Cruise Raider

It’s going to be such a beautiful sunny day in San Francisco today! Our neighbors headed out of the Ruby yesterday and they said it was raining.

Pillows are such a personal thing. If I hadn’t been so very happy with the pillows on all my past Princess cruises, I would have thought to bring my own. I sleep with a down pillow at home, which pack very nicely. But, since we always try to pack in just carry on luggage, we keep the extras we bring down to a minimum. BTW, we boarded around 11:00 AM on Saturday and they let us know it was fine to just drop off our luggage in our cabin.

They are way too hard for me. You can request either feather or hypoallergenic pillows. It may just be very stiff pillow protectors that are being used but they are all very firm. We have some friends traveling with us and they all seem to say the same thing. We have to move rooms for the next leg of the cruise and will see if those pillows are any better.

Glad you got that charge taken care of. It can add up! Luckily, we haven’t been experiencing that so far on this ship. Anyone that knows me well knows how much I absolutely hate wasting food. Thus, less is better for when we order. However, when we go to the specialty or causal restaurants, that’s sometimes hard to do. I just had the best fish leftover from last night’s meal. I’m one that doesn’t mind cold food and we live on leftovers. The fridge is doing a great job at keeping everything pretty cold. This is interesting and something I have never noticed before. Someone mentioned putting a towel over the cabinet that houses the fridge. This cabinet has vents on the side and I do believe it helps keep the fridge colder. We went through Take Five the first day onboard and on our way to the theater. I see 6-8 slot machines in there towards on the side away from the bar area but they were turned off. It is wide open and have dropped by for a cold drink at the bar on the way to the theater. It doesn’t look like there are any plans of closing it, although, we’ve never seen anybody sitting in there. That is so surprising, as it is a gorgeous venue. I will try to get an answer from someone in the know and see if they have future plans for it.

After a foggy night it is going to be a beautiful day in the City by the Bay today!

This was on our desk in the cabin when we first arrived onboard. I’m going to have to get up there for some chicken wings one day.

My poor room steward tried so hard to find a pillow I like. None of them are like we have had on any other ship, which is why I stopped bringing my own pillow. I’m dealing with it, though. I may ask him for another duvet .. they are nice and fluffy! The bed is definitely more firm than the beds on the Ruby, Majestic, Royal, Emerald .. but they really aren’t bothering either of us.

I forgot to mention that while we were in the piazza with a friend of ours yesterday, one of the officers found our friend’s location through the medallion. He came to tell her she won one of the Princess Prizes. Someone was just asking me how you are notified if you missed it while on your door panel. I honestly didn’t know and then that happened. So, a question answered for me, too. I love that the Discovery Princess provides great stemware for nice wines and champagne throughout the ship. I asked the bar steward in the piazza for a real coffee cup and he gets it! From then on, that all I needed to ask and only the one time .. all of my drinks have come in a nice glass. Beyond that, the reason we’ve been impressed with no erroneous charges on our folio with having the premier package is that we recently cruised on the Majestic Princess. The cruise was absolutely excellent in so many ways and the Majestic is our favorite ship with such an amazing crew. The extra charges kept showing up on our bill from time to time, even though what we ordered was covered under the premier package. We were even charged corkage in a bottle of wine we bought onboard and it was charged after we disembarked so I didn’t catch it in time to have it removed while we were still onboard. We just passed under the Golden Gate Bridge on our way to San Francisco! I will never ever ever tire of that amazing sight even though we live very nearby! My wish is that Princess will put a Royal class ship back in San Francisco soon! I already miss the Royal now she was sent to Australia.

We have eaten at the Salty Dog and we each ordered two small plates. The waiter recommended the charred asparagus and it was delish. I also love the chicken sandwich with the sweet potato fries. The chicken was good and hot but the fries were a bit cold. My DH had the Lobster Mac and cheese and said it was really good. He also ordered the chicken sandwich, which proved to be way too much food. One of our friends had the calamari and it looked really good. Another friend had the burger and she asked if they had any gluten free buns but they don’t. Anyway, nobody wanted dessert as the two small plates were more than enough. The service was fantastic. So, back to your point, we weren’t charged anything on our bill for the meal with the premier package. We will be trying GiGis later on today and probably go check out the sushi sometime this week. if you don’t have the package, you can always order a la carte items in each of these venues. I will report back on the other casual dining spots throughout the week. I can honestly say, we probably won’t visit the MDR much as we love getting the premier package and just popping into the casual dining spots at whatever time we like. I missed going to the MDR for lunch as there was a talk I walked to attend in the Vista Lounge. By the time we got out, we were a bit hungry so we just ordered salads on the app to be delivered to the piazza. A couple of friends joined us there. The salads were a great size, not too much and not too little. Everything was very fresh and arrived in less than 10 minutes of ordering it. Last night, we had dinner at the Bistro Sur La Mer and I really liked it. It wasn’t as good as The Catch on the Majestic because I don’t think any place I’ve ever eaten is as good as The Catch. Sadly, we won’t be onboard by the time they change out to the new restaurant. But, the service was also fantastic in this venue. I actually like that venue’s current location as I can hear the music from the piazza but it’s not overwhelmingly loud to the point we couldn’t hold a conversation at a reasonable tone. I thought the same about eating at the Salty Dog.

