cruzin4us

Tendering off the ship was horrible for those getting off that weren’t either elite or on excursions. People were lined up in the halls. I think it took about 2.5 to 3 hours before there wasn’t a line. Tendering on larger ship capacity cruises is not for those that are impatient. If you plan private excursions, you need to take this into consideration as there is no rushing it. I think there are a lot of new cruisers on this ship as the Mexican Riviera trip tends to be one of the cheaper ones to go on so almost everyone wanted off the ship. The weather was hot today with a breeze. It was nice in the shade but quickly got hot in the sun. I really want to stress how hard the crew works to please. They are nothing but kind and hard working. Remember a smile and a “thank you” goes a long way for them too

It’s been real bad. I was able to check my emails, but I got a slew come through today when we got to Cabo. Checking FB for instance didn’t work nor did cruise critic

I haven’t noticed, but truthfully I haven’t looked for it. If I see/hear of one I’ll report back. But after today, I’m avoiding the buffet Iike the plague

Yup

The Gastro Pub is not open for lunch on any day (I checked). Gigi’s (Alfredo’s) is open as well as one of the main dining rooms (I think it was Skagway). Of course zoo buffet was also open 🤪

I’ve only seen it open from 5:00 pm to 11:00 pm. If they opened on a random day, I missed it

Random food pics. The internet has been horrid. the cruise this week is much different than last week. The ship is packed to the gills and it’s a younger rowdy crowd. I’ve seen people screaming at each other and treating the crew badly. Makes me embarrassed. The lines for the tender were huge so I gave up on getting off in Cabo. I even saw a man blow his nose into a beach towel (I about lost it). the buffet was so packed I could only manage to grab 2 sausage links and some bok Choy (yes, bok Choy for breakfast….Lol). There was no place to sit so I just went to the IC. @MsSoCalCruiser the last few times I’ve been to the IC, they have been offering a couple of sandwiches without cheese (tuna, egg and a meat/lettuce/tomato). Not sure if they would make you one if you stood there and waited. I’ve seen them bring in cart loads of sandwiches from the kitchen. Still no fennel salad. In fact yesterday and today there were no salads, just sandwiches.

I wasn’t able to post for the last few days. The Wi-Fi was pathetic. Everyone was having issues, so it wasn’t just me. @MsSoCalCruiserone day they did have chicken and tuna sandwiches @ IC, but not everyday. Never did see the fennel salad. I had build your own ramen soup in the buffet. It was good but not as good as the noodle bar on Magestic. the entire cruise had kind crappy weather. It was foggy and overcast cruise. Don’t get me wrong, I had fun, just didn’t pack enough long sleeve shirts now on to my next leg which is the Mexican Riviera

Tonight it was dinner at the Gastro Pub. There is an $18 charge/pp. I ordered a Belgian Piraat Ale which was awesome. Might have converted this Guinness Girl to a new favorite. For dinner, you can pick 2 items from a variety of choices. My choices were the Calamari and the SDG burger. The calamari comes more like strips and they are thick and delicious. The burger is kind of a specialty of the house item and it comes with pork belly, jalapeños, charred onion aioli, Gruyère cheese. Brioche Bun and a choice of Parmesan Truffle Fries or Sweet Potato Fries (I chose the Parmesan). Seriously, this was the best hamburger I’ve ever eaten. I got the lemon posset dessert and it was tangy like lemon meringue pie one more like a crème brûlée. It was nice and delicious, it was an awesome choice

Got off the ship in San Diego and walked to Little Italy and went to the Princess Pub where there serve pub food and good cod fish and chips. Then headed back on board and I’m going to take a nap now that my belly is full of fish & chips and a pint of Guinness The Clipper Ship is the Star of India and it looks dwarfed next the the Discovery. Walking to Little Italy is easily walkable if you can walk a little distance. Otherwise you can hire a guy with a rickshaw bicycle contraption. In days of old they actually pedaled you around. Now they are electric and the guy just steers. Still a fun way to toodle around if you have mobility issues (or not)

Yes, there was a medical evacuation last night about 11:30 pm. I don’t know the particulars, I never heard mention of it until this morning when the captain made his morning announcements. I saw we were cruising really close to land, so I’m thinking he/she was transported by boat because usually it’s a big deal if a helicopter arrives.

