And...We Go Cruising Today!

Thursday - December 7, 2017

Today, we ACTUALLY get to go cruising!  But I knew that.  How?  I uh, may have stayed up a bit monitoring marine traffic to make sure the Island Princess actually arrived in  Port Everglades 😀  By the time I went to bed the night before, I saw that she was pretty close to port, so assured, I fell asleep.  Bright and early in the morning, I threw open the curtains to see this beauteous sight:

do you see her?

Do you see her now???

btw, that building used to be the Hyatt Regency Pier 66 (which I thought about booking), but by the time we were there, it just became plain old Pier Sixty-Six Marina Hotel.  I know because I tried to book it the day before, before I found out that they broke up with Hyatt.

Because we cheap and wanna eat cruise food, we refused to pay another $30/pp at the hotel buffet, and we ate our $5 7-Eleven breakfasts instead.  By five bucks, I mean five bucks for all of us, not $5 per person. Yay for good deals!  And convenience store donuts!  We had a coffeemaker in our room, and I brought a small electric kettle with auto shut off that I was hoping Princess would let me keep (they did) so I could have hot water for tea in my room - and some Starbucks Via packets too.  So we had a simple...amuse bouche breakfast in our room (except it was many bouches, because it took many, many bites) of literally convenience store donuts/croissants and coffee before we finished packing up our room to head to the ship.  We (me) wanted to leave by 10 am in an attempt to avoid the deluge of buses that I anticipated rolling into the port from all the Princess sponsored hotel arrangements for people who booked their travel plans through them, so we quickly ate, packed up, and left.  

yes, I had an apple fritter.  I don't care that it was 75 cents, it was still fried and sweetened deliciousness!

I sat on my sofa bed (it was not that comfortable - the springs were not great, but it was only for a night) after I finished eating while my mom finished packing

my sofabed (chair?) was right next to the balcony

the only picture of the room I took

hi mom!

my dad preferred to chill on the balcony and play on his phone while we finished packing

We grab a Lyft (we got a nice driver this time!), and the drive to the pier was pretty quick!  Definitely under 10 minutes - probably closer to 5 or 6.  There were already buses when we arrived, but we actually breezed through!  From the time we got dropped off and handed our luggage off to the porters, we were on the ship within 20 minutes.  There weren't that many people at all - the only line we encountered was the short line going into the building where they wanted to see our boarding passes and passports.  Then it was the security screening (nothing compared to the TSA), the health declaration, and checking in to get our keys before we were heading onto the ship.  As always, they take a picture of your group when you board.  

my dad is smiling!  OMG!  That almost never happens

We got onto the ship, dropped our backpacks off in the cabin, and went to the buffet to eat.  Because that's how we roll.  Well, my parents ran to the buffet, I stayed behind to take photos of our cabin before we got it super messy (it was still a little messy).  

walking in

from the entrance, on the right side you have the closet area as well as the bathroom (the door on the right edge of the photo)

the room from the other end

The ship just came out of dry dock - and they installed new TV's!  Look at how big they are!  The old ones were just removed - and the hadn't patched up the wall where the wiring was installed yet.  Look at the shelf to the left of the TV - on the upper shelf - that's where the old (small) TV's were.  The black hole is where the wiring used to be.  The lack of TV's meant that we actually got 4 more outlets to use!  And considering all of our devices, we need as many outlets as possible!

this would be MY TV for the duration of the cruise

Now we walk out to the balcony.

It's not very big, but it was plenty roomy for 3.  We went to Ed and Grace's balcony - which was fine for two, but it would have been too small for the three of us.  It had room for 2 chairs (that you could lean back and make your own chaise with!), two ottomans, and a little round table.  We sat out there multiple times in the next two weeks and enjoyed it a lot.

After I took photos of our cabin, I went upstairs to the buffet.  Which was FANTASTIC.  Princess really had the best buffet we've ever had on a ship - it was so organized!  And clean!  And I really did enjoy their food.  They also installed 6 sinks at the entrances so we could wash our hands with soap and water to avoid getting everyone else sick.

I went upstairs and joined my people, and I ate the world.  Literally.  The. World.  The one thing I could nitpick on?  You could serve yourself water, coffee, tea and iced tea, but had to order lemonade from the waitstaff.  I'm more of a DIY person, and I always felt bad asking them for lemonade.  Didn't mean I didn't do it (I did), but I would've preferred being able to grab it myself.

After lunch, we went back to our cabins to unpack.  Well, I unpacked, my parents promptly fell asleep and took a nap.

Meanwhile, I watch HGTV.  They have HGTV shows!  And Food Network shows!  And Cooking Channel and Travel Channel shows!  Seriously, best. ever.  It was a "lifestyles" channel, and they would rotate shows from all of my favorite channels.  This is seriously the best cruise for old people - because inside, I am a crotchety 80 year old woman and I LOVED the shows.  I've never spent THIS much time watching TV on a cruise before.

The view from our cabin was fantastic - we were portside, so faced the city as opposed to the ugly port.  What fascinated me?  That bridge could be pulled up for big boats and lowered for cars!  We drove across that bridge on the way to the port, but I didn't notice anything odd about it at the time.  I know these exist, but I've never seen one in action before!  Only in movies.  

