XBGuy

I just love the entire Sabatini's experience,  No particular favorite, and I have never been disappointed with anything.

We dine often in Crown Grill.  I like the Beef Tartare (warning, it is slightly seared) and the Shrimp Bisque.  The beef entrees are fine (I often order them.) but no better than something I buy at a local market and grill in my back yard.  I have enjoyed the Sea Bass, but I would strongly suggest that you avoid the Lobster Tails.  Mrs. XBGuy's go-to favorite is the Mussel Pot.  She also orders the Garlic Fries as her appetizer.  Invariably, the server gives her a double take, but her fries appear along with my appetizer course.

OP's question regarding check-in seems to be that the check-in date (Dec. 9) is not the same as the cruise date (Dec. 10).  That sure sounds like a mistake.

Here is an update to my previous post.

My coffee shop buddy is leaving next Monday on the Los Angles-Hawaii round tripper on the Discovery Princess.  The Discovery Princess is a Royal Class ship.  So, it is very similar to the Royal Princess.  He told me that his cruise does not stop at Kauai because the ship is to big to negotiate the rather small harbor at Nawiliwili.  Apparently, they cannot tender there, either.  So, if you are, in fact, considering the Royal Princess, and if visiting Kauai is important, you'd best verify the itinerary.

I am a bit surprised that nobody has responded to your quest for information on the Princess ships.  Most Princess cruisers are happy to pontificate on their favorite line, and I cannot exclude myself from that description.  Also, I have a lot of time on my hands today.  So, let the pontification begin.

I have cruised on each of the three Princess ships that you identified--the Grand Princess, the Ruby Princess and the Royal Princess.  In three Hawaii cruises, I have never taken one of these three, but I think I can offer some insights.  Not knowing exactly what kind of information you are seeking, I'll just ramble.

• Of the three, the Grand Princess and the Ruby Princess are pretty similar.  The Grand Princess is a bit older than the Ruby Princess.
• While the Ruby Princess is similar to the Grand Princess, it has an additional deck.  So, it can carry a few more passengers.
• The Royal Princess is the newest of the three, and is the largest--accommodating a few hundred more passengers that the other two.  You can go to the Princess web site and see details on things like capacity.
• Both the Grand Princess and the Ruby Princess feature a promenade deck that wraps completely around the ship.  This is terrific for walkers.  The Royal Princess does not have this feature, and that really bothers many.  I am a walker.  I will put in a couple hours every day, and while the Royal Princess does not have the wraparound promenade deck, I have had no problem getting in 15,000 steps a day.
• One significant (to some) difference between the Grand Princess and the Ruby Princess is that the Grand Princess does not have the Skywalkers Nightclub at the rear of the ship.  Skywalkers has a very panoramic view and is, I have to admit, darned cool. 
• All three ships have three dining rooms.  A portion of one of the dining rooms is accessible only to passengers who book a Full Suite or a Reserve Mini Suite.  Princess has done away with the traditional fixed-time fixed-table dining. However, you can make reservations for the dining room,  Theoretically, you can make dinner reservations for the same time every evening and work with the dining room managers to get the same table.  Personally, we do not have many (if any) dinners there.  So, I can't speak to how well that all works.
• Each of the three ships has two extra charge Specialty Restaurants--Sabatini's, which features Italian fare, and Crown Grill which features steak and chops, although they also have some excellent seafood options.  You can find the current menus for these restaurants at the Princess web site.
• Each of these ships has a buffet that opens early in the morning (6:00?) and stays open until about 11:00 pm.  The Royal Princess buffet is much larger that those on the Grand Princess or the Ruby Princess.  Many people rave about the larger buffet on the Royal Princess.
• Each of the ships has what Princess is now calling "Casual Restaurants."  These restaurants offer lighter fare for a modest charge unless you opt for "Princess Plus" or "Princess Premier" pricing options.
• Each ship has a nice venue called the International Cafe.  It is located in the Piazza and offers pastries, salads and sandwiches.  
• Adjacent to the International Cafe is a station where specialty coffees can be ordered.  
• A modest room service menu is available from from early morning until, I think, 2:00 am.
• It is not clear what kind of cabin you prefer, but the balconies port/starboard cabins on the Royal Princess are much smaller than those on the other two ships.  Also, on the Grand Princess and the Ruby Princess, the balconies on the Aloha and Baja decks are noticeably smaller than those on lower decks.  However, even those Aloha/Baja deck balconies are much larger than those on the Royal Princess.
• All ships have a large outdoor screen over one of the pools--Movies Under The Stars (MUTS)--where something is always showing.  During the football season they might have a Sunday game.  Often, there will be a recorded concert performance,  Mostly, though, as you might guess from the name, they show movies;
• All ships will have lots of activities--especially, on sea days--Trivia Contests, Bingo, Karaoke, music in the Piazza, various passenger activities/games.
• All Hawaii cruises will have "Hawaii Ambassadors."  This is a couple who offer things like Hula and Ukulele lessons (which culminate in a passenger show in the Princess Theater towards the end of the cruise),  Lei Making Classes, Port Talks, Hawaiian Culture Presentations,  Musical and Hula Performances in various venues.  It seems to me that these are among the hardest working people on the cruise.

