Retired Nomads - Part 3 https://retirednomadspart3.blogspot.com/
Well, it seems I have filled up another blog. I no longer can post photos, so I have started a Retired Nomads - Part 3. I will leave the last 3 posts here on this one, but all photos are now on the new one on the duplicate posts.
Thanks for following along!
Retired Nomads - Part 3 https://retirednomadspart3.blogspot.com/
Well, it seems I have filled up another blog. I no longer can post photos, so I have started a Retired Nomads - Part 3. I will leave the last 3 posts here on this one, but all photos are now on the new one on the duplicate posts.
Final Thoughts
Of course, even though it was our 4th world
cruise it is not lost on us that it was another fabulous adventure and realize
it’s something that most can’t or wouldn’t do even if they could.
It’s hard not to compare the experiences. Our first 3 were
on the small Pacific Princess and this one was on the larger Island Princess.
This one was post covid, so it is hard to know how that impacted the quality, though
we were not thrilled with the quality on this ship on our 60-day South America
in 2018. If I was keeping score, I would rank our World Cruses best to "least best" 2013, 2019, 2017, 2023.
This one was negative enough to not take any more world
cruises on the Island and maybe not even on Princess again. We will cruise on other Princess ships, but 6 months total on the Island was enough.
I’m sure (or at least I hope) that those on their first
world cruise were pleased with their experience. For the rest of us here are
some observations:
Princess did nothing to make this feel like a special event.
It didn’t feel like a world cruise since every segment the count started over
with “day 1 of your cruise”.
We did get some free WC logo’s goodies, though those of us
that got on in Lauderdale didn’t get ours on arrival as in the past. It was
delivered on the day we were in Los Angeles. (when the “real” world cruise
started) I heard that the World Cruise photo that we got just before we disembarked in Lauderdale won't be delivered to the people that get off in Los Angeles. Why not treat us all the same?
Lack of World Cruise Merchandise in the ship’s store. Only a
few T-shirts in limited sizes and a couple of jackets and sweaters. They kept
saying more was coming, but it never did. If it didn’t get delivered on time,
they could have had it shipped to any number of our ports to replenish the
stock. If they didn’t order much in case the cruise did not go (Covid) they had
time to have some printed up and delivered in 111 days.
The Pacific Princess had a lovely outdoor dining area for
meals that we used often for breakfast or lunch. Of course, the weather on this
cruise would have put a damper on how many times that actually could have been
used. The Island does have a nice large wrap around window in the buffet area,
that if the windows were clean enough you could enjoy looking out.
Lack of local fruits around the world, that we have always
had in the past.
No huge Sunday Brunches - The kind with a dessert table, an
exotic fruit table, lobsters, crab, shrimp, whole pig, other fishes, and meats
with wonderful sides. Some chefs had a reginal corner of the dining room that
was like Indian Street Food, Mexican etc.
The food was the most unimaginative and repetitive of any
cruise. It was hard to get a hot meal in the dining room or a cold drink before the main was served. Sodas were often warm.
Nothing special was done for Easter, though there was a Seder
dinner for the Jews. On the last WC the chef was so disappointed that Easter
Sunday fell on a port day instead of a sea day so he could have a huge special
Easter brunch that he had it on Monday which was a sea day. YUM!
Medallion is still not working well for ordering drinks etc.
You could wait up to half an hour and sometimes the drink never arrived at all.
If it did show up it was warm or melted by the time you got it after they
walked around the room for half an hour with it.
Baked goods over-baked and fried things under-fried.
We started out with a fun cruise director that was replaced
with an obnoxious bully. He belongs on a 3- or 7-day cruise since that is all
the chit chat he had to say before and after every show. How did the other guy
manage to say different things every night? Instead of a fun “Wake Show” he
gave us stats for a 7-day cruise on how much of each item of food was consumed.
Half-way through a world cruise that was something we needed to know? He read
stats and celebrity birthdays like that was interesting.
He had to stop his talk before or after a show to harass
anyone coming in or leaving as he was talking. He often gave incorrect
information about when things were happening.
He made fun of ports that he knew nothing about. Made fun of
the Suez Canal. Nothing to see but sand on one side and sand on the other. Gee,
we find it quite interesting with plenty to see from the balcony. He said
things like tomorrow we are in Malta, just don’t call them Maltese, because
that’s the dog. Uh, they are called Maltese. (and on and on) Here’s a thought,
learn about the places on the itinerary so you don’t sound stupid and make a
place sound exciting instead of putting it down.
We started out with a fun pool/party band that played a lot
of different types of music and they were replaced with a band that was
terrible. No rhythm, none of them could sing well and the lead was never in
time with the rest of the band. One type of music was all they had.
