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It depends on the region. The ports on the Pacific side are not as busy as the Caribbean side giving the cruise lines more room to alter the itineraries at the last minute. For example, back in Oct 2022, Sapphire skipped Puerto Vallarta due to high wind but added San Diego as replacement. In Jan 2023, Diamond skipped Loreto due to weather issue but added Mazatlán. In March 2023, Crown skipped two Hawaiian ports but added an extra full day in Honolulu.

I just don't understand why they could not foresee the weather situation in advance. Missing two ports in a row is really rare. They have missed Roatan already, and they should have known that missing another port would make some passengers very angry. If they knew that they might not make Costa Maya also, they should have just sailed directly to Cozumel last night. At least today passengers can spend the whole day in Cozumel rather than another day at sea. With an extra full day in Cozumel, people can go to the mainland to visit some famous ruins such as Chichen Itza or to Cancun by ferry+bus.

Hard to believe that you have missed two ports in a row especially there is no hurricanes or rainstorms in the Caribbean region now. Really very unusual. And just FYI. Last week when I was on the Discovery, the original itinerary actually included Monterey. However, that port was cancelled as the city council refused to accept cruise ships anymore. Princess decided to add an add an extra day in San Francisco to make it an overnight stay. I was pretty sure that the port fee for extended time in SF must be higher than the original port fee in Monterey, but Princess still decided to refund me $10 as OBC. Basically Princess was the one to absorb the additional port fee in SF.

Sorry that you missed the port today. I was almost in the same situation last week on Discovery when we were trying to dock in San Francisco. The wind of 40mph+ was expected to pick up at 7am which was the time that we were scheduled to dock, so the captain made a decision to speed up the ship in the previous evening to let us sail under the Golden Gate Bridge and get into the SF Bay ahead of the wind storm. By 4am we were already docked in SF although the gangways would not open until the original arrival time of 7am. I need to give a shout out to the captain. If not his careful calculation we would have missed the port of San Francisco, which was the highlight of this cruise.

Yes, this is casino rate, but this is a pretty common offer. This is what Princess has been doing to fill up their ships since the restart.

In the mean time, Princess has been sending out heavily discounted offers to a lot of people. You can do a 7-day coastal for $50 per person or a 15-day to Hawaii for $100 per person. It is less than $7 per day, which is even cheaper than the lunch combo that I just picked up from McDonald's. What do you expect?

Not the reason why Ruby is nearly full. It is because this cruise was heavily discounted back in October. Only $149 pp and came with $100 OBC pp. The Royal cruise to Pacific NW was at least $500+ pp. There was a thread to talk about that back in October. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2890159-some-really-cheap-cruises-out-of-sf/

Back in October last year, a lot of people received casino discount to book the 4/30 Ruby for only $149 per person (Inside cabin). It came with $100 OBC per person also. The 4/23 Royal did not have the same deal. It may be the reason why Ruby seems to be almost sold out. Most people took advantage of the casino offer at that time.

https://www.princess.com/cruise-search/details/?voyageCode=1312 This is easy. I use the itinerary above for reference. Day 1: Depart Los Angeles Day 2: At Sea Day 3: Monterey Day 4: San Francisco Day 5: At Sea Day 6: Astoria Day 7: Seattle Day 8: Vancouver Day 9: Victoria Day 10: At Sea Day 11: At Sea Day 12: Los Angeles

I know someone who was just off Discovery yesterday also. He was also on a similar 4-day cruise out of LA back in mid-November. He said the food quality was much better back in November, and the menu selections were much bigger also. Not only the MDR but the buffet also. They had a big seafood bar with shrimps, mussels, octopus, calamari, scallops at that time, but this big seafood bar disappeared completely in his December cruise. It was kind of shocking that only one month could make such a huge difference.

For the same ship and same itinerary, you only pay $135 per person in 2022. In the 2023, you have to pay $257 per person, which is $122 more than current year. This is unreasonable. You can't get away with the taxes and port fees no matter what deal you received. Not a deal breaker, but the much higher taxes and port fees really defeat the purpose of the $100 excursion credit.

It is sad that California coastal is not a popular itinerary with only 2 or 3 cruises each spring and fall. Not sure why they cannot do it in winter also. There are way too many Mexican Riviera cruises in winter. Maybe the weather in Northern California is not permitted?

You don't really need to gamble too much to get this offer. My friend who had only spent $100 at the casino earlier this year also got it. It was actually her first and only cruise with Princess. Princess has been very generous lately. Maybe they have trouble filling up their ships now.

An inside out of San Francisco on Ruby for $1,064 before taxes and fees without single supplement. This is only about $70 per person per day, and you can enjoy the whole cabin by yourself. Keep in mind that this price is for general public, and you do not have to be a past guest or a gambler to get it. This is really a steal. Find me a deal from other cruise lines that can beat this one.

In some markets, Princess is actually cheaper than Carnival. Princess has been giving out very heavy casino discounts to past passengers lately. For example, a 7-day California Coastal or Mexican Riviera may only cost you $129 per person for an interior cabin. This deal also includes $100 OBC which can be used to pay for gratuities. Even factoring in the tax and port fee, you are still only paying for $40-$50/day overall. This is ridiculously affordable.

I am interested in the Pacific coastal cruise on Discovery from Los Angeles to Vancouver from 4/26/23 to 4/30/23. On the night of 4/29/23, on the travel itinerary, it says "Vancouver, Canada Operational Overnight". What does "Operational Overnight" mean exactly? Does it mean that the ship will actually arrive at 10:30pm on 4/23 but I won't be allowed to disembark until 6am the following morning? If this is the case, what is the purpose of mentioning this term? Why not just simply say that the disembarkation time will be on 4/30 at 6am?

A new tropical storm, Orlene just formed off the coast of Western Mexico and is expected to become a hurricane by tomorrow night. It is also expected to pass through the sea between Cabo and Puerto Vallarta over the weekend and may make landfall somewhere near Mazatlan early next week. Will this storm affect this cruise?

I will be on the November comedy coastal 4-day cruise but haven't received anything yet. Not sure if the upgrade offer is available to shorter cruises also. Anyway, I am not interested in this upgrade program. I have a mid-ship obstructed balcony cabin which is actually not obstructed at all. I had a great deal that only paid $325+tax for single occupancy. I am fully satisfied.