Home from the Sea--Part Deux
Hi ho, MMMLogerinos!
We're finally back from our three week vacation that included three days in Barcelona, a twelve day cruise of Med, and four days in London, but our body clocks have not reset. We're still waking at 2:00-3:00 a.m., getting up only to be ready for sleep by 6:00 p.m. Gads, this is the worst jetlag I've ever had and certainly the most enduring. This too shall pass, I'm hopeful.
We flew British Airways from Seattle to London Heathrow, changed planes and on to Barcelona, Spain. We arrived but our luggage didn't. So after an hour or so of longingly watching other people's luggage come off the carousel, we queued up with about fifty or sixty other bagless, unhappy folk at the Iberia lost luggage claim desk for a couple of hours. Consequently, we missed our paid for transport and had to take a cab through Friday night bumper to bumper traffic to the AC Diplomatic Hotel. This former Spanish lit major found the old skills a bit rusty but adequate enough to understand the cabby wanted what amounted to about $50 bucks for the ride.
The DH set the hotel's helpful staff to rounding up our luggage which was sitting in London, while the Princess Cruise answer gal at the hotel proved to be genial but basically hands off, we'll say. However, she did reimburse us for our cab fare eventually. My suitcase arrived at 2:00 a.m and the next morning we dashed out to buy some basic necessities at a huge upscale department store. Who knew a pair of Jockey shorts could cost that many Euros? The DH's bag arrived that evening along with my sister and her husband who had cooled their collective heels in London over night as BA counter guys screwed up and sent them to Gatwick to make a connection that was impossible. From then on, Sissy greeted all her new friends with: Don't fly British Airways.
We could empathize but didn't quite agree, because our experience wasn't as painful as hers. Yes, BA lost our luggage. Yes, the entertainment system on the way over was down, but the service in First Class was superb and they handed us a written apology/form for the inconvenience. The DH filled it out spinning his sad tale of wanting to give me a lovely 30th anniversary trip but it was proving less so. BA paid attention, for when we checked in at Venice at the end of the cruise, we were wished happy anniversary many times and treated to champagne on that flight. Same on the flight home from Heathrow four days later. They also "made amends" with award miles so we're clam happy and all about British Airways. The DH still has to chat with them about the lost luggage, though . . .
The three days in Barcelona were outstanding as were the four in London revisiting our old haunts. The shore excursions were interesting and worth the money, for the most part, though extremely crowded. However, the ship--yar. For the grisly cruise details, do check out Grand Princess Lament
We took our first cruise on Princess to the western Caribbean and thought it was pretty great back in 1994. However, have things ever changed! The food on the Grand Princess was school cafeteria bad and when we complained, they addressed the problem with a plate of chocolate covered strawberries compliments of the executive chef. Oh boy. We learned the grimy, shabby ship was headed for a refit in Palermo and our room steward, Allan, had already left. I'm pretty sure that guy I saw once or twice rummaging through the service cart was actually a stand-in or cardboard cutout. Pretty much the entire uniformed crew was ready for a vacation and just wanted us to get off the ship already. The indentured by an eight month contract service crew were polite and helpful for the most part. But ask the purser staff anything and you got attitude. Our cabin couldn't have been grubbier with stained carpet, shabby furniture, a sagging slab of bed from the Marquis de Sade collection. Ugh.
Remember how I raved about our cruise last May on Holland America's Westerdam? Our lovely BIG (comparatively) cabin and the great food and service? Perhaps if we hadn't taken that cruise on that great ship we wouldn't have known how really bad the Grand Princess was. Veteran Princess cruisers told us they'd be looking for other cruise lines now too and they thought the food terrible. Problem is Princess is hustling for bucks every way they can--charging extra for soft drinks, ice cream, "specialty" restaurants and other services that used to be included in the fare.
There was one thing that absolutely rocked about that ship, well, two actually. The first was a huge TV screen on the Lido deck above the pool that played movies and concerts. At night we watched Movies Under the Stars cozied up in a deck chair with a blankie and bag of popcorn. It was very cool! The other was Skywalkers Lounge at the stern of the ship, way up in the air and looking like a monster rollbar from outside. That was the best view of everything on the ship.
Now the good news. I lost twelve pounds on the cruise. Unheard of you say? If you're wanting to take a cruise vacation where you'll lose weight and get lots of exercise walking the decks and many flights of stairs because the elevators, theaters and lounges are crammed full of people, then the Grand Princess is for you. However, it will be the most expensive twelve pounds you'll ever lose. Bon voyage!
