Cruise Part 15. A synopsis.

So. Here are a few things I forgot to include, mostly because they aren't very interesting and are thus easily forgettable.

When we got to Ft Lauderdale I had no idea why they kept calling it "The Venice of America" until I saw this postcard. I haven't bought a postcard in years, but this really amazed me. I had no idea.

I also meant to mention that considering the humidity and the jungle-like atmosphere, there were no bugs. Not a mosquito or black fly or regular fly or a bee or wasp. Not a cockroach or a beetle. It was a good thing that they seemed to be nonexistent because after we went thru the Panama Canal I read this notice that was in our mailbox:

"Please be advised that past cruises to this destination have seen an abundance of insects around the ship. As such, we kindly ask that you keep exterior lights off and balcony doors closed to detract these unwanted guests from gathering on board."

And here I had our balcony door open for hours on end those two days. Yikes!  

Also, I was happy to find that every floor had a laundromat on it. A decent one. Six washers and six dryers, plus ironing boards and irons (hahahahahaha.....I haven't used one of those in years....) But I did use the washer and dryer one day. I know some folks get their panties in a knot; "I'd never do laundry on holidays....I'm on holidays!", but it's not like it takes a full day, and besides, I do like to have clean clothes. I threw a bunch of stuff into a washer, which was a 40 minute cycle, went to my room and sat on the balcony and read, then went back and threw the stuff into the dryer, which was as hot as Hades, and only took 15 minutes, and voila! Clean clothes! Not an issue. 

The washers and dryers take tokens, which you buy at a machine in the laundromat, and the cost  goes on your Princess card. As I said before, it's a cashless boat and that is a literal statement. They also had a dispensary for soap and bleach and softener, also paid for with your Princess card. The soap, the washer, and the dryer cost a total of $7.50 and took about an hour. Alternatively you could send your laundry out, and one pair of pants was $7.00. So, yeah, I was ok with doing my own.

And that's a good segue into my next forgotten topic, which is the Princess Card. I had noticed prior to the trip when I was reading all the documents, that you could put an amount of money (whatever amount you want, I think) onto the card, and I couldn't see the advantage of that. I didn't know at that time what I would need to buy and I figured it would just be easier to pay it all at the end, but I sort of get it now, and I'd probably do a "pre-pay" if I cruised again. It just seemed silly to put $1.50 for a token, and $3.00 for a latte on what basically amounts to your credit card (like MasterCard or Visa) because you get your shipboard statement at the end of the trip and the entire total goes directly on your credit card anyhow. It would just be nicer to have it already paid for. I'm big on making sure an entire vacation is on the credit card before we leave, and totally paid off. I don't like coming back and knowing I still have to pay for a holiday that's over with.  Not that the amount on the card was much, a few beer, a few lattes, the laundromat, the photo I ended up buying and a few other sundries and of course the tips,  but  if I had pre-paid a couple of hundred bucks, then it would all be over and done with, and what's better than getting a credit card bill with zero balance? Not much!

The tipping is an issue too. Not a bad issue, but at $13.50 per day, per person, in U.S. funds, it's just another bill to pay at the end. A lot of cruises have sales where one of the perks is free gratuities, I'd check into one of those if I cruised again. $27.00 per day seems high, but the staff really deserve it, and when you consider that all the meals are included....and that can be as many meals a day as you want, and no tipping is needed at the restaurants, plus the room service etc, I think it's a fair amount. These guys work hard. Which brings us to segue #2....

The room stewards work bloody hard. They work 9 months straight, 12 hours a day, with no days off. No days off.

It's not a labour board issue, it's a contract job. 9 months work, then 3 months off. They hope that they have performed well enough to sign another contract for the next 12 months.  Most of them have 18 rooms to clean, which they can generally do in 4 hours, then they have a few hours off to go to town if its a shore day, or sleep or do their laundry or socialize, then they do the afternoon cleaning which entails the bathrooms again and making any unmade beds, then they have a couple of hours for their supper break, then it's time for the turn-down service, mail delivery and so forth. Our fellow was in his 25th year. 

We left a couple of bucks on the pillows each morning, just to show we appreciated his hard work. It's got to be a pretty disgusting job in many ways. 

I cannot believe how people complain. The biggest complaint I heard was the price of water. Now, I'm not sure what Americans generally pay for bottled water in the States, but honestly, you'd think the ship was charging them in kruggerands they way they carried on. (to be fair, I did not talk to any of the other 117 Canadians or the 5 Brits or the 7 Aussies on board). There were three bottles in our room, 2 500 ml and one that was a litre. The small ones were either $2.50 or $3.00 and the large was $4.00, and yes, that's high for water...but you didn't have to buy it. Lots of choices were available:

1. Buy one and refill it from the buffet or from your tap.

2. Bring an empty bottle with you and do the above.

    And if you're worried about "bad" water, bring a charcoal filter or the pills that you can use (I've forgotten what they're called)

3. Read your documents and order a case for $8.00 to be in your room when you arrive. That's what we did, and it was in the fridge and cold when we got to our room. That's about .65 each. We refilled a lot of them as we were drinking more than a bottle a day.

