Cruise Raider

Awe, thanks so much my friend! And yes, it was disappointing to see the nice wine glasses disappear but we were never denied one when we requested it. Our waiter in GiGis was so nice that he saw us with the ‘joker glasses) and swapped them out in nice glasses for us. It truly was an amazing cruise and I can agree that the whale show was a very unexpected surprise. I have my feelers out about the wine bottle packages.

The Discovery doesn’t have a Vines. But, you are right that the Grand was so protective of those glasses. We used to have to trade out our wine when leaving Vines to go to dinner only to be in club class and they’d transfer it back into a nice glass in the dining room. That was so silly. But, if people weren’t reckless with them, or maybe even try to take them home, they wouldn’t have to do that. The bartenders were very aware of who took the glasses out of their bars and didn’t bother to return them.

We will look for you on our upcoming cruises. It was so much fun meeting you both. I owe you a photo .. it’s still not sending. But I will get it over to you!

Thank you so much! We must have threaded that needle so well, as it started raining just 20 seconds after the Uber driver dropped us off at our house. Good thing because I only had sandals (I rarely take shoes) and no rain jacket or umbrella. We really do enjoy the best weather right here in California.

Not all the ships have the nicer glasses but the Discovery have them in just about every bar except for the Vista Lounge and the casino (or at least while we were in there) if you ask nicely and promise to return them at the end of the day. We always did and so they trusted us. Of course, you get plastic glasses up by the pool. All their wine glasses used to be the nicer ones on the Discovery but they now are replacing those with the hardy wine glasses.

We ate our dinner last night at the GastroPub. It was busy in there but the waiter, Alex, kept up with the crowd, I think they are short staffed in the kitchen there, though. We weren’t in a huge hurry so, not a problem for us. We ended up taking our chicken sandwich up for breakfast for this morning. Yummmm… that was so good. For small plates, they sure give you a fair amount of food. Disembarkation this morning was a breeze! About 8:00 AM, we walked off with our luggage and were out the door in no time at all. We saw our favorite port worker on the way out. She has come to know us after coming here so often. I really miss having a Royal class ship in San Francisco. This, we choose to fly to LA or to Seattle to hop onboard. The premier package is so worth it for hoping on a Royal class ship. It probably won’t be something I will need to book on the Crown or the Ruby unless they have some pop up casual dining opportunities open for lunch. We are flying out of Long Beach, so much better than LAX. And since our Uber got to the pier really quickly and we had zero traffic, we have TSA pre check and nobody was in line in front of us, we took this time at the airport to to fill out my post cruise survey! they all got such high marks in my book! We had great service, food, entertainment, etc. One thing I failed to mention is that we did have two medical disembarkations on our cruise. The team send to handle them very efficiently and the captain came on over the PA to announce the need to evacuate certain areas of the ship for the safety of everyone involved. It was good to hear he didn’t really have to repeat these notifications too many times as we’ve seen in the past. Hope all turned out well for these patients and their families. It was a very spectacular cruise in so many ways, but again, I think mostly because the staff is just so wonderful and the entertainment was also great! So much hard work from these men and women. The ship was pretty spotless, too, especially in our cabin! We did notice several people sounding like they were getting a cold by the end of the cruise. Hope to everyone onboard for this next cruise will stay happy and healthy. There were so many nice people that we met and very few, if any, real complainers. I hope to cruise with them all again someday!

The shows are wildly popular so, unless you have premier seating reservations, I’d go about 5:30 so you can get a seat for the 7:30 PM show. We had a great time but the lines for dining were sometimes really long. We never went to the dining room and opted for the GastroPub, sushi, GiGis or snacks at the PES lounge instead.

On these 7 night Mexico sailings, the formal nights are on the 2nd nights and the 2nd to last nights. The production shows are Rock Opera and Spotlight Bar, both are incredible shows! The first one highlights the talent of the singers and the other ones highlights the talent abundance hard work of the dancers. You cannot go wrong seeing either of these shows! They are both incredible!

Sorry, we haven’t even been up to the pools. Hopefully, someone else will answer,

So, it’s hard to believe we re nearing the end of our most fabulous cruise. I will post some last thoughts, more so about the new app than the cruise itself, which has been amazing! We attended the Life Onboard show with Cole and another Officer earlier in the day and it was so incredibly interesting. I would highly recommend it. We stopped by the Princess Live Bar on the way out and love they had one of my favorite Chardonnay! Big yay! We ordered some printed photos that are available via the premier package. We ended up having to order them on the old app. It worked perfectly .. the new app is just not ready for prime time in this area. I’m sure it will get there! Again, we were on the piazza listening to Cola Sounds .. they are so great. They will definitely be represented in our survey. Now, just off the dinner athe GastroPub! Yummmmm

Hypothetically, you can and the orders are delivered in a timely manner, too. But, we’ve never ordered anything in advance. I have to say that the specialty coffees that are delivered to the cabin are probably from a machine instead of being made by a barista. They are just not good. Your mileage may vary. Even when I order a specialty coffee while in the piazza, I get some that are good and some that are made from a machine. I think the ones from the IC coffee bar are great but the ones from Good Spirits are not great. I love a great cappuccino with no sugar but sometimes, I get a macchiato or latte. Yuk! I seriously think it might be related who I order it from. I am trying to figure out why some are undrinkable and some are fabulous.

