Saturday, September 22, 2018

Medallion Class™ and Ocean Medallion™ Updates on the Caribbean Princess

Today the video covers the Medallion Class™ and Ocean Medallion™ Updates on the Caribbean Princess from August 18 to September 18, 2018.




FREE First Time Cruiser EBook September 22-23

As a reward to all those following along with my travels this year, I'm offering my Cruising with Confidence eBook for free on Amazon this weekend. Click on the book below on September 22 or 23 and it's yours for free!
If you like it and have the time, if you could please leave a kind review I'd certainly appreciate it. 

Month-Long Caribbean Princess Cruise Wrap-Up


Whew. 31 days consecutive days on the same cruise ship. It was something we've never done before and something we will ABSOLUTELY do again. From the day we stepped on the ship on August 18 until we left the ship on September 18 we visited 11 different places, with a few of them several times. (Sorry, the elementary teacher in me just had to put them in alphabetical order.)
  • Amber Cove, Dominican Republic
  • Belize
  • Cozumel, Mexico
  • Ft. Lauderdale (x5)
  • Grand Cayman
  • Grand Turk
  • Nassau, Bahamas
  • Princess Cays, Bahamas (x2)
  • Roatan, Honduras
  • St. Maarten (x2)
  • St. Thomas (x3)
  • San Juan, Puerto Rico
It's hard to decide what day was the best. Was it Orient Beach in St. Maarten? Being in San Juan again? Eating and drinking at the Smoking Rooster in St. Thomas not one time or two times, but three times? Going snorkeling in Grand Cayman? Or being able to come to the ship after dark in Cozumel? Was it the naughty menu in Nassau? The beautiful pool in Amber Cove? Knowing where to find the less-busy part of the beach in Roatan? Or finding out the bartender we love at 5 O'Clock Charlie's in Ft. Lauderdale had been keeping one my the encouraging word money pockets from a long time ago in her wallet?

Couldn't tell you. There were so many perfect days. For a last-minute (and cheap) trip we couldn't have asked for anything better. (Although we certainly could have skipped hubby's two falls. He's still not put back together.) I couldn't even tell you what the favorite thing I drank or ate was. Even my favorite picture can't be whittled down to one.

What did we not like? After 31 days on a ship it would be hard to not find something that sticks in your craw. We came away with two things.
     1. Passenger behavior. The ladies who kept smoking on the balcony next to us and also left dirty towels and dishes near our door. And the couple at the most traveled guest party who harshly and loudly ripped into the pastry chef for a lengthy amount of time.
     2. Certain crew members working the seating area of the buffet. Consistently nonchalant, non-engaging, kinda-sorta going through the motions of doing their jobs. They proved that sometimes a job is just a job and that working for Princess doesn't mean it's always about providing passengers with a good onboard experience.

And what did we like on the ship? All the rest of the crew.
  • Smit, our cabin steward on Lido deck. Best cabin steward ever.
  • Joseph, the cabin steward on Baja for the last leg of our cruise. He and Smit teamed up on the towel animal demonstration. So talented.
  • The vibe in International Cafe. Alexa ran a tight team, but had fun along the way. Dancing, singing, and super service. Also kudos to the ladies and gentlemen who took good care of hubby every day. Who had enough patience to listen to his stupid jokes over and over and over.
  • The Salty Dog Grill chef (he was so much more than just a hamburger flipper!) from Sri Lanka. Talented, friendly, and knew how to cook up special burgers.
  • The bartenders at The Mix. We didn't drink on the ship, but they were just as friendly and fun to hubby every time he stopped by to get a glass of ice water.
  • The officers we visited with at the most traveled guest parties. We're very fortunate to always have good conversations with these folks.
  • Whoever kept sending us fresh flowers. We suspect we know who it was so thank you for sending them to us three times over.
  • The chefs of the new buffet, the World Fresh Marketplace, for being innovative in their approach to buffet food. We know it's a work in progress but we did appreciate having something new and different to eat. And I sure loved having items already divided up into cardboard food trays. It made it easy to grab and go without having to touch the tongs.
  • And I've said this before, but a big shout out goes to John Padgett, the Chief Experience and Innovation Officer for the Carnival Corporation (the guy heading up the Medallion experience) for allowing me insight into the inner workings of the Medallion roll-out process and for the support given me as I worked at delivering an honest account of my experiences on the ship. And thank you for allowing me access to the team - from Vicki and Francois to Korli and Andrew. All of you have been extremely helpful and supportive as I've asked my dozens and dozens (and dozens) of questions. I hope you've found my coverage fair and factual. 
Speaking of the Medallion roll-out, when I looked back at my photos I realized I saw and learned A LOT. Want to see the progression of the roll-out over the full month?

