4x4bob

I also am a Duck Hunter and also hide them. Some have been in plan sight with people walking right past them with out noticing them. Also, some did take a little looking to find them. Think hidden in behind a plant or something. Happy Hunting on your next cruise. Bob.

A few years ago the Wife and I plus her sister and husband signed up for a 33 day cruise departing Southhampton. The sister and her husband signed up on a different day then us. We both chose cabins that we wanted and were happy. Fast forward a few months close to departure I sat down at the Puter to check on our account. Much to my surprise the cabin number had changed. So, being a ex Boy Scout with map reading skills, I quickly brought up the ship deck plans. Almost choked on my coffee when I saw that we had been moved--are you ready for this? Exactly two cabins down the same hall. Called Wife's sister and told her. She called back later to report her cabin number. Guess what? Nope not even close. They were now next door to us. So, I guess the Upgrade Fairy must stop by the bar for a few stiff drinks before starting to play on her computer to move folks around. 😁 Bob

Yes, happened to us today. We booked without the plus package we wanted. Then talked to our Princess Rep later and she got it added on.

Not mentioned as of yet, I have been on tenders that departed the ship with the ocean as smooth as a bathtub. When we returned, the tender was going up and down like a yo-yo and we had to jump to the platform and landing will be on you. Yes, there is crew to help catch you on landing to help steady you when you land. Bob

Skynight Thanks Bob

Just going back for first time since Covid. Our Princess Plus package offers under Premium Desserts, New 2 casual dinning meals, New ocean Now Delivery, and New Room service Delivery. Can someone explain what this means? Thanks Bob

Yes and No on notification. My Wife received notification by E-Mail. No E-Mail for me. In fact in case you did not read my post. My App still shows not shipped even after I received the Medallion. So good luck on your notification. Bob

Ah the experience of technology and Princess. Last December I up dated the Princess AP on the Cell phone for the 29 Jan 2023 cruise and ordered my Medallion. Sounds simple right? Then the Wife ordered her Medallion 1st of Jan 2023. The Wife received notification that her Medallion has shipped and she would receive it 18 Jan. So, I check the order status on the AP for my Medallion. It reported not shipped. So I do the reasonable thing and Call the Medallion phone number. Representative started out with canned speech about how Medallions ship 20 to 10 days before cruise. I pointed out that I am within the 20 day mark and my Medallion has not shipped. Rep comes back with no problem, Medallion will ship. Next problem. When I go back to check order status the AP states sign in. So attempted to do that. Message comes up attempt not valid try again. So do so. Same failure The AP was dropping the M on .com so program would not recognize my user ID. Try the alternate method and get in and check order status. My Medallion still showed as not shipped. Then on the 17th two packages arrive in mail box. Both Medallions. So, just for fun I check the AP order status one more time. Still shows that my Medallion has not shipped. With this kind of luck, I sure hope while on ship my on board charges will not be logged into my account. 😁 Bob

Hay Ma look what I found. Bimmer09 has taken quill in hand and posted another outstanding trip report. Norris Just recently I was sitting at my key board and between glasses of wine was thinking, it works best that way for me.. I realized I had not seen a Bimmer 09 post for some time. I was nervous that you had set sail for that great dry dock in the sky. As always read above with great enjoyment for two reasons. Outstanding content and. drum roll... we will be setting sail on the Diamond on the 29th of Jan for the Sea of Cortez in a aft Mini Suite our selves And thanks to Carol for taking notes to keep you on the straight and narrow with your narrative. Thanks Bob

