Pig1959

CCL could go BR over this when all is said and done.... stock is at 10 bucks....that's a long way from where it was a month ago

Order either of these three...not all baristas know the "red eye"....

Red Eye

Hammerhead

Shot in the Dark

Just posted this in the Roll Call for the cruise that embarks today... we are pulling into San Pedro as I write this, and this probably applies to ANY ship these days.... Happy Cruising:

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Hi... posting this at close to 0400 from ABOARD the Star Princess as we pull into San Pedro... can see the port lights on the TV screen on Channel 42. All in all, a nice Xmas/New Year's cruise. Great crew, decent food (it's been better on Princess -- NO escargots unless your ducks fall in a row and you give a lot of gifts to the crew away and some of those crew happen to be dining-room head waiters LOL...no, seriously. We've been Elite for awhile and really reconsidering traveling with Princess in the future...have noticed a "gradual" decrease in amenities/quality with a corresponding INCREASE in fees for those same amenities/quality over the years/cruises, but I digress....

The main reason I'm posting here is to let you folks know and be prepared to develop the "Princess Cough"... over half the ship has it. I started developing a sore throat in Maui about a week or so ago and MANY people have been to the Med Center to take care of it. That was one of the busiest venues on the ship. I personally think it's the half-ass "washing" of barware, but it could be that or folks sharing menus in the dining room, not washing their hands after using the bathroom -- you know, the typical stuff.

Just wanted to forewarn you folks to just be prepared any way you can so it doesn't catch you by surprise.

Other than that, enjoy the Star!!!! We'll be there shortly.

Cheers....

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.... way to proofread.... (smh)

My suggestion to you is to NOT prepay for the beverage package and buy it when you board the ship. They will be right there in your face so no need to miss buying it. The reason I say this is because the last time we had the beverage package, I had pre-bought it and then they were offering a "discount" of the first day for FREE when you bought it on board... hell, that's a hundred bucks.... took me four days to hunt down the proper F&B manager to get my account credited.

You've been warned..... ;-))

If you get friendly with certain bartenders, they will give you as many as you want to take back to your cabin at the end of the night.... we were partial to Perriers.... it makes it a lot easier to give your cabin steward whatever is stocked in the fridge on day one to take back to stock. We're Elite so a certain number of things were in there gratis on day one, but we swapped all the soft drinks out for the Perriers to begin with. Can't remember if non-Elite has their fridge stocked with "buyable" product or not.

As far as taking the cruise card to the hot tub, just fold the card over in a T-shirt or something and the cocktail servers will "fish" it out of your clothes if you don't want to exit the hot tub to pay for your Mojito ;-)

December 4th, we had lunch in the dining room. I understand that this December 19th cruise left late, and my assumption for the reason is that they probably had the Princess Cruises corporate Christmas party on board, and I bet that lunch was NOT served in the dining room. I also imagine that in January, they'll be back to serving lunch in the DR on Embarkation Day.

Merry Christmas.

Nope, didn't exercise -- or eat any bread of any sort, starches, etc. Has loads to do with it.

Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas.

We were on this same cruise... I disagree with our experience with the crew. Top notch in every venue we were in. Actually one of the first times we went out of our way to give an extra gratuity here and there to some of them. Everyone's experience is obviously different.

As far as the scooters go, yeah, there were probably more of those and walkers than I've ever seen on a cruise. That said, MOST of the people that were in scooters were younger types that simply let themselves go and had no respect for their well-being -- i.e., overweight and WAY too large for the size of scooter they bought/rented..... Time to hit the treadmill for most of these folks. STEP AWAY FROM THE BUFFET!!!!! I saw one guy fall over on the dock at Lahaina... he was about 400 pounds and in what looked like a kid's stroller. *sigh*

Yeah, I can comment on this having lost 50+ pounds before it got away from me in the last 3 years and kept it off. Choices.

Funny you mention more veggies and less starch.... we ate 2nd seating dinner in Botticelli at a fantastic table with even better service. My wife and I do not eat bread, potatoes, or rice. We had to tell the waiter/assistant ONCE the first night of this and never had to mention it again and they got it right every time. Try that with "Anytime Dining".... you'd have to do that same spiel at EVERY meal..... you're missing out not being on fixed dining, ESPECIALLY since you eat the same way we do. Just sayin'....

Merry Christmas.

New Mexican territory....

Oh, and I didn't realize we sold Hawaii to Mexico... the Princess.com bridge cam says you guys are underway towards Hilo, Mexico LOL

Wait about two days... those swells will increase .... LOVED THAT PART !!!

Oh, and the internet? It will NOT improve... hope you brought an air card/hotspot with you... it'll work great in Honolulu and semi-great in Maui and Hilo.....otherwise, keep it packed.

Well, it's rather simple... whether you're actually ON the cruise ship or OFF of it -- like on these boards -- there will ALWAYS be folks that need to complain about something.

It's funny how two different passengers on the exact same cruise can have such differing opinions. My wife and I got off the exact same Grand Princess cruise today and I cannot agree with anything except the few positive things she had to say. BTW, the name of that cocktail waitress in the Wheelhouse had to be Kusum. There were MANY OTHER notable people by name that I've sent in the review for to Princess Cruises.

We thought the food was the best we've had on a cruise lately. And the New York last night was very tender. Diff'rent strokes.

Yeah, was watching the bridge cam and noticed your late departure... we just got off the Grand today... hope we left some alcohol for you ;-)))

Just got off the Grand today.... I, too, had purchased the drink package (we got a terrific value from it ;-) ahead of time. Lo and behold, if you buy it the first day ON BOARD, you get the first day free (about 100 bucks' worth for our 15-day cruise). It was quite the hassle for the purser's desk to refund the $100, but they finally did it. So don't buy it ahead of time; buy it ON BOARD!!!