Sprocket

We enjoyed our short stay in Long Beach.  The bar/restaurant in the lobby had a decent menu for a quick dinner and the little coffee place had bagels and coffee for breakfast.  

Staff at check in were great and on our way to the room my husband was dehydrated and started cramping up and they quickly brought him 2 bottles of water,  thank goodness for electrolytes in powder form.

Hope you enjoy your stay and how lucky to be able to travel with family.

Hi Jeannie, we Uber but just make sure if you  have to stand in the shuttle you hang on.  Fell last year when she hit the gas, my fault for letting go of the pole.

We are booked into the Westin again for December, and have had some really nice price drops this week saving us about $70 so far.  We enjoyed our stay there and even though the Crowne Plaza is more convenient Westin wins hands down..

Last year for my cruise to Alaska on the Crown I was in cabin R746 which is the last balcony cabin on the port side.  Huge balcony and incredible views.   I loved it back there, a few steps up to the pool, bar and buffet.  Rear elevators went straight up to Skywalkers which we really enjoy.  IMO not all aft cabins are a downgrade.

Maybe once you're onboard take a walk down that way and see for yourself.

This is what you agreed to when you booked your cruise.  Personally we love the aft cabins and would be perfectly happy there.  

Spells out pretty clearly if you want a specific location to book a cabin in that location.  

We live less than 10 minutes from the border and fly out of Bellingham WA  airport for the same reasons.  We have Nexus which helps and it's a nice drive down.  We've flown out of Vancouver twice in over 20 years and only because we had to.

Bonus  South West now flies from there and when we cruise out of San Pedro flying in and out of Long Beach is way more convenient than LAX.

Haven't yet cruised from San Francisco but have recently done 3 coastal cruises.  2 in 2022 and 1 this year in April.

We are seniors and never once felt unsafe but so far have only gone to Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf.  We live outside of Vancouver BC and sadly things have changed here also.  But I would not cancel we Uber whenever we leave the ship and are cruising to Hawaii again in December but out of San Pedro on the Discovery.

I've used it a few times and have nothing but good things to say about it, so nice not to have to drag my luggage around.  Just make sure to ask when you will be receiving the option to do this, for some reason my cabin steward on one of my cruises did not drop off the sign up sheet and I barely made the cutoff.  IIRC it was Wednesday? for a Saturday departure.

Even booking as a solo you will be paying double occupancy, unless its a casino booking so this makes no sense to me sorry.  

I would definitely try booking it online myself if you put it on hold it drops off at midnight no CC or payment required.

We use the closed captioning on the TV.

Can you get a direct flight on any airline from Oakland to Vancouver?  But if you have to clear customs in Vancouver that option may not work either.

Sorry looks like Denver is where you change planes.

Can you fly in the day or evening before?  There is a Holiday Inn directly across the street from the airport, we have stayed there and took about 5 minutes to walk over.  
Quick Shuttle might be doable then.

Just curious if you used Evergreen car service?

Cruised on 5 ships last year and no problem ordering the fettuccine on any of them. 

dayusehotels.com

15 hours ago, thesmiths said:

Pick up was great, as soon as we got off the plane, text was there from the driver advising update and where to meet him.

10 out of 10.

 

Thank you for the update!  Pick up is outside of baggage claim?

Just now, phabric said:

If you are talking about printing your Travel Summary, your cruise on your Personalizer disappears once on the ship.

Should still be in the email though that they sent when I booked it.

You can always go to the Internet Cafe if you have wifi and print them there if you forget.

Just now, thesmiths said:

 

Shortly after I booked I was contacted by 2 different drivers, one for pick up and one for drop back to SFO!

Pics of the vehicle and driver as well!

 

I'm due to be picked up Friday morning by them at SFO,

 

Carnival Miracle May 2023 10 Day Alaska from San Francisco Aft Wrap Suite - 30th Wedding Anniversary

Congratulations on your Anniversary! If/when you get a chance I'd appreciate an update on your experience.  I'll be solo this time and normally use Uber but this sounds like a really nice alternative.

On 5/2/2023 at 7:33 AM, scottca075 said:

Wingz is a great company. As far as I know, they are an airport pick up and deliver service only, I don't think they do rideshare in general like Uber and Lyft. They are San Francisco based and I've used them at SFO and OAK when I wasn't renting a car and at MCO when I haven't gotten a car.

Just went to their website and received a quote of $81 which seems pretty reasonable for round trip from OAK to Pier 27.  No issues with pick up times finding the driver etc?

No it’s not so far only FLL and Seatac has Port Valet used them both and love not seeing my bags until I get back to my home airport.

On 5/7/2023 at 9:02 AM, Italy52 said:

@Coral.  We are not super fans of sailing on the Crown.  We are light eaters and prefer the buffet for food.  However, we know on the Crown that our choices will be very limited and the layout not the best.  I did see someone else's video of the Crown buffet and it looks like I will be bringing my own cereal for breakfast. 😁

 

The fixed shower heads will also be an issue for me as I am short and subject to ear infections if the water gets inside them.  Ear plugs don't work; this is why the hand-held shower heads work better for me.  I had my TA request  a hand-held shower head; will see if it is there upon our arrival.  So far, I have had a 50% success rate when I have requested one.

 

As I mentioned in a past discussion, the itinerary is the biggest draw for us as it contains lots of our favorite stops.  This might be a "one and done" on the Crown for us but we are willing to take the chance for a good itinerary.

 

Hope you are able to post and share your experiences.  Safe travels.

I requested to have a hand held shower head on one of my cruises.  My issue was that it was not a fixed one like I’m used to.  So I either had to hang onto it or let it dangle, so I asked to have it removed as it was just too awkward.  YMMV

We love the Crown spent 47 days on her last year and so far have 17 days booked for this year including 10 days to Alaska.

1 minute ago, BamaVol said:

While I could travel light, I go with someone who cannot.  Therefor it’s a nonstarter.  I would love to unpack before I begin my first beer.  But it hasn’t worked out that way yet and I don’t expect it ever will.

We board then go directly to Good Times for our first beer, then visit the Muster station then head to our cabin to watch the video.  I found our muster location in the app which was very helpful.  If our luggage doesn't beat us it normally arrives soon after and we are good to go after that.

6 minutes ago, suekel said:

Carry on luggage will fit thru the security scanners, a full size suitcase will not.  That's why people don't do it.  

Excellent point and that alone disqualifies me from ever attempting this lol.

By the time I get to the ship I can't wait to hand off my luggage including a carry on if I have one. We normally arrive early and lots of times my luggage has made it to the room before we have.

Having to use the elevator in the terminal then dragging it up the ramps and then waiting for an elevator once on the ship which now are crazy busy especially on embarkation day is a nope from me.

If sail away is at 4PM isn't trying for a 2 PM arrival kind of risky?

5 hours ago, neenee61 said:

No. Happy to forego and try different lines. Currently booked on Virgin AND out of my home port, Melb Aust.

Very quick and easy booking process

Thanks for the info but my FP is pretty significant and allows me to cruise more.  Virgin does look very appealing though.

A whole bunch of offers expired today May 2nd lots reporting they couldn't book those today.  I went in through my email offer and was able to do a mock hold booking so not sure if everyone was affected.