Eleanor Rigby 14

Sending prayers to anyone on Maui right now. What a horrifying situation. LawDog, I’m glad to hear that you were not already visiting Maui when the fires broke out. Glad you’re safe. DH and I have been to Maui maybe four times, including our honeymoon. Two of those times were by Princess cruise ship. For me, Maui was my favorite destination, especially Lahaina so it’s heartbreaking to hear of the loss of life and the devastation including Front Street and the famous Banyon Tree. How many of us have done some last minute shopping in that square before boarding the ship’s tenders and we told our companions that we would meet them at the Banyon Tree? So sad. Our 15 day Hawaiian Princess Cruise in March was supposed to stop in Maui but the port was cancelled due to high winds. It would have been nice to see Lahaina as it used to be …just one last time. Sigh. But once again I am sending positive thoughts and prayers to those on Maui. May their lives be protected.

Thank you for your response, FrFlatt. (I see that you are from London, my favorite city to visit. The city with the best afternoon teas and the best theatre!)

There are so many foods and drinks I want to try after reading all these posts! Thank you for the great suggestions. What is the difference between a flat white and a latte? The amount of milk? What is a Breton? I really wish there were more tables available at the IC so I could just sit for a bit in the piazza area and enjoy all these delicious goodies. 😊

Glad to hear that there are others who prefer a China cup for their cappuccino. It’s extra special when there’s a pretty design in the foam of course!

I picture this donation idea being carried on and on and on. One day one of us here is going to enter our cabin on arrival day only to find a room that looks more like a Goodwill Drop-off Center. 😛

Sargasso, I think you’re absolutely right to wipe down stuff, airplane tray tables especially. Have you read recent articles about plane passengers using their tray tables to change their babies’ diapers? I wouldn’t want to rely on a quick wipe from airline cleaning staff! Correct me if I’m wrong but speaking of unusual things to bring on a cruise, I believe I have seen small emotional support dogs in what look like infant strollers. Is that the case or did I imagine it? Not making any negative judgements at all. I love animals but I was just wondering how the ship deals with possible flea issues in the cabins. Also where do the dog owners “walk their dogs”?

I really enjoy International Delight mini coffee creamers, especially French Vanilla or Hazelnut. I have brought some along on cruises, they don’t take up much space. Even some of the questionable-tasting coffees become better with International Delight!

I agree, Scott. The grilled onions make the difference!

When I saw the thread title “Classic California Coast Question” and I read that you’re leaving out of LA, I felt for sure the question would be “ What should I order at In-N-Out Burger before boarding the ship?” That’s what I’d be wondering about! 🍔

That was a nice story, AZJohn, and the message is so true. We need to stop and smell the aroma of the coffee sometimes. And admire the pretty designs in the foam.

I’m a big fan of to-go cups on a cruise! And barely a day goes by at home when I don’t go to Dunkin or Wawa for my daily brew in a to-go cup that I carry around as I do errands. While on a recent cruise I met a very nice woman on a catamaran excursion, and we got to chatting a bit. Turns out she works for a very small company where the CEO invented the sleeve/wrapper for paper coffee to-go cups and, as you know, those sleeves are used all over the world now. Why didn’t I think of that ingenious invention? Why? Why? Anyway, I told her that I remembered a Patrick Dempsey movie where his character was rich because he invented the coffee sleeve. She told me she was well aware of that movie. The producers needed to request permission of her CEO to use that part of the storyline. Just sharing some coffee-related trivia for my fellow coffee lovers out there. 🌺

We found that the best times for finding empty washing machines were early in the morning…8am.

Lots of great suggestions here from everyone! (Some of you sound like you are already President of something - your comments are very professional and succinctly stated like you are doing a presentation in front of a Board of Directors. Impressive.) I’ve never held a position anywhere near President level. If I were suddenly appointed President of Princess, I might first want to be an “Undercover Boss” for a short while. I would disguise myself as I attempted to assist a cabin steward, bartender, waiter, etc. I would not expect to be finding much fault at all with staff. On the contrary, I would expect that I might find out what changes I could make that would better serve them as my employees. Most of all though, because not every cruiser fills out surveys or gives reviews, I would want to hear first-hand what my paying customers were saying as they sat at a bar, the piazza, casino, buffet, pool, MDRs, specialty restaurants. Even the elevators would be filled with helpful commentary I’m sure. I would make my decisions on any possible changes to be made after that enlightening experience.

Hmmm, good idea, Brisalta, I’ll mention it to DH. Thank you. 😊

Hi LACruiser, DH has neck issues and needs a really flat pillow which Princess is never able to provide. I think he should consider bringing his own pillow. How do you transport your pillows as you travel? Do you have specific luggage just to carry them? (As a totally off- topic comment, I notice that you are from Woodland Hills. One day I want to get there so I can buy one of those delicious coconut cakes that a certain A-list movie star sends to all his friends during the holidays. Maybe this comment is not so off-topic since I’m talking about Tom “Cruise”! Haha!)

