Live--Vancouver to SFO and Back Again

[PunkiC]

Live—Vancouver to SFO, and back again, Star and Grand--Embarkation Day

 

After returning from our Panama Canal cruise and trip to Key West, we had a couple of days at home to do laundry, tend to the garden, and then drove up to Canada with our son and his girlfriend to do two little Pacific Coastal cruises with two other couples, both of which we met some years back dancing on cruises. Our friends all still work so they really enjoy these little weekend get-a-way trips.

 

The demographics on this little cruise are very different from those on the Panama Canal cruise, the passengers are a lot younger and there are a lot more children.

 

We drove up from Seattle Thursday evening and spent the night in Surrey, B.C., at the Hampton Inn, which is a pretty darned nice hotel. It is ten years old, but it looks and feels new. We got a suite with a kitchen and it had dishes, silverware and pots and pans. We only used a couple of glasses and cups.

 

Friday morning, DH drove DS and GF and I to the bus center in Coquitlam and then proceeded over to our friends’ house to drop off our car. The three of them then caught the bus to the transportation center and just as soon as they arrived, the #160 to Downtown Vancouver showed up. It was a pleasant drive into town and the bus dropped us just a block or so from the ship. Very handy. By 2016 they will have a new spur of the commuter train to Coquitlam which will be even more convenient.

 

We got to the pier around 11:30 which is pretty early for us and there were very long lines. Since I was using my cane, which I need when I walk long distances or stand for any length of time, some nice port lady grabbed me and said she would take us through a special line. Fine with me!  None of us had any issue boarding wine or champagne. We don’t drink champagne, but the kids brought some on board.

 

We were boarded, unpacked, and up eating lunch by the pool about 12:15 p.m. We ran into our friends from Coquitlam, along with some of their old neighbors from SFO, and some other friends from SFO and had a good time blabbing with them and the kids. The “kids” are DS and GF who are fully grown so don’t freak out if I mention somewhere along the way that we had wine with the “kids”. Oh I forgot to mention that as soon as we met our room steward he said, “Oh, I remember you from the Hawaii Cruise”. This would have been our Hawaii cruise in December of 2012. Does it mean you cruise too much when the staff starts to recognize you?

 

After lunch the kids wanted to check out Skywalkers, but there was a wedding in progress so we couldn’t crash. Well I suppose we could have, but we are trying to be good examples.

 

I napped until muster and then had to try to straighten out our OBC. They had neglected to add our loyalty credit and the girl at the purser’s desk kept insisting that the Future Cruise Credit which showed on our account was the Loyalty Credit. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr. They finally figured it out with the help of the Captain’s Circle Host.

 

We couldn’t find anyone to hook up with for dinner so we decided to go down and just get in line. Like magic, there were the kids having a drink in the International Café. The line was long but we were chatting with another couple when a staff member came by and said there was a table for six open. We asked the other couple to join us and the kids and nabbed it. They were very nice people who also ski and conveniently live in Lake Tahoe. We love meeting friends who live in ski areas. ;) We also serendipitously were seated next to our Vancouver and SFO friends. We need to make better plans if we want to eat together, but meeting new people is also really nice and we were the last people to leave the dining room despite the fact that we were seated quite early.

 

DS and girlfriend each decided to buy a “Drink Package” as they like mixed drinks. It costs $49 per person per day and has a 15 drink limit. Seriously? Well the drinks are reputed to be weak. After dinner they were going to go out and party. DS loves karaoke and they both love to dance to “shake your booty” music. It will be interesting to get their impression of night life on the ship, which I am sure will be quite different from ours as we are ballroom dancers who never go to Skywalkers and haven’t had a single mixed drink on a ship in over 35 cruises.

 

Interestingly, we each did receive a free drink coupon from the Captain for this cruise, so I suspect that this will be the cruise where we have our first mixed drink. This is the first time I have ever seen these complimentary drink tickets.

 

We checked out the Wheelhouse but nothing was happening there so we decided to just go to bed. We are old enough that we no longer feel the need to party like rock stars every night.

[Cruise Junky]

A 15 drink limit? Where did this come from? This is the first report of a limit. Enjoy your cruises

[caribill]

A 15 drink limit? Where did this come from? This is the first report of a limit.

 

Same question I had.

 

I wonder if the computer system really is set up to count the number of drinks or if this is just to make people think there is a limit. Imagine being refused a specialty coffee or glass of juice because you had reached your limit.

 

Maybe on these very-short cruises they do not want to have the package leading to a cruise with drunken orgies.

