PatriciaF

@CruiseRaider thank you for the update.  LGB is making JetBlue give up its unused spots, so we are expecting a few more flights out of our little local airport.  

Santa Fe is only Club Class--the hostess at the door checks your room key to verify (until after the second meal she recognizes you).

Here is the link:  http://www.carnivalcorp.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=140690&p=irol-sharebenefit

@Thrak most of the time at LGB if you have TSA pre check few in line but early morning flights to the Bay Area lots of businesses travelers with it.

We got home from 20 days on the Sapphire Princess.  Santa Fe is still the Club Class dining room.    If you are eligible for admittance--the hostess will ask to see your room card to verify, make sure you go to breakfast.  It is open for breakfast every morning and you can get special coffees at no extra charge.  Great freshly squeezed OJ.  Regular dining room menu at breakfast and lunch.  Has an additional entree not on the menu, some were very good, others so so.  You could also for an additional cost get the Sterling Steakhouse entrees.  

Wait staff is excellent.  One of the people we made friends with on the cruise were assigned the Savoy Dining (right next door).  One night they asked for a table for 2 and were moved over to Santa Fe.  They were blown away by the quality of the service.  They had been pretty disappointed in the quality of the service in the Savoy.

I live near LGB and it is my first choice over LAX if it is an option.

I have TSA pre-check and sometimes that line is longer than the regular security.

I would go with LGB--should be no problem if you get to the airport by 1030 AM.

17 hours ago, Shmoo here said:

I'm sorry if this has been touched on before, but I don't have time to read the whole thread.

 

We are arriving in San Diego via Greyhound bus.  13th & National location.  How easy is it to get a taxi there?

Although it isn't the "San Diego" forum--yes, lots of taxis in downtown San Diego and should be a short ride.

I like the outdoor patio at the Cafe at Terranea Resort..

Some sailings are very popular and book up quickly--if you REALLY want to do that sailing, book it now and request a price adjustment or an upgrade if a significant price drop later.

1 hour ago, Colo Cruiser said:

Thanks for confirming.........

If they ever put them in they will be near the lamps next to the beds. Or at least they should be.

Enjoy the rest of your cruise.

 

That's where they are on Viking Ocean and on Oceania Marina--hope Princess does this upgrade soon--they worry so much about things being plugged in--this would eliminate a lot of the extra plugs.  

We were on our first Oceania cruise last week.

My husband did NOT take a sports coat (or suit) and other than at Jacques did not stand out.  Most of the men in Jacques had a sports coat and several were very dressed up (along with their wives.)  Not so in the other dining venues.  

I brought two nice pairs of slacks and a few nicer tops--different jewelry.  Worked for me.

Were you on the Marina?  We were on the Monte Carlo to Barcelona leg but spoke to several couples who thought they were on a 21 day cruise (Venice to Barcelona) or 14 days cruise (Rome to Barcelona or Monte Carlo to Lisbon).  Most seemed unhappy that due to the awful weather several ports were cancelled and duplicated later in their cruise.  One woman stated if she would have know her 21 day cruise was a B2B2B she would have packed much less.

I am on a 20 day cruise in February/March that it turns out to be two ten day B2B with another cruise line.

Friends were on the Marina last February for Tahiti--loved the ship and food--but the weather was awful the entire cruise.  Two years before they did Tahiti with Princess--in October.  Perfect weather.  After some research they found the time that Marina is usually in Tahiti is during poor months--

Perhaps take the train from Monte Carlo to Nice; check your bags at the train station, and walk around town for awhile?

The Buena Vista Social Club at the Melia Cohiba a sister hotel to the Melia Habana. It was fun, had audience members up dancing, and quite a bit of variety. I don't remember how much we paid but as hotel guests I think we paid less than walk ins.

I haven't seen the others--but we had a fun evening.

In London, we took a private transfer with International Friends. On the way down we stopped at Stonehenge, and on the way back went straight to the airport. Both times the two of us went for the same price one of us would have gone with Oceania transfer.

We did that too but in reverse as we did London after our cruise.

Thanks for the info. Friends that are flying in earlier have a private transfer--but it isn't that much cheaper.

BUT--if we miss our currently booked flight from Paris to Nice and make it on the flight 3 hours later--they will still have a transfer for us?

We have booked a transfer with Oceania from Nice to Monte Carlo.

Will we have to wait around until they fill a huge bus (like Princess) or will we have a private transfer (like our experience with Viking River)?

If our plane flights are delayed--will they wait for us?

Thanks for the info!

Pat

Went to look at our reservation for our sailing November 9 on the Marina--surprised to see a new landing page layout at http://www.oceaniacruises.com. Tried logging in--after I found the tiny rectangle block upper left and just get a blank page.

Or is it down for maintenance?

Trivia-the word posh came from Port Out Starboard Home. If you were among the elite of the elite, that's how you traveled from London to NYC (or was it the other way around?)

 

Mary

I was told it was from London to India--so the sun was primarily on the other side of the ship

Gee when my husband asked me that...I told him to bring a regular old toothbrush!

If going onto the memorial over the ship--please make sure it is open. They have had to close it for structural issues.

But--there is a lot to see other than the memorial at the Arizona.

Our favorite restaurants downtown Long Beach on Pine Ave

, take free Passport Shuttle are King’s Fish, Cafe Sevilla, and George’s Greek. Winston’s on the QM gets great reviews...but I haven’t been there for probably 40 year. The restaurant at Hotel Maya gets great reviews too..my husband has been there but I haven’t

Hi! I need some tips on transportation and lodging. We are sailing on the Carnival Splendor on Sept. 15. We'll fly to the John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana on Sept. 14th. Would it be best to use Uber to get to Long Beach and get a hotel there? Or stay in Santa Ana and Uber on the 15th straight to the ship? Estimated cost of the Uber?

We have considered staying at the Queen Mary on 9/14. If so, do they have a shuttle to take us to the boarding area the next day?

When we return, we will stay an extra night (9/22) and fly home on Sunday. I'm wondering if we should get a hotel near the Santa Ana airport for that part of the trip. Sorry this is so long. This is our first cruise from Long Beach. Thanks!

Uber has a get an estimate portion on its app. You should check there.

The queen Mary shares the parking lot with Carnival..so,you can just walk over.

If you stay Saturday night in Long Beach there are lots of restaurants and bars to go to plus the Aquarium of the Pacific and some other sites. Not much around John Wayne International, SNA.

we are trying out Oceania on the Marina in November--to compare it to Viking Ocean. We too are elite on Princess but thought we would try a little smaller. We loved Viking Ocean--especially no casino, no art shows, great entertainment, good to very good food, included shore excursion at every port. You may want to try it out too.