Cruise Raider

I love .. along some nice sourdough bread to dip in the sauce!

I love escargot but cannot never get anyone at the table to try them. If they were made with mushrooms, I'm sure they wouldn't mind it at all. Heck, they might even like them ... and me, too, as a matter of fact. I think it would be great to have a choice.

We were recently on the Ruby. Masks were not required for passengers and about 10% of our fellow passengers were wearing them. When we travel with others that are high risk or just around those that prefer that we wear masks, we will put one on, but if it's just us or if we are going right outside, we tend to leave the masks in the room. As a courtesy, we will wear them to the theater and in elevators. But, unless someone is coughing or sneezing a lot nearby, I really don't care what they choose to do. Just please don't sit next to me if you are sick. That's my only request. The crew had to wear masks the entire time while working. They would pull them down briefly for photos. I understand they've been told they may soon get a reprieve.

If it's only the Premier Beverage Package you are interested in, you can always just pay the difference of the drinks above the $12 limit and you can use your OBC to do so. Of course, you wouldn't get the specialty dinners or the photo package, the multi device wifi or the special prize entries but, those you can also just use your obc.

I'm booked on an October itinerary on the Ruby and recently, a friend has expressed interest in going along on this sailing but it is showing as 'currently not available'. We are already booked on the cruise before this one and there are still plenty of rooms available, as is the itinerary following the 'currently not available' one. Unless they've chartered it out to some VIP group (it is docked during Fleet Week in San Francisco on a Sunday .. big Blue Angels Day), I think it is just filled to capacity in accordance with the number of crew members that will be onboard. It did look to be selling quite well once they offered it with solo cabin pricing. Either way, I am glad we are already on the previous sailing ... embarkation can be so chaotic in SF when it gets delayed or if there is more than one cruiseship docked at the same time. Maybe the port is having them limit their number of passengers that will be embarking that day. The port is not really separated from the city streets .. it's right there on the Embarcadero. Of note, these are all just assumptions on my part but I think this particular cruise that is showing as 'currently not available' is already filled to the desired capacity, or in other words, sold out.

This is only a suggestion and not based on any real knowledge. I wonder if the Pan Pacific, which is right there at Canada Place provides this service. It might be worth a phone call. If not, is it possible to take your luggage on the tour vehicle?

You are thinking of a deluxe balcony, which are only on the Royal class ships, not on the Ruby. That is an excellent upgrade. The cabin will be exactly the same size but your balcony will be bigger and in a better location, IMO. PS .. I believe some of aft Aloha deck cabins are being used as quarantine cabins (they’ve moved it a couple of times).

We are all booked and got the cabin we wanted. This is going to be quite a special cruise.

No ... I was talking about the Discovery Princess for April 2024. My mix up!

That's like me and we've booked so many cruises through the end of the year and even one for 2023 that I ran out. I bought two pairs on our June cruise and have already spent them all. Oh darn!

I did get it booked. Too bad I am all out of FCDs but should be getting some soon while on my next cruise. The mini suites start at $2150 pp with Princess Plus.

@Thrak...the midship obstructed balconies are much larger than the standard balconies as are the Premium deluxe balconies on certain decks. We stayed in B737 and the balcony was huge. The deck plans that show the larger balconies in the bump out areas and aft are the ones you would need to pick from. If you are looking at a mini suite, there are a couple on the Lido deck all the way forward that are still available (the Marina ones are booked). There are also some mini suites with larger balconies midship. I think the dolphin deck has some veranda cabins with larger decks as well.

OOOOPPPS!! I know who has that cabin booked and it's unlikely to open back up. You should probably grab E429.

I understand that it may be a staffing issue. Either way, all sailings on the Diamond, not just casino comps, have been canceled from Sept into Nov on the Diamond.

Smart!! My neighbor drinks martinis exactly like that when we go out.

We will be booking this sailing as well.

Yes

Sorry to hear about the hotel. A friend of mine was in this situation and she just told me that she got her reimbursement a couple of weeks ago and that was from late May/early June. So, about two months is maybe what you are to expect. She also knows all the ins and outs and picked her own hotel. It’s my understanding that they will reimburse up to a certain amount .. so she just paid the extra. You mentioned you don’t feel much like eating but be sure to keep your strength up. You will be able to fight off the infection much easier if you keeping up your nutrition. Best of luck to you in getting back home soon!

Why wouldn’t they report it? It’s the right and decent thing to do!

The Ruby is going to be back in SF for the Alaska season for 2023. I think the Crown will replace her in October 2023. Not sure where she is going from there.

We traveled on her a couple of times and although the more recent on her was better, she still had some issues. This is when she was fairly new. The worst we’d seen was her totally losing all power .. just dead in the water. There were other issues that were related to management decisions and untrained staff, which I understand are fleeting. But, these memories still give me pause to book on her again. The propulsion problems and other issues being reported lately confirm that it is a ship that we are likely to avoid.

Good to know. Mine were during the height of the pandemic so it may be different now but it seems like mine were reloaded in about 6 weeks. Everything was slowed down at that point in time.

I do remember seeing ships over there from time to time but don’t know which ones were over there. oh .. and I probably won’t be jumping to cruise on the Crown, either … it’s probably my least favorite ship on which I’ve cruised.

I would do as @PacnGoNow suggested and call the hotel. Ask there if they are on the up and up. I wouldn't blame Princess as it is easy to copy a logo and use it fraudulently, if that is what is happening. Next, contact your credit card company to see what they can do to help you. If they need to reissue you a new credit card, they will let you know.

I've seen it before on my cruises. I believe there is even a clause in the contract that extra taxes, port and government fees can be passed along to the passengers when they are increased. There's probably a threshold where they will need to contact you to make sure it is ok with you. As others have said, I've seen reductions as well on my folio as well due to those fees being overestimated.