Andy Griffith used to wear a seersucker suit all the time on the show “Matlock”

We were on a recent 15 day cruise out of LA to Hawaii on the Crown. We did our own laundry on Day 5, on Baja deck, right before we arrived for our 4 straight days in the Hawaiian islands. We also did some laundry on Day 10 immediately after the islands. We were glad we chose the early morning hours (8am) to do this task as other passengers were attempting to use the few washers/dryers later in the morning and they were all taken. People were coming down from other decks where washers were not working, it was frustrating for them. By the way, the washers, dryers were free. (The machines will have signs saying they require coins. Ignore those signs, they are free).The soaps and dryer sheets were NOT free. We bring our own supplies anyway so it didn’t affect us. I don’t like the idea of interrupting our cruise time to do laundry but it did save us from bringing clothes for 15 days. A friend who traveled with us did all her wash and her husband’s wash on the last day of the cruise so she wouldn’t need to do it when she got home. I myself would savor my last cruise day and not do wash but that’s just my own preference.

I am someone who really enjoys getting dressed up. But at the same time I totally understand and respect the fact that not everyone who paid hard-earned money for the cruise as I did will feel the same way about wearing more formal attire as I do. If there are three MDR’s on a cruise ship, would it make everyone happy if one of those MDR’s had a strict formal dress code for everyone in a party to enter that dining area (tux, suit, sport coat/slacks, gowns, dresses, etc)…and the other two MDR’s were for anyone wearing less formal attire? Cruising should be an oasis of happiness for each of us to enjoy in our own way.

My DH and I ate at the Crown Grill on the Crown Princess within the last month. We usually love NY strip steaks when we eat out at a steak restaurant at home but we both decided to try the rib-eye steaks. We ordered them medium and they were delicious. Cooked exactly the way we wanted them to be…pink in the center. We were given a sampling of all three salts on our plates which we really enjoyed.We had the Black and Blue Onion soup which tasted great…and the marinated goat cheese and tomato salad, also good. I had the baked potato with sour cream and chives, DH had the red skin mashed potatoes….neither of us had any complaints. We shared the asparagus (they gave us maybe five spears altogether) and the creamed spinach(which was okay but I wished it was a cheesy creamed spinach, it was not). For dessert we had the salted caramel crème brûlée cheesecake which was probably my favorite dessert of the entire trip. The service was a little slow but we were okay with that as we still made it to the 7:30 show in the theatre. We would definitely eat at the Crown Grill again. Full disclosure: we sat at a table facing a window with another table directly in our view. The couple sitting there ordered the rib-eye steaks also. At one point they abruptly left their table without any word spoken to their waiter. We could see on the plates they left behind that the steaks were extremely rare and not much of them were consumed. I have to say their steaks were the reddest color I have ever seen…not anything I would ever eat. Maybe this was the reason they left their table so suddenly…or maybe they wanted REALLY good seats in the theatre…I have no way of knowing. Just trying to give you a fair assessment of how the rib-eye steak experiences went that particular evening. Hope you enjoy your fall cruise!

Recently on the Crown out of LA we had bottles of Kirkland water!

Mudslide, Bushwacker, Dirty Banana, Mojito. 🌺

French onion soup - DH and I agree! We will continue to order it every evening in the MDR…it is delicious.

PacNGo, I agree. Every year on St Patty’s Day I make corned beef (or smoked pork butt), boiled potatoes, cabbage with lots of butter, a little salt and pepper…plus some Irish soda bread which all the local supermarkets sell. I do believe it is an Irish-American dish. Plus as a special treat for my family and neighbors I make “Irish Potatoes” which are candies made out of coconut, cream cheese, powdered sugar and cinnamon. They are delicious!

Arctic kitty, I am enjoying your reports so much! And let me tell you what I (and probably many others) are thinking…despite your medical challenges, your courage, determination, resiliency and sense of adventure are to be admired. You’re a warrior, girl! So proud of you. I have never tried as many things as you have done, both on and off the ship! But I do keep pretty busy on a cruise doing the things I really enjoy. (Trivia is a big favorite!) My motto has always been “Don’t wait for your ship to come in, swim out to it”. You seem to adhere to that motto too. Good for you. I am a big coffee fan so I really enjoyed your coffee-related reports! I don’t spend much time in my cabin…you’ll find me down by the IC having cappuccino in an actual cup and saucer with a special design in the foam. What a fabulous self-indulgence! Have you tried the regular hot chocolate drinks…or better yet, the mint hot chocolate drinks? To me they are as good as drinks from a Parisian cafe. Give them a try if you haven’t already! Continue your fun escapades! Enjoy! Eleanor Rigby

What a story, Kolleen! Unbelievable! I’m glad to hear that you and your fellow cruisers got off the ship safely. (Note to self: Keep medications and passport in an easily-reached location!)