Since our last cruise, my dad’s longtime companion, Sue, passed away unexpectedly. This cruise was scheduled to honor her wish to have her ashes scattered off the back of a cruise ship. There is also a little of her at the Daytona Speedway, and under the window at the house where she always sat. I made the arrangements through Princess in advance of the cruise, and was told when I arrived onboard there would be a letter in my stateroom advising me of the date, time and location where we would be able to send her remains overboard. There is no fee for this service, but you can’t actually scatter the ashes. They must be sent overboard in a sealed container. More on that later, for now here is the story of our trip.
Thursday, March 9th, 2023
Our flight out wasn’t until 6:45pm, so I worked most of the day and just left at 2:30 to head home, grab my luggage and husband, and head to the airport. Because we were traveling in March, I valet parked at the LAZFly near Bradley Airport. Everything went smoothly, and we arrived almost an hour ahead of schedule in Orlando airport. We took a taxi to my dad’s house, spent a little time catching up, and then we all went to bed. Long day!
Friday, March 10th, 2023
We decided to spend our in-between day at Icon Park, where we started out at the Museum of Illusions, which was very cool. The staff was excellent, and they helped us take some amazing photos. After that we grabbed lunch at Gordon Ramsey’s Fish & Chips, which was delicious, and then wandered around the park a bit. I tripped across an Oxygen Bar, which I had no idea was a thing, and decided to spring for me and Dave to try it out. It was a 20 minute treatment, including various massages, and it definitely perked me up a bit. Afterwards we went back to my dad’s, played the world’s longest game of Uno, and then ordered dinner from the local pizza place. We spent a quiet evening at the house in prep for our road trip to Fort Lauderdale tomorrow.
Saturday, March 11th, 2023
The three hour drive down was uneventful, and by late morning we were already onboard. Sky Princess is a newer medallion class ship, so embarkation was simple matter of scanning your medallion and walking onboard. Unlike our last sailing, there were no covid requirements, making everything much simpler. We grabbed lunch up on deck, and shortly after our rooms were ready. The rooms were lovely and had plenty of storage. The closet was huge, and had a ton of hangers, making the extras I bought completely unnecessary. Because Dave’s luggage had not arrived by the time we left for dinner, we opted to eat at the buffet. After dinner we went to what was supposed to be Rock Opera, one of their production shows, but it was switched out for Ross Hunter, a mediocre singer who had spent a lot of time doing musical theater. After the show I visited the casino for a bit, and then decided to make it an early night.
Sunday, March 12th, 2023
Today would be a sea day while we sailed down to Cozumel. We started off with breakfast in the main dining room, and then after went over to Bellini’s for breakfast cocktails and coffee. We then went to trivia. I visited the casino for a bit, and then grabbed lunch at the International Café, finishing up in time for the Ladies Pamper Party. After the free mini facials, I went to a game show called Can I Have Your Number Please, which was my favorite of the cruise despite me coming in dead last with a score of -4. From there I met my dad and Dave at the afternoon trivia, and after that we dressed for dinner. It was formal night, and we had reservations at Sabatini’s which was great, but way too much food. We did enjoy pre-dinner cocktails at Bellini’s while listening to Matt Baxter play guitar and sing in the Piazza. Tonight was actually going to be the Rock Opera show, which turned out not to be our cup of tea, so my dad and I left early and headed to bed.
Monday, March 13th, 2023
While my husband decided to head into Cozumel, I had opted to make this a day of indulgence onboard, for which I booked myself a morning in the The Sanctuary, and exclusive area of the ship with chaise lounges, food and drink delivered to you. You can even upgrade to these crazy cabanas with TVs in them. I got there at 8am when they opened, and would have come and go access until 12:30. I spent a relaxing hour there, drinking a cranberry juice mixed with Emergen-C, to keep a promise to my stepson to at least try to come home healthy. They also brought me a couple of blueberry muffins. I left to do trivia with my dad, and then went back to enjoy the rest of the morning in The Sanctuary. I left around noon, despite the efforts of the crew to keep me there until exactly 12:30. I grabbed some lunch from the International Café, and then hit the casino until afternoon trivia. This was our first night in the main dining room, so after trivia we went back to the rooms to change for dinner. We met at Bellini’s for our pre-dinner cocktails, had a nice dinner, and then after went to Country Music Trivia in Princess Live! The trivia host was great, and encouraged the crowd to sing along as each song’s title and artist was revealed. He even threw a microphone up in front of me for Crazy by Patsy Cline, and I managed to sing a passable verse. It’s the closest I’ll ever come to karaoke. We stayed after for the Ten in Sixty game show, during which I managed to score a neat 20 points for our team by remembering Tom Lehrer’s Elements song, allowing me to recite the first ten elements from memory. I didn’t even give people a chance to write anything. It was pretty hilarious, and to be honest I was pretty proud of myself. I hit the casino on my way back to the room, and shortly after called it a night.
