OccasionalSanta

Mostly, I was just listening to the music as I was reading since much of the detail of his talk was over my head, not being the aficionado I know @XBGuy to be... Mostly, I went to the talk because we had dinner with the speaker the night before. and I needed an excuse to not go to the gym with Mrs. OS.

I read it as a coffee package similar to the other beverage packages which would probably be on a per person per day charge like the soda package as opposed to a one-time charge for a specific number of coffees. Granted that the article is a few weeks old and lacking any details, we won't really know until Princess actually makes an announcement.

Day 3 - March 4 Mrs OS and I celebrated our 40th anniversary onboard. I took in an enrichment talk in the morning (Why we love opera) while Mrs. OS opted to walk on the treadmill. We partook in progressive trivia and pop choir rehearsal. Capped the day off with the Ultimate Balcony Dinner

I saw this article yesterday, so it's possible that a new coffee option is on the way which might be priced/sized depending on the length of the cruise Princess Cruises Adds New Package Option for Passengers https://www.cruisehive.com/princess-cruises-adds-new-package-option-for-passengers/95184?fbclid=IwAR2koNB6Ixm7PL1fv3DhoentKEHiKBF5auqRsshiRZ8tTUnEPxwNe5A3ALU

Boarded the Crown yesterday. I could not pre-purchase soda or coffee package. I was able to get Mrs. OS the soda package. The charge turned out to be $15/day. I was told that the coffee package was "not available on this cruise," but there was no reason for this. The implication is that it might be available on other cruises, but still unsure.

First day.... disappointed that the coffee package is not available on this cruise. Guest Services rep seemed as puzzled as me as to why it's not available. I was able to get Mrs. OS a soda package, but later discovered that somehow I also got charged for the non-alcohol package ($600) Still waiting for that charge to be removed. On the plus side.... Went to dinner at 7:30- no reservation. Da Vinci dining room had lines for both those with and without reservations... Dropped down to Michelangelo's on Deck 5... walked right in... Karaoke in Explorers was not heavily attended, but still fun. Two singers were able to perform twice. One was a very good singer. No comment on the other Day 2... Pop choir sign ups... lots of people... I've done this about 5 or 6 times in the past, but this is the largest starting group (people sometimes flake out as the cruise progresses) and also the first time the director had each person sing to try to determine vocal range. (Mrs. OS begged off as she had a cold last week and her voice is still recovering... She just said, "I'm an alto," and left it at that.) Weather-wise: still cool out and seas are still a bit choppy... Hopefully will improve in the next day or two

Probably the best was when we flew to Auckland, NZ for a trans-Pacific cruise back to L.A. Our flight over included an 8-hour layover in Sydney which allowed us time to visit the harbor and the Opera House. Then we had 2 days in Auckland to see some sights. The cruise was filled with sea days (19 days, 4 ports - Tahiti, Moorea, Hilo and Oahu) which we love, including the "Crossing the Equator" ceremony. Recently, we took a Ft. Lauderdale to L.A. cruise through the Panama Canal, which is probably 2nd place at this point. In both cases, one of the perks is flying out to the embarkation port, but being an hour from home when we arrive in San Pedro.

There is a current thread for the Crown RT LA-Hawaii. They posted the patter for day 1. I suspect they will post more as the trip progresses. You might want to skip to page 5 or 6 as the first set of pages were pre-embark.

I was also on the Emerald recently. I was not impressed with the replacement ice cream. (I don't think it was gelato.)

End of season HAL voyages often do something like this but you'd have to be careful about PSVA violations. You need to find a 7 day RT Vancouver voyage that then continues to a 3 or 4 day repositioning voyage to San Diego. Usually they only make 1 stop on the west coast however. I was referring to the currently scheduled 7-day RT from San Francisco, which hit both Vancouver and Victoria, thinking that if would be nice if it hit just one Canadian port, but extended a few days to hit another California port

I've gotten to the point where, if I have to fly to and from a departure port, 7 days doesn't seem long enough. I guess one option could be to do the 7-day NW coast on the Ruby leaving on April 30, then stay on for the 10-day Alaska trip, but that would hit Vancouver and Victoria (twice) I would still be more intrigued by a 10- or 11-day coastal that hit a few California ports as well as Astoria and/or Seattle. Perhaps if the 7-day one noted above skipped one of the Canadian ports but also hit Santa Barbara or Monterey 7-day NW coast https://www.princess.com/cruise-search/details/?voyageCode=R312 10-day Alaska https://www.princess.com/cruise-search/details/?voyageCode=R313

... or perhaps out of San Diego

I think you might be able to do this, but I would go to the Future Cruise office on board during your April cruise and ask them.

Princess did a number of L.A. roundtrips to Alaska pre-covid. My brother did this twice, I believe. Having dealt with the multiple customs hassles of Vancouver RT to Alaska (technically a B2B Vancouver to Whittier and back) it would be nice to save the pre and post cruise travel by going out of L.A. Also, a West Coast cruise out of L.A. with Vancouver or Victoria as the foreign port (Ensenada gets old) and Washington/Oregon ports would be nice.

If she created a login on the Princess site, then she has a captain's circle number. When you log on, go to My Account .... Profile Information and it will be near the top of the page

There are no perks to booking on board other than being able to talk face-to-face with a knowledgeable person. Future cruise credits are worth doing if you plan to cruise again. For $100/person, you get the total $100 credit towards the next cruise plus additional on-board credit (OBC) up to $150 depending on the length of the cruise. The $100 Future Cruise Deposit (FCD, different from FCC) also counts as a complete deposit even when booking the cruise yourself asks for a larger deposit. What you may also be able to do is book the cruise with cash/credit then apply the FCC retroactively after your cruise. (Not entirely sure about this, but might be worth investigating)

So far, the wifi has been better than what's usually reported in here. Some sites seem to take a while to load, but once up, the response is decent. I also got a video call from my daughter/grandkids that worked well

There was karaoke the first night, but we missed it. Haven't seen it listed since then. The comedian (Troy Thirdgill) was good on night 2. Last night, dinner ran a little long and we missed the night trivia, so we caught most of the singer (Donny Rae Evins) show. He did all Nat King Cole tunes... was also a good show

Be nice.... I know where you live.😄

I reported it.... they removed the charges.... All is still good

It's Josie again this time

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I've heard that there are a bit under 2,000 guests on the cruise, so about 2/3 capacity. The staff seems to be breathing a little sigh since the last cruise or two were apparently busier with the holidays and kids out of school. We ate at Sabatini's last night.... took us a while to find it as it is kinda hidden in the back on deck 16. The place was practically empty, only about 4 or 5 tables in use the entire time we were there. So, we received a lot of attention and good service. Our server also overheard Mrs. OS mentioning it was my birthday, so she brought me an extra dessert and the staff sang for me. (Not the worst version of "Happy Birthday" I've heard on a Princess ship.) Today, we discovered that they are having Princess Pop choir again.... We've missed that the last couple years. I have already noticed some bogus bar charges on my account. (I drink very little and haven't ordered any alcohol yet.) But I'm sure they'll fix that when I get a chance to report it. Mostly, all is good.

I would agree... other option might be the 4th night if you leave Kangaroo Island early enough... I also noted on my last two short cruises that they designated one night as "dress to impress." This is NOT formal night, so don't get confused

Get there about 10 minutes early.... Once they have the equipment set up, they'll start doing signups