“Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it. You must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it.” – Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat Pray Love
AT SEA WITH GRAND PRINCESS - MARCH 15, 2013
Tomorrow we say "ADIOS" to our beloved Princess. The Grand Princess is the beautiful ship that we sailed together around South America. Forty nine days with the Princess was an exciting and fascinating experience. This was our first long journey on a cruise ship and will forever remember our wonderful voyage. Let me share some happy moments w/ this Princess.
Grand Princess is a Grand-class cruise ship owned by Princess Cruises. Built in 1998 by Fincantieri Cantieri Navali Italiani in Monfalcone, Italy, with hull number 5956, at a cost of approximately US$450 million. She was the largest and most expensive passenger ship ever built at the time.
Inside Our Ocean View State Room - Emerald Deck #210
The Comfortable Stateroom Where We Spent Most of Our Time When We Were At Sea. When At Port, We Were Busy Touring. When The Sea Was Rough, I Slept Most Of The Time Here.
During Embarkation Day At Ft.Lauderdale, Florida. So Yesterday! And Now We Were Near The End Of Our 49 Days Cruise. The Days Went By So Fast Like A Sea Breeze.
"Bon Voyage" From Ft.Lauderdale, Florida. Soon, Its "Welcome Back Home" To The United States.
Let's Take A Tour Of The Grand Princess. The Ship Lobby During Champagne Fountain Night.
Cruise Director Speaking At The Atrium Balcony During Formal Night. Very Elegant Atrium.
Captain Tony Herriott Giving Welcome Speech From The Atrium Balcony.
Formal Night Photo Taken Outside Our State Room. SMILE! SMILE! You're On Camera!
My Good Looking Hubby And Escort On First Formal Night At The Cruise
One Of The Many Festive Dinners We Enjoyed W/ Some Filipino Couples We Met On Board.
Beautiful View Of The Blue Ocean From Our Stateroom
Another Formal Night W/ Some Filipino Friends (Norie & Tony), That We Met On Board And Our Excellent Filipino Waiters.
Lets Take A Break From Eating And Walk Around The Lovely Grand Princess Indoor Pool. This Pool Was Crowded During Days At Sea. Taken At Port, When Most Passengers Were On Land tours.
Here's The Beautiful Outdoor Pool And Jacuzzi
The Outdoor Pool With Large Theater Screen For Watching Movies Under The Stars At Night. Very Inviting And Munching On Buttered Pop-Corn Coupled W/ Cozy, Warm Blanket. During Days At Sea, We Watched Current Movies At The Theater Mid-Ship.
Colorful Grand Princess Orange Life Jacket. A VIP For Emergency. No Body Knows What Calamity Will Happen At Sea?
One Of The Attractive Musical And Dance Entertainment On board The Cruise Ship - "British Invasion."
Lots Of Entertainment On Board. In Between Shows There Were Exciting "Tango" Presentations. Never a Dull Moment. Passengers Were Kept Busy W/ Other Activities, Food Demos And Lectures.
A Very Entertaining Food Demo From The Maitre'D. Hilarious Comedy About Gourmet Cooking.
Excellent Singing And Serenade From The Filipino Kitchen Crew
Posing W/ Grand Princess Head Chef. His Gourmet Food Are Worthy Of Royal Feast.
Mouth Watering Pastries And Desserts Were Freshly Baked On Board
Beautifully and Artistically Hand Carved Floral Watermelon On Display. Very Lovely To look At.
Two Love Birds Beautifully Created W/ Yellow Squash, Eggplant, Carrots, Ginger, Pineapple, And Black Olives.
Very Attractive And Amusing Love Birds Created From Tropical Mangoes, Radishes, Broccoli, Ginger And Pineapple.
Visiting The Art Gallery On Board Was A Good Diversion For Enhancing Creativity.
Rhod At The Nice Art gallery On Board
Very Beautiful Crispy Pata, Famous Filipino Fiesta Food. When Our Small Filipino Group On Board, About Five Couples And Some Singles Got Homesick For Filipino Food, We Kindly Requested The Maitre'D Or Head Chef To Cook For Us. Surprisingly, They Catered To Our Many Requests And Wishes. We Enjoyed Many Filipino Togetherness Once A Week. Thank A Million To The Wonderful Culinary Department Of The Grand Princess. You Made Us Happy Cruisers. We All Loved You.
Shrimps Sinigang- One Of Our Favorite Filipino Food. Masarap! Yummy!
Our Last Filipino Get Together. Till We Meet Again "Mga Kaibigan."
"GOOD NIGHT" Somewhere At Sea.
MARCH 16, 2013 - We Woke Up Very Early To The Sound Of "Good Morning America!" We Arrived HomeSafely Here At The Pier 35 San Francisco.
GOODBYE "GRAND PRINCESS." THANK YOU FOR THE MANY BEAUTIFUL MEMORIES. Till Our Next Cruise..... "Our Princess."
P.S. Post-Cruise, We Stayed At San Francisco For 3 More Days At The Hyatt Regency. We Visited And Connected W/ Family, Relatives And Friends. We Celebrated The Birthday Of Our Son, Rodney, Which Was Rare. Most Of All, Our Deep Gratitude To God For This Once In a Life Time south America Trip.
From San Francisco It Was A Short Flight Back To Los Angeles. And We Live Happily Ever After At Our Home In Valencia, California. END OF JOURNEY!
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