Ahhhh...A Good Day

After all that anxiety yesterday, today turned out to be a good day.  Got up early, finished packing, out the door by 9:20 to pick up the rental car in Leesburg.  Lucked out and got an upgrade...a full size Kia Optima with more than enough room to fit our luggage.

We were on the road by 10:45 and it was smooth sailing all the way to Ft. Lauderdale with several potty and snack stops along the way.  Arrived at 3:15 at the Hampton Inn on 12th Street and were welcomed with a smile and a confirmation of our late checkout...yeah!!   The weather was absolutely beautiful down here and couldn't wait to head to the pool to relax.  Obviously, that's what Bill needed too!!

Once we had chilled, we headed to Slackers for dinner, a nice little sports bar in the adjacent strip mall that had gotten good reviews on TripAdvisor.  (The owners are obviously from Wisconsin!)  And the reviews were spot on...the food and the service were great.  Plus a bonus...on Tuesday nights, they offer free bingo with prizes for the winners.

I won some Slackers bucks, which helped to pay for dinner, and Bill won $25 toward another meal.  Guess where we're going for lunch tomorrow??!!!!  What a great way to spend 3 hours and to start off our vacation!

So, it all worked out well today.  The drive was easy, the hotel is nice, dinner was great, bingo was fun.  Can't ask for a better day!  Tomorrow we're planning on hanging out at the hotel until 2 tomorrow, then off to eat a light lunch (with our winnings!), return the rental car and head to the pier.
Can't wait to be on that ship tomorrow :)

Anxiety Producing Day

Tough day today.  The Caribbean Princess was scheduled to leave the Port of Houston yesterday at 4 PM and head southeast to pick the rest of us up in Ft. Lauderdale on Wednesday.  Well...I'm sure many of you saw the news today and how horrible the weather was in the Houston area yesterday and today.  They received 16 inches of rain in 12 hours and the winds were blowing intensely.

When we went to bed last night, the ship was scheduled to leave at midnight.  I awoke at 2 AM and checked the port webcam and the ship was still there. And at 8:30 this morning when I got up, it hadn't moved!  Still at the pier, surrounded by fog and torrential rains and winds at 45 knots.  The Houston port had closed the channel.  In fact, all morning we sat and wondered what effect this was going to have on our boarding the ship in Ft. Lauderdale.  And our stay at the Hampton Inn in Ft. Lauderdale the night before.  Would the ship be able to leave Houston at all today?  Should we book another night at the hotel?  And what to do about the car we were renting to get us to Ft. Lauderdale...book another day too?  

Around noon we got an email from Princess informing us that due to bad weather, the ship was stuck in Houston and our embarkation in Ft. Lauderdale would be delayed.  No, they couldn't tell us how delayed.  Thanks :(    We still didn't know what to do about our plans.  Keep them, change them.... AGGGGHHHHHH!!!

Finally, around 3 PM we got word from the fellow passengers on board that we were following on Cruise Critic that the weather had cleared and the Captain was "Going to make a run for it!"  That followed with an announcement that the ship would leave momentarily and would be docking in Ft. Lauderdale at approximately 2 PM on Wednesday.  Now at least we had something to work with.  

I've now made arrangements with the Hampton Inn in Ft. Lauderdale to get a late checkout of 2 PM on Wednesday and have added additional time to our car rental.  And we just heard from Princess that embarkation will begin at 4 PM, so that works out great for us!    We'll check out of the hotel, drop off the rental car and then catch their shuttle to the pier.  That should put us at the pier around 3-3:30. Yes!!

Now...what's that old axiom about "best laid plans"??!!  

A New Adventure Begins

A New Adventure Begins:

We'll soon be starting another wonderful adventure that we've been awaiting for about the past year.  We decided last year that since both Bill and I would be hitting major milestone birthdays (Bill turned 70 at the end of 2015 and I turned 60 yesterday) we should celebrate by taking another great cruise.  After searching, we came across this British Isles 18-day Transatlantic Passage.  It fit the bill completely, especially since we decided to add in Paris at the end!Everyone knows Bill is a history nut, especially when it comes to WWII.  And this cruise provided the opportunity to stop in Germany and go into Berlin, as well as visit Normandy during our port stop in France.  He's in his glory.

