Cruise Raider

It will just fall off all on its own in about 3 days. You really don’t have to do anything since there is no money down on it. There’s no way that I know of to take it off a hold unless you call Princess and that could be a long time on hold.

We are on three cruises, all of which appeared to have availability on cabins but are showing as ‘Currently Not Available’…. All of which are on the Royal Princess. When booking a cabin for a friend, my CVP said she would have to check capacity before booking it because of a staffing shortage. I didn’t think to ask her about it at that time, wish I would have as she is so busy, I really don’t want call her back and waste her time with such an insignificant question. However, if there are any travel agents on here that might be able to answer the question of limiting capacity, particularly on the Royal Princess, I’d really appreciate it. Maybe they are all actually sold out and have no cabin availability? Just wondering what to expect.

You can only be placed on a waitlist for a particular cabin category, not for a specific cabin.

My vote goes to the Crown Grill or the Ultimate Balcony Dining Experience. I do not think Sur La Mer is a very romantic setting. you can order something special for your room for after dinner. I’ve seen where they’ve decorated the rooms with two swan towel animals (it is more romantic that it sounds) and rose petals on the bed. You can order flowers a bottle of champagne to be delivered as well. A gift card in the room for a spa treatment is also very special. Happy 1st anniversary, btw! Nice way to celebrate!

Premium only has to do with the location of the cabin on the ship … not the size of the balcony.

I am sure there will be some soot but your room steward will keep it cleaned up. Just don’t plan on sitting out there wearing white.

It’s actually a premium balcony. The difference here has to do with the location. The deluxe balcony has a small sofa in the room so the cabin is a bit bigger. To me, it’s the perfect sized cabin. The premium deluxe balcony has the sofa as well and again, just the location of the room is what demands the higher price. PS .. on,y the Royal class ships have a deluxe balcony so far.

We went over to Klein Bonaire on a ship sponsored excursion once and they had all the equipment for anyone that needed it on the boat. I still don’t like using masks and snorkels of others so we brought our own. We used their fins. they take you out on the boat for a drift snorkel … the current takes you back to the island. Lots of sea turtles around there. Our favorite excursion there was called the Best Of Bonaire. It took you past the salt fields, to the slave huts, to this most amazing beach, etc. For Curaçao, we went to the Hato Caves. It’s very interesting but it is excruciatingly hot. We were so drained from the heat that we skipped the last half of the tour of the Fort, the Bridge and the colorful establishments. We’d done that before, though along with going to the Curaçao factory for some tastings before going out to the sea life park for a show. Such an interesting island. But hot!

On AirCanada, they sent out an offer to be upgraded to business class and there was a minimum bid. It was low (like $50 pp) but we went for it and got it. Turns out nobody else w eat for the offer so we were up in business class all by ourselves.

You nailed it!

The only saving grace that I can see is that if you hate the room that was assigned to you and there is something available in that same category that is more suitable for your wishes, you may be able to switch cabins. I was recently given a free upgrade from a midship obstructed balcony and was assigned to a non obstructed balcony room right under the aft pool deck. Ugh! My CVP changed it back for me pronto and marked my booking with no upgrade but not before she said I could switch to any cabin within that new ‘upgraded’ category. She was in a hurry or I would have requested a meta upgrade only. So, I still think there may be a little wiggle room in there.

I live here and would be surprised if you found a hotel with transfers to the hotel and to Pier 27. SFO is actually not in the City of San Francisco. You could always find a hotel near the airport and they will transfer you to and from SFO. From there, you can always take the BART train (Bay Area Rapid Transit) from the airport to the Embarcadero station. It is about a mile walk to the pier from there. It’s all flat along the waterfront but you will have to drag your luggage unless you get an Uber or taxi. Or you can just book a room at the Hyatt at the Embarcadero, which is what I’d do if you want to tour the City. It’s just a short walk from the BART station if coming directly from the airport. BART also goes into SF from OAK (Oakland), which is on the other side of the Bay Bridge. I would not recommend you stay near the Oakland airport, though. Pier 27 is pretty much right in there in the middle of the Embarcadero in the City and not separated out from the rest of the City like in LA or Fort Lauderdale. You might be able to get a pedi cab from the hotel to the pier but it also may depend on how much luggage you have. Anyway, those are my suggestions.

