XBGuy

I think the Winemaker Dinners are only available on the Royal Class ships. So, it would not be offered on the Sapphire Princess. I am ready to be corrected if somebody has more reliable information/

@wendellman you have been getting some good recommendations from one of my favorite Cruise Critic contributors, @jwattle. I would just like to add a few things. Here is the only hard copy menu that I have ever received in multiple Ultimate Balcony Dinner experiences. This was from 2018, but, based on my brother's experience, last week, the menu is still, essentially, the same. As you can see, you can choose your main course--surf, turf or surf & turf. Like @jwattle we also bring our own wine (although we don't bring '79 Heitz). For our cocktail, which you see on the first page, we order glasses of wine. It's quite pedestrian, but we use the pretty glasses for our wine. I'm not much of a dessert person, but I do enjoy the UBD dessert. Believe me when I tell you, it is a lot of food. Do not eat lunch that day. I always order the beef filet, and Mrs. XBGuy always orders the lobster tails. I always get at least one of her lobster tails. I also get most of her dessert. For a couple reasons I recommend that you schedule the UBD early in your cruise. First, you get to keep the floral centerpiece that is placed on your table. This will last for several days. Second, after you've finished that dessert, and your sipping some coffee thinking that you will not eat for the next three or four days, they bring more. Do you see at the bottom of the second page of the menu a line that says "Friandises?" That is a platter of more sweets. This item seems to vary from cruise to cruise. It can contain some sort of combinations of cookies and petit fours. Again, these will last for several days. Bon Appetit. PS, my coffee shop buddy returns, tomorrow, from a cruise on the Discovery Princess. A week or so before they left he received an email inviting them to the 360 experience--totally unsolicited. So, you just don't know. They declined because he has numerous dietary restrictions.

Regular readers know that I am a big fan of the UBD. In fact we have had only one on a balcony. There is plenty of room in a Window Suite to enjoy inside. We have always had the UBD while at sea, and it can get pretty windy out there. So, setting up inside has usually made more sense to us. The one time we had it on a balcony, it was an aft cabin, and, so, the balcony was wind protected. Also, your husband can order lobster tail any night for the UBD. I think there is plenty of opportunity for the @MTNest93s (your screen name is pretty easy to decode) to really enjoy this cruise. I say do both Crown Grill and the UBD. You only celebrate a 30th anniversary once. Blow it out. The UBD dessert is spectacular by itself. So, I would say that you would want to get your anniversary dessert in either the dining room or Crown Grill. If you do not enjoy being the center of attention, you can give your server a heads up not to sing the song when they bring the dessert. A previous poster commented that if you do go to Crown Grill in formal attire, the headwaiter will probably make a fuss over you. I can vouch for that comment. In fact our very first UBD was on a formal night and we decided to dress up even though we were not leaving the room, When the server came into our room she really gushed over us. She just thought it was so great that we dressed up to make the occasion special--not just for us but for her and her assistant.

On the topic of the impending return of migrating birds, the swallows are expected at Capistrano on March 19.

I'm pretty sure that the epicenter of Buzzard Day celebrations (annually, on March 15) is Hinckley, OH. https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/local/medina-county/hinckley-buzzards-return-buzzard-roost/95-2bb4d16c-e7e4-419f-842e-ee732b2e2a08 In college back in the 20th Century I dated a girl who'd been raised in Ohio, and she told me about it. I know this one is a day late. Mrs. XBGuy sent it to me last night, and, so, I found it in my inbox this morning.

Mrs. XBGuy and I, frequent Vines patrons, have never been unable to find seats--be it at one of the sit down tables, the bar or the Stammtisch table. We have noticed that when Vines first opens in the late afternoon, many of the tables are being used by game players. It's just not that big a deal. Generally, they wrap up and bustle off to the dining room fairly quickly. I see, however, that Princess does listen to Cruise Critic opinions and has solved the problem on the Discovery Princess and the Enchanted Princess.

Figure one socket on the desk and, possibly, one where the TV is plugged in. If you are in a suite, you might find more. We travel with this "expander" (purchased on Amazon). It is very compact, and it allows us to plug in four devices. We also travel with this USB expander (also purchased from Amazon). It plugs into the standard wall socket and, as you can see, allows us to charge multiple devices--camera, telephones, tablets.

That Tanaga volcano that has been rumbling, lately, is on Adak Island at the extreme southwest end of the Aleutian chain. If it does become active, I would be very surprised if it had any effect on typical Alaska cruising. We have taken a couple April/May Alaska cruises and have enjoyed them tremendously. The only minus is that we have arrived in AK before many of the migrating whales. On the other hand, we have never been on an Alaska cruise where we did not see whales from the ship. You are wise to plan your clothing appropriately. I am one of those who spend hours making laps on the promenade deck, but I dress for cold winds and, possibly. rain or fog. I snicker at the shorts-wearing guys who completely lose their macho cred when they can't last less than 60 seconds.

