paluni

We are on our inaugural Princess cruise aboard the Star Princess in October, having only cruised with P&O previously. British Airways have made us a provisional one night room only reservation at the LAX Hilton Hotel prior to cruising the following day. I have read negative local reviews of this area of the hotel for walking out in the evening.

As I have time to cancel this reservation can anyone offer advice, guidance as to a preferred stay location perhaps nearer the World Cruise Centre at San Pedro?

We stayed at the Doubletree in San Pedro in 2013 before our cruise. The really nice thing about it was, they had a free shuttle to take you out to restaurants at night, and a free shuttle to the ship the next morning. They did not have a free breakfast though, unless you had some past-guest status. It was a very nice hotel and we would go there again. It is at the marina for small boats and we saw some seals. It seemed like a nice area and safe at night.

I know of a man who went on public transport in Beijing with a wallet with $2000 in it that was lifted very fast from the thigh area of his cargo pants. His wife had advised him not to carry it there before they went out.

My brother had stuff in his cargo shorts in Egypt at the pyramids. He felt some guy's hand going in there to get his stuff. Fortunately he stopped it before he lost whatever it was - I think it was his wallet.

We recently disembarked at Canada Place. It was so horrible, and so unreasonable, that I want to avoid any cruise ending or starting there. Like, hundreds, maybe a thousand, people with luggage in a line to go up in one elevator? And port staff not mentioning you could walk on a little farther and go up a ramp to get out of there? And other things just as bad. Bad signage or none for the metro system. It was horrible. I have a lasting negative impression of that city, but Victoria was very nice.

I can't for the life of me understand why people have prejudged (and decided to skip) the Salty Dog. The three of us adults had wayyyyy too much food, all delicious and different from normal MDR, the hamburger was the best I've ever had, and we couldn't finish any of the courses. Our only complaint was that the hamburger was served last and we had overeaten on the first two courses, not leaving enough room for both it and dessert! I do, however, think that the name of the venue has turned people off. That's the only thing I can think of because no one blinks an eye when paying the uncharge at the specialty restaurants. When I filled out my post-cruise survey, I strongly urged them to rename it for the two reasons I can think of: #1, none of the 3 words is appealing to US travelers as relates to food. "Salty" is a turnoff. Dog ... same. Gastro --- ugh. Does anyone else's mind go to a not so good place when you hear the word gastro on a cruise? And I don't think Salty Dog is necessarily a well-known sailing expression. And #2, Pub to me connotes beer and cigarettes in a dark room. Well, they have the dark room part right! Let's rename it, still have the cute little sailor doggy on the sign, do some food sampling for pax walking by (that's how we were enticed), give it a try, and enjoy the unparalleled service and fabulous food! Then I bet you book it at least once every cruise.

We probably didn't try it because it was an upcharge and somehow not welcoming, looking at the set-up, and expected the food to be strange. But "gastropub" isn't a great name for me. It makes me think of gastropod, a slimy snail. Also, gastro, like a medical operation. Or just the word gas isn't great for a restaurant. My husband will never eat on a high barstool type chair is another thing. If it's too noisy where I eat, I also don't like to go there. I can't stand raising my voice to talk at a meal. So there's some things in the way of us going there. I also don't like being served too much food to eat. It's a shame to waste food. I'd rather be served less and be told I can ask for more if I want it.

We disembarked on Friday, May 6 at 9:30 a.m. Three ships in port. Found ourselves in a line in the basement of the cruise terminal to board one (1) elevator up! Maybe a thousand people in line with lots of luggage to escape. Nobody told us a further walk on you could walk up a ramp to get out of the terminal. Finally get on elevator. Takes us up outside, to another giant line, with same people and probably more, to get a taxi. Maybe at least a thousand people? After a while, we asked about and got the subway/Skyway across the street. Of course, down a steep set of steps with all our luggage. No ramp, no escalator, no elevator. No signs to subway either once inside. Finally found it. Down more steps and a ramp, mixed together! Found out next day there was another corner that had escalator and elevator. Of course no sign at terminal pointing to it. Vancouver is messed up. Even airport would have moving walkways that only went one way, not back. The HOHO bus diver we took next day said when three ships are in port, it is called a "black day" and their buses have to pick up a block away, they are not allowed to the terminal. There were other similar things in weird Vancouver, but I won't go on. My husband was looking at future cruises and one appealed to him, but it is round trip Vancouver. I think hearing that means I couldn't agree to take it. Won't be so jerked around by Vancouver again.