We booked a B2B on the Discovery Princess for this week and next week. The first leg is heading from Los Angeles north as far as San Francisco and then back down the coast and next week, they will be headed down to Mexico. We took a flight into Long Beach yesterday morning on Southwest Airlines with a friend that book the first leg of this cruise rather last minute. I love the airport experience of Long Beach so much more than LAX. Our friend quickly retrieved her checked luggage, we ordered an Uber and we’re on our way to the pier in San Pedro. Once we got there, we waited in line under the tent for about 90 minutes, I always book a flight that has another flight afterwards just to make sure we don’t miss the ship, so the rather lengthy wait was on me. But, I’d rather be safe than sorry. Check in for the green lane or the blue lane was really quick and easy. There was no differentiation for priority checking but there was a seating area for elite status passengers awaiting boarding once security and check in procedures were completed. We were on our way out to sea without any delays yesterday around 4 PM after a wonderful embarkation lunch in the Skagway dining room. The Discovery: We have cruised on this ship 4 times in the past. I just love the Royal class ships and all the choices for dining outside the MDR! Some people really enjoy the wrap around promenade deck, which the Royal class ships don’t have but, to me, I don’t care about this feature in the very least. On this cruise, the ship is not filled to capacity but it still has over 3000 onboard, so it does seem full but not overly crowded. we’ve not had trouble finding seats for any of the events we’ve attended or at any of the areas we’ve grabbed a bite to eat. What others have mentioned about the mattresses not being the same as on other Princess ships seems to be true. The mattress in our cabin, although more so on the overly firm side, is really not bothering either of us however, the pillows are just not great. Bless the heart of our room steward that really tried to find a suitable pillow for me. I don’t remember the pillows being this form from our previous cruises on this ship. There’s just no soft ones to be found. The ship is in great shape! Everything is tastefully decorated and nothing seems to be in disrepair. There are USB ports in the past of the bedside lamps, however, our devices take USB-C. But I thought I’d mention it anyway in case it helps others. It is fabulous those motion sensitive lights have either been removed or never installed on this ship. I seriously cannot remember if they had those lights a few months ago when we last cruised on this ship. What is so impressive to me is that we aren’t being overcharged for anything so far. We upgraded to the premier package while onboard and our folio only reflects the charges that we should see. I know this isn’t any thing that should be out of the ordinary but nevertheless, it’s so no refreshing not having to go to guest services to have erroneous charges removed from our bill. We’ve dated at the GastroPub last night, always a favorite for me, and at the Bistro Sur La Mer tonight. Neither venue was too crowded and the service was absolutely wonderful at both places. In fact, the service throughout the ship has been great! The food at the Bistro Sur La Mer was fabulous and portions were not over the top huge! I really love that. I understand that The Catch By Rudi will be replacing the Bistro on November 11th or thereabouts. We’ve really enjoyed the entertainment so far. Miguel Washington, the comedian that has performed so far, is hilarious without being vulgar! Bravo! Leo Rossi has given a couple of talks and is always a must see in our book! We are really enjoying everything onboard (save the extra firm pillows) so far! The service has been outstanding as has the entertainment. Tje food and drink is also quite good.

No muster video required, however, if you change rooms, you may need to check in at your muster station again if it’s not the same one as your original one. It only takes a minute.

Brilliant!

That was the one good thing about having to wear masks .. not having to smile with a missing tooth up front.

Yes, I agree .. I’ve never known Princess to offer room service on the last morning of the cruise unless you are in a full suite. We oftentimes just get an egg salad sandwich from the Ic the night before and put it in the fridge in a ziplock baggie for the next morning. The ziplock bag keeps the bread fresh.

Maybe two minutes ,, lol

I just checked a couple of cruises that I have booked for 2025. Both are quite pricey and was really hoping for a price drop. One has gone up a lot! The other one is just the same as when I booked it. One may have to be returned to their inventory??? I am not sure how this will work out for Princess in the long run. I’m all for a for profit company trying a tactic for better revenue for their stockholders. However, I only book cruises I can afford and many times, that involves last minute pricing. Time will tell how this all pans out.

It’s a smart idea to speed thing up but will no doubt, but I’m sure it will be met with complaints when travel partners have to board separately. BTW, I won’t be one that complains, not to mention, I rarely fly on United.

On Saturday, the Discovery is headed up to San Francisco and not Mexico so no changes to the itinerary will be required. She isn’t headed to Mexico again until Oct 28th.

Update: Todays tip- You can submit Shareholders Benefits Requests directly through our website. Go to Contact us and select Pre-Cruise Support and the Carnival Corporation Shareholder. You will input your information and attach proof of ownership and your shareholders will be added in just a few business days.

Holland America had this process for quite some time where you couldn’t pick your room, which is the reason I won’t book with them any longer. Maybe they’ve changed. For us, the cabin we choose is very important in our overall enjoyment of our entire trip. If you’re sleep deprived, how much fun could that be? But, some people don’t mind a ship way up forward just above the theater. These are the ones that do well with booking a guarantee. Anyway, after being right under the pool deck on the Crown many years ago, I stopped booking guarantees. They do seem to put you in the cabins that are leftover, the ones nobody else wants. I learned that the rooms are blocked out from view once there are under a certain number of them booked in that category. Even my travel planner that works for Princess can’t see them.

This is the second notification from one of the Princess CVP’s page Shareholder and Military Benefits Policy Update The policy for Shareholder and Military Onboard Credits should be the following: •Shareholder and Military OBCs are combinable! •The Military OBC will be non-refundable. •The Shareholder OBC is currently and will remain non-refundable. All other terms and conditions of usage remain the same.

Yes you can. I’ve seen it posted on another CVP’s FB page, as well. Both are nonrefundable but they are again combinable.

I don’t eat any red meat or chocolate so just asked for the tray with cheese and the crudities because we had the premier package. If you like great shaved meats, I am sure this would be well worth the cost. I just loved the cheese and vegetables with my wine. And because I don’t like to waste food, I was happy about the adjustments to the portions.

Definitely a reason to order the premier package … keep the refills coming.

That BBQ looks amazing. It was a really long time back but NCL used to have amazing deck BBQs. That’s one thing I really miss while cruising! So happy you are having such a great time.