Jeff in Torrance

We were on this same cruise.  Absolutely no problem with room temperature.  No problem with balcony door as we were not in a balcony cabin.  We were also on Emerald deck.

We did participate with Hawaii cultural stuff:  she in hula lessons; me attempting to learn the ukelele.  I gave up after the first lesson........he just went too fast for me.

One problem was that the hula instructor Rowena kept hugging and kissing everyone.  Not too smart with covid around, and almost nobody wearing masks.  My partner DID develop covid after about 10 days.  I was moved to another cabin; and, did not get covid.

This was our second Hawaii R/T cruise on Princess.  I think that's enough of that particular cruise.  We'll go back to the Mexican Riviera and California Coastals

We just returned from the Princess R/T from Los Angeles.  They have free transfer bus to "downtown."  Great and crowded market.  We enjoyed the Tsunami Museum along the main street.  Senior admission was $7, regular was "probably" $8. We just walked along the main drag, visited the market, and then the museum.  The bus also stops at the airport, so it took about 25 minutes to return to the ship.  We didn't notice much to see adjacent to the dock, as Scott mentioned.

We stopped in Nicaragua a few years ago with HAL; and, took a ship's tour to banana plantation and packing facility.  It was interesting.  Great poverty.  We were told that about a dozen families own most of the country.  The port MAY have been Corinto.

I've personally seen the lot full.  You can always drive deeper into the lot near the USS Iowa, where additional spots are normally open.

On 10/23/2022 at 9:58 PM, Thrak said:

 

Curious... The boarding passes still list a corkage fee of $15 per bottle but Princess has stated that the fee is now $20 per bottle. Are you saying that you very recently paid only $15 per bottle corkage?

That's correct.  We actually paid the $15 corkage on October 4 in San Pedro on only 5 bottles.  Not paid on the two free ones, plus I guess two more just made it onboard somehow.

We just brought 9 bottles onboard for a R/T cruise to Hawaii.  Paid "corkage" of $15 per bottle.  No problem with trying to collect a second corkage in the MD.  The guy at the "wine table" affixed a sticker on each bottle.

We were on the voyage after the OP's, 15 days to Hawaii and back to LA.  I can report that I saw only one issue with an overflowing urinal in a public restroom.  No problems with AC/heat or plumbing that I am aware of.  Our personal trip was marred by my significant other coming down with a mild case of covid (which I somehow avoided).  Nice ship and voyage for the most part, although I think we decided 15 days is too long for us.  Back to the Mexican Riviera!

Just returned from our LA to Hawaii to LA cruise on the Sapphire October 4 - 19, where my significant other came down with covid.  I can say neither of us were thrilled to see only about 10 to 15 percent of passengers were typically masked.  It may make those that are not directly impacted happy, but not us or the others that came down sick.  She doesn't know WHO she caught it from, or exactly WHEN, but it could have been from the very over-exuberant hula instructor Rowenna, who kept kissing and hugging her victims whether they wanted it or not.  In our opinions, Princess was just pandering to their greed and giving in to the "mask-fatigue" of the general public.  Almost all crew were masked in public.  Evidently, fifty-one passengers were still being isolated in their cabins at the end of the voyage; and, were disembarked after all other passengers.  It's sure that many others were in fact sick with covid who did not reported to the medical center.  I was somehow fortunate to not catch it during the cruise, and did not come down with covid since returning home.

https://www.portsamerica.com/operations/cruise-los-angeles-terminal-schedule

I recall that there were packages for the tours, which (I think) gave some discount for visiting more than one venue, such as "submarine plus Missouri," versus purchasing individual tickets for the submarine and the Missouri.  The submarine is located near the entrance and ticketing, which the Missouri and Airfield are reached by bus (If I recall).

We took "The Bus" from outside the Honolulu cruise dock to Pearl Harbor several years ago, without signing up for anything in particular.  At least at that time, you could sign up for The Arizona Tour (no cost at that time) upon arrival.  They issue tickets on "first come/first serve."  Since we had about 2 or 3 hours to wait we toured the submarine first.  The Missouri is nearby, within walking if I recall.  We toured the air base instead, which I was not particularly impressed with.  Check out "The Bus" website to get an idea of scheduling.  My recollection is that we took one line each way to Pearl Harbor; and, the fare was very cheap.   http://www.thebus.org/

On 6/2/2022 at 7:58 PM, Kiwi_cruiser said:

We have booked a cruise that is due to call in to Pago Pago in October 2022.

 

Has anyone heard if Pago Pago will be letting in cruise ships?

It would appear so.  Looks like quite a few ships are still scheduled.

