iamaqt2

My experience mirrors yours exactly. Service has been terribly slow everywhere on the ship. The worst part is seeing how hard they're working just trying to keep up. This ship is the most crowded I've ever been on and the lack of staffing shows. I'm not in a hurry to be anywhere so it hasn't really impacted us. Sometimes I'll order 2 drinks at once sometimes just to not have to bother anyone again.

I started off at Good Spirits with a couple of Sandia en Fuegos.. my absolute favorite beverage on the ship. Then I ordered a double pour of the Chalk Hills Suavignon Blanc with dinner. I'll gladly pay the extra few dollars for a better wine. Then had a couple of 24K Margaritas in the Vista Lounge. Grabbed a glass of prosecco while walking past the Crown Grill bar. Headed to Take 5 and asked the server what they'd recommend. She said the Ella Fitzgerald martini was popular. I was feeling no pain so said sure, I'll try it. Absolutely hated it.. it was like drinking perfume in a glass. Next round got a dirty martini with extra olives. Now after this, I get a little fuzzy.. I think I got one last drink, but for the life of me can't remember what it was. If I was smart it was a glass of water.

ANNNNNDDD.. now for HUGE PROPS to Princess on service recovery. Because if I'm going to complain, I'm also going to compliment. I'm sitting in Good Spirits enjoying some 🍸 and 🎶 and waiting for the Captains Gala introduction of all the officers by Armondo the cruise director. And who should pop by my table but Rahul from guest services in his formal uniform for the evening. To tell me that he emailed everyone higher up and made sure that my dinner was going to happen and to not worry about a thing. What time did I want it? And he'd try and make sure I could still have my cabana reservations. You're all getting this in real time, so my emotions are all over the board here. And who the hell is cutting onions in here?

I'm out enjoying the ship and drinking the bars dry. I'm exacting my revenge lol. It happens. I wasn't even mad til the phone calls. I don't expect anything except my refund and not to get any crap about canceling my Sanctuary reservation. The guy running it made sure to tell me they'd charge me if I was late or a no show. Guest Services was great about making sure to kick any issues back to them. I don't doubt it. I even felt bad for hanging up on the guy after I calmed down. But at least I didn't say anything I'd regret later.

I'm gonna digress from my daily post to do a critic part of Cruise Critic. I had no plans to get off in Cabo, so I had decided to make a day of being on the ship. I hustled to get on board to book a cabana for the day in the Sanctuary. I had prebooked and prepaid for the Ultimate Balcony Dinner for two. Room service had called and left a message yesterday about my reservation but the line was busy when I tried calling back. Upon calling back and trying to set up my dinner plans today, room service informed me that they couldn't do my dinner on the day I had booked for because they were fully booked that evening. Other times and dates offered didn't work for me so I asked them just to refund it. They informed me that they couldn't and Guest Services would have to deal with it. They told me to contact the desk. So I called Guest Services who told me they couldn't see it on my booking, even though it was clearly on my travel summary. So I decided to go down to the desk and deal with it in person. At the desk they found my reservation and all I asked for was a refund as room service couldnt accommodate my requested date. But Rahul, the agent tried to be so helpful and called to see if there was any way they could do it. They said no as the Sky Suites had booked it for that evening. I then asked if they could arrange to cancel my cabana reservation as well because I had planned the whole day around that and dinner. No problem, all canceled, head back to room to revise and revisit that day. I was frustrated as things happen, but here is where things broke down. Shortly after arriving back to the room I get a phone call from room service asking if I was able to get my refund. I assumed this was just a follow up call, so told the gentleman yes, I had called to ask for a refund and they couldn't locate my booking, so I went down to the desk and it was all handled. End of conversation, or so I thought. Phone rings less than a minute later and now the same gentleman says if I want they can now somehow magically do my dinner. I lost it. I said, I literally just went downstairs and canceled my whole day, and now you're calling to ask me if I want it? This is unacceptable. And I hung up. I was ugly crying at this point I was so upset. He literally called back less than 15 seconds later and my husband had to deal with him. He asked my husband if we still wanted to do it and I'm like absolutely not. And my husband tells him you made my wife cry and she's not dealing with you right now and if we want it we'll let you know. And hung up. Now I don't get upset easily, and I want to be clear, I was angry crying, not upset crying. I'm still sitting here fuming over this encounter 30 minutes later and venting to all of you. I'm now getting ready for dinner and plotting how to maximize my beverage package tonight.

