Day 9: At Sea

As the Regal is sailing with over 4000 passengers, including from 400 to 800 kids, depending on who you believe. I am literally hiding out in the Sanctuary, and today enjoyed breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea there. 

G would leave occasionally but would come back to update me with the state of activity around the ship (chaotic), and what I didn’t hear from him, I got from our waiters at dinner last night. I remember Thanksgiving week from when we used to cruise for months at a time, but we were generally on ten-night cruises, and it wasn’t as busy as Christmas cruises were. 

Over half of the passengers are first time Princess cruisers, and the demographic skews much more Carnival in feeling with many family groups. Tonight’s formal night saw lots of dressed up teens and the photographers were doing a very good business as the lines for photos were long. 

Sanctuary menu

Breakfast in the Sanctuary

Lunch

Gazpacho, smoked salmon and a bento box

Tea time at 3pm

I noticed an issue with our Plus package today, as we were being charged for all our drinks. This required a trip to Guest Services where I was rescued from standing in the very long line (no discernible suite and elite line) by Associate HGM Tam, who promised to get to the bottom of it. So far they’ve managed to add back in the Plus, but all the drinks we ordered yesterday still appear. Another trip to Guest Services may be in order. 

We weren’t particularly hungry at dinner (tea at 3pm will do that to you) but I had fruit and salmon, and then we went to production show Born To Dance. We had just seen it Friday night, but the Regal is in the midst of a cast turnover, so this is the last time we will see this cast perform it. And then we went to the comedian in the Vista Lounge and would have done well to skip him. 

We ended the evening, as we’ve ended so many evenings on the Regal, in the Wheelhouse Bar listening to live music. Sitting there, listening to music and watching the parade of people, kids, families and groups walk by us is some of the best entertainment of the cruise. 

Day 8: Turnaround day in Galveston

I had forgotten how crazy turnaround days are when we have to change cabins to another deck and the opposite end of the ship. I had a load of laundry started when I went to breakfast in the Allegro Dining Room, and it was dry and done by 7am. 

We moved ourselves to our new cabin. I made five trips rolling and carrying and dodging housekeeping carts, and there is no way that’s not a bit hard, but unpacking in our new cabin was pure joy. We have so much empty storage space that I had put away my small black purse that I use in the evenings and then couldn’t find where I had put it (in a drawer, all by itself). 

The seafood starter is kind of mushy on this ship. 

We did purchase two spots in the Sanctuary this cruise, and that opened for us at 1pm, so while the ship was filling up with hundreds of kids, we were enjoying the solitude up there. We will definitely be “front of the ship” people this cruise, and I will avoid the buffet at all cost. 

Sorry, I didn’t notice this was out of focus, but I’m sure the first day of last cruise was the same. 

I will admit to watching the Broncos game on my iPhone during dinner. I had it propped up against the salt and pepper shakers with the volume turned off.  Gotta love this Starlink internet. It’s done everything we needed even on those days we were crossing the Atlantic.

It’s a Texas thing. 

We went to the ABBA tribute show in the Princess Theater but that was as far as we got last night. I think we will spend this cruise catching up on the sleep we missed out on last cruise. 

Day 7: At Sea

Today was a picture perfect day at sea. It was sunny, dry and not too hot, the seas were calm, and we spent the day eating, swimming: and partying (way too much on this cruise). We also met with our new cabin steward to let him know we were in transit. I’m excited about our handicap cabin on the next cruise. I’ve think the extra space will be very welcome.

We went to breakfast and lunch in the Allegro Dining Room. Sona and Gift have completely spoiled us, just as Michael and Valenton did on the crossing. In between we started to gather up some things in our cabin. Luckily, on a seven night cruise, we didn’t unpack too much. We have one suitcase that didn’t get unpacked at all this cruise, and I’m using just half of my other suitcase and my roll aboard to hold what I’m actually using. 

The Most Traveled Guests cocktail party was held tonight in Club 6. at 5pm. This was a rather unusual night to have it, but at least we hadn’t just eaten dinner when we went and we could enjoy some of the great nibbles they prepare.  Club 6 is not the best place for this party, but there is really no place else that works so there we were. 

