Day 3 - Boston

Today was a quiet day so not much to write about. We slept in, then went to the VIP dining room for breakfast.   I participated in a Speed Sudoko contest and finished it in 5 minutes, coming in first and winning a medal.  The ship did not arrive at Boston until 11:00 am so we enjoyed lunch, then went on shore to buy a postcard to send to our great niece's  preschool class.  Since the ship was docked in a commercial area, we did not find any stores, but one person referred us to a small store in the terminal building that catered to the crew.  They had a few postcards so that worked out OK. 

In the afternoon we spent some time in the sun on our balcony until the clouds rolled in and it got a bit chilly. Supper was back in the VIP dining room where they had Mary's all time favorite Princess dessert - Floating Islands!  YUM!!

It is very nice that all dining room menus are available to view on your TV set along with a number of other services.

Tonight they had an Elton John tribute singer in the Princess theater. He was OK.  He encouraged a lot of audience participation and definitely dressed the part.  But neither of us are inclined to see him again.  

After we got back, we found some candy as a Halloween gift from our Suite Experience team.  That was a nice surprise!    

Cruise Day 2 - Newport, RI

We had a relaxing and fairly uneventful day today.  After the ship docked, it was surrounded by a thick fog bank, so tendering ashore was delayed about an hour.  We took an early tender and walked around the town for a while before heading back to the ship. Newport is a very quaint and timeless town. Mary captured a view of a street as we did some shopping.  I rode the top of the tender coming back and got this great shot of our ship.  

After lunch at the Salty Dog Grill, I played some ship-sponsored games, Goofy Golf and Ring Toss, but did not win anything.  Beyond that, we relaxed on deck chairs in the sunny, 60 degree weather and enjoyed the view of this pretty harbor.  

Oh, I forgot to mention that suite guests get a special breakfast in one of the specialty dining rooms.  They start you off with a mimosa (OJ and Champagne) and had some special breakfast items, such asBelgian waffles.  We also have the option of using the VIP dining room for breakfast, which is what we plan to try tomorrow.

I learned that we only have 1700 passengers (official capacity of 3660) on board, so the ship does seem a bit empty, but we see that as a plus. The next leg (which we cancelled) has a full ship. 

We enjoyed our first Club Class dinner tonight. They have a special dining area inside one dining room, with the normal menu plus one special entree. Tonight the special was Lobster Thermidor, which neither of us picked. Mary loved her shrimp dish while I enjoyed a beef medallion.  Then there was dessert.  I could not decide, so I had both a Chocolate Journey and a blueberry cobbler!

We went to the production show, Spotlight Bar, which was OK, but we've seen others that were better.  It was set in a bar, and some people were workers and some patrons, but except for a few, it was hard to tell who was who. The music and dancing were good, but the story was hard to follow.  I guess we are partial to shows with music we recognize. 

Tomorrow we head to Boston, arriving just before noon and staying until 7:00pm.  No excursion planned, but we will head into town and walk around a bit. 

Cruise Day 1

Well, we got on board and are loving our Vista Suite!  441 sq ft of cabin for us, twice the size a normal balcony cabin.  Getting a suite was a surprise for Mary as she was expecting to be in a mini-suite... she found out otherwise as we were checking in for our cruise.  The Vista Suite has a large balcony, couch, desk, two chairs, 1 1/2 bathrooms, three closets and lots of storage space.

Our check in was a bit rough.  Princess now has you upload your passport, covid card, and other documents ahead of time in the Medallion app.  I had this all set up, but then we cancelled the second cruise (we were originally doing this 7 day, followed by a 14 day to the Caribbean) and that messed up Princess' systems.  Some days it thinks we are on a 7 day, and others a 21 day cruise. Today, it thought we were 21 day so our expedited check-in did not work.  After waiting for about 30 minutes, Princess was able to resolve the issue and we were able to board the ship and head to our cabin.  

Sail Away was very nice, with beautiful, sunny weather.   We got great pictures of Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty as we left New York City. We even had a fireboat wishing us safe travels!  I was going to try a selfie with the Statue of Liberty in the background when a fellow passenger offered to take the picture.  If you look real close, you can see the Statue between us. (click on any picture to expand.)

