Sea review 9/29-10/09 rt S.F.

[ramrax4]

DAY 8 SEA DAY

 

 

The seas were rough last night, enough to wake us at 2:30 in the morning. My DH rarely suffers from sea sickness but both of us had to take something this time. What a mistake, I don't know if it was the rough night or the pills we took coupled with the heat and humidity in mexico but we were wiped out the next day. After coffee and juice in our room we went back to bed, the next thing I knew it was 2:00 pm. We have never done that, not even at home. Needless to say we won't be taking

Bonine again:eek:

After some yummy pizzas and salad we just checked out the shops and sat by the pool for awhile. Nothing too exciting going on so we returned to our room to get ready for formal night. Tonights menu featured Lobster tail and grilled prawns, It was really good!

Since tomorrow was San Diego we decided to call it a night.

 

Some of the activies featured today were:

 

Brainteasers

Interdenominational church service

Line-dance

Ladies of the Red Hat Society

MLB Play-offs at the casino lounge

Lecture, "Magic of Southern California"

Maitre'd wine club

Weight loss acupuncture seminar

Fine Art preview

Pool games 2

Grandma's bragging party

Princess book club

 

Evening Entertainment

Comedian, Carlos Oscar

70's Disco music trivia

MUTS, Robin Hood

Sea Princess Orchestra

[dfields1814]

For me this is an interesting thread for 2 reasons: (1) we just returned from the Sea Princess' last trip to Alaska in Sept, and (2) we will be going to the Mexican Rivera in Dec on the Sapphire.

 

I certainly understand the opinions of the OP and where the OP is coming from.

 

The Sea Princess is not my favorite ship. I feel for me the size is way too small. This leads to problems with ATD in that there is only one ADR and lot of passengers and that leads to wait time. (We ate before 6:00 and shared and never waited - but around 7:30 as we exited there was a line with pagers.) We ate breakfast in the buffet a couple of times . Even after 9:30 it was crowded. We just shared a table with others. Usually they were nice and there was no problem - but it was a hassle.

 

My DW likes to play the penny slots. The casino was a joke way too small. It was always crowded.

 

I seriously disliked the balcony. It was way too small and cut into the ships hull (or whatever it is called). Although the balcony did serve as a windblock for the cold Alaska winds. That was good. But I would absolute hate it on a Mexican cruise. I am 6'1' and barely fit.

 

We found the service in the MDR to be OK until we found Roland and Theresa. Then it was excellent. The service in buffet was sub par. I was never asked if I wanted a drink - except for coffee at breakfast. I did not think the buffet food met Princess high standards. The food in theMDR was OK but not outstanding like we are used to. The steak house was very good.

 

Our steward kept the room clean but we never saw him. He had a problem keeping the ice bucket filled. (I gave the tip that was originally for him to Theresa - she deserved it more.)

 

I thought the dancers were pretty good especially, Paisley. I liked the Piano Man. (How could they leave out Jerry Lee Lewis, Ray Charles and Fats Domino is beyond me.) We really liked Moments to Remember - saw it twice.

 

We liked the CD and his assistant John. John is a very talented singer and pretty funny.

 

All said and done we had a good time on the Sea Princess but better times on the larger ships.

 

If given a choice between the Sea Princess and a Grand class ship or a ship like the Coral, the Sea Princess would be my last pick. But next July the Sea Princess will be the only ship to Alaska RT out of San Francisco and I promised my daughter, so we will be on her. (PLEASE put more penny machines in the casino for my wife - so I don't have to listen to it!!!)

[andio2of5]

Hi....we were on the Alaska run with dfields1814 and the Mexican trip with Ramrax4 and I just have to add my two cents about the casino...I agree with Paul's wife........it is the pits!!! :eek: Dark, dingy and always crowded with people trying to use one of the few penny or nickel machines. What machines they did have were old and very tight....some were so old that they didn't even have slots for card readers so you had to carry cash in and when you wanted to cash out, you got a whole bunch of nickels to carry around (oh, how easily we get used to the convenience of using that shipboard card :)).

Andi

[JudithLynne]

Ramrax4.…..

 

We were on this cruise, also our 19th with Princess and had a great time, although agree with others that there were problems with anytime dining.

 

My husband and I are so curious to know if you were at the Chef’s table for eight where one couple started fighting and left in anger? We were sitting nearby and couldn’t believe the action! We were so hoping that this didn’t ruin the evening for the remaining 6 couples.

[RickEk]

Hi....we were on the Alaska run with dfields1814 and the Mexican trip with Ramrax4 and I just have to add my two cents about the casino...I agree with Paul's wife........it is the pits!!! :eek: Dark, dingy and always crowded with people trying to use one of the few penny or nickel machines. What machines they did have were old and very tight....some were so old that they didn't even have slots for card readers so you had to carry cash in and when you wanted to cash out, you got a whole bunch of nickels to carry around (oh, how easily we get used to the convenience of using that shipboard card :)).

Andi

 

The problem with the casino is that the Sea Princess is mainly marketed to British passengers during the 8 months that it spends in the Caribbean. That's why half the casino space is dedicated to card tables. When we were on the Dawn Princess a few years back, the entire space was filled with slot machines and table games...

[ramrax4]

DAY 9 PORT OF SAN DIEGO

 

We had booked a Princess excursion, Wild Animal park. Although we live in CA and have been to San Diego this was something we had never done.

The ship pulled into port on time but the problem was with the non-us passengers who chose to ignore instructions re:imigration procedures starting the night before, as a result there was a slight delay in getting off the ship. Not only was info in the patters but announcements were made re:this procedure. I found this behavior rude and selfish. After paging passengers repeatedly they must have finally complied and we were allowed to disembark for our excursion.

