HappyCruiserettu

On 1/16/2020 at 2:38 PM, pseudoswede said:

 

 

So the other strategy would be to book my parents each into a different cabin, correct?

Yes, That is a strategy that will work. Sleeping arrangements can vary from how the cabins are booked.

1 minute ago, cheeseclan said:

No straws could be a problem with frozen drinks....

Hard to "suck" a frozen drink through a straw.

10 hours ago, Mike45LC said:

We were given sheets with Christmas Carols.  How disappointing for you!  I guess it varies (as always with Princess!!) depending on the Cruise Director, maybe.

 

I think we had carols provided on a previous cruise. I wondered if they missed it this time because Christmas fell on a Sunday that year.

On 1/7/2020 at 6:47 PM, Mike45LC said:

I have been afloat for Christmas (also a significant day for Christians) several times.  There have been Christmas carol opportunities, a Christmas choir (crew members)  and a Cruise Director led non-denominational service, but no clergy-led services, and certainly no Mass.  I don't think many clergy cruise during Christmas or Easter; they are in demand during the Holy Days.

 

I make up by going to Mass at the port either before or after Christmas.  

 

One time we had a visiting pastor take charge. Two Christmas' ago we were on Pacific on Christmas, which was on a Sunday. They had the regular service. Princess provides a song sheet for hymns. We were disappointed in that the sheet provided was for a generic Sunday, with no Christmas hymns.

On 1/7/2020 at 12:42 PM, skynight said:

There may be a non-denomination service run by one of the crew. Time and location would be shown in the Princess Patter. I have seen this on some cruises. There is no set time and location, but I did notice it was early in the morning, maybe around 8am.

I think 8:30 sounds right. There has always been a service listed in the Patter on our cruises, but we don't always go. (We often sleep late.)

16 hours ago, EDDY0827 said:

Horizon Court (buffet) has a self-serve hot/cold water, coffee and tea bags available all day long.

Not free - it's  included in your fare.

No extra charge.

15 hours ago, RMMariner said:

You would be right, but we left out of Vancouver. So I don't think that applies.

Oh, my mistake. I saw you were talking the Grand, and since we are sailing on the Grand from SF in three weeks, I just made that connection. On reading over your post, you were clear about Vancouver right at the start. In this case, the PVSA would not be an issue because Vancouver to Honolulu is allowed.

On 1/19/2019 at 11:51 AM, oskidunker said:

 Only 4 ports. My wife does not like that many sea days. Cold for half the trip. They used to go to 5 islands, which would make a big difference. 

 

I don't know of any such trips that went/go to five islands. I think you will find that they may have made five stops. Some stop at Hilo and Kona on the Big Island (Hawaii). Or some could stop at Kahalui and Lahaina on Maui. Either way, only four islands.

On 1/19/2019 at 11:39 AM, RMMariner said:

We have done this cruise twice out of Vancouver. The passengers were certainly an older crowd. Almost no kids, and we felt young being in our late 40s.

 

As some have said already, around about day 3, it almost feels like someone flipped a switch and it warms up.

 

Others have also mentioned how rough the first couple days can be. Our first cruise ever was on the Grand to Hawaii. It was very rough. Many things were cancelled. A lot of people were seasick. I was very seasick too. First time in my life. I guess I could have avoided it by spending $5 on seasick medicine, and not eating fish and chips when I was already sick, but I just had never been seasick before. Now, I am much more careful, and I have never been sick again.

 

It was so bad that I heard 8 groups chose to fly back rather than return on the Grand. Funny part is it was dead calm on the way back.

 

I personally find the cruise too long. The sea days on the way there are fine because you are anticipating Hawaii. Hawaii is amazing, but the sea days back, I could do without. Others will totally disagree with me. 

 

I enjoyed the Grand. It is a little older, but it is still a nice layout, and the crew was great. We are sailing on it in March to Mexico.

 

Hope you have a great time.

 

 

If they flew back to the Mainland from Hawaii, they violated the PVSA law by being transported on a foreign-flagged vessel from  San Francisco to Honolulu.

9 hours ago, Scubadoc said:

Amen drjpreston!   Some of these responses are getting on my nerves. Some of you should just be quiet honestly. The OP asked a perfectly reasonable question.  I was curious about the same topic. If you think it's a foolish question or it doesn't interest you just ignore it! When you make sarcastic comments you sound arrogant.  Just stop. 

I enjoy movies, and have at times taken in the MUTS offerings. I think it is a good thing to have. I do think they could be limited during the day. The S in MUTS is supposed to stand for Stars, not Sun. To me, it seems strange to be so concerned about what movies will be playing next week, or next month. It won't make or break my trip. YMMV.

13 hours ago, BarbinMich said:

True, but if it's just destinations one wants, one has to take long flights both ways from the US.  After retirement, we had the time to sail one way and fly the other way.  And as I probably said before, we like sea days.  Princess and HAL always have 1-3 lecturers on different topics and we always enjoyed those.  Plus I like to play bingo and the slots so lots of daytime for that while my DH watches TV, snoozes, etc.  Then we spend the evening together at various forms of entertainment (shows, games, etc).

We love the sea days for relaxing. We are well-seasoned seniors, so port intensive cruises are wearing.

18 hours ago, pablo222 said:

 

Yes. 

