Cruise Raider

I may just have to book a cruise on the Diamond Princess before the end of January.

Glad to hear your flexibility allowed you to find a solution.

We did, too. They are so extremely talented and just all around nice people. They are at home in Ireland right now and will be joining the Diamond Princess when she returns to service in September and stay on until late January.

I just heard back from Aileen and they are now in Ireland and will return back on the Diamond Princess in Sept. Thank you for your answer, though. We were on a couple of cruises where several band members were in quarantine, and one where the production cast was also in isolation due to exposure to CoVid. Their performances were filled in by those that were healthy. Post CoVid cruising must be a bit of a challenge for the entertainment directors.

I can't thank you enough. They are a fabulous duet. We are back onboard and would love to see them if they are on the Ruby.

This is off the mark just a bit but can you tell me if Aileen and Sticks are performing on the Ruby? If they are, would you be so kinds as to ask how long they will be onboard? Thanks in advance!

We got one on the Majestic last year and it was $18. It wasn’t bad! Some lady was trying to get them to put more lobster in it, though … haha!

Oh dear … that sounds awful. Your complaint sounds legitimate and so sorry to hear that happened to you, for your anniversary celebration, no less. It is unforgivable that you weren’t given a different room for a non working toilet. We experienced the same on one ship and were given a new room immediately. $400 is not nearly the compensation and not being moved to a clean room is not I would have expected. It’s a health hazard to have any sewage under foot and I imagine you didn’t want to even pack your shoes to go home after that. I would definitely write to Jan Schwartz after that and explain your experience. I can tell you, I’m definitely not a whiner when it comes to cruising, I can let little things slide and usually have a very positive experience but, I’d have complained about that situation myself. I hope you were able to salvage some of your vacation days to enjoy your anniversary.

Not trying to be a negative Nellie here but, the lobster in the main dining room is not nearly as good as it used to be. I’ve had many great dishes in the MDR since the restart, this is just not one of them. I think all cruiselines have been hit hard, not only with raised costs for everything from fuel to food, but all the supply chain issues. So, I get it and will give them this, they have been very creative with the menus, many of which I really do love. I even have had the lobster in the Crown Grill since the restart. It’s much better than the ones served in the MDR but, even there, it’s not as good as it used to be. I much prefer their fish there and it has never been disappointing.

We were on the Crown once when we used to book guarantee cabins. Never again … we always book our preferred cabin since that cruise. We were assigned a room right under the Trident Grill and it was noisy day and night. We tried to move cabins and others that were under the buffet were quicker than us snagged all the quiet rooms. We were stuck and got no sleep the entire cruise. From then on, we went back on the Crown (we were compensated after our experience) and picked a room that was surrounded other cabins. Much better! Go down one deck and you all will be much happier. Or, the cabins on the Riviera deck under the cabins in the lido deck are also quite. BTW, the room service menu is greatly expanded. No walk to the food as now they bring it to you wherever you are on the ship.

I’ve taken a couple of upsell offers, have had a move over offer and a couple of free upgrades, all of which were fantastic. With the upsells, we were able to choose our room, same with the move over offer. Of the free upgrades, one was to a full aft facing suite from a balcony cabin. Wow! Just wow! We’ve been happy with all upgrades and upsells we were given but I think the key is to be able to choose the room location.

Thanks for taking the time to post. We’ve been on the Ruby several times since the restart and had a great time on each and every cruise. It appears that some people are more likely to complain that write anything positive. I’m sure you will have a fantastic time. The Ruby has an amazing crew and staff. The food has been great, the entertainment was fantastic, the rooms are comfortable, etc. Don’t forget to go to the naturalist talks they have in the Princess theater. Some are good and others are great. If you are lucky enough to have Ranger John onboard, you won’t be sorry to adjust your schedule around going to his lectures. Also, just of note, the museum in Prince Rupert is small and very close to the ship so it won’t take too long for that. Be sure to walk to the nearby Sunken Gardens, also small but a nice place for taking in a leisurely stroll. There is also a trail to walk along the water front about a mile away .. Rushbrook Trail you may be interested in. Enjoy and keep these posts coming!

