Transatlantic Cruise Day 1 & 2

    Hi all! It's been while since we posted. We have done a couple of smaller trips over the last year, but we are back with another big bucket list trip - a transatlantic crossing! Ever since I was a young and learning about the dangers people faced on long ocean travels, not knowing what weather they would see, having bad or incomplete maps, piracy, and objects in the water that may be hidden from sight, I thought it seemed like a grand adventure! When I saw a deal for a three week cruise that crosses the Atlantic Ocean, I knew we needed to jump at the chance for experience. That deal showed up just 6 short months ago and like most of our travels, this trip snuck up on us in quick fashion, and I am so glad it's here.

    The last year has been very challenging professionally. From being acquired by a PE firm, knowing cuts were coming and having to make tough decisions about my team, losing one member to layoffs, another to a customer, almost losing a second to a different customer, having a couple of good friends impacted by the cuts, and having to tell more than half of my exceptional team they weren't getting pay increases this year right before I left on vacation, it has seemed like nothing but bad news for the last year.

    On the other hand, I have gotten to work incredibly closely with a smaller team to work on a pet project, learning new technologies and getting to mentor and help these team members grow, strengthening my knowledge and experience but more importantly, helping them learn and grow. The best parts of my week are when I get to engage with my IMS team and talk about technology, answering their questions, giving unnecessarily longwinded lectures on the benefits of controlled vs uncontrolled React components or explaining the intricacies of networking in Docker. I've gotten to work much more closely with the members of this team, and it's helped build close connections and I've gotten to work alongside them in a way I don't get to do or see during customer engagements. I have loved every second of getting to know this team better and working with them more closely than I have done in the past. It feels more like the company that I first joined in 2006 than the one that it is now. 

    All this work is starting to pay dividends. The work we are doing is starting to reach ears outside of our group and other parts of the organization are starting to take serious interest in what we are doing. In addition to the work on my pet project, I've been working with the product management team on building a large enhancement to our product. Getting to have discussions about how things should work and advocating for our customers in a proactive manner instead of advocating when defects are found has also been very positive. I am however looking forward to seeing this engagement done as I have been working on this since December of 2023. Only 10 more months to go!

    I've been feeling burnt out for a while with most days ending in frustrations at the things I can't control. The constant stream of changes, many of them negative, trying to shoulder the weight of everyone's frustrations and fears while trying to keep everyone focused on our customers has been difficult. One thing I can say for sure is that I am incredibly blessed by an amazing team and if not for them I wouldn't be able to take a full month of time off to travel the world. I know some of you are reading this; please know that I am incredibly thankful for each of you.

    With all that said, this time off couldn't come at a better time to help re-energize the batteries, come up out of the muck and mud, and find a new perspective on things. One of the things I really enjoy that my employer does that has not changed after our acquisition is "wellness days". If there is a holiday that gives us a three day weekend, we get the day on the other side of the weekend to make it a four day weekend. Having an extra day to get prepared for the trip ended up being super necessary. After we both signed off at work, we decided to take Thursday night easy, making checklists of all that needed to be done, and preparing for the mad dash that would be the next 3 days.

    Friday was filled with gathering the things we would need for being away from home for 23 days, travel documents, medications, doing laundry and choosing clothes, updating documents. Saturday was spent doing personal care, haircuts, pedicures, things like that. On Friday, Valerie realized one of her prescriptions was going to run out while we were on the trip and the pharmacies that were local to us were out of the medication, so I had to run out to Modesto so she could get through the trip. Also ended up needing some things at Costco and had to take back some things to Best Buy.

    Sunday was filled with packing clothes, setting up AirTags, buying another checked bag allowance from Jet Blue, checking into our flight, double and triple checking we had everything we needed, and doing some last minute pickups. While doing this, I decided to wash all of Callie's (our cat) bedding as it was pretty gross. After everything was washed and dried, I tried to put the cover back on the top of her cat tower and the top came off in my hand. She was a few jumps away from having the cat tower crumble on her. We immediately hopped in the cart and went to PetsMart to buy a new one and then grabbed hugs from most of Valerie's siblings, their significant others, and their kids. We always like to grab one last round of hugs before we head out on these long trips, a tradition that goes all the way back to our Honeymoon 10.5 years ago.

