Traveling with the Jones

Since Mr. Jones was going to London for a 2-week work trip (again), I decided to book a last minute 7-day cruise on the Star Princess  by myself.

I loved the California Coastal itinerary, and I was curious to experience the new San Francisco cruise terminal at Pier 27.

I wasn’t looking forward to sailing solo as cruising with Mr. Jones is so much fun.

However, nothing ventured, nothing gained.  I booked the cruise and flights within a week of departure.

Mr. Jones was bummed he couldn’t go, but he did take a look at the Roll Call for my cruise on Cruise Critic.

“You got to go to this group’s get-together. They look like fun,” he said.

I wasn’t convinced.  As long-time readers and contributors to Cruise Critic, we’d have some bad experiences with “Meet & Greet” groups from Cruise Critic in the past. Officers from the ship were present, and rather than a session to meet new cruise friends, the meeting became a big complaint session.

But as I read the thread, everyone seemed interesting, fun, well-traveled, and determined to have a good time.

Plus, they were organizing a Lets Party Wine Party, with everyone bringing a bottle of wine to share to the in-stateroom party.

I added my name to the list, and once I got settled on the ship, I sought out the group during sail away.

They were easy to pick out because the men wear hats with distinctive hair.

Here are Frank and Mary (known as F&M Love to sail on Cruise Critic) and also known as Mr. and Mrs. Gummy Bear. They hosted the Lets Party Wine Party in their balcony stateroom. 

Frank and Mary’s second nickname has something to do with the plates of gummy bears in their balcony cabin that they graciously opened for the wine party.

This couple dressed up for the wine party.

There was a plethera of wines of all kinds, including one brought all the way from New Zealand by Kiwi Ange (AandL on Cruise Critic.)

The New Zealand wine turned out to be the best part of the party as it led me to meeting Angela, another solo traveler from New Zealand who is fantastic fun.

Angela and I made plans to dine together at Sabatini’s, and ending up having lots of fun together throughout the cruise.

Between the Cruise Critic ‘Meet & Greet” and the Lets Party Wine Party, I also got to meet Fred & Dot from North Carolina (Fredr500 on Cruise Critic), Betty (Pacifica Breeze on Cruise Critic), and Harvey & Myrna (Sunshine Gal PV on Cruise Critic), jammen, LETS PARTY, CalifCruisers, and other interesting travelers.

The cruise no longer seemed solo- everywhere I went there was almost always someone familiar to chat with, join for a quick meal or meet for a drink.

So if you are traveling solo or with a group, and like meeting new people, do sign up for the Roll Call for your cruise on Cruise Critic.

Have you ever taken a cruise by yourself? What strategies did you use to meet new people? Please share in comments below.

 Check out these other posts on cruising and on traveling solo:

• 8 Things I Learned From Traveling Solo
• 12 Strategies For Getting the Best Value on Your Next Cruise
• 22 Things I Learned on My First Cruise Vacation
• 11 Days of Menus from the Seabourn Sojourn World Cruise
• Packing Advice for a 2-Week Land+Cruise Tour to Alaska
• How to Get an Onboard Credit For Every Cruise You Take

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I love a good ghost story, and I’m one of those people who regularly watch movies and TV shows related to paranormal investigation.  I love all things scary, and in spite of today being Halloween, I wanted to share with you my personal 4 favorite Haunted US cities:

1. St. Augustine, Florida

It’s no surprise that I absolutely love this Northeast Florida city.  I’ve had the opportunity to write about some of my favorite things to eat, drink, and do in St. Augustine and I made sure to include it in my list of Can’t Miss Beaches in Florida.

St Augustine is much more than a pretty beach city, it’s the oldest city in the United States.  It’s age makes it a city of tons of history and stories.  This rich history has led to the development of many ghost stories in the area which tend to revolve around the cemeteries, the light house, the old pharmacy, and many other locations in the downtown area.

I’ve had the experience to go on several types of ghost tours in this area from the fun ones focused on sharing stories, to the more “serious” ones where you have the ability to use ghost hunting equipment.  On these tours you can hear the sad stories of the untimely death of those who used to live there, and then as well as the stories of ruthless conquistadors, pirates, and inmates.

The spooky side of this city makes it one of my favorite places to visit.

2. San Antonio, Texas

I had the opportunity to travel to San Antonio Texas around Halloween a few years back with my mother.  We loved the city, the history of it, and the spooky stories we were able to hear.  There’s a lot of death throughout the history of the city, which makes for some great ghost stories.