No, never

I think it was standard verbiage in case you went to a place that required masks, just to be on the safe side. About 5-10% of people wear them all the time anyway. Had I decided to go ashore, I wouldn't have taken either. Same goes for San Francisco and San Diego. Some places do require masks such as doctors office/hospitals, so out of an abundance of caution they tell you to take the vaccination card/mask

The internet is acting wonking today and super slow. We are sailing between Santa Barbara and San Diego. Up until today it's been awesome for the most part. Tonight's dinner was kind of a let down. The salmon/crab appetizer that should have been cold was room temp and the escargot, Beef Wellington, lobster and ravioli were all cold. Normally the plates are warm, but not tonight. It's almost like everything was pre-made in advance and just sitting on the plates.....dunno. The escargot is not like days of old. There are 2 baby escargot in each little holder instead of 1 large one. It's also not as garlicy/buttery as I remember. My favorite part has always been dipping my bread in the garlic butter. It was just kind of bland. The crab/salmon appetizer would have been good if it wasn't room temperature. I liked the ravioli except for the fact it was cold. The beef Wellington was cooked to perfection (just lukewarm) and the lobster was nothing to right home about. It was just a bad night in the dining room, especially when the toddler cried throughout dinner. Ya think the parents would take him out of the dining area.....he was so tired, you could tell he just wanted to sleep. I didn't even wait for desert, I just up and left. Tonight they had the white and gold party in the piazza. It included a live band and gold/clear beach balls and balloons that dropped from above. They kept pumping the fact that this was the first ever "Real Love Boat" party. People were dancing and having a great time. Tomorrow is San Diego, but since I'm from there, I may or may not get off the ship (I say that everyday).

I took some pics of the smoking areas on deck 7 aft. When we boarded the ship on Saturday, there was public smoking on both the starboard and port sides of the ship all the way aft. But today, they removed the smoking boxes off the wall on the port side and now you can only smoke on the starboard side. the crews smoking area is roped off and they smoke on the very far aft facing area on deck 7. It’s located more on the aft facing starboard side. So, if your cabin is on the port side, you will get less if any smoke. The first 2 pics are of the starboard smoking side and the remaining are the non smoking port side There is also an outdoor smoking area on deck 17 above the wake pool and in Churchill’s cigar room (and the port side of the casino). I think that is it.

While I’m not typically a buffet person, I’ve found the buffet to be quite good with plenty of options. Lunch and dinner are especially good They had the Lamb Shwarma again today (on the port side near the pool). It’s next to the grilled mushrooms, squash, bell peppers and eggplant. Mix those together and it’s really tasty. Next week on my 2nd leg of my B2B2B I’m going to skip some of the dinners in the main dining room and try Sabatini’s, the Gastro Pub and Bistro Sur Le Mar. I’ll probably skip the Prime Rib night and Italian nights.

Here’s a couple of more pictures of the promenade deck 7 looking forward and a view of what you see looking out to sea. The MUTS movie of the day was Bohemian Rhapsody Also a few random pics of stuff from around the ship.

This area is now roped off and is the crew smoking area.

Today we are in Santa Barbara and the Marine Layer is just about gone and it looks like it might be a nice day. It’s been gloomy all the way from San Francisco and I’m glad the sun is starting to poke its head out. This is a tendered port and you need to get a ticket before you leave. They are giving them out at the Gastro Pub. An FYI, if you are in San Francisco they will charge you tax on your beverages, even if you have a drink pkg. I’ll try and wander around a bit and take some more pics. Wifi has worked amazingly well so far the entire trip. oh, a suggestion for anyone cruising. Make sure you update the Medallion Class App before you board. Apparently they update the app continually and it takes much longer to update using the ships Wi-Fi another thing I learned: Tried to book a spa appt on the day everyone disembarks on Saturday. That way I could use up some OBC on my next cruise. Well, they told me they could only book an appt for the current cruise. Made no sense to me but unless I book it online I was SOL.

It’s White & Gold night (formal). I didn’t get the memo to wear something white & gold before leaving home, so it’s black for me. They are having some kind of Love Boat part in the piazza tonight. Here’s the menu for tonight. Going to save room because I can’t decide what to order.

No, I haven't but I''m willing to try it.....the casino hasn't been real kind for me.....it's not a lack of trying!

I'm afraid I'm not much help on this......maybe on your TV. Sometimes they show football games on the big screen up on the Lido deck. They also have a TV in Churchill's Cigar Lounge that was showing a football game when I was taking pictures. I don't recall seeing any other TV's in the bar areas (but I haven't checked them all out)

They did have the watermelon caprese salad (one day) which was on the day we boarded (Saturday)