EastBay Cruisers

Captain Stringer and his staff are FIRST CLASS, I hope he’s still Captain when we board in October. You’re in competent hands. Have a great cruise.

We're booked on the Regal out of New York on October 6 -- just a few weeks away -- and received an e-mail from Capt. Tim Stringer welcoming us aboard. - EBC

I understand that you want to give something at Christmas that is more personal than cash, just as a way to comommorate the season of giving. I would give cash PLUS a little personal gift like a small box of sweets or snacks that could be shared with the rest of the crew. It's the thought that counts, so if they don't care for it, they can set it out on the tables of the crew mess hall.

I do understand about giving cash, and we give extra cash in addition to the auto gratuities. But last cruise, we went to the Alaska Fudge Store in Juneau and bought way more fudge than would fit in our luggage ( or our stomachs). We asked the steward if we could leave some of the unopened fudge for him to share with the rest of the crew, and he seemed very appreciative. Crew members often cannot disembark at every port to go shopping. -- EBC

Thanks so much ! Sounds as if your cruise was really fun and interesting. - EBC

We have no issues withe the ice tea, lemonade or the coffee.

Never asked for lemonade in the DR though.

No issues with any of these beverages. They are in plentiful supply all over the ship. Also available from room free service. -- EBC

Thanks for this great review ! London is a wonderful town ! Looking forward to reading about the rest of your journey.:D

I say don’t take anyone’s advice :) Live on the edge :) Don’t worry about a thing :) Can you just let us know what happens if you don’t make your flight :eek:

Tony

Surrre, a 10:10 flight is very easy ! In fact, why not book a 7 AM flight ? No problem, no problem, right? :p

Thanks so much for this review ! Appreciate your detailed report. We found Alaska to be fascinating and loved the scenery and wildlife.:D - EBC

Been a food server for over 40 years. Yes, any special order is a pain but most of us want to please - that's why we're in the business. You'll always get the ones who don't want to do anything they don't have to - when this happens I try to start up a conversation &it turns out that they are at the end of their contract & are burned out. I can relate! LOL. Happens more now that the tips are pooled opposed to given directly to servers. It always helps to ask nicely & acknowledge that it is a hassle for them.

Excellent point - very well taken. Thanks.

This might only be me, but I ask for menu substitutions in moderation. I do often ask for gravy or sauce on the side because too much or the wrong taste can ruin a meal for me. This has always been done with a smile, by the way. But other things, such as a little more broccoli, I stay away from. I do believe the meals are produced in assembly line fashion and it is extra work to make changes. So if something is not likely to ruin my meal, I leave it as is.

Good idea, and I'm sure that your empathy and polite requests are much appreciated. :)

Thanks so much for the review ! I'd love to do this cruise -- scenery sounds spectacular. :D - EBC

Looks like we are going same cruise ...we can’t wait. First time with princess in many years and first time seeing northeast and fall foliage. 🤗🤗

We're booked on the same cruise.....looking forward to being on board the Regal, having some cooler weather and seeing the fall foliage. :)- EBC

A friend posted photos of the Captain’s presentation in the Princess Theater yesterday afternoon on social media. He explained the procedure, with photos and diagrams, and included pictures of the people on their balconies for everyone to see. Yea!

Ahhh so now we do have a much better understanding of your issues. You are right that Princess is not for you at this time of your life. There are many different cruise lines and each makes their own decisions as to the type passenger they want to attract. For you, a cruise on one of the larger RCI ships would probably be a smart move. Celebrity is simply not targeting your kind of "wants" as it has traditionally marketed to a more "laid back" crowd who is not seeking lots of activities.

Billy, I am sorry that this cruise did not work out for you. There are all different kinds of travelers in the world, and all different kinds of transportation and accommodations. I am hopeful that you and your fiancee will find just the right thing for you, and then you'll have a wonderful time.

We love Princess, but then, we are older and love a quieter ship -- although I've never seen just 10 people at the games. Usually, the bar or lounge is pretty full for the games.

Keep searching, and as Rick Steves says, "Keep on traveling!" It's a great experience, with so much to learn about the world. -- EBC

I also find myself wishing we could cruise with some of the crew members again. Some of them were truly outstanding and it would be great to cruise with them again. I do realize that, to them, we were likely just a couple of random cruisers out of the bazillion they see but they really stood out to me (us) and we would love to cruise with them again.

I miss Cruise Director Corey Moir, one of the highest energy people I ever met. Corey did "The Wake Show" every morning on tv, and if that didn't get passengers energized for the day's events, I don't know what would have.

I miss Arnold, our waiter on the Emerald Princess, one of the most conscientious, friendly, hard-working people ever.

I miss our walking tour guide in Ketchikan, Joe Williams, a member of the Tlingit tribe, who in 2 short hours, taught all about the Tlingit culture, Tlingit language, totem poles, all sorts of history of the Inside Passage. He taught us to say "thank you" in Tlingit. He has a Facebook page, "Where the Eagle Walks", and I'm sure that everyone in Ketchikan, Alaska knows him. What an interesting personality.

Thanks for starting this fun thread ! -- EBC

I'm likely the odd man out but I would enjoy a cruise that went nowhere. If I could sail for 10 days or more and never had a port stop except for the last one back where I started it would be a good cruise for me. I just love cruising. :D

Agreed ! I love days at sea, and I like cruises with lots of sea days and few port stops. But, I'm concerned about my family members who really like port stops and might get bored with days at sea. For myself, I'm happy just sitting on the balcony, watching the ever-changing ocean. - EBC

Need2CruiseSoon --- Thank you so much for the beautiful photos. We are booked on the Regal this October and are really looking forward to the cruise. -- EBC

Thanks for your review ! I'm looking forward to following along.:p - EBC

EBC-

just curious, when you received the secret cruiser offer was that for only one person or were you allowed a second person to go with you?

