SiliconCruiser

3 hours ago, CeCe_ said:

 

You mixed saving a table in buffet to get food with hogging pool chairs.  They are not the same.  There is nothing with the former and terrible wrong with the latter.

It's no different other than an occasional ethnic demographic difference.  Hogs is hogs and discourteous doesn't differ though in some cultures it may seem appropriate.

We provide an additional token of appreciation to room stewards and wait staff (waiters and junior waiters.)  Also occasionally to MDR hosts/hostesses (not head waiters, or managers.)  We do not tip wait staff in the buffet (since we already do that when they are in the dining rooms.)
On one (and only one) occasion, when we had particularly bad service from most of the crew, I pulled gratuities, (after having tipped those who provided service above and beyond.)

7 minutes ago, coo359a2 said:

Fort Lauderdale has 2 separate areas  for embarkation for Platinum and Elite to wait until boarding begins. That’s the only US port we arrive early enough to have to wait in a lounge.      For Disembarkation, the ship  has one lounge set aside for all Elite/Platinum. 

We were on a B2B and never experienced that.  But understood since they probably have a lot of Elite in FL (and I think a lot of them think of themselves as 'elite'.)

10 minutes ago, trbarton said:

Since I’ve traveled solo I wanted to sit with others at the same table each night & they only once did they agree to  let me have the same table each night. My table was called “Papas Table” & many people wanted to sit there. Was your table with other people or by yourself?  For me cruising is meeting other people each night. I’ve made some long time friends at dinner & I could eat at by myself at home. . My experience since the Pandemic is much different than before. 
 

I was on an Alaskan cruise last years on Carnival & the 1st night at dinner I said that I would leave if they didn’t have a share table & that changed everything. 
 

Tom😀

By ourselves.  Since the shutdown, it seems that most of the tables are individual, even for solo travelers.  Also, because the Royal currently caters to a demographic that seems to receive different information about Covid and is distrustful of the U.S. CDC, they seem to try to honor those concerns.  I don't think it is likely that you will find many shared tables.  We used to like those and have met a few people that we have become friends with, or were people that I already knew (SF born and raised) or people that knew people that I grew up with. 

5 minutes ago, trbarton said:

Yes the F line Street Car is an excellent idea. Get off at the Jazz Cafe, pier 23. Remember that you need exact change to ride on our MUNI system. 
 

Tom😀

Clipper card, we're on a reduced fare.

We always took a power strip (with surge protector) on all of our cruises.  Never knew they weren't allowed.  Then on one cruise out of FLL we discovered that we'd forgotten our power strip.  Contacted our niece, who was in FLL and gonna meet us on turnaround day and told her to go to Home Depot (or whatever) and buy the cheapest power strip she could find.  Sure enough, not surge suppressor and that is the one that we take now.

On 3/19/2023 at 6:49 PM, sfpd3000 said:

Which one is April 30th?  Grand?

Royal.  It is going to Vancouver for it's PVSA stop before going to their new port in Seattle for the Alaska season.  Like most cruise ships, the 3 day trip to Vancouver is to make the repo a revenue generating trip. 

On 3/20/2023 at 12:51 PM, Cruise Raider said:

Great idea … looks as though your cruise is sold out and that could be a real mess later in the day if you embark at pier 35.  
Our cruise is short so we will just have a carry on.  We will probably just take BART over and walk to Pier 27 if it’s not raining.  Rain is not something we’ve usually had to worry about … this year, it just keeps on coming!  

Couldn't you just take the F street car to the pier?

23 hours ago, sfpd3000 said:

Since we booked last minute, the only choice we had was Allegro at 6:40.  We were in line at guest relations and saw Claudio.   Went up to him and asked if we could switch to Concerto.  He said the only open times were 5:00 and 7:30.  No problem.  We took 5:00.  Then went to the dining room for lunch and saw Sergio.  Told him we wanted Alvin and Roel again.  He said no problem.  Didn’t even take down our cabin number.  Went to dinner that night and got the same table as before.