While my parents were both snoring away, I set up the room how I liked it.  Since we were going to be on the ship for the next two weeks, I completely unpacked and organized everything.  I had read a tip online about buying collapsible storage trays from the dollar store so you don't have stuff scattered over all the surfaces, and I thought it was a brilliant idea, so I went to Dollar Tree and purchased 3 little collapsible trays for $1 each.  They packed down to nothing, and I had intended to just throw them out at the end of the cruise - but my mom saved them because she had another cruise two weeks after the end of our Panama cruise and she wanted to reuse them.   They weren't pretty - but they were functional - and we had one for our snacks (we had SO MANY SNACKS), one for all of our meds (we're all on various meds...aging -_-), and one for just my stuff, as I was sleeping in the pullman bed in the living room and wouldn't have a nightstand for storage like both my parents did.

example: our snack bin.  And yes, that's a little fruit knife sticking out.  For when my mom would bring oranges and apples from the buffet back to our room.  Woman is like a bat - she needs to be surrounded by fruit at all times.

After I organized to my heart's content, I went around the ship to get a feel for the layout.  I appreciate the existence of a promenade, though I think the butcher job they did on the Island Princess which cut off half the promenade was horrible.  Other than how horrible her butt looks, the Island Princess is actually a gorgeous ship - she's not showing her age at all (though this may be due to the recent dry dock), it was well decorated for the holidays - and it was well laid out.  

The atrium was the hub - spanning floors 5-8 - and most of the activities are generally grouped around here - where the pubs and the bars are.  

The atrium

My dad's favorite?  Churchill Lounge.  He's (I know, I know) a smoker - and now that he can't smoke on a balcony anymore, he's usually relegated to some far off corner in the boonies on the highest deck somewhere being blown around by the wind for a cigarette after his meals (the only time he really needs the real thing - otherwise he sucks on his e-cig).  I personally don't mind because I don't like that he still smokes, but the man is almost 70 and he ain't quitting anytime soon.  Churchill Lounge on the Island Princess is the cigar bar...but as far as I could see, just about everyone in there was a cigarette smoker.  I walked in (then promptly walked out because the smell was so nauseating to me) and saw roomy chairs and loveseats, stained glass art, lots and lots of ashtrays, and tables for said ashtrays.  They also had an oceanview.  Best place I've ever seen to smoke.  Because Churchill Lounge is off the atrium on the 7th floor, it was a quick and easy run up for my dad from the dining room after dinner for a smoke break, then be back in time to enjoy a cappuccino for dessert.  

Soon it was time for sailaway, and not being someone who enjoys doing the conga line with strangers at a pool, I headed back to our cabin where my parents were now awake.  We gathered onto our balcony and watched as we left Fort Lauderdale behind.

We were hungry (and it would be the LAST time we were ever hungry for the next two weeks), and we had my time dining, so we decided to go and grab dinner as soon as the Bordeaux Dining Room opened up.  Bordeaux is on the 5th floor and is the my time dining room.  OMG - the line!  We got there pretty early, so we only had to wait around 10 minutes - but we saw the line snake out and wrap around towards the front desk while we stood in line.  If I were to do this cruise again, I would have just picked traditional seating and set it for early seating.  We had enough people in our party that they probably would have given us our own table - because there was always a wait for a table unless you had a reservation or dined closer to 8 pm.  Dining reservations opened up at 8 am each morning - and you could only make reservations for THAT day - unless you were calling about a specialty restaurant - you could make reservations for those any time - but if we called at 9 am, the only reservations ever left were at 8 pm.  Those were the nights where we either went to the buffet, did Italian, or just opted to eat late...after snacking at the buffet around 4 pm.  

Off into the dining room we went.  I kind of miss traditional dining where your waitstaff knows you and your preferences.  It was challenging each night to explain each individual person's preferences to a different wait staff, especially when each person had very specific preferences.  Grace had to have hot water with lemon, Ed had to have black or red tea (I'd just order him Lipton) and he had to have a bottle of Tabasco, mom wanted hot water, but she wanted a teabag too because she wanted to dip it in twice for flavor - not full tea, and dad wanted room temperature water with no ice.  Oy.  I was the designated orderer: I would literally order for everyone.  Because my parents couldn't (or didn't want to spend the time to) make sense of the menu and I knew what they liked, I would peruse the menu and tell them what options I think they would like and they'd pick from those.  I ended up just ordering for everyone - it ended up just being easier.  

my dad is the ultimate bread eater.  He NEVER skips the bread

My dad ended up getting the EXACT same appetizers almost every meal: shrimp cocktail (sometimes it was with cocktail sauce, sometimes it was "caribbean salsa") and a Caesar with no cheese.  Ed ended up just ordering the same as my dad.

the Curtis Stone option: seafood stew.  It was okay.  My mom likes seafood and said it was fine.

Grace got the salmon from the always available menu - she like it and said it was well prepared.

If there's going to be prime rib, I damn well am getting it.  This is what my dad and I and Ed got.  Mmmm...I'm literally drooling at this picture.

hazelnut souffle for dessert = heaven

Ed's not a dessert guy - but he IS a fruit guy

sugar free mango cheesecake for my mama

Grace got the NY cheesecake

I was stuffed and happy.  But I was also tired at this point.  I don't drink, and I don't dance, and I didn't feel like partying with some senior citizens, so I decided to go back to the room, shower, and veg.  I had a surprise waiting for me!  My boss Kim (who is super duper awesome and gave me OBC as my Christmas gift as a surprise) got me a plate of chocolate covered strawberries.  I felt very special and paraded this around in front of my people.  They were super tasty and greatly appreciated.  I didn't care that I was full, I ate them anyway.  (notice that one is already missing when I remembered to take a picture)

My favorite discovery?  The ship had ESPN!  And it wasn't just ESPN, it was two stations that had live sports.  So we got to watch Thursday Night Football!  And Monday Night Football, and 3 football games on Sundays AND NBA games too.  BEST SHIP EVER.

So I spent my first night on my two week cruise pleasantly full, and happily watching a football game with my dad.  This is my kind of vacation!