Cruise Raider

Once you add the tax to the zero alcohol package, you are better off getting the Plus Package. Unless you drink very few bottled waters, sodas, an occasional glass of wine, the specialty coffees (with tax) are about $4, you might be better off just buying as you go. If 15 specialty coffees used to be $35, it is only $25 more now.

My DH has had great luck with the filet mignon at the Crown Grill. But, he honestly likes the lamb chops the best. Every time he orders the rib eye, he has regrets. I’ve been a huge fan of Sabatini’s .. but now they don’t have the sole piccata on the menu, I’m just not sure if it is worth it for me anymore. Perhaps they will add it back! I can only hope! I had it twice on the Diamond and it was spectacular. The Chilean sea bass at the Crown Grill has also been phenomenal, IMO. I hope they never get rid of that. The sea bass and sole are two fishes that obviously freeze well as they are my absolute favorites onboard.

Absolutely, you can bring flowers onboard .. never off at disembarkation.

Not a comment about your math but yes, you can upgrade to the Plus Package (or premium package) once you are onboard .. directly through your app. You can only do so on day 1 or 2. If you go over your obc onboard, you can use the gift cards to pay off your balance at the front desk. At least that’s been my experience in the past.

So disappointing, to say the least … especially since we’ve had a taste of the good life! 😆 I suppose I will try the Crown again at sometime while she’s here. I do have a trip for next year out of LA on the Discovery planned that I’m really looking forward to. The Royal class ships are just so nice! but, it’s also so nice sailing in and out of SF.

That was clearly evidenced by the jerks that trying cramming into our elevator during disembarkation on our last cruise and they clearly didn’t fit. The guy was an inch away from my DH’s face and we kept telling him the elevator was full … then, he has the nerve to tell us to squeeze in so there was room for him! Unbelievable! We were just about to our deck and his backpack hits all the buttons on the elevator so we had to go all the way back up to deck 16, stopping at every deck in order to get back down to deck 7. Seriously .. I even had to ask him if he’s ever heard of CoVid before. Nope .. just crammed right in without regard for anybody else.

You can now order the paperwork (or the lack of it) that you want delivered to your cabin. You can do this on your app. I also like the app but my DH loves reading the Patter. So, on our profile on the app, we indicate we want the Patter and any important notifications but no advertisements for the jewelry or spa, art auctions, etc. It’s perfect for us as we couldn’t stand all that paper that just went directly into the trash. I suppose we could even live without the patter but my DH has trouble on the app .. mine works pretty well for me.

We have made lifelong friends when seating was fixed but then again, when the people that you’re seated with are bad, it can be very bad. I like this way much better ..

You know, we haven’t even turned the TV on during our last few cruises but now, you got me thinking. I love watching those old Love Boat episodes. I’m going to have to make a point of watching a few of them on our next sailing.

I take clip magnets to hold the daily patters but more important, invitations and reminders .. just so they don’t get lost. I’ve seen my friend hang her lanyard with the medallion right by the front door so she doesn’t forget to grab it on the way out the door.

That reminds me of when my cousins came to visit me from Florida in August one year. They were going over to the City in the morning and then onto the nighttime tour of Alcatraz. Well, I asked if that is all they were wearing, as they both had on just tshirts and shorts. I lent them each a jacket but she exclaimed, “it’s August”. Well, about an hour into their tour on Alcatraz, they called an asked if we could pick them up early. They were absolutely freezing! We live across the Bay Bridge and it gets cold here at night, too … even in the summer. Quick note … there is no evidence it was ever Mark Twain that said this but the quote has been attributed to him for decades.

While I never thought to even go to the little gelato shop, those mango and raspberry sorbets look really good. Thank you for posting …

That’s why we always cancel in person but sometimes, that just isn’t logistically possible.

the weather is only supposed to have scattered showers on both the 11th and the 12th … right after we get pummeled again today and tomorrow. Hopefully, that will make your trip down a lot easier and safer. Yesterday, even though the high was only 53°, that sunshine was such a beautiful sight! I never complain about getting rain in this drought ridden area but all winter is wearing on me a bit. Like I mentioned, an occasional sunny day just makes me so happy!