You are allowed to bring a guest along, but (unfortunately), the guest is required to pay the regular cruise fare. I love to cruise, and I would have accepted the offer from the secret shopper company, but we were in the middle of packing up and selling our home. Otherwise, it's a great offer, and if you don't mind filling out the detailed survey, it is a great way to have a very low cost vacation. -- EBC

Thanks so much for your review ! We're booked to do a full Panama Canal transit in November, on the Island Princess from FLL to San Francisco. Our first time through the canal ! I'm sorry to hear about the lack of quality of the cultural programs. We really enjoy the cultural programs, and we are hoping to have a guest speaker on board as we go through the Canal. It's better to have a live speaker than just to watch a travel video.

Thanks again, from EBC

Also interested. Additionally wondering why you turned it down

Thrak and Voljeep,

If you google "Mystery shopping companies", you will get a list of about 50 companies that hire secret shoppers as independent contractors. You can sign up for shopping assignments with those companies - no charge for signing up. After you sign up, you will start receiving job offers for secret shopping assignments, via e-mail.

I was signed up with about 20 of those companies. ( I'm sorry that I cannot remember the name of the company that sent me the offer). When they sent it to me, we were in the middle of moving from southern Calif. to northern Calif., so it was a very inconvenient time to go out of town.

After we finished moving to northern Calif., I got a full-time job, so I un-subscribed from most of the secret shopping companies, including the couple of them that had contracts with the cruise lines.

When they offer you a secret shopping cruise, you have to go on the date, cruise line, and itinerary on which they schedule you. They pay the cruise fare, and you pay for your own airfare. They will e-mail you about 50-75 pages of forms to complete, plus narratives to write on all aspects of the passenger experience.

It doesn't cost anything to sign up for mystery shopping jobs, and if you have a little extra spare time and can go cruising on short notice, it would probably be very worthwhile. ( But, the secret shopper does not get to choose the cruise line or the itinerary). - EBC

The cruise lines do use "secret shoppers" frequently, but they are not employees of the cruise lines.

The cruise lines contract with companies that specialize in and provide training for "secret shoppers." .

I've been asked to be a "secret shopper" for a cruise, but I have never done that.

Being a "secret shopper" aboard a ship is different from having Princess management make an official visit to a ship, where all the employees know that an executive is on board. -- EBC

Do you know if you have an ***** cabin?

We are cruising with another couple who has ***** for their cabin. ( Princess notified them that they will receive the *****).

Our cabin is not *****, but we will be spending a lot of time with our friends, and I will try to post a first-hand report of what I observe when they use the *****. I'll try to get a photo of the video screens, so that everyone can see how the ***** interacts with the screens. -- EBC

Your post brought a smile to me this morning. You see, I am overweight and WOW - I WON a seawrap and spa massage in a drawing. Now, I was on a strict diet and lost 45#'s (but still very overweight) and I looked at this wonderful spa win as a remarkable reward (as I would never spend the $$ on such extravagance of seawrap). I was so happy with my ongoing weight loss and this cruise was a true reward and I had low carb options in the buffet too! Yes, I had flabby untoned sagging skin (I was mid 50's) from the weight loss. First I will say the 'disappointment' of the gal when she saw that I was her next massage spoke volumes. She was quiet for the first half of the massage and then came the pitch about this product and toxins built up and how the fat can even be electrified away, and I really need to 'tone'.. all those spa and gym words came out of that back pocket... etc..etc.... I was a 'newbie' to spa treatments, really - didn't even understand where all those towels go.. and how does one get all this seaweed paste off? The sell was hard, but I said 'no'. The flyers came in the mail slot too (as I had visited the spa). This "win/gift" did not 'ruin' my cruise - it still is one of the high points of cruise experience. What I do try is act as surprised as I can be when someone says i'm overweight - and I smile when I say 'no'.. Anyways sorry for the ramble, but thanks for the flashback of my great cruise.

Thanks for the excellent post, and I agree with you. :)- EBC

Billy, in order to resolve this, I would suggest that you ask your fiancee about what she wrote down on the information sheet. The spa employees read the information sheet to determine which products the guest may want to buy. If the fiancee wrote down anything about fitness or nutrition, the spa employee may have mis-read or mis-spoke after looking at the info sheet; and if they offended your fiancee, then they do owe her an apology.

I would suggest that you go directly to the spa manager, give the name of the employee, or physical description, explain what happened, and ask the spa manager to follow-up with you within 24 hours. The manager will talk to the employee, will be able to reprimand and re-educate the employee on where she went wrong, then when you return to the spa, she can explain the follow-up. I think you need someone who can directly speak with the employee.

You are on a fabulous ship, with a great itinerary; and for many people, that would be the trip of a lifetime. Don't let one remark from a spa employee, who may have mis-read or misinterpreted the information sheet, ruin a great cruise. -- EBC

The large monitors do not show your picture and what cabin you are in.

 

There is a small iPad type monitor at the bars facing the bartenders, same in the stores that show a small circle picture with your name underneath it. Nothing else is displayed unless they hit on it. No one else can see anything else. So yes, since the stores are usually not that busy, the crew member will look a the monitor they see and call you buy name.

 

The funny thing is the first day someone was on screen that the bartender was my husband and called him Brad. Therefore for the rest of that cruise, both I and our friends called him Brad!

 

We had the medallion on our 12/17 Regal sailing so do have first hand experience with it.

Thank you -- I will refrain from commenting further on the medallion until I finish the Regal cruise in October. -- EBC