As soon as you said DELTA I had a flash back to our cancelled flight and the problems we had a few years ago. And yes, we were also involved with EZ air. We arrived at Sacramento Airport the required 2 hours early to check in and clear TSA to board the plane to LA. As we approached our gate we watched the people at the next gate being moved to our gate and to board the plane waiting. Then we were ordered to move over to the other gate. At that time the board posted a 30 minute delay for us. To make the departure story short they posted several more 30 min delay's until the flight was cancelled at 1:30 PM. We had contacted Princess Hq several times to give updates on our delay's. We scrambled and got onto another flight that arrived at LA at 5:00 PM and the ship had departed at 4:00 PM. The wife and I had talked and agreed to chase the ship to the next port which was Porta Vallarta, in 3 days. Two Princess reps were waiting for us when we picked up our baggage. They told us to contact the on duty Princess Rep which happened to be in India. Which added to the fun because they would time out in 15 minutes. Which required us to call back, get another person, and then spend time explaining what happened. And you can only guess how much fun it was trying to talk on a cell phone in a noisy Airport. Several phone calls later we were told that reservations were made for us for next morning on a flight South. We then contacted the Delta desk in the Airport to request that they comp us a Hotel and meals. After some back and forth they finally agreed to the Hotel, no meals. We caught the bus out front for the Hotel. Arrived at the Hotel to find out that they were booked and had no room for us. Back to the Airport and stand in line at the Delta desk. Second Hotel provided and we finally arrived at it at 8:00 PM. That hotel was very helpful after we explained what we were going through. Their restaurant was closed but they still made sandwiched for us. And, made a computer available so we could search for a Hotel down in PV. (yea, seamless support, right). By 11:00 PM we had finally located a Hotel and made reservations which required a phone call because the Hotel would not take a computer reservation same day and at night. Considering how things were going for us, we checked on the flight reservation. Reservation made, but not paid for. Could not believe that. So, at 6:00AM We call Princess Hq, only minor wait, told them the problem and they made the Payment for the flight. At the Hotel in PV we met another couple who missed their Delta flight and basically went through same process to arrive at PV to wait for the ship. Some humor for this mess. Last day at Hotel the bill was slid under door. I picked it up and looked at it. Surprise, Surprise, it was for $7,000.00 USD for 3 nights. We ran down to the front desk. Whoops they hit wrong key. It was $7,000 Peso's not USD. We had to collect receipts along the way, out of our pocket for payments, to file for reimbursement from the insurance. Wrote angry trip report and submitted it to Princess after the Cruise. Several months later was contacted by Princess Ref the trip report. If Delta is the only flight some where we will not go. We have used EZ Air since then, but watch it like a fox watching a chicken. We did have fun in PV while waiting and the Cruise was great. Bob

Thanks for this information. We are on the Diamond in January with a Aft Mini Suite on Deck 8. Was just a little concerned about the smoking on deck 7 being a problem.

Some back ground information to get started. This year one month or so before our Cruise on the Diamond we get the "Dear Valued Customer" E-Mail from Princess. Your Cruise has been cancelled. Here are three options being offered. None really appealed to us, so, we jumped on our Puters and did some research. Found the same cruise, same ship, being offered in Jan 2023. We contacted our PVP and made reservations and was able to obtain the same Mini Suite as before. Since then after making final payment for the Jan cruise, the Wife and I would log into our Princess Account several times a week just to make sure we did not receive a surprise upgrade to a Hammock down in Steerage along with $25.00 OBC, or something. Because, way down deep both the Wife and I suspect that Princess hired its IT Staff away from the California DMV. Monday night was my turn so I log in and up popped center screen the following message. YOUR FARES HAVE CHANGED Here's Why. If your fares are lower, we may have realized you were a past guest and eligible for different pricing. If they're higher, we may have had trouble confirming your cruise history ( we have been with Princess since they used sails to power their ships) as a past guest. Either way, if you need to tweak your profile just call 1-800-774-xxxx. All fares are subject to limited availability as indicated in our terms and conditions. Then UPDATED PRICING SUMMARY. New pricing, Guest 1, Guest 2, Cruise Total, Taxes, & Port Expenses. Total Price (USD). Just about double what we paid back in October when final payment was due. Then there was a page 2. I clicked on it. Showed my Military OBC. Then surprise, surprise, listed the same amount of Military OBC for the Wife. Hmm, did not know that in her younger years she Boondocked through the jungle with a rifle and field pack. Boy that is scary, sure don't want to get into a argument with a combat veteran . 😁 Showed print out to the wife. She jumped onto her computer and logged into our Princess Account. Record showed the same amount which we paid last October, no change. Turned out, just more Princess Entertainment kinda like making a phone call to Princess Hq. Hmm, I wonder what the record is for the longest wait on hold? Or, the record for the most transfers to different depts before being hung up on? Bob

My first thought when I first read about this new "procedure" on reserving seats in the theatre were. As I stand in the back looking down over the reserved section, how many will be empty because they were automatically reserved, yet the people did not come. Bob