Edited May 10, 2014 by caribill

[Cruise Junky]

Same question I had.

 

I wonder if the computer system really is set up to count the number of drinks or if this is just to make people think there is a limit. Imagine being refused a specialty coffee or glass of juice because you had reached your limit.

 

Maybe on these very-short cruises they do not want to have the package leading to a cruise with drunken orgies.

 

Yeah I wondered if it was something in place for just short cruises too.

[crackupforlaughs]

Confused: how are you on the Grand and the Star at the same time:rolleyes:? Would imagine you're on one southbound and one northbound (Princess site lists the Grand northbound out of SF on the 14th but can't find the Star... probably because that's what you are on now?).

 

Do you have a stayover in SF between the two, or do you go from one to the other (disembark one, then embark same day on the other)? I'm curious because I want to do these coastal cruises and am trying to figure out a route... most likely for 2015 at this point. I tried to go from Seattle-Vancouver then Vancouver to LA, but it would have been same day disembark/embark on the same ship (Golden) and the PVSA says I can't do that.

 

Have a nice cruise and turnaround. Will look for your postings!

[Tweedy]

A 15 drink limit? Where did this come from? This is the first report of a limit. Enjoy your cruises

 

Maybe on a per day basis???

[Cruise Junky]

Maybe on a per day basis???

 

Yes, they're are talking about per day but this is the first we've heard of Princess having any daily limit. Carnival is one of the few with a daily limit.

[Wehwalt]

I am on those cruises as well (it is the Star southbound and the Grand northbound) so I will make inquiries regarding the drinks package. We are awaiting departure from Victoria.

 

I certainly am not interested in purchasing one, but I will tell the truth: it came up on Cruise Critic. I have already traded in my minibar setup for coffee cards. I got a drink coupon too. The captain's name is printed on it, so don't try taking it onto the Grand unless the captain comes too! Also an invite to a wine tasting, as usual for Elite.

 

I should add that the democratic is very heavily Asian. I would say sixty percent. Your elderly (white) cruisers who make up the bulk of the business are a small minority on this cruise.

Edited May 10, 2014 by Wehwalt

[lovevacadays]

Enjoy your short cruises.:):):)

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the new "LIVE"!! :D

 

[Colo Cruiser]

15 weak drink limit, wow. :rolleyes:

[Cruise Junky]

15 weak drink limit, wow. :rolleyes:

 

This was a grand marnier on Celebrity with the drink package...nice pour :)

[cdngrl]

looking forward to reading more, you are very entertaining!

[PunkiC]

Live—Vancouver to SFO, and back again, Star and Grand—Day two, Victoria

 

We sailed from Vancouver to Victoria and then anchored for the night off Victoria. At 6:00 a.m. a pilot boarded and took us into the port. Victoria is a really beautiful city but, unfortunately, we will be leaving by 1:30 so there really isn’t enough time for some of the more interesting tours like Butchart Gardens unless you want to get up really early. We don’t like getting up really early unless it is truly necessary. We live close enough to Victoria that getting up really early is not truly necessary—we can always come back.

 

Our Captain is Todd McBain and I like him because he is a Canadian whom we can actually understand over the loud speaker. The Cruise Director is Marahscalh Stanton. The last time we sailed with him he was Deputy Cruise Director. He and the current Deputy Cruise Director, Martin, just don’t have the spark that we enjoyed so much on our last cruise. Of course, Richard Joseph is a pretty tough act to follow. There was no trivia question, no “where on the ship” and The Wake Show was generally pretty boring.

 

DH ran (maybe walked) into town early to get me some medication—I am still fighting off the cold I picked up in Key West—but after that we decided to just hang out on the ship all day. We can be pretty lazy.

 

We were having lunch in the aft section of the Horizon Court and here was an automatic door which was broken and it was pretty cold. When I asked a waiter to close the door he said, “I can’t, it’s automatic”. I got up and closed it myself and asked him to report it to maintenance. He again said, “It’s fine, it just opens automatically when someone walks up to it”. Well that is true, but it is also supposed to close automatically after they enter. We asked another waiter who still didn’t understand that the door was broken so we gave up and went out by the enclosed pool where we could watch the people running to the ship in the wind and the rain. I have never seen so many people running for a ship, but then on the longer cruises most people are too old to run. We finally saw the kids walking back into the ship at 1:29 p.m., but there were a ton of people who came in the gate after they did. I love watching the embarkation process. The onboard cutoff was 1:30 p.m. and at exactly 2:00 p.m. they removed the gangplank and we began to pull away.