After boarding we checked out our cabin, then headed for a buffet lunch.  Then we toured the ship and learned where things are located.  Later we were surprised when two glasses of champagne were brought to our cabin, followed by a plate of appetizers.   Mary loved the caviar!  After sail away, we headed to a special lounge for suite guests where we enjoyed a glass of wine and some appetizers before a complementary Crown Grill (Princess premier steak house) dinner!  We could easily be spoiled by on-board suite life...  

The Crown Grill meal was excellent, as expected.  We both had filets and a dessert.  Mary's Salted Carmel creme Brulee is on the left while my triple chocolate mouse is on the right.   

So that's it for our first day on the ship.  Tomorrow is Newport, Rhode Island.  

Back to Cruising!

After being "dry docked" for 2 1/2 years, we are checking out post-covid cruising on Princess with a 7-day New England cruise, visiting three US ports and two Canadian. After doing 2 (or more!) cruises/year for quite a while, the lack of cruising has been quite a change.  We shall see how it goes!

For those that don't recall, we were forced off our South American cruise in March 2020 in Buenos Aires, as Princess shut down due to Covid. 

Today was our pre-cruise travel day, so we are spending the night  in New York City at a newly remodeled Fairfield Inn near LaGuardia airport.  Our room has a view of the New York skyline, with the UN Building in one direction and the Manhattan in another.    Enjoy these day and dusk views of the Manhattan skyline.

We had an uneventful flight to LaGuardia.  The hotel was nice enough to arrange a car to take us tomorrow morning to the Enchanted Princess, one of Princess' newest ships.  

So more posts to come as we board the ship tomorrow and then sail north.  

Heading Home

Today started with packing and straightening up our condo, and then we headed to Goodbye Again at the JD Sanctuary.  The event was quite nostalgic, as the group gathered and talked about the activities of the week and a little about the possible future.  The traditional three songs (Rocky Mountain High, Goodbye Again, and Friends with You) were sung.  Afterward, we exchanged hugs with several friends before heading out of Aspen toward Glenwood Canyon.

It was different traversing the canyon from west to east as we nearly always go east to west. As always, the canyon was stunning. You could see many burnt trees from the 2020 Grizzly Creek fire that swept through the canyon, but it was hard to get them to show up in a picture.

The rest of the ride to Denver went smooth, except for two single lane construction zones, but even those did not delay us very much.  Lots of scenery like the above picture of snow capped mountains. 

Tomorrow we head to the airport for our flight home, so not much to report.  It's been a very good trip, less active than some of the past AIO's, but still with plenty of great music.  

Sunday in Aspen

The morning started with a visit to the Aspen Chapel since Mack Bailey was going to provide the music.  We were very pleasantly surprised to see that Chris Nole was joining him!  As expected the church was at full capacity, mainly with John Denver fans.  Chris performed one song by himself and the two of them played three more during the service.  We even met a couple from Northville Michigan after the service!  It was their first time to Aspen in October.

Next up was the Cookhouse event.  This is an annual luncheon and benefit concert which is always sold out. They serve the best trout there, and this year was no exception!  We did not know any of the people at our table, but some were facebook friends with Mary. Chris Nole played with Chris Collins and Jeff Pine.   All in all, a great meal with very nice music. 

The scenery at the Cookhouse was spectacular!  There are always snow capped mountains in the distance.  I'm pretty sure I take these same pictures every time, but the view is too tantalizing to resist!

(click on a picture for a larger version)

Good-Bye Again is the final event tomorrow after which we head for Denver and our Tuesday flight home. 

Saturday in Aspen

We had a quiet morning, then watched the University of Michigan game before heading out to see the Grottos, a place we visit each year. The drive there had some beautiful scenery as you can see from these pictures.  It is so cool to see the aspen trees in full color mode!

Being a Saturday, it was quite busy, but we were able to get a parking spot in the lot.  There were a LOT of people crawling over the rocks, so I got a chance to use a new feature of my Pixel 6a phone called Magic Erasure!

