LRDR01

Got my $$ back for our AMEX Everyday card.  We also have the Delta AMEX which it was not available on.  Thank you Gregoryfo for the heads up.

Just off the Discovery Princess.   No token machines were in the self service laundry room so I went to Guest Services to purchase the tokens.   No need.  On the Discovery Princess, they do not charge now for the self service laundry.  Not sure if this was for a specific time period, but, we are Elite - sent our laundry out once with a 28 hour turnaround time.  Did our own laundry for free in the self service for the rest of the cruise.  We only did carry on because we have the Elite status and always send out our laundry.

We sailed on the Miracle to Hawaii last year in February.  It is definitely a relaxed cruise attire wise.  There were 4 formal nights, but, we just wore nice slacks and a nice shirt for each.  They were turning away those in shorts for the MDR.  Bring something Hawaiian to wear on a few of the nights as they do promote the theme for this cruise.  They hand out lots of leis, so, if you forget yours, you will have ample opportunities to make a collection of them.  It was a fun cruise as the staff kept everyone busy on those long days at sea on both crossings.  Enjoy the cruise.   

On 4/21/2023 at 10:00 AM, LuCruise said:

We'll be on a cruise out of Los Angeles for the first time in July that is stopping at Ensenada.

 

Anyone done any of these tours and if so, any feedback?  We are on Royal but may also be offered by other ships.

• La Cava de Marcelo: The Cheese Cave
• Food and tequila Walking Tour
• Salsa and Salsa

 

Out cruise is only a 3 night so looking for something that isn't too long but gives us a taste of Ensenada (no pun intended)

We did the Cheese Cave while on the Navigator of the Seas.  This was a really fun excursion.  It's about a 30 min drive outside of Ensenada, so, if you are looking for some downtown experience, this would not be the one.  The only downside of this tour was with the bus used to and from.  Unless they have changed the transportation from when we went (about a year ago), you will want to make sure you get a seat near the front.  Otherwise, the tour was great.  You get a tour of how the cheese is processed, get to taste several different types of cheese, ice cream samples and have a wonderful lunch.  We have been to Ensenada many, many times and try to do something different each time.  This excursion was one of our favorites.

39 minutes ago, Jamman54 said:

Celestial Strings was two shows 7:15 & 9:15. 😎

I apologize. You are correct on there being two times for the Celestial Strings.   I missed adding the 9:15pm.   Sometimes, the FunTimes is hard to read when you are trying to sort through 7 of them.  LOL.  

Just got off the Celebration on Sunday.  For the shows-

1st night - Center Stage - Welcome Aboard show 8:00pm - Showtime (meet the cruise director)

                 Grand Spectrum - Color My World 9:15pm

2nd night - Center Stage - Celestial Strings 7:15pm

                  Grand Spectrum - Love and Marriage show 7:45pm & 9:45pm

3rd night - Center Stage - The Most Magnificent Circus 7:15pm & 9:15pm

                 Grand Spectrum - Family Feud Live 7:45pm & 11:30pm(adult version)

4th night - Center Stage - The Most Magnificent Circus 7:15pm & 9:15pm (yes, it was repeated)

                 Grand Spectrum - What's Age Got to Do With It 7:45pm & Guess that Groove with Lee                                                                                                       9:45pm

5th night- Center Stage - Deal or No Deal 7:30pm & 9:30pm

                Grand Spectrum - Amor Cubano 7:45pm & 9:45pm

6th night - Center Stage - The World Works Here 7:00pm - We Are One 7:30pm & 9:30pm

                Grand Spectrum - Color My World 7:45pm & 9:45pm

7th night - Center Stage - The Most Magnificent Circus 7:15pm

                 Grand Spectrum - A comedian will be featured - 7:45pm & 9:45pm

On our sailing, The Most Magnificent Circus was shown several times throughout the cruise.  I thought the highlight of the Center Stage was the Celestial Strings show on the first night.  We have seen this show on other ships, but, it was even better on the Celebration.  Get to the shows early to get seats on the floor to be amongst the performers.  Totally worth it.  Have a great cruise.

