mcrcruiser

Here you go curious .First we do eat diners out in excellent restaurants using our restaurant.com coupons & only go to well rated restaurants(restaurant .com rates many of their restaurants ). How to rate any restaurant whether on land or on a cruise ship is this way ,one whether service is attentive ,the quality of food they serve & how the food is presented on the plates .5 Star restaurants are flawless Time shares for the most part where we stay are 4 & 5 star resorts with live entertainment . Princess cruise lines has washers & dryers on their cruise ships .A washer & dryer in a time share is very convenient .We don;t even have to leave our time share unit to use them . We never make up beds ,we have maid service daily We use the kitchen for convenience .We have breakfast in our time share ,easily prepared .Lunch is a sand which or soup ie . We have pools ,work out facilities ,saunas ,steam room ,massages ie & on site restaurant & store on site Believe me it is easier to time share than any other vacation & get all the amenities included .We can also go to all inclusive time shares We hope this answers your questions about land vacations in a time share During the 2007 recession cruise ships were selling cabins & sailing at cost to get people to book ,so that they would spend money aboard ship . Worst time to own cruise line stocks is during a recession

We have sailed on 84 cruises to date with 4 new cruises booked . One is on Koningsdam for Nov 3 ,2020 18 night Hawaii .We like this ship & have sailed on her already .The other 2 cruises are on Princess with the last one booked for Feb 14 ,2021 /After that we would need to renew our passports to continue to cruise or travel outside of the USA . Reason I have said this is because we are coming to a fork in the road .If we continue to see decline in value ,we will change to do land & rail trips in the USA We equate value with food quality ,preparation & presentation . Entertainment value that we can enjoy . The continued non refundable ,at supposedly a lower price vs a refundable fare ,at a higher price is disturbing ,along with perks that we all know are included in the price pf a cruise anyway . Further those OBCs that we get in those perk packages are never refundable & just another way cruise lines can get you to spend more of your money on their ships . Good marketing ploy for them but bad for the consuming public .They are going the way of the airline industry ,extra costs for checked baggage ,extra cost to preselect your seat ,extaa cost for a aisle sear ,ie . You get the point We no longer fly to ports & save lots on no airfares ;but , if the cruise lines continue on this path ,we simply side step & do our land trips & no resort fees .We own a time share to use or trade & also get in expensive weekly get aways . Better than any hotel stays because we have 2 TVs ,a washer .dryer .a one or 2 bedroom unit in a resort with resort extras at no charge .The time share ownership works very well because hotel rates are increasing faster than inflation The last consideration is a recession will happen some time in the future ;because they simply do happen . Watch the cruise industry scramble when that happens LOL😂

Thanks for your input Ruth . If there is really good entertainment ,then we will take a 2nd look for the Mexican riviera /Sea of Cortez cruise . We wish that HAL would be bringing on the 60 to 70000 ton size ships .however ,we also realize the path of most main stream cruise lines to the larger ships

The Hilton Double Tree hotel is very close to the port

We live here in the San Diego .when we take any cruise from San Pedro we drive up the night before & stay at the Hilton double Tree Hotel who will shuttle you to & from the port free .All you do is sign up . In our case booking there we can leave our car with free parking ;which is a big savings for us . If we were flying into either Long Beach airport (closest to the port ) or LAX ,we would definitely take a Uber to the port because it is direct & only for us & the least costly .Just be careful in that not to try & fly in the same day of the cruise ;because not only flight delays ;but ,LA traffic can be really mean (estremely heavy on the freeways

Had no problem s getting what we wanted on the Princess Web site as of Sept 13th

We love to take a 10 day or more cruise to Mexican Riviera & into the Sea of Cortez ;but ,not on this very old ship ;because of potential air conditioning & or plumbing problems & no balconies except suites. When do you think HAL will replace Maasdam ? Could we see a replacement by the beginning of the 2021 cruise season ? We also don't like that there is no show entertainment on Maasdam any longer

We sailed on Koningsdam back Match 17th & the dancers were fabulous on the new World Stage ,we also had all the music walk music to listen to . Thus ,we prefer sailing on this class of ship .Even the Eurodam had great entertainment

OK we will see how busy they are on the first day . May have a problem here

We are 80 yrs plus & from the old school pf using cards .Wonder now what will happen when we get to the pier in San Pedro Ca for our April 2020 B2B cruises .We prefer the standard card . Do we have to wait in lines at Customer Relations to get a set of cards or will they issue us cards at the pier ?

For Mexican Riviera cruises we find Princess higher than Holland America for the same 7 day cruise . since we live in San Diego ,we are more likely to sail HAL from the port of SD vs the port in San Pedro . Princess entertainment is more elaborate than HAL . However ,for food & service we favor HAL , We do sail both lines ,when the particular itinerary suits us

You can definitely get a 3 for Free sale with a refundable deposit .It just cost more for the cruise .I have done it just the other day😀

There is no need for extra tipping unless some one goes way above a beyond their normal job responsibilities for you /us .The idea of extra tipping does not guarantee better service .The entire ship workers share in your $14. 50 0r higher for suites each day; except management levels .Your cabin steward & wait staff get the larger portions & those people behind the scenes share in the balance If amy one wants yo know the break out of tips then contact Princess or on the ship customer relations Also remember that those workers on a ship are non tax paying individuals & with the very strong US dollar they do quite well when converted to their local currencies .Un like American workers in hospitality jobs who must pay taxes ,social secuirty ie out of their earnings including their tips

We did not know that Princess has theme nights in the buffet . On our next cruises we will be sure to watch for those theme nights

Be safe & Have fun & enjoy your cruise with your children .😀