For me, the cruise provides a chance to tour Liverpool and see all the spots that those mop-top Beatles grew up and became famous and to see more of Europe.  But when we added on four nights in Paris at the end of the cruise, I was in my glory!  A true bucket list item and the best birthday present ever!!

This will be our 2nd transatlantic cruise...the first heading Eastward.   We leave from Ft. Lauderdale on April 20 and won't return home until mid-May!!   Our home for 18 nights is the beautiful Caribbean Princess, a ship that we have had the pleasure of sailing on three other times.  We're looking forward to lovely breakfasts on the balcony, fun playing games during the day with new friends we have made on Cruise Critic over the past few months, delicious dinners in the dining room and great entertainment.  And lots of time to spend reading, coloring and enjoying the ocean views, as we'll have a total of 10 days at sea.

The weather on this cruise looks like it is going to range from the low 80s in Ft. Lauderdale, to the 70s in Bermuda and then the 40s and 50s in Liverpool and Wales with a good chance of rain there.  More temperate temperatures in the 60s should await us in Germany and France, but it has made packing a challenge.  We've packed much the same way we did last year for Alaska...shorts, capris, short-sleeve shirts, long-sleeve shirts, jeans, hoodies and fleeces.  And, of course, waterproof jackets and pants, because we're not going to let rain stop us!  Add to that dressier clothes for dinner and all the shoes that go with our outfits and it's a lot.  We've managed to get it all in two medium suitcases and two carry-ons.   Add a backpack and tote bag and we're all set!!

Review of our 13-day Princess Connoisseur Cruisetour - Part 2 - The Cruise

This is a review of the cruise portion of our 13 day Connoisseur CruiseTour with Princess. The opinions expressed are our own (or those of our friends who traveled with us!)

SUNDAY, MAY 31

Today we were scenic cruising to Hubbard Glacier and we woke to the fog horn blaring. We had a Caribe balcony room (our favorite), but missed having our room-service, continental breakfast out on the balcony…it was just a bit too cool and foggy.   We had to settle for having it in the room.  The morning was spent exploring the ship and just relaxing a bit after our hectic land tour.  Lots of areas heralding Princess' 50th anniversary.  And beautiful tapestries hanging in the piazza showing vignettes of Alaska.

 And, the, once we stepped outside, we knew why we had brought those warm coats, hats and mittens.  It DOES get cold in Alaska!!!  

It didn’t help that it was still very cloudy.  The wind and cold brought tears to your eyes and a nip to your nose.  But we headed up to the bow on deck 7/8 anyway to listen to the naturalist on board and watch for wildlife and, of course, Hubbard Glacier.   We wondered if we would even be able to see the glacier.  But, as we neared the entrance to the glacier, you could see a lot of sunlight. 

And we were not disappointed.  As we got closer to the glacier the skies cleared and the glacier was magnificent…so blue and sharp and HUGE!   And there were fur and harbor seals sunning themselves on the icebergs that had broken away from the glacier.  Looking at some of those icebergs gave us a bit of worry as you could hear the word "Titanic" on people's lips.  But, not to fear, those guys on the bridge know what they are doing!

When we had enough of the cold wind, we would just head down to our balcony and shed a few layers as the sun warmed us.  It was a great first full-day on the ship!

The four of us ate dinner was in the Crown Grill that evening.  The food was good but the service left a lot to be desired.  We had each ordered appetizers/soup and then each ordered a steaks, and were sharing a plate of lobster and of crab legs and potatoes and asparagus for sides.  Once we had eaten our appetizer, the waiter brought out the lobster and crab legs at least 5-8 minutes before the steaks.  And no melted butter.  We asked for the butter and had to wait for that.  By the time the steaks came out, the lobster was cold (but still tasty).  However, by crab legs had cooled so much, they were difficult to get out of the shell.  And we still had to wait for our sides.  I don’t understand why everything can’t be brought out at the same time.  They do it in the dining room.  Each time we sail, we are less and less impressed with the Crown Grill.  I think next time, we’ll just pass.