We understand when there are missed ports and entertainers
are stuck on board and have to perform again, but the new CD brought on
entertainers that we had seen previously on this same cruise and presented them like they were
new. He was new to the ship, we weren’t. He kept saying “when the cruise
started” meaning when he got on.
Entertainment was varied and there was something for
everybody, of course not all may be to your taste.
The first set of singers and dancers had more elaborate
shows than the second set. We had more elaborate shows on the small Pacific
Princess with way less stage room and bells and whistles.
We wished the Captain that came on late in the cruise had been
there for the whole cruise. He seemed to know how to make it to port on time,
whereas the first Captain was always late. I’m also convinced that he would
have made it into the ports that the first Captain skipped. Especially when
tour guides on land were saying no weather issues here and other ships made the
port on the same day we skipped. Of course, wind and water conditions may not
be that apparent to those on land?
Weather is something of course we can’t control. The first 3
WCs had much better weather. We could use the pools and the sun decks and sit
on our balcony. This time it was mostly grey, cool or downright cold and windy.
It does impact your cruise experience of course.
The biggest issue with this WC is the ship. When they took
out a show lounge and some other areas to put in more cabins it ruined the
ship. Lots of plumbing issues, water leaks, mold mildew etc. I think that is
why so many of us are sick on board. (had the same issue on the 2018 South
America.)
Less places to hang out on the ship as games were being
played in all lounges, so we spent more time in the cabin.
OK, let’s talk some positive stuff!
Great travel family! We have met some great people over the
course of our various cruises. It is really HUGE that people we know and like join
so many tours that I set up. It is such a weight off me to know they will show
up, be on time, understand when everything doesn’t go perfectly all the time
and are just fun people to have on tours. Special hugs go out to Cathy &
Tom, Heather & Matt, Bob & Phyllis, Horst & Mark and a few new
people we met on this cruise; Roberta & John and June.
Great table mates! We met Roy & Rondi briefly on the
2018 South America and by chance they were our tablemates for the 2019 World
Cruise. We agreed to be tablemates again for this world cruise. Rondi & I
think so much alike that we swear we are related. Roy, keep watching those
documentaries. I'm sure our paths will cross again!
Ports! We do love the cruise experience, but we cruise for
the ports!
We only gained 1 new country on this cruise, but many new
cities and islands. It should have been 2, but we had to skip Slovenia due to "weather". That tells us that as much as we enjoy the world cruises, we need to
start doing some targeted cruises/travels to see more of the world.
People always ask what our favorite place is, but that’s
something we just can’t answer. How much we enjoy a place can be the place
itself, but often it is the experience we had while visiting.
On this cruise the highlights for us were:
Jaipur & Varanasi India. Place & experience!
Culture, elephant experience & everything about Varanasi. Sharing the
experience with Cathy & Tom put it over the top. Thanks guys!
Ravenna, Italy – Adding the charming country of San Marino and
touring Urbino where we had the best gelato & pizza of the trip.
Pago Pago, American Samoa – we tried so many times to get
here and finally made it! The tour vehicles were a hoot. Loved the island.
Penang, even though we have been before. Interesting sites
& culture.
Lanzarote, Canary Islands – just such different experiences
here. Landscapes and camel rides!
Montenegro, even though we have been here before we enjoyed
seeing more of the country. Seeing snow and warming by the cast iron stove
while we ate Njegusi prosciutto & cheese & drank wine.
Barcelona, Spain - Leaving lovely Barcelona behind we headed
to Girona & Figures for a day of Salvador Dali’ & Game of Thrones.
Coming back to Barcelona and having tapas & sangria on La Rambla in
Barcelona.
Rome, Italy – seeing the underground Rome was fascinating.
Catania, Sicily – Mt Etna was fabulous, and our tasting stop
was wonderful. Taormina was lovely.
Malta remains one of my favorite places to visit. Thanks again Joan!
Naples for Capri – the chair lift ride was awesome!
Loved Marrakech despite our terrible guide.
Kusadasi, Turkey for Ephesus exceeded expectations.
Gythion, Greece – while Sparta isn’t much, Mystras was
awesome!
Komodo Island – while we had better dragon sightings last
time, the visit to the fishing village and the school children performing was
amazing.
Tauranga, NZ – we only got part of our day here, but what an
excellent stop. Next time Hobbiton.
Cairns, AU – though we have been quite a few times, this was
an exceptional tour. Seeing a Platypus in the wild and a Tree Kangaroo was a
highlight.
Dubai, UAE is always a favorite. We manage to find something
different to do on each visit. Camel Market was a highlight! We did enjoy doing the Evening in the Desert
again with such a great group of friends.
