rdailybread

54 minutes ago, scottca075 said:

 

Uber.

 

And there other BART stations that offer long term parking. I am a Cal grad, DW is a St. Mary's girl so we like a couple of days in Berkeley.

It’s nice that you know your way around the area. We’ve never ridden BART. Thanks for the tip!

17 minutes ago, scottca075 said:

We park at the BART North Berkeley Station (reserved in advance).

Interesting idea. Do you then take an Uber or cab to the Cruise Terminal? 

7 minutes ago, jmelnick said:

This is what the port recommends: https://sfport.com/maritime/cruise#tab-12453-pane-2

It's as good as anything else in the area.  There really isn't anything close.  We've found the best thing to do is to drop off luggage and other passengers and then go park the car and walk back.  It's maybe a 5 - 10 minute walk.  Just do the reverse when you get back.

Thank you for the response. Have you parked there? Do you know how far in advance should we book our parking?

We are cruising on Princess out of San Francisco. We will be driving and leaving our car. Where is a good lot to park? Thank you in advance!

Update: I received my refund today. I am happy to hear the others on this thread were well taken care of. 

On 10/28/2022 at 4:20 PM, reallyitsmema said:

 

I received a letter from Guest Services both times I was quarantined/isolated this year.  The letters I received clearly states exactly what I will be receiving, date of the sailing and my reservation number.  I would suggest that if you are promised a refund or FCC in the future, do not leave the ship without securing a letter from Guest Services. 

 

Both my DH and I have been quarantined prior to covid for influenza and we received letters then too.  In that instance, we were never contacted by the cruise line to initiate the FCC.  I called after a few weeks to see what the status was and was able to send copies of the letters to the post cruise department and received the FCC within days.  The post cruise department was able to contact the ship and see we were in the quarantine log for our sailing based on the letters.

We have received the $200 that Royal shorted us on our cancellation, but not the refund of my cruise fare. If it should happen again I will definitely do as you suggest.

reallyitsmema, yes, I sent a copy of the positive test result that I got onboard. Also, the fact sheet detailing their policy including the qualifying dates. I don’t agree that it was a simple misunderstanding. It took an hour to get them to agree I was owed a refund. The refund policy is still on their website as plain as day!

I contracted Covid on Day 3 of the second leg of a back to back 5/7 day cruise to Mexico on the Navigator of the Seas. The ship crew couldn’t have been better. Free room service, internet, phone etc. I was  promised a pro rated refund of my cruise fare. Waited four weeks then called for status. Was told I would not receive a refund. That “ we are no longer issuing refunds after September 30th.” Well,  cruise disembarked on September 30th so we were inside the date. It took an hour to resolve. Now, we wait again. We also canceled a cruise when we got back. We were promptly refunded $700 of $900 dollars of a fully refundable fare. $200 short! That cruise was booked for September of 2023. Got that resolved too (we think). I’ll believe it when I see it. So, problems with both refunds we were owed.  We are loyal Royal cruisers. Diamond Plus status. I am very leery of Royal’s customer service now. It’s a shame. Might have to change cruise lines. 

21 hours ago, mom says said:

Short answer: No.

 

Provided you haven't tampered with the automatic gratuity, any additional tip is strictly personal preference. I believe most who  give extra do so  for what they consider above average to excellent service. Certainly not for sub par.

Thank you, mom says.

20 minutes ago, c-boy said:

My life has been blessed financially speaking. Health wise not so much, I've come to realize that I can't take it with me so I am prone to leave, tip, bribe what ever terminology your comfortable with. Having traveled to many countries were that philosophy is foreign doesn't leave a bad taste in my mouth so too speak. If they don't want it, they won't accept it. If accepted then I feel my good fortune may benefit them in some way. Look cruising ain't the cheapest way to go. Some cruise lines have pre paid gratuities as extra fee/charges some do not.  I don't think anyone should have to ask permission to leave additional amounts of their money that they deem fit. One member of this site put this to mind.   " The crew certainly doesn't worry about your finances or work conditions, please don't worry about theirs." 

Thank you c-boy. All the comments were helpful, but yours really says it all. Especially the last sentence. We always use the prepaid gratuities service. On Royal Caribbean, it’s $14.50/person/day. I feel that adequately covers most situations. We usually give additional to the room steward and to wait staff in the Windjammer who seem to really go out of their way to take care of us. I hope you are able to continue cruising for many more years!

