mrmarklin

No waiting is worth a lot.

I think black is Elite. The medallion is black. Ask me how I know.;-)

Buckingham palace, London eye and Tower are heavily trafficked. Tickets are usually booked way in advance, and not always available. We have already booked ours for a month from now and not all time slots or days were available. Good Luck!

Depending on your timing, the hotels near the pier where the ship will be are in a good area of the City, and near Fisherman’s Wharf. It will be a very short cab ride to the pier. Staying near SFO airport, there is nothing to see or do. There are a couple of decent restaurants near the airport. Try Max’s or Kincaids. But you may need Uber depending on the exact Hotel.

On a good day Monterey is about two hours from SFO dock. Maybe Princess will offer excursions. The aquarium is worth seeing.

I would never order this. The egg is cooked as well.

Go to Muir Woods instead. Sausalito has not yet recovered from Covid. But the hotels are full for some reason.

We were on Discovery over Thanksgiving last fall. 3950 passengers and did not seem crowded to me. Of course, you will almost never enter an empty room, but always plenty of seating available. I did not use the pool area.

Mark Twain famously said, the coldest winter I ever spent was Summer in San Francisco. Our typical summer weather pattern on the west Coast of California is Fog in the morning, burning off to warm in the afternoon. Then cooler in the evenings and the Fog rolls in again. On a California cruise, I would definitely take a sweater or even a jacket. Remember, a ship traveling at over 20 knots creates a wind chill that even in relatively warm temperatures, will make one feel colder that it actually is.

Not just Alesund.......:-)

The hash browns ARE a problem.

You do realize that all the cruise lines you named are all owned by Carnival Corporation, right?

We were on Thanksgiving cruise last year and the WiFi was more than adequate on Discovery. The ship was full, too: 3,950 passengers.

I looked this up. You are incorrect.

The $110 PP PD is an upgrade from a balcony cabin to a Club level mini suite. Never having sailed in a balcony, I don’t know how much of an upgrade this is. Having Club for dining is worth something, ‘cause no waiting to eat. The room size and location are also considerations. $110 PD. Up to the individual. I don’t know if mini suite upgrades the suggested tipping to full Suite level, which is a couple of extra bucks per day. If it does, it would be included in the price. I guess you could claw that back if you hate your crew. But Princess gets the majority of the money, that’s for sure. On another note, we travel with a couple that deletes tips and supposedly gives the equivalent to the waiters , stewards, etc. I hope they are honest in this regard, but even assuming they are, one forgets that there are many support staff on the ship that are invisible, not to mention the workers in the buffet, kitchen, laundry etc etc. I definitely tip over and above.

I’m a suite traveler, and the suggested gratuities are higher than those of a standard cabin. I’m happy to pay it because we get better service than a standard cabin. In addition, I usually tip extra in cash if service is above and beyond. I’ve also noticed the concierge service can be excellent and I always to make sure to tip that person as well. If one has a $110 PP PD upgrade I would expect that the base cabin would not be a mini suite. Club class, while nice, is not worth $110 per day. The suggested gratuity may be higher in an upgraded cabin, so indeed some of the fee may go to the crew.

Seems like a good cruise. The food was highly rated byOP. One cannot blame Princess for missed ports due to weather.

Bubble and squeak is analogous to French ratatouille. Definitely not a main course.

IME yes. Also assumes they are suite passengers.

Here is a tip, cruisers. Chile is one of two places in the world where Lapis Lazuli is found. There are many places in Santiago where it is sold. You can buy from the jewelry shops with confidence. Very honest people, Chileans. The other place it is mined is hostile Afghanistan. No one is going there anytime soon.

This is a slow route. Far better to go down scenic highway one. Actually, that could be an excursion unto itself.

Princess has a bus service from Victoria station to your ship in Southampton. Go to the website.

Many Americans have no idea of how low wages are in developing countries. The wages for a bus driver in Mexico are USD 640 per month. It’s this high only because in Mexico this is a unionized industry. In general, wages are much lower than this, unless one is unionized or a professional. Mexico is one of the richer developing countries, so this would be the gold standard in most of Latin America. USD640 is not that much. I spent $591 on dinner last night for my wife’s birthday. There were nine of us, and we don’t drink alcohol. Just a little perspective.

Mexican Riviera on Discovery Princess Thanksgiving week. 3950 passengers. But did not feel crowded. Nice cruise. Many more young people than one normally sees on a cruise.

Totally agree. We are staying close enough to the VS station that we could walk. But won’t due to a lot of luggage. Why go back to the airport?