 

Just as I was about to go downstairs, the kids showed up so I went over and sat with them while they ate a late lunch. They confirmed that there was indeed a 15 drink daily limit on the drink package, but they weren’t sure if that included coffee or coke. They also said they doubted that anybody could stay sober enough to hit the limit no matter how weak the drinks were.

 

Sailing out of Victoria through the Strait of Juan de Fuca is a lovely experience. No matter where else we have traveled, I don’t believe we have ever been anyplace as overwhelmingly naturally beautiful as the Pacific Northwest. I guess that is why we live here. 

 

We had a party of 12 for dinner tonight—we actually planned to eat with our friends this time. Unfortunately they didn’t have a table for twelve so we had a table for eight and a table for four next to one another, both of which had the same waiter. The plan was to switch tables after each course so we could all talk to everyone, but we were all so busy talking that we forgot.

 

The orchestra was playing in the Vista Lounge so after dinner, those of us who are dancers went down, put on our dance shoes and enjoyed their set. It was great music. Our friends were early beginner dancers when we first met but have been taking lessons for several years and have improved dramatically. When the orchestra finished playing, we all went down to The Wheel House. The band in The Wheelhouse is Tempo Quatro and they are a decent dance band. Dancing is our favorite entertainment on ships so a good band is a necessity. On this particular cruise there are quite a few accomplished dancers.

 

DS loves karaoke so we stopped by on our way to bed to see if he might be singing, but we didn’t find him so we decided to just crash for the night. DH likes to start his day with the 7:00 stretch class and followed by an abs workout so he likes to get to bed reasonably early and I still need rest to aid in my recovery. I hate having a cold. I was so proud of myself for getting through the entire fall and winter, out in the cold skiing frequently, without getting a cold. Who would of thought I would catch one in Key West of all places?

 

Tomorrow is a sea day and our last day. That’s the bad part about these coastals, they are over far too quickly.

 

Questions of the day: What is it about watching “The Love Boat” on a Princess ship that makes us feel so happy?

[Pamster]

Hi,

 

Enjoying your "life from".

 

Regarding being recognized by staff, on our Alaska cruise last summer on the Coral we were recognized by the CASINO staff from our Pacific Coastal the year before on the Sapphire. What does that say? LOL

 

And, regarding getting sick in Key West, our daughter's family lives near Pensacola FL. She says they're sick more often than they ever were in Colorado, because it never gets cold enough to kill the bugs. I think that would be even more true with all the hot and humid in Key West.

 

I've considered those short weekend cruises, since they are a lot of them from LA. But it doesn't seem worth it to go through all the packing, etc.., for a 3-day cruise. Although the added points for Captain's Circle would be nice. I might do it for the right price - or if they run another one of those specials where the price of your short cruise can be applied to another cruise. THAT would make it worth it.

[trbarton]

Live—Vancouver to SFO, and back again, Star and Grand—Day two, Victoria

 

We sailed from Vancouver to Victoria and then anchored for the night off Victoria. At 6:00 a.m. a pilot boarded and took us into the port. Victoria is a really beautiful city but, unfortunately, we will be leaving by 1:30 so there really isn’t enough time for some of the more interesting tours like Butchart Gardens unless you want to get up really early. We don’t like getting up really early unless it is truly necessary. We live close enough to Victoria that getting up really early is not truly necessary—we can always come back.

 

Our Captain is Todd McBain and I like him because he is a Canadian whom we can actually understand over the loud speaker. The Cruise Director is Marahscalh Stanton. The last time we sailed with him he was Deputy Cruise Director. He and the current Deputy Cruise Director, Martin, just don’t have the spark that we enjoyed so much on our last cruise. Of course, Richard Joseph is a pretty tough act to follow. There was no trivia question, no “where on the ship” and The Wake Show was generally pretty boring.

 

DH ran (maybe walked) into town early to get me some medication—I am still fighting off the cold I picked up in Key West—but after that we decided to just hang out on the ship all day. We can be pretty lazy.

 

We were having lunch in the aft section of the Horizon Court and here was an automatic door which was broken and it was pretty cold. When I asked a waiter to close the door he said, “I can’t, it’s automatic”. I got up and closed it myself and asked him to report it to maintenance. He again said, “It’s fine, it just opens automatically when someone walks up to it”. Well that is true, but it is also supposed to close automatically after they enter. We asked another waiter who still didn’t understand that the door was broken so we gave up and went out by the enclosed pool where we could watch the people running to the ship in the wind and the rain. I have never seen so many people running for a ship, but then on the longer cruises most people are too old to run. We finally saw the kids walking back into the ship at 1:29 p.m., but there were a ton of people who came in the gate after they did. I love watching the embarkation process. The onboard cutoff was 1:30 p.m. and at exactly 2:00 p.m. they removed the gangplank and we began to pull away.