    After some quick visits, we were back home to put up the new cat tower, do some last minute packing, grab a very late dinner (9:30pm), and then off to one last night of sleep in our bed for more than 3 weeks. Thankfully we had an early afternoon flight which gave us some much needed extra time. As we were getting ready, Valerie realized she hadn't packed any blouses and I realized we didn't have any additional room in the one bag we had extra weight capacity in. We quickly moved everything to a new, larger suitcase, Valerie threw her blouses in the case and off we went, hoping we didn't forget anything important.

    Usually we only travel with a carry-on. I hate checking bags; I don't like paying for them, I don't like having to stop somewhere before security, I don't like waiting for our bags after the flight has landed. I also don't trust the airlines to get out luggage where we are going. While I haven't had a lost luggage experience myself, I have heard so many horror stories from others, I just don't like taking the risk. This time, given how ling we were going to be gone, we decided to take an additional bag. We bought a large suitcase from Costco and we both went a little overboard, bringing additional clothing we didn't need. After we packed the new suitcase, I weighed it and it was 72 lbs, 22 lbs over Jet Blue's checked bag allowance, and would cost $150 in "oversized luggage fees" in addition to the $40 we had to pay for the privilege of putting a bag under the plane. The cost to ship the one suitcase on the same plane as we were on was going to cost $10 more than we paid to have one of us sit in the plane. It only cost $40 for an additional bag, so now we were bringing 2 carry-ons, 2 checked bags, and we each had our backpacks. 

   I used to love flying. Getting on the plane and feeling pushed into your seat as the plane's wheels leave terra firma and being completely disconnected for the duration of the flight was freeing. Looking out the window and seeing the ground speed by, the comforting views of the Bay Area, the central valley, the Sierras, the deserts of Nevada and Utah, the soaring peaks of the Rockies and then the vast plains of the "flyover states" were something exciting. I've become a much more anxious flyer post-Covid. The long lines in security, the ever changing rules about luggage and security procedures, the unhappy people (literally watched one guy "bitch slap" another while we were eating lunch), everyone pushing to get on the plane, being packed in like sardines on the plane, all make me incredibly stressed. And now we were checking multiple bags adding one more thing to worry about.

    I was complaining to my brother-in-law about having to check bags and what if the airline lost it. Valerie and I were on a cruise a few years ago where an airline had lost an entire family's luggage and they had to get on the ship for a week long cruise with only the clothes on their backs and I did not want to experience this. His suggestion to my concerns was to get AirTags so I would know if the bags were on the plane with us. I hadn't used them before, but decided to give it a go and it was so nice to be able to track our bags and make sure they were on the plane. We also put a week's worth of clothes in our carry-on so even if our checked luggage was lost, we would still be fine. 

    After finishing packing our second checked suitcase, we loaded up the car, said goodbye to Callie, and drove to my parents' house. They were gracious to give us a ride to SFO, which we were and still are grateful for. After an exchange of hugs and snicker doodles, my favorite cookie, we headed out to SFO for an uneventful and quick drive. My parents dropped us off, we checked our two bags and headed to security.

    Security was interesting. Before I got TSA Precheck and Global Entry, I had a subscription to Clear. I used it a few times and it was fine, but once I got Precheck, I didn't think Clear was going to be a thing. Precheck was cheaper, allowed you to keep your electronics in your bags, and allowed you to go through the simple metal detector instead of having to take off your shoes and send nudes to some stranger in a booth a few feet away from you who you have to trust won't send them to their friend, only to have to still get a pat down from another stranger because the x-ray machine couldn't see through both your jeans and your underwear. Apparently I was wrong because Clear now has 2 options, Clear and Clear with Precheck. If you have Clear with Precheck, you still have to send nude pictures to some edge lord in a booth, negating one of the best reasons to have Precheck! And the line for Clear was longer than the normal Precheck line. No "regerts" for cancelling my Clear subscription!

