PRNole47

13 hours ago, Mike45LC said:

You might want to compare the crime stats for Mazatlan and SF or Oakland.

 

Actually, these have been rated in dozens of websites that review crime rates as the 10 most dangerous cities in the US. You can compare Mazatlan with any of these and you'll be OK. 

1. Memphis, Tennessee
2. St. Louis, Missouri
3. Oakland, California
4. Albuquerque, New Mexico
5. Baltimore, Maryland
6. New Orleans, Louisiana 
7. Detroit, Michigan
8. Lubbock, Texas
9. Chicago, Illinois
10. Stockton, California

On 1/14/2023 at 2:18 PM, Rick&Jeannie said:

Yep! That's what I do.  And invariably I get an agent who does not look at the initial info posted and asks for everything again!  I tell them to look at the initial post...  So many people do NOT pay attention to details these days.  Especially if you send an email with 2 or more questions...and get a response answering ONLY the first one. 😠

Yep! And I have that "See above" just below the above info, just itching to copy & paste for them.

I have also found the Chat Agent will always ask for the following info before responding to you, so I have it ready to copy & paste in the chat box as soon as it opens asking for your name and email: 

Booking # [4XXX4X]; Voyage # [x123]; [Ship’s name]; Sailing date [xx/xx/xxxx]; [Your name], [Your DOB: xx/xx/xxxx]; Travel companion: [Cabin companion's name, if any]

I added both the ship's name and voyage # recently, as it appears some Chat agents are now asking for this additional info. It's saved in a Word doc.

LOL! And I just retired as a medical provider and turned in my practice license to the state board. 😁😆

We sailed over T'giving last year on the Grand -- the cruise with only 179 (Yes, 1-7-9) passengers on board -- and they had a turkey dinner selection on the menu. No 'pageant' or staff dressed as 'pilgrims and native Americans' (thank God!) or any special focus on the holiday. Just another day at sea with the turkey dinner as an option. The did start to decorate for Christmas during late Friday night before return to port the next day on Saturday, though.

On 11/7/2022 at 7:12 PM, cr8tiv1 said:

 

I also prefer coffee with my meal.  But no one else understood that.  Thanks for letting me know that I wasn't the crazy one.  

I always thought it was a generational thing, with coffee commonly served with dinner appearing to be popular in the 30s, 40s and 50s. My parents' generation.

23 hours ago, wowzz said:

No, the food is hot. 

And obviously you won't be drinking coffee during the meal!

Coffee is the only thing I have ever had delivered to our cabin to drink on the balcony, which is why I asked.

Those who have done the Hawaii round trip from anywhere on the US West Coast, when were the "formal" (or Dress to Impress) nights?

For those of you who have done this in the past, doesn;t the food get cold quickly? I had a pot of coffee delivered once to drink on the baclony and it was lukewarm-to-cool by the secund cup. 

So far CruiseMapper shows her sailing out about 300 miles west from Vancouver enroute to Hawaii and holding speed between 20 and 22 kns. So, good sign that propulsion problems taken care of. Now, as to the reported aft vibrations some repirted before drydock, only those aboard and in the MDRs can tell us.  I would think she wouldn't be scheduled on those 15-day Hawaii roundtrips in Nov and Dec from Vancouver and LA, plus the 28-days Hawaii, Tahiti, Samoa from LA would have been possible with deficient propulsion.

Not having used the MDR since the mid-90s, what are the most popular times people tend to use any of the MDRs (so I can reserve a table around their rimes)?

On 4/22/2022 at 2:47 PM, CineGraphic said:

I believe they are doing what they can to fill gaps. I’ve noticed a lot more bar staff from India instead of the Philippines. I’ve heard that getting folks vaccinated before signing on has been a problem in some countries. 

Why the cruise industry is facing crew shortage? | Crew Center (crew-center.com)

On 2/18/2022 at 6:20 AM, minnesotasisu said:

I made my excursion reservations online and they automatically used my onboard credits that I had. No need to call Princess

Did you have OBCs specifically designated to excursions (vs. general OBCs)?

On 1/17/2022 at 2:11 PM, Tedferg said:

You make good points. I wonder if Formal Night is a vestige of the grand old days of cruising a la Titanic. I would have been in steerage back then so it would not have affected me 🙂

 

That's exactly what it is, an homage to the old days of sailing, not necessarily linked to the Titanic, but to ocean crossings in general during most of the 20th century.