Under the current system of bidding, the bids are locked at a pre-set minimum . You can not bid lower that what is set. That is why I passed on bidding on a suite my self because adding that minimum to the cost of our Mini-Suite would almost pay for another cruise. Bob

Very thankful for that. the mental visual picture of passengers without clothes on is just horrible frightening. 😄

We have been with Princess long enough years to go through the Upgrade Fairy, and Up Sells, so we were curious just how the new bidding process was going to work. When we reserved our Aft Mini Suite we wrote down the prices of the full suites that we might be interested in. Shortly there after Princess blocked out the Suites on our cruise with the message currently not available contact Princess to reserve. Then we finally received the E-Mail stating that we could now bid on our cruise. When we looked at the suite prices being offered at min to max bid we both agreed that if we had wanted to pay full price for a suite we would have done so months ago when we reserved the mini. At this point there are numerous empty cabins on our ship so we are waiting to see if Princess will adjust their min/max levels later on. Bob

After the pay out, was there heard a big splash as that machine disappeared from the Casino? 😁 Bob

Harry: Just wanted to say good-by and that your trip report was out standing. It provided information, entertainment, and some humor along with your photo's. Will watch for future reports from you and sure hope that some day our paths cross at the International Cafe on some ship. As for me, the Wife quoting from the Game of Thrones "Winter is Coming" is telling me to turn off my computer and go cut and split some firewood or do something else that is useful. Wishing you and your family Happy Trails. Bob

Going from ship to ship while cruising, eating is just part of the adventure. With this in mind, the very worst piece of steak that I have ever been served was at the Crown Grill. At first I asked the waiter for another steak knife thinking the one I had was just promoted up from the engine room where it started out as a screw driver or something. Next knife would not cut the meat either. On the menu it should have been advertised as "Sole of Shoe". Then I tried to see how far I could stab my fork into the steak. After a couple of jabs the Wife told me to stop playing with my food people are watching me. Instead of sending it back, we had family with us and we had something planned for right after dinner so I did not want to wait so I just let it sit on my plate. This May on the Discovery in the Crown Grill my steak was outstanding. Bob

You have some very nice photo's of your family. I think the best one of your Wife was her sitting by her self on the balcony with a plate on her knee. You should have a 8x10 print made of that photo and then display it back home with your family photo collection. You are lucky she sits still for photos. My Wife has a built in GPS unit that tells her when I am near her with my camera and she disappears like a puff of smoke. Bob

WOW. You posted: "So good enough is good enough until CC Pays Me More for my efforts" So, how does the payment rate go? Is it by length of Post or by the amount of photos submitted? Inquiring minds want to know. 😁 Bob

On your Caribbean Cruise you will have a good chance to see some float planes. We were heading across the harbor on a tour boat and I watched a float plane take off behind our boat. Now don't ask me when or where because it was back past yesterday I sure don't remember that kinda info. Just remember watching the plane. Bob

Forget Diamond International as a tourist trap, and read on. You want to hear jewelry store scary, listen to this. In Skagway the Wife was walking at a fast pace up and down the main street looking for the Broadway Jewelry Store. She had visited that store on 4 previous cruises and had called the shop before the cruise to make sure that they were still open. So in May of this year Wife headed straight to main street as soon as the Discovery Princess allowed passenger to dis-en-bark to starting looking. The owner had moved her location so it was challenge to find the shop. Then my hopes were dashed when she saw the shop sign hanging underneath another business sign. As we walked into the shop the owner took one look at the Wife and called out a loud welcome back and ran over and gave her a big hug. Then the owner looked at me and said you know where the Husband chair is. Well you know the story. Husband carries no cash, he is married. 😪 So, after a visit like this, when we return home, we are on a Kraft Macaroni and Cheese diet for two weeks as we try to get our check book back into some type of balance. Bob

Thanks for your inputs. Bob

Searching for Hotels we have questions about two Hotels. 1. Wyndham San Diego Bayside. Looking at map it appears to be across the street from the port. Is it an easy walk to get there while dragging suitcases along with us? Also are they any good restaurants in the area? 2. Best Western Plus Bayside Inn. Would you recommend this place and why? Also same question, are there any good restaurants within walking distance of the hotel. 3. If you have a better suggestion willing to listen. Thanks Bob