As far as I know, based on their policies, you can take one bottle per person on with you free of corkage fee to be consumed in your cabin. Anything beyond that limit, you are charged corkage fee of $20 per bottle which is marked and can be consumed anywhere on the ship.

I like the Hyatt at the Embarcadero. You can even get there from SFO or OAK via our public transportation, BART. It is less than a mile to the pier in San Francisco and all flat with a wide sidewalk along the waterfront.

We did, too ... it was so quick and was followed up by a phone call from my CVP asking if I'd rather get it in cash. It's all the same to me. I certainly will use the FCC so I told her it was fine as such.

We not only had Princess insurance but also booked our air through EZair through Princess. Everything was refunded to our CC or with FCC's without incident. Ours was due to CoVid so didn't even have to go through our insurance. I agree, take care of your DH.. hope all goes smoothly.

I love the wine flights at Vines. They always include wines from all different regions. I have my favorites but I'm with you .. I will try wines from all over the globe.

We are basically in wine country here in California ... very close to many wine regions. We have tried wines from all over the world and love them all. Our choice is to support our local wineries ... but we certainly do stray on cruises.

We have only seen the Old Vine Seghesio for $36 a bottle but if we can find it for $20, we would be all over that. But, yes … he oftentimes got the Rombauer right alongside me. It was the cab, somewhere in the Napa Valley that he loved so much but they didn’t have it at very bar. I think it may have been a Silverado cab. I was actually fine with the Mer Soleil Chardonnay and it fell within the package but don’t think they will be offering that by the glass anymore. For two future sailings, we are going with the Premier Package. It’s a bit of a splurge but we’ll worth it for us on a short cruise.

I had a free cruise and upgraded to get the Plus package and paid for air, etc. I was able to cancel, due to CoVid, which I know is different but did get everything back in FCCs for upgrade charges for the cruise and back to my credit card for the airfare.

We have sailed on both lines several times ... each has their plusses and minuses. We've only been on Princess since the restart but have another Celebrity cruise booked for next year. I'm not sure I would say (IMO) that Celebrity has better food than Princess ... I would say that it all really depends on what you order and what you expect. Specialty restaurants on Princess are about half of what they will cost you on Celebrity. Both are great! The beds on Princess are phenomenal as are the open closet designs. Princess also has onboard laundromats for everyone to us. Even though we get free laundry on Princess, we still only use the self serve laundromats. I like the loyalty perks on Celebrity a bit more. I also like it is a more adult atmosphere onboard or at least, less kids. You may want to look at CoVid protocols. Hopefully, they won't be in place by next year but who'd have ever thought it would last this long. Princess has been placing those with CoVid in balcony cabins, I've read that Celebrity might not be doing the same. I have no proof of the latter, though. I'd just go for the itinerary and pricing you like better. I think you'd be happy on either one.

We love California wines but no, these were not included in the under $12 a glass limits. They were more like $15 - $18 a glass, but we could get them for $3 to $6 plus gratuity with the Plus package. I love the Rombauer Chardonnay while my husband loved the Seghesio Zin. There was also a cab he really liked but that was even a bit more but cannot remember which one it was.

Never were the wines we drank we anywhere near $6 or $7 a bottle retail ... more like $37 - $65 retail. Of course, we were charged the difference but still felt like it was a great deal. BTW, Princess pours are 5 to a bottle, never 6. I'm not saying they aren't making a profit but, not so much on us. We took full advantage of the great wines we were served.

That may be true with some of the mixed drinks but not for wines. Even at wholesale, I think many of the wines we’ve had onboard are more like a cost of $5 to $10 a drink. Of course, we pay the upcharge for those but not $5 to-$10 .. more like $3- $6.

I think I’ve posted that you only needed two drinks to break even in the past … but a month or so back, they raises the price to $50 a day pp. We are trying the premier package on a couple of our shorter upcoming cruises. It will be a good way to try out the new offerings.