As noted, I am only using the new app on this sailing, just so I can check out its functionality and report back on any issues it may be having. So far, I really like it, even more than the old app. My DH log in using our cabin number once onboard. The features that I think could make it better would be: 1) being able to view and make reservations on all of one’s booked cruises 2) being able to view all the ship’s deck plans, not just the one you are on Yesterday morning, we ordered breakfast via the app and it was delivered hot and took exactly 20 minutes. That’s really good timing if you ask me. We went to the enrichment talk on Great White Sharks in the theater and learned so much! While the slides were a bit juvenile, the level of knowledge of the speaker was incredible. I just love when naturalists come onboard and impart their knowledge. We had a little snack of sushi and edamames and again, it was amazing. There was quite a long line to get in around noon so, we spent a little time in the casino and it was so much fun because it wasn’t filled with a ton of smoke. No wins but entertaining! We went back about 90 minutes later and there was still a line but not as long. After being seated, we just split one order and that worked out perfectly as we were saving our appetite for dinner at the Catch. We missed the captain’s circle party in the vista lounge but it was well worth it for dinner at my new favorite restaurant. We were chatting with a newly met friend down in the piazza when the hostess from the Catch came looking for us, as we were 5 minutes late for our reservation. I can see why, as the restaurant has become wildly popular. It was really crowded by the time we left but the service was still spot on! We opted to try something a little different so ordered the crab cakes for an appetizer and wow! I’ve never had such a great crab cake before .. ever! Anyway, note to self, don’t be late, even if only a few minutes. As of yesterday morning, they’ve stopped playing the music outside on deck 7, port side. My DH sent them praise and thanks over crew chat! This has not been a warm weather cruise and it’s getting colder now as we are on our way back to LA. Of note, the inside of the ship is on the cool side on this sailing. I’m glad I packed some heavier long sleeved shirts. And normally, I am never cold while inside. This cruise has flown by ..it has been so much fun! The entertainment, the service, the food have all been spectacular. Plus the other passengers onboard have all been so fun and friendly! Every so often, you get a perfect group of fellow passengers and crew .. this has been one of those sailings. I have not seeing any real complainers or anybody being rude to the hard working staff. I am giving a shout out to the bar supervisors in particular. They must be amongst the hardest working people on the ship. Ashley, Jovie and Joanne all will be included in our survey for their hard work .. it really shows! The CD Cole, with his assistants, Bonagni and Josie are top notch. The acrbats in the piazza as well as the World Class orchestra are also so very talented! Both gave incredible performances yesterday.

I will definitely do so!

We’ve been in that location before but on the Majestic. How much movement you have will really depend up n the seas. Other than that, we love that location.

I have seen her .. always helping out at the sushi place and at the bars on deck 6. She is so sweet and such a hard worker!

I learned that the tacos in the sushi bar are Hamachi tacos and substitutions can be made. They are $12 for a plate of two tacos and are not included in the packages.

It’s pub lunch day in the dining room .. here are today’s menus from the app. I didn’t post the breakfast but saw in addition to the normal menu, there were banana pancakes.

Another fabulous day yesterday. We spent a little time outside and the weather was perfect. We couldn’t find our way out to the midship tables and chairs outside but happened along the smoking section towards the front of the ship, port side. It was completely empty so had a seat there until someone showed up to smoke. It is, after all, a designated smoking area so, that isn’t a complaint. I included a photo of the area in this post. Another couple we met earlier in the crew met up with us in the Piazza before heading to the Caymus Winemakers Dinner. I believe they mentioned the price was $160 pp. They are also scheduled for the Super Tuscan lunch today in Sabatini’s. I hope we run into the, again so we can report back on their experiences. I may have already included it but am posting another photo of the Super Tuscan lunch menu here. I believe the price is $60 pp for that. Something we noticed along the hallway on deck 8 is it seems the floor is buckled in certain places. Maybe that is by design and on all ships and we’ve simply never noticed it before. Could that be? I don’t think it is like that on the starboard side of the ship on this deck. Anyway, you can see by the photo that even the railing is crooked where the buckling is most evident. Again, not a complaint but just an observation. We went to PES lounge for nibbles in the evening and stayed for the comedian and then the Marriage Match Gameshow. Cole is an excellent cruise director and last night’s show just proved that again. Wow, he’s a funny man. We met a nice couple from here on CC in the Vista Lounge and learned they are on another couple of cruises with them in the future. We gained an hour back last night, which was so very nice. Speaking of the time changes, w had met a young man at Crooners and learned it was his first cruise ever. He had an unusual name so, when I heard it over the loudspeaker several times before we departed from PV, I figured he may have not understood the importance of changing his watch and getting back to the ship on time. Yes, he missed getting back onboard. Dang, that’s a harsh lesson. I recall on one of my first cruises ever that the cruise director said, “it’s not like we have Julie McCoy standing out there saying, come back whenever you want, we will wait for you”. 😆 That has always stuck with me and I haven’t missed the ship yet. There was one time when we took a ship’s excursion while in Boston, where we hit some road work with detours and then incredible traffic. Our tour bus was an hour late getting back to the ship but they waited for us. We were greeted by some cheering and much jeering as we got back onboard. Wow, am I ever glad that wasn’t a private excursion. Tonight is another formal night and the captain’s circle party. We have 5:00 PM reservations for The Catch so, may not make it either of the parties, which are at 4:45 or at 6:15.

