We've spent enough years dressing up for work that now when we're traveling we dress casually. Which means most of our meals are in casual dining areas on the ship. The buffet on the Caribbean Princess has had a makeover and is now called the World Fresh Marketplace. We can always find something tasty there. Hubby loves the ramen noodle station at lunch (offered most days) and the salad offerings at both lunch and dinner. They've really stepped up their game in the variety of foods available.
Pasta bar
But where they haven't stepped up their game is in the service department. As a little experiment I've been timing how long it takes a server to come over to offer us drinks. The times have ranged from six minutes to a whopping 20 minutes. Today I got lucky and for the first time in these two cruises someone offered drinks right away. She delivered them and we never saw her again the rest of the meal, and no refill from anyone else, either. At least we got something right away so I guess we just have to be happy with baby steps.
But they need more than baby steps in the handwashing/hand sanitizing department. People walk right by the sinks and dispensers and right into the buffet. The sinks aren't exactly welcoming. Water all over and paper towels overflowing. And no one around monitoring the situation. No wonder people don't stop and clean their hands.
Then there are the people inside the buffet. Today there was a gal in front of me who placed french fries on her plate, picked some up and ate them, licked her fingers and then grabbed the tongs for the fried mushrooms. Seriously? Even if I wanted fried mushrooms I wouldn't have touched those tongs after her. But just think of all the other people I don't see who are doing the same thing. Makes a person not want to eat in the buffet. But without those fancy clothes (and with tonight being formal night) there aren't a lot of options.
Today we found a new option, though. In all our cruises we've never taken advantage of one of the perks Princess offers their Elite passengers, afternoon tea delivered to your cabin. We ordered for two, but what they brought was enough for more than two for sure.
A side note about the staff at the Passenger Services desk: they need medals for patience. They have to deal with so many passengers wanting so many different things, and some of those passengers are pretty darn demanding. I don't know how the staff can keep plugging along after some of the treatment they receive.
Encouraging Word Money Pocket Drop:
We left two today. One in the dining room at breakfast and one in the sugar container at our afternoon tea.
Tomorrow we will be in one of my favorite ports for nearby snorkeling and drinks at the dock. Grand Cayman.
Another beautiful sunset
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A week ago, hubby had a fall in the airport and we didn't get to 5 O'Clock Charlie's. So today on our turnaround day we were going to leave the ship, walk over to Panera Bread to grab some breakfast, then take the Sun Trolley down to the beach. Hang at the beach until Charlie's opened at noon. Then grab a drink, some lunch, take the trolley back. Stop at Walgreen's to reload our candy stash for the crew.
Great plans, right?
Super plans! Until this hit when we were in Panera. See that blue dot? That's us in Ft. Lauderdale.
And the storm didn't just hit and go away. A good solid two hours of torrential downpours and thunder and lightning. Strong enough and close enough to shake the windows of Panera. And cut the power for a bit. The storm kept coming and coming and coming.
5 O'Clock Charlie's plans were scrapped. As we sat in Panera the time just kept ticking away. 11:00, 11:30, 12:00, 12:30. We had another Medallion™ meeting we wanted to attend back on the ship at 1:30 and time was not on our side.
We made a brief attempt to get a movin' and got as far as Starbucks. We tried to wait the next wave of storminess out as long as we could but...tick...tick...tick.
In the pouring rain we then walked from Starbucks to Walgreens - with a detour thrown in because the sidewalk was flooded. Thank goodness we had hats with us but everything was drenched anyway. I'm sure the Walgreens cashier has seen some folks looking pretty raggedy so I'm sure we fit in just fine. We got back to the ship wet as wet can be (oh well, it's just water, right?) but unfortunately were late for our meeting. Yes, we went straight to the meeting without stopping at our cabin. And yes, we attended it with our clothes completely soaked.
But actually, it worked out splendidly. It was the Q & A session at the end I was wanting to attend anyway. If you remember, last week I attended the Medallion meeting presented by John Padgett, the Chief Experience and Innovation Officer for the Carnival Corporation. That day I also started using the Medallion around the ship and made a video of it. You can find that post and video here. Well, today I had a question the gal presenting had to direct to John Padgett to answer. (Did you know if you stand near the mirror inside your cabin with the Medallion in your pocket your door could unlock? At least for us it does. Don't worry, they're working on it.)
Back to John...John was kind enough to sit down with me for a one-on-one about the Medallion roll-out on the Caribbean Princess. Not just my mirror question, but some of those questions you've been so anxious to know the answers to. I learned so much! I'll be sharing portions of our conversation throughout the week. Thanks for your time, John!
Something exciting happened with one of the money pockets I left in the buffet. Hubby was grabbing some food before muster drill today and one of the buffet stewards was cleaning off the tables. And she had yesterday's encouraging word money pocket in her hand. She had found it today! I'm always excited when a crew member is the one that finds it. (Unfortunately hubby clued her into the fact that I was the one leaving them around the ship. Guess my secret is out.)
Where did I leave today's? In the restroom at Panera Bread.
Tomorrow is a sea day and I'm going to listen to the Universe this time. No plans.
Except to check out tonight's sunset. Spectacular!
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