 

Just as I was about to go downstairs, the kids showed up so I went over and sat with them while they ate a late lunch. They confirmed that there was indeed a 15 drink daily limit on the drink package, but they weren’t sure if that included coffee or coke. They also said they doubted that anybody could stay sober enough to hit the limit no matter how weak the drinks were.

 

Sailing out of Victoria through the Strait of Juan de Fuca is a lovely experience. No matter where else we have traveled, I don’t believe we have ever been anyplace as overwhelmingly naturally beautiful as the Pacific Northwest. I guess that is why we live here. 

 

We had a party of 12 for dinner tonight—we actually planned to eat with our friends this time. Unfortunately they didn’t have a table for twelve so we had a table for eight and a table for four next to one another, both of which had the same waiter. The plan was to switch tables after each course so we could all talk to everyone, but we were all so busy talking that we forgot.

 

The orchestra was playing in the Vista Lounge so after dinner, those of us who are dancers went down, put on our dance shoes and enjoyed their set. It was great music. Our friends were early beginner dancers when we first met but have been taking lessons for several years and have improved dramatically. When the orchestra finished playing, we all went down to The Wheel House. The band in The Wheelhouse is Tempo Quatro and they are a decent dance band. Dancing is our favorite entertainment on ships so a good band is a necessity. On this particular cruise there are quite a few accomplished dancers.

 

DS loves karaoke so we stopped by on our way to bed to see if he might be singing, but we didn’t find him so we decided to just crash for the night. DH likes to start his day with the 7:00 stretch class and followed by an abs workout so he likes to get to bed reasonably early and I still need rest to aid in my recovery. I hate having a cold. I was so proud of myself for getting through the entire fall and winter, out in the cold skiing frequently, without getting a cold. Who would of thought I would catch one in Key West of all places?

 

Tomorrow is a sea day and our last day. That’s the bad part about these coastals, they are over far too quickly.

 

Questions of the day: What is it about watching “The Love Boat” on a Princess ship that makes us feel so happy?

 

I'm on the May 23 Alaska cruise and Princess emailed me that Paul Chandler-Burns would be the CD on our cruise. Can you find out if Marahscalh Stanton is being replaced?

 

Thanks!

 

Tom:)

[Colo Cruiser]

Sounds like a great day.

[PunkiC]

Live—Vancouver to SFO, and back again, Star and Grand—Day Two, at Sea

 

This morning they announced our customs procedure. Typically one goes through US Customs at the port in Vancouver, but, since we had another Canadian stop in Victoria, they will have Custom’s clearance on the ship. Our original assigned time was 7:00 a.m. Seriously? I may just put on a baseball hat and go through customs before I shower and get dressed. Of course, without my make-up they may not believe that I am the same person shown on my passport picture. For the first time in my life I actually do have a decent looking passport picture.

 

I actually went down to the Purser’s desk and was able to change our Customs Appointment to 9:25 a.m. I can live with that. That will give me enough time to get up, dress, pack and fix up my face until I look like my passport picture. It was a very easy process. I also checked our OBC and found that we have $95.00 credit left. That should almost cover dinner for 4 at the Crown Grill (why is the mother paying for mother’s day dinner) and our corkage fee, leaving us with a bill of $20.00 for the entire cruise.  Not bad for a three-day mini vacation.

 

We had brunch in the Horizon Court with the kids. This brunch consisted of breakfast food from one side, followed by lunch dessert from the other side for the rest of the family. I had cottage cheese and cantaloupe which is always my go-to breakfast. Eating anything heavy or greasy in the morning makes me groggy all day long.

 

Since I am an ex-Marine, I decided to go to the veterans’ meeting—DH won’t go because he was a wimpy reservist and feels embarrassed around hard-core military types. ;) It was very lightly attended, but, like always, the folks who I thought were really old had been in Nam 8-10 years after got out so I guess they must really be younger than I am. I am going to continue to try to fake it for as long as I possibly can.