Love the privacy and being close to the water in the Cove Balconies.  Do not like the salt spray all over everything or the fact that every one of my pics from the balconies have lifeboats blocking the sky.  We were not huge fans of the Cove Balconies and unless the price is too good to pass up, we will book the aft view balconies.  Love that wide open view of the sky and the sea from a regular balcony.

We have a love/hate relationship with the Radiance.  Sailed on her several times since she has been sailing from LA.  Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad, and once it was great.   However, on our last cruise on her, we sailed in an Ocean Suite (loved the suite- but it was showing signs of being well used)..  We also had the breweries tour booked and they cancelled our tour the day before.  Said we were the only ones that booked it.  We have done that excursion several times and absolutely loved it.  Very disappointed.   We booked Cucina for the last night of our cruise and it was packed.  Main dining room was hit and miss.  Several cruises, it's been terrible, and for some of them, it's been great.  One of the worst meals we have had has been on the Radiance - Seaday brunch.  Can't even begin to explain all that went wrong with that.  But, despite all of the inconveniences and disappointments on this ship, we keep sailing her and find that we do have fun and there are always good and great memories that we bring back with us. 

Thank you to everyone who responded.  I appreciate the insight and will be researching your suggestions.  

We are a party of 4 looking for recommendations for a private tour of Loch Ness area and possibly including Inverness sights.  Anyone have any first hand experiences with private tour companies for this port?  Thank you in advance.  

Thank you for your review.  I am on the Discovery Princess 80's Themed cruise that leaves in 4 days..  Your review of the cover bands with Wanted and DSB have me very excited.  We have a Pat Benatar cover band in place of the Prince one.  Hopefully, meals will go better on the Discovery as I think she is completely sold out for this cruise.   Yikes.   

On 4/14/2023 at 1:22 PM, audcc77 said:

No more putting cruises on hold if PVP is expecting to get credit.  
 

I guess you could put it on hold, then take it off hold after you get your PVP on the phone.  
 

Ours gets back to us within the hour usually.  Even on his days off.   I wouldn't trade him for the world. I have never had to wait more than 3 hours to hear from him.  I know he is extremely busy.   Per the information above, Our PVP confirmed that if we want him to get the credit, we should call or email him with the sailing, cabin #'s and promotion we want, and he will book it and get right back to us.  He also told us that if we put something on hold, then cancel it so he can rebook, he can get in trouble for that with Carnival.  I will follow his instructions until told otherwise by him.

2 minutes ago, debsjc said:

We rented from Sixt who show the cruise terminal as a location, however on the morning of pick-up they emailed to change to to Belfast City Airport pick-up instead,,,,,, which was about 10 minutes in a taxi. Luckily the local tourist information desk at the cruise terminal were really helpful, and called a taxi for us. Sixt took us back to the cruise terminal at the end of the day. I would say I didn't think the customer service from Sixt was great, considering the last minute change, but that car was fine. 

 

 

Thank you for that information.   

On 4/6/2023 at 1:27 PM, debsjc said:

We hired a car, and explored the coast, and it was really beautiful. My vote would be for the Causeway tour.

How easy was it to rent a car from the port?  Was it walkable from the port?  Any insight is welcome.

Although I have not sailed in that cabin or on that deck, I have sailed on the Radiance several times.  If my memory serves me correctly, those outside cabins have a window that overlooks the promenade that is on deck 3.  The obstruction would be the lower hanging lifeboats from deck 4 and the promenade and it's railing on deck 3.  Again, it's from memory.  You may have individuals walking on the promenade outside your window.  

On 12/22/2022 at 3:29 PM, scottca075 said:

 

Avis/Budget, which is the same parent company, but separate counters, had a shuttle to the airport from the port when we were there a couple of months ago.