Thailand – I could live in Thailand!
Of course, we love our days when we are birding in various
ports. I haven’t mentioned all of the ports, but honestly, they all were worthy
of a stop. I learn so much history in places like Malaga at The Alhambra and just about every place we visit.
Some places are better visited in season when they are
bustling and everything is open, like Villefranche, France.
Fellow passengers on this cruise were quite different than
on previous world cruises. I think due to the Pandemic a lot of people were
spurred to do travel in a big way. Mobility issues galore on this one. Many
more rude people than “normal”. One of our friends said it felt like a Walmart
cruise. Yes, of course there were many wonderful people too.
Food was hit and miss on this cruise. We had
issues with waiters in the evening not being up to the high standards we have
experienced in the past. For lunches when many of the assistant waiters get to
be waiters the service was always good. We switched tables when dinner would
take so long you would miss the show. He was argumentative and slow. The new
one was better, but still not great. When you ask for melted butter for your
lobster and he points to the hollandaise sauce and says “there’s butter in
there” that struck me as odd. Every other waiter when you ask for salad
dressing on the side, they bring it and let you put it on yourself. The new one
insists on putting it on for you and never stops when you say thank you or even
STOP. (same with sauces that go in a souffle, just kept pouring until he
emptied the container) He seemed to never remember that our tablemates always
share a pot of tea, and we never want coffee or tea. Just lots of little things
that were lacking. Post Pandemic I'm sure we should have expected issues.
Here’s a thought…….
Princess
Perhaps, you no longer value loyalty. Taking away milestones
like the special luncheons for 500 days and above and recognition at that
Captains Circle Party. Having to pay for things that used to be included on
previous world cruises.
Many older people eat bran cereal, and it runs out quickly
on every long cruise, while there is always corn flakes and rice Krispies and
bran twigs, since no one eats those. LOL
Brown sugar is not Sugar in the Raw (was told there is no
brown sugar on the ship) It has always been next to the oatmeal in the buffet.
They point to the Sugar in the Raw and say that IS brown sugar.
Have enough dishware that one doesn’t have to burn their
fingers picking up a glass or a plate? Or your ice melts as soon as it’s poured
into a hot glass.
No regional fruits picked up along the way. Always has been
part of the world cruise experience.
Sell the Island Princess. Many of us believe she is a “sick
ship” with all the mold and mildew from continued water leaks and floods. She
just isn’t of a caliber to be the one that does world or other long cruises.
Medallion needs to work better if we are to use them for ordering drinks etc.
Variety of foods is key on a long cruise. Not expensive to use the same ingredients to make something different. (pastries & desserts)
Oddly, when people take a world cruise, they expect it to feel special. It doesn't cost anything to acknowledge people that got on in FL or LA as world cruisers. Maybe have some special events. On the last 3 we had a party or tea for the end of the cruise. Nothing special was done on this one. Not much hoopla getting on so guess we shouldn't have expected any at the end. Having a deck party with a band playing really isn't anything special. No food or anything, just a normal deck party. It was the comment we heard the most about the ship, that Princess treated us like we were on a 7-day Caribbean cruise instead of a World Cruise.
Do chocolates on the pillow really cost that much money?
Do we really need to thank the band and the sound and lights 4 or 5 times in every performance?
Fellow passengers
How about not stopping in doorways to chat?
Walking slowly down the middle of the aisle so no one can
get past you.
How about not eating as you work your way down the buffet?
One lady stood in front of the juice display and drank about 6 of them while
she stood there and then put the empties back on the display.
How about taking your coffee or tea to your table to make it
the way you want it instead of standing in front of the dispenser adding your
sugar, cream etc.?
How about not talking through a show like you are at home on
your couch? Or tapping your glass to whatever beat you are listening to.
Shaking your ice in your drink for the entire show. Sit still. The person behind you doesn't need to bob and weave through the whole show.
If you want to sit on the end of the row, expect to get up
when others want to sit in the same row.
Don’t come into a show lounge with music or game shows going
on and then try to outshout the entertainment.
Common courtesy isn’t that common any more…….
Well, as you know I could go on and on, but despite all the “stuff” we had a great time exploring some new places and revisiting old. Perhaps we need a bit of "attitude adjustment" and except things may never be the same as pre-pandemic cruising.
Our next adventure is to Iceland and Greenland on Iceland
ProCruises. 10 days around Iceland and 12 around most of Greenland on a small
expedition ship. (July/August)
Then, we will look into doing some River Cruises with some land and ocean cruises added to the mix if I can get things to line up. We are also looking at going back to Africa on the Holland America’s Grand Africa Voyage. 73 days at the end of 2024. I’ll plan an over-land or two to get in some safari time. It will hit the Ivory Coast which we have not previously done.