 

I had to run from the Veterans’ meeting to the Grapevine wine tasting where I met up with DH and our dance friends. We have been to probably two dozen of these wine tastings, but I always seem to learn something. Maybe I am just a slow learner. We decided to keep the dessert wine glasses. Someday we are going to have a big party and give everybody a Princess shot glass as a memento. I don’t know yet what we will serve in those glasses, but I am sure I will come up with something that everybody loves. Maybe Bailey’s Irish Cream. Everybody likes Bailey’s Irish Cream.

 

We enjoyed our obligatory old peoples’ nap before going down to dinner at the Crown Grill with DS and his GF. On our way down to dinner we stopped at Crooner’s Bar and had a martini—my first ever on a ship. It appears that the reason we got the complimentary drink tickets is because there was no Captain’s Party on this cruise and there was no limit on the cost of that complimentary drink. We had Absolute Vodka martinis, straight up, with no vermouth, so there was no chance they could water them down.

 

DS’s GF and I are both pretty much vegetarians so our dinners consisted of soup, salad, and potatoes but the men folk really got into the meat. Of course we shared two dessert samplers for the table. I am not a big sweet person but I did have a couple of bites of chocolate. I do love dark chocolate. After dinner I laid down in our cabin for a couple of minutes to “rest my eyes” and didn’t wake up until midnight. Ooops. DS had also fallen asleep so DH and the GF went and had a drink together. When she checked her account, GF discovered that they had accidentally charged her account for dinner at the Crown Grill for the 4 of us. When I woke up and DH filled me in on the news, so I went down to the purser’s desk to fix it as we still had $95 outstanding credit which was earmarked for dinner. Fixing the error was a very quick and easy process. I do love, love, love the Elite line. There was a huge long line of regular folks waiting to reconcile their accounts so it as a true delight to just walk up and fix the accounts with no wait. We are sooooooooooooooo spoiled.

 

Tomorrow we dock in San Francisco and will spend the night with the kids at the Sheraton at Fisherman’s Wharf. Wednesday morning they fly home to go back to work and we board the Grand to sail back to Vancouver. Retirement is so much fun.  I am surprised at how many people we meet who are also doing both cruises. Southbound cruises in May are pretty rare so it looks like lots of folks are taking advantage of the opportunity for the double booking.

 

P.S. Yes, trbarton, Marahscalh Stanton did mention that he was leaving the ship in SFO. I don't know if we have ever had Paul Chandler-Burns as a Cruise Director. They sort of all run together in my mind except for those who were outstandingly good or really bad. I don't think Marahscalh is particularly bad, just sort of boring and he really doesn't click with the Deputy Cruise Director, or at least they don't appear to click on the Wake Show.

[Wehwalt]

I fought to get a 7 am appointment and 830 off the ship. I have things to do in the Bay Area, I have to get my bag to my hotel and take BART to the East Bay.

 

The teams I played on (not always the same team) won three of four trivias, by 4,3, and 1 questions (usually out of 20). The fourth was lost on a tiebreaker. So I'm pretty pleased, since I was the only player to win three times. Helps to be an old-time College Bowl player (and national all-star!)

[JF - retired RRT]

Marahscalh Stanton. The last time we sailed with him he was Deputy Cruise Director. He and the current Deputy Cruise Director, Martin, just don’t have the spark that we enjoyed so much on our last cruise.

We sailed with him on the CB and couldn't agree more.

 

 

I was so proud of myself for getting through the entire fall and winter, out in the cold skiing frequently, without getting a cold. Who would of thought I would catch one in Key West of all places?

 

As you probably already know - you don't get a cold from the weather. It is exposure to a virus from someone else who has picked it up from someone else...and round and round it goes.:)

[trbarton]

Live—Vancouver to SFO, and back again, Star and Grand—Day Two, at Sea

 

This morning they announced our customs procedure. Typically one goes through US Customs at the port in Vancouver, but, since we had another Canadian stop in Victoria, they will have Custom’s clearance on the ship. Our original assigned time was 7:00 a.m. Seriously? I may just put on a baseball hat and go through customs before I shower and get dressed. Of course, without my make-up they may not believe that I am the same person shown on my passport picture. For the first time in my life I actually do have a decent looking passport picture.

 

I actually went down to the Purser’s desk and was able to change our Customs Appointment to 9:25 a.m. I can live with that. That will give me enough time to get up, dress, pack and fix up my face until I look like my passport picture. It was a very easy process. I also checked our OBC and found that we have $95.00 credit left. That should almost cover dinner for 4 at the Crown Grill (why is the mother paying for mother’s day dinner) and our corkage fee, leaving us with a bill of $20.00 for the entire cruise.  Not bad for a three-day mini vacation.