Light overcast, calm seas, overall nice day. 60 degrees.

We were told upon checking in for our dinner reservation that if we liked our table to let them know when we were leaving and we could reserve it for the whole cruise. Well, even though the service was so-so, we liked the table, so we stopped to do just that on our way out, and whoever left just before us gave our table number so they told us it was already taken. I'm guessing it was the couple next to us who left just ahead of us who accidentally gave the wrong table number. Or maybe not so accidentally. It was an end table and not between anyone. Either way I wasn't that committed to our server so better luck on my next roll of the dice.

I second that sentiment. Salty Dog Gastropub just isn't all that.

Woke up to sunny skies after a rainy night. Headed over to the Happy Diner for breakfast for a real locals experience. Had the ILWU (Longshoreman Warehouse Union workers) breakfast special. Way too much food but I just had to go for it. Shuttled over to port at 9:30. Checked in at 10. Waited in Platinum seating area and onboard just around 11. Very smooth. Popped up to the Sanctuary to make chair and cabana reservations. Dropped smaller bags in room then off to muster. Had lunch at Gigi's which was absolutely fantastic. The Agnolotti (lamb ravioli) is out of this world good. After lunch headed back to room as it was ready, and founs this great photo album waiting for us, as well as the daily planner. Chilled out on our huge balcony for a bit, and bags arrived at 2:45. Unpacked and bags stowed by 3:15. Headed out to Lido for sailaway as it just gets me in a great mood for the cruise no matter how many times I've seen it. And love the Love Boat theme playing on the ships horn. Decided to check out the Platinum, Elite, Suite lounge this sailing, as I hit Platinum 2 cruises ago and have yet to attend. Having heard that not many go I was shocked that close to 100 people must have shown up. It is from 4:30 - 6:30 in the Vista Lounge. The snacks were good and there was a pianist. We had a 6:00 dinner reservation in Skagway so didn't eat much and headed off to Good Spirits to grab a drink before heading to dinner. The starboard side of Skagway was for Club Class and port side had 2 lines, one for those with reservations and one for those without. Neither line was very long just before 6, but was insanely long when we left at 7:45. I had checked the menu on the app ahead of time to figure out what I wanted, and this is where Princess let me down. 2 items I had preselected to eat were described differently in the app vs. the actual menu. I was really looking forward to the app version of the Marinated Goat Cheese Antipasto as the app describes it as coming with spinach and beets. And the Salmon was described in the app as having a red wine reduction with Mashed potatoes and collard greens and leeks. I just asked for no rice and sub Mashed potatoes, but they were just bland. We also had the Garlic Prawns, and while mine were cooked perfectly, there wasn't even a hint of garlic, and my husband said his prawns were shrimp cocktail cold. It wasn't a terrible dish, just not what was advertised. My salmon and the pork tenderloin that my husband ordered were cooked perfectly though. The best thing that landed on the table was the Pina Colada soup. We joked about ordering it again for dessert, but got the souffle and Creme Brulee instead. Service was disjointed at times, with new dishes being delivered before replacement silver, and then the new silver was just plunked on the edge of the table. Definitely not something I've experienced before and our server didn't seem new, just very disorganized. And we only saw our assistant waiter twice. Once to order wine and once to ask for coffee. We had planned to try and make it to the 9:30 comedy show but decided to call it an early night. If this post loads, the internet is working great.

Love Joe Jacks.. especially the open roof seating. We travel to Vallarta at least once a year and usually eat there at least once. Sat up there once during an amazing thunderstorm and they cranked the roof closed. That was so cool.