Thanks for following along. Now, I need to get to work on photos and finishing the blog posts. In the future I will probably not keep up the blog on the trip but will wait until we get home. It takes a lot of time when I should be enjoying our trip.
Sea days – Apr 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26
Apr 20 – I finally felt up to lunch in the dining room
and the menu looked good. (the food not so much). Started feeling bad again just
before lunch so came back and slept for a few hours.
Rondi called to see if we were going to dinner in the dining
room. We both have been eating most meals at the buffet. The menu looked good,
and we decided to go. It was nice to catch up with them. They both have had the
ship crud too.
We went to the evening show which was Pianist Linda Gentile.
She is awesome and we have seen her on a previous WC. Mostly symphony &
Broadway and she speaks many languages. She lived in China for more than 20
years and she is the entertainer that has had the most performances in China
that isn’t Chinese. Her famous trick in her shows is asking the audience for 10
different songs and then playing them in order backwards. Her fingers fly on
the keyboard. She was trained early on by Liberace, and she loves to show off
her diamond piano necklace he gave her.
Another sea day tomorrow….
Apr 21 – Voice is coming back, but still croaky and honky.
We opted for the lunch buffet.
We had booked dinner at the steakhouse, and we were into our
meal when Heather & Matt came in and were seated next to us. We chatted a
bit, while still trying to give each other “space”. Cathy & Tom came in
after we left, and they saw Matt & Heather. Roy & Rondi came later and
saw Cathy & Tom as they were seated for dinner. Guess we all had the same
idea. We got a surprise however and we were charged for our meal, and it was
supposed to be a gift from our Travel Agent. 4 came with the Princess promotion
for booking early. We are trying to straighten it out, but the front desk is
rude and not helpful.
The evening entertainment was comedian Daren Howard. Kind of
a head scratcher as he was all over the place and not all that funny.
We then went to the evening game show which was Where in the
World are We? We didn’t play but would have done well if we had with just the
2 of us vs teams of 6 that didn’t do as well. One team tried to say they had a
certain number of points, but it wasn’t really possible, so they were
eliminated and there was a tie for the win. (should have played)
Another sea day tomorrow……
April 22 – voice still not back totally.
We went to Alfredo’s Pizzeria for lunch and waited an hour
to get in. Yikes!
We then went to the passenger talent show which turned out
to be really good. Lots of talented people on board. A violinist, a couple of
guitar players, some singers, some pianists and a couple of comedians. It
lasted well over an hour.
Heather had suggested a get-together for our main
tour-mates. We met at 4:00 in Explorer’s Lounge and it was such fun talking
about the hits and misses and what everyone was going to do next. Bob &
Phyllis, Cathy & Tom, Heather & Matt, June, Roberta & John and us.
Host & Mark were missing. Heather and I both had a few “incidences” with people
on tours that we didn’t know, but over-all everything went well. I feel so
fortunate that especially on this cruise I knew so many fantastic people to
tour with. It really makes a tour more special when shared with nice & fun
people.
We ate upstairs at the buffet since it was Mexican night, and
the evening show was Jason Neistadt a voice impersonator. He was pretty funny.
We then went to the "Yes No" game which is always fun to watch
to see how long someone can carry on a conversation without saying” Yes or No”
or any form of the word, like yeah or nope.
We got an extra hour today (we have two more time changes before we
hit Florida.)
We watched a documentary on Jane Goodall and Louis Leakey in
the beginning years of studying Chimpanzees.
Another day at sea…..
Apr 23 – I’m doing better, but still have a creaky voice and
a cough. We had breakfast at the buffet and then went to the Pub Lunch. It can
be very good food, but the last couple of times it hasn’t been good. Probably
why it was not busy.
We then packed for a bit and then went to the Passenger
version of The Voice. There is one lady on the cruise that can really sing. She
nails an Aretha song every time we have seen her, so it was no surprise that
she won today. Everyone else was also very talented, but she really stood out.
We went to the dining room tonight since the food sounded
good. Roy & Rondi were going to the steak place for dinner.
The entertainment tonight was the wife of the entertainer
last night. Claire Gobin is a violinist and did a fun show of rock &
symphony songs.
No game show tonight so we came back and watched the movie,
The Eyes of Tammy Faye. Interesting….
Tomorrow is another day at sea….
Apr 24 – Voice is trying very hard to come all the way back. Just a minor cough now.
Breakfast at the buffet and lunch at the buffet. They had
another Alfredo’s Pizza today, but since we just ate there, we skipped it.