Check the picture on the left vs the one on the right! Pretty cool!

Note: you can click on them to make them larger. 

The evening event was the Chris Collins and Boulder Canyon Band concert at the Wheeler Opera House.  This was a very good show, but seemed to lack the energy of last night's performance.  Chris did some funny things, like singing the opening phrase of Annie's Song in a number of famous singers' voices before singing the entire first verse in his Kermit voice.  He also had some very nice sentimental touches embedded in the show.  One of which was to give flowers to Mrs Melville, the original owner of the Mountain Chalet (a hotel where most people stay) and to thank her for 25 years of hosting the Aspen in October festivities. at her place. He had Jim Conner (composer of the song Grandma's Feather Bed) on stage and had him tell a (lengthy!) story about meeting John Denver, before leading the singing of the Feather Bed song. Jim accompanied the band on his banjo for the rest of the show, but I'm not sure his microphone was turned on very loud as I never heard it. 

As an encore, They played "Friends, I will Remember You" and showed pictures that people had sent in.  Two of Mary's submission made it - her with John Denver friend Gail in Aspen last yer, and one of daughter Katie.

Tomorrow we plan to hear Mack Bailey sing at Aspen Chapel, then on to the Cookhouse Event for lunch and another concert.

Friday Night Concert

 Mary and I relaxed in our room all day, so nothing to write about except tonight's wonderful concert.  The concert was broken into three sets.  First Chris Banister sang, followed by Jeffrey Pine, then Mack Bailey and Chris Nole, with a short intermission between each set.   

You could tell that all performers were having a great time.  Each performer sang their favorite John Denver songs.  Chris Banister and Jeff Pine both added in one of their own songs.  Jeff's was particularly cute -- a take off on Grandma's Feather Bed, but written about his experience with his grandparents.  But the highlight was the Mack and Chris set. 

Chris opened it with a medley of John Denver songs, then they began their set.  Chris even sang one song on his own.   Chris Banister joined them for a closing song and Jeff came back as well for the encores of Calypso and Country Roads. 

All in all, it was a great to hear these guys all sing their favorites.  Nothing like a concert full of energy, both on stage and in the audience!

Ron Matthews Concert

 Tonight's concert was held on the 5th floor of the Mountain Chalet. I have no idea what the rated capacity of that room is, but I'm sure the 200+ people who attended put it well past that number.. 

Ron opened the concert, then added band members one at a time, each new song. Kevin Delmolino on bass, Paul Swanton on guitar, Mark (Button Boy) Nelson on percussion, and Jake Love on vocals. What a great way to introduce the band!

They performed a mixture of well known and more obscure songs, including Mark's rendition of Eagle and the Hawk (no one sings it like him!). 

Ron then a set by himself, opening with Heart to Heart and mentioning Mary by name.

After a break, the band came out and sang a few songs before Ron turned the mic over to Jake.

Ron then brought Jim Horn up to close the concert.  He accompanied Annie's Song, then an intro and conclusion to Yellowstone, on Indian flutes. After some stories by Jim, they closed the concert with Calypso. We've heard that this was to be Jim's last concert. 

All in all, a great way to spend an evening!

Not much planned for tomorrow. except for a concert in the evening.  We might go visit the Grottos and do some other sightseeing.

Maroon Bells

We visited the Maroon Bells today and had beautiful weather!   Cool, crisp, and sunny! Being early October, the aspen trees were golden with virtually none having dropped their leaves.  Neither of us had seen such wonderful color! 

For those of you who have visited the Bells, you know that it seems like you could take a picture every few steps - and that's about what we did.   

Enjoy this sample of our photos. 

As you can see from the bottom left picture, the water level in the lake remains vey low and in fact was too low to get a good reflection picture (without getting off the approved pathways) as you can see on the left.  

After we took the shuttle back to Aspen Highlands, we spotted 5 mule deer grazing a few feet from the road.   Mary got this picture of two of them. 

On to the concert tonight!