 

We had brunch in the Horizon Court with the kids. This brunch consisted of breakfast food from one side, followed by lunch dessert from the other side for the rest of the family. I had cottage cheese and cantaloupe which is always my go-to breakfast. Eating anything heavy or greasy in the morning makes me groggy all day long.

 

Since I am an ex-Marine, I decided to go to the veterans’ meeting—DH won’t go because he was a wimpy reservist and feels embarrassed around hard-core military types. ;) It was very lightly attended, but, like always, the folks who I thought were really old had been in Nam 8-10 years after got out so I guess they must really be younger than I am. I am going to continue to try to fake it for as long as I possibly can.

 

I had to run from the Veterans’ meeting to the Grapevine wine tasting where I met up with DH and our dance friends. We have been to probably two dozen of these wine tastings, but I always seem to learn something. Maybe I am just a slow learner. We decided to keep the dessert wine glasses. Someday we are going to have a big party and give everybody a Princess shot glass as a memento. I don’t know yet what we will serve in those glasses, but I am sure I will come up with something that everybody loves. Maybe Bailey’s Irish Cream. Everybody likes Bailey’s Irish Cream.

 

We enjoyed our obligatory old peoples’ nap before going down to dinner at the Crown Grill with DS and his GF. On our way down to dinner we stopped at Crooner’s Bar and had a martini—my first ever on a ship. It appears that the reason we got the complimentary drink tickets is because there was no Captain’s Party on this cruise and there was no limit on the cost of that complimentary drink. We had Absolute Vodka martinis, straight up, with no vermouth, so there was no chance they could water them down.

 

DS’s GF and I are both pretty much vegetarians so our dinners consisted of soup, salad, and potatoes but the men folk really got into the meat. Of course we shared two dessert samplers for the table. I am not a big sweet person but I did have a couple of bites of chocolate. I do love dark chocolate. After dinner I laid down in our cabin for a couple of minutes to “rest my eyes” and didn’t wake up until midnight. Ooops. DS had also fallen asleep so DH and the GF went and had a drink together. When she checked her account, GF discovered that they had accidentally charged her account for dinner at the Crown Grill for the 4 of us. When I woke up and DH filled me in on the news, so I went down to the purser’s desk to fix it as we still had $95 outstanding credit which was earmarked for dinner. Fixing the error was a very quick and easy process. I do love, love, love the Elite line. There was a huge long line of regular folks waiting to reconcile their accounts so it as a true delight to just walk up and fix the accounts with no wait. We are sooooooooooooooo spoiled.

 

Tomorrow we dock in San Francisco and will spend the night with the kids at the Sheraton at Fisherman’s Wharf. Wednesday morning they fly home to go back to work and we board the Grand to sail back to Vancouver. Retirement is so much fun.  I am surprised at how many people we meet who are also doing both cruises. Southbound cruises in May are pretty rare so it looks like lots of folks are taking advantage of the opportunity for the double booking.

 

P.S. Yes, trbarton, Marahscalh Stanton did mention that he was leaving the ship in SFO. I don't know if we have ever had Paul Chandler-Burns as a Cruise Director. They sort of all run together in my mind except for those who were outstandingly good or really bad. I don't think Marahscalh is particularly bad, just sort of boring and he really doesn't click with the Deputy Cruise Director, or at least they don't appear to click on the Wake Show.

 

Thanks for the information.

 

I was on the BVE today and picked up the current Patter to get an idea of what they are doing.

 

The BVE was VERY disorganized as we didn't start to board the ship until around 11:45 am and by the time the tour was over it was almost 1 pm. There was no photographers station set up thus we didn't get the photo promised. I have done the BVE before but never like this.

 

Again thanks for your reply. Glad that you had a good cruise.

 

Tom:)

[Phamer55]

I'm just off the Star Princess as well. Sorry to be contradictory, I do want to clarify that as someone who personally purchased the AI drink package, there is no limit to the # of drinks you can get in a day. Carnival does have a limit of 15, but not Princess. The only thing that was weird was that you had to sign the slip even for a $0 amount; this seemed like a waste (Celebrity and Royal Caribbean, whose drink package I have also used, do not require this).

[trbarton]

If you want to see my photos of my BVE today on the Star go to http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=42745737&posted=1#post42745737 and go to post #118.

 

Tom:)

[Colo Cruiser]

Great photos!

[trbarton]

Great photos!

 

Thank you very much:D

 

I was a professional photographer for 20 years if that makes a difference plus I shot a lot of the photos fast do to my time constrains.

 

Tom:)