XBGuy

I will second @PacnGoNow's endorsement of the Ultimate Balcony Dinner. It is, easily, the best dining experience that Princess currently offers. (Admittedly, I have not yet tried some of the newer restaurants like The Catch.) Two servers are dedicated to you to ensure that your dinner is served in a timely and professional manner. Before our first UBD, I was concerned about having two servers hovering over us so that they could sweep away dishes from a finished course and drop the next course in front of us. Somehow, they are able to disappear while we are enjoying our meal but magically reappear when we are ready for our next course. The fare is not particularly adventurous (entree is filet mignon, lobster tails or surf 'n' turf), but it is very good. It's the service that blows me away.

I had this wine last night with sandwiches made from leftover grilled flank steak/ Same winemaker as the one who made the sparkler that I posted yesterday.

Skagway was always my least favorite AK port. Then I discovered these hiking trails. A lot of fun for $0. I tried to highlight two of the trailheads by circling them in red on this map. My understanding is that there is another trail out by the cemetery. The one at the top left of the map, past the airport and mover the river is fairly easy. The one at the lower left of the map goes uphill, and, let me tell you, I am huffing and puffing by the time I get to the lake, but it is fun.

Thanks for the update. This idea of opening up Crown Grill or Sabatini's for lunch is interesting. What was the menu like--same as the dining room or unique? Was there a cover charge, or was it complimentary? I agree that if the menu was the same as the dining rooms, then adding a cover charge would be discouraging. If they offered unique menu items that were prepared a la minute, a modest cover charge might be reasonable.

Ding-ding. Ding-ding. We have a winner.

Opus = Bob and Phil's big red. I don't think I have ever had Opus. Let me tell you about Mrs. XBGuy. She was a chef in her working life. She did not work in a restaurant. She was a Corporate Chef for Lawry's Foods--the company that produces the seasoned salt. Among her responsibilities was to develop recipes that were uses as marketing collateral for Lawry's products, Think about recipes on neck hangers, back labels, periodical advertisement, hand outs. I always told unmarried people to marry a chef because you get to do the funnest things. I was able to go along on multiple trips to Napa Valley. Usually, I would be on my own while she was doing whatever she had to do, but I was able to keep myself occupied. However, on two different trips her work responsibilities included participating in a vertical tasting at Opus. Yes, I was envious. I have had Luce della Vite--more than once on some Princess cruises. It is a terrific wine. Just a couple years ago I learned that that this winery was also is also a partnership with Robert Mondavi--this time with the Frescobaldi family in Tuscany. The Frescobaldi's bought bought out Mondavi quite some time ago, Sine a lot of people are posting their own wines, today, I'll show this one. Mrs. XBGuy wanted to have a Thanksgiving style turkey dinner. I don't drink many sparklers, but I think they make the Thanksgiving event that much more festive. This is a Chardonnay/Pinot Noir cuvee from, of course, California. I get a kick out of the name of the winery--Under the Wire. It is a label owned by Morgan Twain- Peterson, whose Bedrock Wine Co. is a big favorite among California wine geeks Luce dee

I can empathize with the OP's situation. I was a named after my father. Instead of Big Xavier and Little Xavier in our family, I was Benvolio or Ben. In school, teachers quickly learned to call me Ben. In the workplace I was always Ben. All my friends know me as Ben--most have no idea who Xavier is. Unlike the OP, anything that is "legal" has "Xavier B. Guy." So, that is what is on: All travel documents/arrangements My drivers license My passport All my financial accounts (Although my investment advisor calls me Ben.) Property deed All medical records So, while Ben is my preferred name is Ben, I am very OK when the dental hygienist calls me Xavier. When the OP said that the 911 complicated her life even, more, I was confused for a second, Then I realized what she meant. The name on my airline ticket was the same as the name on my driver's license. So, it was no big deal for me. I agree that my accommodations to my parents' naming decision 75 years ago has made my life much easier than the OP's. I'm not sure, but I think the medallion system that has been implemented by Princess allows the passenger to enter a preferred name. However, now in our fifth decade of cruising on various cruise lines, I have been consistently addressed as Mr. Guy. I can't think of a single instance when a steward, or a clerk or a server has called me Xavier.

