VentureMan_2000

You have to wait in line. Folks are getting soda, juice, snack etc. along with their coffee. Usually, only two people working... one making the coffee and the other taking orders and prepping.

San Francisco is really a pretty small place... about 8 miles by 8 miles, pretty easy to get around. I'd stay in the Fisherman's Wharf area both before and after your cruise. You can take the Cable Cars to China Town, and from China Town, it's an easy walk -- all downhill -- back to Fisherman's Warf. First... I would book the Tour of Alcatraz. It fills up, so you have to book well in advance. It's a must-see bucket list item. I've attached a SF walking tour, 2 files, I put together 5 years ago. Easily done in a day or less. Walking to China Town would be all up hill, so definitely take a cable car to it. I strongly suggest visiting the Cable Car Museum -- it closes at 4pm. It's not just a museum... it's actually the Powerhouse that runs each of the cables, so you get to actually see the cables as they are moving. China Town: visit the fortune cookie factory. Tiny little place, but a fun visit. Kam Loc is my favorite restaurant in China Town. It's located down in a basement area from the street. It's where the locals eat so you know the food is authentic and inexpensive. It's not a glamorous place but can be lively as it's very family oriented -- sometimes an argument breaks out between the family. Note: There is a theory that you do not want to go to a Chinese restaurant rated any higher than a 3.5 on yelp. The low 3.5 rating is usually due to patrons expecting, and not receiving, excellent service. It's not because of the food. Non-tourist Chinese restaurants do not bend over backwards for you... you have to assert yourself if you need something. Kam Loc fits this category. Great food and prices... okay service. Ghirardelli Square is fun to visit... right there near the hotels at Fisherman's Wharf. And if you want a nice dinner out with a view of Bay, I suggest McCormick's right near by. Cruise San Francisco Tour.docx San Francisco Walking Tour.pdf

You won't even need to send someone ahead... You can make the dinner reservation request from the comfort of a nice chair on one of the decks via the Carnival "Hub App". Just link all the cabins together, which will allow a person to make a dinner reservation for any or all linked. The App tells you when your table is ready - you have to arrive to the MDR within 10 minutes or the reservation is cancelled.

My observation while waiting and watching was: Weddings first, followed by wheelchairs being pushed by Carnival staff, Diamond, Plats, FTTF, then non-priority starting with A01 boarding.

Spirit Class is great and by far our favorite. So far on the Spirit Class we have cruised two 7-day Mexican Riviera cruises on the Pride and a 10-day Alaskan cruise on the Miracle. Coming up, a 11-day Alaskan cruise on the Miracle, a 14-day Panama Canal repositioning cruise on the Miracle, followed by a 9-day Western Caribbean cruise on the Miracle.

I'd leave it an open invitation since it's just close family. If they can make it, great. If not, great just the same. My wife and I booked a cruise last May 2023... and just let family members know of the cruise we booked -- that they were free to join us on the cruise. Didn't make it into a "Group" thing where we all had to agree on the cruise date and destination. Nine family members ended up joining us. We again did the same... booked a cruise for June 2024. Nine family members ended up joining us for this cruise. In short, just book the cruise you want... try to pick a reasonable future cruise date that is likely to entice the family wedding invites to consider joining you. If no one can join, shouldn't be an issue as you're on a cruise.

We ate there on our Carnival Glory cruise. I recommend it. Wife loved the pulled pork and Slaw. We eat a lot of chicken at home, so didn't even bother trying it. It looked good on other's plates. I had the beef and Mac. Beef was a little dry... I should have asked for a fatty piece. Mac wasn't cheesy enough for me but was fine. Potato salad was average... not bad, but nothing to brag about. Can't go wrong with sausage and baked beans.

Luckily, I got out after a lot of cost averaging during the pandemic. Even made a dollar per share more than my break-even get-out price ( pure luck price opened higher than my asking ). Bought 100 shares at $9.40 in April only for the OBC. OBC on my booked cruises is enough to pay the $940 buy-in, so I'm good to go here forward without worrying about stock price. Not important since I do not plan to sell, but CCL is up 100% since April.

Do you think this is true of the restaurants you patronize in the US... that you are subsidizing them with your gratuities ?

I don't buy into the severs not making enough money argument... at least not in California. In California, they eliminated the two-tier pay of restaurant workers decades ago. They get paid minimum wage regardless of TIPs. Minimum wage in California is $15.50 per hour. So, when we go out, we sit at the table for 2.0 hours and our bill is generally $120 or more before taxes. I normally tip 18%, or $22 for this $120 tab. So, in 2 hours, our server made $26.50 per hour... but for only one table. Let's say they have 6 tables to serve, and others' tabs are half mine, but they are only at the table for half the time, or 1-hour. So, the server is making ( Let's do the math... I like doing the math ) $11 per hour, per table, plus California's $15.50 per hour. That's $81.50 per hour. How is that a bad wage... even with hearing over and over the same old bad jokes and smiling at the customers until your cheeks hurt ?

The scouting programs in the US has put into place background checks, leader education, 2-person leadership requirements, and more... yet problems still arise. Predators can be pretty clever. There is no foolproof panacea for this.

Omelets: I prefer to stand in line for a fresh made omelet in front of me... made to order, on Lido. Otherwise, MDR -- two eggs to order, toast, a meat choice, hash-brownettes... and coffee.

There seems to be an awful lot of angst for some people regarding tipping. Seems those are the people that reduce or eliminate their tips on board... and sometimes through what appears to be a wall of mirrors that they think masks this.

Yup... was trying to convey the same in far fewer words.

This is per person for a 6-day cruise. I like doing the math... $28.08 / $96 = 29.25% for Stateroom Steward $45.36 / $96 = 47.25% for Team Dining Services $22.56 / $96 = 23.50% for Alternate Services Drinks have gratuities of 18$ automatically added... you do not need to pay more. I know the steak house price include gratuities -- you do not need to TIP more. Assuming the same for any paid restaurants. You can see the above breakdown that gratuities include eating on the Lido/buffet (team dining services). Tipping beyond the suggested $16 per person, per day, is not suggested or required.

I'm sure each of the generations applauds your generalities about them. May I know your age ?

Perhaps the cruise code doesn't work because they actually mean cruises between Dec 3 and Dec 31, 2023.

And you post on this forum... why ?

I don't understand how people managed to cruise pre-internet -- savages... 🤣

I find their promotion confusing... Sounds like only for cruises from Dec 3 thru Dec 31... "Coupon cannot be combined with other offers and only applies to new orders placed online prior to sailing 11/24/2023 -11/29/2023 for sailings 12/3/2023 - 12/31/2023. See additional details below"

Makes sense... We eat out 1 - 2 times a month. But as I said, I don't mind a $100 gift card for a local restaurant we might purchase at a discount at Costco or Sam's. They tend to be a 20% - 25% discount.

The Elephant in the room is why are any of you allowing Stockperks to connect to your money... 😲

What is HMC ?

How about chairs and lounges... are those free ? Are there plenty of them ? Can you bring your own beach chair ?

Gift cards make me uncomfortable for the reasons mentioned. I don't mind a $100 gift card for a local restaurant we might purchase at a discount at Costco or Sam's... But it does make me anxious until it's used. Will the restaurant go out of business before we get a chance to use it, etc.