    The new security machines were really nice though. There are stations along the conveyer belt that you go to put your items through the x-ray. Bins pop up a couple feet above the ground and when you grab one, another pops up for you if you need it. Just put your items in the bin, and push it onto the conveyer belt, grab the next bin and repeat until everything is headed through the x-ray. On the other side of the metal detector, the conveyer belt continues and you can grab your items from the bins and let them continue on. At the end of the conveyer belt is an automatic bin return. No need to push your bin down or take it to a collection area, just let it continue on and it will automatically go back to the beginning. Really cool how automated the process is.

    Once we were through security, we found our gate, hit the restroom, and then grabbed some bahn mi's for lunch. Second trip in a row where we had Vietnamese sandwiches for lunch before boarding our plane. This is where I saw one man "bitch slap" another and both walked away like nothing had happened. It was surreal. 

    After lunch, it was time to board our plane. The flight was completely full and it took the full 50 minutes we had to get everyone on the plane. The boarding process is another source of anxiety for me. I will pretty much always pay to get on the plane early, especially with my dislike of checking luggage. I want to ensure we can put our things in the overhead bin. What I don't understand is why everyone crowds the gate when they start boarding. You know they are going to call for people with disabilities and who need extra time to get on the plane first, then business class, then people with airline status, then boarding group A, boarding group B, etc. Just wait until your group is called and then go to the gate, don't make everyone else have to walk around you.

    After our boarding group was called, we headed to gate, wading though people in groups B & C, and then got on the plane. A common theme on this trip is going to be interactions with the elderly. When on longer cruises (12+ days), or on bucket list type trips like Alaska, you tend to get mostly retired folks on those trips. I had expected our cruise to have a very high average age, but had forgotten we were flying to the promised land of retirees, Fort Lauderdale, FL. It took a good 5 minutes waiting on the jet bridge before we could get on the plane due to the large number of elderly passengers needing to get settled first. Once we got to our seats, I checked our AirTags, saw all 6 of our bags were near us, breathed a sigh of relief, and we settled in for a pretty uneventful flight.

    We caught a really nice tailwind and landed early, which was a nice surprise. Our checked luggage came very quickly and we headed to the ride share pickup, ordering an Uber XL for our many, many bags, and headed to the hotel. The hotel was nice enough for a night and they had a shuttle that would take us to the cruise terminal in the morning for $9 per person which was great! We were both very hungry at this point but neither of us wanted to try to find something as it was 9:30 at night, so we decided to DoorDash. I found a Cuban restaurant that was still open and taking orders so we ordered a couple of Cuban sandwiches and couple of empenadas. The sandwiches were good, but the empenadas were fantastic! With full bellies and long day behind us, we headed to bed.

    Morning came quickly, but we both slept well and were ready to get to our new home for the next 21 days, the Majestic Princess! At 10:15am we went down to catch the shuttle and after some confusion about which shuttle was going to which ship, we got on the shuttle, paid $20 for the trip, and were taken with a dozen other eager cruise passengers to Port Everglades Cruise Terminal 2. We were dropped off in front of the porters and they took our bags and we were off to security. After a brief wait we put our things through the x-ray for the second time in 24 hours, walked through the metal detectors with no issues and then found "the green line".

    On all the other cruises we have been on, we were given a small credit card sized card which is your room key as well as how you pay for things on the ship. Princess does things a little different as they have medallions. These are essentially AirTags that do the same thing that the "Sign and Sail" cards do for other cruise lines, but using much modern technology. We ordered our medallions a few weeks before we left and they were delivered about a week prior to our cruise. We were able to go through a faster line because we already had our medallions. In the "Green Line", they check to make sure your medallion works, that it is with the person it is intended for, then they check your passport and make sure everything is correct, and then you are on your way to board the ship. It was really easy and super convenient. With other cruise lines, the lower your status on cruise line, the longer it will take you to get on the ship, but with Princess, it doesn't appear that your status has any impact on how long it takes you to board which is really nice given this is our first time on a Princess cruise. You also don't have a check-in time, you just get told to check-in between 11-2. Really nice. After we were checked in, we headed onto the ship. From the time we got off the shuttle to the time we were on the ship was less than 10 minutes!

