  When we finally went back upstairs we didn’t do too much, got ready for bed and did a few preparations for boarding day tomorrow before heading to bed.