For almost every other evening we ate in the dining room.   (We had expected that we would eat in the buffet due to long days in port and at the glaciers, but we in fact only ate dinner one night in the buffet.)  The food was good to very good.  Seems like the portions have continually gotten smaller...which is not such a bad thing.   Since we were in Alaska, some of the menu items had changed and they did offer salmon every night (it was good), king crab legs (very good), halibut (very good), crab cakes and Alaskan chowders and fish soups (all good).  (I meant to take photos of the menus, but never did…sorry)  They also offered specialty items like reindeer chili (excellent) and chowder (very fishy) for lunch at the pizza/burger spots on deck 15.  We did Anytime Dining and service was spotty.  Some servers were very pleasant and fun, while others just seemed to be doing their job but not much more.   Very typical of past experiences with Princess.  Most nights we ate around 7:15 and did not have a wait for a table for four.   We ate lunch one day at Alfredos and the pizza there, as well as the pizza upstairs on deck, are still the best at sea!

We spent many evenings in the One5 night club.  It's one of our favorite spots on the ship.  Love those pillow-filled banquets surrounded by the curtains...you feel so special.  And the bar service there is always exceptional.  They offered Buy One Get One every night from 10-11 PM.  We were surprised that the place wasn't packed every night.  It was easy to find a seat every night except for the second formal night...that night was standing room only.  The music...well, let's just say that the DJ's playlist is a bit limited.  But we sang along to the tunes of the 70's through today and enjoyed it!

TUESDAY, JUNE 1

Another long awaited day… Glacier Bay, and we again woke to some light fog and another very chilly day.  Not as thick as the day before, but we were questioning how well we would see the glaciers.  The scenery as we entered the bay and throughout was magnificent.  And we didn't realize that there are multiple glaciers throughout Glacier Bay.  Some were small but all were beautiful.

 And we need not have worried about the weather,  because even though it was cloudy as we entered the bay, the closer we got to Marjorie Glacier the sun came out and it was breathtaking!   The ship got so close it felt like we could touch the glacier.  

It was amazing to listen to the cracks, pops and groans of the glacier as it moves, and we were fortunate to see a large calving!   

We also saw eagles, seals and sea otters in the waters throughout the bay.  As at Hubbard Glacier, it warmed up in the afternoon, and we were comfortable out on balcony with only a lighter jacket. 

The beauty of Glacier Bay is beyond compare.  It is such a plus to have the park rangers on board the ship up on the decks answering questions and narrating as you go past glaciers, providing interesting background information and just giving you an idea of where you are and what you might see. 

Late in the afternoon we reached the Johns Hopkins Glacier and just around the corner...Jaw Drop Point and it is aptly named….absolutely beautiful and magnificent!  We were up on the observation deck above the bridge, and it was the perfect viewing point. 

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 2

Early rise and shine...today is Skagway.  Time to get off the ship and tour!  Our plans for the day include a trip up to Emerald Lake with Dyea Dave Tours and then being dropped off in Fraser at 2:30 pm to catch the White Pass & Yukon narrow gauge railway back down to Skagway.  We hope to finish the day with a bit of sightseeing and souvenir shopping in town.

The port is pretty typical...except...there are two eagles down on the beach...ok...not typical at all!

 We disembark, and as promised, Cathy from Dyea Dave is at the end of the pier waiting for us.  She directs us to a small 20 passenger bus being driven by Casscia.  We remind her that we need to stop at the rail station to pick up our tickets for the return trip.  This is no problem and everyone on the bus is given about 15 minutes in town to use the rest rooms, get coffee or just take a few photos.  We show our passports (we'll be in Canada when we get the train), pick up our tickets, which are waiting for us and off we go to look around the immediate area.  