We were instructed to meet in the Princess theater with our group, from here we were escorted to the extremely long waiting line which roped around the Atrium, very unorganized and crowded. After walking thru the terminal we reached the outside doors only to find more confusion. There was very little direction given as to where to board the buses. But we eventually managed to find our way onto the right bus.

When we arrived at the Wild Animal Park there was again some confusion about entering. It seems that the kids tickets purchased thru Princess did not include the tram or any of the other features that the adult tickets included so as a result families had to upgrade their tickets at the site. This was poor planning on Princess part. I hope the families were able to get reimbursed for the extra monies they spent.

The park was really nice but be prepared to do a lot of walking up and down hills, we had a great time.

After we returned to the ship I went to the pursers desk to check our portfolio only to find that we were overcharged for the Chef's Table. After explaining the situation they called the Head Chef and a few minutes later told us that a corrected statement would show up tomorrow. They were very nice and helpful.

 

We opted for Pizza for dinner again, non of the MDR choices appealed to either one of us, then went to the final showing of "Cinematastic" featuring the Princess Dancers. It was just ok.

I noticed in the patters that they were having a blackjack tourneyment so decided to enter. I made the finals only to place 3rd in the end. Oh well, it was great fun:)We all got a t-shirt for participating.

 

Up next: Disembarkation

[ramrax4]

Ramrax4.…..

 

We were on this cruise, also our 19th with Princess and had a great time, although agree with others that there were problems with anytime dining.

 

My husband and I are so curious to know if you were at the Chef’s table for eight where one couple started fighting and left in anger? We were sitting nearby and couldn’t believe the action! We were so hoping that this didn’t ruin the evening for the remaining 6 couples.

Yes, that was our table. My husband wanted to leave immediately but I convinced him to stay and we soon put it behind us. I'm sure this was an isolated case and realize that Princess was caught off guard just as much as we were! I think maybe they had a wee bit too much to drink before the dinner started:eek:

[morriscats]

We were on this cruise as well and remember them calling those people in San Diego. One of our group actually called their stateroom to see if they were there. I wonder how people can just ignore the announcement over the entire ship? It is just plain rude.

And a couple actually started fighting at the Chef's Table? How awful.

I liked the casino - it kept my DH outta there;)

[RickEk]

Yes, that was our table. My husband wanted to leave immediately but I convinced him to stay and we soon put it behind us. I'm sure this was an isolated case and realize that Princess was caught off guard just as much as we were! I think maybe they had a wee bit too much to drink before the dinner started:eek:

 

Oooo... do tell! What was the argument about? :eek:

[b-cruisin1970]

I am working on my review- this was our 3rd Princess and 15th overall cruise- we had a fantastic experience and I cant wait to share with everyone

[ramrax4]

DAY 10 DISEMBARKATION

 

We made our way to the Buffet for breakfast around 8am. The crowds weren't too bad and the food was really good and piping hot. After lingering over coffee it was time to go to the Rigeletto DR. We were one of the last groups to get off. This was well organized and I liked the idea of sitting at the tables in the DR while waiting. This was one of the smoothest disembarkations we have experienced so far. Our luggage was easy to locate and it was just a short walk to embacadero st.

We headed towards pier 39 to connect with our Amtrak bus, when we got there there was a sign on the post that read, "due to the marathon and fleet week the streets were too crowded for the buses to pick up passengers, please make your way to the ferry bldg.":eek: Well after the fiasco with the beach in Cabo I wasn't about to let my husband make this decision, I immediately hailed a taxi and $7 later we were at the Ferry bldg. There was a great street fair going on but we had our luggage with us so we just sat and people watched and enjoyed the sites of the city for about an hr.

Pretty soon a small vehicle with a trailer in tow shows up, yep Amtrac. They were unable to get the busses to the Ferry building because of the traffic so we had to walk 2 more blocks to meet up with our bus. Finally we made it to Emeryville Station:D

 

Conclusion:

I hope this review wasn't too negative there were a lot of things we did enjoy. For instance cafe Corniche had the best pizza,caesar salad and lasagne. The Princess shows were for the most part enjoyable. The ADR does need some work, but maybe that's not the best choice for us. The ADR menu always had good alternate choices to choose from and the desserts were top notch. The pools were nice size and the Riviera grill had great cheeseburgers and fries. Loved MUTS at night. CD Kelvin and his assistant John were a lot of fun, always looked forward to morning show.

Things we disliked:

Casino-too small, dark and dingy, ADR service-the worst we have had,

buffet-cold food that should be hot, selection of food,Spas-very small,

Room steward-never saw him after the first day, had to request ice from room service daily, found sunflower seed shells on the floor(we didn't bring seeds),knee-high stocking from previous passenger left in our closet, toiletries were never refilled, Activities-a little to sedate for us.

 

Will we cruise with Princess again, Absolutely, but maybe on a bigger, newer ship next time. Overall we enjoyed our cruise and look forward to our next adventure.

Thanks to all of those who read my review and waited patiently for the next installment.

Robin

[boaterette]

Thank you for your review. I enjoyed reading it.

[Rockymountainsparky]

I really enjoyed your review and am glad your'e giving Princess another chance.

[ramrax4]

I am working on my review- this was our 3rd Princess and 15th overall cruise- we had a fantastic experience and I cant wait to share with everyone

Did I miss your review:confused: If so please post a link so that I can read it. If not, please post soon. Would love to read about your experiences:)

 

 

Robin