I had that same issue!  We just went to Concerto and Sergio and his asst. mgr. took care of us.  All of a sudden we had "traditional dining"  (same table each night, and also for most breakfast and lunch days).

22 hours ago, trbarton said:

I’ll be on the Royal next month & on my cruise last cruise on the Royal in November/December I never sat at the same table twice so  I guess I’ll have to wait until I’m onboard to see what happens. I’ll be in the Concerto so does anyone have any recommendations for the wait staff?

 

Tom😀

Odd.  In February, the assistant restaurant manager asked if we would like the same table each night, and we were accommodated.  They even held the table for us one night when we didn't expect to be on board.  We were mostly able to use the same table for both breakfast and lunch on most days. Apparently this information was also conveyed to the restaurant manager as well.  On most occasions, when someone saw us in line to enter the dining room, we were pulled around the line and led to our table.  Also, as it is not customary to tip supervisory/mangerial staff, we did not, but we did show our appreciation to the wait staff.

On 3/17/2023 at 3:08 AM, Clampram said:

What is this area like...I have seen images of people waiting in a long line outside?

Is there an inside building/facility and , more importantly, does it have rest rooms? We have a bit of a drive into San Fran so I am worried about where the "facilities" are, LOL

Thanks in advance

We were there in February and it seems that they've gotten their act together.  If you get there early (disregard your selected boarding time) you'll be able to get on board, drop your luggage off, and go have a leisurely lunch, and relax while everyone else boards.  Bear in mind that the pier is run by a company called Cruise Metro and for lack of personnel or trained personnel, they can cause a mess (also take into account that many of the people are elderly (and we're sometimes kinda slow,) so they try to follow what they've been trained (maybe) to do, but may require more time.  Then you have to go through security (also not Princess) before you get to the Princess employees that do the check-in. 
We were also there last July and while we got on early without issue, the ship left the port over an hour and a half late (the ship has to transmit the passenger manifest to CBP and hour before.)  We ended watching the ship sail under the Golden Gate from the MDR during dinner (no big thing, I'm a native.)

On 3/19/2023 at 10:38 AM, sfpd3000 said:

And that’s why I don’t work full turns at Pier 35!

Are you one of those people working pay jobs on turnaround days?

7 hours ago, voljeep said:

'Platinum' does not wait in the 'Elite' lounge ... sorry

Maybe not in your world, but there is a Platinum/Elite area for both embarkation and disembarkation.

8 hours ago, CruiseCritic911 said:

Hi all,  quick question on boarding.  We booked a cruise on the Ruby very short notice and could only get a very late boarding time, so I know my chances of getting Sanctuary chairs is not good, but I am platinum , I have never used priority boarding because we are normally group A.  When I read the benefits it says "priority" boarding, but what does that really mean?  Can we come earlier and board before our scheduled time?  I now that is not cool and we never do that in order to respect the process, but if that is really a benefit of loyalty I am willing to try and grab those soft chairs all week.  I also remember people saying that some of the boarding had changed so I wanted to check with the experts here.  🙂

Thanks

Amy

 

It has been our experience that they don't really care about the arrival times.  Ever since our very first Princess cruise, we get to the port early, get checked in early, and board early, regardless of embarkation port.  That's been our experience at multiple U.S. ports, Europe, and Asia.
On our first cruise, we were just told to get there early so that we could have lunch in the MDR.  We have since found out that we have always had priority board (before suites and Elite/Platinum.)

Would never work for us.  My wife does not drink alcohol and she wouldn't let me drink her share ...🤣😂

On 3/18/2023 at 3:21 AM, MissP22 said:

The door decorations are a thing of the past unless you bring your own.

On the last cruise they were far and few to be seen unless the screen display counted as one.

And yes, those special desserts are nothing to get excited about either along with the singing. 

:Ya mean having a group of waiters singing off key with Happy [insert occasion] to the tune of Happy Birthday.  And yeah, I don't like the desserts 'cause I'm not much of a cake eater.

On 3/15/2023 at 9:16 AM, BamaVol said:

I lied about our anniversary. We got a special dessert in the MDR and a group of servers sang “happy anniversary”.  The surrounding tables applauded.