Then we're off.  Casscia takes us through town sharing stories about the locals and the town.  Then it's onward and upward as we head toward the Yukon.  We make frequent stops to view the scenery, the train traveling through and a beautiful waterfall.  The best part is we are able to get out and spend 5-10 minutes at each stop just drinking in the beauty and taking lots of pictures.

On the highway you can see large poles on the sides of the road.  The snow gets so deep in this area that the snow plows need to know where the edge of the road is.  Scary!

We cross into Canada...and take a photo at the Welcome to Alaska sign on the other side of the street and climb higher and higher into the mountains.

Our next stop is a pretty little lake where we stop to take photos and test the water...Brrrr...icy cold!!  

As we leave the lake, we enter the Yukon.  Beautiful...but where's those cute Mounties??!!  We see left over equipment from when they use to mine for silver.

We continue on our journey, when up ahead the driver yells, "Bears crossing the street!"  And there they are, a black bear and her two cubs about 2 months old!  The bus driver pulls over and they're right by the side of the road munching their favorite snack...dandelions!  Of course we have to stay on the bus to take our pictures...but it was amazing!

On we go, passing beautiful mountains and scenery everywhere.  

Then we pull up next to what looks like a desert...and it is!  It's called the Carcross Desert.  In reality it is the bed of a glacier lake, but it is cool anyway.

We finally reach our destination...Emerald Lake.  It is easy to see how it got its name.

By now it's 12:30 and everyone is hungry for lunch.  We turn around on the highway and 15 minutes later stop in a little town called Carcross Crossing.  We eat at a local bakery which has very good sandwiches, soup and delicious cinnamon buns.  A local stops by wanting to share our lunch.  I couldn't resist giving him some crust from our sandwiches.

We have lots of time to eat and wander around town, checking out the stores and the sites.

We head out of Caribou Crossing toward Fraser where the van will drop us off to get the White Pass & Yukon train back to Skagway.  It's a 1/2 hour wait for the train once we get there, but it passes quickly as we enjoy the beautiful mountain scenery.  Cathy from Dyea Dave finds the conductor and quickly gets us our seats.  There are a lot of groups traveling on the train, but it seems that individual travelers, like ourselves, have our own car.  It is not crowded and we get seats on the right-hand side of the car, as we've been told the best views are on that side.

Off we go...slowly...very slowly.  We're thinking that if we continue at this rate, we'll never make it back to the ship in time.  Turns out we have to wait for another train in front of us, then we pick up a bit of speed.  We travel through an area known as the Tormented Valley.  It looks like the apocalypse...very barren with mostly rocks.  Very sobering.

As we exit the Tormented Valley everything greens up and we are surrounded by millions of fir trees.  We pass through the Canadian/US border and see the remnants of the old White Pass Trail and the Trail of 98 used by the gold-miners of old.  There are quite a few spots where you're riding on the edge of mountains and looking down, down, down.  

We travel further down the mountains and finally...there's the ship in the distance.  

Before we knew it, we were back in town and had a nice drink at the Red Onion Saloon.  We enjoyed our day but, truly, I could have done without the train ride.  Neither excursion was fabulous and when we heard about our friends' excursion to the Kroshel Animal Refuge in Haines, we were sorry we hadn't done that.  It sounded like so much more fun.  

Thursday, June 3

Whale-watching day!  We're so excited.  The four of us have booked an excursion with Harv & Marv.  

We wake to rain and by the time we get off the ship and onto the bus to the marina it is pouring.  Our driver fills the 20 minute ride with lots of info about Juneau and points of areas of interest, but it's difficult to see through the rain drops and foggy windows.

We arrive at the docks and meet our boat pilot (wish I could remember her name!)  She's young and looks like she could be Samantha Brown's (from the Travel Channel) daughter.  We make a pit stop and it's onto the boat and off we go.  It is a small boat with 6 of us and our pilot.  There is room at the front of the boat to stand (when the boat is stopped) and a good sized area on the back of the boat where you can stand while the boat is moving and is probably the best spot to take pictures.  It is chilly and we are bundled up.  So glad we brought waterproof jackets and pants!