For Avis, did you need to call for the shuttle, or was it there at the cruise port waiting?  Any help would be welcome.

We had previously been forced to park at the Convention Center, and actually found it quite easy.  Yes, it took a couple of extra minutes due to waiting for the shuttle to fill up at the parking garage, but, it was easy and no hassle.  Agree with previous comments on park and cruise.  Hilton Long beach offers a good park and go package and so does the Hotel Maya Doubletree.  You can actually walk from the Doubletree to the cruise port- which we have done several times.  

Having sailed on the Radiance several times this year, IMHO, the upgrade was worth it.  I have sailed on deck 2 and didn't like it.  The other two times were in balcony cabins and it was a much better experience.  I love being able to step outside and get some fresh air and have ample light coming into the cabin.  Again, this is my preference.  

We purchased the Premium photo package on the Golden Princess in Australia.  It included whatever 8x10 photos that the photographers took of us (outside of any sessions).  We had port photos, dining room photos, around the ship photos (including the set ups around the ship with the backdrops) and it included stock photos.  We gathered all of our photos that were taken each day and had the photo staff put them in a folder for us.  On the last night, we went and picked out the 10 photos that we wanted from the folder, and they added them to a Souvenir flash drive along with giving us the physical photos.  We found that it was definitely worth it if you are going to be buying the photos anyways.  It is a savings over buying them individually.  Since we only chose the 8x10's, not sure if the 5x7's would also be included, but don't see why they wouldn't since they cost less to purchase.

I sent mine in on May 30th to email sbpcl@princesscruises.com .   It was applied on June 2nd.   In the initial email, I also cc'd my Cruise Vacation planner from Princess.   Not sure why some get processed faster than others.  I am Elite with Princess.  Maybe that has something to do with it?   Who knows..   If you have a Cruise Vacation Planner with Princess, get them involved to assist.

One and done for us.  Did this on the Breeze and although it was entertaining, we left 3/4 of it uneaten.  I'm glad we did it, but, never need to do it again.   It was worth one time IMO.

We had a real "jerk" on the Radiance in January at the Chef's Table.  50+.  His wife seemed so embarrassed and every time she tried to talk, he "spoke" for her.  When he tried to speak over the Chef, the Chef just kept talking and would ignore him.  The poor gentleman next to me wanted to punch him within 5 minutes of being at the table.  But, after a few deep breaths, we just tried to ignore him and enjoy our own experience.  

Trying to check in for our cruise.   Like everyone else, no luck.   Grrrr.   Very frustrating.

Completely disappointing.  We were on the Radiance on March 4th.  Met up with the Miracle outside of Ensenada.  Miracle was late for the meeting due to passengers on Carnival excursions not returning to the ship on time.   Cruise director gave us no indication of why we were outside in the freezing cold waiting for the Miracle for an hour.   He just kept trying to get the Tik Tok video correct.  Someone standing next to us had a friend on the Miracle and she kept us informed as to what was going on.  No announcements from the captain, no information provided by the crew.   The horn blasts were ok, but, after being totally freezing for a while, we had to head inside just to get warm.   There was a rainbow over the Miracle which was pretty cool.   There was no merchandise on board to purchase in regards to the Sailabration (stuck in a container somewhere).  We were told by Guest Services that none of the West coast ships received any merchandise, which we found out by Social media that was incorrect.  The Radiance was the only one that had nothing.  Special dinner was ok.  Basically the same menu as a regular cruise, only with paper menus.  Absolutely not worth the extra money spent to be on this cruise.  We did get a colorful towel animal one night.....   

Question on tipping for the Chef's table.   Do they present a check wallet at the end of the experience where you add the tip to your shipboard account?   I'm assuming the customary meal tip is expected?  Do you tip as a whole, or for each of the individuals involved?   Any insight would help.  We are doing the Chefs table on the Radiance in a week and this will be our first time doing this.