mikjr

A & J Limo Service have wine tours in the area.  They are located IN Santa Barbara

http://www.aandjlimousine.com/wine-tours.asp

Another shorter option to tour Santa Barbara is the Hot Rod Limo...  I think it's about an hour or so and it's fairly cheap.  They also have wine tours of the area.

http://santabarbarahotrodlimo.com

9 minutes ago, jpom18 said:

Interesting, I honestly don't remember what the precruise cost of internet was for mine, I do remember princess person saying that I would be better off waiting until i got onboard to exchange the platinum minutes for a discount, maybe that's not the case.  I just doubled checked my portfolio print out and sure enough there is a $143 charge for internet on there.  Just out of curiosity is your cruise on the grand as well, i believe that some ships have different internet pricing, part of the transition that princess appears to be undergoing, unfortunately princess doesn't always seem to know what's going on during these transitions.

 

 

Unfortunately I have to stay in contact with the office while I am away, even when I am on a cruise.  I generally do this in my cabin on my laptop, this means that I don't generally get to do it in port where I might have wi-fi as I am not going to carry my laptop around in port.  I seldom even carry my phone in port and if I do I can check email and that but anything more tends to be a PITA on a phone or tablet.  So this plus my personal usage usually amounts to about an hour or 2 per day (at sea or in port).  On a 10 day cruise 250 minutes only works out to 25 minutes per day so I normally have to purchase additional time anyways.  This time instead of additional time I just bought the unlimited package.  I have to admit that it was nice not to constantly watch the timer, and not to have to worry about making sure to disconnect from the internet when done.  I have also had multiple cruises where the system either did not or I forgot to disconnect and left the internet running then I have to go down to the desk and BEG (and they have made me beg) for at least some minutes back.

 

 

 

Ahh... I figured it was something like that.   The unlimited sounds like a great deal!!

 

On 11/13/2018 at 9:20 AM, rocklinmom said:

I had gotten an email from Princess saying that today (11/13) is the Elite early booking day for Alaska and Japan 2020 cruises.

It said starting at 9am Pacific time. It is now 9:20 and I can see the itineraries but it has no pricing, just the red message that says pricing is 

not available yet.  Has anyone else been able to get the pricing for these? 

I got in at 9:05 and got our cabin with no issue.  Did you get your cruise??

 

22 hours ago, jpom18 said:

 

22 hours ago, jpom18 said:

 I elected to purchase the premium package for the entire cruise, I believe it cost me roughly $140 for the 10 days which is about half the standard cost ($14/day vs. $30/day).  The Surf and Social plans were less but I don't recall the cost.

 

Just curious how you can need or use more than 250 minutes of internet time in ten days?   We were on a 15 day to Hawaii, which entailed 10 days at sea, and I was scrambling to use all 250 minutes by the last day.    Based on the 10 days at sea, that's almost 1/2 per day...   

17 minutes ago, missholly24 said:

Or from dinner.....???

Yes... that's what someone else mentioned....  possibly a steak knife from the restaurants.  just crazy!

Spring Rolls with Peanut sauce!

6 hours ago, mediator said:

My 2 cents, is that we forget that there are 3,000 more or less people who come with their own “baggage”.  Some people also hope a vacation will fix things.  Sometimes it does sometimes it doesn’t.  

Very true...  we forget that a cruise ship is nothing but a small city, and microcosm of the world around us.  There is love.... hate... happyness... sadness... life... and unfortunately, death.   We always go on a cruise with a positive and friendly attitude, and try our best to show love and appreciation for everyone... especially the crew.

9 hours ago, Brooklyn Bridget said:

Princess headquarter is in San Francisco right?   Maybe you are in luck!  Another 33 minutes!

Princess is in Santa Clarita,  which is the San Fernando valley area, just north of Los Angeles.  

It appears bookings are now open for everyone on this cruise

10 minutes ago, crystalspin said:

Hi neighbors!

I am looking at this cruise too. I was told it would be come book-able by non-Elite on the 15th, and the website shows no prices today. Are you (both) Elite? or can we call and get a jump on the 15th?

 

YES, we are Elite and were able to book TODAY - November 13, so we got a great cabin, Mid Ship.  

From what I understand, Elite booking was only one day, Nov 13, and booking will be open to everyone tomorrow.   

 

Not sure about the benefits, or down size to the Medallion...  but during our last cruise on the Star, we had TWO charges applied to our account that were not ours!  One from Sabatinis for $60, and one at the Wheelhouse Bar.   

I can understand it happening maybe once... but twice??  Of course, the Front Desk took the charges off after the "Supervisor investigated" the charges, but it was still a pain and a bit annoying!! 

So maybe the Medallion system can help to eliminate issues like that.  

Hello...  we just booked this cruise this morning.   We have previously cruised to Alaska twice, 2007 and 2011.

We have been on the Golden four times to Hawaii in 2010, 2011, and 2012.    It's been a few years, but we must have liked the Grand enough to take four round trips from LA to Hawaii. 

I do remember it being a roomy ship.  And one nice thing is it has an ENCLOSED pool with two jacuzzis.  It's an older ship, built in 2001 and refurbished in 2018.  SO, the refurbishments will be 2 years old by the time we take this cruise.