We see eagles right away and then whales spouting off in the distance.  

Off we race to get to them.  Turns out to be a mama humpback and her calf.  Amazing!!  And it was even more amazing to have them exhale near the boat!  I'll never forget that sound!

A few seals came by to say hello as we enjoyed the whales.

We saw quite a few whales, mostly from a distance during our two hours out on the water.  It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience!

As part of our excursion, our van driver stopped at Mendenhall Glacier for about 25 minutes for us to view the glacier.  It was beautiful!  

We had initially planned on staying at the glacier and stopping at the visitor's center to walk down to the waterfall, but the weather was so cold and damp, we were happy to get back on the van and go back to the ship.

Once on the ship, we quickly shed some layers in our room and headed to Alfredo's for some pizza.  It was as good as we had remembered.  It's also nice that it is in the piazza and close to the International Cafe.  I was so cold from the morning, that I got a bowl of soup to eat before the pizza came.  And we all grabbed something from there for dessert!


Entertainment on the ship was OK.  We thoroughly enjoyed an Irish duo who played in the piazza, in the Vista Lounge and in Crooners one night.  Their name was the Danta Duo.  We laughed heartily with the comedian but the magician and his little dog...Yawn.  The guy playing the piano in Crooners just seemed like a jerk, but it was always crowded so obviously there were people who liked his voice and his humor.  The band in the Wheelhouse was good for your listening pleasure and for dancing.  We didn't go see any production shows, but went to the crew show...WOW...this show always amazes us.  There is so much talent on the ships!

THURSDAY, JUNE 4

If it's Thursday, then it must be Ketchikan...our last port stop.  We were anxious for this port as we had heard so much about it, especially Creek Street.  We also had a floatplane excursion booked with Michelle of Island Wings to go to Misty Fjords.  The weather forecast is calling for showers and it's quite cloudy and a bit cool.  We're hoping the weather doesn't interfere with our flight.

The Grand wasn't scheduled to get until 10 AM so we could at least sleep a bit later this morning and take some time with our breakfast.      As we entered the harbor, we could see floatplanes everywhere.

We docked right across from the stores which was great...or not...depending on whether you were me or my hubby!

Once we were off, we had to take a picture at the Liquid Sunshine sign and that's where we were to meet the rep from Island Wings.

Love their sense of humor here at the visitor's center.

Found the rep and waited a few minutes for two other couples, then off we went for the short 5 minute ride to the Island Wings dock.  We made a stop at the restroom, paid our balance due and then waited on the dock for a few minutes for Michelle to bring the plane in.  

This would be a good time to tell you that I'm wasn't thrilled about flying in a small plane.  We did it once on a trip from Vegas to the Grand Canyon and I was petrified.  But, I was determined to try again and to put my fears to rest.  Surprisingly, while we waited for the plane, I was OK.  Figured that maybe I would be so busy clicking the camera that I wouldn't mind the trip.  Let's hope so.

As the plane came into the dock, all I could think of was...Darn...that's a small plane.  Pretty...but small.

Once we were in the plane, there was no going back.  We taxied out into the harbor, Michelle got the engines going and off we went.

It was so smooth and seemed effortless.  Before we knew it, the ground was falling away and the beauty of the area was before us.

Island Wings not only sets down on one the fjords, but they are one of the few that lets you out onto land to walk around and enjoy the beauty and serenity of this amazing area.  

We enjoyed exploring the area for about 1/2 hour or so, then it was back into the plane for the return trip.  Getting back into the plane, hubby slipped on the pontoon and decided to test the waters to see how cold they were.  It was chilly!!!!  (Wish I had a picture of that!)

More beautiful mountains and fjords on the way back.  It is easy from the air to spot where there has been recent logging activity.