I did a wrap-up video of the Medallion here. 

Check out the other weekly updates:

I hope you've enjoyed tagging along on my month of cruise ship living. I'll be starting up again in a few weeks, so stay tuned.

Now, as a reward for following along with my travels, I'm offering my Cruising with Confidence eBook for free on Amazon this weekend. Click on the book below on September 22 or 23 and it's yours for free!
If you like it and have the time, if you could please leave a kind review I'd certainly appreciate it. 

Friday, September 21, 2018

The Friday 15

15 more are gone!

Wednesday, September 19, 2018

5 Things to do in Ketchikan, Alaska

It's Wanderlust Wednesday and today we're talking about five different activities you can do when visiting the cruise ship port of Ketchikan, Alaska on your next Alaskan cruise. 

5 things to do in Ketchikan, Alaska

Since Ketchikan is one of the most southernmost cities in Alaska, it's usually the first port of call for northbound cruise ships. Ketchikan has been dubbed the Rain Capital of Alaska. We've been to Ketchikan over a dozen times and have been lucky with the weather. But rain or shine, there is plenty to do in port.

1. Take in a lumberjack show. Lots of strength and skill on display with a hefty dose of audience participation. The cheering and rooting kind, not the axe-throwing kind.

2. Ketchikan has the largest collection of totem poles in the world so visit one of the totem pole parks. There are several to choose from. Depending on the park you may be able to do a self-guided tour, enter a clan house, view carving in action, or watch Native dancers.

3. A seaplane to Misty Fjords National Monument provides plenty of opportunities for oohs and aahs. Flights are weather-dependent.

4. Visit Creek Street. The historic boardwalk was a Red Light District during the Gold Rush.You'll find shopping, food, and salmon-watching spots along the way.

5. Ketchikan is also known as the Salmon Capital of the World, so head out to catch your limit. The fish are abundant so there is no need to go into deep, churning ocean waters. And the fishing charters work with a local cannery to process your fish and send them back home for you.

Look at the pretty salmon we had shipped home.

Enjoy Ketchikan!

5 things to do in Ketchikan, Alaska

Tuesday, September 18, 2018

How to Make Lobster and Stingray Towel Animals - Tutorial Tuesday

Our cabin steward Smit is up with two more towels animals this week.

A lobster and a stingray. Enjoy!

Monday, September 17, 2018

Caribbean Princess in Nassau


Hello from Nassau!

I know many cruisers don't like getting off the ship in Nassau. The hawkers and hustlers can make it not a fun experience. I totally get that. They are pushy and today I think they were even worse than our past visits. But we put our heads down and pushed our way through them to get to a new spot for us, the Bearded Clam.

We like the Wet Lizard bar in Belize, so it only made sense to go to another bar owned by the same person. We started out with drinks, of course. A Wet Lizard (on the left) and on the right a, um, uh...Monkey F***er in a color changing cup.
Hubby had a nice, spicy jalapeno burger.
It was empty in the morning but got super busy as the day went on. The place had a good vibe and it was a great place to people watch. And they hand out permanent markers so you can add your own graffiti to the walls and tables.
They had interesting names for their menu items.

They also had free wi-fi. Can't ask for a better last day to a 31-day long cruise.

Back to Fort Lauderdale tomorrow and then a flight home to Idaho. I'll do a trip wrap-up on Saturday as part of my Cruise Ship Saturday series. If you're interested in following along with our next adventure, I'll be starting another "live from" at the end of next month. Our cruising year is far from over!

Medallion™ Update:
To make the progression of the roll-out more clear I've grouped the posts by week. You can find today's post here.

Want to see how we got here with the Medallion? I started on Caribbean Princess back on August 18. Check it out:


Encouraging Words Money Pocket Drop Off:
Left somewhere in Vines.