(though it is very good)
There was an afternoon concert by Liberty one of the
Assistant Cruise Directors. She really is a great singer.
It’s a formal night and we did eat in the dining room for
the Escargot’s and Surf & Turf. First really good meal we have had in the
dining room in a long time. Steak was thick, hot and tasty and the lobster was
also hot.
The show tonight was a Production Show called It Takes Two.
Hard to call what this group of performers are doing Production Shows. Some
have been all singing, some all dancing and some a combination of both, but not
a blow-out Production Show like we have seen on ships. This one featured only 2
of the singers which forced one to sing a solo in the show about famous duets
while the other did a costume change. There is another set of singers that
could have sung while the other two did costume changes. Only 4 – 6 of the
dancers performed a bit with some of the songs. Just seemed like such a
struggle to try to make a story out of linking the songs together. (unlike
Liberty in her performances where she told the story and sang the song) The
Production Show was more like a bad concert instead of a show.
We came back to the room and watched Bad Times at the El
Camino Royale. It was quite the plot twister and a fun movie to watch.
We are almost packed to go home…..
Tonight, we got a paper saying there would be a World Cruise
group photo tomorrow. I thought they weren’t doing one since it already hadn’t
happened. Most of us that get off in Florida have packed just about everything. Not that anyone can see you in those photos anyway. LOL
Tomorrow is another day at sea……
Apr 25 – almost have my full voice back.
Breakfast at the buffet and then got showered and ready for
the group photo on the pool deck. First sunny and warm day we have had in many
days on this cruise. We stood up in front of the jacuzzi since it is elevated
and joined Roy & Rondi.
The dining room didn’t look interesting for lunch, so we went
up to the buffet.
We had dinner in the dining room. Finally, the food is
picking up in quality and we get off soon.
The entertainment tonight was the Princess Harmony/Pop Choir
that David Crathorne leads each segment. Always fun to listen to the talents of
our fellow passengers. David is really perfect for leading the groups and this
one was the largest one ever. He also is just a great person.
Then a Crew Talent Show. This one was spectacular! A few
from the last Crew Talent Show performed again and many new ones. Great
singers, dancers and then the Bar Boys did a show with dancing and fancy bottle
and shaker moves. The Entertainment Director, Susan sang and then brought out
her husband whom she had met over 27 years ago when he worked security. They
had performed together on a Crew Talent Show, and they sang the song that they
did all those years ago, not knowing they would be together. (it was a love song) She said after 27
years of being together, they finally got married. He is retired and she is
still working. Liberty also sang a song. One of the waiters that everyone knows
from singing in the dining room performed and brought the house down. The show
ran long, so it was off to bed.
Despite Cruise Director Andi saying we could buy our WC
Group Photos, one did come as a gift for all World Cruisers, plus a plexiglass
etching (paper weight) of the Island Princess with World Cruise 2023 on it and a matching key
chain.
April 26 – I guess my full voice won’t return until we get
home.
Last day of the cruise for us. Bittersweet for sure.
Breakfast at the buffet. Ran into Roberta & John who are
staying on until Los Angeles and gave some final hugs.
Lunch in the dining room as they had banana splits for
dessert.
Dinner in the dining room so we could have one final night
with Roy & Rondi. Such nice folks and we each offered our spare bedrooms should we want to visit each other. They live above Montana in Canada and said they would meet us when we visit the western part of Montana. They came to have a quick lunch with us when we took the train across Canada in Banff. I guess our luck ran out on good food becoming a trend in the dining room. It was Prime Rib night. Rondi's was thick and med-rare and mine was thin and only a small part had any pink in it. Then, we find out there is no horseradish sauce as the ship had run out. Baked potato was hard. The Baked Alaska however was fantastic.
Tonight, the show was a combination show with the Pianist
Linda Gentille and Travis Turpine. They each pretty much did a full show each, so it ran long. Both very talented and fun to watch. We packed everything we won’t need in the
morning and everything put out into the hall. Final hugs to our cabin stewardess Janice and she was so appreciative of the extra cash we gave her. She has 3 children in college and is paying for that. She was so sweet and probably one of the best ones we have ever had on a cruise.
April 27 – Arrival in Fort Lauderdale for disembarkation.
There will be quite a few continuing on to Los Angeles for the end of their 111-day
journey. Holy Crap, what a mess this morning! Most all of the crew were going
through immigration off the ship and at breakfast there were NO clean tables
and NO silverware. Finally, we sat with some other people at a clean end and then
waited to get some silverware.
Ran into a few people for last minute hugs and we were ready
to get off.