Thank you

4 hours ago, mom says said:

Short answer: No.

 

Provided you haven't tampered with the automatic gratuity, any additional tip is strictly personal preference. I believe most who  give extra do so  for what they consider above average to excellent service. Certainly not for sub par.

4 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Why would anyone who has experienced no "above and beyond" service add to the gratuities they've already paid? Wouldn't that send a terribly wrong message that normal or even mediocre service deserves unwarranted recognition?

4 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Why would anyone who has experienced no "above and beyond" service add to the gratuities they've already paid? Wouldn't that send a terribly wrong message that normal or even mediocre service deserves unwarranted recognition?

4 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Why would anyone who has experienced no "above and beyond" service add to the gratuities they've already paid? Wouldn't that send a terribly wrong message that normal or even mediocre service deserves unwarranted recognition?

Flatbush Flyer, thank you for your response.

Hello Fellow Cruisers, we recently returned from a cruise and are in a bit of a quandary. We haven’t cruised in a while. Has it become customary to leave additional gratuities over the prepaid amount to waitstaff regardless of the level of service? If so, what amount would be appropriate? I know this is a personal choice type of issue, but any feedback would be helpful. Thank you for any suggestions.

6 hours ago, Saab4444 said:

Post it under Cartagena.

6 hours ago, Saab4444 said:

Post it under Cartagena.

Thank you

We are sailing to Cartegena on our Panama Cruise and would like a recommendation for a restaurant that serves arepas and bandeja de pais. We were fortunate enough to visit Bogotá with residents as our hosts. We ate excellent food  for great prices and would like to experience the same in Cartegena. Has anyone gone off the ship and sampled restaurants on their own? Thank you in advance.

11 minutes ago, rdailybread said:

We are sailing to Cartegena on our Panama Cruise and would like a recommendation for a restaurant that serves arepas and bandeja de pais. We were fortunate enough to visit Bogotá with residents as our hosts. We ate excellent food  for great prices and would like to experience the same in Cartegena. Has anyone gone off the ship and sampled restaurants on their own? Thank you in advance.

5 minutes ago, Tee & Chilli said:

Try posting this in the ports of call forum.

Good idea, I will!

We are sailing to Cartegena on our Panama Cruise and would like a recommendation for a restaurant that serves arepas and bandeja de pais. We were fortunate enough to visit Bogotá with residents as our hosts. We ate excellent food  for great prices and would like to experience the same in Cartegena. Has anyone gone off the ship and sampled restaurants on their own? Thank you in advance.

I would rebook with TA making up the difference. Of course it's the TA's fault....

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

The OP confessed to receiving phone and email reminders from the TA. Happily, the issue was resolved!

That section does not apply if you will be using a USD denominated credit card. That is for people who use credit cards that are non-USD based. For those people, it's usually better to have the cruise company charge in USD and have the credit card company make the conversion.

Thank you for the reply. That makes sense. I wonder if that option has been there and I simply didn't see it?

Same for us. We usually pay in full 2-3 weeks before sailing date. Wonder if RCCL would send an email if we waited longer.

I don't think so. We had a close call ourselves last month. We paid on the 22nd and the last day was the 23rd! We did not receive any communication from RCCL. We don't believe it's their responsibility. I do understand and feel bad for anyone who forgets.

I was completing the online check-in for a Royal Caribbean cruise. When it came time to print the SetSail Pass, I noticed I needed to choose a currency conversion option for the credit card. This is new to me. It looks to me like a separate fee is going to be applied no matter which option is chosen. Does anyone have experience or feedback on these options?

Thank you to all who responded. It seems like the Royal excursion is a pretty good value after all. That's probably what we will do.

We are taking the Explorer on a Pacific Coastal Cruise. We want to visit the Gardens but we don't want to take the ship excursion. What is the best way to do it on our own?:confused:

Thank you for the response. It seems we hit the Pier at a rush time. It's good to hear so many replies with positive feedback. We have almost always cruised with Royal down in San Pedro but SF is much closer. This will be our first cruise with Princess and first debarkation in SF although we did dock there on a port day with Royal and found the off/on very smooth.