Jasperdo

Excellent review with wonderful photos. My wife and I have done the Hawaii cruise twice from Los Angeles. Looking forward to the rest of your review.

Personally, I would pick the Sea of Cortez cruise. Loreto is my favorite Mexican post. It's like a step back in time. A small, walkable laid back town. If you're into history the first of the California Missions is in Loreto. It is the start of the El Camino Real. I also liked La Paz, although you do have to take a 30 minute shuttle bus to get to downtown. Some have complained about long waits for the shuttle, but we walked right on both at the Port and in La Paz.

 

If you're interested, here are a couple of links. The first is our day in Loreto, the second is our day in La Paz:

You know how to make a chocolate egg-cream?!? Now you really are my hero. I grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and loved going down to the corner soda fountain and ordering a chocolate egg-cream if I could afford one. Although most of the time I couldn't and wound up getting a two cent plain instead. I haven't had a chocolate egg-cream since I left Brooklyn in 1972. Now I'm craving one. And a slice of cheese from the pizza joint next door.

 

And thanks again for the fabulous review. Excellent as always.

John

An entertaining review as always, Mr. Winks. Looking forward to the rest.

I had the spam, eggs, sausage, spam, spam,beans and spam with extra spam

"Have you got anything without spam?"

My CD of choice was a big Australian guy with a beard and happy smile called Greg Maxwell, who was very funny and a great stand-up comic.

I remember Greg Maxwell. He was the CD on our Song of America cruise. A very funny and friendly fellow. Here's a page out of the Cruise Compass from that sailing:

 

Nordic Prince was sister to Song of Norway. Song of America was a whole new thing.

Thanks. I knew the Song of America was a newer ship, but wasn't sure if it was still the same class as the Song of Norway.

First of all, thank you for the excellent (as always) cruise review. I've already marked your Royal Princess review date on my calendar so I won't forget to look for it.

 

Second of all, I'm really, really enjoying your story about life at sea. Fascinating insight into that life. And the brochure scans are terrific. I still have the brochure from our first cruise Carnival in 1991. It's amazing how cruising has changed. We never sailed on the Song of Norway, but we did a 7 day Mexican Riviera cruise on the Song of America in 1997. Was that a sister ship of the Song of Norway?

So we haven't ever cruised Princess. We plan to sail Princess for the next cruise we book. Can you tell me more about destination experts and what they do. Do any other lines have these experts? I don't recall hearing anyone discuss the ports of call but it sounds amazing. Are they done the night before you dock in that port? Is it after dinner? Any details you have would be great for future trip planning. Thanks

The destination experts aren't on all Princess cruises. They're usually not on "sun and fun" destinations, such as the Caribbean. You'll mostly find them on cruises where the destination is the main draw, such as the Panama Canal, Alaska, Hawaii, Europe. They will have a few port lectures in the Princess Theater, going into detail about what to do and see in port. They might also do a few talks about the history, culture or nature of the area. And on certain scenic cruises such as the Panama Canal and Alaska, they might broadcast over the ship's sound system from time to time. The lectures in the Princess Theater are usually on sea days, sometimes in the morning, sometimes in the afternoon. The exact time and place will be in your daily Princess Patter.

Bill Keene and he was travelling with his wife. Bill must be a great name for Panama commentators because it sounds as though you can't go wrong with either of them. Excellent choices Princess :D

Here's a picture of Bill Keene. You're right, he was an excellent Destination Expert. His commentary on Canal Day was terrific, and his slide show lectures were outstanding.

 

Here are a few photos of the Ice Cream Bar on the Coral Princess. It's located next to the covered pool:

 

 

 

Here are a few photos of the National Park setup on the Golden Princess a few years ago. The Park Service does an excellent job interpreting Glacier Bay to cruise ship passengers. And yes, you will get an official Park brochure in your cabin the night before. I collect them, and was very happy to see it on our bed.

 

 

 

Thoroughly enjoyed your review, as always. I'm definitely sticking around for your South Beach photos. I can't get enough of those wonderful Art Deco buildings.

I was just directed over here from the Princess Board. (Thank you caribill!) Once again you have outdone yourself, Sailor Jack. I finished reading the review, and will delve into the pictures next. Yay!

Thanks for the heads up. I'm heading over there right now.

Excellent comparison review. Looking forward to the rest.

Did you miss the Tom Jones song on the Lawn photo?

I had so scroll back to see what the reference was. Yes, I did miss it. But that Monty Python one hit me right away.

Always look on the Breitling side of life

Just as I suspected ... you used to be a writer for Monty Python!

Here are a few photos from Pier 91. The first gives an overview of the pier area, and the second shows how far it is from downtown Seattle:

 

 

I did this same itinerary a few years ago on the Golden Princess. The formal nights were the sea day after leaving Seattle,and the Ketchikan day. Here's the Patter that shows the itinerary schedule:

 

 

There is so much scenic beauty outside Las Vegas including Red Rock Park, Mount Charleston where people ski and our favorite Valley Of Fire on the way to the Hoover Dam.

You are absolutely right about Valley of Fire State Park. It is THE best place to go when you're in Las Vegas. Much better than The Strip if you ask me. Here's a sampler for those who haven't been there yet:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The crowds for the evening movies on MUTS really varies. A lot depends on the movie, the weather, what else is happening on the ship that evening, the demographics of that sailing. I've seen it from packed to virtually empty. Here are a few photos I took during one of the evening movies on the Coral during a 15 day Panama Canal cruise. As you can see, there were plenty of empty deck chairs for that show:

(BTW: generally speaking MUTS will show the same movie twice the same evening, usually at 7PM and 10PM. The 10PM showing will always be less crowded. And, yes, the times will be in your daily Princess Patter.)

 

 

I was on the Ruby Princess last St. Patrick's Day. Some of the public rooms had a few simple decorations. That's about it. Here's what was in the Wheelhouse Bar:

 

They might have just been working on them. I know there was at least one set in the Windjammer and another next to Cafe Promenade last October. One of the Freestyle Machines there wasn't working all week when we were onboard:

 

Excellent review. My wife and I were on the same sailing. We had a wonderful time. The Explorer of the Seas is a beautiful ship.