RSS from SF

4 hours ago, uspearls said:

The midship angled balconies have a LOT more space - about double.  I had E410 in January.  That is an obstructed deluxe balcony on Emerald Deck 8.  The "obstruction" on both port and starboard for cabins E409 - 412 is only that below you on Deck 7 there are outdoor dining patios both sides.  Both are covered with white canopies.  You have an unobstructed view to the horizon.  On our cruise, the obstructed deluxe was about $500 cheaper so to get the extended balcony thrown in was a bargain.  I strongly recommend looking at these four cabins - added bonus of a nice stable, convenient midship location only one deck above the Promenade deck.  Obstructed view cabins forward from this location will be obstructed by lifeboats and/or machinery.  You can't see the lifeboats from the cabins I mentioned because they are on the outer edge of the "crescent" portion of the ship, so you are angled towards the opposing edge of the crescent.

1 hour ago, sunsetme said:

I had E410, great obstructed deluxe choice with no obstruction to speak of.

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Agreed; we enjoyed the same E410 cabin on Discovery Princess in April:

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12 hours ago, Oakman58 said:

Before we got hooked on NCL we had cruised with RCL and Carnival.

. . . .

With so many sea days, this should be an interesting experience for us.  I’m hoping the Diamond Princess has some interesting daytime activities on sea days.  We’ve never been on a Princess cruise so we’re looking forward to this completely new experience.

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Please note that Diamond Princess does not have a 24-hour-a-day eatery outside of room service. All other Princess ships currently sailing Hawaii round-trip from the West Coast (Los Angeles/San Francisco/Vancouver) do.

I know this would not matter to most people, but I consider this because I am an extreme night owl*.  When cruising -- especially when the itinerary includes many sea days -- I prefer a ship with at least one eatery available 24 hours a day outside of room service.

Pre-COVID, one thing NCL/RCL/Carnival/Princess had in common was:  24 hour a day eateries available outside of room service, on most of their ships in their fleet.  Pre-COVID, the exceptions I am aware of were:

• RCL's four Radiance-class and four Vision-class ships;
• Princess' Diamond Princess and Island Princess (of the ships still in the fleet).

-- In these early post-COVID times, I know some Princess' International Cafes closed late night (some still not 24 hours yet), and Carnival has started closing all pizza eateries from 3am to 8am (hopefully just temporarily).

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* When not cruising I usually don't sleep until after 4 or 5 AM.  On a ship I don't necessarily eat at 3 or 4 AM, but I enjoy having a place outside of my cabin [especially if my spouse is sleeping] where I can hang out at a table near others and drink coffee and read/plan/etc.

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2 hours ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

Just curious have you had any experience bringing on fresh fruit? 

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We have a taken aboard a minimum of 5 large fresh whole limes* each cruise on our last 3 cruises out of San Pedro, carried at top of everything else in our carry-on backpacks -- on Majestic (December), Grand (December), and Discovery (April).

*To squeeze into and garnish Courvoisier and Ginger Ale 🙂.

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7 hours ago, riffatsea said:

We had no trouble getting the same table with the same staff each night on both of our cruises on the Grand Princess

We did not have to beg

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Grand Princess appears to be one of the happy exceptions where Traditional Dining can be achieved.  On Grand we had the same waitpersons and tables on our 2021 October-November B2B2B and December-January (with New Year's Eve) cruises, with 7:00 PM reservations.

Apparently, the Grand Princess MDR staff has found a way to work around the ugly Dine My Way system constraints, to give the passenger the Traditional Dining experience. 

On most other ships [especially talking about you, Majestic Princess!], it appears that the staff usually has been unable to find a way to give passengers Traditional Dining every night.

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8 hours ago, Molliem said:

Are we allowed to use our own insulated coffee mugs onboard?

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Absolutely.  Post-COVID we have sailed 8 times on Princess since October 2021 and always have continued to bring our large insulated mugs as well as our 40-ounce Hydro Flask thermos for our coffee.

Early in the mornings before the buffet is open we bring both our mugs and thermos to the beverage stations to fill up.  Both pre- and post-COVID we always use a clean cup from the station and fill that cup with the coffee, and pour that into our mugs and thermos.

In the mornings seated at the buffet we give our mugs to the waitpersons to fill and refill.

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On 5/4/2022 at 7:14 PM, qhatoff said:

we have read some mixed reports about this particular ship's condition.

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We have been on Grand 4 times (b2b2b in October-November 2021 and another in December 2021-January 2022); she was in FANTASTIC shape -- a real gem in the Princess fleet.  Grand gleamed with polish inside and out, and with newer upholstery.

To us, Grand shined as well as Majestic (November and December 2021) and Discovery (April 2022). 

In comparison to Grand, we felt that Ruby Princess (November 2021) was the ship that felt a little worn around the edges.

Additionally for us, Grand's crew and service has continued to be better than any other Princess ship we have ever sailed.