Travel today was unpleasant to say the least. I won't bore you with the small details, but will say that SeaTac airport was a mess at 2:30 am. I can't imagine how much worse it got throughout the day. Southwest really messed up peoples plans for travel. First leg of flight SEA to SFO hit the weather band NorCal was getting and caused quite a bit of turbulence. No FA cart service. And a bumpy descent and landing. SFO to LAX was a short hop but pretty bumpy as well. Captain came on and said we found a pocket of calm air you have 3-5 minutes to use the restroom. All luggage arrived quickly, even our carryons we had to gate check in Seattle. But the bags were really damp. Makes me glad we use packing cubes. The taxi/rideshare situation at LAX was a new one to me. They shuttle you to a different location where you get your transportation. UBER from LAX to Crowne Plaza was around 80 with tip. Our driver was very pleasant and handled a scary situation on the freeway flawlessly. He had over 18000 rides.. this guy was a pro. I had done pre check-in for Crowne Plaza the day before and received an email at 7 am that I was all checked in and keys would be waiting for me at the desk. We booked a King Harborview room. But upon arrival at 11 am I asked if there was a possibility to upgrade to a King Jr. Suite Harborview. They upgraded my room to a corner suite! As an added bonus I'm Platinum Elite through my credit card so they gave me 2 free drink vouchers. Those will come in handy after today. We were pretty hungry by this time so decided to wander out and grab a bite to eat. We've eaten at the San Pedro Brewing Co. before and they were opening at 11:30 so the stars aligned and that's where we landed. They're a very short 2 block walk from the hotel. Ordered up a round of celebratory brews for surviving SWArmageddon and then grabbed some hot wings and split a Smoked Brisket Sandwich. Now I'm ashamed to say I was really hungry and forgot to snap a pic, but that sandwich was GOOD. Super tender brisket with caramelized onions and melted jack cheese on a toasty roll with au jus for dipping. And the au jus was really good, not overly salty. We got our fries Gaffey style which has melted cheese, bacon bits and green onions with ranch dipping sauce. I have to say, I had both the blue cheese with the wings and the ranch with the fries and this is where they failed me. I never thought of myself as a sauce connoisseur, but these just had no flavor and were pretty runny. After lunch we found a small mini mart around the corner selling bottles of wine and hard liquors called the 7 Days Food Store. The wine selection actually surprised me, and the pricing wasn't too bad. After this we headed back to the room because a carb coma was kicking in. Took a 3 hour nap and felt much better. I'm a sucker for a good happy hour, so in searching restaurants nearby for dinner I came across Kalaveras. I had sworn I wasn't going to eat Mexican food pre-cruise because of all the good food I planned to get off the ship. But this place was sending out all the vibes I was looking for. And it was only 3 blocks away. It had rained earlier, but was not raining when we walked over. The cocktails were really good and the happy hour tacos were amazing. And a steal at 3.50 each. Chamoynada and Tamarind margarita. Mezcal margarita with jalapeño and pineapple. Paloma Negro Esquites was so good. It was fresh shaved off the cob not frozen corn. Shrimp Taco, Mushroom Taco, and Pork Belly Taco. 2 Barbacoa Tacos and Mushroom Taco. Dolly Parton never promised you a rose garden, but this place does...... In the bathroom. Walked back to the hotel in light rain and used our free drink vouchers in the bar. There were a few fellow cruisers chatting away. Headed back to the room for an early night. Getting up early to go eat at a cute little place we walked by called Happy Diner. I like the name, so decided to have breakfast there.

Yes.. that's great for people who live within driving distance. It sounds like they'll make it with a long drive. But very few people have the option of driving to the port and parking. If they did, they wouldn't be flying.

At this point it feels like the Hunger Games of cruises. Who can find the transport to win the cruise?!?

This trip could try even the most seasoned travelers nerves. Ask your hotel if they offer a cruise and park package you can switch to. Many of the San Pedro hotels offer it.

So glad you found out early enough to start driving. But no fun with the added stress of parking etc.

XBGuy, by chance on your visit to Loreto did you try the Chocolate Clams? It's on my bucket list, and I'm on the hunt for a great restaurant between the Malecon and the Mission.

Hi Nini, we're definitely more inland, and it still hit us pretty hard. Can only imagine what the coast was getting. Power now back on here as well. Stay safe! Spingal, would love to hear your experience and perspective from the "suite" side. Please feel free to post anything or any time you'd like! What a wonderful way to celebrate lives well loved. So I've heard. Fingers crossed.

Well my vacation is off to a rocky start. Today was the only day I had to do laundry and get packed before our 5 am flight tomorrow. But the Universe has other plans as we had a huge windstorm this am that has knocked out the power. Thankfully we have a generator and are putting the interlock we had installed this past summer to good use today. Not the way I envisioned its inaugural run. This crazy winter weather is impacting so many trying to travel right now. Apparently Southwest has canceled 64% of their flights today. I worry about all our East Coast fellow travelers trying to make this cruise. I've never traveled during the holidays, and now I see why so many people say it's so stressful.