     Crossing the gangway for the first time is always an incredible feeling, and this time was no exception. The ship has an amazing "wow" factor. You enter into the atrium or "La Piazza", the center of the ship. The designs on the hardwood floor are gorgeous and there are glass chandeliers and lights everywhere. It feels expansive and intimate at the same time. On other ships we've been on the midship atrium is focused around the bar, but not here. The bars are on every floor, but they don't ever feel like the focus of an area. The bars on other ships we have been on have always felt like the focus, but on the Majestic they seem more like they are just another spot to hang out and relax and enjoy the ambience of the ship more so than thing to be focusing on. It's very different from our other experiences and very welcome!

    After marveling about the atrium, we decided to find our cabin and drop off our backpacks. As we approached our cabin, we saw Valerie's face pop up on a screen outside the door with a message that said "Welcome Valerie", and a green light lit up around the door handle. Our cabin number is A404, which has been making me laugh to myself ever since we booked and I was glad we did indeed find our room (404 is an HTML error meaning "Page not found"). Valerie grabbed the handle, opened the door and we entered into our new home. It's a simple room, beautiful, light and bright. Everything was clean and inviting. We dumped out backpacks and decided what to do next.

    We decided to complete the muster process before we did anything else, watching a safety video on Valerie's phone. After that, we made our way to our muster station where we checked in and I was told I would need to watch the video again because it has to be watched on each of our devices, so after we were checked into our muster station, I turned on the video and proceeded to ignore my phone for the next 6.5 minutes while we explored the area of the ship around our muster station. After having a quick look around, we headed to the Lido deck for lunch.

    Valerie and I have a really hard time making food decisions. At home when we are planning meals or ordering DoorDash we both have a really hard time figuring out what we want to eat. That decision paralysis was immediately turned to 11 when we got to the Lido deck. There is so much delicious looking food on the ship, from the burger bar, to the noodle bar, to make your own gyros, to multiple salad bars, Italian food, Asian food, Spanish food, American classics, multiple carving stations, Mexican food, gringo Mexican food, a Ramen bar, nacho bar, more dessert than you can imagine, incredible fresh fruit. It was overwhelming. We eventually decided on make your gyros and the various accoutrements that accompanied the gyros. They were so good! I decided to go back for a second plate to try some Filipino Adobo which was also great!

    After lunch we headed down to our room to unpack. When we got there, our first two bags were delivered and 20 minutes later, our final two bags got there as well. This was when I realized how much we had overpacked. The room doesn't have a ton of storage. There is one closet with 20 hangers, a small cupboard with 4 shelves, and 8 small drawers between the night stands, side table, and desk. We made it work, but there was no reason to pack as much as we did and I think we made things harder on ourselves by doing so. If we were able to do our 3 week honeymoon and 3 weeks in Australia with just a backpack and carry-on we could have done it here as well. Life is a series of learning experiences and I've learned this one well. I'm not looking forward to lugging 6 bags through Rome and Lisbon, but that's a problem for future Bill.

    It felt great to be unpacked but it was very warm in the cabin after that. I headed up to the bar to grab some water and Cokes to help us cool off and our cabin steward came by to introduce himself. His name is Jefferson and he's great. He brought us some champaign to celebrate the start of our adventure and left us to enjoy the rest of the day. 

    One of the things I've noticed about the cruising industry lately is the erosion of the value of cruising. When I first started cruising 20+ years ago, your stateroom was serviced in the morning and in the evening, you got a chocolate on your pillow every night, the service in the dining was superb with white table cloths and incredible food, even on the lower cost cruise lines like Carnival and Royal Caribbean. Over those last 20 years, costs for cruising has gone up and the level of service has gone down. Post-Covid, rooms are only serviced once per day, no chocolates on your pillow, service in the main dining rooms is still good, but the white table cloths are replaced with bare tables and food quality has diminished. Don't get me wrong, I love cruising and Carnival and Royal Caribbean are excellent cruise lines, but you get less for more money than you did when I started cruising. 