We made sure that Marvin and Gift would be our waiters on the next two cruises.  I was in no way prepared to give extra tip envelopes and thank you notes tonight. The end of this cruise arrived way too fast.  G had told me that last year when he was cruising on this ship without me. But him telling me he was SO BUSY on these cruises kind of fell on deaf ears. Busy has an entirely different meaning at home. 

Chana Masala

Believe it or not, Antonio Larosa stayed on all last cruise, so, along with the Rhinestone Cowgirls, he performed a variety show at 9:15pm in the Princess Theater. We then went to listen to Derrick Dishington for the final time, and partied until late with the friends we made this cruise. It’s always sad to see them leave on turnaround day, and I can understand why the crew is excited to see familiar faces on the first day of the next cruise. It’s like starting all over again. 

We- wait for it- booked yet another cruise today. The December 8 Regal cruise is an 8-night cruise for some reason, so I booked G on it. I haven’t yet decided about joining him. I hadn’t mentioned it yet but our dear friend who broke her hip last fall fell the the day before we re-joined the Regal and broke her leg and her back in three places. I have cried a few tears for her, but the reality is that while she is in rehab, she doesn’t require the help she will need when she is discharged, so I may take advantage of this time and stay on myself. She also has a daughter close by, so she isn’t alone but her daughter does work. 

Day 6: Cozumel

It was another lazy day for us in paradise. We intended to get off the ship, we really did. But then we had such a beautiful view of that clear blue Cozumel water from our cabin, and, for once, the heat and humidity were tolerable and we simply enjoyed sitting on the balcony and watching all the boat traffic. It had been so long since I’d been in Cozumel that we were berthed at a pier that had been under construction the last time I was here. 

(Watching boat traffic was far preferable to what G initially said he wanted to do this morning, go through our Princess credit card item by item. It is the biggest mess of charges and credits right now, but I am ready for him, having spent some time in the hotel documenting everything. Still, I’d rather look at blue water and boats and leave the account analysis for turnaround day in Galveston.)

We took photo IDs with us when we went to Alfredo’s for lunch so that we could walk off the ship for awhile but we didn’t even do that. We dawdled over lunch to the point where it was time to get to Guest Services to turn in our disembarkation form and get more small bills for tips. I had brought a large stack of $1s with us but we’ve burned through those, especially with all the luggage handling we’ve needed. 

Our view at lunch in Alfredo’s 

Starter (not as described in the menu. We’re seeing that fairly often)

 

Vegetarian pizza

Tirsmasu for dessert

My one complaint about Alfredo’s is that it is way too much food. We asked if we could split it next cruise and were told we could. We never took advantage of any casual dining on the TA cruise. I’m glad we didn’t upgrade to the Premier package. We are dining room people, for sure. 

I was kinda/sorta expecting (hoping for) an upgrade notice from Princess today. After having had one free upgrade in the past ten years or so (because we nearly always mark our bookings no upgrade), we’re on a roll right now. You might recall that we just booked the next two cruises last week, and took what we could get. We were supposed to be moving to an inside at the very front of the ship (ergo my thoughts about booking the Sanctuary next cruise) and we were fine with that, but it’s hard to not hope. And about 3pm we received an email. We’re moving to a handicap balcony cabin. We’ve only had one of those in the past, on Royal Caribbean, and we were scuba diving on that cruise and had all of our gear with us. It was perfect for washing and setting out everything to dry after each dive, and we’ve always referred to it as our scuba suite. This should be interesting. It’s by the forward elevators, so the Sanctuary still works. We’ll see…

We stopped in Crooners on the way to dinner, and then weren’t the least bit hungry (that’s not good), but it was escargot night, with those spiral garlic rolls and it’s impossible to skip those. 

And what a sunset we saw from our table tonight!!

Chef Lito delivered chocolate covered strawberries to our table

Tonight’s production sure was my favorite Born To Dance, and we went from there to the Vista Lounge to see comedian David Konig. He wasn’t of Carnival-level comedian quality, but wasn’t bad. We were then conveniently right next to the Wheelhouse where we closed out the night with Derek Dishington until it was time to fall into bed. 

