Everyone on the WC & officers & crew (we are on the lower left, you need to zoom in to see us...lol)
In 2013, we truly felt like it was a World Cruise. This one
felt more like a segment cruise. It seemed we were made to feel like we were
intruding on their segment. It was just a lot of little things. I just wanted to make the clarification that the passengers in no way made us feel like we were intruding. Intruding was a poor choice of words on my part. It was really Princess making such a big deal out of the segments with little regard to those of us on the Full World Cruise.
It started when we got to LA where they said it was the
“official” start of the World Cruise. Our menus and entertainment started over
and repeated exactly as it did from Lauderdale. The Princess Patter when we
started in Lauderdale said day 1 of 111 days. When we got to LA, it said day 1
of 111 days. We didn’t complain, but some people did and they then put
Lauderdale’s countdown on one page and the LA countdown on the other.
The food has been very repetitious. We had some dishes
repeat last time, but not as frequently. This time with each segment, it seemed
to start over. (with some repeats even during that time) While the food in the
Steakhouse was better this year, the food in general just wasn’t as well
prepared in the buffet or the dining room. The pastries were heavy. Anything
with a crust needed a hammer and chisel to eat it. A simple tartlet wasn’t
edible, except to eat the center out of it.
Sunday Brunches in 2013 were held on any Sunday at Sea, this
time only one per segment. Sunday Brunches in 2013 either had crab legs &
claws, lobsters, or Shrimp each time plus all of the other choices, this time
it was more themed cuisines with none of the above shellfish. Yes, they were
still elaborate and yummy!
There were very few Pub Lunches this time around. It’s an
optional no charge lunch in one of the specialty restaurants that rotate 2
menus of Pub Food. (fish & Chips, Bangers and Mash, steak & kidney pie,
fried shrimp, Scotch eggs, Ploughman’s lunch and a few other choices. They
normally are held on many of the sea days, but there have been long stretches
without them.
Changing the early dining to 5:15 instead of 6:00 was
ridiculous!
The entertainment in 2013 was very good and varied. Of
course, there are always acts you don’t care for, but they were still “good”
even if they weren’t your taste. This time, there has been quite a few that
were just “bad” and it was hard to find anyone that thought otherwise. Plus, we
had quite a few acts repeated. Some nights they chose to do a game show in
place of the entertainment or play a movie. Even the movies shown in our
staterooms have repeated every segment.
The “tiredness” of the ship was hard not to notice. I know
she is going in for a “facelift” soon, but the bedding and towels were shabby,
worn, some with holes and some stained. When we lived in Florida and needed to
cover plants if it was going to freeze we often used old sheets that looked
better than the ones that were used on this voyage. Chair cushions have deep
depressions in them. The mattress sagged so much that it looked like a hammock.
(Greg rotated it to put the sag in a better spot.)
Things that were better? We had to think long and hard on
that one. They had better pool deck chairs than they did in 2013. Captain JP
was much better than our Captain in 2013 that left early in every port and all
aboard was usually 1 hour prior to sailing not a half hour. Plus, JP is much
more personable and social. Seeing his wife and 2 year old daughter about the
ship was very nice.
Our waiter, Tommy and Jr. Waiter Rolando were exceptional! Our
cabin stewards Joel and then Menino were both superior. Rupesh worked in the
casino as a dealer, but he was the one that handled the Bingo winners. He was a
lot of fun.
It was a great cruise for seeing all the wildflowers in
bloom and the flowering trees. Spring from Asia to Europe was in full bloom.
Absolutely gorgeous!
Missing Yap, Micronesia; Pago Pago, American Samoa; Nuku'alofa,
Tonga; Honolulu, Hawaii and Bodrum, Turkey were disappointing as was spending
an extra night in Los Angeles.
Bora Bora was a nice substitute port as was Rhodes, Greece.
Getting an extra night in Dubai was also a nice surprise.
As usual it’s impossible to choose a “favorite” amongst all
the ports of this World Cruise. Like last time I will have a top 10 list. Oftentimes
the reason something makes the list isn’t so much about the actual port, but
the experience we had there. (good weather, good company, fun excursion etc.)
Sometimes, it is the actual port. Honestly, there isn’t any place that we have
been that we have negative feelings about. We enjoy something about every place
we visit.
This list is in no particular order, except 1 & 2 and is
only for the ports from this world cruise.
1.
I can say that being Panda Keepers in Chengdu,
China was my favorite experience. Getting up close and personal with them was
amazing.
2.
Snorkeling with whale sharks in La Paz, Mexico
was an awesome experience.
3.
I love Thailand! The Phi Phi Island snorkel
& sail was scenic and beautiful and I will remember the spread they put out
for lunch at the beach for a long time. (arguably, the best meal of the trip)
4.
I love all things Greece! Rhodes & Zakynthos
were great ports with great guides and good food. Zakynthos had some of the
worst touring weather of the trip, but our guide shared her love of Greece and
made us feel like family as we ate our mezes platters and listened to guitar
and singing. Rhodes is just beautiful and our guide was topnotch.
5.
Bari, Italy was an unexpected charming and
picturesque port with the Trulli Houses of Alberobello and the white washed
houses of Ostuni. Great day here!
6.
Malta was another amazing surprise. It’s
medieval – ness. Excellent guide and great sites!
7.
The Dessert Safari in Dubai was tons of fun with
the dune bashing and the atmospheric setting at the Camp under the stars with
entertainment, great food and friends.
8.
India had 2 highlights for me. In Cochin the
Houseboats on their backwaters was serene and interesting to watch the locals
along the water washing clothes, bathing and just going about their lives. In
Mumbai, visiting the Dharavi Community (slums) was very enlightening. It left
me with great respect for how hard the people work and how proud they are of
what they have accomplished.
9.
I really enjoyed the Hill Towns of Veneto from
Venice. The guide was good and the countryside was beautiful. The towns were
all charming with castles and breathtaking scenery. The lunch at our guides
favorite place was very good. The grappa and prosecco tastings were good too!
It was a relaxing day with friends.
10.
Croatia is another place that has a lot to
offer. Krka Falls was a beautiful park and just great to be out in nature and
enjoying the waterfalls and the birds. The lunch here was also very special.
Even though these floated to the top in my mind, there was
something special about every port we went to. Nicaragua and El Salvador were
great places to visit as well as places we have been to before.
We loved Sanya, China, but it was our worst tour guide of
the trip. As you can see, it really is impossible to choose just one place or
even 10.
Seeing friends that we made in 2013 again and meeting new
ones this time of course was a big plus! One night we sat with some people for
dinner and they wanted to know how this cruise compared to our first one. We
discussed the differences and they asked, “would you do it again?” Of course,
the answer is YES!
On our revised itinerary, we visited 36 ports and 28
countries on 6 continents, transited through the Suez and Panama Canals and
sailed 3 oceans over a total length of 33,686 Nautical Miles. It brings our
total to 77 countries and all 7 continents. What’s not to love! Here are some photos of our cabin showing how we "decorate" and use various magnetic hooks, clips and regular magnets. I collect magnets from everywhere we go and they are added to the wall as we travel. Princess also gives out tons of certificates for equator crossings, crossing the international dateline and transiting canals.
hooks hold clothes, clips hold patters & tour schedules & my calendar with what we are doing in each port and time frame in port, I hung ornaments from Malta, Ajman, UAE & Zakinthos, Greece
our scratch off map that we scratch after we tour a country