So, the Maitre 'D is now Director of Restaurant Operations, or DRO for short. When I was in the US Army in the mid 60s, the DRO was short for Dining Room Orderly, which was a fancy name for those assigned to KP duty (Kitchen Police or Patrol duty).

1 hour ago, nbsjcruiser said:

For Pete's sake. Maybe he thought he was on Carnival. I remember a guy wearing a "wife-beater" to a MDR on one cruise - I think it must have been RCI. He was turned away as well, hairy armpits and all, after much arguing on his part. I mean, the fact that someone would actually think that's ok to wear to a restaurant other than McDs, says something about society these days,

Was the "wife-beater" linen? Perhaps that chap thought he was "in the right" after finding an appropriate and stylish "wife-beater" at Walmart's "Cruise and Cabana Collection" section.

3 hours ago, MissP22 said:

What you stated is correct but you neglected to include the very next part of that sentence which states, "  (or, at the very least, a shirt, tie and slacks) which allows for those guys who wish to dress down a bit to still eat in the DR. This of course has even migrated to short sleeve shirts without any tie. 

It appears that your kaki pants & long sleeve shirt will still be more than acceptable. 

I can just see it now. Dressing down to a short-sleeve white shirt with tie and dress slacks. I'll be confused with either a Sears appliance salesman from the 50s or a Mormon complying with their Mission requirement.

Cruiser now aboard the Sky says their 'formal nights' are now called 'Dress to Impress" and there are people wearing shorts and 'tees' on this night. Is this accurate or only aboard that ship?

First of all, they have a 15-drink maximum per 24 hr period (6am to 6am). Thereafter, further drinks are at the discretion of the management, and you'll then be charged full price. However, if you're a scotch drinker, like I am, and want that extra shot of scotch without it counting as another separate drink against that 15 max, order it this way: "name brand" (whatever brand you like in scotch) Rob Roy but leave out the vermouth, bitters, and the cherry." That way you'll get between 2 to 3 oz scotch instead of the 1 to 1.5 oz you would get had you ordered a single drink. The serving will count as "1" drink (not 2) and you'll be on your way. It's also a way to get that extra scotch pour without paying extra for the serving, if you don't have a drink package.  Perfectly legit and all bartenders across the industry are hip to the request.

If you can't find seats using "First" class as a choice, enter "Business" for your seating or cabin choice.  More than likely you will find them, as I always do. Booking First for domestic US flights is a waste of effort since 98% (except for some older transcon flights) are fared as Business or Business First. Almost none of the flights within the US today have a 3-cabin seating arrangement. Premium Econ or Extended Legs or whatever the wording is for those extra 3 inches added to Econ seats are not within their own separately serviced cabin but are usually well within the Econ cabin area. the great majority having just 2 cabins.

On 12/15/2021 at 6:39 AM, Hlitner said:

We have a theory.  Bar snacks are generally salty and intended to get folks to order more drinks.  But now with many having drink packages they no longer want to encourage folks to order more drinks?  Perhaps.

 

Hank

I believe they'll serve you pretty much up to some 'limit.'  From Princess website:

Terms and Conditions

• Alcoholic drinks are limited to 15 beverages per 24-hour period (6 a.m. to 6 a.m.). Alcoholic drinks requested above the daily limits are at the discretion of the shipboard management and crew and charged at regular menu prices.

59 minutes ago, Eddie1 said:

I think the 2019 drydock was mostly for propulsion issues. The 2017 was the major refit. 

Thanks! I just now found this blog that reviews both 2017 & 2019 redo's. 

Caribbean Princess refurbishment 2017 & 2019: How good does she look? (vegancruiser.co.uk)

Exactly how was the ship refurbished in 2019?

10 hours ago, cruzsnooze said:

When did Princess start sailing out of Long Beach. I sailed on the Grand in Oct out of San Pedro.  I'm sailing again next week on the Grand and it's out of San Pedro.

Sorry. I meant to say "...cruise out of the Los Angeles Cruise Port."

9 hours ago, AnyMajorCruiseDude said:

Interesting.  So how do you explain the higher bookings on the longer cruises that actually require more invasive/stringent  masking policies?  we've run into many on the last several months that originally threatened cancellation, but ultimately did not as the "real life" experience on the ship is not as severe as many thought.

The explanation I got from some of the crew members had to do with the holiday period around T'giving week.  Pre-pandemic T'giving brought a lot of families to celebrate aboard ship. This time many family members either did not get vaxed in time for the cruise, did not want to vax, or had issues with masking requirements. As a result, many cancelled while others decided not to complete the initial booking and got their deposits back, while some others simply did not bother booking.