Yes, @sadtosas, for administration of the Passenger Vessel Services Act (PVSA), the overseers (I'm not sure whose job it is to monitor the cruise industry.) view your B2B plan as one continuous voyage from Los Angeles to Seattle. As you now know, the PVSA requires that passenger vessels that are not U.S. flagged traveling between two U.S. ports must make a stop at a distant foreign port. I learned about the PVSA when, similar to your attempt, I booked back-to-back cruises that started in Seattle and ended in Los Angeles. I actually called my Personal Cruise Consultant at Princess to do this. The next day she called me back, and advised that this itinerary was not allowed. I spent the next couple days decoding the PVSA and came to an understanding of why my clever plan would not work. While you cannot take your preferred routing you might consider these options. A previous poster has already advised that if you leave your ship and continue on a different ship, you will be OK. You might even consider spending a night, or so, in Vancouver. I think it is a terrific city. You might consider finding transportation from Vancouver to Seattle and book a roundtrip Alaska cruise out of Seattle. My coffee shop buddy has booked this B2B itinerary for this spring. So, I know this is OK. He is taking the Los Angeles-Vancouver cruise, and, then, staying onboard for a roundtrip Alaska cruise that returns to Vancouver. He will then fly back to Los Angeles. I know your frustration, @sadtosas. Many of us have been there. We now understand that we have to work around the PVSA.

That is very disappointing to read.

@arctickitty I have enjoyed your reporting. I know that you are not a wine person, and one of the reasons I enjoy cruising is that it can be customized to suit the cruiser. For readers who are wine people, I am going to add a Public Service Announcement. I have often posted that the prices on the Princess wine lists are quite reasonable if you know what to look for. I have not looked at every item in the menus that have been posted on this thread, but I did look at the wine offerings in the Good Spirits menu posted above. It has one of the most outrageous examples of wine pricing that I have ever see outside of Las Vegas. Princess is offering the Tisdale Shiraz for $9/glass or $40/bottle. The "street price" for Tisdale Shiraz is about $5/bottle. The Princess markup for a bottle is 8 X street price. That is pretty egregious. If you order by the glass, CCL stockholders are even happier. If you figure that Princess pours five glasses per bottle, that comes to $45/bottle or 9 X street price. It is very common for the lowest priced wines to have the biggest markups. Back on the Sabatini's menu there is a wine called Luce della Vite for $185/bottle. I suspect that many readers would pass at that price. For wine geeks, however, that is an excellent wine for a fair price. I am of the opinion that restaurants are entitled to make a buck, and I am very OK with a reasonable markup--2 X street price is a very good price for me and, if I really want to try a wine, 3 X is OK, The street price for the currently available Luce della Vite ranges from $100 to $135. The Princess markup is not even 2 X. I would bet a dollar that there is not a restaurant in the U.S. that has Luce della Vite on their wine list for less than $200. For the casual wine drinker I have to advise that you stay away from the low-dollar wines on any wine list. Often, the most profitable wine on any list is not the least expensive one, but, rather, the second least expensive. If you look at the mid-priced offerings you will be reducing the markup.

Working fine for me. 😁

@OccasionalSanta Congratulations. I hope you enjoyed your 40th anniversary UBD. It looks like you were actually able to have it on your balcony while at sea--very cool. Terrific pictures of you and, especially, Mrs. OS. Now, can you share why you love opera? This question is from the guy who is listening to "Lakme" as he is typing. 😃

We were married in October 1976. Being the typical clueless dude, I was happy to let the future Mrs. XBGuy handle all the planning. Sometime in September when everything was, pretty much, under control, she started talking out loud about a honeymoon. "Well, I don't know. What do you want to do?" This went on for a couple days when the idea of a cruise popped up. I have to believe that she was the one who proposed it, but I really don't remember. Neither of us had ever been on a cruise. In fact, neither of us even knew anybody who'd ever been on a cruise. The following Saturday we were in a travel agent's office, and it only took about 45 minutes to max out my credit card on a Western Caribbean cruise on Norwegian Caribbean Line's MS Southward. The fare included air transportation (Los Angeles-Miami) that left at midnight (Pacific time) and arrived pre-dawn. The fare also included a hotel room where we could shower and nap for a few hours prior to being bussed to the port. Needless to say, I did not feel particularly chipper. Stand in line in the terminal, to check in. Then stand in line to board the ship. I remember telling my new bride as we were standing on the gangway, "I'm not having fun, yet." That all changed when we stepped on board and were greeted by multiple white-uniformed personnel. "Oh, Mr. and Mrs. XBGuy, your are in Cabin number something-or-other. Please enjoy a glass of Champagne as you are escorted to your cabin." Pretty cool. We had an inside cabin, and it was great. We were pleased that we could get a two-top table in the dining room. We loved all the port stops. However, I had no idea that the routine was to buy excursions at the stops. I guess I had enough cash and credit to do it. We loved visiting Tulum in the Yucatan, and I thought that docking at Dr. No's lab at Ocho Rios was awesome. On the last sea day my throat started getting scratchy, and, sure enough, the next day I had a raging infection. I'm sure that many of you know how miserable it is to fly when you have serious congestion. Well, after that we decided we would do lots of cruising. However, work and finances slowed us down a lot. We would cruise every seven or eight years. However, we quickly upgraded form an inside cabin to one with a port hole, It wasn.t until 2004 that we cruised in a balcony cabin, That same cruise was the first that offered a specialty dining restaurant. It took us a few days to discover that, but once we tried it, we were hooked. Since retirement, happily, we have been able to cruise more often. n