It really shouldn’t be a problem assuming it starts and ends in the same US port, what is referred to as a closed looped cruise (not Vancouver to LA). If he has a certified copy of his birth certificate and a license, he should take it with him along with a government issued ID, such as a driver license. If not, he should try to obtain one from the county recorders office in which he was born.

They will have them on your medallion if you’ve made a reservation in the MDR … probably otherwise, too but I’ve noticed the MDR won’t show the MDR menu if you have a reservation at a specialty restaurant. And the MDR menu will be for breakfast, lunch (when they have it) and dinner. I have not had much luck pulling it up on the TV. But, they will post it like before on the wall just outside the dining room as well.

I believe it just went up in June from $40 a day pp to $50 a day pp for the plus package. (USD prices) They also now offer a premier package that includes more expensive drinks, specialty dinners, digital photos, etc. and such for $75 USD a day pp. To me, the $50 USD a day pp package is well worth it and was really a bargain when it was at $40 USD a day pp. But, we do drink wine as well as other beverages. We also use the WiFi and of course, we have to pay the tips. Everything has gone up in price here where we live so, I saw this coming.

Wow ... lol That's already 4 large bags, 2 carry on size bags and 2 personal items per couple. Heck, we did a 3 week trip, part of it on a cruise, in Hawaii in carry on luggage only. I would worry more about finding a bus or an UberX to take that much luggage than I would a flight.

But, up to 2 bags pp. Plus a carry on pp and a personal item pp. That's a lot of luggage for free!!

So, I would highly recommend getting a flight on Southwest Airlines from Las Vegas to LAX or even better yet, Long Beach. You won’t pay extra for luggage on Southwest and it’s such a quick little flight. just pick a flight that has a flight afterwards that will still get you to the LA area on time to make it to the port, just in case your flight gets delayed or canceled. If you can, I’d book thee flight on EZ air as they have been known to get you to your cruise.

I am also booked on a sailing that is showing ‘Currently Not Available’ for the last month. However the difference is it is on the Royal Princess, which has already been out to see for at least a year. I think in the case of the Royal, it based on not having a sufficient number of crew. I do still think there is a chance your itinerary is safe. I will keep my fingers crossed for you.

Hmmm? Yes, please come back and let us know what happened.

I love .. along some nice sourdough bread to dip in the sauce!

I love escargot but cannot never get anyone at the table to try them. If they were made with mushrooms, I'm sure they wouldn't mind it at all. Heck, they might even like them ... and me, too, as a matter of fact. I think it would be great to have a choice.

We were recently on the Ruby. Masks were not required for passengers and about 10% of our fellow passengers were wearing them. When we travel with others that are high risk or just around those that prefer that we wear masks, we will put one on, but if it's just us or if we are going right outside, we tend to leave the masks in the room. As a courtesy, we will wear them to the theater and in elevators. But, unless someone is coughing or sneezing a lot nearby, I really don't care what they choose to do. Just please don't sit next to me if you are sick. That's my only request. The crew had to wear masks the entire time while working. They would pull them down briefly for photos. I understand they've been told they may soon get a reprieve.

If it's only the Premier Beverage Package you are interested in, you can always just pay the difference of the drinks above the $12 limit and you can use your OBC to do so. Of course, you wouldn't get the specialty dinners or the photo package, the multi device wifi or the special prize entries but, those you can also just use your obc.

I'm booked on an October itinerary on the Ruby and recently, a friend has expressed interest in going along on this sailing but it is showing as 'currently not available'. We are already booked on the cruise before this one and there are still plenty of rooms available, as is the itinerary following the 'currently not available' one. Unless they've chartered it out to some VIP group (it is docked during Fleet Week in San Francisco on a Sunday .. big Blue Angels Day), I think it is just filled to capacity in accordance with the number of crew members that will be onboard. It did look to be selling quite well once they offered it with solo cabin pricing. Either way, I am glad we are already on the previous sailing ... embarkation can be so chaotic in SF when it gets delayed or if there is more than one cruiseship docked at the same time. Maybe the port is having them limit their number of passengers that will be embarking that day. The port is not really separated from the city streets .. it's right there on the Embarcadero. Of note, these are all just assumptions on my part but I think this particular cruise that is showing as 'currently not available' is already filled to the desired capacity, or in other words, sold out.