travelin.sisters

check to see if you have your emergency contact...that sometimes gets removed & has been a problem for a number of people in the past where they can't save other things

yes you can share your plan with anyone if they have your cabin number & date of birth to redeem the wifi...I buy a 4-device plan & share with the rest of our party if all your people don't need internet all the time (just want to check email once a day or...?) you could stick with the 4-device plan & switch users too

loved that there was no smoking in the casino at all on our 2 January cruises...they seemed busy enough considering how (not) full the ships were

was on the Grand in January (Hawai'i) & the Sapphire in the past month (Mexico)--I would consider them currently pretty comparable in terms of maintenance/condition. We were on the Sapphire for her return to service sailing & we had a really good experience but some on our cruise & her current Hawai'i sailing are having problems with AC &/or plumbing & are extremely unhappy. If you are going soon, I felt the Sapphire's captain (Paolo Ravera) was the best I have sailed with in terms of keeping passengers updated on what was happening. I would consider them pretty comparable but would maybe lean more toward the Sapphire all other things being comparable, she has some unique features (5 MDRs, lovely promenade, front area you can go out on under the bridge) & her crew were universally delightful. I would probably compare prices, availability of rooms, dates to make a choice. If you have specific questions about either, let me know. I did lives on both cruises.

again, thank you for sharing your trip...it was lovely to 'sail' with you...makes me wish my sister would fly so that we could do itineraries like this...I think you did a great job of remembering, it is hard to keep track of all the new places & experiences when every day is another new place (it's actually one of the reasons I do lives, so that I have a record of what happened where...like a modern travel journal)

my first live I wrote the 'best ever in the history of CC posts' that was lost to the interspace, now I write them in my word processor & copy & paste (very helpful on our last cruise with horrible internet where it often took a dozen tries to get a post to actually post) thanks for doing this, I love the Island we did the Panama Canal on her & it was delightful

for me it was worth it, but I do love feeling connected with the history & the culture of the places I travel...the enrichment talks onboard will give you the highlights if all that detail is not your thing

They changed providers in April? That was nowhere in the list of contradictory reasons why I had so much worse internet in the Mex Rivera in Sept/Oct than in Jan/Feb...there were a whole long list of reasons the only one of which made any possible sense was that the provider had too many clients for their capability. I did get a refund (without asking, he offered) when I said it was not what Princess was advertising...no way I could have streamed a video, not that I wanted to just wanted to do my live & email & download photos from my phone). Thank you @cruzin4us for struggling through to keep the updates coming...having a lovely time 'sailing' with you

I like a 4-device plan so that I can have both phone & computer logged in & then share the other 2 devices with travel companions, but I really like to be connected even on a trip, so it's a personal choice for me...on our recent cruise I had so much OBC to use I decided to buy the wifi online to use some even if it cost more, as soon as I was onboard & before sailing, I went on the app & bought it & was able to get the pre-cruise discount & use my OBC. I don't know if this would work for anyone else or on another ship, but it did on the Sapphire 9/24.

I am guessing you got the Wilmington from Google Maps? Which has that address & the Wilmington zipcode...the Port Website & Bing/Mapquest have San Pedro & 90731 zip...they all have directions getting you to the right place (in San Pedro, by the way)...it can also be Los Angeles as both Wilmington & San Pedro are technically Los Angeles city & they make up the Port of Los Angeles. Long Beach is it's own city & port.

just before our recent cruise they updated the app & it messed up my sister's DOB so nothing would work until I called & they reset it but if you don't get it to work don't stress...they will help you at the port, the one time we were blue (last minute booking) it was not really any slower than when we have been green (although we are early boarders, might be slower if you are arriving with the crowds)

I posted the menus & photos for our recent cruise on the Sapphire in my live. They were using Hawai'ian cruise menus. They start about post #297 & include steakhouse & Sabatinis menus.

yes, it does include the specialty coffees (also if you are a coffee person the regular coffee there is apperently much better than in the dining rooms & buffet (brewed v. syrup?)...I don't personally know because I am not a coffee drinker) my best suggestions are: take a bit of time & wander through the ship on embarkation day so you get an idea of what is where try all the different free eating venues (MDR, buffet, outdoor by pool (grill & pizza), international cafe) early in the cruise to see what you like (each Princess ship (& even each cruise on the same ship) has had some things that I really love & others that aren't as good as I have experienced on other ships...I don't drink but I would try the various bars/venues to see which place or server is your favorite (it is sad at the end of a 15 day cruise to find the perfect place/drink/dish that you then wish you had been enjoying for the whole time)...if they resume having pub lunch on some days, it is a nice experience...embarkation day lunch in the MDR is a nice way to start a cruise (IMHO, I almost never eat lunch there again because it takes so very long...afternoon tea is fun once or twice a cruise on our Panama they had a couple sessions of learning to play the steel drums which was fun...I always listen to the Wake Show (the CDs intro to the day) the night before to see what looks good for the next day as well as reviewing the Patter the enrichment lectures are usually really good, we had a lot of info about the Canal before we got there & then more as we were transiting (we did the old locks so it may be different)...now the enrichment & port lectures can be seen later on the cabin TV not Princess, but I felt that reading (audiobooking) the Path Between the Seas by David McCullough before hand (its a loooong book) really enhanced the experience ok sorry it that's way more info than you wanted...have a wonderful cruise

housing for homeless Veterans, yes

thank you for all the lovely photos!

you are right--Long Beach has done a much better job of making their highlights accessible, but Pedro is working on it--there sadly is not info easily available in/or right outside the terminal to help people find what we have right here--baby steps to becoming a place people want to come (5 or 6 years ago the Navy actually told their sailors it was safer/better to go to LB when they were here for Navy Days!)

someone on our sailing posted it on the first day (page 2, I think) & I posted it later in post #109 the food on our sailing got better as the cruise went on...some things like the beef were delicious other things were not, lots of food discussion throughout this thread with the pros & cons of the food on this sailing & the changes to traditional favorites yes they were using the Hawai'ian menus, maybe because they headed to Hawai'i when we got off...lots of the crew were excited as it would be there first visit there

San Pedro is a lovely place to spend the day 🙃💕

there are actually two versions of the Love Boat Sale one with the Princess Plus & one without, I was able to see the version without from the sale page & make a sample booking but my TA spent hours on the phone over several days to get it for us...still has the 30% off & the extra $100 excursion credit but not all the reps (even the ones who work with the TAs know about it & it has to be a new booking)

my sister enjoyed it but I did not try it. most of the beef on the Sapphire was very good (unlike our cruises earlier in the year)

yes or three people in 2 rooms or anyone you are willing to give your login info (cabin number & date of birth)

there weren't on the Sapphire last month, but she was just back in service

yes port of LA is San Pedro & that is where Princess sails from...usually the main terminal berth 92/93...occasionally the outer harbor if there are a lot of ships in port that day

you would think

they are adding them as they do upgrades...the Sapphire has them & I believe the Grand does now too