A couple of comments that may or may not address some of the OP's questions. We have participated in two Chef's Table dinners. The first one was on the Crown Princess (sister ship of the Emerald Princess), and, as another poster has stated, it was at a special table in the Deck 6 dining room. We had just been elevated to the Captain's Circle Platinum level. On embarkation day I called the DINE line as soon as we reached our cabin--probably, about 11:45 am. The DINE line is, of course, "slammed" on embarkation day, and, so. I did sit on hold for a few minutes. No big deal. I doubt if I waited more than 10 minutes. I made my request for the Chef and also made a specialty restaurant reservation. Our second CT was on the Royal Princess. The poster who suggested that suite passengers were given preference may be on to something, We were in a full suite for that cruise. On embarkation day we went to the Suite Concierge Lounge (available only on the Royal Class ships) and had the concierge submit our name for the Chef's Table and also arrange for specialty restaurant dinner. Regarding beverages Champagne is offered with hors d'oeuvres. Pre-pandemic, this was in the galley, It is not clear to me whether or not they have returned to that practice. Once you have started your dinner at the table a still white wine an a still red wine are opened. It has been my experience that these wines have been off the standard wine list, and they are mid-priced wines. I had coffee with dessert. I assume that tea was also available. Bottled water is served throughout the meal. I would not be surprised if other soft drinks are available, but I really don't know. We were not particularly impressed with the "curtain of lights" that are drawn around the table on the Royal Class ships. Mrs. XBGuy just thought it was silly. I, being the egomaniac that I am, prefer the experience on the other ships where you are seated at what is obviously a special table. I want the other diners in the room to see that I am at the special table. The Chef's Table Lumiere on does feature a very beautiful sculptured glass centerpiece on the table. The Maitre d' will, of course. point out how expensive it was as you are being seated, On the other hand, at our first Chef's Table on the Crown princess we actually had lighted candles on our table. I was very surprised when the Maitre d' pulled a lighter out of his pocket and lit them. I cannot believe that is normal Chef's Table practice. You did not ask, but I might point out that the accommodation of dietary restrictions for the Chef's table depend on the management staff of each ship. I have read multiple reports, here on Cruise Critic, where dietary restrictions (e.g., seafood allergies) have been accommodated. I can give you a first hand report that that is not always the case. Prior to attending our first Chef's Table, we had to sign documents stating that we had no food allergies. So, I tell people who have such allergies to go ahead and make your request for a Chef's Table invitation. If you do receive an invitation, you can then ask about accommodation of your allergy. A couple more personal observations on our two experiences. You will be joining a group of 10-12 other passengers. On our first experience we were with some pretty competitive travelers/diners. One would tell of visiting this exclusive resort as two others had to stifle themselves for a couple minutes before they could get the floor and tell of a restaurant that they loved. It just brought down the experience a bit. Happily on our second Chef's Table, we had a very pleasant group who were very happy to enjoy the moment with the meal and their fellow passengers. As mentioned above the galley tour that starts the Chef's Table was discontinued after the pandemic pause, and is not clear to me that it has been reinstated. The galley tour is quite interesting and goes into much more detail than any other galley tours that I have experienced. However, I am not a big fan of the practice of serving the hors d'oeuvres and Champagne in the galley. I just don't particularly enjoy it. On one of my experiences we assembled around a stainless steel prep table and I, at the very end of the table, had to be careful where I stood. There was a puddle of water, that I had difficulty avoiding. My feet ended up getting pretty cold. Then I had trouble hearing whatever the chef was saying as he was preparing or presenting each individual dish. I know a large majority of Chef's Table participants think that having hors d'oeuvres in the galley is the absolute berries. So, I suspect that if this practice has not already been reinstated, then it will be some time in the future. All in all, I always encourage people who have not experienced the Chef's Table to try it and decided for themselves. My exposition was a bit "stream of consciousness." I hope it answered some questions, and, to be honest, I hope it brought more questions to your mind. Feel free to ask more questions. We love to show off. Bon appetit.

It appears that you are already heading down the path that I was going to suggest. We asked the Suite Concierge to arrange most of our dinner reservations on the Royal Princess. As I recall, we were were hosting a private party with friends on embarkation day. We asked the Suite Concierge to schedule our first evening suite benefit dinner at Sabatini's on the second evening of the cruise. While I was at it I asked him to schedule Crown Grill for the third evening, and, since I was on a street, I asked him to put us on the list for the Chef's Table. He seemed happy to do all this for us. I made subsequent reservations for Sabatini's with the headwaiter, who also put me on the invitation for the Super Tuscan Dinner they had towards the end of the cruise.