It’s also a beautiful city with a rich culture to share.  Being around Halloween, we were able to experience part of their celebration for the Day of The Dead, which is a celebration to remember those who have passed.

One of my favorite parts from visiting San Antonio was taking a boat tour.  We did this on Halloween, and our tour was led by a man dressed as a Ghost Buster.

 

3. Savannah, Georgia

Savannah is another really cool city I’ve visited with my mother to check out the spooky side of.  It’s the oldest city in Georgia and has a relatively gruesome history.  The city was a hot spot during the civil war, and even cemeteries were destroyed to “house” soldiers.

For example Colonial Cemetery in Savannah was completely destroyed by Sherman’s army during the civil war.  They camped in the cemetery, vandalizing grave stones and even sleeping in some of the graves to keep warm.  This place gave me such a spooky feeling because of the many unmarked graves throughout the cemetery.

There are all kinds of houses, museums, and restaurants you can visit in Savannah that can share some type of haunted history with you.

 

4. Key West, Flordia

Key West, Florida, is another one of my Can’t Miss Beaches that has some pretty cool haunts.  While I must admit, I enjoy Key West for other reasons, it does have some cool stories.  One in particular regarding Robert the Doll.

This is Robert the Doll, and he can be found in the East Martello Museum (at the fort near the airport).  This doll has a reputation of cursing and even torturing some people.  He was known to taunt and harass all of his previous owners, but now as a piece of a museum, he continues to cause unusual occurrences.

It’s said that if you visit Robert you must always be polite and respectful, and if you want to take a picture you must physically ask him or he will potentially curse you.  Many people who mock Robert have very “unlucky” things happen to them very shortly after doing so.  However if you do remain polite and respectful, he might help you with problems as well.

My mom’s husband has a friend with an interesting personal story about Robert.  She had been out with friends at the bars on Duval Street, and somewhere during the night she had lost her purse.  When she realized it was missing, she had narrowed it down to the bar it was most likely at and got back in contact with them.  The man working at the bar, being the only person there, had searched the entire place and found no sign of her purse.  He told her to call back again later to see if it had turned up.  On a desperate attempt, she went to Robert.  She left Robert a letter asking him to help her, because she had money and other important belongings in her purse.  When she had returned to where she was staying, she received a call from the man at the bar.  That morning, he explained to her that he was the only person in the bar, and there was no sign of her purse.  He had walked into another room for a couple minutes, and when he returned her purse was sitting on the middle of the bar, and nothing was missing from it.

Needless to say, after this experience, she is a very firm believer in Robert.

These are just 4 of my favorite spooky cities in the United States.   What is your favorite haunted city? Please scroll down and leave your answers below in the comments!

This post was written by Lauren Youngerman, a student at the University of South Florida studying international business with a focus on Spanish and Info Systems.

She is a member of her school’s sailing team, and also works as a sailing coach at a nearby club.

Lauren is an adventure seeker who has had the opportunity to live abroad in both Brazil and Nicaragua, as well as to being a part of the U.S. Army.

Currently completing a social media internship for VentureTime Travel, Lauren seeks a career in marketing after graduation. Learn more about Lauren’s work experience via her LinkedIn profile. 

Learn more from Lauren’s travel experiences and insights by checking out her other posts:

• How to Pack Three Months of Your Life Into One Suitcase
• “As a child, my parents didn’t buy me “˜things,’ but spent on experiences, such as travel, that allowed me to grow as a person.” A Travel Chat with an International Business Student
• 13 Favorite Things to Eat, Drink, and Do in St. Augustine, Florida
• 6 Tips for Your First-time Hostel Stay
• The Search For the Best Cuban in Tampa
• 6 “Can’t Miss” Beaches in Florida
• 10 Fun Facts About Tampa, Florida
• 8 Things I Learned From Traveling Solo

Are you in search of other haunted destinations? Check out this post: 

• Five Spooktacular Places to Spend Halloween

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I just returned from a 7-day cruise on Princess Cruises Star Princess cruise ship that sailed to Mexico and the California Coast round-trip from San Francisco’s new Pier 27 Cruise Terminal.

I booked an inside guarantee stateroom about a week before departure.  I was assigned interior stateroom B-625, located on Deck 11 which is called the Baja Deck.