I used to visit American Samoa in the 1980's; but, have not been back since.  I would like to re-kindle the old memories someday.

https://cruisedig.com/ports/pago-pago-american-samoa

Have done the wine valley tour several times, which we enjoyed.  In more recent years we just walk out to the main road, outside the terminal area, and visit the cultural center across the road.  It's an old resort hotel that the Hollywood set used to visit in the 1930's.  Supposedly the margarita cocktail was invented in the bar.  There are often local cultural activities taking place.  It's also a stop on the excursion off the cruise ships.  We partake of any local event, should there be one, then have a very cost effective large margarita before walking back to the ship.

There is also an art center, just across the road from the cultural center.  Great Latin art, and local students doing their thing.  Often worth visiting.

Total walking distance might be about 1/2 mile each way.

Parking in the pier-adjacent lot in San Pedro is $20 per 24-hour period.  We've used this many times without a problem (except for the steep cost).  

1 hour ago, 3girlsmom said:

I've never heard of berth 50...??  We are on the Solstice from the 22nd to the 29th. I see we are departing from berth 93 and returning to berth 50. We are very familiar with 92 & 93 from past cruises. Fortunately we  have a quick & easy drive home, no fight to catch, but I don't love the idea of taking a bus back to our car. I can't even find where 50 is on a map.

Berth 50 is where the Lane Victory was formerly berthed, in the outer harbor.  It's located at the south end of Miner Street in San Pedro.  There is a fairly large parking lot there, although I don't know if the port plans to offer long-term parking there for cruise passengers.  https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/22213-los-angeles-plans-two-new-cruise-terminals.html

We've always gone for the aquarium class cabins, with no regrets.  We were "upgraded" to a real balcony on our first river cruise on Grand Circle.  It can be nice to have a small balcony, but wouldn't pay much extra for it.

We did this trip:  https://www.gct.com/trips/river-cruises/europe/romance-of-the-rhine-and-mosel/2021/itineraries?icid=hplk_2_trd several years ago, with Grand Circle.  Great trip with very nice people, excellent tour guides (as always).  GCT tends to be less expensive than the "really fancy" tour companies, and with longer trips in general.  They are our first choice in travel.  Looks like the prices have increased substantially.

We took the train between Basel, Zurich Zug (airport) and Lucerne.  Very easy.  I don't recall how much time the various trips were, but less than two hours each (I think).

Highly recommend the Think Cafe, 302 W. 5th St, San Pedro, for meals.  Only about two blocks from the Crowne Plaza.

https://www.thinkcafesanpedro.com/

On 9/13/2021 at 5:49 PM, NavyCruiser said:

We don't see the "value" of domestic river cruising. 

We've done lots of international land tours at a lower cost. 

Thinking we can do a group driving tour along the river banks & staying at 4 - 5 stars hotels/resorts, & have freedom to explore same port cities...

This is just we did a few years ago, driving from New Orleans to St. Paul, along the Mississippi, stopping often at the "itinerary" places that the cruise companies would visit.  We saved about 80% of the cost, while having the flexibility of deviating from any particular route, mostly following Highway 61 through the delta, all of the way north.  Great trip, over 21 days, for a total of $5000 for two people.  Mostly stayed in 3-star hotels.  The only loss is that we did not have the camaraderie of the group on board a ship.  At the time we did this trip the cost, per person, was $13,000 for the more expensive shipping line.  Another line was quite a bit cheaper, although still much more than what we spent.  We also loved the serendipity.

We too, as did Cpt Trips, cruised both the Seine and Rhone with Grand Circle.  I most enjoyed visiting the Camargue, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camargue , specifically at a ranch with wine tasting and seeing the local "cowboys" on their horses.  I had no idea that their were flamingos in France. Two nights in Nice wasn't too bad, either.  We also spent two nights at Honfleur on the Paris to Normandy trip.  Very special. 

We cancelled our October 11 Koningsdam California Coastal.  Hope we get to use the credit within the next year.  Only paid the down payment.

We did a similar, but not exact trip a number of years ago with Grand Circle.  Their Great Rivers trip is from Amsterdam to Vienna, a little short of Budapest on the Danube.  Cost is considerably less than Viking.  We've loved every trip with GCT.  Great people, and they treat their travelers very well.

https://www.gct.com/trips/river-cruises/europe/the-great-rivers-of-europe/2021/itineraries?icid=global:itineraries:europe-by-river-cruise:sge2021

We prefer the Think Cafe, located at 302 W. 5th Street, in San Pedro.  An easy walk from the cruise terminal or the Crown Plaza.  https://www.thinkcafesanpedro.com/menu

We had both lunch and dinner there within the past couple of weeks.  

We did the (more than) equivalent trip with Grand Circle about three or four years ago.  Two nights in Honfluer, two in Paris with night cruises in Paris along the Seine, great tour directors, etc.  And, I would bet, much cheaper.  https://www.gct.com/trips/river-cruises/europe/the-seine-paris-to-normandy/2021/itineraries?icid=global:itineraries:europe-by-river-cruise:sen2021