Like many of the previous posters I have never encountered or even heard of this kind of activity. I would not automatically dismiss it, but I would make that decision at "game time." I honestly do not know what topic might interest me.

I tried to say that, but did not want to get more wordy than I already had. Your collection blows mine away. Carlisle is a terrific winery, and Mike Officer is an AWESOME winemaker. I have a couple Carlisle Palisades Vineyard Petites, but they are both mere babes. I love comparing/contrasting different wines made from grapes sourced from the same vineyard, I have more Palisades Petites from Once & Future (Joel Peterson) and Mending Wall (Thomas Rivers Brown). Also, for what it's worth,, I enjoy Girard PS, and feel no compunction about opening one of them as soon as I get it home.

@Thrak over the years you and I have had a few conversations here on Cruise Critic. I always look forward to your posts, and I would love to meet you some day. However, generalizations are dangerous. I disagree with the idea that PS "is meant to be drunk young." I personally have multiple bottles of PS in my inventory that are approaching ten years since the grapes were harvested, and I don't plan to open them up anytime soon. That being said, I would not for even a millisecond discourage anybody from opening up whatever wine they want whenever the mood strikes them, I am a kind of wine cheerleader. I want it to be easy for anybody to enjoy wine, I can't think of a single wine "rule" that can't be broken.

I have no personal experience, but I have read, here on Cruise Critic, that passengers have been able to get minor repairs to their luggage through their room steward. I do not know what cruise line(s). nor do I know if this is a chargeable or a complimentary service. At minimum I assume that the room steward would be tipped appropriately.

Interestingly, the Gamay grape variety that is used in Beaujolais is closely related to Pinot Noir.. Taste profiles of the two wines are practically identical. However, there is no downside to going along with wife's preferences. 😉 In our household, I am a red -wine guy, and Mrs. XBGuy is a Chardonnay every day person. We usually have two bottles open at our dinner table.

Oops.

I am, pretty much, a wine snob. I loved your post. I just shake my head at the number of wine mythologies that are out there. When a restaurant server server suggests that I let the wine that I ordered "breathe" for a while in the bottle, I tell him that the wine can breathe just fine in my glass. I have a Beaujolais suggestion for you. It will go nicely with the traditional Thanksgiving turkey dinner. I avoid the Beaujolais Nouveau that pops up in stores every November. That may be part of my wine snobbery. Some people like it, but I just don't get it.

I think it is @marshhawk who occasionally mentions the Hollywood Bowl in connection to her work. After a four year hiatus (two cancelled seasons due to the pandemic and one missed season because of our extra caution) we returned to the Hollywood Bowl, last night. Inflation Report: I was not surprised to see that on-site parking is not $22. I think it was $20 in 2019. However, Senior Rush Tickets are still $10. Did inflation stop at the parking lot? Yippee. Similarly, a program is still $1, and seat cushions (Those benches do get hard very quickly.) are still $1. 😃 Mrs. XBGuy, the championship level picnicker, spend most of the day slicing and dicing, and, so, we had an outstanding dinner. I cannot compete with @ottahand7's outstanding well-aged wines, but we had some of our favorites. Yes, Mrs. XBGuy loves oaky butter-bomb Chardonnays, and I am a California red wine bigot. The half-bottle size for the Bedrock kept me from going overboard. So, the drive back to our adobe was safe. And, also, there is leftover Rombauer Chardonnay in our refrigerator, today. The concert was The Dude conducting the L.A. Phil. Terrific, fun concert.

Excellent, @melodyina. I am a walker and get a kick checking the Health App on my iPhone. On our last Hawaii cruise, the reports on the miles and number of steps seemed consistent with the number of hours that walked. The funny thing was the report on "Flights." At the beginning of the cruise it would regularly report that I climbed 20-25 flights per day. That also seemed reasonable. I tend to use the stairs. Towards the end of the cruise, however, my "performance" jumped noticeably. There were a couple days when Mr. Apple reported that I'd climbed over 100 flights. WOW! I am the man. NOT. I have to assume that, somehow, the satellites became confused while we were in the middle of the Pacific. On the other hand, the steps and miles seemed OK. Go figure.