Oooohh.. so many fellow cruisers joining a Live From is very exciting. It's usually just me in my echo chamber. Please everyone feel free to post your experiences. I love to see all the different perspectives. The great thing about cruise vacations is how differently we all see things. And I want all your pics!

Looking forward to seeing you onboard! Always nice to hear multiple live perspectives on the same cruise.

I'm very happy to share this thread with you! Or feel free to do one of your own. I'd love to hear a family perspective. There's more than enough room for both of us!

One of my favorite locations to book a cabin is forward on the Lido deck. Ship motion doesn't affect me, so being up high and far forward is no issue. There's just something so great about rolling out of your cabin and being right in the heart of the pool deck. Easy access to the pools, bars and food. The only time I don't enjoy this is when I'm trying to get from my cabin to the buffet during inclement weather. This cruise we booked an inside cabin L215. But I rolled the dice for a possible upgrade on the new bidding system. I placed minimum bids to upgrade on 3 different categories. Oceanview, Obstructed Balcony, and Deluxe Obstructed Balcony. The minimum bids to place for a regular balcony were high, and I wasn't willing to spend that much for unobstructed. I didn't have high hopes any of my bids would be accepted, but figured if any of the bids were accepted I'd end up with a better cabin at a fraction of the price. I was apprehensive that I wouldn't be thrilled with the location, but all those cabin categories were in locations I wouldn't hate. 22 days before our cruise I received notification that 2 of my upgrade bids had been declined. 2 hours later I received notification that my upgrade bid for Deluxe Obstructed Balcony had been accepted. 95.00 per person for a 10 night night cruise to go from an inside to a balcony! And even better was it was still on the Lido deck in one of the large forward facing balconies! That was an amazing early Christmas gift!

I love following everyone's live trip reports, and I've never been on a Holiday Cruise before, so thought I'd go ahead and do one for everyone else who also loves following live trip reports. If the internet sucks as much as I've been hearing, it's not an issue, as we have enough port days that I can compensate with my mobile data. Thank you T-Mobile for including Mexico and Canada in your plan (not a sponsor). Why the whole world isn't included yet is beyond me. A little background. This cruise is DH and I. I'm Platinum on Princess, very barely 50's, married 20+ years. DH is early 60's. We've also cruised HAL, NCL, Celebrity and MSC. Cruising we've done in the past year includes Sky last December for my 50th, Ruby in February through the Panama Canal, and Celebrity Solstice to Alaska in September. This is a 10 day cruise doing the standard Mexican Riviera ports with an overnight in Cabo and a new port to me Loreto, Mexico. (Spoiler alert: We have no intention of leaving the ship while at Cabo. Been there, done that. But have special onboard plans.) I work in hospital healthcare and vacation is VERY hard to come by. I've worked the last 13 days in a row, and will work a 17 hour shift tomorrow into Monday. The reason for that is I had originally booked a direct flight on United from SEA to LAX the day of the cruise because work scheduling is so tight. But then United changed our flight to a layover in SFO and I was not risking that on the day of the cruise. So I had to change my flights to the day before and call in favors from my coworkers to trade shifts around to make this schedule change work. Bless them, we made it work, but it sure is costing me. Trust me when I say I NEED this vacation. Having cruised out of San Pedro before, we decided to once again book the Crowne Plaza for our pre-cruise hotel. It's not fancy, but it's close to good places to eat, and the pricing isn't outrageous like some cruise port hotels. They have a shuttle to the port for a very reasonable price as well, but I choose to just Uber as it isn't much more, and I hate waiting around in the lobby. When I originally booked this cruise DH was recovering from some significant medical issues, so I had nothing more in mind other than relaxing somewhere warm. But he's doing much better, so we may rally and throw a few surprises your way. Looking forward to sharing our journey with anyone who cares to come along. I'll answer any questions you have if I'm able, and hope you all have a very Merry Christmas tomorrow!

Why even bother with EZ Air? Book direct and control your booking if something goes wrong. Recent reports are EZ Air is NOT backing their guarantee.

I was in my 40s at the time. See? I was counting you in among us young folks. 😉