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmelinda
We're finally back from our three week vacation that included three days in Barcelona, a twelve day cruise of Med, and four days in London, but our body clocks have not reset. We're still waking at 2:00-3:00 a.m., getting up only to be ready for sleep by 6:00 p.m. Gads, this is the worst jetlag I've ever had and certainly the most enduring. This too shall pass, I'm hopeful.
We flew British Airways from Seattle to London Heathrow, changed planes and on to Barcelona, Spain. We arrived but our luggage didn't. So after an hour or so of longingly watching other people's luggage come off the carousel, we queued up with about fifty or sixty other bagless, unhappy folk at the Iberia lost luggage claim desk for a couple of hours. Consequently, we missed our paid for transport and had to take a cab through Friday night bumper to bumper traffic to the AC Diplomatic Hotel. This former Spanish lit major found the old skills a bit rusty but adequate enough to understand the cabby wanted what amounted to about $50 bucks for the ride.
The DH set the hotel's helpful staff to rounding up our luggage which was sitting in London, while the Princess Cruise answer gal at the hotel proved to be genial but basically hands off, we'll say. However, she did reimburse us for our cab fare eventually. My suitcase arrived at 2:00 a.m and the next morning we dashed out to buy some basic necessities at a huge upscale department store. Who knew a pair of Jockey shorts could cost that many Euros? The DH's bag arrived that evening along with my sister and her husband who had cooled their collective heels in London over night as BA counter guys screwed up and sent them to Gatwick to make a connection that was impossible. From then on, Sissy greeted all her new friends with: Don't fly British Airways.
We could empathize but didn't quite agree, because our experience wasn't as painful as hers. Yes, BA lost our luggage. Yes, the entertainment system on the way over was down, but the service in First Class was superb and they handed us a written apology/form for the inconvenience. The DH filled it out spinning his sad tale of wanting to give me a lovely 30th anniversary trip but it was proving less so. BA paid attention, for when we checked in at Venice at the end of the cruise, we were wished happy anniversary many times and treated to champagne on that flight. Same on the flight home from Heathrow four days later. They also "made amends" with award miles so we're clam happy and all about British Airways. The DH still has to chat with them about the lost luggage, though . . .
The three days in Barcelona were outstanding as were the four in London revisiting our old haunts. The shore excursions were interesting and worth the money, for the most part, though extremely crowded. However, the ship--yar. For the grisly cruise details, do check out Grand Princess Lament
We took our first cruise on Princess to the western Caribbean and thought it was pretty great back in 1994. However, have things ever changed! The food on the Grand Princess was school cafeteria bad and when we complained, they addressed the problem with a plate of chocolate covered strawberries compliments of the executive chef. Oh boy. We learned the grimy, shabby ship was headed for a refit in Palermo and our room steward, Allan, had already left. I'm pretty sure that guy I saw once or twice rummaging through the service cart was actually a stand-in or cardboard cutout. Pretty much the entire uniformed crew was ready for a vacation and just wanted us to get off the ship already. The indentured by an eight month contract service crew were polite and helpful for the most part. But ask the purser staff anything and you got attitude. Our cabin couldn't have been grubbier with stained carpet, shabby furniture, a sagging slab of bed from the Marquis de Sade collection. Ugh.
Remember how I raved about our cruise last May on Holland America's Westerdam? Our lovely BIG (comparatively) cabin and the great food and service? Perhaps if we hadn't taken that cruise on that great ship we wouldn't have known how really bad the Grand Princess was. Veteran Princess cruisers told us they'd be looking for other cruise lines now too and they thought the food terrible. Problem is Princess is hustling for bucks every way they can--charging extra for soft drinks, ice cream, "specialty" restaurants and other services that used to be included in the fare.
There was one thing that absolutely rocked about that ship, well, two actually. The first was a huge TV screen on the Lido deck above the pool that played movies and concerts. At night we watched Movies Under the Stars cozied up in a deck chair with a blankie and bag of popcorn. It was very cool! The other was Skywalkers Lounge at the stern of the ship, way up in the air and looking like a monster rollbar from outside. That was the best view of everything on the ship.
Now the good news. I lost twelve pounds on the cruise. Unheard of you say? If you're wanting to take a cruise vacation where you'll lose weight and get lots of exercise walking the decks and many flights of stairs because the elevators, theaters and lounges are crammed full of people, then the Grand Princess is for you. However, it will be the most expensive twelve pounds you'll ever lose. Bon voyage!
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmelinda
posted by MMMelinda at 8:25 AM