@jeh10641, the above was, mostly stream-of consciousness rambling.  If I did not hit on something that is of particular interest to you, please come back with specific questions, and I will try to clarify.

39 minutes ago, c-boy said:

That was it, thanks. Quantas had the koala 🐨  bear. Western had a parrot or vulture 😄

Yeah, I remember that Western Airlines had an animated spokesbird.  I don’t recall any distinguishing features that would identify it as any specific type of bird—just a generic bird.

1 hour ago, c-boy said:

Remember. "The ooonly way to fly"

 

Western Airlines.  I am one of the older Cruise Critics.

Also, I know the dardest things--like what QANTAS stands for.  For the longest time I wondered why there was no "u" behind the "q."

On 11/26/2023 at 9:06 AM, memoak said:

I have no seen an elite/suite line outside a terminal in Vancouver, Seattle or San Francisco for quite awhile. I SF when we saw the line outside the terminal we dropped our bags and went out to lunch

This is an excellent workaround.  Good for you.

There are numerous restaurants within easy walking distance from San Francisco's Pier 27.  There are, of course, a number of eateries in the Pier 39 area, but right across the Embarcadero is Fog City Diner.  La Mar at Pier 2 is outstanding, and there are numerous other places at the Ferry Building.

I always chuckle at posts that ask, "Is <fill in the blank> 'worth it?'" or opine whether or not "<fill in the blank> is or is not 'worth it.'"

Here is the universal answer to that question.  Yes, it is worth it.

Presumably, the questioner has not experienced the subject event.  Is not one of the purposes of travel to expand your experience?  Well, this is what that means.  If you experience it and find the experience pleasant, or useful, then you have learned something.  That makes it worth it.  If you experience something and, for whatever reason, that you do not find it pleasant or useful, then you have learned something,  That makes it worth it.

We have not tried the 360 Experience.  For well-known reasons and for one personal reason we have not cruised since 2020.  We are, in fact, food and wine buffs.  To be honest, however, there are things about the 360 Experience that do not sound attractive to me at all.  That being said, when we return to cruising, we will be trying it at our first opportunity.  I am not going to rely on Cruise Critic reports to make the decision for me,

It appears that multiple posters have covered the Princess offerings.

HAL does regularly offer San Diego-Hawaii roundtrips.

I think Carnival offers round trips out of Long Beach, but the frequency is nowhere near that of Princess or HAL.

I'm know that Celebrity has offered round trips (out of San DIego?), but I am not sure if they still do.

Mrs. XBGuy and I really enjoy the Los Angeles-Hawaii round trips, but we absolutely love sea days.  On a round trip from the West Coast you are probably going to get nine or ten sea days.

If sea days are not your thing, I think NCL is still offering a 7-day inter-island cruise out of Honolulu.  So. you can avoid all the sea days crossing the Pacific by flying to Honolulu.

7 hours ago, c-boy said:

Celebration , Sadness 😔 calls for 

Bubbly takes the sting  out of disembarking .

WOW.  Did you bring that, or does the ship still have the 2006 vintage.  I pre-ordered Dom for our balcony sailaway 8 or 9 years ago and they delivered 2006.

21 hours ago, c-boy said:

Last night was Crown Grill adventure...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nothing against California  but. I'm glad I brought my own wine. 

 

I confess to being a California wine bigot.  However, there is nothing--not a thing--on that wine list that appeals to me.  I will bring my own wine the next time I visit Crown Grill.

I used to be able to find things on  the CG list that I liked.  Mrs.  XBGuy could usually find a white--including nice white Burgundies--that she could enjoy with the Mussel Pot.  That list that you are showing, now, is pathetic.

Somebody on another "Live From" posted the wine list from Sabatini's, and that one was much better.  I could actually find some wines that I would enjoy on that list.

4 minutes ago, c-boy said:

Mostly due to partnerships/collaborations. From what I'm told his "label"  has taken on several vineyards in the napa/sonoma region . 

Oh absolutely.  I don't think many celebs really get their hands dirty.  One exception might be Scott Pruett who seems to be very involved in the growing and the vinification.

I think another exception that I think I read about was Tom Seaver.

49 minutes ago, c-boy said:

Soul survivor of the Ming dynasty 

one bottle  left... 🤔 I'm thinkin' bout it ..lol.

Please report back.

Celeb wines are rarely distinguished, but this won seems to have garnered some respect.

1 hour ago, TxTeach79 said:

692 Gold Members

173 Ruby Members

249 Platinum Members

159 Elite Members

 

thats a lot of first timers. 