As Mr. Jones was traveling for work in London, I cruised solo. I found it a little uncomfortable that they put your name on the door plate, although I guess I could have removed it.

Here’s the first view inside when you open the door and enter interior stateroom B-625. The back wall is covered with mirrors, as is the wall over the desk.  There is no sofa or sitting area. The cabin measures 160 square feet in total size.

I found the bed to be unbelievably hard.  Didn’t every major hotel chain and cruise ship upgrade their beds back in about 2005? Not in this room.  My table mates at dinner had the same issue — they complained and got egg-crate toppers added to their beds.

Here’s the view of the room from the other direction (I couldn’t avoid being reflected in the photo.) The chair at the desk is the only seating in the room.

Note the wall-mounted hair dryer over the desk. Yuck!  For one person, this room was quite adequate. There was a refrigerator in a cabinet below the television.

Beside the phone are two plug-ins — the only ones in the cabin. The plugs are too close together to accomodate larger iPhone/iPad plugs and/or computer plugs. I brought our travel-size power strip with 3 outlets – it fit into one outlet and allowed me to power my computer and charge my phone at the same time.

The open-style closet was just off to the right as you entered the cabin. This area was quite spacious, and also led to the bathroom.

If Mr. Jones were along, we would have had to ask for more hangers. I was traveling fairly “lite” and used all of the hangers.

Here is the panoramic view of the small bathroom.  I found it fairly similar to most cruise ship bathrooms for interior or ocean-view staterooms.

The sink had a good-size shelf underneath for storage. There were also several shelves above the sink cabinet for storing toiletries.  As you can see in the photo above, there is a power plug in the bathroom, but is wouldn’t handle a blow dryer or flat iron.

A really picky comment – but couldn’t the towels be hung on the racks with more precision?

A closer look at the toilet and towel bar. These photos were shot right after I entered the room.

The shower was tiny, but similar to most cruise ships.

Here’s a close-up view of the shower gel and shampoo/conditioner. No separate conditioner was provided.

My stateroom, B-625, is considered a category IB interior cabin, the second highest interior cabin category.

As a last-minute booking, I did not choose this cabin. While it is in a fairly good location — just aft of mid-ship on Deck 11 — I would not recommend the cabin as every night about 3:15 am I was wakened by loud thuds on the ceiling of my stateroom.  (Generally, I’m a sound sleeper at sea, but this sounded like someone  repeatedly dropping a bowling ball above me.

I did not complain, but one day I did visit deck 12 to see what was above me (I had thought it was cabins.)  It turned out to be an area marked “crew only.” I asked a staffer what was in this area and she said it was part of the two-deck kitchen for the Horizon Court buffet restaurant on deck 14. (There is no deck 13 on the Star Princess.)  I imagined the noise as some middle-of-the-night baker dropping giant bags of flour.

My bottom line on the interior staterooms on the Star Princess:

• At 160 sq. ft., the interior staterooms are quite small compared to other ships. The mirrors help the room feel spacious, and the open closet near the bathroom makes for a good use of space.
• Interior stateroom B-625 is a Category IB stateroom, the second highest level of interior cabins.
• Since I paid for a guarantee, and got upgraded, I had no complaint, but if I had paid more for this stateroom I would have asked to be moved due to loud noises from the deck above about 3:15 am each morning. (I was told the area above is part of a 2-deck kitchen for the Horizon Court buffet restaurant.
• The mattress was unexpectedly hard and uncomfortable. Others on the cruise had the same issue and received “egg crate” mattress toppers on their beds.
• Like many ships, the plug-ins are limited to the two on the desk.  Bring a mini power strip.
• The open closet is quite spacious and the in-cabin refrigerator is a nice addition.
• Drawer space was very limited, but there was a nice built-in cabinet with storage shelves as part of the open closet.

Have you sailed in an interior cabin on the Star Princess or another cruise ship? If so, what did you think? Please share your thoughts in comments below.

To take a look around other cruise ships, check out these posts:

• A Look Around Holland America’s Nieuw Amsterdam
• A Look Inside Interior Cabin #10425 on Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas
• Setting Sail from Singapore on the Seabourn Sojourn
• A Look Around the World’s Largest Cruise Ship, the Allure of the Seas
• A Look Inside Suite 325 on the Seabourn Pride
• Views from the Nieuw Amsterdam
• A Look Inside Spa Verandah Stateroom 10034 on Holland America’s Nieuw Amsterdam
• Views from the Seabourn Pride

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