The pre voyage documentation for our recent cruise said we would have 4 formal nights so I took 4 outfits. Once we were on board we found that there would only be 3. If numbers can be reduced I am sure they can also be increased once on board so take outfits you would be happy wearing more than once. Having said that, I only notice how people look on the night and not whether they have worn the outfit before or not.

On our recent six-day west coastal, the pre-cruise information said one formal night. Then on board we learn it is two nights! Luckily I had another outfit that I put together that made it formal for formal night. But I would have packed somewhat differently if I had the accurate information.

At Vancouver airport, we had to go through the security line because we didn't carry our actual GOES cards with us. My husband shortly before had flown out of Montreal airport and they didn't require him to have the card. Same thing at Toronto. So now we will always carry those cards.

That was one more annoying thing about Vancouver. I didn't really like Vancouver, though it has a pretty setting.

You paid for your cruise which included the right to use a pool chair. So if these people grab it and take it "off the market" but don't use it, it's like they're taking something you paid for. Just move their stuff and sit on the chair. To avoid problems, graciously and innocently move if they ever come back, which they probably won't. You might ask the people around if nobody's been there for a while before taking the chair. You have a right to use it; they don't have a right to reserve it/hog it. That's the facts. They need to realize not everything is only about them.

I usually wore long sleeves and long pants, because I didn't want to get sunburned. They were not heavy weight though, and were cool enough. Also a hat for sun. We were there in April, four islands, and the weather was quite nice. Not real hot or cool.

I have gone on cruises tired out from getting ready for the cruise. Packing, selecting, getting everything together. What is really stressful is panicked and/or late-night packing the night before. So, I know for me it's better to be ready ahead. And that means, starting way ahead. Because everything takes longer than you think. Think how much time you need to get ready. Then double it and start then. Start out your first travel day relaxed. Or at least as relaxed as possible. Being tired and exhausted is a recipe for a cold/sore throat.

I'm another who's never found the pizza on Princess to be something to rave about. I'll have an occasional slice once or twice a cruise. One of my pet peeves is that they never seem to have the advertised ingredients. I remember one time the specialty of the day was supposed to have fresh basil, according to the sign, but they didn't.

I have been on two Princess ships which were supposed to have basil on the pizzas, but they didn't. Disappointing. But I like the pizza. As Jay Leno said, even a bad pizza is still a pizza.

I think my biggest question is not what I can do without as much as how do I cram what I need in a suitcase without everything looking awful when we get there.

I think packing cubes help with no wrinkling. On Princess, they have a laundry room with ironing boards and irons too. I interweave the clothes so nothing has a sharp fold, it is always cushioned by a "pad" of other fabrics, with a central core of something folded that doesn't wrinkle, like sweatshirts/nightgowns. You might look on youtube for various packing method videos, and get some ideas there.

The packing cubes keep things from shifting in transit. Some of the clothes I also slip the drycleaning plastic bag around items before interweaving them in, and that helps too.

My husband wears a tux for the full night, for dinner and whatever we do afterwards. I wear a long or short formal outfit the whole night. We have been on cruises with lots of tuxes or not many, but that's what we always do.

When my husband took a solo cruise, he wore his tux for formal nights, and sometimes he left it on all night, sometimes he changed for the rest of the night, depending on what was happening that night.

I really liked the shopping at the Aloha Tower little shops, which were right next to my ship's berth. Also, you could maybe find a luau that can get you back to the ship on time. Luaus are great! Worst case, take a cab back if you go to one downtown. I would like to go to Germaine's luau on my coming cruise, but husband is afraid of getting back on time. I actually think it will be ok. You could check with them about their transportation. The ones further out pick you up in a bus.

I was taken for a crew too, but oddly enough I found it very flattering! I was pushing my mother's wheelchair to put her on a cruise with her friend, and was directed to a lower crew entrance to do so. The young staff asked if I was a new crew. They thought I was joining the ship as a new employee. The group seemed Scandinavian, and I look like that somewhat, and I actually felt flattered that I looked "good" enough and professional enough to appear to be a new crew! I also thought it was funny.

But I can see how it would bother you if you were on the ship in the public areas, being a passenger.

