Nodales

Lots of seafood available on the west coast, but lobster aren't native here, so it's usually $15-$20 per tail. Lobster night on cruises is one of my highlights because I can have as many as I can eat!

Thank you to those who provided productive feedback on this.

Reading over the fine print again, it appears the 11-12pm pick-up time to applicable to people landing a day early only. The way it is phrased is very unusual but it looks like we're good to go.

Usually Princess gives one time for those with their own travel arrangements to meet. Go into cruise personalizer and provide your flight info in the Flights and Transfer section.

As I said originally... I already did this.

That's why I am concerned about the time they gave me to meet with the transfer...

I am hoping someone can help me with this because there is nothing on Princess' website to clarify and apparently no way to ask them this question without phoning them...

My cruise departs San Fran April 28th and my husband and I will be flying in. Checking with Princess' eZAir it appeared the latest flight arrival time we could book was at 1:15pm. Using this information I booked independently (cheaper) for a flight landing at 12:50pm. Afterwards I booked Princess Transfers for convenience.

On Princess' website I submitted my flight information. Everything looks okay (though they seem to think my departing flight on disembarkation day doesn't exist but whatever).

But now I'm looking at my cruise confirmation paperwork and in the fine print it says my Princess Transfer is between 11-12pm on embarkation day. Obviously I can't teleport to the airport by then so I don't know if I just paid for a service I can't use. (But it also states my flight should arrive 2.5 hours prior to sail time, which my flight does. So it's even contradicting itself.)

Does anyone know if I should actually be concerned about this?

The night of our first cruise in Alaska, a major earthquake hit China. In the early morning hours, we were awoken by the sounds of our hangers falling off the rod in our closet, and I was nearly rolled out of bed. Waves from the earthquake went on the entire day, and were unfortunately on the western side of Vancouver Island so there was no escape. I work on boats and have never been sick, but I was very close on that cruise! Staff couldn't stand without holding onto bars, guests were puking in the hallways and cups toppled over in the buffet. The pools had to be drained because the water was splashing up so hard. I've never seen anything like it since!

Head to the Trident Grill (Princess ships always), grab some pizza and order a long island iced tea!

I am confident our Hawaii cruise from SFO in April will be our top cruise... But I loved our Pacific Coastal on the Sapphire Princess. It was part of our honeymoon and we participated in a lot of trivia games and other group events and it wasn't long before it seemed everyone on the ship knew we were on our honeymoon. Between staff and our fellow passengers we felt so warm-received and everyone put an effort into making it special for us.

On the last night of the cruise we played another trivia game under the group name "The Honeymoon's Over". :P

Every cruise we do wine tasting... And on lobster night I try to beat my previous cruise's record for lobster tails eaten.. Last time I ate 5.

I would personally recommend going whale watching if you have a day in Victoria. Depending on where the whales are hanging out (humpbacks or orcas usually), you could end up around the San Juan Islands or the Gulf Islands. Very beautiful scenery, lots of wildlife and photo opportunities.

Check the itinerary for these two options very carefully!

I am booked on the Grand departing SF April 28th since the Star's departure date wasn't an option for me with work. As I was planning my excursions I found out the Polynesian Cultural Centre in Honolulu is closed on Sundays... the day we're there.

So before booking, if it matters to you, check very carefully everything you'd like to do and choose a ship based off of that.

If you like the Long Island Iced Tea, you should try the Beverly Hills Iced Tea. That quickly became my favorite on our last cruise.

Yes, yes and yes!! I have these on all my Princess Cruises... And they destroy me.

I would strongly discourage taking a taxi and instead encourage you to take the Canada Line Skytrain. It will cost significantly less and can even be faster than taking the taxi. The station is less than a block from the cruise terminal (signs are very clear leading you to the skytrain, just make sure you take the Canada Line) and the ride itself is 30 minutes. Its final stop is right in front of the airport entrance. VERY convenient!

I've never been to Hawaii before but my husband and I are looking into a 15-night Hawaii cruise from SFO at the end of April. I have a few questions...

1. We don't want to venture too far away from the cruise ports and I was wondering what are the best snorkeling beaches close to the cruise ports in Hilo, Honolulu, Maui and Kauai?

2. If snorkeling near a cruise port is not an option, are there any good beaches within walking distance?

3. Had anyone done the wild dolphin snorkeling excursions? Any recommendations for that?

Thanks in advance!

One of our favorite spots is the Trident Grill by the pools! Their thin crust pizza is fresh and delicious. Also can't complain about their fresh cheeseburgers and hot dogs. Cheap food but very fresh, hot and delicious.

Princess: The food is hit or miss. Some things were awful and other things were great. The main dining rooms were REALLY hit or miss. Buffet was almost always a miss with the exception of breakfast. The best food on Princess were on the grills outside where they served fresh burgers, hot dogs and pizza.

NCL: I sailed with them in 2000 so I don't remember it well... But I do recall it wasn't that great either.

HAL: Haven't sailed with them yet (will this summer) but a friend of mine who is a foodie swears by HAL. She will not cruise with any other line. She says she loves their food.

I am a huge sushi lover and was very excited to hear sushi is offered in the buffet on the Volendam.

I have previously sailed three times with Princess but found their sushi was very poor. No real raw fish, it was always smoked salmon... Does anyone know if HAL's sushi is "real" sushi? I'm mostly hoping for legit salmon rolls and nigiri.

I'm from Vancouver and the sushi quality here is fairly high so I know I am spoiled at home as far as sushi quality goes... But I would love to enjoy some real sushi on our Alaska cruise this summer!