    Princess on the other hand still maintains that high level of service. While we don't get chocolates, we do get room service twice per day, the dining experience is excellent, the food is amazing and you get so much value if you add on the Princess Plus package. The Princess Plus package includes wifi for 1 device, all drinks are free as long as they cost < $15, you get two desserts per day and some of those desserts are incredible ice cream sundaes, and it covers all your gratuities. The upfront cost of a Princess cruise is higher than Royal or Carnival, but the value is so much higher.

    Around 4:00pm, it was time to depart port. We stayed on our balcony and watched as we passed through the last land we will see for the next 8 days. The weather was overcast but warm and the water was still in the way only the Caribbean can be. If you've been there, you know what I mean, and if you don't, get to the Caribbean, there is nothing like it. 

    Once we were out of sight of land, we decided to explore. We started on deck 19 and worked our way down to deck 5. There was so much to see and every inch of this ship is beautiful. While exploring, we found the house band, a 7 piece jazz band with keys, drums, guitar, bass, tenor, trumpet and trombone. They were amazing, playing from digital fake books. Made me miss my playing days but I can't wait to hear more from them.

    After exploring everything we wanted to see, we went to the spa and booked one treatment in the spa for each week we are on the ship. We'll be doing acupuncture and cupping later this week, hot stones next week, and facial and body massages on my birthday, all done on sea days so we don't miss anything in port.

    Our spa treatments booked, we headed back to our cabin to get ready for dinner. We switched out of our casual clothes to our slightly less casual clothes and headed down to our dining room. There are 3 different dining rooms on the ship, each with a different style. We chose the traditional cruise dining experience and are happy we did. The late dinner seating was very quiet with most of the tables empty. With the population of the ship being older, the early dining time is much more popular. We actually heard some folks complaining about having to wait until 5:30 for dinner which made us chuckle. Our waiter is "T" and she's from Thailand with our Jr. Waiter named Robert from the Philippines. They were both fantastic, although my first request may have made them a little crazy. I ordered a paloma with Pantalones Tequila and they had never heard of it, so they had to find the bar waiter and figure out what it was, but I overhear them saying paloma over and over again the rest of the night.

    For dinner, I had grilled vegetables with a marinated goat cheese and pork tenderloin with a coconut rice, both of which were fantastic. Valerie won the award for best appetizer with a Caribbean bean soup and cajun fried chicken (which T called PFC for Princess Fried Chicken). Her chicken came with a buttermilk biscuit which may have been the best biscuit I have ever tasted. Then came time for dessert of cruise coffee (one of my favorite things) and Valerie had vanilla ice cream with caramel sauce and I had a hazelnut chocolate souffle which wins best souffle on a cruise ship (sorry Mom, your Grand Marnier Souffle has been dethroned!).

    During dinner we had a visit from the dining room manager and we learned the ship is only at about 75% capacity which is nice for everyone. There are also 40 kids on the ship which was surprising to me given they should be in school. When we get to Barcelona, we will be dropping off quite a few people and taking more on, so when we get to Barcelona, the number of folks on the ship will increase a bit, but the number of kids is going to increase by an order of magnitude. Seems like the back half of the cruise will be very different from the front half!

    After dinner, we headed to the theater where a magician was performing. He was entertaining, but kept demanding applause from the audience before he would perform something. I was getting really annoyed by it, to the point Valerie asked me about it. Don't demand I applaud you before you do something. Do something and I will applaud you according to my feelings on what you've done. Left a bad taste in my mouth, but he was still entertaining.

    I do like our cruise director, Lloyd. He's from Wales and gave us a rundown on the different nationalities of the guests on board. There are 32 different nationalities on board which is really cool.

    After the show, we decided to head back to our cabin and I pretty much immediately passed out. It was a great first day on board the Majestic Princess!

    If you gotten this far, thank you for reading my inane ramblings. Today was another fun day, but this is already far too long so I'll save that for tomorrow!