 

And, at what time are each movie being shown?

 

And, most important .... will I enjoy it?

Well. Okay then.

On 8/3/2017 at 4:33 PM, KONA VILLAGE KID said:

The only real library on a ship is on the QM2!

QV has a good one, too.

BTW, I honeymooned at Kona Village over Memorial Day weekend, 1971. Beautiful place. So sad it's gone.

14 hours ago, BarbinMich said:

I don't know if this weather in Honolulu is unusual or not.  We've been in Hawaii many times in January, staying at rentals on two different islands each trip, and the weather has always been glorious.  Perhaps the cruise lines shouldn't go there in Dec. unless this year was an outlier, weather-wise.

This is unusual. I lived in Honolulu for 15 years. My wife talked to her native-Hawaiian friend Tuesday. She complained about the weather. (She's over 60)

On 12/24/2019 at 3:13 PM, EDDY0827 said:

It's a great multi-tasking activity. It is playing in the background when we first get into the cabin and continues playing like white noise in the background as we get acquainted with Stewart and the cabin, read our various papers and head out to lunch.

Hardly even notice it.

Oh, you had Stewart too! Isn't he wonderful? I wonder where he is from.  

3 hours ago, jamscckmc said:

Carnival is switching to Pepsi. Wondering if all other cruise lines under the Carnival umbrella will follow suit. I personally hope not.

My wife and I would like that. We are not going to sail Carnival to get the Pepsi. We make do with what is available. We may bring on the occasional Diet Pepsi or Diet Man Dew at various stops.

On 12/25/2019 at 12:11 PM, tjcletzgo said:

Still trying to find out what’s playing on our Jan 4th cruise on Royal. Anyone know?

Is this really critical?

On 12/11/2019 at 4:00 PM, cruzrbachoua said:

What happens for those of us who use the 'non' sugar packets....does that come bulk to put in a shaker...i personally use the pink packets. 

As do I. Need to find out before my Grand cruise 1/27,

Just now, HappyCruiserettu said:

So many things have to be eliminated because someone is bothered/offended.

 

Yes, I admit that bothers me.

23 hours ago, azbirdmom said:

 

The Royal couldn't play it in Alaska either.  I missed it - that always makes me smile!

 

By the way, the Disney ships used to play "When You Wish Upon a Star" when leaving Port Canaveral.  Our friends have a condo very near the Jetty where the ships come out and apparently many residents complained and Disney had to stop playing it too.  Our friends weren't part of that group - they enjoyed hearing it.

So many things have to be eliminated because someone is bothered/offended.

21 hours ago, foodsvcmgr said:

There are some ports that prohibit the use of even the regular horn when departing, nothing new there.

Seems kind of silly to buy a condo next to a deep water port and then complain about ship’s horns though.......

Like those who buy a home near an airport (convenient) and then complain about the noise.

On 12/23/2019 at 10:31 AM, Gimer said:

Was on Majestic for it's Maiden Voyage from Singapore to Shanghai and it was played on our 9 Ports of Call.  As we sail away, cheers were heard from the Pier and onboard the ship.  The ship's Second Watch Officer Grant was responsible to play it three times and he said he had a blast, every time he did it.  

We were on Majestic in the Med, before it went to Asia. The Love Boat horn was played twice on our departure from Kotor. Once close to town, and once again further out in the fjord.

10 hours ago, BarbinMich said:

I'm not sure what is "strange" about that.  As you may know (or not) Victoria is the provincial capital for BC.  Perhaps that's because "Victoria is one of the oldest cities in the Pacific Northwest, with British settlement beginning in 1843."  While "Vancouver is among BC's youngest cities."  [both quotes from Wikipedia]

A previous poster, responding to a mention of Vancouver Island, pointed out that the city of Vancouver is not located on Vancouver Island. (A point I'm sure some do confuse.) I simply wanted to expand on that point. Maybe I should have called it ironic rather than strange. BTW, I love both Victoria and Vancouver and am aware that Victoria is the BC capital. I am disappointed that cruise stops in Victoria are often so short. I did not know that Vancouver was so much younger. I should have realized that from my visits to both. Just never thought about it.

3 hours ago, satxdiver said:

US Federal Law PVSA (Passenger Vessel Services Act of 1886) requires that foreign flagged ships that sail between US ports must visit a foreign port during the voyage.  Only US flagged ships may sail between US ports.  The NCL America is a US flagged ship and can therefore sail around HI without visiting a foreign port.  However most cruise ships are foreign flagged for various legal reasons and therefore must visit a foreign port if sailing out of and into a US port.  The cruises from the west coast to HI must stop in a foreign port which many times is Ensenada, BC Mexico which is located 78 miles south of San Diego.  

Absolutely true, but does little to answer the question at hand. But your point is valid, and suggests that Japan has some similar regulation. I suspect that is the case.

5 hours ago, donaldsc said:

I am looking at several Princess cruises in Japan.  All of them seem to stop at Busan Korea.  This seems to be a waste of sea time to get to and from Busan to stay only a very short time in Busan.  Is there a rational reason for this or is it just typical cruise line stupid itinerary planning?

 

DON

I suspect it is similar to the "mandatory" stop in Ensenada for roundtrips to Hawaii. I know that is in response to a particular US maritime regulation, but perhaps Japan has some similar restriction.