I even read that the islands were having some cooler and rainier weather than they’d normally see. enjoy your cruise and thanks for the updates.

Cruising out of San Francisco is rarely warm and sunny, even in the summertime. It can be nice but that is an exception to the rule. We’ve only had two cruises where it was actually hot in the City when leaving. This year has been exceptionally cold and stormy here. We even have snow in the surrounding hilltops. Even if the storms are cooperative, you should definitely bring a heavy jacket if you intend to hang out on top for sail away under the GG bridge.

There are always lines the first night but from then on, they seem to dwindle down. We used to have to wait up to an hour for a table pre-CoVid. They’d give you a beeper and you had to stick nearby so you new when a table was ready. This is now a huge improvement as we have only had to wait for a maximum of 10-15 minutes the first night and no more than 5 minutes the remaining nights, with most times being able to just walk right in because they would wave us through. We’ve even had little trouble on those occasions when we added another person to our table. Oh, and always let them know if you are not using your table on a specified night. They really are so appreciative of that.

Ever since we found a superb CVP, we never experience any of those issues. Everything is just taken care of … no fighting to get what we need or deserve.

I’ve seen all those posts … one thing I haven’t had a problem with is the quality of the food. But, as I may have mentioned, I don’t eat any beef, pork or lamb .. so,, maybe that is key! I’ve had some incredible fish, seafood and chicken dishes. And those $3 pizzas are so very good! And, I really like the reduced portions, as I was always taught to never waste food, and I won’t. As you say, those prices now haven’t even somewhat kept up with inflation. It’s unreasonable to think that we are being nickeled and dimed as I’ve seen on so many posts. We all found the best travel bargain that is out there.

We just went to Costco today and other than the rotisserie chicken, I’d say prices were up by 30% on almost everything else that we purchased.

You make sense! More places to fill a ship now! It’s so convenient for us and was in my heaven with the Royal being here … but yea, the prices were great!

As for someone that lives just outside of San Francisco, we e been spoiled now having the Ruby, but especially having the Royal Princess home parted here. I was so disappointed to see the Crown Princess coming to our home port full time for a couple of years. Maybe it’s just time for some land vacations for a while. I will get in as many sailings as possible before the Royal and then, the Ruby leaves us once again later this year. When cruises out of SF seem to sell like hotcakes, I just can’t imagine why they wouldn’t give us a really nice ship on which to cruise, like one of the Royal class ships.

We’ve also sailed on NCL and loved their dining program .. but we did have to wait several times on that line as well. I guess our opinions are all tailored by our experiences. I have been a big fan of the DMW .. I would include it is because we like to dine between 6:00 PM and 6:20 PM. I could never ever ever get that timing on Princess before DMW. Now, we have no trouble at all. All of my cruises since the restart have been on the Majestic, the Royal, the Ruby, the Grand, the Diamond and the Discovery. Now that I look back, the Diamond is the only one where we didn’t get such stellar service in the dining room … the others all did a great job!

We have completed 19 cruises since the restart in July 2021. Every one of them has worked that way for us in all those sailings. I will only count 17 of them, though as two were in club class. We are in full support of DMW. For us, it’s the best dining we’ve ever experienced in Princess.

I was one that couldn’t stand the traditional dining format .. especially once they added the anytime dining, which was great for us in the beginning .. but, then became a free for all. The traditional dining time changed from 6:00 PM to 5:00 PM .. way too early. I even had it changed to 4:30 PM once .. but when you got onboard, they changed it back to 5:00 PM. The late dining was changed to 7:30 PM .. which is too late for us. Then once onboard, it was changed to 7:45 PM and even 8:00 PM. As a result, many people from traditional dining would show up at the anytime dining room and we could not get in to the dining room. One time, it was our anniversary and they said there just wouldn’t be room for us to dine by ourselves. Seriously, I think the DMW has been a definite improvement for us in all ways! On many of our cruises over the past several months, we’ve had the same table with the same waiters and at a time we like to dine. The first day, you may wait in line but from then on, they just let you know when your table is ready and we just walked on back! We’ve had excellent experiences in going that route.