We chose the middle timeframe to get off. We got down to the
sea of luggage only to find out that colors weren’t all in the same place and
any that were in the right place weren’t put together by number. It took over
an hour to find all our luggage. Then, had to wait in line for a porter.
Finally, got through customs and the porter dropped our stuff at the curb. I
stayed with the luggage and Greg went to wait for the shuttle to the rental car
place. He got there (over an hour past the time of pickup) and the van was not
ready. Finally, I saw him coming and then just had to wait until enough cars
got out of the way to pull up to where our luggage was. We have never been that
late leaving the port. We normally are home well before lunch. This time we had
to stop for lunch on the way home. Just a fitting end to a cruise riddled with
things Princess could have done better.
In 50 cruises there have only been 2 that I wasn’t sad when
they ended, or I could have stayed on and done it all over again. This one on
the Island, and the 60-day South America on the Island.
We've been home a couple of days now and I'm making progress with the laundry and getting things organized and put away. Soon, I'll get back to organizing photos and getting them uploaded to Google Web Albums and eventually added to my blog.
I'm about done with my final thoughts on the world cruise and will post that in a day or two.
Retired Nomads - Part 3 https://retirednomadspart3.blogspot.com/
Well, it seems I have filled up another blog. I no longer can post photos, so I have started a Retired Nomads - Part 3. I will leave the last 3 posts here on this one, but all photos are now on the new one on the duplicate posts.
Santa Cruz de La Palma, Canary Islands – Apr 19
Day 8 with no voice - very little coming out.
I had a private tour set up here, but it fell through when
the guide quit responding and he fell off the guides list in ToursByLocals. I tried
emailing lots of people to find a guide here to no avail. The La Palma Taxi
only works out of a resort on the other side of the island, and they said you’d
need to take a taxi to get to us and then we could give you a tour. Looking at
TripAdvisor etc., it wasn’t clear if we could just grab a cab near the port for
a tour. One source said if you find one, they probably won’t speak English,
which would have been fine for us, but not if we had anyone else with us. Long
story short, I gave up and booked a Princess tour. I say we need to take a big
bus tour on each WC just to remind ourselves why we set up small private tours.
So much wasted time and for some reason fellow passengers feel like it’s OK to
tell other people what to do.
I think in the future we will take our chances even if we
don’t do anything. It really is a painful experience to tour with 45 plus
people. We have overheard a few people say they found taxi's so good to know.
So, we herd onto the bus and get seats. Our guide was
Valentina, and the driver was David. Valentina talked non-stop. She was very
nice and informative, but sometimes you just want some quiet. The tour really
was a poorly planned use of our time. (but that is often the style of Princess tours since they have such a wide variety of mobility issues to deal with)
It is a beautiful green island with deep valleys and tall
mountains. Ocean views and countryside were jaw-dropping. Honestly, I preferred Lanzarote with
all the variety and just different sites there. This island just didn’t have
the same charm. Maybe I’d felt differently had we been on a small group tour
where you get to see more. (not that all private tours go smoothly either if
you have a crappy guide)
We had a photo op at Mirador de San Bartolome’.
Our next stop was at Los Tilos Forest and were only given 30
minutes there to get out of the large bus one at a time and then take the walk
to the waterfall and then visit the visitor’s center and use the bathroom. It
took 30 minutes to get to the waterfall and back.
Then, we visited a small town that wasn’t on our schedule.
We visited San Andres’ for The Church of San Andrés Apóstol which the guide
said she has never seen open. She talked for about 15 minutes on banana
growing. We had 30 minutes here?
Once on the bus a lady had a printout of the tour and the
guide said it was different from the itinerary she was given. Our next stop was to
be Charco Azul Nature Pools, but the guide said now there wouldn’t be enough time.
(maybe skip the town where the church is never open?)
Santuario de la Virgen de las Nieves was our next stop, and
we had 45 minutes in this small place. The small church was beautiful, but
really nothing else was there. One small coffee bar and a gift shop that sold
alcohol and a few items. A larger shop that only sold church items.
Now, we are headed to lunch that is included in the cost of
the tour. Dorada Especial Restaurante el Halcon Parrilla – Pizzeria. It was
tasty food, just nothing special. Bread & cheese was served with a yummy
sauce. Then a chicken noodle soup. The main was grilled chicken and a pork
chop, potatoes and a salad. A locally grown banana was dessert. Wine was
included.
Then we reboard the bus for the 45 minute ride to Volcano
San Antonio. I think we had 35 - 45 minutes here and there are 2 viewpoints
(slightly long walk for many of the folks on the tour) and then she says to
follow her, and she brings out a map and uses our time to show us where we have
been throughout the day. She just kept talking and we and a few others broke away so we could go
see the landscape and make both of the walks. No time for the visitor’s center
and we are back on the bus where we waited another 15 to 20 minutes for the
slower people that she wanted to make sure got to both viewpoints.