If tipping is part of the culture where you are touring, then I’d say it’s customary to tip for tours that you’ve purchased. I would say, $5 per person for a half day tour and $8 - $10 pp for a full day tour plus a couple of dollars pp for a bus driver, if you have one is appropriate.

Oh gosh … let me check tomorrow or the next day when we go back there. We have the premier package so haven’t even thought to ask. Between the specialty dining, the casual dining and the PES lounge, we’ve definitely found the menus to be varied enough for a 2 week cruise. I’m still hoping to squeeze in another meal at the GastroPub. We would love to also go to the dining room for lunch but don’t think we will have time on this sailing. We don’t tend to eat a lot, though. We more or less graze. My DH hasn’t even been hungry enough to to get a scoop of gelato.. that’s a rare event for him.

I am only seeing today’s menu. I used to have to make a reservation for that evening to even see the breakfast or lunch menu for that day on the old app. Then, I would quickly delete the reservation. But then, one time, I could see the menus for the entire cruise once there was a dinner reservation in place. So far, this is the only reservation I can see but again, I don’t have any dinner reservations made for the MDR. one more note, they have a fish taco available at the sushi place. I may have to give that a try. I only noticed something that looked like taco shells while walking up the spiral staircase to the side of the kitchen there. They sound wonderful! So little time to try everything! This cruise is flying by!

I heard his Elvis sing along trivia was so much fun! I have to make sure to check the JourneyView for today’s activities.

We ended up just staying onboard yesterday. We played the ring toss game in the piazza in the morning and it was fun. I came in last place whereas my DH came in 2nd. We went up to the grill by the pool and found they no longer offer chicken tacos. Too bad, as those were my favs. But they did have chicken tenders, which were oh so good! We took our food up to the retreat pool area and it was so comfy and relaxing up there. I am going to have to book one of those cabins on the sun deck one day. My DH crew chatted about the music from the deck below again. I keep teasing him that I crew chatted them back to let them know he really likes it! 😆 Seriously, I don’t know why he has an issue with it. I have promised him that we are on the starboard side for our next cruise on this ship. We went back to the PES lounge for dinner. They had some delicious wontons as well as chips, salsa and guacamole. We were visited by the events coordinator, Barbara. She is looking into organizing some events for our total eclipse cruise, although she won’t be here for that sailing. Anyway, she told us that tonight’s PES lounge offerings will be Mexican food so, think we will have to go again for that. We spent a little time at the Crown Grill bar listening to Cola Sounds, that duo I’ve raved about. We attempted to go to the Liar’s Club in Princess Live but it was packed. Then, we attempted to go see the comedian in the Vista Lounge and it was also packed. So, instead we just headed to the casino for an hour or so. We haven’t won anything but it does not seem to be a sailing with a lot of smokers, so that’s a win in itself. We are in PV and sitting out on the balcony this morning. It’s cloudy out with a very pleasant temperature without much humidity at all. The weather has been so amazing on this trip if you like cooler temperatures, like we do. We’ve docked in a little different spot than we’ve been to in the past. It is directly across from Sam’s Club and Walmart. I’ve heard there is one here in PV but just never seen it before. It looks like a lot of crew are headed home today. They are being walked off with one of the officers to an awaiting bus and probably with more luggage than they had when they arrived. On a completely different note, in talking with one of the staff, I learned that if you tip large amounts of cash to the crew, it must be reported by the crew member and given in the presence of an officer. It sounded like anything under $100 per crew member is fine, though. Amazon gift cards are also welcomed as the entire crew are able to order items and pick them up at several ports that have contract with Princess. The crew doesn’t have to pay for the pick up on delivery to the ship. I would imagine that on this itinerary, Walmart gift cards would also be appreciated. I know that when visiting San Francisco and Astoria, Ross stores are frequently visited by the crew. Starbucks is usually a crew favorite, too. So, we have no dining reservations for this sailing but am impressed that the new app will show the menus for dinner in the MDR without a reservation. Here is tonight’s menu .. posted in the opposite order but you get the idea.

I haven’t but we did order breakfast one morning and it was delivered pretty quickly. Since we are a bit picky about our drink orders, we always just order it in person. The service has been phenomenal.

Oh no .. you comment is hilarious, though! We never got off the ship yesterday.