Sonoran_cruiser

I have a friend (traveled with her husband and college aged son) who opted to fly to/from Oahu and do the NCL Pride of America. She has sailed Princess in the past, but didn't want to spend 10 days at sea (5 each way) versus her week long cruise plus 2 pre-days in Oahu.

Unfortunately I haven't had the chance to personally quiz her about the trip, but based on her posted pics, it would appears that they had a great time visiting the islands!

A bad day at sea beats a good day at home.

After having spent a queasy day at sea on my last cruise, I definitely would have preferred being on non-moving land.

I too wish Carnival would (re)offer a coffee card option. Used my entire card during a 7 day Princess cruise.

One thing that disappointed me on the Imagination was the lack of free food anywhere near the Coffee bar. Maybe the location of the Coffee bar (mid Promenade, next to the dance club) isn't convenient for stocking with free pastries/etc, but why should I have to tote my coffee way up to the buffet just to get something?

Actually, there's at least one benefit for having others along on your "solo" cruise.

If dining in the buffet/grill, always have someone stay at the table while someone else goes off to get more food or a drink. Lost track of how many times I saw fellow cruisers set down food (or a beverage), go back for something else, then come back to their table to find that the attendants had cleaned everything off their table!

Got off my first Carnival cruise (Imagination - 4 day) last Thursday. Since I was solo, I buffet ate almost exclusively.

Food misses for me -

- The soups. Didn't like the mushroom that much, and the chicken tortilla was horrible (just runny broth with a few chicken pieces).

- Same potato salad and coleslaw at every lunch/dinner. Can't they change things up a bit?

- Most pasta dishes were very bland, although I liked their ratatoulle lasagna.

- Food court pizza was terrible (box pizza would be better).

Food pluses-

- Loved the jerk pork on the last night dinner

- caesar salad at the salad bar (had it a few times)

- the amaretto cake (and one of the other chocolate cakes)

So the other I wonder is how many gay folks don't know what FOD is when they see it in the Fun Times. We've certainly met some who didn't know.

The Fun Times said LGBT Gathering (actually said GLBT on one of the nights) for our meet/greet. Same terminology was used on my Princess Cruise last year. Would be surprised if any cruise line still uses "Friends of Dorothy", since most people under 40-ish wouldn't have a clue what that even means.

Swung past the Pinnacle bar (decent location - deck 9 aft bar) around the time of the LGBT meet/greet on all 3 nights. No one (actually, may have been one guy, since he was sitting at the bar all by himself) showed up. Since I was solo, I had hoped to find possible dinner companions. So much for that......

Guess I better stick with traveling with my own "gay posse" when cruising.

Would definitely love a cruise to/from SF (in my case, originating out of Long Beach area). Ideally one having an overnight stay. Unfortunately, this type of itinerary is few and far, especially since the Celebrity Century is now out of the picture.

Awhile ago, I saw discounts on balcony cabins for my upcoming Alaska cruise in August. As someone pointed out above, you really need to pay attention to the cabin classes in order to see if it applies to your (already assigned) cabin class.

In my case, I don't recall if the price drop for mid-ship premium (Caribe) balcony was even $50, which would have negated my initial booking perk. I could have, however, "downgraded" to a Baja balcony and saved $150 pp. Unfortunately we're traveling with 2 other people, so I didn't want us to be on two different decks, and at opposite ends of the ship.

Such is life............

I would have loved to be on the Celebrity Century cruise on April 5th (it's my birthday), but other things have come up to displace this cruise.

Personally, I wish Princess would offer a California Coastal out of San Pedro with an overnight stay in SF. This is a much better "things to do" offering, than just one day visit.

Not Sapphire specific but I received 18 welcome back emails, each linking to different survey.

Wow, sounds like someone had a stuck SEND key!

Think it will still be interesting to see the final changes of the Sapphire (and Diamond) once it settles into it's Asia itinerary.

Trying my first taste of Carnival, albeit solo. Anyone else planning on being on this (Sun to Thurs) cruise?

I think that low attendance gave the Cruise Director a good reason to schedule very few FOD's during that cruise...and at rotten times.

 

Maybe I need to bite the bullet and do a "Gay Cruise". I wish Princess had one.

Don't always assume that the Cruise Director stops scheduling the LGBT mixer because of low attendance. Last April I was with 5 others, and there were about 2 dozen attendees at our first LGBT mixer (that was listed in the patter). I think the Princess coordinator was a bit shocked by the attendance and banter we displayed, since we had no official LGBT mixers after that one.:(

And regarding doing a "gay cruise", there is a big gay group doing their Mexican Riviera cruise in October, and they are using the Golden Princess. Might want to check it out?

I'm taking my first Carnival Cruise in April solo, thanks to the NO SINGLE SUPPLEMENT SALE. Only a 4 dayer out of LB, but at least it's a taste of the Carnival product!

Would love to see more lines offering a Pacific Coastal itinerary (ie, out of Long Beach, with possibly an overnight in SF). And, as others have pointed out, unfortunately all West Coast ships spend late April to mid Sept in Alaska.... where money can be more easily made.