We usually book a balcony on the Caribe (deck 10).  Mid ship or Mid Aft.  This time we are splurging and got a mini suite on the Dolphin Deck 9.   On both of our previous Alaska cruises, we had balconies.

We live in Orange County, and most of our cruises are out of the local ports... San Pedro, San Diego, and San Francisco.

This cruise has a GREAT itinerary and it should be great!    If you have any questions, let me know

17 minutes ago, Colo Cruiser said:

Yes the slanted/angled balconies can be bigger. I would stay away from the area under the curved walkway on each side of the ship mid ships. In these areas sometimes the sound from MUTS etc can carry down to balconies.

Aren't all the slanted balconies located under the curved walkways??   not sure how you could get a slanted balcony if your weren't under the curved walkway...

Maybe lower decks...  10 or 11 would be  better??

Any help appreciated... 

We've never been on the ROYAL, and are  considering a cruise next year.  I'm trying to do a bit of planning and would like some suggestions on good decks and cabin locations.  

We normally book a balcony on the CARIBE because of the larger decks.  But, my understanding is the balconies are SMALLER on the Royal, it doesn't matter what deck.

Because of noise, we'd prefer a cabin on decks 9, 10, or 11...  either MID or MID AFT locations are preferable.    I noticed some SLANTED Balconies on the diagrams.  Are those balconies LARGER? 

Your suggestions and tips - PROS & CONS - are appreciated!!

Thanks

 

On 11/7/2018 at 2:05 PM, Rcurtis said:

Great!  We leave in 2 days (Nov. 9th, 2018) on Royal Princess and just got an email from Princess:

 

(Excerpt): Please be advised that during the current cruise there were slightly elevated case counts of gastrointestinal illness among guests. A comprehensive sanitation program was launched in response, and Royal Princess will undergo a prolonged and additional disinfection in Fort Lauderdale on Friday, November 9, 2018.

 

I sure hope their sanitation program is successful!  Can't say I'm looking forward to the trip, now!

I have found that when we've boarded a ship that has previously had a bought with the Norovirus, the ship has been thoroughly  cleaned and disinfected.   They usually require a few extra steps around the food, which is good for everyone

On 11/8/2018 at 5:54 PM, Woobstr112G said:

Just popping in to mention something that I forgot to mention earlier regarding formal night.  There were noticeably less gentlemen dressed in Tux’s.  I did see more suits than usual.  No kilts seen as well.  One more comment about what guys are wearing on non formal nights (I’m not trying to start a clothing debate) is I’ve seen a ton more shorts worn.....

 

Bob

Hi Bob... enjoying your daily reports.  My wife and I were on the previous STAR cruise, 10/20 to 11/4.   So I am interested to hear what you have to report.  I noticed some small, but significant changes to our Star cruise this year, compared to our Star Hawaii cruise in 2017.    Every cruise, we notice less and less TUXES on formal nights, and even less SUITS this cruise.  AND, we did have someone wearing KILTS on formal night!! 

Have fun

thanks...  

I read that CARNIVAL is no longer requiring the signed  "Medical Declaration" when you check in.  

Is that just CARNIVAL SHIPS?  or ALL ship brands under the Carnival Corporation??

44 minutes ago, julie3fan said:

I've hosted family and friends on BVE's, and it's wonderful!  Be sure to have your reservations linked so you can board together, which will be early.  We've always been given multiple copies of the boarding photo, not just one copy for the BVE guest, but I imagine that could go either way.  If they want, they can buy a Future Cruise Deposit, but as I've never done that, I don't know the exact details.

WOW, I should probably CALL Princess tomorrow to make sure we're linked.  I'm the one who called and made the initial booking, so we should be linked... but I found that many of the REPS at Princess don't know much about the BVE.  Our Travel Agent had to speak to a couple different ones before he found someone who knew what was going on.  A bit frustrating!!

Has anyone  participated in the BON VOYAGE PROGRAM??   Wondering how it was??

We bought the package for our daughter and her husband, so they will BOARD the STAR with us, and then we'll all have lunch in one of the dining rooms.  I believe they also get a photograph of the event.   Unfortunately... they will have to get OFF about 3PM.

We'll be on the Star to Hawaii in October. This will be our first cruise as ELITE passengers.

Besides what is already in the Captains Circle page... are there any Tips or Hints for Elite PAXS??

I'm interested in using the laundry service... I assume a tip is appropriate?

thanks!

greetings.

I've done some searching already on reviews for AFT mini suites on the Star, but haven't really found any answers to my questions.

We are currently booked on the STAR with a BALCONY CABIN DECK 10 MID AFT, but have an opportunity for a MINI SUITE on DECK 9 - AFT. I'm trying to decide whether to STAY where we are, or MOVE to a mini suite.

I was curious about any experiences you might have had with AFT MINI SUITE LOCATIONS, as to:

noise

vibration

ship movement.

Thanks

Just returned from 10 day to Mexico on the Crown. I carried on a power strip and extra power cord... no problem.

I've been wondering the same thing. We'd like to do Hawaii in the fall and Princess is offering very little. Since moving the Sapphire to Asia and trying out the short itineraries with the crown, the availability of Hawaii itineraries for Princess has gone way down.

We have taken an annual Fall cruise to Hawaii for the past 6 years.. they were always back to back starting in September... now... ZIP!! bummer!