Notice I haven't talked about being nervous on the plane...because I wasn't!!  Michelle had informed us that a front was coming in and we would most likely hit a few bumps, but it should be a smooth flight overall.  Yikes!!  And we did hit a few spots of turbulence that had me gripping the seat in front of me, but the majority of the flight was smooth and easy.  Michelle is an experienced pilot and it shows.  She has high standards and always, always, always has her passengers' safety in mind.   

This was a great excursion, and I would recommend it highly.  

The Island Wings van dropped us back in town and we were getting hungry.  Decided to head out to Creek Street to see if there was anywhere over there to eat.  

Found a variety of stores and then came upon Dolly's House.  Currently a museum but it used to be the home of one of the longest-working girls in Ketchikan.  We did the tour and it was very, very interesting and worth the price.  Thank you very much to the nice man who gave us an extra ticket for the tour. (He did it but his wife wouldn't!) 

Had a very good lunch at the New York Cafe, around the corner from Dolly's House.  Hubby said the hamburger was great and my fish and chips were some of the best I have ever had.

By the time we finished lunch, it was raining.  We headed back to the ship, doing a bit of souvenir shopping along the way.   It was pouring once we got onto the ship, and we were so glad that we had done our floatplane trip when we first docked.

FRIDAY, JUNE 5

Our last day on the ship and it's a sea day.  Well earned too.  We need a little relaxation from all our excursions.  We decided to eat breakfast in the dining room...something we don't do very often.  And every time we do it, we know why...we just don't enjoy it.  I mean...it's nice to sit with other people and get to know them, but nothing on the breakfast menu is very exciting.  Didn't they used to have a french toast with a crunchy topping?  No more...just pancakes.  It seems to take forever to get pastries...waiting for a server to come around to your table.  And we just seem to order what we would normally have up on the buffet...scrambled eggs, bacon, potatoes.  

We meet up with Chris & Kim after breakfast and went to the Culinary Show.  We always enjoy the humor between the executive chef and the Maitre d'.  Unfortunately, the executive chef had such a strong Filipino accent that it was very difficult to understand him.  But we still had a good time and since we sat in the side balconies, the aromas coming off the stage were so enticing!

Afterwards we headed to the piazza with the hopes there will be lots to do on the ship today.  After reading the Patter, we're a bit disappointed.  Once you cross out the spa offerings, the casino offerings,  and the sales, there wasn't much to do:  Charades, Naturalist @ Sea, Art Auction, Ballroom Dance, afternoon movie, Movies Under the Stars.  We decided it would be a good time to begin our packing and planned on meeting for lunch later for get one more fix of the Princess pizza while we could.  

After lunch, Kim headed to the indoor movie (Big Eyes) and we headed outside to watch the world (Canada) go by and hoped we might see more wildlife.  It was beautiful traveling so close to land.  We saw a few eagles and some birds hitching a ride on the myriad of logs and wood in the water.

We were hoping to see a few more whales or a moose on shore, but only saw a few seals quite far away.  However, tt was so relaxing, up on deck, just watching the scenery that we didn't mind.

Dinner on this evening was the only one we had to wait for a table. When ate almost every night in the DaVinci dining room where they serve traditional dining first, then open up the dining room for Anytime Dining.  Seemed like when we would get there around 7 or so, we always got a table for four right away.  But, because they were doing the baked Alaska extravaganza, it through the timing off.  We didn't mind too much and headed up to Crooners for our nightly drinks and martini's made by James who always shook our drinks with a smile and a great attitude.

Since we ate dinner later than we wanted, we missed being outside to go through the Seymour Narrows but we didn't miss the gorgeous sunset.

We ended the night at the One5 and then came the toughest part of the cruise...saying goodbye to our good friends.  We knew we wouldn't see them in the morning; they had an early flight out of Vancouver and would be first off the ship while we weren't getting off till a bit later since we were staying in Vancouver.  It was such a fabulous two weeks together, and we were so glad that we had joined them in this wonderful adventure.  But we also knew that there would be more great cruises together in the future.