I always ask them to refrain from singing.  I got caught off-guard on our first cruise and didn't welcome the attention.

5 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

This is tolerated MUCH more so than at the pool (at least by me).  Getting seating in the buffet can be quite challenging...it just does not bother me when I see a table being "held" in the buffet because I *know* they'll be back very shortly.  With the pool...that can be a different story altogether.

The ones are those small groups who hog a large table in the buffet.  I even saw one guy pull over a table for two to a table for four, for his group of four and refused to let anyone sit there.  Then they moved their chairs to hog both tables.  Or the ones who hog a round table of 6 for their mahjong while others are trying to find a place to eat..

8 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

I commend you for being an advocate for the handicap. Unfortunately, some “handicaps” are not visible from the outside.  There is no where in Princess Theater that you can seat (except in nose bleed section) that is accessible without steps.  
 

i did find one ship that did not have stairs into 6th deck. Don’t remember if that was the Ruby. 

The Ruby has 6th floor ADA access as do all of the Royal class ships (like the Royal currently sailing out of San Francisco,)  Not sure but it looks like they may have retrofitted some ships (like the Grand?) for 6th floor access during the shutdown.  We looked at the nosebleed section when we were on the Royal a few weeks ago, and they've got both ADA parking/seating space, and additionally rows of seating behind that as well.

8 hours ago, Princessfan20 said:

We do get annoyed when we see non-handicapped people in the theater setting in chairs definitely for handicap people or people in wheel chairs/scooters and their attendants. 

It is very annoying and difficult for people who are confined in mobility devices, when chair hogs hold ADA seating.  Even had one who acted as if she never heard of ADA (I was aware that she was an immigrant, but she spoke enough English to understand and probably lived in the SF Bay Area.)
But just as annoying was a person in one of the rental scooters who parked her scooter in one of the ADA cutouts and sat in the row behind it, using the scooter as a footrest, blocking access to two rows of seats.

2 hours ago, billco said:

Last Wednesday the MDR menu didn’t appeal and I have a bit of OBC, so I ordered the $19 lobster tail with red skinned mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus. The next night MDR menu was Surf and Turf. I had two of the same lobster tails for free.

I seem to remember the lobster tails served in the MDR on the 2nd formal night, not being much more than about 3oz.  If that is what they are passing off as a 6oz lobster tail, there is a problem.

6 hours ago, bartsplace said:

Does anyone know the cost of Princess airport transfer to cruise port and what time the shuttle service begins?

The airport and the cruiseport are right nextdoor to each other.  Far more convenient to catch a cab or rideshare.  Didn't even know that Princess had an airport transfer there.

2 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

 

If you go to Canada you will find that the prices are very similar to what Princess charges. Beer, Wine, and Liquor in Canada are roughly twice the cost of what they are in the US. Cigarettes are also quite costly. This is one of the ways they pay for the health care system.

Yup much of my maternal family as well as my late wife's family are Canadian and I'm well aware of the "sin taxes" in some of the provinces.  Other provinces are a little different.

46 minutes ago, RunningTheWonder said:

Just so you know, the Princess Medallions are smaller in diameter than Apple AirTags. IF the AirTag holder is undersized and a tight fit, you SHOULD be ok with a Medallion. Just keep in mind that this IS NOT an ideal situation, since you are using something that is the wrong size. I know of one person who lost their Medallion while ashore because it fell out of an AirTag holder. Buyer beware and your mileage may vary.

Losing the medallion is no big thing, they'll just make a new one for you.  I lost one on a port call and didn't realize it until I got to the security gate at the pier.  They asked me for my name and cabin number and called guest services, then let me through.  On the way to the ship, a guest services employee was running towards me with a new medallion (they have your picture, so they know what you look like.)  It is more important that you don't lose the AirTag holder.  Also, I had to really fight it a lot to get the medallion into an AirTag holder, however the medallion is easily dropped from many of the Princess holders since they are only held in with the magnet.

On 3/1/2023 at 1:44 PM, MissP22 said:

These prices are similar to 750 ml bottles on land.

But we both know how those costs or bypassed 😉