kluv2cruz

I had the “red blend” on Royal in July and Crown in September and Caribbean in October. All good… not great. Veltliner was a good white. I wondered about Vines future as it was often not open and they didn’t have what was on their menu. Better to just say surprise me! I tried to ask for Duckhorn and they didn’t have it. Strange. Then I was in Crown grill and they had Duckhorn. He said it was just opened that night but it was off so I didn’t drink it. All very strange and not top notch, for sure.

Just off the Caribbean Pr and they had crème brûlée. Not every night. But it was pretty good. Also ice cream at lunch in MDR and at dinner it was sorbet. TBGCS very good. Love their whole wheat or grainy bread rolls with butter. Normally, I avoid bread and especially butter, but theirs are so yummy it’s worth it. Had bacon wrapped meatloaf on both Royal in June and Caribbean in November (last night menu) and it was good!

I enjoyed many chairman of the board, vesper, and gin martinis on Caribbean Princess recently. Challenge was, it was a port heavy cruise so when in port, only a few bars were open, and the one or two open were wildly busy. By the time I’d get the drink, it was hit or miss - meh, or yummy. I also didn’t like that they precut the “twist”, so not sure the drink got much essential oil from the citrus. But, still fun to have the drink pack and be able to explore different flavours. I do find the martinis taste way better when you manage to get one of the few seats at the bar and become a regular. And crooners or explorer were much better martinis. REALLY miss the olive tray and nut snacks.

Try Paillard 1097 Rue Saint-Jean. Very busy. Bakery items looked yummy.

But it’s a suite benefit, not a club class benefit, right?

Well that’s what led me to the YouTube series. Unfortunately?… the featured cars while we’ll be there are “Youngtimers”. Hmmmnn, not quite as interesting. The website lists all the vehicles on display. Jeep Waggoner, Miata, a couple of Ducatis, etc. Maybe, but not a priority when limited time in port. The next day is “cars & coffee: trunk or treat” - that sounds fun!

Hi there - I see a few different reasonable priced self guided walking tours of Newport. Has anyone tried one they would recommend? Thanks! We started watching the series “Audrain Mansions & Motorcars” with Jay Leno on YouTube. Quite interesting!

Very helpful, thanks.

I looked I looked I looked. THANK YOU!!!

I understand from Tom’s Port Guides (thank you Tom!!) that the Cliff Walk is 3.5mi. Has anyone walked from the tender area (Perrotti Park) to the start of the Cliff walk, walked the walk, then walked back to Perrotti Park? Google maps makes it look not too onerous but wonder if anyone has done this and has input? Tom’s has bus route #67 info too which is another idea for us. Someone on cruise critic said it was free? I don’t see free info on the ripta.com website. Also, any recommendations on audio guide to download? I see several with mixed reviews on Viator. Thanks.

Route 67 is free? I don’t see that on their website?

Maybe someone will start this for Princess, but I follow a celebrity bid tracker feed and it asks folks to post in this format. Really helpful I find: CELEBRITY MOVE UP TRACKER Ship: Length of Cruise: Cruise Sail Date: Date email offer received: Captain’s Club Tier: Booked through Celebrity Direct OR via TA: Current Cabin: Bid? Yes/No: If YES - Bidding Details: Cabin Category: place winning category, if accepted (all category offers, can be mentioned in comments) Bid Offer: Notification Date: Accepted / Rejected General Comments (offer details, etc.)

Agreed. But it didn’t used to be?

Thank you to Nan_Sea for great Q, thank you to cr8tiv1 for well laid out answer with real live recent examples. Something I think many of us wonder.

We had the same experience- we went on the wait list for club class minis even though we were in a mini, as they were sold out. We did eventually get a club class mini, and like you say, moved a few cabins down and had to pay the big $$$. A good learning opportunity!

Rachel does the trail from the port have a name so I can find it? On AllTrails?

I too received an email inviting me to go to a 3rd party site to offer a silly expensive minimum bid for upgrade from my October balcony to a premium balcony, mini suite or club class mini suite. No thanks. It did also say I could contact my TA instead of going to this 3rd party site.

In 2019 my friend and I accidentally found ourselves on a San Francisco 49ers cruise on Ruby Princess. I don’t watch team sports. I have brothers and a father who passionately follow team sports but I never pay it any attention. So we ignored all that was happening around us and kind of chuckled at finding ourselves surrounded by all these fans and some players. We were sitting in Crooners bar having a pre-dinner martini. You know how on TV shows or a movie when the foxy lady or gentleman walks in like they’re on the catwalk and the show plays music that they strut to? Well I swear I heard (imaginary) strutting music as 2 GORGEOUS couples, dressed BEAUTIFULLY glided in and sat at the bar. My girlfriend says “that’s Jerry Rice”. They were dressed stunningly and the women wore very sparkly jewelry. I asked her how she knew, as I didn’t think she followed sports either. “He’s on Dancing With the Stars” she said! I don’t watch that either. I still had some clarifying to do…. SF 49ers… that’s football, right? We had a good chuckle. I felt a bit sad as they were interrupted several times for autographs. When we got back to the room I had fun looking him up on Wikipedia. Oh! He looked mighty preserved considering he was 57! And, now I know who he is!

Thanks Crystalspin. Finally got through to someone! It was applied to another sailing. Phew. Weird that it didn’t show that. And I had asked my TA but she didn’t seem to know.

I’m sure I had received a FCC from COVID isolation days in April and that it showed in my profile on the website. Appears I didn’t take a screenshot (I’ll blame post COVID brain). Well, now it appears to have disappeared. So I’ve been trying to call HAL 1877 932 4259. Was on hold 90 minutes 2 days ago but had to go out so hung up. Today I’ve been on hold 2 hours 10 minutes and really sick of this hold music. I’ve tried the chat but that seems to get locked up in cyberspace (or maybe hold time for that is wildly long too?) Anyone have a secret way of getting ahold of a human at HAL? Or wisdom about the COVID FCC and why it’s disappeared from my profile? Thanks!

Canadian Marine Services Guild (the tugboat operators union) has been without a collective agreement with Seaspan since September 2019. That’s a long time to have your employment contract up in the air.

Anybody know this? Do you need a park pass for loop road or only Cadillac Mountain?

Well this sounded cool. BUT, they’re no longer in operation. Glad you got to enjoy the sidecar ride! Cool idea.

Thanks all. For some reason IHG app will not populate any of my searches on 2 different devices. Think I’ll give it a rest and try again in a few days. I’ve stayed a few times at Crowne Plaza so agree it’s convenient. And, I highly recommend Happy Diner 617 S Centre St for breakfast around the corner!

Hmn, i have troubles in the ihg app and website, and tried hotels.com and Priceline. Made me nervous so assumed they were closed. I’ll keep my LAX reservation and check Crowne Plaza again in awhile. Thanks.