Then, the 45-minute ride back to the port. Our last stop was
to be Escuela de Artesania, a handicraft workshop where we had hoped to buy
something hand-made or unusual. That, however, was not on the itinerary that
our guide had. She knew people were “upset” over 2 of the not included stops
and kept stressing that there was a really big gift shop at the terminal at the
port. She had to drop us at the ship and then we had to walk back to get to it.
Found my token magnet and spent off the rest of our euros on chocolates. Meh.
We had dinner at the buffet and the Show was Vocal Voice
Impersonator Travis Turpin. He was OK.
Now, for 7 sea days before we return to Ft. Lauderdale for
the end of our 111-day adventure.
We got to set our clocks back 1 hour tonight for that extra
hour of sleep. We will have several more on the journey back, so we get back on
Florida time.
Photos will follow and I probably won't post again until we get home. Nothing all that exciting about our sea days and we will be packing. I will do a last post of our impressions of this voyage.
I'm only to the start of India with organizing photos, so I will have a lot to work on when we get home.
La Palma, Canary Islands https://photos.app.goo.gl/hcFr1rwPaDRUBqnS7
Birds seen:
Chiffchaff - NEW
Common Raven
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Eurasian Kestrel
Island Canary - NEW
Plain Swift - NEW
Red-billed Chough - NEW
Retired Nomads - Part 3 https://retirednomadspart3.blogspot.com/
Well, it seems I have filled up another blog. I no longer can post photos, so I have started a Retired Nomads - Part 3. I will leave the last 3 posts here on this one, but all photos are now on the new one on the duplicate posts.
Lanzarote, Canary Islands – Apr 18
Day 7 with no voice, but it is starting to feel like it
wants to come back. I turned to say something to Greg at lunch and it came out
a HONK. He turns to me and says “you honked at me!” I laughed so hard it sent me
into quite a honking coughing fit. (not pretty)
What a great day we had in Lanzarote. It really was like we
landed on another planet. Angela with ToursByLocals https://www.toursbylocals.com/ was our guide and she was
very flexible and arranged our day perfectly. Very knowledgeable and honest about
life on the Island.
Next, we visited the National Park of Timanfaya, with the
route of the volcanoes. Covering over 12,600
acres, this lunar landscape looks much like it did after violent volcanic
eruptions spewed chunks of molten lava over the entire area.
We started with a few demonstrations. First, we held some
very hot lava pieces. Then, went to see another area that was all heat and it
came up under the restaurant above it. Angela said when she was young her mom
would bring them there and cook their meals on the grate and picnic. It’s not
allowed now; the site is much too busy with tourists. Angela got us to the
front of every line which saved us a ton of time.
We then had some free time before driving the route of the
volcanoes. She could slow down and even stop for a bit, but we weren’t allowed
out of the vehicle. Just awesome colors and formations. Angela played music
that enhanced our volcano viewing drive.
After that we took a camel safari through the park for around
30 minutes. We have ridden camels before but had never sat on seats on either
side of the camel. What a blast! We were in a long caravan, and we had the first
position and Tom & Cathy were behind us. Their camel seemed fixated on me.
His head was right us next to mine for most of the trip. He was a noisy
breather and I asked if he needed a decongestant spray. Roberta & John
opted not to ride, and John got some great video of all of us. We could turn
around and get photos of Tom & Cathy and the camel guy took our photos. It
was the highlight of the day for some of us. Cute photos & video will come later.....
We left Timanfaya National Park for the vine-growing region
of La Geria. We stopped for a photo op here, but she said that due to a bad
weather year last year, the wine wasn’t that good, so we skipped the tasting. It was very interesting to see how they grow crops here with deep circles to collect what little rain they get surrounded by lava walls to block the wind.
We stopped for a wonderful lunch which our guide suggested
by the water at El Lago in Punta Mujeres. It was windy and cool outside, so we
moved indoors to have lunch. Greg had the fish of the day platter, and I had
garlic prawns and garlic bread. Dessert for us was chocolate mousse. YUM to
all.
The route then took us north, to visit Jameos del Agua which
is a massive open-air cavern that is part of a four-mile long volcanic tunnel
that was formed by molten lava after the eruption of the La Corona volcano
3,000 years ago. Due to the pressure built up by volcanic gases, the tunnel
collapsed and developed openings in the solidified lava. These openings were
discovered in 1968 and, based upon an idea by Manrique, were turned into a
tropical garden, a pool, a bar and a 600-seat concert venue. We saw only a small
portion of the tunnel that is open to the public and of course it’s a mix of
natural and made-made beauty. These tiny albino crabs are in the water, and it
was quite pleasant in there with atmospheric music. She gave us an hour to
explore here. It really was a great day with a mix of such different things to experience.