Tuesday, March 14th, 2023
After breakfast Dave & I decided to go into Mahogany Bay, since we’d only ever docked at Coxen Hole in Roatan. We went through the shops and kiosks first, where I bought a lovely necklace for $7. We did do the nature trail, but then looped back toward the ship instead of heading to the beach. Once back onboard we grabbed some lunch, played Scattegories, then relaxed onboard for the afternoon until trivia. After trivia we changed for dinner, grabbed some pre-dinner cocktails, had dinner, and went to Name That 70s Tune Music Trivia, which we did mediocre in. Afterwards we headed to the Princess Theater to see comedian Wayne Cotter, who was very entertaining. Afterwards I made a quick casino stop, and then off to bed.
Wednesday, March 15th, 2023
It had been many years since I visited Belize City, and I was happy to return. I always enjoyed the immediate port area, right where the tenders drop you off. In particular I was hoping The Wet Lizard would still be operating, mainly so I could order their delectable conch fritters. After some browsing through the shops we did end up at the Wet Lizard, and the conch fritters were just as amazing as I remembered. My dad left us to continue browsing, and we ended up onboard about half an hour after he did. Once onboard we decided to check out the Wakeview Pool, which is exactly what it sounds like, and conveniently right next to a bar. There we met Fred & Judy, a couple from Hershey, PA, and passed the afternoon chatting with them. We chatted so much, in fact, that I was already red by the time I had gotten out. I did make it to afternoon trivia, pre-dinner cocktails, and dinner, before hitting Princess Live! For Hits of the Divas Music Trivia. It was entertaining, but we did not excel in this category. After that we hung around for the Majority Rules game show, but left before Covers Music Trivia, as Dave had already gone to bed, and we had no hope in that category without him. A quick pass through the casino and then off to bed.
Thursday, March 16th, 2023
Today we would visit Costa Maya, Mexico, home of my favorite host in the Caribbean, Jaime. He owns the Blue Reef now, and I was looking forward to seeing him on my visit. Unfortunately Jaime had developed quite a bad back, and did not make it in on most days anymore, so we would miss him this time. Also unfortunate was that a storm blew out the power three days prior to our visit, so the bathrooms were candlelit. And by candlelit I mean they each had one candle. Also, no frozen drinks were possible. But we persevered, and still had a great day on the beach. The water was chillier than I like, so I never fully submerged, but the seagrass (always a problem there) was nonexistent. Very much more present were the beach vendors, who were out in droves hawking their wares. We were back onboard by around 2:30, so I decided to hit the afternoon tea to grab a scone with clotted cream and jam. I’ve long maintained that only the British know how to make a proper scone, and Princess makes them in the British style, so I was eager to try one again. And they were quite tasty! After tea I met my dad at afternoon trivia, drinks at Bellini’s, dinner and then my worst category, Love Songs Music Trivia. From there we killed some time in the casino until the production show, Spotlight Bar, which neither of us liked, so we called it an early night.
Friday, March 17th, 2023
Today was going to be a challenging one for me. First, it was St Patrick’s Day, which was my late Uncle Gary’s birthday, and I always toast him with a Jack & Coke. Today was also the day we had been scheduled to send Sue’s remains into the Caribbean Sea. They had originally told us 3:30pm, and later called and changed it to 2pm. We were to meet on the port side of deck 7 aft, which was on the outside of the Vista Lounge. Unfortunately the daily schedule was sorely lacking in activity that didn’t involve the casino, so that was where I went on and off throughout the morning. I also grabbed a cappuccino with Frangelico, and ate breakfast. After killing the morning, we went back to the room to change, and then we headed to meet the Princess rep, Amanda, to inter Sue. We were early, so we decided to wait in the Vista Lounge, where Amanda found us at about 1:45. They had a velvet rope blocking off the aft area, and it was manned by a crew member, who quickly let us in when he saw us with Amanda. They also had a nice table with some flowers and Kleenex setup. They told me where to stand and where to aim with the wooden cylinder, and then we each said a few things, and I sent her overboard. I truly believe she would have appreciated the send-off, and take comfort in having honored her wishes as best we could. Once we were all set, they let us back through the rope and we went into the Vista Lounge to have a drink in Sue’s memory. They did not stock Crown Royal, so we settled on cosmos. After drinking to Sue, we headed in different directions, and ultimately met back up at afternoon trivia, and then we met at the Crown Grill Bar for drinks, since we’d be dining there that evening. The meal was outstanding, and after we headed back to our rooms to finish packing so we could put out the luggage.
Saturday, March 18th, 2023
We were scheduled to disembark at 7:30am (yuck!) so we were out of our staterooms by then and off to the theater where our disembarkation group was to meet. We were called fairly quickly, and got off the ship easily with the help of the medallion. And this is probably a good time to mention how amazing the medallion was, and how it enhanced our vacation. Three hours back to my dad’s house with one pitstop, and then I asked if we could hit a Walgreens, because I had been nursing a sore throat all morning. I still don’t know what I had, but I had it for a full 14 days, and it took antibiotics to finally get rid of. All I know if that it wasn’t covid. Anyway, I still had to get back to CT, and I wasn’t actively coughing a lot yet, so we took our flight as scheduled and after several delays, we finally landed at Bradley around midnight. By the time we’d picked up our car and had driven home, it was 1:30am. And that’s the end of another very long day. Thanks for reading, and enjoy your travels, wherever you may go.