In the words of Louis Renault, "I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here."

It's a full-time job for some of us.

Mrs. XBGuy is a Chardonnay bigot. She goes for the oaked buttery ones, and two of her favorites are these under screwcap. Sonoma-Cutrer Sonoma Coast Ferrari-Carano Sonoma County

Good call on booking the Super Tuscan dinner. On our one Royal Princess cruise befriended the Sabatini's headwaiter (Franco, from Sardinia) when we had our complimentary dinner at Sabatini's. He quickly learned that I was a wine geek and we bantered about wine through the evening. He made sure I know about the ST dinner, and, of course, we immediately asked to be signed up. An outstanding event. I pulled out the menu from our event and compared it to the one that you posted--very similar. Buon Appetito.

I walked down to the kitchen and checked. Sure enough, our fridge is a Kitchenaid brand. I would bet a lot of money that Mrs. XBGuy knew that there was a water dispenser in there, but I sure didn't. I have never used it, and I don't think Mrs. XBGuy has ever used it. I looked at that sticker, and I have no idea what it is trying to tell me. We did use the icemaker until it stopped working a few years ago. That was disappointing because we do use a fair among of ice. Mrs. XBGuy eased my concern, though. On the front door of the fridge she taped the recipe for ice. So, now I'm good.

Weather update from Diamond Bar, CA. They are backing off, a bit, on the storm predictions. A couple days ago I reported here that there was a 100% chance of rain on Friday (today). It is, in fact raining at the moment. but the precipitation forecast has been downgraded to 86% I also mentioned that there was the possibility of snow for elevations down to 1000 ft., and that the Diamond Bar Adobe sits at 1170 ft. Well, we did get about two minutes of hail yesterday afternoon. I'm a terrible photographer. Looking through the screen of our backyard slider the white hail pellets are much more obvious than this pic shows. Sunday's forecast for the NASCSAR cup race is promising, but Saturday still looks pretty grim. We'll be our there, regardless. We have brownies and Oreo Cheesecake cups to deliver to friends in the garage.

@Plato123, I am in agreement with posters who have advised that as a suite passenger, you will have no problem booking specialty restaurant reservations after you board the ship. The easiest way for you to do so is to call the DINE line from your suite. They will be able to see that you are a suite passenger and will advise you that your first night reservation will be complimentary. You don't say which ship you are sailing on, but on Royal class ships suite passengers have access to the Suite Concierge Lounge. This is a very nice amenity and the concierge on duty there can also make dinner reservations for you. Have a great cruise.

Winter storm headed our way. They are predicting snow in the "higher elevations." That is not unusual, we live about an hours drive from the Mt. Baldy ski resort in the San Gabriel Mountains. However, the last few days the definition of "higher elevation" became lower and lower. Yesterday, they were saying 1000 ft. Yesterday, my coffee shop buddy. who lives in the same town, asked me what was the elevation of my house. I live towards the top of a hill. This morning I checked with the nav system in my car from the driveway--1170 ft. No, I am not going to buy tire chains. It looks like the midwest U.S. is having some very serious weather. I am not going to complain. This storm will have a deleterious effect on the NASCAR event in Fontana, this weekend--100% chance of rain on Friday, 99% chance of rain on Saturday and showers on Sunday. There are no on-track activities scheduled for Friday, but there will be garage activities for the teams. Rain--cold rain, at that--will just make life a little miserable for many of the team members. There multiple practice and qualifying events and an Xfinity race scheduled for Saturday. I will be very surprised if they get any of those in. Sunday is iffy for the big race. They might get it in. Mrs, XBGuy and I will be out there. 😁

Most importantly, schools are closed. 😄 That means that there was no traffic on my 2-mile commute to the bagel shop. Life is good. in my work days there were several holidays that the company did not observe: Columbus Day, Presidents Day, and Veterans Day. In exchange we always had four day weekends for Christmas, Independence Day and Thanksgiving. I was very OK with that program, but it was a bit of a long haul between New Years Day and Memorial Day

👍👍👍 Although living in the Pacific time zone we have a bit of an advantage. We always DVR races, and, so, when we sit down to watch them, we can blast through the commercials.

A Night at the Opera