I think first timers are blue.

I think my odds are better taking my money (not sure I understand what “extra money” is) to Sabatini’s where my historical percentage of having a great dinner is 100%.

😃

2 hours ago, c-boy said:

What do you make of this look 

Grand Cru Chablis.  Très bien.

While I have taken part in the Chef's Table twice in the past.  The first experience was less than optimal because of some of the guests with whom we had to share the experience.  We signed up for the second one just in the hope that our fellow diners would be a bit more gracious.  The second one was quite enjoyable.

The news that Princess is going to a fixed menu for the Chef's Table is a bit disappointing.  To me the idea of the Chef's Table is to allow the Executive Chef to show some of his own creativity to make each event a unique experience for the diners.  Maybe they'll change the name to the McChef's Table.

My sarcasm aside, there is a "Live From" on this board right now in which the posters participated in the Chef's Table with this new standard menu.  The menu, in fact, looks pretty attractive, to me.  The posters seemed to enjoy it quite a bit, and their pictures of the various dishes were quite attractive

I am also glad to hear that the appetizers are no longer served in the galley.  That seemed weird to me.  I was not, and it seemed that others were not, comfortable in that environment.

In the future, I think Mrs. XBGuy and I will stick with the Ultimate Balcony Dinner.  Yes, the menu hasn't changed since our first experience in 2013. but we absolutely love being pampered by our own (at least it seems like they are our own} two servers.  Also, I know the wine will be outstanding because I'll bring it from my inventory.   😁

47 minutes ago, AnyMajorCruiseDude said:

He actually suggested it since we did 3 UBD's on the trip, and he told us he knew a great location.  He was right!

That's a terrific story.

Three UBDs on a single cruise????  Did you check with the Guinness people to see if that was some kind of record?

One per cruise is our max.

14 hours ago, AnyMajorCruiseDude said:

Here you go.  Best location ever thanks to Neville Saldana.  Deck 15 aft, behind the one-five, Grand Princess Transatlantic.  

Excellent workaround.  I assume you made you request courteously and, afterwards, thanked Mr. Saldana profusely.

Sometimes when when you ar Down Under gravity gets confused.

FIFY

16 minutes ago, jwattle said:

On the ship: people watched for a bit as a slow trickle began... then the gates opened and we headed for the refuge of our balcony. After a time,  we decided to try lunch in Reserve, so headed down. Tom decided to try the veggie burger. Important note: Tom is not vegan... Tom is not even vegetarian. His lunch choice was questionable  🤔 at best, but he did live with his decision,  accompanied by a lovely Sauvignon blanc. For my fellow vinophiles, either the wine didn't compliment the burger or vice versa. 

On with the day!

Quite a few years ago we thought we would try the dining room for lunch on embarkation day.  Our normal embarkation day routine is to get hamburgers at the Lido deck grill, grab a nearby table and watch the excited cruisers scurrying about.  For whatever reason, we decided to change things up.  Mrs. XBGuy ordered a veggie burger, and I ordered a plain old regular cheeseburger.  She took one bite of hers, decided it was absolutely the worst thing she’d ever tasted in all her life, and pushed her plate away.  My cheeseburger was fine—almost as good as the ones they offer on the Lido deck.  Eventually, the waiter realized something was wrong and asked if she would like something else, but she declined.  I do have a memory of her having a white wine with that lunch.  It may very well have been a Sauvignon Blanc,

Since that experience I have read numerous reports here on the Cruise Critic Princess Board about how bad the veggie burgers are in the dining rooms.  I have to say, Tom, there were plenty of warnings out there.  Cruise Critic is your friend.

🤣

Mrs. XBGuy’s attitude improved considerably when we reverted to another of our embarkation day routines—sparkling wine on our balcony during sailaway.

1 hour ago, TxTeach79 said:

They’ve untied us, but the jetways still appear to be connected. Slow progress to get underway 

Jetways???

9 hours ago, c-boy said:

Guess what  Tom is doing .....

 

Strictly for research purposes 😏 

This looks like one of those Silverado blending events.  I had not heard of anybody participating in one of those for several years.  

A good way to meet fellow wine buffs.

Very cool.

Thank you.

52 minutes ago, sonomaphil said:

My wife always orders the seafood in Crown Grill as she is not a steak lover!  

My wife’s regular Crown Grill entree order is the Mussel Pot.  
 

Continuing with Mrs. XBGuy’s Crown Grill habits, for her appetizer she always orders the Garlic Fries.  Invariably, the server will give her a double take, but then bustles off and she gets her fries when I get my Shrimp Bisque.  The very cool thing is that I get to reach across the table and snag all the fries I want.

I confess to being a red meat lover, but over the years I have tasted most of the Crown Grill entrees.  I have found the Sea Bass to be outstanding.  On the other hand, I am “one and done” with the Lobster Tails.