I am surprised that the "Containers for the remains" seems to be optional. I once read, here on Cruise Critic, that a poster did not bother to contact the cruise line (this one happened to be Princess) about their intent to spread ashes of a loved one. They just assembled at the stern of the ship, opened the urn with the ashes and poured them over the side. The wind blew most of the dumped ashes back onto the ship--and the mourners. I would suggest that you procure a biodegradable container, and plan to just drop it into the sea rather that "spreading" the ashes.

Bon Voyage

Schrader is an outstanding maker, they are proud of their wines and price them so. Many of their wines cost $250-$500 on release. As was alluded in the James Suckling review, Double Diamond is their "budget" label. I did some quick research, and found that the winery is selling the latest release of this wine (2021) for $90. I want to comment on the Schrader winemaker--Thomas Rivers Brown (TRB). He is right near the top of my favorite California winemakers. Everything that he produces is great. I am in the same position as many, and Schrader is a bit out of my financial comfort zone. I don't have any in my inventory. However, TRB makes wine for multiple producers. I am a regular buyer of Rivers-Marie wines, which is his winery. These wines are not really cheap, but they are awfully good, and this Social Security pensioner can find his way to order some every year.

We've taken three HI cruises on Princess, albeit from Los Angeles, not San Francisco. I am one of those guys who spend hours doing laps on the Deck 7 Promenade. On the Crown Princess, the Promenade is fully covered and wraps around the entire ship. My point is that while we have encountered several squalls on our cruises, I have never had a need for foul weather gear. On the first sea day, I am wearing shorts. The wind can be blustery, but, if it is particularly chilly, I have found that I am quite comfortable wearing a hoodie. If it is raining during my laps, the only place where I might get damp is at the bow where the wind may blow some drops onto the promenade--it's more of a mist than anything else. If you don't want to get damp, turn when you get to the steps that lead up to bow and walk back around the other way. On two occasions we have encountered light rain as we arrived into a port. It is a warm rain and, to me, not at all uncomfortable. The payoff is that if you look around, there is a good chance you'll see a rainbow. I also like to wear flip flops during the day while onboard, and I learned a painful lesson once. I stepped out of our cabin to go to breakfast one morning. The ship lurched and I stumbled. I smashed my big toe against the hard rubber wheel of the room steward's cart that was parked in the corridor. That really hurt. This was the morning before we arrived in Ensenada. So, it was towards the end of the cruise. I did not see any bleeding. So, I proceeded to breakfast. A few days later, after we'd returned home, that toenail fell off. I suppose I learned something from that experience, but I still wear flip flop on the ship for Hawaii and Mexico cruises. A previous poster mentioned that Elua will be the Hawaiian ambassadors on your cruise. These have to be the hardest working people on the ship. They offer classes, provide musical entertainment in different venues, give port talks and are just totally charming while interfacing with passengers. On our last cruise my wife decided to take the Hula lessons. After the first class i asked her how it went. In a nervous voice she said, "We're supposed to put on a show." That concerned her, but it also really motivated her. She asked me to video a couple of her classes so that she could practice in our cabin. The show was on one of the last days of the cruise in the Princess Theater. The ukelele class backed up the hula dancers. It was terrific. I also enjoyed the port talks given by Tiki Dave. He will tell you where the best place to buy Shave Ice is. It may or may not be the best, but it is darned good. I will also offer this tip, do not bother with the "Shave Ice" stand in the Food Court at the Ala Moana mall. It is a Sno Cone, not Shave Ice.

Save on fuel by reducing speed?

More than once I have been enjoying a peaceful reading session in Skywalkers when the Pop Choir convened for a rehearsal. On one cruise there was a large ballroom dance group who found Skywalkers to be a good place to practice in the afternoons. And, as @lx200gps states, there are groups who feel that everybody wants to listen in on their conversation. I agree that these are all exceptional events.

I've always told single friends, "Marry a chef. You get to do the funnest things." I accompanied Mrs. XBGuy on a trip to Scottsdale where she was attending a conference, I, pretty much, had the days to myself, and one afternoon I drove to Taliesin West and took the tour. It was SO COOL. I would be cool to visit Falling Water, but not cool enough to get me to travel to Pennsylvania. There are four Frank Lloyd Wright "textured block" houses in Los Angeles. I used to work with a guy who was an architecture geek, We accompanied him and his wife on a Saturday and toured one of them, the Ennis House which has been used in various movies, most notably "Blade Runner." Mrs. XBGuy and I were married in the Wayfarers in Palos Verde which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright's son, Lloyd Wright.