JJ2sail

We were on the Grand a month ago and no problems. I think we went to one of the Dining rooms to get tender tickets then you sit there till they call your number. Then you go to the tender.

Pier 39 offers luggage storage at $5 per bag for people on late flights. Also depending on when your sailing is the new Cruise terminal in SF may be open. It's a bit further from Pier 39, and not sure what the amenities there will be.

We were on the Grand last month and had different dining times and missed turn down one night becaue we didn't use the card.

I have the find my iphone/ipad app on both iphone and ipad, and test it from time to time. I lost my phone once on the way to the ship, and was able to see that it was already on the ship in my luggage, so no need to go back to hotel and search.

Does anyone know if the mattresses were replaced in 2011 or later?

Just fyi, the 101 freeway has a lot of construction going on, and traffic to the Santa Rosa area can be awful. Still think it's much better heading to the town of Sonoma lots of wineries off of 121 and much closer than going to Santa Rosa and vicinity.

Monterey/Carmel is not advisable for a one day shore excursion it's over a two hour drive one way. Really need a couple of days to see that area.

Touring Napa in one day is very challenging and we live there! I did a diy tour for friends when we did a pacific coastal a couple of years ago. We rented a van in SF and drove up to St. Helena and back. While it was an enjoyable day for them I felt rushed and always worried about the time. It is aprox one hour to Napa from SF, but most of the well known wineries are another 30 min north in the St. Helena area. In the end we only had time for two wineries and lunch before we had to head back.

I think if I had to do it again, I would hire a driver and van and maybe do the wineries around the town of Sonoma, it's a little closer and not quite so spread out. And also a very beautiful area.

Just off the Grand two weeks ago for seven nights. And have sailed Star also and have it booked again for Alaska in September. The closets are bigger on the Star as mentioned, but we still had plenty of room to unpack everything. Service and food on the Grand was great! Beds were comforatable. All in all we thought ship was in very good condition. It's been a couple of years since I was on the Star, but did like the bigger closets like on the Sapphire.

I've done the tour with Chilkoot, and liked being on the smaller bus, they were able alter their route a bit if needed to get around the big bus tours. Emerald lake was pretty but it's just a picture stop. If you've ever been to lake Tahoe and to Emerald Bay it looks very much the same.

Bread and butter pudding at the pub lunch. Scones at afternoon tea. Addicting!

The California Welcome Center located on Level 2 at PIER 39 offers luggage storage between the hours of 9 am to 7 pm. The cost is $5 per bag. There are no lockers available on the property.

If only...........lol Good one!:p

Just off the Grand Princess, and got the coffee card. Never did try the brewed coffee, jut got latte's. I asked about getting the brewed coffee in the dining room and they said they could only do an Americano and would take two punches on my card. So I stuck with latte's. Also I did confirm that the coffee is still the syrup extract. It was not good in the Horizon court, and hit and miss from room service, and it was actually pretty good in dining room.

You can order specialty coffee in both the Horizon court and the dining room with your card.

15 punches is correct, I did not use them all on my seven day cruise.

In the past I have also brought my own ground coffee, with a melitta filter and commuter type cup and gotten hot water from room service. You can find the sets on Amazon pretty cheaply.

Princess does occasionally use the Long Beach port. Our Grand Princess coastal from San Francisco had a port stop in Long Beach.

I am elite on Princess and diamond on RC and have also sailed Carnival several times.

If traveling with kids I prefer Royal, if traveling with just hubby or friends, love Princess and Celebrity.

Things I love on Princess include: Afternoon tea, Movies under the stars, milk and cookies, friendly staff, $3.99 pre-show drinks, laundry rooms with irons and ironing boards, chocolates on the pillow, fresh fruit basket in room.

Thinks I missed having on Princess: Towel animals, (though if you ask steward they will make them) Ice show, water show, etc...

Your TA should have gotten an upgrade notice from Princess. Which will say you have 48 hours to accept or decline the upgrade. This happened to one of my clients and even though they had given their cabin away they had to move them and move my clients back to their preferred cabin.

The port of Ensenada does not really have any beaches near by, they used to have a beach party shore tour offered on some of the cruises but I think it was quite a ways by bus.

Catalina does have a small beach right at the port area.

No you really don't see the coastline. I've done it twice. I seem to remember coming into Astoria was pretty though. I think there was a lighthouse we sailed past.

They do charge an entrance fee, and also have tours and such. Just go to their website for info.

Thanks so much everyone for the input! Think I will try it out. I like coke zero which I am not sure the bars will have but I know the freestyle machine will! ;)

Debating on getting the soda card on Allure and just wondered how many of the freestyle machines are on board? And the locations? Is there only one in the Windjammer? Are there lines at these machines?

Thanks!

If you are arriving by plane into FLL, the Plantaion Hampton Inn, airport shuttle only runs until 11:00 pm. Our flight lands at 11:15 pm and we were told we would need to take a taxi to hotel. I asked if I could pay their shuttle driver to stay a little late and they said no.

Just off the Sapphire last week, Vancouver to Los Angeles.

We booked the Sanctuary for two days at the $20 rate, but they said that you could book for the whole week at a discount. It was a bit chilly in the late afternoons but they had blankets in addition to the towels. They also said that during the Alaska season they do special glacier viewing day passes for $60 that includes a picture and special drinks.

The Marriott on Westminster Hwy is definitely within walking distance of skytrain, especially if you don't have luggage to haul (and even if you do, it's all level walking). You'll have to cross a couple of busy streets, but it is a safe commercial shopping area.

No luggage, just shopping bags! :D

Thank you!