Royal Princess Turnaround Day in Vancouver, August 31

Hello from a cloudy/sunny/cloudy day in Vancouver. After being in chilly Alaska, the warmer temperatures here feel just outstanding.

Moving cabins was easy, as usual. The things from the drawers went back into our suitcase and all our clothes stayed on hangers. We left our cabin at 8 and let our cabin steward know we were heading out. He contacted his supervisor and when the new cabin was ready they moved our things for us. By the time we got back from our face-to-face with US Customs and Border Protection our new room was ready. We moved straight across the ship from the starboard to port side on the same deck. Everything is in the same exact place in the new cabin so it's like we are in the same cabin. Just have to remember to turn left, not right, when getting off the elevator. Next cruise we go back to our original cabin so we'll be back to turning right instead of left. (Good thing I'm not directionally challenged. I won't comment on hubby's sense of direction.)

While the move when smoothly, the in-transit process in Vancouver is most definitely the day's everything-isn't-always-perfect-in-the-cruising-world Public Service Announcement. See that building right there with the flat white roof and green windows? Like right off our balcony? That's the terminal where we had to do our face-to-face. I'm not about to put anything in writing about who is to blame, but I will say we stood in line for a very long time and my phone showed we were also traipsed a mile through that building before we could get back on the ship.

But we'll forget about that and focus on the good. This week my husband is hitting his 500th day with Princess. The celebration started with the flowers that were delivered to the cabin and continued with the chocolate covered strawberries and champagne. Eat the strawberries, give the champagne to someone we know on the ship is the plan. From the experience we had when I celebrated my 500 days a couple months back I know it'll be a good week.

Our ship is leaving Vancouver super-late because of the tides and the ship needing to fit under the Lions Gate Bridge. Instead of leaving at 4pm or so today we'll be leaving tomorrow morning around 1 am. All passengers still have to be on board by 5pm but the crew get to stay out until 11pm. Yay for the crew! But because of our super-late departure again this cruise our call to Ketchikan will be cut short.

A beautiful night in Vancouver

I won't be blogging live these next two weeks unless something comes up but I will be working on some new videos and articles. By the end of these next two weeks I hope to have the following information/videos/audio posted on the blog:

• Interview with 11 year old Emily about the kids club on Princess Cruises.
• The interview with Emily and her mom about what they learned as first time cruisers, their impression of Princess, and of the Ocean Medallion. 
• Ordering food, drink, and services through the Ocean Now section of the TV and through the app.
• Information on Ocean Compass - how to add passengers into the messaging system, find traveling companions around the ship, and directions on how to find your own way around
• Demonstration of the Play Ocean portals
• Cabin tour of a handicapped balcony stateroom
• Ways to get from Anchorage to Whittier, including how the Egan Convention Center staging area works
• Review of Crown Grill
• How to find those somewhat secret doors on deck 7
• An interview with Matt O', Cruise Director Extraordinaire (I hope!)
• And probably something else I can't think of as I sit here with my feet up on the bed typing this.

Yikes! Now that I look at that list I'm not sure I can get all those things posted in two weeks, especially with the speed and reliability of MedallionNet in Alaska. But I'll try!

Alaskan cruise number 19 and 20 here we come...

Want to find out more about what to do in Alaskan ports?
Check out my Cruising Alaska resources:

Royal Princess Last Sea Day: August 30

Today is our last sea day and it was a full one. And a foggy one.

It cleared up for a while before it turned cloudy again.

While time changed last night and we lost an hour, we didn't mind much. We took our leisurely time getting ourselves going in the morning and didn't have anywhere to be or anything to do until afternoon. I attended another live Wake Show taping (yay to the energy of Matt O') and I hosted an afternoon tea in our cabin.

This afternoon tea was a special one. I had a passenger contact me a couple weeks back as she was prepping for her cruise. She and daughter were traveling together on a girls getaway. How fun is that? We were able to connect once on the ship and I'm excited to say I was able to interview both her and her daughter today during afternoon tea. Guess what? I now have a kids cruise expert. (Hi Emily!) We did some interviews about the kids club, cruising, and the Ocean Medallion, and some filming at one of the ship's portals. I'm pleased to say I'll be sharing the Princess cruise experience from an 11 year old's perspective - and her mom's. Look for more information coming soon!

We had dinner at Crown Grill tonight. I'll be doing a separate write-up on it - pictures and menus included - at a later date.

We also couldn't forget to get some quick packing in as we have to change cabins for next cruise. Thanks to booking super late, for this next cruise we have to move directly across the ship to the port side. Then the next cruise we move right back to this exact same cabin. 

Today's everything-isn't-always-perfect-in-the-cruising-world Public Service Announcement comes from our balcony where we have smelled someone smoking this week. And it just wasn't cigarette smoke. We had a couple days of weed wafting our way. We know it wasn't the folks next to us on either side (we can see the reflection in the glass) but we never could determine where it came from . As we learned last year on the Caribbean Princess (you can read about that smoking situation here) there really is nothing that can be done.

Tomorrow is our turnaround day in Vancouver, the start of our 19th Alaskan cruise, and the week my husband will be celebrating a milestone cruise - 500 days with Princess cruises. I'll be back tomorrow for one last live-from before I shift to creating and posting videos from the ship.