Can you please give me the link to the Honolulu schedule. I am having a hard time finding it. I want to ck if the Solstice will be in Pier 2 on Sept 2014

According to the CURRENT schedule from the below link, the Solstice is slated to be at Pier 2 on Sept 29th/30th.

Note - this link shows all Hawaii ports. Just click on the port in question to get the most current schedule (the recent update for Honolulu is dated March 7th). And yes, this schedule is always subject to change.

http://hidot.hawaii.gov/harbors/passenger-cruise-schedules/

We specifically picked the Crown for our upcoming Alaska trip due to it's similar appearance to the Sapphire. I like the fact that it has a full promenade (in case I want to walk or run for exercise), and the International Cafe!

Was thinking of a future cruise in SE Asia (most likely out of Singapore), with the Sapphire being a likely choice of ship. I wonder how "non-Asians" will feel, given that the majority of the passengers (along with staff and food menus/choices, and most likely the entertainment) will be geared toward the Asian clientele? And will the miniscule amount of "smoking allowed" places grow considerably, since there will be many more smokers onboard?

Are there other Princess ships in the area (area meaning - SE Asia routes, but not necessarily Australia/NZ) that will be or remain more culturally balanced?

We just returned from our Hawaiian cruise and after asking many people, we were told that the best deal on 100% Kona coffee is a the local Walmart in Hilo, so that's where we bought ours. Unfortunately, we didn't have a port stop in Kona so couldn't do the coffee plantation tours.

I'm sorry, but given the "quality" of merchandise typically sold in Walmart, I have a hard time equating Walmart's "best deal" on 100% Kona with something that I'd want to drink and enjoy. If a company has enough quantity of beans to market through Walmart, they are a mass producer, and not a local grower.

With respect to souvenirs on Maui, there is a Walmart in Kahului, approximately 1 mile inland from the pier (and the airport).

With respect to International Marketplace - the land leaseholder (Queen Emma Land Company, which also owns Queen's Medical Center) finally decided that the land under International Marketplace should generate more money for the Medical Center, and other Queen Emma Foundation endeavors.

Although I look forward to seeing the remodeled IMP, I have no affinity for the high end shops that will occupy this space. Guess I'll have to go to the Ala Moana Shopping Center if I want a cheaper, food court like meal.

Fine (100% Kona) coffee is like wine. Best to at least find a place in town that lets you sample what they sell. Or if you want to visit a plantation (many of which have tours and tastings), that's a nice side trip. We visited Mountain Thunder Coffee Plantation during our Hawaii visit last year.

PS - don't buy Kona that has a dark (French-like) roast. That heavy a roast kills the delicate flavors of the bean. Stick with a medium roast!

According to the current Honolulu Harbor schedule, the Rhapsody is scheduled to dock at Aloha Tower (pier 11) for May 3/4. If you want to stay near the cruise port, you could walk to Iolani Palace (might be other museums of importance to Hawaii nearby), maybe go to China Town area (recommend Little Village Noodle House, or places near the Chinese Cultural Center for dim sum or lunch), and even walk to Foster Botanical Garden. This would be approximately 2 mile walk round trip.

And/or you might be able to catch a free shopping shuttle or the local bus (or worse case, a taxi) to Ala Moana shopping center, and then continue eastward to Waikiki area. Spend some time along the beach, do some light shopping, etc. Then just catch a bus/taxi or possibly free shuttle back to Aloha Tower area and the ship.

I'm a solo cruiser and have had to pay double the room rate. I just booked a cruise and was advised by the Carnival booking agent that they no longer charge the 200% rate on some cruises for solo travelers. My rate is less than half what I previously paid (my experience has been 4 night cruises out of Long Beach). At this rate I can book twice as many cruises as I had intended! Anyone else have any experience with this? Do other cruise lines offer a similar program?

Just checked Carnival's "no single supplement" list, and am debating a 4 dayer out of LB just to sample Carnival for the first time (don't want a 3 dayer, since it's an Ensenada only cruise). Just wish the mid/late April cruises were a bit cheaper. Choices, choices..........

I imagine they load a lot of stuff onboard in Ensenada that is cheaper to obtain than in LA. Isn't Cabo a tender port?

 

And as for Tijuana, there may not be a suitable pier there, nor a suitable port agent.

Oops, forgot about the logistics of having to tender in Cabo. And, yes, they probably do cheaper restocking in Ensenada. Then again, can the ships easily get from San Pedro/LBC to Cabo and back to make a 4 day trip even feasible.

And I was only kidding about Tijuana.;)

Guess I'll have to fly to the East or Gulf Coast for short cruise variety.

Unfortunately all the West Coast 3/4 cruise go to - ugh- Ensenada.

Couldn't Princess do at least a 4 dayer that would do Santa Barbara or Catalina, and include a day at Cabo? That (in my opinion) would be a much better stop then Ensenada. Heck, why not just stop in Tijuana?

Oh, and to keep on topic, I don't think loyalty should carry over from one cruise line to the other.