Management is "deaf" to these complaints. They might really be deaf by now. One of the reasons I don't want to go back on the Regal. Their crew is on short contracts, because they lose their hearing in a short time. No, that is sort of a joke, but very sad. I have felt very sorry for those healthy young people.

No wonder your steward took your wire hangers - he thought they were ship hangers!

 

There's no need for anyone to pack extra hangers to take on a cruise. All you have to do is ask your steward the first day for more hangers and he will bring you some wire hangers. When people get their clothes back from the ship's laundry, the wire hangers that the clothes came back on are collected at the end of the cruise and reused by the next passengers who board. We always ask for a couple dozen wire hangers as I like most of my clothes hanging in the closet.

Yes, I know I can get hangers from the steward. But I like to not hassle it and give the steward one more special request, and I like to just have them with me, and also for hotels at either end too. The ship laundry hangers do look like mine (maybe they are mine from a previous cruise :)), I know that, and if I got some of theirs with some ship laundry I leave those. If I really want to leave some of my hangers I do. But since I have reasons for wanting to take most of them with me usually, I have learned to just pack them away on the second-to-last night. Some stewards want to take them away, and I understand but it's easier for me to pack them away rather than trying to explain the situation.

I always bring a lot of wire hangers from home because it's convenient and sometimes there are not enough ship hangers. On the last night, while we were out, all my personal wire hangers disappeared, which I actually wanted to pack with me. So now I pack up all my wire hangers on the second-to-last night. Maybe this even happened twice.

I personally also would *really* not want somebody touching my clothes. That would bother me and I understand where you are coming from. I don't think it's OCD either.

One of the things I liked best about my one full transit, was the long time spent in Gatun Lake, which I didn't expect. The lake was beautiful and primeval and quiet, like going back in time. The jungle is close by. I never tired of looking at it and saw some wildlife. I think we were a number of hours just in the lake part, not the lock part. It was great. Had room service lunch on the balcony and it was wonderful. Very peaceful. The ship of course goes pretty slow which also makes it nice.

I really enjoy the Wharf. My favorite thing is the seals! The seals! At Pier 39. Lounging around and barking. I am thrilled with them. I sometimes say they combine the best qualities of a dog and a cat. Perhaps I sound a little crazy!

As far as Fleet Week, wow. I had to drive through S.F. in 2014 when the Blue Angels were buzzing around as I drove the Bay Bridge. Flying so close to the bridge. Then, in the city, they had also just finished the Columbus Day parade in North Beach. The place was heaving with people, as the British say. I had to drop someone off in the thick of it. Unbelievable traffic getting in and out. But if you are on foot, it should be a lot of fun.

As far as gourmet, clam chowder in a bread bowl is an inexpensive tradition for walk-away food at the Wharf. People love it. I like food like that. And I always eat the bowl and enjoy it.

Stay at the Wharf, near to your ship. You'll have fun, especially if the weather is nice.

Don't agree to let them gift-wrap it or take your purchase out of your sight. A friend who is actually Chinese-American agreed to this. When she got home, the item in the box was of lesser quality than what she purchased. I don't know if it was pearls though.

They were to the right as you got off the tender. The clamshell hut guy was sort of unhelpful (we had prereserved) and the attendant we then tracked down was also lackadaisical. These seemed like locals, not Princess employees. Finally when we got it, after some confusion, it was nice, yes. But there was areas with trees for shade, which is all I needed, so I decided I wouldn't bother with a clamshell again. The locals with the clamshells were not up to Princess standards.

I fall upon mine and devour it each night. My husband is more controlled. He waits a little.

While I agree that people shouldn't leave the chairs all day when others could be using them, I think the 30 minutes isn't long enough. Surely people are able to go for lunch and be able to take their time and not have to worry about someone touching their stuff.

 

Personally I wouldn't think of start moving someone's personal items and I wouldn't be happy someone touching mine.

Why should you get to reserve a chair while you go off to eat a meal? Somebody else could be using that chair. That's extremely inconsiderate.

In 2013, my 24-year-old daughter had an evening styling for formal night on Princess. I was shocked it was $85 because she had long hair! About middle of her back. She didn't expect that. And it wasn't that great either. Another lady I talked to on another night was also charged extra for long hair, and her hair was just a little past her shoulders. So check first if they consider your hair to be long, and how much extra that is! Better to know if you're being charged for long hair ahead of time.