We had some time left and Angela noticed we enjoyed seeing
the cactus at La Geria, so she took us to a beautiful cactus garden for about
20 minutes before we had to return to Arrecife.
Located in Guatiza, municipality of Teguise, El JardÃn de Cactus is the last great work of César Manrique in Lanzarote, a fascinating creation that houses about 4,500 specimens of cactus of about 500 species from five continents. The artist chose an old deposit used as a landfill in an agricultural area of extensive cactus plantations dedicated to the cultivation of cochineal, thus representing the rehabilitation of a place of great landscape value on the island in a state of neglect.
There are also many sculptures made of volcanic stone and basaltic monoliths turned into sculptures. Also, some very interesting bathroom signs. (wait for the photos)
We were back to the ship on time, and we commented that it
was a great ending to all of our private tours together on this voyage. Nice to end on a high note!
We had dinner at the buffet and went to see the comedian Keith
Bender and he was quite funny.
Tomorrow, we visit our last port of La Palma.
Lanzarote, Canary Islands https://photos.app.goo.gl/tRLvBsPuFXMdsgZz6
video will follow
Birds seen:Sea Day – Apr 17
Day 6 no voice
Today there was a pub lunch, and it was formal night. Pub lunch can be very good or not. Today, the fish was kind of gummy and just not fried well.
We blew off formal night and ate at the buffet. The menu was more of the same and I didn't feel well enough to go for a long sit down. I had the chicken tacos from the grill which hit the spot.
We did go back to the Production Show Let’s Dance even though we saw it recently. Then, back to the room to get ready for Lanzarote part of the Canary Islands. I'm ready to feel better any day now....
Casablanca, Morocco – Apr 16
No voice day 5
It was nice to have a hot day for a change.
I’m so tired of wearing every layer I have and still being cold, so today was a
treat.
Today we had one of our top 3 worst tours of the trip. It
was our first trip to Marrakech, though not to Morocco. We were joined today by
Tom & Cathy and Roberta & John. Our guide was El Mehdi with
ToursByLocals. https://www.toursbylocals.com/ Our driver was Simo who was a gem despite not much English for
our 3 hours plus drive each way. The landscape was very beautiful, and we were
surprised by the huge numbers of crops in fields and horses, sheep, donkeys,
cattle and goats. There were pretty mountain areas with formations and colors
that reminded us of the Badlands. It was a treat to see ploughs that were
donkey or horse driven. Many people were out tending to the herds and working
in the fields. The time flew by as we took in the countryside.
One of the highlights for many of us is to do some of the touristy things like watching the Snake Charmers, Acrobats, Story tellers, Musicians, Fortune Tellers. He explained that we could watch for free, but if we took photos, they would want money and he would negotiate that for us. So, I expected that meant he would lead us by them and probably stop so we could watch. No, he runs at light speed past all of it. I don’t have a voice to say anything, but not sure it would have mattered anyway. Greg even told him I wanted a photo with one of the entertainers and he scoffed and just walked on.
It soon became clear that it was important to him to guide
us into specific places. The first was a stop at a place where they sell argon
oil and a few other spices. We rush by everything we wanted to do and the guy
starts his spiel with I’ll just take 20 to 30 minutes of your time. I croak out
with no voice. No. None-the- less, we were seated while he showed us various
products that we had no intention of buying. We stopped by the Majorelle
Gardens, but they didn’t look that exciting, so we didn’t go in. (hoping for
more time to shop) Cathy and I stopped to buy a pair of earrings each. The
guide finally realized he was missing 2 people and came back for us. The guy at
the stall said he didn’t have change and was trying to get us to buy them
together instead of separately and we said no. He takes our 200 MAD and then
gives us each 100 back. The guide came in and helped straighten out the mess.
Telling the guy to go get change and give us each the correct amount. I know I
got my change, but Cathy isn’t sure she did. MAD is about 10 to 1 so the
earrings were cheap, but I imagine we overpaid. (we don't care.)
While in the rest stop several young men saw me and said, “ooh la la, English”. I laughed that they were so intrigued probably by the blonde hair. It’s those little moments that make this 70-year-old woman smile inside.
It was a frustrating day with our guide, but even the bad tours become memories and stories to tell.
Tomorrow, we have a sea day before our last 2 ports of this voyage.
Morocco, Africa https://photos.app.goo.gl/q4cENtqHqhiyrpSW7
Birds seen: