Diamond - Hawaii Jan 6-22, 2023. Semi Live

[LATTELOVE]

Thank you for taking of your time to do this thread.

We really enjoyed it.

 

Safe travels home.

[LATTELOVE]

21 hours ago, cruzin4us said:

We are getting to leave Ensenada and the Captain just came on telling us there are quite a few Covid cases onboard and masks are recommended indoors….duh.  I’ve seen it picking up over the last few days.   He did not say required, just recommended.   All the crew is now wearing masks.  
 

 

Bummer.

[jbeth]

cruiselovr 101.........It's San Francisco.....definately not FRISCO!!!!!!!!!!!

[cruzin4us]

Today was the bittersweet disembarkation.   

 

Happy to get home to see my DH.....sad to leave the ship.  I had a wonderful cruise and the food was much better than all my previous Princess cruises post Covid.

 

Disembarkation was a bit of a mess.   I was scheduled to get off the ship at 8:45.    I wasn't in any hurry so hung out talking with Brian and Rowena for a bit.   We worked our way down to deck 5 and the line was circled around the Piazza and thru the art gallery.   We decided to just wait until we saw the end of the line because we sure couldn't get to the back with all the people.   So, we just sat in the Internet Cafe chatting.   

 

About 8:30 (or so) there was an announcement that said "Due to the High Tide disembarkation is going slower than anticipated".....What?   We are in SD and the weather is beautiful, it's not windy and we are docked.   Made no sense to me.    That was until we finally got ready to get off the ship and we saw the gangway.    Man, was it steep.  Anyone that had luggage with wheels had a difficult time toting in down that steep incline.    The crew was helping almost everyone that had luggage.   It was crazy, crazy steep.   Now I understood the delay.

 

Found my luggage pretty quickly but getting thru the masses of people that were trying to board vs those getting off was an absolute cluster F.....    All it would have taken was a big STOP sign for those entering for the pier for the next cruise.  For crying out loud, the faster you let us exit, the faster you will get on.   I felt like I was in the Drake Passage where to Oceans collide.   We couldn't get out, they couldn't get in.......we all just stood deadlocked.    DUMB.    I didn't have plane to catch but those that did were starting to panic.     Don't the new cruisers realize we had a bunch of Covid Cases onboard?    The last thing they should be doing is mobbing us that are trying to get off the ship.    Crazy morning.

 

Got home, happy to see my DH and 2 cats.   Even got the bags unpacked and stuff put away.

 

Cruise:    Hawaii is a fun place to go......especially in January when the whales are in Maui.   Never witnessed anything like that day (all from the ship).  Didn't need to pay for an excursion.

 

Sea Days:  You have to like sea days if you want to do the Hawaii cruise as there were 10 of them.   The Pacific can be calm or it can be rough.   It just depends, some are easy, others you need sea legs.   Saw at least 10 injuries due to falling on the rough seas.   One was high heel related, 3 related to stairs, and the rest I'm not quite sure how they happened.   Saw many on crutches, one with a dislocated elbow that had to be reset (yes, on the cruise), many with casts.    So, if you need a walker, a cane or whatever.....don't be shy, use it!     

 

Crew:   Always happy, cheerful and willing to please.

 

Ship:   Shows some wear around the edges (rust), but carpeting is new and the ship is very clean.    One of the most comfortable ships I've been on.

 

Food:  I'd give it a 9.5/10 for the dining room,   3/10 for the Buffet.     You can read my prior posts on the food and you can see a day by day blow of what I consumed.   They worked really hard in the MDR and it showed.    My issue with the buffet is the items are always cold.....way too cold for my liking.

 

Bidets:    I'm mixed on these.   Some worked, some didn't.   The one in my room worked well and I love the heated seats.    The instructions were different from bidet to bidet.   Spent a lot of time pressing buttons trying to figure them out just to finally decide I must be using a broken one.    So, the one in my room I liked, the others around the ship I finally gave up trying to use them.

 

I've got a few cruises coming up so I do have something to look forward to.   Nothing worse that debarking and not having a cruise booked for the future.

 

Mexican Riviera (Discovery) March 4

Alaska (Ruby) May 17

Iceland/Greenland (Island) Aug 9

Scottish Highlands & Wales (Island) Aug 25

S. America / Antarctica Jan 4

 

Doing these "Lives" are kinda fun if the internet works well.    It did this trip, so I posted away.   When I have issues, l hate doing these so I can never commit fully.   I'm a post as I go, I'm not much good at going back and trying to recreate my cruise.

 

So, thanks for following along on my food extravaganza/cruise.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

[charlie murphy]

In SoCal we have been being told about "King Tides" the past few days , coastal flooding and beach erosion .  thanks for the updates and taking us all along. 

San Diego California Tides ... 2023-01-22 Sun 09:08 AM 7.63' High 2023-01-22 Sun 04:15 PM -2.08' Low ... 2023-01-23 Mon 09:55 AM 7.27' High

[Peasy24]

I can't stop staring at that burrito 🤣

[LATTELOVE]

Thank you so much for taking

your time to do the reviews.

We really enjoyed it.

 

Till next cruise,  thanks again.

[cruisequeen4ever]

I really enjoyed your blog; please blog as many of your upcoming cruises as

possible! 

[LaurieHS]

On 1/21/2023 at 5:47 PM, cruzin4us said:

Had lunch with Brian and Rowena in Ensenada.   Yes, Brian ate that whole fish burrito!  
 

It turned out to be a beautiful day.  We wandered the streets doing some shopping, hitting the Pharmacy and buying some Tequila.   It was a fun day and then it’s home tomorrow.  
 

Did my packing and my home away from home looks empty 😢

 

 

What restaurant was this? It looks amazing!