People expected a free bottle in their room each day. But think, 2,000 x 2 bottles daily is 4,000 bottles a day. Times a 10 day cruise?  That's 40,000 bottles....times 3 cruises a month? 120,000 plastic bottles a month....where does that plastic go? And that's a minimum, there are usually more than 2,000 passengers. Sheesh. Bad enough that I had 12 to get rid of. (Bottles that is, not passengers, although I probably met at least 12 that I could have happily tossed overboard)

Anyhow, there were the water complaints, and complaints about the "anytime" dining. ("I signed up for Anytime Dining, yet I have to wait for a table!" Geez, anytime doesn't mean this second, it means you don't have a set time (either 5:30 or 7:30) to dine. The wait was never more than 10-15 minutes. And most of the time there was no wait.

One time I was waiting to get a hotdog and they had run out of mustard, the staff memebr had dashed off into the bowels of the ship for more. There was relish, ketchup, onions, cheese sauce and salsa for the free hotdogs, but my god, I thought there was going to be a revolt. 

And in the sit down dining room? Some of the food was presented oddly, and most was served in very tiny portions. You'd think the customers were paying the price of a Michelin Star meal....'scuse me folks, it's free and what's more...you can order as much as you like of whatever you want.

When we were on the old historic train and the rain came in the windows (remember? Have you been paying attention?) one woman actually said she was going to ask for her money back....because it was raining in the rainforest. 

It went on and on about the silliest things. I can't imagine these people have ever backpacked and stayed in hostels, or spent any time in third world countries. Perhaps they should. We are so incredibly lucky to have what we have. But anyhow....

Here's some pictures of food to sooth your soul.

Filet mignon.

This was an amazing pork Wellington with some sort of stuffing between the meat and pastry.

Needless to say, this was one of Steven's favorites, the Bavarian night! And by the way, that's not his actual plate, it's the buffet.

Needless to say, the following pictures.....all of them....were my favorites!

I also meant to talk about how, after 10 days, I still never figured out what way to go to get anywhere. There were three sets of elevators, one at each end of the ship (more or less the end), plus a set in the middle. Each set had 6 elevator doors. Now, you'd think that would be easy enough, but some sets went to the 15th floor, and some only to 8. Some went down to the 4th floor, and others not so far. Then, in the main atrium there were the glass elevators that only went the to 6th, 7th and 8th. Plus the atrium also had those giant curving staircases that only sort of went up a half a floor. It was very confusing. I invariably went the wrong way every single time. Thank goodness there were somaps and floorplans of the ship by every elevator as well as in various hallways and nooks and crannies. And so many of the areas looked alike that you'd swear you knew exactly where you were, only to find out you were somewhere totally new. One day I found a chapel that I had never seen before, and never saw again, and one day we found a mini-golf course.  Lots of times I'd walk to the end of the ship to go to the buffet, only to discover that I was at the complete wrong end of the ship. It's a loooong hike from one end to the other. 

There was a lot to do, depending on your style of entertainment, from napkin folding classes to yoga by the stars (night time celestial stars, not celebrity stars). There was basketball and volleyball tournaments, there were so many groups....singles, solos, LGBTQ, car enthusiasts, everything you could imagine. You can only be bored if you choose to be. There was even a "learn to play the Glockenspiel" and I'm genuinely sorry to have missed that. 

So would I take another cruise? I think so. Not to the same place though, I don't quite get why people like to return somehwere again and again, some people were on their 5th Panama Cruise, and to me, there is so much world to see, but it's a comfort thing, whatever makes you happy. Makes no never mind to me, as my Grandpa used to say.

I'd like to cruise through the fjords in Norway, and maybe to the other parts of the Caribbean. Here's my pros and cons:

Pros

-omg, the unpacking only once. Bliss.

-seeing a few different countries at your leisure....there are a lot of excursion choices, or you can go on your own.

-not having to worry about driving or worrying about logistics on how to get from here to there.

-the abundance of food and entertainment at no extra cost. 

-the relaxation.

Cons.

-not having enough time in new places.

-not so much a con, but words to the wise, check your cabin location.

That's the main "con". Other things like crowds, line-ups etc can be dealt with by choosing the time of year that you go, the size of the ship and so forth.

The main thing is to do your research and know what to expect and to go with the flow. Shit happens and even though it's a cliché, "a bad day on vacation is still better than a good day at work" 

So that's it. Hope you enjoyed the read. Come back again when I take my next holiday.

Good night