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Alfredo's Pizzeria:  Pizza Tarantina with double Mussels and extra Roasted Garlic
(and a side of crushed red pepper flakes to sprinkle on as I go through each slice).
 

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On 4/29/2022 at 3:26 PM, Astro Flyer said:

In a Princess survey I received last summer the names for the two new LNG ships were:

• Sphera Princess
• Radia Princess

On 4/29/2022 at 4:19 PM, 1emerald1 said:

They sound like diseases, haha!

18 hours ago, Thrak said:

He is the absolute worst thing to happen to Princess in a very long time.

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In honor of the current management I think I'll refer to Sphera & Radia as Sphincta & Recta.

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3 hours ago, WAvoyager said:

I think you might be confusing George Chen (Bay Area based chef) with Richard Chen (Vegas, Chicago, Philly, Princess, and now Sacramento - At the Hard Rock).

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My apologies everyone 😱! -- I DID confuse George Chen (of the Bay Area) with Richard Chen (Harmony, Vegas, etc)! 

-- -- So everyone please ignore my previous incorrect post about George Chen / Richard Chen!

. . . . And I'm on the Hard Rock Sacramento mailing list too (although I haven't been there yet) -- and also had confused George Chen with Richard Chen's YOUYU casual eatery/noodle bar there. 

I see that Youyu does have some menu items in common with Harmony.

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3 hours ago, WAvoyager said:

I think Richard may be very unhappy that Princess is still able to associate his name with the substandard food on the ships.  It does sound like some people have gotten a good meal from there, but from our (admittedly only one meal) experience, I can’t imagine how.  (But I’m glad they did!)

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Yes, I wonder about that -- especially with Princess still mentioning Richard Chen's previous Michelin star. 

(As if Harmony's Crab Rangoon/Kung Pao Chicken/etc could conjure up visions of a Michelin 1 star dining experience. 😏)

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Carnival Miracle originally was supposed to begin sailing out of San Francisco in March 2020:
 

• https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/carnival-cruise-line-to-offer-first-ever-series-of-voyages-from-san-francisco-aboard-carnival-miracle-in-2020-line-to-return-to-san-diego-for-winter-cruises-in-2020-21-300768209.html
   
• https://carnival-news.com/2019/01/25/carnival-cruise-line-adds-sailings-from-san-francisco-to-carnival-miracles-inaugural-schedule-in-2020/

(I had 2 Carnival Miracle bookings out of San Francisco in May and September 2020 that were cancelled due to covid.)

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2 hours ago, mtnesterz said:

Also thanks to jwattle, vibe guy and RSS from SF, a city where fantastic Chinese food is easily found. We can drive to Chinatown L.A. and know the good stuff.

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Chef Richard Chen's restaurant in San Francisco:

I actually remember first tasting Richard Chen's food in SF when he was at Betelnut restaurant on Union St in Cow Hollow (circa 1995).

If you would like to taste his food [. . . but not at Harmony 😏] he is still here in San Francisco, at China Live (644 Broadway, on the Chinatown border with North Beach).

-- You'll notice his Market and Tasting menus in SF are MUCH more interesting than what is currently at Harmony!

See menus, below (links and attached):
 

• China Live [by Richard Chen] - Market Menu
  Link:  https://chinalivesf.com/best-restaurants-in-chinatown/market-restaurant-menu/
  
  [This large 1st menu is too pixelated to read here -- see link instead.]
  
   
• Eight Tables by George Chen Tasting Menu ($250)
  Link:  https://chinalivesf.com/fine-dining-in-san-francisco/eight-tables-menu/
  
   

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4 hours ago, mtnesterz said:

menu?

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FYI -- Old and New Harmony menus for your comparison:
 

• Original Harmony menu as designed by Michelin-starred chef Richard Chen*, March 2017
  *[2008 Michelin Las Vegas 1 star for Wing Lei at Encore/Wynn]:
  
  
  
   
• More recent Harmony menu, July 2021
  [perhaps updated by a Princess Chef?. . . . 
   -- Inspired by 🐼Panda Express 😜.  😇 ]:
  
  

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5 hours ago, renji said:

At least with Boleros we can Latin . . .

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Agreed! -- Boleros is our favorite music venue on Royal Caribbean.

-- Too bad about Boleros' PITIFULLY SMALL dance floor! 🙄

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Thanks much everyone for your helpful feedback! 👍

We'll especially try to catch as many production/headliner shows in the Phantom Theater that we can, with "80's Pop to the Max" on the top of our list. 🙂

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On the Discovery Princess 4/10/22 cruise (7 night Mexican Riviera) our embarkation package included 2 surgical masks.

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The difference between Princess and Celebrity in this regard is that Princess does not require you to purchase the Plus package. 

