Cruise Raider

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.

No rain, no rainbows! No rain, no rainbows! No rain, no rainbows! I keep repeating that mantra because we have had very few sunny days here in the SF Bay Area this entire winter. But seriously, no complaints! We really have needed this rain here in California.

We cruise quite often and cruise amongst all different lines .. I think that’s a good thing! Variety in food, cabins, entertainment and demographics keep cruising very interesting. Find out for yourself the pros and cons of each cruiseline. We have enjoyed Princess more than ever since the restart .. some have not but we all enjoy different aspects of cruising. I don’t eat any beef, lamb or pork and my fish, seafood and chicken dishes have been spectacular. So, we all see things from a different perspective. I don’t consider myself loyal to any specific cruiseline nor, would I want to be. Variety is the spice of life! Explore and enjoy all the different experiences .. without threat or regret. That’s a life worth living!

As of 2/20/23, the Crown Grill is now $39 pp and Sabatini’s is now $35 pp. not sure about the other specialty restaurants but looks like all of them went up by $10 pp since a couple of weeks ago.

Our friend uses that parking structure right across the street from the pier and has had no issues, however, we used pier 19.5 and booked through spot hero with a coupon and it came to about the same rate. It is a garage and is closed at night and has a security guard there during the day. I think the rate was about $22 per night. The only trouble is, it is further from the pier towards the bay bridge but we felt it was a safe place to leave our vehicle. Others may disagree. The City is going through some rough patches with the decriminalization of crime. I know, sounds illogical but it is what it is.

I hate do say it but the spa on any ship is just not relaxing to me … they always are trying to get you to spend more and more. And yes, it is on every cruiseline. They insist you fill out their form and then use it to sell you products you don’t need. I’ve told them not to even try talking to me until my massage is over. I just hate the hard upsell when I’m trying to relax. Now, I just get all my spa services while out in port or before my cruise. I’ve found some really amazing spots to get massages while in port and at much better prices, to be sure!

Uber or Lyft

Oh dear .. I am just giving them a chance to fix it. I hope your experience improves.

They oftentimes have large groups that are boarded before everyone else. On our last cruise, we had an Expedia group that birdied before everyone else. We’ve had a wedding party and guests that boarded before everyone else in the past. I don’t think it’s as much of a new process as much as an old process that you’ve not encountered before.

I looked at my travel summary and saw it is supposed to be covered with the plus package .. I’m also seeing where I am being charged $10 for shipping. I’m sure it is a glitch in the system … I have time to deal with it well before we go …

💯% spot on!

Perhaps there were a couple that may have been quarantined. I've seen that happen more than once since the restart.

You know we did!! haha

We enjoy that as well. Dinner is an experience … not just something to do because we are bored. There was one time on the Grand, though, when we were unsure if they even remembered that we were there. The waiter took the bread and butter away .. ended up clearing the whole table. I think he forgot we had only gotten our first course. He apologized profusely later on. I don’t mind two or three hours for a nice meal … but we were two hours in and still hadn’t even get our soup or salad. Sometimes, you get somebody new … we take the stance that everybody is allowed to make a mistake, though. It was all made right when we returned a couple of days later.

We probably drove right past you! Darn … next time we will know better