Things have changed since the days we used to do the Caribbean death marches every day in port and be tucked in bed by 10pm. Getting old and staying on the ship has its perks, and enjoying the late evening entertainment is among them. G has always said there are a thousand different types of cruises taking place on a ship at any point in time. We’re enjoying this type of cruise immensely. Who would have thought that action man could tolerate not getting off a ship in port?

Life is good. :)

Day 5: Roatan, Honduras

We watched a most beautiful sunrise from our balcony this morning, and I’m glad we saw it, because it was the only time we saw the sun today. Clouds moved in before I even got dressed and left the cabin to go to breakfast, and it only got worse from there. 

It wasn’t really blueberry pancake day, but I had a taste for them. 

#spoiledbySona

There was a light drizzle coming down when we returned to the cabin, and, armed with our Tilley hats and pool towels we decided to walk to the beach at Mahogany Bay. We never made it that far. By the time we made it to the pier, the skies open up and it poured, hard, most of the rest of the day, with occasional periods of thunder and lightning. We initially sat under a canopy on the pier thinking it might clear up, and then we were there helping hold down the corners of the canopies when they threatened to go airborne until crew back up arrived. 

Interestingly, one of those coming to help was none other than Ionut, our wonderful cabin steward on the Pacific Princess when it hit the breakwater in Nice. He is the Assistant Rooms Division Manager and works for Cristian. What are the odds that both of them were our cabin stewards years ago?  He said he knew from Cristian that we were coming back this cruise. I had emailed Cristian from Galveston to thank him for our Crown Grill dinner, but only after Princess announced that the current cruise would definitely sail. I didn’t want him to think I was looking for him to feed us any inside info while things were so up in the air.

Had my first hard seltzer today from the Good Spirits Bar. It was pretty good. 

Eight years later, our paths crossed again

Once we were about as wet as we could be (my sneakers may never dry out), we took advantage of a brief lull in the rain to re-board the ship and went up to the Sanctuary to see if any loungers up there stayed dry in the monsoon. We have a bit of a plan to get Sanctuary passes for the Thanksgiving cruise to avoid the 400 kids they’re expecting, but I need to check the weather first. The initial sea days were too windy this cruise to use it and there was nothing dry up there today except the cabanas. 

Then we were well and truly soaked, as there is no way to even get to the Sanctuary when it is raining without getting drenched. We returned to the cabin where the AC which has been running nonstop suddenly felt freezing. After hot showers we went to the buffet for lunch, my first meal up there since the day we went to the D Day beaches in Normandy. 

The rain continued all afternoon, but it was dry on our balcony and we sat out there and enjoyed it until it was time to go to dinner. I’ve finally, after almost three years of trying, made it to the Good Spirits Bar for a drink before dinner. I neglected to take a pic of the drink or the menu so I simply have to return again to remedy that.

This broccoli salad from the vegan menu is one of my favorite things currently available on the ship. 

I remembered to take a pic of the dessert menu. Usually we don’t even look at it. 

Oh, I see I missed the orange sorbet. Darn. 

Speaking of orange sorbet reminds me of something I forgot to mention about the Carnival Jubilee. Every night on the dessert menu, sorbet is an option, so G asked what the flavor was, and Kadek told him there was orange, lime and pineapple and my suspicions were instantly raised. G ordered all three. Sure enough, they were sherbet, not sorbet. They had no sorbet. Lactose intolerant?  Surprise!

We were looking forward to tonight’s Princess Theater show, Rhinestone Cowgirls. If you’re cruising out of Galveston, it helps to like country music. I don’t, mostly, though I’m starting to come around a little, being influenced by my guys who love it. They’ve spent a fortune on concert tickets, cowboy hats and boots and have not stopped trying to convert me. 

But tonight’s show, with three female vocalists was excellent, and they sang country hits with almost universal appeal and were very well received. 

I am publishing this post early tonight (go me!) as we wait in the Wheelhouse for tonight’s piano entertainers (there’s a new one tonight plus Derrick Dishington. Maybe he’s Derrick’s replacement?) to begin. Something tells me this might run very late again, and that I will appreciate having today’s post behind me when I awake tomorrow. 

We’re having a great time!!  Can you tell?

Life is good. :)