We in fact rarely spring for the Princess Plus package*:

Instead, we pay for the gratuities separately ($14.50 pp per day), $5.00 for one Wi-Fi connection shared between both of us per day (Platinum/Elite price), and usually zero to two** drinks pp a day.

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*We will purchase the Princess Plus package on cruises longer than 7 nights if there are more sea days than port days.

**We're also Elite on Princess and get up to 10 mini-bottles of hard liquor (and 10 non-alcoholic beverages) per cabin per cruise segment -- but of course this pales to what we get on Royal Caribbean as Diamond+ with 5 drinks pp per day.  🙂

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Almond Croissants (on mornings they are available) on Majestic Princess are only at the International Cafe.

3 hours ago, deliver42 said:

Celebrity, right now is the best bargain at sea, not counting MSC.

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For those of you who might consider Princess:

The Princess Plus Package is $40 per person per day and includes:

• Unlimited Wi-Fi (usually $9.99* per day);
• All Gratuities (minimum $14.50** per person per day);
• The Premium Beverage Package (usually $70.79 per person per day).

Subtracting the above Wi-Fi and Gratuity charges, Princess' Premium Beverage Package comes out to $15.51 per person per day.

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*Wi-Fi:  $5.00 per connection per day for Platinums or Elites.

**Gratuities:  $15.50pp per day for Mini-Suites & Club Class; $16.50 per day for Suites.

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I'll have a big milestone birthday (for me, anyway!) onboard Princess in a few months

and I would like a cake --
but not the small celebration chocolate cake* that Princess gives you.

QUESTION:

• If you have tasted the ordered cakes --
  Coconut Confetti / Chocolate Mocha* / Vanilla Celebration [image below]:
  Which one did you have and how was it?
   
• Or, if you have successfully ordered a custom cake from Princess, how was it?

* FYI my favorite cake is rich dark chocolate with dark chocolate ganache frosting & filling,
   with nothing else;
   never with mousse -- which both the small chocolate cake and Chocolate Mocha cake have. 

   (I'll be on the ship 10 days before the date, so onboard I'll have plenty of time to either:
    order a stock cake, try ordering the Chocolate Mocha without mousse,
    or attempt a custom cake order.)

THANK YOU VERY MUCH in advance for any answers and comments you may have!

-RSS-

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. . . . So, obviously and unfortunately for those of you still waiting, Carnival Guest Admin First-In-First-Out processing of requests is NOT a thing. ☹️

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We have an upcoming short Carnival Miracle cruise -- our first time on this ship.
(Our May 2020 & September 2020 Miracle sailings were cancelled due to you-know-what.)

Phantom Theater Showtime:

Regardless of my own tastes, do you have any Must-See -- or Must-Miss --  Showtime productions or performers (not audience participation shows) that might be at the Phantom Theater?

Here are some relatively recent shows mentioned:

• Showtime:  '80s Pop to the Max
• Showtime:  Heart of Soul
• Showtime:  88 Keys
• Showtime:  Getaway Island

Thanks in advance for any of your opinions and comments!

-RSS-

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We just got off Discovery Princess last week and enjoyed E410, which is the DW (with sofa) version of E424; same size balcony:

1 hour ago, dimiegirl said:

I think we will keep our cabin as it seems that after departure port the obstruction is not significant enough to warrant a substantial price increase.

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@dimiegirl:
Very easy -- the following 16 "BW" balcony cabins (circled in blue) are all the same price as your cabin and are COMPLETELY UNOBSTRUCTED looking straight out.  (You'll see part of the awning from the restaurant below but it is completely below your floor.)

See if any of these cabins are available now; if not I would keep looking every day because cancellations or moves happen more often than not.

• BONUS if you can score either E424/E425 (2 largest BW balconies in this section), or E428/E429 (2nd largest):
  
  Unobstructed BW Port:  E414-E416-E420-E424-E428-E432-E436-E438*
  Unobstructed BW Starboard:  E415-E417-E421-E425-E429-E433-E437-E439*
  
  *E438/E439 are completely unobstructed looking straight out but aft view looks towards tenders.
  
  

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24 minutes ago, RSS from SF said:

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I emailed our stockholder info to shareholders@carnival.com last night 4/20 at 7:30pm PT for our May Carnival cruise -- and received the approval email this morning 4/21 at 4:40am PT. 

(Turnaround in 9 hours 10 minutes!)

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On 4/7/2022 at 9:02 AM, ninjacat123 said:

Last 4 cruises, 2 of them deeply discounted, I received shareholders credit for each of them.  I sent an email to shareholders@carnival.com stating the following:

 

Hi!

 

Please find attached my current brokerage statement.  Please issue shareholder credit to the following:

 

Legal name: MY NAME

Booking number: MY BOOKING NUMBER

Ship: MY SHIP

Sailing date: THE EMBARKATION DATE

 

. . . .

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Thanks @ninjacat123 for this easy template!  I previously had used an older template I had made up but this is much simpler.  I used it last night and it was very successful: